Patent ID: 8490355

Claim:
A ventilated structural panel comprising: a first sheet, defining a first plane, having edges that define a horizontal axis with a first horizontal edge and a second horizontal edge, and vertical axis with a first vertical edge and a second vertical edge; a second sheet, defining a second plane, and having substantially a same horizontal and vertical dimensions as the first sheet and having edges that define a horizontal axis and vertical axis, with a first horizontal edge and a second horizontal edge and a first vertical edge and a second vertical edge; the first and the second plane being parallel; a first layer of a plurality of spacing structural elements, fixedly attached to the first sheet; a second layer of the plurality of spacing structural elements, fixedly attached to both the second sheet and the first layer of the plurality of spacing structural elements, and spaced from the first sheet by the first layer of the plurality of spacing structural elements; the plurality of spacing structural elements are arranged in a matrix comprised of elongated members forming the first layer and the second layer, and each elongated member in each layer is coplanar, parallel, and equidistance from each neighboring elongated member in a same layer, the first and the second layer of elongated members defining two spaced parallel planes, and each elongated member of the first layer being perpendicular in orientation to each elongated member of the second layer, the elongated members of at least one of the first layer and the second layer are arranged perpendicular to at least one of the horizontal axis and the vertical axis of the first and second sheets; the plurality of spacing structural elements, fixedly attaching the first sheet to the second sheet, such that a bending strength of the panel is greater than combined individual bending strengths of the first and the second sheet; and spacing between adjacent spacing structural elements in the same layer defining a plurality of unobstructed pathways from at least one edge of the panel to at least one of an opposite and an adjacent edge of the panel, the spacing structural elements being arranged to provide integral ventilation through the panel and between the first and the second sheet, and a distance of between 3 and 18 times a width of each spacing structural element separates each spacing structural element from each neighboring spacing structural element of the same layer.