Laminated roofing shingle

A laminated shingle having a first shingle sheet with a plurality of tabs and a second shingle sheet comprising:

• each of the tabs having a relatively uniform color-value portion;
• an opening formed between adjacent tabs;
• the second shingle sheet disposed beneath the tabs with a portion of the second shingle sheet exposed through the respective openings;
• a color-value gradation from light to dark formed on the exposed portion of the second shingle sheet by a plurality of horizontal striations with each striation having granules with a different color-value as compared to an adjacent striation to create an appearance of depth in cooperation with the tabs forming the respective openings;
• a transition stripe disposed between adjacent striations and each transition stripe having a color-value comprising a mixture of the respective granules of the horizontal striations disposed on either side of each transition stripe whereby the color-value gradation has an enhanced difference between light to dark color-values while at the same time providing a gradual change in color-value between the respective horizontal striations;
• and
• the mixture of granules for each transition stripe varying from 25% to 75% of the respective granules of the horizontal striation disposed on either side of the respective transition stripe.

A laminated roofing shingle for enhancing the appearance of depth of the shingle comprising:

• a first shingle sheet having a plurality of tabs extending from an edge thereof, the tabs spaced apart to define a plurality of openings between the tabs;
• the color of the tabs being relatively uniform in value throughout each tab;
• a second shingle sheet disposed beneath and attached to the underside of the first shingle sheet to form a two-ply laminated shingle, with portions of the second shingle sheet being exposed through the openings between the tabs;
• a plurality of horizontal striations on said second shingle sheet providing a color-value gradation across the portions of the second shingle sheet which are exposed through the openings between the tabs;
• a transition stripe disposed between each pair of adjacent striations and each transition stripe having a color-value comprising a mixture of the respective colors associated with the horizontal striations disposed on either side of each transition stripe, the color-value gradation of said horizontal striations having an enhanced difference between light to dark color-values and said transition stripes providing a gradual change in color-value between the respective horizontal striations;
• the color-value mixture of granules for each transition stripe varying from 25% to 75% of the respective color-value of the horizontal striation disposed on either side of the respective transition stripe;
• each of the striations providing a generally elongated area disposed within the portions of the second sheet, each of the striations having a color-value substantially uniform throughout its respective generally elongated area with each of the generally elongated areas being approximately equal in size;
• one of the striations occupying the top of the portions of the second shingle sheet and another of the striations occupying the bottom of the portions of the second shingle sheet with the striations occupying the bottom of the portions of the second sheet having a lighter color-value than the color-value of the striations occupying the top of the portions of the second shingle sheet;
• and
• the plurality of horizontal striations and associated transition stripes providing the color-value gradation over each of the portions of the second shingle sheet which are exposed through the openings between the tabs, such that an appearance of shingle depth is created by the combined visual appearance of the color-value contrasts and gradations provided by the first and second shingle sheets.

A laminated roofing shingle for enhancing the appearance of depth of the shingle comprising:

• a first shingle sheet having a plurality of tabs extending from an edge thereof, the tabs spaced apart to define a plurality of openings between the tabs;
• the color-value of the tabs being relatively uniform throughout each tab;
• a second shingle sheet disposed beneath and attached to the underside of the first shingle sheet to form a two-ply laminated shingle, with portions of the second shingle sheet being exposed through the openings between the tabs;
• first, second and third horizontal striations on said second shingle sheet providing a color-value gradation across the portions of the second sheet which are exposed through the openings between the tabs;
• the first striation providing an elongated, generally quadrilateral area and occupying the top of the portions of the second sheet, the first striation having a color-value substantially uniform throughout the generally quadrilateral area;
• the second striation providing an elongated, generally quadrilateral area approximately equal to the area of the first striation, the second striation occupying the middle of the portions of the second sheets, the second striation having a color-value lighter than the color-value of the first striation and the light color-value being substantially uniform throughout the generally quadrilateral area;
• the third striation providing an elongated, generally quadrilateral area occupying the bottom of the portions of the second sheet, the third striation having a lighter color-value than the color-value of the second striation and the lighter color-value being substantially uniform throughout the generally quadrilateral area;
• a first transition stripe disposed between the first striation and the second striation with the first transition stripe having a color-value comprising a mixture of the respective color-values of the first striation and the second striation, the color-value gradation of said first and second horizontal striations having an enhanced difference between lighter to darker color-value and said transition stripe providing a gradual change in color-value between the first striation and the second striation;
• a second transition stripe disposed between the second and the third striations with the second transition stripe having a color-value comprising a mixture of the respective color-values of the second striation and the third striation, the color-value gradation of said second and third horizontal striations having an enhanced difference between lighter to darker value and said transition stripe providing a gradual change in color-value between the second striation and the third striation;
• and
• the first, second and third horizontal striations and associated transition stripes providing the color-value gradation over each of the portions of the second shingle sheet which are exposed through the openings between the tabs, such that an appearance of shingle depth is created by the combined visual appearance of the color-value gradations provided by the first and second shingle sheets and the adjacent tabs.

A method of fabricating a two-ply laminated roofing shingle with an enhanced appearance of depth on exposed portions of the shingle comprising the steps of:

• forming a first shingle sheet having a plurality of tabs extending from one edge thereof;
• spacing the tabs from each other to define a plurality of openings between the tabs;
• forming a respective relatively uniform color-value portion on each of the tabs;
• forming the laminated shingle by disposing a second shingle sheet beneath and attached to the underside of the first shingle sheet with portions of the second shingle sheet exposed through the openings formed by the tabs;
• placing colored granules on the second shingle sheet to form a plurality of horizontal striations on the second shingle sheet to provide a color-value gradation across the portions of the second shingle sheet which are exposed through the openings;
• placing a transition stripe between each pair of adjacent horizontal striations with each transition stripe having a color-value comprising a mixture of the respective granules associated with the horizontal striations disposed on either side of the respective transition stripe, the color-value gradation of said horizontal striations having an enhanced difference from light to dark color-values and said transition stripes providing a gradual change in color-value between the respective horizontal striations;
• forming each of the respective horizontal striations with a substantially uniform color-value;
• placing one of the horizontal striations having a dark color-value near the top of the portions of the second shingle sheet and placing another of the horizontal striations near the bottom of the portions of the second shingle sheet with the striation occupying the bottom of the portions having a lighter color-value than the color-value of the striations occupying the top of the portions of the second shingle sheet;
• and
• providing the enhanced color-value gradation over each of the portions of the second shingle sheet which are exposed through the openings between the tabs by the combined visual appearance of the horizontal striations and the associated transition stripes such that an appearance of shingle depth is created by the resulting color-value gradations provided by the first and second shingle sheets.