Patent ID: 8209864

Claim:
A method for making a beaded soffit panel for building roofs of the type having at least one eave with a soffit thereunder, comprising: forming an elongate strip of sheet metal; integrally forming in the strip a plurality of generally flat, imperforate base portions extending longitudinally along the strip, with opposite sides thereof arranged in a mutually parallel, laterally spaced apart and coplanar relationship to enclose at least a portion of the soffit when the soffit panel is mounted in a generally horizontal installed orientation under the eave; integrally forming in the strip a plurality of contoured bead portions disposed between the opposite sides of the base portions and having a generally M-shaped configuration when in the installed orientation under the eave defined by pairs of generally flat, oppositely inclined sidewalls with exterior faces oriented away from the soffit and interior faces oriented toward the soffit, and center walls extending between the sidewalls to create a decorative external appearance on the soffit panel; and forming a plurality of narrow, elongate vent slits through the exterior faces of the sidewalls at a predetermined acute angle to define angled tabs that extend from the interior faces of said sidewalls inwardly away from the center walls at said predetermined acute angle relative to said sidewalls, whereby the soffit panel is installed in the generally horizontal installed orientation, vision through the vent slits from a position generally underneath the eave is substantially blocked by the angled tabs.