Embodiments of the present invention are generally related to an enclosure for concealing and protecting a hydrant.
Protective enclosures that conceal and protect hydrants are common and are usually incorporated into interior and exterior walls of a building. To provide access to an enclosed hydrant, a hingedly interconnected door, which may be selectively locked, is usually included. Enclosures are made in various sizes and shapes and are adapted to accommodate single or dual handled hydrants. Enclosures conceal hydrants that are often located in rooms that require continuous maintenance, such as a public bathroom. One drawback of prior art enclosures is that they must usually be replaced after painting operations. Enclosures of the prior art are very difficult to replace since the enclosures are often rigidly mounted to the wall and the hydrants requiring removal and reconnection. Further, keys that are used to open locks associated with the doors are often lost. Thus, maintenance individuals often pry and damage the door to gain access to the hydrant, thereby requiring replacement of the door and/or lock to ensure that the door can be later locked and/or closed properly. Unfortunately, replacement of the door entails removal of the entire enclosure and often the hydrant, which increases labor and costs.
Thus it is a long felt need to provide an enclosure for concealing and protecting a hydrant that includes a door that is easily replaced if it is to become covered with paint, damaged, or otherwise unusable.
It is one aspect of the present invention to provide a protective enclosure for concealing and protecting a hydrant. The enclosure of one embodiment of the present invention includes a box having a top panel, bottom panel, side panels and a rear panel. The box (or “enclosure” or “receptacle”), and associated closure member, i.e., “door”, may be any shape, i.e., circular, square, rectangular, etc. The top panel, bottom panel, and side panels, define an edge with a lip extending therefrom that is adapted to receive a removable fascia. The facia may be repeatably removed and replaced easily at will. The box may include at least one drain hole that allows fluid to drain therefrom. In addition, a door is hingedly, or otherwise, associated with the fascia. For example, the door may be associated to the facia by way of sliding engagement, hook/loop connective structures, threaded engagements, snapping members, etc. One embodiment of the present invention is directed to an improved enclosure that includes a removable fascia that provides a location for interconnection of a hinged door, wherein the fascia and associated door may be easily removed as opposed to requiring the removal of the entire enclosure structure. One of skill in the art will appreciate that more than one door may be employed.
In operation, to replace a door, the fascia is removed and replaced. Embodiments of the present invention have the advantage of not requiring the removal of the entire enclosure from the wall to which it is interconnected. Although a box having an extending lip is provided, one skilled in the art will appreciate that other ways of replaceably interconnecting the fascia to the box are also contemplated without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the fascia can be interconnected to the top panel, bottom panel and side panels via screws, bolts, adhesives, magnets, chips, latches, tongue and groove interconnections, or other similar interconnection mechanisms.
It is yet another aspect of the present invention to facilitate replacement of the enclosure wherein maintenance personnel are only required to replace the fascia, not the entire enclosure. The fascia as contemplated may be made of any material commonly used in constructing enclosures and may receive any appearance with respect to color, for example, to sufficiently blend in with paint or other surface texture of the surrounding walls. Further, the fascia may possess its own individual color and/or surface texture to more succinctly blend in to surfaces to which the enclosure is associated, such as an outdoor building surface, i.e., brick. By providing a system having a replaceable fascia, sufficient cost savings are appreciated. Further, embodiments of the present invention are less wasteful since the existing box that is positioned in the wall can be reused.
It is another aspect of the present invention to provide an enclosure that can be scaled in size. More specifically, it is contemplated that embodiments of the present invention be scalable to receive hydrants of many shapes, sizes, shut offs, and styles, such as those with a plurality of knobs for selective delivery of hot and cold water.
It is still yet another aspect of the present invention to provide a door that is adapted to receive lettering and or symbols. More specifically, often the nature of the item stored within the enclosure is written on the door, often for safety reasons. Accordingly, it is contemplated that the door be able to receive embossed, painted, or otherwise associated letters and/or symbols. The door of some embodiments of the present invention includes features that maintain the door in an open position. The door of some embodiments of the present invention are spring loaded that helps maintain the door in a closed position.
It is another aspect of the present invention to provide a fascia and door that are made of any common rigid material, such as metal, plastic or any similar type of material. Further, the box may be designed to be modifiable to accommodate penetrations related to the concealed hydrant. For example, the rear panel may include portions that may be punched out, cut or drilled through to accommodate another hydrant. It is envisioned that the fascia and door may be painted or made in any color that is suitable to match the surrounding wall or other building surface to which the enclosure is associated.
It is another aspect of some embodiments of the present invention to provide an enclosure having a door that is hingedly interconnected to the fascia. The doors contemplated are adapted to remain open if required and/or be easily removable for replacement or for access to the hydrant stored therein within the enclosure. Further, the door may be employed that is completely removable from the fascia. The door may be slidingly interconnected to the frame, e.g., similar to a garage door.
The top panel, the bottom panel and/or the at least one of the side panels may include a depth indicator. More specifically, when associating an enclosure with a building surface having a non-continuous surface, i.e., stone, it is desirable to offset the enclosure to accommodate the exterior building surface. The depth indicator will help locate the enclosure during construction by identifying the offset required.
Thus it is one aspect of the invention to provide a substantially rectangular housing for protecting a hydrant or other fluid delivery device that has four sides and a rearward portion that has an aperture sized to accept a pipe adapted for connection with the hydrant. The four sides each have a length and width and an exterior surface and an interior surface and at least one supporting structure associated on each of the four sides, wherein the supporting structures extends from the rearward portion along the width of each side. This embodiment also includes a substantially rectangular faceplate adapted to reversibly connect to the housing and includes a central aperture sized to permit an adult human hand to pass therethrough. Further, a movable cover is associated with the faceplate and is movable from a first closed position to a second open position, whereby when in the second open position, a human hand can access the hydrant. Depth indicia may also be provided on the exterior of the four sides that is spaced from the exterior surface of at least one of the four sides.
The Summary of the Invention is neither intended nor should it be construed as being representative of the full extent and scope of the present invention. Moreover, references made herein to “the present invention” or aspects thereof should be understood to mean certain embodiments of the present invention and should not necessarily be construed as limiting all embodiments to a particular description. The present invention is set forth in various levels of detail in the Summary of the Invention as well as in the attached drawings and the Detailed Description of the Invention and no limitation as to the scope of the present invention is intended by either the inclusion or non-inclusion of elements, components, etc. in this Summary of the Invention. Additional aspects of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the Detail Description, particularly when taken together with the drawings.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the general description of the invention given above and the detailed description of the drawings given below, serve to explain the principles of these inventions.
To assist in the understanding of the present invention the following list of components and associated numbering found in the drawings is provided herein:
It should be understood that the drawings are not necessarily to scale. In certain instances, details that are not necessary for an understanding of the invention or that render other details difficult to perceive may have been omitted. It should be understood, of course, that the invention is not necessarily limited to the particular embodiments illustrated herein.
Referring now to
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In operation, in order to replace the fascia 14, one would simply actuate the lock 58 (if applicable) and open the door 18 or otherwise pry the door 18 from the fascia 14 (if it is damaged, for example), remove the screws 50 and remove the fascia 14 from the box 10. Next, a new fascia may be interconnected to the box 10 via the screws 50. The box 10 remains in place and does not need to be replaced, thereby saving time, cost and reducing waste.
Referring now to
In one embodiment the hinge plate 70 includes a slot 84 that receives a pin 54. In one position of use the pin 54 is positioned in the slot 84 such that the door 18 is capable of free rotation. In a second position of use the pin 54 is positioned in the slot 84 such that the door 18 is placed adjacent to the top panel 22 of the box 10 to prevent closure of the door 18. Alternatively, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the door 18 may be interconnected to a bottom portion of a fascia 14 such that it opens downwardly.
Referring now again to
While various embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, it is apparent that modifications and alterations of those embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art. However, it is to be expressly understood that such modifications and alterations are within the scope and spirit of the present invention, as set forth in the following claims. Furthermore, aspects of inventions disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. D470,915 and D482,431 and Published Patent Application No. 20040194295 are incorporated by reference herein. Further, the invention(s) described herein is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. In addition, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” or “having” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items.