Patent Publication Number: US-6209826-B1

Title: Gutter hanger assembly

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a gutter hanger assembly. More specifically, the assembly is of the type which includes a hanger and a fastener held in the hanger in proper attitude to be engaged by an installing tool without the need for separately supporting the fastener during the attachment to a building. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The prior art is replete with gutter hangers, some of which provide for fastener elements. One of the most common hangers has been the nail and ferrule type in which a ferrule is disposed between the front and rear walls of the gutter, and a nail is driven through the front wall, through the ferrule, through the rear wall and into the frieze board or fascia of the building structure. An example is shown in the old patent to Peal U.S. Pat. No. 1,940,369 issued Dec. 19, 1993. 
     There have also been strap type hangers wherein a brace extends across the top of the gutter and is centrally apertured to receive a hanger, an example being shown in the old Tangard U.S. Pat. No. 1,701,087 issued Feb. 5, 1929. 
     With the development of the “Ogee” gutter, hangers have sometimes comprised a bracket having a hook on its outer end adapted to engage into the reentrant pocket of the upper end of the front wall of the gutter. An inverted U-shaped clip has slipped over the top edge of the rear wall of the gutter, an example being shown in Sauder U.S. Pat. No. 3,416,760 issued Dec. 17, 1968. 
     More recently, the Odekirk U.S. Pat. No. 4,294,422 issued Oct. 13, 1981 discloses a gutter hanger comprising an “Ogee” bead engaging hook at its outer end and a clip at its inner end, the hanger body being zig-zag-shaped adjacent the clip and pierced to hold a nail in proper position for driving into the fascia board. This arrangement clearly requires extra material to hold the nail. The positioning appurtenance becomes part of the structural support after the hanger is installed. 
     An earlier patent to Ramser U.S. Pat. No. 3,053,491 issued Sep. 11, 1962, includes in the hanger an upstruck tab which may support an end of the nail at a proper driving angle. Ramser, however, does not contemplate holding means for the nail, merely a notched support for the nail once the gutter assembly is complete. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention has for its object a hanger assembly which includes a substantially supported screw fastener held on the hanger body from factory-to-installer. The screw is held in the proper attitude for driving. The hanger assembly comprises a hanger body having a hook at one end adapted to engage the “Ogee” bead, and at the other end, an inverted U-shaped clip adapted to clip over and engage a rear wall of the gutter. The hanger body also includes a pair of upstruck tabs not part of the structural support. The tabs have openings at their tops adapted to semi-permanently support the fastener at an angle appropriate for driving toward and through the clip and rear wall of the gutter and into the fascia board. As the fastener head moves toward the clip, it pulls out of the opening of the first tab, engages the second tab and crimps the second tab against the clip to serve as a washer and a reinforcement to better support the hanger and gutter. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Further objects and features of the invention will be clear to those skilled in the art from a review of the following specification and drawings, all of which present a non-limiting form of the invention. In the drawings: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hanger embodying the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken at the line  2 — 2  of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view of a gutter having a hanger embodying the invention installed thereon prior to being attached to the building structure; and 
     FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the fastening means screwed on the way into the house as the structure appears in final disposition. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     A hanger assembly embodying the invention is shown in FIG.  1  and generally designated  10 . It comprises a hanger body  12  and a threaded fastener  14 . The assembly shown is as it would appear when delivered to the installer. 
     The hanger body  12  comprises a generally rectangular flat element  16 . For strength, the margins of the element  16  may be upturned in an inclined curb  18 . On one end of the element is disposed an upward portion  20  having a doubled back hook portion  22 . The other end is formed with an inverted U-shaped clip  24  which comprises an upward leg  26 , an outward bight  28  and an extended downward leg  30 . The flat element  16 , the upward portion  20  and the inward hook  22 , as well as the clip  24 , are all unitarily formed, preferably of sheet metal. 
     The flat portion  16  is slitted in a U-shaped slit  16   a  and upstruck to form a vertical tab  32  formed with an opening  34  at its upper end. 
     Closer to the clip  28  the flat portion  16  is slitted in a U-shaped slit  16   b  and struck up to form a second tab  40  somewhat shorter than the first tab  32 . It is formed with an opening  42  of U-shape (FIG.  1 ). The legs  26  and  30  are formed with fastener-receiving apertures  44  and  46 . The fastener  14  is in the form of a self-tapping elongated screw, preferably having a hexagonal head  46  and a tapping point  48 . Typically, the screw may be 2″ long. 
     The opening  34  is preferably a notched V- or U-shaped. More generally, it is an open-topped opening. This, in concert with perforated tab  40 , receives the fastener  14  and holds it so that its axis is directed toward the two apertures  44  and  46  in the clip  24 . In assembly with the hanger, the fastener rests in the opening  34  and through perforation  42 . The respective legs or bifurcations on opposite sides of the opening  34  (FIG. 2) are pinched together to retain the fastener in opening  34 . As shown in FIG. 3, the point  48  of the self-tapping or sheet metal fastener  14  is preferably positioned adjacent the aperture  44 . 
     Thus, when the installer receives the hanger assemblies  20 , they are in the condition shown in FIG.  1  and it is only necessary for the installer to position the assemblies spaced along the gutter  50  and engage them with the gutter as described below. 
     As shown, the “Ogee” gutter has a rear wall  52 , a bottom wall  54 , and an “Ogee” curved front wall  56 . At the upper end of the front wall  56  the gutter is formed with a “Ogee” bead  58  which is the traditional shape for giving strength and a smooth finish to the top edge of the gutter. It includes a substantially horizontal top surface and a re-entrant pocket  60 . 
     Gutters, such as the one shown, are often fabricated from a roll of flat aluminum stock and are shaped by a forming machine on the site as they are uncoiled off the roll. Using the assembly of the invention, once the gutter is formed, the installer can simply hook the hook portion  22  into pocket  60  of the “Ogee” bead and then press the clip  24  down over the top of the rear wall  52 . This motion is as described in the above-mentioned Sauder patent. Such installation of hanger assembly on the gutter may be done at spaced intervals which may be either uniform or unevenly spaced, depending, for instance, on the topography of the fascia  62  and the location of the rafters of the building structure. 
     Once the assembly of the hanger with the gutter is complete, the installer merely engages the hex head  46  with the hexagonal socket drive of his power tool and activates the tool, pressing the tool toward the building structure. Under such pressing, the tab  32  yields, bending to the left (FIG. 3) whereupon the rotating point  48  enters the aperture  44  on leg  26 , taps and threads its way into the previously imperforate rear wall  52 , passes into the aperture  46  of the rear leg  30  and forcefully enters the fascia  62 . The threads on the fastener  14 , in engagement with the fascia, draw the fastener  14  axially into the fascia and away from the tab  32 , the bent vestige of which remains harmlessly above the flat portion  16  (FIG.  4 ). (Alternatively, the lower end of tab  32  may be formed with a weakened line and the tab will break off.) 
     The head  46 , as the fastener  14  is driven farther into the fascia, engages the tab  40  and bends it over (FIG.  4 ), giving it the incline of the head. The tab  40  ultimately serves as a washer and buttress or reinforcement and presses against the clip  24  and secures it and the gutter to the fascia. By engagement with the “Ogee” bead, the hanger pulls the outer wall  50  toward the building structure. The gutter assembly can thus withstand the outward force of water or ice within the gutter and maintain its original shape. 
     If desired or necessary, a central aperture  64  having diametrically opposite short outward wing slots can be formed in the hanger body  16  for the provision of a strap-like hanger having a “T”-shaped end. In most applications, such additional support is not necessary. 
     The hanger assembly of the present invention includes a pre-mounted threaded fastener held at the proper attitude for installation. The hanger assembly of the invention provides a semi-permanent support for the fastener without requiring additional material on the hanger body and requiring only a relatively short fastener. It requires no pre-formed openings in the gutter and, thus, gives the installer substantial discretion and latitude as to just where he puts the hanger spaced along the gutter, at what intervals. In addition, at least the inner one  40  of the support tabs for the fastener forms additional bracketing to better support the gutter after the inner tab collapses as the fastener is driven home. 
     This invention is not simply another variant form of a gutter hanger. The unique structure permits a more efficient use of sheet metal material and allows attachment with a shorter fastener than other current designs. The net effect is a lower cost for a given strength. 
     Variations in the invention are possible, such as substituting a nail in place of the screw. Thus, while the invention has been shown in only one embodiment, it is not so limited but is of a scope defined by the following claim language which may be broadened by an extension of the right to exclude others from making, using or selling the invention as is appropriate under the doctrine of equivalents.