U.S. patent number 3,771,387 [Application Number 05/308,008] was granted by the patent office on 1973-11-13 for control device with concealed selector means and method of making the same.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Robertshaw Controls Company. Invention is credited to Jay L. Lewis.
United States Patent |
3,771,387 |
Lewis |
November 13, 1973 |
CONTROL DEVICE WITH CONCEALED SELECTOR MEANS AND METHOD OF MAKING
THE SAME
Abstract
A control device having a casing provided with an opening
through which a movable selector member extends for permitting
manual movement of the selector member for setting the desired
operation of the control device. A cover member is detachably
secured to the casing and closes the opening over and around the
selector member to conceal and prevent operation of the selector
member unless the cover member and/or the casing is removed to
expose the selector member. The cover member has a pair of flanges
extending therefrom which are bent inside the casing against the
under side thereof to provide securing means for the cover member
to the casing that must be unfastened inside the casing before the
cover member can be removed.
Inventors: |
Lewis; Jay L. (Knox City,
TN) |
Assignee: |
Robertshaw Controls Company
(Richmond, VA)
|
Family
ID: |
23192141 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/308,008 |
Filed: |
November 20, 1972 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
74/566; 200/333;
337/380 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01H
9/287 (20130101); Y10T 74/2093 (20150115) |
Current International
Class: |
H01H
9/28 (20060101); H01H 9/20 (20060101); H01h
027/00 (); H01h 037/04 () |
Field of
Search: |
;74/566 ;137/382
;200/42R ;337/323,380 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Herrmann; Allan D.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A control device having a casing provided with an opening
therein, a movable selector means extending out of said opening for
permitting manual movement of said selector means for setting the
desired operation of said control device, and a cover member
detachably secured to said casing and closing said opening over
said selector means to prevent operation of said selector means
unless said cover member and/or said casing is removed to expose
said selector means.
2. A control device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said cover
member has flange means projecting therefrom and being bent
outwardly therefrom inside said casing to detachably secure said
cover member to said casing.
3. A control device as set forth in claim 2 wherein said opening in
said casing is substantially rectangular, said flange means of said
cover member cmprising a pair of flanges respectively disposed at
opposed sides of said rectangular opening.
4. A control device as set forth in claim 3 wherein said cover
member is substantially of an inverted U-shape in transverse cross
section thereof.
5. A control device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said cover
member has securing means located inside said casing so that said
casing must be removed from said control device to expose said
securing means for detaching said cover member from said
casing.
6. A method for making a control device comprising the steps of
forming an opening in a casing of said control device, causing a
movable selector means to extend out of said opening for permitting
manual movement of said selector means for setting the desired
operation of said control device, and detachably securing a cover
member to said casing to close said opening around and over said
selector means to prevent operation of said selector means unless
said cover member and/or said casing is removed to expose said
selector means.
7. A method as set forth in claim 6 and including the steps of
forming said cover member with flange means projecting therefrom,
and bending said flange means outwardly therefrom inside said
casing to detachably secure said cover member to said casing at
said opening thereof.
8. A method as set forth in claim 7 wherein said opening in said
casing is substantially rectangular and wherein said step of
forming said flange means of said cover member comprises the step
of forming a pair of flanges to be respectively disposed at opposed
sides of said rectangular opening and be bent outwardly
therefrom.
9. A method as set forth in claim 8 and including the step of
forming said cover member to be substantially of an inverted
U-shape in transverse cross section thereof.
10. A method as set forth in claim 6 and including the step of
forming said cover member with securing means to be located inside
said casing so that said casing must be removed from said control
device to expose said securing means for detaching said cover
member from said casing.
Description
This invention relates to a control device having means for
concealing the manual setting means thereof and to the method for
making such a control device or the like.
It is well known that control devices have been provided with
movable selector means so that the operator can select the desired
setting for such a control device through the manual movement of
the selector means. For example, such control devices can comprise
room thermostats each of which can have the movable selector member
thereof be adapted for selecting the desired temperature output
effect of a heat exchanger operatively interconnected to the
thermostat.
However, it has been found according to the teachings of this
invention, while it is desired to have a selectable setting means
for such a control device, it is also sometimes desirable to
prevent such thermostat from being readjusted from a set position
thereof by other than informed and/or authorized personnel.
Therefore, it is a feature of this invention to provide means for
concealing the manual selector means of a control device so that
the same cannot be utilized to reset the setting thereof unless
certain steps are followed for resetting the control device.
For example, one embodiment of this invention provides a control
device having a casing provided with an opening therein and through
which a movable selector means extends for permitting manual
movement of the selector means for selecting the desired operation
of the control device. A cover member of this invention is
detachable secured to the casing for closing the opening over and
around the selector means to not only conceal the selector means,
but to also prevent operation of the selector means unless the
cover member and/or the casing is removed to expose the selector
means. The cover member has securing means thereof disposed inside
the casing so that the cover member cannot be removed unless the
casing is removed from the control device by special tools or the
like.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved
control device having one or more of the novel features set forth
above or hereinafter shown or described.
Another object of this invention is to provide a method for making
such a control device or the like.
Other objects, uses and advantages of this invention are apparent
from a reading of this description, which proceeds with reference
to accompanying drawings forming a part thereof and wherein:
FIG. 1 is a front view of the improved control device of this
invention without utilizing the cover member of this invention.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on line 2--2 of
FIG. 1, with the casing of the control device removed.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the cover member of this
invention.
FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1 and illustrates the cover member
of FIG. 3 attached to the casing of the control device of FIG. 1,
FIG. 4 being partially broken away.
FIG. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on
line 5--5 of FIG. 4.
While the various features of this invention are hereinafter
described and illustrated as being particularly adapted for
providing concealing means for the selector means of a thermostat,
it is to be understood that the various features of this invention
can be utilized singly or in any combination thereof for providing
concealing means for the selector means of other types of control
devices as desired.
Therefore, this invention is not to be limited to only the
embodiment illustrated in the drawings, because the drawings are
merely utilized to illustrate one of the wide variety of uses of
this invention.
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the improved control device of this
invention is generally indicated by the reference numeral 10 and
comprises a cup-shaped rectangular casing 11 adapted to be
detachably secured over the main support means 12 of the control
device 10 that is formed from a plurality of plates 13, 14, 15 and
16, disposed and secured in stacked relation. For example, the
cup-shaped casing member 11 can have its open end telescoped over
the supporting structure 12 and can then be secured to the
supporting structure 12 by suitable threaded fastening members
passing through the casing 11 and into threaded openings 17 in the
supporting structure 12 so that in order for the cup-shaped casing
member 11 to be removed from over the supporting structure 12,
special tools will be required to so remove such casing structure
11.
The casing 11 has a front wall 18 provided with a window 19 therein
for exposing an indicator 20 on a movable selector member 21 which
indicates the setting of the selector member 21 by the position of
the indicator 20 relative to a temperature scale 22 formed on the
front wall 18 adjacent the window 19 as illustrated in FIG. 1.
Normally, an outer peripheral, ribbed portion 23 of the selector
member 21 projects out through a rectangular opening 24 formed in
the cup-shaped casing 11 in the manner illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2
and since the selector member 21 is rotatably mounted to the
supporting structure 12 by a threaded fastening member 25, the
selector member 21 can be manually rotated relative to the
supporting structure 12 for setting the temperature setting of the
thermostat 10 which setting will correspond to the position of the
indicator 20 thereof relative to the temperature scale 22.
While the particular details of the control device 10 and its
temperature-responsive function does not form any part of this
invention, it can readily be seen in FIG. 2 that a cam rise 26 is
formed on the selector member 21 and is adapted to operate against
an end 27 of a bimetal arrangement 28 that has one end 29 of a
bimetal member 30 thereof acting against a ball bleed valve member
31 so that the force of the bimetal member 30 tending to urge the
ball valve member 31 against a conical valve seat 32 of the
supporting structure 12 will be varied by the particular position
of the selector member 21 relative to the supporting structure
12.
As previously states, it is sometimes desirable to prevent
unauthorized personnel from resetting the selector means 21 of the
control device 10 after the same has been set in a desired position
thereof for desired purposes.
Accordingly, it is a feature of this invention to provide means for
concealing the selector member 21 after the same has been set in a
desired position thereof to prevent unauthorized personnel from
resetting the selector means 21.
Referring now to FIG. 3, a cover member of this invention is
generally indicated by the reference numeral 33 and is
substantially of a rectangular cup-shape so as to define opposed
parallel sides 34 and 35 joined together at the upper ends thereof
by a rectangular flat top wall 36 and another pair of opposed
parallel end walls 37 and 38 respectively joined at the upper ends
thereof to the top wall 36 and having flange extensions 39 and 40
extending downwardly thereform beyond the side walls 34 and 35.
The cover member 33 can be formed of metal or other desired
material and is preferably formed of opaque material so that the
same will completely conceal from view the selector member 21 at
the opening 24 in the casing 11 in a manner now to be
described.
With the casing 11 removed from the supporting structure 12, the
cover member 33 is inserted into the opening 24 and the depending
flanges 39 and 40 of the end walls 37 and 38 are bent outwardly in
the manner illustrated in FIG. 4 so as to bear against the
underside 41 of the casing 11 and thereby detachably secure the
cover member 33 to the casing 11. When the casing 11 is
subsequently reattached to the supporting structure 12 after the
selector member 21 has been set in the desired position thereof, it
can readily be seen in FIGS. 4 and 5 that the cover member 33
completely covers the projecting portion of the selector member 21
at the opening 24 of the casing 11 so that unauthorized personnel
are not only unaware that the device 10 has a manually movable
selector means 21 as the same is concealed from view, but also the
unauthorized personnel cannot readjust the selector member 21
unless the cover member 33 and/or casing 11 is removed from the
supporting structure 12.
However, in order to remove the cover member 33 from the casing 11,
the casing 11 must be detached from the supporting structure 12 so
that the flanges 39 and 40 can be rebent back into the plane of the
end walls 37 and 38 for removal of the cover member 33 from the
opening 24 of the casing 11.
Therefore, it can be seen that the bent flanges 39 and 40 provide
securing means inside the casing 11 for holding the cover member 33
in its secured position over the opening 24 of the casing 11 to
completely conceal the manually movable portion of the selector
member 21 that is normally exposed for manual selection of the
temperature setting of the thermostat 10.
Thus, it can be seen that this invention not only provides an
improved control device having means for concealing the manual
selector means thereof, but also this invention provides a method
for making such a control device or the like.
While the form and method of this invention now preferred has been
illustrated and described as required by the Patent Statutes, it is
to be understood that other forms and methods can be utilized and
still come within the scope of the appended claims.
* * * * *