BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the use of a roof pipe flashing for a roof vent pipe with a side air attic vent.
2. Description of the Related Art
Roof pipe flashings are conventionally used to support a vent pipe extending through and above the roof of a building. The purpose of vent pipes is to exhaust into the atmosphere undesirable air from various in-house facilities such as bathrooms. It is also well known, during warm seasons of the year, to exhaust hot air from the attic of a house or building into the outside atmosphere. There are very few structures or devices known in the art to eliminate or ameliorate both of these problems from the same device. U.S. Pat. No. 9,851,115 discloses a vent sealing device 10 including a flashing 62 and an outer tube 20 surrounding a vent pipe 12 wherein the outer tube 20 has breathing or ventilation holes 23 in one embodiment which allow additional venting to the sealing device 10 when needed or desired. However, this patent does not disclose the source of the air for which the breathing or ventilation holes are used. Furthermore, the vent sealing device of this patent is a tubular structure having a lead flashing for preventing squirrels and other rodents from damaging it with their claws and teeth quite unlike the structure and purpose of the roof pipe flashing of this invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The purpose of this invention is to provide an attic air exhaust outlet for a roof pipe flashing such as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 9,724,836 or for other conventional roof pipe flashings having a bell-shaped boot. In order to accomplish this an air exhaust extension is provided to a bell-shaped boot of a roof pipe flashing. The subject matter for the materials and partial structure of the frusto-conical boot disclosed in the inventor's prior patent U.S. Pat. No. 9,724,836 are incorporated in full herein.
A substantially rectangular extension is provided to a roof pipe flashing such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,724,836 which will be further described in detail below. The roof pipe flashing of this invention is positioned around an opening in the roof of a building and around a roof pipe extending therethrough and then secured to the roof of the building. However, the roof pipe flashing of this invention is not limited to the structure of the U.S. Pat. No. 9,724,836 but is also adaptable to other bell-shaped boots of roof pipe flashings known in the art.
It is an object of this invention to remove air from the attic of a building especially during warm or hot seasons of the year in order to help reduce the internal house temperature during these seasons.
Other objects and advantages of the use of the roof pipe flashing of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following description, of which the attached drawings form a part.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the roof pipe flashing of this invention.
FIG. 2 is a top planar view of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a bottom planar view of FIG. 1 with a circular opening in a roof of a building.
FIG. 4 is a bottom planar view of FIG. 1 with an oval opening in a roof of a building.
FIG. 5 is a view showing positioning of the roof pipe flashing of this invention above an oval opening in the roof of a building.
FIG. 6 is a view showing one method of positioning and securing the roof pipe flashing of FIG. 1 to the roof of a building.
FIG. 7 is a view showing another method of positioning and securing the roof pipe flashing of FIG. 1 to the roof of a building.
FIGS. 8A, 8B and 8C show different shaped openings for the front filter of an attic air vent extension.
FIG. 9 is a partial, broken-away, cross sectional view of the front filter with a rear filter in the attic air vent extension of the roof pipe flashing.
FIG. 10 is a top schematic view of the roof of a building with a roof apex ridge and various locations for a roof pipe flashing of FIG. 1 on the pitched shingled roof of a building.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Shown in FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the roof pipe flashing 1 of this invention including a partial boot 2 with a frusto-conical wall 3 and an extending rectangular shaped side air attic vent 4. The dimensions of the partial boot 2 are approximately similar to the dimensions of the raised boot 2′ described for FIG. 4 in applicant's prior patent U.S. Pat. No. 9,724,836 except for the cutout provided in the front section thereof for the rectangular shaped side air attic vent 4 attached thereto. The dimensions of the top surface of the rectangular shaped side air attic vent 4 of this invention are approximately 3 and ½ inches gradually increasing to 5 inches contiguous with the front of the frusto-conical wall 3. The opposite side walls of the air attic vent 4 are approximately 5 inches long and contiguous with the frusto-conical wall 3 at their rear ends. The height of each of the side walls of the air attic vent 4 is approximately 1 and ½ inches. The air attic vent 4 has front filter 10 which air attic vent 4 extends backwardly up to a front curved cutaway section 3a of the frusto-conical wall 3 to provide an air passageway from the attic to the outer atmosphere. This passageway is formed between the upper and side walls of the air attic vent 4 and the upper surface of the substantially rectangular flat base 5. The partial boot 2 is also supported on the substantially rectangular flat base 5 which has an extended lip 6. The extended lip 6 has an opening 7 for inserting a nail or screw therethrough for securing the roof pipe flashing 1 to a pitched shingled roof of a building. The partial boot 2 has a partially enclosed upper end with an opening 9 for the passage of a vent pipe VP therethrough. The substantially rectangular flat base 5 has several indentures 8 for indicating the placement of additional nails, as needed, to further secure the roof pipe flashing 1 to the pitched shingled roof. The partial boot 2, the air attic vent 4 and the flat base 5 are preferably injection molded together as a single unit and made from an elastomeric material such as the material disclosed in the inventor's aforementioned patent U.S. Pat. No. 9,724,836. However, the component parts of the roof pipe flashing of this invention may also be adapted to other store available roof pipe flashings made from plastic, aluminum, hard plated tin or copper.
FIG. 2 is a top planar view of the roof pipe flashing 1 shown in FIG. 1 showing the partial boot 2, the air attic vent 4 and the flat base 5.
FIG. 3 is a bottom planar view showing the partial boot 2 of this invention through a circular opening CO in the roof R of a building and FIG. 4 is a bottom planar view showing the partial boot 2 of this invention through an oval opening OO in the roof R of a building. Also shown in FIG. 4 is a short right-angle extension 2a at the bottom end of the partial boot 2 for preventing rain water from entering the arcuate opening 2b in the partial boot 2. The roof pipe flashing 1 of this invention is adaptable to be placed over either a circular or oval type opening in the roof of a building. As one having ordinary skill in the roofing art would be aware, other shaped openings in the roof may also be used to accommodate the positioning of the roof pipe flashing 1 of this invention on the roof of a building.
FIG. 5 shows an example of the positioning of the roof pipe flashing 1 of this invention by placing it over the vent pipe VP in the roof of a building and thence over an oval opening OO in a pitched shingled roof PSR of a building; generally, the location of the roof pipe flashing 1 of this invention is placed near the apex or attic ridge of a pitched shingled roof PSR. A similar procedure is also done in positioning the roof pipe flashing of this invention over a circular opening CO in a pitched shingled roof PSR.
The roof pipe flashing 1 of this invention may be secured to the pitched singled roof PSR of a building by, for example, nailing the rectangular flat base 5 onto the roof shingles as shown in FIG. 6 of the drawings. Alternatively, the roof pipe flashing 1 of this invention may be secured partially beneath the shingles of a pitched shingled roof PSR as shown in FIG. 7 of the drawings. In either case, a nail or screw is used through the lip 6 of the rectangular flat base 5 to further secure the roof pipe flashing 1 to the pitched shingled roof PSR.
Although the front opening of the air attic vent 4 may be left unobstructed it is preferable to provide a front filter 10 to prevent debris, birds or animals from entering the front opening of the air attic vent 4 which obstacles would obstruct the flow of attic air into the outer atmosphere. A front filter 10a may be secured at the opening of the air attic vent 4 in the form of spaced circular holes such as shown in FIG. 8A of the drawings or a front filter 10b in the form of spaced slat openings such as shown in FIG. 8B of the drawings or a front filter 10c in the form of spaced rectangular openings such as shown in FIG. 8C of the drawings or in the shape of other spaced geometrical openings. The circular holes are approximately ¼ inch in diameter; the spaced slats are spaced approximately ¼ inch apart; and the rectangular openings are approximately ¼ inch in width and height. The circular holes in the front filter 10a have their bottom row of holes extend all the way down to the flat base 5 (not shown) such that said bottom row of holes are only partially contiguous with said flat base 5. The front filter 10c has its bottom row of rectangular openings extend all the way down to the flat base 5 (not shown) such that said bottom row of rectangular openings are only partially contiguous with said flat base 5. The front filter 10b has its slat shaped openings extend nearly all the way down to the flat base 5 (not shown) in order to prevent rain water from accumulating in the air attic vent 4. The bottom row of circular openings in the front filter 10a as well as the bottom row of rectangular openings in the front filter 10c also extend nearly all the way down to the flat base 5 for the same reason as the slat shaped openings. The front filters 10a, 10b, and 10c may each be made from an elastomeric material (such as disclosed in the inventor's aforementioned patent), i. e., the same material as the partial boot 2, rectangular shaped air attic vent 4 and the flat base 5 are made from. To further prevent the entrance of insects such as bees from entering the front opening of the rectangular shaped air attic vent 4 a filter screen 11 made from an air mesh material such as Natural Aire cleaning filter material available from Flanders, Co. The filter screen 11 is secured in abutment with the inner side or rear side of one of the aforementioned front filters 10 such as shown in FIG. 9 of the drawings. The filter screen 11 may be secured to the front filter 10a, 10b or 10c by pushing it through the bottom opening in the partial boot 2 and thence trough the elongated passageway of the air attic vent 4 up to the rear side of the front filter 10. The filter screen 11 is held in place either by the force fit thereof within the four walls of the air attic vent 4 or by any other means such as, for example, by a suitable adhesive well known in the art. The filter screen 11 is approximately ¼ to ½ inch thick. Also shown in FIG. 9 is the short right-angle extension 2a previously mentioned in the description of FIG. 4.
As depicted in FIG. 10 of the drawings, several of the roof pipe flashings of this invention may be needed or used for certain houses having several vent pipes in which case, for example, roof pipe flashings 1, 1 are secured near the gutter G on one side of the roof R and another roof pipe flashing 1 secured near the apex ridge AR on the same side of the roof R. Air flow indicated by solid lines enter the attic vents 4, 4 for each of the roof pipe flashings 1, 1, then pass through the attic indicated by the dashed lines and finally pass through the attic vent 4 of the roof pipe flashing 1 secured near the apex ridge AR of the roof as indicated in FIG. 10 of the drawings. Such an arrangement of roof pipe flashings of this invention will expedite the outflow of attic air into the atmosphere.
Although the side air attic vent of this invention is rectangularly shaped it may also be shaped in other forms in order to provide for the escape or exhaust of attic air into the outer atmosphere.
Modifications of this invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and it is intended that the invention be not limited by the embodiments disclosed herein but that the scope of the invention be defined by the appended claims.
Patent Application
20200032519
