GB2386944A

GB2386944A - A ventilation system for an agricultural building

Info

Publication number: GB2386944A
Application number: GB0207175A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ken Ford; Colin Ford
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-03-26
Filing date: 2002-03-26
Publication date: 2003-10-01
Anticipated expiration: 2022-03-26
Also published as: GB0207175D0; GB2386944B

Abstract

A building having side walls 14, 15, gable end walls and a pitched roof 10, has a ventilation opening 20 disposed in the apex 13 of the roof with a weather cap 22 supported above the opening. The air flows upwardly through the opening and laterally outwards from beneath the cap. At least one roof section 11 or 12 is provided with an air deflector 30 projecting upwardly and preferably inclined towards the apex. The side walls have a series of air vents 26 which may comprise a pivotal transparent flap 28 that opens inwardly by means of stays 29. The spacing between the cap and the roof could be adjustable by means of a winch system (41, fig. 2) acting on a plurality of parallel linkages (34, fig.2) and tension a spring (37, fig.2), which biases the space to a minimum.

Description

AGRICULTURAL BUILDINGS

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to agricultural buildings such as chicken houses, broiler houses and the like.

BACKGROUND

In buildings such as chicken houses which are used to house egg-laying birds, or broiler houses which are used to rear chickens for consumption, it is common to house several thousand birds in close confinement. In such buildings it is vital to provide good ventilation in order to maintain air quality and reduce the risk of disease. There are several known ways of providing the necessary ventilation. Large electric fans may be used to draw air through the building, but whilst these are capable of achieving extremely good ventilation they require an electricity supply and are expensive to run.

It is also known to provide a passive ventilation system in which air enters the building through inlet vents below the eaves and leaves through outlet vents at the ridge of the roof. These ridge vents may be provided with flaps which can be opened and closed by ropes or wires, and the entry of rain or

direct sunlight is prevented by a roof cap which is supported above the ridge vents. A certain amount of manual control can be achieved by opening and closing the vents, but there are two main factors which determine the amount of ventilation which takes place. Firstly, heat generated within the building causes warm air to rise inside the building and exit through the roof vents, drawing in air through the side vents. Secondly, air movements around the building (i.e. wind) may contribute to air flow through the building, particularly on windy days.

Known passive ventilation systems suffer from the disadvantage that the amount of ventilation is variable and temperature regulation within the building is poor. Under certain wind conditions, the air flow caused by external air movements may counter the air flow produced by internal heating, resulting in poor ventilation and overheating.

The present invention seeks to provide a new and inventive form of agricultural building which is energy efficient whilst providing an improved level of ventilation and internal temperature regulation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

. The present invention proposes an agricultural building having side walls, gable end walls, a pitched roof having two roof sections extending from a common ridge to the tops of the side walls, a ventilation opening in the roof extending along the ridge, a weather-protecting roof cap supported above the ridge in a manner which permits air to flow upwardly through the ventilation opening and laterally outwards from beneath the roof cap, and a..DTD:

series of air inlet vents in each side wall, in which at least one of the roof sections is provided with an air deflector, projecting upwardly from the roof, to create a negative air pressure in the space between the said roof section and the cap.

In situations where the prevailing wind direction is constant it may only be necessary to provide a deflector on one side of the roof but in most cases deflectors will be provided on both sides.

To achieve the desired effect, the or each air deflector is preferably inclined towards the roof cap, away from the roof.

In a preferred arrangement the spacing between the roof cap and the roof is adjustable to provide control over the amount of ventilation which takes place. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following description and the accompanying drawings referred to therein

are included by way of non-limiting example in order to illustrate how the invention may be put into practice. In the drawings: Figure 1 is a cross section through a chicken house in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a central cross section through the roof of the chicken house on the plane indicated 11-ll in Fig. 1; and

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail of Fig. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The chicken house which is shown in Fig.s 1 and 2 is intended to house a large number of birds (3,000 or more) in close confinement. The building has a shallow pitched roof 10 with two sloping sections 11 and 12 extending downwards from a common ridge 13 to join two low side walls 14 and 15 with an overhang 16. The ends of the building are provided with two gable end walls 17 and 18, shown in part in Fig. 2.

The side walls 14 and 15 each have a series of inlet vents 26 extending along the length of the building immediately below the roof overhang 16 provided with transparent flaps 28, e.g. of polycarbonate material. The flaps are hinged at the top to open inwardly, and can be individually opened in known manner by means of stays 29.

Referring to Fig. 3, the roof has a ventilation opening 20 extending along the ridge 13, bounded by a pair of short upstanding weather walls 21. The opening is covered by a weather-protecting roof cap 22, supported above the ridge in a spaced manner, to be described below, such that the space beneath the roof cap is open to the sides. The roof cap includes a top wall 23 which could be flat or formed with a shallow double pitch as shown, with depending drip flanges 24 and 25 extending along opposite sides spaced outwardly of the walls 21. On opposite sides of the ridge, adjacent to the roof cap 22, a flange-like air deflector 30 is upstanding from each roof section 1 1 and 12. The deflectors are both inclined towards the roof cap 22

with respect to the associated roof section. The optimum angle of the deflectors A has been determined using smoke tests at about 130 , and is preferably within the range 1 10 to 150 .

As shown in Fig. 2, the roof cap 22 is supported on a series of parallel linkages 34 which are pivotally connected to the roof cap by top joints 35 and to the roof structure by bottom joints 36. A tension spring 37 acts between the roof cap and the roof structure tending to move the roof cap towards a lowered position, with the linkages 34 in an inclined position indicated by dashed lines, and with the top wall 23 supported on the walls 21 to close the ventilation opening 20. However, a wire rope 38 is connected to the roof cap by which the roof cap can be raised against the action of spring 37, moving the linkages 34 progressively towards a vertical position as shown. The rope travels to ground level over pulleys 40 where it can be operated manually using a winch 41. Alternatively the rope can be operated automatically by an electric motor under the control of an electronic control system.

Normally the flaps 28 will be opened and the cap raised during the day and the cap will be lowered and the flaps closed at night, but the flaps may be partially closed and/or the cap can be partly lowered on very cold days or conversely they can be left open on warm nights. Ventilation of the chicken house is provided by air flowing upwardly through the ventilation opening and laterally outwards from beneath the roof cap, replaced by air flowing in through the side vents 26. Since the flaps open inwardly they direct fresh air downwards towards the floor of the building to ensure a good supply of fresh air at floor level. Any air movement in the vicinity of the building creates an air current over the roof which is deflected upwards by the

deflectors 30, resulting in a negative air pressure in the space between the roof and the cap 22. This ensures that there is always a positive pressure differential between the side vents and the roof opening, which results in improved ventilation and better temperature regulation within the building.

It will be appreciated that the features disclosed herein may be present in any feasible combination. Whilst the above description lays emphasis on

those areas which, in combination, are believed to be new, protection is claimed for any inventive combination of the features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. An agricultural building having side walls, gable end walls, a pitched roof having two roof sections extending from a common ridge to the tops of the side walls, a ventilation opening in the roof extending along the ridge, a weather-protecting roof cap supported above the ridge in a manner which permits air to flow upwardly through the ventilation opening and laterally outwards from beneath the roof cap, and a series of air inlet vents in each side wall, in which at least one of the roof sections is provided with an air deflector, projecting upwardly from the roof, to create a negative air pressure in the space between the said roof section and the cap.

2. An agricultural building according to Claim 1, in which the or

each air deflector is inclined towards the roof cap, away from the roof.

3. An agricultural building according to Claim 1 or 2, in which the spacing between the roof cap and the roof is adjustable.

4. An agricultural building according to Claim 3, in which the roof cap is pivotally supported from the roof by a plurality of parallel linkages.

5. An agricultural building according to Claim 4, in which a pulling system is provided to raise the roof cap.

6. An agricultural building according to Claim 4 or 5, in which spring means is provided, tending to move the roof cap to a lowered

. position.

7. An agricultural building according to any preceding claim, in which the ventilation opening is bounded by upstanding weather walls on which the roof cap is supported in its lowered position.

8. An agricultural building according to Claim 7, in which the roof cap includes a top wall and a pair of depending walls located outside the weather walls.

9. An agricultural building according to any preceding claim, in which the air inlet vents in each side wall are hinged at the top and open inwardly.

10. An agricultural building substantially as described with reference to the drawings.

* * * * * * * *

9. An agricultural building according to Claim 8, in which there is a horizontal gap between the depending walls of the roof cap and the weather walls.

10. An agricultural building according to any preceding claim, in which the air inlet vents in each side wall are hinged at the top and open inwardly.

11. An agricultural building substantially as described with reference to the drawings.

Amended claims have been filed as followed CLAIMS

1. An agricultural building having side walls, gable end walls, a pitched roof having two roof sections extending from a common ridge to the tops of the side walls, a ventilation opening in the roof extending along the ridge, a weather-protecting roof cap supported above the ridge in a manner which permits air to flow upwardly through the ventilation opening and laterally outwards from beneath the roof cap, and a series of air inlet vents in each side wall, in which at least one of the roof sections is provided with an air deflector projecting upwardly from the roof and inclined towards the roof cap, away from the roof, terminating below the level of the ridge to create a negative air pressure in the space between the said roof section and the roof cap.

2. An agricultural building according to Claim 1, in which the spacing between the roof cap and the roof is adjustable.

3. An agricultural building according to Claim 2, in which the roof cap is pivotally supported from the roof by a plurality of parallel linkages.

4. An agricultural building according to Claim 3, in which a pulling system is provided to raise the roof cap.

5. An agricultural building according to Claim 3 or 4, in which spring means is provided, tending to move the roof cap to a lowered position.

IN 6. An agricultural building according to any preceding claim, in which the ventilation opening is bounded byweatherwalls, upstanding from the ridge, on which the roof cap is supported in its lowered position.

7. An agricultural building according to Claim 6, in which the roof cap includes a top wall and a pair of depending drip flanges located outside the weather walls.

8. An agricultural building according to Claim 7, in which there is a horizontal gap between the depending walls of the roof cap and the weather walls.