Abstract:
An outdoor screen room for creating a bug-free environment comprises a plurality of upright screened sidewalls held in a framework that also supports a plurality of screened roof panels that are pivotally attached to the framework, allowing them to be shifted between an enclosure-covering disposition for summer use and a vertical disposition during winter months when snow loads on a horizontal or a slightly pitched roof may be a problem.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to screened enclosures for creating a bug-free environment and more particularly to a screen room having roof panels that can be made to pivot between an enclosure-covering roof position and a vertical disposition. 
     DISCUSSION OF THE PRIOR ART 
     During summer months in many areas, it is difficult to enjoy being out-of-doors because of mosquitoes and other flying and biting insects. So-called screen houses or screen rooms have been designed for use in a patio or in the yard to provide an environment where evening breezes can be enjoyed, but insects are blocked from entering the screened space. 
     Screen rooms of the prior art typically comprise a plurality of individual screened wall panels mounted on a framework to define a rectangular or other polygonal interior space with a screened entry door. A roof structure commonly comprises a water-impervious fabric overlaying the wall arrangement. This design offers the advantage of sheltering the occupants and/or furniture from rain, but it renders the structure vulnerable to strong winds. For this reason, screen rooms have also been designed to have the roof structure also comprise screened panels which are effective to preclude insect entry, but also are significantly less vulnerable to damage from strong winds than a water impervious fabric roof. 
     The use of screened roof panels on screen rooms has created a different problem in climates where winter snow can be expected to fall. Screen rooms of practical size necessarily incorporate screened roof panels of appreciable area and the weight of wet snow thereon can readily distort and even collapse the frame structure of the screen room. This has necessitated the disassembly of such screen rooms in the fall of the year and erection again the following spring. 
     The present invention employs a simple, yet highly novel and non-obvious technique for obviating this problem. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a screen room with a framework defining an enclosure to which is mounted a plurality of vertical, screened side walls and supporting a plurality of screened roof panels where the screened roof panels are pivotally joined to the framework for movement between an enclosure-covering disposition and a vertical orientation. When in the vertical orientation, only a miniscule surface area is exposed to snow loads. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The foregoing features, objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment, especially when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals in the several views refer to corresponding parts. 
         FIG. 1  is an exterior, perspective view of a screen room incorporating the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a partial interior view of the screen room of  FIG. 1  showing a corner portion of the room with the roof panel in its enclosure covering disposition; and 
         FIG. 3  is an interior view of the screen room like that of  FIG. 2 , but with one of the roof panels in its vertical (winter) orientation. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     This description of the preferred embodiments is intended to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings, which are to be considered part of the entire written description of this invention. In the description, relative terms such as “lower”, “upper”, “horizontal”, “vertical”, “above”, “below”, “up”, “down”, “top” and “bottom” as well as derivatives thereof (e.g., “horizontally”, “downwardly”, “upwardly”, etc.) should be construed to refer to the orientation as then described or as shown in the drawings under discussion. These relative terms are for convenience of description and do not require that the apparatus be constructed or operated in a particular orientation. Terms such as “connected”, “connecting”, “attached”, “attaching”, “join” and “joining” are used interchangeably and refer to one structure or surface being secured to another structure or surface or integrally fabricated in one piece, unless expressively described otherwise. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a perspective, exterior view of a screen room that incorporates the present invention. The screen room is identified generally by numeral  10  and is seen to comprise a generally rectangular enclosure having a front wall  12 , a rear wall  14  and opposed end walls  16  and  18 . Each of these side and end walls comprises a plurality of screened panels, as at  20 , disposed in side-by-side relationship and held in place by a framework comprising a plurality of extruded aluminum gable members  22  disposed in a parallel and spaced-apart relationship by elongated roof ridge divider bars  24  extending therebetween. The gable members  22  each comprise left and right vertical posts  26  and  28  with roof panel supporting rafters  30  and  32  connected at a predetermined slope angle to an upper end of the posts, the rafters  30  and  32  being joined together at their free ends along a roof ridge line  34 . Brackets  35  fastened to the roof supporting rafters at the junction where the ends come together are used to mount the ridge divider bars  24  in place between adjacent pairs of roof rafters. 
     Without limitation, the screen room may measure up to 40 feet wide by as long as the customer wants in five feet increments, where each of the walls comprise a plurality of screen panels  20  that are approximately 5 feet in width and 7 to 20 feet in height. One of the panels may comprise a screened entry door shown, at  37  in  FIG. 1 . 
     Each of the screen panels  20  has a rectangular frame comprising extruded aluminum top rails  36  and bottom end rails  38  and left and right side rails  40 ,  42 , respectively. The rails are joined to one another by screw fasteners (not shown) and supporting a mesh screening material, such as 0.013 in. yarn diameter fiberglass mesh covering the rectangular frame opening. 
     As seen in  FIG. 1 , each of the opposed gabled end walls supports a pair of right angle triangular trusses  44 ,  46  with their vertical legs in abutting relationship. Aluminum ridge divider bars  24  extend between the triangular screened trusses at the room&#39;s opposed front and rear walls. 
     Roof screen panels, as at  48 , are pivotally supported between the triangular screen trusses and the roof panel supporting rafter  30 ,  32  of an adjacent gable member, as well as between each of the roof panel supporting rafters of adjacent gable members that are disposed between the opposed end walls  16  and  18  by means of pivot pins  50  and  50 ′ joining the roof screen panels  48  to the rafters  30 ,  32  on opposed sides of the roof screen panels  48 . 
     During summer months, the roof screen panels are pinned in place in linear alignment with the roof rafters of adjacent gable members to thereby create a pitch roof that blocks entry of insects into the interior of the assembled screen room  10 . In late fall, before a first snowfall is expected, the owner need only remove a retainer pin  49  ( FIG. 2 ) that extends through the side rails  40  and  42  of the roof screen panels and into an aligned bore in an adjacent gable rafter  30 , thereby allowing the roof screens to swing down about pivot pins  50 ,  50 ′ into a vertical disposition, as shown in  FIG. 3 , such that there can be no buildup of a snow load on the roof of the screen room. Again, the retainer pin  49  may now be inserted through aligned holes in screen rail  42  and the gable post  26  or  28  to releasably latch the now vertical screened panel to an adjacent vertical gable post to prevent it from swinging in the wind. In the spring, the owner can again elevate the roof screen panels  48  to their roof covering position by first removing the retainer pins  49  and rotating the roof covering screen panels about pivot pins  50 ,  50 ′ and reinserting the pivot pins into holes in the rafters  30 ,  32 . 
     Those skilled in the art can appreciate that the screen room needs not have a square base, but may comprise a rectangle or other polygonal shape. In the case of an octagonal-shaped gazebo structure, the roof panels are designed to be triangular in a plan view and would be pivotally mounted between an adjacent pair of roof panel supporting rafters. 
     This invention has been described herein in considerable detail in order to comply with the patent statutes and to provide those skilled in the art with the information needed to apply the novel principles and to construct and use such specialized components as are required. However, it is to be understood that the invention can be carried out by specifically different equipment and devices, and that various modifications, both as to the equipment and operating procedures, can be accomplished without departing from the scope of the invention itself.