Down spout guard made from non-woven material

Abstract

A guard for preventing debris from entering a downspout of a rain gutter is provided. The guard includes a piece of non-woven material having a top surface, and a plurality of cross-sections that increase in area toward the top surface. The cross sections are generally complementary to an opening of the downspout. The material is adapted to extend at least partially into the downspout. The increase in area of the cross-sections toward the top surface prevents the material from being over-inserted into the downspout opening.

1 . A guard for preventing debris from entering a downspout of a rain gutter, the guard comprising: 
 a substantially tapered piece of non-woven material comprising a plurality of respective cross-sections that are generally complementary to an opening of the downspout, the material being adapted to extend at least partially into the downspout.    
   
   
       2 . The guard of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more channels extending through the non-woven material.  
   
   
       3 . The guard of  claim 1 , further comprising a handle formed from a recess in the non-woven material.  
   
   
       4 . The guard of  claim 1 , further comprising a handle formed from a loop connected to the non-woven material.  
   
   
       5 . The guard of  claim 1 , further comprising a fence guard comprising a grid portion resting in the rain gutter and an attachment portion inserted into the non-woven material.  
   
   
       6 . A guard for preventing debris from entering a downspout of a rain gutter, the guard comprising: 
 a piece of non-woven material comprising 
 a top surface, and  
 a plurality of cross-sections that increase in area toward the top surface, the cross sections being generally complementary to an opening of the downspout, and the material being adapted to extend at least partially into the downspout,  
   wherein the increase in area of the cross-sections toward the top surface prevents the material from being over-inserted into the downspout opening.    
   
   
       7 . The guard of  claim 6 , wherein the area of at least one of the cross sections is greater than an area of the downspout opening.  
   
   
       8 . The guard of  claim 6 , wherein the cross sections are stepped with respect to each other.  
   
   
       9 . The guard of  claim 8 , wherein each stepped cross section comprises a respective substantially horizontal abutment surface, and at least one of the substantially horizontal abutment surfaces contacts a bottom surface of the rain gutter, thereby preventing the material from being over-inserted into the downspout opening.  
   
   
       10 . The guard of  claim 6 , wherein the plurality of cross-sections that increase in area toward the top surface result in a substantially smoothly tapered piece of non-woven material.  
   
   
       11 . The guard of  claim 6 , further comprising one or more channels extending through the non-woven material.  
   
   
       12 . The guard of  claim 11 , wherein the channel(s) have a combined area not greater than about 25% of a corresponding cross-sectional area of the downspout.  
   
   
       13 . The guard of  claim 11 , wherein the combined area of the channel(s) is between 5% and 20% of a cross-sectional area of the downspout.  
   
   
       14 . The guard of  claim 11 , wherein the combined area of the channel(s) is between 10% and 15% of a cross-sectional area of the downspout.  
   
   
       15 . The guard of  claim 6 , further comprising a handle for removing the guard from an installed position in the downspout.  
   
   
       16 . The guard of  claim 15 , wherein the handle comprises a recess formed in the non-woven material.  
   
   
       17 . The guard of  claim 15 , wherein the handle comprises a loop connected to the non-woven material.  
   
   
       18 . The guard of  claim 6 , further comprising a fence guard comprising a grid portion resting in the rain gutter and an attachment portion inserted into the non-woven material.  
   
   
       19 . The guard of  claim 6 , wherein the non-woven material comprises a synthetic fiber web treated with at least one binding agent.  
   
   
       20 . The guard of  claim 6 , wherein the non-woven material comprises a synthetic fiber web having at least a 60% net free area.