Flatpack gutter trap
View Patent ↗A one piece, planar flatpack gutter trap formed and creased on its top surface in a configuration so as to allow assembly into a gutter system trap. It is capable of folding assembly on a job site with a minimum of hand tools and an object with a sharp linear edge. It has a leaf guard incorporated thereon that is capable of locking the gutter trap in its assembled configuration to prevent the collapse of the leaf trap and to increase the lateral stability of the device.
1. A gutter trap for use with a downspout of a gutter system comprising:
a unitary, planar substrate with a series of plates formed thereon a face of said planar substrate by a series of V shaped linear creases formed between a pair of opposing edges on said face of said planar substrate at the edges of said plates; wherein said series of plates are folded, and said opposing edges joined at a seam to assemble a conduit with an upper throat and a bottom planar ring edge, said bottom planar ring edge sized for insertion into a commercially sized drain pipe;
a leaf guard plate formed on said planar substrate and extending from a plate of said series of plates, at a linear crease of said series of V shaped linear creases and extending across said upper throat to said seam and residing at an angle with respect to said planar ring edge;
wherein said series of plates are contiguous, made of a series of five consecutively adjacent plates having a central plate and a series of two consecutively adjacent rectangular plates that extend from said central plate of said series of consecutively adjacent five plates.
2. The gutter trap of claim 1 comprising:
a back inner seam plate;
a first side plate;
a center plate;
a second side plate;
a back outer seam plate;
wherein said leaf guard plate has a series of orifices formed therethrough, and is one plate of said series of two consecutively adjacent rectangular plates that extend from said central plate; and
a lock plate, said lock plate extending from said leaf guard plate; and
wherein said seam plates and said lock plate have a single crease, said side plates and said leaf guard plates have two creases, and said center plate has three creases.
3. The gutter trap of claim 2 wherein said series of said five consecutively adjacent plates is connected to form said conduit by a linear seam of a conjointed first half seam formed on the edge of said back inner seam plate and a second half seam formed on the edge of said back outer seam plate.
4. The gutter trap of claim 3 wherein said first seam half is formed of overlapping substrate that forms a recess into which a tab of said second half seam is insertable to form a lockingly engageable crimpable seal.