Barrier for rain gutter

Abstract

 A fitting 100 for a barrier for a mounted rain gutter 320, the fitting having an upper curved surface with fixed hooks for attaching a barrier, wherein the fitting is provided with a gutter attachment adapted for attachment to a lateral edge 321 of the rain gutter 320.

Description

BACKGROUND

[0001] The present invention regards a barrier for a rain gutter.

[0002] A rain gutter, as used herein, is used to collect rain water from a roof and convey the water to a vertical pipe leading the water to the ground. Thus, in the following a rain gutter is any elongated vessel open at the top and having two lateral edges facing upwards. The edge closest to the house is denoted the proximal edge, whereas the edge further away from the house is denoted the distal edge.

[0003] Rain gutters can have different designs in different countries. In countries without significant snow, the rain gutter can be mounted across an imaginary extension line following a sloping roof top. In countries with significant amounts of snow, e.g. the Nordic countries, rain gutters are mounted below this imaginary line, such that snow slipping off the roof does not pull away the gutter. In these cases a protective splash board is disposed between the gutter and the house to prevent water spilling or splashing over the edge of the rain gutter from hitting the wall of the house. The rain gutter can be attached to the splash board with suitable mountings.

[0004] A barrier can be disposed over the gutter in order to prevent leaves, needles from e.g. fir or pine and other debris from falling into the gutter and clogging the vertical pipe.

[0005] Barriers designed as nets or gratings curved by fittings are disclosed in e.g. German utility patent application 9401192 U1, patent applications DE 3804541 A1 and EP 0 692 588 A1, as well as in US patent nr 5 044 581. The barriers disclosed in the above documents are attached to both lateral edges of the rain gutter. When the rain gutter is attached to a board, some of the debris will slide down behind the barrier and be collected at the board.

[0006] JP 9279782 describes a rain gutter with a barrier manufactured as an integrated device. When this device is attached to a vertical wall or board, the barrier has a curved fall from the point of attachment to the distal edge of the gutter. The curved fall helps leaves slipping past the gutter. An important disadvantage of this solution is that post-installation of a barrier requires replacement of the entire gutter.

[0007] FR 2677695 discloses a barrier for rain gutters, the barrier having a smooth and curved shape to ensure that leaves and other debris slips easily along. Viewed from the end in a direction along the gutter, the sliding surface can be convex or concave.

[0008] WO 94/05874 describes a rain gutter system having a resilient fitting for two kinds of gutters that are common in Canada. The fitting has an upper curved face with fixed hooks used for attaching the barrier. The curved surface provides a curved fall from the wall to the edge of the gutter. The fitting in WO 94705874 requires that existing gutters are removed before it is mounted, and hence it is useful for new gutters or during rehabilitation.

[0009] An object of the present invention is to provide a fitting for a barrier which can be attached to a mounted rain gutter, regardless of where and how the gutter is mounted.

[0010] Another object of the present invention is to provide a fitting that easily can be adapted to different rain gutter designs.

[0011] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a mounting that enables efficient removal of leaves, when at the same time preventing needles from falling through to the rain gutter.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0012] According to the invention, this is achieved by providing a fitting for a barrier for a mounted rain gutter, the fitting having an upper curved surface with fixed hooks for attaching a barrier, wherein the fitting is provided with a gutter attachment adapted for attachment to a lateral edge of the rain gutter.

[0013] The curved shape causes debris to slip off the barrier easily, and ensures that the debris falls on the outer side of the gutter. By attaching the fitting to a lateral edge of a gutter, e.g. using a clamping mechanism, the fitting is easily adapted to rain gutters having different shapes and/or designs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] The invention will be described in greater detail in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings, where:

Figure 1 shows a mounted rain gutter with a fitting according to the invention;

Figure 2 illustrates the fitting used on rain gutters of different width;

Figure 3a shows a first angle of attachment with differently sized rain gutters;

Figure 3b shows a second angle of attachment with differently sized rain gutters;

Figure 4 is a detailed view of a first embodiment:

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the embodiment of Fig. 4;

Figure 6 shows the embodiment from Fig. 4 viewed from the other side;

Figure 7 illustrates the use of insets in a gutter attachment;

Figure 8 shows a clamping mechanism for attachment to a rain gutter;

Figure 9 illustrates the principle of the clamp of Fig. 8; and

Figure 10 shows a second embodiment of the fitting for use with a clamping mechanism.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] Fig. 1 shows a rain gutter 320 mounted under roof such that sliding snow will be able to pass over it, and such that rain water will be able to enter it. A splashboard 310 prevents water from splashing onto the wall behind. The gutter has a distal 321 and a proximal 322 lateral edge facing upwards. A curved fitting 100 holds a barrier 102 to prevent debris from falling into the gutter 320.

[0016] Fig. 2 illustrates a fitting 100 adapted to gutters of different size and design. In Fig. 2a, an inset 122 adapts the lower end of fitting 100 to a first lateral edge design. In Fig. 2b, the gutter is broader, and so the fitting 100 is extended by means of two slidable parts 110 and 120, as described below.

[0017] Fig. 3a illustrates the different angles A₁ and A₂ between a vertical plane and the top surface of a fitting 100 near the distal lateral edge of gutter 320a and 320b respectively. These different angles A₁ and A₂ must be accounted for when designing an attachment mechanism to be used with both gutters 320a and 320b.

[0018] In Fig. 3b, angles B₁ and B₂ illustrates different sizes and/or shapes of lateral edges 321 a and 321 b respectively. B₃ illustrated that a tangent of the gutter near the distal lateral edge 321 b may be inclined with respect to the vertical. All of these angles must be accounted for when designing an attachment mechanism to be used with both edges 321 a and 321 b.

[0019] Figure 4 is a detailed view of a first embodiment of a fitting according to the invention. In particular, Fig. 4a, c and d illustrates a wall mount 111 which is used to fix the upper end of this first embodiment to a substantially vertical plane, such as a wall or splashboard 310 (Fig. 1). It is noted that this wall mount is optional.
Also, any means fit for rigidly fixing the upper end of fitting 100 to a vertical wall may be employed. The use of a plate and screws is an example only.
Fig 4b is a top view of an upper part 110 of the fitting 100. Fig 4e is a side view of the same part 110, which is slidably arranged with respect to a lower part of the fitting 120 illustrated in Fig 4f. Latching means 131, 132, illustrated as a pin and holes, may be used fir fixing the length of the assembled fitting 100, as shown in
Fig. 4g. It should be noted that the lower end 121 of the fitting 100 in all embodiments are used to attach the fitting 100 to the gutter, and hence will be denoted a "gutter attachment" in the following. As described below, the gutter attachment 121 may comprise an adapter 122 or a clamping mechanism for securing the fitting 100, or a lower part 120 thereof, to a lateral edge 321 of the rain gutter 320.

[0020] Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the embodiment from Fig 4, also showing an example adapter 122 for adapting the gutter attachment 121 to a lateral edge of a certain gutter system. By using different adapters 122 for different gutter systems, one gutter attachment 121 can be used with several gutter systems. This decreases the cost of manufacture, as larger series of components may be made.

[0021] Figure 6a-c show the upper 110 and lower 120 parts of the embodiment from Fig. 4 viewed from the other side. It should be noted that while the embodiments have to parts 110 and 120 slidably arranged with respect to each other, a fitting 100 without slidable parts would also be possible.

[0022] Figure 6 also illustrates a curved slot adapted to receive an auxiliary net. For example, an auxiliary fine masked net may be useful to prevent needles from e.g. fir, pine etc from falling into the gutter in embodiments where the main barrier is a rather coarse grating for moving leaves away as fast as possible: Small extending edges around the holes in a grating, such as those created when punching holes through a metal plate, tends to increase the speed of water streaming over the grating thus conveying leaves and similar material away from the main grating.

[0023] Figure 7 shows lateral edges of various shapes from various example gutter systems. One gutter attachment 121 can be used with all systems by using different adapters or insets 122a-122d, or the gutter attachment 121 can be used without any adapter as illustrated in Fig. 7a.

[0024] Figure 8 illustrates a different gutter attachment 121 in the form of a resilient clamp. In this example embodiment, a lower clamping device 121 b, c is arranged around the distal lateral edge 321. Then an end 121 a of the fitting 100 is inserted into an upper slot formed by the two parts 121 b and c. a hook on part 121 b enters a notch 123 at the end 121 a of fitting 100, thus providing a pivot axis. As shown on Fig. 9, the end lower 121 a of the fitting 100 is shaped such that it forces the upper ends of parts 121 b and 121 c apart when the fitting 100 is rotated about the pivoting axis Z, e.g. by bringing the upper end of fitting 100 into contact with the wall or splashboard 310 (Fig. 1). When the upper ends of parts 121 b and c are forced apart, their lower end clamps firmly around the lateral edge 321 of the gutter, thus securing the fitting to the gutter."

[0025] Figure 10 shows a second embodiment of a fitting 100. This embodiment does not use a wallmount, and is entirely fixed by clamping to a gutter 320 as illustrated in Figs 8 and 9. The embodiment of Fig. 10 has two slidable parts 110 and 120 for accommodating gutters of different width, Because the fitting 100 can be pivoted arouns the axis Z running through notch 123, different angles C caused by gutter width (Fig 3a) and/or shape (Fig. 3b) are accommodated.

[0026] When mounting a barrier with the fittings 100 according to the invention, a plurality of fittings 100 are spaced apart along the distal lateral edge 321. The fittings may be attached to the gutter, i.e. the lateral edge 321, in one piece as illustrated in Figs. 4-7, possibly by using an adapter 122 for a specific gutter system. Alternatively, the fittings 100, specifically the lower ends 121 a thereof, may be attached after parts 121 b, 121 c are put in place on the lateral edge 321 as illustrated in Figs 8-10. The upper ends may optionally be attached to a vertical board 310. Also, an auxiliary net may be put in place in slots 140 before the leaf barrier 202 is attached to the fittings 100. Finally, it is noted that any means for attaching the barrier to the fittings 100 are usable with the present invention, and that the use of hooks at the upper face of the fitting as shown in the figures is by way of example only.

Claims

1. A fitting (100) for a barrier for a mounted rain gutter (320), the fitting (100) having an upper curved surface (101) with fixed hooks (102, 104) for attaching a barrier (210) characterized in that the fitting (100) is provided with a gutter attachment (121) adapted for attachment to a lateral edge (321) of the rain gutter (320).

2. The fitting according to claim 1, comprising a first upper curved part (110) and a second lower curved part (120), the second part (120) being slidably arranged relative to the first part (110).

3. The fitting according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an upper end comprises a wall mount (111) adapted to rigidly fix the fitting (100) to a substantial vertical surface (310).

4. The fitting according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a lower end comprises the gutter attachment (121), the gutter attachment being adapted to rigidly fix the fitting to a distal lateral edge of the gutter.

5. The fitting according to claim 2, further comprising a latching mechanism (130-132) between the two curved parts (110, 120).

6. The fitting according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising a curved slot (140) adapted to receive an auxiliary net (220).

7. The fitting according to claim 1, wherein the gutter attachment (121) comprises an adapter (122) for a predetermined gutter system.

8. A method for preventing contamination of a mounted rain gutter (320), characterized by the steps of:

attaching a plurality of fittings to a distal lateral edge along a length of the gutter, each fitting having an upwardly curved surface,

attaching a barrier on the curved surface.

9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising the step of mounting an auxiliary net on the fittings before mounting the barrier (210).

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the gutter attachments (121) are attached to the gutter (320) and to the fittings (100) in separate steps.

Drawing