Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02490471 2004-12-17
SNOW GUARD
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates 4generally to static structures and, more
particularly, to
~ covers with projecting restrainers, e.g., snow stops.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Snow and ice have a tendency to slide from sloping roofs. While it is
desirable for a roof
shed frozen precipitation, a sheet of falling ice can pull a gutter from its
moorings and cause
1 o ~ bodily injury to passersby. In an effort to resolve these problems, snow
guards have been
to prevent large blocks of snow and ice from sliding rapidly from roofs and
putting
excessive weight upon gutters and downspouts.
Snow guards employed with metal roofs have traditionally employed set screws
driven
against the roofs' standing seams to anchor them in place. While effective,
these snow guards
l,lare relatively costly to manufacture and time-consuming to install.
Further, set screws have
tendency to damage the roofs that they engage and may; in some cases, lead to
roof leaks.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In light of the problems associated with known snow guards, particularly those
used with
~ metal roofs, it is a principal object of the invention to a provided snow
guard that can be attached
to a standing seam without resort to set screws or other threaded fasteners
and is not injurious to
I I metal roofs.
It is another object of the invention to provide a snow guard of the type
described that can
be securely fastened to' the standing seam of a metal roof in a matter of
seconds. If placement is
2 5 ~ ~ not made perfectly the first time, the snow guard can be easily
repositioned.
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CA 02490471 2004-12-17
It is a further object of the invention to provide a snow guard that is
intuitive to use and
can be installed by unskilled laborers after only a few minutes of
instruction.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements
thereof in
~a snow guard for the purposes described that is lightweight in construction,
inexpensive to
~ manufacture, and dependable in use.
Briefly, the snow guard in accordance with this invention achieves the
intended objects
featuring a resilient body with a pair of wings extending outwardly therefrom.
The resilient
iy includes a pair of rectangular plates positioned side-by-side so as to
define a slot. Each
the plates has an aperture for receiving the jaws of the tool capable of
spreading the plates
1 o apart. A number of teeth are positioned adjacent each aperture for
engaging the standing seam
of a metal roof. Each of the teeth projects into the slot and toward one end
of the body. A
connects the tops of the plates. Each of'the wings is secured to a respective
one of
plates at the end thereof away from which the teeth project.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present
invention will
: I (become readily apparent upon further review of the following detailed
description of the
embodiment as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention may be more readily described with reference to the
accompanying
~ drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a snow guard in accordance with the present
invention.
FIG. 2 is a side view of the snow guard of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the snow guard with portions broken away to reveal
details
thereof.
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FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a snow guard assembly mounted upon the
standing seam
a metal roof with portions of the assembly and roof being broken away.
FIG. S is a side view of the snow guard being pulled open by a hand tool in
preparation
mounting.
I I FIG. 6 is a top view of the blank used to form the snow guard.
Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently
throughout the
drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
~ ~ Referring now to the FIGS., a snow guard in accordance with the present
invention is
at 10. Snow guard 10 includes a resilient body 12 having a slot 14 for
receiving a
of a standing seam 16 of a metal roof 18. A pair of apertures 20 is provided
in body
12 for manipulating body 12 to selectively widen slot 14 to facilitate the
installation of snow
10 upon standing seam 16. A number of teeth 22 project inwardly from body 12
into
~~ slot 14 to firmly grip standing seam 16. A pair of wings 24 extends
outwardly from body 12
to impede the downward movement of snow on roof 18.
Body 12 includes a pair of rectangular plates 26 that are positioned side-by-
side. Plates
26 have a height that is somewhat greater than that of seam 16. The width of
plates 26 is
about one and one half times their height. Plates 26 have a thickness of about
1 / 16 inch ( 1. 5
. I I~>
One aperture 20 penetrates the bottom of each plate 26. Each aperture 20 is
configured
to easily receive one of the jaws 28 of a hand tool 30 that is capable of
pulling plates 26 away
from one another. Thus, the portion of each plate 26 defining the bottom of
each aperture 20
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CA 02490471 2004-12-17
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projects outwardly so as to define a. protruding lip 32 that permits the
smooth insertion and
of one of jaws 28. Further, each aperture 20 is elongated to permit an even
distribution of force to be applied to plates 26 by tool 30.
Each plate 26 is provided with a plurality of teeth 22. Teeth 22 are
positioned above
I laperture 20 to engage seam 16 immediately below its relatively stiff apex.
Teeth 22 extend in
a spaced-apart manner from one end of the plate 26 to the other to ensure a
strong grip upon
seam 16.
Teeth 22 are triangular in outline. Each tooth 22 has a wide base that falls
within a
I IPI~e that is substantially parallel to wings 24 and that measures about 1/8
inch (3 mm) across.
~ ~ From its base, each tooth 22 tapers in width to a pointed tip that
projects away from wings 24
and also about 1/8 inch (3 mm) into slot 14. Due to the relatively great
thickness of teeth 22,
they are neither easily deformed nor do they give up their grip upon seam 16
without
difficulty. Thus, it is very hard to dislodge snow guard 10 from seam 16
without employing
tool 30.
~ ~ An opening 34 is positioned adjacent to each tooth 22. Each opening 34 is
triangular in
outline, being substantially a mirror image of the adjacent tooth 22. Openings
34 enhance the
flow of air through slot 14 to aid, albeit in a limited manner, in the cooling
roof 18.
Plates 26 are connected together at their tops by a crosspiece 36 so as to
provide body
12 with a cross section resembling an inverted "U". Crosspiece 36 is provided
with a pair of
.'~2 o spaced-apart holes 38 respectively positioned at its opposite ends.
Threaded fasteners (not
shown) can be passed through holes 38 for the attachment of a snow-retaining
rail 40 to snow
guard 10.
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An alternative arrangement for securing rail 40 to snow guard 10 is shown in
FIG. 5.
a clip 42 is employed rather than threaded fasteners. Clip 42 includes a pair
of arms 44
at their tops by a crosspiece 46 in the manner of an inverted "U" . A finger
48
jects inwardly from the bottom of each arm 44 and is adapted for snug
insertion into an
I aperture 20. When fingers 48 are positioned within apertures 20, the tops of
arms 44 extend
crosspiece 36 of snow guard 10. Transverse bores 50 in the tops of arms 44
snugly
ve rail 40 so that rail 40 is rigidly secured to snow guard 10.
One wing 24 extends outwardly at right angles from the front end of each of
plates 26.
ings 24 are substantially square in outline, having the same height as that of
plates 26 and
I (having about the same width as their height. The surface area provided to
wings 24 is believed
be adequate to prevent large masses of snow and ice, capable of causing great
bodily injury,
from sliding off roof 18.
The outer end of each wing 24 has a pair of bores 52. As shown, bores 52 and
are
itioned one above the other and have approximately the same diameter as that
of holes 38.
I Bores 52 are provided for the attachment of signs, antennas and lightening
rods (none, shown) to
roof 18.
Snow guard 10 is formed by cutting and folding portions of a planar blank 54
that is a
single piece of heavy gauge spring steel: First, apertures 20, holes 38 and
bores 52 are made by
cutting such at suitable locations in blank 54. Next, teeth 22 are made by
cutting a plurality of
2 o I I V-shaped notches 56 in blank 54 and, then, folding the material within
notches 56 downwardly
along the fold lines 58 positioned across the front ends of notches 56. (It is
the voids left within
notches 56 by the production of teeth 22 that form openings 34.) Later, lips
and 32 are made by
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the portions of blank 54 bounded by apertures 20 and fold lines 60 slightly
upward.
ow, body 12 is given its inverted U-shape by making a right angle bends along
fold lines 62 on
sides of holes 38. Finally, outstretched wings 24 are provided to snow guard
10 by
the material separated from plates 26 by fold lines 64 outwardly. The
resulting snow
~ guard 10 is ready to use although powder coating is recommended to prolong
its useful life.
The use of snow guard 10 is straightforward. First, the jaws 28 of tool 30 are
inserted
into apertures 20 on opposite sides of body 12. Next, the handles 66 of tool
30 are squeezed
spreading jaws 28 and temporarily spreading plates 26 from one another. This
action
takes slot 14 from its normal, narrow, seam-clamping width illustrated by the
solid line
1 o position shown most clearly in FIG. 4 to a wide, seam-releasing width
shown in FIG. 6.
Snow guard 10 can now be easily positioned upon standing seam 16 with wings 24
on the
side. When the pressure on the handles 66 is released, body 12 springs back to
its
configuration. By withdrawing jaws 28 from apertures 20, installation of snow
upon standing seam 16 is completed.
~ ~ Snow guard 10 can be enhanced with the addition of snow-retaining rail 40
and
attachment clip 42. To do this, arms 44 are first spread away from one by the
application of a
prying force from jaws 28 of tool 30. Next, forgers 48 are positioned within
apertures 20 of the
seam-mounted snow guard 10 and tool 30 is disengaged from clip 42. Finally,
rail 40 is
extended through transverse bores 50 in the top of clip 42 and through the
clips 42 secured to
2 0 ~ ~ adjacent snow guards 10 on roof 18. The resulting snow guard assembly
is capable of
supporting very heavy loads of snow and ice without damage to roof 18.
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While snow guard 10 has been described with a high degree of particularity, it
will be
by those skilled in the art that modifications can be made to it. Therefore,
it is to be
that the present invention is not limited strictly to snow guard 10 described
above,
encompasses any and all embodiments of a snow guard within the scope of the
following
S
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