Single piece gutter guard with girder

Abstract

A gutter guard device is described comprising a bridge member composed of a decking material having a plurality of orifices, and having a roof side and an opposing gutter lip side, at least one girder spanning a bottom 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 configured to attach to the roof side of the bridge member, and a gutter attachment member configured to attach to the gutter lip side of the bridge member, wherein the roof attachment member, the bridge member and the gutter attachment member are a single piece of material and the device is self-supporting.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A gutter guard device comprising:
 a bridge member composed of a decking material having a plurality of orifices, and having a roof side and an opposing gutter lip side;   at least one girder spanning a bottom 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 configured to attach to the roof side of the bridge member; and   a gutter attachment member configured to attach to the gutter lip side of the bridge member,   wherein the roof attachment member, the bridge member and the gutter attachment member are a single piece of material and the device is self-supporting.   
     
     
         2 . The gutter guard device of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one girder is a plurality of girders. 
     
     
         3 . The gutter guard device of  claim 1 , wherein a structure of the at least one girder is dual-girdered having a first side joined to an opposing second side via a connecting bottom side. 
     
     
         4 . The gutter guard device of  claim 3 , wherein the first and second sides are disposed perpendicular to the bridge member. 
     
     
         5 . The gutter guard device of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one girder is disposed at an angle from the bridge member. 
     
     
         6 . The gutter guard device of  claim 2 , wherein the plurality of girders are equidistant from each other. 
     
     
         7 . The gutter guard device of  claim 2 , wherein a girder of the plurality of girders spans the bridge member in a non-orthogonal orientation. 
     
     
         8 . The gutter guard device of  claim 2 , wherein the girder of the plurality of girders is bifurcated. 
     
     
         9 . The gutter guard device of  claim 1 , wherein a portion of the at least one girder on at least one of the gutter attachment member and roof attachment member has a reduced profile. 
     
     
         10 . The gutter guard device of  claim 9 , wherein the reduced profile is obtained by flattening the portion. 
     
     
         11 . The gutter guard device of  claim 1 , wherein a length of the at least one girder is less than a length between the bridge member's roof side and gutter lip side. 
     
     
         12 . The gutter guard device of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one girder is made from a separate material from the bridge member. 
     
     
         13 . The gutter guard device of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one girder has a cross-sectional profile shape of a “U.” 
     
     
         14 . The gutter guard device of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one barricade disposed in the bridge member. 
     
     
         15 . The gutter guard device of  claim 14 , wherein the at least one barricade has a shape of at least one of a number, circle, arrow, crescent, bump, dimple, and polygon. 
     
     
         16 . The gutter guard device of  claim 14 , wherein the at least one barricade is a plurality of barricades. 
     
     
         17 . The gutter guard device of  claim 14 , wherein the at least one barricade is not made from the bridge member's decking material. 
     
     
         18 . The gutter guard device of  claim 1 , wherein a roof side first section of the bridge member has a first elevation and a gutter side second section has a second elevation, the two sections being joined by a third section, to form a non-linear bridge member profile, wherein the at least one girder' profile is matched to the bridge member's profile. 
     
     
         19 . The gutter guard device of  claim 18 , wherein the first and section elevations are the same and the third section contains an apex, to form a peak. 
     
     
         20 . The gutter guard device of  claim 18 , wherein the first and section elevations are the same and the third section contains an inverted apex, to form a trough.