GUTTER PROTECTOR

• US 20130145699A1
• Filed: 12/08/2011
• Published: 06/13/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/08/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: John R. Olthoff
• Original Assignee: John R. Olthoff
• Inventors: Olthoff, John R.
• Application Number:
  US13/314,691
• Publication Number:
  US 20130145699A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 52/12
• CPC Class Codes: E04D 13/076 Devices or arrangements for removing snow, ice or debris from gutters or for preventing accumulation thereof

Abstract

A gutter protector for keeping debris out of a gutter while permitting rain to enter therein comprises a panel, with a lower layer comprising a compressed fibrous non-woven material attached to an upper layer comprising a plastic screen. The panel includes a securing lip, formed below a longitudinal recess in an upper front edge, with the securing lip extending outwardly below the recess. The securing lip fits in a C-shaped channel of the gutter and raises the upper front edge of the gutter protector above the front of the gutter. This allows debris to fall off the gutter. An integral spring hinge, formed in the panel by two V-shaped longitudinal grooves with a finger between them, permits the panel to be resiliently bent into an angle of greater than ninety-degrees for mounting and positioning the securing lip in the gutter.

Claims

1. A gutter protector for restricting the accumulation of leaves and other debris in a gutter, the gutter having a front side, back side, bottom side, and open top, the front side having a rearwardly facing C-shaped channel at the top thereof, with the channel having an upper lip at an upper edge thereof, the gutter protector being formed from a generally flat panel having at least two layers, the layers comprising an upper layer formed of a porous screen formed of synthetic resin and a lower layer formed of a compressed non-woven synthetic fibrous material, the upper and lower layers being secured together to form the panel, the screen having a pore size sufficient to permit water to flow therethrough but to substantially exclude passage of leaves, plant seeds and roof grit therethrough and being smooth enough to permit such materials to slide over the screen, the panel being semi-rigid but at least somewhat resiliently deflectable, the panel having a front portion and a rear portion, with the front portion being formed so as to extend over the open top of the gutter when the protector is placed in the gutter, and with the rear portion being formed so as to extend downwardly from a rear edge of the front portion to a position where a lower edge of the rear portion engages the bottom side of the gutter when the protector is placed in the gutter, the front and rear portions being deflectable along a hinge edge between them, with a relieved portion of the non-woven fibrous material being located along the hinge edge, the panel having a longitudinal recess in the upper side thereof that extends along the upper front edge of the front portion such that a securing lip extends outwardly on the front edge of the panel beneath the longitudinal recess, the front edge of the panel being formed such that when the securing lip is positioned in the C-shaped channel the upper layer of the panel adjacent the securing lip and positioned adjacent to the upper lip of the C-shaped channel is elevated above the upper lip, whereby debris on the upper surface of the protector can easily slide over the upper lip without being obstructed by it.

2. The gutter protector of claim 1, wherein the generally flat panel is approximately three-quarters of an inch thick.

3. The gutter protector of claim 1, wherein the securing lip is approximately three-eighths of an inch thick and extends approximately three-eighths of an inch outwardly on the front edge of the panel.

4. The gutter protector of claim 1, wherein a plurality of fibers protrude from the lower layer of the panel through the screen of the upper layer.

5. The gutter protector of claim 1, wherein the gutter further includes one or more gutter support structures, the gutter protector further comprising one or more slits or slots formed in the rear portion of the panel, such that the gutter protector fits over one or more of the gutter support structures when the gutter protector is placed in the gutter.

6. The gutter protector of claim 1, wherein the gutter protector further includes one or more anti-microbial agents.

7. The gutter protector of claim 1, wherein the gutter protector further includes one or more UV inhibitors.

8. The gutter protector of claim 1, wherein the gutter protector further includes one or more flame retardant additives.

9. The gutter protector of claim 1, wherein the screen includes a plurality of pores, with the pores having an area of approximately one one-hundred-forty-fourth of a square-inch.

10. The gutter protector of claim 1, wherein the relieved portion of the non-woven fibrous material located along the hinge edge comprises a principal cut, the principal cut being a substantially V-shaped longitudinal cut in the panel, the cut including an apex positioned below the screen.

11. The gutter protector of claim 1, wherein the relieved portion of the non-woven fibrous material located along the hinge edge comprises a spring hinge, the spring hinge being positioned in the panel and including a principal cut, a tension relief cut, and a finger, with the finger being positioned between the principal cut and the tension relief cut, the principal cut being a substantially V-shaped longitudinal cut in the panel, the cut including an apex positioned below the screen, the tension relief cut being a substantially V-shaped longitudinal cut in the panel, the cut including an apex positioned below the screen, the finger and cuts being positioned such that they create an upward spring force on the front portion of the panel when the gutter protector is placed in the gutter.

12. The gutter protector of claim 11, wherein the principal cut is approximately five-eighths of inch deep at its apex and the tension relief cut is approximately one-half of an inch deep at its apex.

13. A process for restricting the accumulation of leaves and other debris in a gutter, the gutter having a front side, back side, bottom side, and open top, the front side having a rearwardly facing C-shaped channel at the top thereof, with the channel having an upper lip at an upper edge thereof, with the gutter further including one or more gutter support structures, the process comprising the steps of:

providing a gutter protector, the gutter protector being formed from a generally flat panel having at least two layers, the layers comprising an upper layer formed of a porous screen formed of synthetic resin and a lower layer formed of a compressed non-woven synthetic fibrous material, the upper and lower layers being secured together to form the panel, the screen having a pore size sufficient to permit water to flow therethrough but to substantially exclude passage of leaves, plant seeds and roof grit therethrough and being smooth enough to permit such materials to slide over the screen, the panel being semi-rigid but at least somewhat resiliently deflectable, the panel having a front portion and a rear portion, with the front portion being formed so as to extend over the open top of the gutter when the protector is placed in the gutter, and with the rear portion being formed so as to extend downwardly from a rear edge of the front portion to a position where a lower edge of the rear portion engages the bottom side of the gutter when the protector is placed in the gutter, the front and rear portions being deflectable along a hinge edge between them, with a relieved portion of the non-woven fibrous material being located along the hinge edge, the panel having a longitudinal recess in the upper side thereof that extends along the upper front edge of the front portion such that a securing lip extends outwardly on the front edge of the panel beneath the longitudinal recess, the front edge of the panel being formed such that when the securing lip is positioned in the C-shaped channel the upper layer of the panel adjacent the securing lip and positioned adjacent to the upper lip of the C-shaped channel is elevated above the upper lip whereby, debris on the upper surface of the protector can easily slide over the upper lip without being obstructed by it;

positioning the gutter protector in the interior of the gutter such that the rear portion of the panel extends downwardly from a rear edge of the front portion to a position where a lower edge of the rear portion engages the bottom side of the gutter, making one or more vertical slits or slots in the rear portion of the panel, so as to permit the rear portion of the panel to extend downwardly over the gutter supports structures;

further positioning the gutter protector such that the front portion of the panel extends over the open top of the gutter;

further positioning the gutter protector such that the securing lip is positioned in the C-shaped channel against the upper lip of the C-shaped channel such that the upper layer of the panel adjacent the securing lip and positioned adjacent to the upper lip of the C-shaped channel is elevated above the upper lip, whereby debris on the upper surface of the protector can easily slide over the upper lip without being obstructed by it.

14. The process of claim 13, further comprising forming the relieved portion of the non-woven fibrous material located along the hinge edge so as to have a principal cut, the principal cut being a substantially V-shaped longitudinal cut in the panel, the cut including an apex positioned below the screen.

15. The process of claim 13, further comprising the step of forming the relieved portion of the non-woven fibrous material located along the hinge edge so as to have a spring hinge, the spring hinge being positioned in the panel and including a principal cut, a tension relief cut, and a finger, with the finger being positioned between the principal cut and the tension relief cut, the principal cut being a substantially V-shaped longitudinal cut in the panel, the cut including an apex positioned below the screen, the tension relief cut being a substantially V-shaped longitudinal cut in the panel, the cut including an apex positioned below the screen, the finger and cuts being positioned such that they create an upward spring force on the front portion of the panel when the gutter protector is placed in the gutter.