Ventilation – Having inlet airway – Through roof eaves or rafters
Reexamination Certificate
2000-10-17
2002-02-19
Lu, Jiping (Department: 3749)
Ventilation
Having inlet airway
Through roof eaves or rafters
C454S250000, C055S423000, C055S423000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06347991
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to vent chutes for providing ventilation to an open attic space and, in particular, to hinged vent chutes which also function as insulation dams to prevent loose fill insulation in an attic from flowing down into a soffit region of a roof and blocking air flow.
Proper ventilation of an open attic space is needed to help: keep a house cool in the summer; prevent condensation during the winter when house interiors are heated; and prevent the formation of ice dams in the winter which can cause water to backup under shingles and leak into a house. Vapor barriers help, but they are not infallible, so something must be done to provide an airflow, through an unheated open attic space. Gable roofs
20
, such as the gable roof of
FIG. 6
, can be ventilated by installing gable and/or ridge vents (not shown); soffit vents
22
; and vent chutes
100
intermediate successive rafters
24
of the roof for providing air passages from the soffit region of the roof, over an interior surface of the roof, up into the open attic space. From the open attic space the air passes out through the gable and/or ridge vents. Normally, the rooms beneath the open attic space are insulated from the open attic space by glass fiber insulation batts or blankets
26
positioned intermediate successive ceiling joists
28
and/or loose fill insulations
30
, such as, but not limited to, glass fiber blowing wool. Each ceiling joist
28
is normally secured at its ends to rafters
24
, but a portion of the ceiling joist
28
in
FIG. 6
has been broken away to better illustrate the placement, when used, of glass fiber insulation batts or blankets
26
intermediate the ceiling joists. When loose fill insulations
30
are used to insulate the rooms below from the open attic space, separate insulation retainers or dams
102
are currently installed beneath the vent chutes
100
, as shown in
FIG. 6
, to prevent the loose fill insulation
30
in the attic from flowing down into the soffit region of the roof and blocking the airflow through the soffit from the soffit vents
22
to the vent chutes
100
. The need to separately install vent chutes
100
and loose fill insulation retainers or dams
102
increases labor costs when insulating an attic and thus, there has been a need to reduce these costs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The hinged vent chute of the present invention both vents an open attic space to a soffit region of a roof and functions as a retainer or dam for preventing loose fill insulation from flowing from an attic down into a soffit region to block the airflow from the soffit vents through the soffit to the hinged vent chute. With its one piece construction, the hinged vent chute of the present invention simplifies installation of the vent chute and insulation dam and reduces installation costs. The hinged vent chute includes an elongated chute segment and an insulation dam segment. The vent or air passage from the soffit to the open attic space is provided by one or more upwardly open channels extending from a lower end to an upper end of the elongated chute segment. The air passes through the channel(s) and over an interior surface of the roof from the soffit region of the roof up into the open attic space beneath the roof. The hinged vent chute has a hinge or fold line which joins the insulation dam segment to the elongated chute segment. The hinge or fold line permits the insulation dam segment to be folded or bent downward at the hinge or fold line relative to the elongated chute segment and secured in place to form an insulation dam which prevents loose fill insulation in an attic from flowing down into a soffit region of a roof and blocking airflow. The insulation dam segment may also have one or more hinge or fold lines intermediate the ends of the insulation dam segment to permit the insulation dam segment to be folded intermediate its ends when positioning the insulation dam segment for securement to form the insulation dam.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4096790 (1978-06-01), Curran
patent: 4184416 (1980-01-01), Koontz
patent: 4189878 (1980-02-01), Fitzgerald
patent: 4214510 (1980-07-01), Ward
Bogrett Blake Boyd
Larratt Dennis Robert
Smith John Brooks
Johns Manville International Inc.
Lister John D.
Lu Jiping
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