US3296750A

US3296750A - Roof snow guard

Info

Publication number: US3296750A
Application number: US364396A
Authority: US
Inventors: Joseph D Zaleski
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: ZALESKI JAY J
Priority date: 1964-05-04
Filing date: 1964-05-04
Publication date: 1967-01-10
Anticipated expiration: 1984-01-10

Description

Jan. 10, 1967 w J. D. ZALESKI 3,296,750

ROOF SNOW GUARD Filed May 4, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. JOSEPH D. ZALESKI BY %W, {M

Jan. 10, 1967 J z s l 3,296,750

ROOF SNOW GUARD Filed May 4, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F/G 5 w 3 4% g l I United States Patent 3,295,750 ROOF SNOW GUARD Joseph D. Zaleski, 100 S. Mountain Drive, New Britain, Conn. 06015 Filed May 4, 1964, Ser. No. 364,396 3 Claims. (CI. 52-24) This invention relates to a roof snow guard of a type adapted to be engaged on existing shingles in a roof, a plurality of such guards being employed in spaced locations on the roof to prevent snow packed thereon from sliding off in a mass such as could cause injury to persons or shrubbery or other property.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application, Serial No. 268,060 filed March 26, 1963 (now abandoned).

As will be described more fully hereinafter, a roof guard provided in keeping with the present invention is made of copper or other weather-resistant metal in strip form which can be bent to the desired final shape but which is sufliciently rigid to maintain its structural integrity in such final shape.

The guard comprises three parts, a base, a web, and a foot. The base consists of two superimposed strips which are connected together for strength, the said base being insertable between shingles in overlapping courses, and the upper end of the base is provided with a hook for engaging the guard on the upper edge of a shingle in the underlying course. The web comprises a strip secured to the lower end portion of the base to stand substantially in a plane normal to the base and extending longitudinally thereof. The web constitutes a support rib for the foot which is a strip bent into a T-shape for connection to the web and to reside in a plane substantially normal to the base and transversely thereof. It is the foot which acts as a stop to prevent snow from sliding off the roof.

It is the general object of this invention to provide an economical snow guard, easy to install and durable in use, which is of the aforedescribed general type and which constitutes an improvement over the snow guards shown in the Campbell Patents 1,475,931 and 1,530,233.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a snow guard of the aforementioned type which is particularly adapted for installation on tile roofs or tile shingles.

The drawings show preferred embodiments of the invention and such embodiments will be described, but it will be understood that various changes may be made from the construct-ions disclosed, and that the drawings and description are not to be construed as defining or limiting the scope of the invention, the claims forming a part of this specification being relied upon for that purpose.

Of the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a corner of a steep roof showing the location of a plurality of the snow guards provided in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a first form of a snow guard provided in keeping with this invention;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the partially formed base element of the snow guard;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the partially formed web element of the snow guard;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the partially formed foot element of the snow guard;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view taken through the lower end of the snow guard as indicated by the lines 66 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 2 showing an alternative form of snow guard which is particularly adapted for installation on tile roofs; and

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of the snow guard shown in FIG. 7. i

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the

snow guards

10, 10 of this invention are preferably regularly spaced on a roof so that they will cooperate to prevent packed snow from sliding oif the roof and causing injury to persons or animals and damage to property.

As illustrated, and as has been mentioned, a snow guard 19 has a fiat base element 12 provided with a hook 14 at its upper end so that the said base element can be inserted and secured between shingles of overlapping courses. That is, a base portion of snow guard 10 is slid over the top of a shingle S1 so that its hook 14 will engage the upper edge of said shingle and/ or the upper edge of an adjacent shingle in the same course. When hook is properly engaged with the upper edge of the underlying shingle S1, the lower end portion of snow guard, comprising a web 16 and a foot 18, will be disposed adjacent the edge of a shingle S2 in the overlapping course of shingles above the course containing the shingle S1. Thus, the foot 18 is positioned to project into snow on the roof and to cooperate with the feet of other similar snow guards to stop packed snow from sliding.

Turning now to the construction of the base 12, with particular reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, it will be seen that the said base comprises two strips of weather-resistant metal, such as copper, the upper strip being denoted by the reference numeral 20 and the lower by reference numeral 22. A central portion of the

plies

20 and 22 at their common upper end is bent downwardly and rearwardly to form the hook 14. This leaves two

sapced prongs

24, 24 at the upper end of the base which facilitate the installation of the guard between overlapping shingles.

It Will be observed that in forming and bending the hook 14, a first portion 26 thereof is bent downwardly and then rearwardly substantially parallel with the base 12. This portion 26 serves to clinch the

plies

20 and 22 of the base 12 together to maintain their structural integrity. The second portion 28 of the hook 14 is inclined downwardly and rearwardly from the first portion 26 about a hinge line or bend line 30. When installing the guard between overlapping shingles, the hook portion 28 will be bent upwardly toward the base 12 until it passes over the upper edge of an underlying shingle such as the shingle S1, and it will then spring downwardly to engage said upper edge and retain the guard 10 in position on the roof.

The end of the base opposite the hook 14 has a reduced width portion 32 and is provided with a central longitu dinally extending slot 34 and with a similar slot 36 spaced upwardly therefrom. The slot 34 is provided to define a pair of

tongues

38, 38 on the lower end of the base which are to be bent over a portion of the web 16 to clinch the

base plies

20 and 22 together and to help secure the web in place, as shown in FIG. 2. The slots 36 is provided to receive tabs on the said web, also to help secure it in place, as will be described.

Referring now to the web 14- as shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 6, it will be seen that this web comprises a single strip of the weather resistant metal and it will be observed that the strip is bent into flat inverted U-shape. A tab 40 is formed on each end of the web strip, each tab being just wide enough to be inserted within the slot 36 formed on the base 12. The

end portions

42, 42 adjacent the

tabs

40, 40 are bent or flared outwardly from the inverted U- body portion of the web 16 so that they can be bent around reduced width portions 32 of the base, whereby the

tabs

40, 40 can both be inserted in side-by-side relationship into the slot 36. Thus, the inverted U-shaped body portion stands substantially in a vertical plane normal to the base 12 and extends longitudinally thereof.

The foot element 18 also comprises a single strip of the weather-resistant metal bent into a generally T-shape as shown in FIG. 5. That is, the ends of the said strip are bent inwardly to form a head 44- and a stem 46, the

said stern comprising the end portions of the strip. As thus formed, the end portions or stem of the T-shaped foot are inserted within the fold of the inverted U-shaped web 16 so that the head of the foot faces forwardly and resides in a plane which is substantially normal to and transversely of the base 12.

When the web 16 and foot 18 have been assembled as described, the upstanding corner of the web remote from the foot is bent downwardly and forwardly, the web and foot being bent along the fold line 48 (FIGS. 4, 5, and 7) to reinforce the grip between them. Further, the wings of the head 44 on the T-shaped foot 18 are bent rearwardly and downwardly on the fold lines 50, 50 (FIGS. 2, 5, and 7) to reinforce the head of the foot as a stop against the packed snow.

Thus, the first embodiment of the snow guard as shown in FIGS. 1-6 is complete, and the three parts thereof are held as a unit, particularly when the

tongues

38, 38 of the base are bent over the outwardly flared

portions

42, 42 of the web as shown in FIG. 2.

The altemative form of the invention as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 include substantially the same elements as the first described embodiment. More specifically, a base 12a of the alternative form also comprises a double ply or two thickness strip of metal, and the rear end thereof is formed with a reduced width rear end portion. Further, the web 16 and foot 18 are formed as described in connection with the first embodiment. The only difference in the construction of the alternative form when compared with the first form is in the form of the hook 14a.

In providing for the new book 14a, the lowermost ply of the base 12a is supplied initially in greater length than the upper ply 20a for the base. Then the hook 14a is formed for the most part from the lowermost or bottom ply. That is, the hook 14a is formed as shown in FIG. 7 from a portion of the bottom ply 22a spaced from the upper end thereof to form a section 52 which is generally normal to the base 12a. A section 54 is also formed in the bottom ply to extend forwardly and downwardly from the section 52, and a stiffening section 56 is formed to extend upwardly and forwardly from the section 54. The upper ply 20a is clinched over the end of the stiffening section 56 to from a bead 58 which helps to connect the

plies

20a and 22a.

The said plies are further connected together in the alternative form of the invention by providing at least one, and preferrably two, apertures in the top ply 20a. The bottom ply 22a is then punched into openings in the top ply, and the punched portions are swaged over the top ply to form the riveted connection or

connections

60, 60 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.

It will be observed that by providing the transverse portion 52 of the hook 14a that extends substantially normal and transversely to the base 12a, the said hook is offset from the base to accommodate the normal thickness of roofing tile or a tile shingle. The installation of the alternative form shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is substantially 4 identical with the installation of the form 10 first described. That is, the tile or shingle in an upper course is lifted sufliciently to permit the insertion of the base 12a of the alternative form so that the hook 14a formed thereon can be engaged with the upper edge of the underlying tile or shingle. As thus engaged, the head of the foot 18 is disposed in position at the lower edge of the uppermost tile to project into packed snow on a roof and to provide a. stop to prevent the sliding thereof.

The invention claimed is:

1. A roof snow guard of the type to be hooked on the upper edge of a shingle that is partially overlapped by the next higher course of shingles, said guard being made of weather resistant sheet metal in strip form to include a base, a web, and a foot, the base comprising two superimposed strips the lowermost of which has an upper end extending beyond the uppermost but which is bent downwardly a distance from its upper end to form a hook and to bring its upper end below the uppermost strip which is bent downwardly around the upper end of the lowermost strip for connection therewith, the lower end of the superimposed strips having a longitudinal slot defining a pair of spaced tongues, the Web comprising a strip bent into flat inverted U-shape and having end portions which are flared and bent around the longitudinal edges of the base adjacent the lower end thereof so that the web stands substantially in a plane normal to the base and longitudinally thereof, the foot comprising a strip having its ends bent inwardly to form a T-shape with said ends tucked into the inverted U-shaped web so that the head of the T-shaped foot faces toward the upper end of the base and resides substantially in a transverse plane normal to the base, the said base, web and foot being interconnected and reinforced by bending the base tongues over the flared end portions of the web, by bending the corner of the web remote from the foot downwardly into a closed flap upon the body of the Web, and by bending the corners of the head of the T-shaped foot into closed flaps.

2. A roof snow guard as set forth in claim 1 wherein the hook extends downwardly adjacent the base in a transverse plane substantially normal thereto and then is inclined downwardly and toward the lower end of the base.

3. A roof snow guard as set forth in claim 1 wherein the uppermost of the base strips is provided with at least one aperture and the lowermost strip is punched into said aperture and bent over the edges of the aperture to connect the two base strips like a rivet.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 30,788 5/1899 Clark 5224 1,480,261 1/ 1924 Hacker 52-25 1,530,233 3/1925 Campbell 5224 FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner.

R. A. STENZEL, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

1. A ROOF SNOW GUARD OF THE TYPE TO BE HOOKED ON THE UPPER EDGE OF A SHINGLE THAT IS PARTIALLY OVERLAPPED BY THE NEXT HIGHER COURSE OF SHINGLES, SAID GUARD BEING MADE OF WEATHER RESISTANT SHEET METAL IN STRIP FORM TO INCLUDE A BASE, A WEB, AND A FOOT, THE BASE COMPRISING TWO SUPERIMPOSED STRIPS THE LOWERMOST OF WHICH HAS AN UPPER END EXTENDING BEYOND THE UPPERMOST BUT WHICH IS BENT DOWNWARDLY A DISTANCE FROM ITS UPPER END TO FORM A HOOK AND TO BRING ITS UPPER END BELOW THE UPPERMOST STRIP WHICH IS BENT DOWNWARDLY AROUND THE UPPER END OF THE LOWERMOST STRIP FOR CONNECTION THEREWITH, THE LOWER END OF THE SUPERIMPOSED STRIPS HAVING A LONGITUDINAL SLOT DEFINING A PAIR OF SPACED TONGUES, THE WEB COMPRISING A STRIP BENT INTO FLAT INVERTED U-SHAPE AND HAVING END PORTIONS WHICH ARE FLARED AND BENT AROUND THE LONGITUDINAL EDGES OF THE BASE ADJACENT THE LOWER END THEREOF SO THAT THE WEB STANDS SUBSTANTIALLY IN A PLANE NORMAL TO THE BASE AND LONGITUDINALLY THEREOF, THE FOOT COMPRISING A STRIP HAVING ITS