The present disclosure is directed to vents for covering openings on metal roofs. More particularly, the disclosure relates to vents that cover openings on contoured (e.g., corrugated) metal roofs, preventing moisture and objects from entering the opening while allowing air to pass therethrough. The vents include a cap, a collar, and a contoured foot configured to contact a correspondingly contoured roof surface.
Vents are often used on roofs, both commercial and residential, to release heat, steam and/or other gases to the atmosphere. Some examples are vents for agricultural and industrial buildings, bathroom vents, laundry room exhaust vents, and kitchen range vents. Such vents may include a cap; a screen to prevent rain, insects, and other pests from entering the vent; and a flashing to interface with the roof. Various materials are used to form such vents, including various plastics, metals, and rubber materials. Securely attaching such vents to a metal roof presents several challenges. For example, the attachment method must be secure enough to withstand wind and other environmental factors. More problematic, the vent must be attached to the roof in a manner that prevents moisture, etc., from entering the building through the points at which the vent is secured to the roof.
Metal roofs are often constructed of overlapping corrugated metal panels attached to a roof deck. Each corrugated panel typically includes of a series of web or pan sections separated by a series of raised ribs or ridges. The raised ridges generally have a geometric cross-section (e.g., trapezoidal, triangular, arcuate, etc.) such that they are self-supporting. Each corrugated panel typically starts and ends with a ridge. When assembled to form a roof covering, a starting ridge of a newly installed panel overlaps on the ending ridge of the panel already in place.
Pre-existing roof vents designed for shingle roof applications are difficult to install on metal roofs and perform poorly when they are installed because they are designed to integrate with a shingle roof system. In a shingle roof system, a generally flat flange portion of the vent is installed underneath roofing shingles. Pre-existing adapters allow these shingle-roof vents to be installed on a metal roof, but the adapters are large and create an unsightly appearance with their expanded footprint on top of the metal roof. Further, the contoured (e.g., corrugated) surface of the metal roof makes it difficult to waterproof an interface between a vent and the metal roof surface without such an adaptor.
The present disclosure resolves the several problems associated with prior roof vents when utilized with a contoured metal roof. The roof vents include a base or foot having one or more recessed channels that extend between opposing edges of a bottom surface of the base or foot (hereafter foot). The recessed channels are sized and shaped to receive correspondingly shaped ridges of an underlying contoured metal roof surface. Accordingly, the foot of the roof vent may be selected to match a contour (e.g., ridge configuration) of a specific metal roof. In any arrangement, the foot of the vent will include an aperture extending through the foot within its periphery. A collar, which may be attached to an upper surface of the foot or integrally formed with the foot, surrounds a periphery of the aperture. The collar, which may be an annular sidewall with a hollow interior, prevents water (e.g., on a top surface of the vent) from entering into the aperture and an underlying opening in a roof surface. The vents may further include a cap that prevents water from entering into the hollow interior of the collar. The vents described herein lower installation time and cost while providing a more secure and weather resistant attachment to a roof.
Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which at least assist in illustrating the various pertinent features of the presented inventions. The following description is presented for purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to limit the inventions to the forms disclosed herein. Consequently, variations and modifications commensurate with the following teachings, and skill and knowledge of the relevant art, are within the scope of the presented inventions. The embodiments described herein are further intended to explain the best modes known of practicing the inventions and to enable others skilled in the art to utilize the inventions in such, or other embodiments and with various modifications required by the particular application(s) or use(s) of the presented inventions.
The foot 62 is typically made of a flat piece of material (e.g., sheet metal) having substantially planer top and bottom surfaces. The foot includes an aperture 64 that is configured for positioning over an opening in a roof surface. The illustrated collar 68 forms an annular sidewall having a hollow interior and having a lower edge 69 that attaches about the periphery 65 of the aperture 64 in the foot 62. More specifically, the bottom edge of the collar 68 is affixed such that the interface between the collar 68 and the foot 62 is sealed. In this regard, any water passing over a top surface of the foot is prevented from entering the aperture 64 and an underlying opening in a roof surface. Though illustrated as being separate parts, it will be appreciated that the collar may be integrally formed with the foot, for example, in a stamping process.
The foot 62 includes a generally flat or planer bottom surface that can be affixed to a surface of a metal roof utilizing, for example, roof screws passing through the foot into an underlying surface of the metal roof. A rubberized gasket or a sealant such as silicone may be disposed between the foot and the roof. Once affixed to the surface of a metal roof over an opening in the roof, air may pass through the vent via the collar 68 and spaced between the collar 68 and the cap 52. However, difficulties arise when attempting to utilize the vent 50 on a metal roof that is corrugated or otherwise includes a plurality of ridges/ribs (e.g., a contoured surface). Specifically, it is difficult to effectively seal the planar bottom surface of the foot to a contoured surface.
To address the difficulties in achieving an effective seal between roof vent and a contoured metal roof surface, the present disclosure is directed to a roof vent having a base or foot configured to conformably engage with a contoured metal roof.
In contrast to the vent described above, the foot 110 of the vent 100 is contoured to matingly engage with a correspondingly contoured underlying surface (e.g., corrugated metal roof panel). In the illustrated embodiment, the contoured foot 110 is a thin sheet of material (e.g., sheet metal) having an upper or top surface and a bottom surface. In the illustrated embodiment, the foot 110 is rectangular having a forward edge 114, a rearward edge 116 and two lateral edges 118a, 118b, which collectively define a periphery of the foot. The foot 110 includes one or more ridges that extend along the length of the contoured foot between its forward edge 114 and its rearward edge 116. These ridges 120, 122 protrude above the top surface of the foot and form corresponding recesses in the bottom surface of the foot along its length between its forward and rearward edges. That is, the foot 110 includes one or more ridges 120 that extend between pan sections 140 of the foot, which in the illustrated embodiment are flat sections. It will be appreciated in other embodiments that the pan section may not be flat. However, the lower surface of each pan section 140 is typically in a common plane to permit attachment to a generally planar roof deck/surface. In this non-limiting embodiment, the contoured foot 110 is configured to engage the R-type panel of
The contour of the foot 110 on its top surface 150 and its bottom surface 152 is best illustrated in
The engagement of the contoured foot 110 of the vent 100 with an underlying metal roof panel 10 is best illustrated in
To achieve an effective seal between the bottom surface of the vent and the metal panel, the bottom surface of the vent may include a pliable waterproof coating (e.g., rubberized coating). Such a coating may be applied to the bottom surface of the vent during manufacture (i.e., prior to application to a roof). This coating may be made of any elastomeric material including, without limitation, natural and synthetic rubbers. Additionally or alternatively, a separate gasket may be disposed between the bottom surface of the vent and an upper surface of a metal roof. Such a gasket will typically include an aperture aligned with an aperture in the metal roof and the aperture in the foot of the vent. In any arrangement, metal screws may be utilized to affix the vent to the roof surface. Additionally, rubberized adhesives/sealants could be applied to the bottom surface of the vent when applied.
Of note, in various embodiments, it may be desirable that a primary ridge/channel formed into the foot 110 of the vent 100 be aligned with the center of the foot between its lateral edges 118a, 118b. See
Of additional note, the collar 130 and the cap 102 may have lower edges that are contoured to match the contours of the upper surface of the contoured foot 110. As best illustrated in
Systems, methods and apparatus are provided herein. References to “preferred embodiments,” “another embodiment,” “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “an example embodiment,” etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments, whether or not explicitly described. After reading the description, it will be apparent to one skilled in the relevant art how to implement the disclosure in alternative embodiments.
Furthermore, no element, component, or method step in the present disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the element, component, or method step is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is intended to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f) unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for.” As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.