Rain gutter cleaning system
A rain gutter cleaning system. The rain gutter cleaning system includes a gutter cleaning chute device having a chute framework defining an opening therein, a chute body attached to the chute framework, and an attachment mechanism for suspending the chute framework and its attached chute body. The chute framework is suspendable by a rod to a ladder or by a hook to the rain gutter. The rain gutter cleaning system can further include a gutter scraper, with a gutter scrapper blade, a handle, and a bracket arm detachably connecting the blade to the handle. The rain gutter cleaning system can further include a straining gutter scooper with straining apertures therein to permit wet debris to be scooped from rain gutters.
This application claims priority based on U.S. Provisional patent application No. 60/525,648, filed Dec. 1, 2003, which is entitled “GUTTER SCRAPER CLEANING SYSTEM”, U.S. Provisional patent application No. 60/531,330, filed Dec. 22, 2003, which is entitled “CLEAN-GUTTER SCOOP”, and U.S. Provisional patent application No. 60/554,384, filed Mar. 19, 2004, entitled “CLEAN GUTTER DEBRIS REMOVAL SYSTEM.”
BACKGROUNDThe invention relates to the field of rain gutter cleaning devices and systems, and more particularly to a rain gutter cleaning system that provides a chute system for collecting waste removed from rain gutters, and optionally scrapers and scoops that are adapted to remove wet and/or compacted debris from rain gutters.
Present methods of cleaning rain gutters involve somehow removing debris from the rain gutters and then somehow transporting the removed debris off of the roof. Many do-it-yourselfers and contractors use scrapers and scoopers to clean debris out of rain gutters. For example, the company Working Products Incorporated, of Portland, Oreg., under the Gutter Getter® brand, offers a variety of tools for scraping and scooping debris from rain gutters. The Gutter Getter® brand of gutter scooper is a relatively long scooper with a curved bottom that is suitable for light general gutter cleaning in dry conditions. One shortcoming of the Gutter Getter® scooper is that it traps water. When water, wet debris and/or mud are present, they are trapped in the Gutter Getter® scoop's body which makes cleaning unnecessarily difficult and very messy. Another problem with the Gutter Getter® is that it is manufactured in only one size. It is designed to flex to different gutter sizes and is too thin to clean heavy or wet debris efficiently. Gutters vary in size and this factor can also prevent the Gutter Getter® from passing under various gutter brackets on shallow gutters or on gutters with low brackets. In either case, using the Gutter Getter® is difficult because the working direction must be reversed at every bracket and it is time-consuming and difficult to recapture debris from around each bracket.
The company Working Products Incorporated also offers a Gutter Grabber® brand of rain gutter scraper that includes extendable handles and single, generic sized arrow-shaped plastic scraping head attachment, which is designed to “pull” debris toward the user in order to reduce the number of times necessary to climb up and down a ladder once a section of gutter is cleaned. This Gutter Grabber® tool will not get all debris if the debris is soupy or compacted. Moreover, the inventor has found that it is more efficient to push and then occasionally pull the debris to the next section of gutter where the ladder will be located. The most efficient method is then to remove the loosened debris with the hands wherever possible, reaching an arms length in each direction, and then pushing the remaining debris no more than 8 to 10 feet.
As noted above, another problem with conventional gutter cleaning tools is that gutter brackets often obstruct the pulling of the debris, so it is quite time consuming to work the debris past the brackets. In the time required to work the debris around the brackets, perhaps three times the length of gutter can be cleaned by just pushing the debris and moving the ladder every eight or ten feet.
However the debris is removed from the rain gutters, once removed, the debris is typically either deposited directly on the roof, on a drop cloth on the roof, a trash receptacle placed on the roof, or the debris will simply be thrown to the ground below. In circumstances where the debris is placed on the roof shingles or tiles, this debris must be later removed from the roof, which requires additional steps which slows down the progress of the cleaning job. In cases with the debris is thrown to the ground, this debris must be cleaned up later, which also creates additional work. Particularly in the case of soggy, muddy debris, completely cleaning the debris can be troublesome and time-consuming.
Most of existing gutter cleaning products are designed to be used from the ground or a ladder and target the do-it-yourself homeowner, not professionals.
There accordingly remains a need for gutter cleaning system that is adapted to clean rain gutters of wet, soupy and/or compacted debris in a fast, efficient, and clean operation, particularly for high volume operators.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThese and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Turning first the
The blades 12 and 22 are preferably adapted to clip or snap on the bracket arm 14 so that depending on the job requirements, different blades can be used.
The gutter scrapes 10 and 20 are designed to work with all kinds of debris, gutter shapes, and nature of debris within, e.g., woody twigs and leaves, compacted mud and mud that is soupy. The gutter scraper system is ideally suited for commercial gutter cleaning as the system tools will stand up to heavy day in and day out use, are adaptable all situations, and are useable from the roof as well as from ladders. The bracket can comprise other materials and sizes too. In use, the gutter scrappers 10 and 20 act like a “chisel” to get under mud and debris and break it loose from the gutter bottom and break up and clear loose debris in very narrow gutters and in wider gutters where the debris is compacted and/or composed of debris made up largely of twigs and or sticks. It is pushed more or less horizontally.
In order to further clean the gutters, cleaning rags in various sizes can be wrapped around and/or pushed by the blades to completely wipe down the inside of the gutters, e.g., 6″×8″, 8″×12″, and 18′×24″ cotton cloth rags as well as other sizes can be used. Other materials can be used.
The gutter scrapers 12 or 22 are attached to the handle extender(s) in the most effective combination for pushing and/or pulling gutter debris that is out of reach to the next ladder position. The system can also be used to gather gutter debris from a standing position on the roof so as to be removed from the gutter once all the debris has been gathered in one location. Clean rags that suit the gutter dimensions can be pushed after the debris through the partly cleaned gutter in order to 1) gather the remaining debris and 2) stop the back flow. The various size gutter scrapers are selected so that they are just slightly smaller than various size gutters, thus allowing for efficient pulling or pushing of all debris. The gutter scrapers are thus well accommodated to deal with a wide variety of different kids of gutter debris, no matter how full the gutters are, and regardless of whether the debris is a soupy mud, compacted mud, leafy material, heavily laden with twigs and or any combination thereof.
In use, the gutter cleaning chute device 80 can be placed at any height by changing the ladder step or steps used. It is easiest when the chute mouth frame 90 is placed just under the gutter. Depending on the situation, the chute mouth frame 90 can be placed at or in the ladder step where the stabilizer is attached. This will automatically hold it horizontally. If the chute mouth frame 90 needs be located at or in a ladder step where no stabilizer is present, a supporting bracket attachment is used. The supporting bracket slides into the bag/tube bracket on one end and runs diagonally to the next lower ladder step where the other end slides into the hole in the next lower ladder step, which will support the bag/tube bracket horizontally.
The chutes 88 and 162 used with the embodiments of the gutter cleaning chute devices 80, 130 and 180 can preferably vary in length and diameter, depending upon the requirements, but can, for example be about 2.4 to 6.1 meters (8 to 20 feet) long and about 46 to 61 centimeters (18 to 24 inches) in diameter and made of lightweight plastic polyethylene material. Used in conjunction with the gutter scrapers 10 and 20 and gutter scooper 40, the gutter cleaning chute device can be filled with about 9 to 14 kilogram or more (20 to 30 lbs or more) of gutter debris before being either emptied or thrown away. The gutter cleaning system of the invention thus provides a highly efficient system for gathering up gutter debris to be removed from a roof with no splatter or mess to clean up on ground. The bottom of the chute can be secured in any number of ways, e.g., including folding the bottom up and clipping it shut, wrapping the bottom of the tube around a lower ladder leg or otherwise hooking it to the ladder, tying it in knot, etc. By undoing the bottom of the chute, the debris can be emptied into a trash receptacle. Another way to use the gutter cleaning chute device is by inserting the bottom few feet of the chute into the open top of the rim framework 90 or rim portions 132, 180 and holding the bottom of the chute in placed, such as with a clip. Once the chute is filled with debris, the gutter cleaning chute device 80, 130, 180 can be removed from the ladder step or rain gutter and it can be tossed to the ground where it can be emptied or disposed of and the process repeated with no splatter or debris mess.
Having thus described exemplary embodiments of the present invention, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the above disclosures are exemplary only and that various other alternatives, adaptations and modifications may be made within the scope of the present invention. The presently disclosed embodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. Also, the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of the description and should not be regarded as limiting.
Claims
1. A rain gutter cleaning system, comprising:
- a gutter cleaning chute device having a chute framework defining an opening therein, a chute body attached to the chute framework, and an attachment mechanism for suspending the chute framework and its attached chute body.
2. The rain gutter cleaning system of claim 1, wherein the attachment mechanism comprises an attachment rod extending from the chute framework and at least one anti-twisting elements that prevent the chute framework from twisting more than a predetermined amount relative to the ladder to which the gutter cleaning device is attached.
3. The rain gutter cleaning system of claim 1, wherein the chute body is attached to the chute framework by clips.
4. The rain gutter cleaning system of claim 1, further comprising chute body closure rods which are adapted to close off an open bottom of the chute body.
5. The rain gutter cleaning system of claim 1, wherein the attachment mechanism comprises a hook extending from the chute framework which is used to hang the gutter cleaning chute device on a rain gutter.
6. The rain gutter cleaning system of claim 5, wherein the hook is spaced away from the framework.
7. The rain gutter cleaning system of claim 1, wherein the chute framework has protuberances extending therefrom for attaching the chute body thereto.
8. The gutter cleaning system of claim 1, wherein chute body is made of a flexible sheet material.
9. The gutter cleaning system of claim 1, further comprising a gutter scraper, the gutter scraper having a gutter scrapper blade, a handle, and a bracket arm connecting the blade to the handle, wherein the blade is offset relative to the handle by about 45 to 75 degrees.
10. The gutter cleaning system of claim 9, wherein the gutter scrapper blade is offset relative to the handle by about 60 degrees.
11. The gutter cleaning system of claim 9, wherein a plurality of gutter scrapper blades having different shapes is provided and the gutter scrapper blades are detachably attachable to the handle.
12. The gutter cleaning system of claim 9, wherein the gutter scrapper further comprises handle extenders which extend the working length of the gutter scrapper.
13. The gutter cleaning system of claim 9, wherein the gutter scrapper blade is generally rectangular in shape.
14. The gutter cleaning system of claim 9, wherein the gutter scrapper blade is generally trapezoidal in shape with a narrower front edge and a wider rear edge.
15. The gutter cleaning system of claim 1, further comprising a gutter strainer scooper that comprises a scoop body with an open front with a bottom wall and side walls and a handle extending from a rear thereof, with a plurality of apertures formed in the side walls of the scooper.
16. The gutter cleaning system of claim 15, wherein the bottom wall of the gutter strainer scooper is generally flat.
17. The gutter cleaning system of claim 1, further comprising a drawstring debris collection sack that has a planar body portion with a plurality of apertures, a draw cord that is threaded through the plurality of apertures, and stiffener insert pockets for detachably receiving stiffening members therein.
18. A rain gutter cleaning chute device, comprising:
- a chute framework defining a opening therein;
- a chute body made of flexible sheet material that is attached to the chute framework; and
- an attachment mechanism for suspending the chute framework and its attached chute body.
19. The rain gutter cleaning system of claim 18, wherein the attachment mechanism comprises an attachment rod extending from the chute framework adapted to engage with a ladder and at least one anti-twisting elements that prevent the chute framework from twisting more than a predetermined amount relative to the ladder.
20. The rain gutter cleaning system of claim 18, wherein the attachment mechanism comprises a hook extending from the chute framework which is used to hang the gutter cleaning chute device on a rain gutter.
21. The rain gutter cleaning system of claim 5, wherein the hook is spaced away from the framework.
22. The rain gutter cleaning system of claim 18, wherein the chute body is attached to the chute framework by one or clips and elastic bands.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 1, 2004
Publication Date: Jun 2, 2005
Inventor: David Duke (Ripon, CA)
Application Number: 11/001,301