Fire Extinguisher Cabinet

Abstract

A molded housing having an outwardly opening cavity therein with an indentation around the edge thereof and a sheet of glass positioned therein. The sheet of glass is maintained in position by overlying plates in each corner affixed to the housing by allen headed bolts or the like. The width of the indentation is increased at the corners of the glass to receive the plates and the allen screws.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Fire extinguisher cabinets are utilized in apartment houses, office buildings, etc. wherever relatively large numbers of people are present so that the extinguisher can be used to extinguish small fires before they become dangerous and out of hand. In general, the fire extinguishers are stored so that they are not subject to vandalism and unnecessary usage but so that they are readily available in the event of an emergency.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In the prior art it is common practice to provide a fire extinguisher cabinet having a glass door hingedly affixed thereto. The fire extinguisher is placed inside the cabinet and the glass door is locked so that the glass must be broken to gain access to the fire extinguisher. These prior art fire extinguisher cabinets have many undesirable features including the fact that they are costly and difficult to maintain. In general, the glass is difficult to replace in the doors and the doors add considerable expense to the original cost. In addition to the above the cabinet must be mounted so that the doors can be opened for maintenance of the fire extinguisher.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention pertains to an improved fire extinguisher cabinet including a housing defining an outwardly opening cavity with an indentation in the outer edge thereof having a breakable transparent sheet positioned therein in sealing engagement over the cavity and maintained in position by clamping means affixed to the housing and partially overlying said sheet. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved fire extinguisher cabinet.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved fire extinguisher cabinet which is relatively inexpensive to produce and maintain.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved fire extinguisher cabinet which can be mounted in a variety of positions relative to a mounting surface.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved fire extinguisher cabinet having a breakable glass sheet or panel therein maintained in position by improved apparatus.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the accompanying specification, claims and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring to the drawings, wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the figures:

FIG. 1 is a view in front elevation of the improved fire extinguisher cabinet;

FIG. 2 is a view in side elevation of the cabinet illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view in top plan of the cabinet illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a corner of the cabinet illustrating the clamping means; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view as seen from the line 5--5 in FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring more specifically to the figures the numeral 10 generally designates a housing formed of a suitable material which may be for example a high impact plastic, or some relatively inexpensive metal, or the like. In the present embodiment the housing 10 is formed of plastic molded in a continuous sheet so as to define a outwardly or forwardly opening boxlike cavity 11 in one side of the housing 10 and so that the edges 12 of the housing 10 are directed in a direction opposite to the direction of the cavity 11. The cavity is defined by inner side walls and a rear wall. The housing further includes a frame-like front wall portion around the cavity having outer side walls extending rearwardly from the outer periphery thereof. The outer side walls terminate in the planar edge 12. In the present embodiment the edges 12 all lie in a common plane at a side opposite the side in which the cavity 11 opens. In terms of mounting the housing 10, the edges 12 are directed rearwardly and the cavity 11 opens forwardly.

The rear side of the housing 10, including the edges 12, is constructed to normally butt against a mounting surface, such as a wall or the like, so that the housing 10 projects outwardly therefrom. In the event that the housing 10 is to be recessed, or positioned within an opening in the surface of a wall or the like, a portion of the housing 10, or edges 12, can be removed, by cutting or the like, so that the edges lay along one of the broken lines illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. It should be understood that these broken lines are simply exemplary and more or less material might be removed from the edges of the housing 10 so that the cabinet is recessed further into a mounting surface or projects a greater distance outwardly therefrom. The housing 10 may be affixed to a mounting surface in a variety of ways but, in general, it is desirable to utilize screws or the like and provide holes therefor through the walls defining the cavity 11. These holes should be provided at the time of installation so they may be aligned with solid supporting members inside of the wall or other supporting structure.

An indentation 15 is formed in the frame-like front wall portion of the housing 10 adjacent to and in surrounding relationship with the cavity 11. The indentation 15 forms a step or ledge surrounding the cavity 11, adapted to receive therein a sheet of breakable transparent material 16, such as glass or the like. The cavity 11 is generally rectangular in cross section and of a height sufficient to receive therein a suitable fire extinguisher, such as that illustrated in dotted lines in FIG. 1. The sheet of breakable material 16 is positioned within the indentation 15 so as to overlay the edges thereof adjacent and in communication with the cavity 11. With the sheet of material 16 correctly positioned in the indentation 15 the cavity 11 is substantially sealed.

Adjacent each corner of the sheet of material 16, the width of the indentation 15 is increased (see FIGS. 1 and 5) to provide additional space or a notch 17 longitudinally outwardly from each corner of the sheet of material 16. Some form of clamping means is utilized to maintain the sheet of material 16 in sealing engagement in the indentation 15. In the present embodiment the clamping means includes four triangularly shaped plates 20 and a bolt 21 engaged through each of the plates 20. The plates 20 are designed to nest in the corners of the indentation 15 with a portion of each plate overlying a corner of the sheet of material 16 and a portion extending into one of the notches 17. Since the sheet of material 16 does not extend into the notch 17 the bolt 21 is free to pass inwardly beyond the sheet of material 16 and engage an opening in the housing 10 (see FIG. 5). It should be understood that the bolts 21 might be of the self-tapping type or the openings in the housing 10 might be internally threaded or have threaded inserts affixed therein. Further, the bolts 21 are generally of the socket headed type, such as allen, etc. or of some similar type which requires a special tool for the removal thereof. Since the plates 20 and bolts 21 maintain the sheet of material 16 fixedly in position and since special tools are required to remove the bolts 21, it is relatively difficult for unauthorized personnel to gain access to the cabinet without breaking the sheet of material 16.

Thus, a fire extinguisher cabinet is disclosed which is relatively simple to manufacture and maintain and which is substantially as tamper-proof as the prior art locked cabinets. The breakable transparent sheet of material in the present cabinet is simple and inexpensive to replace and the housing of the present cabinet is designed to accommodate a variety of mounting circumstances.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A fire extinguisher cabinet, comprising:

a. a housing formed from a substantially continuous sheet of material;

b. said housing defining a generally rectangular, forwardly opening, box-like cavity formed by inner side walls and a rear wall, said cavity having four corners;

c. said housing further including a frame-like, forwardly facing front wall portion around said cavity, and outer side walls extending rearwardly from an outer periphery of said front wall portion, said outer side walls terminating in a planar edge which engages the surface of a wall when mounted thereon;

d. an indentation of predetermined width in said front wall portion surrounding said cavity;

e. a breakable transparent sheet positioned within said indentation in sealing relationship to said cavity; and

f. clamping means affixed to said housing and positioned in said indentation in partial overlying relationship to said sheet for fixedly clamping said sheet in position, the width of said indentation adjacent said corners being increased to receive at least a portion of said clamping means.