GB2520691A

GB2520691A - Gutter Inserts

Info

Publication number: GB2520691A
Application number: GB1320936.6A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Matthew Flowers
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2013-11-27
Filing date: 2013-11-27
Publication date: 2015-06-03
Also published as: GB201320936D0

Abstract

The insert 2 suitable for a longitudinally extending gutter 16 in which the insert comprises a longitudinally extending drain plate and at least one support leg 6, 8, 10, but preferably three. In use the drain plate is adapted to laterally extend more than half the distance between the opposite walls of the gutter and at least one support leg extends from the drain plate. The insert is so configured and dimensioned that when the insert is placed within the gutter with the or each support leg extending between the drain plate and the gutter the drain plate is supported at the mouth of or within a volume defined by the walls of the gutter. Preferably the drain plate has holes or apertures perforated along its length. The legs may be elongate flanges extending longitudinally along the insert. The insert may have a longitudinally extending flange extending from the side opposite the side with the legs to form a handle 12. The drain plate preferably has a trough configuration.

Description

Gutter Inserts.

This application relates to gutter inserts, and in particular, to inserts for guttering intended to prevent the blocking of such guttering by the entry of leaves and other detritus into the gutter.

A large number of buildings have sloped roofs and it is generally regarded as desirable that water flowing off the roof as a result of rainfall or melting snow is collected and channelled toward a particular discharge location. The most common way of achieving this is to place guttering in the form of a longitudinally extending trough around the edge of the roof in such a position that the mouth of the trough catches water running off the roof. The gutter is fixed to the building so that the water then flows along the trough into a down pipe which leads to a discharge location. The discharge location may either be into the soil or into a drain.

Known gutters generally have a cross section that is a simple arcuate or semi-circular wall (also known as a half round), or with a flat base wall and a pair of side walls. The side walls can be parallel, diverging from each other, or a combination of diverging and then parallel as distance from the base increases.

Known guttering systems are generally effective but their operation can be severely compromised if the gutters are blocked by entry of leaves, twigs or other detritus such as birds' nests or rubbish (collectively detritus) which may prevent the flow of water along the gutter. If water flow is prevented, then water falling off the roof will tend to dam up behind the blockage and then overflow the edges of the guttering. This has the effect that the water will flow into positions where it is not desired and will possibly do damage to the building.

According to the present invention there is provided an insert suitable for a longitudinally extending gutter in which the insert comprises a longitudinally extending drain plate and at least one support leg, the drain plate is adapted to laterally extend more than half the distance between the opposite walls of the gutter, and at least one support leg extends from the drain plate and is so configured and dimensioned that when the insert is placed within a gutter with the or each support leg extending between the drain plate and the gutter, the drain plate is supported at the mouth of or within a volume defined by the walls of the gutter. The drain plate is preferably in the form of a longitudinally extending trough, most preferably in the form of an arcuate trough or of an approximately arcuate trough.

The or each support leg most preferably extends from the face of the drain plate remote from the mouth of the trough.

It is most preferred that the drain plate is perforated along its length, said perforations being spaced along the length of the drain plate. The perforations are most preferably of a suitable size that they will prevent detritus passing through the perforations. Most preferably, the perforations are less than 10mm in any dimension.

The gutter insert most preferably has at least two support legs. The legs may be comprised of flanges extending in a longitudinal direction along the drain plate. The flanges may be perforated. In other embodiments of the present invention the legs can be fingers, posts or other upstanding shapes that are spaced along the length of the drain plate. The purpose of the or each leg is to hold the drain plate at a predetermined distance from the walls of the gutter. It will thus be appreciated that although for manufacturing simplicity and integral strength a continuous flange may be a preferred embodiment of the present invention, other arrangements, such as evenly spaced legs each of which consists of a finger are possible.

The or each support leg holding the drain plate a fixed distance away from the gutter wall(s) has the effect of creating a channel between the drain plate and the gutter wall(s) through which water may flow and which is protected from being blocked by detritus by the drain plate. This approach is advantageous over previously known approaches of preventing blockages in gutters, and especially that of the introduction of a three-dimensional mesh into the gutter, because it does not impede the flow of water through the gutter unlike three-dimensional mesh.

When the insert of the present invention has more than one support leg then it is preferred that the support legs are distributed across the drain plate in a lateral direction with approximately equal distances between the edges of the drain plate and the legs closest thereto and between the legs. It is most preferred that the drain plate is provided with three legs, said legs being located so as to approximately quarter the drain plate in the lateral direction.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention when the insert has three support legs the legs are so dimensioned and located that at least two of the support legs make contact with the walls of the gutter when the insert is placed inside the gutter irrespective of whether the gutter is semi circular in cross section or has a flat base wall and a pair of side walls.

Most preferably, the legs of the gutter insert and the dimensions of the drain plate are such that the lateral edges of the drain plate are held a small distance away from the or each side wall of the gutter. That distance is preferably less than 20 mm, preferably between 2 and 10 mm, and most preferably approximately 5mm. This feature is particularly advantageous because it has the effect that if the perforations of the drain plate get blocked by detritus then even if the drain plate does not drain via the perforations, once the drain plate is sufficiently full the water collected therein can flow over the edge of the drain plate and into the gutter itself. The gaps between the gutter wall or walls and the edges of the drain plate are sufficiently small that it is unlikely that much, if any detritus will find its way through that gap.

The insert of the present invention may further comprise one or more handles which extend from the face of the drain plate remote from the support leg or legs. This allows a person to easily grip the or each handle to aid the removal of the insert from the gutter if, for example, it is desired to remove the insert from the gutter to empty detritus from the insert.

Most preferably the handle is a longitudinally extending flange extending the length of the insert.

To manufacture the insert of the present invention known manufacturing techniques such as extrusion may be used. Most preferably the insert will be manufactured in predetermined lengths and a user will buy as many or as few lengths of the insert as they require. They will then place the or each length of insert in the gutter that is to be protected from the ingress of detritus with the ends of the inserts abutting each other. It is most preferred that the insert of the present invention is made of a suitable material that will allow the insert to be readily cut with, for example, a hacksaw. The user can then make sure that the last piece of insert placed in the gutter is of a suitable size to go in the gap between the end of the previously inserted insert and the end of the gutter.

It may be regarded as desirable that the insert is fixed within the gutter, such fixing means may include clips that grip onto the gutter and extend from the gutter to the insert and hold that insert in place, clips that will extend between the adjoining gutter inserts so as to hold the two adjoining inserts in a fixed position relative to each other (in which embodiment it is particularly preferred that the clips could be so configured and dimensioned that the clips engage with perforations in the drain plate), the brackets used to fit the gutter to the building on which it is mounted may be adapted to additionally hold the insert in position, the insert adapted to engage with the gutter support bracket, or a bridging piece employed to engage with both the gutter bracket of the gutter insert.

The present invention will be further described and explained with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a perspective view of an example of a length of gutter insert according to the present invention; Figure 2 shows a cross section of the gutter insert of Figure 1 placed in a gutter; and Figure 3 shows a cross section of the gutter insert of Figure 1 placed in a second form of guttering.

With reference to Figure 1, a gutter insert (2) is comprised of a drain plate (4), three support legs (6), (8), (10) and a handle (12). The drain plate (4) is of substantially arcuate cross section and forms an elongate trough. The length of gutter insert illustrated in Figure 1 is merely illustrative and the gutter insert of the present invention can be manufactured to whatever length is deemed most appropriate.

Spaced along the length of the drain plate (4) are a plurality of perforations (14). The perforations (14) are suitably dimensioned to prevent leaves, rubbish and other detritus from passing through the perforations. Round perforations of approximately 8mm diameter are one possible size and shape of perforation. Other sized and shaped perforations are incorporated within the scope of the present invention.

Extending from the face of the drain plate remote from the mouth of the trough formed by the drain plate are the three support legs (6, 8, 10). The support legs (6, 8, 10) are elongate flanges extending the length of the gutter insert (2). In this embodiment of the present invention the planes of the flanges that form the support legs (6, 8, 10) are all substantially perpendicular to the surface of the drain plate at the position each leg attaches to the drain plate. The support legs (6, 8, 10) all extend substantially the same distance from the surface of the drain plate as each other. In a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention each extends 15mm from the surface of the drain plate.

The handle (12) is a longitudinally extending flange which extends from the face of the drain plate remote from the support legs. The handle (12) again extends from the drain plate in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the drain plate where it attaches from the drain plate. The drain plate (12) is suitably dimensioned so as to allow a person to grasp the handle (12) between their fingers should they so wish.

With reference to Figure 2, the gutter insert (2) has been placed within a gutter (16). The gutter (16) is comprised of a flat base (18) from which extend a pair of diverging side walls (20) to which attach a pair of substantially parallel side walls (22). The dimensioning of the drain plate (4)and support legs (6,8, 10) are such that each of support legs (6,8, 10) rest on the side walls (20) in the case of the support legs (6) and (10) and flat base (18) in the case of support leg (8). As may be seen, the support legs (6, 8, 10) hold the gutter insert (2) in such a position that the lateral edges of the drain plate (4) are a little spaced from the side walls (22). The drain plate (4) creates between itself and the gutter (16) a void into which detritus is prevented from entering by the presence of drain plate (4). Thus even if the trough created by the drain plate (4) may become filled with detritus there will still be clear voids through which water can flow between the drain plate (4) and the gutter (16).

The handle (12) is, as may be seen from Figure 2, upstanding form the surface of the drain plate (4) and may be grasped by a person that wished to handle the gutter insert (2).

With reference to Figure 3, in this illustration the gutter insert (2) has been placed within an arcuate or half round gutter (24). As may be seen in this instance the support legs (6) and (10) bear upon the side walls of gutter (24) but the support leg (8) does not. This does not give rise to difficulties because the expected loading on the gutter insert (1) is relatively minor and certainly not sufficient to deform the material of the gutter insert (2).

It will be appreciated that the gutter insert (2) can be readily clipped into position within the gutter (16) or (24) by use of simple clips (not shown) that extend between the lateral edges of the drain plate (4) and the gutter (16) or (24).

Claims

Claims I An insert suitable for a longitudinally extending gutter in which the insert comprises a longitudinally extending drain plate and at least one support leg, the drain plate is adapted to laterally extend more than half the distance between the opposite walls of the gutter, and at least one support leg extends from the drain plate and is so configured and dimensioned that when the insert is placed within a gutter with the or each support leg extending between the drain plate and the gutter, the drain plate is supported at the mouth of or within a volume defined by the walls of the gutter.
2 An insert according to claim 1 in which the drain plate is in the form of a longitudinally extending trough and the or each support leg extends from the face of the drain plate remote from the mouth of the trough.
3 An insert according to claim 1 or 2 in which the drain plate is perforated along its length.
4 An insert according to any of claims 1 to 3 comprising at least two support legs.
An insert according to any of claims 1 to 4 in which the support legs are distributed across the drain plate in a lateral direction with approximately equal distances between the edges of the drain plate and the legs closest thereto and between the legs.
6 An insert according to any of claims ito 5 comprising three support legs and in which the legs are so dimensioned and located that at least two of the support legs make contact with the walls of the gutter when the insert is placed inside the gutter irrespective of whether the gutter is semi circular in cross section or has a flat base wall and a pair of side walls.
7 An insert according to any of claims 1 to 6 in which the dimensions of the drain plate are such that the lateral edges of the drain plate are held less than 20 mm away from the or each side wall of the gutter.
8 An insert according to claim 7 in which the dimensions of the drain plate are such that the lateral edges of the drain plate are held between 2 and 10 mm away from the or each side wall of the gutter.
9 An insert according to any of claims 1 to 8 further comprising one or more handles which extend from the face of the drain plate remote from the support leg or legs.
An insert according to claim 9 in which there is one handle in the form of a longitudinally extending flange extending the length of the insert.
11 An insert according to any of claims 1 to 10 in which each support leg is in the form of a longitudinally extending flange extending the length of the insert.