Patent ID: 8256185

Claim:
An assembly of shingles that can be mounted to a surface, the assembly comprising: a pre-assembled panel including a plurality of side-by-side shingles that are connected to each other with a bonding strip prior to being installed; a removable spacer located between each side-by-side shingle pair for retaining the plurality of side-by-side shingles at a position with a keyway between each two adjacent shingles; a first alignment gauge positioned on the front face of the panel; a second alignment gauge positioned on the front face of the panel; the shingles within the panel and the first and second alignment gauges being configured in such a manner that a second panel being placed on top of and overlapping a first panel and arranged such that when a first indicator on the first alignment gauge of the second panel is aligned relative with a second indicator on the second alignment gauge of the first panel, the keyways of the first panel do not align with any of the keyways of the second panel, wherein the shingles within the panel and the first and second alignment gauges being configured in such a manner that a third panel being placed on top of and overlapping the second panel and arranged such that when a third indicator on the first alignment gauge of the third panel is aligned relative to a fourth indicator on the second alignment gauge of the second panel, the keyways of the third panel do not align with any of the keyways in the second panel or the first panel, and wherein the first alignment gauge is a flexible strip of material that is removeably affixed to the face of the panel.