Patent Application
20080040994
In the following description, terms such as horizontal, upright, vertical, above, below, beneath, and the like, are used solely for the purpose of clarity in illustrating the invention, and should not be taken as words of limitation. The drawings are for the purpose of illustrating the invention and are not intended to be to scale.
As the drawings of the preferred embodiment illustrate, the present invention relates to protective systems for temporarily covering windows or doors of a building during hurricanes and other violent weather. As shown, the invention is particularly adapted to protection of a window, generally 10, mounted in an opening of a building with vinyl siding 12. Window 10 includes a radially extending metal or vinyl casing flange 14, which is spaced from the wall of the building permitting insertion of the ends of strips of vinyl siding 12 beneath flange 14.
In the present invention, mounting brackets, generally 20, each include a base plate 22 that is inserted behind flange 14 and in front of siding 12, and a mounting plate 24 that extends outwardly from the building, perpendicular to flange 14 and plate 22. The inner ends of plates 22 and 24 are integrally joined to form an L-shaped bracket 20. Plate 22 includes through holes 26 for insertion of mounting screws 28 and mounting plate 24 includes through holes 30 for insertion of cotter keys 32.
As illustrated, siding 12 is comprised of a plurality of horizontal overlapping strips or boards 34 having an upper segment with an outwardly tapered front surface and a lower segment with a vertical front surface. Each strip terminates in a horizontal lower surface or wall of a given thickness. It will be understood, however, that the present invention is applicable to vinyl strips having other profiles. Also, instead of individual strips, the wall may be clad with extruded panels shaped in the form of a plurality of strips.
Shims 38 are inserted between the back of base plates 22 and siding 12 to prevent distortion of siding 12. Shim 38 is a rectangular strip of wood or vinyl or other screw penetrable material having a thickness corresponding to the lower edges of the strips of vinyl siding 12. The back of shim 38 may taper outward to correspond to the outward taper of the front surface of the vinyl strips.
As illustrated in
In the practice of the method of the present invention to cover window 10, a plurality of L-shaped brackets 20, each bracket having a base plate 22 sized for insertion between casing flange 14 and siding 12 and a mounting plate 24 sized for insertion through one of panel slots 42, are inserted beneath flange 14 preferably near the corners of window 10 with two brackets vertically aligned along each side of window 10. Brackets 20 are secured in place by screws 28 inserted through shims 40, siding 12 and into wooden frame 50 surrounding the building opening, specifically 2×4 s in the preferred embodiment illustrated in
Panel 40 is then positioned over window 10 and mounting plates 24 are inserted through slots 42. Cotter keys 32 are inserted through holes 30 in mounting plates 24 to temporarily secure panel 40.
Certain modifications and improvements will occur to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the foregoing description. It should be understood that all such modifications and improvements have been deleted herein for the sake of conciseness and readability but are properly within the scope of the following claims.
