ROOFING TILE CUTTING TEMPLATE

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to construction tools in general, and in particular to a roofing tile cutting template for cutting curved roof tiles to required shapes.

BACKGROUND ART

A popular roofing practice is the use of clay tiles as a roofing material. These tiles are typically rectangular in overall shape, but do not have flat cross sections or profiles. One popular form of tile is a tile having an S-shaped contoured surface. When arrays of these contoured tiles are placed together on a roof, the undulating shapes of the individual tiles provide an aesthetically pleasing appearance to the roof.

When installing these tiles, one labor intensive process is the cutting of tiles to fit in particular non-rectangular spaces on a roof. Generally, the majority of the roof is covered with complete tiles that do not need to be cut. However, in areas where an object on the roof or an edge of the roof requires covering a non-rectangular area or an area smaller than the size of a single tile, one or more tiles must be cut. A cutting tool, such as a diamond saw, is typically used to cut the clay tiles.

In areas where different sections of the roof come together at an angle, a large number of tiles near the intersecting area may need to be cut. Roof sections may intersect in valleys or hips. Valleys are intersections where the roof sections form a concave region at the intersection, while hips are intersections where the roof sections intersect to form a convex region.

Cutting tiles to fit in a valley region is particularly problematic. In a valley region, a tile cannot be placed flat on a roof section because of the interference from the other roof section of the valley. This makes trying to estimate by eye the desired place to cut the tile difficult to accurately accomplish. A second problem is that attempting to mark a line on the surface of the tile as a guide to cutting the tile is made difficult because of the shape of the tile. Straightedges, such as rulers, engineering triangles or T-squares, do not follow the curves of the undulating surface of a tile, thus making it difficult to draw a line on the tile accurately.

Yet another issue is that inaccuracies in laying out the tiles in valley intersections results in a particularly displeasing visual appearance, reflecting poorly on the workmanship of the roofer and detracting from the overall appearance of the home. Poorly laid out valleys can also result in water drainage problems, which can lead to roof leaks. One commonly used technique is to perform an iterative fitting, in which the desired cut on the tile is estimated, and the tile is cut to an estimated shape. The tile is then test-fitted into the desired position, and then re-cut as necessary to obtain the desired fit. While this method provides a good fit, the repeated fitting and cutting steps are wasteful of time and labor. If a tile is cut too small, the tile must be either discarded, resulting in wasted material, or put aside with the hope of fitting it into a different spot along the roof.

Thus, a roofing tile cutting template solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The disclosure is directed to a roofing tile cutting template for cutting tiles of a contoured shape. The tool has a contoured base adapted to conform to a surface of a roofing tile, the base has at least one slot that corresponds to the slope of a roof intersection for a roof of a particular pitch. The slot has a width sufficient to accommodate the marking end of a writing utensil.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Figs. IA is a perspective view of a roof having tile of the kind that may be cut by the roofing tile cutting template of the present invention.

Fig. IB is an environmental perspective view of a first embodiment of a roofing tile cutting template according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the roofing tile cutting template of Fig. IB reversed to produce cuts sloping upward to the left. Fig. 3 A is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a roofing tile cutting template according to the present invention.

Fig. 3B is a perspective view of a third embodiment of a roofing tile cutting template according to the present invention.

Fig. 4A is a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of a roofing tile cutting template according to the present invention.

Fig. 4B is a perspective view of a fifth embodiment of a reversible roofing tile cutting template according to the present invention adapted for a Monier profile tile for cuts sloping upwards to the right.

Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.

BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The roofing tile cutting template is a guide for cutting roof tiles near a valley intersection of two roof sections. The template is for use with tiles having a contoured surface. The template shares the contour of a particular type tile so that the template conforms to the surface of the tile when laid upon the tile. The template includes one or more slots cut through the surface of the template to provide a guide for ruling a cutting line on the tile. The slots are wide enough to accommodate the writing end of a writing utensil. Each of the template slots is cut at an angle corresponding to the intersection between roof sections having a given pitch. The slots may be labeled with the pitch of the roof. In use, a mark is placed near one edge, indicating one dimension of the final cut tile. A slot is chosen on the template corresponding to the pitch of the roof sections, and the template is slid along the surface of the tile until the selected slot is over the marking. Once the tile template is positioned, the selected slot is used as a guide for ruling a line on the tile using a marking utensil, such as a pencil.A template in accordance with the invention and its use is appreciated by referring first to Figs, IA and IB. The template 20 is shown in use on a tile 38 to be cut and placed in an empty location 28 on a roof 30. As depicted in Fig. IA, the roof is composed of a number of sections. A first roof section 30, and a seςond roof section 32 intersect at an angle. The line of intersection between the first roof section 30 and the second roof section 32 defines a valley intersection. A hip intersection 36 is present at the apex of a roof section.

The tiles used to cover the roof, for example, the tiles 24a-24d, each have an S-shaped contoured surface so that the upper surface of the tiles is not planar in contour, but has a substantially undulating shape. The tiles located sufficiently far away from the valley intersection, such as tiles 24a, 24b, 24c, and 24d on the first roof section 30 and tile 34 on the second roof section, are full-sized tiles that do not need to be cut. However, roof tiles 26a, 26b, and 26c on the first roof section 30, and tile 42 on the second roof section, are each close enough to the valley intersection so that a full-sized tile would overlap the valley intersection.

To cut a tile to fill the gap at position 28, first, a distance between the end of the last full tile near the intersection and the valley intersection is measured. The distance is measured in the direction along an edge of the tile space. The dimension A, shown in Fig. IA, measures the distance from tile 24d to the valley intersection. Since it is desirable that the partial roof tiles not end exactly at the valley intersection, but leave a consistent gap for drainage purposes, a predetermined distance is subtracted from the measured dimension A. The resulting value is the dimension of one edge of the desired partial tile.

After obtaining the desired tile dimension, a tile 38 (shown in Fig. IB) is marked to fit the empty space 28 on the roof. The calculated tile dimension is marked off along the corresponding edge of the tile as dimension B. For example, if the measured distance from the tile to the valley is five inches, and a gap distance of one inch is desired, a distance of four inches is marked off along the corresponding edge of the tile as dimension B.

A template 20 having the same profile as the tiles used for the roof is selected and placed on the surface of the tile 38. The template 20 includes a plurality of slots 22a, 22b, 22c, 22d, and 22e. Each slot is drawn at a different angle along the template 20 and corresponds to differing geometries of an intersection between roof sections. The proper slot is chosen based on the geometry of the intersection. The template 20 is slid along the surface of the roof tile until the chosen slot (slot 22a in exemplary Fig. IB) intersects with the marked dimension B on the tile 38. The slot is then used as a guide for the point of a marking instrument, such as a pencil, to mark a guide line on the tile passing through the marked dimension point on the tile 38. The template 20 is then removed from the tile 38, and a cutting tool, such as a saw, is used to cut the tile along the marked guide line. The template 20 may be made of any sufficiently strong material that is dimensionally stable, such as metal or plastic.

The selection of the proper slot may be determined using a variety of methods. The angle of the valley intersection is determined in part by the slopes or pitches of the intersecting roof sections 30 and 32, and also by the profile and contours of the tile. Since the shape of the tile is known for a given template, the shape and slope of the slots in the template may be calculated mathematically. Each of the guide slots may be marked with a roof pitch that corresponds to the resulting angle of intersection of a hip or valley. If the user knows the slopes of the roof section, the proper slot may be selected by choosing the slot corresponding to the known roof pitch. The template may be constructed of a transparent

material to facilitate viewing marks made on the tile when aligning in preparation for drawing a guide line.

If the roof pitch is not known, the choice of the proper slot may be made using a two- measurement point process. By making a second measurement between the nearest tile to the valley intersection at a line along a second opposing edge of the tile space 28, shown as dimension C in Fig, IA, a second distance point along the required guide line may be determined by subtracting the desired gap distance from the measured dimension C, thereby obtaining a second dimension D, determined for a different point on the tile. The proper slot on the template 20 may then be chosen by picking the slot that passes through both of the marked points on the tile 38. Having determined the slot to be used for a first partial tile, future tiles on the same roof section may be cut by measuring a single distance to the valley intersection and using the slot previously determined using the two-measurement point method.

When a tile is to be cut for a roof section on the opposite side of the valley, such as tile 42 on roof section 32, the line of intersection has the opposite slope as that of a tile for the first roof section. Referring now to Fig. 2, the use of the template to rule guide lines sloping in the direction of the tile may be appreciated. Because the profile of the right side of the tile 38 is a reverse of the profile on the left side, the template 20 may be reversed to draw guide lines of opposite slope. Comparing the template position shown in Fig. IB to that of Fig. 2, we see that the template in Fig. 2 has been flipped so that its reverse side lies against the tile 38. The result is that the slots 22a, 22b, 22c, 22d, and 22e, have slopes rising to the left when the template is positioned as shown in Fig. 2, while in Fig. IB ₃ the template position results in the slots 22a, 22b, 22c, 22d, and 22e having slopes to the right. Each slot is labeled with a legend indicating the roof pitch for which the respective slot should be used. Slots 22a, 22b, 22c, 22d, and 22e are labeled with the pitches 4:12, 5:12, 6:12, 7:12, and 8:12 respectively. A pitch may be specified using the form Y: 12 indicating that the roof increases in height Y inches for every 12 inches of horizontal distance.

Referring now to Figs. 3 A and 3B, an embodiment of the invention adapted to a roof tile having a different profile may be appreciated. The shapes of the templates 60 and 62 are adapted for a tile having a modified S-shaped profile wherein one side of the tile has a substantially flat shape. The template 60 lacks the mirroring symmetry of the template 20 described above. Referring to Fig. 3 A, the template 60 includes a plurality of slots 64a, 64b, 64c, 64d, and 64e for drawing guide lines on tiles. Each of the slots is cut into the surface of the template 60 at a different angle to serve as a guide for marking cut lines on tile to fit a

particular geometry of the roof section intersection. Each slot has a legend indicating a roof pitch for which the slot is designed to produce the appropriate tile cutting guide line. Each of the slots is designed to produce a guide line with a slope rising to the left.

Because of the lack of symmetry of the tile profile, the template 60 cannot simply be reversed to provide slopes of the opposite sense (rising to the right) because the reversed template would not conform to the surface of the tile. A second template, as pictured in Fig. 3B is provided for laying out cuts of the opposing sense. The template 62 has the same profile or shape as the template 60. However the slots 64f, 64g, 64h, 64i, and 64j have slopes that rise to the right. Referring now to Figs. 4A and 4B, the use of an embodiment of the invention adapted for a different tile profile is shown. The templates 70 and 74 are adapted to conform to the surface of a Villa style profile. The template 70 of Fig. 4A has a plurality of slots 72a, 72b, 72c, 72d, 72e cut into the surface of the template 70, with each slot corresponding to a particular roof pitch 4:12, 5:12, 6:12, 7:12, and 8:12. A label next to each slot indicates the respective roof pitch associated with the slot, allowing choosing the slot to be used as based on the roof pitch. The slots on the template 70 each have slopes that rise to the left. As was described for the modified S template, flipping the Villa style template 70 will not allow using the template to be used to draw slopes rising to the right because the inverted template 70 will not conform to the surface of the tile due to the lack of mirroring symmetry of the profile.

The template 74 is Used to draw guide lines having the opposite slopes (rising to the right) to the template of Fig 4A. The reversed template 74 has an identical profile to the template pictured in Fig. 4A. The reversed template 74 also has its plurality of slots 72j, 72i, 72h, 72g, and 72f, cut into its surface, however the slots of the reversed template 74 have the reverse slope from those of the left sloping template 70.

Templates designed for a wide variety of tile styles may be constructed in accordance with the invention, with the templates having a profile corresponding to the surface of tile. The template may have any number of slots. One or more edges of the template may be shaped for use as guide for marking a tile. For example, the lower edge of the template 20 shown if Fig. 2 may be used as a guide for cutting a horizontal line on a tile.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.