Gutter shield for eaves trough

256 387 T3

DESCRIPTION

Protective channel for eaves gutter.

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to an eaves gutter or gutter assembly and more particularly relates to improvements to such structures.

Background of the invention

The use of eaves shields or gutters is known in the prior art and many proposals have been made for different types of shields. The purpose of the protector is essentially to allow the passage of rainwater from the roof to the gutter of the eaves while protecting it from foreign foreign matter such as leaves and the like.

To date, different approaches have been taken. A first approach is to use an open shield or shelter that allows rainwater to pass through while largely blocking the passage of foreign material. Additionally, many of these guards do not function as intended and the eave gutter must be accessed for cleaning.

It has also been proposed in the art to provide relatively complex structures where the eaves gutters are mounted to exert a rotary motion so that they can be emptied at desired intervals.

Proposals have also been made in the technique of eaves gutters and gutters with a design where a roof has an outer edge that curls downward and the flow of water follows a curved portion due to surface tension and then cascades down. in the gutter of the eaves. However, this concept has the drawback that when the volume of the water becomes large enough, the surface tension is insufficient to make all the water flow into the channel.

US patent 3, 436,878 discloses a device for protecting a channel, according to the preamble of claims 1 and 2, having a rear wall, a front wall, a lower wall and a part of the upper wall extending inward. from an upper marginal edge of said front wall, and a flange extending downwardly from a distal end of said upper wall, said front wall, said upper wall and said flange defining a recess between them; said device comprises a guard member having a general flat central portion, opposite first and second longitudinally extending sides and a plurality of openings through said general flat central portion; said first side has an upwardly extending portion to fit within said cavity. This device exposes a guard element, where the channel hooks that are normally separated from the guard element, are integrated to avoid the problem of different components. Channel hooks, which provide an inverted U-shaped portion at their end to fit over the upper marginal edge of the rear wall of the channel, are known per se.

Summary of the invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new channel guard that is adapted for use with existing channels and which eliminates the use of conventional fastening procedures to secure the channel to the eaves of the structure.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device for protecting a channel, said channel having a rear wall, a front wall, a rear wall, and a portion of the top wall extending inwardly from an upper marginal edge. of said front wall, and a flange extending downwardly from a distal end of said top wall, said front wall, said top wall, and said flange defining a cavity therebetween, said device comprising:

a guard member having a generally flat central portion, opposite first and second longitudinally extending sides, each side of said generally flat central portion, and a plurality of apertures extending through said generally flat central portion, wherein said first side has an upwardly extending portion to fit within said cavity, and said second side has an inverted U-shaped portion designed to fit over an upper marginal edge of said rear wall, and said first upwardly extending side (38) of said guard member comprising a first segment extending toward up and back to form an acute angle with said substantially planar portion, said first segment joining an adjacent second segment extending over it with a 180 ° turn, the arrangement being such that said part between said first and second segments abuts said upper wall and said flange, and a distal end of said second segment abuts said front wall.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a device for protecting a channel, said channel having a rear wall, a front wall, a lower wall, and a part of the upper wall extending inwardly from an upper marginal edge of said front wall, and a flange extending downwardly from a distal end of said top wall, said front wall, said top wall, and said flange defining a recess therebetween, said device comprising:

a guard member having a generally flat central portion, opposite first and second longitudinally extending sides, each side of said generally flat central portion, and a plurality of apertures extending through said generally flat central portion, wherein said first side has an upwardly extending portion to fit inside said cavity, and said second side has an inverted U-shaped portion designed to fit over an upper marginal edge of said rear wall, and said portion extending upward from said first side of said guard member comprising a first segment extending toward up and back at an acute angle with said substantially flat portion, a second segment extending substantially vertically downward, and a third segment extending from a distal end of said second segment in a substantially horizontal direction parallel to said substantially flat portion, the arrangement being such that said flange extending downwardly from said upper wall of said channel abuts said second and third segments.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided an assembly comprising an assembly comprising a channel and a res2 element

ES 2 256 387 T3 storage according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said channel has a rear wall, a front wall and a lower wall, said walls defining an open gutter between them, said channel also has a part of the upper wall extending inwardly from an upper marginal edge of said front wall, and a flange extending downwardly from a distal end of said upper wall, said front wall, said upper wall and said flange defining a recess between them, and where said guard element on its second side has an inverted U-shaped configuration on an upper marginal edge of said rear wall of said channel, and said channel is joined by a fixing means extending through said inverted U-shaped portion and said rear wall of said channel to a structure of the building.

With the device according to the present invention the connection between the guard element and the channel on its rear side is considerably simplified and provides a reliable connection of the first front side within a cavity.

The device of the present invention may be formed of any suitable material and may conveniently be formed of either a metallic or a plastic material. Thus, both materials are known for use in channels and either a similar or a different material can be used.

The device of the present invention provides a guard for the eaves gutter to prevent foreign matter from entering into the eaves gutter. It is important that adequate dimensions are provided for the openings formed in the flat guard. In this way, the size of the opening and its placement will allow adequate drainage of the water through the openings in the eaves gutter while substantially excluding any foreign matter that remains on top and is normally removed by the wind or the like. . Providing specific dimensions to the openings can also prevent device jams.

The apertures preferably extend in diagonal rows at an angle of 45 ° to the length of the channel. In preferred embodiments, the apertures have an aperture size of between 2.5 and 10mm and even more preferably between about 3.0 and 4.0mm. Since the apertures are arranged in diagonal rows, they are also preferably arranged in longitudinally extending rows. In a longitudinally extending row, the apertures are spaced from each other by a distance of between 10 and 15 mm while in a diagonal row, they are spaced from each other by a distance of between 5 and 10 mm.

As will be appreciated, during a period of heavy rain or the like, drainage may not be immediate and consequently an adjacent vertically extending front wall channel is provided to prevent overflow.

Brief description of the drawings

Once the invention has been described in general, reference will be made to the attached drawings that illustrate an embodiment thereof, where:

Figure 1 is a partially cross-sectional perspective view illustrating an embodiment of a channel guard in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a partially sectioned side elevation view to illustrate a first embodiment of a channel guard and its attachment to a channel;

Figure 3 is a detailed cross-sectional view of the guard element part and its attachment to the channel;

Figure 4 is a partially cross-sectional side elevation view of a second embodiment of a channel guard member according to the present invention;

Figure 5 is an enlarged detailed view illustrating the attachment of the guard element to each side of the channel;

Figure 6 is a partially cross-sectional rear elevation view of a new channel, not part of the present invention; Y

Figure 7 is an enlarged view of the upper part of the channel of Figure 6.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiments

With reference to the drawings in greater detail and with reference to their characters, a channel guard according to an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in Figure 1 and said channel guard is generally designated by reference numeral 10. The Gutter guard 10 is used in conjunction with an eaves gutter 12 that extends adjacent to a roof fascia 16.

The eaves gutter or gutter 12 is of a substantially conventional structure and has a rear wall 20, a bottom wall 22, and a front wall generally designated by reference numeral 24, the walls defining between them a gutter for receiving rain that overflows from the ceiling 16. The front wall 24 includes a vertical lower front wall section 26, an arched middle section 28 of the front wall, and a vertical upper section 30 of the front wall. As can be seen in Figures 2 and 3, the eaves gutter 12 also includes a portion of the top wall 32 that extends into the top edge of the vertical top section 30 of the front wall. In turn, a flange 34 extends from the distal end of the top wall portion 32 downward and inward to define a recess or cavity between the vertical top section 30, the top wall portion 32, and the flange 34.

The channel guard 10 generally has an elongated configuration having a first side 38 and a second side 40. The first intermediate side 38 and the second side 40 is generally a flat portion 42 having a plurality of openings 44 formed therein.

On the first side 38, the flat portion 42 terminates with a first segment 46 that extends upward and backward and forms an acute angle relative to the flat portion 42. A second segment 48 extends vertically downward from a distal end of a first segment 46 and successively a third segment 49 extends horizontally from a distal end of the second segment 48. A fourth segment 51 extends upward from a distal end of third segment 49 and terminates in a curved inner portion 50 which then abuts the point of attachment of upper wall portion 32 and flange 34 as can best be seen in Figure 3. The arrangement is such that a point of

ES 2 256 387 T3 double contact between the channel and the channel guard to allow support.

On the second side 40, there is provided an inverted U-shaped portion generally designated by reference numeral 52 and comprising an upwardly extending wall segment 54 that rotates about 180 ° to join a wall segment 56 which is extends downward. As can be seen in Figures 2 and 3, the U-shaped portion 52 fits over the rear wall top 20.

Using this arrangement, the eaves gutter or channel can be secured by placing a suitable fastener 55 (nail or thread) through wall 54, wall 20 and wall 56 at fascia 14. The attachment arrangement of the first and second side of the gutter guard 10 with the eave gutter structure provides rigidity and support to the front of the eave gutter to prevent sagging.

In the embodiment of Figures 4 and 5, a modified arrangement is illustrated from that shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3. Since many of the components are common, similar reference numerals have been used from 100.

The main difference from the embodiment of Figures 4 and 5 is the arrangement on the first side 138 of the channel guard 110. In this regard, a first segment 146 similar to that previously described is provided.

However, the first segment 146 rotates on itself and connects to a second segment 166 that extends adjacent to the first segment 146. The second segment 166 extends beyond the first segment 146 to abut against the vertical upper section 130 of front wall 124. At the distal end of second segment 166, a third segment 168 is provided which extends inwardly. Again, support and rigidity are provided to the structure and can be attached in a manner similar to the embodiment described in Figures 1-3.

In the embodiment of Figures 6 and 7, which is not part of this invention, an integrated eaves gutter structure is provided that includes a portion of the guard. Again, the structure of the eaves gutter remains similar and similar reference numerals starting at 200 have been used. In this embodiment, a segment 231 extends substantially vertically downward from the top wall portion 232 to join a flat part 242. On the second side 240 of the flat portion 242, a similar inverted U-shaped structure 252 is provided. In this arrangement, the channel and guard can be formed from a single sheet of material which is then suitably folded. providing a conventional shape to the equipment. Again, the frame would be attached to the fascia by fasteners 255 that extend through the walls.

It will be understood that the embodiments described above are for illustration purposes only and that changes or modifications may be made thereto without departing from the substance and scope of the invention.