Abstract:
An adjustable bracket device for selectively mounting on buildings a plurality of rain gutters of different sizes and shapes, includes a base having an elongate mounting member and an integral arm member projecting outwardly therefrom. An extension member is attachable to the arm member in multiple overlapping relationships forming the assembled arm and extension members of differing collective lengths. The base is disposed within a selected gutter in a substantially vertical orientation with the mounting member abutted against the back wall of the gutter and is secured to a vertical building wall via a fastener penetrated through mounting member and through the back wall of the gutter. The collective overlapping length of the arm and extension members is selected to conform to the width of the selected gutter to extend laterally across the full channel width of the gutter into supporting engagement with the front wall of the gutter.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to building construction and, more particularly, to the installation of rain gutters on buildings. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Architects and engineers typically give careful attention in the design of buildings, particularly commercial buildings, to the ability of the structure to safely withstand major wind events. However, little attention may be given to the wind resistance of certain non-structural exterior building components, such as rain gutters. Rain gutter mounting systems, typically a series of hanger brackets which support a gutter along a roof perimeter, are generally well designed to resist the expected gravitational loads imposed by rainwater runoff into the gutters but can be highly subject to wind forces acting underneath the gutter system which can tend to uplift the gutter from the building and can, in turn, result in progressive lifting and peeling of the adjacent roof and building facia components. In the past, there has been little or no industry guidelines for wind design of gutters. Recently, however, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has promulgated wind testing standards for the performance of commercial building rain gutters during wind events. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention seeks to provide a novel form of bracket device for mounting rain gutters on buildings to resist wind forces and, in particular, to comply with the new ANSI standards. The present invention further seeks to provide a bracket device that is adjustable so as to be capable of selectively mounting any of a plurality of differently sized rain gutters. 
     Briefly summarized, the present invention provides a novel adjustable bracket device by which a novel gutter installation may selectively mount on buildings any of a plurality of U-shaped rain gutters having differing channel widths between front and back gutter walls. The bracket device includes a base having an elongate substantially straight mounting member and an arm member rigidly integral with the mounting member and projecting transversely outwardly from intermediately along the elongate extent of the mounting member such that the mounting member has a first leg portion extending to one side of the arm member and a second leg portion extending to the opposite side of the arm member. The bracket device further includes an extension member that is selectively attachable to the arm member of the base in a plurality of respectively varying overlapping relationships to the arm member forming the attached arm and extension members to project outwardly from the mounting member to differing selected collective lengths. 
     In a gutter installation, the base is configured to be disposed within any selected one of the U-shaped rain gutters in a substantially vertical orientation with the first and second leg portions of the mounting member in face abutment against the back wall of the gutter and to be secured with the back wall of the gutter to a vertical surface of a building, e.g., via a fastener penetrated through one of the leg portions and through the back wall of the gutter into the vertical wall surface. The arm and extension members are attachable in a selected overlapping relationship to have a collective length conforming to the channel width of the selected gutter to extend the extension member laterally across the channel width of the gutter into engagement with the front wall of the gutter. 
     In a contemplated embodiment, the extension member includes a nose portion at a projecting free end thereof, configured for engagement with the front wall of the gutter. For example, the nose portion of the extension member may include a reverse bend in conformity to a lip on the front wall of the gutter. 
     One of the arm member and the extension member may include a plurality of projecting keys and the other may include a plurality of keyways mated with the keys for selective assembly of the keys and keyways to permit assembly of the arm and extension members in the described plurality of overlapping relationships. Alternatively, the arm member and the extension member may be adapted to be welded to one another in any of a plurality of overlapping relationships. 
     It is also contemplated that the mounting member of the base may be formed with embossings for engagement against the back wall of the gutter to resist relative movement therebetween when secured to the vertical surface of the building. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a side view, partially in side elevation and partially in vertical cross-section, of a gutter installation using one embodiment of an adjustable bracket device in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is another side view similar to  FIG. 1 , showing a gutter installation using a second embodiment of an adjustable bracket device in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a side view similar to  FIG. 2 , showing the same bracket device thereof but adjustably assembled differently for installation of a differently sized gutter; 
         FIG. 4  is a side view similar to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , showing the same bracket device thereof but adjustably assembled differently for installation of another differently sized gutter; 
         FIG. 5  is a side view similar to  FIGS. 1-4 , showing a gutter installation using a third embodiment of an adjustable bracket device in accordance with the present invention; and 
         FIG. 6  is another side view similar to  FIGS. 1, 2 and 5 , showing a gutter installation using a fourth embodiment of an adjustable bracket device in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring now to the accompanying drawings and initially to  FIG. 1 , a gutter installation is depicted generally at  10  formed of a U-shaped elongate gutter  12  mounted to a vertical wall  14  of a building  16  adjacent a perimeter edge  18  of the building roof  20  by an adjustable bracket device, indicated generally at  22 , in accordance with one contemplated embodiment of the present invention. As persons skilled in the relevant art will readily recognize and understand, the building  16 , including the roof  20  and the vertical wall  14 , are only generically depicted for sake of providing a simplified illustration of a representative gutter installation according to the present invention, but the present invention is not to be construed in any way as limited to use with the depicted form of building structure and, instead, it is to be expressly understood that the present invention may be adapted in the same and various other embodiments for use in substantially any form of building structure to which a rain gutter may be suitable. 
     The gutter  12  is likewise depicted generically for illustrative purposes to be representative of any of a variety of known forms of U-shaped rain gutters. As persons skilled in the relevant art recognize and understand, substantially all building rain gutters have in common an overall U-shaped cross-section formed by spaced-apart generally upright front and back gutter walls  24 ,  26  joined at their bottom edges by a connecting bottom wall  28  defining therebetween an interior water flow channel  30  which opens upwardly between the upper edges of the front and back walls  24 ,  26 . Typically, as depicted in  FIG. 1 , the back gutter wall  26  is substantially flat and planar, while the free upper edge of the front gutter wall  24  is bent to form a front gutter lip  25 . Otherwise, however, conventional rain gutters may be of any of various specific cross-sectional profiles and dimensions, particularly in the lateral horizontal widthwise dimension of the channel  30  between the upward ends of the front and back walls  24 ,  26 . As described more fully herein, the adjustable bracket device  22  of the present invention is particularly adapted to enable the bracket device to mount any of a plurality of differing gutters  12  of differing channel widths. 
     The bracket device  22  basically comprises two components, a base  32  and an extension member  34 . The base  32  has a mounting member  36  that is elongate and substantially straight or linear, and an arm member  38  that is rigidly integral with the mounting member  36 , projecting transversely outwardly from an intermediate location along the elongate extent of the mounting member  36  such that a first leg portion  40  of the mounting member  36  extends upwardly from one side of the arm member  38  and a second leg portion  42  extends downwardly from the opposite side of the arm member  38 . 
     The arm member  38  and the extension member  34  are compatibly configured to facilitate assembly with one another in any of a plurality of respectively varying overlapping relationships by which the assembled extension and arm members  34 ,  38  project outwardly from the mounting member  36  to differing collective lengths. As one exemplary embodiment depicted in  FIG. 1 , the extension member  34  of the base  32  is formed with a series of uniformly spaced-apart keys  44  and the arm member  38  is formed with a mating series of uniformly spaced-apart keyways  46  by which the extension and arm members  34 ,  38  may be selectively assembled in incrementally varying lengths as desired to shorten or lengthen their overall collective length. The outer free end of the arm member  38  may be formed as a nose portion  48  of any suitable configuration to be compatible with the lip portion  25  of the gutter  12 , e.g., in a reversely bent configuration as depicted in  FIG. 1 . 
     The installation of a gutter  12  utilizing the adjustable bracket device  22  of the present invention may thus be understood. As is commonplace, the gutter  12  may be formed in elongate lengths which may be connected end-to-end or may be extruded by a suitable forming machine to any desired “seamless” length. For installation of any given lengthwise extent of the gutter  12 , a plurality of the bracket devices  22  will be utilized at regular spaced-apart intervals to provide uniform support along the full length of the gutter  12 . Each such bracket device  22  is situated within the interior channel  30  of the gutter  12  with the first and second leg portions  40 ,  42  of the mounting member  36  of the base  32  in a substantially vertical orientation in face abutment against the back wall  26  of the gutter  12 . Each base  32  and the back wall  26  of the gutter  12  are mutually affixed to one another and to the vertical wall  14  of the building  16  by a suitable fastener  50 , e.g., a threaded mounting screw as depicted in  FIG. 1 , driven through the first leg portion  40 , then through the back wall  26  of the gutter  12  and into the structure of the wall  14  adjacent the roof edge  18 . The extension member  34  is assembled in overlapping relationship with the outwardly projecting arm member  38  of the base  32  by selective engagement of its keys  44  into the key ways  46  of the arm member  38  to form the extension and arm members  34 ,  38  of a collective length to extend laterally across the entire width of the gutter channel  30  and into supporting engagement with the front wall  24  of the gutter  12 , e.g., by mating engagement of the nose portion  48  with the gutter lip  25 . 
     As will be understood, by selective lengthening or shortening of the collective length of the extension and arm members  34 ,  38 , the bracket device  22  may be adjusted to accommodate the mounting of any of a number of differing gutters  12 , including for example an array of the differing sizes of the same cross-sectional gutter profile and/or differently sized gutters of differing cross-sectional profiles. For example,  FIGS. 2-4  depict an alternative embodiment of the bracket device, indicated at  122 , wherein the extension member  134  and the arm member  138  of the base  132  are assembled in differing overlapping relationships for mounting in  FIGS. 2, 3 and 4  three gutters  12  of the same cross-sectional profile but in three different channel sizes, and in  FIG. 5  a fourth gutter  12  of a different cross-sectional profile. The embodiment of the bracket device  122  in these Figures differs from that of  FIG. 1  in that the arm member  138  of the base  132  is formed with projecting keys  144  and the extension member  34  is formed with mating keyways  146  with the arm member  138  overlapping above the extension member  134  (i.e., the opposite of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 ). Also in this embodiment, the mounting member  136  of the base  132  is formed with a flange  152  projecting from the first leg portion  140  by which a roof drip edge element  115  may be secured in place. 
       FIG. 5  depict another alternative embodiment of the bracket device, indicated at  222 , which is a variant of the embodiments of  FIGS. 1-4 , wherein the extension member  234  and the arm member  238  of the base  232  are assembled in a selected overlapping relationship for mounting a gutter  12  of a different cross-sectional profile. In the embodiment of the bracket device  222  in this Figure, like that of  FIG. 1 , the arm member  238  of the base  232  is formed with keyways  246  and the extension member  234  is formed with mating projecting keys  144 . Also in this embodiment, the mounting member  236  of the base  232  is formed with a flange  252  projecting from the first leg portion  240  by which a roof drip edge element  115  may be secured in place. 
     Of course, it is to be understood that other embodiments of the bracket device of the present invention are also possible. By way of further example,  FIG. 6  depicts an embodiment wherein the base  332  is formed of two components welded together at  354  and the extension member  334  is similarly secured in selectively overlapping relationship to the arm member  338  of the base  332  by welds at  356 . As may be understood, welded joinder of the components of the bracket device of the present invention may be advantageous or preferred over mating keys and keyways to accommodate finer adjustments in the collective lengthwise dimension of the extension and arm members than can be accomplished incrementally via spaced-apart keys and keyways and also to provide greater collective rigidity in the bracket device. 
     As will be understood, in operation the bracket device of the present invention is effective via the elongated vertical extent and orientation of the mounting member of the base and its mounted disposition within the channel of the gutter in face abutment to the back gutter wall to act against wind forces directed toward the underside of the gutter to resist uplifting of the gutter from the building wall and, in turn, to prevent or at least mitigate potential damage to the roof components at the adjacent roof edge. To further enhance the securement of the bracket device in place by the fasteners  50 , it is also contemplated that the underside of the first leg portion of the base may be formed with a series of teeth or like projections, as represented at  52  in  FIGS. 1-5 , e.g., formed as embossments in the leg portion, to also resist any tendency of the base  32  to rotate within the gutter channel. 
     Other enhancements of the bracket device of the present invention are also contemplated. For example, the bracket device may be configured to accommodate the mounting of a leaf screen over the gutter, as representatively depicted in  FIG. 3  at  154 . 
     It will therefore be readily understood by those persons skilled in the art that the present invention is susceptible of broad utility and application. Many embodiments and adaptations of the present invention other than those herein described, as well as many variations, modifications and equivalent arrangements will be apparent from or reasonably suggested by the present invention and the foregoing description thereof, without departing from the substance or scope of the present invention. Accordingly, while the present invention has been described herein in detail in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that this disclosure is only illustrative and exemplary of the present invention and is made merely for purposes of providing a full and enabling disclosure of the invention. The foregoing disclosure is not intended or to be construed to limit the present invention or otherwise to exclude any such other embodiments, adaptations, variations, modifications and equivalent arrangements, the present invention being limited only by the claims appended hereto and the equivalents thereof.