Drain spout

Abstract

Externally mounted downspouts normally discharge water adjacent to a building's foundation. The drain spout of the present invention fits onto such downspouts to redirect the water away from the building's foundation, and is constructed of a durable and resilient rubber to avoid permanent deformation and blockage of its internal channel, and thus avoid moisture or water backing up into the foundation of the building. The drain spout is preferrably square or rectangular in shape, is four to five feet (1.2 to 1.5 meters) long, and is constructed of a pliable rubber forming at least a 1 / 8 inch (3.2 mm) thick wall having smooth inner walls and external ribs. Such construction avoids breaking, squashing, flattening, bending, or other damage of the drain spout, and provides resistance to impact, abrasion and tearing.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a device for use with gutter assemblies such as those on residential, commercial and industrial structures, and in particular to a device for channeling the discharged fluid of a downspout of a gutter assembly.[0002] Gutter assemblies are typically mounted about a sloped roof for channeling rain water to one or more vertically oriented downspouts (also referred to as "drain-pipes") which discharge the water at ground level. It is generally desireable to channel this discharged water away from a structure's foundation to avoid water seepage through the foundation or other damage which may result from a buildup of water in the vicinity of the downspout. Hence, extensions, which will also be referred hereinafter as "drain spouts", are often added to the bottom end of downspouts to divert the water further away from foundations. However, prior art drain spouts suffer from many disadvantages.[0003] There are a variety of drain spouts currently avai...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010] The novel drain spout of the present invention is designed to replace existing drain spouts having the above-noted limitations and disadvantages due to poor quality, design or construction. It provides for a continual flow of water or moisture to improve the performance of existing downspout and gutter systems. In general, the present drain spout is designed to prevent structural disfiguration or collapse of its original, i.e. undeformed, structural shape to allow flow of water therethrough to resume once an impacting force is removed therefrom.

[0011] Regarding structure, versatility, function and especially durability, the novel down spout has structural durability due to its structural characteristics and the chemical make up of the product, which is constructed of a seamless form of rubber tubing (with a compound base of EPDM (Ethylene Propylene Diene Methylene) type rubber) having the following general properties: resistance to degradation by heat, light, ozone; and low air permeability. The rubber also has the following properties: good low / high temperature properties (i.e. -40 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit), good acid and base resistance, fair water swell resistance, fair compression set and good solvent resistance. EPDM rubber is employed because its chemical composition allows for desired flexibility and durability, thus avoiding the breaking, bending, cracking, flattening, squashing, splitting and any impacts, abrasions or tearing of the novel product's walls.

[0013] The novel down spout also eliminates the need for hinges and seams, which should provide the prodcut with a longer life span.

[0014] The simplicity and resilient nature of the device allows for easy installation, thus avoiding the need to employ outside installation aid (i.e. installation contractors) and saving the consumer time and money.

Problems solved by technology

However, prior art drain spouts suffer from many disadvantages.

Current problems or negative aspects of such existing marketed products include improper structural design, high maintenance costs, installation difficulties, lack of esthetic appeal, lack of versatility, replacement costs when damaged), lack of durability due to environmental effects (including degradation by heat, light, ozone, low / high temperatures, and freezing), and poor solvent resistance.

In particular, current structural, durability and versatility difficulties or flaws for some of the above products (i.e. for metal, aluminum, hard plastic, and unrolling soft plastic tube products) include breaking, squashing, bending cracking, splitting (of a product's wall), flattening of each device and solvent erosion.

Other flaws include the short life expectancy of hinges or seams of a product.

In some cases the prior art product requires special installation that is not easily done by a purchaser of the product, and so a contractor must be employed to install the device at increased cost and inconvenience to the purchaser.

Due to most products' fragile nature, they are easily deformed or damaged to the point of requiring repeated repair or replacement on a yearly, monthly, or even weekly basis, depending on the particular product and the environmental circumstances.

Environmental hazards such as the aforementioned degradation by heat, light, ozone, low / high temperature fluctuations and freezing potentially "destroy" the current marketed products due to their stuctural and manufacturing shortcomings.

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