Application of heat to a screen or mesh covering a gutter, specifically to melt snow or ice

Abstract

A screen (15) applied to overlay a gutter (14) on an outside edge of a roof (11) of a building. The screen comprises a panel (15) of generally planar mesh affixed along a first edge to the roof (11) and along the opposite edge of the panel to the top outside edge (18) of the guttering (14). The mesh is formed of moulded plastics material and the panel (15) has an electrically powered heating strand (50) extending along the panel in the direction of said first edge. A screen (15) applied to overlay a gutter (14) on an outside edge of a roof (11) of a building. The screen comprises a panel (15) of generally planar mesh affixed along a first edge to the roof (11) and along the opposite edge of the panel to the top outside edge (18) of the guttering (14). The mesh is formed of moulded plastics material and the panel (15) has an electrically powered heating strand (50) extending along the panel in the direction of said first edge.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] This invention concerns the provision of heat to a screen covering the guttering on the roof of a house or other building. [0002] Mesh materials are commonly installed as screens over guttering along the edge of building roofs for the purpose of preventing the entry of unwanted materials such as sticks, leaves, and other tree debris, large insects, litter and the like into the guttering while still allowing water to flow from the roof into the guttering. In some places such guttering is called a gutter or spouting, but the general shape remains the same being an open topped channel, usually made of metal or plastics material, positioned to collect rainwater as it runs off a roof and gently sloped to deliver the collected water to one or more discharge points, usually downwardly directed downpipes. [0003] It is well known that the collection of unwanted materials in guttering causes overflowing of the guttering, blockage of the outflow pipes, consti...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0025] It is highly desirable that a mesh readily discards any leaf litter and the like which falls onto or is washed onto it. Non discarded material catches other material and also organically breaks down to drop fine material into the guttering. The invention therefore provides that the thickness of the longitudinal strands may extend for substantially the full thickness of the mesh from said top face to said bottom face, and the thickness of the lateral strands may extend along their full length from said top face to less than 80% of the thickness of the mesh. The mesh would accordingly have a smooth top face, with the longitudinal strands and the lateral strands extending through to the top face, while the bottom face would carry ridges aligned in the direction of the lateral strands. The lateral strands may be spaced closer to each other than are the longitudinal strands, and the apertures may have an oval shape with their longer axis parallel to the lateral strands.

[0028] In a further aspect the invention provides a method of reducing the downward force of snow upon a mesh screen extended above a gutter on an outside edge of a roof of a building for the purpose of preventing the entry of unwanted materials into the gutter, said screen comprising a panel of mesh in a generally planar form affixed along one edge of the panel to the roof and along the opposite edge of the panel to the top outside edge of the gutter, said method comprising applying, when snow is covering the mesh, an electric current to an electrical heating strand extending along the mesh in the direction of said one edge of the panel. The mesh is preferably formed of moulded plastics material.

Problems solved by technology

It is well known that the collection of unwanted materials in guttering causes overflowing of the guttering, blockage of the outflow pipes, constitutes a fire hazard and contributes to corrosion of the guttering.

It also contaminates any water collected from the roof for drinking or other domestic purposes.

However such meshes can bring disadvantages in regions prone to snowfall.

As snow builds up, its weight can create substantial downwards pressure on the mesh, so causing it to stretch or tear or otherwise distort its fastenings to the roof or guttering.

But if the mesh is not retained in a slight tension, the appearance and effectiveness of the mesh is reduced as the mesh sags into the gutter and does not shed the foreign material as readily.

Snow and ice sliding down along roofs and from roofs of buildings is a source of damage to the roofs, to the guttering along the edges of the roof to people and other objects below.

Large chunks falling commonly cause serious injury to people and damage motor vehicles and other items below.

Another problem with using mesh screening in snow-prone regions is that as snow which has packed onto a roof then slides off the roof in a sheet, the mesh can suffer substantial damage if the snow does not slip smoothly across it.

Although this material is often small enough to be flushed away without blocking downpipes and drains, it can build up in the guttering and can also contaminate the water if it is stored in tanks for drinking.

Perhaps more importantly though is that such mesh is so coarse that sticks and leaf stems easily become caught in it.

But if a mesh is fine enough to screen out the desired level of fine materials, this commonly impacts adversely on the mesh's ability to allow water to pass through, particularly at times of high rates of rainfall.

However such heating is somewhat distant from the roofline where heating would be most effective.

Also as the heating means is in contact with the gutter, substantial heat loss occurs from conduction through the gutter material to the surrounding air instead of it being directed into melting snow / ice.

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