Roof construction providing air flow from eave to ridge

Claim 2

In a dwelling, a vertical wall, a series of generally parallel spaced rafters supported on the wall with the outer ends of the rafters projecting outwardly beyond said wall, a roof deck supported by the rafters with the spaces defined by adjacent rafters and said roof deck defining channels for the flow of air, a facia attached to the outer ends of the rafters, said facia comprising an outer facia member and an inner backing member and spacing members for spacing said outer facia member and said backing member apart, said spacing members being located at intervals along the length of said facia with the spaces between said spacing member comprising generally vertical passages with the lower ends of said passages communicating with the exterior and the upper ends of said passages located immediately beneath said roof deck and communicating with said channels, the upper edge of the backing member extending above the lower edges of the rafters and terminating adjacent the roof deck, and outlet means disposed at a high point of said roof deck and communicating with said channels, air being drawn upwardly through said passages and flowing upwardly within said channels to said outlet means.

Claim 3

The dwelling of claim 1, wherein said spacing means comprises a corrugated strip connecting said facia member and said backing member.

Claim 4

The dwelling of claim 1, and including a soffit member connected to the rafters and extending between said facia and said wAll, said soffit being free of openings therein.

Claim 5

The dwelling of claim 1, wherein said passages extend substantially the entire length of said facia member.

Claim 6

The dwelling of claim 1, and including foraminous means disposed across the passages to prevent entry of foreign objects into the space between the rafters.

Claim 7

The dwelling of claim 1, wherein the lower ends of the inner and outer members are connected integrally by a bottom wall, and said bottom wall is provided with a series of openings.

Claim 8

The dwelling of claim 6, wherein said openings are slits arranged to direct air passing upwardly therethrough toward said outer wall.

Claim 9

The dwelling of claim 6, wherein the longitudinally extending corner joining the bottom wall and the outer member is provided with an enlarged radius serving as a hinge to permit said outer member to be pivoted with respect to the bottom wall.

Claim 10

The dwelling of claim 1, wherein the lower end portion of the inner member is provided with a ledge facing in a direction away from said outer member, and said dwelling includes a soffit member supported on said ledge.

Claim 11

The dwelling of claim 9, and including a wedge member disposed adjacent the inner wall and wedged between the upper surface of the soffit member and the lower portion of the rafters to urge said soffit member into engagement with said ledge.

Claim 12

The dwelling of claim 1, and including a ledge located on the lower end portion of the backing member and extending in a direction away from said facia, and a soffit member extending between said vertical wall and the backing member and supported on said ledge.

Claim 13

The dwelling of claim 9, and including a series of baffles with each baffle being disposed between adjacent rafters and having a width substantially equal to the spacing between the adjacent rafters, said baffles bridging the vertical wall and each baffle having a series of upstanding longitudinal ribs adapted to space the baffle from the roof deck and provide unobstructed air flow passages along the underside of the roof deck.

Claim 14

In a dwelling, a vertical exterior wall, a series of generally parallel spaced roof members supported on the wall with the outer ends of the roof members projecting outwardly beyond the wall, a roof deck supported by the roof members with the spaces defined by adjacent roof members and said roof deck defining channels for air flow, air inlet means communicating with the outer portions of the channels, said outer portions being located outwardly of said exterior wall, air outlet means communicating with the inner portions of the channels and located inwardly of said exterior wall, baffle means disposed for vertical movement within the channels and bridging the exterior wall, said baffle means being spaced above the upper extremity of said exterior wall and the outer end of said baffle means extending a substantial distance outwardly of said exterior wall and being in communication with said air inlet means, said baffle means including a surface spaced beneath the roof deck to provide a passage therebetween, and at least one spacing member extending upwardly from said surface and disposed to space the surface from the roof deck.

Claim 15

In a dwelling, a vertical exterior wall, a series of generally parallel spaced roof members supported on the wall with the outer ends of the roof members projecting outwardly beyond the wall, a roof deck supported by the roof members with the spaces defined by adjacent roof members and said roof deck defining channels for air flow, air inlet means communicating with the outer portions of the channels, said outer portions being located outwardly of said exterior wall, air outlet means communicating with the inner portions of the channels and located inwardly of said exterior wall, baffle means disposed for vertical movement within the channels and bridging the exterior wall, said baffle means being spaced above the upper extremity of said exterior wall and the outer end of said baffle means extending a substantial distance outwardly of said exterior wall and being in communication with said air inlet means, said baffle means including a surface spaced beneath the roof deck to provide a passage therebetween, and at least one spacing member extending upwardly from said surface and disposed to space the surface from the roof deck.

Claim 16

The dwelling of claim 13, and including a batt of fibrous insulation disposed in the channel beneath the baffle means, said batt engaged with the baffle means and acting to urge said baffle means upwardly toward the roof deck.

Claim 17

The dwelling of claim 13, wherein said spacing members are generally parallel ribs extending longitudinally of said surface.

Claim 18

The dwelling of claim 15, wherein the surface has a width slightly greater than 14 inches and four ribs extend upwardly from said surface, the spacing between the first pair of adjacent ribs being approximately 2 inches, the spacing between a second pair of adjacent ribs being approximately 6 inches and the spacing between a third pair of adjacent ribs being approximately 4 inches.

Claim 19

In a dwelling, a vertical extErior wall, a series of generally parallel spaced roof members supported on the wall with the outer ends of the roof members projecting outwardly beyond the wall, a roof deck supported by the roof members with the spaces defined by adjacent roof members and said roof deck defining channels for air flow, air inlet means communicating with the outer portion of the channels, said outer portions being located outwardly of said exterior wall, air outlet means communicating with the inner portion of the channels and located inwardly of said exterior wall, baffle means located within the channels and bridging the exterior wall, said baffle means including a surface spaced beneath the roof deck to provide a passage therebetween, and at least one spacing member extending upwardly from said surface and adapted to space the surface from the roof deck, said air inlet means including a facia attached to the outer ends of said roof members, said facia including an outer facia member and inner facia member spaced from the outer facia member with the space between said facia members comprising a series of generally vertical openings, the outer end of said baffle means being engaged with the inner facia member and the vertical openings in said facia being in communication with said passages.

Claim 20

In a dwelling, a vertical extErior wall, a series of generally parallel spaced roof members supported on the wall with the outer ends of the roof members projecting outwardly beyond the wall, a roof deck supported by the roof members with the spaces defined by adjacent roof members and said roof deck defining channels for air flow, air inlet means communicating with the outer portion of the channels, said outer portions being located outwardly of said exterior wall, air outlet means communicating with the inner portion of the channels and located inwardly of said exterior wall, baffle means located within the channels and bridging the exterior wall, said baffle means including a surface spaced beneath the roof deck to provide a passage therebetween, and at least one spacing member extending upwardly from said surface and adapted to space the surface from the roof deck, said air inlet means including a facia attached to the outer ends of said roof members, said facia including an outer facia member and inner facia member spaced from the outer facia member with the space between said facia members comprising a series of generally vertical openings, the outer end of said baffle means being engaged with the inner facia member and the vertical openings in said facia being in communication with said passages.

Claim 21

The dwelling of claim 17, and including connecting means for removably connecting the outer end of said baffle means to the inner facia member.

Claim 22

The dwelling of claim 18, wherein said connecting means includes an inverted U-shaped member disposed to receive the upper edge of said inner facia member.

Claim 23

In a dwelling, a vertical exterior wall, a series of generally parallel spaced roof members supported on the wall with the outer ends of the roof members projecting outwardly beyond the wall, a roof deck supported by the roof members with the spaces defined by adjacent roof members and said roof deck defining channels for air flow, air inlet means communicating with the outer portions of the channels, said outer portions being located outwardly of said exterior wall, air outlet means communicating with the inner portion of the channels and located inwardly of said exterior wall, and a baffle member located within the channelsand bridging the exterior wall, at least a portion of said baffle member being spaced beneath the roof deck to provide a passage therebetween, said air inlet means including a facia attached to the outer ends of said roof members, said facia including an outer facia member and an inner facia member spaced from the outer facia member with the space between said facia members comprising a series of generally vertical openings, the outer end of said baffle member extending outwardly of the exterior wall and terminating adjacent said inner facia member whereby the vertical openings in said facia are in communication with said passages.

Claim 24

In a dwelling, a vertical exterior wall, a series of generally parallel spaced roof members supported on the wall with the outer ends of the roof members projecting outwardly beyond the wall, a roof deck supported by the roof members with the spaces defined by adjacent roof members and said roof deck defining channels for air flow, air inlet means communicating with the outer portions of the channels, said outer portions being located outwardly of said exterior wall, air outlet means communicating with the inner portion of the channels and located inwardly of said exterior wall, and a baffle member located within the channelsand bridging the exterior wall, at least a portion of said baffle member being spaced beneath the roof deck to provide a passage therebetween, said air inlet means including a facia attached to the outer ends of said roof members, said facia including an outer facia member and an inner facia member spaced from the outer facia member with the space between said facia members comprising a series of generally vertical openings, the outer end of said baffle member extending outwardly of the exterior wall and terminating adjacent said inner facia member whereby the vertical openings in said facia are in communication with said passages.