This invention relates to a method and apparatus for making tiles in a continuous stream and is especially suitable for making tiles from cement but of course other hardenable materials could equally be applicable. The invention is also concerned with an improved form of tile.

In Australian patent specification no. 50-1081 there is disclosed automatic tile-making apparatus for producing tiles on a continuous stream of pallets which are fed through the apparatus. With presently existing techniques if a different form of tile such as a ridge or a verge tile is to be produced it is necessary to shut the machine down in order to alter the forming head and the make any necessary adjustment for feeding pallets of a different form through the equipment. In automatic equipment of this kind any shut down necessarily means loss of production and typically a shut down of about one hour is required to change the apparatus for production of a different form of tile.

Roofing tiles are normally formed with an "underlap" along one edge and an "overlap" along the opposite edge so that when the tiles are laid the overlap of one tile overlies the underlap of an adjacent tile so as to prevent rainwater from leaking generally laterally through the adjacent edges of the tiles. It has been found however that underlap and overlap configurations are such that capillary action takes place and accordingly leakage through the tiled roof can occur.

It is an object of the present invention to provide method and apparatus which can be used to produce tiles of different types and minimize the necessity to interrupt operation of the apparatus.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved tile.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided apparatus for continuously producing tiles the apparatus including a plurality of pallets which are adapted to be arranged in a continuous row, a support over which said pallets can be conveyed means for laying hardenable tile material such as uncured cement or the like onto said pallets, said pallets defining the shape of one side of the tile, a forming head for forming the shape of other side of the tile said pallets and forming head being so shaped to produce tiles having a roll and a gully characterized in that the apparatus includes selectively operable cutting means to cut the hardenable material in the longitudinal direction at or near the junction of the roll and gully to separate these parts whereby if the cutting means is operated the roll parts so produced can be used as verge and/or ridge tiles.

Preferably the cutting means comprises a rotatable cutter. The rotatable cutter may be angularly inclined relative to the plane of the tile being formed.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of continuously making tiles of two types said method including forming a layer of hardenable tile material onto a continuous stream of pallets, said pallets defining the shape of one side of the tile, forming the other side of the tile in a forming head, said pallets and forming head being so shaped to produce tiles having a roll and gully said method being characterized by the step of selectively cutting the hardenable tile material in the longitudinal direction at or near the junction of the roll and gully to separate these parts whereby when the cutting means is so operated the roll parts so produced can be used as verge and/or ridge tiles.

Preferably the tile being formed includes a pair of spaced apart lugs along one lateral side edge thereof the method including the further step of removing the outermost lug when ridge tiles are being formed. Preferably the cutting step is at an angle inclined relative to the plane of the tile being formed.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a roof tile comprising a roll of arcuate cross-section, a gully formed contiguously along one side of the roll, an overlap formed contiguously on the other side of the roll, the free side of the gully being formed with a short flange portion which terminates in an underlap in the form of a rebate in said flange portion, said rebate being defined by an underlap shoulder located adjacent to the tile, the tile being such that when one of said tiles is placed beside another, similar tile, the overlap of one tile overlies the underlap of the other tile, the flange portion of the other tile generally merging with the arcuate roll of said one tile but wherein said shoulder of said one tile projects outwardly relative to the roll of said one tile.

Preferably the shoulder is generally parallel to the upper surface of the gully. The rebate may include a generally flat surface which extends from the base of the shoulder towards the free edge of the underlap and terminates in an underlap bead, thereby defining a single smooth recessed channel between the underlap shoulder and the underlap bead.

Preferably the overlap comprises a rebate which is defined in part by an overlap shoulder which is generally normal to the arcuate surface of the roll beneath which it is located, the rebate including a flat surface portion extending towards the free edge of the overlap and terminating in a downwardly projecting overlap bead, the arrangement being such that when adjacent tiles are laid the underlap bead engages the flat surface of the overlap adjacent to the overlap shoulder and the overlap bead engages the flat surface of the underlap adjacent to the underlap shoulder.

In the method and apparatus defined above it is possible to produce roofing tiles which comprise the roll and gully or to selectively operate the cutting means so as to separate the gully part whereby the roll part can be used as a verge or ridge tile and this can be accomplised without interruption of the operation of the machine.

Example embodiments of the invention will now be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

• Figure 1 is a schematic view of a tile-making apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention,
• Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 2-2 marked on Figure 1,
• Figure 3 is a cross-section through a preferred form of tile made with the method and apparatus of the invention,
• Figure 4 illustrates the relationship of overlap and underlap of adjacent tiles,
• Figure 5 is a perspective view of part of a roof showing the use of the tiles illustrated in Figure 3,
• Figure 6 is an underside perspective view of the tile shown in Figure 3,
• Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 6-6 marked on Figure 6, and
• Figure 8 is a similar view to Figure 7 but showing a slightly modified form of tile.

Referring firstly to Figure 1 there is shown tile-making apparatus comprising a bed 2 over which a continuous stream of pallets 4 is driven by a driving mechanism (not shown) which is preferably of the type shown in Australian Patent Specification No. 501081. The apparatus includes cement dispensing apparatus 6 for forming a layer of uncured cement on the pallets. The pallets thereafter pass underneath a forming head 8 to form the upper part of the tile profile (as can be seen from Figures 2 and 3) and complete the formation of the tiles 10. The tiles 10 are then conveyed on the pallets to a drying chamber where the cement cures.

The tile illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 is preferably extruded from cement and is preferably made in continuous tile making equipment of known design. The tile comprises an arcuate roll portion 12 having a gully portion l4 on one side thereof. The other side of the gully 14 is formed with an upturned flange portion 16 which terminates in an underlap .18. The other side of the roll 12 is formed with an overlap 20.

Referring now to Figure 4 there is shown two tiles of the invention with the underlap 18 of one tile underlying the overlap 20 of an adjacent tile. It will be seen first of all that the upturned flange portion 16 generally merges with the roll of the adjacent tile so that the overall appearahce of a completed roof is such that the rolls are smoothly and symmetrically disposed between gullies and the tiled surface has a very attractive appearance.

Referring now in more detail to the profile of the underlap and overlap, it will be seen that the underlap is generally speaking formed by a rebate in the flange portion the rebate being defined by a shoulder 22 which is generally parallel to the upper face of the gully 14, the rebate being further defined by a flat surface 24 which extends from the base of the shoulder towards the free edge of the underlap and terminates in an underlap bead 26. The profile of the overlap is generally complementary to that of the underlap and also is formed generally speaking by a rebate formed into the opposite side of the roll 12. The overlap includes a shoulder 28 which is generally perpendicular to the upper surface of the roll at the point where the shoulder 28 is located. From the base of the shoulder 28 extends a generally flat surface 30 which terminates in a downwardly projecting overlap bead 32.

It will be noted that the underlap bead 26 engages the flat surface 30 of the overlap and the overlap bead 32 engages the flat surface 24 of the underlap. This necessarily defines a space 34 between the beads which is of relatively wide dimensions and thus assists in reducing capillary action of water which may enter the gap between the underlap and overlap.

It will be noted also that the outer region 36 of the shoulder 22 projects outwardly from the curve of the roll 12 the continuation of which is indicated by the broken line 38. This projecting shoulder has also been found to prevent capillary action of water at the joints between adjacent tiles.

Figure 5 illustrates the use of the tiles on a roof where the full tiles 10 are laid side by side with interlocking overlap and underlaps. As can be seen from Figures 6 and 7 the underside of the tiles 10 are formed with a nose lug 40 and two lugs 42 and 44 are located at the other end of the tile. The lugs 40, 42 and 44 are for interlocking adjacent rows of the tiles in more or less conventional manner.

Referring again to Figure 1 after the forming head 8 there is provided a selectively operable cutting wheel 9 which can be selectively used to form a cut 48, shown in broken lines in Figure 3, so as to separate the roll part 12 from the gully part 14. The material is to cure in the normal manner but the gully part 14 is separated at the cut 48 and discarded. The roll part 12 can be used as a verge tile 11 as shown in Figure 5. The roll parts 12 could also be used as ridge tiles but it is preferred to omit the end lug 42 so that when the ends of the ridge tiles are overlapped the ridge tiles can assume a more horizontal orientation since the underlying tile lies adjacent to the underside of the roll part 12 and comes into longitudinal abutment with the lug 44. Thus the lug 44 provides a convenient locating device for correctly locating each ridge tile with respect to one another. Figure 5 shows a number of ridge tiles 13 of the configuration shown in Figure 7 used as the ridging for the roof.

Many modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.