it is to be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the present discussion is a description of exemplary embodiments only , and is not intended as limiting the broader aspects of the present invention , which broader aspects are embodied in the exemplary constructions . fig1 illustrates a gutter cover 10 of the present invention installed in conjunction with a rain gutter 12 . rain gutter 12 is conventionally positioned to collect and divert rain water flowing off the roof 14 of a structure such as a house . gutter cover 10 includes an elongate cover member 16 located over the open trough of gutter 12 . a plurality of spaced apart brackets , such as those explained more fully below , maintain cover member 16 in position with respect to gutter 12 . as shown in fig2 cover member 16 has a cover portion 18 integrally extending about a rounded nose portion 20 into a water directing portion 22 . a web member 24 extends between the inner surfaces of cover portion 18 and water directing portion 20 to maintain a predetermined angular separation θ . in this case , web member 24 is shown located relatively close to nose portion 20 . often , however , it will be desirable to position web member 24 at other locations along the inside surface of water directing portion 22 and at various angles other than that which is shown . preferably , the outer surface of cover member 16 has excellent water filming characteristics . gutter cover 10 thus functions in a manner similar to the prior art , directing rain water into the gutter while deflecting away leaves and other debris . in order to make the gutter cover less noticeable when viewed from the ground , the illustrated embodiment has a &# 34 ; low profile &# 34 ; configuration . toward this end , both cover portion 18 and water directing portion 22 may be generally planar as shown . nose portion 20 preferably has a relatively small diameter , such as only about 0 . 25 &# 34 ; in one exemplary embodiment . in such embodiments , the angular separation θ between cover portion 18 and water directing portion 22 may be about 32 °. cover portion 18 is attached to roof 14 by nails , such as nail 26 , or other suitable means of attachment . in this case , the edge of cover portion 18 is inserted under shingles 28 , which may be the first course of shingles in many cases . a longitudinal recess 29 is defined in cover portion 18 to receive an adhesive sealing strip 30 therein . alternatively , cover portion 18 may lay atop the first course , as appropriate to conditions in the particular installation . due to water filming characteristics , rain water falling on and flowing over cover portion 18 will follow the contour of cover member 16 . in other words , the water will flow about nose portion 20 and along water directing portion 22 . as indicated at 30 , the water will then flow into the open gutter at the location where water directing portion 22 terminates . referring now to fig3 and 4 , certain important aspects of the present invention will be described . as noted above , prior art gutter covers have typically been provided in discrete lengths of rigid material . this has often required considerable labor and skill during the installation process . they have also required considerable space to ship and store quantities of the gutter cover material . to overcome these disadvantages , cover member 16 is made from a flexible material which may be formed into a compact supply configuration . in fact , the material may be coiled in its long dimension in presently preferred embodiments to permit dispensing indeterminate continuous at the job site . while the material should be flexible for coiling , it should be rigid enough so that no substantial sagging occurs between mounting brackets when cover member 16 is installed . fig3 illustrates a coil 32 of cover member 16 that has been produced in this manner . at the time of installation , the material is simply unreeled from the coil and cut at the desired length . for example , if the length of a &# 34 ; run &# 34 ; to be installed is twenty - three feet , a corresponding length of material may be cut on site . one continuous cover can then be installed instead of four five - foot lengths and a tailored three - foot piece as may have been installed in the past . fig4 shows cover member 16 in the flattened supply configuration . as described above , this flattened configuration permits cover member 16 to be easily coiled . because cover member 16 will be thicker on the nose portion side , it may be desirable to utilize an inexpensive , disposable cord or tape on the opposite lateral side for the purpose of achieving a stable reel . alternatively , the same result might be achieved by providing opposed flange walls on the reel . preferably , cover member 16 is made from materials that are substantially entirely &# 34 ; deformation reversible .&# 34 ; according to this concept , which is described in u . s . pat . no . 5 , 638 , 643 ( incorporated herein by reference ), cover member 16 may be manufactured in the nonflattened configuration of fig2 . cover member 16 is then flattened when reeled , and remains so during storage and shipment . upon being unreeled , however , the nonflattened configuration will again be formed . preferably , the material will have &# 34 ; memory &# 34 ; such that the nonflattened state returns automatically . referring now to fig5 further details regarding the construction of cover member 16 may be explained . in this case , cover member 16 is formed to have alternate regions of greater flexibility and greater rigidity . in particular , greater flexibility is provided at locations 34 and 36 . location 34 corresponds to nose portion 20 ( including web member 24 ), which must undergo substantial deformation during coiling . location 36 is an inflection point provided so that various roof pitches can be easily accommodated . greater rigidity is provided in the other regions of cover member 16 . in presently preferred embodiments , the regions of greater rigidity may be formed of pvc or another material having similar properties . the more flexible regions may be formed , for example , of a flexible rubber compound , flexible pvc or the like . alternatively , pvc or other similar material may simply have a sufficiently thin cross section which renders it more flexible than other regions . where cover member 16 is formed of more than one material , the constituent materials may be coextruded during the manufacturing process . depending on the material chosen , it may be desirable to enhance hydrophilicity at the surface , thus achieving better filming of water flowing thereacross . various techniques are believed to enhance the water filming characteristics of such a material , including abrading , chemical cleaning and coating , as with a suitable paint . fig6 illustrates an alternative cover member 16 &# 39 ; produced in accordance with the present invention . a series of parallel score lines , such as those indicated at 38 , are formed on the inner surface of cover member 16 &# 39 ;. alternatively , the score lines can be formed on the outer surface of cover member 16 &# 39 ;. in this embodiment , cover member 16 &# 39 ; is laid flat for reeling . when cover member 16 &# 39 ; is unreeled , the nose portion 20 &# 39 ; may be simply formed by bending as shown . suitable brackets may be utilized to maintain the operative configuration , if the material itself does not have sufficient memory . the region indicated at 39 functions as the cover portion . as will now be described with reference to the remaining figures , various bracket configurations may be utilized with cover member 16 . for example , fig7 through 8 illustrate a bracket 40 constructed of a configured block of elastomeric material , molded plastic or the like . the block is configured to engage the inner surface of gutter 12 , while maintaining cover member 16 in the desired position . in this case , a double - sided adhesive material 42 is utilized to attach bracket 40 to gutter 12 . a double - sided adhesive material 44 may likewise be used between the upper portion of bracket 40 and the inner surface of cover portion 18 . it should be understood that other suitable attachment means , such as screws and the like , may also be utilized for this purpose . as shown , bracket 40 defines a slot 46 into which the water directing portion 22 of cover member 16 is inserted . when fully inserted into slot 46 , cover member 16 will be in the correct transverse position relative to gutter 12 , and may then be attached to the roof . installation of the gutter cover system is greatly facilitated by use of preinstalled brackets in this manner . a deep channel 48 is provided so that the bracket will not cause water flowing off of water directing portion 22 to splash away from gutter 12 . in one exemplary embodiment , the width w of bracket 40 may be about one inch . an alternative bracket 50 is illustrated in fig9 through 10 . bracket 50 is formed of a flat material , such as sheet metal or molded plastic , configured to provide a desired bracket width . toward this end , bracket 50 includes a web portion 52 having a plurality of width portions 54 , 56 and 58 extending perpendicularly thereto . a shelf portion 60 extends perpendicularly from width portion 56 to rest on the upper surface of gutter 12 . like bracket 40 , a slot 62 is defined in bracket 50 for receipt of water directing portion 22 . a channel 64 is provided to facilitate flow of water into the gutter without splashing away from the gutter . fig1 illustrates a further bracket 62 which may also be formed of sheet metal , molded plastic or other flat material . width portions like those of bracket 50 are not required in this case , since the entire width of the bracket is already facing gutter 12 and cover member 16 . a tongue 64 extends from the main portion of bracket 62 to form a slot into which water directing portion is received . when bracket 62 is formed of sheet metal , tongue 64 may be simply punched out of the main piece at the time of manufacture . fig1 illustrates a further embodiment that may be advantageous in certain applications . in this case , a bracket 66 is provided defining a frontal slot 68 for receipt of the lip 70 of gutter 12 . bracket 66 includes a web portion 72 having an arm element 74 integrally extending therefrom . as shown , a relatively blunt - nosed pin member 76 extends laterally from arm element 74 . in this case , a modified cover member 16 &# 34 ; is provided having a longitudinal mounting tube 78 attached to a bottom thereof . preferably , mounting tube 78 may be integrally formed with cover member 16 &# 34 ;, such as by coextrusion . as shown , a segment 80 of mounting tube 78 may be removed at the time of installation . this permits pin member 76 to be inserted therein , thereby maintaining cover member 16 &# 34 ; in position . fig1 a through 13c illustrate a modification to bracket 66 . in this case , a pin member 76 &# 39 ; is provided having a relatively sharp tip . this sharp tip permits direct insertion into mounting tube 78 , without removing a segment 80 as described above . in either case , mounting tube 78 is preferably formed of a soft material , both to facilitate the installation process and to desirably flatten when cover member 16 &# 34 ; is coiled . advantageously , the presence of mounting tube 78 may tend to provide a more stable reel without utilizing a disposable cord or tape as mentioned above . it can be seen that various novel gutter cover arrangements have been provided to satisfy various objects of the invention . while preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown and described , modifications and variations may be made thereto by those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention , which is more particularly set forth in the appended claims . in addition , it should be understood that aspects of the various embodiments may be interchanged both in whole or in part . furthermore , those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the foregoing description is by way of example only , and is not intended to be limitative of the invention so further described in such appended claims .