Roofing shingle system and shingles for use therein

A roofing system comprising:

• single-layer shingles in more than one course wherein each of said shingles has a length, a headlap portion, a buttlap portion, a lateral leading edge, and a lateral trailing edge;
• wherein said buttlap portion includes a plurality of buttlap projections extending away from the shingle defining a maximum buttlap width;
• wherein the buttlap projections have a breadth that is about equal for each buttlap projection defining a primary projection breadth opposite a primary horizontal breadth at a horizontal edge;
• wherein said headlap portion includes a plurality of headlap projections extending away from the shingle defining a maximum headlap width;
• wherein a first of said headlap projections nearest to the lateral leading edge has an increased projection breadth that is greater than the primary projection breadth, and the increased projection breadth of the first of said headlap projections nearest to the lateral leading edge is greater than a breadth of at least another of said headlap projections:
• and wherein said breadth of said at least another of said headlap projections is about equal to the primary projection breadth;
• wherein the maximum headlap width is less than the maximum buttlap width;
• wherein the roofing system comprises a plurality of courses of said shingles, and wherein the lateral trailing edge of a subsequently installed at least one of said shingles in a first course of shingles overlaps the lateral leading edge of an adjacent previously installed one of said shingles in the first course to provide a side-lap region;
• and wherein at least one of said shingles in a subsequent course of shingles provides:
• (a) a generally uniform overlap region over the headlap portions of a first adjacent shingle and a second adjacent shingle in the first course, wherein the generally uniform overlap region has a transverse dimension that varies by less than 10% across the length of shingle in the subsequent course;
• and
• (b) an expanded overlap region over the headlap portion of the second adjacent shingle, wherein the expanded overlap region is due to the increased projection breadth of the first headlap projection nearest to the lateral leading edge of the second adjacent shingle.

A roofing shingle comprising:

• headlap portion, a buttlap portion, a lateral leading edge, and a lateral trailing edge;
• wherein said buttlap portion includes a plurality of buttlap projections extending away from the shingle defining a maximum buttlap width and a plurality of recessed horizontal buttlap portions;
• wherein each of said buttlap projections includes a horizontal edge defining a projected horizontal buttlap portion;
• wherein each said projected horizontal buttlap portion has a horizontal buttlap breadth that differs from each other by between 0% and 20%, and differs from a breadth of at least one of said recessed horizontal buttlap portions by between 0% and 20%, and wherein at least one of said projected horizontal buttlap portions has a maximum horizontal buttlap breadth;
• wherein said headlap portion includes a plurality of headlap projections extending away from the shingle defining a maximum headlap width and a plurality of recessed horizontal headlap portions;
• wherein each of said headlap projections includes a horizontal edge defining a projected horizontal headlap portion;
• wherein a first of said projected horizontal headlap portions is nearest to the lateral leading edge and has a maximum horizontal breadth that is greater than the maximum horizontal buttlap breadth, and wherein the maximum horizontal breadth of the first of said projected horizontal headlap portions nearest to the lateral leading edge is greater than a maximum breadth of at least another of said projected horizontal headlap portions and at least one of said recessed horizontal headlap portions has a breadth that differs from the horizontal buttlap breadth of each of the projected horizontal buttlap portions by between 0% and 20%;
• wherein the maximum headlap width is less than the maximum buttlap width;
• and
• wherein said headlap portion is surfaced with a first shade of granules and said buttlap portion is surfaced with a second contrasting shade of granules.