Patent Publication Number: US-4254595-A

Title: Removable cover for roof gutter

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Various forms of covers for gutters have been proposed to keep out foreign material, but have had various shortcomings such as being difficult to insert or remove and also being subject to inadvertent removal due, for example to high winds. Some other of these prior art devices were complicated in that they required certain attaching devices to hold them securely in place and were difficult to install and remove. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides an elongated cover for extending over and covering a roof gutter and which cover has a rear edge along its length that is insertable under a row of shingles on the roof. One form of the cover has a U-shaped groove along its front edge which faces downwardly and is comprised of a pair of spaced apart flanges which act to embrace or grip the bead of the groove. The inner flange of the U-shaped groove is slotted along its length to provide a series of individual tabs, each of which may be selectively folded upwardly to thereby accommodate a gutter hanger extending from the roof to the bead of the groove. A more specific aspect of the invention relates to the formation of the generally U-shaped groove and which is formed by the sheet material being folded back upon itself to define an outer downwardly extending flange spaced from the inner flange. These flanges may be formed relative to one another to provide a gripping action on the bead to which they are removably secured. 
     Other forms of cover attaching means are also provided, including removable sections that snap onto the gutter bead, or clips that are secured to the edge of the cover and which snap into the gutter bead. 
     These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear hereinafter as this disclosure progresses, reference being had to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a fragmentary, perspective view of a roof having a gutter attached thereto and showing the gutter cover provided by the present invention, certain parts being removed or broken away for the sake of clarity in the drawing; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the roof gutter taken generally from the underside thereof and showing two of the individual tabs of the inner flange folded upwardly so as to accommodate the gutter hangers; 
     FIG. 3 is an enlarged, transverse, cross-sectional view of a portion of the cover shown in FIG. 2, further illustrating the fabrication of the generally U-shaped groove along the outer edge of the cover; 
     FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but showing the cover attached to the bead of the gutter and furthermore showing the tab of the inner flange of the cover in the upwardly folded direction to accommodate a gutter hanger; 
     FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, the view being taken through the gutter where no hanger is located; 
     FIG. 6 is a sectional view through a conventional gutter, without a cover, and showing the ice build up under the shingles; 
     FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a modified form of gutter cover and attaching means; 
     FIG. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view through a gutter and with the cover of FIG. 7 in place; and 
     FIG. 9 is another form of gutter cover provided by the present invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The invention has been shown in FIG. 1 as applied to a roof 1 having a downwardly extending facia board 2 and also having a lower row of shingles 3 along the lower edge of the roof. The gutter 5 is conventional and includes a rear wall 6, a bottom wall 7, an upper flange 8 secured to the roof 1, and an outer wall 9 of the gutter. The outer upper edge of the gutter wall 9 is fabricated as a bead B and the bead includes an outer portion 10, an upper portion 11, and a rear portion 12. 
     FIG. 6 shows the conventional gutter as attached to the roof and having ice 13 accumulated therein and which has built up under the shingles 3 to a point where leakage occurs through the roof. 
     In accordance with the present invention, a gutter cover C is fabricated from sheet metal, plastic or the like and is formed in elongated sections, say for example four or eight feet in length. The cover includes an upper portion 20 having a rear edge 21 that is adapted to be inserted under the lower row of shingles 3. The front edge 23 of the cover has a pair of downwardly extending flanges therealong which define a downwardly facing and generally U-shaped groove G along the front edge of the cover. More specifically, the flanges include an outer flange 25 and an inner or rearward flange 26. As shown in FIG. 3, the outer flange 25 is fabricated by the sheet material being bent over upon itself so that the flange 25 is of double thickness whereas the rearward flange 26 is of a single thickness. As also shown in FIG. 3, the flanges 25 and 26 are formed relative to one another so as to provide resilient gripping action on the bead B. More specifically, either one or both of the flanges 25, 26 are turned inwardly toward one another so that when they are pressed over the bead B, they are forced to resiliently separate or move apart from one another to provide a gripping action on the bead. 
     As shown in FIG. 2, the inner flange of the U-shaped groove has a series of spaced apart generally vertical slits 30 formed therein so as to provide a series of individual tabs 32 along the length of the inner flange. These tabs 32 may be individually turned upwardly as shown in FIG. 2 by the tabs 32a so as to accommodate the generally horizontally extending gutter hanger H as shown in FIG. 4. Thus the tabs 32 may be turned up as required by the spacing of the hangers H. As also shown in FIG. 4, the hanger has previously been secured to the bead B by rivets 36. 
     FIGS. 7 and 8 show a modified form of the invention including lengths or sections 40 which are fabricated or preformed from suitable material, such as metal or plastic. If plastic is used, these sections can be extruded. The sections 40 include a rear flange 41, a front flange 42 and a slot 43 formed along the front edge of the section and facing in an upward direction. The cover 44 includes a downwardly extending flange 45 which is adapted to be slipped into a slot 43 and a snug engagement therewith but yet easily removable by direct upward pull on the cover. The flange 41 of the section 40 includes a lower inwardly turned part 46 (see FIG. 8) which snugly embraces the rear portion 12 of the gutter bead B, thus holding the section 40 snugly and resiliently in place on the rear portion 12 of the bead. 
     The modification shown in FIG. 9 includes a generally flat cover 50 having secured along its front edge at spaced intervals, a plurality of broom type clips 52 which are formed of resilient material and which are thus adapted to resiliently engage the bead B of the gutter and thus firmly grasp the bead to hold the cover in place. The clips are secured to the cover 50 by means of rivets 53 in the known manner. 
     The cover provided by the present invention can be easily and quickly inserted over the gutter and its front edge snaps on or embraces the bead of the gutter to securely hold the cover in place. The cover acts to permit rain, melting snow, or slush to flow from the roof over the gutter where it drips from the outer edge of the gutter downwardly or otherwise prevents its accumulation in the gutter and consequent build-up of ice within. Due to the resiliently gripping action of the gutter attaching means along the front edge of the cover, the cover is prevented from being accidentally displaced or removed, for example by high winds. 
     The cover provided by the present invention can be easily removed from the gutter when it is no longer needed.