Abstract:
A grill to be mounted over a ventilation opening of a boat has a molded plastic primary section and separate indentical molded plastic end sections. Interengaging fingers automatically align the sections at installation. To accommodate vent openings of different lengths, only the primary section has to be changed.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to ventilator grills of the type suitable for mounting over the air ventilator openings for engine compartments of marine craft, both for the purpose of ornamentation but also for the purpose of exclusion of water. While this is its primary use, it will be recognized that it could be used for other purposes, including cabin ventilation or for non-marine use. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     From both a cost and a maintenance point of view, it has become increasingly desirable to mold complicated configurations, such as ventilator grills from plastic rather than assembling them from metal stampings. Also, this arrangement has aesthetic advantages. However, the use of molded plastic for this type of product has been considered disadvantageous from the point of view of cost. The size of the openings to which ventilators of this type are applied varies substantially from one boat design to another. In part, this is due to differences in air flow requirements of various size engines and differences in the design of the engine compartment itself. Also, in some cases, aesthetics are in influencing factor on the size of the grill. In the case of metal grills, while this problem was a nuisance, it was not a substantial cost factor because these grills were either assembled for a number of separate components or the dies from which they were stamped were less expensive than molds for a plastic product of comparable size. With molded plastic grills, because each size of grill has required a separate mold, good only for making that particular grill size the investment in tooling has been very high. Since these grills are of substantial size, the cost of the molds was, for all practical purposes, prohibitive, unless there was a particular size with a large volume demand. The invention has as a primary objective a grill construction which materially reduces mold costs without sacrifice of the grills&#39; ornamental and functional characteristics. The invention also makes it possible to satisfy the requirements of ventilator openings of a variety of sizes, all having the same basic ornamental exterior appearance. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention provides a grill having a primary central portion and a pair of identical end portions. To accommodate grill openings of various sizes, it is only necessary to mold different central or primary portions to which end portions of a single design and construction can be assembled at the point of use. A single mold provides both ends for all sizes. This materially reduces mold costs and complexity and also substantially reduces the inventory requirements of the both the manufacturer and of the user of these grills. Also, for any given grill, the size of the mold is reduced. This contributes to molding cost reduction by requiring small capacity machines and may reduce cycling time. The invention also provides an interlock between the central portion and the end portions which both positively aligns them and also significantly simplifies the installation. The invention accomplishes this without sacrifice of either aesthetics or functionality. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an oblique top view of a ventilator incorporating this invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a top plan view of ventilator illustratedd in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the ventilator; 
     FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the ventilator; 
     FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, exploded, bottom view of a typical end of the ventilator; 
     FIG. 6 is an elevation view of the inner end of one of the end sections of the ventilator; 
     FIG. 7 is a sectional, elevation view taken along the plane VII--VII of FIG. 6; 
     FIG. 8 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view taken along the plane VIII--VIII of FIG. 4; and 
     FIG. 9 is a sectional, elevation view taken along the plane IX--IX of FIG. 2. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to FIG. 1, numeral 10 indicates a ventilator having a central or primary section 11 and a pair of end sections 12. As best seen FIG. 4, the primary section has a central zone or opening 13 surrounded by a peripheral flange 14. Within the opening, are a plurality of elongated, bar-like vanes 15 integral at each end of the opening 13 with the body of the primary section. At equally spaced intervals between the ends of the opening 13 the vanes are connected and stabilized by inclined louvers 16. Preferably, these are inclined in the longitudinal direction of the grill for the purpose of water exclusion. Since the assembled grill is symmetrical about both its longitudinal and lateral centerlines, the grill can be positioned to properly orient the louvers. 
     The body of the primary section 11 is wider than the opening 13 and, thus, one each side is flanked by a skirt portion 17 of substantial width. The skirt portions 17 extend the full length of the primary section and along their outer edges have rearwardly extending edge portions which form a peripheral rim 18. As is best seen FIG. 3, the rim 18 provides a support for the grill which will seat against the surface of a boat panel on each side of a ventilation opening. It will also be noted from FIG. 3 that the flange 14 extends inwardly further than the rim 18 and is specifically designed to extend into the ventilation opening in the boat panel and, thereby, it locates the ventilator with respect to that opening. Between the rim 18 and the flange 14 the back or inner face of the skirt portion 17 is recessed. This is also true of the portions beyond the end of the opening 13 and the flange 14. 
     The end sections 13 are identical, each having a rim 18a along each side and along the end opposite from the primary section. Like the primary section, the inner face of the ends is recessed to the same depth as the skirt 17. Both the end sections and the primary section have fingers which are designed to interengage and, thereby, locate the end sections with respect to the central section both longitudinally and laterally. As is best seen in FIG. 5, each end section has a pair of fingers 20 integral with the web 22 which extend down into the recess on the inner side of the ends and have their inner faces in the same plane as the inner edge of the rim 18a. These fingers are illustrated as being of generally U-shaped cross section (FIG. 6). The lateral width of the fingers is reduced at the base of the projection of the finger from the end of the edge of the panel or web 22 which abuts the central member (FIG. 5). The fingers 20 are spaced apart a substantial portion of the width of the end sections and are offset to one side of the longitudinal center line of the ventilator (FIG. 5). 
     The fingers 21 which project from both ends of the primary section are identical to the fingers 20, having the same size, the same lateral spacing and the same amount of lateral offset as the fingers 20. However, in the case of the fingers 21 on the primary section, the offset is to one side on one end and to the opposite side on the other end. This permits an end section of a single design to be used on either end of the ventilator. It will be noted from FIG. 8 that the fingers 21 of the primary section extend under or inside the web 22 of the end sections. Thus, the fingers 21 are trapped between the surface of the boat panel A on which the ventilator is mounted and the panel or web 22 of the end section. Thus, when the end sections are secured to the boat panel by fasteners inserted through the openings 23, the primary section will be positively locked against separation from the panel to which the ventilator is mounted. The sliding interfit of the fingers provides the positive alignment necessary to preserve the ornamental appearance of the assembled grill. It also prevents misalignment because an end member might be biased to twist during installation. So that the fasteners inserted through the openings 23 can be firmly tightened, the openings 23 are surrounded by support bosses 24, as best seen in FIGS. 5 and 9. Additional attachment of the primary section may be effected by fasteners installed through the openings 25 in the primary section. Whether these are necessary will depend upon the size of the panel. 
     It will be noted from FIG. 2 that in addition to the vanes 15, the ventilator, as shown in the preferred form on the drawings also has rib-like projections 30 on each side of the ribs 15 overlying the openings. The rib-like projections or ribs 30 on the outer face overlay the recessed portions of the skirts 17 and serve both as ornamentation and as stiffeners for the primary section. It will be recognized that the central opening 13 of the ventilator could be enlarged by widening the opening and extending the flange 14 so that it is beneath one of the ribs 30 rather than one of the ribs 15. Thereby, without lengthening the ventilator, the total air flow capacity of the ventilator could be increased. 
     The primary section 11 and each of the end sections 12 are molded as single integral components from a suitable plastic material. Inasmuch as ventilators of this type used for marine purposes are normally exposed to sunlight and other environmental conditions which tend to deteriorate plastics, a particularly suitable material from which these components can be molded is a polyvinylcholoride (PVC) or it can be an acrylonitrile butadiene stryene also known as an ABS. These plastics have good ultraviolet resistance. 
     The invention, in addition to providing a design which is particularly suitable to produce an ornamentally desirable and finished appearance, has the advantage of reducing manufacturing and inventory costs. By separating the end sections from the primary section, the size and complexity of the mold necessary for the primary member is reduced. This reduces mold costs and may in some cases significantly affect operating costs by reducing the size of the equipment required and reducing cycling time. It also makes possible molding of all end section requirements using a mold of a single design. The mold is smaller, less complex and, thus, less costly. Also, its initial and maintenance costs are spread over a greater volume of product. 
     Inventory costs are reduced for both manufacturer and user. The user needs to inventory only those particular primary section sizes he uses while maintaining an inventory of universally useful end sections. If design changes make it necessary to change grill size, only the primary portion needs to be changed since the ends are universal to all sizes. Because the fingers 20 and 22 interengage as the ends are assembled to the primary section, the ends automatically align with the primary member as the ventilator is assembled and installed on the boat. No special tools or training are necessary. This saves time and prevents errors. 
     Having described a preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that other embodiments can be made without departing from the principles of the invention. Such modifications are to be considered as included in the hereinafter appended claims unless these claims by their language expressly state otherwise.