AU664665B2 - An edging strip for glass panes - Google Patents

Description

TITLE AN EDGING STRIP FOR GLASS PANES. FIELD OF THE INVENTION THIS INVENTION relates to an edging strip and particularly to an edging strip which can be attached over an edge of various items such as doors, windows, mirrors, furniture panels, edges which need to be protected, boat and marina gunwales, an edging strip that can be used as a cover for conduit such as cables and the like. The edge strip may function as a support frame, a decorative trim, a cover, a protecting strip, a buffing strip, a rubbing strip or the like.

BACKGROUND ART

Attaching edge strips or cover strips over an edge is typically carried out with some form of adhesive.

The adhesive is usually directly applied to the edging strip and/or the edge of the item, and the two are joined together. The adhesive must then be cured prior to handling of the item. Alternatively, adhesive strips such as double-sided adhesive tape can be used. In each instance, considerable precision is required in the attachment. Furthermore, the type of adhesive must be carefully selected to suit the materials to be joined.

In the case of windows, the window glass is usually surrounded by an aluminium surround frame which is in the form of a channel. The channel is always significantly wider than the thickness of the window glass. To mount the window glass within the channel without rattling or undesirable movement, a rubber strip is located within the aluminium channel and around the edge of the window glass. To fit the window glass to the aluminium surround frame, the glass is press-fitted into the channel which causes the rubber to be squeezed against the glass. Unfortunately, over time, the rubber is prone to hardening or crazing which reduces its resilient properties an therefore results in the window glass no longer being securely held within the surround frame.

It is also known to frame window glass with a two-part frame assembly. Each part of the frame assembly extends adjacent one side face of the window glass, and the two parts are press-fitted together by inter- engagement of hooked flanges. Again, to ensure a tight fit of the window glass, a glazing tape is used which comprises a foam tape. A wedge is also driven between the pieces and the glass to ensure a good gripping action. To accommodate various glass thicknesses, a variety of foam tapes and different shaped wedges are required. The assembly is also cumbersome requiring many steps to attach the surround frame, glazing tape, wedge and window glass together. A further disadvantage with known edge strips and particularly for edging strips for window glass, is the general inability of a single strip to accommodate various edge thicknesses. Thus, it is currently necessary to provide a variety of edge strips each able to accommodate a particular edge thickness. Also, currently available strips generally do not provide provision for attachment to an edge which has a varying thickness across its length. That is, it is necessary to ensure that the window glass (for instance) is of uniform thickness. While this is typically the case for window glass, it need not be the case for furniture panels and the like.

It is also known to provide edge strips which are formed as a separate pair and which are screwed or otherwise clamped to a desired edge. However, this arrangement again is manually intensive and requires fasteners, adjustable clamps and the like.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been developed to at least partially overcome the abovementioned disadvantages by providing an edge strip which can be attached to an edge without the need for adhesives, adhesive tape or the like, and, which optionally can accommodate edges of varying thicknesses. The edge strip may also be of a simple design and which can be simply snap-fitted over an edge. It is an object of the invention to provide an edge strip which may overcome the abovementioned disadvantages or provide the public with a useful or commercial choice.

In one form, the invention resides in an edge strip for attachment to an edge, the edge strip comprising an outer cover portion adapted to extend across the edge, and an inner gripping portion, the inner gripping portion being hingedly connected relative to the outer cover portion, and moveable between a free position and an engaged position where the inner gripping portion can grip opposed side faces of the edge.

The edge strip may be of any convenient length or size depending on its end use and which is primarily dictated by the size and type of edge. The edge strip may be decoratively formed on an outer visible surface, especially if used as a decorative trim. The edge strip is conveniently formed from extruded plastics.

The outer cover portion and inner gripping portion are suitably integrally formed together and may be extruded, or otherwise formed. The outer cover portion may be generally channel-shaped in cross-section and may therefore comprise a pair of spaced opposed side walls and a connecting wall. One side wall may include a further attachment portion to allow the outer cover portion to be attached to a support such as an aluminium surround frame.

The inner gripping portion may be hingedly connected to the side walls of the outer cover portion. Suitably, the inner gripping portion can hinge between the engaged position where the inner gripping portion is located substantially within the channel of the outer cover portion, and the free position where the gripping portion is substantially out of the channel.

The inner gripping portion may include a pair of walls which, in the engaged position, can extend along each side face of the edge. One or both of the walls may function to grip the edge in the engaged position.

If desired, one or both of the walls may be spaced from the edge when in the engaged position and a spacing member may be positioned between the wall and the edge to grip the edge. The spacing member may be deformable to accommodate different widths of edges and is preferably resiliently deformable.

The walls may be hingedly attached to each other and may also be hingedly attached to the outer cover portion. The inner gripping portion may be locked into its gripping position and unable to move to its release position. This arrangement is particularly suitable for single use applications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS An embodiment of the invention will be illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings in which

Figure 1 illustrates, in cross-section, an edge strip prior to insertion of an edge; Figure 2 illustrates the edge strip of Figure 1 with the edge inserted and gripped by the edge strip;

Figure 3 illustrates how the edge strip of Figures 1 and 2 can be used to accommodate an edge of greater thickness; Figures 4 and 5 illustrates an edge strip having an anti-withdrawal feature.

Figures 6A-C illustrates a further embodiment for accommodating edges of varying thicknesses.

BEST MODE Referring to the drawings and initially Figure

1, there is illustrated an edge strip 10. Edge strip 10 can be formed from extruded plastics such as PVC and can be of any desirable size depending on the edge to which it is to be applied. In the embodiment, the edge strip is used as an edging for a sheet of glass 11. Edge strip 10 includes an outer cover portion 12 and an inner gripping portion 13 which are integrally formed and are extruded as one unit. Outer cover portion 12 is generally channel-shaped and therefore includes a pair of opposed side walls 14, 15 and a connecting or end wall 16 which connects side walls 14, 15. Outer cover portion 12 and especially end wall 16, is sized to extend generally across an edge 17 of glass 11. Inner gripping portion 13 is hingedly connected to outer cover portion 12 and more particularly is hingedly connected to side walls 14, 15. The hinged connections are integrally formed by producing zones of reduced thickness 18, 19 in the extrusion. The zones 18, 19 therefore act as hinge points. Alternatively, zones of greater flexibility can be co- extruded to act as hinge points. Inner gripping portion 13 comprises a pair of walls 20, 21. Walls 20, 21 are hingedly interconnected through hinge point 22 which is again formed by providing a zone of reduced thickness in the extrusion. Walls 20, 21 can move between a free position as shown in Figure 1 and an engaged position as shown in Figure 2. It can be seen that the triple hinging arrangement of hinge points 18, 19 and 22 results in an over-centring effect when edge 17 of glass 11 is downwardly pressed onto gripping portion 13. That is, as glass 11 is pressed onto gripping portion 13, and particularly onto hinge point 22, this will cause walls 20, 21 to converge towards each other which in turn will cause hinged movement around hinge point 18, 19. After a certain distance, walls 20, 21 will automatically be biased or "snap" into the position illustrated in Figure 2. In this position, the inner gripping portion 13 locates substantially within the channel of the outer cover portion 12 defined by side walls 14, 15 and end wall 16. To remove glass 11, it is necessary to initially flex open walls 20, 21. The over-centring mechanism maintains a gripping force on gripping wall 20, 21 against the side walls of glass 11.

One wall 21 is provided a spacing member 25. Spacing member 25 is in the form of a substantially hollow resiliently deformable bead which in the embodiment is formed from flexible PVC. The flexible bead can be directly co-extruded onto the remainder of the edge strip which is formed from rigid PVC. The spacing member 25 can be deformed as illustrated in Figure 2 upon insertion of glass 11 to maintain a good grip onto the glass. The other wall 20 acts as a gripping wall.

As illustrated in Figure 3, spacing member 24 can be further deformed to allow a glass 26 of greater thickness to be inserted and gripped by edge strip 10. Thus, it can be seen that a single edge strip 10 can be used to accommodate a variety of edge thicknesses. Furthermore, variations in the edge thickness across its length is of little concern, as spacing member 25 can merely deform to different extents to suit. Outer cover portion 12 can include a further connecting portion 27 to allow edge strip 10 to be clipped or connected to an aluminium support frame. Occasionally, an aluminium support frame is required to provide additional strength or stiffness to the edge strip.

Figures 4 and 5 illustrate generally the edge strip of Figures 1 to 3 and like numbers have been used to denote like parts. Figures 4 and 5 show a modification to prevent a glass pane 11 from being withdrawn once press-fitted into edge strip 10. This is achieved by providing wall 20 with a barb or hook 30 which locates underneath a shoulder 31 when glass 11 is press-fitted to edge strip 10. Figures 6A-C illustrate a variation of the edge strip and like numbers have been used to denote like parts. Walls 20,21 again hinge downwardly into the channel upon insertion of an edge of glass 11.

Walls 20,21 each have a spacing member 35,36 which converge towards glass 11 upon insertion of glass 11 into the edge strip, and grip the glass when the edge strip is in its engaged position. The spacing members 35,36 are sufficiently resilient to accommodate different thicknesses of glass. These spacing members also function as a centering guide for glass 11. Sealing beads 37, 38 are also provided. The members 35, 36 function as gripping walls for the glass.

If necessary, adhesives can be used to permanently bond the glass (or other item) to the edge strip should this be desired. The internal profile of the edge strip (i.e., the position of the inner gripping portion 13 within outer cover portion 12) provides backing blocks to resist deformation of the edge strip due to the clamping force applied to the glass or the like.

The edge strip may be cut to lengths as desired and may be machined to allow the edge strip to bend neatly around corners of a panel, glass or the like to be used. The machining at each corner may effectively segment the over-centring devices so that the edge strip can be snap-fitted to each of the panel edges in turn. It should be appreciated that various other changes and modifications may be made to the embodiments described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Claims (10)

CLAIMS :

1. An edge strip for attachment to an edge, the edge strip comprising an outer cover portion adapted to extend across the edge, and an inner gripping portion, the inner gripping portion being hingedly connected relative to the outer cover portion, and moveable between a free position and an engaged position where the inner gripping portion can grip opposed side faces of the edge.

2. The edge strip of claim 1, wherein the outer cover position is channel shaped and the inner gripping portion locates with the channel when in the engaged position.

3. The edge strip of claim 2, wherein the inner gripping portion comprises a pair of walls which extend along opposed side faces of the edge when in the engaged position.

4. The edge strip of claim 3, wherein the pair of walls are hingedly interconnected.

5. The edge strip of claim 4, wherein spacing means are provided to grip the edge when in the engaged position.

6. The edge strip of claim 5, wherein the spacing means is a resilient member extending from a said wall.

7. The edge strip of claim 6, wherein the resilient member is a thickened bead on one said wall.

8. The edge strip of claim 6, wherein the resilient member is a gripping wall extending from at least one said wall.

9. The edge strip of claim 5, wherein the outer cover portion and inner gripping portion are integrally forme .

10. A window assembly containing an edge strip as claimed in claim 1.