AU719964B2 - Drain filtering device - Google Patents

Description

WO 97/44112 PCT/US96/07466 DRAIN FILTERING DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention: The invention disclosed herein relates to a device for filtering open drains and thereby preventing them from being clogged. More particularly this invention relates to a device for filtering drains, the drains including of at least one gutter with side walls and an open top side and at least one drain hole positioned therein, the drain comprising an elongated tube containing said hole and allowing said water to flow therethrough, such as the gutter and down spouts on buildings.

Overview of Prior Art: Since the invention of the rain gutter and having them on a building with trees nearby the problem of clogging the down spouts with leaves and other debris has plagued homeowners and building managers alike. Tree leaves, small branches and other debris fall from trees, particularly as a result of high winds and rain. When this happens, the roofs of the buildings accumulate the debris and in the event of rain or melting snow the debris is washed into the gutters and finally carried with the water to the down spouts. When this happens the down spouts typically get clogged with the debris, damming up the spout forcing the water to fill up in the gutter until it flows over the sides, voiding the function of the gutter.

Numerous devices have been developed in an attempt to meet the need for providing a debris free downspout. To date, only marginal success has been reached. One group of devices incorporate laying a material over the top of the gutter, such as is disclosed by Antenen in U.S. Patent No. 4,965,969. The material is porous so that the water can get through but the debris cannot get into the gutter.

Variations in this approach are offered by Rees in U.S. Patent No. 4,841,686; Knowles in U.S. Patent No. 4,769,957; Wolf in U.S. Patent No. 4,765,101; Davis in U.S. Patent No. 4,745,710; Lassiter in U.S. Patent No. 4,418,504 and Abramson in U.S. Patent No. 3,741,398. The general improvements in the later patents, from the earlier disclosed, is a trend toward simplification. The overall shortcoming is that each of these devices must be custom made to each individual dwelling. Never did any of these devices take into account the fact that the debris is not damaging in the gutter. The gutter is open on the top to catch the flow off of the roof of the building.

If excessive debris gets into the gutter, it will simply fall out. It is the downspout WO 97/44112 PCTfUS9607466 where the problem lies. This is an enclosed tube. If it gets full, it clogs and does not allow the runoff water to flow through. Preventing the debris from getting into the gutter is a complicated and unnecessarily expensive way to solve the problem.

Modifications to the afore mentioned methods have been made. The afore mentioned disclosures utilize a substantially flat material which accepts the downward slope of the roof to keep the debris from accumulating on the structure.

The problem being in a heavy rain a portion of the runoff water will not fall through the porous material and run off the structure, oblivious to the gutter. Williams, Jr. in U.S. Patent No. 5,095,666 and Dressier in U.S. Patent No. 5,044,581 addressed this concern by making a separate variation in an upwardly curved section of material beginning in the area of the side of the gutter which is closest to the building. This aligns the porous components of the material with the direction of flow of the water, decreasing the overrun potential of the water. In a similar fashion Manoogian, Jr.

proposed a trough which extended into the gutter in U.S. Patent No. 5,072,551. This enhanced the flow of the water into the gutter in as the two latter mentioned disclosures. An obvious problem is where the section designed to catch the water will also catch the debris. If the flat debris, such as leaves, coat this section, the water could be made impermeable to the material and again defy the gutter all together. These also must run the length of the gutter in order to be effective, therefore the oversight of the specific attention to the downspout is also avoided.

Attempts have been made to clean the gutter by use mechanical means.

Johnson and Ruttenberg in U.S. Patent No. 4,745,709 and 4,253,281 respectively provide ways of cleaning the gutters without a ladder and rake. Johnson utilizes a flexible liner which can be inverted to dispel the debris out of the gutter. The obvious disadvantage being, unless the liner is cleaned continuously, debris will flow into the downspout. Ruttenberg combined the ideas of the material permeable to water but not tree debris, spanning the width of the gutter and made it movable, thereby providing a means for remotely removing the leaves. The maintenance of attending to the device along with the unnecessary expense makes it impractical. Ruttenberg also disclosed a method of moving the material utilizing wind power and a fan to eliminate the necessity of physically actuating the device but a mechanically rotating mechanism subjected to environmental conditions over prolonged periods of time WO 97/44112 PCT/US96/07466 make the feasibility of the wind generating enough power to move long stretches of material unlikely.

Beam in U.S. Patent No. 4,604,837 and Elko et. al. in U.S. Patent No.

4,455,791 both disclose methods of having the gutter completely covered by a rigid member and using the surface tension of the water to pull the water without the accompanying debris into the gutter. This system only works when the runoff water is at a minimum. During heavy downpours the device is of little value as a gutter system.

With all of the afore mentioned devices attachment to the roof of the dwelling is necessary. Beechert et al. and Hunt address these shortcomings in U.S. Patent No. 5,242,591 and 5,103,601 respectively. The devices are similar in that the material is proposed of a mesh material which is formed into a geometric shape and fit longitudinally along the length of the gutter. In this, the debris that will accumulate is able to blow or run off the top surface of the device and allow the water to fall therein. As before, this does not address the unnecessary complication and expense of custom made devices to cover the entire length of the gutter systems.

This problem was addressed by Williams in U.S. Patent No. 4,472,274. Here Williams proposed a drain spout attachment that included a grade on an incline sloping down to a open section of the device. The water and debris was allowed to flow into the down spout where it is separated by the grading. The debris would fall out of the opening and the water would flow through the grading and into the downspout. The problem with this is the lack of retrofitability with existing gutter systems. Gutter systems would have to be rebuilt or replaced to incorporate the device and the flowing debris must still traverse a limited size opening to get into the device from the gutter. What debris makes it that far must be carried out of an opening of very limited physical dimension, due to the size restriction of the downspout. If the device clogs there, very little is saved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the disclosed invention is to provide a filtering system for any gutter and drain combination in which the removal of excessive debris from the drain is desirable. Such a device would include a rain gutter and downspout system on a residential or commercial dwelling. In this case it is common for leaves and other debris to clog the downspout rendering the drainage system unusable. The process WO 97/44112 PCT/US96/07466 of opening the drain can be very tedious especially with long down spouts such as in a multilevel structure.

The device includes rigid structure that is pervious to water but not to leaf and other tree debris and the like. The device is receivable by a gutter and has an attachment to the downspout or drain of the gutter. The device also has an inclined face on the side opposite to the downspout attachment which angles from the floor of the gutter up and back toward the downspout side. When water carries the debris down the gutter toward the downspout the combination comes into contact with the angled wall. The water flows through and the debris accumulates, the debris being pushed up the incline of the wall as more debris is added. When the debris becomes high enough, it flows over the side of the gutter, cleaning same without clogging the downspout.

The disclosed invention may also be used for a variety of situations other than building gutters. Any drain with an attached gutter with side walls can utilize the invention. Since the invention is received by the gutter only in the area of the downspout, the device need not be custom made. Only variations in gutter width and potentially in downspout opening sizes are necessary. These are predominantly standard sizes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a drain filtering device produced in accordance with preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectioned view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention showing front curve along the upper face, the section along line A-A as shown in fig. 1.

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of an alternative of the preferred embodiment of the present invention utilizing an elongated upper face.

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of an alternative of the preferred embodiment of the present invention utilizing a slotted upper face.

FIG. 5 is a side sectioned view of the alternate of the preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in fig. 4 and sectioned along the line B-B.

FIG. 6 is an exploded isometric view of a typical use of the preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown used in a gutter system on a building.

WO 97/44112 PCTIUS96/07466 FIG. 7 is a side sectioned view of a use of the preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in fig. 6 and sectioned along the line C-C, showing the movement of leaves and debris with the water up the upper face and out of the gutter.

FIG. 8 is an isometric view of a drainage or irrigation ditch utilizing the filtering device as disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, a device constructed in accordance with the present invention is shown in Fig. 1, and comprises a structure made of a wire mesh The invention also includes an upper face 12 which is comprised of two parts, an inclined portion 14 and a flat portion 16. This structure is supported by a rear face 18 and two vertical faces 20. Though the structure is shown here to be of wire mesh construction the present invention could be manufactured of a variety of materials in which lend itself to be durable and non-corrosive in nature and possesses a permeability to water but not to leaves and similar debris.

With reference now to Fig. 2, the sectioned view of the invention as depicted in fig. 1 is shown. In this view a bottom face 22 is shown with a down spout attachment 24 which consists of a hollow extension fastened to the bottom face 22 encapsulating a hole in the bottom face 22. If the bottom face is made of a water permeable material the presence of the hole in the bottom face 22 is not necessary.

The upper face 12 is also shown in greater detail in fig. 2. The inclined portion 14 is shown with a front curve. This curve projects out more along the midline or section line of this view. The purpose of the curve is to further assist the leaves and other debris from sticking to the inclined portion 14.

The down spout attachment 24 is shown extending out of the bottom face 22 and is capable of being received by the downspout in a typical gutter system. This locates the invention in the gutter and directs the filtered water into the downspout.

The invention can also be made in a five face unit, as best seen in Fig. 3. In this case the upper face 26 has only an inclined portion that connects the bottom face 22 and the rear face 18. The rest of the attributes of the invention are similar to the six faced device as shown in fig. 1 and disclosed herein.

Fig. 4 shows another alternative design of the invention. In this the upper face 28 is comprised of a series of slats 30 which then provide a plurality of openings WO 97/44112 PCT/US96/07466 on a upward slant of the incline portion 32. In this case the preferred embodiment of the invention would be constructed of a rigid material such as galvanized sheet metal or molded plastic. Additional slots 34 are positioned along the vertical faces 36 and the flat portion 38 of the upper face 28 to accommodate the passage of water into the cavity of the device and eventually out into the downspout. In this case the device is similar to those already mentioned.

A sectioned view of the preferred embodiment as shown in fig. 4 and sectioned along the line B-B, is shown in fig. 5. In this view the down spout attachment 40 is shown as a continuous member of the bottom face 42. The slats which comprise the inclined portion of the upper face 28 is shown in more detail.

It can be easily seen that water can easily pass between the slats 30 into the cavity of the device and out the down spout attachment Fig. 6 shows a typical application of the invention. In this case the invention 44 is positioned in the gutter 46 of a building 48 aligning the down spout attachment with the down spout opening 52. The invention 44 is positioned such that the upper face 54 is facing the open side 56 of the gutter.

The action of the invention 44 is shown in fig 7 as a section cut along the line C-C in fig. 6. In this the leaves 58 and other debris are washed from the roof 60 into the gutter 46 the water 62 in the gutter 46 carries the debris 58 on its way to the downspout 64. When the debris 58 contact the upper face 54 of the invention 44 the water is able to pass therethrough into the downspout 64 but the debris 58 being physically to large to fit through the material is pushed up the inclined portion of the upper face 54. This continues until the height of the debris 58 is greater than the height of the gutter 46 and overflow debris 66 falls out of the gutter 46.

The invention has uses which include any open trench or canal with side walls and a drain. Fig. 8 shows a typical example of an open ditch 68 in which the water must pass through an opening, such as a culvert 70 under a roadway 72. In this, the invention 74 is similarly placed into the water passageway 68 only in this case, the spout attachment 76 situated in the rear face 78 of the invention 74. This is due to the commonly horizontal arrangement of the culvert 70. The debris 80 is picked up out of the flowing water 82 by virtue of being forced up the inclined portion 84, in a manner as previously described.

Claims (7)

1. A filter for a drain system in which water and debris including leave$ Move, along a channel toward an outlet, comprising a rigid structure having at least two substatiallY vertical faces and at least three additional faces including a bottom face, a rear face and a top face, the combination forming a closed three dimensional polygon. at least one face having a section of material removed therefrom, creating a hole therein and having a hollow tube attached thereto, thereby forming a hollow extension out of the interior of the closed polygon, the rear face positioned adjacent to said bottom face and said vertical faces, thereby adjoining said faces, and the top face being pervious to water but not to undesired debris found in the water, the top face adjoined at some acute angle directly to said bottom face to form a ramp along the top face and also adjoined with said vertical facts and said rear face, whereby said hollow extension is capable of being received by the outlet of a drain system with the closed three dimensional polygon being received in the channel, the top face allowing the water from the channel to pass into the outlet without the leaves and other undesired debris, which ame forced up the rmp of the top face by the flowing water, thus carrying the debris to the sides of the channel and thereby cleaning same, thus preventing the debris from clogging the outlet.

2. The filter as described in claim 1, further comprising a handle suitable for assisting in the placement and removal of the filter into and out of said channel.

3. The filter as described in claim 1, wherein said acute angle is approximately 30 to 45 degrees.

4. The filter as described in claim 1, wherein said top face is comprised of an angled portion and a flat portion, the flat portion being substantially parallel to said bottom face and attached to said rear face and the angled portion attached to the front of said bottom face and creating an acute 4angle therewith. The filter as described in claim 4, wherein said acute angle is approximately 30 to 45 degrees. is cylindrical in shape. filter as described in claim 1, wherein the hollow extension is oval in shape, AMENDED SHEET 06/21/1998 21:31 8055340518 ROWLEE PAGE 08 S No. PCT/UJSW07466 l' S 29 MAY 1998 AuaIney Docka PCT700171 t S. The filter as described in claim 1, wherein said top face is comprised Of an angled Portion- a 2 reav edge of which is attached to said rear face and a front edge of the angled portion is attached 3to the front of said bottom face, thereby creating an acute angle therewith. 4

9. The filter as described in claim 1, wherein said top face provides openings substantially evenly distributed over said top face. 6

710. The filter as described in claim 9, wherein said top face is comprised of spaced wire 8 elements providing said openings therebetweeft. 9 -m 10 11. Thc filler as described in claim 9, wherein said top face is a mesh material comprised of a i plastic material. 12 13 12. A filter for a drain system in which water and debris including leaves move along a 14passageway toward an outlet, comprising a rigid strutue having at least two substantially vertical faces and at least three additional faces including a bottom face, a rear face and an upper face, all of the faces being pervious to water but not to undesired debris found in the water, the 16combnation fomining a closed three dimensional polygon. at least one face having a section of 17 material removed there from, creating a hole therein and having a hollow tube attached thereto, Is thereby forming a hollow extension out of the face, and being in communication with the interior ig of the closed polygon, the rear face positioned adjacent to said bottom face and said vertical faces, thereby adjoining said faces, and the upper face adjoined at some acute angle to said 21 bottom' face and also adjoined with said vertical faces and said rear face, whereby &aid hollow 22 extension is capable of being received by the outlet of a drain system with the closed three 23dimensional polygon being received by the passageway, the upper face and adjoining faces allowing the water from the gutter to pass into the outlet without the leaves and other undesired 24debris, which ame forced up the incline created by the upper face with respect to said bottom face. by the flowing water, thus carrying the debris to the sides of the passageway and cleaning same, 26 thus preventing the debris from clogging the outlet. 27 zI: 44.The filter as described in claim 12, wherein said acute angle is approximately 30 to AMENDED SHEET 06/211199E8 21: 31 8055340518 ROWLEE Pam/U9 6 674 6l 6 JPEUS 2 9MAY 1998 AUwiley Doct PKT70971 The filter as described in claim 12, wherein said upper face is comprised of an angled Portion and a flat portion, the flat portion being substantially parallel to said bottom face and attached to said rear face and the angled portion attached to the front of said bottom face and creating an acute angle therewith. The filter as described in claim 1, wherein all of said face are comprised of a mesh material which provides openings of approximately 0.25 inches by 0.25 inches, substantially evenly distributed over said faces. 22. The filter as described in claim 20, wherein said mesh material is comprised of a plastic material.

1223. A filter for a drainage system having a channel providing a bottom surface along which 13 water and debris move toward an outlet, comprising a water-pervious three-dimensional strujctuire 14having top, bottom and rear faces and a pair of side faces, sad top face being an inlet face, and at least one of said bottom, rear and side faces being an outlet face, the outlet face being porous, the 13top face being porous to water but not to undesired debris so that water can pass therethrough and 16 enter the structure but undesired debris cannot, said top face joining the bottom face at an acute 17 angle defining a lower front corner of the structure and creating a ramp leading up from the I corner along the top face, said structure having means for positioning the structure in the channel 19 of a drain system with the outlet face in fluid communication with the outlet from the channel, with the bottom face lying on the bottom surface of the channel, wth the front comner meeting the 21bottom surface of the channel, and with the top face forming an obtuse angle with said bottom 22surface, whereby water flowing in the channel flows through the top face into the structure but debris in the water strikes the top face and is forced upwardly along the ramp and off the top 23 face to clear the samne. 24 23 24. The filter of Claim 23, wherein the positioning means is on the bottom face. 26 27 25. The filter of Claim 23, wherein the positioning means is on the rear face. 29 2C?2 The filter of Claim 23, wherein the positioning mneans is a hollow tube projecting from hZutlet face.9 AMENDED SHEET 27. The filter of Claim 23, wherein the channel is a gutter, wherein the outlet leads into a downspout, and wherein the positioning means is a tube on the bottom face extendible into the downspout. 28. The filter of Claim 23, wherein the channel is a ditch, the outlet leads into a culvert, and the positioning means is a tube on the rear face extendible into the culvert. 29. A drain filtering device for use in a drainage system wherein water and debris are channeled toward an outlet comprising a three-dimensional, multi-faced structure having a top, a bottom, opposite sides, a front and a rear, said structure also having a plurality of faces, one of which is a top inlet face porous to water but not to undesired debris that could clog an outlet from the drainage system, and another of which is an outlet face porous to water, said ostructure allowing water entering the top face to pass therethrough to the outlet face, said top face being directly connected at some acute angle to the bottom of the structure and forming a V, 15 ramp leading directly upwardly and rearwardly from the bottom of the structure; and locating member projecting from the structure for positioning the structure in the drain system so that the top face can intercept water and debris flowing in the drain system, so that water can enter the structure through the inlet face and exit the structure through the outlet face into the outlet, and so that undesired debris in the water will be forced against the top face and thence 20 upwardly therealong by following debris washed thereagainst by the flowing water. 30. The filtering device of Claim 29, wherein the locating member extends outwardly from the outlet face for extension into the outlet of the drain system. 31. The filtering device of Claim 30, wherein the locating member is a conduit means for conducting water into the outlet. 32. The filtering device of Claim 29, wherein the structure is a cage-like structure. 33. The filtering device of Claim 32, wherein said structure is made of elongated, transversely spaced elements. The filtering device of Claim 33, wherein the elements are wire. 06/21/1998 21:31 8055340518 ROWLEEIG &IS 29 MAIY 1998 AuoE!ay o" PCT709171 235. The filtering device of Claim 32. wherein said structure is made of sheet material having 3 openings therein. 4 36. The filtering device of Claim 35, wherein the sheet material is plastic. s 637. A filter for a drain system in which water ad debris including leaves move along a 7passageway toward an outlet, comprising: a rigid structure having at least two substantially 3vertical faces and at least three additional faces including a bottom face, a rear face and an upper 9 face, all of the faces being pervious to water but not to undesired debris found in the waxer, the combination forming a closed three dimensional polygon, at least one face having a hole therein I and having a hollow tube attached thereto in communication with the interior of the closed 12 polygon, the rear face positioned adjacent to said bottom face and said veutical faces, thereby 13 adjoining said faces; and the upper face adjoined at some acute angle to said bottorn face and also 14adjoined with said vertical faces and said rear face. ts 38. A filter for a drain system in which water and debris including leaves move along a 16passageway toward an outlet, comprising a rigid cage-like structure having at least two side faces 17 and ax least three additional faces including a bottom fac e, a rear face and an upper face, all of the Is faces being pervious to water but not to undesired debris found in the water, the combination 19 forming said structure, at least one face having a hole therein and having a hollow tube attached to the face over the hole and thereby being in communication with the interior of the structure, 21 the ream face positioned adjacent to said bottom face and said side faces, thereby adjoining said 22 faces, and the upper face adjoined at some acute angle to said bottom face and also adjoined with said side faces and said rear face. 23 24 39. A drain filtering device for use in a drain system in which water and debris flow along a passageway toward an outlet, comprising a porous multi-sided structure having a hollow interior 26 defined by bottom, top, side and rear faces, the bottom face having front and rear edges, the top 27 face being water-pervious and having a lower front edge and opposite side edges, being joined at 23 its lower front edge to the front edge of the bottom face, and extending angularly upwardly from 29 tu bottorn face at an acute angle, the side faces being water-pervious and being respectively -0 Join to the side edges of the top face and extending downwardly therefrom, the rear face being 4o, AMENDED SHEET joined to the rear edge of the bottom face and extending upwardly therefrom, the top face being an inlet into the structure and one of the bottom, side, and rear faces being an outlet from the interior of the structure, and means for positioning the structure in the passageway of a drain system so that the structure is in the path of water and debris flowing in the passageway with the bottom face on the bottom of the passageway and with the top face in a position to intercept the flowing water and debris, whereby the water and debris contact the top face and the debris is pushed upwardly therealong by the water and the water passes through the top face, enters the interior of the structure and exits the interior of the structure through the outlet face and thence into the outlet of the drain system. The filtering device of Claim 39, wherein said angle is from about degrees to about 45 degrees. 41. A drain filtering device comprising: a filter body having opposite sides, a 15 bottom, a front, and a rear, the body having a size and a shape that allows it to be positioned in a drainage channel that contains a stream of flowing water and debris so that the front of S.the body is positioned upstream of the rear of the body relative to the direction of flow of the water and the debris so that the flowing water and debris initially engage the front of the body, said filter body having a water inlet at the front and a water outlet spaced from the 20 inlet, said filter body also allowing water entering the body through the inlet to pass to and "•out of the body through the outlet, and the front of the body being a water-pervious ramp extending directly upwardly at some acute angle from the bottom thereby to intercept the o flowing water and debris and cause the debris to be diverted outwardly of the flowing stream of water which is allowed to enter the body through the inlet whereby the debris is separated from the water and is prevented from clogging the channel. DATED this 22nd day of March 2000 CHARLES SILVA By his Patent Attorneys ~CULLEN CO. A/o"'