Vent Assembly For A Grain Bin

Abstract

A roof vent assembly wherein the grain bin has a corrugated cylindrical wall and a roof structure having a plurality of triangular roof panels. A vent assembly is connected to the roof. The vent assembly has a base. The base has a back wall, two side walls and a front wall which extend upwardly from the flange. The back wall and sidewalls are generally straight whereas the front wall extends outwardly to a point, peak or crest. When connected to the grain bin roof, the peak of the vent assembly is positioned to point upwardly. This peak prevents the build up of moisture and debris thereby extending the life of the grain bin roof assembly.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention is directed toward a vent for use with a grain bin such as a bin for drying grain or grain storage.

Typically, after a grain bin is filled, air is blown through the bin for grain conditioning purposes. To facilitate this air movement conventional grain bins are equipped with raised and vented floors and roof vents. Air is blown under the raised floor which passes through the grain and out the roof vents. These vents provide a dual purpose as they allow air, dust and moisture to flow out of the grain bin while preventing birds and precipitation from entering the grain bin. In this way, these vents allow a user to condition the grain to an appropriate moisture level and store the grain for long periods of time without spoilage.

Conventional grain bin roofs angle or slope downwardly to protect the grain within. Generally, a grain bin roof has several apertures cut therein to allow air to flow out of the grain bin. These apertures are capped or covered with roof vent assemblies which are attached to the grain bin roof. These roof vent assemblies generally have a square base which is positioned and aligned perpendicularly to the downward slope of the grain bin.

While roof vent assemblies of this nature facilitate airflow through the roof, they have their drawbacks. Specifically, as conventional roof vent assemblies have a square base and are aligned perpendicularly to the downward slope of the grain bin roof, this creates a flat area on the front side, or uphill side of the vent assembly where moisture and debris tend to collect or puddle. This collection of debris and moisture tend to cause this portion of the grain bin roof to deteriorate, leak or rust-out prematurely. In addition, the build-up of large amounts of ice during the winter time can cause damage to, or mechanical failure of, the grain bin assembly or the roof itself. The configuration of these conventional grain bin roof vent assemblies are large, voluminous and cumbersome and take up an undesirable amount of space when shipping.

Thus, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a grain bin roof vent assembly that prevents or reduces the build up of debris, ice and moisture that improves upon the state of the art.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a grain bin roof vent assembly that takes up less space when shipping that improves upon the state of the art.

These and other objects, features, or advantages will become apparent from the specification, drawings and claims.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A grain bin assembly wherein the grain bin has a corrugated cylindrical wall and a roof structure having a plurality of triangular roof panels. A vent assembly is connected to the roof and has a base. The base has a back wall, two side walls, a front wall and a flange that extends outwardly therefrom. The back wall and sidewalls are generally straight whereas the front wall extends outwardly and is tapered to a point or peak. When connected to the grain bin roof, the peak of the vent assembly is positioned to point upwardly. This peak prevents the build up of moisture and debris thereby extending the life of the grain bin roof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an elevation view of a grain bin assembly having a roof vent assembly;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a vent assembly;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a vent assembly;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a vent assembly;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a vent assembly;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of stacked base members;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a hood member;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an assembled vent assembly having a seam running through; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of one side of a vent assembly halves in stacked alignment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A grain drying bin 10 has a roof structure 12 having triangular roof panels 14 joined together at rib junctions 16. The bin 10 also has a cylindrical sidewall wall 18 generally formed from corrugated metal panels 20. Connected to the roof 12 is a plurality of roof vent assemblies 22.

The vent assembly 22 has a base 24 with an outwardly extending flange 26. The flange 26 has a plurality of apertures 28 used for connection to the roof 12. The base 24 has a back or lower wall 30, sidewalls 32, and a front or top wall 34 that form an enclosure that fits over and is in communication with an opening in the roof assembly. Preferably, back wall 30 is removably attached to the sidewalls 32 by flanges 30A that extend from the back wall toward the front wall 34.

The front wall 34 has a lower edge 35 that extends from the sidewalls 32 to a point, peak or rounded crest 36. The front wall also has an elongated portion 37 that extends between the sidewalls 32. From point 36, the front wall 34 has a top edge 40 that extends upwardly toward the elongated portion 37 terminating at a base point 41. Extending between the top edge 40 and the bottom edge 35 are a pair of panels or rounded sections 42 that form a partial pyramid or partial sphere respectively.

The front wall 34 and sidewalls 32 of the base 24 extend away from the roof assembly and terminate in a hood portion 44 to form an exhaust opening 62. Preferably the front wall 34 and sidewalls 32 taper inwardly as they extend away from flange 26 to permit nesting of one vent assembly upon another for transport.

In one embodiment, extending outwardly from the hood portion 44 of the front wall 34 is a canopy 45 that extends over at least a portion of the partial pyramid of the front wall 34. The canopy is of any size and shape such as a partial pyramid or an elongated triangle. The canopy has at least one and preferably more openings 47. The openings 47 permit air to flow from the roof vent assembly 22 onto the partial pyramid of the front wall 34 to clear any debris that has collected.

In another embodiment the roof vent assembly 22 has a separate base 24. The bottom of base 24 has a flange 26 extending there around so as to facilitate connection to roof 12. Flange 26 has a plurality of flange apertures 28 therein to facilitate connection of the vent assembly 22 to roof 12 by way of passing a nut and bolt or screw through a corresponding aperture in roof 12.

Extending upwardly from flange 26 is a back wall 30, a pair of sidewalls 32 and a front wall 34 to form a top edge 38 of the base. Preferably, back wall 30 is flat and straight and extends upwardly from flange 26 in a generally perpendicular manner. In addition, sidewalls 32 are arranged in parallel spaced alignment to one another and connect at their back edge to the exterior ends of back wall 30 in a generally perpendicular manner. In an alternative arrangement, to allow for easy stacking of a plurality of bases 24 the sidewalls 32 and back wall 30 angle slightly inwardly towards one another as they extend upwardly.

The front wall 34 has a lower edge 35 that extends from the sidewalls 32 to a point, peak or rounded crest 36. The front wall 34 also has an elongated portion 37 that extends between sidewalls 32. From point 36, the front wall has a top edge 40 that extends upwardly toward the elongated portion 37 terminating at a base point 41. Extending between the top edge 40 and bottom edge 35 are a pair of panels or rounded sections 42 that form a partial pyramid or partial sphere respectively.

A hood member 44 is removeably connected to the base 24. The hood member 44 has a pair of sidewalls 56 which are generally in spaced parallel alignment, and a top wall 60 that is connected to the sidewalls along an arcuate edge 58. The sidewalls 56 and top wall 60 form a semi-circular enclosure that extends from a first end 46 to a second end 61 and creates an exhaust opening 62. Preferably, first end 46 of hood member 44 has three sides, which consists of the first end of opposing side walls 56 and the first end of top wall 60. Second end 61 of hood member 44 similarly has three sides, which consists of the second end of opposing side walls 56 and the second end of top wall 60. With the first end 46 and second end 61 only having three sides, this arrangement provides an open and unencumbered interior space defined between opposing sidewalls 56 and arcuate top wall 60. This configuration allows for nesting and stackability of a plurality of hood members 44 thereby saving shipping space and costs. The hood member 44 is connected to the base member 24 in any conventional way, preferably with bolts or self-tapping screws. Preferably, top edge 38 of the base 24 has an outwardly extending ridge 50 and first end 46 of the hood member 44 has an inwardly extending ridge 48. When first end 46 of the hood member 44 is placed over top edge 38 of the base member 24, ridge 50 engages first end 46 and seals the hood member 44 to the base member 24. While FIG. 6 depicts base member 24 having outwardly extending ridge 50 and FIG. 7 depicts hood member 44 having inwardly extending ridge 48 either ridge 48, 50 can extend outwardly or inwardly. Similarly, while FIGS. 6 & 7 show both base member 24 and hood member 44 having a ridge 50, 48, respectively, in an alternative arrangement it is herein contemplated that only one of base member 24 or hood member 44 has a ridge 48, 50. That is, in this alternative arrangement, if hood member 44 has inwardly extending ridge 48, base member 24 does not have outwardly extending ridge 50. Alternatively, if base member 24 has outwardly extending ridge 50, hood member 44 does not have inwardly extending ridge 48. Alternatively, a ridge and detent arrangement is used to lock the hood member 44 to the base member 24.

Positioned between the exhaust opening 62 the first end 46 of the hood member 44 is a screen 64 that is pivotally mounted to sidewalls 56. The screen, when closed, prevents birds and other objects from entering the bin 10 through the vent assembly 22.

With the front wall 34 of base 24 having a peak 36 which extends outwardly therefrom and sidewalls which angle inwardly from the flange 26, a plurality of bases are stacked in nesting alignment with one another for shipping purposes. This nesting allows a plurality of bases 24 to occupy only a fraction of the space of un-stacked bases 24. To facilitate this nesting or stacking, it is preferable to have the front wall 34, sidewalls 32 and back wall 30 angle slightly inward towards one another as they extend upward from flange 26.

In operation, an aperture is cut into the roof 12 of a grain bin 10. A base 24 is positioned over this aperture with its peak 36 pointing uphill or towards the crest of roof 12. Once in this alignment, base 24 is attached to the roof through any means known in the art. In a preferred method, a bead of caulk or weather stripping is positioned between the grain bin roof 12 and the flange 26 and a plurality of screws or bolts are passed through flange 26 and roof 12. Once in place, these bolts are tightened thereby holding the vent assembly in place. In an alternative embodiment, a metal strip (not shown) may be placed above the flange 26 and/or below the roof 12 and tightened in place. Next, first end 46 of hood member 44 is placed over top edge 38 of the base 24 such that ridge 50 of the base 24 engages end 46 of the hood member 44 sealing the base 24 and hood member 44 together.

In an alternative embodiment, base 24 and hood member 44 are formed as a single piece which is symmetrically split down plane 43 into a first half 66 and a second half 68. Like the previous arrangement, this clamshell arrangement allows for the stacking or nesting of a plurality of respective first and second halves 66, 68 which similarly provides the benefit of space savings when shipping the component parts. To accomplish stackability of the respective halves 66, 68, the top wall 60 and sidewalls 32, 56 are tapered.

The first and second halves 66, 68 are connected to one another and the screen 64 is positioned to cover the entire passageway through base 24 and hood 44. Once assembled the roof vent assembly 22 is attached to the roof 12 as described above. In this way, with peak 36 pointing upwardly, or uphill, debris, water and ice tend to flow away from peak 36 thereby preventing the build up of debris and moisture on the uphill side of roof vent assembly 22. The angle of peak 36 tends to help prevent the build up of snow, ice, or debris thereby reducing the potential for deterioration of the roof.

The roof vent assembly 22 is made of any suitable material such as sheet metal, galvanized steel, plastic, thermoplastic, fiberglass, composite or any other material that is structurally sound and resistant to the harsh environment of a grain bin roof.

From the above discussion it will be appreciated that the peaked vent for a grain bin roof presented provides an improved venting assembly that prevents or reduces the build up of debris, ice and moisture and that takes up less space when shipping. Accordingly, the peaked vent for a grain bin roof provides and offers many advantages over the prior art. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other various modifications could be made to the device without parting from the spirit and scope of this invention. All such modifications and changes fall within the scope of the claims and are intended to be covered thereby.

Claims

1. A roof vent assembly comprising:

a base portion and hood portion having a front wall and sidewalls;

a removeable back wall;

wherein the front wall has a pair of panels that extend from a top edge to a bottom.

2. The roof assembly of claim 1 wherein the sidewalls and front wall taper inwardly as they extend from the base portion to the hood portion.

3. The roof assembly of claim 1 wherein a canopy extends outwardly from the hood portion.

4. The roof assembly of claim 3 wherein the canopy has openings.

5. The roof vent assembly of claim 1 wherein the panels form a partial pyramid.

6. The roof vent assembly of claim 1 wherein the panels form a partial sphere.

7. A roof vent assembly comprising:

a base having a bottom edge and a top edge;

said base having a front wall, a pair of sidewalls and a back wall;

said front wall extending outwardly in relation to the sidewalls.

8. The roof vent assembly of claim 7 wherein the front wall has an elongated portion that tapers from the bottom edge to the top edge.

9. The roof vent assembly of claim 7 wherein the sidewalls taper inwardly towards one another from the bottom edge to the top edge.

10. The roof vent assembly of claim 7 wherein the back wall tapers inwardly towards the front wall as it extends upwardly from the bottom edge to the top edge.

11. The roof vent assembly of claim 7 wherein a hood assembly is connected to the base.

12. The roof vent assembly of claim 7 wherein a plurality of bases nest within one another in a vertical alignment.

13. The roof vent assembly of claim 7 wherein a canopy extends outwardly from a hood member and covers the peak.

14. The roof vent assembly of claim 13 wherein the canopy has openings.

15. A roof vent assembly comprising:

a front wall, a pair of sidewalls and a back wall which extend upwardly from a bottom edge;

the front wall extends outwardly in relation to the sidewalls to form a peak; and

a seam separating the roof vent assembly into a pair of clamshells.

16. The roof vent assembly of claim 15 further comprising a canopy that extends outwardly over the peak.

17. The roof vent assembly of claim 16 wherein the canopy has openings.

18. The roof vent assembly of claim 15 wherein each side of the seam has a connection member for receiving the opposing clamshell.