VENTILATION PANELS HAVING CURVED OPENINGS AND STRUCTURES INCORPORATING SUCH VENTILATION PANELS
Pliable ventilation panels having curved openings provided at opposing locations with respect to a midline that are selectively openable and closeable are disclosed. The ventilation panels are generally fabricated from pliable materials and may be opened at one or more locations along the opening(s) to provide ventilation and/or access at different locations along the opening(s).
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This application claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 61/533,734 filed Sep. 12, 2011, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to flexible ventilation panels having curved openings that are selectively openable at different locations. These ventilation panels are generally fabricated from pliable materials and may be incorporated in both pliable and rigid structures to provide ventilation and/or access between an interior and an exterior selectively at one or more locations along the opening.
SUMMARYVentilation panels of the present invention have one or more curved openings that are selectively openable to provide ventilation and/or access at one or more locations along the opening. In one implementation, one or more flexible ventilation panels is incorporated in a fabric structure such as a tent, and the openings may be selectively opened to provide ventilation at different locations along the openings, e.g., selectively in higher and/or lower locations, or selectively in side-by-side or upper/lower locations.
In some embodiments, multiple curved openings are formed as a continuous close-able opening having curved portions positioned at different locations along the opening, e.g., on opposite sides of a midline. In some embodiments, the curved openings may be provided in a modified S-configuration or a modified reverse-S configuration, with at least one curved portion extending in each direction away from a midline at different locations. Multiple curved openings may have substantially the same curvature and configuration, or different curvatures and configurations may be provided. Curved portions may be arranged to provide substantially symmetrical openings with respect to a centerline. Alternatively, the arrangement and/or size of openings may be asymmetrical and/or differently configured with respect to a centerline.
The openings are selectively openable and closable by means of zippers, self-locking fasteners such as a hook and loop-type fastener (e.g., Velcro®), and other types of opening and closure mechanisms. Various types of mechanical closure mechanisms such as simple ties, various types of buckles, hooks, detachably mating mechanisms, and the like may also be used. Separate opening and closure mechanisms may be provided for each opening, or a continuous closure mechanism, such as a continuous zipper, may be provided along two or more openings. In some embodiments, zippers with multiple zipper pulls and other types of fasteners may be operable in two directions, allowing selective opening and closing of openings from two directions.
Certain illustrative embodiments of the present invention will be described in greater detail in the following detailed description, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Ventilation panel 12 incorporates a continuous, close-able opening 14 provided as a pair of curved openings 16, 20 extending in opposite directions from midline 13. In this illustrative embodiment, curved openings 16, 20 are symmetrical with respect to centerline 13 and are provided in the configuration of a shallow, reverse S-shape, with upper curved opening 16 extending to the right of the centerline and lower curved opening 18 extending to the left of the centerline. Curved openings 16, 20 are preferably provided as close-able openings, where closing and opening may be accomplished, for example, by operating a zipper or another opening and closure device. In one embodiment, a zipper that operates bi-directionally, or another bi-directionally operating opening and closure device, may be installed along the length of opening 14. In the embodiment illustrated in
Thus, an upper ventilation opening may be provided, as schematically shown in
In some embodiments utilizing a bi-directional zipper mechanism, two zipper pulls may be provided, each operating along substantially the same curved opening to fully or partially open or close the respective curved openings. In some embodiments utilizing a bi-directional zipper mechanism at the curved openings, three zipper pulls may be provided and arranged so that a bottom pull fully opens the zippered seam from the floor level up to allow a bottomless full-length entryway/doorway opening and two pulls arranged above the bottom pull open in opposite directions to each other to allow a moveable and adjustable ventilation opening that can be positioned anywhere along the zippers pathway and can be opened as small or as large as desired.
The curved opening structures described herein may be operated to provide different configurations of openings, at different locations, as illustrated. This type of opening may be used for many purposes, including for venting, (e.g., producing cross-ventilation in conjunction with another ventilation panel or opening), for passing things into and out of the tent, as a primary entry or exit, an emergency entrance or exit, or the like.
The ventilation panels illustrated herein extend for substantially the length of a tent panel. It will be appreciated that larger/longer and smaller/shorter curved vents may be provided, that they may be provided in a variety of orientations, that more than two curves may be provided. The curved openings may be symmetrically arranged with respect to a mid-line, or curved openings having different lengths and/or extending different distances from a midline may be provided. Curved openings may also be oriented on a line arranged at an angle to the vertical, providing non-vertically aligned openings. Curved openings having different radii and shapes may be provided. Fabric panels, or other types of panels constructed from a flexible sheet-like material may be used as ventilation panels of the present invention, and may be provided in various environments to serve many different types of ventilation needs. In some embodiments, flexible ventilation panels of the present invention may be mounted or otherwise provided in a substantially rigid framework that may be mounted in other types of structures, including building structures, to provide various degrees of ventilation, as desired.
It will be appreciated that the devices of the present invention may be embodied in a variety of different forms, and that the specific embodiments shown in the figures and described herein are presented with the understanding that the present disclosure is considered exemplary of the principles of the invention, and is not intended to limit the invention to the illustrations and description provided herein.
Claims
1. A ventilation panel having at least two curved openings extending in each of opposite directions away from a midline, wherein each of the curved openings is selectively openable and closeable to provide ventilation selectively at multiple locations along the opening.
2. The ventilation panel of claim 1, fabricated from a pliable material.
3. The ventilation panel of claim 1, additionally comprising at least one zipper mechanism providing selective opening and closing of each of the at least two curved openings.
4. The ventilation panel of claim 3, wherein the at least one zipper operates bi-directionally.
5. The ventilation panel of claim 1, wherein the at least two curved openings have substantially the same configuration.
6. The ventilation panel of claim 5, wherein the curved openings are arranged symmetrically with respect to the midline.
7. The ventilation panel of claim 1, wherein the at least two curved openings have different configurations.
8. The ventilation panel of claim 1, wherein a first curved opening is openable from an upper region toward a central region of the ventilation panel and a second curved opening is openable from a lower region toward a central region of the ventilation panel.
9. The ventilation panel of claim 1, additionally comprising at least two fasteners for securing flaps released when the at least two curved openings are in an open condition.
10. The ventilation panel of claim 1, additionally comprising a substantially continuous base edge that is releasable to an open condition at at least one location.
11. A tent structure incorporating a ventilation panel of claim 1.
12. A substantially rigid framework incorporating a ventilation panel of claim 1.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 3, 2012
Publication Date: Mar 14, 2013
Applicant: NOMADIC COMFORT LLC (Shoreline, WA)
Inventor: Richard WEBSTER (Shoreline, WA)
Application Number: 13/566,873
International Classification: E04H 15/14 (20060101); F24F 13/12 (20060101); F24F 7/00 (20060101);