U.S. patent application number 12/321531 was filed with the patent office on 2010-07-22 for cover for a static roof vent.
Invention is credited to Steve C. Hassenstab.
Application Number | 20100184366 12/321531 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 42337342 |
Filed Date | 2010-07-22 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100184366 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hassenstab; Steve C. |
July 22, 2010 |
Cover for a static roof vent
Abstract
A cover is provided for a prior art static roof vent with the
cover being positioned on the roof vent so as to permit the venting
of attic air or the like from a building structure but which
prevents wind-driven snow or rain from entering the interior of the
roof vent.
Inventors: |
Hassenstab; Steve C.;
(Ashland, NE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
THOMTE LAW OFFICE, L.L.C.
2120 S. 72ND STREET, SUITE 1111
OMAHA
NE
68124
US
|
Family ID: |
42337342 |
Appl. No.: |
12/321531 |
Filed: |
January 22, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
454/367 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F24F 13/20 20130101;
F24F 7/02 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
454/367 |
International
Class: |
F24F 13/20 20060101
F24F013/20 |
Claims
1. A static roof vent for positioning over a vent opening formed in
a building roof, comprising: a generally flat base member, having
an upper surface and a lower surface and having spaced-apart end
and side edges which are adapted to be secured to the building
roof; said base member having a central opening positioned above
the vent opening in the building; a hollow throat portion extending
upwardly from said base member inwardly of the side edges thereof;
said throat portion being in communication with said central
opening in said base member; said throat portion having upper and
lower ends, inner and outer surfaces and side walls extending
downwardly from said upper end of said throat portion; said throat
portion having an upper wall extending across its upper end; said
upper wall of said throat portion having air openings formed
therein; a vent cap having an upper wall and side walls extending
downwardly therefrom; said vent cap being secured to said throat
portion so that said upper wall of said vent cap is spaced above
said upper end of said throat portion and so that said lower end of
said vent cap is spaced above said base member and so that said
side walls of said vent cap are positioned outwardly of said side
walls of said throat portion; and a cover extending around and over
said vent cap in a spaced relationship thereto; said cover having
an upper wall and side walls extending downwardly therefrom; said
side walls of said cover having lower ends which are disposed above
said base member; said side walls of said cover being spaced
outwardly of said side walls of said side walls of said vent cap;
said upper wall of said cover being spaced above said upper end of
said vent cap; said upper wall of said cover having vent openings
formed therein.
2. The static roof vent of claim 1 wherein said throat portion and
said base member are of one-piece construction.
3. The static roof vent of claim 1 wherein said lower ends of said
side walls of said cover are closely positioned above said base
member.
4. In combination with a static roof vent including a generally
flat base member, a hollow vented throat portion extending upwardly
from the base member, and an inverted cap secured to the throat
portion which extends thereonto, comprising: an inverted cover
positioned over the cap of the static roof vent.
5. The combination of claim 4 wherein said inverted cover includes
a vented upper wall.
6. The combination of claim 4 wherein said cover includes side
walls extending downwardly from said vented upper wall; said upper
wall of said cover being vented.
7. The combination of claim 6 wherein said side walls of said cover
have lower ends which are closely spaced-above said base member.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1 Field of the Invention
[0002] This invention relates to a cover for a static roof vent and
more particularly to a cover which is attached to a conventional
static roof vent to prevent wind driven rain or snow from being
blown downwardly through the static roof vent into the attic area
therebelow.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] Static roof vents are utilized in conjunction with a vent
opening formed in a building roof so that the hot air in the attic
of the building may be vented outwardly through the vent opening
and through the roof vent. The conventional static roof vents of
the prior art do satisfactorily achieve venting of the attic but
sometimes permit wind-driven rain and snow to be blown downwardly
through the roof vent and through the vent opening into the attic
which may cause damage to the building structure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of
concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in
the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify
key aspects or essential aspects of the claimed subject matter.
Moreover, this Summary is not intended for use as an aid in
determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
[0006] The cover of this invention is utilized with a conventional
static roof vent which is usually of a two-piece construction and
which is usually comprised of galvanized metal. The conventional
static roof vent includes a flat base member having an upper edge,
a lower edge and opposite side edges. Integrally formed with the
base member is a square or four-sided hollow throat portion having
upstanding side walls. The throat portion has an upper wall which
extends across the upstanding side walls and which has louvers or
the like formed therein to permit the passage of air therethrough.
An inverted cap is secured to the throat portion by rivets or the
like so that the upper wall of the cap is spaced above the upper
wall of the throat portion and so that the lower edge of the cap is
spaced above the base member.
[0007] The base member is centrally positioned over a vent opening
formed in the roof decking of the building and is secured thereto
by nails or the like extending downwardly through the base member
and into the decking of the roof. In position, the throat portion
of the static roof vent is centrally positioned over the vent
opening formed in the roof.
[0008] In normal operation, air is vented from the building attic
or the like upwardly through the vent opening formed in the roof
decking, upwardly through the interior of the throat portion of the
static roof vent, and upwardly through the louvers or vent openings
formed in the upper wall of the throat portion. The air vented
through the louvers in the throat portion of the static roof vent
then extend downwardly between the outside surface of the throat
portion and the inside surface of the side walls of the cap and
thence outwardly to the atmosphere. Although the conventional
static roof vent described hereinabove performs satisfactorily to
vent hot air from the building attic, wind-driven snow or rain may
be blown beneath the lower end of the cap and into the louvers or
vent openings formed in the upper end of the throat portion with
the rain or show then passing downwardly through the vent opening
in the building roof, which may cause damage to the building
structure.
[0009] In the instant invention, an inverted cover extends around
and over the vent cap of the static roof vent in a spaced
relationship with respect thereto. The cover includes a top wall
and side walls extending downwardly therefrom. The top wall of the
cover is provided with vent openings or louvers formed therein. The
side walls of the cover have lower ends which are disposed above
the base member of the static roof vent. The side walls of the
cover are spaced outwardly of the side walls of the throat portion
of the static roof vent with the top wall of the cover being spaced
above the upper end of the throat portion.
[0010] The cover of this invention greatly reduces the possibility
that wind-driven snow or rain may be driven downwardly through the
throat portion of the static roof vent and into the attic of the
building structure.
[0011] It is therefore a principal object of the invention to
provide a cover for a static roof vent.
[0012] A further object of the invention is to provide a cover for
a static roof vent which greatly reduces the possibility of
wind-driven snow or rain being driven downwardly through the roof
vent and into the attic over which the roof vent is positioned.
[0013] A further object of the invention is to provide a cover for
a static roof vent wherein the cover may be easily secured to
existing static roof vents.
[0014] A further object of the invention is to provide a cover for
a static roof vent which is economical of manufacture, durable in
use and refined in appearance.
[0015] These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in
the art.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments of the present
invention are described with reference to the following figures,
wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the
various views unless otherwise specified.
[0017] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a prior art static
roof vent and the static roof vent cover of this invention;
[0018] FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a prior art static roof
vent;
[0019] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the static roof vent cover
of this invention mounted over a static roof vent with portions
thereof cut away to more fully illustrate the invention;
[0020] FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the static roof vent cover of
this invention mounted-on a prior art static roof vent;
[0021] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the static roof vent cover
of this invention; and
[0022] FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the static roof
vent cover mounted on a static roof vent which is mounted on the
roof of a building structure.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0023] Embodiments are described more fully below with reference to
the accompanying figures, which form a part hereof and show, by way
of illustration, specific exemplary embodiments. These embodiments
are disclosed in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the
art to practice the invention. However, embodiments may be
implemented in many different forms and should not be construed as
being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. The following
detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting
sense in that the scope of the present invention is defined only by
the appended claims.
[0024] The numeral 10 refers to a prior art static roof vent which
is of two-piece construction and is usually comprised of galvanized
metal. Roof vent 10 includes a flat base member 12 having side
edges 14, 16, 18 and 20. Integrally formed with base member 12 is a
square or four-sided hollow throat portion 22 having upstanding
side walls. 24, 26, 28 and 30. Roof vent 10 includes an upper wall
32 which is integrally formed with throat portion 22 and which
extends over the upper end of throat portion 22. Upper wall 32 is
provided with a plurality of slits or louvers 34 formed therein to
permit the passage of air therethrough. An inverted cap 36 is
secured to throat portion 22 by rivets 38 or the like so that the
upper wall 40 of cap 36 is spaced above upper wall 32 of roof vent
10 and so that the lower edge 42 of cap 36 is spaced above base
member 12.
[0025] Base member 12 is centrally positioned over a vent opening
44 formed in the roof decking 46 of roof 47 and is secured thereto
by nails 48 or the like extending downwardly through base member 12
and into decking 46. When so positioned, throat portion 22 is
centrally positioned over vent opening 44. Normally, roofing paper
or tar paper 52 will be initially placed on the roof decking 46
with a hole formed therein which communicates with the vent opening
44. The roof vent 10 will normally be positioned over the roofing
paper or tar paper 50 in conventional fashion. Shingles 52 are then
nailed to the roof decking 46 so as to partially extend over the
side edges of base member 12.
[0026] In operation, air is vented from the building attic or the
like upwardly through vent opening 44 upwardly through the interior
of throat portion 22, upwardly through louvers or slits 34, thence
downwardly between the outside surface of throat portion 22 and the
inside surface of the side walls of the cap 36, and thence
outwardly through the atmosphere. It has been found that although
the static roof vent 10 satisfactorily vents hot air from the attic
of the building, wind-driven snow or rain is sometimes blown into
the interior of the roof vent beneath the cap 36 and thence through
the louvers or slits 34 in the upper end of throat portion 22 with
the snow and rain then dropping down into the attic or the like
which may cause damage to the building structure.
[0027] It is to this conventional static roof vent 10, that the
instant roof vent cover is attached to prevent or substantially
reduce wind-driven snow or rain from passing downwardly through the
static roof vent 10 into the building attic. Although the roof vent
10 is shown to be of a particular design, the instant invention may
be used with other types of static roof vents which include an
upwardly standing stack or roof vent which may be of square,
rectangular or circular configuration.
[0028] The numeral 54 refers to the cover of this invention which
includes an upper wall 56 and downwardly extending side walls 58,
60, 62 and 64 with the upper wall 56 having vent openings, louvers
or slits 66 formed therein. The cover 54 is preferably rectangular
in configuration but may be square shaped if so desired. The cover
54 is positioned over the cap 36 so that the side walls thereof are
spaced outwardly of the throat portion 22. The lower ends of the
side walls 26 and 28 have spaced-apart L-shaped clips 68 secured
thereto with the clips being secured to the roof material so that
the upper and side edges of the cover 54 are closely spaced from
the shingles or the like with the lower edge of the cover 54 having
a space therebelow so that any water entering the vent opening 66
in the cover 54 may drain from the interior of the cover.
[0029] The fact that the lower edges of the cover 54 are closely
positioned adjacent the upper surface of the shingles or the like
greatly reduces the possibility that wind-driven snow or rain may
be driven into the interior of the roof vent as sometimes occurs in
the prior art static roof vents.
[0030] In use, the air exiting from the roof vent 10 will pass
upwardly through the vent openings 66 in the upper wall of cover 54
so as to ensure the proper venting of the attic or the like in the
building.
[0031] Thus, it can be seen that a novel cover has been provided
for a static roof vent which substantially reduces the possibility
of wind-driven snow or rain from entering the interior of the roof
vent and then falling downwardly into the attic of the building
structure. It can therefore be seen that the invention accomplishes
all of its stated objectives.
[0032] Although the invention has been described in language that
is specific to certain structures and methodological steps, it is
to be understood that the invention defined in the appended claims
is not necessarily limited to the specific structures and/or steps
described. Rather, the specific aspects and steps are described as
forms of implementing the claimed invention. Since many embodiments
of the invention can be practiced without departing from the spirit
and scope of the invention, the invention resides in the claims
hereinafter appended.
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