Patent Application
20190085554
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
The present disclosure relates, in general, to construction materials, and more particularly to moisture avoidance and venting technology for use with conventional building framing methodology.
Trapped moisture between construction materials in buildings causes a plethora of different damages from mildew/mold development, wood rot, surface staining, loss of insulating capability and freeze expansion damage. Some of these damages occur in the short term, can be noticed and rectified, while others take time to manifest and cannot be rectified, rather require rebuilding.
Air that is trapped in hollow cavities or that has very slow migration, often infiltrates these cavities as warm, moist air. As the temperatures drop and the surrounding materials cool, the dew point of the air decreases and the trapped air deposits its moisture as water (dew) onto these surfaces. This cycle is capable of repeating thus subjecting the materials to constant rewetting. This is ideal for both mold and mildew formation on the surfaces, and this is a common occurrence behind siding and in ceiling and floor joists cavities.
The solution for this problem is to increase the rate at which air can be exchanged in these cavities so as the temperature drops, the warm moist air that was in the cavities is replaced with cooler ambient air that possesses a lower dew point that will not allow the condensation of moisture on the surrounding surfaces. This can be accomplished only where there is a clear pathway for the air to move.
Henceforth, an improved building methodology that allows for sound tight construction yet incorporates air passages for ventilation purposes would fulfill a long felt need in the building construction industry. This new invention utilizes and combines known and new technologies in a unique and novel configuration to overcome the aforementioned problems and accomplish this.
In accordance with various embodiments, a construction venting strip with or without an edge guide locating flange is provided that can be utilized between framing members.
In one aspect, a cutable construction venting strip that is sized to be used on dimensional lumber is provided. In various embodiments, the strip may or may not have an adhesive bottom face.
In another aspect, a construction venting strip is provided, capable of being cut to conform to the angles commonly used in wood frame construction.
In yet another aspect, a construction venting strip made of a high durometer polymer having both air and moisture vents and angular cut tracks is provided.
In yet another aspect, a waterproof, crushproof strip or coil that is fabricated from a self sealing butyl style polymer that can serve a triple function as a thermal break, a water barrier and a ventilation channel, and is capable of being cut with a construction razor knife along a series of repeating preformed angular channels on the top face of the is strip is provided.
Various modifications and additions can be made to the embodiments discussed without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, while the embodiments described above refer to particular features, the scope of this invention also includes embodiments having different combination of features and embodiments that do not include all of the above described features.
A further understanding of the nature and advantages of particular embodiments may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the drawings, in which like reference numerals are used to refer to similar components.
While various aspects and features of certain embodiments have been summarized above, the following detailed description illustrates at least on exemplary embodiment in further detail to enable one skilled in the art to practice such an embodiment. The described example is provided for illustrative purposes and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the described embodiment/s. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art, however, that other embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without some of these specific details. While various features are ascribed to different embodiments, it should be appreciated that the features described with respect to one embodiment may be incorporated with other embodiments as well. By the same token, however, no single feature or features of any described embodiment should be considered essential to every embodiment of the invention, as other embodiments of the invention may omit such features.
In this description, the directional prepositions of up, upwardly, down, downwardly, front, back, top, upper, bottom, lower, left, right and other such terms refer to the device as it is oriented and appears in the drawings and are used for convenience only; they are not intended to be limiting or to imply that the device has to be used or positioned in any particular orientation.
Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers herein used to express quantities, dimensions, and so forth, should be understood as being modified in all instances by the term “about.” In this application, the use of the singular includes the plural unless specifically stated otherwise, and use of the terms “and” and “or” means “and/or” unless otherwise indicated. Moreover, the use of the term “including,” as well as other forms, such as “includes” and “included,” should be considered non-exclusive. Also, terms such as “element” or “component” encompass both elements and components comprising one unit and elements and components that comprise more than one unit, unless specifically stated otherwise.
The present invention relates to a novel design for a low profile, construction venting strip 2 that is placed at an interface between framing members or materials that enclose space or form one of the walls to an adjacent enclosed void. The strip 2 provides five important functions. First, it acts as a conduit for the passage of air across it. Second, it prevents water from pooling and sitting on the surface of the underlying framing members. Third, it seals nail and screw penetrations passing through the strip and into the framing members. Fourth, it acts as a thermal break between adjacent materials. Lastly, it may be used as a furring strip or spacing strip/shim where an additional ¼ inch of framing material is needed.
The strip 2 is a linear length of polymer that has an overall uniform width and thickness dimensioned for the construction industry (multiples of 4 feet) and for use with dimensional lumber. It is intended to be affixed with mechanical or chemical fasteners between the strip and the construction elements, which may be framing members, siding, decking, furring strips or a plethora of other common construction elements. It is a planar strip having a width and length that corresponds to those commonly utilized in the construction industry. The length preferably is approximately 48 inches and the width is identical or slightly less than that width X (
The strip 2 may have a waterproof membrane 10 affixed to its bottom face 8 by an adhesive tape strip (or layer) 12 affixed to the bottom face 8 of the strip. (
The strip's primary purpose is to provide air passages across the framing interface where it is positioned. It does this by having some configuration of equal height support fins extending normally from the top face 13 (
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Although the support fins for this first embodiment depicted as circular cylindrical supports 16 other cylindrical geometric configurations are envisioned such as rectangular, hexagonal, octagonal, and the like.
The repeating pattern across the face of the strip is made of a shorter pattern that is mirrored about a perpendicular midpoint line 26 to the longitudinal axis of the strip lying along the midpoint of the repeating pattern. By mirroring this pattern the first and second cut lines can extend 315 degrees and 337.5 degrees from the linear axis. This allows the strip to be cut at 45 and 22.5 degrees on either side of the midpoint line 26 as the strip 2 can only be used with the bottom face 8 in contact with the underlying framing members as seen in
The advantage of this surface configuration is that it offers more air passage. The amount of surface on the strip covered by support fins is greater than 30% and optimally approximately 30-40% leaving approximately 60-70% of the strip's surface area as an air and moisture vent 14. While offering more air passage there is less lateral support to each of the support fins, and although made of the same durometer of the other strips 2—this first embodiment is prone to crushing and a reduction in its thickness when under high point loads because of the sideways deformation (bending) of the individual support fins.
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In use, the strip 2 is placed atop an edge surface of a 2× dimensional board 6. If it has a locating flange 4 the strip 2 is positioned such that the inside face of the flange 4 contacts the outside face of the board 6 while the bottom face of the strip 2 contacts the edge face of the board. The strip 2 may be tacked down to hold it in place before the top board is placed atop the strip 2 and the mechanical fastener secured between all three elements. If the strip 2 has two locating flanges the process is the same. If the strip 2 has no flanges but instead an adhesive strip, the peel strip of film is removed form the strip 2 and the strip 2 is centered along the area of intended placement. Securement by mechanical fasteners may occur now or later upon placement of the top construction material.
In the preferred embodiment, the strip 2 will be made of a polymer having excellent compression and deflection resistance. It will also have a high dielectric strength and as such will not utilize any type of conducting fillers. UV protection is not necessary because of their placement between framing members however it may be utilized in specific conditions such as on decking with spaced top boards. It will have a hardness between 50 and 100 on the Shore A Durometer scale, preferably between 60 and 80. This will be in the range of a tire tread or of a shoe heel. If the material is too hard, nails will bend before piercing through the strip 2 or the strip will shatter/split/chip when struck with a hammer or a framing member is dropped onto it. Especially if used during cold weather. If it is not hard enough it will tear or compress under load closing up the ventilation channels. In the preferred embodiment the waterproof strip 10 will be made of butyl rubber mixed with bitumen to enable both the waterproof and self-sealing characteristics.
In the preferred embodiment the overall thickness of the strip 2 is approximately ¼ inch and the thickness of the strip base is 3/32 of an inch. The remainder of the strip's thickness is the support fins. With a durometer in the range of 60 to 80 on the Shore A Durometer scale and anticipated load pressures of 40 psi (as per the US Residential Building code) there will be negligent to minimal compression. However, with anticipated maximum point loads reaching 300-500 psi the. strip 2 with the support dot risers (patterned dot arrays) may compress to a thickness no less than 95% of its original thickness. 3/32 of an inch. This amount of compression is greater than the other two surface configurations not because of a lower durometer but because the ample space around each dot allows for the sideways deflection (bending) of each dot. Strips with support channel risers (repeated patterned cutting channels), and support pad risers (uniform series of pads) in the durometer range specified, do not compress substantially and can be considered incompressible.
While certain features and aspects have been described with respect to exemplary embodiments, one skilled in the art will recognize that numerous modifications are possible. For example, the embodiments shown reflect any of the following features which can be used alone or in combination with the other features: adhesive tape, self sealing tape, a single edge flange, a dual edge flange, four foot strips, coils, support risers, support pads (uniform series of pads), support cylinders (patterned cylindrical arrays).
Hence, while various embodiments are described with—or without—certain features for ease of description and to illustrate exemplary aspects of those embodiments, the various components and/or features described herein with respect to a particular embodiment can be substituted, added, and/or subtracted from among other described embodiments, unless the context dictates otherwise. Consequently, although several exemplary embodiments are described above, it will be appreciated that the invention is intended to cover all modifications and equivalents within the scope of the following claims.
