EP1392937B1

EP1392937B1 - A gutter bracket

Info

Publication number: EP1392937B1
Application number: EP02733678A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jan Strömberg
Original assignee: Plannja Siba AB
Current assignee: Plannja Siba AB
Priority date: 2001-05-17
Filing date: 2002-05-14
Publication date: 2009-07-15
Anticipated expiration: 2022-05-14
Also published as: SE0101735D0; SE522355C2; HU224482B1; PL363998A1; CZ305672B6; SE0101735L; EA200301240A1; HUP0303978A3; DK1392937T3; PL204861B1; HUP0303978A2; EA004815B1; DE60232965D1; WO2002101173A1; EP1392937A1; CZ20033114A3

Description

Technical field of the invention

This invention relates to a gutter bracket of sheet steel having its edges infolded so that the gutter will be thicker than the thickness of the sheet steel. Such a gutter bracket is known from WO 97/24497 . The invention relates also to a method of making such a gutter bracket.

Brief description of prior art

Gutter brackets are usually made of flat bar steel and painted when finished. There are also gutter brackets that are similar to flat bar steel brackets but are made of sheets cut from pre-painted steel strip.
WO 9508681 shows a bracket that is made of a folded steel strip and then bent to a bracket. The original flat strip has a central tongue that is narrower than the final bracket. The tongue will therefore not be affected by the folding and it will project forwards so that it can be used as a front-end tongue that can be bent about the bead of the gutter when the gutter is mounted in the bracket.
WO 9724497 shows a similar bracket that has two narrow forward-directed tongues, which are bent to form a hinge for a snap-on member for the bead of the gutter.
CH 527987 shows a conventional gutter bracket in the form of a flat steel bar, but the steel bar has a thin copper cladding bent around it so that the bracket appears to be a solid copper bracket.

Object of invention and brief description of the invention

It is an object of the invention to provide a low-cost gutter bracket that is simple to make and makes the mounting of a gutter simple.
This is accomplished principally by the use of a separate steel strip, which, along the entire gutter bracket, forms a spacer that is clamped by the infolded edges and comprises at least one projection designed as a support for the gutter. One makes the gutter bracket by first folding the edges of the strip towards the centre of the strip and then folding the thus formed folded edges about the spacer. The strip is then bent to the shape of a gutter bracket. The invention is defined by the claims.

Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 shows in a side view a gutter bracket in accordance with the invention.
Figure 2 shows the same bracket seen towards the front end.
Figure 3 shows a step in the manufacturing of the bracket shown in the figures 1-2.
Figure 4 is a transverse section through the bracket.
Figure 5 shows in a longitudinal view and enlarged a detail from figure 1.
Figures 6-8 show modified designs of the bracket shown in the figures 1-5.

Detailed description of illustrated examples of the invention.

Figures 1 and 2 show a gutter bracket that has a straight back 12 with a number of holes 13-16, through which it can be screwed to a substructure, and a bent portion 17 in which gutter can be placed. At its front end, the bracket has a front end tongue 18 of sheet steel that can be bent around the bead of the gutter, and it has also a rear tongue 19 of sheet steel that can be bent around the rear edge of the gutter. In this way, the gutter is fixed in the bracket. By using a bending tool, one can bend the straight portion 12 of the bracket to a suitable angle so that the thus bent portion can be placed on and screwed to an inclined roof.
Figure 4 shows the bracket in a transverse section and figure 3 shows a step in the manufacturing of the bracket. One starts with a thin flat steel strip 25 that can be cut from a pre-painted coiled strip. The cut edges 26,27 are bent towards the centre as shown in figure 3. They should not meet but there should be a space 28 between the edges so that there will be room for the edges to move towards each other. In the next step, a spacer in the form of a steel strip 29 is placed on the folded sheet and the folded edges 30,31 of the sheet is bent over the spacer 29 and clamps it as shown in figure 4. The strip 29 can suitably have the same coating, for example be pre-painted in the same colour, as the strip 25.
Figure 5 shows enlarged and in a longitudinal section the rear tongue 19 that is cut from the visible central portion 32 of the spacer 29 between the folded edges 30,31. The screw holes 13-16 are also in this central portion 32 so that the screw heads will be between the folded edges 30,31.
Figure 6 shows a modified bracket with a rear tongue 19 but no front-end tongue. The front end has a bend 33 in which the bead of the gutter can be inserted and the gutter is secured by the rear tongue that is bent around the rear edge of the gutter. The bend 33 has a hole 34 for the mounting of a non-illustrated strut that can be used where the snow load can be very high. This alternative design as well as the other designs has the same cross section, that is, the section shown in figure 4.
Figure 7 shows an alternative design of the bracket in which the rear tongue is replaced by a rear support 35 and the bead of the gutter will then be fixed by a non-illustrated strut mounted in the hole 34. This bracket cannot be used without a strut as can the design of figure 6.
Figure 8 shows a design that has a rear support 35 in the same way as the design of figure 7 and a bent front end 33 as the design of figure 6. The bend 33 is however shorter and has no hole 34. In this figure, a gutter 40 is shown mounted. In the mounting of the gutter 40 in this bracket, the spring action of the gutter is utilised in that the bead 41 of the gutter is first inserted in the bend and the rear edge of the gutter is then forced past the rear support 35 so that it will be clamped against it.
In all the designs shown, there are tongues, front tongues or rear tongues or supports, that all are bent from the spacer 29. In this way, all the tongues or supports are made simultaneously with he manufacturing of the bracket itself and one has the possibility of using steel of different strength in the two steel strips 25 and 29. Since the spacer, the strip 29, practically does not contribute to the strength of the bracket but is only a spacer to increase the thickness of the bracket and thereby to increase its strength, one may choose the steel grade thereof freely in order to get the best characteristics for the tongue or support it will provide. In the designs of figures 1 and 6, one can suitably have a spacer of very mild steel and thereby receive soft tongues 18 and 19. In the designs of figures 7 and 8, one can suitably have a spacer of steel with a higher strength in order to get stiff rear supports 35.

Claims

A gutter bracket of sheet steel having its edges (30,31) infolded so that the gutter bracket will be thicker than the thickness of the sheet steel, characterised by a separate steel strip (29), which, along the entire gutter bracket, forms a spacer that is clamped by the infolded edges (30,31) and comprises at least one projecting tongue (18,19,35) designed as a support or holder for the gutter, by cooperating with a bead and/or a rear edge of the gutter so as to fix the gutter in the gutter bracket.
A gutter bracket according to claim 1, characterised in that said tongue projects out of the front end and forms a front-end support (18) intended to be folded around a bead of the gutter.
A gutter bracket according to claim 1 or 2, characterised by a space (28) between the two infolded edges (30,31) at the concave side of the bracket so that the bracket will have a plain convex side.
A gutter bracket according to claim 3, characterised in that the spacer (29) has a tongue (19,35) bent out of the said space (28) and intended as a rear end support for the gutter.
A gutter bracket according to any one of the claims 3-4, characterised in that it has holes (13-16) in the space (28) between the infolded edges for screws for fastening the bracket.
A gutter bracket according to claim 3, characterised in that the spacer (29) is made of a steel that is milder than the steel of the other part of the bracket.
A gutter according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that said infolded edges (30,31) is comprised of sheet steel folded to form a double sheet.
A method of making a gutter bracket as claimed in any of claims 1-7 by first folding the edges of a steel strip (25) and then bending the strip to a bracket, characterised by first folding the edges (26, 27) of the strip towards the centre of the strip and then folding the thus formed double-sheet edges (31,32) about a spacer (29), which is clamped by the infolded edges (30,31) and comprises at least one projecting tongue (18,19,35) designed as a support or holder for the gutter by cooperating with a bead and/or a rear edge of the gutter so as to fix the gutter in the gutter bracket.