AU595646B2 - Emergency release security grating - Google Patents

Description

U

595646 COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Patent Act 1952 OMPLETE SPECTFTC ATTnN

(ORIGINAL)

Class Int. Class Application Number PH 08318 Lodged 3 October 1986 0 4.

Complete Specification Lodged Accepted Published n~

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t, Priority: a I> Related Art 4 Name of Applicant S FAUSTO MARMORA and DANIELE ALESSANDRO MARMORA Address of Applicant 4 Actual Inventor Address for Service 23 Park Road, FIVE DOCK N 2046 FAUSTO MARMORA and DANIELE ALESSANDRO MARMORA F.B. RICE CO., Patent Attorneys, 28A Montague Street, BALMAIN. 2041.

Complete Specification for the invention entitled: "EMERGENCY RELEASE SECURITY GRATING" The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to Us:- ~I

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The present invention relates to a quick release security grating. Burglary of household possessions is an increasingly common occurrence and, consequently, security grating, basically in the form of sturdy steel bars, is being installed over vulnerable entry points, such as windows, on an increasing number of homes.

Although security grating will reduce the risk of loss due to burglary taking place, there is a danger associated with placing security grating across easily accessible openings such as windows and doors. While security grating prevents easy entry to a building by burglars it also may prevent a quick exit from a building in the case of an emergency, such as a fire.

Usually, a security grating that is placed over a window is not openable and is intended as a permanent fixture.

A security grating that is placed over a door will be openable but, in order to be effective against burglars, will also be lockable. This situation is dangerous in case of fire for a number of reasons. In the case vhere a doorway is not proteted by a security grating a sicuation may arise where the fire is between the unprotected doorway and the occupants, the only way for the occupants to escape from tho burning building would be by running 25 through the fire.

If the doorway is protected by a lockable security grating the situation would be even more dangerous as, once the doorway is reached, tirm has to be spent unlocking the security grating. It may even be that in the panic and confusion of the emergency, the keys cannot be found. This can easily happen if a house fire occurs at night and people have been known to die in such a situation.

Even when doorways arG not guarded by security grating, it is not uncommon for security conscious people -3to put security grating on the windows and deadlocks on the doors. In such a situation, the same problems relating to the unlocking of doors may exist.

In a building not secured by security grating, every window is a potential emergency exit. In a building in which conventional security grating is installed, windows do not represent a potential emergency exit as they are barred and precent exits as well as entry.

Trie present invention seeks to provide a security grating that, while being effective in preventing entry to a building from outside, can be opened by an opening means located inside the building. Such a security grating would prevent burglars from entering a building through a particular opening but would not prevent the same opening from being used as an emergency exit.

According to the present invention there is disclosed a security grating adapted for fitment to a window and comprising: sees*: attachment means securable to structure about the 20 window so as to maintain the grating in a closed. position on an exterior side of the window; and release means engaging the attachment means and being actuable only from an interior side of the window so as to release the attachment means and permit the opening of the grating.

The present invention will now be described in further detail by reference to the attached drawings in which:- Fig. 1 is an elevation view of one embodiment of the present invention as view from within a building Fig, 2 is a view on section II-II of Fiq. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view on section III-III of Fig. I Fig, 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an optional cover frame as viewed on Section IV-IV of Fig. 2.

6 -4- Fig. 5 is an elevation view of a second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a view of Section VI-VI.

Reference to the accompanying drawings will show a security grating generally designated by numeral 10 which embodies the present invention.

A structure 11 fabricated so as to prevent human access is connected to a wall 12 of a building on one side by non-releasable connection means 13 and on the other side thereof by releasable connection means 14.

Hinge means 16, 20 and 21 located at a plurality of positions throughout the security grating, enable the access preventing structure to move to a position in which the window is not covered, after the release of the 15 releasable connection means.

•In embodiment, upper and lower non-releasable connection means 13 take the form of a metal rod or pipes passing through the wall 12 and being secured thereto by a tensioning nut 17 on the interior surface of the wall and collars 18 on the exterior of the wall. The access preventing structure 11 is connected to the upper and lower connection means 13 by opposing hinge means 21 and thereby adapted for rotation about an axis 22 which is coaxial with the rotational axes of hinge means 21.

The releasable connection means 14 of the preferred o' embodiment comprises upper and lower members 24, each being articulated by hinge means 16 part way along the length thereof and a spring loaded ongagement means to engage said articulated member on the interior surface of said wall and hinge means 20 connecting the articulated member 24 to the access preventing structure 11.

Specifically, the spring loaded engagement means comprises two vertically oriented opposing members 30,30 which are slidingly enaaged on the wall 12 via slots 31 and members 29 which prevent horizontal displacement in this embodiment. The vertically oriented members 30 have forked ends 32 and are each urged by spring means toward the articulated upper and lower members 24 such that the ends 35 of the articulated members which extend inside the building are engaged by the fork ends 32. Large diameter mushroom heads on ends 36 of the articulated upper and lower members 14 prevent same from disengaging from the vertical members 30. Vertical members 30, each terminate at protrusions 41, which are sufficiently close together such that both protrusions 41, can be gripped simultaneously by a person using one hand.

In the preferred embodiment a compressed spring 40 is disposed on the articulated member, between the access preventing structure 11 and the exterior surface of the wall 12.

In use, the protrusions 41 are gripped and squeezed towards each other in opposition to spring means 35 moving the upper vertical member 30 downwards and the Jower vertical member 30 upwards. Consequently, forked ends 32 S 20 are disengaged from heads 38 at the ends 36 of upper and lower articulated members 24. After disengagement, the access preventing structure 11 is connected to the wall 12 by hinges 24 on one side and unrestrained on the other side. The compressive spring 40 urges the access preventing structure 11 away from the wall 12 on the unrestrained side thereof and the security grating hinges to an open position in which the window is uncovered. Due to the articulation of the upper and lower members 24, these members are easily extracted from the wall in response to the movement of access preventing structure 9. Rigidly oriented members would not allow the security grating to swing away freely because, as such members change their orientation, they would need to pass through an arc outside the hole provided, thus fouling and preventing the grating from opening.

1-I---I 6 Therefore the preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a security grating that, while preventing access from outside a building, can be quickly opened by merely gripping and squeezing together two adjacent members ext.nding from a wall, thus allowing windows and other such openings to be used as emergency exits.

Although not illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, a further embodiment of the present invention includes a cover frame 50, as schematically shown in Fig. 4, over those parts of the release means 14 which would normally be visible from within a building. Fig. 4 shows how the cover plate would be seen if installed and viewed along section IV-IV of Fig. 2. The cover frame 50 comprises a 15 wall mounted housing 51, which houses visible components, such as the upper and lower vertical members 30 and the ends 36 of the articulated connected means 24 extending beyond the wall 12, and a lid 52. The lid 52 pivots on the housing 51 about a hinge 53 and closes on the housing by a simple press over clip comprising engagement means 54a and 54b.

Such a cover frame serves to provide an aesthetically improved appearance and also to prevent burglars from making use of the releasable connection means 14, once having entered a building. It is a simple matter to dispose a burglar alarm within the cover frame 40 that will be triggered by movement of the lid 50. Thus if unauthorised entry can be gained to a building the inventive emergency exit cannot be used without raising the alarm. In an emergency situation, the triggering of such an alarm upon exit would be beneficial as an emergency warning.

In a further embodiment to that shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate an embodiment of the present invention in which the releasable connection means .~Qik ~l1 7 14 is located at the top of a window 40 rather than to one side thereof. In this embodiment, the security grating will drop in a drawbridge-like manner rather than swing open in a door-like manner.

In this embodiment forked ends 32 of horizontal members 30 engage the ends 36 of an articulated connector 24 passing through the wall 12. Instead of having handles which can be squeezed together, the embodiment of Figs. and 6 includes cables 60, one each attached to an unforked end of the horizontal members 30. Each cable 60 extends substantially horizontally from the end of the respective horizontal member 30 over a pulley 61 which is rotatably fixed to the end of a guide member 29 which prevents vertical displacement of an adjacent horizontal member The cables 60 then extend downward and terminate at respective hand grips 62.

"Pulling downward on the handgrips 62 urges the horizontal members 30 to move such that the forked ends 32 thereof disengage the respective heads 32 oi articulated V. 20 cc/nnectors 24 passing through the wall 12 at the top of the window 40. Thus, a security structure 11 pivotably attached to the external ends of non-releasable connections means 13 will rotate about the hinge means 21, 0. 0 opening away from the window in a drawbridge-like manner.

Such a security grating, depending on the circumstances, may be as used as an escape ramp or ladder as it will still be attached to the wall 12 near the bottom of the windows 40 of the release.

It will be clear to a skilled addressee that numerous means could be provided that would disengage the connecting members that pass through the wall. For example there already exist mechanisms that are activated to engage vertical locking rods at the tops and bottoms of tall doors. A similar mechanism can be used to engage holes in the ends 36 of the connecting members, rather 8 than rely on the engagement between the forked ends 32 of vertical members 30 with mushroom headed ends 38.

Furthermore, the present invention can be manufactured from any of numerous materials such as steel or other metal alloy.

Consequently the present invention is in no way intended to be limited to the specific embodiment herein described and may be subjected to many adaptions or alterations without departing from the scope of the invention as broadly described.

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Claims (9)

1. A security grating adapted for fitment to a window and comprising: attachment means securable to structure about the window so as to maintain the grating in a closed position on an exterior side of the window; and release means engaging the attachment means and being actuable only from an interior side of the window so as to release the attachment means and permit the opening of the grating.

2. A security grating as defined in claim 1 wherein said attachment means comprise a plurality of attachments each being secured at a first end to the grating and at a secoid opposite end being securable to either said release means or said structure.

3. A security grating as defined in claim 1 or 2 wherein said attachment means comprise elongate fasteners arranged in two pairs, the fasteners of each respective pair being disposed along a respective opposite side edge of the grating and pivotally attached coaxially thereto, the fasteners of one said pair having securing devices for rigid attachment to said structure, the fasteners of the other pair having free ends including release means engaging structure.

4. A security grating as defined in claim 3 wherein the release means engaging structure comprises enlarged diameter free ends of the fasteners and the release means comprise at least one sliding plate, adapted to slide on the interior wall surface between secure and release positions, having apertures which engage under said enlarged diameter free ends when in the secured position and allow the enlarged diameter free ends to pass therethrough when in the release position.

5. A security grating as defined in claim 3 or 4 wherein the securing devices comprise threaded attachments at free ends of the fasteners distal the grating and collar means 0* 0 0 00 0 *0 0 1. r 1~ I C _1 I t 10 intermediate the grating and the free ends.

6. A security grating as defined in any one of the preceding claims including a spring means located between the grating and the wall and adapted to push at least the proximate part of the grating away from the wall subsequent the release of the grating by actuation of the release means.

7. A security grating as described herein with reference to the drawings.

8, A security grating as defined in any one of the preceding claims when fitted to a window.

9. A security grating fitted to an exterior building wall across a window and comprising: a first pair of elongate fasteners pivotally attached at one end along a first side of the grating and being rigidly attached to the wall at their opposite other end; a second pair of elongate fasteners pivotally attached at one end along a second side of the grating opposite said first side, passing through the wall and having enlarged diameter free ends exposed on an interior wall; and release means being at least one sliding plate disposed on the interior wall along one side of the window sliding between release and secure positions and having an aperture for each fastener of the second pair which engage under the enlarged diameter free end of the respective fastener when in the secured position and allow the enlarged diameter free end to pass therethrough when in the release position, the r'jease means being actuable nly from the interior, DATED this 18th day of January 1990 FPAUSTO MARMORA DANIELE ALESSANDRO MARMORA Patent Attorneys for the Applicant: 444ow F,IB. RICE CO, I: ~c.