GB2358917A - Ventilation duct for renovating buildings - Google Patents

Abstract

A duct (2) comprises a basic element of rectangular U-shaped section constituted by a base (10) intended to be fixed against a wall and a cap (12) which closes the base in order to form the duct, the said base (10) and cap (12) being made of synthetic material and being capable of being coupled to one another, in a reversible manner, by clipping.

Description

1 1 2358917 VENTILATION DUCT FOR RENOVATING BUILDINGS The subject of the

present invention is a ventilation duct for renovating buildings.

Old buildings were not equipped with ventilation devices. Now in a building with good impermeability, it is necessary to bring about ventilation of the interior of the building in order to keep the latter in good sanitary condition, while particularly avoiding an excessively high rate of humidity. When old buildings are renovated, and their door and window frames are changed in order to improve impermeability and limit expenditure on energy, it is expedient to install a ventilation system. This ventilation system may be a natural ventilation system which makes it possible to connect rooms to vertical ducts, such as ventilation ducts or ones which were previously used as smoke ducts.

Since false ceilings, where present, do not generally allow the passage of ventilation shafts, it is necessary to make use of ducts, generally made of metal or PVC and with a diameter of 125 to 160 mm, which are fixed along walls, generally in the top part of the rooms. Ducts of this kind may, in certain cases, extend along two sides of a room. Once these ducts are installed, it is expedient to mask them with the aid of cladding made, for example, of plywood or melaminised material, which is fixed on battens by a carpenter, when the duct has been installed by a plumber. When the cladding in question is made of plywood, the latter has to be painted by a painter. An installation of this kind is therefore expensive, insofar as it requires the activity of personnel of various trades and a long inoperative period. In addition, it is not possible to dismantle the duct in order to carry out maintenance on it, a fact which is not without problems, particularly of an economic nature, since cleaning can only be carried out by specialists with the aid of expensive equipment.

1 2 The object of the invention is to provide a ventilation duct for renovating buildings which is simple in structure, which can be installed rapidly in the course of a single operation by personnel of a single trade, which is aesthetically pleasing and clean, and which can be dismantled in order to carry out cleaning of the duct, without the activity of a specialist being required for that purpose.

To that end, the duct to which the invention relates comprises a basic element of rectangular section which is constituted by a base intended to be fixed against a wall and a cap which closes the base in order to f orm the duct, the said base and cap being made of synthetic material and being capable of being coupled to one another, in a reversible manner, by clipping.

Being made of synthetic material, this duct possesses an excellent finish which does not require painting operations after it has been placed in position. In practice, the basic element is first of all fixed against a wall by simply screwing it on, after which the cap is clipped onto the base in order to form the duct. Since this clipping operation is reversible, it is very easy to take of f the cap in order to carry out cleaning of the duct.

The base and cap advantageously each possess two parallel partition walls joined together by struts. This double partition wall provides thermal insulation, thus avoiding the risk of condensation, and endows the elements with high rigidity and great lightness which permit easy handling on site, even for a person who is alone.

The base and cap are advantageously obtained by the extrusion of a synthetic material, such as polyvinyl chloride.

3 Preferably the upper and/or rear partition walls of the duct can have outwardly facing grooves which are intended for the attachment of accessories. such as struts, having complementary coupling tongues.

The base can have a groove formed along its rear upper edge and the cap can have a groove formed along its upper edge.

It is thus possible to fix a strut onto the duct, particularly when it is expedient to disengage the latter from the ceiling or from a wall, for example in order to all-ow for the passge of pipe systems, such as water for domestic use or central heating pipe systems.

The coupling of the base and cap of the duct can be carried out by a clipping with the aid of complementary grooves and tongues formed in the coupling edges of the base and cap.

According to one possibility, the basic element is rectilinear and possesses a length of 2 m, its internal section being of the order of 160 x 160 mm. It should be noted that, bearing in mind the nature of the material constituting the basic element, the latter can be adapted to the desired length by sawing it on site.

Preferably, the base possesses a rectangular section and the cap a flat general section.

Alternatively, the base and cap can each possess an Lshaped section.

4 The duct can comprise accessories which are constituted particularly by elbows with various angles, tees, stages for passing through walls, and connecting sleeves, and which each have a flange for the fitting-on and connection of a basic element.

These various accessories make it possible to follow the shape of any geometry in a building while at the same time retaining excellent impermeability, thus making it possible to follow the angles of the rooms, whether the said angles are right angles or not, and to pass through partition walls. Impermeability is ensured by the support which the basic elements of rectangular section derive against the flanges on the accessories, the said support providing satisfactory impermeability and the aesthetic appearance being improved by the provision of joint-covers.

In any case, the invention will be properly understood with the aid of the description which follows, with reference to the appended diagrammatic drawings which represent one form of implementation of this duct as a non-limitative example:

figure 1 is an exploded view in perspective of a duct in its position of use in a room; figure 2 is a partial view, in perspective and on an enlarged scale, of a basic element in the noncoupled position; figure 3 is a view in cross section of the said basic element in its position when fixed onto a wall; figure 4 is a view in cross section of the said basic element when fixed with accessories fitted; figure 5 is a view in perspective of a connecting sleeve; figure 6 is a view in perspective of a 900 elbow with a diagrammatic representation of a basic element which is intended for coupling to it, and figure 7 is a view in perspective of a 450 elbow.

Figure 1 represents a duct 2 according to the invention, which is intended to be fixed against one wall of a room, in proximity to the ceiling of the latter. Thi s duct possesses two elbows 3 which will bring the duct into communication with the outside of the room, and three elbows 4, 5 and 6 which will make it possible to connect straight lengths, 7, 8 and 9 respectively.

Figure 2 shows a basic element constituting a straight length 7, 8 or 9. This basic element comprises a base 10 of rectangular general shape with a C-shaped section, and a flat cover 12. The base 10 and the cover 12 each have two partition walls, an inner partition wall 13 and an outer partition wall 14, which are linked by struts 15. The base 10 and the cover 12 are made of synthetic material, such as fire-resistant polyvinyl chloride, and may be obtained by extrusion. Along its two end edges, the base 10 has two parallel grooves 16 which are intended for the engagement of two parallel tongues 17 carried by the cover 12. In addition, the base 10 possesses, at the level of its face which will correspond to the upper face of the basic element and along its rear edge in the installed position, a longitudinal profile 18 delimiting an outwardly facing groove 19. For its part, the cover 12 has, along its upper edge, a longitudinal profile 18 in which an outwardly facing groove 19 is formed.

6 In practice, and as shown in figure 3, when the wall and ceiling of the room are freely accessible, the base 10 is fixed, flush with the ceiling, directly in the wall by screws 20, and the cover 12 is then placed in position. When pipe systems 22 are located near the ceiling, it is expedient to bring about off-setting of the basic element in relation to the ceiling and in relation to the wall. In this case, the grooves 19 serve for fitting struts 23 and 24 in the direction of the ceiling and wall respectively, the said struts being fixed with the aid of the grooves 19, as indicated previously, and the double strut being likewise fixed to the base 10 by screwing, it being understood that the base is fixed to the wall through the said double strut 24.

In order to produce a junction between two rectilinear lengths 7, 8 or 9, male/male coupling sleeves 25 are provided. A sleeve of this kind has two flanges 26, the perimeter of which corresponds to the internal section of the duct in order to permit fitting-in inside the rectilinear lengths.

Represented in figure 6 is a 901 elbow, like the elbows 4 and 5 represented in figure 1. The elbow in figure 6 is designated by the reference 27. In the curved zone, it comprises vanes 28 which will improve the aerodynamic performance of the installation and limit losses of pressure. The elbow 27 has two flanges 29 which permit connection to two straight lengths, one of which, 7, is represented in the drawing.

Represented in figure 7 is an elbow 30 constituting the complex elbow 6 represented in figure 1, and making it possible to pass round an obstacle, the angle of the wall not being a right angle. This elbow 6 comprises two 450 elbows 30 which are linked by a straight length. Each elbow 30 possesses the same general structure as the 900 7 elbow 27, it too having vanes 32 and flanges 33 which permit f itting into straight lengths, such as the lengths 8 and 9.

As emerges from the foregoing, the invention contributes a major improvement to the existing technique, by providing a duct with horizontal connection permitting very rapid installation by personnel of a single trade, ensuring an excellent aesthetic finish and permitting the cleaning of the ventilation duct without using complex means.

As is self-evident, the invention is not limited to the single form of implementation of this duct which is described above as an example, but on the contrary covers all the variants. Thus, in particular, it would be possible for the basic element to be produced from two pieces, each in the form of an L, or else for the partition walls not to be doubled, without thereby departing from the scope of the invention.

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Claims (1)

1. W 1. Ventilation duct for renovating buildings, characterised in that it comprises a basic element of rectangular section constituted by a base (10) intended to be f ixed against a wall and a cap (12) which closes the base in order to form the duct, the said base (10) and cap (12) being made of synthetic material and being capable of being coupled to one another. in a reversible manner, by 10 clipping.

   2. Ventilation duct according to claim 1, characterised in that the base (10) and cap (12) "each possess two parallel partition walls (13, 14) joined together by struts (15).

   3. ventilation duct according to claim 1, characterised in that the base (10) and cap (12) are obtained by the extrusion of a synthetic material, such as polyvinyl chloride.

   4. Ventilation duct according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the upper and/or rear partition walls have outwardly facing grooves (19) which are intended for the attachment of accessories, such as struts (23, 24), having complementary coupling tongues.

   5. Ventilation duct according to claim 4, characterised in that the base (10) has a groove (19) formed along its rear upper edge and the cap (12) has a groove (19a) formed along its upper edge.

   6. Ventilation duct according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the coupling of the base (10) and cap (12) of the duct is carried out by a clipping operation with the aid of complementary grooves (16) and tongues (17) formed in the coupling edges of the base and cap.

   9 Ventilation duct according to any one of claims 1 to characterised in the basic element (7, 8, 9) is rectilinear.

   5, 8. Ventilation duct according to any one claims 1 to 7, characterised in that the base (10) possesses a rectangular section and the cap (12) a flat general section.

   9. ventilation duct according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterised in that the base and cap each possess an Lshaped section.

   10. Ventilation duct according to any one claims 1 to 9, characterised in that it comprises accessories which are constituted particularly by elbows (27, 30) with various angles, tees, stages for passing through walls, and connecting sleeves (25), and which each have a flange (29, 32, 26) for the fitting-on and connection of a basic element (7, 8, 9).

   11. A ventilation duct substantially as hereinbefore described.

   A ventilation duct substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawings.