METAL SHINGLE

Abstract: A shingle (31) is formed with one side edge (18) folded over the top surface (4) of the shingle (31) to catch and direct water down the shingle to the top surface (4) of the next lower shingle. An S-shaped fold (15) in the surface of the shingle receives the unfolded leading edge (20) of an adjacent shingle to form a gutter (16) under the leading side edge of the adjacent shingle. The top edge (2) of the shingle (31) is folded-over towards the top surface (4) of the shingle for engagement with the folded-under lower edge (12) of the next higher shingle on the roof and extends to the right edge (26) of the shingle and slides under the left edge (28) of the folded-over top edge (2) of the next adjacent shingle. The folded-under lower edge (12) extends along the lower edge of the shingle leaving a gap (39) relative to the folded-under lower edge of the next adjacent side shingle to prevent water from migrating over the top edge (2) of the shingle (31). One or more S-shaped folds (30) are formed in the middle of the shingle to define a multiple shingle panel.

Description: METAL SHINGLE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention: This invention relates to roofing shingles and more particularly to a metal shingle having interlocking folding edges designed to prevent moisture from migrating around the edges of the shingle and folds in the middle of the shingle. Description of the Prior Art: Metal shingles with interlocking edges are known in the art. A shingle having an unfolded side edge and an opposite S-shaped side edge is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,512. A shingle having interlocking edges and a plurality of S-shaped folds to simulate multiple shingles is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,643,445. U.S. Patents Nos. 4,185,436, 4,218,857, 3,347,001, 3,269,075, 3,216,741 and 3,209,506 all disclose shingles with interlocking edges. A problem with the prior art interlocking-edge shingle design is that water tends to migrate around the edges of a metal, or smooth surface, shingle. This is particularly true at the corners of the shingle where the folded edges may leave a gap close to the surface of the shingle. Also, the water tends to migrate around the interlocking folds at the side edges of the shingle. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the object of the present invention to provide a shingle with interlocking edges that is resistant to water moisture creeping around the edges of the shingle. In accordance with this invention, the above problems have been solved and the above object has been accomplished with a shingle whose side edges overlap with the next adjacent shingle. A first, or trailing, side edge is folded over towards the top surface of the shingle to catch moisture creeping towards this side edge and to direct moisture down the shingle to the top surface of the next lower shingle. A second, or leading, side edge of the shingle is not folded. Another fold, spaced apart from the trailing side edge fold, is an "S 11 shaped fold or S-fold in the surface of the shingle. This S-fold receives the unfolded leading edge of an adjacent shingle inserted into the S-fold. As a result, the fold at the trailing side edge, the S-fold and the top surface of the shingle between the trailing edge fold and the S-fold form a gutter under the leading side edge of the adjacent shingle. Accordingly, any moisture that manages to migrate around the S-fold and under the leading side edge of the adjacent shingle is caught by this gutter, and flows down the gutter to the top surface of the next lower shingle on the roof. The top edge of the shingle is folded-over towards the top surface of the shingle for engagement with the folded-under lower edge of the next higher shingle on the roof. The folded-over top edge extends all the way to the right edge of the shingle so that it slides under the left edge of the folded-over top edge of the next adjacent shingle to the right side. The folded-under lower edge extends along the lower edge of the shingle but leaves a gap relative to the folded-under lower edge of the next adjacent side shingle. In this way, water is restrained from migrating over the top edge of the shingle and is allowed to flow out the gap between adjacent folded-under lower edges of the shingles. As a feature of the present invention, one or more S-shaped folds are also made in the middle of the shingle to form a panel of multiple shingles. For a viewer, the end of a smaller simulated shingle is indistinguishable from the end of the panel. The invention is an improved planar roofing shingle having a side edge folded over the top surface of the shingle and spaced from an S-shaped fold to form gutter side walls defining a gutter for directing water off of the shingle. Other objects, advantages and features of the invention will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art after referring to the complete written description of the preferred embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the following drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top view of a shingle in accordance with one preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of another preferred embodiment of the invention with a large shingle panel having four S-folds to give the appearance of four shingles. FIG. 3 is a lower edge view of the shingle panel in FIG. 2 cut along line F. FIG. 4 is a side view of the leading edge side of the shingle panel in FIG. 2. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a third preferred embodiment of a shingle panel similar to FIG. 2, but with the S-folds alternately facing left and right. FIG. 6 is a lower edge view of the shingle panel of FIG. 5 cut along line A. FIG. 7 shows the shingle panel of FIG. 5 before it is folded. FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a plurality of the shingles of FIG. 1 as interlocked and mounted on a roof. FIG. 9 is a perspective view of two of the shingle panels of FIG. 5 as interlocked and mounted on a roof. FIG. 10 is a top view of a shingle in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a side view of the shingle of FIG. 10 taken along line D and also the shingle of FIG. 13, taken along line E. FIG. 12 is a lower edge view of the shingle of FIG. 10, taken along line B. FIG. 13 is a top view of another shingle in accordance with the fourth embodiment of the invention. FIG. 14 is a lower edge view of the shingle of FIG. 13, taken along line C. FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a hip and ridge panel designed to interlock with any of the preferred embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a universal endwall panel designed to interlock with any of the preferred embodiments of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a top view of a preferred embodiment of the shingle, 31. Upper edge 2 is folded-over to the top surface 4 to allow engagement with mounting bracket 6, or with the lower edge of the next higher shingle. Mounting bracket 6 has a folded-under lower edge 8 and a hole 10. The bracket lower edge 8 is hooked onto the shingle upper edge 2 and nailed to the roof through hole 10 to hold the shingle in place on the roof. The shingle lower edge 12 is folded under for engagement with the upper edge fold of the next lower shingle. The left side, or trailing, edge 14 is folded- over towards the top surface of the shingle. The shingle top surface has an S-fold 15 spaced from the trailing edge 14 that divides the top surface of the shingle into shingle surface 4 and gutter surface 16. Thus, water flowing to the left side of the shingle over the S-fold 15 is caught in a gutter formed by trailing edge 14, top surface 16 and S-fold 15. The water is caught by the shingle gutter 16, is directed to flow down to the open lower edge 18 of the shingle and is prevented from flowing under the adjacent shingle adjacent to the left side, and instead is guttered onto the center of the top of the next lower shingle. The arrangement of several interlocked shingles is shown in FIG. 8. The right side, or leading, edge 20 of the shingle is not folded. This leading edge is inserted into S-fold 15 of a next adjacent shingle located to the right of the shingle. The upper folded-over edge 2 has a leading-side edge 26 which extends all the way to edge 20, and slides over the upper trailing side edge 28 of the folded over edge 2 of the next shingle to the left when right edge 20 is inserted into fold 15. Accordingly, when the next adjacent shingle to the left has its leading edge 20 inserted into S-fold 15, the trailing-side edge 28 of fold-over edge 2 will underlap the leading-side edge 26 of the fold-over edge 2 of the shingle being inserted. The lower folded-under edge 12 has a leading-side edge 30 which is tapered, or slant cut, from the right side leading edge 20 to provide for easy insertion of leading edge 20. The trailing-side edge 32 of the fold- under lower edge 12 is also slant cut back from the trailing side of the S-fold 15. Thus, when the next adjacent left side shingle is inserted into S-fold 15, there will be a gap between folded-under edge 12 of the shingle with the folded-under edge of the inserted shingle. This gap allows water flowing down the gutter surface 16 and caught by the folded-under edge 12 of the inserted shingle to flow out onto the top surface of the next lower shingle. In FIG. 2, a plurality of folds 30 are made in a large shingle 32 to form a panel giving the appearance of it being a plurality of smaller subshingles. Shingle panel 32 is preferably cut and folded from some decorative metal such as copper or Kynar 500 painted metal. Its dimensions are around 31.4 inches wide by 11 inches high. Three folds 30 are made to form shingle panel 32 into four subshingles 7.4 inches wide by 9.75 inches high, dimensions similar to standard cedar shake or slate roofing. All four S-folds 15 and 30 have the same orientation, so that the four small subshingles have their left sides slightly higher than their right sides. This feature is especially apparent in FIG. 3. FIG. 3 shows a lower edge view of the shingle panel 32 of FIG. 2 cut along line F. The amount of space between the folded surfaces is exaggerated for clarity. Folds 14, 15, and 30 are all approximately one half inch deep. Folds 14, 15, and 30 are made before folds 2 and 12. FIG. 4 shows a side view of shingle panel 32. Fold 12 and fold 2 are approximately three guarters of an inch deep. In a third preferred embodiment, shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the shingle panel is folded to form many small subshingles, but every other subshingle is slightly higher than its neighbor. This is accomplished by making folds 30 in alternating directions within shingle panel 33, as shown in FIG. 5. In FIG. 6, it can be seen that the alternating pattern of high and low subshingles will be carried into the next shingle panel on both sides. Low end 20 is inserted into high fold 15 of the next shingle panel. FIG. 9 shows two of the shingle panels of FIG. 5 interlocked as they would be for mounting on a roof. FIG. 7 shows the shingle panel of FIG. 5 before it is folded. The dotted lines indicate where folds will occur. FIG. 7 shows that the cuts 38 made in the top edge 2 of shingle 33 are smaller than the cuts 39 made in the lower edge 12. Large cuts 39 leave slight gaps in folded-under edge 12 to allow water to flow down folds 30, through the gaps, and out onto the shingle below. Cuts 38 are smaller, so that no gap is left in folded- over edge 2. Thus, there is no gap in the folded-over top edge 2 so that water migrating up a shingle cannot flow through a gap onto the roof under the shingles. FIG. 8 shows eight of the shingles of FIG. 1 interlocked. Shingle 35 is located so that its gutter 16 guides water into the center of the top surface of shingle 36. Also, fold 2 of shingle 36 is inserted into fold 12 of shingle 35. Shingle 37 is to the right of shingle 35, and edge 20 of shingle 35 is inserted into fold 15 of shingle 37. FIG. 9 shows two of the shingle panels of FIGS. 5 and 6 interlocked. Top panel 40 is above, and offset from, lower panel 41. As seen in FIG. 9, when several panels according to the present invention are interlocked, it is impossible to discern whether a fold is the end of a panel or a fold 30. In the preferred embodiment of FIGS. 5 and 6, the heights of the subshingles alternate. Interlocked shingle panels of the preferred embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 through 4 would have the left side of each small subshingle slightly higher than the right side. Thus, their appearance is exactly the same as interlocked shingles of the preferred embodiment of FIG. 1. FIGS. 10 through 14 show a fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 shows a shingle 54 designed to interlock with shingle 53 of FIG. 10 on either side, on the top or on the bottom. Shingle 53 has two unfolded edges 55 and 56 which slide into S- folds 60 and 64, respectively, of shingle 54. Shingle 54 also has folds 58 and 62 which combine with folds 60 and 64 to form gutters 59 and 63. FIG. 12 shows a lower edge view of shingle 53 taken along line B. FIG. 14 shows a lower edge view of shingle 54 taken along line C. As is apparent from these drawings, right edge 55 of shingle 53 can slide into left S-fold 60 of shingle 54, or left edge 56 can slide into right S-fold 64, interlocking the two shingles. The top surface 4 of shingle 10 is depressed slightly lower than the top surface 4 of shingle 54 when the two are interlocked, as described above. The two shingles 53 and 54 also interlock vertically. FIG. 11 shows a side view which is accurate for both shingles. Thus, top fold 2 of shingle 53 slides into bottom fold 12 of both shingles 53 and 54 of the upper course of shingles. As well, the top fold 2 of shingle 54 slides into bottom fold 12 of both shingle 53 and 54 of the upper course of shingles. When several of shingles 53 and 54 are interlocked, they have the same appearance of varying height shown in FIG. 9. FIG. 15 shows a hip and ridge panel 44. Fold 46 folds upward and fold 47 folds under so that fold 46 of one hip and ridge interlocks with fold 47 of the next hip and ridge to the right. Hip and ridge panel 44 will be folded under about one half inch at edges 13 once the desired vertical length is determined. The fold formed at edges 13 is for appearance only, and does not interlock with any of the shingles described herein. S- folds 45 form three small hip and ridge sections in the large panel 44. FIG. 16 shows a universal endwall 50. Right edge 20 is unfolded to allow insertion into S-fold 15 of another endwall. Fold 14, together with fold 15, forms gutter 16. Endwall 50 will be folded under around one half inch at edge 11 once the desired length is determined. The fold formed at lower edge 11 will thus interlock with any of the shingles described herein.

Claims: THE INVENTION CLAIMED IS: 1. A planar roofing shingle having a top surface, a bottom surface, and an S-shaped fold adjacent one edge of said shingle for receiving a side edge of a laterally adjacent shingle, characterized in that a side edge of the shingle adjacent said S-shaped fold is folded over the top planar surface of the roofing shingle to form one side wall of a gutter with the wall extending from an upper edge to a lower edge of the shingle; said S-shaped fold being spaced apart from said folded over side edge fold to form another gutter side wall extending from the upper edge to the lower edge of the shingle; and the gutter side walls formed by said S-shaped fold and said folded over side edge, and the top surface of the roofing shingle between the S-shaped fold and the folded over side edge forming a gutter being adapted for catching water migrating around the S-shaped fold and under a laterally adjacent shingle to guide the water caught by the gutter to a top surface of a lower adjacent shingle. 2. The roofing shingle of claim 1 further characterized by an upper edge folded over the top surface of the roofing shingle; and a lower edge folded under the bottom surface of the roofing shingle, said lower edge adapted to engage a folder-over upper edge of a lower adjacent shingle. 3. The roofing shingle of claim 2 further characterized in that the folded-over upper edge of the roofing shingle is adapted to overlap a folded-over upper edge of a laterally adjacent shingle when the shingles are engaged so that water flowing along the gutter of the roofing shingle cannot flow up under a higher adjacent shingle; and the folded-under lower edge of the roofing shingle is adapted to provide a gap between the folded- under lower edge and a folded-under lower edge of the laterally adjacent shingle, the gap being adjacent to the gutter of said roofing shingle so that water flowing along said gutter can flow down onto the lower adjacent shingle. 4. The roofing shingle of claim 1 further characterized by multiple folds in the roofing shingle at regularly spaced intervals to form the appearance of multiple shingles. 5. The roofing shingle of claim 4 wherein said multiple folds alternate in direction. 6. The roofing shingle of claim 4 wherein said multiple folds are all oriented in the same direction. 7. A roofing shingle having a top surface, a bottom surface, a lower edge, and said side edge is folded over the top surface of the roofing shingle; an S-shaped fold spaced apart from a side edge for receiving an unfolded leading edge of a laterally adjacent similar shingle characterized in that said S- shaped fold, said edge fold, and the top surface of the roofing shingle between said S-shaped fold and the edge fold forming a gutter for guiding water from the top surface of the roofing shingle to the top surface of a lower adjacent similar shingle; multiple folds are formed in the roofing shingle at regularly spaced intervals to form the appearance of multiple shingles; and a plurality of gaps in said lower edge are formed adjacent to said multiple folds for allowing water to migrate along said multiple folds and out onto said lower adjacent shingle. 8. A roofing shingle comprising: a trailing edge; a first S-shaped fold spaced apart from said trailing edge; and a leading edge which is unfolded for inserting into the S-shaped fold of a laterally adjacent similar shingle characterized by: a plurality of additional S-shaped folds forming the appearance of multiple shingles; said trailing edge is folded over for forming a gutter between said trailing edge fold and said first S- shaped fold; an upper edge folded over a top surface of the roofing shingle; and a lower edge folded under a bottom surface of the roofing shingle for engagement with an upper edge of a lower adjacent similar shingle. 9. The roofing shingle of claim 8 and wherein the folded-under lower edge is cut away to form a plurality of gaps in said lower edge adjacent to said multiple folds for allowing water caught by the folded under lower edge to flow out onto a lower adjacent similar shingle below. 10. The roofing shingle of claim 8 wherein the folded-over upper edge is cut to form a plurality of laterally spaced apart folded-over upper edges that overlap at each S-shaped fold when the S-shaped folds are formed, the overlapped upper edges preventing water migrating up the S-shaped folds from flowing over the upper edge of the shingle.

Inventors: BUSTER JAMES MICHAEL, PLATH DAVID JAMES, STEADMAN GORDON STEWART JR, BUSTER, JAMES, MICHAEL, PLATH, DAVID, JAMES, STEADMAN, GORDON, STEWART, JR.
Applicants: PLATH CONSTRUCTION INC, PLATH CONSTRUCTION, INC.
Application year: 1995
Main classification: E04D1
IPC codes: E04D1