Patent ID: 7278239

Claim:
A gutter protector for a gutter having an inner wall for location adjacent a building to which the gutter is to be attached, a laterally spaced outer wall having an uppermost edge and an invert therebetween, said inner wall, outer wall and invert defining a gutter channel, said gutter protector comprising at least: a plate having (a) an outer edge being in contact with the outer wall, and (b) opposite transverse edges, the plate forming a substantially liquid impervious barrier between the outer edge and a lower edge of a roof covering supported on the building, and (c) a first planar liquid impervious portion having an inner edge parallel to the said outer edge; the first planar liquid impervious portion disposed substantially horizontally inside the said outer wall and below the said uppermost edge of the said outer wall, the plate extending along said gutter over said gutter channel and above said gutter invert; and a spacer for spacing the transverse edges of adjacent plates by a first gap that allows substantially all the rain water that is collected on the plates to the substantial exclusion of leaves and debris to fall through the first gap onto the gutter invert.