Protected screen vent

Abstract

A protected screen vent apparatus including an inverted cup with a downwardly extending side wall and a bottom opening. A tapped member extends between portions of the side wall to engage a nipple which extends downwardly through the bottom opening to the container or other structure being vented. The tapped member is spaced from other portions of the side wall to form ventilation passages therebetween extending from above the tapped member to the bottom opening. A perforate screen is vertically mounted in each passage to prevent insects and other foreign material from entering the container through the vent. The screen faces inwardly toward the downwardly extending nipple. The screen is securely snapped into place against opposed side wall grooves by bending the screen outwardly from inside the cup. The presence of the nipple within the cup shields the screen from mechanical damage.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to venting apparatus for containers and other structures, and more particularly to venting apparatus which is screened to prevent entry of insects and other foreign matter.

2. Description of the Prior Art

This invention relates to improvements in screened vents which are used to let air, vapors or gases out of a barrel, tank, well cap or other similar container or structure. The screen reduces the entry of insects and other accumulation.

One of the simplest known forms of screen vent is an inverted U-shaped pipe with one end extending downward and screwed air-tight into the container and with the other end covered with a horizontal screen. This design is relatively fragile and damage-prone and is suited only to small vents because of the space required for even a one-inch pipe.

A common T-shape screen vent is widely used. It consists of a hollow casting which forms the top of the T-shape. The center of the bottom of the casting is tapped for a nipple that couples the bottom center of the hollow casting to the top of the container involved in a water-tight manner. The hollow casting has two horizontal circular openings, one on each side of the nipple. Each opening has a horizontal inside groove larger in diameter than the opening. The flexibility of woven wire makes it possible to insert a woven wire screen into each inside groove. However, such flexibility means that reinforcement, not always present, is necessary to safely hold the screens in place.

The screens of the prior art vents, mentioned above, are not protected from mechanical damage because they are fully exposed. The screens are not protected against clogging because of the horizontal arrangement of the screens, wherein foreign matter from inside the container will tend to settle onto the screen surface and a relatively thin layer of material can block the screen openings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The screened vent of our invention incorporates a compact, durable design having screens which are protected from mechanical damage and clogging. It comprises an inverted cup which has downwardly extending integral side walls and a downwardly facing bottom opening. A tapped member extends between opposed portions of the side wall, and a nipple engages the tapped member and extends downwardly therefrom through the bottom opening to connect the vent with the container being vented in a water-tight manner.

The tapped member is spaced from other portions of the side wall to define ventilation passages extending from above the tapped member to the bottom opening. The passages permit air to flow between the nipple engaged in the tapped member and the bottom opening to communicate with the atmosphere.

A perforated sheet metal screen is vertically mounted in a horizontal portion of each ventilation passage to prevent entry of insects and other foreign matter into the passages. The screen is of greater width than the passage and the sides of the screen are engaged within vertical grooves on each side of the passage by bending the screen outwardly until the sides of the screen snap into the grooves. The side edges of the screen are retained in the grooves by the resilient force of the bent screen, which is prevented from straightening out by the opposing force of the side wall.

The screens face inwardly toward the downwardly extending nipple. The presence of the nipple within the cup shields the screens from physical access and mechanical damage.

It is a primary object of our invention to provide an improved screened vent for use on water-tight containers.

A second object of our invention is to provide a vent design which minimizes clogging of screen openings due to accumulation of dead insects, frost, and condensation.

Another object of our invention is to provide a reasonably tamper-proof vent.

A further object of our invention is to protect the screens of the vent from mechanical damage.

A further object of our invention is to provide a vent design which permits use of strong and inexpensive screens.

A further object of our invention is to provide a vent which uses a simple iron casting that is attractively contoured for aesthetic appeal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the interior details of the apparatus of our invention installed on a container, for the purpose of illustration.

FIG. 2 is a sectional plan view taken along Section line A--A showing additional details of the apparatus of our invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein like numerals refer to like parts, FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate the protected screen vent of our invention installed on a container 3. Our protective screen vent has an inverted cup 4 having a downwardly extending integral sidewall 4a and a downwardly facing bottom opening 4b. The sidewall 4a is preferably oval in shape as best shown in FIG. 2. A tapped member 5 is located within the inverted cup 4, wherein it extends between the nearest opposed portions of the sidewall 4a. The cup 4 and tapped member 5 are preferably formed as a single integral casting, as shown in the drawings. The tapped member 5 is spaced from the farthest opposed portions of the sidewall to define ventilating passages 13 and 14. The ventilating passages 13 and 14 each extend from the upper interior of the cup 4 above the center of the tapped member 5 around the tapped member 5, as best shown in FIG. 1, to a location below the tapped member wherein the passage opens into and communicates with the bottom opening 4b of the cup.

The sidewall 4a has a pair of opposed vertical grooves 8 and 9 respectively located on opposite sides of the passage 13, and opposed vertical grooves 10 and 11 located on opposite sides of passage 14, as best shown in FIG. 2. The passages 13 and 14 have generally horizontal portions at the locations of the grooves, as best shown with respect to passage 13 at reference number 13a in FIG. 1, which are preferably below the tapped member 5. An inwardly facing perforate screen 6 is engaged within opposed grooves 8 and 9, and an identical inwardly facing perforate screen 7 is engaged within grooves 10 and 11, to respectively extend across each ventilating passage 13 and 14 and prevent entry of insects and other foreign matter into the passages. The inwardly facing, vertically extending perforate screens are preferably fabricated from perforated sheet metal, and each screen is of greater width than the distance between each pair of opposed grooves. The sides of each screen are secured within their respective grooves by bending the center of the screen outwardly until the sides snap into the grooves in the positions shown in FIG. 2. The sheet metal screens 6 and 7 should be sufficiently resilient so that the sides of the screens are maintained in engagement with the grooves by the resilient force of the screens, which in turn are prevented from straightening out by the opposing force of the sidewalls on the sides of the screens.

As best shown in FIG. 1, the portions of the downwardly extending sidewall 4a which define the ventilating passages 13 and 14 extend inwardly at the bottom thereof to define the lower horizontal portion of each passage. The sidewall 4a additionally has a pair of inwardly extending flanges 15 and 16 which respectively underlie screens 13 and 14. The flanges 15 and 16 define the bottom lower side of the opening of passages 13 and 14 into the lower interior of the cup 4, and additionally define portions of the bottom opening 4b of the cup. The top of the opening of the passages 13 and 14 into the lower interior of the cup 4 is defined by the underside of the tapped member 5. The perforate screens 6 and 7 respectively extend between the flanges 15 or 16 and the underside of the tapped member 5.

The internal threads 5a of the tapped member 5 engage a connection pipe or nipple 12 which extends downwardly through the bottom opening 4b of the cup 4 a desired distance to threadedly engage the container 3. The nipple 12 provides communication between the container 3 and the vent, and additionally supports the vent above the container. The protected screen vent should be located above flood level if it is desired to prevent water from entering the container through the vent.

When the nipple 12 is engaged within the cup 4, the nipple shields the vertically extending inwardly facing screens 6 and 7 from physical access and mechanical damage. Additionally, the bottom flanges 15 and 16 protect the screens 6 and 7 from direct upward blows. The annular ventilating opening 17 between the nipple 12 and the margins of the bottom opening 4b is preferably sufficiently narrow to substantially prevent physical access to the screens 6 and 7 by human fingers or other foreign objects of equal or greater size. However, because the annular ventilating opening 17 extends all the way around the nipple 12 it provides adequate cross-sectional area for the ingress and egress of air to and from the interior of the cup 4.

In use, my protected screen vent is employed by engagement of the screen vent on a connecting nipple 12, which in turn is engaged on the container 3 desired to be vented as shown in FIG. 1. If the container 3 has a positive interior pressure, air or other interior gases will flow upward from the container 3 through the nipple 12 into the upper portion of the cup 4 of the protected screen vent. The air or other gas will then be directed downwardly through the passages 13 and 14, the perforate screens 6 or 7, and the ventilation opening 17 to the atmosphere. If the container 3 is under negative pressure, air will be drawn from the atmosphere through the ventilating opening 17, the screens 6 and 7, the passages 13 and 14, and the nipple 12 to the interior of the container 3. The screens 6 and 7 effectively prevent entry of any significant foreign solid materials into the container 3 through the protected screen vent.

The vertical positions of the screens 6 and 7 insure that the screens will not be easily clogged by a small amount of foreign solid material which may escape into the screen vent from the container 3 and be retained within the cup by the screens. The vertical screens will allow ingress and egress of air to and from the container 3 unless substantially the entire width of the horizontal portions of passages 13 and 14 are blocked by trapped foreign matter. At that point, of course, it would be necessary to clean out the vent, which simply involves unscrewing the vent from the nipple, and shaking the foreign material out of the vent through the threaded opening in the tapped member 5.

It is understood that our invention is not limited to the particular embodiment of the invention herein illustrated and described, but embraces all such modified forms thereof as come within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

We claim:

1. A protected screen vent comprising:

a. an inverted cup having an integral downwardly extending side wall and a bottom opening,

b. A tapped member integral with said side wall extending between opposed portions of the side wall and being spaced from other portions of the side wall to form at least one ventilation passage therebetween extending from above the tapped member to below the tapped member, said tapped member being adapted to threadedly engage a connecting pipe member extending upwardly through the bottom opening, and

c. a perforate screen section extending across each of the passages below the tapped member in substantially vertical, inwardly facing relation whereby physical access to the screen will be substantially restricted when the tapped member engages a connecting pipe.

2. The protected screen vent specified in claim 1 wherein the cup side wall has a bottom flange which extends inwardly beneath the screen along the downwardly facing bottom opening.

3. The protected screen vent specified in claim 1 wherein the screen sections are constructed of resilient perforated sheet metal, and wherein the side wall has a pair of opposed vertical grooves respectively located on opposite sides of each passage, each of said screen sections being bent whereby the sides of the screen section are respectively engaged within the opposed vertical grooves and are retained therein by the resilient force of the bent screen.

4. A protected screen vent comprising:

a. an inverted cup having an integral downwardly extending side wall and a bottom opening,

b. a tapped member integral with said side wall extending between opposite portions of the sidewall and being spaced from other portions of the sidewall to define at least one ventilation passage therebetween extending from above the tapped member to below the tapped member,

c. the sidewall having a pair of opposed vertical grooves respectively located on opposite sides of each passage below the tapped member,

d. a perforate screen of normally flat resilient material and of greater width than the distance between the opposed vertical grooves extending across each passage, the screen being bent to cause the sides of the screen to respectively engage the opposed grooves and be retained therein by the resilient force of the bent screen, and

e. a nipple threadedly engaged in the tapped member and extending downwardly in spaced relation to the screen and through the bottom opening, said nipple substantially shielding the screen from mechanical damage.