AU2003244568A1 - Allclear leafguard gutter system - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT ALL CLEAR LEAFGUARD GUTTER SYSTEM The following statement is a full description of this inventi including the best method of performing it known to me: THE ALL CLEAR LEAF GUARD GUTTER SYSTEM This invention relates to how current, mostly unsuccessful, methods of keeping le ves out of standard house and building roof gutters can be replaced by a system hat overcomes the present problems associated with most of the existing processes.

The more successful of the inventions being used to overcome gutter leaf problems often times necessitate the removal of existing gutters or require at the very least the gutters to be lowered. One product ("Rainhandler") even completely replaces gulters with louvers, that protrude horizontally from the fascia beneath the roof overhang, w ich have no ability whatsoever to collect rain water the louvers are claimed to break the rain into droplets thus allowing the water to be harmlessly dispersed to the ground.

The better systems take more time to install and are expensive. To people livin] in bushfire areas with limited funds, who desperately want to make their homes safe, it is not always feasible for them to purchase such products.

The less expensive alternatives have serious problems which make them ;lso uneconomical. The greater majority of the less expensive ways consist of some forr or other of mesh over or in the gutter. Many of these are "do it yourself' products which have a tendency to cause a worse build up of leaves in the gutter than before. They can be awkward to install and difficult to remove when there is a need to clean the gutters.

Somewhere between the most expensive and the cheapest approaches are the flat sturdy meshes that either hook under the roof tiles or sit on top of the metal of corrugated roofs (usually cut to fit into the corrugations and then glued along the top edge to hold that part in place). They are basically either made from plastic or metal (for exam pie "Gutta-Arma" is made from Colorbond mesh, and "Leafscreen" comes in both p lastic and stainless steel mesh).

2 These type of meshes have a tendency toward "sheeting" (that is; the holes fill Nith water causing the rain that follows to skim across the mesh out over the gutter causin g, if it was intended for storage, a loss of valuable water).

Meshes glued to corrugated iron or tile roofs look unsightly and meshes made rom plastic look untidy because they buckle in the heat they also perish.

The problems of expense, unsightliness, loss of storage water, inconvenience, nd durability are solved with the All Clear Leafguard Gutter System because:- 1. The product generally will not fall into a category where gutters will need to be removed in order to put it in place, so in that sense it will be cheaper to install than existing top of the range products. Plus installation, when compared to other methods that don't have to remove gutters, will for the main part be a lot easier creating yet another cost saving. Finally the materials used although durable are in the medium price range which should guarantee the service is kept at an affordable level.

2. The special configuration of the All Clear Leaf Guard System means wind can get under any leaves that fall onto it and blow them away. This thus means low maintenance, convenience, and no unsightly build up of litter in the gutter plus the gutters will always look tidy because the leaf guard itself cannot be seen from the ground.

3. With "Colorbond" All Clear Leaf Guard, because of the way it is configured, with troughs and peaks (see drawings), it is impossible for the water to "sheet" across it and be lost (from a water storage point of view).

4. Being made from "Colorbond" the product will be durable and long lasting and because the leaf guard will keep leaves out of the gutters the life of the gutters will be increased (leaves allowed to block and rot in gutters will cause them to rapidly rust out).

SUMMARY

Most homes destroyed in Australia as a result of bushfires have burned because embers from the fire have landed in leaves trapped in their gutters which in turn have caught fire and spread to the nearest woodwork of the home. Sometimes these er ber fires have started after the main fire has passed even missing the home. They have started during a time when it was considered to be safe. Embers can also precec e a bushfire and bum houses down. So there is a need for an effective way to k ep leaves out of Australian roof gutters.

There are many products available of which some are hopeless (actually increasing the hazard) to those that are expensive. Straight meshes cause rain water to sheet across them and also many meshes will buckle in the heat of the sun becoming unsightly sme will even perish. There therefore is a need for an economical product, capable of keeping leaves out of gutters to minimise all chances of the home burning.

The All Clear Leaf Guard Gutter System is not only able to collect clean water throug its perforations but is also able to overcome the above mentioned difficulties because of the unique aspect of its design which is not being offered by other inventions; hat being its raised central inverted (or altematively a raised curve) which runs its wh ole length the guard comes in workable lengths.

This design stops water sheeting and also enables leaves that fall onto the guar( to have space beneath them which will enable winds to blow them away.

It is therefore considered this invention successfully fulfils all the needs of guar ing against fires, of economy, of clean water collection, of extending the life of gutters, and of convenience.

EXPLANATION OF DRAWINGS FIgure 1.

Shows the All Clear Leaf Guard Gutter System in place on a gutter. Item (1) represents the gutter, the fascia board into which the back raised edge of the eaf guard in the case of 125 mm and 150 mm width gutters is screwed; shows the the rolled top edge of the front of the gutter into which the narrow flat front edge of the leaf guard is either screwed of riveted shows the central raised section in the f )rm of an inverted and illustrates one configuration of several possibilities, as fa as perforations is concerned, through which the rain water may enter into the gutter. See claims 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, and Figure 2.

In this figure the curved altemative to an inverted lengthways central section of the leaf guard is Illustrated; shows one of the regularly spaced prepunched holes in the flat front section of the guard through which the leaf guard is either screwed of riveted to the top edge of the gutter's front; is the raised section at the rear of the gutter ccver and is representation of the prepunched holes, in this section, through which the eaf guard cover is screwed to the fascia in the case of gutters measuring 125 mm and 150 mm see claim 2.

Figure 3.

Shows the narrow back strip of the leaf guard gutter cover folded forward to en ble the guard to sit on top of the fascia board, instead of being screwed into place, in the case of gutters 148 mm and 195 mm in width; shows one of the prepunched h les in the flat front section of the gutter cover through which the front of the guard car be screwed of riveted to the top edge of the front of the gutter. The folded over t ack section for these two gutter sizes is not prepunched. See claims 6 and 7.

Figure 4.

This drawing is a plan view of a section of the leaf guard gutter cover which shows both the staggered layout of the slot approach (as against an alternative configuratior of mesh, round, or oval holes) and the periodic gaps in the two last rows closest to the back of the leaf guard unit designed to maintain strength see claims 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12.

Figure Is an end elevation of the leaf guard which shows how the inverted [or raised cur ed see figure middle section of the unit holds leaves that fall onto the cove off the surface so that wind can easily circulate beneath and blow them away; is the raised back of the leaf guard cover which goes to the fascia. See claims 1, 2, 3, and

Claims (14)

1. A rigid leaf blocking gutter cover (made in workable lengths from either metal, plastic, or metal mesh) configured with two, length long, troughs divided by a peaked section also running lengthways to be attached to roof gutters of various sizes that will a low water to pass through into the gutter beneath via slots, holes (round or oval), or metal mesh such as that produced by "Colorbond".

2. The leaf blocking gutter cover of claim 1. wherein the length long troughs are divi ed by a raised section that runs parallel with them that is either curved, like the raised c rve in one segment of corrugated iron but proportionate to the gutter width, or is part ally triangular in shape, like an inverted

3. The leaf blocking gutter cover of claims 1. and 2. wherein the trough running along the back of the unit descends straight at a shallow angle for one third of the width of the unit (which width is determined by the size of the particular gutter it is designed to fit) followed for the next third of the width (the middle third) with the rise and fall described in claim 2. which is finally followed by an incline at the same shallow angle as the first sl pe to the top of the front of the unit.

4. The configured leaf guard gutter cover, mentioned in claims 1. 2. and 3. wherein the top of the raised centre section is level with the front edge of the guard, which in tur is level with the top of the back slope of the gutter cover which part goes to the fascia board.

The front edge of the gutter leaf guard cover of claim 1. to be (when in ple ce) horizontally flat similar in width to that of the top front edge of the gutter into which it will be screwed (or riveted) and that the cover's back edge is bent up, from the beginr ing or top edge of the downward slope of the rear trough, vertically (when viewed from he installed position) for its length to a height between 10 mm and 15 mm for gulters measuring 125 mm and 150 mm.

6. That the raised vertical back section of the gutter guard of Claim 5. in the case of 148 mm and 195 mm width gutters is tumrned back on itself toward the front of the unit so tl at it also becomes horizontal (when the unit is installed) like the front section which is attached to the top of the front side of the gutter this is to facilitate easier installation in the case of these two gutter sizes (the back section is not screwed to the fascia in these two cases but merely rests on the top edge of the fascia board).

7. That the leaf guard gutter cover of claims 1. and 5. has in the raised strip at the t ack of the guard plus the flat strip at the front edge, of the cover, holes drilled or punc led (suitably spaced) for the placement of screws at the back and for the placemen of screws or rivets in the front; with 148 mm and 195 mm gutters of claim 6. having no need for holes in the folded over back section.

8. That the holes punched into the rigid leaf blocking gutter cover of claim 1. can ei her take the form of narrow rectangular slots, round holes, narrow oval shaped holes or hat the whole unit itself may be made from a strong metal mesh such as a "Colorbcnd" mesh.

9. The holes and slots of claims 1. and 8. may be configured in various ways; from all over the unit to one lengthways middle strip only (to a width for example of two third of the total width of the leaf guard cover itself) which may or may not have a partic lar repeated pattern in the layout of its holes.

The claim also is made in respect of the claims made in claims 1. 8. and 9. at among the choices falling into the category of a punched lengthways section wit a particular repeated pattemrn (specifically claim the most suitable pattemrn layout takes the form of eleven rows of narrow rectangular slots, whereby water may be channelled into the gutter beneath, which from the top edge of the raised inverted middle section running the length of the gutter guard (or from the centre of an alternative cu ved section see claim 2. plus claims 1. 3. and 4) moving towards the front edge of the cover consists of five rows and from the top of the raised centre section towards the back of the unit of six rows.

11. That of the eleven rows of rectangular slots mentioned in claim 10. nine of them continue through for the whole length of the gutter guard and that the last two rows the two closest to the back of the unit) are broken at reasonably spaced intervals to give the unit extra non perforated metal strength, at the back of the guard, where the low through of water is not as critical.

12. The leaf guard gutter cover of claims 10. and 11. wherein the rows of rectangular slots are staggered to each other in the same manner bricks of a building are laid (tha t is the odd row slots line up with each other and the even row slots, which each bri ge between two of the odd row slots, line up with each other).

13. The leaf guard of claims 1. 8. 9. 10. 11. and 12. wherein the rectangular staggE red slots cover the whole width of the gutter cover.

14. That all the perforation configurations mentioned in the above claims (claims 2. and 8. to 12.) that is; mesh for the whole width of the cover, round holes or oval for either the width of the cover or a portion of the width of the guard (for example eleven rows ith the back two broken at suitable spaces for strength), rectangular slots as mentione in claim 13. for the whole width of the leaf guard gutter cover, or for the eleven rows where the back two are broken at suitable spaces for strength, mentioned in claims 11. and 12. that all these alternative approaches each constitute the invention. Finally let it be known the main aspect of the invention, that is its unique differena. to other gutter guards, is considered to be the raised centre section of the guard (eithe in the form of an inverted or curved rise, see claim and is therefore claimed t be such. 9 The terms; guard, cover, gutter guard, gutter cover, leaf guard, unit, etc. in the a ove claims mean the same thing.