Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080202700 | Low-clearance shutter slat - A rolling shutter and a slat for use in a rolling shutter are provided. The slat comprises an engaging track located at a first horizontal edge and a receptacle track located at a second horizontal edge. Illustratively, the engaging track has a hook shaped profile and is disposed at an acute angle, and the receptacle track comprises a lip and a guard defining a space adapted to receive therein an engaging track of an adjacent slat. | 08-28-2008 |
20100083585 | Inflatable shutter - An inflatable shutter is provided. The shutter comprises a protective layer and at least one air bladder, and is attached to the outside of a building structure. The shutter is positioned outside the building structure adjacent a window or other opening in order to protect the window or other opening from high velocity winds and flying debris during storms. The shutter may be removed from the outside of the building and compactly stored during periods of nonuse. | 04-08-2010 |
20100181029 | Build-Out Dowels for Rolling Protective Shutters - An improvement in a rolling shutter assembly for covering an opening of a structure having an external protective surface, an underlying support structure and a subsurface disposed therebetween. The rolling shutter assembly includes a shutter housing, a shutter support member rotatably disposed within the shutter housing, a shutter coupled to the shutter support member, and a pair of side tracks. The improvement includes a plurality of dowels and corresponding openings through the external protective surface configured to receive the dowels. The dowels are disposed between the subsurface of the wall and the side tracks when the rolling shutter assembly is installed to minimize the portion of the external protective surface that is removed to accommodate the installation of the shutter assembly. | 07-22-2010 |
20110162807 | LOCATOR AND SHUTTER SLAT - A rolling shutter and a slat for use in a rolling shutter are provided. The slat comprises an engaging track located at a first edge and a receptacle track located at a second edge. Illustratively, the engaging track has a hook-shaped profile and is disposed at an acute angle relative to an adjacent part of the body portion, is disposed at an angle of less than 180° relative to a vertical axis of the slat, or has a hook-shaped profile that curves for more than 180°, and the receptacle track comprises a lip and a guard defining a space adapted to receive therein an engaging track of an adjacent slat. | 07-07-2011 |
20120273141 | Manual Drive Mechanism for Rolling Protective Shutters - The present invention is directed to a rolling protective shutter having an improved manual drive mechanism. The improved manual drive mechanism may include a hand crank pole having a female connector that demountably attaches to a male connector of the rolling protective shutter to rotate a drive shaft. The female connector may be attached to the hand crank pole by a universal joint so that the female connector may pivot relative to the hand crank pole. A resilient alignment mechanism, such as an elastomeric sleeve or coil spring, may be disposed on and engage the universal joint to axially align the female connector with the hand crank pole while allowing the female connector to pivot relative to the elongated pole section when a force is applied. | 11-01-2012 |
20120273142 | Manual Drive Mechanism for Rolling Protective Shutters - The present invention is directed to a rolling protective shutter having an improved manual drive mechanism. The improved manual drive mechanism may include a hand crank pole having a female connector that demountably attaches to a male connector of the rolling protective shutter to rotate a drive shaft. The female connector may be attached to the hand crank pole by a universal joint so that the female connector may pivot relative to the hand crank pole. A resilient alignment mechanism, such as an elastomeric sleeve or coil spring, may be disposed on and engage the universal joint to axially align the female connector with the hand crank pole while allowing the female connector to pivot relative to the elongated pole section when a force is applied. | 11-01-2012 |
20130048231 | Base Slat Retention and Motor Triggering For Rolling Protective Shutters - The present invention is directed to a rolling protective shutter having an improved stopping mechanism that prevents the shutter from completely rolling up onto the shutter support member, and that is hidden within the shutter housing or the side tracks. The stopping mechanism may include a limit switch operatively connected to a drive motor to detect a disposition of the base slat of the shutter curtain proximate the shutter housing. The limit switch may actuate to turn off the drive motor at an appropriate position to retain the base slat within the side tracks and to prevent damage to the shutter housing due to engagement by the base slat. | 02-28-2013 |
20140053990 | SHUTTER SLAT - A slat for use in a rolling shutter is provided. The slat comprises a hooking track located at a first edge of a body and a receiving track located at a second edge of the body. Illustratively, the hooking track has a hook-shaped profile, and the receiving track comprises a lip member and a guard member defining a space adapted to receive therein an engaging track of an adjacent slat. The hooking track and the receiving track are designed to minimize the space required for the rolling shutter to be retracted around a spindle. | 02-27-2014 |
20140053991 | SHUTTER SLAT AND COMPACT SHUTTER ASSEMBLY - A slat for use in a rolling shutter is provided. The slat comprises a engaging track located at a first edge of a body and a receiving track located at a second edge of the body. Illustratively, the engaging track has a hook-shaped profile, and the receiving track comprises a lip member and a guard member defining a space adapted to receive therein an engaging track of an adjacent slat. The engaging track and the receiving track are designed to minimize the space required for the rolling shutter to be retracted around a spindle. | 02-27-2014 |
20140231029 | Unitized Structural Frame - An improvement in a rolling shutter assembly for covering an opening of a structure defined by a top wall, a bottom wall and oppositely disposed side walls. The rolling shutter assembly includes a shutter housing, a shutter support member rotatably disposed within the shutter housing, a shutter coupled to the shutter support member, the shutter comprising a plurality of individual slats and a plurality of hinges interconnecting the slats, and a pair of side tracks. The shutter rolls between a rolled position wherein the shutter is rolled onto the shutter support member and an unrolled position wherein the shutter covers the opening and the ends of the slats are disposed within the channels of the corresponding side tracks. The improvement comprises a support frame having top, bottom and side rails mounted to the walls defining the opening with the side tracks each mounted to a corresponding one of the side rails of the support frame. The support frame reduces or eliminates the transmission of torsion loads from the shutter to the framing elements of the walls during positive and negative pressure conditions. | 08-21-2014 |
20140367056 | Accordion Shutter Hinge Assembly - A hinge assembly connecting adjacent panels of an accordion shutter includes a hinge member having a pair of curved arms and a pair of panel connection members each having a pivot shaft. The pivot shafts are received within the corresponding curved arms and retained for rotation therein with the tips of the curved arms received in arm receiving channels of the panel connection members. The adjacent panels may be oriented at an angle of less than 180° with respect to each other when both panel connection members are rotated to positions wherein the tips of curved arms are engaged by the closed ends of the arm receiving channels. The base of the hinge member also has a pair of shoulders, and the adjacent panels are oriented approximately parallel when the panel connection members are rotated to positions wherein the panel connection members are engaged by the shoulders. | 12-18-2014 |