Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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BAC~GROUND OF INVENTION
(a) Field of the Inven-tion
The present invention relates to a plenum
chamber for use with a ven-tilation system to provide
for multiple conduit connec-tion to an air suction device
and to collect condensate from hot air collected in the
ceiling areas of building structures and evacuated
through the chamber.
(b) Description of Prior Ar-t
It is known to use a rotary turbine ventila-
tor or electric fan in the roof of a building struc-ture
whereby -to extract hot moist air from these areas,
The extraction of such hot air has various advantages,
amongst which i-t facilitates the heating of the area
defined by the space below the ceiling during cold ;
climatic periods and thereby conserving combustible
energy, such as oil or electricity which is used to heat
air. Another advantage is to provide for better distri-
bution of cooled air during hot climatic periods. How-
ever, a problem with such ventilators is that conden-
sation forms in the area of the ventilator below the
fan as the hot moist air is in contact with a cooler
region, as the ventilator is in communication with the
outside air, and this causes condensate to form and to
2S fall by gravity into the building space below the ven-
tilator. This condensation is absorbed into the con-
struction materials, such as the ceiling of a room
below the ventilator and eventually seeps through the
ceiling material causing considerable damageO
In the majority of systems u-ti]izing ventila-
tors, it is usually required -to provide a ventilator fan
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for each room whe~re it i5 clesired to evacuate air
therefrom. Such s~stem is quite cos-tl~ because of the
many ventilator fan devices required.
SUMMARY OF I~VENTION
It is a feature o~ the present invention
-to subs~antially overcome all of the above-mentioned
disadvantages of the prior art by the provision o~ a
plenum chamber associated with a suction fan device
and to which one or more conduits may be connected to
evacuate warm moist air from adjacent the ceilings of
one or more rooms and wherein condensate is collected
in the plenum chamber.
A further feature of the present invention
is -to provide a plenum chamber for use with a rotary
L5 -turbine ven-tilator and wherein the chamber is com-
prised of a container which is mounted within a hole
in the roof of a building and in comrnunication with
the ventilator~
It is another feature of the present inven-
-tion to provide an air convection system having a suc-
tion fan device and a plenum chamber associated there-
with and wherein the system is easy to install and
economical to construct.
According to the above features, from a broad
aspect, the present invention provides a plenum chamber
for use with an air suction device~ The charnber is
defined by a container having a bottom wall, a contin-
uous side wall about the bottom wall and defining a
chamber open end. ~ecurement means is provided for
maintainirlg the open end in relative position to the
suc-tion device. At leas-t one port is formed in the side
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wall o the containex, intermediate the bottom wall
and the open end, to permit flow of air through the
chamber when the suction device is operative.
According to a further broad aspect of the
present invention, there is provided an air convection
system for a building structure. The system comprises
an air suction device secured relative to a plenum
chamber. The plenum chamher is defined by a con-tainer
having a bottom wall, a continuous side wall about the
bottom wall, and a chamber open end. Securement means
is provided for maintaining the open end in relative
position to the suction device. Two or more ports are
provided in the side wall, intermediate the bottom wall
and open end, with at least one conduit secured to one
lS of the ports. The conduit has an intake end positioned
in a ceiling of a room of the building. The suction
device, when operative, causes air flow in the container
through the ports whereby to effect a suction of air
adjacent the ceiling so that some of the air will be
evacuated through the suction device with moisture con~
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densate collecting in the container.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTIO~ OF DRAWINGS
A preferred embodiment of the present invention
will now be described with reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which:-
FIGURE 1 is a schematic illustration oE an
air convection system utilizing the plenum chamber of
the present invention
FIGU~E 2 is a top view of the plenum chamber, and
FIGURE 3 is a perspective view showing the con-
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struc-tion of the plenum chamber~
DESCRIPTIO~ OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to Figure 1, there is shown an
air convection system for a building structure 10 and
comprising a rotary turbine ventilator suction device
11 secured relative to a plenum chamber 12 of the pre~
sent invention. As hereinshown, the plenum chamber 12
is secured in a hole 13 made in the roof 14 of the
building 10 and the turbine ventila-tor 11 is secured
on the roof 14 over the plenum chamber 12.
me plenum chamber 12 will be described .in :
detail later with reference to Figures 2 and 3. As
shown in Figure 1, the plenum chamber 12 is provided ~ ~
with a plurality of ports 15, a first one 15' being in i :.
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communication with air in the environment of ~he con-
tainer. Conduits 16 and 17 connect to two other ports ; ;
provided in the container side wall and each have their
intake ends 16' and 17' secured in a ceiling 18 and 19, ;~
respectively, of different rooms in the building 10. .
When the rotary turbine ventilator is actuated by the ~ ~
displacement of envlronmental air, a suction of air ~.
is made adjacent the ceilings 18 and 19 whereby to .~;
remove the hot air i.n that area, which air contains .;
the highest percentage of humidity. The extraction
of this hot humid air facilitates heating the rooms
as the overall low relative humidity of the air re-
quires low heating rate thus resulting in a conserva-
tion of energy.
Referring now additionally to Fi.gures 2 and
3, there is shown the construction of the plenum chamber ~::
120 A9 hereinshown, the chamber 12 is formed as a con-
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-tainer defining a bottom wall 20 wi.th a continuous
side wall 21 extending thereabove~ The s.ide wall 21
is her~in defined as a downward inwardly taperirly
cylinder having a -top open end 22. At least one port,
herein three ports 23, are formed in the cylindrical
side wall 21 spaced in-termediate the bot-tom wall 20
and the top open end 22. Coup:Ling means in -the form
of cylindrical sleeves 24 extend outwardly of the side
wall 21 and disposed a~out some or all of the ports 23
whereby a flexible pipe conduit, such as conduits 16
and 17, may be connected -to the ports for the convec-
tion of air from remote areas. As shown in ~igure 2,
the port 23' is not provided with a cylindrical sleeve
2~ as it is not connected to any conduit whereby air
in the area of the container 12 will be drawn thereinto.
In the event where ventilation is required
only in the attic of a building structure, then the
chamber 12 may be provided with a single openi.ng to
admit environmental air from the attic therein.
In order to secure the container 12 to a ~:
suction device or to a wall or roof of a building,
-there is provided a securement means in the form of a
circumferential flange 25 disposed about the open end
of the container. It is conceivable that the container
could be secured directly to the ventilator 11. As
hereinshown, the container is formed of a plastics
material and the circumferential flange 25 is molded
integrally -therewith. Seeing that the inside of the
con-tainer is in communication with outside air throu~h
the hole in the building structure and through the
rotary turbine ventil.ator 11, as shown in Figure 1, the
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inner surface 26 of the side wall 21, is lined with a
layer of thermal insulating rigid material 27. As
shown in Figure 2, this material is formed of two semi- :
circular sections having a coupling joint 28 and it is
S disposed in contact with the inner surface 26 of the
side wall 21. The cylindrical sleeves 24 are provided
with an inner circumferen-ti.al flange 29 at an end
thereof for retaining the sleeves 24 in position over
the inner surface of the insulating material 27. Al-
ternatively, and as hereinshown, the sleeves 24 could -
also be moulded with -the side wall 21 and the joint may
be solidified by means of structural ribs 30. Struc~
tural ribs 31 may also be provided in the outer surface
of the side wall 21 and extending to the flange 2S to
add rigidity to the flange.
The inner area of the container i5 provided -
with a plurality of division walls 32, herein two :
division walls, whereby to divide the inner area of the ;.
: container into separate compartments, one for each port ~ -.
23 Thus, the suction in the top open end 22 of the ~ -
container would be divided between the chambers to
assure a substantially equal suction force to each of
the ports 23. A drain hole 33 may be provided in the ~:.
bottom wall 20 for connec-tion to a conduit (not shownj
which would evacuate any condensate as it is deposited
on the bottom wall 20. In order to communicate the ~ i. .
condensate from all of the compartments formed by the
division walls 32, the bottom of the walls 32 may be
spaced a small distance above the bottom wall 20. Al-
ternatively, the walls 32 may extend to the bottom wall
20 but may be provided with one or more small openings :~ -
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in ~he bo-ttom edge -thereof whereby condensa-te wil:l
flow -to the drain hole 33. I-t is noted tha-t most oL
the condensate in the container 12 will evaporate
-throu~h the turbine ven-tilator as usually only a small
~uantity of condensa-te will collect in the con-tainer.
Thus, when a drain hole 33 is provided, it may be
plugged and utilized only in applications where eva-
cuated air con-tinuously contains a high percentage
of humidity~
Although as shown in Figure 1 the suction
device is a gravity rotary turbine ventilator, other
types of suc-tion devices may be provided, such as an
electrically operated fan, whereby a continuous flow
of air is evacuated from the ceiling area of rooms in
a building structure. It is also pointed out that
with wind actuated ven-tilators, the flow of air created
in the convection conduits is a very gen-tle flow where-
by excessive warmed air is not evacuated from ceiling
areas of rooms to unnecessarily cause repea-ted operation
of a heatin~ system. Further, the intake ends, such as
16' or 17' of the conduits may be provided with adjust- `
able grills whereby the size of the intake end opening
may be controlled from a closed position to a fully
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open position to regulate the flow of air to the intake
ends, and particularly with electric fan suc-tion devices~
It is within the am~it of the present inven-
tion to encompass any obvious modifications of the pre
ferred embodiment described herein, provided such modi-
fications fall within the scope of the appended claims.
