Patent Application
20100270219
The present invention relates to an apparatus for diverting rainwater. The present invention relates more particularly to a rainwater diverter that is configured for placement in a downspout of a rain gutter system for a building. The present invention relates more particularly to a rainwater diverter that has a removable diverter insert that when installed, diverts rainwater to a collection device, and when removed permits unimpeded flow of rainwater through the downspout without diverting rainwater to the collection device.
This section is intended to provide a background or context to the invention recited in the claims. The description herein may include concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the description and claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
It would be desirable to provide an improved apparatus for diverting rainwater from the downspout of a rain gutter system for a building. However, the problems posed by this type of arrangement are complex because the known diverters tend to capture debris (e.g. leaves, dirt, ice, insects, etc.) that often results in clogging of the downspout and unreliable delivery of rainwater to an intended collection device. For example, the known diverters tend to have structure that reduces the effective flow area through the downspout, or do not redirect the rainwater back through the downspout when the containment device is full, or that are not easy to clean, or that do not filter the rainwater being diverted to the collection device, or that include moving parts that reduce the reliability of the diverter.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an apparatus for diverting rainwater from a downspout of a rain gutter system on a building (or other appropriate structure) that does not reduce the effective flow area through the downspout, and that redirects the rainwater back through the downspout when the collection device is full, and that is easy to clean, and that filters the rainwater being diverted to the collection device, and that does not require moving parts for its operation.
According to one embodiment, an apparatus for diverting rainwater includes a body having a top portion, a bottom portion, and a central portion. A diverter is disposed within the central portion, and has a lower portion and an upper portion. The lower portion of the diverter, together with one or more walls of the body, defines a containment configured to capture rainwater that enters through the top portion. An opening in at least one of the walls of the body is configured to divert rainwater from the containment. The upper portion of the diverter has apertures configured to permit passage of rainwater from the top portion to the containment.
According to another embodiment, an apparatus for diverting rainwater includes a body having a top portion, a bottom portion, and a central portion. A diverter is disposed within the central portion, and has a lower portion and an upper portion. The lower portion of the diverter, together with one or more walls of the body, defines a containment configured to capture rainwater that enters through the top portion. An opening in at least one of the walls of the body is configured to divert rainwater from the containment. The body also includes a bypass flow area extending through the central portion adjacent to, and separate from, the containment, where the bypass flow area has a cross-sectional area that is substantially equal to or greater than a cross sectional area of the top and bottom portions.
According to a further embodiment, an apparatus for diverting rainwater includes a body having a top portion, a bottom portion, and a central portion. A diverter is disposed within the central portion, and has a lower portion and an upper portion. The lower portion of the diverter, together with one or more walls of the body, defines a containment configured to capture rainwater that enters through the top portion. An opening in at least one of the walls of the body is configured to divert rainwater from the containment. The diverter is removably attached to the body, so that with the diverter removed the rainwater flows substantially unimpeded from the top portion to the bottom portion without being diverted through the opening.
Referring to the FIGURES, an apparatus is shown according to an exemplary embodiment for diverting rainwater from a downspout of a rain gutter system on a building (or other appropriate structure) that does not reduce the effective flow area through the downspout, and that redirects the rainwater back through the downspout when the collection device is full, and that is easy to clean, and that filters the rainwater being diverted to the collection device, and that does not require moving parts or mechanisms for its operation.
According to the illustrated embodiment, the apparatus for diverting rainwater includes a body having a top portion, a bottom portion, and a central portion. A removable diverter insert is disposed within the central portion, and has a lower portion and an upper portion. The lower portion of the diverter, together with certain walls of the body, defines a containment configured to capture rainwater that enters through the top portion. An opening in at least one of the walls of the body is configured to divert rainwater from the containment to a collection device such as a vessel (e.g. rain barrel, tank, etc.) or other collection device (e.g. retention pond, reservoir, etc.). The body also includes a bypass flow area extending through the central portion adjacent to, and separate from, the containment, where the bypass flow area has a cross-sectional area that is substantially equal to or greater than a cross sectional area of the top and bottom portions, so that a flow area through the downspout is not reduced by the removable diverter insert. When the diverter is removed from the central portion of the body, the rainwater flows substantially unimpeded through the downspout (i.e. from the top portion to the bottom portion of the apparatus without being diverted through the opening). The apparatus and its components may be made of any suitable material such as plastic, and manufactured by any suitable process such as a molding process.
Although specific examples are shown and described throughout this disclosure, the embodiments illustrated in the FIGURES are shown by way of example, and any of a wide variety of other configurations, shapes, sizes and locations of components, and combinations thereof, will be readily apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art after reviewing this disclosure. Further, although the apparatus has been shown and described by way of example for use with a rain gutter downspout, the apparatus is capable of use in a wide variety of other applications where diversion of a fluid is desirable. All such variations of an apparatus for diverting rainwater are intended to be within the scope of the invention.
Referring more particularly to
The central portion 50 of the body 20 includes a first region 52 shown having a generally planar first side 54 that is substantially coplanar with a corresponding side 34, 44 of the top and bottom portion and extends substantially parallel to the downspout, and a second region 56 having a generally curved shape (e.g. semi-circular, hemispherical, convex, rounded, protruded, etc.) that extends or projects outwardly from the first region 52 and the corresponding second side 36, 46 of the top and bottom portions 30,40. The first region 52 of the central portion 50 of the body 20 defines a first flow passage 58 (e.g. a “diversion flow passage” when the diverter insert is installed, or an “unimpeded flow passage” when the diverter insert is removed, see
The second side 62 of the central portion 50 of the body 20 is also shown to include an access panel 64 (e.g. door, hatch, flap, etc.) covering an access opening 66. The access panel 64 is preferably transparent to permit visual observation of the presence or absence of the diverter insert 80 within the body 20, and the assessment or progression of a debris blockage condition of the diverter insert 80 (i.e. when the diverter insert is present). The access panel 64 is coupled to the body 20 in a manner that is intended to provide easy access, such as by a hinge or other suitable pivot connection, and secure closure, such as by an interference fit or snap fit with the surrounding structure of the access opening 66 in the body 20. The access panel 64 and access opening 66 are intended to be provide in a shape (shown for example as substantially rectangular) and a size that is sufficient to permit installation and removal of the diverter insert 80 from the central portion 50 of the body 20. According to the illustrated embodiment, the transparent access panel 64 includes a handle 68 to facilitate ease of opening and closing the access panel 64.
Referring to
The lower portion 82 of the diverter insert 80 is preferably formed as a solid wall or panel (i.e. without openings) to provide a surface that, together with first wall 54, the back 24 wall and the front wall 22 of the body 20, defines a containment 70 configured to capture rainwater that enters through the top portion 30. According to one embodiment, the containment 70 is substantially watertight, however, a certain amount of leakage may be tolerable according to other embodiment. The upper portion 84 of the diverter insert 80 includes a plurality of apertures 88, shown for example as slots that create a series of slats 90 (e.g. “fins”, etc.) in the upper portion 84, but may be any other suitable apertures, such as a pattern of other shaped openings configured to permit passage of rainwater from the top portion 30 of the body 20, through the upper portion 84 of the diverter insert 80 to the containment 70. The upper portion 84 with the plurality of apertures 88 is intended to serve as a filter or strainer for filtering debris that may enter the body 20 from the downspout. The fins 90 are preferably sloped (e.g. tilted, angled, tipped, etc.) somewhat in a direction from the first wall 54 of the body 20 to the second wall 62 of the body 20, and tend to overlap one another, such that debris that enters the body 20 and impinges upon, or collects on, the diverter insert 80 tends to be carried (e.g. pushed, washed, sluiced, etc.) by the incoming rainwater progressively down the fins 90 until the debris reaches the apex of the diverter, after which the debris tends to wash-off (e.g. fall-off, etc.) the apex 86 of the diverter insert 80 where it may exit through the bottom portion 40 of the body 20.
An opening 26 is provided in at least one of the walls of the body (shown by way of example as a substantially circular opening in each of the front 22 and back 24 walls in
The diverter insert 80 may be conveniently removed from the central portion 50 of the body 20 (i.e. through the access opening 66 in the second wall 62), such as when diversion of water to a collection device is not desirable (e.g. during winter months in colder climate regions, etc. such as “winterizing” the apparatus so that ice and rainwater may flow directly through the first flow path, substantially unimpeded from the top portion to the bottom portion without being diverted through the opening(s). The ability to winterize the apparatus by simply removing the diverter insert is intended to avoid blockage of the device, such as may occur in conventional rainwater diverters, and to avoid having to seasonally remove the entire apparatus.
The Applicant believes that the apparatus for diverting rainwater as shown in the FIGURES and described herein is effective in diverting at least approximately 80% of the rainwater flow through a downspout during low flow conditions. The Applicant also believes that the ability to winterize the apparatus in climates that have periods with temperatures below freezing (as opposed to conventional designs that typically collect water in a trough or internal reservoir) substantially minimizes the likelihood of damage by ice formation, where ice formation tends to collect, and impede the flow of water through the downspout and cause a backup of ice, water and/or debris that may also cause damage to the gutter system. The Applicant further believes that the provision of a full-flow bypass flow passage within the body provides superior performance with respect to conventional diverters that reduce or impede rainwater flow or direct the entirety of the rainwater to flow through a filter, because during periods of heavy rainfall, the increased flow through a conventional diverter can potentially back-up inside the upper downspout segment which may cause damage to the gutter system due to the added weight of the column of water. The Applicant also believes that the apparatus as shown and described to return overflow rainwater to the original downspout flow path (e.g. away from the building) is superior with respect to conventional diverters that divert the entirety of the flow into a collection reservoir (such as a rain-barrel or reservoirs under 100 gallons) which tend to overflow and spill at the collection location, and may potentially damage surrounding elements the building structure.
According to any exemplary embodiment, an apparatus for diverting rainwater includes a body having a top portion, a bottom portion, and a central portion. A removable diverter insert is disposed within the central portion, and has a lower portion and an apertured upper portion. The lower portion of the diverter, together with the front, back and side walls of the body defines a containment configured to capture rainwater that enters through the top portion. An opening in at least one of the walls of the body is configured to divert rainwater from the containment to a collection device. The body also includes a bypass flow area extending through the central portion adjacent to, and separate from, the containment, where the bypass flow area has a cross-sectional area that is substantially equal to or greater than a cross sectional area of the top and bottom portions, so that a flow area through the downspout is not reduced by the removable diverter insert. When the diverter is removed from the central portion through an access opening in the body, the rainwater flows substantially unimpeded through the downspout (i.e. from the top portion to the bottom portion of the apparatus without being diverted through the opening).
The apparatus for diverting rainwater thus provides a number of advantageous features including: allowing rainwater to flow to its original destination (as determined by the original downspout configuration) when the collection device is full; and filtering debris from the diverted rainwater, and self-flushing the filter; and maintaining or increasing the rated downspout size when the collection device is full; and providing a transparent removable access panel to assess any debris blockage condition that may exist; permitting easy removal of the diverter insert when cleaning is determined to be necessary or when rainwater diversion is not desired, and requires no moving parts for its operation.
It is also important to note that the construction and arrangement of the elements of the rainwater diverter as shown schematically in the embodiments is illustrative only. Although only a few embodiments have been described in detail in this disclosure, those skilled in the art who review this disclosure will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the subject matter recited. For example, the apparatus may be used as a large debris filter for a fluid collection systems that also needs an overflow device for periods of fluid flow which is faster than a collection system can receive.
Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention. Other substitutions, modifications, changes and omissions may be made in the design, operating conditions and arrangement of the preferred and other exemplary embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
The order or sequence of any process or method steps may be varied or re-sequenced according to alternative embodiments. In the claims, any means-plus-function clause is intended to cover the structures described herein as performing the recited function and not only structural equivalents but also equivalent structures. Other substitutions, modifications, changes and omissions may be made in the design, operating configuration and arrangement of the preferred and other exemplary embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention as expressed in the appended claims.
