This disclosure relates to the fixing of tiles or similar cladding elements, in particular roof tiles.

Tiles fixed in place by nailing are not particularly secure, and are especially vulnerable to wind uplift when the wind acts on the surface of the tiles to cause negative pressure which lifts them off the roof, often causing serious damage which can be expensive to repair. Many arrangements are known in the prior art for more securely fixing tiles to overcome these disadvantages. These arrange¬ ments often involve fixing the tiles by using purpose- made clips. However while these arrangements are fairly successful in providing secure tile fixing systems they have not proved popular with the tiling trade. This is largely because the use of such tile fixing clips is a rather more complicated and awkward job then the traditional method of simply nailing the tiles to the tiling batterns. Accordingly it would clearly be desirable to provide a method of securely fixing the tiles that involved the use of simple fastening elements, such as nails, rather than any more complicated fixing device. Viewed from one broad aspect there is herein disclosed a tile fixing system wherein the upper of two overlapping tiles is provided with a locking channel on the underside of the tile, said channel engaging in use the head of a fastening element which secures the lower of said two tiles to a support.

Thus, in use, the upper tile is securely fixed at one end to a lower tile which is fixed

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to the batten. The other end of the upper tile is in turn secured to a batten and underlies another tile. The lower tile may be secured to the. batten by means of a fastening element in the form of a single or double-headed nail. 5 Preferably, since every tile, apart from those at the edges of the area to be tiled will overlie another tile, every tile is provided with a locking channel so that all the tiles may be securely fixed, both to each other and to the

Ud battens.

Viewed from another broad aspect there is herein disclosed a tile including a locking channel on its underside, said channel being able to engage the head of a tile fastening element. Preferably

15 the locking channel is in the form of a member partly embedded in the upper tile.

In a preferred embodiment the locking channel member is an elongate member having a substantially longitudinal slot for engaging the fastening element

20 and is preferably provided with longitudinally extending projections for embedding within the upper tile.

Viewed from another aspect there is herein disclosed a method of manufacturing a tile having

25 a locking channel member embedded therein comprising the steps of placing a locking channel member in a depression in a tile pallet prior to filling the pallet with tile forming mixture.

An embodiment of the broad aspects of this

30 disclosure will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which.

Pig. 1 is a perspective view of a locking channel member.

Pig. 2 illustrates a double-headed nail,

35 Fig. 3 is a section looking up the roof illustrating a locking channel member partly embedded in an upper roof tile and.

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Fig. 4 is a sectional view from one side illustrating the overlap of two tiles fixed by the system of this disclosure.

In the embodiment described the tiles secured are roof tiles, which are particularly vulnerable to wind uplift, but it will be appreciated that the method of fixing tiles herein disclosed may be applied to other forms of tiles and similar overlapping cladding elements which need to be secured to each other as well as to a base member such as a batten.

The locking channel member 7 shown in Figure 1 comprises two oppositely facing elongate members 1, 2 each having an L-shaped cross-section. These L-shaped members are connected along their length by means of a transverse web member 3. The oppositely facing members 1,2 are spaced apart so as to define a slot 4 in the channel member which extends along the length of the channel member. About the outer side of the channel member are provided attached keying projections 5 which secure the channel member to the roof tile in a manner to be described below. The keying projections may be of any suitable form but preferably extend along the length of the channel member and have a T-shaped cross-section.

Figures 3 and 4 illustrate the fixing system in use with a single-headed nail, though a double- headed nail 10, as shown in Fig. 2 for example, may also be used, as may any suitable fastening element.

When tiling a roof each tile 6 is hung from a tiling batten 8 at its upper end with the lower end of the tile overlying the upper end of another tile, as is shown in Fig. 4. Each roof-tile 6 is formed with a channel member 7 keyed into the region of the tile which, in use, overlies a lower tile.

To secure the tiles to the roof the lower tile is fixed to the tiling batten by a nail 9 extending through the tile 6. If a double-headed nail is used the nail may be hammered into the batten to the fullest extent possible, but if a standard single-headed clout head nail is used the head of the nail must be left slightly proud of the tile surface. The next overlying tile is then laid so that the locking channel engages the 3 nail head, that is either the proud head of a standard nail or the upper head of a double-headed nail, with the shaft of the nail passing through the slot 4 in the locking channel member. The upper end of the overlying tile is then nailed to its own tiling batten and the process is repeated until the roof is covered.

The locking channel member needs only to be of sufficient length to allow the tile gauge to be adjusted without any detriment to the secure fixing of the tiles to the roof. The channel member may be made of any suitable material, such as non- ferrous metal or plastics material, but must be sufficiently strong to withstand the expected wind forces. The nails used are preferably of stainless ^" steel for extra strength around the clout head, and may also be of the annular ring type so that the resistance to withdrawal from the batten is increased.

The tiles may be formed with the locking channels in a simple manner. The tile pallet is provided with a suitable depression in which is placed a locking channel member having attached keying projections, so that the projections extend into the space to be filled with tile mixture. The pallet then enters the tile-making machine so that after the tile is made and cured the channel member is proud of the tile but securely fixed

- 5 - to the tile by means of the keying projections which are embedded within the tile, as is shown in Fig. 3. In this manner a tile is produced having a locking channel member securely attached to the tile. The locking channel member should be securely embedded within the tile so that there is no tendancy for the channel member and the tile to break apart under the action of strong wind uplift.

Modifications to the specific embodiment and to any broad aspects thereof referred to or suggested herein may be apparaent to those skilled in the art and the disclosure hereof is intended to encompass any such modifications.