Ventilator

Abstract: A controllable slot ventilator comprises first and second parallel side walls (28,30) which define an air passage (32) between them. A closure member (34) is mounted adjacent the front edges of the side walls via parallel motion links, which allow the closure member to move generally away from and towards the side walls to open and close the ventilator. At the rear of the side walls, i.e. the opposite end to the closure member, a mounting flange (38) is fitted, whereby the ventilator is mounted to a member. When the ventilator is installed in a slot, it is preassembled and then inserted into the slot from one end.

Description: The present invention relates to ventilators, more particularly but not exclusively for use in rooms with sealed windows and/or double glazing where it is desirable to provide ventilation without having to open the window. This type of ventilation is now usually referred to as "secondary ventilation". Secondary ventilation is often achieved by the insertion of a slot ventilator into a slot cut or formed in the sash of a window. Airflow through the resultant ventilation passage between the interior and exterior of the building is controlled by some sort of openable and closeable ventilator such as a hit and miss ventilator or a parallel motion ventilator of the type described in UK patent 1417751. In situations where the "throw" of the ventilator, in other words the distance forward of the main ventilator body by which the facing strip or closure member has to be moved in order fully to open the ventilator, needs to be small, a parallel motion ventilator of the type shown in PCT publication WO 09/08927 may be used. In a typical arrangement, a slot ventilator has a pair of parallel side plates which in use are positioned within the slot in the window, between which is mounted the pivoting mechanism enabling the facing strip or closure member to be moved between its open and closed positions. At the forward edge of these side plates (that is, in use, at the inside of the slot) there is a mounting flange. This acts both to provide a surface against which the facing strip or closure member can seal in its closed position, and also the means by which the ventilator is actually secured to the window. Typically, screw holes are provided at each side of the flange so that the ventilator can be screwed to those parts of the window at the opposite sides of the slot. A difficulty with this sort of arrangement is that sufficient space has to be provided adjacent the inner end of the slot both to enable the ventilator to be inserted in the slot, and for it to be secured by means of its flange at either side of the slot. DE-B-1249489 discloses a ventilator with the features of the pre-characterising portion of Claim 1. This ventilator incorporates an operating knob at the rear of the housing for operating the closure member, and a plate with slits behind the closure member and forming a facing strip of the ventilator. According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a controllable slot ventilator with the features of Claim 1. The front of the housing, having the closure member, will typically be on the inside , so that the closure member can manually be moved between the open and the closed position. Preferably, a manually graspable handle is provided for that purpose. Conversely, the rear of the housing will be on the outside of the window or other section within which the ventilator is positioned in use, and a mounting flange at that location enables the ventilator to be secured from the outside rather than from the inside, which is the conventional arrangement. Preferably, the ventilator is designed to be located in use within a slot within a window or other section. It is secured in position within the slot by means of the mounting flange, which may have screw holes or other mounting means enabling it to be secured to the window or other section at each side of the slot. The rest of the ventilator, with the exception of the mounting flange should desirably be sized so that the entire ventilator can be pre-assembled and then merely inserted into the slot from the rear (that is, from the outside). Such an arrangement differs from known ventilators in that typically there is a mounting flange at the front of the ventilator, and the ventilator is either surface mounted to the front (inside) of the slot or it is pushed into the slot from the inside. The present arrangement allows for considerably more flexibility to the inner profile of the window or other section, and it may be desirable for aesthetic or functional reasons to have a profile which is so close to the front of the slot, perhaps even partially obscuring it, that it would foul a conventional ventilator or at least prevent such a ventilator from being pre-assembled and simply pushed into the slot. Preferably, the ventilator is of the parallel motion type, in which the closure member comprises a flat plate which moves in a direction generally perpendicular to its surface between the closed and the open position. To that end, parallel motion linkages such as for example those described in PCT publication W0 90/08927 may be provided. The housing or body of the ventilator is desirably moulded or extruded of a plastics material. The mounting flange could either be integral with the side walls or, in a preferred embodiment, the mounting flange could form part of a separate grille unit which is located adjacent the respective rear edges of the side walls. The grille unit or mounting portion may be secured to the side walls by any convenient means, for example by being screwed thereto. In one form of the invention, the mounting flange has screw holes through which securing screws pass, these screws being received within bores or slots connected to or forming part of the side walls. For example, the two side walls may have a grille mounting portion in which a slot is provided. Between the rear grille and the front closure member, there may be provided a mesh, for example to prevent flies and other insects from passing through the air passage. The mesh may be secured to the grille, for example as a push fit, before the grille is itself secured to the body of the ventilator during assembly. Alternatively, the mesh may be trapped between the grille and the side walls. Where the closure member has a manually operable handle, that handle may be offset from a centre line of the closure member, to ensure if necessary that the handle clears an interior portion of the window or other section. According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a method of securing a slot ventilator to a window or other section as claimed in Claim 7. Preferably, the securing of the ventilator from the first end of the slot is achieved by means of a mounting flange which is secured or fixed to the section at a position adjacent the first end of the slot. The invention may be carried into practice in a number of ways and one specific embodiment will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1A is a cross-section through a ventilator embodying the present invention, in position with a window section; Figure 1B is a longitudinal schematic section through the ventilator of Figure 1A; Figure 2A is a rear plan view of the channel portion of the ventilator; Figure 2B is section along the line BB of Figure 2A; Figure 2C is a front plan view of the channel sections of the ventilator; Figure 2D shows in detail the slots for the screws; Figure 3A is a rear plan view of the grille of the ventilator; Figure 3B is a side view, partly in section, of the grille of Figure 3A; Figure 3C is a view from one end of the grille of Figure 3A; Figure 4A is an end view of the mesh; and Figure 4B is a view in the direction of the arrow F of Figure 4A. The slot ventilator 10 of the present invention is shown in position within a window section 12 in Figure 1A. The window section 12 is preferably extruded, and may be of aluminium, uPVC or any other suitable material. The section shown in Figure 1A represents the top of a sliding sash window, and as may be seen the section 12 is provided with a slot extending between the inside of the window (on the right hand side as shown in the drawing) and the outside. The upper part of the slot is defined by the ribs 14, 16, 18 and the lower part of the slot by the ribs 20, 22, 24, 26. Within this slot is located the slot ventilator generally indicated at 10. The body of the ventilator consists of upper and lower side plates 28,30 which between them define an air channel 32. A facing strip or closure member 34 can be moved between the position shown in Figure 1, in which it closes the air channel 32, and an open position 34' in which it is spaced away from the air channel so allowing airflow between the inside of the window and the outside. The closure member is actuated manually by means of a handle 36, the position of which in the open position is indicated by the reference numeral 36'. The means whereby the closure member is mounted upon parallel motion links for movement between the open and closed positions is not shown in the drawings, but is conveniently shown in PCT publication WO 90/08927. In the rest of this discussion, the presence of a mechanism such as is shown in that publication will be assumed. As may be seen in Figure 1A, the handle 36 is mounted in an offset position on the closure member 34 (downwardly of the centre line of the closure member) so as to avoid a box section portion 40 of the window section 12. At the rear of the side plates 28,30 there is a mounting flange 38 which will be described later in more detail with reference to Figure 3. The flange extends laterally on either side of the slot, and is provided with screw holes 42,44 (Figures 3A,3B) enabling the slot ventilator 10 to be secured within the window section 12. Turning now to Figure 2, there is shown the channel portion of the ventilator 10, that is that portion which defines the side plates 28,30 of the ventilator and which serves to mount the pivoting mechanism (not shown). Between the side plates are a pair of round pegs, 43,45 which are used to support the pivoting mechanism (not shown) and two strengthening webs 46,48. At the ends of the channel portion there are mounting slots which are generally indicated in Figure 2A by the reference numerals 52,54 and which are shown in more detail in Figure 2D. As will be seen in that Figure, a slot 52 is provided between the two halves of the channel portion, to receive a screw. Three semi-circular drainage holes are provided in the lower rear edge of the channel portion. Figure 3 shows a grille, again moulded out of a plastics material, and which in the completed ventilator is mounted at the rear, next to the two side plates 28,30. The outer portion of the grille comprises the flange 38, which has already been discussed with reference to Figure 1A. At the ends of the flange 38 there are the two screw holes 42,44 by which the flange and hence the entire ventilator is secured to the window section 12. Airflow through the channel 32 (Figure 1A) passes through air passages in the grille. The grille is provided with webs 56 along its length. Over these is positioned a fly mesh 60 which is shown generally in Figure 4. To assemble the ventilator the pivoting mechanism (not shown) and the closure member 34 are attached to the channel portion. The grille (Figure 3) has the mesh (Figure 4) placed onto the webs 56, as discussed above, and the mesh and grille assembly is then mounted onto the rear of the partially assembled ventilator, between the side plates 28,30. The grille and mesh are held in position by screws (not shown) which pass through screw holes 62,64 in the flange 38 (Figure 3A) and into the slots 52,54 of the channel portion (Figure 2A). The fully assembled ventilator is then pushed into the slot in the window section 12 (Figure 1) from the rear, that is from the outside of the window. It is then secured in position by screwing the flange 38 to the window via the screw holes 42,44.

Claims: A controllable slot ventilator comprising; a housing, the housing including first and second side walls (28, 30) which define therebetween an air passage (32), a closure member (34), and a mounting flange (38); the side walls having front and rear edges; the closure member being adjacent the front edges of the side walls and being movable from a closed position in which the closure member obstructs the air passage, and an open position in which the air passage is not obstructed; the flange being located at the rear edges of the side walls; the housing being adapted for insertion, pre-assembled, forwards, into a ventilation slot formed through a window section or other section (12), to an installed position in which the flange abuts an area of the section surrounding the slot; characterised in that the closure member comprises a front facing strip (34) of the ventilator and, in the closed position, forms a front wall of the housing, extending across the air passage (32), between the front edges of the side walls. A ventilator as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said closure member (34) comprises a flat plate, the flat plate having a forward surface, the closure member being arranged to move in a direction generally perpendicular to the forward surface between the closed and the open position. A ventilator as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 in which the housing of the ventilator is moulded from a plastics material. A ventilator as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 in which the housing of the ventilator is extruded from a plastics material. A ventilator as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims which includes a grille unit located adjacent said rear edges of the sidewalls, the mounting flange being part of the grille unit, the grille being separate from the side walls of the housing. A ventilator as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims which includes a mesh for preventing insects from passing through the air passage. A method of securing a slot ventilator to a window or other section, the window or other section defining a slot, the slot having first and second ends, the method comprising; pre-assembling the ventilator with a housing and a movable closure member in the form of a front facing strip (34) of the ventilator at a front end of the housing; and pushing the ventilator forwards into the slot of the section from the first end of the slot to an installed position, and securing the ventilator to the section from the first end of the slot such that, in the installed position, the ventilator is manually operable from the second end of the slot. A method as claimed in Claim 7 which includes providing a mounting flange (38) at a rear end of the housing, and in which the ventilator is pushed into the slot until the flange abuts against a surrounding surface of the window or other section at the first end of the slot. A method as claimed in Claim 7 or Claim 8 in which the pushing the ventilator to an installed position includes pushing the closure member (34) from the first end of the slot through to the second end of the slot.

Inventors: BURT ARTHUR JOHN, STONEY ARTHUR, BURT, ARTHUR JOHN, STONEY, ARTHUR
Applicants: TITON HARDWARE, TITON HARDWARE LIMITED
Application year: 1993
Main classification: F24F13
IPC codes: F24F13