Gutter guard with truss

Abstract

A self-supporting gutter guard device is described, comprising: a bridge member composed of a sheet or micro-mesh decking material having a plurality of orifices, and having a roof side and an opposing gutter lip side; at least one truss spanning a top surface of the bridge member from a proximal end of the bridge member's roof side to a proximal end of the bridge member's gutter lip side; a roof attachment member attached to an end section of the roof side of the bridge member and configured to attach to a roof; and a gutter attachment member attached to an end section of the gutter lip side of the bridge member and configured to attach to a gutter lip, wherein the device is self-supporting.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A gutter guard device comprising:
 a bridge member composed of a sheet or micro-mesh decking material having a plurality of orifices, and having a roof side and an opposing gutter lip side;   at least one truss spanning a top surface of the bridge member from a proximal end of the bridge member's roof side to a proximal end of the bridge member's gutter lip side;   a roof attachment member attached to an end section of the roof side of the bridge member and configured to attach to a roof; and   a gutter attachment member attached to an end section of the gutter lip side of the bridge member and configured to attach to a gutter lip,   wherein the device is self-supporting.   
     
     
         2 . The gutter guard device of  claim 1 , wherein the micro-mesh material is at least one of pre-tensioned and includes inter-woven diagonal strands of material. 
     
     
         3 . The gutter guard device of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one truss is a plurality of trusses. 
     
     
         4 . The gutter guard device of  claim 2 , wherein the at least one truss is composed from the decking material of the bridge member. 
     
     
         5 . The gutter guard device of  claim 1 , wherein a portion of the at least one truss at the proximal ends of the bridge member, has a reduced profile. 
     
     
         6 . The gutter guard device of  claim 5 , wherein the reduced profile is obtained by flattening the portion. 
     
     
         7 . The gutter guard device of  claim 1 , wherein a structure of the at least one truss is dual-trussed having a first side joined to an opposing second side via a connecting top side. 
     
     
         8 . The gutter guard device of  claim 7 , wherein the first and second sides are disposed perpendicular to the bridge member. 
     
     
         9 . The gutter guard device of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one truss is disposed at an angle from the bridge member. 
     
     
         10 . The gutter guard device of  claim 3 , wherein the plurality of trusses are equidistant from each other. 
     
     
         11 . The gutter guard device of  claim 3 , wherein a truss of the plurality of trusses spans the bridge member in a non-orthogonal orientation. 
     
     
         12 . The gutter guard device of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one truss is not equidistant from both proximal ends of the bridge member. 
     
     
         13 . The gutter guard device of  claim 6 , wherein at least one of the roof attachment member and the gutter attachment member is attached to the bridge member proximal to the flattened portion of the at least one truss. 
     
     
         14 . The gutter guard device of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the roof attachment member and gutter attachment member have a receiving center configured for securing the bridge member to the respective attachment member. 
     
     
         15 . The gutter guard device of  claim 14 , wherein the receiving center's securing mechanism is at least one of a plurality of teeth, tabs, inner tab and channel, outer tab and channel, and a channel. 
     
     
         16 . The gutter guard device of  claim 14 , wherein the gutter attachment member is substantially T-shaped, one side of a top of the T configured for attachment to a gutter lip and an other side of the top disposed with the receiving center. 
     
     
         17 . The gutter guard device of  claim 14 , wherein one side of roof attachment member is blunt-shaped and the other side is disposed with the receiving center. 
     
     
         18 . The gutter guard device of  claim 1 , further comprising a reinforcement cover having an inverted U shape operable to partially or completely encase the at least one truss. 
     
     
         19 . The gutter guard of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one truss is formed from a different material than the bridge member's decking material. 
     
     
         20 . The gutter guard device of  claim 19 , wherein the at least one truss has attachment flanges to attach the at least one truss to the bridge member. 
     
     
         21 - 42 . (canceled)