US2703911A - Building wall vent unit - Google Patents

Description

March 15, 1955 G. 5. GRIFFIN BUILDING WALL VENT UNIT Filed Oct. 20, 1951 United States Patent BUILDING WALL VENT UNIT Gordon S. Griffin, Rochester, Ind.

Application October 20, 1951, Serial No. 252,341

12 Claims. (Cl. 20-4) The present invention relates to a building wall vent unit, and is primarily concerned with the provision of a new and improved device for opening the interior of a hollow building wall, or the like, to communication with the atmosphere, while protecting the same against direct admission of rain, snow, insects, or other foreign matter. It is well understood that condensation ofWater vapor inside hollow building walls is a primary cause of blistering and peeling of exterior paint thereon. It is rather widely agreed that such condensation results, in large part, if not entirely, from pressure changes so that, if substantial increases in the pressure within such walls,

above the pressure of the surrounding atmosphere, can

be obviated, such deleterious condensation can be largely prevented, even without setting up any flow or circulation of air within the wall.

The primary object of the present invention, then, is to provide means for conveniently and effectively maintaining communication between the interior .-',of such a wall and the surrounding atmosphere. A further? object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive, highly effective, and substantially unobtrusive device which, when properly installed in connection with such a walllwill maintain such desired communication, while yet effectively guarding against the direct entrance of atmospheric precipitation' and against the entrance of insects to the interior of the wall. 1-.-

Further objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, my invention may be embodied in the forms illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that change may be made in the specific constructions illustrated and described, so -long as the scope of the appended claims is not violatedi? Fig. 1 is a more or less diagrammatic illustration of.

a conventional house wall of the character here under consideration, the external surface of said houjse wall being conveniently illustrated as a lap-board finish, and showing an embodiment of my invention mounted there- Fig. 2 is a similar view, drawn to an enlarged scale, and showing one specific form of my invention;

Fig. 3 is an elevation of a fragment offthe wall of Fig. 1 showing the preferred form of preparation for installation of my vent unit;

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing my prefer-f ed form of vent unit in place;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing a modified form of vent unit;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a perforated sheet metal shaink which may be used in one form of my invention; an

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 5, but showing a further modified form of my invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, it will be seen that, in Fig. l, I have illustrated, in cross-section, a fragment of a hollow building wall 11 defined by an inner surface and an outer surface 12. Lap-boards 13 finish the outer surface 12 in a conventional manner.

In order to vent the interior of the wall to the atmosphere, openings 14 are bored, at suitably selected locations, through the surface 12, each such opening being located adjacent the lower edge 15 of a lap-board, and a channel 16 is cut to lead unobstructedly from each opening 14 through the lower edge 15 of the lap-board.

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According to the preferred form of my invention, a countersink 17 will then be formed in the outer surface of the board 13, concentric with the opening 14 and substantially tangential with respect to the edge 15 of the selected lap-board. Now, a vent unit, indicated generally by the reference numeral 18, will be mounted in the opening 14 and countersink 17 in the manner clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

A preferred form of such vent unit is illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4. A discoid head 19 is adapted to be seated in the countersink 17, fitting snugly therein, and overlying the channel 16 to close that channel with respect to the outer surface of the lap-board 13. A tubular shank 20 of foraminous material is supported upon, and projects concentrically and substantially perpendicularly from the inner surface of the head 19, being snugly received in the opening 14 and projecting into the hollow interior of the building wall, in the manner most clearly illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. The head 19 completely closes the outer end of the shank 20, whose inner end is open; but it will be apparent that the channel 16 com municates at one end with the foraminous wall of the shank 20 and communicates at its opposite end, through the lower edge 15 of the lap-board 13, with the external atmosphere. Thus, through the open inner end and the foraminous surface of the shank 20, open communication is established between the interior of the hollow building wall and the exterior atmosphere, through the channel 16.

In this form of the invention, the shank 20 may be formed of woven wire screening or woven synthetic filament of sufiicient inherent rigidity, when formed into its tubular shape, to sustain the stresses involved in forcing the shank through the opening 14, in which it fits quite snugly, and into the hollow interior of the wall 11, whether or not fibrous insulating material is present within the wall. As shown in Fig. 2, the outer end of the shank 20 is formed'to provide an integral, radially-inturned flange 21; and a rivet 22, carried by the head 19, projects beyond said flange, carries a washer 23, and is headed over to clamp the flange 21 between the washer 23 and the inner face of the head 19.

The countersink 17 is so proportioned and designed that the head 19 is received snugly therein with its outer face substantially flush with the outer face of the lapboard 13. I presently believe that no special fastening means will be required to hold the unit 18 in place, particularly since paint will be spread over the outer face of the head 19 at the time when the lapboard is painted, and the paint itself, when set, will assist friction in holding the unit in place;

The fact that the lower end of the channel 16, opening through the lower edge 15 of the lap-board 13, is the only part of the vent passage from the interior of the walI which directly communicates with the atmosphere provides, of course, against the direct entry of rain or snow, through the vent passage, to the interior of the wall; and the screening from which the shank 20 is formed acts, of course, to prevent insects from entering the wall.

In Fig. 5, I have shown a modified form of shank 20' 'closely similar to the shank 20. Its flange 21', however,

is welded to the inner surface of the head 19', instead of being secured thereto through means such as the rivet 22 and the washer 23 If the shank 20 is made of metallic wire screen, of course the head 19 will also be made of metal, and the weld will be the usual heat-produced metal weld. If the shank is made of synthetic filaments, however, the head 19 also will be made of suitable synthetic plastic, and the weld between the head 19' and the flange 21' will be a so-called plastic weld.

In Fig. 6, I have shown a shank 24 made from perforated sheet material which, like the shank 20 or 20', may be either metal or synthetic plastic. A flange 25 is radially inturned at the outer end of the shank 24, and may be secured to a head (not shown) in any suitable fashion, such as that shown in Fig. 2 or that shown in Fig. 5.

While I believe the arrangement of Figs. 2 to 5 to be optimum, it may be that, in practice, the accurate formation of the countersink 17 will be diflicult. In Fig. 7, I have shown a modified form of unit comprising a discoid head 26 and a shank 27, the shank 27 being identical with any one of the shanks 20, 20 or 24 hereinabove discussed. The head 26, on the other hand, will be formed to provide a planar inner surface 28 and a convex outer surface 29. The term convex, in this connection, is used broadly to include any type of transverse curvature or angulation whereby the thickness of the head diminishes gradually from the center thereof to the peripheral region, where the outer surface 29 meets the inner surface 28 in a thin edge 30. I presently believe that, when paint is spread over the head 29, the unit of Fig. 7 will be satisfactorily held in place without further securing means; but if desired, tacks or spurs 31 may be arranged to project integrally from the inner surface 28 of the head 26, as shown.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a hollow building wall including an outer surface of lap-board construction formed with one or more perforations through said outer surface, each such perforation being located wholly above the lower edge of a lap-board, and said wall further being formed with a channel for each such perforation leading from such perforation and opening' through the lower edge of such lap-board, of a vent unit comprising a closed, discoid head and a foraminous, tubular shank supported on, and projecting substantially perpendicularly from, one surface of said head, the shank of one such unit being snugly seated in each such perforation and the head of each such unit abutting the associated lap-board and overlying the associated channel.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which said shank of each such unit is formed of reticular material and is provided at one end with a radially inturned, peripheral flange secured to said head.

3. The combination of claim 2 in which each such flange is welded to said head.

4. The combination of claim 2 including a rivet passing through said one end of said shank of each such unit and through said head to secure said shank to said head.

5. The combination of claim 2 including a rivet secured to said head of each such unit and a washer engaging that surface of said flange remote from said 6. The combination of claim 1 in which the other surface of said head of each such unit is convex and meets said one surface in a thin, peripheral edge.

7. The combination of claim 1 in which said shank of each such unit is formed of perforated sheet metal.

8. The combination of claim 7 in which said shank of each such unit is provided at one end with a radially inturned, peripheral flange secured to said head.

9. The combination of claim 1 in which the dimensions of said head of each such unit, transversely of the axis of said shank, exceed the corresponding dimensions of said shank.

10. The combination with a hollow building wall including an outer surface of lap-board construction formed with one or more perforations through said outer surface, each such perforation being located wholly above the lower edge of a lap-board, and said wall further being formed with a channel for each such perforation leading from such perforation and opening through the lower edge of such lap-board, of a forarninous tube snugly seated in each such perforation, and a discoid head secured to the outer end of said tube, abutting said lap-board, and overlying the associated channel.

.11. The combination of claim 10 in which said head is countersunk in said lap-board with its outer face substantially flush with the outer surface of said lapboard.

12. The combination of claim 10 in which the outer face of said head is convex and meets the inner face thereof in a thin, peripheral edge.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 738,643 Van Camp Sept. 8, 1903 1,765,651 Bryant June 24, 1930 2,403,318 Weseman July 2, 1946 2,505,147 Scallon Apr. 25, 1950 OTHER REFERENCES Printed publication-Circular published by Cornwall and Co., 1408 East 22nd Street, Cleveland, Ohio, 4 pages. (Copy received in Patent Ofiice October 3, 1950.)

Circular by Damp Vent Co., Bettendorf, Iowa, one

' page, March 27, 1952.

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