U.S. patent number 3,670,505 [Application Number 05/074,384] was granted by the patent office on 1972-06-20 for plastic gutter expansion joint construction.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Bird & Son, Inc.. Invention is credited to Leonard Wheelock Weaver.
United States Patent |
3,670,505 |
Weaver |
June 20, 1972 |
PLASTIC GUTTER EXPANSION JOINT CONSTRUCTION
Abstract
A plastic gutter expansion joint construction comprising a pair
of mutually supported telescopic rigid plastic gutter sections
having overlapping ends and a flexible plastic expansion bellows
extending between said sections therewithin and having opposite end
portions bonded to said sections to provide a watertight expansion
joint across the telescoping end portions of said sections.
Inventors: |
Weaver; Leonard Wheelock
(Walpole, MA) |
Assignee: |
Bird & Son, Inc. (East
Walpole, MA)
|
Family
ID: |
22119268 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/074,384 |
Filed: |
September 22, 1970 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
405/121; 52/11;
52/12 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E04D
13/068 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
E04D
13/064 (20060101); E04D 13/068 (20060101); E02b
009/04 (); E04d 013/06 () |
Field of
Search: |
;61/14,15 ;52/11,12,13
;138/27,28 ;285/299,300,301 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Shapiro; Jacob
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A plastic gutter expansion joint construction comprising
a pair of mutually supported telescopic first and second
overlapping rigid plastic gutter sections having adjacent
overlapping ends
said gutter sections having substantially identical cross-sectional
dimensions including a vertical rear wall, a bottom wall and a
front wall having on its upper edge a flange extending generally
horizontally toward said rear wall
said bottom and front walls of said second section lying outside of
the bottom and front walls of said first section to support said
first section by said second section against movement in a downward
direction
said flange of said second section overlying the front wall of said
first section to support said second section by said first section
against movement in a downward direction to provide said mutual
support and
a flexible plastic expansion bellows member of the general
cross-sectional shape of said sections overlapping and extending
between said first and second sections therewithin, said member
having opposite end portions each bonded to said first and second
sections providing a watertight expansion joint across the
telescoping end portion of said sections.
2. A plastic gutter expansion joint construction as claimed in
claim 1 wherein
said first one of said sections has
a first opening in said bottom wall adjacent said rear wall and a
second opening in said front wall adjacent said flange with said
rear wall of said second one of said sections passing through said
first opening and
said flange of said second section passes through said second
opening.
3. A plastic gutter expansion joint construction comprising
a pair of mutually supported telescopic first and second
overlapping rigid plastic gutter sections having adjacent
overlapping ends
said gutter sections having substantially identical cross-sectional
dimensions including a vertical rear wall, a bottom wall and a
front wall having on its upper edge a flange extending generally
horizontally toward said rear wall
a first one of said sections having
a first opening in said bottom wall adjacent said rear wall and a
second opening in said front wall adjacent said flange
said rear wall of said second one of said sections passing through
said first opening
said bottom and front walls of said second section lying outside of
the bottom and front walls of said first section to support said
first section by said second section against movement in a downward
direction and
said flange of said second section passing through said second
opening and overlying the front wall of said first section to
support said second section by said first section against movement
in a downward direction to provide said mutual support and
a flexible plastic expansion bellows member of the general
cross-sectional shape of said sections overlapping and extending
between said first and second sections therewithin along said rear,
bottom and front walls, said member having opposite end portions
each bonded to said first and second sections beyond said openings
providing a watertight expansion joint across the telescoping end
portions of said sections.
4. A plastic gutter expansion joint construction as claimed in
claim 4 wherein
said gutter sections are of rigid vinyl and
said bellows member is of flexible vinyl cemented to said gutter
sections.
Description
This invention relates to building construction materials and more
particularly to a novel plastic gutter expansion joint
construction.
Plastic building materials, such as siding and the like are coming
into wide use as a substitute for wood by reason of their
durability, appearance and decreased maintenance, since painting is
not required. However, such plastic materials have at least one
deficiency not present with wood, in that they expand and contract
to a considerable extent as a result of changes in ambient
temperature and hence are subject to unsightly buckling. The
problems so created have generally been solved with units of
relatively small dimensions, such as siding units, in part by
providing slotted nailing openings and not nailing tightly so that
the units are free to move to a limited extent and so do not
buckle.
With units of large dimensions, however, the use of such slots and
free nailing is not sufficient to allow for the necessary
expansion, which may, for example, with a vinyl plastic amount to
of the order of an inch in a 50 foot length, so that plastic units
of such size have not heretofore been much used. For example,
building construction elements such as gutters which must be both
rigid and waterproof over relatively long lengths, have not
heretofore been considered to be practical in plastic, even though
they were known to be desirable, particularly in conjunction with
the use of other plastic building materials.
Accordingly, it is a major object of the present invention to
provide a practical plastic gutter both rigid and waterproof in the
long lengths required.
This has been accomplished by providing a plastic gutter expansion
joint construction comprising, in general, a pair of mutually
supported telescopic first and second overlapping rigid plastic
gutter sections having overlapping ends and a flexible plastic
expansion bellows extending between said first and second sections
therewithin, said bellows having opposite end portions each bonded
to said first and second sections providing a watertight expansion
joint across the telescoping end portions of said sections. More
specifically, in order to provide mutual support in a construction
wherein the gutter sections have identical cross section dimensions
including a vertical rear wall, a bottom wall and a front wall
having on its upper edge a flange extending generally horizontally
toward said rear wall, the bottom and front walls of the second
section lie outside of the bottom and front walls of the first
section to support said first section by said second section
against movement in a downward direction and the flange of the
section section overlies the front wall of said first section to
support said second section by said first section against movement
in a downward direction. This may be accomplished by providing, in
the first one of said sections, a first opening in the bottom wall
adjacent the rear wall and a second opening in the front wall
adjacent the flange with the rear wall of the second one of the
sections passing through the first opening and the flange of the
second section passing through the second opening.
For the purpose of more fully explaining the above and still
further objects and features of the invention, reference is now
made to the following detailed description of a preferred
embodiment thereof, together with the accompanying drawings,
wherein:
FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the plastic gutter expansion joint
construction of the invention; and
FIGS. 2 and 3 are cross-sectional views of the construction of FIG.
1 taken on lines 2--2 and 3--3, respectively, of FIG. 1.
Referring to the drawings, the plastic gutter expansion joint
construction of the invention includes a pair of rigid plastic
gutter sections, generally designated 12 and 14, with a flexible
plastic bellows member, generally designated 16, extending
therebetween. Rigid vinyl may be used for gutter sections 12 and 14
and sufficiently flexible vinyl for bellows member 16.
Gutter sections 12 and 14 have identical cross section dimensions
and comprise vertical rear walls 20, 21, a flat or curved bottom
wall 22, 23 joined to said rear walls at the bottom edge thereof
and front walls 24, 25. Rear walls 20, 21 have on their upper edges
flanges 26, 27 extending generally horizontally toward said front
walls and front walls 24, 25 have on their upper edges flanges 28,
29 having downwardly directed free edges, said flanges extending
generally horizontally toward said rear wall. A bracket 18 may be
provided for supporting the gutter sections.
Gutter sections 12, 14 in order to provide mutual support for one
another and so uniquely provide a rigid, telescoping expansion
joint construction, have overlapping ends, with the rear wall 27 of
gutter section 14 lying inside of the rear wall 26 of gutter
section 12, the bottom wall 23 and front wall 25 of gutter section
14 lying outside of the bottom wall 22 and front wall 24 of gutter
section 12 to support gutter section 12 by gutter section 14
against movement in a downward direction and flange 29 of gutter
section 14 overlying the front wall 24 of gutter section 12 to
support gutter section 14 by gutter section 12 against movement in
a downward direction.
In order to provide such overlapping mutually supporting
configuration, gutter section 12 has an opening in the form of a
slot 32 having a closed end in the bottom wall 22 extending from
its terminal portion along rear wall 20 and an opening 34 with a
closed end in front wall 24 adjacent flange 28, said slot and
opening permitting a substantial degree of axial telescoping
sliding movement of gutter sections relatively to one another with
said sections remaining overlapped in mutually self-supporting
condition.
For providing the necessary watertight integrity of the above
described sliding connection between the two sections, the
invention provides a flexible vinyl expansion bellows member 16 of
the general cross-sectional shape of gutter sections 12 and 14
extending between and overlapping said sections therewithin along
their rear bottom and front walls, said bellows member having
opposite flat end portions 17, 19 bonded to the walls of sections
12 and 14, respectively, by suitable cement, providing a watertight
expansion joint across the telescoping end portions of said
sections.
In use, it is simply necessary to nail a suitable series of
brackets 18 to the building structure and then to a support
thereon, as shown in FIG. 1, a gutter including the expansion joint
construction of the invention, the novel expansion joint of the
invention providing a high degree of freedom of axial movement of
the so-connected gutter sections as will occur due to ambient
temperature changes, effectively preventing buckling thereof. At
the same time, the novel rigid telescoping construction of the
joint will prevent sagging thereat, as would otherwise occur.
* * * * *