Patent Application
20180106045
The present invention relates generally to maintenance tools. More particularly, the present invention relates to cleaning of rain gutters.
Many buildings, particularly residential homes, have rain gutters surrounding the edges of their roofs for facilitating water discharge. Gutters prevent ingress into the fabric of a building by channeling rainwater away from the exterior of the walls and their foundations. In one common configuration, water from a pitched roof flows into a trough, typically made of metal, that is suspended beyond the roof edge and below the projected slope of the roof. Water collected by the gutter flows into a downpipe, which eventually discharges the collected water at a sufficient distance away from the walls of the structure.
Rain gutters may often become clogged by debris, particularly falling leaves from surrounding trees. In this case, the entrance to the downspout may become obstructed, resulting in the failure of the gutter to perform its intended function. Gutter cleaning is a necessary part of home maintenance, and current tools that assist users in doing so don't effectively allow users to pull the debris under the gutter hangars without moving their ladder. Most, if not all, similar tools also can't safely hang on any extension ladder, making users hold onto them while on the ladder. It is therefore an objective of the present invention to address these issues by providing users with a gutter cleaning tool that is more efficient and offers more functions than similar tools today
All illustrations of the drawings are for the purpose of describing selected versions of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. The present invention is to be described in detail and is provided in a manner that establishes a thorough understanding of the present invention. There may be aspects of the present invention that may be practiced or utilized without the implementation of some features as they are described. It should be understood that some details have not been described in detail in order to not unnecessarily obscure focus of the invention. References herein to “the preferred embodiment”, “one embodiment”, “some embodiments”, or “alternative embodiments” should be considered to be illustrating aspects of the present invention that may potentially vary in some instances, and should not be considered to be limiting to the scope of the present invention as a whole.
The present invention is a tool for use by homeowners or professional gutter cleaning personnel to facilitate ease of clearing debris from rain gutters of a house or other type of building with rain gutters. The present invention enables the user to remove debris in a large radius around their person, thus reducing the need to climb down from a ladder, move the ladder to a new location and climb back up the ladder in order to reach uncleared portions of the rain gutters.
Referring to
The present invention may be manufactured in any useful and desirable means, such as, but not limited to, plastic injection molding, additive manufacturing, computer numerical control (CNC) machining, hand operated machining, or any other manufacturing process. Furthermore, the main body portion 1, the hook portion 3, the scraper portion 2, and the tool attachment portion 4 may be manufactured from any desirable material, such as, but not limited, to, plastic material, metal material, or any other type of material. It is further contemplated that various components of the present invention may be made of different materials than other components. For example, the main body portion 1 may be made of a plastic material, while the scraper portion 2 may be made of a metal material.
The present invention generally intends to provide two main functionalities to the user. Firstly, the scraper portion 2 is used to pull debris within the gutter toward the user, so that the user may manually remove the debris from the gutter with their hand or through other means or implement, such as a vacuum tool. However, a problem is presented to the user, as many gutters are affixed to the edge of a roof by gutter hangers which wrap completely around the gutter, thus providing an obstacle to the user desiring to pull debris past the hangers to a point within their reach. Thus, the second main functionality is provided by the hook portion 3. The hook portion 3 is shaped and configured in such a manner that the user is able to insert a free end of the hook portion 3 beneath a gutter hangar and pull the tool toward themselves, thus forcing debris underneath and past the gutter hanger obstacle.
It is contemplated that the scraper portion 2 may be comprised in a variety of different manners, forms, shapes, sizes and configurations, so long as the functionality of being able to adequately pull debris toward the user is maintained. As such, the scraper portion 2 may be spoon-shaped, or the scraper portion 2 may be triangular shaped, or the scraper portion 2 may comprise a plurality of tines similar to a rake or fork, or the scraper portion 2 may be generally L-shaped, or the scraper portion 2 may be embodied in any other desirable form.
In some embodiments, the scraper portion 2 comprises a proximal end 20 and a distal end 22, with the scraper portion 2 extending from the proximal end 20 to the distal end 22. The proximal end 20 is connected to the main body portion 1, and the scraper portion 2 is curved from the proximal end 20 to the distal end 22. In order to not interfere with each other, the scraper portion 2 and the hook portion 3 should be positioned on opposite sides of the main body. Thus, in some embodiments, the distal end 22 is positioned opposite the hook portion 3 across the main body, due to the curvature of the scraper portion 2 away from a centerline of the main body portion 1. Alternatively described, the main body portion 1 may comprise a first side 10 and a second side 12 positioned opposite each other on the main body portion 1, wherein the proximal end 20 of the scraper portion 2 is positioned adjacent to the first side 10, wherein the distal end 22 of the scraper portion 2 is separated from the first side 10 by a certain distance, opposite the second side 12, and wherein the hook portion 3 is positioned adjacent to the second side 12.
In some embodiments, as can be seen in
As previously discussed, the hook portion 3 enables the user to maneuver debris under a gutter hanger, an action which would be difficult to accomplish utilizing the scraper portion 2 alone. The hook portion 3 should be configured to generally be an open-ended hook or loop, such that the free end is facing the user, wherein the free end is abutted against the debris while pulling the debris under the gutter hanger. Furthermore, in addition to maneuvering debris, the hook portion 3 provides a secondary benefit to the user in being able to be conveniently hung on a rung of a ladder while the user ascends the ladder, thus allowing the user to use both of their hands while climbing for optimal safety.
In some embodiments, the hook portion 3 may resemble half a U-shape. In some embodiments, the hook portion 3 comprises a first angled body portion 30 and a second angled body portion 32. The first angled body portion 30 is angularly connected to the main body portion 1 between the scraper portion 2 and the tool attachment portion 4. In some embodiments, the first angled body portion 30 is positioned adjacent to the tool attachment portion 4, and in some embodiments the first angled body portion 30 is perpendicularly connected to the main body portion 1. Furthermore, the second angled body portion 32 is angularly connected to the first angled body portion 30 opposite the main body portion 1 at a specified hook angle 34 to the main body portion 1, as illustrated in
Referring to
In some embodiments, the tool attachment portion 4 is permanently connected to a pole. However, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the tool attachment portion 4 is configured to be attached to an extension pole. The extension pole may be a currently available commercial product, or the extension pole may be a new item. It is contemplated that any one of a variety of attachment mechanisms may be utilized as desired or appropriate without significantly altering the spirit and functionality of the present invention. In some embodiments, the tool attachment portion 4 comprises a threaded end 40, wherein the threaded end 40 is positioned opposite the main body portion 1 along the tool attachment portion 4. In some embodiments, the threaded end 40 is internally threaded. For example, the threaded end 40 may be internally threaded to accommodate external ACME threading as is commonly found on current extension poles on the market in any desired dimensions. In some embodiments, the threaded end 40 may be externally threaded in order to attach extension poles which have an internally threaded end 40 as opposed to an externally threaded end 40.
Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.
The current application claims a priority to the U.S. Provisional Patent application Ser. No. 62/409,784 filed on Oct. 18, 2016.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62409784 | Oct 2016 | US |
