Apparatus and method for cleaning gutters
The apparatus of this invention includes a long rod and a short rod, each of desired length, and each with a rake on one end and a hoe on the other end. Both rakes are of the same novel construction with three tines uniquely arranged to enable a workman mounted on a ladder to pull leaves in a conventional gutter toward himself and beneath spikes holding the gutter to a roof. The method of this invention enables a workman to draw leaves toward himself from both sides of the ladder without having to move the ladder.
This invention relates to the cleaning of gutters.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONIt is well known that gutters collect a variety of debris such as bird droppings, sand, dirt, twigs, and leaves and that debris can become a blockage that clogs gutters and interferes with their conveyance of rainwater. It is also well known that gutters must be periodically cleared of debris in order to perform their function of conveying rainwater.
There are several gutter cleaners in the prior art. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,542,553 issued Sep. 24, 1985 to Cary for DEVICE FOR REMOVING DEBRIS FROM GUTTERS; U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,090 issued Feb. 23, 1988 to Kilpatrick for GUTTER CLEANING DEVICE; U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,818 issued Jul. 18, 1989 to Smith for GUTTER CLEANING TOOL, WITH A MULTI-POSITIONAL AND SELF-LOCKING JOINT, THAT CAN BE REMOTELY OPERATED BY HAND FROM AN OBLIQUE ANGLE; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,715 issued Nov. 23, 1999 to Mason for APPARATUS FOR CLEANING DRAIN GUTTERS. None of these patents disclose applicant's invention, and a search of the prior art has failed to reveal any teaching of the applicant's novel apparatus and method.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention comprises several components to be used in a novel method for the effective cleaning of gutters. The components include a long rod with a rake on one end and a hoe on the other end for cleaning long gutters, a short rod with a rake on one end and a hoe on the other end for cleaning short gutters, and a scoop. All of the components are preferably made of steel, but may be made of any suitably strong and durable material.
The maximum length of the rods is not critical and the rods can be of any desired length within the spirit of the invention. In the preferred embodiment the long rod is telescopic and has a maximum length of 12 feet because the difficulty of manipulating the rod and handling the rake and hoe at the ends of the rod increases with the length of the rod. The short rod is for cleaning short gutters and short distances in long gutters and may be of any desired length. The short rod has a clip for attachment to the workman's belt to make it readily available to the workman when needed.
The rake that is attached to both the long rod and the short rod is a novel structure designed especially for being moved through gutters, and beneath spikes that attach the gutter to the roof, as the rake is used to accumulate pine straw and other debris within the gutter.
The hoe on the end of the rod opposite the rake is used to accumulate granular debris in a gutter as by pulling the hoe against the debris in the gutter.
The scoop is used by the workman to lift accumulations of pine straw and debris from the gutter and discard such accumulations as by throwing them to the ground or placing them in a bag.
The rods, the rake, the hoe, and the scoop are all dimensioned to pass easily beneath the spikes that extend through the gutter at spaced intervals.
It is intended that the entire apparatus, both of the rods and the scoop, be carried to the top of the ladder by the workman to be readily available for use.
The novel method of this invention includes the steps taken by the workman with the aforesaid apparatus to accumulate leaves in a gutter and to clean a longer length of gutter from each position of the ladder than has heretofore been possible.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Referring more specifically to the drawings,
Standing in this position the workman is able to use both hands to grasp and manipulate a long rod 10 and its rake 11 on one end of the rod to effectively clean a portion of the gutter on each side of the ladder. The long rod is telescopic and can be adjusted to a desired length. The difficulty of handling the rake 11 in a gutter increases with the length of the rod. The preferred maximum length of the rod 10 is twelve feet.
The rake 11 is small enough to be manipulated through a gutter beneath spikes S commonly placed about every four feet along a gutter to attach the gutter to a roof, and to rake pine straw and other debris D beneath the spikes in the gutter. Part of the debris in the gutter G has been broken away in
With the workman positioned as described, and with a rod twelve feet in length, the workman can rake in pine straw and debris twelve feet away from his left side and twelve feet away from his right side without moving or leaving the ladder.
There are gutters having bottom walls of different widths and side walls of different heights extending from the bottom walls. The invention is described for use in a gutter having a bottom wall three inches wide, side walls extending three inches up from the bottom wall and fastened to a roof with spikes spaced along the gutter and extending through the upper portions of the side walls. When the apparatus is used with gutters of different sizes, the dimensions of the apparatus must be modified as appropriate to gain the benefits of the apparatus.
Before pushing the rake toward the desired position P in
In
The workman then uses a scoop 40 (
The diameter of the rod 10 is small enough for the rod to easily pass under one or more spikes while the workman holds the rod at a convenient angle, as seen in
As most clearly seen in
The small dimensions of the rake facilitate the manipulation of the rake within a gutter while the rake is being used to rake in and accumulate pine straw and debris, and enable the rake to pass freely beneath the spikes that attach gutters to roofs.
As seen in
The apparatus of this invention also includes a short rod 30 (
The function of the short rod 30 is to clean gutters that are too short to be effectively cleaned with the long rod 10, and to accumulate debris close to the ladder L in long gutters.
The foregoing apparatus is tailored to the cleaning of gutters in an effective and efficient manner. The two telescopic rods allow the workman to quickly and easily have at hand the length of rod that is compatible with the length of the gutter, and with the length of the debris to be cleared.
The described method of first accumulating debris on one side of the ladder and then accumulating debris on the other side of the ladder without moving the ladder is a novel method that results in a significant decrease in labor and saving of time.
Claims
1. Apparatus for cleaning gutters, said apparatus comprising a rod, a rake attached to one end of the rod, and a hoe attached to the other end of the rod.
2. The invention of claim 1 wherein the rod is telescopic.
3. The invention of claim 1 wherein said apparatus for cleaning gutters includes a scoop.
4. The invention of claim 1 wherein said rod is a long rod for cleaning long gutters and wherein said apparatus also includes a short rod for cleaning short gutters and portions of long gutters.
5. The invention of claim 4 wherein a rake is attached to one end of the short rod and a hoe is attached to the other end of the short rod.
6. The invention of claim 3 wherein the gutter is supported by spikes and wherein the scoop includes a bottom wall, a rear wall and side walls dimensioned to fit within the gutter and beneath the spikes.
7. The invention of claim 4 wherein a rake is attached to one end of the short rod and a hoe is attached to the other end of the short rod.
8. The invention of claim 7 wherein the width of the rake and the width of the hoe correspond to the width of the gutter with which the apparatus is to be used.
9. A rod and a rake for cleaning a gutter of the type that is attached to a roof with a plurality of spikes, said gutter having a bottom wall and side walls extending upwardly from the bottom wall, the spikes being spaced along the gutter and extending through the upper portions of the side walls, said rake comprising a shaft extending axially from one end of the rod, a center tooth and two side teeth, the center tooth extending in axial alignment from the shaft and the two side teeth extending from the shaft in diverging relation to the center tooth, each of the teeth terminating in a downturned end portion, the downturned end portions of the side teeth being spaced from each other a distance to provide the rake a width in conformity with the width of the gutter, and the downturned end portions of the teeth being of a length sufficient to rake pine straw and other debris along a gutter and beneath spikes during manipulation of the rod and rake to clean the gutter.
10. The invention of claim 9 wherein each downturned end portion terminates in a lip.
11. A method for a workman to clean a gutter of debris, said method comprising the steps of:
- a) providing a ladder of sufficient length for the workman to stand on the ladder with his waist at the gutter when the ladder is positioned on the ground beneath the gutter and leaning against the gutter at a desired angle;
- b) providing a rod with a rake secured to one end of the rod, and
- c) the workman grasping the rod and rake and positioning himself on the ladder to face the gutter with the waist portion of his body at the same height as the gutter and the workman then manipulating the rod and rake to drag debris in the gutter on one side of the ladder within reach of the workman, and the workman then manipulating the rod and rake to drag debris in the gutter on the other side of the ladder within reach of the workman.
12. The invention of claim 11 wherein the workman's manipulation of the rod and rake to drag debris in the gutter on both sides of the ladder within reach of the workman includes the following steps:
- a) the rod is rotated to turn the teeth of the rake up to a glide position before pushing the rake away from the ladder to a desired position in the gutter to begin dragging in debris on one side of the ladder;
- b) the rod is rotated to turn the teeth of the rake down to a raking position before pulling the rake toward the ladder to drag in debris on said one side of the ladder;
- c) the rod is rotated to turn the teeth of the rake up to a glide position before pushing the rake away from the ladder to a desired position in the gutter to begin dragging in debris on the other side of the ladder; and
- d) the rod is rotated to turn the teeth of the rake down to a raking position before pulling the rake toward the ladder to drag in debris on said other side of the ladder.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 5, 2003
Publication Date: May 5, 2005
Inventor: Calvin Mitchener (Wendell, NC)
Application Number: 10/700,582