US 6,425,417 B1 · Fabric air duct held in tension

Abstract

An air duct assembly includes a flexible fabric duct for conveying and distributing a source of forced air to a room or other area of a building. The fabric duct is air permeable and/or includes discharge openings that evenly disperse the air into the room. When the source of forced air cycles on and off to meet the ventilating or conditioning demand of the area being served, the duct respectively inflates and deflates in response to changes in air pressure within the duct. To minimize noise created by the duct inflating suddenly, the duct is held in tension at all times. In some embodiments, the duct is held in resilient tension by a connector that couples a downstream end of the duct to an overhead cable from which the duct hangs. In some embodiments, a hoop attached to an end cap of the duct holds the end cap generally vertical.

Claims20

Dependent claims

An air duct assembly comprising:

an elongated support member;
a fabric duct suspended from the elongated support member and having an upstream end and a downstream end;
and
a connector coupled to the elongated support member and the downstream end to maintain the fabric duct in resilient tension between the upstream end and the downstream end regardless of whether air is being conveyed through the fabric duct.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Fabric air duct held in tension

Life of this patent

Fabric air duct held in tension

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20