This invention relates to hurricane shutters and more particularly to a hurricane shutter that protects requisitely against storm-borne objects, wind and rain while also venting buildups and bursts of pressure and vacuum that react on buildings from hurricanes and other severe storms.
Devastation from severe hurricanes has resulted in storm-area legal requirements and personal interest in adequate storm protection that also is attractive, convenient and, if possible, low cost. Numerous storm-protective shutters have occurred as a result. None, however, help to deflect strong hurricane force winds while addition to providing requisite protection against storm-borne objects, wind and rain in a manner taught by this invention.
Examples of the most-closely related known but different devices are described in the following patent documents:
The Foster et al., Iacovoni, and Sipos et al. shutters do not provide weld guides to keep shutters from turning in during hurricane forces as taught by this invention. The Poma et al. shutter requires a removable rigid support for requisite protection. Shutters described by Ney, Milan et al., Ensminger, Berg and Schoen do not have pressure venting as taught by this invention. The Sassano patent does not disclose shutters, but rather a shutter operating mechanism. The Economou shutter teaches slidable slats not requiring weld guides for support.
Objects of patentable novelty and utility taught by this invention are to provide a pressure-vent hurricane shutter which:
vents damaging buildups and bursts of pressure and vacuum that react on buildings from hurricanes;
provides legally requisite protection against storm-borne objects, wind and rain;
can be made attractive in a variety of structural styles; and
can be cost-effective for the level of protection provided.
This invention accomplishes these and other objectives with a pressure-vent hurricane shutter having preferably at least legally-requisite strength of framework encompassing slatted-louver apertures for protection against storm-borne objects, wind and rain in addition to venting damaging buildups and bursts of pressure and vacuum that react on buildings from hurricanes. The framework includes structural beams to which ends of slanted slats are attached rigidly and to which inward edges of the slanted slats are attached to the inward edge of the slat-support guide cover and the outward edges of the slanted slats are attached to the front wall of the slat-support guide. The framework is hinged with the requisite strength to at least one side of a building aperture in accordance with desired shutter style and structure which include top-hinged Bahama and sides-hinged Colonial styles.
This invention is described by appended claims in relation to description of a preferred embodiment with reference to the following drawings which are explained briefly as follows:
Listed numerically below with reference to the drawings are terms used to describe features of this invention. These terms and numbers assigned to them designate the same features throughout this description.
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The substantial equivalent can be a ferrous alloy that is preferably stainless and rustproof with either an adequate coating or content of nickel, chrome, aluminum or other stainless constituent.
The shutter framework 1 encompasses slatted-louver apertures 31 having slanted slats 5 with slat ends affixed to the shutter framework 1. The slanted slats 5 have inward edges 20 and outward edges 25 that are oriented horizontally and attached to the right slat-support guide 6, the left slat-support guide 7, and the slat-support cover 9. The slat-support guides 6 and 7 are oriented vertically with ends attached to horizontal portions of the shutter framework 1. Both the inward edges of the slats 20 and the outward edges of the slats 25 are orthogonal to the slat-support guides 6 and 7. The inward edges of the slats 20 are attached to the inward side of the slat-support cover 24. The outward edges of the slats 25 are attached to the front wall of the slat-support guide 23. The slats 5 feed into the slots 28 located on the side walls of the slat-support guide 22.
The shutter framework 1 also encompasses hold down tabs 12 located on the horizontal portions of the shutter framework 1. The hold down tabs 12 on Bahama Shutters 29 are located on the bottom horizontal shutter framework 1. The hold down tabs 12 on Colonial Shutters 30 are located on the top and bottom horizontal shutter framework 1. A quarter-inch screw is inserted through the hold down tab 12 into build out framework 11 correspondingly mounted onto the building structure 15. The hold down tabs 12 hold the shutter framework 1 to the build out framework 11 to keep the shutter framework 1 from blowing open during a storm. Flat hinges 17 with ribs 19 are located on the shutter framework 1 to keep the shutter framework 1 from hitting the single hinge 16, thus preventing paint from rubbing off of the single hinge 16.
The slatted-louver apertures 31 includes an entire slatted enclosure of a plurality of apertures between the slanted slats 5 and the shutter framework 1. The plurality of apertures individually are slanted with preferably about one-half inch of distance of slant orthogonally between surfaces of the slanted slats 5. The slanted slats 5 are preferably flat aluminum bar stock about one-quarter inch thick and one inch wide. Between bottoms and tops of adjacent slanted slats 5, there are horizontal apertures about one-eighth inch high and having a length that is a length of the slanted slats 5, less a width of the slat-support guides 6 and 7. The slat-support guides 6 and 7 have a side wall 22, a front wall 23, and a back slat-support cover 9. The slat-support guides 6 and 7 are attached to the inward edges of the slats 20 as well as the outward edges of slats 25 to keep the slanted slats 5 from turning in and maintaining proper separation and angle when under pressure from high winds and wind borne objects. The slat-support guides 6 and 7 and the mullion slat support cover 10 have the appearance of a rectangular mullion so as to give a more aesthetic appearance.
A pressure-vent object of this hurricane shutter is to allow predeterminedly slight passage of wind and rain horizontally straight through slatted-louver apertures of the shutter framework 1 and slightly more directional-change passage while also providing structural strength to prevent breakage by storm-borne objects, wind and rain of hurricanes. Allowing directional-change passage of hurricane-force wind and rain while stopping large storm-borne objects and directional-change diversion of small objects like gravel and small debris eliminates directly damaging aspects of hurricanes.
Included on fronts of slatted-louver apertures 31 of Bahama Shutters 29 shown in
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The build out framework 11 is shown in
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The single hinge 16 and the flat hinge 17 of the shutter hinge assembly 13 and flat hinge assembly 14 are made preferably of structural aluminum alloy 6063-T5, 6061-T6 or a substantial equivalent. As for other metallic components, the substantial equivalent can be a ferrous alloy that is preferably stainless and rustproof with either an adequate coating or having suitably alloyed content of nickel, chrome, aluminum and/or other stainless constituent.
A new and useful pressure-vent hurricane shutter having been described, all such foreseeable modifications, adaptations, substitutions of equivalents, mathematical possibilities of combinations of parts, pluralities of parts, applications and forms thereof as described by the following claims and not precluded by prior art are included in this invention.
This is a continuation in part of application Ser. No. 09/966,622 filed Oct. 1, 2001, now abandoned.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
1646522 | Berg | Oct 1927 | A |
2013824 | Ensminger | Sep 1935 | A |
2716785 | Schoen | Sep 1955 | A |
3039155 | Iacovoni | Jun 1962 | A |
3667161 | Sassano | Jun 1972 | A |
3691687 | Economou | Sep 1972 | A |
4368594 | Milam et al. | Jan 1983 | A |
5617683 | Ney | Apr 1997 | A |
5737874 | Sipos et al. | Apr 1998 | A |
5907929 | Poma et al. | Jun 1999 | A |
6536174 | Foster et al. | Mar 2003 | B1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20040035056 A1 | Feb 2004 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 09966622 | Oct 2001 | US |
Child | 10647673 | US |