Patent Abstract:
A facia border for covering the periphery of a structure between the roof and a soffit includes mounting clips attached at periodic peripheral locations for attaching coil facia trim at detented positions.

Full Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to facia borders for use around the periphery of a building roof, and, in particular, to a two-piece facia system for easy and accurate installation between the roof and soffits. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Facia borders are commonly used at the transition of outer walls and roof periphery to provide a structural and architectural transition therebetween. Where a transition is to be effected between a soffit and the roof, for instance, an elongate strip or board is attached to the nailing plate on the outer wall and overlies the upper end thereof. A molding strip is oftentimes used to provide the final transition with the roof. 
     The installation using lumber is well established. The material is relatively rigid and presents few problems in alignment or fastening. The advent of light weight pre-finished materials, such as aluminum trim strips, however, present installation, quality control, and decorative problems. The trim strips are commonly roll-formed on site from coiled stock and severed to convenient extended lengths and nailed at the upper ends to the underlying nailing plate. Because of the thin wall material commonly used, 20 gauge or less in thickness, the formed strips are prone to deflection and sagging during installation, presenting an undesirable waviness at the bottom detracting from appearance. Unless carefully handled, the strips may also kink or buckle, further complicating installation and detracting from appearance. Thus, unless painstakingly matched to reference markings requiring advance carpentry skills, the finished border is irregular and decoratively compromised. 
     Further, the fastener installation tends to impart localized surface blemishes, in the form of dimples and waves, which are likewise detracting. Moreover, the rigid attachment of the trim strip presents thermal expansion problems that can produce bowings and other thermally related distortions of the trip strip. Not entirely satisfactory attempts have been made to overcome the attachment difficulties using adhesives, however, durability and long term adherence problems persist. 
     Facia systems have been proposed using custom components, in both aluminum ad vinyl stock. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,227,797 to Finger discloses a rake board installation wherein upper and lower J-channels capture inwardly projecting hooks at the top and bottom of a trim piece. A similar custom retention system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,129 to Knoebl wherein upper and lower mounting channels capture the facia panel. Another mounting system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,332,180 to Price wherein spaced mounting clips engage the lower flange of a trim member, with the upper end of the trim member nailed to the roof sheeting. While each of the foregoing eliminates some of the drawbacks of current facia installation, custom and according expensive components are required. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a snap-in facia border utilizing conventional roll formed coil trim. The trim is attached to mounting clips periodically spaced about the roof periphery. The mounting clip includes horizontal barbs that are tacked on the nail backing plate along a chalk line that insures uniform positioning of the trim relative to the roof line, soffit and wall facing. After alignment the clip is attached to the nailing plate with conventional fasteners. The clip includes an upper pocket that receives the top of the trim to vertically locate and retain the trim, and a lower leg that is slidably received in the lower trim flange to retain the bottom of the trim. The front face is provided with rearward swaged indentations that engage a stop plate to limit downward movement of the trim. The trim may be conveniently slid into a locked condition whereat the indentations detent with the stop plates of the mounting clips, easily and with minimal dexterity. Resultantly, an accurately aligned trim member using desirable standard trip components is provided. 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a facia system for roof borders that is easy to install using conventional trim facing. 
     Another object of the invention is to provide a simplified method for accurately installing coil trim. 
     A further object of the invention is to provide a two-piece facia border for a roof periphery that is easily, accurately and securely assembled without visible fasteners. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a side cross sectional view of a facia border in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a fragmentary front view of the facia border shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a front view of the facia clip for the facia border shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is a side view of the facia clip shown in FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary cross sectional view of the mounting clip illustrating the clip locating barb; 
     FIG. 6 is a fragmentary front view of the facia panel of the facia border shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 7 is a side view of the facia panel shown in FIG. 6; 
     FIG. 8 is fragmentary front elevational view of the mounting clips installed on a nailing plate; 
     FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8 showing the facia plate on the facia clips prior to locking; 
     FIG. 10 is a side cross sectional view of a facia border in accordance with another embodiment of the invention; and 
     FIG. 11 is a fragmentary front view of the facia border shown in FIG.  11 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to the drawings for the purpose of describing the preferred embodiment and not for limiting same, FIG. 1, and  2  illustrate a facia border  10  disposed about the periphery of a structure between a roof member  12  and a horizontal soffit  14 , or wall facing  16 , shown in dashed lines. In final assembly, the top end of the facia border  10  is commonly overlaid by corner molding  18 . As a result, the facia border  10  forms a decorative facing for the transitions between structure walls and roofing. 
     The facia border  10  comprises a plurality of mounting clips  20  to which an elongated trim strip  22  is slidably secured. As shown in FIG. 8, the clips  20  are periodically attached to a nailing plate  24 , customarily 16 inch to 24 inch on center spacings. The nailing plate  24  is typically dimensional lumber, 2×4 or 2×6. 
     Referring to FIGS. 3 through 5, the mounting clip  20  comprises a unitary body formed of sheet material. The mounting,clip  20  includes a vertical front wall  30  and a rearwardly turned lower horizontal wall  32  at the lower end thereof. A pair of triangular reversely bent barbs  34  are formed at the sides of the front wall  30  and project rearwardly orthogonal thereto. The barbs  34  are horizontally aligned along a horizontal fold line  35  and spaced in about the middle of the front wall  32 . A pair of circular nailing holes  36  are formed in the front wall  30  inwardly of and with axes horizontally aligned with the barbs  34 . The front wall  30  has parallel vertical side walls and terminates upwardly with a reversely bent clip pocket  40  and a forwardly inclined stop plate or tab  42 . The upper corners of the front wall are provided with beveled surfaces. The pocket  40  and the locating tab  42  are horizontally separated by a vertical gap  46 . 
     The pocket  40  is defined by a reversely bent, U-shaped rim  50  and a generally rectangular frontal wall  52 , forwardly spaced from the front surface of the wall  30  to define a downwardly opening slot  54 . The stop tab  42  is forwardly inclined about a horizontal fold line  56  presenting a top horizontal locating ledge  58 . The tab  42  is inclined sufficiently for locking with the trim  22  as described in greater detail below. The tab is inclined between 0° and 20° and preferably between 5° and 15°, with good retention being provided with an inclination of about 10°. The lower wall  32  has a length for establishing a sliding fit with the trip strip as described below. 
     The trim strip  22  is a conventional elongate member formed in preformed lengths, or roll formed from coiled strip on-site to working lengths. The trim strip  22  has a L-shaped side profile comprising a front wall  60  having a rearwardly extending bottom wall  62  terminating with a reversely upwardly turned lip  64 . The inner surfaces of the front wall  60 , the bottom wall  62  and the lip  64  define an upwardly opening slot  66  having a width for slidably receiving the lower wall  32  of the mounting clip  20 . 
     The front wall  60  may be formed of varying conventional configurations and textures for architectural preferences. In the present invention, the front wall  60  includes horizontally spaced, rearwardly projecting locating indents  70 . The indents  70  may be arranged in pairs that are longitudinally spaced along the length of the facia board corresponding to the spacing of the mounting clips  20 . If arranged in the illustrated pairs, the spacing is less than the length of the inclined ledge  58 . The indents  70  may be formed by a suitable metalworking crimping device, such as a commercially available Snap-Loc crimper. Each indent  70  is generally defined by a severed lower horizontal edge  72 , which is rearwardly spaced from the front wall by a rearwardly swaged inclined transition wall  74 . Accordingly, the locating edge  72  forms a rearwardly indented surface for engagement with the edge  58  of the mounting clip  20 . The locating edge  72  is slightly less than the distance between the pocket  40  and the ledge of the mounting clip such that when the upper end of the facia board is received in the pocket  54 , the indent  70  engage the ledge  58  to vertically locate the trim strip with respect to the mounting clip. The distance between the indents  70  and the lower wall  62  is substantially the same or less than the distance between the ledge  58  to the lower wall  32  of the clip. 
     The facia border  10  as described above may be readily and accurately assembled around the roof perimeter. Initially, as shown in FIG. 8, a chalk line  90  is established a predetermined distance above the lower edge of the nailing plate, representing a distance whereat the lower end of the trim strip is preferably disposed. The barbs  34  of the mounting clips are located at desired periodic spacings along the line  90 . The barbs are tacked into place to align the clips. Suitable fasteners, such as nails or screws, are installed through the plate holes  36  to fixedly secure the clips  20  to the nailing plate  24 . 
     Referring to FIG. 9, after installation of the clips, the trim strip  22  preliminary horizontally positioned on the clips with the indents aligned with the stop plate and the slot  64  aligned with the lower wall  32 . The trip strip  22  is further vertically raised as indicated by the arrow with the upper end entering the clip pocket  40 , the indents  70  resiliently snapping over the lip, and the lower wall telescoping in the pocket resulting in the assembled conditions shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Thereat, the vertical positions are repetitively accurately maintained, and inward and outward movement restrained at the top end, by the upper pocket and at the lower end by the cooperation between the lower wall and the lower slot 
     Another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 particularly adapted for installations wherein the facia corner molding  110  is installed to the nailing plate  112  prior to trim strip installation. Therein, the mounting clip  120  includes a top portion defined by a forwardly inclined tab  122  providing a horizontal locating surface  124  along the upper edge eliminating the top pocket of the above embodiment. The length of the front wall  126  is increased to provide direct contact with the lower wall  130  of the facia board  132 . The clip  120  is installed similar to the above embodiment. For installation, the top end of the trim strip  132  is upwardly inserted between the corner molding  110  and the nailing  112  until the indents  140  snap over the edge of the stop plate  122  thereby establishing a locked position against downward movement. Vertical upward movement is restrained by engagement of the lower end  142  of the clip with lower flange of the trip strip. Inward and outward movement of the top of the trim strip is restrained by corner molding. If desired to restrain inward and outward movement of the bottom of the facia board, the clip  120  may be provided with a rearward lower leg for receipt in the lower slot of the facia board, similar to the first described embodiment. 
     It will thus be appreciated that the present invention provides a nail free mounting for roof facia board that can be easily and quickly installed to precise standards without requiring high skill levels. Once in place, the retention features establish secure retention while allowing thermal expansions and contractions without warping or wrinkling, and resist outer deflection occasioned by winds and precipitation. 
     Having thus described a presently preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will now be appreciated that the objects of the invention have been fully achieved, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the sprit and scope of the present invention. The disclosures and description herein are intended to be illustrative and are not in any sense limiting of the invention, which is defined solely in accordance with the following claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 4