Abstract:
A window well cover that is universal to the extent that it will work on different sizes and shapes of window wells within a certain range for each size of window well cover produced.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    Not Applicable 
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
       [0002]    Not Applicable 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0004]    The present invention relates in general to a cover for a window well associated with a window of a building and more specifically concerns a window well cover that can be attached to many different sizes and shapes of window wells so that the window well can be opened for access as desired. 
         [0005]    2. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0006]    The use of window wells surrounding the exterior of below grade windows, such as a window in the basement wall of a building is widely known. Normally, such windows are near the upper side of the basement wall but are either partly or wholly below grade. To protect the window from backfill and other damage and to allow sunlight to be exposed to the window, it is customary for a window well to be placed around the full exterior of the window. 
         [0007]    To comply with safety regulations concerning ingress and egress from below grade windows and to increase the amount of sunlight that is allowed therethrough, a trend has developed of providing relatively large window wells surrounding such windows. Although such enlarged construction has many advantages, it also has the disadvantages of allowing for rubbish and other materials to collect in the window well areas and in times of intense rain can serve as a collecting basin for unwanted amounts of moisture. 
         [0008]    To lessen the above noted disadvantages, it is known in the art to provide window well covers for below grate windows and a variety of different types of embodiments of such covers have previously been utilized. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,455 issued to Veazey discloses a window well cover that includes an extruded metal frame for receiving the perimeter portions of a plastic glazing sheet to serve as a cover member for a window well. Although such window well structure appears to provide a relatively lightweight cover apparatus for a window well, the specific structure it employs appears to be unnecessarily complicated and relatively expensive to manufacture. The present invention provides an improved structure for a window well cover apparatus that is more universal in fitting different sizes and shapes of window wells and avoids the foregoing disadvantages of prior art window well covers. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    The present invention relates to a window well cover that is universal to the extent that it will work on different sizes and shapes of window wells within a certain range for each size of window well cover produced. 
         [0010]    Many buildings, such as single family dwellings, have at least one wall portion thereof below the top grade of the ground surrounding the building, such as in a basement. These buildings often have a window disposed in the at least one wall portion for allowing light to shine into the basement and to allow egress in the case of an emergency such a fire. In that case, a window well is disposed at least partially below grade adjacent the outside of the window, the window well comprising a substantial vertical wall extending from the left side of the window to the right side of the window, an intermediate portion of the wall being spaced from the window to form a space to allow egress in case of emergency. In most cases the wall almost always has a substantially continuous enlarged upper lip. 
         [0011]    The present invention relates to a window well cover detachable to the upper lip of the aforementioned window well. The window well cover includes a frame with a plurality of spring clips attached to the frame, each of the spring clips having an inner and an outer downwardly extending flange biased towards each other, the inner flange being in abutment with the inner side of the enlarged upper flange of the window well and the outer flange being in abutment with the outer side of the enlarged upper lip of the window well. Each spring clip is pivotally attached to a bracket about a first substantial vertical axis for permitting alignment of the inner and outer flange with respect to the enlarged upper lip of the window well wall. Also, the bracket is pivotally attached to the frame about a second substantial vertical axis to allow the clip to be adjusted with respect to the frame. By using this structure, the window well cover can be used on various sizes and shapes of window well covers within a certain range for each window well cover manufactured. 
         [0012]    The design of the window well cover of the present invention is different than prior art covers that are attached to a building by attaching it to the side of the building with a hinge because: (1) There is no hinge on the back side of the cover; (2) It is not mounted to the house or building wall; (3) It is installed to the window well with clips; (4) The installation requires no tools and is very simple; (5) The cover mount adjusts, within limits, to the shape of the well and (6) The design can have a simple two inch aluminum profile. 
     
    
     
         [0013]    Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
         BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0014]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a building with a window below the top grade of the ground around the building, a window well between the window and the ground and a cover constructed in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  is a cross sectional view taken along line  2 - 2  of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  is a cross sectional view taken along line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  is a cross sectional view taken along line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 1  and showing how a clip can be repositioned between the solid line position and the dashed line position; 
           [0018]      FIG. 5  is a top view of the window well cover of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0019]      FIG. 6  is a left side view of the window well cover of  FIG. 5 ; 
           [0020]      FIG. 7  is a right side view of the window well cover of  FIG. 5 ; 
           [0021]      FIG. 8  is a front elevational view of the window well cover of  FIG. 5 ; 
           [0022]      FIG. 9  is a rear elevational view of the window well cover of  FIG. 5 ; 
           [0023]      FIG. 10  is a perspective view of the bottom side of the window well cover of  FIG. 5 ; 
           [0024]      FIG. 11  is a cross sectional view taken along line  11 - 11  of  FIG. 10 ; 
           [0025]      FIG. 12  is an enlarged partial cross sectional view taken along line  12 - 12  of  FIG. 10  showing how a translucent two layer sheet of polycarbonate is inserted into a slot in the frame of the window well cover during the manufacturing process; 
           [0026]      FIG. 13  is a perspective view showing how a blind rivet is used to attach the bracket and clip to the frame of the window well cover; 
           [0027]      FIG. 14  is an enlarged partial cross sectional view similar to  FIG. 4  and showing that if a bolt is tightened from the solid line position of the clip the sides of the clip will move in to the dashed line position, closer together; 
           [0028]      FIG. 15  is a perspective view showing how a bracket is pivotally attached by a rivet to the frame and how the bracket can pivot about the longitudinal axis of the rivet and clip can rotate about the longitudinal axis of the threaded fastener; 
           [0029]      FIG. 16  is a perspective exploded view showing how a bracket is pivotally attached by a rivet to the frame and how a nut and bolt/threaded fastener attaches the clip to the bracket; 
           [0030]      FIG. 17  is a perspective view showing how the clip attached to the window well cover can be attached to the top edge of a window well; and 
           [0031]      FIG. 18  is a perspective view from an underside of the window well cover showing how a bracket is pivotally attached by a rivet to the frame, how a nut and bolt/threaded fastener attaches the clip to the bracket and how the clip is attached to the upper lip of the window well. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0032]    Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views,  FIG. 1  shows a building ( 10 ) having a window ( 11 ) below the top grade ( 12 ) of the ground. A metal corrugated window well ( 13 ) extends from one side of the window ( 11 ) to the other side to form a space between the window ( 11 ) and the window well ( 13 ) to allow light to come in through the window ( 11 ) and to allow egress in case of an emergency, such as a fire in the room in which the window ( 11 ) is located. 
         [0033]    A window well cover ( 15 ) has a frame ( 16 ) of a cross section shown in  FIG. 2 . A clear plastic polycarbonate member ( 17 ) is placed in the opening ( 16   a ) between flanges ( 16   b ) and ( 16   c ) as shown in  FIGS. 2 ,  4  and  12 . Braces ( 18 ) are placed under the layer of polycarbonate ( 17 ). The cross sectional shapes of those members ( 18 ) are shown in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0034]    A flange ( 19 ) is attached to the ends of the frame ( 16 ) and to one end of each of the brace members ( 18 ). In most prior art devices, this flange ( 19 ) is attached with a hinge to the building, but no hinges are necessary in the present invention. Referring to  FIG. 4 , it can be seen that the two layer of poly-bicarbonate ( 17 ) with an upper layer ( 17   t ) and a bottom layer ( 17   b ) fits between the flanges ( 16   b ) and ( 16   c ) of frame member ( 16 ). 
         [0035]    A bracket ( 20 ) can be seen in  FIGS. 4 ,  13  and  16 . The bracket ( 20 ) is attached by a blind rivet ( 21 ) through hole ( 20   a ) in flange ( 16   c ) of the frame ( 16 ). 
         [0036]    Still referring to  FIGS. 4 ,  13  and  16 , it is noted that a threaded fastener ( 22 ) extends through an opening ( 23   h ) of clip ( 23 ) and through an opening ( 20   b ) in bracket ( 20 ). A nut ( 24 ) is received into the enlarged recess opening ( 20   r ) best shown in  FIG. 13  so that when the fastener ( 22 ) is tightened into the nut ( 24 ), the nut ( 24 ) will not turn due to being in the recess ( 20   r ). 
         [0037]    Referring now to  FIG. 14 , it is noted that when the threaded fastener is in the position shown in dashed lines and the clip ( 23 ) is shown in solid lines that the inner part ( 23   a ) and the outer part ( 23   b ) are spaced apart in order to go over the well top ( 13   t ). If the well top ( 13   t ) is smaller than that shown in  FIG. 14  for example, then the threaded fastener ( 22 ) would be tightened so that an arcuate part of the top ( 23   t ) of clip ( 23 ) would move upwardly to the dashed line position shown in  FIG. 14  thereby causing the inner clip portion ( 23   a ) and the outer clip portion ( 23   b ) to move closer together to the dashed line position shown in  FIG. 14 . 
         [0038]    Having now described the structure shown in the drawings, the operation of the cover ( 15 ) will be explained. Referring to  FIGS. 14-17 , it is noted that if the clip ( 23 ) is not directly above the lip ( 13   t ) of the window well, then the bracket ( 20 ) would be pivoted around the vertical axis of the rivet ( 21 ) for example, from the position shown in solids lines in  FIG. 4  to the position shown in dashed lines in  FIG. 4  or anywhere in between. Then if the clip ( 23 ) is not exactly aligned about the vertical axis of the fastener ( 22 ), the clip would be rotated about that vertical axis to the position shown in  FIGS. 4 ,  14 ,  17  and  18 . The reason for the rotation about the axis of rivet ( 21 ) and rotation about the axis of threaded fastener ( 22 ) is that the clip ( 23 ) can be moved in or out depending on how far the top ( 13   t ) of the well is by rotating the clip about the axis of the rivet ( 21 ) and then depending upon the orientation of the well at that particular point the clip ( 23 ) can be rotated to accommodate that. 
         [0039]    It will be appreciated that once the window well cover is on the window well, someone wishing to egress through the window ( 11 ) shown in  FIG. 1  can merely open the window ( 11 ), push up on the window well cover ( 15 ) and it will pop up off the lip ( 13   t ) of the window well ( 13 ) because the clips ( 23 ) permit upward movement of the window well cover ( 15 ) by allowing the clip ( 23 ) to move off of the top of the window well ( 13   t ). For initial installation or after an emergency removal, the window well cover ( 15 ) can be easily replaced as explained above with respect to the initial installation thereof. Or it could be moved to a window well of a slightly different shape or configuration within certain limits. 
         [0040]    Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.