Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02685934 2009-11-13
Patent Application of
Paul G. Ringuette
for
TITLE: GUTTER ATTACHMENT
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS USPTO 61206079 012709
FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH Not applicable
SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM Not applicable
BACKGROUND - FIELD
This application relates to rain gutter attachments, specifically to improve
gutter function
and increase aesthetics of the gutter system.
BACKGROUND - PRIOR ART
Rain gutters on a house, in my opinion, serves two purposes.
The first purpose of a rain gutter is to gather the rainwater coming off a
downward sloped
roof and dispose of the rainwater through a downspout to prevent structural
damage to
the house and other associated problems.
The problem with the first purpose is that not only soiled rainwater flows
down from the
sloped roof and enters the rain gutter trough, but also, falling tree leaves,
seedpods, pine
needles, small branches, etc., these debris, often times, form a barrier
inside the rain
gutter trough or block the entrance to the downspout. This causes water to
spill over the
edge of the gutter trough and render it useless. The rain gutter trough,
hereafter, simply
known as gutter, needs to have either a debris filtering screen or debris
filtering cap
installed over the top opening of the gutter to prevent the debris from
clogging the gutter
in order to function as intended.
The second purpose of the gutter is to improve the finished look to the house
by the color,
cleanliness and general aesthetics of the gutter.
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The problem with the second purpose is most house gutters are white. This
color is much
more susceptible to show soil. The soiled rainwater running down from the
downward
sloped roof and over the top of the debris filtering screen or debris
filtering cap, by
surface attraction to the said screen or cap, a small amount of this soiled
rain water will
go over the front visible wall and drip from the bottom surface of the gutter.
Without control to stop the unsightly dirty water, dirt streaks and stains
will occur on
these surfaces, once the water evaporates, leaving only the soil behind.
Another problem to the second purpose is the gutter attaching nail heads
showing on the
top front vertical surface of the gutter.
All previously mentioned problems are major negative issues to the function
and
aesthetics to the gutter system.
Attempts to improve the function and aesthetic for the gutter system have been
many.
Some have patents, such as Patent 6,412,228 - Meckstroth, July 2, 2002; Patent
6,708,453
- Hurst et al., March 23, 2004, and Patent 6,463,700 - Davis, October 15,
2002.
Both patents 6,412,228 and 6,708,453 use a solid cap over the top opening of
the gutter
with curved downward and inward outer front edge, leaving a small longitude
opening
leading into the gutter for the water to flow in, using the Coanda effect. The
water will
tend to follow the curved lower edge, because water is more fluidic than solid
matter and,
thus, enter the gutter. The dry and larger debris, not having the same surface
attraction
and being more rigid, is ejected over the front visible wall of the gutter.
However, when the debris media is wet and saturated, especially wet tree
leaves, pine
needles, seedpods, because of water saturation, now will have become pliable,
and will
most likely follow the water into the gutter's front opening leading into the
gutter,
eventually, the gutter will clog, defeating the first purpose of the gutter.
A different method to stop the debris from clogging the gutter, represented by
Patent
6,463,700 - Davis, October 15, 2002. This method generally consists of a
polymer-
extruded plate with several holes cut into the said plate, with a fine mesh
made out of
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PVC coated fiberglass is ultrasonically or heat welded to the top surface of
the polymer
plate. This said plate and mesh covers the top opening of the gutter.
The problem is, not all the soiled laden water flowing down from the downward
sloped
roof and over the said constructed plate fell through the small mesh and holes
into the
gutter. Rather, some of the soiled laden water, due to surface attraction to
the plate and
mesh, adhered to the somewhat wide ribs around the holes and flowed right past
the holes
and mesh, over to the top front edge of the gutter, down the front visible
wall of the gutter
and to the bottom surface of the gutter. Finally, the soiled laden water
evaporates leaving
very unsightly dirt streaks and stains on the front visible wall and bottom
surface of the
gutter, defeating the second purpose of the gutter system, its cleanliness and
aesthetics.
SUMMARY
The gutter attachment directly solves the afore mentioned problems by
incorporating a
debris filtering screen or debris filtering cap into the design to prevent the
debris from
clogging the gutter, thus, avoid water spill over the edge of the gutter.
The gutter attachment having an elevated and front oriented wall which is high
enough to
stop the soiled laden water coming down from the sloped roof and over the said
screen or
cap from going over the front visible wall and to the bottom surface of the
gutter which
would leave unsightly stains once the water evaporate, but low enough for
gusts of wind
to remove the solid debris by blowing said debris over this said wall without
touching the
front visible wall of the gutter due to its forward orientation.
To further improve the aesthetic of the gutter system, the gutter attachment
has a front
downward panel which serves to hide gutter fastening nail head, add artistic
piercing,
lower edge piercing, serving to hang other ornament, curves to the lowest edge
of the said
panel and rope light type lighting, serving to accentuate the piercing and
curves,
especially during the dark hours of the day.
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Objects and advantages:
1. Provides an effective manner to incorporate a debris filtering screen or
debris
filtering cap into the design.
2. Provides an effective manner to stop the soiling effects to the front
visible wall
and bottom surface of the gutter.
3. Provides an effective manner to hide the top front gutter fastening nail
head.
4. Provides an effective manner to add piercing, curves and lighting to the
gutter.
5. Provides an effective manner to add other ornaments to the gutter.
The design of the gutter attachment greatly improves the water control and
aesthetic
value of the gutter system.
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DRAWINGS - Figures
FIG. 1 Depict a fragmentary front left perspective view from above showing the
gutter
attachment fastened longitudinally on the top front horizontal surface of the
gutter along
with attached debris filtering screen and debris filtering cap.
Fig. 2 Depict a fragmentary front left perspective view from below showing
front
downward panel with four samplings of pierced holes and the curved lowest edge
of the
said panel.
Fig. 3 Depict a cross sectional left side view and generally on line 3-3 of
fig. 1. The
gutter attachment fastened to the top front horizontal surface of the gutter
along with
debris filtering screen, inward lip, horizontal attached wall, elevated and
forward oriented
wall, contiguous with the front downward panel. Also showing is the cross
sectional end
view of a rope light type lighting glued to the front top inward recessed
curve of the
gutter.
Fig. 4 Depict a partial and enlarged cross sectional left side view of fig. 3,
showing a
slightly different gutter attachment but with the same embodiment shown in
other views.
The differences are the extended inward lip saddling the gutter's curved
inward lip to
hold the gutter attachment in place, instead of one of plurality of sheet
metal screws
holding the horizontal attached wall of the gutter attachment to the top front
horizontal
surface of the gutter. The second difference is the gutter's horizontal
attached wall curves
around the lower bottom edge of the debris filtering screen or debris
filtering cap and on
top of said debris filtering screen or debris filtering cap to sandwich the
lower bottom
edge of the said screen or cap, then double back to the regular elevated and
forward
oriented wall, forming a top triple horizontal wall for the gutter attachment.
The third and
fourth differences are the front downward panel hiding the gutter fastening
nail head and
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finally the J shaped bracket, one of plurality, glued to the back of the front
downward
panel as a mean to hold the rope light type lighting in the back of the front
downward
panel.
Fig. 5 Depict an a partial and enlarged cross sectional left side view of fig.
3 showing
again a different method of attaching a rope light type lighting in back of
the front
downward panel, shown is a cross sectional view of one of plurality of cable
clamps
attached with sheet metal screws to the top front vertical surface of the
gutter and the
rope light type lighting fitted inside the cable clamp.
DRAWINGS- Reference Numerals
gutter 30B horizontal attached wall
IOA front visible wall 30C elevated and forward oriented wall
lOB bottom surface of gutter 30D front downward panel
16 gutter fastening nail head 32 top front horizontal surface
overhanging drip edge 34 top front vertical surface
20A extended lip 36 rope light type lighting
20B vertical wall 38 "J" shaped bracket
20C lower lip 40 cable clamp
20D wider panel 42 front top inward recessed curve
22 downward sloped roof 44 sheet metal screw
24 debris filtering screen 50 top triple horizontal wall
debris filtering cap 52 extended inward lip
26 sheet metal screw 54 curved lowest edge
28 curved inward lip 56 piercing
gutter attachment 58 piercing
30A inward lip
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The gutter attachment (30), longitudinally, covers the length of gutter (10)
by adding
enough predetermined lengths of the overlapping gutter attachment units.
Generally these
are furnished in eight or ten foot length, and cut to fit.
Referring to fig. 1, show a fragmentary front left prospective view from above
of the
gutter attachment 30, along with downward sloped roof 22, debris filtering
screen 24 and
debris filtering cap 25, fastened by sheet metal screw 26 to the top front
horizontal
surface 32 of gutter 10. This gutter attachment is made of thin 0.015 thick
aluminum
material but could be made with other suitable materials, which could be
formed or
extruded in the shown preferred embodiment. In this case I have used a
commercially
available overhanging drip edge 20, available from Amerimax Home Products
Inc.,
model F5M, as shown in fig.1 and fig.3. By reversing extended lip 20A in the
up
direction of the shown near horizontal position and bent up over a half inch
diameter
round rod, the elevated and forward oriented wall 30C and the top beginning of
front
downward panel 30D is formed. Vertical wall 20B of the overhanging drip edge
20
serves as horizontal attached wall 30B. Lower lip 20C of overhanging drip edge
20 is
bent 60 degrees in exact reverse to the existing shown bend and now becomes
inward lip
30A. Wider panel 20D of overhanging drip edge 20 now becomes front downward
panel
30D with an inward bend of approximately 45 degrees to the lower third part of
the said
panel 30D as depicted in fig.3 though fig.5. Essentially, overhanging drip
edge 20
becomes gutter attachment 30 except in fig.4, the extra material needed to
form top triple
horizontal wall 50 and extended inward lip 52 would require a different method
for
manufacturing. The front downward panel 30D, as depicted in fig.2, has curved
lowest
edge 54, made by following a desired shaped template to guide a metal nibbler
tool to
achieve the curved lowest edge 54. Of course the desired said curve 54 could
also be
made by using different methods of cutting, such as water jet cutting, laser
light cutting
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etc., these methods generally are controlled by a computer, which would make
the cutting
and design changes of the curved lowest edge 54, piercing 56 and 58 very
efficient but
more expensive at the onset of manufacturing. The sample piercing 56 and 58
are made
by using commercially available punch from various sources. Piercing 58 on
said panel
30D can be used to hang additional ornaments to the near lowest edge of gutter
attachment 30. The samplings of piercing 56, represent only a fraction of
piercing which
could be inserted into front downward panel 30D, such as all the alphabetical
letters,
numerals, decorative designs, such as heart, star and cross etc., all not
shown in fig.2
drawing. The piercing are only limited by one's imagination and size of the
said panel
30D to be an effective way to improve the aesthetic of the gutter system. It
is to be noted
that fig.3, clearly depict the front downward panel 30D is contiguous to
elevated forward
oriented wall 30C, and that said panel 30D does not contact front visible wall
1OA, but
rather leaves enough space to incorporate and hide the gutter fastening nail
head 16,
mount a rope light type lighting 36 to the outside surface of front top inward
recessed
curve 42, inside the "J" shaped bracket 38 as depicted in Fig.4, and inside
cable clamp
40, which is attached to the top front vertical surface 34 by sheet metal
screw 44 as
depicted in fig.5.
Elevated and forward oriented wall 30C, as depicted in fig.l through 5, serves
as a water
barrier wall to stop the minor amount of soiled water, which by surface
attraction to the
downward oriented debris filtering screen 24 or debris filtering cap 25, would
flow over
the front visible wall IOA of gutter 10 and drips from the bottom surface of
gutter l OB of
gutter 10, causing unsightly dirt streaks and stains to the front visible wall
IOA and dirt
spots to the bottom surface of gutter IOB, once the minor amount of soiled
water
evaporate and leave only the soil behind. Elevated and forward oriented wall
30C is to be
elevated approximately one quarter inch higher than horizontal attached wall
30B to
facilitate easy removal of leaves and other light debris over the front edge
of said wall
30C by wind gusts, but high enough to reverse the minor amount of soiled water
flow
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coming off the downward oriented debris filtering screen 24 or debris
filtering cap 25,
and return the soiled water into the gutter 10. Horizontal attached wall 30B,
is contiguous
with elevated and forward oriented wall 30C and inward lip 30A and is used to
rest or to
be attached with debris filtering screen 24 or debris filtering cap 25 to top
front horizontal
surface 32 of gutter 10. Inward lip 30A is bent downward approximately thirty
degrees
oriented from attached horizontal wall 30B into the inside orientation of
gutter 10 to
guide the water back into gutter 10. In the case of Fig.4, the inward lip 30A
is extended to
form extended inward lip 52 and forms a hook with curved inward lip 28 of the
gutter 10
serving to hold the gutter attachment 30 to the top front horizontal surface
32 of gutter
10, instead of sheet metal screws 26 as seen in Fig. 1, 3 and 5.
By now the function value of gutter attachment (30) should be clear and can be
changed
in form and shape while still retaining the preferred embodiment depicted by
the written
explanation and drawings.
