Off-peak air intake vent

Abstract

An off-peak intake vent includes spaced top and bottom walls defining a cavity therebetween and a pair of lateral side walls. The bottom wall has a generally planar bottom surface having at least one vent opening formed therethrough for communicating with an opening in a roof deck. The top wall has a curved portion that converges with the bottom wall at an uphill edge of the intake vent. The intake vent also includes air intake louvers defined between the top and bottom walls.

1 . An off-peak intake vent comprising:
 spaced top and bottom walls defining a cavity therebetween and a pair of lateral side walls, said bottom wall having a generally planar bottom surface having a vent formed therethrough for communicating with an opening in a roof deck, said top wall having a continuously curved portion that converges with said bottom wall at an uphill edge of said intake vent; and   air intake louvers defined between said top and bottom walls.   
     
     
         2 . The intake vent of  claim 1 , wherein said top wall of said intake vent has a generally planar portion parallel to said bottom wall proximate to said air intake louvers and extending to said curved portion. 
     
     
         3 . The intake vent of  claim 1  further comprising an internal baffle system for baffling air flow between the intake louvers and the at least one vent opening of the bottom wall. 
     
     
         4 . The intake vent of  claim 3 , wherein the baffle system includes first and second spaced baffles extending across said intake vent between said side walls, the first baffle protruding from said bottom wall towards said top wall and the second baffle protruding from said top wall towards said bottom wall. 
     
     
         5 . The intake vent of  claim 4 , further comprising a plurality of spaced drainage channels in communication with respective spaced openings in said first baffle and extending towards said air intake louvers. 
     
     
         6 . The intake vent of  claim 5 , wherein said air intake louvers include wind blocks for blocking air ingestion into said channels at said louvers. 
     
     
         7 . The intake vent of  claim 5 , further comprising a plurality of wind diverters for diverting air away from said spaced openings in said first baffle and located proximate to said spaced openings. 
     
     
         8 . The intake vent of  claim 7 , wherein said wind diverters depend from said top wall and extend over and around said channels. 
     
     
         9 . The intake vent of  claim 1 , further comprising a water dam wall extending from said bottom wall across said intake vent proximate to said at least one vent opening. 
     
     
         10 . The intake vent of  claim 1 , further comprising a drip edge extending over and beyond said air intake louvers for deterring water draining from said top wall of said intake vent from entering said air intake louvers. 
     
     
         11 . The intake vent of  claim 1 , wherein said vent includes separately formed top and bottom structures that are assembled together to form said intake vent. 
     
     
         12 . The intake vent of  claim 1 , further comprising vent locating means for aligning said intake vent over said opening in said roof deck, said vent locating means comprising one or more downwardly depending tabs. 
     
     
         13 . The intake vent of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an internal baffle system for baffling air flow between the intake louvers and at least one vent opening of the bottom wall, said internal baffle system including spaced first and second baffles extending across said intake vent between said side walls; and   means for securing a filter in said cavity of said intake vent between the spaced first and second baffles.   
     
     
         14 . The intake vent of  claim 13 , wherein said means for securing said filter secures said filter at an inclined angle with respect to said bottom wall. 
     
     
         15 . The intake vent of  claim 1 , wherein the top wall of said intake vent has a generally planar portion parallel to said bottom wall, said generally planar portion of said top wall extending from a downhill edge of said top wall, proximate to said air intake louvers, to said curved portion, wherein said intake vent has a width defined between said uphill and downhill edges and said generally planar portion extends a distance that is 50% or less of the width of the intake vent. 
     
     
         16 . The intake vent of  claim 15 , wherein the width of the intake vent is 12″ or less and a thickness of said intake vent defined between the generally planar portion and the bottom wall is 1″ or less. 
     
     
         17 . The intake vent of  claim 16 , wherein the generally planar portion extends a distance that is 40% or less of the width of the intake vent. 
     
     
         18 . The intake vent of  claim 17 , wherein said curved portion overlies the vent opening. 
     
     
         19 . An off-peak intake vent comprising:
 spaced top and bottom walls defining a cavity therebetween and a pair of lateral side walls, said bottom wall having a generally planar bottom surface having at a vent formed therethrough for communicating with an opening in a roof deck; and   air intake louvers defined between said top and bottom walls at downhill face of said intake vent,   wherein a top surface of said top wall has a continuous profile extending from a first lateral edge to a second lateral edge of the top wall, the top wall having a curved portion starting at a point spaced from a downhill edge of the top wall that converges with said bottom wall proximate at an uphill edge of said intake vent, wherein said curved portion has a continuously curved convex shape and overlies the vent.   
     
     
         20 . The intake vent of  claim 20 , wherein said top wall has a generally planar portion parallel to said bottom wall extending from the downhill edge to the curved portion.