PEST GUARD VENT COVER
A pest guard vent cover may prevent the entry of large insects and animals into, but not obstruct the flow out of, the exhaust vent. A frame may have a rain guard, which terminates in pivot slots. A guard basket is pivotally and removably mounted within the pivot slots, so that it may pivot out and away from the frame for easy cleaning of dryer fluff. It may also be pivoted down towards the frame and attached to the frame by means of latches having angled flanges, which flanges catch the basket and releasably hold it against the frame.
The invention relates generally to venting and specifically to a pest guard cover that fits over an external wall vent.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONVents are required in buildings to permit air exchange with the outside for dryers, bathroom and kitchen fans, and heating and cooling, among other reasons. Vents, as access points to the building, must be restricted to prevent the entry of animals and other pests that may inhabit a vent, or further use the vent as access to infest a building. Traditionally, pest guards in the form of wire screening have been used to effectively keep animals out, however they are difficult to maintain.
Some attempts to address this problem have been made in the prior art, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,916,023 (Meyer), where a hooded exhaust vent includes a grid-like guard which is removable but must be awkwardly maneuvered into the vent hood where it is attached by means of projections. The projections may also break off in the course of removing the guard. This hooded vent also deflects the exhaust vent air downward, which reduces the efficiency of the vent and may create a backpressure.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,147,554 (Berger) describes a hooded exhaust vent, and attempts to remedy some of the shortcomings of Meyer, through the use of a sliding track and projections for the replacement of a guard. It may be difficult in the cold, with cold hands to remove the guard that is attached by means of projections or a rail, in that it may be difficult to maneuver the guard into position. Further, since the guard is totally removable it may fall into the snow and become lost. Accordingly, there is a need for a guard that prevents the entry of pests, is easy to clean but overcomes some of the shortcomings found in the prior art to address these needs. Furthermore, this design also has the shortcoming of deflecting the exhaust vent air downward, which reduces the efficiency of the vent and may create a backpressure.
In Canadian Patent Application No. 2,330,821, a vent assembly is shown which prevents the entry of animals but permits rain to enter the exhaust vent structure. Snow may clog the vents of this vent assembly by falling on top of the upper grille and/or partially melting and falling through to block the lower grille.
Accordingly, there is a need for a pest guard which prevents the entry of animals but does not obstruct the flow of the exhaust vent, and is reliable and easy to maintain.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONEmbodiments of the present invention include a pest guard vent cover which prevents the entry of large insects and animals into, but does not obstruct the flow out of, an exhaust vent. A frame may have a rain guard, which terminates in pivot slots. A guard basket is pivotally and removably mounted within the pivot slots, so that it may pivot out and away from the frame for easy cleaning of dryer fluff. A pull handle mounted on the lower portion of the guard basket facilitates pulling it out and up from the frame. The guard basket may also be pivoted down towards the frame and attached to the frame by means of latches having angled flanges, which flanges catch the basket, and releasably hold it against the frame. The alignment of the basket to the frame is facilitated by the use of alignment tabs mounted on the basket. The frame has a surrounding lip surface to enable it to sealingly engage the exterior of the wall to which it is mounted by means of screws. The pest guard may be made from molded plastic, metal or other materials.
A pest guard cover for an external wall vent, arranged to be mounted over an existing exhaust vent cover and vent louvers, may include a rectangular frame; a rain shield projecting from the frame, in a downward-sloping inclination; a guard basket having a plurality of perforations forming a grid, providing sufficient clearance for the vent louvers to open; and a hinge between the rain shield and the guard basket so as to permit the guard basket to be pivoted between the frame and rain shield; wherein the frame is affixed over the exhaust vent cover, and the guard basket pivotally hangs from the rain shield by the hinge. The hinge may include one or more pivot members; and one or more pivot slots wherein the pivot members are inserted into the pivot slots so as to be capable of pivoting. The pest guard vent cover may include a first latch and a second latch projecting from the frame; and one or more perforations in the guard basket wherein the first and second latches with and releasably lock within the perforations. The guard basket may have one or more alignment tabs. The guard basket may have a pull handle. The rectangular frame may have apertures to allow for the rectangular frame to be attached to a building.
It will now be convenient to describe the invention with particular reference to one embodiment of the present invention. It will be appreciated that the diagrams relate to one embodiment of the present invention only and are not to be taken as limiting the invention.
The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
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One skilled in the art would appreciate that the pivot members and the material used to manufacture the frame which includes the pivot slots may be formed of another material, for instance a metal hinge affixed to the rain shield and guard, or the hinge may consist of flexible plastic which may be bent by the user, any of which could be substituted for the molded hinge described above, and still fall within the scope of the invention.
The pest guard cover is manufactured of molded plastic, however one skilled in the art would appreciate that it may be made of other materials as well and still fall within the scope of the invention. For instance, the components may easily be made of metal for a longer-lasting industrial-strength application.
Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come to the mind of a person skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing description and associated drawings. Therefore, it is understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiment disclosed, and that modifications and embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A pest guard cover for an external wall vent, arranged to be mounted over an existing exhaust vent cover and vent louvers comprising: wherein the frame is affixed over the exhaust vent cover, and the guard basket pivotally hangs from the rain shield by said hinge.
- a rectangular frame;
- a rain shield projecting from the frame, in a downward-sloping inclination;
- a guard basket having a plurality of perforations forming a grid, providing sufficient clearance for the vent louvers to open; and
- a hinge between the rain shield and said guard basket so as to permit the guard basket to be pivoted between the frame and rain shield;
2. The pest guard cover of claim 1, wherein said hinge further comprises one or more pivot members; and wherein the pivot members are inserted into the pivot slots so as to be capable of pivoting.
- one or more pivot slots
3. The pest guard vent cover of claim 2, further comprising wherein said first and second latches with and releasably lock within said perforations.
- a first latch and a second latch projecting from the frame; and
- one or more perforations in said guard basket
4. The pest guard cover of claim 1 wherein the guard basket has one or more alignment tabs.
5. The pest guard cover of claim 1 wherein the guard basket has a pull handle.
6. The pest guard cover of claim 1 wherein the rectangular frame has apertures to allow for the rectangular frame to be attached to a building.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 18, 2010
Publication Date: Dec 22, 2011
Inventor: Marc Grandmaison (Dieppe)
Application Number: 12/818,599