The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 16, 1981
Filed:
Feb. 01, 1979
Robert W Sutton, Port Orford, OR (US);
Other;
Abstract
A hatch cover for closing and sealing a hatch opening has a latching mechanism at one side of the cover which includes a rotatable hub and plural latching arms extending in different directions from the hub towards a rim of the opening. Rotation of the hub in one direction causes the latching arms to engage the rim and tightly latch the cover to the rim while rotation of the hub in the opposite direction retracts the latching arms and frees them from the rim to enable removal of the cover from the opening. A shaft extends through the cover and is axially slidable and rotatable relative to it. The shaft is axially slidable relative to the hub and continuously engages it so that rotation of the shaft correspondingly rotates the hub. A handle fixed to the upper end of the shaft rotates the hub to activate the arms. When the cover is latched tightly to the rim, axial sliding of the shaft in one direction moves the handle into an aligned recess in the top surface of the cover so latched and unlatched conditions of the cover can be determined by visually inspecting the position of the handle. A seal surrounding the shaft between the shaft and cover prevents leakage of fluid therebetween when the handle is in the recess. The shaft defines a venting passageway which automatically bypasses the seal when the handle is withdrawn from the recess.