Floor Register

Abstract

A floor register wherein the blades are formed of a relatively strong material such as steel, thereby enabling the register to support considerable weight, and wherein each blade has a covering or sheath of a material of lesser strength, such as, for example, aluminum, which may be decorative and thereby enhance the appearance of the register.

Description

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to a floor register or diffuser which is provided with a plurality of spaced blades between which air may pass from an air duct into a room. More particularly the invention is directed to a construction which will permit the use of decorative material such as aluminum, thereby to enhance the appearance of the register and yet which will be strong enough to support substantial weight.

Floor registers must be able to support considerable weight, particularly because of persons walking or standing thereon. Materials such as aluminum, which may have a very attractive appearance, may nevertheless be relatively weak, compared to steel, and thus, unable to support the necessary weight to enable it to be used, for example, as a floor register. It is therefore, desirable that the register, and particularly the blades thereof, be formed of a material having high strength, such as steel. Steel however, does not have the pleasing esthetic appearance of some other materials, such as aluminum and it is therefore the principle object of the present invention to provide a construction of floor register wherein the blades are formed of a relatively strong material, such as steel, and then covered with a material of greater esthetic appeal, whereby the resulting product will have the necessary inherent strength and yet will also be pleasing to the eye.

A further object of the invention is to provide a floor register wherein blades extend between opposed side or end marginal portions of a frame member, which blades are formed preferably of steel and which are covered with a decorative material of lesser strength than steel which, by itself, in a member of the same size and shape as steel, could not form the main structure of the register because of its inability to support the required weight.

A further object of the invention is to provide a floor register comprising a frame having opposed marginal side and end members, two of such opposing members supporting a plurality of spaced steel blades each covered with a sheath of material such as aluminum, together with means on the register itself to hold the covering sheath in place on each of the blades.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a floor register embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the floor register taken substantially along the plane of line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially along the plane of line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of one end of the structure illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view taken substantially along the plane of line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a portion of the register frame showing one end of the cross brace in elevation and the manner in which it is mounted on the frame of the register;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view similar to a portion of FIG. 2, but showing a modified form of the invention, and

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view taken substantially along the plane of line 8-8 of FIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, and especially to FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, the register of the present invention includes a frame member generally indicated by the numeral 1 and which consists of the opposed side marginal members 2 and 3, and the opposed end marginal members 4 and 5.

These end and side marginal frame members may be secured together in any suitable and well-known manner to provide the substantially rectangular frame 1 of the floor register. As will appear more fully hereinafter, the invention is particularly applicable for registers wherein the blades thereof extend longitudinally between the end members of the frame as shown in FIG. 1. It will be understood, however, that if desired, the invention would be equally applicable if the blades were to extend transversely of the frame between the side members 2 and 3. Thus, the invention is not intended to be limited to any particular direction in which the blades extend and the claims herein are not intended to be so construed.

Since aluminum makes a much more attractive appearance than does steel, the present invention will be specifically described herein as referring to the blades as being formed of steel and the covering for the blades being made of aluminum. Other materials, however, may occur to those skilled in the art which may be used as coverings for the blades to enhance the appearance of the register. If it were desired to form the entire register of aluminum, including the blades thereof, and particularly where the blades extend lengthwise of the register frame, in order to provide strength equivalent to that obtained by steel blades, it would require a blade depth, which would restrict its application in many instances. In place of increasing the blade depth, additional crossbraces could be utilized, although these would detract from the linear appearance and increase the cost. It has thus been determined that in order to give strength, as well as improved esthetic appearance to such a floor register, the blades should be formed of steel and then covered with a material of pleasing appearance, such as aluminum.

The numeral 6 represents the floor of a room and 7 illustrates an air duct through such floor. The register is adapted to fit such air duct opening and the marginal portions of the frame 2, 3, 4 and 5 are adapted to overlie the portions of the floor 6 immediately surrounding the opening 7 of the duct.

The end members of the frame 4 and 5 are provided with flange portions 8 and 9 respectively, which are adapted to extend inwardly of the air duct as shown in FIG. 2. A plurality of blade members 10 are spaced apart transversely of the register frame and extend lengthwise thereof and are supported at their ends by the flanges 8 and 9. Each end of each blade 10 is suitably formed into a hooklike member 11 adapted to be received within an opening in the adjacent flange 8 and 9, as more clearly shown in FIG. 4. As illustrated, the blades 10 are also supported by one or more cross braces 12.

The marginal side frame members 2 and 3 are provided with similar flanges 13 and 14 which also extend into the air duct. Each flange is suitably cut and bent as shown more clearly in FIGS. 3 and 6 to provide an opening for the reception of the down-turned ends 15 of the cross brace 12. Each of the blades 10 is welded or otherwise suitably secured to the crossbrace 12 and thus this lends additional support to such blades.

The side and end marginal portions of the frame are preferably formed of extruded aluminum, although this fact is not intended to form any part of the present invention. Each of the blades 10 is provided with a covering or sheath generally indicated by the numeral 16. Each sheath preferably takes the form of an inverted U and thus comprises the spaced sides 17 and 18 and the cross piece 19 at the top thereof.

Each of these sheaths or coverings 16 may snugly receive a blade 10 as more clearly shown in FIG. 5. It is desirable, however, to provide additional means for holding these coverings in place and for that reason each of the marginal end members of the frame 4 and 5 is provided with an inturned lip 20 which overlies the ends of the blades and the coverings thereon as may be clearly seen in FIG. 4.

The aluminum coverings may be extruded or formed from aluminum sheet. In either event, it will be quite evident that the blades themselves being formed of steel or other suitable metal having sufficient strength, will support sufficient weight to make them suitable for use in a floor register. The esthetic appearance of the register may be considerably enhanced by the use of the aluminum coverings. As mentioned above, these blades extending longitudinally of the register could not be formed entirely of aluminum and still have the required strength unless they were to be made of such depth as to restrict its application in many instances. Thus, the present invention provides a floor register which not only has the required strength characteristics but also the highly desirable improved esthetic appearance of an aluminum register.

FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate a modified form of the invention which has certain advantages in addition to those mentioned above with respect to the structure shown in FIGS. 1--6. In this modification a channel member is added to the cross brace 12.

This channel member is indicated generally by the numeral 21 and has the spaced sides 22 and 23. The channel is inverted to receive the brace 12, as shown in FIG. 7, and is interposed between the brace and the blades 10. In fact, the channel 21 is preferably aluminum coated and is welded to the blades 10. When the structure is assembled, the channel forms a unit with the register to receive the wire brace.

It has been found that this channel, because of its greater width, not only enhances the appearance of the entire assembly, but also enables the register to support greater weight than is possible by use of the wire brace alone.

Changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of parts from those disclosed herein without in any way departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of the attendant advantages thereof, provided, however, that such changes fall within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

Claims

The inventions hereby I claim as follows:

1. A floor register comprising,

a. an aluminum frame having opposed side and end marginal members and adapted to cover the open end of an air duct,

b. a plurality of blades extending between a pair of said opposed marginal members of said frame and supported thereby,

c. each of said blades having an inverted, substantially U-shaped strip of aluminum snugly receiving the blade between the sides thereof, and

d. an inturned lip on said pair of opposed marginal members overlying the ends of said blades to retain said strip of aluminum thereon.

2. A floor register as defined in claim 1, wherein said blades are formed of steel.

3. A floor register comprising,

a. an aluminum frame having opposed side and end marginal members and adapted to cover the open end of an air duct,

b. a plurality of blades extending between a pair of said opposed marginal members of said frame and supported thereby,

c. each of said blades having an aluminum covering thereon,

d. means to retain said covering on each of said blades,

e. a wire brace extending transversely of said blades and secured thereto, and

f. means on said frame members to support said brace.

4. A floor register comprising,

a. an aluminum frame having opposed side and end frame members and adapted to cover the open end of an air duct,

b. a plurality of blades extending between a pair of said opposed marginal members of said frame and supported thereby,

c. each of said blades having an aluminum covering thereon,

d. means to retain said covering on each of said blades,

e. an inverted U-shaped channel member extending transversely of said blades and secured thereto,

f. a wire brace received within said channel, and

g. means on the other pair of opposed marginal members to support said brace.