Protective enclosure for building openings

Claim 1

A protective enclosure for a building opening, said enclosure comprising: a peripheral frame member circumscribing said opening, said frame member having a Z-shaped cross section including first and second parallel walls connected by a transverse wall, the inner surfaces of said walls adapted to abut a complementary shaped edge of said building openings; first and second fastening means, respectively, extending through said transverse wall and said first wall for securing said frame member to said edge of said building opening; a transparent shielding window unit comprising a peripheral metal member having an inner channel; and a transparent shielding material, the edges of which are mounted in said channel and enclosed by said peripheral member, said shielding material being fabricated from a plastic material of sufficient strength to prevent the breakage thereof by the application of a manual force, said transparent shielding window unit being carried by said frame and movable from a first opened position to a second closed position wherein the peripheral side edge of said metal member abuts said first wall to cover said second fastening means, and the peripheral bottom edge of said metal member snugly engages said transverse wall to cover said first fastening means; locking means for securing said unit to said frame when said unit is in said closed position, said locking means being disposed on the inside surface of said frame and cooperating with said unit and said frame to prevent the opening of said unit; hinge means extending along one edge of said unit for pivotally attaching said one edge of said unit to an edge of said frame member such that said unit may be moved toward and away from said frame member to open and close said building opening; said hinge means comprising: a first element carried by said one edge of said frame and extending the full length of the adjacent edge of said unit, said first element having first and second spaced, lengthwise recesses; a second hinge element integrally formed to the lengthwise edge of said unit, said hinge element having a pivot member of a circular configuration extending the full length thereof, said pivot member being pivotally received within one of said recesses to permit said unit to be pivoted with respect to said first hinge element; and said second hinge element having a second non-circular projection receivable in the other of said recesses to lockingly secure said unit to said hinge when said unit is pivoted toward said frame to enclose said fastening means.