FIELD
The present disclosure relates to ventilation heating and cooling systems, and more particularly it relates to flush mount air registers.
BACKGROUND
In forced air heating and cooling systems a fan associated with a furnace forces air through a duct system to distribute heated air or conditioned air throughout a building. Air emerges from outlets in the duct system, and the outlets generally include registers operable to regulate the flow of air. For registers which are situated in a floor, a grill is typically placed over the vent opening to provide an aesthetically pleasing appearance to the outlet. Normally, when installing flooring it is often desirable to include a register grill that also matches the flooring in order to give the flooring a homogeneous look. However, most flooring manufacturers and home improvement stores only have limited types and styles of register grills available, and end users are often forced to find the closest match to the flooring, and make do with their choice. Even if one was to consider custom manufacturing a limited number of register grills for a particular flooring, such a process may be impractical, expensive, and time consuming, as most manufacturers require minimum volumes to justify the cost of specialized tooling and dedicated personnel. In addition, given that there may be variations in flooring from batch to batch due to the nature of wood or tile, such matching may be difficult to achieve leading to inconsistencies in the overall flooring appearance.
SUMMARY
In one aspect, a flush mount register assembly comprising:
- at least one mounting bracket;
- a register;
- a damper box;
- a substrate tray nested within the register via a plurality of struts; and
- having a continuous peripheral gap defined between the substrate tray and the register;
- a damper slidably mounted on the damper box for controlling air flow volume through the damper box into the continuous peripheral gap;
- wherein the substrate tray receives a substrate;
- wherein the register rests on the damper box; and
- wherein the damper box is rests on the at least one mounting bracket.
In another aspect, a flush mount register assembly installation kit comprising:
- at least one mounting bracket;
- a register comprising a substrate tray nested within the register, and having a continuous peripheral gap defined between the substrate tray and the register, and wherein the substrate tray receives a substrate;
- a damper box comprising a top opening, a bottom opening and an apertured bottom wall adjacent to the bottom opening;
- a damper slidably mounted on the damper box for controlling air flow volume through the damper box into the continuous peripheral gap; and
- fasteners for securing the at least one mounting bracket to an installation surface.
In another aspect, a method of installing a flush mount register assembly into an opening of a surface, the method comprising the steps of:
- securing at least one mounting bracket to the surface;
- resting the flush mount register assembly on the at least one mounting bracket, the flush mount register assembly comprising a register, a substrate tray nested within the register via a plurality of struts, and having a continuous peripheral gap defined between the substrate tray and the register; and a damper box; and
- securing the register to the at least one mounting bracket.
Advantageously, the assembly comprises a damper box and substrate tray, which are both flush with the flooring, and can be used for flooring with various thicknesses e.g. 0.375 inches to 0.75 inches.
In addition, the assembly can be customized for installation in flooring with various floor thicknesses, by simply adjusting the height of the flooring substrate frame such that flooring substrate frame, and tray with flooring substrate are flush with the rest of the flooring. Accordingly, there is no need multiple stock keeping units (SKUs) for each floor thickness or vent opening.
Furthermore, the assembly allows for the substrate to be matched to the surface material. For example, the surface material may be wood, laminate, carpet, engineered products, tile, ceiling, drywall, carpet and vinyl, among others.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a flush mount register assembly installed in a floor;
FIG. 2 shows a top view of the flush mount register assembly;
FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a register;
FIG. 4 shows a bottom perspective view of the register;
FIG. 5 shows a sectional view of the register assembly, taken along line A-A in FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 shows a sectional view of the flush mount register assembly, taken along line B-B in FIG. 3;
FIG. 7 shows a top perspective view of the register;
FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of a damper box;
FIG. 9 shows a perspective view of a sliding damper plate;
FIG. 10 shows an apertured grid;
FIG. 11 shows a bottom view of the flush mount register assembly before installation in an opening;
FIG. 12 shows a perspective view of the flush mount register assembly before installation in an opening;
FIG. 13 shows a perspective view a bracket;
FIG. 14 shows a front view a bracket;
FIG. 15 shows a pair of brackets secured to a sub-floor;
FIG. 16 shows the pair of brackets of FIG. 15 secured to a sub-floor with flooring mounted on the sub-floor; and
FIG. 17 shows a flush mount register assembly installation kit flooring mounted on the sub-floor.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The detailed description of exemplary embodiments herein makes reference to the accompanying block diagrams and schematic diagrams, which show the exemplary embodiment by way of illustration. While these exemplary embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, it should be understood that other embodiments may be realized and that logical and mechanical changes may be made. Thus, the detailed description herein is presented for purposes of illustration only and not of limitation. For example, the steps recited in any of the method or process descriptions may be executed in any order and are not limited to the order presented.
Moreover, it should be appreciated that the particular implementations shown and described herein are illustrative of the disclosure and its best mode and are not intended to otherwise limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way. Indeed, for the sake of brevity, certain sub-components of the individual operating components.
Looking at FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a flush mount register assembly 10 for installation in an opening 12 of a surface 14, such as a floor, ceiling, or wall. In one example, the surface 14 may comprise a material, such as wood, laminate, composite, plastic, tile, or drywall. Typically, the opening 12 is in fluid communication with duct coupled to a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system for ingress or egress of air in or out of a space, such as a room. Generally, flush mount register assembly 10 comprises register 16, damper box 17 and a substrate tray 18 which receives a substrate 19, such as a flooring substrate. Preferably, the substrate 19 is identical to the surface 14 in which the flush mount register assembly 10 is mounted, which leads to a more desirable aesthetic look.
The flooring substrate 19 is dimensioned to fit within substrate tray 18, such that substrate tray 18 is flush with flooring 14. The depth of substrate tray 18 may be adjusted, or may be varied to allow for full customization of flush mount register assembly 10 to match the various thicknesses of flooring 14. Accordingly, flush mount register assembly 10 can be easily installed, without having to level any other component of flush mount register assembly 10.
Now referring to FIGS. 3-6, register 16 comprises a first pair of longitudinally extending sidewalls 20a, 20b, 22a, 22b and a first pair of laterally extending sidewalls 24a, 24b, 26a, 26b, which are joined to form a rectangularly shaped structure with top opening 27a and bottom opening 27b. Longitudinally extending walls 20a, 20b, 22a, 22b and laterally extending sidewalls 24a, 24b, 26a, 26b, bottom edges 34, 35 of first pair of longitudinally extending sidewalls 20a, 20b, 22a, 22b and bottom edges 36, 37 of first pair of laterally extending sidewalls 24a, 24b, 26a, 26b define bottom opening 27b. A shoulder 38 joins laterally extending sidewalls 24a and 24b, and laterally extending sidewalls 26a, 26b. Substrate tray 18 is disposed between top opening 27a and bottom opening 27b, and is dimensioned such that a continuous peripheral gap 39 is defined between the substrate tray 18 walls and longitudinally extending walls 20a, 20b, 22a, 22b and laterally extending sidewalls 24a, 24b, 26a, 26b of register 16. Laterally extending sidewalls 24a, 24b, 26a, 26b include one or more crevices 41 which engage tabs 82 on the damper box 17, as will be described below with reference to FIG. 8.
As can be seen in FIG. 3, substrate tray 18 comprises a second longitudinally extending walls 40, 42 and second laterally extending walls 44, 46, which are joined together to form a rectangularly shaped structure, with top opening 48 and base 50. Struts 52 extend between the second longitudinally extending walls 40, 42 and the first pair of longitudinally extending sidewalls 20a, 20b, 22a, 22b of the register 16 and maintain the substrate tray 18 within the register 16 with the gap 39 therebetween. Air from the duct is forced through the continuous peripheral gap 39 into the space. The base 50 of substrate tray 18 comprises air deflector 60 for directing air towards gap 39, thereby increasing air flow through gap 39, as can be seen FIGS. 4 and 5.
Now referring to FIG. 8, damper box 17 comprises a third pair of longitudinally extending sidewalls 70, 72 and a third pair of laterally extending sidewalls 74, 76, which are joined to form a rectangularly shaped structure with top opening 77a and bottom opening 77b. Located between the top opening 77a and the bottom opening 77b is a bottom wall 78 with a plurality of apertures 80 that are spaced apart by a predefined distance to allow for air to pass through from the duct into the damper box 17. Third pair of longitudinally extending sidewalls 70, 72 comprise top edges 81a, 81b, respectively, and bottom edges 84a, 84b, respectively. Third pair of laterally extending sidewalls 74, 76 comprise top edges 81c, 81d, respectively, and bottom edges 84c, 84d, respectively. Third pair of laterally extending sidewalls 74, 76 further comprise one or more tabs 82. The register 16 is placed on the damper box 17 such that the edges 81 rest on shoulder 38, and the tabs 82 are caused to engage one or more crevices 41 of the register 16 to removably attach the damper box 17 to the register 16.
A damper plate 90 is slidably mounted within the damper box 17, and rests on the apertured bottom wall 78 adjacent to the damper box bottom opening 77b, for controlling air flow into the damper box 17. As can be seen in FIGS. 8 and 9, the damper plate 90 comprises a plurality of apertures 94 that are spaced apart by a predefined distance, and is configured to move in one direction within the damper box 17 such that the plurality of apertures 94 are aligned, partially aligned, or misaligned with the plurality of apertures 80 of the damper box 17 to allow regulate air flow into the damper box 17. The damper plate 90 comprises a finger 96 projecting from a top surface 98, the finger 96. When the damper plate 90 is in place within the damper box 17, the finger 96 is located between wall 46 of the substrate tray 18 and wall 76 of the damper box 17. The finger 96 is dimensioned to be graspable by a user, such that the user can apply a force to cause the damper plate 90 to linearly slide relative to the bottom wall 78 of the damper box 17. Accordingly, as the damper plate 90 slides linearly back and forth relative to the apertured bottom wall 78, the apertures 80, 94 are caused to align or misalign to form airflow passages of a variable size, thereby regulating the airflow into the damper box 17. As such, when the apertures 80, 94 are fully aligned then maximum air flow into the damper box 17 may be achieved, whereas when the apertures 80, 94 are fully misaligned then air flow into the damper box 17 is substantially impeded or blocked. In one example, the apertures 80 in the bottom wall 78 and the apertures 94 of the sliding plate 92 are substantially rectangular-shaped, however the apertures 94 may be formed to have shapes other than rectangular.
In one example, apertured grid 99 is removably attached to the bottom opening 77b such that a cavity 102 (not shown) is defined between the grid 99 and the apertured bottom wall 78, as can be seen in FIG. 10. The grid 99 comprises a plurality of apertures 100, and may be configured to frictionally fit within the bottom opening 77b. The cavity 102 may receive an air filter which is retained therein by the grid 99. In one example, grid 99 is removably attached to the bottom opening 77b, as such, the air filter can be replaced periodically as needed.
Looking at FIGS. 11-15, there is shown a bracket 110 for securing the flush mount register assembly 10 to a surface. The bracket 110 comprises a first rectangular plate portion 112 and a second rectangular plate portion 114 perpendicular thereto, and the plate portions 112, 114 are joined at juncture line 116. The first plate portion 112 has a plurality of through-holes 118 for securing the bracket 110 to a surface, such as a sub-floor 120. In one example, at least two brackets 110 may be disposed on opposite lateral sides of the opening 12 within the flooring 14, and secured to a sub-floor 120 which supports the flooring 14. FIG. 15 shows a pair of brackets 110 secured to a sub-floor 120; and FIG. 16 shows the pair of brackets 110 of FIG. 15 secured to a sub-floor 120 with flooring 14 mounted on the sub-floor 120. The brackets 110 may be secured to the sub-floor 120 using fasteners 122 introduced into the holes 118 of the first plate portion 112 and driven into the sub-floor 110. The fasteners 122 may be screws, nails, staples, and so forth. With the brackets 110 secured to the sub-floor 120, the register assembly 10 is introduced into the opening 12 and rests on the brackets 110. As such, edges 84c, 84d of laterally extending sidewalls 74, 76 rest on the second rectangular plate portions 114 of the brackets 110. In another example, the flush mount register assembly 10 is secured to the brackets 110 by fasteners 122 introduced into the laterally extending sidewalls 24a, 26a and through the holes 118 of the first plate portion 112 and driven into the sub-floor 110. In another example, at least two brackets 110 may be disposed on opposite longitudinal sides of the opening 12 within the flooring 14, and secured to a sub-floor 120 which supports the flooring 14. As such, the brackets 110 are secured to the sub-floor 120 such that edges 84a, 84b of longitudinally extending sidewalls 70, 72 rest on the second rectangular plate portions 114 of the brackets 110. In another example, the flush mount register assembly secured to the brackets 110 by fasteners 122 introduced into the longitudinally extending sidewalls 20a, 22a and through the holes 118 of the first plate portion 112 and driven into the sub-floor 110. In another example, the brackets 110 are secured to the sub-floor on more than one side of the opening 12. In another example, the opening 12 may be any shape or size dimensioned to fit the register assembly 10, as such the opening 12 may comprises a complementary shape or size.
FIG. 17 shows a flush mount register assembly installation kit 130 comprising at least a register 16, damper box 17, damper plate 90, brackets 110, and fasteners 122.
In addition, the damper box 17 and the substrate tray 18 are dimensioned to fit inside industry standard vent openings. Accordingly, when flush mount register assembly 10 is fully assembled, substrate tray 18 is capable of supporting similar forces imposed on flooring 14, such as those from furniture, objects, or people.
In another implementation, damper box 17 includes a single damper or any number of dampers, depending on the size of the opening, application, desired results, and user preferences.
In another implementation, while the assembly 10 is primarily meant to be installed at the same time as the flooring material 14, it can be modified to allow use of leftover flooring such that the finished product matches the existing flooring material 14.
In another implementation, substrate tray 18 is removably secured to damper box 17.
Those skilled in the art will recognize that the dimensions shown in the drawings are exemplary in nature only, as these dimensions are applicable in one exemplary implementation e.g. for 4″×10″ vent openings, and therefore can vary depending on the requirements for a particular application, desired results, and user preferences. For example, flush mount register assembly 10 may be dimensioned to fit any opening, accordingly exemplary sizes of flush mount register assembly 10 may be 2″×12″ and 4″×12″.
In another implementation, the assembly 10 is installed in a ceiling or a wall. Accordingly, substrate 19 may be a ceiling tile or drywall.
In another implementation, each of the pair of second laterally extending walls 44, 46 of substrate tray 18 comprise at least one strut extending outwardly, wherein one end of the struts 52 s secured to the first pair of laterally extending sidewalls 24a, 24b, 26a, 26b of damper box 17.
The preceding detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the invention makes reference to the accompanying drawings, which show the exemplary embodiment by way of illustration. While these exemplary embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, it should be understood that other embodiments may be realized and that logical and mechanical changes may be made. For example, the steps recited in any of the method or process claims may be executed in any order and are not limited to the order presented. Further, the present disclosure may be practiced using one or more servers, as necessary. Thus, the preceding detailed description is presented for purposes of illustration only and not of limitation, and the scope of the disclosure is defined by the preceding description, and with respect to the attached claims.
Patent Application
20250067466
