Abstract:
Apparatus, systems and methods of 110 (one hundred ten) CFM (cubic feet per minute) generating ventilation fans for bathrooms with grill covers and with or without lights in the grill covers. Spring clip type washers can attach the grill covers to the housings. Suspension brackets directly attached to outer side walls of the housing can support the housings. One suspension bracket can be mounted on a bottom wall of the housing and another suspension bracket of equal length can be mounted on a side wall of the housing that is oriented perpendicular to the bottom wall. Bent flanges on the suspension brackets can be on opposite ends of the respective brackets. A lens cover can cover a light box that holds light sources centrally located in the grill cover. The grill cover can include vent openings that allow incoming air to bypass the light sources that can be located inside of the light box.

Description:
This application is a Continuation Application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/168,112 filed Jun. 24, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,022,846, which claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/381,540 filed Sep. 10, 2010. The entire disclosure of each of the applications listed in this paragraph are incorporated herein by specific reference thereto. 
    
    
     FIELD OF INVENTION 
     This invention relates to ventilation exhaust fans, and in particular to apparatus, systems and methods of using and assembling 110 CFM ventilation fans for bathrooms with grill covers with built-in lightshades and with grill covers and no lightshades. The entire disclosure of each of the applications listed in this paragraph are incorporated herein by specific reference thereto. 
     BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART 
     Various types of bathroom ventilation fans have been proposed over the years. See for example, U.S. Pat. No.: 4,867,640 to Penlesky et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,851 to Sarnosky et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,261,175 to Larson et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,488,579 to Larson et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,802,770 to Larson et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 7,203,416 to Craw et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,654,495 to Adrian et al. 
     There have been many problems with the prior art. For example, many bath fans are difficult to be installed into a ceiling since the housings cannot be easily attached to different locations of joists in the ceiling. If a joist is off center to the middle of bathroom ceiling the bath fan is not easy to center in the room. Additionally, many of the bath fans have numerous parts which add extra manufacturing costs. And as a result a bath fan that requires assembly of the bath fan at a job site will incur undesirable extra labor and material costs to install. Additionally, many bath fans have to be wired to components inside of the housings which also requires extra expensive labor costs to make the connections onside during the installation of the bath fan. 
     Thus, the need exists for solutions to the above problems with the prior art. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A primary objective of the present invention is to provide ventilation fans, apparatus, systems and methods for bathrooms with a light in the grill cover that provides 110 (one hundred ten) CFM (cubic feet of air per minute) in ventilation. 
     A secondary objective of the present invention is to provide ventilation fans, apparatus, systems and methods for bathrooms without a light in the grill cover that provides 110 (one hundred ten) CFM (cubic feet of air per minute) in ventilation. 
     A third objective the present invention is to provide ventilation fans, apparatus, systems and methods for bathrooms having flush mounted light sources with exterior perimeter grill having at least one vent opening(s) for passing air to a blower inside of the housing where the air does not pass into the light source and on any lights under the light lens cover. 
     A fourth objective the present invention is to provide ventilation fans, apparatus, systems and methods for bathrooms having flush mounted light sources with exterior perimeter grill having at least one vent opening(s) so that incoming air is guided around a blower fan and out the side opening and out the side exhaust opening of a housing, in order to reduce excess noise from air movement. 
     A fifth objective the present invention is to provide ventilation fans, apparatus, systems and methods for bathrooms having flush mounted light sources with telescoping leg(s) on at least one outer wall of a housing for the attaching the housing to joists within a ceiling. 
     A sixth objective the present invention is to provide ventilation fans, apparatus, systems and methods for bathrooms having flush mounted light sources having an exterior electrical box with exterior wiring box located outside of the housing. 
     An embodiment of the bathroom ventilation exhaust fan, can include a multi-piece housing having closed top, side walls and open bottom, a blower wheel inside of the housing, a 110 CFM generating motor partially inside of and above the blower wheel, and a flush mounted grill cover, wherein air enters into the housing through openings in the grill cover, and is exhausted therefrom by the motor run blower. 
     The housing can further include an outlet cover attached to a side wall outside of the housing. 
     The housing can include a first elongated side suspension bracket directly mounted along a bottom wall of the housing. The housing can further include a second elongated side suspension bracket directly mounted along a side wall of the housing, the side wall being perpendicular to the bottom wall, the second elongated side suspension bracket being substantially identical in length to the first elongated side suspension bracket. The first suspension bracket can have one end with a bent mounting flange, and the second suspension bracket can have one end with a bent mounting flange, wherein the bent mounting flange on the first suspension bracket faces toward one side direction of the housing, and the bent flange on the second suspension bracket faces toward an opposite side direction of the housing. 
     The grill cover can be without a light. Another embodiment has the grill cover with a lens cover over a light. 
     The grill cover can be held in place with spring loaded fasteners for attaching the grill cover to the housing, and without the use of any other fasteners. The grill is held by spring clips to attach the grill cover to the housing. 
     Another embodiment of the ventilation exhaust fan can include a one-piece housing having closed top, side walls and open bottom, a blower wheel inside of the housing, a 110 CMF generating motor partially inside of and above the blower wheel, a grill cover, wherein air enters into the housing through openings in the grill cover, and is exhausted therefrom by the motor run blower, a first elongated side suspension bracket directly mounted along a bottom wall of the housing, and a second elongated side suspension bracket directly mounted along a side wall of the housing, the side wall being perpendicular to the bottom wall, the second elongated side suspension bracket being substantially identical in length to the first elongated side suspension bracket. 
     The light can also come with a motion sensor that is built inside the housing. The motion sensor automatically controls the on/off functions of the night light. 
     Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the presently preferred embodiments which are illustrated schematically in the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded view of a 110 CFM bath fan (with no heater) and with lightshade in the grill cover (grill/lightshade cover). 
         FIG. 2  is another exploded view of the bath fan of  FIG. 1  with assembled blower housing and assembled light box. 
         FIG. 3  is another exploded view of the bath fan of  FIG. 1  with only the light box separated from blower housing and main box housing. 
         FIG. 4  is another exploded view of the bath fan of  FIG. 1  with exploded blower housing components above the main housing. 
         FIG. 5A  is a perspective upper view of the bath fan of  FIG. 1  with main housing assembled with the blower housing components without the light box and grill/lightshade cover. 
         FIG. 5B  is another upper view of the bath fan of  FIG. 5  with assembled blower housing components inside the main housing without the light box and grill/lightshade cover. 
         FIG. 6A  is a perspective view of the grill/lightshade cover for the bath fan of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 6B  is a top view of the grill/lightshade cover of  FIG. 6A . 
         FIG. 7  is a partial perspective view of a cut-away portion of the grill/lightshade cover on the bath fan of  FIG. 5A . 
         FIG. 8  is a top view of the bath fan of  FIG. 7  with grill cover, and lightshade removed. 
         FIG. 9A  is a perspective side view of the assembled bath fan of  FIG. 8  with grill/light shade cover fully installed. 
         FIG. 9B  is another perspective side view of the assembled bath fan of  FIG. 8  with grill/light shade cover fully installed. 
         FIG. 10  is a top view of the assembled bath fan of  FIGS. 9A-9B . 
         FIG. 11  is an exploded view of another 110 CFM bath fan (with no heater) and with a grill cover having no lightshade. 
         FIG. 12  is another exploded view of the bath fan of  FIG. 11  with assembled blower housing separated from both the grill cover and main housing. 
         FIG. 13  is another exploded view of the bath fan of  FIG. 11  with blower out of blower housing separated from the main housing. 
         FIG. 14  is another exploded view of the bath fan of  FIG. 11  with blower housing separated from main housing. 
         FIG. 15  is a perspective view of the bath fan of  FIG. 11  assembled with blower housing components without the grill cover. 
         FIG. 16  is a top view of the bath fan of  FIG. 15 . 
         FIG. 17  is a perspective side view of the assembled bath fan of  FIG. 11  having the grill cover and with partial cutout of portion of main housing. 
         FIG. 18A  is another perspective side view of the assembled bath fan of  FIG. 17 . 
         FIG. 18B  is still another perspective side view of the assembled bath fan of  FIG. 17 . 
         FIG. 19  is a top view of the assembled bath fan of  FIGS. 18A-18B . 
         FIG. 20  shows the bath fan of  FIGS. 11-19  in a working upright position attached to joists within a ceiling with arrows showing airflow intake and exhaust. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Before explaining the disclosed embodiments of the present invention in detail it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its applications to the details of the particular arrangements shown since the invention is capable of other embodiments. Also, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. 
     110 CFM Bath Fan with No Heater and with Light 
     A list of the components for  FIGS. 1-10  will now be described.
       1 . 110 Bath Fan with No Heater and light on grill cover     10 . Grill lens     20 . Grill     21 . perimeter edge of grill     22 . grill vent     24 . grill vent     25 . central opening in grill     26 . grill vent     28 . grill vent     30 . Grill clip (2)     32 . Apex of grill clip     40 . Light box     50 . Grill bracket (2)     60 . M8 Tower form nut     70 . Cylindrical Blower Fan     75 . Central hub for hub pin     80 . Motor installation board     82 . Bent side edges     85 . Central opening     90 . Motor     92 . Hub pin     94 . Raised side edges     97 . Power line     100 . Night light bulb     110 . GU 24 Bulb (2)     120 . Night Light Socket     130 . GU 24 Socket (2)     140 . Inductor     150 . Capacitor box cover     160 . Blower housing     162 . Upper opening edge of housing     165 . Side opening     170 . Female plug 6-pin     180 . Plug plate     190 . Wiring box cover     200 . Female plug 3-Pin     210 . Damper     220 . horizontal bar form extension bracket     230 . T form extension bracket     240 . Outlet     250 . Main Housing     260 . Male plug 3-Pin     270 . Male plug 6-pin     280 . Housing fixed iron (3)     290 . Sensing probe   

       FIG. 1  is an exploded view of a 110 CFM bath fan (with no heater)  1  and with lightshade  10  in the grill cover (grill/lightshade cover)  10 .  FIG. 2  is another exploded view of the bath fan  1  of  FIG. 1  with assembled blower housing  160  and assembled light box  40 .  FIG. 3  is another exploded view of the bath fan  1  of  FIG. 1  with only the light box  40  separated from blower housing and main box housing.  FIG. 4  is another exploded view of the bath fan  1  of  FIG. 1  with exploded blower housing  160  with components  80 ,  90  above the main housing. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-4 , the novel bath fan can include a one piece main housing  250  with four closed sidewalls and an open top and open bottom, a motor installation board  80  having a bent side edge flange  82  that can be attached to an lower inner sidewall of the housing  250 , by common fasteners, such as but not limited to screws, bolts, rivets, welding, and the like. The board  80  allows for the lower side edges of blower housing  160  to sit thereon and connect thereto, by similar fasteners, and the like. Inside the blower housing  160  can be a cylindrical blower wheel  70  having side fins about the perimeter. The motor  90  can have raised side edges  94  that allow the motor to rest over the opening  85  in the motor board  80 , and stay fixed by similar fasteners. An electric motor  90  having a rotatable hub pin  92  that can attach to a central hub  75  inside of the blower wheel  70 , so that rotating the hub pin  92  causes the blower wheel  70  to rotate, with a tower nut  60  helping to hold the components in place. Rotating the blower wheel  70  allows for the side fins to draw air into the blower housing  160 , and to be exhausted from side opening  165  to pass through damper  210  having a pivotal flap. 
     Power for the electric motor  90  can be supplied through a power line  97  that attaches to a male plug  260  that feeds to an external wire box  195  having a wire box cover  190  located outside of the main housing  250 . Male plug  260  can be attached to a mateable female plug  200  through an opening in a plug plate  180 . The plug plate  180  can be accessible by removing the box cover  190 . The female plug  200  can receive power from a household power supply. A capacitor box cover  150  can be removed to access the wiring  260  (this comes from the factory pre-wired, so not sure if we need to include this statement) and be located on the blower wheel housing  165 . 
     Across the upper opening of the main housing  250  can be a pair of grill brackets  50  having ends that are attached to upper edges of the main housing by common fasteners, previously described. The main housing  250  can be a one piece pre-formed housing. The grill brackets  50  hold the blower housing  160  in side of the main housing  250  and allow for a surface to support the bottom of a light box  40 . The light box  40  can have a closed bottom, four generally closed sidewalls and open top. The light box  40  can be attached to the grill brackets  50  by common fasteners, previously described, with an inductor  140  located underneath. The light box  40  can be generally sealed so that incoming air into the fan is not able to pass into the light box  40 . 
     Inside of the light box  40  can be a pair of sockets  130  that allow for a like pair of bulbs  110  to be attached thereto. Additionally, inside of the light box  40  can be a night light socket  120  for holding a night light bulb  100  thereto. Power for the bulbs  100 ,  110  can be supplied by wires  132  that attach to a male plug  270 , the latter of which can be positioned into the external wire box  195  through another opening in the plug plate  180 . The male plug  270  can mateably interconnect with a female plug  170 , that receives power from a building power supply. 
     Covering the upper opening of the main housing  250  can be a grill cover  20  that can have a central opening for allowing the bulbs  100 ,  110  to pass light out of, with a grill lens  10  covering the main opening in the grill cover  20 . 
     A pair of grill clips  30  can springably hold the grill cover  20  to the blower housing  160 . The pair of grill clips  30  can each be scissor clips each having an apex  32  that can attach to an inner protruding portion along the lower edge  21  of the grill cover  20 . The cover  20  can be attached by pressing together the legs  38  of the clips  30 , so that the legs  38  can be inserted to catch inside the upper edge  162  of the blower housing  160 . There can be a rectangular flap that allows the spring clips  30  to sit inside the blower housing  160  and held in place once the clips  30  are in the open position. 
     The clips  30  hold the grill  20  cover in place relative to the main housing  250 . The light passing lens cover  10  can attach to the grill cover  20  by different fastening techniques such as but not limited to using snap edges, male and female connection points, and fasteners, such as but not limited to screws, and the like. 
       FIG. 5A  is a perspective upper view of the bath fan  1  of  FIG. 1  with main housing  250  assembled with the blower housing  160  and its&#39; components without the light box and grill/lightshade cover.  FIG. 5B  is another upper view of the bath fan of  FIG. 5  with assembled blower housing  160  and its&#39; components inside the main housing  250  without the light box and grill/lightshade cover. 
     The keyhole slots  251  lets the user install the screws in position first and then the circular part of the keyhole lines up to the screw head and you can slide the bath fan housing forward so the screw head is over the narrow part of the keyhole slot. After it is in place you fasten the screws and it holds the housing in place. This is another method to install the bath fan if you cannot install via the suspension brackets  220 ,  230  and joists  410  (shown in  FIG. 20 ). Basically, screws (not shown) can be attached to a ceiling, and the housing  250  can be attached directly to the screws. 
       FIG. 6A  is a perspective view of the rectangular grill/lightshade cover  20  for the bath fan of  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 6B  is a top view of the grill/lightshade cover  20  of  FIG. 6A . The grill cover can have a four vents  22 ,  24 ,  26 ,  28  about a perimeter upper surface, a central opening  25  that is covered by the grill lens  10 . 
       FIG. 7  is a partial perspective view of a cut-away portion of the grill/lightshade cover  20  on the bath fan housing  250  of  FIG. 5A . Component  21  points to the hole where the motion sensor would be. Since it is a cross-sectional view the drawing only shows half of the circle. 
       FIG. 8  is a top view of the bath fan  1  of  FIG. 7  with grill cover  20 , and lightshade lens  10  removed.  FIG. 9A  is a perspective side view of the assembled bath fan  1  of  FIG. 8  with grill/light shade cover lens  10  fully installed.  FIG. 9B  is another perspective side view of the assembled bath fan  1  of  FIG. 8  with grill/light shade cover fully installed.  FIG. 10  is a top view of the assembled bath fan  1  of  FIGS. 9A-9B . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 8-10 , the assembled bath fan  1  can be attached to joists (not shown) in a ceiling by a pair of horizontal bar form extension brackets  220 , each being fastened to one side of the housing  250  and another fastened on a bottom of the housing  250 , with each having a T-form extension bracket  230 . The T-form extension bracket  230  can slide relative to the horizontal brackets  220 . The suspension brackets can include a telescoping portion, where one portion is fixed to the side and bottom of the housing  250  and the other portion can slide relative to the fixed bracket portion. 
     Up to 3 housing fixed iron members  280  can be used which allow the blower wheel housing  160  to be secured to the bath fan housing  250  with a fastener, such as but not limited to a screw, and the like. 
     On the grill cover  20  can be a sensing probe  290  such as a motion sensor. When activated by an occupant beneath the fan  1 , the motion sensor  290  can be used to activate the lights. Additionally, the motion sensor  290  can be connected to run the blower fan when an occupant is detected by the sensor  290 . 
     110 CFM Bath Fan with No Heater and with Grill and No Light 
     In addition to the previous numbered, component, the additional list of the components for  FIGS. 11-20  will now be described.
       299 . Bath Fan with Grill Cover and No Light     300 . Grill cover     400 . Ceiling     410 . Joist(s)   

       FIG. 11  is an exploded view of another 110 CFM bath fan (with no heater)  299  and with a grill cover  300  having no lightshade, such as shown in the previous figures.  FIG. 12  is another exploded view of the bath fan  299  of  FIG. 11  with assembled blower housing  250  separated from both the grill cover  300  and main housing  250 .  FIG. 13  is another exploded view of the bath fan  299  of  FIG. 11  with blower  70  out of blower housing  160  separated from the main housing  250 .  FIG. 14  is another exploded view of the bath fan  299  of  FIG. 11  with blower housing  160  separated from main housing  250 . 
       FIG. 15  is a perspective view of the bath fan of  FIG. 11  assembled with blower housing  250  components without the grill cover  300 .  FIG. 16  is a top view of the bath fan  299  of  FIG. 15 .  FIG. 17  is a perspective side view of the assembled bath fan  299  of  FIG. 11  having the grill cover  300  and with partial cutout of portion of main housing  250 . 
       FIG. 18A  is another perspective side view of the assembled bath fan  299  of  FIG. 17 .  FIG. 18B  is still another perspective side view of the assembled bath fan  299  of  FIG. 17 .  FIG. 19  is a top view of the assembled bath fan  299  of  FIGS. 18A-18B . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 11-19 , the bath fan  299  has similar components to the bath fan  1  shown and described in relation to  FIGS. 1-10 , with the exception of not having light cover  10 . 
       FIG. 20  shows the bath fan  299  of  FIGS. 11-19  in a working upright position with the grill cover  300  flush mounted against a ceiling  400  attached to joists  410  within a ceiling with arrows showing airflow intake I into the vents in the grill cover  300  and air passes to exhaust out of the housing outlet  240  through a damper  210  in the direction of arrows labeled O. The first embodiment 1, described in relation to  FIGS. 1-10  can attach to joists  410  in a similar manner and function in a similar manner to this embodiment. 
     While the invention has been described, disclosed, illustrated and shown in various terms of certain embodiments or modifications which it has presumed in practice, the scope of the invention is not intended to be, nor should it be deemed to be, limited thereby and such other modifications or embodiments as may be suggested by the teachings herein are particularly reserved especially as they fall within the breadth and scope of the claims here appended.