Patent ID: 7207145

Claim:
A siding panel for facing a structural surface substantially defining a plane, wherein: a plurality of such panels are mountable on the structural surface parallel to one another along a direction of elongation, in lapped courses; at least certain of the building panels comprise butt joint structures joining said certain building panels with other such panels end to end in the direction of elongation, and wherein the panels have first and second ends of which the first end of one of the panels mates with the second end of another of the panels; and, wherein the complementary joint structures comprise at least one of edges and slots by which the first and second ends are engageable by end to end insertion in the direction of elongation, and said at least one of the edges and slots is formed by discontinuous lengths that are spaced so as to permit overlapping edges of the panels to pass between one another in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the surface, whereupon subsequent displacement parallel to the plane of the surface engages the first and second ends.