Apparatus for Marking Lines on a Metal Roofing Panel Having a Raised Profile

Abstract

A measuring apparatus for marking a cut line on roofing panels having a raised rib configuration is formed with an elongated base member and a cross member pivotally connected to the proximal end of the base member permitting rotation of the cross member relative to the base member. The cross member includes a protractor section, including indicia indicative of the angle of rotation of the cross member, to define the desired angle of a cut line. The base member includes at least two seating members removably retained within the C-channel shape of the base member to provide a stable seating of the base member on the roofing panel rib. The seating members can be interchanged to match the rib configuration. A locking mechanism secures the rotated position of the cross member to enable the measurement of the desired and then handed off to mark the cut line.

Claims

1. An apparatus for marking lines on a metal panel having a raised rib profile including shaped ribs oriented in a longitudinal direction, comprising: an elongated base member formed as a channel having a pair of opposing vertical legs terminating in a first plane; a cross member formed in an L-shaped configuration with a lip terminating in a second plane, said cross member being pivotally connected to said elongated base member by a pivot oriented along a centerline of said elongated base member at a proximal end thereof, said cross member incorporating a protractor portion having a pointer defining the angular position of said cross member relative to said base member and being mounted on said elongated base member in alignment with said centerline; and at least two seating members secured to said elongated base member between said opposing vertical legs, each said seating member being formed with a relief corresponding to the shape of said ribs so that said elongated base member can be mounted in a stable manner on top of a selected rib.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising: a locking mechanism operatively interconnecting said cross member and said elongated base member to secure said cross member at a selected angular relationship with respect to said elongated base member.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said protractor portion includes an arcuate slot having angular indicia associated with said pointer to indicate the angular relationship of said cross member relative to said elongated base member.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said cross member includes distance measurement indicia along said lip.

5. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said locking mechanism comprises: a fastener passing through said arcuate slot in said protractor and received within said elongated base member so as to clamp said protractor to said elongated base member.

6. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said locking mechanism includes a retention tab engaged with slots forms in said protractor portion, said retention tab being movable in response to engagement with a locking button.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said second plane is above said first plane such that the terminus of said lip will be located proximate to the multiple ribs of said metal panel while the terminus of said vertical legs is below the rib selected for the mounting of said elongated base member.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said seating members are formed from a polymeric material and are inserted into said channel so that said vertical legs can retain said seating members between said vertical legs and within said channel.

9. A measuring apparatus to establish a cut line on roofing panels having a raised rib profile, comprising: an elongated base member formed as a channel having a pair of opposing vertical legs; a cross member having a lip along an exterior edge thereof, said cross member being pivotally connected to said elongated base member by a pivot oriented along a centerline of said elongated base member at a proximal end thereof, said cross member incorporating a protractor portion defining an angular position of said cross member relative to said base member; and at least two seating members secured in spaced apart locations within said elongated base member between said opposing vertical legs, each said seating member being formed with a relief corresponding to a selected raised rib configuration so that said elongated base member can be mounted in a stable manner on top of a selected raised rib.

10. The measuring apparatus of claim 9 wherein said protractor portion includes an arcuate slot having angular indicia along said arcuate slot to indicate the angular relationship of said cross member relative to said elongated base member and a plurality of slots spaced circumferentially along said protractor portion.

11. The measuring apparatus of claim 10 further comprising: a locking mechanism operatively interconnecting said cross member and said elongated base member to secure said cross member at a selected angular relationship with respect to said elongated base member.

12. The measuring apparatus of claim 11 wherein said locking mechanism includes a retention tab engagable with a selected one of said slots to secure the protractor portion in a desired angular relationship with respect to said base portion, said retention tab being operably connected to a lock button to affect movement of said retention tab.

13. The measuring apparatus of claim 9 wherein vertical legs of said base portion terminate in a first plane, said lip has a vertical portion terminating in a second plane, said second plane being above said first plane such that the terminus of said lip can rest upon multiple ribs of said metal roofing panel while the terminus of said vertical legs is below the rib selected for the mounting of said elongated base member.

14. The measuring apparatus of claim 9 wherein said cross member is rotatable through an angular displacement of 180 degrees to place said lip adjacent a vertical leg on a selected side of said elongated base member to position said apparatus into a storage position, said locking mechanism being operable to secure said apparatus in said storage position.

15. A method of cutting a roofing panel having a raised rib profile comprising the steps of: acquiring a measuring apparatus having an elongated base member formed as a downwardly facing C-channel fitted with at least two seating members within said C-channel, and a cross member pivotally connected to an end of said base member and rotatable relative thereto to measure an angular dimension corresponding to a deflection of said cross member relative to said base member; placing the measuring apparatus on a raised rib of an existing roofing panel with the at least two seating members engaged with the surface of the raised rib; rotating the cross member to conform to the desired cut for an adjacent roofing panel; and securing the measurement of the angular deflection of the cross member.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising the steps of: duplicating the measurement of the angular deflection on a second roofing panel to become the adjacent roofing panel; marking a cut line; and cutting the second roofing panel along said cut line.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein said securing step includes the step of: locking the rotated position of said cross member with a locking device carried by said measuring apparatus.

18. The method of claim 15 wherein said securing step includes the step of: communicating the angular measurement to a remote party to form said cut line; and utilizing a second measuring apparatus to perform said duplicating step and said marking step.

19. The method of claim 15 wherein said seating members are selected from a set of seating members to have a relief profile corresponding to the shape of the raised rib to be engaged therewith.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] The advantages of this invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed disclosure of the invention, especially when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

[0029] FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a measuring apparatus incorporating the principles of the instant invention for marking lines on a metal roofing panel having a raised rib profile, the cross member being pivoted with respect to the elongated base member;

[0030] FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the measuring apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

[0031] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the measuring apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

[0032] FIG. 4 is a partial end view of the measuring apparatus shown in FIG. 1, looking into the distal end of the elongated base member according to the lines 4-4 of FIG. 6;

[0033] FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the measuring apparatus similar to that of FIG. 1;

[0034] FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the measuring apparatus shown in FIG. 5,

[0035] FIG. 7 is an enlarged detail view of the protractor portion of the cross member corresponding to the Circle F in FIG. 5;

[0036] FIG. 8 is an enlarged detail view of the end of the measuring apparatus corresponding to Circle E of FIG. 6;

[0037] FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the seating member showing the channel formed in the upper surface thereof;

[0038] FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the seating member shown in FIG. 9 showing the profiled relief formed in the underside of the seating member to receive the raised rib of a selected roofing panel;

[0039] FIG. 11 is top plan view showing the placement of the measuring apparatus onto a metal roofing panel having a raised profile, wherein the cross member is showing the location for marking the metal roofing panel to be cut along a transverse lateral line;

[0040] FIG. 12 is a top plan view similar to that of FIG. 11 except with the cross member of the apparatus oriented to mark a line that is neither parallel nor perpendicular to the length of the metal roofing panel; and

[0041] FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of the measuring apparatus taken along lines 13-13 in FIG. 12 to show the mounting of the base member and the seating member on a representative raised rib of a roofing panel

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0042] Referring to the drawings, and particularly to FIGS. 1-10, a preferred embodiment of an apparatus for marking lines on a metal panel, particularly metal roofing panels having a raised rib profile. The apparatus 10 has a cross member 15 pivotally connected to the end of an elongated base member 20. The cross member 15 has an L-shaped cross-section with a lip 13 along the edge of the cross member furthest from the elongated base member 20 when the cross member 15 is oriented orthogonally to the elongated base member 20. The cross member 15 also incorporates an arcuate protractor 16 having an arcuate semi-circular slot 17 centered on the pivot 19 between the cross member 15 and the elongated base member 20. A pointer 18, best seen in FIG. 1, is aligned with the center of the elongated base member 20 and fixed to the pivot 19 so that the operator can determine the angular relationship between the cross member 15 and the elongated base member 20.

[0043] The elongated base member 20 has a C-shaped configuration which is open to the rear, terminating in opposing vertical legs 23 defining a channel 21 therebetween. As depicted in FIG. 4, the vertical legs 23 of the elongated base member 20 terminate lower that the terminus of the lip 13 of the cross member 15 so that the lip 13 will engage across the raised profile of the metal roofing panel, as the vertical legs 23 are located in a valley between raised ribs of the metal roofing panel P. When the cross member 15 is rotated to the ninety degree location on the protractor 16, the spatial relationship between the cross member 15 and the elongated base member 20 will allow the lip 13 to rest against the adjacent vertical leg 23 of the elongated base member 20 to orient the apparatus 10 into a transport configuration. As depicted in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5, the cross member 15 can include distance measuring indicia along the lip 13. One skilled in the art would recognize that the base member 20 could also have distance indicia thereon.

[0044] As is best seen in FIGS. 4, 5 and 10, the elongated base member 20 is provided with a plurality of shaped, spaced-apart seating members 25. Each seating member 25 is shaped to correspond to the shape of the ribs R formed into the metal roofing panel P. Because different manufacturers of metal roofing panels P have differently shaped panels P, particularly the shape of the raised ribs R, the seating members 25 are preferably inserts that can be simply adhered to the channel 21 between the vertical legs 23 and preferably fill the channel 21. The insert seating members 25 can be retained within the channel 21 by the profile of the vertical legs 23. Because of the varying shape of the raised ribs R, the apparatus 10 would likely have a set of seating members 25 that correspond to each configuration of panel P that would be encountered in the operator's endeavors.

[0045] As depicted in FIGS. 9 and 10, a representative seating member 25 has a back side 26 that fits flush into the channel 21 of the elongated base member 20. Opposing side portions 27 engage the turned down vertical legs 23 of the elongated base member 20, and will preferably engage the profile of the vertical legs 23 with a flexible biasing force that retains the seating member 25 in the operative position within the channel 21. A relief 28 corresponding to the raised shape of the ribs R of the metal roofing panel P is formed into the underside 29 of the seating member 25. When positioned within the channel 21 of the elongated base member 20, with the relief 28 facing outwardly, the elongated base member 20 is able to rest in a stable manner on a selected raised rib R, as is seen in FIGS. 11-13, to position the apparatus 10 in a manner to permit marking the metal roof panel P along a desired cut line.

[0046] The operation of the apparatus 10 is depicted in FIGS. 11-13. The first part of the process would be to determine the angle along which the metal roofing panel P is to be cut. In some instances, the metal roofing panel P is to be simply shortened with a cut line that is parallel to the top or bottom edges of the metal roofing panel P. In such a situation, a length measurement is usually determined by a simple measurement and the cut line is made on the metal roofing panel P with the cross member 15 positioned perpendicularly to the elongated base member 20. The elongated base member 20 is mounted on a rib R so that the cut line can be drawn across the width of the metal roofing panel P along the lip 13 of the cross member 15.

[0047] In more complicated cuts to be made into the metal roofing panel P, the apparatus 10 can be used on the roof structure to determine the angle at which the cut is to be made, and then the apparatus 10 can be passed to the ground for marking the metal roofing panel P for cutting by conventional devices. As an example, the metal roofing panel P could be shaped for mounting on the roof along a valley between two roof portions. The apparatus 10 can be positioned in a manner that the cross member 15 is aligned with the angle of the valley relative to the orientation of the rib R, thus measuring the angle at which the metal roofing panel P is to be cut. The selected position of the cross member 15 relative to the elongated base member 20 is locked by engaging the locking mechanism 30 at the protractor portion 16 to secure the pivoted position of the cross member 15 to the elongated base member 20.

[0048] The degrees shown on the arcuate protractor portion 16 could be read and communicated to a person on the ground that could set a matching apparatus 10 to the correct degrees using the arcuate protractor 16 on the second apparatus 10. The person would then mount the elongated base member 20 on the raised rib R of a metal roofing panel P to position the cross member 15 across the width of the panel P at the measured diagonal angle. The cut line can then be drawn along the lip 13 of the cross member 15 along the required diagonal path.

[0049] Alternatively, the apparatus 10 could be handed down to the ground for a person to mount the elongated base member 20 on the raised rib R of a metal roofing panel P to position the cross member 15 across the width of the panel P at the measured diagonal angle. The cut line can then be drawn along the lip 13 of the cross member 15 along the required diagonal path. The cross member 15 can be pivoted to either direction about the pivot 19 to measure the desired angle. The preferred locking mechanism 30 is shown in FIGS. 3-7 as a retention tab 32 that is engaged or disengaged with the protractor portion 16. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that a positive, spring-loaded retention mechanism would be preferable for use in securing the angular orientation of the cross member 15 relative the elongated base member 20.

[0050] Alternatively, the locking mechanism can be a simple clamp 39 squeezing the cross member and base member together at the protractor portion 16, as can be seen in FIGS. 11 and 12, such as a T-shaped device that provides sufficient torque to lock the selected position of the cross-member 15 relative to the elongated base member 20. One skilled in the art will recognize that other shapes and devices can be utilized to lock the pivoted position of the cross member 15 relative to the elongated base member. The apparatus 10 will preferably incorporate a tab 35 that will enable the apparatus to be supported from the roof structure when not in use.

[0051] The indicia depicted in FIG. 7 can also be utilized to define the desired position of the cut line, although measurement indicia can also be placed on the elongated base member to assist in ascertaining the positioning of the apparatus 10 relative to the desired cut line. Such indicia can be laser-etched into the respective components of the apparatus 10, or a decal placed on the components, or other known processes for establishing the indicia. Preferably, the respective components of the apparatus 10 are formed from aluminum, but other materials from stainless steel to plastics could be used to form the components. The insert seating members 25 are replaceable and preferably formed from a polyurethane or other similar plastic material to provide a wearable structure that can be easily flexed to permit installation into the elongated base member 20. While the seating members 25 may be adhered to the elongated base member 20, the seating members 25 could be manufactured to engage the profile of the vertical legs 23 to be secured within the elongated base member 20 with or without adhesion.

[0052] It will be understood that changes in the details, materials, steps and arrangements of parts, which have been described and illustrated to explain the nature of the invention will occur to and may be made by those skilled in the art upon a reading of this disclosure within the principles of the scope of the invention. The foregoing description illustrates the preferred embodiment of the invention; however, concepts, as based upon the description may be employed in other embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the following claims are intended to protect the invention broadly, as well as in the specific form shown.

[0053] In the way of example, the seating members 25 could be manufactured from material that does not lend themselves to being soft and flexible and being retained by the vertical legs 23. Such material could be aluminum or the same metal from which the apparatus 10 is manufactured, or even from wood. Attachment devices, such as set screws or magnets could be used to retain the seating members 25 in proper positions, which is reflected in the drawings.

[0054] Reference is made throughout this specification to the marking of metal raised rib roofing panels. One skilled in the art will recognize that the marking apparatus 10 would be appropriate for use on any panel, whether used as roofing material or siding material, or whether made of metal. A raised rib configuration is found in many types of panels for which this apparatus would be applicable.