Individual room duct and ventilation system for livestock production building

Abstract

A livestock production building includes an automatically controllable ventilation system which provides ventilation to livestock containment rooms. Incoming air may be heated, cooled and/or filtered, and is mixed and tempered before being delivered to livestock rooms. Substantially all exhaust air is filtered to mitigate environmental impact.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A duct system for providing air distribution from a fresh air supply to a room, the duct system comprising:
 a ventilation duct;   a plurality of ventilation slides disposed within said duct between the fresh air supply and the room;   an actuator coupled to said plurality of ventilation slides, said actuator moveable between a closed position in which said ventilation slides impede movement of air between the fresh air supply and the room, and at least one open position in which said ventilation slides permit movement of air between the fresh air supply and the room;   an actuator driver in a force-transmitting relationship with said actuator;   a sensor positioned proximate the room with a signal output relating to an ambient condition proximate said sensor; and   a controller including a comparator comparing said output signal to a value, said controller activating said actuator driver to move said actuator when said comparator is in a predetermined state.   
     
     
         2 . The duct system of  claim 1 , wherein said controller activates said actuator for a predetermined period of time when said comparator is in the predetermined state, and said controller deactivates said actuator for dwell time after the predetermined period of time has elapsed. 
     
     
         3 . The duct system of  claim 1 , wherein said sensor comprises a temperature sensor, said controller having an upper temperature limit and a lower temperature limit, said comparator comparing said upper temperature limit and said lower temperature limit with said signal, and said predetermined state being when an ambient temperature is one of i) lower than the lower temperature limit and ii) higher than the upper temperature limit. 
     
     
         4 . The duct system of  claim 3 , wherein said actuator opens said ventilation slides when the ambient temperature is lower than the lower limit and closes said ventilation slides when the ambient temperature is higher than the limit. 
     
     
         5 . The duct system of  claim 3 , wherein said actuator closes said ventilation slides when the ambient temperature is lower than the lower limit and opens said ventilation slides when the ambient temperature is higher than the upper temperature limit. 
     
     
         6 . The duct system of  claim 3 , wherein the lower temperature limit is 0.5-degrees F. below a predetermined temperature and the upper temperature limits is 0.5-degrees F. above the predetermined temperature. 
     
     
         7 . The duct system of  claim 1 , wherein said actuator comprises a fiberglass rod. 
     
     
         8 . The duct system of  claim 1 , further comprising a limit switch, said limit switch positioned to prevent further opening of said ventilation slides when said ventilation slides are in the at least one open position. 
     
     
         9 . The duct system of  claim 1 , wherein said ventilation duct comprises an upper air passage and a lower air passage. 
     
     
         10 . The duct system of  claim 9 , wherein said ventilation duct is spaced away from a ceiling of the room to form a gap in fluid communication with said upper air passage. 
     
     
         11 . The duct system of  claim 1 , wherein said ventilation duct is disposed at the center of the room. 
     
     
         12 . A livestock production building having walls and a ceiling, comprising:
 a containment room for livestock;   an attic above said containment room, said attic comprising:
 a vent; and 
 a fresh air intake in fluid communication with ambient air outside the building; 
   a ventilation duct coupled to said vent, said ventilation duct in fluid communication with said attic and said containment room; and   a ventilation house in fluid communication with the containment room, and coupled to the wall of the building, said ventilation house comprising:
 an exhaust fan disposed between said containment room and ambient air outside the building; and 
 a first filtering element disposed between said exhaust fan and said containment room, wherein air exhausted by said exhaust fan is filtered by said filtering element. 
   
     
     
         13 . The livestock production building of  claim 12 , wherein said first filtering element is generally vertically oriented with respect to a floor of the ventilation house. 
     
     
         14 . The livestock production building of  claim 12 , wherein said first filtering element is generally horizontally oriented with respect to a floor of the ventilation house. 
     
     
         15 . The livestock production building of  claim 12 , wherein a heat exchanger is disposed between said exhaust fan and said containment room. 
     
     
         16 . The livestock production building of  claim 15 , wherein said first filtering element is disposed between said heat exchanger and said exhaust fan. 
     
     
         17 . The livestock production building of  claim 12 , wherein a second filtering element is disposed between said attic and said ventilation duct. 
     
     
         18 . The livestock production building of  claim 12 , wherein said fresh air intake comprises at least one opening located in the wall of the building adjacent said ventilation house. 
     
     
         19 . The livestock production building of  claim 12 , further comprising cooling means disposed between the ambient outside air and said fresh air intake. 
     
     
         20 . The livestock production building of  claim 12 , wherein a ventilation manifold is disposed between said first filtering element and said containment room.