Snow guard and its application

A flat base for a roof mounted snow guard is provided with a foam filled adhesive strip to facilitate attachment of the snow guard to a smooth metal roof. The adhesive strip preferably has approximately five square inches of bonded area for this purpose and the thickness of the strip is preferably one millimeter at least 0.04 inches.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates generally to snow guards of the type applied to a 
roof structure, particularly to a metal roof structure, and deals more 
particularly with an improved snow guard construction that greatly 
facilitates the application of the snow guard to such a metal roof 
structure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
Turning now to the drawings in greater detail, a typical snow guard is 
shown in FIG. 1 having an elongated base 10 and having an upstanding shelf 
portion 12 integrally formed with the base for purposes of impeding the 
downward movement of snow on a sloping roof structure. The base 10 is 
adapted to be secured to a roof structure 14 (See FIG. 3) and several such 
snow guards are generally provided in certain areas of the roof structure, 
typically the area above a door or other access opening in the building 
where the danger of snow descending onto persons could otherwise pose a 
dangerous situation in areas where snow falls are such that means must be 
provided for preventing the snow from sliding off such a roof structure. 
Some roof structures, typically those fabricated of metal such a aluminum 
or copper, pose a particularly serious hazard since any slight warming of 
the roof structure will result in such an unpredictable sliding of snow 
therefrom. 
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a roof guard that is 
uniquely suited for attachment to such metal roofs without the need for 
fasteners or the application of messy adhesives applied from a gun or the 
like. 
The snow guard shown, and more particularly the base portion 10 thereof, 
has a layer 16 of very high bond (VHB) adhesive applied to the backside of 
the base, and a backing strip 18 is provided on the exposed adhesive layer 
so as to protect the adhesive layer 18 during shipment and storage prior 
to application of the snow guard to a roof structure. 
In its presently preferred form the very high bond adhesive layer 16 
comprises and acrylic foam tape of the type sold by 3M under their Scotch 
Brand VHB trademark. 
The preferred thickness for the adhesive layer 16 is preferably on the 
order of one millimeter or 0.04 inches, and this thickness affords maximum 
benefits when a device of the type illustrated in the drawings is applied 
to a metal roof structure. 
I presently prefer the 3M product of this general type sold under the 
Scotch Brand Model designation No. 4932 or 4952. Such an adhesive 
impregnated acrylic foam tape has excellent adhesion as between metals and 
other so-called "low surface energy" materials. 
In accordance with the method of the present invention a snow guard is 
provided with a flat backside, and the snow guard is preferably fabricated 
from aluminium or bronze depending upon the metal surface to which it will 
be applied. Like metals will expand and contract correspondingly, and 
therefore will afford better long term adherence. A plastic molded 
material may also be used on metal or other surfaces if the tape material 
is of proper specification. 
The backside of the base portion of the snow guard is provided with an area 
of at least four square inches, and preferably at least five square 
inches, so that the very high bond adhesive of the type described 
hereinabove will have sufficient working area. The adhesive should have a 
thickness on the order of 0.04 inches (or one millimeter) to afford 
maximum adhesion as between the metal snow guard and the metal roof 
structure. These dimensions have been found to lead to optimum results. 
A backing material 18 is provided on the exposed surface of the very high 
bond adhesive tape material, which backing material 18 is removed upon 
assembly of the snow guard with the roof structure (See FIG. 2). At 
assembly the snow guard is pressed onto the roof structure such that the 
exposed adhesive will adhere to the underlying metal roof structure (See 
FIG. 3). Some preliminary cleaning of the metal roof structure may be 
required so as to remove any oxidation in the event that the roof 
structure has been exposed to the hostility of the environment for any 
significant length of time between the time it is erected and the time 
when the snow guard is applied.