Stacking bar for roofing elements

Abstract

Various embodiments of the invention provide a roofing element that has improved stacking characteristics. According to various embodiments, roofing elements for installing on a sloped roof are provided, and each roofing element includes a body portion that defines one or more batten lugs and / or weather bars and at least one stacker bar that corresponds with each batten lug or weather bar. The batten lugs, weather bars, and the stacker bars extend outwardly from a lower surface of the roofing element, and each stacker bar includes a lower surface and one or more tapered surfaces that extend between the lower surface of the stacker bar and the lower surface of the body portion. The tapered surfaces are adapted for urging the upper surface of a vertically stacked roofing element away from the lower surface of the roofing element.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 864,226 filed Nov. 3, 2006 and entitled “Roofing Tile Providing Multiple Tile Shapes or Appearance of the Same,” which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 821,259 filed Aug. 2, 2006 and entitled “Improved Roofing Tile and Roofing Tile System,” which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] When concrete roofing elements, such as field tiles and trim tiles, are manufactured, they may be stacked together onto a pallet, and then wrapped for shipment to a customer. The process of stacking the roofing elements may be done by hand or by an auto-packer for automatically stacking the roofing elements adjacent each other, for example. Some auto-packers operate by moving roofing elements from a conveyor onto a pallet or onto an existing stack of roofi...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0005] According to various embodiments of the invention, a plurality of roofing elements for installing on a sloped roof are provided, and each of roofing elements element includes (1) a head end, (2) a nose end, and (3) a body portion extending between the head end and the nose end. The body portion defines a profile having at least one arcuate portion and has an upper surface and a lower surface. The lower surface is opposite the upper surface, and the body portion defines at least one stacker bar adjacent the arcuate portion. Each stacker bar extends outwardly from the lower surface and includes a lower surface and one or more tapered surfaces that extend between the lower surface of each stacker bar and the lower surface of the body portion. The one or more tapered surfaces are adapted for urging the upper surface of a vertically stacked roofing element away from the lower surface of the roofing element.

[0006] Various other embodiment of the invention provide a plurality of roofing elements for installing on a sloped roof, and each roofing element include

Problems solved by technology

When stacking the roofing elements onto one another or during shipment, the portions of one roofing element may be nicked, broken, or otherwise damaged by another roofing element stacked above or below the roofing element.

In particular, portions of the roofing element that project from a surface of the body of the roofing element, such as batten lugs and weather bars, tend to be particularly susceptible to breakage.

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