Staggered look shake siding panel with improved locking mechanism

Abstract

A simulated shake siding panel having the random appearance of individual shakes is provided. The siding panel comprises a siding panel board, the siding panel board comprising front and rear faces, the front face including at least a bottommost course of a plurality of simulated side-by-side shakes forming an uneven butt line. A nailing strip is disposed proximate to a top edge of the siding panel board. A downwardly open hook is provided on the front face proximate to a top edge of the siding panel for interfitting with an upwardly open hook of a second like siding panel, the siding panel and second siding panel interfitted top to bottom. An upwardly open hook is disposed on the rear face of the siding panel, a top edge of the upwardly open hook being uniformly spaced from the top edge of the siding panel and non-uniformly spaced from the uneven butt line.

1 . A simulated shake siding panel having the random appearance of individual shakes comprising: 
 a siding panel board, said siding panel board comprising front and rear faces, said front face including at least a bottommost course of a plurality of simulated side-by-side shakes forming an uneven butt line;    a downwardly open hook disposed on said front face adjacent to a top edge of said siding panel for interfitting with an upwardly open hook of a second like siding panel, said siding panel and second siding panel interfitted top to bottom; and    an upwardly open hook disposed on said rear face of said siding panel, a top edge of said upwardly open hook being uniformly spaced from the top edge of said siding panel and non-uniformly spaced from said uneven butt line.    
   
   
       2 . The simulated shake siding panel of  claim 1 , wherein said siding panel comprises polypropylene or blend thereof.  
   
   
       3 . The simulated shake siding panel of  claim 1 , wherein points along said uneven butt line corresponding to two different shakes from said bottommost course differ at least 0.25 inch in distance from said upwardly open hook top edge.  
   
   
       4 . The simulated shake siding panel of  claim 1 , wherein points along said uneven butt line corresponding to two different shakes from said bottommost course differ between about 0.25 to 1.0 inch in distance from said upwardly open hook top edge.  
   
   
       5 . The simulated shake siding panel of  claim 1 , wherein at least some of said plurality of shakes from said bottommost course have different widths.  
   
   
       6 . The simulated shake siding panel of  claim 1 , wherein said shakes are simulated cedar shakes.  
   
   
       7 . The simulated shake siding panel of  claim 1 , further comprising a nailing strip disposed proximate to a top edge of said siding panel board, said nailing strip comprising preformed nailing apertures.  
   
   
       8 . The simulated shake siding panel of  claim 1 , wherein the upwardly open hook and the downwardly open hook engage with a frictional interference fit.  
   
   
       9 . A simulated shake siding panel having the random appearance of individual shakes comprising: 
 a siding panel board, said siding panel board comprising front and rear faces, said front face including at least two course of simulated shakes disposed in top and bottom overlapping and underlapping relation, each course comprising a plurality of simulated side-by-side shakes, at least a bottommost course of said at least two courses forming an uneven butt line;    a nailing strip disposed proximate to a top edge of said siding panel board;    a downwardly open hook disposed on said front face adjacent to a top edge of said siding panel for interfitting with an upwardly open hook of a second like siding panel, said siding panel and second siding panel interfitted top to bottom; and    an upwardly open hook disposed on said rear face of said siding panel, a top edge of said upwardly open hook being uniformly spaced from the top edge of said siding panel and non-uniformly spaced from said uneven butt line.    
   
   
       10 . The simulated shake siding panel of  claim 9 , wherein said siding panel comprises polypropylene or blend thereof.  
   
   
       11 . The simulated shake siding panel of  claim 9 , wherein points along said uneven butt line corresponding to two different shakes from said bottommost course differ at least 0.25 inch in distance from said upwardly open hook top edge.  
   
   
       12 . The simulated shake siding panel of  claim 9 , wherein points along said uneven butt line corresponding to two different shakes from said bottommost course differ between about 0.25 to 1.0 inch in distance from said upwardly open hook top edge.  
   
   
       13 . The simulated shake siding panel of  claim 9 , wherein at least some of said shakes from each of said first and second courses have different widths.  
   
   
       14 . The simulated shake siding panel of  claim 9 , wherein said shakes are simulated cedar shakes.  
   
   
       15 . The simulated shake siding panel of  claim 9 , wherein said nailing strip comprises preformed nailing apertures.  
   
   
       16 . The simulated shake siding panel of  claim 9 , wherein a topmost course of said first and second courses forms an uneven butt line.  
   
   
       17 . An injection molded simulated shake siding panel having the random appearance of individual shakes comprising: 
 a siding panel board, said siding panel board comprising front and rear faces, said front face including at least two courses of simulated cedar shakes disposed in top and bottom overlapping and underlapping relation, each course comprising a plurality of simulated side-by-side shakes, each course having an uneven butt line and non-uniformly shaped shakes;    a nailing strip disposed proximate to a top edge of said siding panel board and comprising preformed nailing apertures;    a downwardly open hook disposed on said front face adjacent to a top edge of said siding panel for interfitting with an upwardly open hook of a second like siding panel, said siding panel and second siding panel interfitted top to bottom; and    an upwardly open hook disposed on said rear face of said siding panel, a top edge of said upwardly open hook being uniformly spaced from the top edge of said siding panel and non-uniformly spaced from the uneven butt line of a bottommost course of said first and second courses,    wherein the upwardly open hook and the downwardly open hook engage with a frictional interference fit.    
   
   
       18 . The simulated shake siding panel of  claim 17 , wherein said siding panel comprises polypropylene or blend thereof.  
   
   
       19 . The simulated shake siding panel of  claim 17 , wherein points along said bottommost course butt line corresponding to two different shakes from said bottommost course differ at least 0.25 inch in distance from said upwardly open hook top edge.  
   
   
       20 . The simulated shake siding panel of  claim 17 , wherein at least one of said upwardly and downwardly open hooks comprises a flange spaced from a plane of the panel body, and wherein the flange is at least partially flared in a direction away from the plane of the panel body, thereby providing a lead-in for engagement of said hooks.  
   
   
       21 . A method of installing a siding panel assembly, comprising the steps of: 
 providing first and second simulated shake siding panels having the random appearance of individual shakes, each panel comprising: 
 a siding panel board, said siding panel board comprising front and rear faces, said front face including at least a bottommost course of a plurality of simulated side-by-side shakes forming an uneven butt line;  
 a downwardly open hook disposed on said front face adjacent to a top edge of said siding panel for interfitting with an upwardly open hook of a second like siding panel, said siding panel and second siding panel interfitted top to bottom; and  
 an upwardly open hook disposed on said rear face of said siding panel, a top edge of said upwardly open hook being uniformly spaced from the top edge of said siding panel and non-uniformly spaced from said uneven butt line;  
   attaching said first siding panel to a vertical wall of a structure; and    engaging the upwardly open hook member of the second siding panel with the downwardly open hook member of the first siding panel such that said first and second siding panels are interfitted top to bottom; and    attaching said second siding panel to said vertical wall of said structure.