Ventilator hatch assembly

Claim 1

A ventilator hatch assembly for a hatch opening, comprising a frame member including a vertically disposed annular wall portion having a lower wall section and an upper wall section defining a central opening communicating with said hatch opening, said lower wall section being shaped to fit snugly within said hatch opening and said upper wall section providing a peripheral upstanding seat, a hatch member for said central opening, hinge means interconnecting adjacent edge portions of said hatch member and said frame member and accommodating hinged movements of said hatch member between alternative open and closed positions relative to said central opening, said open position of said hatch member being an inclined position overlying said hatch opening and intermediate said closed position and a fully opening position disposed in non-overlying relationship with said hatch opening, said hatch member defining an annular main frame possessing a generally T-shaped cross-sectional configuration defined by a laterally disposed annular upper rim and a depending wall section, said depending wall section being adapted to nest within said frame member and said annular upper rim being adapted to seat against said peripheral upstanding seat when said hatch member is in said closed position, said hinge means being disposed beneath the underside of said hatch opening and comprising a hinge pin carried by said depending wall section of said hatch member, said hinge pin having an axially elongated cylindrical shank portion projecting perpendicularly from said depending wall section towards said frame member, an elongated transverse pivot slot provided in said frame member and receiving said shank portion of said hinge pin therein, said pivot slot having a longitudinal axis disposed in normal relationship with said hatch opening to provide pivotal relative movements of the shank portion of said hinge pin within said pivot slot for accommodating hinged movements of said hatch member between said alternative open and closed positions, said pivot slot having a rim terminus providing a bearing surface firmly bearing against the shank portion of said hinge pin with sufficient force to urge the annular upper rim of said hatch member to firmly clamp against the peripherral upstanding seat of said frame member in tight sealing engagement, manually operable flip-action level means interconnecting said annular main frame of said hatch member and said frame member, said level means being responsive to manual manipulation to flip quickly between an alternative retracted position and an extended position corresponding to said closed and inclined open positions of said hatch member, said flip-action level means including fast response manual detachment means accommodating fast manual detachment of the interconnection thereof between said annular main frame of said hatch member and said frame member, whereby siad hatch member may be quickly positioned in a fully open non-overlying position relative to said hatch opening and thereby facilitate ingress and egress through said hatch opening.