U.S. patent application number 13/398028 was filed with the patent office on 2012-09-06 for rain gutter cover.
Invention is credited to Steven D. LUCAS, Mark S. STEINBERG.
Application Number | 20120222366 13/398028 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46752407 |
Filed Date | 2012-09-06 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120222366 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
STEINBERG; Mark S. ; et
al. |
September 6, 2012 |
RAIN GUTTER COVER
Abstract
A cover panel to overlie the upwardly-facing opening of a rain
gutter trough to block the entry into the trough of leaves and
other debris which would otherwise block or restrict the flow of
water from a downspout opening formed in the gutter trough. The
cover includes a curved outermost end that overlies and is spaced
from a front edge of the gutter trough and around which water flows
into the gutter trough. The cover also includes a plurality of
longitudinally-extending, spaced, parallel ridges for spreading a
substantially uniform flow of water over and across the upper
surface of the cover, and a plurality of longitudinally-extending
rows of openings on the downstream side of the flow path of water
over the cover after it has passed the ridges, to allow water to
fall through the openings and into the gutter trough.
Inventors: |
STEINBERG; Mark S.;
(Maineville, OH) ; LUCAS; Steven D.; (Bethel,
OH) |
Family ID: |
46752407 |
Appl. No.: |
13/398028 |
Filed: |
February 16, 2012 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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61463372 |
Feb 16, 2011 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
52/12 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E04D 13/076
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
52/12 |
International
Class: |
E04D 13/076 20060101
E04D013/076 |
Claims
1. A cover panel for overlying a rain gutter trough, said cover
panel comprising: an elongated sheet of substantially rigid
material, the sheet having an upper surface and a lower surface and
including a longitudinally-extending rear edge panel for connection
to at least one of a building wall surface adjacent to a rain water
runoff region and a gutter trough rear wall, and including a
convexly-curved front surface, wherein the rear edge panel and the
cover front surface are spaced from each other a distance that
corresponds substantially with a gutter trough width over which the
cover panel is adapted to be positioned in inclined, overlying
relationship; a plurality of spaced, substantially parallel,
longitudinally-extending ridges formed on the upper surface of the
cover panel and spaced from the cover rear edge panel; and a
plurality of spaced, substantially parallel,
longitudinally-extending rows of spaced, aligned apertures
positioned between a lowermost ridge and the cover front surface
for allowing at least a portion of rain water that flows over the
upper surface of the cover to flow through the apertures and into
the gutter trough.
2. A cover panel in accordance with claim 1, wherein the apertures
are rectangular.
3. A cover panel in accordance with claim 2, wherein the apertures
have a major axis and a minor axis, and the apertures in a row have
their major axes aligned with each other.
4. A cover panel in accordance with claim 1, wherein apertures in
adjacent rows are longitudinally offset from each other.
5. A cover panel in accordance with claim 4, wherein apertures in
adjacent rows at least partially overlap each other in the
longitudinal direction so that water flowing over the cover upper
surface and toward the front surface encounters and flows over at
least one aperture.
6. A cover panel in accordance with claim 1, wherein the cover
panel includes three ridges.
7. A cover panel in accordance with claim 1, wherein the cover
panel includes four rows of apertures.
8. A cover panel in accordance with claim 1, wherein the apertures
include respective downwardly-extending guide panels that are
inclined relative to the cover upper surface for guiding into a
downward direction water that flows into the openings.
9. A cover panel in accordance with claim 8, wherein the guide
panels extend from longitudinal edges of the apertures that are on
upstream sides of the apertures, relative to the direction of water
flow over the upper surface of the cover.
10. A cover panel for overlying a rain gutter trough, said cover
panel comprising: an elongated sheet of substantially rigid
material, the sheet having an upper surface and a lower surface and
including a longitudinally-extending rear edge panel for connection
to at least one of a building wall surface adjacent to a rain water
runoff region and a gutter trough rear wall, and including a
convexly-curved front surface, wherein the rear edge panel and the
cover front surface are spaced from each other a distance that
corresponds substantially with a gutter trough width over which the
cover panel is adapted to be positioned in inclined, overlying
relationship; three spaced, substantially parallel,
longitudinally-extending ridges formed on the upper surface of the
cover panel and spaced from the cover rear edge panel; and four
spaced, substantially parallel, longitudinally-extending rows of
spaced, aligned apertures positioned between a lowermost ridge and
the cover front surface for allowing at least a portion of rain
water that flows over the upper surface of the cover to flow
through the apertures and into the gutter trough, wherein the
apertures are rectangular and have a major axis and a minor axis,
and the apertures in a row have their major axes aligned with each
other, and wherein apertures in adjacent rows are longitudinally
offset from each other and at least partially overlap each other in
the longitudinal direction so that water flowing over the cover
upper surface and toward the front surface encounters and flows
over at least one aperture.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a rain gutter cover for
deflecting leaves and other debris from entering the rain gutter
trough, to thereby allow unimpeded surface water runoff from a
building roof without clogging of the gutter or of the associated
downspout openings by leaves and other debris.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] Rain gutters for collecting rain runoff from pitched
building roofs are generally U-shaped open troughs that are
arranged along the roofline of the building, and in are oriented to
catch the surface water that runs off from the roof and guide it to
a downspout. Such gutters are usually connected to a fascia board
on the building and include one or more downspouts to carry away
the roof water runoff and direct it in a desired direction away
from the building.
[0005] Rain gutters typically are open in an upward direction and
will collect leaves and other wind-blown debris, in addition to the
rainwater runoff from the roof. The accumulation of leaves and
other debris within the gutter ultimately leads to gutter and
downspout opening clogging, thereby causing undesired gutter
overflow over the front edge of the gutter and along the adjacent
building wall. Restoration of the proper water collection and
disposal function of such upwardly-open gutters requires that the
collected leaves and debris be manually removed, an operation that
usually requires climbing a ladder and physically removing the
collected matter, which is a tedious, time-consuming process, and
one that is potentially dangerous because it involves climbing a
ladder to the building roof line and could lead to a fall from the
ladder.
[0006] Various gutter arrangements have been proposed and developed
over the years in an effort to solve the rain-gutter-cleaning
problem by blocking the entry into the gutter of leaves and debris.
One approach involves the installation over the gutter top opening
of a screen or mesh material. The screen or mesh has a number of
small openings that are so sized as to allow water to enter the
gutter trough while screening out or blocking leaves and other
debris from entering the gutter. However, many such screening
arrangements have the screening element positioned horizontally
over the gutter top opening, or at a very slight inclination,
thereby allowing the collection of leaves and debris on the surface
of the screening, leading to external gutter clogging rather than
internal gutter clogging. Further, the stems of leaves often extend
into the screening openings, thereby serving to retain the leaves
on the surface of the screening material, preventing their being
blown off by the wind, and leading to partial or complete blockage
of the screen surface and preventing the full flow of roof runoff
to the downspout openings in the gutter base panel.
[0007] Another approach that has been developed to block the entry
into gutters of leaves and debris is a flat cover that overlies the
gutter top opening. The cover is intended to serve as a deflector
of leaves and other debris so that they either are blown off the
cover by the wind, or they fall over the front edge of the gutter,
while allowing the rain water to flow over and around the outer
edge of the cover and into the gutter for collection and disposal.
Although several approaches to configuring and supporting a gutter
cover have been disclosed, those approaches are either cumbersome
and time consuming from an installation standpoint, are costly in
terms of the amount of attachment materials needed, or are not
particularly rigid in terms of the rigidity of the overall gutter
structure or the rigidity of its attachment to a building
surface.
[0008] Accordingly, there is a need for an improved rain gutter
cover for deflecting leaves and debris from entering the gutter
trough, and that does not involve the shortcomings of the
previously-disclosed arrangements.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] Briefly stated, in accordance with one aspect of the present
invention, a rain gutter cover is provided for deflecting leaves
and other debris from entering the gutter, to thereby allow
unimpeded surface water runoff from a building roof without
clogging of the gutter or the associated downspout openings by the
leaves and other debris. More particularly, the present invention
relates to a rain gutter cover that includes several rows of
longitudinally-extending, flow-velocity-reducing ridges to decrease
the water flow velocity over the upper surface of the cover, and
several rows of openings in the surface of the cover downstream of
the flow-reducing ridges to allow a portion of the surface water
that flows over the cover upper surface to pass through the
openings in the upper surface and to directly enter the gutter
trough while the remainder of the water flow passes around a curved
front lip of the cover and into the gutter.
[0010] The cover overlies the upwardly-facing gutter opening and is
attached to and supported at an inner longitudinal end by the
building fascia board and at an outer longitudinal end by brackets
that are positioned within the interior of the gutter and are
spaced along the length of the gutter. The cover includes a
plate-like cover body that overlies the upwardly-facing gutter
opening and is spaced above the gutter opening and is inclined
relative to a horizontal plane to allow water to flow down the
cover body away from the building wall and over a curved outer end
of the cover and into the gutter. A rear wall of the cover includes
a panel that extends upwardly along a rear edge of the cover body
to define a contact surface for contacting and for connection of
the panel of the rear wall of the cover to the fascia board. An
inturned front portion of the cover defines the curved outer lip of
the cover body and terminates at a longitudinally-extending inner
edge for contact with and connection to the gutter brackets at a
point between the cover outer end and the cover rear wall. The
inner edge of the curved outer end of the cover body is secured to
the brackets by screws. The upwardly-facing surface of the cover
includes several rows of parallel, longitudinally-extending,
flow-velocity-reducing ridges and several parallel,
longitudinally-extending rows of longitudinally aligned openings in
the surface of the cover that are downstream of the
flow-velocity-reducing ridges, in the direction of water flow, to
allow a portion of the water that flows over the outer, inclined
surface of the cover to pass through the cover openings and to
directly flow into and enter the gutter trough while the water that
does not pass through the cover openings flows to and passes around
the curved outer end of the cover and falls into the gutter trough.
The surface openings of adjacent longitudinally aligned rows of
openings are preferably longitudinally offset from each other.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] The structure, operation, and advantages of the present
invention will become further apparent upon consideration of the
following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings in which:
[0012] FIG. 1 is a fragmentary front perspective view of a rain
gutter assembly attached to a building fascia board and including a
gutter cover in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention, but without the cover openings and without an end cap
that closes off the end of the trough;
[0013] FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the gutter cover shown
in FIG. 1 and including flow-velocity-reducing ridges and cover
surface openings;
[0014] FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the gutter cover shown
in FIG. 2; and
[0015] FIG. 4 is a top view of the gutter cover shown in FIG.
2.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0016] Referring to the drawings, and particularly to FIG. 1
thereof, there is shown an embodiment of a rain gutter assembly 10
that includes a gutter cover 36 in accordance with an embodiment of
the present invention. Gutter assembly 10 is mounted against a
vertically-extending fascia board 12 positioned on a side of a
building 14 that includes a sloping roof surface 16. The lower edge
18 of roof surface 16 extends outwardly beyond the surface of
fascia board 12 a predetermined distance, of the order of from
about 1 in. to about 2 in., and gutter assembly 10 is positioned
below roof lower edge 18 to catch rain water runoff from the
roof.
[0017] Gutter assembly 10 includes a generally U-shaped cross
section to define an open-top channel member or trough 20 that
includes a rear wall 22, a bottom wall 24, and a front wall 26.
Rear wall 22 is substantially flat and is adapted to lie against
the outer surface of fascia board 12 and to be secured thereto by a
number of spaced fasteners such as screws, nails, or the like.
Bottom wall 24 is shown as substantially flat, but it could be
curved, if desired, and it extends outwardly substantially
horizontally from the lowermost edge of rear wall 22, in a
direction away from fascia board 12, and as shown, it is
substantially perpendicular to rear wall 22. Front wall 26 extends
in a generally upward direction from the outermost edge of bottom
wall 24. As can be seen from FIG. 1, front wall 26 can have a
vertical extent that is less than that of rear wall 22.
[0018] Front wall 26 of trough 20 of gutter assembly 10 can have a
cross section in the general form of a flattened "S," as shown in
FIG. 1, or it can be straight and extend upwardly parallel to or
inclined relative to rear wall 22, or it can have any other desired
convenient shape. The uppermost end 30 of front wall 26 includes an
inwardly-extending lip 32 that terminates at a reentrant edge 34,
or a loop-shaped flange that extends in a generally outward
direction to define a hook-shaped structure.
[0019] Gutter channel or trough 20 can be formed from various
well-known materials, including metals such as copper, aluminum
alloy, or the like, as well as from plastics. An advantageous
material is aluminum alloy sheet that can conveniently be supplied
in the form of a coil formed from a narrow, elongated aluminum
alloy sheet of a thickness of the order of about 0.032 in. The
sheet can be formed into a gutter on-site by uncoiling the aluminum
alloy sheet and drawing it through a suitable forming die to bend
the sheet into an elongated, generally U-shaped trough or channel
such as the form of channel or trough 20 shown in FIG. 1. Using
such aluminum alloy coils enables the formation of a continuous,
seamless gutter trough section of any desired length. When made
from a plastic material, such as polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride,
or the like, the gutter trough can be pre-formed by extrusion of
the plastic material through a suitably shaped extrusion die, cut
into desired lengths, and transported to the building site.
However, such plastic gutters might not be seamless, depending upon
the lengths of the individual gutter sections and the length of the
roof edge under which they are to be mounted, and suitable
connection arrangements are needed to connect end-to-end troughs to
provide a leak-proof connection.
[0020] As shown in FIG. 1, gutter assembly 10 includes gutter cover
36 that is secured to fascia board 12 by a plurality of fasteners
28. The fasteners pass through spaced openings formed in
upwardly-extending inner edge 112 of gutter cover 36. Additionally,
a plurality of support brackets 38, only one of which is shown in
FIG. 1, are positioned within gutter trough 20 and are spaced from
each other along the length of gutter assembly 10 at predetermined
intervals. Support brackets 38 can be molded plastic and are
connected to fascia board 12 to support gutter trough 20 and gutter
cover 36 and to provide a strong, rigid gutter assembly. The
connection of gutter cover 36 to brackets 38 is by means of
suitable connectors, such as screws 108.
[0021] Gutter cover 36, which serves as a deflector of leaves,
branches, twigs, and other forms of debris that could block or
restrict flow of water through the gutter trough downspout opening,
includes a substantially flat, elongated, sloping, plate-like panel
that overlies gutter trough 20. The upper surface 120 of cover
panel 36 extends outwardly from upwardly-extending inner edge 112
that is attached to fascia board 12 to a cover panel outermost end
104 that is spaced outwardly from fascia board 12. Cover upper
surface 120 overlies substantially the entire upwardly-facing
opening of gutter trough 20. Cover panel outermost end 104 is a
horizontally-outwardly-facing, convexly-curved portion that defines
a front outer end that has an outermost surface that is spaced from
fascia panel 12 to overlie gutter trough lip 32 to thereby prevent
debris from falling into trough 20. Outermost end 104 is spaced
vertically above gutter trough lip 32 a predetermined distance to
define a gap to allow water to flow into the gap. The gap defines
an opening that can be of the order of from about 1/4 in. to about
3/4 in., which is sufficiently large to permit the flow of water
around the cover lip and to allow entry of the water into the
gutter, but also is sufficiently small to prevent the entry into
the gutter trough of leaves and other undesired wind-blown
debris.
[0022] Cover 36 includes a lowermost outer end defined by a
longitudinally-extending end panel 106 that is bent to extend in a
generally downward direction, toward gutter trough bottom wall 24.
End panel 106 is a flat panel that is secured to respective support
brackets 38, such as by screws 108, and includes a lower edge 110
that is received on respective stop surfaces formed on support
brackets 38. The stop surfaces allow accurate positioning of end
panel 106 of cover 36 so that cover forward end 104 is uniformly
spaced from gutter upper end 30 along the entire length of the
gutter trough when the gutter is fully assembled. The innermost end
of cover 36 adjacent to building 14 includes upwardly-extending
inner edge 112 that defines an inner end panel that is secured to
fascia board 12 by a series of spaced screws 28. The inner end
panel of cover 36 is in the form of a narrow panel or flange that
extends upwardly from upper surface 120, relative to gutter trough
20.
[0023] Gutter cover 36 can be made from the same types of materials
as gutter trough 20. As shown, cover 36 includes several
longitudinally-extending, spaced, parallel, step-like ridges 118
formed in the upper surface of cover 36 and that extend upwardly
along the length of the cover. Ridges 118 serve to slow the rate of
flow of water over the upper surface 120 of cover 36, and to
thereby spread some of the water to flow laterally over upper
surface 120 in order for the flow of water to be distributed
substantially uniformly along the length of the cover. After
passage over ridges 118, the water flows downwardly over and around
forward outer end 104 of cover 36. As it flows over outer end 104
the water tends to remain in contact with the curved surface at
outer end 104 of cover 36 by the effect of the surface tension of
the water whereby it tends to adhere to outer end 104, and to pass
around the surface of outer end 104 toward end panel 106 and lower
edge 110, whereupon it falls into gutter trough 20 by the force of
gravity.
[0024] Cover 36 also includes several longitudinally-extending,
laterally-spaced rows 122 of aligned, generally rectangular
openings 124 that are not shown in FIG. 1 but are visible in FIGS.
2-4. Rectangular openings 124 have major and minor axes, and the
major axes of the openings in a row are aligned with each other to
be coaxial. FIG. 2 shows three longitudinally-extending ridges 118,
and four longitudinally-extending, laterally-spaced, parallel rows
122 of spaced, generally rectangular openings 124. As can be seen
in FIGS. 2 and 4, the generally rectangular openings 124 of
adjacent rows 122 are longitudinally offset from each other.
However, the longitudinal ends of the openings 124 of each row
overlap the longitudinal ends of the openings 124 of the adjacent
rows 122, so that a portion of the water flowing over the upper
surface 120 of cover 36 passes into an opening 124. Thus, the
flowing water does not have an unimpeded, continuous, straight and
free flow path over the rows of openings formed in upper surface
120 of cover 36 as the water flows from longitudinal ridges 118
toward cover outer end 104.
[0025] As best seen in FIG. 3, each of the generally rectangular
openings 124 includes a downwardly-extending guide panel 126 that
is inclined relative to the upper surface 120 of the cover 36.
Guide panels 126 serve by surface tension to guide the water that
passes into the generally rectangular openings 124 and to direct it
toward the inner surface of cover 36 adjacent to lower edge 110,
whereupon the water flows into gutter trough 20. Guide panels 126
can be formed by a stamping operation that simultaneously makes
cuts in the cover to form the opposed smaller edges of openings 124
and also the one of the longer edges of the openings that are
closest to the outer end 104 of the cover, and then bends the cut
portions of the openings inwardly about an axis defined by the
longer edges of the openings that lie closest to the ridges in
order to form the respective inwardly-directed guide panels 126.
The uppermost surfaces of the guide panels serve as flow guide
surfaces by virtue of the adhesion of the flowing water to the
guide panels, to induce inward flow of the water toward gutter
trough 20 and to carry a greater portion of the flowing water into
the openings 124 than would flow therethrough if the entire
generally rectangular openings did not include the downwardly
inclined guide panels, because there would then be no
adhesion-based inward flow effect, but merely the gravity effect
acting on the water. The water that does not pass into the openings
124 continues on to the outermost end 104 to flow therearound and
into gutter trough 20.
[0026] Although not shown in the drawings, an assembled gutter
would also include end caps at each longitudinal end of the gutter
trough, to prevent water flow laterally outwardly from the
longitudinal ends of the gutter trough, so that the water flows
into a downspout opening that is formed in the trough. The gutter
end caps typically include an upper edge that extends horizontally
from the gutter upper end 30 rearwardly to the gutter rear wall 22.
For a gutter assembly that includes a cover 36, a suitable cover
panel end cap can be provided to supplement the gutter end cap and
would conform with the shape of the opening between the gutter end
cap upper edge and the longitudinal end of the cover panel. There
would therefore be no side openings whereby leaves or other debris
could enter the gutter channel and clog the downspout openings.
Instead of a two-piece end cap, the end cap can be formed in a
single piece, such as by injection molding of plastic material, to
conform in shape with that of the gutter assembly lateral openings
at their longitudinal ends.
[0027] Although particular embodiments of the present invention
have been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those
skilled in the art that changes and modifications can be made
without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
Accordingly, it is intended to encompass within the appended claims
all such changes and modifications that fall with the scope of the
present invention.
* * * * *