Downspout with self-mounting and locking escutcheon plate

Abstract

A downspout nozzle and self-mounting and locking escutcheon plate for directing stormwater away from a building including a spout which mounts to a drainpipe and an escutcheon plate which can be secured to the downspout nozzle without requiring contact with the wall, or use of hardware, adhesives or bonding agents. Further, the escutcheon plate can be secured at any point along the length of the downspout nozzle, and can be adjusted or removed post installation without requiring adjusting or removal of the downspout nozzle. The method of installing this system involves providing the system, cutting the drainpipe to a desired length, fixing the spout onto the drainpipe, and pushing the plate onto the spout until it is substantially flush against the wall.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A self-mounting downspout system for directing fluid away from a building having a drainpipe and a wall, the system comprising:
 a spout that slides onto and is coupled to the plastic drainpipe and/or the wall, the spout having a lip and a spout outer circumference; and   a plate having a front side, a back side and a hole having an inner circumference, wherein the plate is adjustably fixable to the spout outer circumference.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the plate is fixed to the spout outer circumference through a friction fit with the inner circumference of the hole. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the plate has no screw holes. 
     
     
         4 . The self-mounting downspout system of  claim 1 , wherein the plate is an escutcheon plate. 
     
     
         5 . The self-mounting downspout system of  claim 4 , wherein the spout has a back edge and wherein the spout is coupled to the plastic drainpipe such that the back edge is substantially flush to the wall. 
     
     
         6 . The self-mounting downspout system of  claim 1 , wherein the plate has an edge circumference separated from the hole by a hollow, wherein the plate is contoured such that the inner circumference projects from the back side of the plate past the edge circumference. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the escutcheon plate can be repositioned along the length of the spout post-installation without requiring movement, adjustment, or removal of the spout. 
     
     
         8 . A self-mounting downspout system for directing fluid away from a building having a plastic drainpipe and a wall, the system comprising:
 a spout that slides onto and is coupled to the plastic drainpipe and/or the wall, the spout having a lip and a spout outer circumference, the spout having at least one locking track disposed on the spout outer circumference; and   a plate having a front side, a back side and a hole having an inner circumference wherein the hole has at least one lock disposed on the inner circumference that engages with a locking track.   
     
     
         9 . The self-mounting downspout system of  claim 8 , wherein the locking track is a plurality of inwardly angled teeth. 
     
     
         10 . The self-mounting downspout system of  claim 9 , wherein the at least one lock comprises a pivoting lever and a pawl. 
     
     
         11 . The self-mounting downspout system of  claim 10 , wherein a pawl comes into contact with the at least one tooth to allow travel of the lock along the lock track in only one direction. 
     
     
         12 . The self-mounting downspout system of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one locking mechanism locks the plate portion to the spout along the at least one locking track of the spout portion. 
     
     
         13 . The self-mounting downspout system of  claim 8 , wherein the plate is an escutcheon plate. 
     
     
         14 . The self-mounting downspout system of  claim 8 , wherein the spout further comprises a lip for directing the fluid away from the building. 
     
     
         15 . The self-mounting downspout system of  claim 8 , wherein the spout has a back edge and wherein the spout is coupled to the drainpipe such that the back edge is substantially flush to the wall. 
     
     
         16 . The self-mounting downspout system of  claim 8 , further comprising a release to unlock the lock on the locking track. 
     
     
         17 . The self-mounting downspout system of  claim 8 , wherein the plate has an edge circumference separated from the hole by a hollow, wherein the edge circumference projects from the back side of the plate past the inner circumference. 
     
     
         18 . The self-mounting downspout system of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one locking track is a first locking track on a first side of the inner circumference and a second locking track directly across the hole on an opposite side of the inner circumference. 
     
     
         19 . The self-mounting downspout system of  claim 8 , wherein the plate has an edge circumference separated from the hole by a hollow, wherein the plate is contoured such that the inner circumference projects from the back side of the plate past the edge circumference allowing the plate to achieve a flush fit with the wall in cases where the back of the spout does not reach the wall. 
     
     
         20 . The self-mounting downspout system of  claim 8 , wherein the spout has a length and the locking track spans a portion of the length such that the plate can be selectively locked into one of a plurality of positions along the length. 
     
     
         21 . A method of installing a self-mounting downspout system on a building having a plastic drainpipe and a wall, the method comprising the acts of:
 providing the self-mounting downspout system of  claim 1 ;   cutting the drainpipe to a desired length;   placing and coupling the spout onto the drainpipe; and   pushing the plate onto the spout until the plate portion is substantially flush against the wall.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the spout has a back edge, the method further comprising aligning the back edge to be substantially flush to the wall and locking the plate to the spout. 
     
     
         23 . A downspout dressing for a downspout system having a nozzle, the downspout dressing comprising:
 an escutcheon plate that is configured to be secured directly to the nozzle.   
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 23 , wherein the escutcheon plate has a position relative to the nozzle and wherein the position relative to the nozzle is adjustable.