Patent ID: 7370682

Claim:
A rolling shutter assembly comprising a shutter, wherein: the shutter includes a series of shutter panels, each panel having first and second opposite substantially straight edges, adjacent shutter panels in the series are pivotally connected together by first and second pivotally linked hinge members, each hinge member has first and second opposite substantially straight edges, the second edge of a first said shutter panel is pivotally attached by a first pivotal attachment to the first edge of the first hinge member, the second edge of the first hinge member is pivotally attached by a second pivotal attachment to the first edge of the second hinge member, the second edge of the second hinge member is pivotally attached by a third pivotal attachment to the first edge of a second shutter panel, the second shutter panel is adjacent to said first shutter panel, and the angular pivotal range of at least one of said pivotal attachments is constrained to maintain the pivotal axis of the second pivotal attachment offset to one side of an imaginary plane in which the pivotal axes of the first and third pivotal attachments lie; a pair of guide tracks, wherein: each of the shutter panels has a pair of opposite substantially parallel side edges which are substantially perpendicular to said first and second edges of the shutter panels, each of the hinge members has a pair of opposite substantially parallel side edges which are substantially perpendicular to said first and second edges of the hinge members, each guide track has a pair of substantially parallel side walls ( 30 , 31 ), each said side edge slides between said substantially parallel side walls of one or other of the guide tracks to guide the shutter as the shutter moves between opened and closed states, and each said side edge is engaged between said substantially parallel side walls of one or other of the guide tracks when the shutter is closed; wherein each pair of first and second hinge members pivotally connecting adjacent shutter panels in said series is configured to open when an upwardly directed force is applied to the upper edge of the upper one of said pair of hinge members while a downwardly directed force is applied to the lower edge of the lower one of said pair of hinge members and, when thus opened, to be dimensioned to be freely slidable up or down between each pair of parallel side walls of the guide tracks, and said pair of first and second hinge members is configured to close when a downwardly directed force is applied to the upper edge of the upper one of said pair of hinge members while an upwardly directed force is applied to the lower edge of the lower one of said pair of hinge members and, when thus forced toward a closed configuration, is dimensioned to jam between each pair of parallel side walls of the guide tracks.