Flood vent
A flood vent for mounting in a building structure subject to flooding includes a frame and a buoyant door. The frame has an external surface configured to be inserted into an opening in the building structure and has an upper wall and a lower wall longitudinally displaced from the upper wall and a pair of displaced sidewalls extending between the upper wall and lower wall on respective ends thereof. The buoyant door is pivotally mounted between the sidewalls proximate the upper wall of the frame. The door is mounted to be longitudinally movable a float distance between a first position and a second position, closer to the upper wall than the first position. When the door is in the first position it is not substantially rotatable and when the door is in the second position it is free to pivot.
1. A flood vent for mounting in a building structure subject to flooding, comprising:
a frame having an external surface configured to be inserted into an opening in the building structure and having an upper wall and a lower wall longitudinally displaced from the upper wall and a pair of displaced sidewalls extending between the upper wall and lower wall on respective ends thereof; and
a buoyant door pivotally mounted between the sidewalls proximate the upper wall of the frame, the door further being mounted to be longitudinally movable a float distance between a first position and a second position, closer to the upper wall than the first position, wherein when the door is in the first position it is not substantially rotatable and when the door is in the second position it is free to pivot, wherein the door pivots within the frame about a rotation axis where the door is mounted to the frame and wherein the rotation axis is longitudinally moved closer to the upper wall when the door is longitudinally moved from the first position to the second position.
2. The vent of claim 1 , further comprising a rotation control track extending between the sidewalls in the lower wall and having a width and a length sized to receive a bottom end of the door therein and a depth less than the float distance, wherein when the door is in the first position the track limits rotation thereof and when the door is in the second position the door is free to pivot.
3. The vent of claim 2 , further comprising a pin on each side of the door and an L-shaped slot in each of the sidewalls, each of the L-shaped slots having a first leg extending from a back face of the frame to a middle region of the frame and a second leg extending longitudinally from the first leg towards the lower wall, wherein each of the pins is received within the second leg of a corresponding one of the L-shaped slots to mount the door pivotally and longitudinally movably within the frame.
4. The vent of claim 3 , wherein, when rotated to an insertion orientation, the door is further movable to a third position, closer, to the upper wall than the second position, in which the pins are aligned with the first legs of their corresponding one of the L-shaped slots to allow the door to be separated from the frame by movement of the pins through the second legs and out the back face of the frame.
5. The vent of claim 2 , wherein the door comprises:
a buoyant panel member;
a first protective panel member that is harder than the buoyant panel member that is mounted to a front face of the buoyant panel member; and
a second protective panel member that is harder than the buoyant panel member that is mounted to a back face of the buoyant panel member.
6. The vent of claim 5 , wherein the buoyant panel member comprises Styrofoam and the first and second protective panel members comprise polyvinylchloride (PVC) and wherein the first and second protective panel members are coupled to the buoyant panel member by an adhesive.
7. The vent of claim 2 , wherein the door is pivotally movable from a middle orientation aligned with the rotation control track towards both a back face and a front face of the frame when the door is in the second position to allow water to flow therethrough in either direction.
8. The vent of claim 7 , wherein, in the middle orientation, the door is contained entirely within the frame.
9. The vent of claim 2 , wherein the rotation control track comprises a recessed channel in the lower wall and the depth of the rotation control track is no more than 0.125 inches.
10. The vent of claim 2 , wherein an upper face of the door is chamfered along front and back edges to limit interference of the upper wall with rotation of the door.
11. The vent of claim 2 , wherein the door is pivotally mounted in the frame at a longitudinal height allowing objects up to four inches in size to pass unobstructed through the vent when the door is in the second position.
12. The vent of claim 2 , wherein the rotation control track comprises a channel mounted on an upper face of the lower wall and the depth of the rotation control track is no more than 0.125 inches.
13. The vent of claim 2 , wherein the rotation control track is the only limitation on rotation of the door in the vent.
14. The vent of claim 2 , wherein the external surface of the frame is configured to be mounted in a foundation of the building structure with the lower wall thereof positioned below the upper wall thereof when mounted in the foundation.
15. The vent of claim 2 , further comprising a pin removably mounted on each side of the door, each of which is received in a corresponding slot on an adjacent one of the sidewalls to mount the door pivotally and longitudinally movably within the frame.
16. The vent of claim 2 , further comprising at least one vent opening extending through the door from a front face of the frame to a back face of the frame, wherein the door comprises:
a buoyant panel member;
a first protective panel member that is harder than the buoyant panel member that is mounted to a front face of the buoyant panel member;
a second protective panel member that is harder than the buoyant panel member that is mounted to a back face of the buoyant panel member; and
a screen that is mounted between the buoyant panel member and one of the protective panel members, wherein the at least one vent opening extends through all the panel members and the screen extends across the at least one vent opening.
17. The vent of claim 16 , wherein the buoyant panel member comprises Styrofoam and the first and second protective panel members comprise polyvinylchloride (PVC) and wherein the first and second protective panel members are coupled to the buoyant panel member by an adhesive.
18. The vent of claim 1 , wherein movement of the door from the first position to the second position releases the door to allow pivotal movement thereof.
19. The vent of claim 2 , wherein a distance between the bottom end of the door and a top end of the door proximate the upper wall of the frame is the same in the first position and the second position.