Rain gutter cover

Abstract

A cover panel to overlie the upwardly-facing opening of a rain gutter trough to block the entry into the trough of leaves and other debris which would otherwise block or restrict the flow of water from a downspout opening formed in the gutter trough. The cover includes a curved outermost end that overlies and is spaced from a front edge of the gutter trough and around which water flows into the gutter trough. The cover also includes a plurality of longitudinally-extending, spaced, parallel ridges for spreading a substantially uniform flow of water over and across the upper surface of the cover, and a plurality of longitudinally-extending rows of openings on the downstream side of the flow path of water over the cover after it has passed the ridges, to allow water to fall through the openings and into the gutter trough.

1 . A cover panel for overlying a rain gutter trough, said cover panel comprising: an elongated sheet of substantially rigid material, the sheet having an upper surface and a lower surface and including a longitudinally-extending rear edge panel for connection to at least one of a building wall surface adjacent to a rain water runoff region and a gutter trough rear wall, and including a convexly-curved front surface, wherein the rear edge panel and the cover front surface are spaced from each other a distance that corresponds substantially with a gutter trough width over which the cover panel is adapted to be positioned in inclined, overlying relationship; a plurality of spaced, substantially parallel, longitudinally-extending ridges formed on the upper surface of the cover panel and spaced from the cover rear edge panel; and a plurality of spaced, substantially parallel, longitudinally-extending rows of spaced, aligned apertures positioned between a lowermost ridge and the cover front surface for allowing at least a portion of rain water that flows over the upper surface of the cover to flow through the apertures and into the gutter trough. 
     
     
         2 . A cover panel in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the apertures are rectangular. 
     
     
         3 . A cover panel in accordance with  claim 2 , wherein the apertures have a major axis and a minor axis, and the apertures in a row have their major axes aligned with each other. 
     
     
         4 . A cover panel in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein apertures in adjacent rows are longitudinally offset from each other. 
     
     
         5 . A cover panel in accordance with  claim 4 , wherein apertures in adjacent rows at least partially overlap each other in the longitudinal direction so that water flowing over the cover upper surface and toward the front surface encounters and flows over at least one aperture. 
     
     
         6 . A cover panel in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the cover panel includes three ridges. 
     
     
         7 . A cover panel in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the cover panel includes four rows of apertures. 
     
     
         8 . A cover panel in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the apertures include respective downwardly-extending guide panels that are inclined relative to the cover upper surface for guiding into a downward direction water that flows into the openings. 
     
     
         9 . A cover panel in accordance with  claim 8 , wherein the guide panels extend from longitudinal edges of the apertures that are on upstream sides of the apertures, relative to the direction of water flow over the upper surface of the cover. 
     
     
         10 . A cover panel for overlying a rain gutter trough, said cover panel comprising: an elongated sheet of substantially rigid material, the sheet having an upper surface and a lower surface and including a longitudinally-extending rear edge panel for connection to at least one of a building wall surface adjacent to a rain water runoff region and a gutter trough rear wall, and including a convexly-curved front surface, wherein the rear edge panel and the cover front surface are spaced from each other a distance that corresponds substantially with a gutter trough width over which the cover panel is adapted to be positioned in inclined, overlying relationship; three spaced, substantially parallel, longitudinally-extending ridges formed on the upper surface of the cover panel and spaced from the cover rear edge panel; and four spaced, substantially parallel, longitudinally-extending rows of spaced, aligned apertures positioned between a lowermost ridge and the cover front surface for allowing at least a portion of rain water that flows over the upper surface of the cover to flow through the apertures and into the gutter trough, wherein the apertures are rectangular and have a major axis and a minor axis, and the apertures in a row have their major axes aligned with each other, and wherein apertures in adjacent rows are longitudinally offset from each other and at least partially overlap each other in the longitudinal direction so that water flowing over the cover upper surface and toward the front surface encounters and flows over at least one aperture.