Static structures (e.g. – buildings) – Cover with surface water receiver at eave or valley
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-11
2001-02-06
Kent, Christopher T. (Department: 3635)
Static structures (e.g., buildings)
Cover with surface water receiver at eave or valley
C052S014000, C052S012000, C248S048200, C248S048100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06182399
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to gutter systems, and more particularly to a gutter wing system for receiving water run-off from a roof in preference to debris.
Gutter systems have long been used to divert rain water run-off from the roofs of structures. Typically, gutter systems include a length of some sort of trough which collects the run-off and redirects it to a down spout and thereby away from the structures. Unfortunately, along with the rain water, these prior art systems also collect leaves and other debris which runs off the roof This problem causes gutters to fill up with leaves and other debris so that the amount of water which can be redirected is significantly reduced. The gutter cannot redirect water at all when the gutter becomes altogether blocked. In either case, the water run-off overflows from the gutter, rendering the gutter partially or totally useless, exposing the building structure to damage from the undirected water.
Prior art devices address this problem by providing gutter systems which enable the user to empty the gutter manually, thereby restoring its water-diverting capability. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,274,965, to Jackson, discloses a rigid gutter which is mounted upon an L-shaped flange. The gutter is hinged to a bracket at its outside lower corner and includes a cord which allows the user to rotate the entire gutter, outwardly, such that the gutter becomes inverted and spills its contents to the ground. These devices do nothing to protect the gutter from the accumulation of debris and furthermore do not redirect leaves and other debris.
Other devices provide a mesh or screen covering to keep the trough free of large debris by allowing water to pass through the screen. An example is U.S. Pat. No. 2,841,100 to Moller. These devices, however, also require the user to manually clear the obstruction caused by accumulated debris and therefore do not provide for the redirection of debris away from the gutter system. For that matter, smaller size debris (i.e., less than the mesh size of the screen) is not kept out of the trough.
Some devices include a trough with a solid cover. U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,649 to Vahldieck provides a horizontally extended cover that relies on the capillary action of the water to cause it to adhere to the curved end of the cover and run into the gutter while supposedly allowing debris to fall off and miss the gutter. However, the Vahldieck gutter does not provide a complete cover to the gutter and, as such, still permits debris to enter the gutter. In addition, the cover included in the Vahldieck gutter is not able to open up to allow access to the trough for a heavy flow of water.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 2,851,969 to Teutsch discloses a trough which includes a hinged cover which rotates from a closed position, where the cover lies over the trough and against the roof surface, to an open position, where the trough is fully exposed. The cover includes a receptacle at its outer edge to collect water and thereby rotate the cover into the open position. However, because the cover lies against the roof, and not below the roof, all water flowing off the roof flows into the collection receptacle. Therefore, the gutter is unable to keep the trough covered during low water flow, because the cover will rotate open even in light water flow. Also, this system does not allow the water accumulated in the collection receptacle to drain into the trough. Rather, when the cover opens, the accumulated water must empty directly to the ground. Therefore, the trough is unable to divert a large portion of the water run-off, markedly undermining its efficiency and exposing the building structure to damage from the water run-off.
It would be desirable to provide a gutter system which is capable of collecting and diverting water run-off from the roof of a building while automatically protecting the gutter from the collection of leaves and other debris.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a novel gutter wing system for mounting adjacent an edge of a roof for receiving run-off water from the roof in preference to debris. The gutter system includes a system support pan which has an inner wall, for mounting against a surface of a structure adjacent to and substantially parallel with the edge of the roof, and a bottom trough which is continuous with the inner wall and which is sufficiently horizontal to divert water there along. The gutter system also includes a support arm which is fixed to the bottom trough and extends vertically from the bottom trough to support a water-diverting wing/collection tube for receiving run-off water from the roof while preventing the collection of debris in the bottom trough.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the support arm includes a mounting portion, a pivoting portion and a hinge located between the mounting portion and the pivoting portion. In the preferred embodiment the mounting portion is fixably attached to the bottom trough and includes a mounting plate located on an underside of the bottom trough, by conventional means.
The pivoting portion is preferably dimensioned to be accepted by a correspondingly shaped female portion of the water-diverting wing/collection tube, the pivoting portion preferably being rectangular in cross section and the female portion being a substantially rectangular shaped slot integral to the water-diverting wing/collection tube and including a front wall, a top wall and a rear wall.
Either the pivoting portion or the rear wall of the female portion may include a locking protrusion which is dimensioned to fit within a corresponding opening in the other of the rear wall or the pivoting portion. The rear wall of the female portion is flexible so that the rear wall may engage or disengage the locking protrusion. The rear wall may also include a tab, which is a continuous extension of the rear wall away from the pivoting portion to facilitate flexing of the rear wall for engagement or disengagement of the locking protrusion.
In an alternative embodiment the hinge may be a living hinge formed between the mounting portion and the pivoting portion by a reduced mass portion of a continuous body of the support arm. The hinge biases the pivoting portion of the support arm in an upright position. In another alternative embodiment the hinge includes first and second cooperating hinge parts, and a spring assembly. The first and second cooperating hinge parts are integral to the mounting portion and pivoting portion respectively and are mounted about a spring assembly which includes a pin and one or more springs. The one or more springs are mounted at the end of the pivoting portion and mounting portion, adjacent a cooperating hinge part, and secured to the support arm by a pin which extends through the one or more springs and each cooperating hinge part. Each of the one or more springs contact both the mounting portion and the pivoting portion such that the pivoting portion is biased in the upright position. In still another alternative embodiment the cooperating hinge parts are affixed to the mounting portion and pivoting portion respectively and are joined to each other about the spring assembly. The spring assembly is mounted such that the one or more springs contact the cooperating hinge parts and bias the pivoting portion of the support arm in an upright position.
In another alternative embodiment of the present invention, the support arm may be integral to the system support pan and include a continuous wall that extends upward from the system support pan ending in a rounded pivot which is dimensioned to fit within a corresponding socket integral to the underside of the water-diverting wing/collection tube.
The gutter system also includes a water-diverting wing/collection tube mounted on the support arm for rotation thereabout. The water-diverting wing/collection tube includes a wing portion which has a sloped surface extending upwardly from the support arm and rearwardly toward the inner wall, and a collection tube which receives
Hoffmann & Barron, LLP
Kent Christopher T.
Thissell Jennifer I.
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