AU2003204356A1

AU2003204356A1 - Combined sliding and pivot window assembly with angle adjusting mechanism

Info

Publication number: AU2003204356A1
Application number: AU2003204356A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Ser Lee Neo
Original assignee: SER NEO
Current assignee: SER NEO
Priority date: 2003-05-26
Filing date: 2003-05-26
Publication date: 2004-12-16
Anticipated expiration: 2023-05-26
Also published as: AU2003204356B2

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Applicant(s): SER LEE NEO Invention Title: COMBINED SLIDING AND PIVOT WINDOW ASSEMBLY WITH ANGLE ADJUSTING MECHANISM The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: COMBINED SLIDING AND PIVOT WINDOW ASSEMBLY WITH ANGLE ADJUSTING

MECHANISM

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a combined sliding and pivot window assembly, and more particularly to a combined sliding and pivot window assembly having a substantially C-shaped sash support frame provided withanangleadjustingmechanism for adjusting aangle contained between a horizontal and a vertical member of the sash support frame and thereby allowing a sash pivotally mounted on the sash support frame to be always smoothly pivotally turnable to an open position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION US Patent No. 6,276,092 B1 and Australian Petty Patent No. 728945 (37820/00) granted to the same applicant of the present invention disclose a combined sliding and pivot window assembly, which includes a plurality of sashes separately pivotally mounted on a plurality of substantially C-shaped sash support frames that are then slidably fixed on rails provided on an outer window frame. The number and the arrangement of the sash support frames on one outer window frame of each combined sliding and pivot window assembly may be varied. For instance, there may be two rails provided on the outer window frame with two sash support frames oppositely slidably mounted on each rail, so that total four sash support frames and four sashes are included in one outer window frame. Alternatively, there may be three rails provided on the outer window frame with two sash support frames oppositely slidably mounted on each rail, so that total six sash support frames and six sashes are included in one outer window frame. Or, alternatively, there may be three rails provided on the outer window frame with one sash support frame slidably mounted on each rail, so that total three sash support frames and three sashes are included in one outer window frame.

The sash pivotally mounted on the C-shaped sash support frame may slide along with the sash support frame on the outer window frame, and may stop at any position on the outer window frame and be pivotally pushed outward to an open position. All the C-shaped sash support frames mounted on the same one outer window frame may be slid either to one end of the outer window frame in the case of three sashes on three rails, or to two opposite ends of the outer window frame in the case of four sashes on two rails or six sashes on three rails.

Then, the sashes mounted on the sash support frames may be pivotally turned outward to the open position.

At this point, the whole window does not include any intermediate vertical member to present the widest possible field of view.

In summary, the combined sliding and pivot window assembly disclosed in the above two patents is characterized in the C-shaped sash support frame.

According to the above-mentioned two patents, the C-shaped sash support frame supports one pivot sash while it is slidably mounted on the rail in the outer window frame. Since the C-shaped sash support frames have only one vertical member, the sashes mounted thereon may be simultaneously pivotally turned outward to the open position when the sash support frames are slid to one or two ends of the outer window frame.

On the other hand, the C-shaped sash support frame having only one vertical member has lower structural strength when it is compared with a normal four-member sash support frame. In other words, the sash is pivotally mounted on the sash support frame with its upper and lower pivot shafts located close to the only one vertical member of the sash support frame, and the weight of the sash and the glass pane mounted thereon forms a considerable load to produce a relatively large torque on the pivot shafts of the sash and the only one vertical member of the C-shaped sash support frame. This tends to cause an inclined vertical member of the C-shaped sash support frame, and accordingly, a drooped sash in the sash support frame. Although the sash support frame may be made of a material with increased rigidity and strength to resist the inclination of the vertical member, an outer side of the sash opposite to the pivot shafts, which are usually located about 80cm to 120cm away from the outer side, tends to droop or sink and finally frictionally contact with or even conflict with a lower horizontal member of the C-shaped sash support frame, preventing the sash from being normally turned open.

It is therefore desirable to develop an improved C-shaped sash support frame for the combined sliding and pivot window assembly to overcome the problem of an inclined vertical member of the sash support frame and a drooped sash confiicting with the lower horizontal member of the sash support frame.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A primary object of the present invention is to provide a combined sliding and pivot window assembly with angle adjusting mechanism. The combined sliding and pivot window assembly includes a plurality of substantially C-shaped sash support frames having only one vertical member and slidably fixed on rails provided on an outer window frame, and a plurality of sashes separately pivotally mounted on the C-shaped sash support frames with two pivot shafts of each sash located close to the only one vertical member of the sash support frame.

The C-shaped sash support frame includes an angle adjusting mechanism provided at joints of the vertical member and two horizontal members thereof. With the angle adjusting mechanism, a lower horizontal member of the C-shaped sash support frame may be adjusted relative to the vertical member, so that an angle contained between the lower horizontal member and the vertical member is increased to become larger than degrees to offset a torque produced on the vertical member of the sash support frame by a load of the sash pivotally mounted thereon and a resultant inclination of the vertical member, so that the sash may always be smoothly pivotally turned to the open position, making the C-shaped sash support frame more practical for use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a combined sliding and pivot window assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention viewed from an outside of the window, wherein the window assembly includes total four sashes pivotally mounted on four sash support frames divided into two groups slidably fixed on two rails provided on an outer window frame; Fig. 2 is a simplified sectioned top view of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing two sash support frames of Fig. 1 slidable on the same one rail are in a closed state, wherein two sashes pivotally mounted on the sash support frames are also in a closed position; Fig. 4 is a partially exploded perspective view of Fig.

3, wherein the two sashes are separated from the two sash support frames that are still in the closed state; Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the two sashes of Fig. 4 in the closed position; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the sash support frame of the present invention having a substantially C-shaped configuration; Fig. 7 isanexplodedperspectiveviewofthesashsupport frame of Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a partially assembled perspective view of Fig. 7; Fig. 9 is a partially sectioned front view of the sash support frame of Fig. 6 in an assembled state; Fig. 10 shows the sash support frame of Fig. 9 having an angle-adjusted lower horizontal member; and Fig. 11 is a fragmentary, enlarged view of Fig. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Please refer to Fig. 1 that shows a combined sliding and pivot window assembly 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the combined sliding and pivot window assembly 1 of the illustrated embodiment includes four sashes 10, each of which is pivotally mounted on a substantially C-shaped sash support frame 20; and the C-shaped sash support frames 20 are divided into two groups separately slidably mounted on two pairs of upper and lower rails provided in an outer window frame 30. That is, there are two C-shaped sash support frames 20 slidably mounted on each pair of upper and lower rails, so that the two sash support frames 20 may be slid on the rails in two opposite directions. In Fig. 1, the two C-shaped sash support frames particularly denoted by reference 20bandthe two sashesdenotedbyreference numerals 10a, 10b are mounted on an inner pair of upper andlowerrailsataninteriorsideofthewindowassembly 1, and the other two C-shaped sash support frames particularly denoted by reference numerals 20c, and the two sashes denoted by reference numerals are mounted on an outer pair of upper and lower rails at an exterior side of the window assembly I.

Please refer to Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5 at the same time.

Waterproof means 40, including water/wind shields 41, first water packing strips 42, and leak-proof connectors43, are providedatjoints ofthetwoC-shaped sash support frames 20a, 20b and of the two sashes Moreover, second water packing strips 44 are provided between the two C-shaped sash support frames 20b on the inner rails and the two C-shaped sash support frames 20c, 20d on the outer rails. With the waterproof means 40 and the second water packing strips 44, the combined sliding and pivot window assembly 1 in a closed state, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, is highly airtight and watertight.

As can be seen from Fig. 6, a conventional C-shaped sash support frame 20 is assembled from an upper horizontal member 21, a lower horizontal member 22, and a vertical member 23, such that the other vertical sideofthesashsupportframe20 oppositetothevertical member 23 is actually an opening without any support.

When a sash 10 is pivotally mounted on the C-shaped sash support frame 20, the vertical member 23 of the sash support frame 20 is subject to a torque produced by the sash 10 on it and tends to incline toward the open side of the sash support frame 20. The inclined vertical member 23 results in a drooped sash 10, which tends to have a lower outer edge 11 in contact with the lower horizontal member 22 of the sash support frame 20 and fails to pivotally turn in a smooth manner.

To effectively solve the problem of an inclined vertical member 23 of the sash support frame 20 and a drooped sash 10 on the sash support frame 20, the C-shaped sash support frame 20 for the combined sliding and pivot window assembly 1 of the present invention includes a vertical member 23 that is formed from an inner sleeve 24 and an outer sleeve 25. Please refer to Fig. 7 that is an exploded perspective view of the C-shaped sash support frame 20 for the present invention. The inner sleeve 24 is located in the outer sleeve 25 and is internally provided with vertically extended first and second self-tapping screw seats 241, 242 that are parallelly spaced from each other and sequentially arranged inthesamedirectioninwhich a railsupporting the C-shaped sash support frame 20 extends. The first self-tapping screw seat 241 is located closer to the sash 10 while the second self-taping screw seat 242 is located to an outer side of the first self-taping screw seat 241 opposite to the sash 10. Two pairs of bilateral screws 50 and 51 are screwed into upper and lower ends of the first and the second screw seats 241 and 242, respectively. Both the bilateral screws 51 have two opposite threaded heads 501, 502 and 511, 512, and a stop nut 503, 513 located at a predetermined point on the screws 50, 51.

Please also refer to Figs. 8and9. Inner threadedheads 501, 511 of the screws 50, 51 are screwed into the screw seats 241, 242 in the inner sleeve 24. Outer threaded heads 502, 512 of the screws 50, 51 are internally formed into hexagonal holes 52 and separately extended into the upper and the lower horizontal members 21, 22 via through holes 211 provided on a lower surface of the upper horizontal member 21 and through holes 221 provided on an upper surface of the lower horizontal member 22. Two tightening nuts 53, 54 are then tightened onto the outer threaded heads 502, 512 of the bilateral screws 50, 51 to assemble the upper and the lower horizontal member 21, 22 to the inner and the outer sleeve 24, 25, so that an angle of 90 degrees is contained between the vertical member 23 and any of the two horizontal members 21, 22. When the upper and lower horizontal members 21 and 22 are properly assembled to the inner and the outer sleeve 24, 25 of the vertical member 23, the stop nuts 503, 513 on the bilateral screws 50, 51 are tightly compressed between the inner sleeve 24 and the upper and lower horizontal members 21, 22, as can be best seen from Fig. 9.

The first and second self-tapping screw seats 241, 242 provided in the inner sleeve 24 of the vertical member 23, the bilateral screws 50, 51, and the tightening nuts 53, 54 together constitute an angle adjusting mechanism for the C-shaped sash support frame When the sash 10 is assembled to the C-shaped sash support frame 20 having the vertical member 23 perpendicularly connected to the horizontal members 21, 22, a final angle to be contained between the inner and outer sleeves 24, 2 5 and the lower horizontalmember 22 must be adjusted through the above-mentioned angle adjusting mechanism before the C-shaped sash support frame 20 can be mounted on the pair of upper and lower rails of the outer window frame To adjust the angle contained between the inner and outer sleeves 24, 25 and the lower horizontal member 23, first position the assembled sash 10 and C-shaped sash support frame 20 on a flat worktable, and then loosen the tightening nuts 53, 54 by a certain degree via openings 222 provided on the lower horizontal member 22 corresponding to the bilateral screws 50, 51. Use a hexagonal screwdriver to turn the bilateral screw 50, that is closer to the sash 10, via the internal hexagonal hole 52 at the outer threaded head 502 of the bilateral screw 50, so that the bilateral screw is caused to rotate and downward move out of the first screw seat 241 by a certain distance. At this point, the stop nut 503 is brought to a lower position and thereby forces the lower horizontal member 22 downward in the same direction, as shown in Figs. and 11. That is, the lower horizontal member 22 is inclined and the angle contained between the inner and outer sleeves 24, 25 and the lower horizontal member 22 is changed from a right angle to an angle slightly larger than 90 degrees. The assembled sash 10 and C-shaped sash support frame 20 having a downward adjusted lower horizontal member 22 is then positioned upright, allowing the inclined lower horizontal member 22 to fitly bear against the flat worktable or the lower rail of the outer window frame 30. At this point, the vertical member 23 formed from the inner and outer sleeves 24, 25 is inclined outward from the lower horizontal member 22 at a small angle as adjusted and obtained with the angle adjusting mechanism. The adjusted angle contained between the vertical and the lower horizontal member 23, 22 slightly larger than degrees offsets the torque produced on the vertical member 23 (that is, the inner and outer sleeves 24, by the sash 10 and the resultant inclination of the vertical member 23. That is, when the assembled sash 10 and C-shaped sash support frame 20 with downward adjusted lower horizontal member 22 is mounted in the outer window frame 30 in an upright position, a balance relation is reached between the vertical member 23 and the lower horizontal member 22, and the angle contained between the two members 22, 23 restores to the original degrees to provide a standard operational condition, allowing the sash 10 to be always smoothly pivotally turnable relative to the C-shaped sash support frame In actual assembling and adjusting of the vertical and the lower horizontal member 23, 22, the distance by which the bilateral screw 50 is downward moved out of the first self-tapping screw seat 241 or the angle by which the lower horizontal member 22 is adjusted relative to the vertical member 23 may be determined by calculationinadvanceaccordingtoanoverallweight of the sash 10, or by direct observation and measurement of a clearance between the lower outer edge 11 of the sash 10 and the lower horizontal member 22 of the assembled sash 10 and C-shaped sash support frame positioned flatly, and then comparing the observed or measured clearance with an actual clearance after the assembled sash 10 and C-shaped sash support frame is positioned upright. From the comparison, optimal adjusting data may be obtained and used in future assembling of the same type of combined sliding and pivot window assembly.

With the angle adjusting mechanism provided in the vertical member 23 formed from the inner and outer sleeves 24, 25,. the sash 10 pivotally mounted in the C-shaped sash support frame 20 may always be smoothly opened for the combined sliding and pivot window assembly of the present invention to work perfectly.

For the purposes of this specification it will be clearly understood that the word "comprising" means "including but not limited to", and that the word "comprises" has a corresponding meaning.

It is to be understood that, if any prior art publication is referred to herein, such reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms a part of the common general knowledge in the art, in Australia or any other country.

Claims

1. A combined sliding and pivot window assembly with angle adjusting mechanism, comprising a plurality of sashes, apluralityof substantiallyC-shaped sash support frames onto which said a plurality of sashes are separatelypivotallymounted, and an outer window frame onto rails provided thereon said a plurality of substantially C-shaped sash support frames are slidably fixed; each of said sashes being slidable on said outer window frame along with one said sash support frame on which said sash is mounted, and adapted to stop at any position on said outer window frame and be pivotally pushed outward to an open position; all saidC-shapedsashsupport frames being slidable to two opposite ends of said outer window frame with said sashes mounted thereon pivotally turned outward to the open position, so that there is not any intermediate vertical member appeared in said whole window assembly; each of said C-shaped sash support frames including a vertical member, upper and lower horizontal members connected to upper and lower ends of saidverticalmember, respectively, and an angle adjusting mechanism provided at each joint ofsaidverticalmemberandsaidupperandlower 17 horizontal members; an angle contained between said vertical member and said lower horizontal member being adjustable from 90 degrees to an angle slightly larger than 90 degrees via said angle adjusting mechanism, such that said lower horizontal member is downward displaced by a desired inclination sufficient to offset a torque produced on said vertical member by said sash and a resultant inclination of said vertical member when said C-shaped sash support frame and said sash pivotally mounted thereon are mounted on said outer window frame in an upright position, allowing said angle contained between said vertical member and said lower horizontalmember of saidC-shaped sash support frame to restore to a right angle for said sash to always be smoothly pivotally turnable to the open position.

2. The combined sliding and pivot window assembly with angle adjusting mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein said vertical member of said C-shaped sash support frame is formed from an outer sleeve and an inner sleeve fitted in said outer sleeve, and said angle adjusting mechanism including a first and a second self-tapping screw seat provided in said inner sleeve of said vertical member, two pairs of bilateral screws, and two pairs of tightening nuts; said first and second self-tapping screw seats being vertically provided in said inner sleeve to parallelly space from each other, and sequentially arranged in the same direction in which a rail supporting saidC-shapedsashsupportframeextends; said first self-tapping screw seat being located closer to said sash while said second self-taping screw seat is located to an outer side of said first self-taping screw seat opposite to said sash; said twopairs of bilateral screws being screwed into upper and lower ends of said first and said second screw seats, each of said bilateral screws having two opposite threaded heads, namely inner and outer threaded heads, and a stop nut located at a predetermined point on said bilateral screw; said inner threaded head of each said bilateral screws being screwed into one said screw seat in said inner sleeve, and said outer threaded head of each said bilateral screw being internally formed into a hexagonal hole and extended into said upper or said lower horizontal member via a through hole correspondingly provided on a lower or an upper surface of said upper or the lower horizontal member, respectively; and said two pairs of tightening nuts being tightened onto said outer threaded heads of said two pairs of bilateral screws to assemble said upper and said lower horizontal member to said inner and said outer sleeve with said stop nuts on said bilateral screws tightlycompressedbetweensaidinnersleeveandsaid upper and lower horizontal members; and each of said bilateral screws being turnable via said hexagonal hole internally formed at said outer threaded head of said bilateral screw for said stop nut onsaidbilateralscrewtomovetoalowerposition pressing against said lower horizontal member, so that said lower horizontal member is forced downward to increase the angle contained between said vertical member and said lower horizontal member. Dated this 26th day of May 2003 SER LEE NEO By His Patent Attorneys GRIFFITH HACK Fellows Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia