1. Field of the Invention Xhe present invention concerns an improved air permeable The present invention relates generally to ventilated roof sealant system for a ridge vent found in building structures
systems for building structures, and more particularly to a wherein the sealant strip can be positively and hermetically
roof system having a ridge vent and an air permeable sealant "> sealed to the underlying roof. This is accomplished while
system permitting the egress of air from the underlying building
structure and inhibiting the ingress of insects, rain and other
2. Description of the Relevant Art undesirable elements.
It is common to ventilate roofs of building structures to Typical ridge roof vents are provided on roof structures
remove stagnant or hot air, with such ventilating systems 15 wherein a pair of roof sections are angled relative to each
sometimes including vents in the gables of the building struc- other so as to define a roof of generally inverted v-shaped
tare, along the soffits or along the ridge or apex of the roof. transverse cross-section. At the apex of the roof a slot is
The vents, of course, are provided to permit the ingress and Voided or formed that defines a gap between the roof sec
„ . i i j ^ • 1 ^ • 1 ^ tions and through which air can be vented from beneath the
egress oi air and when the vent is along the ridge, the air „ ... , ^ . „. ^ , , ,
f , 20 rooi system. A ndge cap, also typically oi inverted v-shaped
naturally egresses through the vent from beneath the roof by croSS-Section, overlies the slot to prevent rain or other unde.
convection. Ridge vents are typically combined with gable or sirable elements from passing downwardly through the slot
soffit vents through which air can flow into the space below with the ridge cap being spaced from the underlying roof
the roof to encourage a continuous flow of air from the ambi- sections to permit the egress of air from the underlying build
ent environment, through the space beneath the roof and back 25 ing structure. The strip of the present invention is provided for
to the ambient environment through the ridge vent. placement between the ridge cap and the underlying roof
One problem with vents which simply consist of openings sections in/ mann6;r to be sea}ed l° the, TMdertying roof
, .,,. ^ ..... ... . sections and permit the egress oi air from the building struc
in a building structure through which air can readily pass, is ^ , ^. , .5V ^ . „ . ^ . ^ ^ ,.,
. . . , ture, but inhibit the ingress oi moisture, insects, or the like.
that insects, rain or other undesirable elements can also pass 3Q The ^ ... twQ integrated or composite parts, with
through the openings. one part being 0f denser construction than the other. The one
Accordingly, it has been discovered with ridge vents that more dense part has a relatively flat smooth surface which can
the use of an air permeable material such as a matting of be engaged and hermetically bonded to an associated roof
randomly oriented interconnected or reticulated synthetic section adjacent to the slot in the roof structure to establish a
fibers inhibits the passage of insects or rain while permitting 35 water and bug-proof barrier between the strip and the under
the flow of air. Accordingly, such material provides a desk- l7mf ro°f sectlon- The opposite or upper surface of the strip
... , , , ^ ^ . , „ • 1 ^ is adapted to receive the second, less-dense material which is
able air permeable sealant material for use with ridge vents, ^iw^^^ ^ • i -n 11 1 ^ • 1
. . , . . attached to the first material, the second less-dense material
An example of such a reticulated material in ndge vents is has an upper surface in engagement with the undersurface of
found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,561,953, and an example of the 4Q the ridge cap. In a preferred embodiment, the first material has
reticulated material for use in a ridge vent is disclosed in U.S. recesses in its upper surface in which the second material is
Pat. No. 5,167,579. Still another venting system for ridge positioned and bridge sections between the recesses estab
vents is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,154, but the system lishing locations where the ridge cap can be connected to the
disclosed therein is useful only on relatively flat roofing. The underlying roof section by passing fasteners through the ridge
invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,561,953 was developed 45 cap, the bridge section, and into the underlying roof section,
to overcome the shortcomings of the flat roof system and The striP is useful on substantially flat roofs such as might
provides a system wherein the reticulated material is grooved have, shmgle^ °r the like or can be slotted or
, „ j. . j. J ^ j- notched in its bottom surface to accommodate ridges or other
on a bottom surface to conform with the transverse contour oi . ^. ^ ^ . , ^ , „ , ^ , „° ., „
. projections that might be found on metal roois, tile roois,
an underlying rooi such as might be found on tile roois, . , f r,
J 6 ^ '50 corrugated roois, or the like.
corrugated aluminum roofs, metal roofs having upstanding 0ther ... features and detaiis of the present invention
projections and the like. can be more completely understood by reference to the fol
A problem with a sealant ridge vent system of the type lowing detailed description of a preferred embodiment, taken
disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,561,953 or 5,352,154 resides in in conjunction with the drawings and the appended claims.
the fact that the reticulated material rests directly on the 55 „ „ „ „ „
... , , , . . t. w , '. , . BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS underlying rooi surface and since the reticulated material is a
very open material that does not present a continuous flat, TM„ ^ . . . . . ^ i -u- ^ ^ 1
, r , , , . n . , ., FIG. 1 is an isometric view oi a building structure having a
smooth surface to the underlying rooi, it does not provide a r .,, , , , P.,
, ro°i with a ndge vent and the sealant system oi the present
desirable sealable surface between the ndge vent system and ^ invention
the underlying roof. FIG 2 Jg ^ enlarged fragmentary section taken along line
Accordingly, it would be desirable that a ridge vent system 2-2 of FIG. 1.
include a sealant strip that was not only air permeable so that FIG. 3 is a fragmentary isometric showing the ridge of the
the building structure was adequately ventilated, but also a building structure of FIG. 1 with the sealant system of the
system whereby the sealant strip could be positively sealed to 65 present invention incorporated therein,
the underlying roof to prevent the ingress of rain, insects or FIG. 4 is a fragmentary isometric similar to FIG. 3 with the
the like between the sealant strip and the roof. ridge cap exploded.
