Locking stove control knob shield and safety apparatus

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a locking stove control knob shield and safety apparatus which provides a combination of easy attachment with complete “childproof” protection usable on a variety of types and brands of stoves without damage to the stove through attachment and removal.

1 . A safety apparatus designed to serve as a locking stove control knob shield, comprising: 
 an attachment piece which attaches to a stove;    a covering piece which can be rotated up or down depending on the location of stove burner control knobs to cover them; and    a hinge connecting the attachment piece to the covering piece.    
   
   
       2 . The attachment piece of  claim 1 , where, 
 the attachment piece has an end section that fits in between the top panel and front panel of the stove and is bent into a hook shape such that the attachment piece can hook over the lip of said front panel of stove extending back into the interior of the stove.    
   
   
       3 . The safety apparatus of  claim 1 , where, 
 the attachment piece is manufactured with a round hole in it capable of taking through it a hold down screw such that the hold down screw.    
   
   
       4 . The safety apparatus of  claim 3 , where, 
 The attachment piece is manufactured with a square hold in it capable of taking through it a bolt with a square section located directly below the bolt head.    
   
   
       5 . The safety apparatus of  claim 4 , where, 
 The covering piece is manufactured with a round hold in it capable of taking through it a bolt, said round hole located such that it lines up with the square hold in the attachment piece.    
   
   
       6 . The safety apparatus of  claim 5 , where, 
 Extending through the square hole in the attachment piece and the round hole in the covering piece is a means to secure the covering piece such that said covering piece covers the stove control knobs and prevents said stove control knobs from being touched while said covering piece is in place.    
   
   
       7 . The safety apparatus of  claim 6 , where, 
 The means of securing is a safety bolt, comprising,    a round bolt head of a diameter larger than the square hole in the attachment piece,    a square section directly below said round head, said square section of a size which fits exactly into said square hole in said attachment piece,    a round shank section below said square section,    a distal end at the other end of said safety bolt containing threads over which a nut could be screwed on, and    a hole in said distal end directly above said threads, said hole of suitable diameter to take through it a cotter pin.    
   
   
       8 . The safety apparatus of  claim 7 , where, 
 the hole is the distal end of the safety bolt is large enough to take through it the bar of a padlock.    
   
   
       9 . The safety apparatus of  claim 5 , where, 
 the means of securing is a rack and pinion gear apparatus.    
   
   
       10 . The rack and pinion gear apparatus of  claim 9 , where, 
 the top of the pinion gear is of a square or other unique shape such that it can be turned only by a key of the same shape, said key being detachable from said pinion gear such that an adult using a stove could take the key with them to prevent children from opening the covering piece and accessing the stove control knobs.    
   
   
       11 . The safety apparatus of  claim 6 , where, 
 The means of securing is a key lock built into the covering plate, consisting of, a key assembly extending out of said covering plate, and a safety bolt.    
   
   
       12 . The safety apparatus of  claim 6  where, 
 The means of securing is a “U”-shaped piece of metal extending out from the lip of the stove, protruding through a slot in the covering plate, through which the shackle of a lock, either a combination lock or a key lock, and be inserted, and the lock secured.