Roofing tile and snow-melting, tiled roof using the same

Abstract

A tile comprises a fire resistant ceramic, which is obtained by mixing and kneading defatted bran obtained from rice bran and a thermosetting resin, primarily baking the resulting mixture in an inert gas at 700° C. to 1000° C., crushing the resulting product into carbonized powder, mixing and kneading the carbonized powder with a ceramic powder, a solvent and, optionally, a binder to provide a plasticized mixture (ceramic-solvent mixture), pressure forming the mixture at a compression pressure of 10 MPa to 100 MPa, and heat treating the resulting compact again in an atmosphere of an inert gas at 500 to 1400° C.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A roofing tile comprising a fire resistant CRB ceramic, which is obtained by mixing and kneading defatted bran derived from rice bran and a thermosetting resin, primarily baking the resulting mixture in an inert gas at 700° C. to 1000° C., crushing the resulting compact into carbonized powder, mixing and kneading the carbonized powder with a ceramic powder, a solvent and, optionally, a binder to provide a plasticized mixture (ceramic-solvent mixture), pressure forming the mixture at a pressure of 10 MPa to 100 MPa, and heat treating the resulting compact again in an atmosphere of an inert gas at 100 to 1400° C.  
     
     
         2 . The roofing tile made of the fire resistant CRB ceramic according to  claim 1 , wherein the tile has a projection for fixing the tile to a cleat therefor formed integrally therewith.  
     
     
         3 . The roofing tile according to  claim 1  or  2 , wherein terminal holes are provided in the tile so as to permit passage of an electric current.  
     
     
         4 . The roofing tile according to any one of  claims 1  to  3 , wherein an electric resistor for heat generation is integrally embedded inside the tile.  
     
     
         5 . The roofing tile according to  claim 4 , wherein the electric resistor is made of a nichrome wire, an RB ceramic or a CRB ceramic.  
     
     
         6 . The roofing tile according to  claim 1 , wherein the ceramic powder consists of one or more of powders of ceramics selected from the group consisting of SiO 2 , Si 3 N 4 , ZrO 2 , Al 2 O 3 , SiC, BN, WC, TiC, sialons, porcelain clay, feldspar clay and kaolin.  
     
     
         7 . The roofing tile according to  claim 1 , wherein the thermosetting resin consists of one or more of resins selected from the group consisting of phenolic resins, diaryl phthalate resins, unsaturated polyester resins, epoxy resins, polyimide resins and triazine resins.  
     
     
         8 . The roofing tile according to  claim 1 , wherein the binder consists of an organic binder and/or an inorganic binder.  
     
     
         9 . The roofing tile according to  claim 1 , wherein the mixing ratio by weight between the defatted bran and the thermosetting resin ranges from 50:50 to 90:10.  
     
     
         10 . The roofing tile according to  claim 1 , wherein the mixing ratio by weight of the carbonized powder and the ceramic powder ranges from 5:95 to 95:5.  
     
     
         11 . A snow-melting roof structure comprising a plurality of roofing tiles set forth in any one of  claims 1  to  10 , wherein individual roofing tiles have terminal holes, each having a terminal of a conductive member embedded in each tile, and the conductive member in one tile is electrically connected through a terminal provided at each cleat to a conductive member of an adjacent tile so that the plurality of roofing tiles are arranged to be electrically connected with one another whereby when a potential is applied across the plurality of roofing tiles, heat is generated in individual tiles to permit snow melting.