Telescoping downdraft ventilator alignment assembly

A telescoping downdraft ventilator comprising:

• a housing;
• a vent sized to fit within the housing, wherein the vent is biased toward the center of the housing;
• a drive assembly for vertically moving the vent with respect to the housing, wherein the drive assembly moves the vent along an axis that is perpendicular to a biasing force applied on the vent;
• a pair of parallel channels on opposite sides of the housing;
• and
• a pair of guides on opposite sides of the vent, each guide comprising:
• a base portion;
• at least one pair of raised parallel extensions cantilevered from the base portion such that there is a gap between each raised parallel extension in each pair of raised parallel extensions;
• and
• wherein the plurality of raised parallel extensions of each guide extend into a respective one of the pair of parallel channels;
• and
• wherein each guide is coupled with a bias element to bias the at least one pair of raised parallel extensions from the vent.

A telescoping downdraft ventilator comprising:

• a housing having a first channel and a second channel on opposite side panels of the housing, the channels being parallel to one another;
• a vent configured to travel along the first and second channel;
• a first guide and a second guide attached to opposite sides of the vent, the first guide engaging the first channel and the second guide engaging the second channel, each guide comprising:
• a base portion;
• an engaging portion comprising at least one pair of raised extensions such that there is a gap between each raised extension in each pair of raised extensions;
• and
• at least one biasing element that applies a force to one of the opposite side panels, wherein the at least one biasing element biases the engaging portion away from the channel;
• wherein the first guide and second guide are aligned along a line one of parallel and perpendicular to the first channel and the second channel.