Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02212616 2005-04-19
WINDOW SAFETY SYSTEM
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
Frequent accidents are occurring where children are falling out of windows.
This may occur
where a window is opened by the child, or left open by another, and any window
screen does
not hold when a child falls against it.
Therefore, there is a need for a safety system to guard against this kind of
accident.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
A tamper indicating barner system for a window has a barrier, such as, a
grill, for the window,
with a barrier support for supporting the barrier adjacent the window. Urging
means, such as
springs, urge the barrier away from a disturbance indicating position within
the barrier support.
Sensing means, which may include switches in an electric circuit, causes an
alarm to be
generated when the barrier is moved to this disturbance indicating position.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the
following
description, in conjunction with the drawings,
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the figures which illustrate example embodiments of the invention,
Figure 1 is a front view of a tamper indicating barrier system made in
accordance with this
invention shown installed in a window;
Figure 1 a is a cross-sectional fragment along the lines 1 a-1 a of figure 1,
Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of a portion of figure 1;
Figure 3 is an exploded top view of a portion of figure 1;
Figure 4 is a front view of a grill of figure 1,
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Figure 5 is a perspective view of a spring used in the system of figure; I,
Figure 6 is a front view of another grill which may be used in the system of
figure I,
Figure 7 is a schematic view of the contacts of the system of figure 1 and an
associated
electrical circuit,
Figure 8 is a perspective fragmentary view of a system made in accordance with
another aspect
of this invention, and
Figure 9 is an underneath view of a portion of a system made in accordance
with a further
aspect of this invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Turning to figures 1 to 3, a tamper indicating barrier system 10 for a window
12 has a barner
in the nature of grate 14 for the window. With brief reference to figure 4,
the grate 14 is seen
to have six projecting feet 16: two projecting from each side and fiwo
projecting from the
bottom. These feet allow the grate 14 to be supported adj acent the window by
a barrier support
20. The barner support 20 has left and right inner side supports 22i and outer
side supports 220
as well as inner and outer bottom supports 24i, 240, respectively andl a top
support 25. The
outer supports 220, 24o and top suppoxt 25 are attached to the frame 26 (or an
associated
window ledge or sill) by, for example, screws.
As best seen in figure 2, the inner barrier supports (e.g., inner support
2;2i) and the outer barner
supports (e.g., outer support 220) are notched at notches 28. Further, e~~ch
of the outer supports
has a tongue 30 and each of the inner supports has a corresponding groove 32.
The supports
are designed so that when the tongue 30 of an outer support is inserted in the
groove 32 of an
inner support, the notches 28 Iine up to form foot receptors 34 (figure 1 a).
Thus, with the
barrier support secured to the window and each foot of the grate received in a
foot receptor of
the barrier support, the grate is held adjacent the window.
As will be apparent from figure la, each foot has a certain amount of play
within its foot
receptor 34. A leaf spring 40, seen in figure la and 3 and detailed in $l;ure
5, is fit to each foot
16 for urging each foot away from its inner barrier support 22i or r:4i. Each
inner barrier
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support 22i, 24i has a sensor, namely, a normally closed contact 42 proj
acting into notch 28 of
the support. ~If the foot 1G of the grate 14 is pushed against the contact 42
within its foot
receptor 34 against the urging of leaf spring 40, the contact 42 will be
forced open. As will be
explained, this will result in the system alarming.
Turning to figure 7, each of the normally closed contacts 42 is part of an
electric circuit 44. A
bell 46 or other alarm is connected into this circuit such that when one of
the contacts is opened,
the alarm alarms. The electric circuit 44 may be powered by a battery in the
bell 46 or from an
electrical circuit in the dwelling.
Optionally, grate 14 may be telescoping or provided with extension pieces.
Turning to figure
6, a grate 140~has extension pieces 180 and 182 which allow the width of the
grate to be chosen
based on the width of the window to which the grate is to be fitted.
Turning to figure 8, optionally the safety system of this invention may also
be used to provide
a thermal barrier. More specifically, the safety system may be used to install
a plastic sheet 48
over window .12. To accomplish this, an outer edge 50 of each said inner
support, e.g., 24i, and
an inner edge 52 of each outer support, e.g., 240, is beveled to form a
longitudinally extending
triangular channel when the outer and inner supports are joined together. The
plastic sheet may
extend under the inner support and wrap around a rubber triangular insert 56
that is compressed
between the outer and inner support 240, 24i once the outer support is mated
with the inner
support. This. holds an end of the plastic sheet 48 betvereen the triangular
insert 56 and the edges
50, 52 of the supports 240, 24i. The inner support may have a foam pad 58
attached to its
bottom to protect the plastic sheet from chaffing. Figure 8 also ilIus~trates
a screw 60 which
may be used to secure the outer support to a bottom ledge of the windlow.
To install safety system 10 in a window 12, an optional plastic sheet 48 may
be first held
against the window frame and the inner supports 22i, 24i may then be placed in
the window
frame over the sheet 48. The upper support 25 may next be placed over the
sheet and secured
to the top of the window frame. Next, the (optional) triangular inserts 56 are
positioned against
the outer edges 50 of the inner supports and the ends of the plastic sheet
wrapped around the
inserts. Feet.16 of grill 14 are located in notches 28 of the inner supports
(using extension
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pieces 180, 182 if necessary) and the outer supports 220, 24o are then mated
with the inner
supports 22i, 24i to form the foot receptors 34. Lastly screws 60 may ynoor
the outer supports
to the window frame (or window ledges).
After installation, should a child push against the grill 14 with sufficient
force to overcome
springs 40, one or more feet 16 of the grill will move and depress an
associated contact 42.
When the normally closed contact opens, the alarm sounds. This alerts a
caregiver to the fact
that the child is at the window before any harm comes to the child.
The system provides the further advantage that any burglar who attempted to
gain entry through
window 12 would necessarily disturb the grill 14. Most likely, this would
cause one or mare
of the feet 16 of the grill to push an associated contact 42 open.
A final advantage of the system is that it allows installation of a thermal
barrier to the window.
The supports 22i, 220, 24i, 24o may be molded from a plastic composite;
material and be hollow
inside with honeycomb shaped chambers for strength.
As illustrated in figure 9, the edges 70, 72 of the inner and outer supports
may be flare
outwardly so that the supports may be cut back, if necessary, to an angle
which will match that
of the window ledge into which the system is being installed.
Other features and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in this art
and, therefore, the
invention is defined in the claims.
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