Abstract:
Venting through the walls of an interior room of a building to an external environment is facilitated by apparatus and techniques for mounting an in-wall unit for interfacing with the exhaust ports of equipment, such as dryers, using flexible pipe. The in-wall unit connects with venting pipe, such as stovepipe, for connecting to the external environment through an exterior surface, such as a roof. If a roof exhaust is desired, a vent assembly is provided that contains a flap that automatically closes when the exhaust flow terminates, but opens when venting is underway. The flap is removable so that cleanout of path between the in-wall unit and the room exhaust can easily occur.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application incorporates by reference in its entirety and claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application 60/484,866, filed Jul. 3, 2003, by inventor Philip Charron. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The invention is directed to equipment venting apparatus and techniques and to an installation kit for installing equipment venting, and particularly in-wall dryer venting.  
         [0004]     2. Description of Related Art  
         [0005]     Technique for venting automatic clothes dryers through a wall to the external environment are well known in the art. However, use of this technique often requires that a laundry room abut against an external wall. This constrains the design of the home or building in which the dryer is to be placed and, when a laundry room is located internally, that is, does not abut an external wall, a problem arises because one cannot vent a dryer through the adjacent wall to the outside environment. In such circumstances, dryer venting may occur vertically within a wall and vent through a roof to the outside environment.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     The purpose of this invention is to provide for easy installation of dryer venting which is particularly suitable for installation in laundry rooms that are internal to a structure. The following figures and descriptions describe how this may be done and illustrate the techniques and components which can be utilized for such installation. In one aspect of the invention the components for such venting may be assembled into a kit.  
         [0007]     Although the best mode known to the inventor is set forth herein, it should be apparent that the invention is not limited to the particular embodiments shown. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]     The invention is described more particularly hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is an exploded view of an in-wall unit in accordance with one aspect of the invention;  
         [0010]      FIGS. 2A and 2B  represent a top and side view of a cone shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0011]      FIGS. 3A, 3B  and  3 C are respective top, side and end views of an in-wall unit base shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0012]      FIGS. 4A, 4B  and  4 C are respective top, side and end views on an assembled in-wall unit.  
         [0013]      FIGS. 5A, 5B  and  5 C are respective top, side and end views of mounting bracket shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0014]      FIG. 6  is an exploded view of a roof vent unit in accordance with one aspect of the invention.  
         [0015]      FIG. 7  shows an assembled roof vent unit.  
         [0016]      FIGS. 8A and 8B  show respective top and side views of a roof vent body in accordance with one aspect of the invention.  
         [0017]      FIG. 9  shows a roof vent flashing plate in accordance with one aspect of the invention.  
         [0018]      FIG. 10  shows a roof vent exhaust plate in accordance with one aspect of the invention.  
         [0019]      FIG. 11  shows a roof vent exhaust flap in accordance with one aspect of the invention.  
         [0020]      FIG. 12  shows a roof vent top cover plate in accordance with one aspect of the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0021]     Automatic clothes dryers typically contain a heating unit and a rotating drum which tumbles wet clothing in such a way as to expose it to heated air in order to facilitate drying. The heated air represents a particular fire hazard if it were to be vented into a room of the home or other building in which the dryer is located. Other equipment besides dryers may require venting to the external environment. Typically, at the back of an automatic dryer is an exhaust vent, typically a round exhaust pipe to which a flexible venting pipe from the dryer may connect to an external vent. Typically, in the prior art, such external vents were placed through holes in exterior walls to allow the heated air to vent to the external environment.  
         [0022]     However, when a laundry room is to be located internal to a building structure in such a way as to not have access to an exterior wall, then other forms of venting must be utilized.  
         [0023]     In accordance with the invention, venting of automatic dryers may occur through an interior wall to an external surface, such as a roof. The invention provides a particularly convenient and safe technique for the venting of dryers through an internal wall.  
         [0024]      FIG. 1  of the drawing shows an exploded view of an in-wall unit in accordance with one aspect of the invention. A cone shaped unit  100  is attached to of an in-wall unit base  110  and serves to connect at its upper end to, for example, stove pipe which then forms an exhaust channel from the top of the cone shaped pipe to the roof or other external vent. The flared bottom end of the cone  100  received the flexible venting pipe from the dryer as described more hereinafter.  
         [0025]     Studs in typical interior walls of a building tend to be formed by two by fours. However, in this case, since the venting diameter may be larger, two by six studs may be utilized for mounting the in-wall unit shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0026]     To mount the in-wall unit, in the embodiment shown, two mounting brackets  120  are mounted opposite each other on adjacent two by six studs, approximately thirty inches above the floor. The sides of the mounting brackets having two holes are aligned with a horizontal line previously drawn on the two by six stud using a level. The mounting brackets are then secured to the two by six stud using, preferably, two wood screws. The other mounting bracket is then attached in similar fashion so that the two mounting brackets  120  form a surface upon which the mounting plate  110  can rest. In one implementation, the side of the mounting bracket has a single hole is drilled out, preferably, to receive a number  12  self tapping screw so that the base plate  110  can be secured to the top of the mounting brackets  120 . Thus situated, the end wall unit is ready for connection to vent pipe, such as stovepipe, in the upper direction and for connection to the flexible pipe coming from the back of the equipment to the larger end.  
         [0027]      FIGS. 2A and 2B  represent a top and side view of the cone shown in  FIG. 1 . The dimensions are given for an embodiment in which the base of the cone substantially matches the diameter if the hole in the base plate  1   10 . In this configuration, the cone is tack welded three times to the base unit  110  and the seam can be sealed with silicone rubber. Similarly, the seam formed along the rivet line shown in  FIG. 2B  for the cone element  100  can be sealed with silicone rubber seal.  
         [0028]     Alternative ways for connecting the cone shaped element with the base plate will be discussed more hereinafter.  
         [0029]      FIGS. 3A, 3B  and  3 C are respective top, side and end views of an in-wall unit base shown in  FIG. 1 . The tabs extending down in  FIG. 3B  from the bottom of the in-wall unit base are used as follows. The flexible pipe from the dryer can be inserted through the hole in the base plate and forced to fit tight against the inside of cone  100  at the point of interference. The flexible pipe from the dryer is then held in place by metallized or metallic tape which connects the flexible pipe to the tabs shown in  FIG. 3B , thus holding flexible pipe in position within the cone.  
         [0030]      FIGS. 4A, 4B  and  4 C are respective top, side and end views of an assembled in-wall unit. This unit has not been mounted to the mounting brackets  120 . As noted above, the seam between the base plate and the bottom of the cone can be sealed with a silicone rubber seal and the tack welds, hold the conical sections securely in place.  
         [0031]      FIGS. 5A, 5B  and  5 C are respective top, side and end views of the mounting brackets  120 . Although this figure gives preferred dimensions, the use of the mounting brackets has been described previously.  
         [0032]      FIG. 6  is an exploded view of a roof vent unit in accordance with one aspect of the invention. The stovepipe connected to the in-wall unit may extend through the roof of the building or may turn 90-degrees and be routed to an exterior wall where it can be vented using prior art techniques. In the event that the stovepipe is to be vented through the roof, the roof vent unit shown in  FIG. 6  and  FIG. 7  provides preferred way of venting the dryer exhaust to the external environment. As shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7  a roof vent body  600 , is firmly attached to a roof vent flashing plate  610  and to an exhaust plate  620 . An exhaust flap  630  has two tabs which extend beyond the outer extent of the body of the flap and are utilized to mount in recesses in the body  600  in such a way that the flap may open freely when air pressure from the exhaust vent is applied to its under surface. The exhaust flap  630  is held in place by a top cover plate  640  which can be removed in order to permit access to the stovepipe for clean out purposes.  
         [0033]      FIG. 7  shows the assembled roof vent unit.  
         [0034]      FIGS. 8A and 8B  show respective top and side views of a roof vent body in accordance with one aspect of the invention. Note the two notches having a radius of 0.130-inches at the top of the body adjacent the bend line.  
         [0035]      FIG. 9  shows a roof vent flashing plate in accordance with one aspect of the invention. The flashing plate forms the base of the roof vent unit. The body  600  is attached to the flashing plate, preferably by soldering in a continuous seam around the contact points between the bottom of the body  600  and the flashing plates  610 . The alignment of the radius of the hole in the flashing plate and the radius of the curved portion of the body substantially coincide.  
         [0036]      FIG. 10  shows a roof vent exhaust plate in accordance with one aspect of the invention. The roof vent flashing plate  620  attaches just behind the 0.130 radius notches found in the body  600 . It is mounted to permit the tabs on the exhaust flap  630  to rest in the notches without interference. The exhaust plate is tack soldered along a slope up from the flashing plate and continuously soldered along the bottom connection to the flashing plate.  
         [0037]      FIG. 11  shows a roof vent exhaust flap in accordance with one aspect of the invention. The 0.125 inch tabs at the top of the exhaust flap are placed in the 0.130-inch diameter notches in the top of the roof vent body  600 . They sit there freely in such a way as to allow the roof vent flap to open when air from the exhaust of the dryer is applied against its surface. The roof vent exhaust flap  630  is held in place by attaching the top cover plate  640  to the body.  
         [0038]      FIG. 12  shows a roof vent top cover plate in accordance with one aspect of the invention. The roof vent cover plate is designed to be removable to permit the exhaust path to be cleaned out for servicing. The top cover plate is removed, the exhaust flap is removed and the openings are such that a flue brush can be inserted down into the stovepipe to permit cleanout of the exhaust pathway.  
         [0039]     Some alternative configurations exist. First, in less durable installations, the in-wall unit base plate may be secured with tape to the mounting brackets  120 , rather than using the self-tapping screw. Further, in another embodiment, the conical section can be built with a larger diameter so that it extends only partially through the opening in the in-wall base plate  110 . It can then be held in place using tape and the tabs on the base plate  110 . In this arrangement, it may be desirable to have additional tabs at the large end of the conical section  100  to permit the taping of the flexible pipe coming from the dryer unit.  
         [0040]     The shortest straightest route is best when routing stove pipe to the desired termination point. In some jurisdictions, code requires a maximum of 25 feet from dryer determination point. Each 90-degree tern may subtract 5 feet and each 45-degree turn may subtract 2½ feet. Once the in-wall unit is installed, the wall can be finished with drywall and paint.  
         [0041]     The invention described herein is not limited to the specific examples shown, but rather has a broad applicability to communications generally.