Highly ventilated soffit with obscured ventilation openings

• US 20050072082A1
• Filed: 11/08/2004
• Published: 04/07/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CertainTeed Corp. (Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA)
• Original Assignee: CertainTeed Corp. (Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA)
• Inventors: Sigmund, John L., Gilbert, Thomas C.
• Granted Patent: US 7,594,362 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 52/302.100
• CPC Class Codes: E04D 13/152 with ventilating means in soffits or fascias; on the eaves of the roof E04D13/178
• CPC Class Codes: E04D 13/158 covering the overhang at the eave side, e.g. soffits, or the verge of saddle roofs
• CPC Class Codes: E04D 13/178 on the eaves of the roof

Abstract

A ventilating component for a building, particularly a ventilating soffit, provides a high ratio of ventilation flow area to component coverage area. A sheet in a plane of coverage has a spaced-channel configuration, or alternatively a terraced configuration. Ventilation openings are placed in the connecting webs between the upper and lower levels, especially in sidewalls of elongated channels that open as slots on the exposed side of the soffit. These connecting webs are oriented at an acute angle relative to the coverage plane. In a channel arrangement the webs can be shaped to block direct view of the side walls. The acute angle precludes, or at least foreshortens, a view of the webs that contain the ventilation openings. The ventilation aspects are concealed while permitting a high ratio of flow area to coverage area.

Claims

1. A ventilating component for a building structure, comprising:

a panel comprising a sheet material extending over a coverage area;

a channel formed in the sheet material, the channel opening as an elongated slot on one side of the panel and having spaced channel side walls and a channel bottom projecting at an opposite side of the panel;

wherein the channel has at least one ventilation opening, the ventilation opening being concealed behind the slot from view from said one side of the panel.

2. The ventilating component of claim 1, wherein the channel has an array of regularly spaced ventilation openings.

3. The ventilating component of claim 2, wherein the ventilation openings are disposed in at least one of the spaced channel side walls, and wherein the channel bottom is substantially continuous.

4. The ventilating component of claim 3, wherein at least a part of at least one of said side walls containing said ventilation openings is inclined in a direction away from the elongated slot.

5. The ventilating component of claim 3, wherein the spaced channel side walls both contain said ventilation openings and wherein the spaced channel side walls are inclined away from one another and away from the slot.

6. The ventilating component of claim 5, wherein the panel generally defines a plane over the coverage area, and wherein a plurality of said channels having ventilation openings are regularly spaced over the coverage area.

7. The ventilating component of claim 6, wherein portions of the panel extending between the channels are parallel to the plane, wherein the channel bottoms are parallel to the portions extending between the channels, and wherein the side walls of the channel each join integrally at an acute angle with an adjacent said channel bottom and with an adjacent said portion extending between the channels.

8. The ventilating component of claim 7, further comprising complementary opposite joint structures at opposite edges of the ventilating component, whereby said ventilating component is attachable to another such ventilating component by engaging respective complementary opposite joint structures thereof.

9. The ventilating component of claim 8, wherein the complementary opposite joint structures include joint walls that are inclined away from a joint gap, and wherein the joint walls and the joint gap as assembled are placed and shaped substantially to resemble the channels.

10. The ventilating component of claim 5, wherein the side walls each contain entry portions adjacent to the elongated slot, wherein the entry portions of the side walls are substantially parallel to one another across the slot, and wherein the parts of the respective side walls containing said ventilation openings are spaced away from the slot by the entry portions.

11. The ventilating component of claim 1, wherein the at least one ventilation opening has a cross sectional area that is at least as large as a cross sectional area of an associated part of the elongated slot.

12. The ventilating component of claim 2, wherein the array of ventilation openings in a plurality of said elongated slots has a sum of cross sectional areas that is at least as large as a sum of cross sectional areas of the elongated slots.

13. The ventilating component of claim 1, wherein the sheet material comprises at least one of formed sheet metal, extruded sheet metal, molded polymer, extruded polymer and a combination thereof.

14. A ventilating soffit panel, comprising:

a sheet material encompassing an area and substantially defining a curtain plane;

wherein the sheet material includes web portions at least at two levels that are parallel to the curtain plane and are spaced from one another in a direction normal to the curtain plane;

wherein the sheet material has a connecting web wall extending integrally between and connecting edges of the web portions at the at least two levels;

wherein the connecting web wall has through openings for permitting ventilation through the panel; and

,

wherein the at least two levels are arranged to overlap one another by a distance and the connecting web wall having the through openings is inclined relative to the curtain plane at an acute angle.

15. The soffit panel of claim 14, wherein the connecting web wall joins to the two levels at equal acute angles of at least about 30°

and less than about 70°

.

16. The soffit panel of claim 15, comprising successively spaced connecting web walls joined to the two levels, and for which the acute angles are oppositely oriented.

17. The soffit panel of claim 16, wherein pairs of said connecting web walls are closely spaced to define channels with elongated slots opening in one of said two levels, the channels having sidewalls defined by said connecting web walls, the sidewalls being inclined away from the elongated slots, whereby the ventilation openings are substantially concealed.