Abstract:
A hollow aluminum pole has access to its interior through a hand hole frame having an access aperture which can be blocked by a cover having a lower end pivotally attached to the hand hole frame by a pivot pin. The pivot pin is biased inwardly by a coil spring which permits outward movement of the cover to a position in which it can be rotated downwardly out of alignment with the access opening.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is in the field of access openings provided with a selectively removable cover for effecting access to the interior of a hollow light pole or other similar housing. It should be noted that the following descriptive discussion for the sake of clarity and avoidance of confusion refers solely to “poles” as being the item with which the embodiments of the invention are associated; however, the invention is not limited to pole usage and can be employed on any one of a multitude of hollow housings requiring internal access. Light poles are frequently provided with hand hole access openings for permitting access to the interior chamber defined by the inside surface of the wall of the pole. A number of disadvantages and problems arise from the prior art structures. For example, many hand hole covers previously employed in the industry required the removal of two screws, one on each end of the cover, for enabling complete removal of the cover. Removal of the screws holding a cover in position on a hand hole can be time consuming due to the possibility of corrosion or stripping of the threads either in the hand hole housing or on the screws. Moreover, removal of both screws results in complete separation of the cover and screws from the pole so as to increase the possibility that the cover and/or screws will become disassociated from the pole and not be reconnected to the pole. 
     Many of the tamper resistant pole access devices employ special tools necessary for removing the access cover. Such devices consequently are more expensive to manufacture and require the additional expense of such special tools, Moreover, many of such devices still fail to prevent an unintentional loss of the cover. Thus, another problem with many of the prior known devices is that removal of the cover completely separates it from the access opening in the hand hole frame which results in potential exposure of the interior pole to the undesirable effects of inclement weather. 
     It is also necessary for access assembly covers to be made tamper and theft resistant for obvious reasons. Unfortunately, this desirable result has not been available with many of the prior art devices. 
     Other known prior art devices have been provided with a cover retention chain or cable attached to and extending between the hand hole frame and the cover with one such conventional prior art device being shown in  FIG. 7 . Such devices do not prevent opening of the cover but are frequently detrimental to providing complete access to the interior of the pole. 
     Another approach to dealing with the foregoing problems has involved the employment of fold out hinges joining the lower end of a cover to the lower end of the access opening in the pole. Such devices are complicated and expensive. Moreover, such devices are difficult to adjust and frequently require some alteration before they can be mounted in an aluminum pole. Also, the hinge assembly can intrude into the interior of the pole in such a way as to interfere with or foul the internal wiring in the pole. Moreover, the opening of such devices results in their being in an awkward position frequently making it difficult to fully access the interior of the pole. Therefore, it is the primary object of this invention to provide an access opening cover assembly that is easy to operate, reliable and economical. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Achievement of the foregoing objects is enabled by the disclosed embodiments in which an access opening is provided with a cover that is pivotally supported by a pin in the lower portion of the cover for pivotal movement and outward movement to position the cover out of alignment with the access opening while retaining the cover connected to a supporting hand hole frame. In all embodiments the supporting pin is spring urged inwardly to retain the lower portion of the cover in an access opening covering position while permitting manual outward movement for effecting opening of the cover. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a bisecting sectional view of a first or slotted cup washer embodiment of the invention as employed in an aluminum light pole; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the embodiment of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a front elevation view of a typical aluminum light pole of the type in which either embodiment of the invention is mounted; 
         FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view of the slotted cup washer and pin assembly employed in the  FIG. 1  embodiment; 
         FIG. 5  is a bisecting sectional view of a second or flat washer embodiment of the invention as employed in an aluminum light pole; 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded sectional view of the embodiment of  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 7  is an exploded sectional view of a prior art assembly; and 
         FIG. 8  is a sectional view similar to  FIG. 1  illustrating the position of the cover in an open position permitting access to the interior of the pole. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Attention is initially invited to  FIGS. 1 and 2  of the drawings which illustrate a first embodiment of the invention as provided in a hollow tapered aluminum light pole  20 . Pole  20  has an outer surface  21  and an inner chamber  22 , which is defined by an inner surface  24  of the pole. Pole  20  is provided with an elongated access opening defined by closed surface  28  extending through the wall of the pole  20  between an outer surface  21  and an inner surface  24  of the pole. A hand hole frame  30  formed of cast aluminum has a flange  31  with a closed surface  32  defining a port opening coaxial with the opening defined by surface  28  of the pole. The port defining surface  32  is of sufficient size to permit access to the interior of the pole for repairs or other purposes. 
     A metal cover  33  is dimensioned to fit within the confines of flange  31  and outwardly of the port defining surface  32  as best shown in  FIG. 1 . A first threaded connector screw  34  extends through a bore in cover  33  and is threaded into a threaded bore  36  ( FIG. 2 ) in the upper portion of hand hole frame  30  as shown. The head of screw  34  is slotted in a conventional manner as shown; however, other drive surface configurations such as octagonal or hexagonal heads usable with socket drives could also be used. 
     A smooth non-threaded bore  38  is provided in the lower portion of hand hole frame  30  for receiving a non-threaded tabbed pin  40  having a pin head  41  at an outer end and a washer retainer tab  43  fixedly attached near an opposite end as shown in  FIG. 4 . Pin  40  extends through a smooth non-threaded bore  42  in cover  33  as shown in  FIG. 1 . A slotted cup washer  44  is retained on the outer end of the non-threaded tabbed pin  40  by tab  43 . Slotted cup washer  44  has a slot  45  ( FIG. 4 ) through which tab  43  is inserted following which a washer  44  is rotated so that slot  45  is not aligned to tab  43  so that washer  44  is retained on pin  40  by tab  43 . Washer  44  is engaged by the inner end of a compression spring  46  which has an upper opposite end engaging an inwardly facing surface  47  of the hand hole frame  30  as best shown in  FIG. 1 . Compression spring  46  consequently exerts force against the slotted cup washer  44 , which consequently urges tab  43  and non-threaded tabbed pin  40  toward the inner chamber  22  of pole  20 . The inward movement of the pin is limited by engagement of pin head  41  with cover  33  which in turn engages the front face of hand hole  30  in an obvious manner. Therefore, first connector screw  34  and non-threaded tabbed pin  40  comprise first and second connectors for maintaining the cover  33  in the closed position shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     Access to the interior of light pole  20  is initiated by first removing the threaded first connector screw  34  following which the cover can be moved outwardly to compress compression spring  46 . Such outward movement permits subsequent rotation of the cover  33  about non-threaded tabbed pin  40  so that the cover can be rotated to be substantially fully positioned below the access opening defined by closed surface  32  of the hand hole frame  30 . The force of spring  46  will hold the cover in the aforementioned position for as long as necessary because of contact of the cover with the outer surface of the hand hole resultant from the force of the spring. 
     The embodiment shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  consequently requires removal of only connector screw  34  following which the lower end of the cover can be moved outwardly to a convenient position permitting rotation of the cover about pin  40  to effect full access to the interior of the pole. The cover can subsequently be rotated back to the position in alignment with the access port  32  so that the pin  40  urges the cover in position and holds it there while the first connector screw  34  is reinserted and threaded into threaded bore  36 . 
       FIGS. 5 and 6  illustrate a second embodiment of the invention which is essentially identical to the first embodiment of  FIGS. 1 and 2  with exception of the fact that a flat washer  50  is fixedly attached by welding or forming to the pin to lock the washer in position on the outer end of a standard smooth-surface pin  52  having a head  54  as shown. A compression spring  56  is fitted between flat washer  50  and hand hole frame  30  as shown in  FIG. 5  with the device operating in essentially the same manner as the first embodiment. However, the flat washer  50  provides greater resistance to removal or theft of the cover in that it is more resistant to removal than the slotted cup washer of the first embodiment. In an optional arrangement a cotter pin or the like can be provided through an opening in the pin inwardly of the washer to retain the washer on the pin. 
     Numerous modification of the disclosed embodiments will undoubtedly occur to those of skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.