Patent ID: 8136298

Claim:
A shutter attached to a structure over an opening in the structure, comprising: a) a frame formed by a pair of vertical members and a pair of horizontal members connected to each other and defining an interior area, wherein said pair of horizontal members includes an upper horizontal member and a lower horizontal member, said upper horizontal member having a hinge and said shutter being rotatable about said hinge between an open position and a closed position relative to said structure, wherein said shutter covers the opening in the structure and said frame overlaps the structure on at least one side of the opening when said shutter is in said closed position, and wherein said hinge is attached to the structure above the opening; b) said vertical members of said frame having an exterior which is outside said interior area, said exterior of said vertical members having an inner surface facing towards the structure; c) a plurality of functional horizontal louvers rotatably connected to said frame and substantially filling said interior area of said frame, wherein said louvers are moveable between an opened position and in a closed position, and wherein said louvers have an inner edge facing the structure; d) an operating mechanism having a first portion and a second portion, said first portion mounted to said louvers at said inner edge of said louvers to move said louvers to said opened position as said operating mechanism is pulled away from said inner surface of said vertical members and to move said louvers to said closed position as said operating mechanism is pushed towards said inner surface of said vertical members, wherein said first portion of said operating mechanism remains within said interior area of said frame when said louvers are in said closed position; and e) said second portion of said operating mechanism 1) remaining outside said frame when said louvers are in said closed position, 2) extending away from said first portion of said operating mechanism and extending towards one of said vertical members of said frame, and 3) overlapping said inner surface of said one of said vertical members in a direction generally perpendicular to said inner surface of said one of said vertical members, wherein said second portion of said operating mechanism is disposed between said inner surface of said one of said vertical members and the structure on the at least one side of the opening such that the structure on said at least one side of the opening prevents said operating mechanism from moving away from said inner surface of said vertical members when said shutter is in said closed position.