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FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to a shield for a rain water gutter assembly also known as an eaves trough.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The use of shields for gutters or eaves troughs is well know in the prior art and many patents have issued for different types of shields. The purpose of the gutter shield is essentially to permit passage of rain water from the roof to the gutter or eaves trough while protecting the same from extraneous foreign matter such as leaves and the like, which could lead to clogging.  
         [0003]     In practice, the use of a shield or a guard comprises a member which is apertured and permits the passage of rain water while banning the passage of extraneous material into the gutter. The shields or guards are attached in various manners to a portion to the gutter. However, many of these guards do not function as desired and access must still be had to the eaves trough for cleaning purposes.  
         [0004]     It is also been proposed in the art to provide relatively complex structures wherein the eaves troughs are mounted for rotatable movement such that they may be emptied at desired intervals.  
         [0005]     It is also being proposed to provide gutters which are designed to have a cover with an outer edge which curls downwardly and the water flow follows the curved portion due to its own surface tension to cascade into the eaves trough which is situated below. All extraneous material would theoretically fall to the ground. However, this concept does not always work when the volume of water becomes sufficiently large so that the surface tension is not sufficient to cause all the water to flow into the gutter. Consequently, there is an overflow.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel gutter guard which is securely fixed to the eaves trough on both sides thereof and which forwards the rain water into the gutter, but excludes virtually all foreign matter.  
         [0007]     According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device for protecting a gutter wherein the gutter has a rear wall, a front wall and a bottom wall, the walls defining a trough therebetween, the device comprising a guard member having an elongated configuration with a generally planar central portion, first and second longitudinally extending opposed sides located on either side of the generally planar central portion, a plurality of apertures extending through the generally planar central portion, the first side of the guard member having an inverted U-shaped portion designed to fit over an upper marginal edge of the rear wall of the gutter, the U-shaped portion comprising an inner vertical wall and an outer vertical wall, an inturned flange located at the bottom of the outer wall to form a second generally U-shaped portion with the inturned flange being adjacent an inner face of the gutter, the second side of the guard member having an overflow wall extending vertically upward, a generally horizontal portion extending outwardly from an upper end of the overflow wall, and an inturned flange at a distal end of the horizontal portion adjacent the underside of the horizontal portion  
         [0008]     According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device to protect the gutter wherein the gutter has a rear wall, a front wall, and a bottom wall, the walls defining a trough there between, the device comprising a guard member having an elongated configuration with a generally planer central portion, first and second longitudinally extending sides located on either side of the generally planer central portion, a plurality of apertures extending through the generally planer central portion, the first side of the guard member having an upwardly extending wall segment, a U-shaped portion being connected to the upwardly extending wall segment, a flexible sealing member extending outwardly from the U-shaped portion, the second side of the guard member having an overflow wall extending vertically upwardly, a generally horizontal portion extending outwardly from an upper end of the overflow wall, and an inturned flange at the distal end of the horizontal portion, the inturned flange being adjacent to the underside of the horizontal portion.  
         [0009]     In a still further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device to protect the gutter wherein the gutter has a rear wall, a front wall, and a bottom wall, the walls defining a trough there between, the device comprising a guard member having an elongated configuration with a generally planer central portion, first and second longitudinally extending sides located on either side of the generally planer central portion, a plurality of apertures extending through the generally planer central portion, a longitudinally extending flexible sealing member secured to the first of the guard member, the flexible sealing member extending upwardly and outwardly therefrom, the second side of the guard member having an overflow wall extending generally vertically upwardly, and a horizontal portion extending outwardly from an upper end of the overflow wall, the horizontal portion being designed to rest on the gutter.  
         [0010]     The device of the present invention provides a guard for the eaves trough to prevent foreign matter from entering into the eaves trough. This is achieved by means of appropriate sizing of the apertures formed therein. In this respect, the aperture size and aperture placement must permit adequate drainage of the water through the apertures into the eaves trough while substantially excluding any foreign matter which remains on the top and which normally would be removed by the element of wind and the like. Adequate sizing of the apertures will prevent clogging of the device.  
         [0011]     The apertures preferably extend in diagonal rows or lines at an angle with respect to the gutter length. In preferred embodiments, the apertures have an aperture size of between 2.5 and 10 mm and even more preferably between 3.0 and 4.0 mm. As the apertures are arranged in diagonal rows, they are also preferably arranged in longitudinally extending rows.  
         [0012]     In a longitudinally extending row, the apertures are spaced apart by a distance of between 10 and 15 mm while in a diagonal row, they are spaced apart by a distance of between 5 and 10 mm.  
         [0013]     As will be appreciated, during a period of heavy rain, the drainage might not be instantaneous and accordingly, there is preferably provided a vertically extending wall adjacent the front wall of the gutter to prevent overflow.  
         [0014]     In the first aspect of the invention, there is provided a device which may be supplied in various lengths such that it may be retrofitted to a gutter and/or done by the do-it yourselfer. To this end, there may be provided a connecting member for interconnecting the lengths as they are installed.  
         [0015]     In the first embodiment, the device is secured to the gutter by mechanical fastening means while the gutter itself is also secured to the supporting structure by mechanical fastening means such as screws.  
         [0016]     In the present invention, the device may be provided with a flexible sealing strip which is retained by the device and is designed above the adjoining structure to prevent water seeping between the gutter and support structure. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0017]     Having thus generally described the invention, reference will be made to the accompanying drawings illustrating an embodiment thereof, in which:  
         [0018]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a gutter guard and an associated gutter mounted on a supporting structure;  
         [0019]      FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view through the gutter and gutter guard;  
         [0020]      FIG. 3  is a detailed sectional view of the upper portion of the gutter guard showing attachment thereof;  
         [0021]      FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of a further embodiment of the present invention, the view illustrating the gutter guard and means of attachment;  
         [0022]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the embodiment of  FIG. 4 ;  
         [0023]      FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view similar to  FIG. 4  showing a modified version of the gutter guard; and  
         [0024]      FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view of a further embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0025]     Referring to the drawings in a greater detail and by reference characters thereto, there is illustrated in  FIG. 1 a  portion of a gutter generally designated by reference numeral  14  and which is attached to a supporting structure  12  to receive run-off from roof  10 .  
         [0026]     Gutter  14  is of a conventional design which is widely available in the market place and has a back wall  16  which is designed to lie substantially adjacent to the supporting structure  12 . Extending between a front row  20  and back wall  16  is a bottom  18 . Front wall  20  includes a lower vertical segment  22 , a central arcuate segment  24  and upper vertical segment  26 . As may be best seen in  FIG. 3 , at the upper end of upper vertical segment  26 , there is provided an inwardly extending flange  28  and a reversely extending lower flange  32  connected thereto by means of a bight  30 . As seen in  FIG. 1 , a conventional end cap  34  is utilized to seal the end of gutter  14 .  
         [0027]     According to this embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a gutter guard which is generally designed by reference numeral  36  which has a central mean planer portion  38  extending the length of gutter  14 . Main central portion  38  has a first side  40 , approximate back wall  16  and a second side generally designated by reference numeral  42  approximate front wall  20 . Central planer portion  38  is provided with a plurality of apertures  43  which, as may seen, extend in diagonal rows in an angle of 45 degrees with respect to the length of gutter guard  36 .  
         [0028]     At first side  40 , gutter guard  36  has an inner vertical wall  44  and an outer vertical  48  connected by a bight  46 . In turn, at the lower of outer vertical wall  48 , there is provided an inturned flange  50 .  
         [0029]     At the second side  42  of gutter guard  36 , there is provided a vertical overflow wall  52  which is designed to prevent overflow during periods of heavy rain. Vertical overflow wall  52  terminates in a bight  54  which connects with an horizontal segment  56 . In turn, horizontal section  56  continues on through bight  60  and terminates in an inturned flange  58 .  
         [0030]     Screws  62  are used to secure both the gutter  14  and gutter guard  36  to supporting structure  12 . Thus, it may seen in  FIG. 3 , a screw  62  will extend through both inner vertical wall  44  and outer vertical  48  of gutter guard  36  and also thru back wall  16  of gutter  14 . The inturned flange  50  helps maintain proper tension on the device.  
         [0031]     Similarly, screws  64  are used at the second side  42  to secure gutter guard  36  to gutter  14 . Again, the use of inturned flange  58  helps prevent loosening of the screws  64 .  
         [0032]     Turning to the embodiment illustrated in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , similar reference numerals with a prime are utilized for similar components. There is provided a gutter guard member generally designated by reference numeral  68  to be used in conjunction with a gutter (only a portion shown) having a back wall  16 ′ and the upper vertical segment  26 ′ of a gutter front wall. Gutter guard  68  includes a central planer portion  38 ′ having a first side  40 ′ and a second side  42 ′. Apertures  43 ′ extend through the central planer portion  38 ′.  
         [0033]     At the first side  40 ′, gutter guard  68  has an inner vertical wall  44 ′. However, at the upper end of inner vertical wall  44 ′, there is provided a top wall segment  76  and then a downwardly angled segment  78 . By means of bight  80 , there is also provided an upwardly angled segment  82 . Downwardly angled segment  78  and upwardly angled segment  82  form a U-shaped configuration which are designed to receive one end of a sealing element  84  with the other end thereof being abutted against supporting structure  12 ′.  
         [0034]     At the second side  42 ′, guard member  68  has a structure substantially identical to that of gutter guard  36 . Thus, there is provided a vertical overflow wall  52 ′, a bight  54 ′, and a horizontal segment  56 ′. At the distal end of horizontal segment  56 ′, there is provided an inturned flange  58 ′ which is connected thereto by means of a bight  60 ′.  
         [0035]     As with the case of the previously described embodiment, a screw  62 ′ is utilized to secure back wall  16 ′ to supporting structure  12 ′. However, this embodiment also provides for a hook member  86  having a U-shaped portion  88  at one end thereof. Hook  86  is also attached by means of a screw  62  while hook  86  engages in the portion between upper inwardly extending flange  28 ′ and lower flange  32 ′. It will also be noted that screw  64 ′ is utilised to retain guard  68  in place as in the previously described embodiment.  
         [0036]     As the guard  68  may be provided in a plurality of pieces for retrofitting, a connector  90  may be utilized which fits within the space defined by downwardly angled segment  72 , inner vertical wall  44 ′, and a central planar portion  38 ′.  
         [0037]     A slightly modified arrangement of the embodiment of  FIGS. 4 and 5  is shown in  FIG. 6 . In this arrangement, it will be noted that hook  86 ″ is somewhat angled while after the first side  40 ″, there is provided a downwardly angled wall segment  92  between planar portion  38 ″ and inner vertical wall  44 ″.  
         [0038]     Turning to  FIG. 7 , there is illustrated another arrangement wherein there is provided a first upwardly extending portion  94  from planer central portion. Upwardly extending portion  94  reverses itself in a U-shaped configuration to provide an underlying portion  96  joined by means of bight  98 . A further bight  100  leads into a third section  102 . Between sections  96  and  102 , there is provided a U-shaped portion arranged to accept a sealing strip  104 .  
         [0039]     It will be understood that the above described embodiments are for purposes of illustration only and changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Summary:
A device for protecting a gutter having a rear wall, front wall and a bottom wall, the walls defining a trough there between, the device comprising a guard member having generally planar central portion with one side thereof having an inverted U-shaped configuration designed to fit over an upper marginal edge of the rear wall of the gutter while at the other side, there is provided an overflow wall. The guard and gutter are attached directly to a supporting structure by means of screws or other mechanical fastening devices.