Patent Application
20150040490
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a gutter assembly unit used in a drainage system for a roof, balcony or building terrace of which the front edge of the gutter extends out over the facade, particularly for a building having a roof with no eaves.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Known gutter assembly units include a plurality of longitudinally spaced apart attachment brackets, each of which has a flat wall forming U-shaped cross section. These brackets collectively form a channel that girds the gutter, i.e., the gutter is received within the channel collectively defined by the brackets. A flange is formed integrally with each edge of each U-shaped flat wall and the flanges extend away from the channel in parallel relation to one another and in perpendicular relation to the flat wall.
In buildings having a roof without eaves where the drainage system of gutters and downspouts is typically sandwiched between layers of thermal insulation, the gutters are shielded with a cover attachment suspended on the front edge of the gutter. The cover attachment obscures the gutter substantially in the plane of the building façade for aesthetic reasons.
A gutter assembly unit for a roof without eaves is disclosed in German patent application specification DE29714562U as depicted in FIG. 3 of that specification. A drainage system for a balcony slab or terrace includes a drip plate, gutter brackets connected to the front surface of the slab or the external building wall, a gutter with a right-angled-box cross-section and a cover attachment mounted on the external shoulder of the gutter. This solution to the gutter assembly problem for roofs having no eaves uses components made of aluminum channels and is technically complex.
Gutter brackets of the most commonly used construction are U-shaped, with flanges directed external to the cross section girding the gutter, as aforesaid. An example of such structure is disclosed in utility model PL 64347. The flanges have mounting members bent laterally outwardly with mounting holes on the rear part of each bracket, i.e., the part secured to the attachment surface. The gutter is sandwiched between the rear wall of the bracket and the outwardly curved front rim of the bracket contiguous to the curved front edge of the gutter.
There is a need for a cover attachment that is effective to hide the gutter from view and which is easy to install. No tools should be required to attach the cover attachment to the U-shaped brackets.
The needed cover attachment should be usable with a conventional U-shaped bracket with only minor modifications made to the structure of the U-shaped bracket.
The known U-shaped brackets are also deficient to the extent that they do not firmly secure the gutter within the channel.
Thus there is also a need for an improvement to the U-shaped brackets that would better secure a gutter within the gutter-receiving channel.
However, in view of the art considered as a whole at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art how the needed improvements could be provided.
The long-standing but heretofore unfulfilled need for an improved gutter unit assembly for a roof without eaves is now met by a new, useful, and non-obvious invention.
As disclosed herein, words such as “rear” refer to the side of the novel assembly that is closest to the building, i.e., the attachment surface, and words such as “front” refer to the side of the novel assembly that faces an observer of the building, i.e., the parts furthest from the attachment surface. Words such as “top” or “upper” refer to the open upper end of the gutter and the open upper end of the U-shaped brackets that receive and support the gutter. Words such as “bottom” or “lower” refer to the lower end of the gutter as well as the lower end/bottom wall of the U-shaped brackets. It is also understood that a gutter has a longitudinal extent and is mounted in a generally horizontal plane. The building wall/attachment surface to which the U-shaped brackets are mounted and the façade of the building are positioned in a generally vertical plane. Words such as “inwardly” or “rearwardly” refer to the direction from front to back, i.e., towards the attachment surface, and words such as “outwardly” or “forwardly” refer to the direction from back to front, i.e., away from the attachment surface. The term “lateral” thus refers to a direction perpendicular to the inwardly and outwardly directions.
The structure includes a plurality of U-shaped brackets, each of which has an outwardly curved front rim that is adapted to underlie and support an outwardly curved front rim of a gutter.
The novel structure includes a cover attachment having an inwardly curved front rim that overlies and engages the outwardly curved front rim of its associated U-shaped bracket so that the cover attachment is suspended from the outwardly curved front rim of its associated U-shaped bracket.
Each U-shaped bracket has flanges that extend away from a gutter-receiving interior space defined by the bracket. The interior space is adapted to receive the gutter in sandwiched relation between the rear rim and the outwardly curved front rim of the bracket.
The cover attachment has a front wall that obscures the gutter when the building is viewed by a viewer outside the building.
Attachment grooves are formed in the flanges of the U-shaped bracket at a bottom front end of the flanges at a sharp angle inclined downwardly to the rear. Thus, a conventional U-shaped bracket is modified by the formation of said attachment grooves in said flanges at said location.
The cover attachment has a front wall of a height greater than the height of the U-shaped bracket and a lower end of the cover attachment is adapted to engage the attachment grooves.
In a first embodiment, the lower end of the cover attachment has first and second bends formed therein. The first bend forms a first wall that extends upwardly and rearwardly relative to the front wall of the cover attachment. The second bend forms a second wall formed integrally with the first wall. The second wall also extends rearwardly and is positioned in a plane perpendicular to the front wall of the cover attachment.
A catch is formed in a free end of the second wall and said catch enters into the attachment grooves by elastic deformation under force imparted by a user.
Each U-shaped bracket is further modified by the addition of a straight rear tongue made of a bendable sheet metal strip welded in a vertical plane to a rear wall of the bracket. When the gutter installation is substantially complete, the user bends the rear tongue forwardly into overlying relation to a rear wall of the gutter, thereby securing the gutter in a manner that improves upon the prior art.
In a second embodiment of the cover attachment, the lower end of the cover attachment has first and second bends formed therein. The first bend forms a first wall that extends inwardly from the front wall of the cover attachment in a plane substantially perpendicular to the front wall. The second bend forms a second wall formed integrally with the first wall. The second wall is positioned in a plane parallel to a vertical façade of the building in abutting relation to an external surface of the façade. In this second embodiment, the attachment grooves formed in the flanges of the U-shaped brackets are not used. The straight rear tongue continues to be used in the second embodiment.
In both embodiments, the gutter is positioned in the channel defined by the U-shaped bracket.
An important object of the invention is to guarantee easy mounting of the cover attachment, said cover attachment being attached to the bracket by elastic deformation and in the absence of tools.
Another object is to provide the gutter area with favorable architectural aesthetics.
Another object is to provide a secure engagement of the gutter when the assembly is complete.
These and other important objects, advantages, and features of the invention will become clear as this disclosure proceeds.
The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts that will be exemplified in the disclosure set forth hereinafter and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.
For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be made to the following detailed disclosure, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Exemplary unit constructions disclosed in
Drainage water drips from the roof to gutter R via a drainage plate, not visible in the drawing. The location of gutter R with a right-angled-box cross section is set by brackets U, said brackets being attached to a wooden or plastic fascia board under the roof allowing for the anchoring of the brackets via screws through the holes in laterally-extending mounting members 7.
Each bracket U has the shape of a hook of dimensions predetermined by gutter channel R, and is formed from sheet steel in a U cross section that girds the gutter R with flanges directed externally.
Gutter R is set in bracket U between rear tongue 1 in the form of a straight but bendable strip of sheet metal welded to the rear surface of bracket U. Rear tongue 1 is bent by hand in overlying relation to the rear edge of gutter R after the gutter has been mounted into bracket U and is resting on the curved front rim at the front end 2 of bracket U. Such bending of said rear tongue 1 secures the gutter in the channel defined by the U-shaped bracket.
Bracket U has attachment grooves 3 formed in the bottom edges of the flanges in the area behind/rearwardly of the lower front bend, directed at a sharp angle α (
Cover attachment M is suspended on the curved front rim of gutter R, and has a front wall 4 of height H greater than height h of bracket U and an oblique wall 5 bent upwardly and rearwardly from the lower edge of front wall 4. Catch 6 is formed in the free end of a second wall that is formed integrally with oblique wall 6 and bent at an angle with respect thereto. The second wall is perpendicular to front wall 4.
After cover attachment M is secured to front rim 2, by pressing the lower end of front wall 4 in a forward-to-rearward direction, the assembler causes the elastic deformation of bracket U and the insertion of catch 6 into the attachment grooves 3 of cover attachment M.
Holes 8 are located in the outwardly curved front rims 2 of brackets U, through which holes, in the final assembly operations, cover attachment M and gutter R are fixed with tubular rivets.
The assembly unit solution disclosed in
The example of the gutter assembly unit illustrated in
The lower end of this embodiment of cover attachment M has first and second bends formed therein. The first bend forms a first wall that extends inwardly from the front wall of the cover attachment in a plane substantially perpendicular to the front wall. The second bend forms a second wall formed integrally with the first wall. The second wall is positioned in a plane parallel to a vertical façade of the building and is disposed in abutting relation to an external surface of the façade as depicted.
Cover attachment M and gutter R are fixed with tubular rivets 8 to the respective front rims of the brackets collectively denoted U in this embodiment also.
It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, and those made apparent from the foregoing disclosure, are efficiently attained and since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matters contained in the foregoing disclosure or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein disclosed, and all statements of the scope of the invention that, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| P.398999 | Apr 2012 | PL | national |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/PL2013/000048 | Apr 2013 | US |
| Child | 14523269 | US |
