Patent ID: 7650720

Claim:
A roof gutter protection system for covering a roof gutter and preventing debris from falling into the roof gutter, the gutter protection system comprising: an elongate sheet metal member sized and shaped to engage a portion of the gutter and to cover the gutter, the member having a longitudinal axis and a generally smooth top surface interrupted by a plurality of canals and perforations formed therein, the canals and perforations extending generally parallel to the axis, each canal extending down and away from the smooth top surface, the canals being aligned in continuous rows extending parallel to the axis, a continuous, uninterrupted and unbroken portion of the top surface extending between adjacent canals, the canals being formed from the material of the sheet metal member, each canal formed so that water entering the canal exits through one of the perforations and flows into the roof gutter, the canal and perforations formed so that debris is not trapped in the canal and the perforation, said canals including a first upstream set of canals and a second downstream set of canals, the canals in each set being separated by generally co-planar flat sections of said top surface, and the upstream set of canals being spaced from the downstream set of canals by a flat section of said top surface which is wider than the flat sections between the canals of each set of canals, said wider flat section being generally co-planar with the flat sections between the canals of each set of canals.