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US 7,730,684 B1Granted
Weep venting system for masonry walls
AssigneeKeene Building Products Co., Inc.
InventorJames R. Keene
Life of this patent
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AssigneeKeene Building Products Co., Inc.
InventorJames R. Keene
Estimating the term…
A system for venting moisture from wall and building structures, especially masonry walls constructed from masonry elements such as of brick, block, stone, faux stone or the like, without weakening the wall or building structure, utilizes open matrix weep vent members that are fabricated, for example from a mass of intertwined and intertangled polymeric filaments that are bonded at a plurality of intersections thereby to form one-piece or unit-handled weep vent members that preferably are inserted in place of mortar at spaced locations along horizontally extending mortar joints between rows of bricks, blocks or other masonry wall elements. Weep vent members that embody the present invention have wider portions at their rearward or intake end regions, and narrower portions at their forward or discharge end regions, with a preferred form characterized by a generally trapezoidal shape that helps to retain the weep vent members in their associated mortar joints, and that provide a funnel-like ducting of moisture from their relatively wider rear end regions toward their relatively narrower forward end regions.
A weep vent for masonry wall structures comprising a shaped mass of intertwined filaments having substantial open areas, the weep vent being positionable in a mortar joint of the wall structure for venting moisture from one side of the masonry wall structure to the other, wherein the weep vent includes a narrower front end and a wider rear end, wherein when the weep vent is positioned within a masonry wall structure, the narrower front end is on an exterior side of the masonry wall structure and the wider end is disposed on an interior side of the masonry wall structure for the purpose of receiving and funneling moisture from the interior side of the masonry wall structure through the weep vent from the interior side of the masonry wall structure to the exterior side of the masonry wall structure, wherein the intertwined filaments of the shaped mass are randomly connected at their intersections to form a unit-handled structure, which unit-handled structure is substantially planar and has a substantially uniform thickness that substantially equals that of a mortar joint area of a masonry wall wherein the weep vent is to be installed, and wherein the weep vent member additionally comprises opposed sides that extend in non-parallel relationship between the front end and the rear end;
A weep vent cooperatively associated with a masonry wall comprising a substantially planar member formed from interconnected and intertangled filaments having substantial open areas between and around the filaments to permit moisture to pass therethrough and forming a unit-handled structure for ready placement in a mortar joint area of the masonry wall under construction, wherein the weep vent has an inner end region and an outer end region for being installed proximate inner and outer surfaces, respectively, of the masonry wall, with the inner end region being wider than the outer end region, and with the weep vent member additionally having opposed sides that extend in non-parallel relationship between the inner end region and the outer end region, and wherein the weep vent additionally includes a reach of substantially the same material from which the weep vent is formed that extends upwardly from the wider rear end region of the weep vent in a wall space disposed above the wider end region of the weep vent.
A weep vent for masonry wall structures comprising a shaped mass of intertwined filaments having substantial open areas, the weep vent being positionable in a mortar joint of the wall structure for venting moisture from one side of the masonry wall structure to the other, wherein the weep vent includes a narrower front end and a wider rear end, wherein when the weep vent is positioned within a masonry wall structure, the narrower front end is on an exterior side of the masonry wall structure and the wider end is disposed on an interior side of the masonry wall structure for the purpose of receiving and funneling moisture from the interior side of the masonry wall structure through the weep vent from the interior side of the masonry wall structure to the exterior side of the masonry wall structure, wherein the intertwined filaments of the shaped mass are randomly connected at their intersections to form a unit-handled structure, which unit-handled structure is substantially planar and has a substantially uniform thickness that substantially equals that of a mortar joint area of a masonry wall wherein the weep vent is to be installed, and wherein the weep vent member additionally comprises opposed sides that extend in non-parallel relationship between the front end and the rear end;
A weep vent cooperatively associated with a masonry wall comprising a substantially planar member formed from interconnected and intertangled filaments having substantial open areas between and around the filaments to permit moisture to pass therethrough and forming a unit-handled structure for ready placement in a mortar joint area of the masonry wall under construction, wherein the weep vent has an inner end region and an outer end region for being installed proximate inner and outer surfaces, respectively, of the masonry wall, with the inner end region being wider than the outer end region, and with the weep vent member additionally having opposed sides that extend in non-parallel relationship between the inner end region and the outer end region;
A weep vent cooperatively associated with a masonry wall comprising a substantially planar member formed from interconnected and intertangled filaments having substantial open areas between and around the filaments to permit moisture to pass therethrough and forming a unit-handled structure for ready placement in a mortar joint area of the masonry wall under construction, wherein the weep vent has an inner end region and an outer end region for being installed proximate inner and outer surfaces, respectively, of the masonry wall, with the inner end region being wider than the outer end region, and with the weep vent member additionally having opposed sides that extend in non-parallel relationship between the inner end region and the outer end region;
A weep vent cooperatively associated with a masonry wall comprising a weep vent member formed from extruded filaments of heated polymer material that are entangled while still hot after being extruded so as to form bonds between the filaments where the filaments engage each other, with the bonded and entangled filaments cooperating to define opposed sides of the weep vent member that extend in substantially parallel planes, and with the weep vent member additionally having opposed sides that extend in non-parallel relationship between front and rear end surfaces of unequal length to provide the weep vent member with a generally planar configuration characterized by a front end surface that is shorter in length than the rear end surface;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.