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RELATED APPLICATIONS  
         [0001]    None  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. a. Field of Invention  
           [0003]    This invention pertains to a tool kit used during the installation of roofing tiles, shingles or other similar materials. The tool is used to lay a whole or partial course of tiles on alignment and then affixing the tiles to the roof. The tool kit may also be used to install exterior materials such as siding.  
           [0004]    2. b. Description of the Prior Art  
           [0005]    The act of laying tiles or shingles on a slanted roof is still a manual operation that is time consuming and labor intensive. Typically, a roofer places each tile on the roof and nails it before laying then next tile. Since the roof is slanted, during this operation, the tile must be hand-held to insure that it does not slip off and break, and/or injure a bystander.  
           [0006]    Attempts have been made in the past to provide tools that can assist in this process, or even automate the process. Attempts have also been made to provide a tool useful for aligning the roofing tiles. Some samples of these prior art designs are found in the following patents:  
           [0007]    U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,380,485  
           [0008]    3,842,934  
           [0009]    4,785,606  
           [0010]    5,860,518  
           [0011]    5,205,103  
           [0012]    5,311,670  
           [0013]    5,526,577  
           [0014]    5,918,439  
           [0015]    However, none of these patents provide a satisfactory and inexpensive solution to the problems.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0016]    Thus there is a present need for a simple, easy to use tool that can be used to install a plurality of roofing tiles (or other similar roofing materials) quickly and easily. Preferably this tool should also be capable of aligning the tiles. Once a course, or a portion of a course is laid, it is desirable that the tool be easily removed. Moreover, it is also desirable to have a tool that can be expanded to install tiles on two roofing surfaces in a single operation wherein the roofing surfaces form an interior angle.  
           [0017]    Briefly, a roofing tool for laying courses of roofing tiles on a roof includes a rail defining a straight edge for aligning the tiles of a course; and a plurality of arms extending perpendicularly upwardly of said rail and attached thereto, each said arm having a length exceeding by a predetermined amount the length of the tiles of the respective course, said arms being constructed and arranged to support said rail on the roof. Preferably, the arms have a length of about 4-18 in above the lengths of the tiles. Each said arm has a lower portion with an end attached to the rail and a length approximately equal to the lengths of the respective tiles. Each arm also has an upper portion colinear and laterally offset from said lower portion, said upper portion including securing means, such as one or more holes, for securing said arms to the roof. The arms have one end attached to said rail.  
           [0018]    In one embodiment, the arms and the rail are coupled by a joint that allows said arms to move longitudinally along said arm.  
           [0019]    In another aspect of the invention, a plurality of joints are provided, each joint connecting one of said arms to said rail, wherein said arms are slidable with respect to said rail. Preferably, the joints allow the arms to pivot with respect to the rail for easy storage.  
           [0020]    A skirt is attached to and extending substantially along the length of the rail to provide cushioning as each tile is installed.  
           [0021]    Another aspect of the invention pertains to a roofing tool kit for installing several types of tiles in courses on a roof with a roofing deck, each type of tile having a different dimension. The kit includes a rail adapted to define straight edges for said courses; a plurality of sets of arms, each set of arms being sized to fit over a corresponding type of tile; and a plurality of knobs for coupling one of said sets of arms to said rail in a spaced relation along said rail, said rail and said one of said sets of arms cooperating to position said rail along a previous course of tiles and to define a straight edge for a present course of tiles with said arms extending from said rail, over said present course of tiles and terminating with an end just beyond said present course of tiles said termination being secured to the roof decking.  
           [0022]    Preferably, the knobs are constructed and arranged to pivotably mount said arms on said rail. A slider may be provided for selectively coupling said rails in a colinear relationship. Alternatively, a connector for connecting said rails at an angle to each other. The connector includes a skirt for cushioning the tiles.  
           [0023]    The tool kit may be used to install other exterior coverings, such as shingles and other similar siding material. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0024]    [0024]FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a roofing tool constructed in accordance with this invention;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 2 shows a side-sectional view of the roofing tool being used to install tiles;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 3 shows an enlarged side sectional view of the rail of the tool;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 4 shows a plan view of a slider for the roofing tool of FIG. 1;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 5 shows a side elevational view of the slider of FIG. 4;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 6 shows a roofing tool with two straight section connected by a curved connector;  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 7 shows an enlarged section of and of the curved connector of FIG. 6 with an insert;  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 8 shows a plan view of an alternate embodiment of an arm for the roofing tool;  
         [0032]    [0032]FIGS. 9A-9D show details of an alternate embodiment of an arm for the roofing tool;  
         [0033]    [0033]FIGS. 10A-10B show details of an embodiment of a hinged arm;  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 11A-G show details of another embodiment of the invention with a hinged arm;  
         [0035]    FIGS.  12 A-E show side views of the various embodiments of the tool for installing various types of roofing materials;  
         [0036]    [0036]FIGS. 13 and 14 show modifications to the tool members for installing siding; and  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 15 shows a channel modified for the installation of high wind roofing or siding. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0038]    The roofing tool described below is useful for installing tiles on a slanted roof. The term ‘tile’ is used to any suitable roofing material, such as clay tiles, slate tiles, wood shingles, Spanish tiles (having curved or wavy cross-section), etc.  
         [0039]    Referring first to FIGS. 1-5 , a roofing tool  10  constructed in accordance with invention includes a rail  12  and a plurality of arms  14 . Preferably the rail  12  consists of a channel  16  with a hollow passage  18  and a longitudinal slot  20 . In a lower section of the channel  16  there is provided a secondary longitudinal passage  22 . Attached to rail  12  is a skirt  24  consisting of a web  26  and collar  28 . The collar  28  is sized and shaped to fit into the secondary passage  22 . To reduce its weight, the channel  16  can shaped to fit into the secondary passage  22 . To reduce its weight, the channel  16  can be made with a through hole  30 .  
         [0040]    Rail  12  can be made to be about 4-8 feet long. The channel  16  can be made of a metal such as aluminum or an aluminum alloy and can be extruded. The channel could be about 1 in wide and 1 in thick.  
         [0041]    The skirt  24  attached to the channel  16  can be made of rubber or other flexible material. The web is preferably about 2″ wide. Its collar  28  fits into and is captured by the secondary channel  22  (using an interference fit or an adhesive) so that it does not move or slide longitudinally with respect to the channel.  
         [0042]    Arm  14  shown in detail in FIGS. 2. It is made of aluminum, steel or other similar material and it includes two straight portions: a lower portion  32  and an upper portion  34 . The lower portion is formed at its end with a hole  36  for mounting arm  14  to the rail  12 , as discussed in more detail below. The upper portion  34  is formed with one or two holes  38 . The two portions  32 ,  34  are joined by an angled section  41 . The arm  14  may be ½-¾ in wide and about ¼ in thick.  
         [0043]    Each arm  14  is attached to the rail  12  by a knob  40 . The knob includes a slider  42  (shown in detail in FIGS. 4 and 5) a screw  44  and a handle  46 . The slider  42  is sized and shaped to fit into the passage  18 . The screw  44  passes through a threaded hole (Not shown) in the slider  42  and extends through the slot  20 . Its external end is fixed to the handle  46 . When the knob  40  is loose, the arm  14  can be rotated about screw  44  as indicated by arrows A and B in FIG. 1. In this manner, the arms  14  can be folded to lie on top of rail  12 . The knob  40  can be tightened while the arms are in this closed configuration so that the tool  10  can be lifted up easily to, or lowered easily down from the job site. In this configuration, the tool is also easy to transport. Alternatively, the arms  14  can also be pivoted to the open position in which they are extend perpendicularly to the rail  12 . A detent may be formed on the lower portion  32  to engage a sidewall of the rail  12  in such a manner that when the arms  14  are opened all the way, the detent forces them to snap to the perpendicular orientation and stay in that position while the tool  10  is in use.  
         [0044]    The installation of tiles on a roof using tool  10  is now described in conjunction with FIG. 2. Typically, the roof of a building, prior to tiling, consists of a wood deck  100 . The process of roofing consists of installing several overlapping of tiles on the wood deck  100 . In FIG. 2, two courses of tiles  102  and  104  has been installed and secured to the deck  100  by nails  106 . Before the next course is laid, the tool  10  is positioned, as shown in the Figure, with the rail  12  resting on top of course  104  at the upper edge of the exposure. (The exposure is the portion of tiles of a course that is left exposed to view with the rest of the tiles being covered by the successive courses). The arms  14  are perpendicular to the rail  12  and extend past the upper edge of course  104 . The arms  12  are secured to the deck  100  by temporary nails  110 . The distance D between the rail  12  and the first nail  110  is approximately a full size tile plus 3-4 in. The web of the skirt  24  lies flat on top of course  104 .  
         [0045]    With the tool  10  in the position described, the tiles of the next course  108  are placed on top of course  106 . The lower portion of each of these tiles rests on the web of the skirt  24 , and against the rail, which thus forms a straight edge for the course. A workman places each tile in sequence along the rail  12  from left to right, or right to left until the course  108  is complete. The tiles are kept in place by the rail  12 . When the whole (or a portion) of the course is complete, the workman secures the tiles to the deck  100  with nails  112 . During this whole process, the workman does not have to hold the tiles in position since they are held and automatically aligned by the rail  12 . The skirt  24  cushions the tiles to insure that they do not crack or chip.  
         [0046]    The length of arm portion  32  is equal approximately to the length of the tiles forming the respective course plus 1 in, so that the tiles can be laid without interference with the arm. The arm portion  34  can be about 2 in longer than the exposure The two portions  32 ,  34  are offset by angled portion  41  by a distance sufficient to insure the clearance for the tiles. This offset between the two arm portions can be made smaller for thinner tiles (such as slate tiles) and larger for thicker tiles (such as wooden shingles).  
         [0047]    Once the tiles of a course are secured, the tool  10  is separated from the deck  100 , for example by removing the nails  110 . The tool is then moved slightly downward to pull the skirt out from under the tiles of course  108 , and the tool is placed with its ready for laying the next course.  
         [0048]    As discussed above, preferably, the rail has a length of 4-8 feet for easy transportation and storing. Of course many roofs are much longer than that. For this purpose a composite roofing tool is used formed of two or more rails similar rail  12 , each rail having its own a set of arms  14 . For this purpose the rail  12  is provided at its ends with additional sliders  42 A that extend out of the passage  18  and can be telescopically received by an adjacent rail  12  to insure that the rails are properly aligned with each other. The sliders  42 A may be supported on one of the rails  12  by a knob  40 A.  
         [0049]    Some houses have several roof sections which meet at respective angles. For these types of roofs a composite roofing tool  150  is used as indicated in FIG. 6. Tool  150  includes two rails  12 , each having its arms  14  and skirt  24 . A curved connector  152  is used to couple and align the two rails  12 . The connector is formed with a flexible hollow tube  154  that can follow the curvature of a roof corner (not shown) and easily match its curvature. As seen in FIGS. 6 and 7, attached to the tube  154  is a curved adapter skirt  156 . The connector  152  is also provided with an adapter  158  having two portions, a rod-shaped portion  160 , and a straight portion  162 , The rod-shaped portion  160  fits into the tube  154  while the straight portion  162  fits into the rail  12  in the same manner as slider  42 ,  42 A. An adapter  158  is provided at each end of tube  154  for connection to a respective rail  12 . The two portions  160 , 162  are axially offset, as shown, to insure that the adapter skirt  156  is aligned with the skirts  24  of the two rails  12 . The composite roofing tool  150  is used to lay courses across the roof sections, including the curved valley interconnecting the same, with the adapter  152  providing the alignment for the tiles at the valley.  
         [0050]    In one alternate embodiment shown in FIG. 8, arm  14 A is provided with an elongated hole  36 A receiving screw  44  and elongated holes  38 A at the other end. The holes  38 A may have a keyhole shape, as shown. This configuration is advantageous because, once a respective course is laid, the arms can be shifted longitudinally upward to allow the arms  14 A to be lifted off the nails  110  without the need for removing the nails  110  from the deck  100 . The nails  110  can then be hit until they their heads are flush with the deck  100 . Once the arms  14 A are lifted off the nails, the rail  12  can be shifted downward to pull the skirt out from under course  108 . The arms  14  may be provided with gradations, as at G which provide the roofer with guidance for marking the position of the next course. Typically, as the courses approach the peak of the roof, their exposure is lessened.  
         [0051]    In a second alternate embodiment shown in FIGS. 9A-9D, an arm  214  is shown which includes two straight portions: a lower portion  232  and an upper portion  234 . The lower portion is formed at its end with a hole  236  for mounting arm  214  to the rail  12 , as discussed. The upper portion  234  is formed with a hole  238  and a lateral slot  235  disposed near hole  238 . In addition, the distal end of the portion  234  is formed with a plurality of axially spaced lateral slots  237 . The two portions  232 ,  234  portions are joined by an angled section  241  which may be flexible to compensate for tiles of various thicknesses. A sleeve  231  is also provided. As seen in FIG. 9D the sleeve may have a C-shaped cross-section, or may be tubular. The sleeve  213  is formed with an elongated hole  233  and a slot  239 . The sleeve  231  is slidably connected to arm  230  by a rivet  243  or other means which passes through hole  233 . Because of its shape, the hole  233  allows the sleeve  231  to slide longitudinally along the arm  230 . The arm  230  is attached to a roof by two nails. One nail  245  passes through or is engaged by slot  235 . The other nail  247  passes through one of the slots  237 . Once the arm is attached to the roof, the sleeve  231  is moved down over the nail  245  to trap it and insure that the arm is not disengaged from the roof while the tiles are installed. Once a course is completed, the sleeve  231  is raised, and the arm is rotated slightly with respect to the base (not shown) to disengage it from the nails  245 ,  247 . The slots  237  are spaced so that the arm can be used for tiles of different sizes, or to accommodate for the shorter exposure or in graduated roofs with larger exposure at the elves and smaller courses at the peak of the roof.  
         [0052]    [0052]FIGS. 10A-10B show an arm  250  with two portions  252 ,  254  and a sleeve  251  similar to portions  232 ,  234  and sleeve  231  in FIGS. 9A-9D. In addition, the arm  250  also has a hinge  251  which allows the portion  254  to rotate by about 270° with respect to portion  252 . This feature allows the arm  250  to be used on wider range of tiles.  
         [0053]    [0053]FIGS. 11A-11G show another embodiment. In this embodiment, roofing tool  260  is formed of rail  12 , skirt  264  and arm  266  attached to the rail  12  by a knob  268 . A spring washer  262  is provided under the knob  268  to allow the knob  268  to be handled easier. The washer can be made of steel or a plastic material.  
         [0054]    The arm  266  includes a first portion  270  and a second portion  272 . The second portion  272  may be similar to the portions  234  and  254 . In one configuration, the two portions are coupled to each other by a hinge  274  formed of a boss  276  and a pin  278 .  
         [0055]    The portion  270  is formed of two bars  280  and  282 . The two bars are held together with two sleeves  284 ,  286 . Screws  288  in these sleeves are used to keep the arm steady and secure by insuring that there is minimal play between the bars. Sleeve  284  also has a spring loaded plunger  290 . The plunger passes through one of several axially spaced holes  292  in the arms. The overall length of the portion  270  is adjusted by pulling the plunger  290  out, shifting the bars longitudinally with respect to each other until a new hole  292  is reached and then reseating the plunger  290  in the new hole. Importantly, the arm  266  may also be adjusted to extend further away from the rail  12 . This is accomplished by providing a spacer sleeve  294  and a longer screw  296  for the handle  268 , shown in FIG. 11G. In addition, the two portions  272 ,  274  are further separated by a triangular spacer  296 . The spacer  296  is coupled to the portions  272  and  274  by hinges  274 ,  274 A and has a flat part  297  that is used to further secure the spacer  296  to the portion  270  by a thumb screw  298 , as shown in FIG. 11B.  
         [0056]    An advantage of the tool described herein is that it can be used with the appropriate parts to install various types of roofing materials. For example, FIG. 12A show how the tool consisting of rail  12  and arm  250  is used to install tiles  300  that are ½″ thick, 12″ long and 5″ exposure. FIG. 12B show the same rail  12  and a longer arm 250′ (but essentially the same structure as arm  250 ) to install slate  302  that is ¼″ thick, 18″ long and 7-½″ exposure. FIG. 12C shows tool  260  used to install jumbo wood shakes 1-½″ thick, 24″ long and 10″ exposure. FIGS. 12D and 12E show the tool  260  for installing Spanish ceramic tiles having semi-circular shape, ½″ thick, 13-¼″ long and 10-¼″ exposure. As shown in FIG. 12E, for this installation, the skirt  26  may be cut at regular intervals to accommodate the tiles, as shown.  
         [0057]    [0057]FIG. 15 shows a modified rail adapted to install high wind resistant roofing tiles or siding. The rail includes a channel  16 D with a rubber attachment  26 D extending outwardly as shown. In use the rubber attachment  26 D supports the roofing or siding material before the latter is secured to the underlying base.  
         [0058]    The tool and its various attachments and implements was described so far is particularly suited for installing roofing materials. However, the same tool may also be used for installing covering for the external walls of a structure, such as aluminum or other type of siding. As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 for this purpose, arm  14  is altered slightly to accommodate a horizontal elastic retainer  19  to support the siding. Alternatively, the retainer  19  can be replaced by a cord attached to the arms  14 . As seen in FIG. 14, the retainer  19  is mounted on the arms  14  by a fastener  21 . An additional spacer  23  is provided to hold the siding  25  in the correct position during installation.  
         [0059]    The tool can be sold with a rail  12  and a set of arms  14 , the arms having specific lengths and features for specific materials, as described. Alternatively, a tool kit can be sold that includes the rail  12 , several types of arms  14 ,  250 ,  266 , retainer  17 , spacer  23 , connectors, circular tubings, etc. Alternatively, these later components can be bought separately.  
         [0060]    While the invention has been described with reference to several particular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles of the invention. Accordingly, the embodiments described in particular should be considered as exemplary, not limiting, with respect to the following claims.

Summary:
A tool for laying sequential courses of tiles on an inclined roof, or sidewall the tool including a rail and several arms sized to extend over a previous course of tiles and to position the rail to define a straight edge for the current or new tile course. The arms extend over the current course and their ends are nailed or otherwise secured to the roof or sidewall. After the course is laid, the rail is moved up for the next course. A kit is formed of one or more rails, sets of arms, each set being sized and/or hinged for a corresponding type of tile, and means of interconnecting and aligning the rails. Two rails may also be used to provide roofing on a roof having two sections joined by a valley. For this configuration, a curved, flexible connector is used which is formed of a rubber pipe.