Vermin prevention for buildings with wall cavities

Abstract

A vermin prevention device for buildings with wall cavities comprises a rectangular block having six sides and composed of recycled plastic and glass shards. The block has flanges on its upper edges

Description

PATENT APPLICATION OF NIGEL NAPEAL SHARIF FOR VERMIN PREVENTION FOR BUILDINGS WITH WALL CAVITIES Field of the Invention The present invention relates to devices which are used to prevent vermin, such as rats from entering a domestic or commercial building. Background The use of anti-vermin devices is common and extend from basic traps to more sophisticated examples. The size of the rat population alone in the world is huge and growing as a constant, with society trying to both reduce that volume but also prevent coming into contact with them. Rats in particular hold a serious health and safety problem in relation to many areas of towns and cities and part of this is their ability to access property, usually via the cavities between brick work after gaining access from the outside. The brickwork of a house or commercial building often involves a cavity which is a space between the outer brickwork and the inner brick or block work, to enable an improved thermal trap for the building and the extensive laying of cables and piping in some instances. This cavity is usually filled with an insulation material in the common form of polystyrene beads, blown mineral fibre and urea formaldehyde Foam. These are installed into the cavity and provide a layer of insulation which traps and reflects the heat from the inner brick or blockwork. Rats are easily able to climb through this and gnaw through the materials to climb up the cavity to access the building at various weak points. The prior art therefore shows that there is a need for a more effective device to prevent vermin entering a house or other dwelling via the wall cavities. The present invention aims to provide an improved device to prevent vermin and in particular rats from accessing the cavity of a building by providing an additional block which is installed in the cavity between the brick and brick I blockworks when the building is erected below the damp proofing course using a recycled plastic and black shard combination. Summary of the invention According to the present invention there is provided a vermin prevention for buildings with wall cavities which consists of a rectangular block with six sides made of recycled plastic and glass shards, with a flange to its upper edges. The block is of a suitable size to fit inside the cavity space between the walls of a building and a number of them are installed end to end in a horizontally disposed line inside the wall cavity to block access to the cavity from below. The level of installation of the blocks is below the damp proof course (DPC) and tray and the upper surface of the block is preferably at the same level as the finished floor level (FFL) inside the property, as shown in Figure 1. The block is made from recycled plastic and glass shards combined and moulded into a single piece which includes the protruding left and right flanges at the top. The flanges are provided to support the block on installation, by way of the flanges seating onto the top of the bricks on the outer wall and the bricks or blocks on the inner wall, both top surface of bricks and bricks I block being at the same height level. The flanges are preferably at least 3mm in thickness and at least 25mm in width in protrusion from the top of the block on each side and moulded as a part of the main block moulding. They therefore seat onto the top of the bricks or blocks and into the builder’s mortar when the bricks are laid on top of each other, typically mortar is laid at a width of 3 / 8 to 1 / 2 an inch. Therefore, when the block is laid between the two walls, filling the cavity, the builder lays mortar in the usual way onto the bricks covering the flanges and then continues to lay the bricks on top and so on. When seated on top of the bricks and blocks the underside of the flanges are horizontal with the top of the bricks and blocks and the left and right vertical sides of the block are closely positioned to the vertical inner cavity sides of both walls. A number of blocks are installed horizontally along the same level of brickwork all of the way around the property blocking access to the cavity below the block, as a rat or similar vermin is unable to gnaw through the plastic and glass shards. The blocks are made in any desired length, this can equal the typical length of a house brick or block or be longer than this. Longer lengths of the blocks would enable the user to instal a lesser number of individual blocks to cover the same amount of cavity area. A preferred example would be at least 65mm in height from the bottom of the block to the top surface of the block and flange and the width of a typical block would preferably be 100mm. In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the Patent Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved vermin prevention for buildings with wall cavities which has all the advantages of the prior art vermin prevention and none of the disadvantages. It is another object of the present Invention to provide a new vermin prevention for buildings with wall cavities which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved vermin prevention for buildings with wall cavities which is of durable and reliable construction and Is environmentally helpful. An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved vermin prevention for buildings with wall cavities which is susceptible of a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labour, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such a product available to the buying public. Still yet another object of the present invention Is to provide a new and Improved vermin prevention for buildings with wall cavities which provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith. These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and detailed descriptive matter in which there is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention. Brief description of figures Figure 1 shows a sectional view of the vermin prevention for buildings with wall cavities installed. Figure 2 shows a dimensional view of the vermin prevention for buildings with wall cavities. Figure 3 shows a dimensional view of a dwelling showing a position line of the vermin prevention for buildings with wall cavities. Figure 4 shows a frontal view of the vermin prevention for buildings with wall cavities. Figure 5 shows a plan view of the vermin prevention for buildings with wall cavities. Figure 6 shows a plan view of a longer example of the vermin prevention for buildings with wall cavities. Detailed description of figures A typical embodiment of the coupling device is shown in Figure 1. It comprises the rectangular block 1, which has a rectangular block 1 with six sides made of recycled plastic and glass shards, with flanges 7 to its upper edges which seat on top of the bricks or blocks in the space between them 9 as the walls are built. The block is of a suitable size to fit inside the cavity space 6, which is usually filled with an insulation material, between the walls 2 and 10 of a building and a number of them are installed end to end in a horizontally disposed row inside the wall cavity 6 to block access to the cavity from below by vermin 11. The level of installation of the blocks is below the damp proof course (DPC) 4 above ground level height 8 on the outside of the property, and 5 within the inner wall 10 and tray 3 inside the cavity space 6 and the upper surface of the block is preferably disposed at the same level as the finished floor level (FFL) 14 inside the property, as shown in Figure 1. The block 1A is made from recycled plastic and glass shards 12 combined and moulded into a single piece which includes the protruding left and right flanges 7A at the top of the block 13, as shown in Figure 2. The flanges are provided to support the block on installation, by way of the flanges 7A seating onto the top of the bricks on the outer wall and the bricks or blocks on the inner wall as previously described. The glass shards are dispersed within the plastic evenly ensuring that the glass provides a sharp obstruction should a rat be able to overcome some of the plastic by gnawing it. Figure 3 shows where the line of blocks 1B are located inside the cavity. Looking at the block 1C from the front view the flanges 7C protruding on each side from the top surface 13C, as shown in Figure 4. The plan view of the block 1D shows the flanges 7A and the top surface 13D, as shown in Figure 5. The blocks 1E can be made in any length as shown in Figure 6 which can be calculated to ensure they fill all the cavity space around a property, however, they can be cut to shorter lengths at the end of wall sections should a shorter piece be needed to fill an unexpected space at an end of a row, for example.

Claims

1) A vermin prevention for buildings with wall cavities comprising; a rectangular block with six sides made of recycled plastic and glass shards, with flanges to its upper edges which seat in rows on top of the bricks or blocks in the space between them inside the wall cavity as the walls are built, the blocks are installed below the damp proof course (DPC) above ground level height on the outside of the property, and within the inner wall and tray inside the cavity space and the upper surface of the block is preferably at the same level as the finished floor level (FFL) inside the property, the block is of a suitable size to fit inside the cavity between the outer in inner walls of a building, blocking vermin access to the cavity.2) A vermin prevention for buildings with wall cavities as claimed in claim 1 wherein the thickness of the flanges allows them to seat on top of the bricks and blocks and between them, without affecting the process of building the walls.3) A vermin prevention for buildings with wall cavities as claimed in claim 2 wherein when seated on top of the bricks and blocks the underside of the flanges are horizontal with the top of the bricks and blocks.4) A vermin prevention for buildings with wall cavities as claimed in claim 3 wherein the flanges protrude from the upper left and right top surface of the block.5) A vermin prevention for buildings with wall cavities as claimed in claim 4 wherein glass shards of the block are dispersed within the plastic evenly ensuring that the glass provides a sharp obstruction should a rat be able to overcome some of the plastic by gnawing it.6) A vermin prevention for buildings with wall cavities as claimed in claim 5 wherein the blocks are made to any required length.7) A vermin prevention for buildings with wall cavities as claimed in claim 6 wherein the amount of blocks is calculated and cut to the required lengths to ensure they fill all of the cavity space around a property.8) A vermin prevention for buildings with wall cavities as claimed in claim 7 wherein blocks can be cut to shorter lengths at the end of wall cavity sections should a shorter piece be needed to fill an unexpected space at an end of a row.

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