Breakaway cover for emergency access
AssigneeTextron Innovations Inc.
InventorsTimothy Brian Carr, Chad Richard Haugeberg, Deepak Chandrashekar Jangamakote
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Abstract
A breakaway cover for providing emergency access to a release mechanism for a life raft on a vehicle includes a housing configured to be attached the vehicle. The housing includes a recess wherein the release mechanism may be located. The recess is protected by a cover. The cover has a first end attached the housing and a second end retained to the housing but capable of being pulled free. The cover is configured to fracture along a series of slots proximate the first end when pulled by a user.
Claims14
An apparatus for enabling emergency access to a release mechanism for a life raft on a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
- a housing configured for attachment to the vehicle, the housing including a recess configured to contain the release mechanism therein, the recess having a height and a width perpendicular to the height;
- a cover configured for attachment to the housing, the cover including a perimeter, wherein the perimeter includes a notch, the cover further including a grip, the cover having a height that is greater than the height of the recess and a width that is greater than the width of the recess, a line of slots located proximate to a first end of said cover;
- and
- a retainer including a head, a shaft, and a longitudinal axis, wherein a dimension of the retainer transverse to the longitudinal axis is larger at the head than at the shaft, the shaft being configured to be received at least partially within the notch and the head being configured to cover at least a portion of the perimeter;
- wherein the cover is configured to deflect and rotate along the line of slots in response to a force being applied to the grip such that the perimeter of the cover slides from under the head of the retainer providing access to the recess of the housing.
An apparatus for enabling emergency access to a release mechanism for a life raft on a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
- a housing configured for attachment to the vehicle via a plurality of attachment openings, the housing including a recess configured to contain the release mechanism therein;
- a cover configured for attachment to the housing, the cover including a perimeter, the perimeter including two notches, the cover further including a grip, a plurality of slots located proximate to a first end of said cover;
- and
- two retainers, each retainer including a head, a shaft, and a longitudinal axis, wherein a dimension of the fastener transverse to the longitudinal axis is larger at the head than at the shaft, the shaft of each of the retainers being configured to be received at least partially within one of the notches and the heads of the two retainers being configured to cover at least a portion of the perimeter;
- wherein the cover is configured to deflect and rotate along the line of slots in response to a force being applied to the grip such that the perimeter of the cover slides from under the heads of the two retainers providing access to the recess of the housing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.