Storm shelter door

Abstract

A windowed egress plate storm shelter door having a shatter resistant, stormproof glass or “bulletproof glass” pane secured in a steel plate forming a frame therefor and which is part of the shelter door. The steel plate is attached to the storm shelter door to allow viewing outside the shelter to verify that the storm has passed. The egress plate or panel is structured and sized so that, if the door cannot be opened due to damage or blockage, the framed window is readily removable to create a secondary escape route for occupants to escape the shelter.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to doors. More particularly, the present invention relates to storm shelter doors having a shatter resistant, stormproof window framed by a removable plate or panel sized to allow emergency egress.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] Storm shelters are widely used in areas subject to violent storms such as hurricanes or tornadoes. Storm shelters must have a door or hatch for entrance and exit. In some instances, a person seeking shelter in such a shelter does not know the state of the weather due to lack of windows to view the outside. Windows, of course, would weaken the shelter or make it vulnerable, due to the possibility of window breakage. Also, the shelter door may be damaged during the storm rendering it inoperable, leaving the occupant trapped inside the shelter. It would be desirable to provide a storm shelter door which safely provides a view of the outside environment and provides an exit hatch which may be removable or openable from the inside which is large enough for a human to exit in the case of a stuck or blocked main door. The exit hatch may be removed without requiring it to swing or move outward, increasing the chance of an occupant escaping the blocked door, and, in any case allows for the occupant to orally call for help to the outside.

[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 6,260,312 B1, issued Jul. 17, 2001, to Spene et al., describes a prefabricated emergency shelter having an acrylic or fiberglass-reinforced hatch, which enables the hatch to withstand a static or dynamic load(see column 4, lines 45-55).

[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 3,630,814, issued Dec. 28, 1971, to Arnold, describes a composite, bulletproof window panel.

[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 3,749,028, issued Jul. 31, 1973, to Strobl describes a bulletproof baffle arrangement for use within the opening of a bulletproof window.

[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 3,923,339, issued Dec. 2, 19745, describes a quick attached transparent armor window for automobiles.

[0009] None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus, a storm shelter door solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0010] The present invention is a windowed egress plate or panel storm shelter door having a shatter resistant, stormproof glass pane secured in a steel plate forming a frame therefor and which is part of the shelter door. The steel plate is attached to the storm shelter door to allow viewing outside the shelter to verify that the storm has passed. The egress plate or panel is so structured and sized that, if the door cannot be opened due to damage or blockage, the framed window is readily removable to create a secondary escape route for occupants to escape the shelter.

[0011] Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a storm door for a storm shelter providing a view of the exterior environment.

[0012] It is another object of the invention to provide a storm door as above incorporating a stormproof window.

[0013] It is a further object of the invention to provide a storm door as above incorporating a removable window mounting plate.

[0014] Still another object of the invention is to provide a storm door as above wherein the removable window mounting plate may be removed from the inside of the storm shelter.

[0015] Yet another object of the invention is to provide a storm door as above which provides an escape hatch or passage for exit of adults in the shelter in case the storm door is blocked or damaged rendering it incapable of opening.

[0016] Still another object of the invention is to provide a storm door as above wherein said mounting plate is of such a size that, when the plate is removed, a passageway through the door is exposed through which an adult may exit the storm shelter.

[0017] It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.

[0018] These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] FIG. 1 is a front view in elevation of a storm shelter door according to the present invention.

[0020] FIG. 2 is a section view drawn along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1.

[0021] FIG. 3, is a rear view in elevation of the storm shelter door as in FIG. 1.

[0022] Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0023] The present invention is a storm shelter door having a shatter resistant, stormproof glass pane secured in a steel plate forming a frame therefor and which is part of the shelter door. The steel plate is attached to the storm shelter door to allow viewing outside the shelter to verify that the storm has passed. The framed glass plate is structured so that, if the door cannot be opened due to damage or blockage, the framed window is readily removable to create a secondary escape route for occupants to escape the shelter.

[0024] Referring to FIGS. 1-3 there are shown a front elevation view, a sectional view, and a rear elevation view, respectively, of the windowed egress plate storm door system 10 of the present invention. Storm door system 10 comprises storm door 12 having outer front face 14, a stepped inner rear face 16, and peripheral door edge 18. Common storm door features such as hinges, latches, and peripheral seals (not shown) are of conventional design and not part of the present invention.

[0025] Storm door 12 further comprises a recessed stepped steel plate 20 having outer face 22, an inner face 24, an inner closure bearing face 26 and having a peripherally mounted stepped gasket 28 separating plate 20 from door 12. Door 12 is stepped to receive steel plate 20, and has a jamb 30, parallel with outer face 14 and inner face 16 which engages stepped gasket 28. Door 12 has four swivel latch releases 32 rotatably attached by latch release swivels 34 mounted on stepped inner rear face 16 and so positioned as to engage the plate closure bearing face 26 at spaced intervals so as to retain the plate 20 within door 12 against jamb 30 when rotated to a closed position and to free plate 20 for opening into the shelter interior when rotated to an open position. The plate 20 may be of any overall shape and is shown as being rectangular in the Figures with a latch release located so as to be located near each corner thereof.

[0026] Steel egress plate 20 serves as a frame for stormproof glass pane 36, securely holding pane 36 by means of plate-to-glass peripheral gasket 38 as inserted within a recess around plate inner edge 40. Glass pane 36 may be of any desired overall shape as defined by glass pane edge 46 and is shown as being rectangular in the Figures. Plate outer edge 42 and plate bearing portion edge 44 define an intermediate and an outer edge of plate 20 opposing the inner edge of door outer face 14 and of door stepped inner face 16, respectively as separated by stepped plate-to-door gasket 28.

[0027] The storm door 12 may be made of any appropriate material such as metal or wood. Egress plate 20 is preferably made of steel but other appropriate materials may be substituted. Stormproof glass pane 36 may be of any appropriate material including transparent polymeric material, high strength, shatter resistant inorganic glass, preferably covered with reinforcing polymer film, or composite sheets of polymeric material and inorganic glass. The pane may also be “bulletproof” glass which normally comprises a thick transparent polymer plate or sandwiched polymer and inorganic glass. The design of the plate 20 acting as the glass pane may be modified to accept such a glass, such modification being within the skill in the art of window framing. An example of bulletproof glass is described by Arnold in U.S. Pat. No. 3,630,814 cited above the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

[0028] It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A windowed egress storm shelter door comprising:

a storm door having an outer face, an inner face and a peripheral edge, and defining an aperture therethrough;

an egress plate removably positioned within and closing over said aperture;

said egress plate comprising a stormproof window framed thereby;

whereby a shelter occupant may view the exterior environment through said stormproof window; and

whereby a shelter occupant may remove said egress plate.

2. The storm door of claim 1, said aperture of said door being a stepped frame opening inward and having a jamb located intermediate said outer face and said inner face.

3. The storm door of claim 2, further comprising a plurality of latch releases spaced around and mounted on said door inner face for swiveling motion between a closed position and an open position, said egress plate being stepped and having an outer face defining an inner edge and a closure face defining an outer edge thereof, said latch releases engaging said closure face when in the closed position.

4. The storm door of claim 3, said door inner face having an inner step, said latch releases being mounted on said inner step.

5. The storm door of claim 4, said aperture and said egress plate being rectangular in shape.

6. The storm door of claim 5, said plurality of latch releases being four in number, each being located near a respective corner defined by said rectangle.

7. The storm door of claim 1, said egress plate defining an inner frame for said stormproof window, said stormproof window having a stormproof transparent pane having an outer edge mounted in said inner frame.

8. The storm door of claim 7, further comprising a gasket sealing said outer edge of said transparent pane within said inner frame.

9. The storm door of claim 7, said pane being of polymeric material.

10. The storm door of claim 7, said pane being a layered composite of polymeric and inorganic material.

11. The storm door of claim 7, said pane being “bulletproof glass.”