GB2196032A

GB2196032A - Broiler house with closable ventilation holes in roof ridge

Info

Publication number: GB2196032A
Application number: GB08623890A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Frederick Panton; Harold Panton
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1986-10-04
Filing date: 1986-10-04
Publication date: 1988-04-20
Anticipated expiration: 2006-10-04
Also published as: GB8623890D0; GB2196032B

Abstract

A broiler house for housing chicks has a longitudinally extending ridge formed along its gabled roof 5 in which are formed one or more closable vent holes 7. The holes are covered by a ridge cap 11 and by weatherboards 13 extending along and spaced from the ridge cap. A closure member 17 is preferably provided for each vent hole 7. The closure members may be vertically movable by means of rack and pinion devices (27, 29, Fig. 2). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Broiler house DESCRIPTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a broiler house.

Background to the invention Our UK Patent 2060729 discloses a broiler house having natural ventilation. In that broiler house; a series of flaps along the ridge of the roof of a broiler house are hinged so as to be openable downwardly, permitting an outflow of air from the broiler house through the vent holes in the ridge opened thereby. A ridge cap extends along the ridge of the building, spaced vertically above the ridge vent holes so that air leaving the building upwardly through the opened ridge vent holes can then pass sideways out from under the ridge cap into the surrounding atmosphere.

Summary of the invention According to the present invention there is provided a broiler house having a roof with a longitudinally extending ridge, one or more closable vent holes along the ridge, a longitudinally extending ridge cap extending over the vent hole or holes and vertically spaced therefrom, and weather-protecting means extending longitidinally to either side of the vent hole or holes, the weather-protecting means extending generally upwardly over at least part of the height between the upper surface of the roof and the level of the ridge cap, but the ridge cap and the weather-protecting means being spaced from one another so as to permit the egress therebetween of air leaving the broiler house through the said vent hole or holes.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a closure member is provided for the or each said vent hole which is movable substantially vertically between a first position in which it closes the respective vent hole and a second position in which it is spaced from the vent hole.

Preferably the closure member is spaced above the ridge of the roof in its second position, and is movable upwardly from its first position to its second position.

Preferably, all the vent hole closure means for the vent holes along the ridge are operatively associated so that they may be moved between their respective first and second positions simultaneously. However, it is possible to arrange for each closure member to be operable independently of the others or for the closure members to be arranged in groups, the closure members within a group being operatively connected but each group being independent of the others.

The closure members may be supported and moved between their first and second positions by respective support members extending downwardly into the broiler house, the support members being movable up and down by means of a rack and pinion arrangement. In this case, the operative association referred to above can be provided by linking the pinions in the rack and pinion devices, so that pinions for the support members of each associated closure means rotate together.

In a preferred embodiment, weather-protection means extend generally vertically over substantially the entire height between the level of the vent hole opening in the upper surface of the roof and the level of the ridge cap, and the ridge cap extends transversely of the ridge over a distance less than the spacing between the weather-protection means of either side of the ridge.

The weather-protection means tend to obstruct the path of wind-borne rain, snow etc, which might otherwise be driven substantially horizontally across the ridge of the broiler house under the ridge cap, and pass into the broiler house if the ridge vent holes were open.

The movement of the vent hole closure means substantially vertically to open the ridge vent holes tends to allow substantially equal flows of air from each side of the broiler house through each respective ridge vent hole. This provides a more even airflow than that provided by the hinged flaps disclosed in UK Patent 2060729, in which the hinged flaps when opened tend to obstruct airflow from the side of the broiler house behind the open flap. Additionally, the hinges for the flaps in the arrangement of UK Patent 2060729 are in the region of the ridge of the roof of the broiler house and were thus relatively inaccessible for maintenance. If a rack and pinion arrangement as described above is used, this can be located well below the level of the ridge of the broiler house, so as to be more easily accessible for any maintenance which may be required.

Preferably, the broiler house comprises side walls and gable end walls, and the ridge extends along the centre of the roof which slopes away to the tops of the side walls.

The walls and the roof are preferably of heatinsulating character. A series of closable vent holes will normally also be provided along each side wall, usually at or near the top, to provide a controllable ventilation system in conjunction with the ridge vent holes.

In operation, when relatively little ventilation is required as, for example, when chicks are housed in a broiler house, the ridge vent holes and the side vent holes are kept closed. As it becomes necessary to cool the broiler house and change the air, both the roof vent holes and the side vent holes are slightly opened to a controlled extent. This results in an outflow of warm air from the broiler house through the ridge vent holes and an inflow of fresh air through side vent holes.

More body heat is produced as the chicks grow and eventually reach maturity, and therefore both the roof vent holes and the side vent holes are opened further to a controlled extent to allow larger volumes of air through the broiler house. This has the effect of keeping the air inside fresh and at a required temperature.

An embodiment of the present invention, given by way of non-limitative example, will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic section through a broiler house embodying the present invention; Figure 2 is a schematic section showing the area around the ridge of the broiler house of Fig. 1 in greater detail; Figure 3 is a view of a part of the ridge of the broiler house of Fig. 1 from the inside; Figure 4 is a partial sectional view showing details of the construction of the broiler house of Fig. 1 in the region of its side walls; Figure 5 is a partial sectional view showing in more detail the construction of the broiler house of Fig. 1 in the region of the roof ridge; and Figure 6 is a partial plan view of a part of the ridge of the broiler house of Fig. 1.

Detailed description of the illustrated embodiment As shown in Fig. 1, a broiler house has a floor 1, side walls 3 and a sloping roof 5 with a central ridge. The members forming the roof 5 do not meet at the central ridge, leaving a gap extending along it. This gap is divided intra series of ridge vents 7, through which air may leave the broiler house following paths indicated by arrows 9.

A ridge cap 11 extends longitudinally of the broiler house above the ridge, and is spaced above the ridge vents 7 so that air passing upwardly out of the broiler house through the vents 7 may then pass sideways over the roof 5 and under the ridge cap 11.

To either side of the ridge cap 11 weatherprotection means in the form of weatherboards 13 are provided. These extend upwardly over the height between the mouths of the ridge vents 7 and the ridge cap 11, but are spaced outwardly from the edges of the ridge cap 11 to leave spaces 15 through which vented air leaving the broiler house may pass into the surrounding atmosphere.

As shown in Fig. 1, the ridge vents 7 are closed by respective closure members 17. In order to open the vents 7, the closure members 17 are movable vertically upwardly towards the ridge cap 11.

The constructional details of the supports for the ridge cap 11 and the weatherboards 13, and the means for raising and lowering the closure members 17, are omitted in Fig. 1 for reasons of clarity.

Side vents 19 are provided in the side walls 3 of the broiler house, near the tops of the walls. These side vents 19 are provided with hinged closure flaps 21. The closure flaps 21 are shown in solid lines in -Fig. 1 in a slightly open position, and in a broken line in a fully open position.

Limited ventilation may be provided for the broiler house by opening one or more of the side vent closure flaps 21 slightly. To increase the ventilation in the broiler house, both the side vent closure flanges 21 and the ridge vent closure members 17 are opened to a controlled extent. With both sides vents 19 and ridge vents 7 open, air will tend to flow into the broiler house through the side vents as shown by arrows 23, and out through the ridge vents as shown by arrows 9. As increasing amounts of ventilation are required, both the side vents 19 and the ridge vents 7 are opened further, allowing a greater through flow of air.

As is shown in Fig. 2, the ridge vent closure members 17 are supported by respective rods 25, which extend vertically downwardly into the broiler house. The rods 25 bear racks 27 which engage with respective pinions of a rack and pinion mechanism within the broiler house. Operation of the rack and pinion mechanism enables the rods 25 to be raised and lowered, and with them the closure members 17.

Each closure member 17 has two rods 25, one near each end, as is shown more clearly in Fig. 3. The rods pass through guide members 31 which extend across the vents 7 and prevent undesirable horizontal movement of the closure members 17.

As is shown in Fig. 3, the pinions 29 of each rack and pinion mechanism are formed on a single horizontally extending rod 33 which runs for substantially the entire length of the broiler house. Thus, rotation of the rod 33 drives the racks 27 of each rod 25 simultaneously, so that all the ridge vent closure members 17 may be raised and lowered together. The rod 33 also passes through supports broiler house.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 show the construction of the broiler house of Fig. 1 in more detail. As shown in Fig. 4, the broiler house has dwarf walls 37 formed of concrete blocks, which support a series of upright members 39. The upright members in turn support insulated side wall panels 41. The side vents 19 are formed through the side wall panels 41. The side wall panels 41 also carry the hinged side vent closure flaps 21.

From the tops of the side wall uprights 39, rafters 43 extend towards the ridge of the roof. The rafters 43 in turn support insulated roof panels 45.

As can be seen in Fig. 5, the roof panels 45 stop short of the ridge of the roof, leaving a longitudinal gap extending for the full length of the ridge. However, the rafters 43 extend across the gap to the ridge line, and each rafter meets a corresponding rafter rising from the other side wall. The rafters thus divide the gap along the ridge of the broiler house into the ridge vents 7. A cente post 47 also meets the rafters 43 at the ridge and the sides of the joint are clad with plywood sheets 49 which extend through the ridge gap upwardly above the roof line.

Purlins 51 extend longitudinally along either side of the ridge gap, supported by the rafters 43. These define the sides of each ridge vent 7, and also support external cross-members 53. The external cross-members 53 are positioned over the lines of the rafters 43, and the plywood sheets 49 also clad the central portion of each cross-member 53. In this position, the cross-members 53 do not foul the ridge vent closure members 17, which extend between the successive pairs of rafters 43 along the ridge.

The ends of the cross-members 53 support longitudinal runners 55, which in turn- support the weatherboards 13. Further longitudinal runners 57 are supported on top of the external cross-members 53, to carry the ridge cap 11.

Each ridge vent closure member 17 has a longitudinal member 59 on its underside, to which the two rods 25 associated with the closure member are attached. The guide members 31 for the rods 25 extend between the purlins 51 at a level slightly below the lowermost position occupied by the closure member 17.

The positioning of members in the direction longitudinal of the ridge is shown in Fig. 6. In this Figure the ends of two successive ridge vent closure members 17 are shown in broken outline beneath the ridge cap 11. Each closure member 17 stops at the position of a plywood sheet 49. As can be seen clearly in the Figure, an external cross-member 53 (its central portion shown in broken lines passing under the ridge cap 11) passes between two plywood sheets 49 and thus between the longitudinal positions of the two closure members 17. Thus the closure members 17 can be raised by the rack and pinion arrangement past the level of the external cross-members 53 without fouling them.

As can be seen in Fig. 5, the weatherboards 13 extend from below the level of the lowest position of the ridge vent closure member 17 to the level of the ridge cap 11.

Thus they provide good protection against rain, snow etc being driven substantially horizontally by strong winds and passing under the ridge cap 11. This minimises the amount of rain, snow etc which enters the broiler house through the ridge vents 7 when the closure members 17 are raised.

The rack and pinion arrangement permits the closure member 17 to be raised gradually, and they may be stopped at any position between fully raised and fully lowered. This enables the ridge vents 7 to be opened gradually, and to be left only partially open if desired.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, many variations of the construction illustrated in the drawings may be made.

Claims

1. A broiler house having a roof with a longitudinally extending ridge, at least one closable vent hole formed along the ridge, a longitudinally extending ridge cap extending over the vent hole and vertically spaced therefrom, and weather-protecting means extending longitudinally at each side of the vent hole, the weather-protecting means extending generally upwardly over at least part of the height between the upper surface of the roof and the level of the ridge cap, and the ridge cap and the weather-protecting means being spaced from one another so as to permit the egress therebetween of air leaving the broiler house through the vent hole.

2. A broiler house according to claim 1 in which a closure member is provided for each vent hole and which is movable substantially vertically between a first position in which it closes the respective vent hole and a second position in which it is spaced from the vent hole.

3. A broiler house according to claim 2 in which said closure member is spaced above the ridge of the roof in its second position, and is movable upwardly from its first position to its second position.

4. A broiler house according to claim 2 or claim 3 in which there are a plurality of vent holes and closure members for the vent holes along the ridge, said members being in operative association so that they may be moved between their respective first and second positions simultaneously.

5. A broiler house according to claim 4 in which said closure members are arranged in groups, the closure members within each group being in operative association and each group being independent of another group.

6. A broiler house according to claim 4 or claim 5 in which said closure members are supported and are movable between their first and second positions by respective support members extending downwardly into the broiler house, the support members being movable up and down by means of rack and pinion devices.

7. A broiler house according to claim 6 in which said operative association is provided by linking the pinions of said rack and pinion devices, so that the pinions for the support members of each associated closure member rotate together.

8. A broiler house according to any one preceding claim in which said weather-protection means extend generally vertically over substantially the entire height between the level of the vent hole opening in the upper surface of the roof and the level of the ridge cap, and the ridge cap extends transversely of the ridge over a distance less than the spacing between the weather-protection means on each side of the ridge.

9. A broiler house according to any one of claims 6 to 8 in which said rack and pinion devices are located below the level of said ridge, so as to be more easily accessible.

10. A broiler house according to any one preceding claim and further comprising side walls and gable end walls, said ridge extending along the centre of the roof which slopes away to the tops of the side walls.

11. A broiler house according to claim 10 in which said walls and the roof are heatinsulated.

12. A broiler house substantially as herein described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.

12. A broiler house according to claim 10 or claim 11 and further comprising a series of closable vent holes provided along each side wall at or near the top, to provide a controllable ventilation system in conjunction with said vent hole.

13. A broiler house substantially as herein described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.

CLAIMS Amendments to the claims have been filed, and have the following effect: Claims 1-12 above have been deleted.

New claims have been filed as follows:

1. A broiler house having a roof with a longitudinally extending ridge, and comprising: at least one closable vent hole formed along the ridge, a longitudinally extending ridge cap extending over the vent hole and vertically spaced therefrom, weather-protecting means extending longitudinally at each side of the vent hole and extending generally upwardly over at least part of the height between the upper surface of the roof and the level of the ridge cap, the ridge cap and the weather-protecting means being spaced from one another so as to permit the egress therebetween of air leaving the broiler house through the vent hole, and a closure member for the vent hole whichis movable substantially vertically between a first position in which it closes the respective vent hole and a second position in which it is spaced from the vent hole.

2. A broiler house according to claim 1 in which said closure member is spaced above the ridge of the roof in its second position, and is movable upwardly from its first position to its second position.

3. A broiler house according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which there are a plurality of vent holes and closure members for the vent holes along the ridge, said members being in operative association so that they may be moved between their respective first and second po - sitions simultaneously.

4. A broiler house according to claim 3 in which said closure members are arranged in groups, the closure members within each group being in operative association and each group being independent of another group.

5. A broiler house according to claim 3 or claim 4 in which said closure members are supported and are movable between their first and second positions by respective support members extending downwardly into the bro iler house, the support members being mov able up and down by means of rack and pi nion devices.

6. A broiler house according to claim 5 in which said operative association is provided by linking the pinions of said rack and pinion devices, so that the pinions for the support members of each associated closure member rotate together.

7. A broiler house according to any one preceding claim in whih said weather-protec tion means extend generally vertically over substantially the entire height between the level of the vent hole opening in the upper surface of the roof and the level of the ridge cap, and the ridge cap extends transversely of the ridge over a distance less than the spac ing between the weather-protection means on each side of the ridge.

8. A broiler house according to any one claims 5 to 7 in which said rack and pinion devices are located below the level of said ridge, so as to be more easily accessible.

9. A broiler house according to any one preceding claim and further comprising side walls and gable end walls, said ridge extend ing along the centre of the roof which slopes away to the tops of the side walls.

10. A broiler house according to claim 9 in which said walls and the roof are heat-insu lated.

11. A broiler house according to claim 9 or claim 10 and further comprising a series of closable vent holes provided along each side wall at or near the top, to provide a controlla ble ventilation system in conjunction with said vent hole.