Patent Abstract:
A corner piece includes a first group of vertically stacked walls and a second group of vertically stacked walls is provided. Each wall in the first and second groups includes an exterior face and an interior face and a first lateral edge and a second lateral edge opposite the first lateral edge. The first group and second groups meet at a common corner defined by the first lateral edges. The exterior faces collectively include an ornamental appearance containing a plurality of vertically stacked shingle impressions. The second lateral edges of the walls in at least one of the groups are staggered in width relative to the common corner, wherein the shingle impressions of the at least one group overlap at least a portion of the siding panels when the siding panels and the corner piece are fastened to the structure.

Full Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]    This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/796,930 of Robert David Shaw and Stephen William Steffes, filed Mar. 1, 2001, entitled “Cedar Impression Siding Corner” the entirety of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    This invention relates to siding products generally, and more particularly to siding corners having cedar impressions formed thereon.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    Wooden shingles and shakes are very popular and attractive siding products used in the construction of homes, businesses and other structures. Unfortunately, these wooden products require constant maintenance, and are extremely expensive, as well as labor intensive to install. Further, the durability of wooden products, such as those constructed from cedar, lags far behind that of products made of synthetic materials. Therefore, a considerable number of synthetic siding products have been created that simulate the wooden appearance of, for example, cedar shingles or cedar shake shingles. These siding products are typically formed from materials such as polyvinyl chloride and polypropylene.  
           [0004]    Once siding panels are installed onto the exterior sheathing of a structure, it often becomes necessary to place a corner cap over the exposed ends of the siding panels. Efforts have been made to match the ornamental appearance of the siding panel with the corner cap appearance, so as to avoid an unaesthetic or artificial looking final structure. One example is the simulated shake siding corner described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,015,391 to Epstein, et al. entitled “Simulated Cedar Shake Construction,” issued Apr. 5, 1977, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. Epstein describes simulated cedar shake siding panels that are attached to the outside walls of a structure and a corner piece  70  that may be used in conjunction with the described siding panels.  
           [0005]    The Epstein corner  70 , illustrated in FIGS. 1A through 1F, is formed with a shake impression thereon in order to match the shake appearance provided by the siding panels, also described in Epstein and shown in FIG. 1F. The siding corner  70  simulates two shakes  71 , 73  nailed or otherwise mitre attached at about 90°, one to the other. The corner piece  70  is formed with the horizontal base  72  approximating in size the normal depth of natural shakes. A vertical lip  74  extends from the inside edge of horizontal base  72  and locks two overlapping corners  70  when it engages slot receptor  80  formed between the base of nose  78  and planes of the pre-apertured nailing tab  76 . Two corners  70  may be interfitted butt-end to head-end when the lip  74  is received inside slot receptor  80 , as illustrated in FIG. 1C. The shake faces  71 ,  73  are angled forward from top to bottom so that the lip  74  can enter slot receptor  80  of the next lowest corner  70 . The nailing tab  76  seats against the wall surfaces and may be nailed thereto. FIG. 1F is a plan view of a siding facade including a plurality of stacked corners  70 , one on top of the other, with the shake faces  71 , 73  overlapping the side edges of simulated shake panels  97 ,  95 ,  91 ,  93  nailed to two walls of a structure.  
           [0006]    [0006]FIG. 2A of the Epstein &#39;391 patent is a front perspective view of another prior art multiple course simulated cedar shake corner piece  100 , and FIG. 2B is a right side elevational view of the corner of FIG. 2A. The corner piece  100  includes two faces  102 ,  104  having a pair of vertically stacked shingle impressions thereon. The corner piece  100  includes two nailing flanges  106 ,  108 . The corner piece  100  is nailed to a corner of a structure prior to attaching siding panels, which overlap the nailing flanges  108 ,  106  of the corner piece  100 .  
           [0007]    Prior art corner pieces, such as corner pieces  70 ,  100  described above, suffer from several drawbacks. First, referring to FIG. 1F, when viewing a corner of a structure covered by a stack of a plurality of corner pieces  70  such that both walls of the structure that form the corner are visible, the appearance of a random selection of shingles within each course formed on the siding panels does not continue through to the corner pieces  70  when the corner pieces  70  each have identical faces  71 , 73 . The courses do not appear as if they terminate in a natural manner at the corners of the structure. This unnatural appearance occurs when employing either the multiple course corner piece  100 , where the faces  102 ,  104  are identical, or when employing the single course corner piece  70 , where the faces  71 ,  73  are identical.  
           [0008]    Further, as best illustrated in FIG. 2B, when viewing only a single wall of a structure that includes a prior art corner piece  70  or a prior art corner piece  100 , it becomes quite apparent that artificial corner pieces have been employed. A continuous and non-staggered lateral edge  110  is apparent along the entire corner of the structure from corner piece  70 ,  100  to corner piece  70 ,  100  when corner pieces  70 ,  100  are attached to the structure in a vertical stack, one on top of the other. The linear joint formed between the siding corner pieces and the siding panels is apparent to even a casual observer.  
           [0009]    Therefore, there remains a need for a corner piece that provides the appearance of a more natural termination of the courses of a siding facade employing simulated cedar impression siding panels and for a corner piece that more effectively blends the corner piece into the facade to mask the presence of the corner piece and promote the overall desired appearance of a random selection of individual shingles.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0010]    The present invention provides a corner piece for covering a corner of a structure defined by two mating walls of the structure and for use in conjunction with siding panels containing multiple shingle impression courses fastened to the mating walls. The corner piece includes a first group of vertically stacked walls and a second group of vertically stacked walls, each wall in the first and second groups including an exterior face and an interior face and a first lateral edge and a second lateral edge opposite the first lateral edge. The first group and second group meet at a common corner defined by the first lateral edges. The exterior faces collectively include an ornamental appearance containing a plurality of vertically stacked shingle impressions. The second lateral edges of the walls in at least one of the groups are staggered in width relative to the common corner, wherein the shingle impressions of the at least one group overlap at least a portion of the siding panels when the siding panels and the corner piece are fastened to the structure.  
           [0011]    The shingle impressions and the multiple shingle impression courses of the siding panels cooperate to give the appearance that the corner piece substantially blends into the siding panels. The corner piece provides a natural looking termination to the courses of the siding panels when viewing the structure from the side (i.e., when only one of the walls is visible) or when viewing the corner of the structure (i.e., when both of the walls of the structure are visible). No linear seem or joint is conspicuously formed between the corner piece and the siding panels, thereby masking the presence of a prefabricated and artificial corner member.  
           [0012]    The above and other features of the present invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention that is provided in connection with the accompanying drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]    The accompanying drawings illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention as well as other information pertinent to the disclosure, in which:  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 1A is a front perspective view of a prior art siding corner;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 1B is a rear perspective view of the prior art siding corner of FIG. 1B;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 1C is an enlarged fragmentery section taken along line  1 C- 1 C of FIG. 1F;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 1D is an enlarged fragmentary section taken along line  1 D- 1 D of FIG. 1F;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 1E is an enlarged view of the corner to corner locking means of the prior art siding corner of FIG. 1A;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 1F is a plan view of prior art simulated shake corners of FIG. 1A and panels in an assembled form;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 2A is a front perspective view of a prior art siding corner having a vertically stacked shingle impression thereon;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 2B is a right side elevational view of the prior art siding corner of FIG. 2A;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 3A is a side perspective view of an exemplary outside corner piece according to the present invention;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 3B is a rear perspective view of the exemplary corner piece of FIG. 3A;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 3C is a first outside side elevational view of the exemplary corner piece of FIG. 3A;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 3D is a second outside side elevational view of the exemplary corner piece of FIG. 3A;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 3E is an inside side elevational view of the exemplary corner piece of FIG. 3A;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 4A is a front perspective view of an exemplary inside corner piece according to the present invention;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 4B is a side perspective view of the exemplary corner piece of FIG. 4A;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 4C is a first side elevational view of the exemplary corner piece of FIG. 4A;  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 4D is a second side elevational view of the exemplary corner piece of FIG. 4A; and  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 4E is an inside side elevational view of the exemplary corner piece of FIG. 4A. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0032]    FIGS.  3 A- 3 E illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an outside corner piece  200  for covering an “outside corner” of a structure. Specifically, FIG. 3A is a side perspective view of the outside corner piece  200 . By “outside” corner piece, it is meant that the corner piece is shaped to cover an outwardly protruding or “outside” corner of a structure as opposed to an inwardly formed or “inside” corner of a structure, as may be covered by the inside corner piece  300  shown in FIGS.  4 A- 4 E.  
         [0033]    The outside corner piece  200  includes a first wall  202  and a second wall  212 . The first wall  202  is defined by an exterior face  204 , an interior face  206 , a first lateral edge  208  and a second lateral edge  210 . Likewise, the second wall  212  is defined by an exterior face  214  (shown in FIG. 3D), an interior face  216 , a first lateral edge  218  and a second lateral edge  220 . The second wall  212  meets the first wall  202  at a corner defined by the first lateral edges  218 ,  208  of the second wall  212  and first wall  202 , respectively.  
         [0034]    The exterior faces  204 ,  214  of the first and second walls  202 ,  212  each include an ornamental appearance containing a plurality of vertically stacked siding impressions formed thereon; preferably, a plurality of vertically stacked shingle impressions formed thereon; and more preferably, a plurality of vertically stacked cedar shingle impressions  230  formed thereon. Detailed impressions may be formed on the exterior faces  204 ,  214  by injection molding the corner piece  200 . The preferred materials for forming the corner piece  200  include polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polypropylene, although other materials such as cement, wood-polymer blends, etc. may also be suitable. The vertically stacked shingle impressions preferably match and align with the courses formed on the siding panels attached to the walls of the structure. By “course,” it is meant a continuous horizontal siding layer of brick, masonry or shingle.  
         [0035]    An exemplary outside corner piece  200  preferably includes fastening means for attaching the corner piece  200  to the corner of the structure. Siding panels that also include a shingle impression are attached to the walls of the structure, such as in a conventional nailing fashion and preferably before attaching corner pieces  200 . Once the siding panels are attached to the walls of the structure, a first corner piece  200  may be disposed at the bottom-most end of the corner of the structure. The siding panels are disposed to leave the corner of the structure partially uncovered, at least enough to accommodate the width, designated “W” in FIG. 3B, of the nailing flanges  222  described hereafter. The corner piece  200  may then be attached to the corner of the structure using the fastening means. An exemplary fastening means includes at least one nailing flange  222  extending from the first and second walls  202 ,  212 . The nailing flanges  222  are preferably pre-apertured as shown in FIGS.  3 A- 3 E in order to facilitate attachment to the structure.  
         [0036]    Once a corner piece  200  is attached to a corner of a structure as described above, a second corner piece  200  may be attached above the first corner piece  200  such that the bottom end of the second corner piece  200  is fitted over the top end of the first corner piece  200  as described hereafter. An exemplary corner piece  200  preferably includes cooperable catch means for securing corner pieces together. A second corner piece  200  may be fitted over a first corner piece  200  such that catches  224   b  disposed toward the bottom end of the second corner piece  200  fit into catches  224   a  disposed toward the top end of the first corner piece  200 . The second corner piece  200  may then be nailed to the corner of the structure as described above. This assembly technique may be followed until the entire corner of the structure is covered by stacked corner pieces  200 .  
         [0037]    It should be apparent that the bottom of the second corner piece  200  covers the nailing flange  222  of the corner piece  200  immediately below it. The corner pieces  200  are also preferably attached to the corner such that the second lateral edges  210 ,  220  overlap at least a portion of the siding panels when the siding panels and corner piece  200  are attached to the structure. The siding panels are preferably attached, such as by nailing flanges, to the walls of the structure prior to attaching the corner pieces  200 , but the siding panels may also be attached to the walls of the structure after attachment of the corner pieces  200  if the edges of the siding panels are slid under the second lateral edges  210 ,  220  of the corner pieces  200 .  
         [0038]    An exemplary corner piece  200  may be approximately 14″ tall, although the present invention is in no manner limited to a specific size of corner piece. This exemplary size of corner piece  200  may be manufactured in a conventional injection molding process. Each shingle impression of the plurality of vertically stacked shingle impressions  230  of exemplary corner piece  200 , therefore, is approximately 7″ tall and designed to align with the courses of the siding panels. An exemplary corner piece  200  is also preferably approximately 0.125″ or less in thickness, designated “T” in FIG. 3E, such that the walls  202 ,  212  of the corner piece  200  do not significantly protrude from the faces of the siding panels when covering at least a portion of the siding panels.  
         [0039]    This exemplary corner piece  200  provides several benefits. The corner piece  200  may be attached to the corner of the structure after attaching the siding panel, as opposed to the prior art corner piece  100  shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B which must be attached to the corner of the structure prior to the attaching the siding panels. This feature, therefore, allows a damaged siding corner piece  200  or plurality of damaged siding corner pies  200  to be removed without the added labor associated with removing and reattaching the siding panels of the attached to the structure.  
         [0040]    Also, as can be seen in FIGS.  3 A- 3 E, the shingle impression of the exterior faces  204 ,  214  are staggered at least along the second lateral edges  210 ,  220 . By “staggered,” it is meant that the second lateral edges of two vertically stacked shingle impressions are offset a distance from each other where the bottom of a first vertically stacked shingle impression meets the top of a second vertically stacked shingle impression such that one of the shingle impressions effectively extends to overlap a greater portion of a siding panel attached to the structure when the siding panel and corner piece  200  are attached to the structure. For example, the second lateral edges  210 ,  220  of each shingle impression  230  shown in FIG. 3D are offset a distance “S”. This distance “S” (shown in FIG. 3D), for example, may be an approximately 1.5″ to 2.0″ offset.  
         [0041]    These vertically stacked shingle impressions align with the courses of the siding panels and overlap at least a portion of the siding panels. The staggered edges  210 ,  220  effectively hide the intersection between a stack of corner pieces  200  and the siding panels, and no continuous straight line intersection, as described above in connection with the prior art corner piece  100  and shown in FIG. 2B, is formed. The second lateral edges  210 ,  220  cooperate with the plurality of vertically stacked shingle impression  230  to give the appearance that the corner piece(s) substantially blend into the adjacent siding panels and continue the shingle courses formed thereon. No seam between the siding panels and the corner pieces  200  is discernible.  
         [0042]    The exterior faces  204 ,  214  of an exemplary corner piece  200  are also preferably angled from top to bottom as shown in FIGS.  3 A- 3 E along each of the plurality of vertically stacked shingle impressions formed thereon. The bottom edge of a first shingle impression  230  is offset a distance designated as “X” in FIG. 3D from the top edge of a second shingle impression  230  stacked below the first, as shown in FIG. 3D. This offset creates the appearance that the bottom edge of the first shingle impression overlaps the top edge of the second shingle impression and also creates an aesthetic shadow effect. An exemplary offset distance “X” is approximately 0.375″.  
         [0043]    [0043]FIGS. 4A through 4E illustrate an exemplary interior corner piece  300 . The reference numbers of FIGS. 4A through 4E correspond to the features of exemplary outside corner piece  200  described above, only with a prime following each reference number.  
         [0044]    Although various embodiments have been illustrated, this is for the purpose of describing, and not limiting the invention. Various modifications will become apparent to one skilled in the art and are within the scope of this invention described in the attached claims. For example, the exterior faces of the siding corners may include an ornamental appearance containing a plurality of vertically stacked siding impressions that are brick, slate, masonry or other siding impressions designed to match the courses formed on the siding panels attached to the structure.

Technology Classification (CPC): 4