Gutter cleaning system with an independent water supply

Abstract

A gutter cleaning system uses a pump supplied with water from a holding tank to power heads at spaced apart sites along the gutter to flush debris towards down spouting. The power heads are in fluid tight connections with manifold extending along fascia boards. The volume of collected water by the down spouting is returned to the holding tank. The entrained debris is separated by a strainer grate to recover entrained debris from the water flow in the down spout before delivery to the holding tank. A timer provides supervisory control of the operation of the pump.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a remotely controlled cleaning system for removal of debris from gutters of a dwelling or similar building using down spouting to recover the debris and to collect water for use in the cleaning system and, more particularly, to such a system that uses a holding tank replenished with rain water and, if necessary, domestic water source to maintain an adequate water supply controlled by an overflow to disperse excess water to a drain field automatically and independently of the cleaning of gutters. The present invention also provides a unique arrangement of a manifold between a gutter and a fascia board of a dwelling such that spray nozzles can reside in the gutter while supplied with water from the manifold.

2. Description of the Prior Art

A need exists to eliminate costly and preventable damage caused by water, insects, fungus, and bacteria to the roof, eaves, facial boards and gutters because the associated water collecting gutters overflow when debris accumulate and creates a dam that prevents the intended flow of water. When the gutters retain moisture because of an inability to flush out debris, facial boards decay causing roof leaks. Known attempts to eliminate the need for such costly repairs typically involve collecting and removing the debris from the gutter while in situ or remove and replace the gutter after cleaning. Such procedures usually require a workman to use a ladder to gain access to the gutters at the elevation of the roof, and involve a risk of falling from the ladder or roof top.

It is also well known in the art to place a perforated gutter cover, sometimes in the form of a screen, across the trough opening of a rain collecting gutter to allow only water cascading down a roof of the building to enter the gutter and allow leaves and other debris to collect upon to screen. The debris must be periodically removed from the screen to insure an effective pathway of future occurring water form rain and snow. The accumulated debris can be removed more convent from the screen than cleaning the debris collected in the gutter. The gutters remain effective for the collection and diverting of water to downspout and dispersion remote to the building structure. The gutter cover is designed to allow rain water to flush the leaves past the outer edge of the gutter and yet allow most of the water to flow into the gutter. The gutter covers performs relatively well with a small amount of dry leaves and heavier rain but performs poorly with debris of fir and pine needles and light rain. When the debris permanent the gutter covers, the removal of the debris from the gutter requires removal of the gutter cover and to gain access to the accumulated debris.

A spring biased hinged connection between the gutter and the fascia board is also known in the art for the purpose of allowing the hinged gutter to swing downwardly when burden in the gutter exceeds the resilient force of the spring. The intent is the debris will fall out of the gutter and then spring back into place. A gutter system of this type requires the added weight of rapidly accumulating rain fall to perform as intended but the mechanics of the system usually fail to return the gutter to the operating position.

In the event effective measures are not used to prevent the passage of debris to the downspout, a kick out portal opening or strainer screen in the downspout is designed to prevent debris from clogging the drain system. The screen requires frequent inspection and cleaning and the kick out ports tend to stick open.

United States Patent Application publication no. 20050045738 describes using nozzles to dispense water or air to flush the debris located in the valley or gutter either out of the valley or gutter or down the gutter through the down spouts. The system is automatically operated by a controller that either controls the frequency the medium is sent to the nozzles or turns on the system due to inputs from a monitor. The operation of the controller of the system uses a sensor, camera, or operator determines where the debris is located in the gutter. If it is determined that debris is located in the gutter then the sensor, camera, or operator will send a signal to the controller that the system must be run to clear the debris from a valley and/or gutter. The controller will then send a signal to the valve to open allowing the water or air to flow through the pipes and nozzles into the valley and/or gutter flushing or blowing the debris from the gutter. Once the time interval has expired, as set or programmed into the controller or it is determined by the sensor or camera, or operator that substantially all of the debris has been removed from the gutter then the system is turned off by the controller by sending a signal to the valve to close. If water is used then the debris, such a leaves or twigs, are flushed along the gutter down the down spout. If air is used, then the pressurized air is forced out the nozzles at a high velocity into the gutter and blows the debris out of the gutter. Air is used to force difficult debris, such as pine needles and the like, out over the top of the gutter. A swimming pool is used as a water source for the pump when the system uses water and when the system uses air, a compressor or a leaf blower is used.

This prior art system fails to provide for the collection of debris dispersed by the high velocity air streams and the water from either the valley or the gutter. Moreover, spreading the debris over the surrounding area of the dwelling is unsightly, requires frequent cleanup measures and provides a source for the debris to be redistributed on to the valley or gutters by prevailing air currents. The use of a swimming pool for the water source is also wasteful of the pool water since costly cleaning is required to maintain the pool water safe for its intended purpose so that the need to repeatedly replenish the quantity of pool water represents an added expense. Accordingly a need exists for a system to avoid the shortcomings and disadvantages of the known prior art systems intending to maintain gutters of a dwelling free of debris.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to avoid the shortcomings and disadvantages of the this prior art system by providing a holding tank to recapture water collected in the gutters incident to debris collecting operations.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a gutter cleaning system having an independent water supply from a holding tank wherein the volume of water in the tank is replenished by rainwater collected in the system of interconnected gutters and downspouts.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a gutter cleaning system having an independent water supply replenished by water recovered in the downs pouting and treated by strainers to separate debris from the carrier waters, preferably the strainers are associated with collector bags to insure controlled and proper disposal of the collected debris.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a gutter cleaning system with an independent water supply by a water volume in the holding tank including a supervisory control provided by an overflow system connected to a subterranean drain field to disburse overflow quantities of water safely to a surrounding area.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a gutter cleaning system with an independent water supply for spray nozzles in a unique system using water supply headers situated between a water collecting gutter and fascia board of a dwelling whereby spray nozzles are advantageously distributed at regular and relatively short intervals along the gutters to achieve an effective flushing action to transport debris to down spouting.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention there is provided a gutter cleaning system including the combination of a pump supplied with water by a conduit from a holding tank, manifolds extending along fascia boards to distribute pressurized water from the pump gutters over lying the manifold to direct a volume of collected water to down spouting for delivery to the holding tank, power heads at spaced apart sites along the gutter in fluid tight connections with the manifold to direct water from the holding tank and entrained debris along the gutter in a direction towards the downspout, a timer for supervisory control of the operation of the pump, and a strainer grate to separate and recover entrained debris from the water flow in the down spout before delivery to the holding tank.

Preferably the present invention provides that the manifolds have either a wedge shaped or a rectangular shaped cross sectional shape and secured to fascia boards for interleaving support of said gutter. The cross sectional shape of the manifolds is chosen to provide a support surface for orientating the position of the gutter relative to the fascia board such that the upper edge of the gutter is generally. The power heads include spray nozzles distributed at relatively short intervals along the gutters to achieve a flushing action to transport debris to the downspout.

According to the present invention further provides a gutter cleaning system including the combination of an elongated rain gutter having a generally U-shaped cross sectional configuration defined by spaced side walls upstanding from a bottom wall, a manifold supported by one of the walls to supply pressurized water along the elongated length thereof; a water supply connector communicating with the manifold; and fittings with an aperture joined at each of spaced apart locations to the manifold for delivering water from said manifold to within the U-shaped cross sectional configuration of the rain gutter; and a power head mounted in the aperture of each of the fittings to direct water from the manifold for displacing entraining debris along the gutter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be more fully understood when the following description is read in light of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a partial elevation view of a building structure combined with a schematic illustration of a rain gutter cleaning system including a circulatory water supply according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of flow paths for conducting the supplying a rain gutter cleaning system showing the water supply at one side of a building structure forming part of the system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the flushing water supply to discharge nozzles and collection circuit for the rain gutter system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view taken along lines IV-IV of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged elevation view taken along lines V-V of FIG. 3 illustrating a first embodiment of a water manifold construction according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 5 and illustrating a second embodiment of a water manifold construction according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 5 and illustrating an embodiment of a combined rain gutter and water manifold construction according to the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a partial elevation view of a building structure combined with a schematic illustration of a second embodiment of a rain gutter cleaning system including a circulatory water supply according to the present invention;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the flushing water supply to discharge nozzles and collection circuit for the rain gutter system;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional view taken along lines IX-IX of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged sectional view taken along lines X-X of FIG. 8 illustrating a new rain gutter design according to the present invention; and

FIG. 11 is an isometric view a carrier for the outboard edge of the new rain gutter design shown in FIG. 10.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A first embodiment of the rain gutter cleaning system 10 of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4 as installed in a building 12, especially a residential dwelling, to automatically operate to clean debris from rain gutters 14 without manual intervention. The system 10 is integrated with the rain gutters and downspouts to dispose of debris such as leaves from trees that cascade down a sloped roof 16. One of an extensive variety of well known roof configurations is shown in FIG. 3 and has a single ridge 18 with six roof segments 18-A through 18-F. Each of the roof segments slop downwardly to the site of a fascia board 20 that is horizontally recessed beneath the lower terminal edge of each such roof segment. The fascia boards are recessed a sufficient distance so that water and debris cascading down the roof segments can pass directly into the upwardly directed slot-shaped opening of the rain gutters 14 that encircles the lower peripheral edges of the roof segments. Cut ends of roof rafters 22 form the attachment site for the fascia boards 20 using nails or the like to present an outer face surface that is substantially vertical whereby the floor portions 14A of the rain gutters 14 are generally horizontal. The rain gutters are typically slopped in the direction of the extended lengths at a slight angle to the horizontal to promote the flow of water including entrained debris to the site of down spout adaptors 24 joined to down spouts 26. The internal area of the downspout is traversed by debris strainer grate 28 such as a wire mesh screen arranged in an upwardly inclined position such that the upper surface of the screen is accessible through to a trash shoot 30 installed on a vertical side wall of each of the downspouts to allow the carrier water to continue the downward flow in the downspout and discharge the debris into a collection vessel or bag 34. In the illustrated embodiment of FIGS. 1-4, the downspouts 26 are each connected to an underground conduit 36 to deliver the collected water through sand filters 38 before collection in a holding tank 40 which is preferably located underground. The volume of water in the holding tank is replenished by rainwater collected in the gutter and downspout system. A water level control in the holding tank is exercised by an overflow conduit extending to a subterranean drain field to disburse overflow quantities of water safely to a surrounding area. The typical capacity of the holding tank can be up to 500 gallons and a float valve 42 function as a water level controller in the holding tank to maintain a predetermined water level in said holding tank. When the float valve moves to open the associated water valve supplies make up quantizes of water from a municipal supply piping 44 or similar independent water supply line to always maintain a minimum volume required for flushing all of the gutters. A motor driven pump 46 is suitably supplied with water by a conduit extending to the holding tank 40. A programmed timer 48 located within the garage provides supervisory control through suitable electrical lines to operate the pump 46. The system is responsive to output commands by the programmed timer with diverse inputs to suit the conditions that are programmed according to time of the year and environmental conditions at the location of the building. The pump may be suitably mounted on top of the holding tank at an underground location for aesthetics.

The system operates in the event of an output command to turn ON the pump to deliver pressurized water through a supply pipe 50 extending about the perimeter of the building and connecting in a fluid tight manner by vertical pipes 54 at spaced intervals, such as at the location of each downspout 26. The vertical pipes 54 extend to an elevation where a fitting 56 establishes a fluid tight connection with a manifold 58 serving a conduit to channel the pressurized water between the facial board 20 and the rain gutter 14. A threaded fitting 60 at spaced and relatively short intervals such as 36 inches to form a fluid tight connection for a power head 62. The power heads are advantageously distributed in the rain gutter at each of the spaced apart sites to achieve an effective flushing action to transport debris to down spouting.

As best shown in FIG. 4, each of the power heads 62 includes an oblong housing 62 containing diverging discharge channels 62B at opposite sides of a central channel 62C to produce diverging water sprays spanning the lower cross sectional area of the rain gutter in a direction toward one of the down spouts. Advantageously, the down spouts are situated at intervals to form zones with each zone containing 20 power heads 62 which are sufficient to clean 40 feet of rain gutter within about 1.5 minutes. The system will then pause after cleaning of each zone to allow the flushing water to flow back into the holding tank 40. The flushing action is repeated until the rain gutters of all the zones have been flushed.

FIG. 5 illustrates the details of the construction of a first embodiment of a manifold 58 A which features a rectangular shaped internal cavity bounded by parallel side walls 70 spaced apart by parallel top and bottom walls 72 and 74, respectively, for conducting pressurized water along the length of the manifold. A mounting section 76 overlies the top wall 72 for receiving a spike of the usual spike and furl combination fastener 78 for securing the rain gutter of a conventional design and the manifold 58A to the fascia board 20. In this embodiment, the fascia board 20 is secured to the vertically extending cut ends of the roof rafters.

FIG. 6 illustrates the details of the construction of a second embodiment of a manifold 58 B which features a trapezoidal shaped internal cavity bounded by upwardly converging side walls 80 and 82 spaced apart by parallel top and bottom walls 84 and 86, respectively, for conducting pressurized water along the length of the manifold. A mounting section 88 overlies the top wall 84 for receiving a spike of the usual spike and furl combination fastener 78 for securing a rain gutter 14 of a conventional design and the manifold 58B to the fascia board 20. In this embodiment, the fascia board is secured to the vertically extending cut ends of the roof rafters cut in a fashion so that the outer face surface of the fascia board 20 is inclined at an acute angle, typically 15 degrees to the vertical as shown.

FIG. 7 illustrates the details of the construction of a third embodiment of a manifold 58 C which is integrated with a modified rain gutter 90. The manifold 58C and rain gutter 90 are preferably a one piece construction made of molded plastic material. The manifold portion has a rectangular shaped internal cavity bounded by parallel inner and outer sidewalls 92 and 94 spaced apart by parallel top and bottom walls 96 and 98, respectively, for conducting pressurized water along the length of the manifold. The inner sidewall 92 forms a major portion of the inner boundary of the gutter, the remaining portion of which is formed by a plate like extension 100 to the outer sidewall 94. The inner sidewall 92 is provided with molded extensions 92A that receive a threaded fitting 60 at spaced and relatively short intervals preferably 36 inches and forms a fluid tight connection for a power head 62. The spray nozzles are advantageously distributed in the rain gutter at each of the spaced apart sites to achieve an effective flushing action to transport debris to down spouting. The outer sidewall 94 is also provided with a molded extension 94A which is a water inlet duct joined with a flushing water supply pipe as described herein before or, if desired, the modified form of a downspout which will be described hereinafter and shown in FIG. 9. The rain gutter portion is further defined by a bottom wall 102 extending between an outer gutter wall 104 and the inner sidewall 92. The union between the bottom wall 102 and the sidewalls is formed with curved filet-like corners 102A to promote the flow of debris along the gutter section. A fastener system includes a hanger 106 having an elongated body with a reversely directed retainer plate constructed to fit within a channel section extending along the upper terminal edge of the outer gutter wall 104. At a site about midway along the body section there are apertures fashioned in reinforcing walls to receive a spike member 106 driven into the fascia board 20 for mounting the combined gutter and water manifold at the desired site along the roof line of the building.

FIGS. 8, 9, 10 and 11 illustrate a further embodiment of the present invention that includes the option of a water barrier wall 110 glued or similarly sealed in a water tight fashion to form an interconnecting junction between sections 112 and 114 of rain gutters with integral water manifolds. The rain gutter sections 112 and 114 are joined in an end-to-end relation and thereby form zones to independently flush debris by the operation of the power heads 62 in each zone. The power heads in section 112 direct flushing water toward a downspout 116 and the power heads 62 in section 114 direct flushing water towards downspout 118. The downspouts 116 and 118 are constructed in a manner best illustrated in FIG. 9 with a side-by-side arrangement of a flushing water passage way 120 and water and derbies passage way 122 separated by an internal partition wall 124. The passageway 122 is interconnected with a rain gutter section 112 or 114 by a scupper 126. The water passage way 120 is joined to a water manifold section 128 by a conduit 130, only a part of which is shown in FIG. 9.

FIG. 10 illustrates the details of the construction of a fourth embodiment of a manifold wherein the manifold 128 and rain gutter section 112 are preferably a one piece construction made of molded plastic material. The same one piece construction is applied to manifold 130 and rain gutter 114. The manifold portion has a rectangular shaped internal cavity bounded by parallel inner and outer sidewalls 132 and 134 spaced apart by parallel top and bottom walls 136 and 138, respectively, for conducting pressurized water along the length of the manifold which is sealed at each end by a water barrier wall 110. The inner sidewall 132 forms a major portion of the inner boundary of the gutter, the remaining portion is formed by an upstanding rail 140 that extends toward but not coextensive with the outer sidewall 134.

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 the four shortened width of the rail 140 is used to establish a space sufficient to receive a plate like flange 141 on the end of a hanger 142. The combined height of the manifold 128 or 130 and the rail 140 is substantially less, for example, about 60% of the height of the outer gutter wall 144. The unequal heights between the elements forming the inner and outer gutter walls is used to insure that the outer gutter wall has its upper terminal edge projecting substantially above a plane 146 containing the outer sloping surface of the roof. This relationship requires that the outer gutter wall 144 is held in position by the inner wall through fastener such as a spike 148 install through a drilled opening in the upper outer gutter wall aligned with openings 150 in reinforcing plate sections that are part of the gutter hanger 142. Threaded fittings at spaced and relatively short intervals form a fluid tight connection for a power head 62.

While the present invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments of the various figures, it is to be understood that other similar embodiments may be used or modifications and additions may be made to the described embodiment for performing the same function of the present invention without deviating therefrom. Therefore, the present invention should not be limited to any single embodiment, but rather construed in breadth and scope in accordance with the recitation of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A gutter cleaning system including the combination of:

a pump supplied with water by a conduit from a holding tank;

manifolds extending along fascia boards to distribute pressurized water from said pump;

gutters overlying said manifold to direct a volume of collected water to down spouting for delivery to said holding tank;

power heads at spaced apart sites along said gutter in fluid tight connections with said manifold to direct water from said holding tank and entrained debris along said gutter in a direction towards said downspout;

a controller for supervisory control of the operation of said pump; and

a strainer grate to separate and recover entrained debris from the water flow in the down spout before delivery to said holding tank.

2. The gutter cleaning system according to claim 1 wherein said manifolds are secured by fasteners to mount said gutter and manifold to said fascia board for interleaving support of said gutter.

3. The gutter cleaning system according to claim 1 wherein said manifolds have a trapezoidal shaped cross sectional shape forming a generally vertical support surface for orientating the position of said gutter relative to said fascia board.

4. The gutter cleaning system according to claim 1 wherein said manifolds have a rectangular shaped cross sectional shape forming a generally vertical support surface for orientating the position of said gutter relative to said fascia board.

5. The gutter cleaning system according to claim 1 wherein said power heads include spray nozzles distributed at relatively short intervals along said gutters to achieve a flushing action to transport debris to said downspout.

6. The gutter cleaning system according to claim 1 wherein said power heads include supply pipes forming a fluid tight interconnection with said manifolds while residing with in said gutter to direst stream of water in an acute angle to flush debris in a direction towards said downspout.

7. The gutter cleaning system according to claim 1 further including a drain line extending to a drain field to disperse excessive quantities of water from said holding tank.

8. The gutter cleaning system according to claim 1 further including an overflow system connected to a subterranean drain field to disburse overflow quantities of water to a surrounding land area.

9. The gutter cleaning system according to claim 1 further including return lines interconnecting said downspouts with said holding tank to recapture water collected in the gutters incident to debris collecting operations and collect rainwater for storage in said holding tank.

10. The gutter cleaning system according to claim 1 wherein said strainer gate includes a strainer with a discharge chute communicating with a debris collection bag to control disposal of the collected debris.

11. The gutter cleaning system according to claim 1 wherein said strainer gate includes louvers within said downspout to separate debris from water in said downspout.

12. The gutter cleaning system according to claim 1 further including an independent water supply line responsive to a water level controller in said holding tank to maintain a predetermined water level in said holding tank.

13. A gutter cleaning system including the combination of an elongated rain gutter having a generally U-shaped cross sectional configuration defined by spaced side walls upstanding from a bottom wall; a manifold supported by one of said walls to supply pressurized water along the elongated length thereof; a water supply connector communicating with said manifold; and fittings with an aperture joined at each of spaced apart locations to said manifold for delivering water from said manifold to within said U-shaped cross sectional configuration of said rain gutter; and a power head mounted in the aperture of each of said fittings to direct water from said manifold for displacing entraining debris along said gutter.

14. A gutter cleaning system according to claim 13 wherein said spaced side wall comprise an outer wall having an extended height substantially greater than the height of the remaining and inner wall, the arrangement being such that said outer wall extends upwardly substantially beyond a plane of a roof when said inner wall is affixed to structure of the roof.

15. A gutter cleaning system according to claim 14 wherein said inner wall is not more than 60% of the extended height of said outer wall.