Patent Publication Number: US-9404266-B2

Title: Covered gutter system

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a gutter system for collecting rain water. More particularly it relates to a rain gutter system for receiving water run-off in preference to leaves and other debris. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Rain gutters for collecting rain runoff from pitched building roofs are generally U-shaped open troughs that are arranged along the roofline of the building, and in are oriented to catch the surface water that runs off from the roof and guide it to a downspout. Such gutters are usually connected to a fascia board on the building and include one or more downspouts to carry away the roof water runoff and direct it in a desired direction away from the building. 
     Rain gutters typically are open in an upward direction and will collect leaves and other wind-blown debris, in addition to the rainwater runoff from the roof. The accumulation of leaves and other debris within the gutter ultimately leads to gutter and downspout opening clogging, thereby causing undesired gutter overflow over the front edge of the gutter and along the adjacent building wall. Restoration of the proper water collection and disposal function of such upwardly-open gutters requires that the collected leaves and debris be manually removed, an operation that usually requires climbing a ladder and physically removing the collected matter, which is a tedious, time-consuming process, and one that is potentially dangerous because it involves climbing a ladder to the building roof line and could lead to a fall from the ladder. 
     Various gutter arrangements have been proposed and developed over the years in an effort to solve the rain-gutter-cleaning problem by blocking the entry into the gutter of leaves and debris. One approach involves the installation over the gutter top opening of a screen or mesh material. The screen or mesh has a number of small openings that are so sized as to allow water to enter the gutter trough while screening out or blocking leaves and other debris from entering the gutter. However, many such screening arrangements have the screening element positioned horizontally over the gutter top opening, or at a very slight inclination, thereby allowing the collection of leaves and debris on the surface of the screening, leading to external gutter clogging rather than internal gutter clogging. Further, the stems of leaves often extend into the screening openings, thereby serving to retain the leaves on the surface of the screening material, preventing their being blown off by the wind, and leading to partial or complete blockage of the screen surface and preventing the full flow of roof runoff to the downspout openings in the gutter base panel. 
     Another approach that has been developed to block the entry into gutters of leaves and debris is a flat cover that overlies the gutter top opening. The cover is intended to serve as a deflector of leaves and other debris so that they either are blown off the cover by the wind, or they fall over the front edge of the gutter, while allowing the rain water to flow over and around the outer edge of the cover and into the gutter for collection and disposal. Although several approaches to configuring and supporting a gutter cover have been disclosed, those approaches are either cumbersome and time consuming from an installation standpoint, are costly in terms of the amount of attachment materials needed, or are not particularly rigid in terms of the rigidity of the overall gutter structure or the rigidity of its attachment to a building surface. 
     Accordingly, there is a need for an improved rain gutter system with a cover for deflecting leaves and debris from entering the gutter trough. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In at least one embodiment, the present invention provides a gutter system having a gutter body including a cover surface extending from a rear edge to a forward edge, a return surface extending from a rear edged to a forward edge, and a channel portion including a rear wall, a forward wall and a channel portion therebetween whereby the channel portion defines a collection chamber. The cover surface forward edge and the return surface forward edge meet at a curved wicking edge. The return surface rear edge is connected to an upper edge of the rear wall and the forward wall terminates at an upper edge spaced from the wicking edge to define a water receiving gap. 
     In at least one embodiment, the cover surface and the return surface define a self-supporting cantilevered structure. 
     In at least one embodiment, the gutter system includes a plurality of external hanging clips configured to support the gutter body. 
     In at least one embodiment, the gutter system is manufactured as a seamless gutter. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and constitute part of this specification, illustrate the presently preferred embodiments of the invention, and, together with the general description given above and the detailed description given below, serve to explain the features of the invention. In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an exemplary gutter system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective cross-sectional view along the line  2 - 2  in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is an elevation view of an exemplary gutter body in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of an exemplary hanging clip of the gutter system of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5  is an elevation view along the line  2 - 2  in  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     In the drawings, like numerals indicate like elements throughout. Certain terminology is used herein for convenience only and is not to be taken as a limitation on the present invention. The following describes preferred embodiments of the present invention. However, it should be understood, based on this disclosure, that the invention is not limited by the preferred embodiments described herein. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-5 , an exemplary embodiment of a gutter system  10  in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention will be described. With reference to  FIGS. 1-3 , the gutter system  10  includes gutter body  11  defining a channel portion  30  and a cover portion  20  with a water receiving gap  14  therebetween. An end cap  12  extends along each lateral end of the gutter system  10  whereby the end caps  12  close the lateral ends of the channel portion  30 . The end caps  12  are preferably crimped or otherwise sealingly interconnected along the cover portion  20 . The body  11  of the gutter system  10  is preferably a seamless assembly and can be formed to any desired length. While the illustrated gutter system  10  includes a straight configuration, it is recognized that the gutter system  10  may be formed with internal or external corners or the like. In the preferred embodiment, the gutter system  10  includes external hanging clips  40  which will be described in more detail hereinafter. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the gutter body  11  in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention will be described. The gutter body  11  includes a cover surface  22  of the cover portion  20  which extends from a rear edge  21  to a forward edge  23 . A connection flange  24  extends upward from the rear edge  21  of the cover surface  22  and extends in a plane P 1 . 
     A wicking edge  25  is defined along the forward edge  23  of the cover surface  22  and connects to a forward edge  27  of a return surface  28 . The return surface  28  extends from the forward edge  27  to a rear edge  29  which interconnects with an upper edge  33  of the rear wall  32  of the channel portion  30 . The rear wall  32  preferably extends in the plane P 1  such that it is co-planar with the flange  24 . A bottom channel surface  36  interconnects the rear wall  32  with a forward wall  34  to define a collection chamber  38 . While the channel portion  30  is illustrated as having a semi-circular shaped configuration, it is not limited to such and may have other configurations, for example, U-shaped, triangular, trapezoid, square, rectangular or elliptical. 
     The forward wall  34  extends to an upper edge  35  which is spaced from the wicking edge  25  to define the water receiving gap  14 . The gap  14  is generally narrow, for example, approximately ½ inch in width, which prevents larger objects from entering into the collection chamber  38 . The configuration of the gutter body  11  further contributes to collection of rain while preventing passage of leaves or debris into the collection chamber  38 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , the cover surface  22  preferably extends in a plane at an obtuse angle α relative to the flange  24  such that the cover surface  22  is sloped downwardly from the rear edge  21  to the forward edge  23 . The return surface  28  preferably extends at an obtuse angle β with respect to the rear wall  32  such that it slopes downwardly from the front edge  27  to the rear edge  29 . The wicking edge  25  defines a curved surface between the cover surface  22  and the return surface  28 . With this configuration, rain water on the cover surface  22  naturally rolls to the forward edge  23 , wicks around the wicking edge  25  and onto the return surface  28  where it is directed to the rear wall  32  and into the collection chamber  38  of the channel portion  30 , as indicated by the dashed arrow in  FIG. 3 . The curvature of the wicking edge  25  causes leaves or other large debris to fall away from the gap  14 , as the wicking force will not be sufficient to cause such objects to travel along the return surface  28 . To further promote larger objects from falling away from the gap  14 , the cover portion  20  may be configured such that the wicking edge  25  extends forwardly of the plane P 2  of the front wall  34 , as illustrated in  FIG. 3 . It is contemplated that the wicking edge  25  may be formed even with or even rearwardly of the plane P 2 , for example, in cases where the gap  14  has a very minimal width. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , an exemplary method of hanging the gutter system  10  will be described. The gutter system  10  is supported by a plurality of external hanging clips  40 . Each of the exemplary hanging clips  40  includes a mounting portion  42  with a head  43 , a channel support portion  46 , and a retaining portion  44  with a retaining lip  48 . The channel support portion  46  preferably has a configuration which complements the configuration of the channel portion  30 . As described below, in a preferred method of mounting, fasteners  50  are secured directly through the head  43  of the mounting portion  42  without any holes. It is contemplated that the head  43  or mounting portion  42  may define one or more holes. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , in the illustrated embodiment, a plurality of clips  40  are positioned on the gutter body  11  by positioning the retaining lip  48  of each clip  40  into the gap  14  such that it secures about the upper edge  35  of the front wall  34  and then rotating the clip  40  about the gutter body  11  until the head  43  is positioned adjacent the flange  24 . The gutter system  10  is positioned along a roof  60  line or the like and fasteners  50  are secured through the flange  24  and the head  43  of the hanging clip  40  to secure the gutter system  10 . While the illustrated embodiment shows the fastener  50  passing through the flange  24  and the hanging clip  40 , it is contemplated that additional fasteners may be secured through the flange without passing through a clip  40 . 
     In an alternative method, the clips  40  may be secured to the building structure first and then the gutter body  11  rotated into a supported position within the clips  40 . Once positioned, fasteners  50  would again be secured through the flange  24  and the clip heads  43 . The illustrated hanging clips  40  have a J-shape, however, other configurations may be utilized, provided the clip supports the channel portion  30  and prevents forward movement thereof. 
     With reference to  FIG. 5 , the external hanging clips  40  support the channel portion  30  and the fasteners  50  secure the flange  24  of the cover portion  20 . With such support, the cover surface  22  and return surface  28  define a self-supporting cantilever structure. Such a self-supporting structure eliminates the need for internal support brackets found in many of the prior-art covered gutter systems. Such internal support brackets add to the expense of those systems, are often difficult to install and/or maintain, and may cause blockage within the collection chamber. The gutter system of the current invention eliminates the need for such internal support structures. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 5 , leaves  62 , acorns  64 , shingle sand and the like may pass from the roof  60 , onto the cover surface  22 , but then will fall off of the front of the gutter system  10  without passing through the water receiving gap  14 . Additionally, the gap  14  prevents birds, squirrels and the like from entering the collection channel  38  or nesting within the channel  38 . The self-supporting cantilever structure also helps to ensure that ice and snow which slides down the roof  60  will simply pass along the cover surface  22  and away from the gutter system  10  without damage thereto. 
     It is noted that the while the illustrated gutter body  11  is formed from a seamless, single sheet of material, such is not required. It is recognized that the cover portion and the channel portion may be formed separately and interconnected. It is further recognized that the cover surface and return surface may be formed separately and interconnected. 
     These and other advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing specification. Accordingly, it will be recognized by those skilled in the art that changes or modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the broad inventive concepts of the invention. It should therefore be understood that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiments described herein, but is intended to include all changes and modifications that are within the scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the claims.