Method and Apparatus to Prevent Infiltration in a Vent Assembly

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/668,741 filed Jul. 8, 2024.

FIELD

The present invention disclosure relates to a method and apparatus that prevents infiltration in a vent assembly, in particular an apparatus that can be attached to an existing vent assembly or that can be integrated to form a novel vent assembly.

BACKGROUND

A common type of residential or commercial building utilizes a slanted roof configuration. Slanted roofs serve multiple purposes. They facilitate drainage of external precipitation in the form of rain or snow down into the ground or storm sewers and they also create insulation from the cold or heat of the external elements to the dwellings inside the building. An attic can be built below the slanted roof surface to provide insulation to the dwellings. An attic also provides space for structural components such as rafters and/or trusses required to support the roof and give rigidity to the building's structure. The thermal resistance value, also known as R-value, between an attic and a dwelling is increased by including insulation material within an attic. The thermal resistance between an attic and a dwelling is largely influenced by the R-value of the insulation material employed in the attic. This insulating material can be fiber glass, cellulose, foam or another material with comparable R-value. Insulating material is often installed over an attic's floor or what is also the ceiling of a dwelling found below the attic. This system works well to insulate the dwellings from the external elements and it requires ventilation to prevent serious issues in the attic space. Dwellings can generate significant levels of moisture and ceilings are not fully impermeable. Moisture from a dwelling area often leaks through a dwelling's ceiling, through insulation material and into an attic space. Moreover, radiant heat from the roof surface can become trapped by combining with the moisture leaking from a dwelling. Without attic ventilation, the moisture and heat trapped in an attic can be cause for serious issues undermining the longevity of the roof and the structure as well as the comfort and health of those occupying a dwelling below. Some typical issues are mold growth, rusting of critical roof components such as nails or fasteners, deterioration of wooden components, hot spots on the roof surface giving rise to ice dams above the roof's eaves, infiltration of precipitation water through defects in the roof underlayment, flooding of walls located along the roof's eaves, deterioration of the insulation material and subsequent loss of R-value. Attic ventilation is often accomplished by the inclusion of vents on the roof's eaves or soffits, or along the roof surface and sometimes along the roof's ridges. Proper ventilation ensures airflow into an attic through soffit vents and or vents placed along the bottom portion of the roof surface, and airflow out of an attic through vents on the upper portion of the roof surface or on the roof's ridge. This type of ventilation is effective at preventing the aforementioned issues however it can lead to another issue arising under certain weather conditions. Roof vents are comprised of assemblies built separately and later installed over a roof's surface over openings cut-out on the roof's sheathing. There are a variety of vent assemblies on the market used by builders to achieve an appropriate level of ventilation for a give size of an attic. Vent assemblies vary in material, geometry, construction style and ventilation capacity. The most commonly used traditional ventilation assemblies are comprised of features such as a canopy to protect from vertical precipitation, and a neck around the vent's opening which extends vertically from the roof surface and partially into the bottom of the canopy to protect from lateral precipitation. These features offer basic protection from weather conditions such as rain and snow. They have a varying degree of effectiveness, depending on the vent's geometry and construction style, at preventing infiltration of moisture into the attic under most common weather conditions. A common failure mode for traditional vent assemblies offering basic weather protection presents itself under a weather condition known as “blowing snow” or “white out”. Unlike rain drops, snowflakes are light and can easily follow the twists and turns of high winds, constituting the reason why snow is often seen whirling when combined with high winds, lowering visibility and pushing snow into cervices and otherwise hard to reach places; forming what's known as snow drifts. This effect can defeat the basic protection offered by the features of traditional roof vents. Under high wind conditions, the same whirling-snow effect can carry snow under a vent's canopy, over the vent's neck, through the vent opening and into the attic. High winds blown into attics through vent openings will often far exceed the ventilation requirements of the attic space. Moreover, sustained windy and snowy conditions can lead to the accumulation of large piles of snow in attics; blown-in through the attic's vents. Snow crystals are eventually melted by the residual heat in the attic and this leads to flooding, damage to the insulation material, drywall in the ceiling or walls, and can lead to formation of mold. The repair costs of the resulting damage can be significant. Depending on the geographical location and the chosen insurance policy coverage, damage may not be covered or only partially covered if the event is categorized as preventable because the infiltration mechanism is incorrectly assessed, considered preventable because the chosen vents did not offer sufficient protection, or simply excluded by default from the policy given the geographical and meteorological conditions of the region. Homeowners are often unaware of this potential risk because houses come preinstalled with vents as part of the roof build-out and weather resistance is often difficult to assess or not assessed during home inspections in the home purchase process. Additionally, since vent assemblies are embedded beneath the shingles, they become an integral component of the roof and as such they're components which are not easily upgradable by a homeowner and will require a roofing expert to upgrade from the outer top surface of the roof. This work comes with a significant risk of severe injury, especially for an inexperienced installer such as a do-it-yourself homeowner. Furthermore, modern construction plans often call for multiple separate attic spaces in a single building. This means that most modern houses have a large number of vents sprinkled across multiple attics, making the cost of replacing all vents in a building expensive after construction. Moreover, builders often operate under tight cost constraints, making the traditional cost-effective vents attractive to meet their cost targets and building code requirements. Finally, there are very few options on the market today to help retrofit a pre-installed roof vent and make it more resistant to moisture infiltration from unanticipated weather conditions such as blowing snow or similar. Likewise, there are few or no options for builders or their suppliers interested in enhancing the moisture resistance of their primary-source vents should their customers choose to customize based on unique geographical weather conditions.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

A prior-art traditional ventilation assembly typically used in roof/attic ventilation is shown in FIG. 1. The exploded view of the ventilation assembly in FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 2. The traditional ventilation assembly may be comprised of an understructure component, as shown on 1 in FIG. 2, a canopy component, as shown on 2 in FIG. 2, and posts components, as shown on 3 in FIG. 2. The understructure on 1 in FIG. 2 may be comprised of a neck with a large opening in the center, as shown on 4, and a flange, as shown on 5. The bottoms of posts shown on 3 are fastened to the understructure shown on 1 and the tops of posts shown on 3 are fastened to a canopy shown on 2. The flange shown on 5 is fastened to the roof sheathing and is covered with roofing shingles. The posts shown on 3 create a separation between the canopy and the understructure, allowing airflow through the understructure's opening and a cut-out made on the roof's sheathing.

One prior-art device designed to address infiltration is comprised of a filtering block element as shown on 6 in FIG. 3. The filtering element in this case is comprised of a loosely packed entanglement of fibers resembling a low-density loofah sponge which is roughly shaped to fit into the inner section of the vent's neck section. The filtering block shown on 6 is intended to be inserted in the neck's opening of an existing vent assembly as shown in FIG. 4. While this device increases the infiltration resistance of the vent it also suffers from a few drawbacks. While the device can trap some flying moisture particles, such as snowflakes, the particles are trapped inside or above the neck's opening of the vent assembly. This means that frozen moisture particles such as snowflake crystals can accumulate above the filtering device. Once the frozen particles begin to melt, they will inevitably drip water into the attic space directly below the vent's opening. Furthermore, although the filter is made of a loosely packed entanglement of fibers, it still represents a significant obstruction and leads to a significant reduction of the vent's ventilation capacity during dry season. Moreover, the inner structure of the filter is an ideal trap for debris particles and mold spores which can grow and multiply, further choking the vent assembly and possibly leading to mold growth within the attic space.

The invention in this disclosure comprises a method and apparatus that makes possible to retrofit a traditional roof vent assembly, prior or post installation, thereby making it infiltration resistant. In addition, the invention in this disclosure can be integrated into the design of a vent assembly, prior to manufacturing, thereby creating a novel vent assembly offering a unique infiltration resistance feature.

The method and apparatus of the present invention stops moisture particles outside the neck section of the vent assembly by actively modifying the shape and height of the neck's upper rim, temporarily reducing or closing the vent's opening and forcing particles to accumulate and subsequently melt on the outside of the vent assembly. Reduction or closure of the vent's opening is achieved by actively modifying the shape and height of the vent's neck until it temporarily comes in close or full contact with the vent's canopy thereby keeping infiltrating moisture particles from entering into the attic space. The method makes use of energy from the wind carrying the infiltrating particles is used to activate the invention's apparatus which modifies the geometry of the vent's neck section thereby temporarily reducing or closing the vent's opening. Furthermore, the method makes use of physics and fluid mechanics principles such as but not limited to Bernoulli's principle, to establish a wind speed threshold point at which the geometry modifying apparatus is activated.

Some of the features and components of the apparatus described in the detailed description of the present invention disclosure are shown on 7 in FIG. 5 installed in or integrated within a vent assembly. The apparatus of the present invention may be comprised of one or more pairs of a wing component and a base component; and a mesh component. Further objects, structures, features, advantages and properties of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a typical roof vent assembly.

FIG. 2 is an exploded isometric view of typical roof vent assembly.

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of a typical roof vent assembly and a prior-art anti-infiltration device.

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of a typical roof vent assembly with a prior-art anti-infiltration device installed.

FIG. 5 is an isometric view of a typical roof vent assembly with the present disclosure's invention installed or integrated.

FIG. 6 is an isometric view of the invention's base component, viewed from the front right upper corner.

FIG. 7 is an isometric view of the invention's base component of FIG. 6, viewed from the rear right upper corner.

FIG. 8 is an orthographic view of the invention's base component of FIG. 6, viewed from right side, showing its cross-section.

FIG. 9 is an isometric view of the invention's base component of FIG. 6 indicating features which clamp or latch onto an existing typical roof vent assembly such as in FIG. 2.

FIG. 10 is an orthographic view of the invention's base component of FIG. 8 indicating features which clamp or latch onto an existing typical roof vent assembly such as in FIG. 2 and features which couple with another component such as a mesh.

FIG. 11 is an isometric view of the invention's base component of FIG. 7 indicating features which clamp or latch onto an existing typical roof vent assembly such as in FIG. 2 and features which couple with another component such as a mesh.

FIG. 12 is an isometric view of an embodiment of the invention's base component of FIG. 7 where the feature which couples a mesh component is hinged to the base.

FIG. 13 is an isometric view of the embodiment in FIG. 12 with the hinged feature rotated 90 degrees with respect to the base component revealing additional features.

FIG. 14 is an isometric view of the invention's base component of FIG. 6 indicating features which couple with a wing component.

FIG. 15 is an isometric view of the invention's base component of FIG. 6 indicating further detail of features which couple with a wing component.

FIG. 16 is an isometric view of an embodiment of the invention's base component viewed from the front left upper corner.

FIG. 17 is an isometric view of an embodiment of the invention's base component viewed from the rear right upper corner.

FIG. 18 is an isometric view of the invention's wing component, viewed from the front right upper corner.

FIG. 19 is an isometric view of the invention's wing component of FIG. 18 indicating the flying wing portion and features which couple with a base component.

FIG. 20 is an orthographic view of the invention's wing component of FIG. 18, viewed from right side, showing its cross-section, indicating the flying wing portion and features which couple with a base component.

FIG. 21 is an isometric view of the invention's base component coupled with a wing component in the low hanging position.

FIG. 22 is an isometric view of the invention's base component coupled with a wing component in a raised position.

FIG. 23 is an isometric view of the invention's diffuser component showing detailed features, viewed from the front right upper corner.

FIG. 24 is an orthographic view of the invention's diffuser component showing details of its central horizontal cross-section.

FIG. 25 is an isometric exploded view of a typical vent assembly together with multiple pairs of the invention's base and wing components, and a mesh component.

FIG. 26 is an isometric exploded view of FIG. 25 with the invention's base, wing and mesh components attached to or integrated with the understructure of the vent assembly.

FIG. 27 is an isometric view of the invention either attached to or integrated with a vent assembly of FIG. 1 or FIG. 2.

FIG. 28 is an isometric view as in FIG. 27 with a diffuser component included.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

A base component may be designed to fit and be attached to an existing vent assembly. A wing component may hang from the base component and the wing component may be allowed to rotate and pivot with respect to the base component. A wing component may be shaped in a way which enables it to interact with weather elements such as wind or flying particles, for example it may be shaped as a flying wing. A wing component and its corresponding base component may be secured in a location within a vent assembly which allows the wing component to interact with weather elements such as wind and or flying particles. For instance, the base component may be located on the top edge of the vent's neck section such that the wing component is positioned on the outer area of the vent's neck. The shape and weight of the wing component may be designed to allow it to respond to wind and or flying particles moving around said wing at a certain speed threshold. A wing component may be sized to partially or fully block the opening of the vent to which its base component is attached. The movement of a wing component in response to wind flow may be what constitutes the geometry modifying feature of the present invention disclosure. The apparatus may be comprised of one or more pairs of wing and base components, for example working independently. The combination of wing and base components installed within a vent assembly may constitute a novel baffle system comprised of multiple stages. A base component may be shaped to facilitate the drainage of blocked particles onto an external surface of the vent assembly or onto a location outside the attic space. The apparatus may be comprised of distinctly sized or shaped wing and base component combinations. The apparatus may modify the vent opening into more than one resulting geometry.

A base component may include a feature or a collection of features such as hooks and/or prongs and/or latches which allow a mesh component to couple to the base component. Multiple base components placed along the top edge of the vent assembly's neck opening may facilitate the placement and securing of a mesh component across the opening of a vent assembly.

A base component may also include a diffuser component. A diffuser component may be installed vertically above the base component and may partially cover the vent's opening area directly above the base component. A diffuser component may be attached to a base component, to a vent assembly or to both. A diffuser component may be used in addition to a wing component or in lieu of a wing component. A diffuser component may be used in extreme cases when additional infiltration protection is required due to adverse or difficult weather and or building conditions.

In a preferred embodiment of the method and apparatus of the present invention, the apparatus may be comprised of one or more pairs of a base component and a wing component; and a mesh component.

In one embodiment a base component may be constructed as shown in FIG. 6. A rear view of a base component in FIG. 6 is shown in FIG. 7. A side view of a base component in FIG. 6 is shown in FIG. 8. A base component may be designed to fit a specific vent assembly commonly found on the building trade marketplace irrespective of its geometrical shape or size. A base component may be designed to include features that allow it to clamp or latch onto an existing vent assembly, holding it in place, for example a base component may have features such as a lip as shown on 8 and fins as shown on 9 in FIGS. 9, 10 and 11.

In one embodiment a base component may have features such as that resembling a fishing-hook as shown on 10 in FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 which allows the base component to couple with another component such as a mesh component. In another embodiment a feature such as that shown on 10 in FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 may be shaped similar to a fish hook or may be shaped in another way which allows the base component to couple with and secure a mesh component. In one embodiment a base component may have a feature or features as shown on 11 in FIGS. 10 and 11 which can help secure and or keep in place another component coupling with feature 10 shown in FIGS. 9, 10 and 11. In one embodiment the features shown on 11 in FIGS. 10 and 11 may be shaped as having triangular tops with sharp points which may generate friction against a rough surface, such as the surface of a mesh component, or may be able to pierce through a mesh component. In another embodiment the features shown on 11 in FIGS. 10 and 11 may be shaped as wedges which generate friction against a rough surface, such as the surface of a mesh component. In another embodiment the features shown on 11 in FIGS. 10 and 11 may take another shape which effectively holds in place another component coupled with feature 10 in FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 by either generating friction and or pressure against them, and or by piercing the surface of said coupled component.

In one embodiment a base component may have the same feature shown on 10 in FIG. 11 but said feature may be separate sub-assembly from the base component as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. The sub-assembly shown on 10 in FIGS. 12 and 13 may be attached to the base component using hinges shown on 13 in FIG. 13 and said hinges may allow sub-assembly 10 to pivot or rotate with respect to the base component. The sub-assembly 10 shown in FIG. 12 is shown pivoted to the horizontal position in FIG. 13. The sub-assembly shown on 10 in FIGS. 12 and 13 may have prongs as shown on 14 in FIG. 13. The prongs shown on 14 in FIG. 13 may clamp securely into the holes of the base shown on 15 when the sub-assembly 10 is pivoted towards the base. The prong features shown on 14 in FIG. 13 may be able to pierce a mesh component therefore firmly securing it to the base component when clamped into the holes shown on 15.

In one embodiment a base component may have a feature that resembles a fishing-hook shown on 10 in FIGS. 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13, and this feature may or may not be separate from the body of the base component, it may or may not include hinges, and it may or may not include a hook or barbed feature shown on 12 in FIGS. 12 and 13.

In one embodiment a base component may have built-in holder structures as shown on 16 in FIG. 14. In another embodiment the holder structures may be attached to a base component, and in yet another embodiment the holder structures may constitute an entire base component. The holder structures may allow for a rotating component, which may be a wing component, to couple with a base component. The holder structures may have an arched shape as shown on 16 in FIG. 14 or they may take on another suitable shape which facilitates the coupling of a rotating component with a base component. In one embodiment the holder structures may have circular concave indentations as shown on 17 in FIG. 15. In another embodiment the holder structures may have through holes, and yet in another embodiment the holder structures may have pins instead of indentations. In one embodiment the holder structures may have recessed tracks as shown on 18 in FIG. 15. In one embodiment the holder structures may hold a wing component in place while also allowing a wing component to pivot with respect to a base component and/or with respect to a vent assembly. In one embodiment a base component may have stops that can limit the range of rotation of a wing component to an indefinite number of angles with respect to a base component and/or a vent assembly. In another embodiment the base component may have stops to prevent a wing component from moving.

In one embodiment as shown on 19 in FIGS. 16 and 17, the body and/or features of a base component may extend and/or curve and/or take on another shape with the purpose of conforming to the shape of a vent assembly and/or to facilitate fitting and securing the base component to a vent assembly of different shape. In this embodiment shown in FIGS. 16 and 17 the base component may retain some or all of the features described in other embodiments.

In one embodiment a wing component may be implemented as shown in FIG. 18. In the embodiment of FIG. 18 a wing component may be comprised of portions such as a plate structure shown on 21, a shaft structure shown on 20, and pin structures shown on 22. In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 19, a shaft structure of the wing component may be equipped with pins shown on 22 which can couple into circular concave indentations on a base component's holder structures. In another embodiment a shaft structure of a wing component may extend and itself couple into circular concave indentations on the base component's holder structures. In yet another embodiment a shaft structure of a wing component may be equipped with circular concave indentations which can couple with pins on the holder structures of a base component.

In one embodiment of a wing component, a plate structure and a shaft structure may be two sections of the same continuous object, while in another embodiment a plate structure and a shaft structure may be separate sub-assemblies attached together.

In one embodiment of a wing component, a plate structure is comprised of an upper surface and a lower surface. In one embodiment of a wing component, an upper surface and a lower surface of a plate structure may be placed in parallel with respect to one another and joint together along their edges. For the purpose of this disclosure, the distance between the upper surface and the lower surface of a plate structure is defined as the thickness of a wing component, and the area between an upper surface and a lower surface of a plate structure is defined as the cross-section of a wing component. For the purpose of this disclosure, a “flying wing” is defined as what is commonly known as an airfoil structure whose upper surface is curved and whose lower surface is flat or less curved than its upper surface. For the purpose of this disclosure, lift is defined as it is conventionally defined in the sub-disciplines of physics, aerodynamics or fluid dynamics. For the purpose of this disclosure, lift is defined as a force exerted on an object when a fluid flows around said object. Said object around which fluid flows and onto which lift force is exerted may conform to the shape of an airfoil or “flying wing” as defined on this disclosure.

In one embodiment a plate structure of a wing component may conform to the shape of a “flying wing”. In another embodiment an upper surface of a wing component may be a curved surface while a lower surface of a wing component may be a flat surface or a surface less curved than its corresponding upper surface. In another embodiment an upper surface of a wing component may be flat or have a varying degree of curvature while a lower surface of the wing component may be flat or have a varying degree of curvature irrespective of the degree of curvature of its corresponding upper surface and vice-versa. In another embodiment a plate structure of a wing component may have varying thickness while in another embodiment a plate structure of a wing component may have uniform thickness.

In one embodiment a cross section or side-view of a wing component may be shaped as shown in FIG. 20. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 20, a wing component may be comprised of a plate structure or “flying wing” structure shown on 21, a shaft structure shown on 20, and pin structures shown on 22. In another embodiment a cross section or side-view of the “flying wing” may be thicker on its side adjacent to a shaft structure while it may be thinner on its side opposite to a shaft structure. In another embodiment a cross section or side-view of a “flying wing” may be thinner on its side adjacent to a shaft structure while it may be thicker on its side opposite to a shaft structure. In another embodiment a cross section of a “flying wing” may have varying thickness at various locations along its cross section irrespective of whatever edge, side or location.

In one embodiment a wing component, its structures, its surfaces, its cross section and its weight, may be shaped, sized and designed with the purpose of facilitating lift force being exerted on the wing component upon exposure to wind. In another embodiment a wing component, its structures, its surfaces, its cross section and its weight, may be shaped, sized and designed with the purpose of establishing a wind speed threshold at which lift force is exerted on the wing component. In another embodiment a wing component, its structures, its surfaces and its cross section, may be shaped, sized and designed with the purpose of achieving full or partial closure of the vent assembly's opening when the wing component is a raised position.

In one embodiment a base component could be coupled with a wing component as shown in FIG. 21 with the wing component in a resting position. In the same embodiment a wing component may be allowed to pivot an indefinite number of degree angles with respect to its coupled base component as shown in FIG. 22 with the wing component in a raised position.

In one embodiment a wing component may be coupled with a base component and a spring component may be present between said wing component and base component. Said spring component may generate a compression force between said wing component and said base component. Said compression force generated by the spring may oppose the lift force generated by wind acting on said wing component. In another embodiment a base component may contain an electric motor which may couple with a wing component. Said base component may contain electronics to electrify and control the electric motor and consequently said electric motor and related electronics may control the pivot position of a wing component coupled with it. Said control may be commanded locally or remotely.

In one embodiment a base component may be equipped with a vertical diffuser component which may be installed across a vent assembly's opening between said vent assembly's understructure component and said vent's assembly canopy component. A diffuser component may provide an additional largely porous, diffusing barrier to infiltrating particles for application cases with severe or difficult conditions. A diffuser component may be implemented as shown in FIG. 23 and may be comprised of a rectangular frame as shown on 23 and said rectangular frame may be populated with multiple fins as shown on 24. Said fins in a diffuser's rectangular frame may be arranged in an alternating diagonal pattern as shown on 25 in FIG. 24 which corresponds to the horizonal cross-section of a diffuser component in FIG. 23. A diffuser component may have tracks as shown on 26 in FIG. 24 which are integrated along the outer edges of its frame as shown on 23 in FIG. 23 and which may facilitate securing a diffuser to either a vent assembly, a base component or both.

A preferred embodiment of the apparatus of the present disclosure is shown on 27 in FIG. 25 in the context of an exploded view of the vent assembly previously described in FIG. 2. The apparatus may be comprised of multiple pairs of base and wing assemblies, as shown on 27 in FIG. 25, and a mesh component, as shown on 28 in FIG. 25. The mesh component may be comprised of a single layer mesh surface which may be take the shape of a dome. In another embodiment of the apparatus of the present disclosure, the apparatus may be comprised of multiple base assemblies with or without wing assemblies or a mesh component. In another embodiment of the apparatus of the present disclosure, the apparatus may be comprised of multiple base assemblies with or without wing assemblies or a mesh component, and diffuser assemblies mounted on some or all of the base assemblies. In another embodiment of the apparatus of the present disclosure, the apparatus may be comprised of a combination of base assemblies with wing assemblies, base assemblies without wing assemblies, with or without diffuser assemblies, and with or without a mesh component. In another embodiment of the apparatus of the present disclosure, the apparatus may be comprised of a single pair of base and wing assemblies, and a mesh component.

In one embodiment, the apparatus of the present disclosure is shown on 27 in FIG. 26 with the post components shown on 3 and the canopy component shown on 2 detached and raised, and said apparatus is either installed onto the body of a vent assembly or it is integrated with or within the body of a vent assembly and forms a novel vent assembly. In another embodiment, the apparatus of the present disclosure is shown on 27 in FIG. 26 and said apparatus may be part of a single continuous object with the vent assembly and it may constitute all or part of a novel vent assembly as described in this disclosure. Said novel vent assembly may or may not include a diffuser component or a mesh component coupled or integrated with it.

In one embodiment, the apparatus of the present disclosure is shown on 27 in FIG. 27 assembled or installed in an existing vent assembly, or integrated as a novel vent assembly without a diffuser component. In another embodiment, the apparatus of the present disclosure is shown on 27 in FIG. 28 assembled or installed in an existing vent assembly, or integrated as a novel vent assembly, with a diffuser component shown on 29 and located between two of the posts shown on 3 in the original vent assembly of FIG. 2.