AU632950B2 - Roof gutter holdfast - Google Patents

Description

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AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Invention Title: ROOF GUTTER HOLDFAST o The following statement is a full description of this invention, o including the best method of performing it known to the Applicant:- This invention relates to arrangements for supporting roof gutters, in particular, gutters which extend along a fascia at the lower edge of a sloping roof.

To simplify the description and make it easier to comprehend, the S 5 following is written as if the items described are in the normal disposition they have when in use. It will be realised however that the invention is not restricted to articles in any particular disposition, and extends to articles which are not in use.

It is well known to finish the lower edge of a sloping roof by fixing a fascia plate (usually referred to simply as the fascia) to the lower ends of the inclined rafters supporting the roof cladding. The fascia conceals 2 the rafters and presents a vertical face extending as a strip along the edge of the roof. The roof cladding extends slightly over the top edge of the fascia and a gutter is secured to the fascia to catch rain water flowing off the cladding and conduct it to a downpipe.

The gutter is essentially a channel or trough. It usually comprises a rear wall, which lies more or less flatly against the front face of the fascia, a floor and a front wall with an inturned, frequently rolled, upper edge, the so-called scroll, which stiffens the gutter. Sometimes the junction between floor and front wall is curved to the extent that there is 10 no clear distinction between them.

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o In the case of wooden fascias the gutter is usually secured by s brackets nailed to the fascia, but in the case of metal fascias, securing the bracket, or its equivalent, requires fastening means somewhat more complex than simple nails. The position is aggravated by the fact that the fascia extends horizontally, whereas it is desirable for the gutter to fall slightly towards each downpipe. Where wooden fascias are involved, gutters are often installed with uneven or non-existent falls ii"" because of the inaccuracy of the nailing and the lack of reference means. Where metal fascias are involved, the problem has been addressed by the development of a wide variety of clips for securing gutters to metal fascias.

However, no prior known proposals have been fully satisfactory, usually because they either rely on the resilience of the clip for its emplacement and subsequent engagement with the gutter and fascia, resulting in insecure affixture of the gutter, or because they need timeconsuming or skilled on-site work for their installation.

Therefore an object of the present invention is to provide gutter support means whereby a gutter may be secured to a fascia simply and expeditiously, without the need for substantial trade skills or the use of tools, and which provides secure affixture of the gutter while permitting easy adjustment and, if need be, subsequent re-adjustment, of the fall in the gutter.

The invention consists in a gutter holdfast which is adapted for use with a gutter having at least one forwardly directed protuberance formed in or on its rear wall, and which comprises: an inverted U shaped 10 body, itself comprising a front leg, a rear leg and a crotch portion, able to be applied to a fascia so as to accommodate a top portion of the o fascia between its legs; locating means formed in or on said front leg, and defining a plurality of niches spaced one above the other in the rear surface of the front leg, each of which is able to receive and locate said protuberance of such a gutter when its rear wall is lying against the front o face of a fascia to which the holdfast body has been applied; and a take-up element mounted on the rear leg by means permitting movement of said element from a loose position, wherein it i3 substantially clear of the space between the legs, to a lock position, wherein it obtrudes into that space to bear directly or indirectly against the rear face of such a fascia.

I 1 4 The term niche, as used herein, includes any recess, groove, aperture, opening, or like receptor formation, or any step, shoulder, flange or like shelf formation, in or on which a, preferably complementarily shaped, protuberance may rest for the support thereof.

In use, when the take-up element is in the loose position the holdfast may be positioned so that its legs embrace the upper part of the fascia. A gutter may then be put into position with its rear wall lying against the front face of the fascia, so that the upper part of that wall is also embraced by the holdfast and the gutter protuberance is engaged in a selected niche. The take-up element may then be moved into the 00 o 0 lock position, wherein it bears directly or indirectly against the rear face 0 °0 of the fascia. .his clamps the rear wall of the gutter and the fascia between the front leg and the take-up element of the holdfast, thereby preventing disengagement of the protuberance from the selected niche and securing the gutter fixedly to the fascia.

It oSt I a In preferred embodiments, the holdfast is also furnished with a plurality of coupling formations, any one of which may be engaged by the proximal end of an appropriately shaped, cantilever type gutter brace for the support of the brace at an altitude corresponding to that of the selected coupling formation, and the invention extends to the combination of such a holdfast and brace.

By way of example, an embodiment of the above described invention is described in more detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings.

r- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a holdfast according to the invention and a cantilever type gutter brace associated therewith, shown as in use securing a gutter to a fascia; the gutter and the fascia being shown in ghost.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the holdfast and brace of figure 1.

Figure 3 is a scrap detail showing the proximal end of the brace of figure 2.

o. Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of figure 2.

e Figure 5 is a view from below of the holdfast and proximal end of the brace of figure 1.

The illustrated holdfast may be press-formed from galvanised steel sheet. The sheet may be relatively thin, say 1 mm. thick, in which event the inverted generally U-shaped body of the holdfast, comprising S0 04 a front leg 6, rear leg 7 and crotch portion 8, may have the cross- °o 15 sectional shape of a shallow channel 9 (inverted in the crotch portion 8) with laterally projecting edge flanges 10. The channel 9 stiffens or rigidifies the holdfast body and the flanges 10 are adapted to bear against the fascia and gutter. It will be appreciated that, in other embodiments, the channel 9 could be replaced by other stiffening flanges or ribs formed in or on a sheet metal body.

As may be seen from figure 1, the shape and size of the holdfast's body are such it may be placed upon a metal fascia 11, with a leg on each side thereof, and its crotch portion 8 resting upon the 6 rearwardly projecting, substantially horizontal, stiffening flange 12, conventionally provided along the top edge of a metal fascia.

The flanges 10 of the front leg 6 are corrugated. The corrugations constitute one example of locating means and the troughs of the corrugations (as seen from the rear of the leg) constitute one example of a plurality of equally spaced apart "niches" in the rear surface of the leg.

In other embodiments those niches may be the spaces between, rearwardly projecting, horizontal, ribs or the like disposed one above the other and formed in the front leg's flanges 10. For example, each said 10 rib may be a narrow strip of a flange 10 punched rearwardly therefrom 00 S0 and joined only at its ends to the edge margins of the flange.

0 0w: Alternatively, each niche may be the space between two elongated or 4 44 other humps formed in the flange. Whatever forms they or the front leg of the holdfast may take, the locating means define horizontally extending, open ended recesses in the rear surface of the front leg, into 0000° any one of which a forwardly projecting stiffening flange, rib, or like 0 4 protuberance, such as is frequently provided along the upper edge of 0 the rear wall of a conventional gutter, may enter, when the gutter is positioned with its rear wall flatly against the front face of the fascia.

0000 In the present instance a gutter 13 is furnished with two corrugations 14 near the top edge of its rear wall, instead of a more conventional stiffening flange. The corrugations 14 are preferably complementary to the corrugations in the front leg 6 of the holdfast.

Each crest of the corrugations 14 (as seen from the front of the rear wall) is one example of a protuberance, as that term is used herein.

I- -I 7 Thus, the arrangement is such that when the holdfast is positioned as illustrated with its crotch portion 8 resting on the top flange 12 of the fascia, its front leg 6 may extend downwardly into the gutter 13, so that the crests of the corrugations 14 may be engaged in the troughs of any two neighbouring corrugations in the front leg 6, and the rear leg 7 may extend downwardly behind the fascia 11.

To assist a person installing the gutter the tip of the front leg 6 is preferably tapered as shown at 26, thereby providing a lead-in for the top edge of the rear wall of a gutter being slid upwardly between the front leg and the fascia.

d o When the holdfast is so positioned, its rear leg 7 is spaced from S 4 the main plate of the fascia by at least the width of the fascia's top flange 12 and a take-up element is provided which, in its lock position, bridges the space between the rear leg and the fascia plate, below that top flange, to keep the front leg in permanent and secure engagement with the gutter. The holdfast may be put into position when the take-up ft element is in the loose position, in which it does not obtrude to a substantial extent into the space between the two legs of the holdfast.

For preference the take-up element rotates between its two positions. Preferably it is also a one piece pressing formed from sheet metal, for example galvanised steel. It may comprise a swinging leaf 15, a pressure plate 16 and a handle lever 17 with a rigidifying rib 18 formed therein. The leaf 15 is pierced by an upright slot near one end, and an arcuate tongue 19, punched from the rear leg 7, extends through the slot providing a hinge connection between the take-up piece and the body of the holdfast, enabling the take- up piece to swing from I i -1 i I; ;I I 0 .000 0* 0 0 00*9 0 0o 0,04 8 a loose position (shown in broken outline in figure 5) to a lock position (shown in full line in figure 5 and in the other figures).

In other embodiments the illustrated pressed metal take-up element may be replaced by a hard plastics moulding of a block-like nature having an end face corresponding to the front face of the pressure plate 16.

As is evident from the drawings, it is the front face of the pressure plate 16 which contacts the fascia in the lock position. The included angle between the leaf 15 and the pressure plate 16 is less than 900 so that the leading edge of the pressure plate (its junction with the leaf) is spaced further from the hinge axis than is the centre zone of its front face. Thus the leading edge makes higher pressure contact with the fascia as the take-up element moves into the lock position, than the front face of the pressure plate does when the take-up element is in that position. This requires a certain springing apart of the legs 6 and 7 of the holdfast to bring the take-up element into the lock position, followed by a relaxation of the legs when the take-up element is fully in position. The trailing edge of the pressure plate 16 is similarly spaced further from the hinge axis than is the centre of its front face and this would require further springing of the legs for the take-up element to pass through the lock position. It follows that the take-up element is stable in the lock position.

4r 0 99 1 *0 For preference a cantilever brace is securable to the holdfast, which, at its free end, is adapted to engage the stiffening flange or scroll conventionally provided along the top edge of the front wall of metal roof gutters. In the present instance that brace comprises a shallow channel sectioned strip, shaped to provide an upright end part 20, and a main 9 part 21 extending generally forwardly and upwardly from the lower end i thereof to a tip flange 22. The tip flange 22 is adapted to enter the 3 scroll 23 of the gutter 13. The end part 20 is shaped to neatly embrace the stiffening channel of the holdfast body and terminates in a stepped flange 24 adapted to enter any one of a plurality of slots 25 piercing the front leg 6, so as to securely fix the L,,ace to the holdfast at an altitude depending on the slot 25 selected in any instance, being a slot selected to suit the corrugation in the front leg selected for engagement with the gutter corrugations 14.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that a holdfast according to 7 the invention may be installed and, if need be, subsequently removed, simply by placing it in position and manually moving its take-up element to the lock position. Furthermore the fall of the gutter may be adjusted by selecting the particular niche for the gutter's rear wall protuberance.

When in place, downward forces on the gutter are resisted by contact between the crotch portion 8 and the top face of the fascia's top flange 12, and upward forces are resisted by contact between the takea' II up element and the bottom face of that flange.

20The above-described embodiment is intended for use with a metal fascia, however similar holdfasts may be provided for use in relation to wooden or other thick bodied fascias. In those instances the take-up element may obtrude into the space between the legs only to a small extent when in the lock position, so as to take up a much smaller clearance then provided between the rear face of the fascia and the front face of the rear leg of the holdfast. Furthermore, the portion of the take-up element which contacts a wooden fascia may be furnished with f ii l t* 10 t! sharp ribs or teeth adapted to penetrate the wood to provide a more positive affixture of the holdfast to the fascia.

li According to other exemplary embodiments the take up element i tI may be a wedge shaped piece which is moved translationally between the lock and loose positions. For example, the entire holdfast may be a single plastics moulding with such an element tied to the remainder of the holdfast by a pliable strap or the like.

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Claims (10)

1. A gutter holdfast, which is adapted for use with a gutter having at least one forwardly directed protuberance formed in or on its rear wall, and which comprises: an inverted U shaped body, itself comprising a front leg, a rear leg and a crotch portion, able to be applied to a fascia so as to accommodate a top portion of the fascia between its legs; locating means formed in or on said front leg, and defining a plurality of niches spaced one above the other in the rear surface of the front leg, each of which is able to receive and locate said protuberance of such a gutter when its rear wall is lying against the front face of a fascia to Vo which the holdfast body has been applied; and a take-up element 0 mounted on the rear leg by means permitting movement of said element o from a loose position, wherein it is substantially clear of the space between the legs, to a lock position, wherein it obtrudes into that space to bear directly or indirectly against the rear face of such a fascia. 0 0:

2. A gutter holdfast according to claim 1 wherein said take-up element is hinge mounted on said rear leg and may swing from said loose to said lock position.

3. A gutter holdfast according to either claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said locating means comprise corrugations in the rear surface of said front leg and said niches are the troughs of those corrugations.

4. A gutter holdfast according to any one of claims 1 to 3 provided with a plurality of coupling formations, each able to be engaged by an end of a gutter brace for the support of said brace. 12 A gutter holdfast according to any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein said U shaped body is a pressing formed from sheet metal.

6. A gutter holdfast according to claim 5 wherein said U shaped body comprises a centrally placed rigidifying channel extending substantially from end to end of the body.

7. A gutter holdfast according to claim 6 in so far as it depends on claim 4 wherein each of said coupling formations comprises a slot piercing the floor of the stiffening channel in said front leg.

8. In combination a gutter holdfast according to any one of 0 10 claims 1 to 7 and a cantilever gutter brace extending therefrom.

9. In combination a gutter holdfast according to claim 7 and a channel sectioned cantilever gutter brace having an end portion embracing the rigidifying channel in the front leg and comprising a stepped end flange extending through one or other of said slots.

10. The combination of a gutter having at least one corrugation formed in and extending along its rear wall near the top edge thereof and a gutter holdfast according to claim 3 securing that gutter to a fascia.

11. A gutter holdfast substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings. Applicant JOHN LYSAGHT (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED Date 05 November 1992 Attorney ROBERT G. SHELSTON F.I.P.A.A. 'L4 of CARTER SMITH BEADLE 4w/s IUli f ABSTRACT A gutter holdfast is provided whereby a metal gutter (13) having two corrugations (14) extending along its rear wall may be secured to a metal fascia (11) at any one of a plurality of altitudes relative to the fascia. The holdfast is a sheet metal pressing comprising an inverted U shaped body comprising a front leg having a corrugated rear surface, a rear leg and a crotch portion and a take-up element, comprising a swing leaf a pressure plate (16) and a handle lever(17). The take up element is hinge mounted on the rear leg and may be swung from a loose position where it is largely clear of the 10 space between the legs to a lock position where it bears against the fascia, and clamps the gutter against the fascia with the gutter "corrugations lodged within any selected neighbouring pair of the corrugations in the front leg. A cantilever gutter brace (21) is secured to the holdfast by means of a stepped end flange (24) on the brace entering one of a plurality of slots (25) piercing the front leg thereof, being a slot selected to suit the selected corrugation in the front leg. t 'I 4