The present disclosure relates generally to roofing materials, and more specifically to a roofing tile formed of a synthetic material that simulates a roofing shingle or tile formed of a natural material, a roofing system including the roofing tiles and method of forming thereof.
In building construction, the roof of the structure must be capable of not only protecting the interior of the structure from the elements, but also to provide this protection with the desired aesthetic appearance. Historically a number of different roofing materials have been employed to achieve these purposes, such as asphalt shingles, wood shingles, ceramic tiles, and slate tiles, among others. However, while these materials are effective in providing weather protection with the desired appearance, the natural roofing materials often are deficient in durability aspects that require frequent maintenance, repair and/or replacement of the natural roofing materials.
With the advent of modern material processing techniques, it has become possible to manufacture roofing materials from synthetic materials that have greatly increased durability aspects in comparison with these natural materials and maintain the desired aesthetic appearance of the natural materials. Examples of synthetic roofing materials of this type are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,495,635; 6,558,773; 6,703,440; 6,706,366; 7,596,919; and 8,153,045, each of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Nevertheless, while these prior art references disclose various configurations for roofing tiles formed from synthetic materials, each has certain shortcomings with regard to overall structure or manufacturing process. As such, it is desirable to develop a roofing tile formed from one or more synthetic materials that addresses and overcome the shortcomings of the prior art and/or to provide an improved roofing tile or shingle from those disclosed in the prior art.
According to one aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure, an improved color variation process is provided with regard to the method of manufacture of a synthetic material roofing tile or shingle or other exterior or interior building panel, such as siding, in order to effectively simulate the appearance of the natural material represented by the synthetic roofing tile produced in the method.
According to another aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure, a synthetic roofing tile, shingle or panel is provided that includes one or more features enhancing the ease of installation and/or use of the roofing tile, shingle or panel on a building structure.
According to still another aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a synthetic roofing tile, shingle or panel is formed utilizing a material formulation that significantly improves the impact resistance and other desirable properties of the roofing tile, shingle or panel.
According to a further aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for manufacturing a synthetic roofing tile, shingle or panel is provided in which the synthetic roofing tile, shingle or panel can be compression molded.
According to still a further aspect of an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for manufacturing a synthetic roofing tile, shingle or panel is provided in which a number of inserts representing the desired appearance for the roofing tile, shingle or panel can be utilized in the manufacturing process to provide roofing tiles, shingles or panels with the desired appearance. The inserts can be interchanged within the molds in order to provide different appearances to roofing tiles, shingles or panels formed using the same molds.
Numerous additional aspects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will be made apparent from the following detailed description taken together with the drawing figures.
The drawings illustrate the best mode currently contemplated of practicing the present invention.
In the drawings:
With reference now to the drawing figures in which like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the disclosure,
Color Variation Processing
The color variation processes or methods schematically illustrated in
The processes presently disclosed, alone or in combination with other aspects of building and/or roofing products/material manufacturing, such as the particular molding process employed and/or the mold design, among others, aid in eliminating the pattern effect previously offset in the relevant prior art by utilizing the mold volume calculation method. The processes presently disclosed additionally add further abilities to the formation of the building products with color development providing a finished look to the resulting roofing tile or shingle or building panel, such as siding. In utilizing the novel processes disclosed herein, and illustrated in exemplary embodiments in
For example, while the colors yellow and blue together make green, if a yellow color material and then blue color material added on top are initially added high in the feed throat 10 then end affect in the end product will be some yellow, the same amount of green as the yellow material and blue material are well mixed in the feed throat 10, and then blue will come out. If we load yellow and then blue on top lower in the feed tube you will see clean yellow come out, then very little green hue at all due to the limited mixing of the yellow and blue, and then blue almost as if the materials were painted separate colors. It is possible to adjust these color loadings to have whatever color effect we want for the end product thus providing the ability to match almost any natural color look of historical slates and wood roofs and/or sidings with very little effort or cost. With this discussion providing the general aspects of the improved color variation process aspect of the present invention, the following is a discussion of a number of exemplary embodiments of the implementation of the color variation process.
Method 1: As shown in the exemplary illustrated embodiment of
In these configurations, gravity operates to draw the color material from the body 21 of the feeders 18 and/or 20 into the throat 10 for mixing with the remainder of the material(s) used in forming the end product 100 and the other color materials. In one exemplary embodiment, the color material is added in the form pre-colored pellets (not shown), which are completely formed finished material of various colors, in stages to achieve the desired coloration or pattern effect for the end product. In an alternative embodiment, a non-pelleted dry color mix or powder can also be dispensed from the feeders 18 and/or 20 in the same gravity feed manner as the pellets.
Benefits of Method 1:
Providing customized color pattern or appearance in building products using pre-colored pelletized or powdered material with a sequencing method in which powder colorant or colored pellet is introduced into the manufacturing process for the building product at the throat of the mixing machine/extruder without the need of mold volume calculations to reduce patterns
Implementation of the process of material flow color variation with layering of the materials to achieve the desired color output.
As shown in the exemplary illustrated embodiment of
In the device 11′ of
Below the feeder 30, the color is introduced into the throat 10 from the charges 32 and 34. Depending upon the form of the color material, e.g., a liquid color or a solid color, the charges 32 and 34 can take different forms, such as similar to the feeders 18 and 20 in
In operation, the required amount of non-colored pellets and other materials are charged to the hopper 16 of the device 11′ to accommodate the run of material for forming the building product(s) 100. After the materials are positioned within the feeder 30, the feeder 30 is operated to dispense the materials into the throat 10. As the volume of non-colored pellets are dropped and/or fed into the mixing section/mixer 36, the color(s) needed for that material run is also introduced into the mixing section 36 at the same time by the color charges 32 and/or 34. The mixer 36 combines the color(s), the non-colored pellets and the other materials in order to achieve the desired color profile for the building product 100, with any residence time of the materials in the mixer 36 being determined by different preset times associated with the desired color and/or look for each shingle or building product 100. When the prior charge of materials and color reaches a particular height within the feed throat 10 below the mixer 36, as monitored by a proximity or level switch (not shown) positioned on the throat 10 below the mixer 36, the mixer 36 dispenses or drops its material charge into feed throat 10 for further processing in the extruder 12. Once the mixer 36 drops the charge held within it, the feeder 30, which has been pre-loaded with additional non-colored pellets and other materials, and the color charges 32 and 34, which have also been pre-loaded with additional color materials, begin loading the materials into the mixer 36 to form the next building product material charge.
Benefits of Method 2:
Usage of non-colored pelleted material with a sequencing method of coloring through powder colorant or colored pellet being introduced into the process at the throat of the machine without the need of mold volume calculations to reduce patterns.
Usage of color feeders/charges and a mixing section to allow for powdered or pelleted colorants where previously pre-batched industry standard color dispersions was the method.
Implementation of the process of material flow color variation with layering of the materials to achieve the desired color output.
As shown in the exemplary illustrated embodiment of
Benefits of Method 3:
1st in composite roofing industry to adapt non-colored pelleted or powdered material to be color sequenced through downstream color feeders on the extruder itself during the shingle manufacturing process allowing for many color variations
As shown in the exemplary illustrated embodiment of
Benefits of Method 4:
1st in composite roofing industry to adapt non-colored pelleted or powdered material with a sequencing method of coloring through powder colorant or colored pellet being introduced into the process at the throat of the machine without the need of mold volume calculations to reduce patterns as we have overcome that need.
1st in the composite industry to use color feeders and a mixing section to allow for powdered or pelleted colorants where previously pre-batched industry standard color dispersions was the method.
1st in composite roofing industry to adapt downstream color feeders on the extruder itself in conjunction with the throat color feeders during the shingle manufacturing process allowing for many color variations.
1st in composite roofing industry to implement the process of material flow color variation with layering of the materials to achieve the desired color output.
1st in industry to combine methods 2 and 3 giving virtually unlimited color ability with subtle hue changes and drastic low and highlighting at the same time all while sequencing colors to eliminate patterns and to match historical product looks.
With regard to the composition of the roofing tiles of the present disclosure, whether made using the previously described methods or by other methods, the roofing tile includes recycled components, as described in the prior art, and includes a blend of binders as identified below in certain exemplary embodiments. The binder blend is used to manipulate the polymers in the recycled component to achieve the desired characteristics of the material that we want. We can use a wider range of materials and then modify them through the binder blend to achieve the same elevated output performance above the performance of our historical materials. Previously such as the Edson patents EPDM was used an impact modifier of 20 to 30% as rubber to increase impact. The problem is rubber also burns and does not bond to the plastics at the level that we require. We are the first in the composite rooting molding world to be able to utilize these unique components.
Referring now to
Benefits of Roofing Tile 100:
Material is a new and unique formulation never having been produced or sold before.
Referring now to
Further, referring now to
Also, the mold 300 includes a cover 308, best shown in
Benefits of Flat Roofing Tile 200:
Material is a new and unique formulation never having been produced or sold before.
Benefits of Compression Insert Mold:
Various other alternatives are contemplated as being within the scope of the following claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter regarded as the invention.
The present application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/891,218 titled Roofing Tile System And Method Of Manufacture, filed on Jun. 3, 2020, which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/856,248, titled Roofing Tile, filed on Jun. 3, 2019, the entirety of which are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 16891218 | Jun 2020 | US |
Child | 18449283 | US |