Patent Application
20210325061
The disclosure of the present patent application relates to attic and roof ventilation, and particularly to an off-ridge roof vent with an internal water diverter.
Numerous designs for attic and roof vents are known for providing ventilation to areas beneath building roofs. The ventilation of such areas is desirable to reduce the accumulation of heat in the summer, and to reduce the accumulation of moisture at all times of the year. In providing ventilation, it is important to prevent the entry of water into the building through the vent. It is also important to prevent debris and small animals from entering the building through the vent.
A common type of off-ridge roof vent uses a simple duct having a baffle mechanism over the top to prevent the entry of rain into the building. A variation of this simple design is the turbine-type roof vent, which uses a rotating element on the exterior of the duct and interior baffles to prevent the entry of water into the building. However, such off-ridge roof vents provide only a limited area through which air and moisture may escape from the structure. Further, such designs typically extend a considerable height from the surface of the roof, making them vulnerable to being knocked from the roof by tree limbs, wires, or simply the wind itself.
Other designs fit more closely to the surface of the roof, and provide a long rectangular opening through which air and moisture may exit the structure. Generally, a slot is cut in the roof that is slightly smaller than the footprint of the vent. The slot then communicates with a passageway that, in profile, is generally in the shape of an inverted “J” or gooseneck. Thus, the opening of the vent faces down, towards the roofing surface. In this way, water is prevented from entering the structure. Such vents may also be provided with a mesh or screen covering the opening, to prevent the entry of debris or small animals into the structure. However, such low profile designs suffer from a number of disadvantages. For example, such vents are typically vulnerable to damage by wind or by impact from debris. Typically, damage from the wind to such vents is in the form of bent or deformed top pieces or hoods. Such damage makes the vent more easily penetrated by rain and debris, since portions of the vent opening are enlarged, and the damage often results in deformation of those portions of the vent that interface with the surface of the roof, thus interfering with the proper sealing of the vent to the roof surface. Additionally, although the inverted “J” shape of the hood may prevent entry of water from rain falling straight down on the hood, water that is being blown by the wind may still be able to enter the vent. Thus, an off-ridge roof vent with an internal water diverter solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
The off-ridge roof vent with an internal water diverter is adapted for mounting on a roof of a building. The off-ridge roof vent with an internal water diverter includes a throat, a hood and a water diverter. The throat has a front throat wall, a rear throat wall and a pair of longitudinally opposed throat sidewalls. The throat has an open upper end and an open lower end. The hood has an upper hood wall with a convex cross section, a pair of longitudinally opposed hood sidewalls and a lower hood wall. A lower end of the hood has a rear portion, a central portion and a front portion, where the rear portion is open and is aligned with, and is in open communication with, the open upper end of the throat. The lower hood wall defines the central portion of the lower end of the hood and projects forward from the front throat wall. The front portion of the lower end of the hood is open. The convex cross section of the upper hood wall provides for smooth air flow over the vent.
A water diverter is formed in the lower hood wall and projects upward therefrom to prevent water from the external environment being blown into the throat through the open front portion of the lower end of the hood. A screen may be provided for covering the front portion of the lower end of the hood. Further, a peripheral flange may be secured to, and extend around, the open lower end of the throat.
It should be understood that the off-ridge roof vent with an internal water diverter may be formed from any suitable type of wind and water resistant material. Examples of such material include aluminum-zinc-coated steel and aluminum. It should be further understood that the various components of the off-ridge roof vent with an internal water diverter may be joined to one another using any suitable method. Preferably, Pittsburgh seams are used.
These and other features of the present subject matter will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification.
Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.
The off-ridge roof vent with an internal water diverter, designated generally as 10 in the drawings, is adapted for mounting on a roof of a building. As shown in
A water diverter 44 is formed in the lower hood wall 34 between the central portion 38 of the lower end 42 of the hood 14 and the grating 46 and projects upward at an angle of about 45° to prevent water from the external environment being blown into the throat 12 through the grating 46 mounted in the lower end 42 of the hood 14. Further, a peripheral mounting flange (or flanges) 48 may be secured to, and extend around, the open lower end 26 of the throat 12. As shown in
As best seen in
It should be understood that the off-ridge roof vent with an internal water diverter 10 may be formed from any suitable type of wind and water resistant material. Preferably, the vent 10 is made from 26-gauge galvalume (steel sheet metal coated with Galvalume® [a registered trademark of BIEC International, Inc. of Vancouver, Wash., referring to a coating containing about 55% zinc, 43-44% aluminum, and trace amounts of silicon] or 0.032-inch aluminum. It should be further understood that the various components of the off-ridge roof vent 10 with an internal water diverter may be joined to one another using any suitable method. Preferably, the sides, flanges, and grating are joined to the body of the vent 10 by Pittsburgh seams (a sheet metal joint where on sheet has a 90° flange inserted in a pocket formed in the second sheet, which is covered by bending a flap on the second sheet), thereby providing a seam or joint that is resistant to penetration by water. The holes 56 in the perforated grids 54 may be formed directly in the sheet metal, avoiding the necessity of using flimsy wire screens to cover the external openings of the vent 10.
It should also be understood that the relative dimensions of the off-ridge roof vent 10 shown in
It is to be understood that the off-ridge roof vent with an internal water diverter is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the generic language of the following claims enabled by the embodiments described herein, or otherwise shown in the drawings or described above in terms sufficient to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the claimed subject matter.
