Rain Gutter Rotation System (RGRS)

Abstract

Using two new integral component types, RGRS provides an effective way from the ground to rotate and clean rain gutters. The Rotating Bracket attaches to the fascia board and maintains the normally upright gutter. A self-closing hinge in the rotating bracket provides retention yet allows the gutter to be rotated forward 180 degrees for cleaning. The Collector Box located directly under the gutter floor is secured to the fascia board and connects to a standard downspout. The collector box captures water from a drain hole in the gutter floor and directs it into the downspout. There is no connection between the gutter and collector box. Using a third non-integral component, comprised of an actuation rod/cleaning brush tool attached to an extendable telescopic pole, an operator at ground level can rotate, manually clean (if gravity can not dislodge wet contents present) and upright the gutter.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . Off-the-shelf trough shaped gutters readily available and widely used in fixed gutter systems, are made rotatable and cleanable from the ground by integrating two new component types that are claimed in this invention: the rotating bracket and the collector box. A third component, an actuation rod-cleaning brush tool is also claimed, but it is not an integral part of the installed rotatable gutter system. 
     
     
         2 . The rotating bracket of  claim 1  is the sole component required for normally supporting a rain gutter of the type having a vertical back wall, a horizontal floor and vertical front wall in an upright position and allows the rain gutter to rotate forward and over 180 degrees to an inverted position to be cleaned, and is comprised of three sub components:
 an L shaped strength member in which the vertical rear section is adapted to be secured to the fascia or trim board of a building and in which the horizontal forward ledge provides support for the floor of a U-shaped cradle that seats and secures the gutter, and in which the front end of the horizontal ledge bends perpendicularly downward forming a short stub which provides 
 a means to limit hinge travel for optimum positioning of the gutter in the inverted cleaning position. 
 a generally U-shaped cradle having a vertical front wall to which the front wall of the gutter is secured, a horizontal floor providing support for the floor of the gutter and a vertical rear wall to which the rear wall of the gutter is secured. 
 a self-closing hinge that connects the cradle to the L-member horizontal ledge and provides, 
 a means of resilient bias for maintaining the cradle and gutter in the normally upright position, and 
 a means to pivotally rotate the cradle and gutter forward about the front end of the horizontal ledge to an inverted position. 
 
     
     
         3 . The collector box of  claim 1  provides a way to separate the downspout from the gutter so the gutter can be rotated forward and over for cleaning, while still providing a rainwater drain path from the gutter to the downspout when the gutter is in the normally upright position.
 the collector box is a rectangular, shallow, open top, water-tight box constructed of flashing material which has a length of 6 inches, a width from front to back of 3½″ and an extended back wall rising above the 1¼″ high sidewalls and front wall, thus providing a means of attaching the box to the fascia board. 
 the box is located directly under a drain hole cut in the gutter floor, with the side and front walls of the box flush against the gutter floor, and receives rainwater from the upright gutter that in turn flows into a short pipe stub (drop) emanating down from the floor of the box which is sized to fit into downspouts of different sizes most commonly 2″×3″ and 3″×4″, thereby routing water down and away from the building. 
 as the gutter is rotated forward to be cleaned, the collector box remains fixed in place atop the downspout. 
 
     
     
         4 . the rotating bracket of  claim 2 , wherein said means to pivotally rotate the cradle and gutter is provided by a self-closing hinge in which each leaf forms a right angle plate and in which both plates are parallel and adjacent along their entire length in the closed position and in which the end of the inner hinge leaf is attached to the forward end of the upper side of the horizontal ledge with the hinge knuckle is butted against the vertical down stub of the horizontal ledge, and in which the other hinge leaf is bifurcated forming two outer leaves the ends of which are each secured to the forward end of the cradle floor such that the cradle can rotate 180 degrees about the forward end of the horizontal ledge. 
     
     
         5 . the rotating bracket of  claim 2  wherein said resilient bias is provided by internal action within the self-closing hinge is clarified here. The self-closing hinge used in this invention is an off-the-shelf part much as a screw or other piece of hardware is. The self-closing mechanism it employs is used by most manufacturers of this type of self-closing hinge, and is not a claim of this invention. It is explained because the non-linear, spring action of the hinge is a key factor in the operation of the rotating bracket.
 Resilient force results from cam action in the self-closing hinge knuckles where the inner hinge leaf knuckle has a flat area on an otherwise round surface and the knuckle of the other leaf contains two small springs that press a small plastic block, limited to forward and backward motion only, against the knuckle of the inner leaf such that when the hinge is closed the plastic block is flush against the flat on the inner hinge knuckle. As the hinge leaves begin to open the edge of the block is rotated against the flat, compressing the springs and generating a force that tends to move the leaves back toward the closed position. As the leaves are further opened and the angle between the hinge leaves reaches approximately 45 degrees, the block leaves the flat and moves into contact with the round portion of the inner leaf knuckle reducing the retentive force to zero and leaving only the low resistance friction of the block moving tangentially along the round portion of the knuckle throughout the remainder of the leaf travel to the fully open position. 
 
     
     
         6 . the rotating bracket of  claim 2  wherein said means to limit hinge travel is provided by the vertically downward stub at the front end of the horizontal ledge of the L-shape member such that the hinge knuckle is placed against the face of the stub with the hinge leaves following the face of the stub up and at a right angle onto the end of the horizontal ledge with the inner hinge leaf connected to the end of the ledge. As the hinge opens the outer bifurcated hinge leaf connected to the cradle rotates about the hinge knuckle axis and stops against the stub section below the hinge knuckle in a position with the cradle and gutter inverted 180 degrees from the upright starting position. 
     
     
         7 . A rotatable rain gutter system for supporting a rain gutter of the type having a vertical back wall, a horizontal floor and vertical front wall in an upright position and allows the rain gutter to rotate forward and over 180 degrees to an inverted position to be cleaned, comprising:
 a plurality of spaced rotating brackets to be secured to the fascia or trim of a building and to receive the rain gutter, each comprised of:   an L shaped strength member in which the vertical rear section is adapted to be secured to the fascia or trim board of a building and in which the horizontal forward section provides support for the floor of a U-shaped cradle that seats and secures the gutter, and in which the front end of the horizontal section bends perpendicularly downward forming a short stub used to limit hinge travel in the fully rotated forward position to 180 degrees of rotation from the upright operating position.   a U-shaped cradle having a vertical front wall to which the front wall of the gutter is secured, a horizontal floor providing support for the floor of the gutter and a vertical rear wall to which the rear wall of the gutter is secured.   a self-closing hinge that pivotally connects the cradle and horizontal section of the L-shaped member allowing 180 degrees of rotation of the cradle and gutter about the end of the horizontal section, and provides a resilient force derived from the cam action of internal springs and a plastic block in the hinge knuckle of one leaf pushing against the shaped surface of the other hinge knuckle, such that the resilient force tending to close the hinge is in effect until the hinge leaves are at 45 degrees of separation, after which the resilient force is zero through the reminder of hinge leaf travel to the fully open position.   
     
     
         8 . the rotatable rain gutter system of  claim 7  includes hidden metal gutter hangers located at certain intervals along the gutter, typically used in fixed systems to secure the gutter to the fascia, which here are installed between and secured to the upper front gutter wall and upper rear gutter wall solely to add rigidity to the gutter. 
     
     
         9 . The collector box of  claim 3  is designated a straight collector box and is installed anywhere under the length of a straight rotatable gutter section at the location of the downspout draining the gutter. When expanded in length to 12″ the collector box is designated a long collector box and is used where two straight gutter sections meet inline and drain into a common downspout. 
     
     
         10 . The collector box of  claim 3  when elongated in length and formed into an L-shape consisting of two legs each 16″ in length along the front wall and each 19½″ in length along the back wall is designated an inside corner collector box. It is installed with the back wall of each leg flush against one side an inside corner and directly under the ends of the two gutter sections that meet at the corner, and where one or both gutters drain through the collector box into a common downspout attached to a drop located in either of the leg of the box. 
     
     
         11 . The collector box of  claim 3  when elongated in length and formed into an L-shape consisting of two legs each 19½″ in length along the front wall and each 16″ in length along the back wall is designated an outside corner collector box. It is installed with the back wall of each leg flush against one side of an outside corner and directly under the ends of the two gutter sections that meet at the corner, and where one or both gutters drain through the collector box into a common downspout attached to a drop located in either of the leg of the box. 
     
     
         12 . Where multiple gutter corners are in close proximity due to the path of the roofline, e.g., a small porch with two inside and two outside corners, downspout usage of one per corner exceeds the requirement of the roof area drained. In such cases, a U-shaped collector channel with the same 3½″ width and 1¼″ wall height of the water carrying section of all collector boxes is run between the collector boxes of adjacent corners serving the defined small area, in effect forming a continuous water channel that is drained by a single downspout connected at any point on the channel or at any of the corner collector boxes. The collector channel is carried under rotating brackets in an L-shaped bracket that mounts to the vertically downward stub of the support member of the rotating bracket. 
     
     
         13 . the rotatable rain gutter system of  claim 7  includes at least one collector box type for proper drainage of each rotatable gutter segment, the type of which is determined by the use and placement of said gutter segment. 
     
     
         14 . The actuation rod-cleaning brush tool of  claim 1  is:
 a T-shaped tool with a ¾″ diameter×5 thread per inch female connector at the base of the stem, a double hook shaped metal rod forming one arm and a long corncob-shaped brush forming the other arm, 
 where the rod on the tool is used to rotate the gutter from the upright position to the inverted cleaning position from the ground by placing the inner down-hook of the rod over the top of the gutter front wall near the center of the gutter span and pulling it forward and down into the inverted cleaning position, and conversely returning the inverted gutter to the upright position by pushing the outer up-hook of the rod against the inverted back wall of the gutter near the center of the gutter span causing it to rotate up and back into the upright position, 
 and where, if needed, a variable angle cleaning brush that the user can adjust as required is used to dislodge contents from an inverted gutter that gravity alone cannot dislodge. 
 a variable length telescopic pole with a ¾″ diameter×5 thread per inch male connector at the end, not claimed in this invention, is used to elevate the tool to the height of the gutter being cleaned.