ROOF VENT
A roof vent for ventilation of a roof, the roof vent adapted to be placed on the pitch of the roof, not the ridgeline. The roof vent has a flat or tabular floor and a base attached to the floor. The floor includes a throat member having vertical walls and the base has sloped back lower walls, and upper walls that are non-horizontal and slope back from the lower walls, and finally a horizontal top. The effect of the nonnormal lower walls and the sloped back upper walls, in conjunction with a typically rectangular flat (parallel to the floor) top provides an airfoil shape to the roof vent that assists in the flow of an over the roof vent.
This patent application claims priority from, benefit of, and incorporates herein by reference U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/492,132, filed Jun. 1, 2011; and Ser. No. 61/593,586, filed Feb. 1, 2012.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONRoof vents, namely, roof vents with longitudinal ribs, critter guards, and airfoil shaped walls.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONRoof vents are provided to allow a building, such as a residence, to “breathe.” Depending on the specifications of the construction, buildings must have minimum net-free area to provide gaseous exchange between the air inside the house and air outside the house. This is often done through the use of roof vents.
However, roof vents that provide gaseous communication between the interior of a house, typically an attic, and the area outside the house, typically adjacent the roof, also provide a path where airborne particles, such as rain or debris, may enter the house or building structure. If the air path is open and accessible, even small animals, such as small birds, insects or the like, may be able to get through an unprotected or open vent opening into the attic of a house.
A vent design must have sufficient net-free area, but at the same time, protect the interior of the house from these hazards. Moreover, roof vents, by their very nature, represent an obstruction to the wind and windborne particles. As such, they may bear loads, especially when the wind is high.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn an exemplary embodiment, Applicants provide a low profile, aerodynamically shaped wind vent which diverts wind and wind-driven rain or debris up and over a airfoil leading edge. The angled, airfoil leading edge is substantially closed, but with an angled louvered area for ventilation, which angled louvered area is angled back with respect to the airfoil leading edge.
In an exemplary embodiment of Applicants' roof vent, an over/under grid work may be provided for louvers, which help de-accelerate the wind and prevent rain from entering an interior region, including the open throat area of the vent. This over/under grid work also helps prevent windborne debris from collecting or clogging the vent interior, or accessing the vented space.
In an exemplary embodiment of Applicants' novel roof vent, a low profile is provided with an upper surface extending typically 6 inches or less from the base, which low profile design reduces wind load on the vent and generates less stress than prior art designs.
In an exemplary embodiment of Applicants' roof vent, a “tortured” path is provided, sinuous in nature, which makes it difficult for wind-driven rain to enter the ventilated space.
Dimensionally, the roof vent may be rectangular shape, shingle length, and will typically blend into, aesthetically, the shingled roof. It may be molded from two pieces of high impact plastic. It may include UV resistant material for longer life and color retention. An embodiment of Applicants' roof vent is 30 inches long and may be in multiples of 6 inches. Any other suitable dimensions are also anticipated. This aids in shingle trimming and aids in side-to-side location of a vent to coincide with the shingle pattern.
A critter guard is provided and may be of a “waffle” design for efficient flow area and for a larger net-free area. Such critter screen or guard will prevent small animals and the like from entering the attic space.
In a vertical embodiment of Applicants' roof vent, the longitudinal axis of the vent is coincident with the pitch of the roof and provides the appearance of a typical skylight. In a horizontal embodiment, the longitudinal axis of the roof vent is perpendicular to the pitch and coincident with the lines of a typical shingled roof.
A roof vent comprising a rectangular cover having a pair of airfoil shaped closed walls and a pair of airfoil shaped, spaced apart partially open walls, having mouth openings, the cover having a deflection skirt having a removed edge, the skirt depending downward from the underside thereof, and a base having a perimeter portion and a floor portion, the floor for defining a vent opening, the vent opening having vertical walls defining a throat and terminating in a critter guard, the critter guard adapted to allow air to flow therethrough, past the deflector skirt and the mouth openings, wherein the throat is within and spaced apart from the removed edge of the skirt.
A roof vent for ventilation of a roof, the roof vent adapted to be placed on the pitch of the roof, not the ridgeline. The roof vent has a flat or tabular floor and a base attached to the floor. The floor includes a throat member having vertical walls and the base has sloped back lower walls, and upper walls that are non-horizontal and slope back from the lower walls, and finally a horizontal top. The effect of the non-normal lower walls and the sloped back upper walls, in conjunction with a typically rectangular flat (parallel to the floor) top provides an airfoil shape to the roof vent that assists in the flow of air over the roof vent. The cover is typically rectangular and the lower walls will typically have a pair of mouth openings therein and a pair of lower walls that are substantially closed. The substantially closed lower walls typically face down and up pitch, and may be either the long side walls or the short side walls on the rectangular embodiment. The upper walls typically include longitudinal ribs configured to prevent precipitation from dripping in the throat.
In
Vent opening 20 is generally rectangular in a preferred embodiment as is perimeter portion 16, which extends beyond the cover. That is to say, perimeter portion 16 is that area beyond the cover and floor portion 18 is substantially beneath the cover.
Critter guard 22 is seen to have a vented ribbed “waffle” type top wall 26 engaging upper edge 24a of the raised side walls 24. Vented “waffle” top wall 26 is comprised of multiple V-shaped members 30. Each V-shape member 30 is seen to have depending side walls 30a/30b. The multiple side walls 30a/30b, which make up the multiple V members 30, have spaced apart parallel bars 32. These may be spaced, for example, with gaps of about ¼ inch between them for allowing the throat T to breathe and air to pass through as generated by the pressure differences between the inside of the structure and the outside thereof. Presenting a top wall 26 waffled as illustrated provides for a larger air path than a planar structure with the same bars and gaps that is tabular across the upper edge 24a.
Cross braces 28 (see
Turning now to cover 14, it is seen that cover 14 may be comprised of side walls 44, which depend upward from base 12 and are canted at a non-normal or non-perpendicular angle typically in the range of about 5 to about 20 degrees so they may deflect wind that impinges on them. Furthermore, and with reference to
As can be seen with reference to
Moreover, it is seen with reference to the skirted embodiment of
In addition to assisting with the creation of a circuitous path, skirt 50 acts to block windblown debris, rain or the like that enters the interior of the base from the vent opening. Air may flow through either the mouth or through vented walls 42, but debris is either deflected over the roof vent by the airfoil action or, if it enters the interior, is deflected by skirt 50. It is seen that the upper edge 24a of side walls 24 and the lower edge 50a of skirt 50 are positionally space apart, but in addition, removed or lower edge 50a is typically lower or closer to base 12 than upper edge 24a. Moreover, both the side walls and the skirt are rectangular shaped, with the rectangular skirt being larger than the rectangle defined by the four skirt walls 24a and, thus, regardless of the direction of the wind and windborne particles, there is a physical barrier that will likely catch most of the debris or rain.
Turning to
In
Thus, as seen how Applicants have provided for a roof vent in one embodiment with a tortuous airflow, with an aerodynamic shape that discourages entry of debris into an interior space of the roof vent by deflecting debris from entering the vent, while providing a critter guard and other favorable features in an efficient, low profile roof vent that may be mounted horizontally or vertically to the roof as indicated.
Moreover, it is seen that the alternate preferred embodiment 10C illustrated in
In any embodiments, the substantially airfoil side walls 44a/44b, which are typically closed or substantially closed, there may be drain holes 49a, as seen in
Moreover, it is seen with reference to
The critter guard 22 and, specifically, the critter guard with the waffle shape and cross-section as seen in
The lower walls of the roof vent may make an angle with respect to an axis perpendicular to the floor of between about 9°-15° and, in one preferred embodiment, about 12°. The upper walls, which typically include the vents or grid work, in a preferred embodiment have longitudinal ribs, and make an angle of between about 55°-65° with perpendicular axis, and in one embodiment about 58°.
In a preferred embodiment, the maximum height of the top wall of the cover above the floor is 6 inches. That is to say, the top wall in a preferred embodiment is typically parallel to the floor and a maximum of 6 inches above the floor and, in a preferred embodiment, about 5 inches.
The included angles on the waffle shape critter guard 22 are preferably between about 45°-135° and, in one preferred embodiment, about 75°. Typically, Applicants' cover is rectangular as seen in top elevational view, for example, in
Turning to
Applicants provide for a novel waffle shape critter guard that may be used alone or in combination with the rib configuration and/or the airfoil shaped walls. Indeed, the rib configuration and the airfoil shaped walls may stand alone without the other features disclosed herein.
Although the invention has been described with reference to a specific embodiment, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. On the contrary, various modifications of the disclosed embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the description of the invention. It is therefore contemplated that the appended claims will cover such modifications, alternatives, and equivalents that fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.
Claims
1. A roof vent comprising:
- a cover having walls, including lower walls, each of the lower walls having a longitudinal axis, the lower walls comprising a pair of non-normal, opposed, substantially closed walls and a pair of non-normal, opposed, spaced apart walls, having mouth openings; wherein the cover walls of the cover include a non-horizontal upper wall angled back from each lower wall, each upper wall including a grid work portion, the grid work portion with a multiplicity of ribs arranged with their longitudinal axes parallel to the longitudinal axis of the lower wall; and
- a base for engaging the lower walls, the base having a perimeter portion and a floor portion, the floor portion inside the junction between the lower walls and the base, the floor portion for defining, in part, a vent opening, the vent opening having generally vertical walls defining a throat terminating at an upper lip.
2. The roof vent of claim 1, wherein the cover includes a top wall, the top wall substantially parallel to the floor.
3. The roof vent of claim 1, wherein the lower walls make an angle of between about 9 and 15 degrees with an axis perpendicular with respect to the floor and wherein the upper walls make an angle of between about 55 and 65 degrees with respect to an axis perpendicular to the floor.
4. The roof vent of claim 1, wherein the cover includes a closed top wall, the top wall substantially parallel to the floor and wherein the upper walls include a closed portion above the grid work portion.
5. The roof vent of claim 1, wherein the grid work portion includes support struts running generally perpendicular to the ribs.
6. The roof vent of claim 1, wherein the ribs are generally parallelogram shaped, having a top wall, a pair of spaced apart side walls, and a bottom wall.
7. The roof vent of claim 1, wherein the ribs are staggered such that the top wall of the lower rib is above the bottom wall of the adjacent, higher rib.
8. The roof vent of claim 1, wherein the ribs are generally tabular, having a top wall, a pair of spaced apart side walls, and a bottom wall and wherein the ribs are staggered such that the top wall of the lower rib is above the bottom wall of the adjacent, higher rib.
9. The roof vent of claim 1, wherein the throat is within and spaced apart from a removed edge of the grid work portion such that precipitation entering the grid work portion will not enter the throat.
10. The roof vent of claim 1, wherein the lower walls having mouth openings are shorter than the substantially closed lower walls.
11. The roof vent of claim 1, wherein the lower walls having mouth openings are longer than the substantially closed lower walls.
12. The roof vent of claim 1, wherein the cover and base are rectangular.
13. A roof vent comprising:
- a rectangular cover having walls, including lower walls, each of the lower walls having a longitudinal axis, the lower walls comprising a pair of airfoil shaped, opposed, substantially closed walls and a pair of airfoil shaped, opposed, spaced apart walls, having mouth openings; wherein the cover walls of the rectangular cover include an upper wall angled back from each lower wall, each upper wall including a grid work portion, the grid work portion with a multiplicity of upstanding ribs arranged with their longitudinal axes parallel to the longitudinal axis of the lower wall; and
- a base for engaging the lower walls, the base having a perimeter portion and a floor portion, the floor portion inside the junction between the lower walls and the base, the floor portion for defining, in part, a vent opening, the vent opening having generally vertical walls defining a throat and terminating in a critter guard, the critter guard adapted to allow air to flow therethrough; wherein the throat is within and spaced apart from a removed edge of the grid work portion such that precipitation entering the grid work portion will not enter the throat; wherein the ribs are generally parallelogram shaped, having a top wall, a pair of spaced apart side walls, and a bottom wall and wherein the ribs are staggered such that the top wall of the lower rib is above the bottom wall of the adjacent, higher rib; and wherein the cover includes a top wall, the top wall substantially parallel to the floor; wherein the lower walls make an angle of between about 9 and 15 degrees with an axis perpendicular with respect to the floor and wherein the upper walls make an angle of between about 55 and 65 degrees with respect to an axis perpendicular to the floor; wherein the cover includes a closed top wall, the top wall substantially parallel to the floor and wherein the upper walls include a closed portion above the grid work portion; and wherein the grid work portion includes support struts running generally perpendicular to the ribs.
14. A roof vent comprising:
- a cover having walls, including lower walls, some substantially closed and some having mouth openings; and
- a base for engaging the cover walls, the base having a perimeter portion and a floor portion, the floor portion inside the junction between the cover walls and the base, the floor portion for defining, in part, a vent opening, the vent opening having generally vertical walls defining a throat terminating in a critter guard, the critter guard having waffled walls adapted to allow air to flow therethrough;
- the throat is within and spaced apart from a removed edge of the grid work portion such that precipitation entering the grid work portion will not enter the throat.
15. The roof vent of claim 14, wherein the cover is rectangular and wherein the lower walls include a pair that has mouth openings and a pair that is substantially closed.
16. The roof vent of claim 14, wherein the cover includes a top wall, the top wall substantially parallel to the floor.
17. The roof vent of claim 14, wherein the lower walls of the cover make an angle of between about 9 and 15 degrees with an axis perpendicular with respect to the floor and further including upper walls which make an angle of between about 55 and 65 degrees with respect to an axis perpendicular to the floor.
18. The roof vent of claim 14, wherein the cover further includes walls defining a grid work portion having ribs and support struts running generally perpendicular to the ribs.
19. A roof vent comprising:
- a rectangular cover having walls, including lower walls, each of the lower walls having a longitudinal axis, the lower walls comprising a pair of airfoil shaped, opposed, substantially closed walls and a pair of airfoil shaped, opposed, spaced apart walls, having mouth openings; wherein the cover walls of the rectangular cover include a non-horizontal upper wall angled back from each lower wall, each upper wall including a grid work portion, the grid work portion with a multiplicity of ribs; and
- a base for engaging the lower walls, the base having a perimeter portion and a floor portion, the floor portion inside the junction between the lower walls and the base, the floor portion for defining, in part, a vent opening, the vent opening having generally vertical walls defining a throat; wherein the cover includes a top wall, the top wall substantially parallel to the floor.
20. The roof vent of claim 19, wherein the lower walls make an angle of between about 9 and 15 degrees with an axis perpendicular with respect to the floor and wherein the upper walls make an angle of between about 55 and 65 degrees with respect to an axis perpendicular to the floor.
21. The roof vent of claim 19, wherein the cover includes a closed top wall, the top wall substantially parallel to the floor and wherein the upper walls include a closed portion above the grid work portion.
22. The roof vent of claim 19, wherein the grid work portion includes support struts running generally perpendicular to the ribs.
23. The roof vent of claim 19, wherein the cover includes a top wall, the top wall substantially parallel to the floor; wherein the lower walls make an angle of between about 9 and 15 degrees with an axis perpendicular with respect to the floor and wherein the upper walls make an angle of between about 55 and 65 degrees with respect to an axis perpendicular to the floor; wherein the cover includes a closed top wall, the top wall substantially parallel to the floor and wherein the upper walls include a closed portion above the grid work portion; and
- wherein the grid work portion includes support struts running generally perpendicular to the ribs.
24. A static structure comprising:
- a pitched roof; and
- a roof vent comprising a cover having walls, including lower walls, each of the lower walls having a longitudinal axis, the lower walls comprising a pair of non-normal, opposed, substantially closed walls and a pair of non-normal, opposed, spaced apart walls, having mouth openings; wherein the cover walls of the cover include a non-horizontal upper wall angled back from each lower wall, each upper wall including a grid work portion, the grid work portion with a multiplicity of ribs; and
- a base for engaging the lower walls, the base having a perimeter portion and a floor portion, the floor portion inside the junction between the lower walls and the base, the floor portion for defining, in part, a vent opening, the vent opening having generally vertical walls defining a throat terminating at an upper lip; wherein the roof vent engages the pitched roof such that the pair of opposed, substantially closed walls are oriented up and down pitch.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 1, 2012
Publication Date: Dec 6, 2012
Applicant: Hi-Tech Plastics, LLC (Mission, TX)
Inventors: Frank A. Baker, IV (Salisbury, MD), Douglas D. Bennett (S. Padre Islands, TX), Joseph W. Kelly (Bethlehem, PA)
Application Number: 13/486,216
International Classification: F24F 7/02 (20060101); E04D 13/16 (20060101); E04B 1/70 (20060101);