GB2116221A - Roof tiles and fastenings - Google Patents

Abstract

A roof tile for the side edge of a roof comprising a top portion 15 which lies on the roof and interlocks with an adjoining tile, and swing portion 18 which extends downwardly from an edge of the top portion and thereby, in use, cloaks the verge of the roof. A resilient wire fastener 12 is clipped into the underside of the tile and is shaped to provide a stop member 13 which engages a stop surface 23 of an adjacent clock verge tile to restrain lifting of one tile relative to the other. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Roof tiles and fastenings This invention is concerned with improvements in or relating to roof tiles and fastenings therefor and is particularly although not exclusively concerned with cloak verge tile and fastener assemblies.

Cloak verge tiles are found at the edges of roofs adjacent to the gable ends thereof, and comprise a roofing portion which overlies an edge portion of the roof and a wing portion depending from said roofing portion to extend over the edge of the roof.

Cloak verge tiles where used have traditionally been fixed by bedding the tiles in mortar along the roof verges. Lately, because of British Standard requirements in respect of positive fixings for verge tiles, it has become less acceptable to have a tiling system in which the tiles are not held against lifting forces to which they are subjected in inclement weather conditions such as high winds and freak storms.

When properly laid in mortar, cloak verge tiles, as with any other mortar laid tile, are adequately secured to the roof. However, mortar is susceptible to cracking and crumbling with age and tiles held thereby become loose and freely movable on the roof. Thus, in high winds tiles may readily be dislodged from the roof.

Fastenings proposed for securing cloak verge tiles to the roof verge are manifold and include:- (a) nails for securing the roofing portion of a cloak verge tile to the roof battens and (b) pins provided in a wing of one such cloak verge tile and locating in appropriate apertures in the overlaid wing of an associated cloak verge tile.

Provision of most fastenings for securing cloak verge tiles involves special operations in the tile manufacture, viz. cutting or special slots, and in the tile placement on the roof verge with the time consuming assembly of the requisite pins, in the apertures provided therefor in the wings of the cloak verge tiles.

One further disadvantage of known fastenings is their overtness in use. With pins in a wing of one cloak verge tile projecting into an aperture in the wing of an associated cloak verge tile, the tiles can be lacking in aesthetic quality unless a filler material is used to hide the head or end of the pins used.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a roofing tile for the side edge of a roof comprising a top part, a wing extending downwards from one longitudinal edge of the top part, a stop member mounted adjacent the underside of the tile, towards one end of the tile, and a stop face extending from the other end of the tile, the arrangement being such that, in use, the stop member engages the stop face of an underlying tile to restrain lifting of one tile relative to the other.

Conveniently the stop member may be part of a resilient member, and may additionally be formed by a loop in a piece of wire.

Preferably the resilient member is located in a groove on the underside of the tile and may be sprung with holes in the tile to retain the member on the tile. Conveniently, the holes for the ends of the resilient member are formed one on the underside of the top part of the tile and the other adjacent to the lower edge of the wing.

Conveniently the cloak verge tile may be moulded from concrete on a tile pallet of complementary shape to the underside and wing portion of the tile with the groove being moulded in the same operation by a rib provided on said pallet. Preferably the stop face is formed by a cut away portion of the wing.

The tiles may form the edge of a tiled roof comprising a plurality of such tiles arranged in mutually overlapping relationship up an edge of the roof, and preferably the tiles have interengaging means on one edge of the top part for forming an overlapping connection with the opposite edge of an adjacent roof tile. Preferably such a roof also comprises generally planar tiles covering a main part of the roof, and these planar tiles may be of similar profile to the top part of the edge tiles.

There now follows, by way of example, a detailed description of a preferred embodiment of a cloak verge tile assembly provided by the present invention which description is to be read with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a view of tiles at the left hand verge of a roof; Figure 2 is a perspective underside view of one of the tiles of Figure 1, and Figure 3 is a view of the resilient locking member of the tile.

The problems met hitherto with verge tiles bedded in mortar, which cracks and crumbles with age, may be overcome by the use of nails or other mechanical fixings. The difficulties of relying wholly upon nails as a means of fixing cloak verge tiles is that upward forces tend to loosen the nails and eventually tiles will become dislodged from a roof. In addition the disadvantages of other mechanical fixings proposed hitherto are their unsightly appearance in the side faces of the wings of the cloak verge tiles.

Referring now to the drawings a tile and fastener assembly, comprises a cloak verge tile 11 provided with a resilient wire element 12 accommodated therein to present a stop 1 3 which in use locates beneath a stop face 23 of a similar tile located therebeneath. The tile is a moulded concrete roofing tile.

The tile 11 comprises an upper portion 1 5 having roll and trough portions 1 6 and 1 7 respectively of corresponding shape to the tiles used on the main portion of a roof. The tile also includes at one edge thereof a side lock 14 of known type which interlocks with the ordinary tiles on the main portion of the roof.

The tile 11 further comprises a wing portion 1 8 depending from a left hand edge of the tile adjacent a left hand roll portion 1 6 such that in use the wing portion 1 8 cloaks the verge portion of the roof on which it is laid. It will be appreciated that the wing portion 1 8 will depend from the right hand edge of the tile in the case of tiles for the right hand edge of a roof.

Towards an upper end 1 9 of the tile 11, i.e.

towards the end where hanging nibs 20 are provided in the underside of the portion 1 5, the wing portion 1 8 is provided with a cutaway 21 defined by a vertical face 22 and a substantially longitudinal face 23 both of which faces extend through the wing portion 1 8 and the face 23 of which provides a stop face.

Towards a lower end thereo, i.e. the end which in use is lowermost on a roof, the tile 11 includes a groove 24 provided in an inside surface 25 of the wing portion 18, see especially Figure 2. The groove 24 extends into an under surface 26 of the upper portion 1 5 and terminates in a blind hole 27 provided in a mid-portion of the left hand roll portion 1 6. The groove 24 extends to a bottom edge 28 of the wing portion 1 8 and the wing portion 1 8 is provided with an aperture 29 extending therethrough which is marginally offset from said groove 24, see especially Figure 2.

The fastener provided by the resilient wire element 12 comprises a first portion 30 shaped to be accommodated in said groove 24, the first portion being generally of inverted "L" shape, see Figure 3. The element 1 2 also comprises a second portion 31 extending from a short leg 30a of the first portion 30 to be received in a blind hole 27, see Figure 2. The element also comprises a third portion 32 which extends at a right angle or substantially so to a long leg 30b of the portion 30, and is joined to the long leg 30b by a loop portion 33. The third portion extends across the long leg 30b to provide the stop 1 3 and a projecting end 32b.

When the tiles are to be placed on a roof a first such tile 11 A is placed on the roof at the left hand end thereof in overlapping relationship with roof tiles of similar visual appearance and with its hanging nib 20 in engagement with a roof batten 34. A nail 36 is then driven into the batten 34 through a hole 37 provided in the tile 11 A to fix the tile 11 A in position on the roof. A seal element is provided in the hole 37 to prevent metal to concrete contact and thereby prevent damage to the tile while also sealing the hole 37. A second tile 11 B is thereafter placed on the roof with its lower end overlying an upper end 1 9 of the first tile 11 A, with its batten engaging nib 20 in engagement with a second batten and the stop 13 provided by the portion 32 underlying the face 23 of the cutaway 21. A nail is used to fix the tile 11 b on the roof.

It will thus be appreciated that tiles so located on a roof edge are interlocked by a permanent fastener which is not visible from below while small apertures may just about be discernible they are not such as to render the whole unsightly.

Thus, verges of roofs on which the tiles described above are placed are more durable and are of more attractive appearance than known cloak verge tiles.

The manufacture of a tile and fastener assembly according to the invention is effected by forming the groove 24 and the blind hole 27 in the tile moulding operation. Pallets on which the material from which the tiles is moulded comprise ribs which form the grooves and hole. The aperture 29 may be formed by any suitable piercing device.

A resilient wire element 12 is sprung to locate first the portion 31 and then the end 32b in their respective hole 27 and aperture 29. Thus, the element 1 2 becomes a fixture on the underside of the tile.

The materials from which the subject tiles may be made include clay, plastics, and other mouldable materials as well as concrete.

From Figure 1 it will be appreciated that the tiles may be laid on a roof with varying headlap.

The headlap normally varies according to the pitch of the roof.

Claims (12)

1. A roofing tile for the slide edge of a roof comprising a top part, a wing extending downwards from one longitudinal edge of the top part, a stop member mounted adjacent the underside of the tile towards one end of the tile, and a stop face extending from the other end of the tile the arrangement being such that, in use, the stop member engages the stop face of an underlying tile to restrain lifting of one tile relative to the other.

2. A roofing tile, as claimed in Claim 1, in which the stop member is a part of a resilient member.

3. A roofing tile, as claimed in Claim 2, in which the stop member of the resilient member is formed by a loop in a piece of wire.

4. A roofing tile, as claimed in either of Claims 2 or 3, in which at least part of the resilient member is located in a groove on the underside of the tile.

5. A roofing tile, as claimed in any of the Claims 2 to 4, in which the ends of the resilient member are sprung with holes in the tile to retain the member on the tile.

6. A roofing tile as claimed in Claim 5 in which the holes for the ends of the resilient member are formed one in the underside of the top part of the tile and the other adjacent a lower edge of the wing.

7. A roofing tile as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the stop face is formed by a cutaway of the wing.

8. A roofing tile as claimed in any one of the preceding claims which is moulded from concrete.

9. A roofing tile substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

10. A tiled roof comprising a plurality of tiles as claimed in any one of the preceding claims arranged in mutually overlapping relationship up an edge of the roof.

11. A tiled roof as claimed in Claim 10 further comprising generally planar tiles covering a main part of the roof.

12. A tiled roof as claimed in Claim 11 in which the top part of the edge tiles has a similar profile to the generally planar tiles.