Importance

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Abstract

The operator assembly for a casement window includes a folding crank handle and cover assembly that are located on the exterior surface of a trim piece on the sill of the window frame. The crank handle is attached to the drive shaft of the operator of the assembly in such a way that the handle may be folded down into a low-profile position in which the knob of the handle projects into a receiving pocket in the cover. An integral flap on the handle extending beyond the knob covers the pocket when the knob is received therein so as to fully conceal both the knob and the pocket and to present a smooth exterior in which surfaces of the handle and cover blend together to eliminate interference with window treatments and persons in the immediately vicinity. Internal detent projections within the pocket yieldably retain the knob so as to provide for snap fit reception of the folded handle into its home position. Finger depressions in sidewalls of the cover on opposite sides of the pocket facilitate gripping of the edges of the handle for unfolding, even though the handle presents a relatively thin cross sectional configuration in the vicinity of the cover flap and pocket. An alternative embodiment discloses an egress operator assembly in which the single link arm that swings the sash between opened and closed positions has a hump adjacent its inner end that clears the worm gear of the operator assembly when the arm is in its fully closed position, thus allowing the arm to cross over the worm gear and lie along the sill in a compacted condition when the sash is closed.

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First Claim