Here is a design of a gutter that never clogs. It takes advantage of surface tension, the natural tendency of water to follow a surface when it can. In this case, the water flows around the curve and into the gutter, allowing leaf litter to wash off the edge, falling to the ground, unobstructed.
This has been on my mind for some time. My father patented an invention he called "Gutter Baskets," a system that prevented leaf litter from clogging up the drain by suspending it in a basket over the downspout. The device would modify traditional gutters. Unfortunately it never took off. Maybe I will have better luck!
Brett
2 comments:
In a hard rain wouldn't the momentum of the water still wash straight out along the path of the leaf litter?
I don't think so, because it is an issue of volume, not velocity. More water doesn't fall faster, it loses almost all of its momentum when it hits the roof, and so its velocity is governed by gravity. A steeply pitched roof will need a more gentle curve, a shallow roof needs very little. Surface tension is a powerful force.
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