Abstract
A roof pipe flashing with a rectangular shaped side air attic vent attached to a partial boot with a frusto-conical wall and a flat base for exhausting air from an attic into the outer atmosphere during warm or hot seasons in order to help reduce the internal house temperature during these seasons.
Claims
1. A roof pipe flashing for a shingled pitched roof of a building for providing the out-flow or exhaust of attic air to the atmosphere comprising a boot having a substantially frusto-conical wall, said boot having a semi-closed top end and a semi-closed bottom end with a roof vent pipe passing through both said semi-closed bottom end and said semi-closed top end, said semi-closed bottom end being larger than said semi-closed top end, said semi-closed top end of said boot having an opening such as to provide a water tight frictional engagement with said roof vent pipe, said semi-closed bottom end having a substantially rectangular, elongated extension with three walls, a top wall and a pair of oppositely spaced walls connected to said top wall, said top wall and each of said oppositely spaced walls having an end connected near said semi-closed bottom end of said frusto-conical wall, and said boot and said elongated extension are supported on a substantially rectangular flat base such that said substantially rectangular, elongated extension provides an open elongated attic air passageway from said boot to said atmosphere.
2. A roof pipe flashing of claim 1 wherein said boot, said substantially rectangular, elongated extension and said rectangular flat base form a monolithic structure.
3. A roof pipe flashing of claim 1 wherein said substantially rectangular, elongated extension has a free end with a front edge not connected to said boot and said substantially rectangular flat support base has a front edge, said front edge of said elongated extension being in vertical alignment with said front edge of said flat support base.
4. A roof pipe flashing of claim 1 wherein said substantially rectangular elongated extension has an open front end with a front filter attached thereto and said front filter has plural openings therein with said plural openings selected from the group of circular openings, spaced slats and square openings.
5. A roof pipe flashing of claim 4 wherein some of said circular openings extend nearly down to said flat base but are only partially contiguous with said flat base in order to prevent rainwater from accumulating within said elongated extension.
6. A roof pipe flashing of claim 4 wherein some of said square openings extend nearly down to said flat base but are only partially contiguous with said flat base in order to prevent rainwater from accumulating within said elongated extension.
7. A roof pipe flashing of claim 4 wherein the bottom ends of said spaced slats extend nearly down to said flat base but are not contiguous with said flat base in order to prevent rainwater from accumulating within said elongated extension.
8. A roof pipe flashing of claim 4 wherein said front filter has an air mesh filter secured behind and in abutment with said front filter.
9. A roof pipe flashing of claim 1 wherein said boot, said elongated extension and said flat base are made from an elastomeric material.
10. A roof pipe flashing of claim 1 wherein said boot, said elongated extension and said flat base are made from metallic material.
11. A roof pipe flashing of claim 1 wherein said substantially frusto-conical wall has a short right-angle extension at said semi-closed bottom end of said substantially frusto-conical wall and adjacent said substantially rectangular, elongated extension.
12. At least one roof pipe flashing of claim 1 in combination with a pitched shingled roof having a gutter and an apex ridge, one of said roof pipe flashings being secured near said gutter of said roof and another of said roof pipe flashings being secured near said apex ridge in order to increase the out-flow of attic air to the atmosphere.
13. The roof pipe flashing of claim 12 wherein there are two spaced roof pipe flashings near said gutter and one roof pipe flashing near said apex ridge.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the roof pipe flashing of this invention.
[0008] FIG. 2 is a top planar view of FIG. 1.
[0009] FIG. 3 is a bottom planar view of FIG. 1 with a circular opening in a roof of a building.
[0010] FIG. 4 is a bottom planar view of FIG. 1 with an oval opening in a roof of a building.
[0011] FIG. 5 is a view showing positioning of the roof pipe flashing of this invention above an oval opening in the roof of a building.
[0012] FIG. 6 is a view showing one method of positioning and securing the roof pipe flashing of FIG. 1 to the roof of a building.
[0013] FIG. 7 is a view showing another method of positioning and securing the roof pipe flashing of FIG. 1 to the roof of a building.
[0014] FIGS. 8A, 8B and 8C show different shaped openings for the front filter of an attic air vent extension.
[0015] FIG. 9 is a partial, broken-away, cross sectional view of the front filter with a rear filter in the attic air vent extension of the roof pipe flashing.
[0016] FIG. 10 is a top schematic view of the roof of a building with a roof apex ridge and various locations for a roof pipe flashing of FIG. 1 on the pitched shingled roof of a building.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0017] Shown in FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the roof pipe flashing 1 of this invention including a partial boot 2 with a frusto-conical wall 3 and an extending rectangular shaped side air attic vent 4. The dimensions of the partial boot 2 are approximately similar to the dimensions of the raised boot 2 described for FIG. 4 in applicant's prior patent U.S. Pat. No. 9,724,836 except for the cutout provided in the front section thereof for the rectangular shaped side air attic vent 4 attached thereto. The dimensions of the top surface of the rectangular shaped side air attic vent 4 of this invention are approximately 3 and inches gradually increasing to 5 inches contiguous with the front of the frusto-conical wall 3. The opposite side walls of the air attic vent 4 are approximately 5 inches long and contiguous with the frusto-conical wall 3 at their rear ends. The height of each of the side walls of the air attic vent 4 is approximately 1 and inches. The air attic vent 4 has front filter 10 which air attic vent 4 extends backwardly up to a front curved cutaway section 3a of the frusto-conical wall 3 to provide an air passageway from the attic to the outer atmosphere. This passageway is formed between the upper and side walls of the air attic vent 4 and the upper surface of the substantially rectangular flat base 5. The partial boot 2 is also supported on the substantially rectangular flat base 5 which has an extended lip 6. The extended lip 6 has an opening 7 for inserting a nail or screw therethrough for securing the roof pipe flashing 1 to a pitched shingled roof of a building. The partial boot 2 has a partially enclosed upper end with an opening 9 for the passage of a vent pipe VP therethrough. The substantially rectangular flat base 5 has several indentures 8 for indicating the placement of additional nails, as needed, to further secure the roof pipe flashing 1 to the pitched shingled roof. The partial boot 2, the air attic vent 4 and the flat base 5 are preferably injection molded together as a single unit and made from an elastomeric material such as the material disclosed in the inventor's aforementioned patent U.S. Pat. No. 9,724,836. However, the component parts of the roof pipe flashing of this invention may also be adapted to other store available roof pipe flashings made from plastic, aluminum, hard plated tin or copper.
[0018] FIG. 2 is a top planar view of the roof pipe flashing 1 shown in FIG. 1 showing the partial boot 2, the air attic vent 4 and the flat base 5.
[0019] FIG. 3 is a bottom planar view showing the partial boot 2 of this invention through a circular opening CO in the roof R of a building and FIG. 4 is a bottom planar view showing the partial boot 2 of this invention through an oval opening OO in the roof R of a building. Also shown in FIG. 4 is a short right-angle extension 2a at the bottom end of the partial boot 2 for preventing rain water from entering the arcuate opening 2b in the partial boot 2. The roof pipe flashing 1 of this invention is adaptable to be placed over either a circular or oval type opening in the roof of a building. As one having ordinary skill in the roofing art would be aware, other shaped openings in the roof may also be used to accommodate the positioning of the roof pipe flashing 1 of this invention on the roof of a building.
[0020] FIG. 5 shows an example of the positioning of the roof pipe flashing 1 of this invention by placing it over the vent pipe VP in the roof of a building and thence over an oval opening OO in a pitched shingled roof PSR of a building; generally, the location of the roof pipe flashing 1 of this invention is placed near the apex or attic ridge of a pitched shingled roof PSR. A similar procedure is also done in positioning the roof pipe flashing of this invention over a circular opening CO in a pitched shingled roof PSR.
[0021] The roof pipe flashing 1 of this invention may be secured to the pitched singled roof PSR of a building by, for example, nailing the rectangular flat base 5 onto the roof shingles as shown in FIG. 6 of the drawings. Alternatively, the roof pipe flashing 1 of this invention may be secured partially beneath the shingles of a pitched shingled roof PSR as shown in FIG. 7 of the drawings. In either case, a nail or screw is used through the lip 6 of the rectangular flat base 5 to further secure the roof pipe flashing 1 to the pitched shingled roof PSR.
[0022] Although the front opening of the air attic vent 4 may be left unobstructed it is preferable to provide a front filter 10 to prevent debris, birds or animals from entering the front opening of the air attic vent 4 which obstacles would obstruct the flow of attic air into the outer atmosphere. A front filter 10a may be secured at the opening of the air attic vent 4 in the form of spaced circular holes such as shown in FIG. 8A of the drawings or a front filter 10b in the form of spaced slat openings such as shown in FIG. 8B of the drawings or a front filter 10c in the form of spaced rectangular openings such as shown in FIG. 8C of the drawings or in the shape of other spaced geometrical openings. The circular holes are approximately inch in diameter; the spaced slats are spaced approximately inch apart; and the rectangular openings are approximately inch in width and height. The circular holes in the front filter 10a have their bottom row of holes extend all the way down to the flat base 5 (not shown) such that said bottom row of holes are only partially contiguous with said flat base 5. The front filter 10c has its bottom row of rectangular openings extend all the way down to the flat base 5 (not shown) such that said bottom row of rectangular openings are only partially contiguous with said flat base 5. The front filter 10b has its slat shaped openings extend nearly all the way down to the flat base 5 (not shown) in order to prevent rain water from accumulating in the air attic vent 4. The bottom row of circular openings in the front filter 10a as well as the bottom row of rectangular openings in the front filter 10c also extend nearly all the way down to the flat base 5 for the same reason as the slat shaped openings. The front filters 10a, 10b, and 10c may each be made from an elastomeric material (such as disclosed in the inventor's aforementioned patent), i. e., the same material as the partial boot 2, rectangular shaped air attic vent 4 and the flat base 5 are made from. To further prevent the entrance of insects such as bees from entering the front opening of the rectangular shaped air attic vent 4 a filter screen 11 made from an air mesh material such as Natural Aire cleaning filter material available from Flanders, Co. The filter screen 11 is secured in abutment with the inner side or rear side of one of the aforementioned front filters 10 such as shown in FIG. 9 of the drawings. The filter screen 11 may be secured to the front filter 10a, 10b or 10c by pushing it through the bottom opening in the partial boot 2 and thence trough the elongated passageway of the air attic vent 4 up to the rear side of the front filter 10. The filter screen 11 is held in place either by the force fit thereof within the four walls of the air attic vent 4 or by any other means such as, for example, by a suitable adhesive well known in the art. The filter screen 11 is approximately to inch thick. Also shown in FIG. 9 is the short right-angle extension 2a previously mentioned in the description of FIG. 4.
[0023] As depicted in FIG. 10 of the drawings, several of the roof pipe flashings of this invention may be needed or used for certain houses having several vent pipes in which case, for example, roof pipe flashings 1, 1 are secured near the gutter G on one side of the roof R and another roof pipe flashing 1 secured near the apex ridge AR on the same side of the roof R. Air flow indicated by solid lines enter the attic vents 4, 4 for each of the roof pipe flashings 1, 1, then pass through the attic indicated by the dashed lines and finally pass through the attic vent 4 of the roof pipe flashing 1 secured near the apex ridge AR of the roof as indicated in FIG. 10 of the drawings. Such an arrangement of roof pipe flashings of this invention will expedite the outflow of attic air into the atmosphere.
[0024] Although the side air attic vent of this invention is rectangularly shaped it may also be shaped in other forms in order to provide for the escape or exhaust of attic air into the outer atmosphere.
[0025] Modifications of this invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and it is intended that the invention be not limited by the embodiments disclosed herein but that the scope of the invention be defined by the appended claims.
