Shutter

A system of connected shutters movable along a pair of rails between a first position at which said rails extend vertically and said shutters are stacked one above another to define a planar substantially closed wall structure and a second position at which said shutters are stored one against another with surfaces of adjacent shutters, which surfaces had abutted one another in the first position, being parallel and essentially coplanar with each other at said second position while respective first and second surfaces of adjacent shutters, which had been parallel and coplanar with each other in said first position, respectively face oppositely from each other at said second position, comprising:

• (a) a plurality of longitudinally elongated shutters, adjacent shutters having ends substantially abutting each other at said first position along surfaces bounded by pairs of longitudinally elongated edges;
• (b) hinge means connecting together adjacent shutters and facilitating relative rotation of said connected shutters with respect to one another in at least one direction, at least alternate ones of said hinge means being located at respective odd or even junctures of adjacent shutters of said assembly being a two-way hinge assembly facilitating relative rotation of the two connected abutting shutters in respective direction about respective axes defined by said parallel longitudinally extending edges of said surface along which said shutters abut, thereby permitting rotation of one of said abutting connected shutters in either direction with respect to said other shutter at said abutting surface, said two-way hinge assemblies comprising:
• (i) a pair of pin members, said pin members being connected to a first one of said abutting shutters at opposed edges thereof at said abutting end, said pins being parallel to one another and extending substantially coaxial with a respective axis;
• (ii) a female member for receiving said pin members of said pair, fixedly connected to the abutting end of the second abutting shutter, having a receptacle slot bounded by respective jaw members defining a mouth opening away from said second shutter, said slot including a pair of oppositely directed, coplanar curved channels extending from said mouth towards said second abutting shutter for receiving respective pins of said pair, the curvature of said channels being defined by a common radius, said channels including closed bottoms receiving respective pin members for rotation of a pin member thereagainst upon relative rotation of said abutting shutter about said axis coincident with said pin, said jaw members being spaced apart less than the distance between outwardly oppositely facing surfaces of said pins and being spaced from respective bottoms associated with opposite channels sufficiently to permit said pin member normally resident within the associated channel to swing out of said channel and said mouth, free of said female member, upon relative rotation of said abutting shutters in a direction to swing said pin member away from the bottom of the channel in which it normally resides;
• (c) pairs of rollers respectively longitudinally extending in either direction from respective shutters proximate said surfaces at which said shutters abut at said first position;
• and
• (d) said rails receiving said rollers of said respective roller pairs and including means for displacing those rollers connected to said shutters proximate said surfaces of abutment which are joined by said two-way hinge assemblies from the remaining rollers a distance substantially equal to height of a shutter oriented in said first position, when said shutters are at said second position.

Hinge apparatus for connecting together two objects abutting generally along a line and for facilitating relative rotation therebetween in either direction generally about said line and about either one of a pair of axes on either side of said line until one of said objects interfere with the other comprising:

• (a) a base member adaptable for connection with an end portion of a first one of said objects;
• (b) a pair of parallel pins mounted on said base member and displaced from one another generally parallel with and on either side of said line, axes of said pins respectively defining said axes about which said pair of objects selectively rotate with respect to one another;
• (c) a fitting plate adaptable for connection with an end portion of a second one of said objects;
• and
• (d) a receptacle member mounted on said fitting plate for receiving said pair of pins, said receptacle member having a pair of jaws which define a mouth opening therebetween, the distance between inner edges of said jaw members being less than the distance between outwardly oppositely facing surfaces of said pins, said jaws further defining a pair of oppositely directed curved channels which open into said mouth opening, the curvature of said channels being defined by a common radius, each channel having a bottom portion for receiving a respective pin for pin rotation therein upon relative rotation of a selected one of said pins about said axis coincident with said selected pin, thereby permitting an unselected one of said pins normally resident within a channel to swing out of said channel and said mouth opening, upon relative rotation of said selected pin.