Sprinkler Cover

Abstract

A protective cover for sprinkler heads which consists of two symmetrical parts defining a pair of open hollow cavities, the symmetrical parts being adapted to be biased together to form an enclosed cavity around a sprinkler head. A member having a curved flat surface which is adapted to be attached to the outer surface of a water pipe is connected to each symmetrical part. The curved surfaces of each of the members and the symmetrical parts are biased respectively around a water pipe and together by a spring which is attached to the members to form a closed cavity around the sprinkler head.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The invention relates to an apparatus used for covering sprinkler heads to prevent the ingress of foreign matter such as paint into the sprinkler head perforations. At present, sprinkler heads are hand wrapped with foil or tape prior to painting in their neighborhood and such procedure is very inconvenient and time-consuming and requires removal by hand.

U.S. Pat. No. 196,055 Talcott discloses a tin cap which is secured over a sprinkler head to prevent the ingress of dust into the perforations of the sprinkler head. The tin cap fits loosely around the outside surface of the sprinkler head permitting it to be blown off by the operation of the sprinkler system. Talcott's apparatus suffers from disadvantages not found in the instant invention. The loose fit between Talcott's tin cap and the sprinkler head would not be sufficient to prevent the ingress of the very small droplets of paint produced by a spray gun being used to paint the surfaces adjacent to the sprinkler head. Any attempt to more tightly fit the tin cap around the sprinkler head would make it difficult or impossible to remove either by the activation of the sprinkler system or by human intervention.

U.S. Pat. No. 1,717,709 Johnson discloses a cushion for sprinkler heads. Johnson's apparatus is made primarily to prevent damage to the sprinkler head or to a person contacting the sprinkler head. Unlike the instant invention, the Johnson apparatus does not prevent the ingress of foreign matter into the perforations of the sprinkler head.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Fire regulations are mandatory that all sprinkler heads must be covered while painting is conducted. The instant invention represents a substantial savings in the cost of labor and materials used in temporarily covering sprinkler heads.

The cost savings in installation result from the construction of the instant invention which permits remote installation by a person standing on the ground by means of a simple extended pincer tool or by hand. The cost savings in material flow from the small number of parts used in the instant invention and the low cost of construction of these few parts.

A pair of symmetrical parts are provided that define a pair of open hollow concave cavities that close upon each other to define a substantially enclosed cavity, each part also comprising a member with a curved flat surface adapted to clasp a water pipe attached to the lower edge thereof. Thus, the pair of parts forms a structure which is adapted to be mounted on a water pipe to form a substantially enclosed cavity around a sprinkler head which is mounted on the water pipe. A spring is attached to each of the curved members to bias the curved surfaces around the outer surface of the water pipe and to form a substantially enclosed cavity from the pair of symmetrical parts which individually define and open hollow concave cavity. Downwardly extending projections are secured to the lower end of each curved member. Pinching together of the projections produces parting of the curved flat surfaces of the members from the surface of the water pipe and causes the two symmetrical parts defining the closed cavity around the sprinkler head to separate from each other to permit the removal of the protective cover from the sprinkler head. The parts defining the hollow cavities may be dimensioned so that their edges overlap.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a side view of the protective cover.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the protective cover.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the mounting structure of the metal spring.

FIG. 4 is a view of the metal spring.

FIG. 5 is a view showing the protective cover just before mounting.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, the entire protective cover is designated as 6. Because of the general symmetry between the two sides of the instant protective cover, only one side will be described in detail.

Hollow symmetrical parts 8 and 8' form a substantially enclosed cavity around the sprinkler head 10 which is shown in phantom.

Connected to each of the symmetrical parts 8 and 8' is a curved member 12 having an inner flat curved surface 14 which is adapted to embrace the outer surface of water pipe 16. At the lower end of member 12, there is a projection 18. A spring 20 is attached to the lower part of each member 12 to form point 22 about which the member 12 and symmetrical part 8 pivot when projections 18 are pinched together to remove the sprinkler cover 6 from the pipe 16. While in a preferred form of the invention, spring 20 is not a unitary part of the remaining parts of the cover, it should be noted that symmetrical parts 8 and 8', members 12, and spring 20 could all be molded from a plastic such as polyethylene as a one piece unit.

In the preferred form of the invention, symmetrical part 8 and 8' and associated members 12 are molded from polyethylene in a one step molding operation.

Referring to FIG. 2, slot 24 provides an aperture through which spring 20 extends for attachment to each member 12.

Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown the half 8 of the sprinkler cover with the mounting structure for metal spring 20 shown in section. The lower portion of member 12 has a recess 26 which has a first convex wall 30 and a second downwardly extending wall 32 which forms edge 34. Projecting up and away from edge 34 is wall 36. Spring 20 has contact point 22 which functions as a pivot point. The concave wall 28 defining part of the slot 24 is in contact with the top side of spring 20.

FIG. 4 shows the configuration of spring 20. The top side of spring 20 consists of convex sections 42 which are in surface contact with the concave wall 28. The concave surfaces 40 are in surface contact with the edge 34 and surface 36 of recess 26. The middle section 38 may be constructed to be wider than the end portions of spring 20 to increase the resiliency.

Referring to FIG. 5, the sprinkler head cover is shown in the open position about to be placed around the pipe and covering the sprinkler head.

The operation of the sprinkler head cover is as follows. The person securing the sprinkler head guards pinches the projections 18 together causing the symmetrical parts 8 and 8' and the parts 12 to spread apart around the pipe and sprinkler head. For convenience, a long handled pincer hold of the type utilized in placing and removing packages from shelves in grocery stores may also be utilized. When the sprinkler head guard is positioned around the sprinkler head 10 and associated water pipe 16 as shown in FIG. 5, the ends of projections 18 are released causing the symmetrical parts 8 to close upon each other forming a closed cavity to prevent paint from contacting the sprinkler head 10. The curved surfaces 14 of members 12 clamp around the water pipe 16 holding the sprinkler head guard securely in place. The cover is removed in reverse order.

As shown in FIG. 1, the matching parts 8 and 8' may be preferably dimensioned so that the edge 9 of part 8 slightly overlaps the corresponding edge 9' of part 8'.

It is understood that the sprinkler head may be on the top or bottom of the pipe.

While the invention has been described with respect to a preferred embodiment, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A protective cover for sprinklers and the like comprising in combination, a pair of symmetrical parts each defining a hollow concave cavity having an opening, each of said symmetrical parts having an edge defining said opening, said openings being capable of being temporarily brought together to form a substantially enclosed cavity, and a curved member having a curved planar surface being adapted to embrace an outer surface of a tubular conduit, said curved member being attached to the lower edge of said symmetrical part defining a hollow concave cavity, and means for biasing said curved planar surfaces of said curved members against said tubular conduit and biasing the openings of said symmetrical parts together to form a substantially enclosed hollow cavity which is adapted to protect a sprinkler head from the ingress of foreign material.

2. A protective cover for sprinklers and the like as recited in claim 1 wherein said biasing means comprises a spring which may be selectively detached and reattached to said curved members.

3. A protective cover for sprinklers and the like as recited in claim 1 wherein said symmetrical parts, said curved members and said means for biasing comprise an integral structure of plastic.

4. A protective cover for sprinklers and the like as recited in claim 2 wherein each of said curved members further comprise a recess having at least first and second walls, said first wall having a concave surface and said second wall having a first downwardly projecting surface and a second surface projecting away from said downwardly projecting surface to form an edge, said spring member further having a convex and two concave surfaces, each of said concave surfaces of said first walls respectively contacting said convex surface of said spring member and said concave surfaces of said spring member respectively contacting a different one of the edges of said recesses.

5. A protective cover for sprinklers and the like as claimed in claim 1 wherein said spring is constructed of steel and said symmetrical parts are constructed of plastic.