EP0292789B1 - Roof window - Google Patents

Abstract

A skylight, having a wing actuated by pneumatic springs, can be moved to an emergency opening position thereby substantially exposing the opening area of the skylight case. The skylight also acts as a residential ceiling or attic skylight which has, in the normal open position, a considerably smaller opening than in the emergency open position. A locking device is provided to restrict the long extension stroke of the piston rod of the pneumatic springs to a partial stroke. This partial stroke allows an opening which essentially corresponds to the standard opening of the wing in a residential skylight. The locking device, located on the cylinder of the pneumatic spring, includes a specially designed latch which, in order to effect partial stroke restriction of the piston rod, lockingly engages a stop located on the side of the case by means of a catch pin.

Description

The invention relates to a skylight with a feed box, sash and weight balancing device which is formed by at least one gas spring, which has one end formed by the bearing for the eye of the piston rod of the gas spring on the feed box and the other end formed by the bearing of the cylinder of the gas spring on the wing is hinged in each case, the wing being largely automatically opened after its release from the feed box under the influence of the gas spring and, when the piston rod is fully extended, the wing of the gas spring is brought into an emergency opening position in which the opening of the feed box is released from the wing is.

In such roof windows which can be used as an emergency exit or roof exit and which are known from the "ROTO" brochure PW 40-1.09 / 84BN, from which the features specified in the preamble of claim 1 can be found, the weight compensation device is formed by gas springs , which have a long extension stroke of the piston rod from the cylinder of the gas spring, so that the opening of the feed box is largely released from the wing in the open position of the wing. In the emergency opening position, the angle between the opened sash and the level of the feed box is usually over 90 °. The wing is designed as hinged hinges on a horizontal spar of the feed box or as hinged wings on a longitudinal spar of the feed box.

In a skylight with a wing designed as a folding or rotating wing, the gas spring can be attached directly to the frame of the wing or indirectly to the wing, namely to a cover that overlaps the wing frame. If the wing is connected to the feed box by means of a subframe, the gas spring can act on the subframe, so that when the wing is fixed on the subframe the wing is opened as a folding wing and after a solution of the fixing of the wing on the subframe around a near the free end of the subframe arranged horizontal axis can be opened swinging. Such a roof window is known from DE-C 24 22 570.

In the usual roof windows, as they are preferred for inhabited attics, the opening width of the wing is limited in the case of folding sashes and in the case of hinged swinging sashes, the swing-open wing projects into the opening of the feed box and thus limits the clear passage width of the feed box.

For the roof windows that allow access to the roof area, for example for the chimney sweep or in an emergency, the opening width of the wing is too large to be able to be used as a roof window, since this means that the wing's opening angle cannot be adjusted for ventilation or viewing purposes which in particular should also be storm-proof.

The object of the present invention is to provide a roof window that can be used both as a residential roof window and as an emergency exit, the standard opening of the wing being a viewing opening that is suitable for the roof window and can be converted into an emergency opening position with little effort.

This object is achieved in a generic roof window in that the cylinder of the gas spring is provided with a sleeve acting as a fixing device on the gas spring, on which a pawl provided with a catch is pivotally mounted and that the catch behind a stop attached to the feed box for limitation the extension stroke of the piston rod can be brought when the wing is unlocked relative to the feed box.

Due to the use of a fixing device consisting essentially of a sleeve with a pawl, the extension stroke of the piston rod of the gas spring can be limited. By coupling the pawl of the sleeve connected to the cylinder of the gas spring with a stop on the feed box side, the distance between the sleeve and thus the cylinder of the gas spring and the stop on the feed box side is fixed and thus the opening of the wing is restricted to an opening angle that is usual in a roof window. The full extension stroke required for reaching the emergency opening position of the wing is thus divided into a partial extension stroke for the usual viewing opening width of a roof window, so that the opening angle between the wing and the feed box can be approximately 30 ° to 45 °. The roof window is therefore suitable as a roof window. Only if access to the roof surface is required, can the fixing device be released by lifting the catch of the latch from the feed box-side stop, whereby the wing then moves into the emergency opening position. After the extension stroke of the piston rod has been limited again by means of the fixing device, the opening limitation of the wing is again given. The fixing device is combined with the gas spring, so that the fixing device is attached to the roof window at the same time as the gas spring is attached.

In order to obtain an automatic coupling of the catch of the pawl with the stop, the pivot axis for the pawl is expediently arranged in the area of the sleeve facing the wing, and the pawl is essentially parallel to the piston rod and above the piston rod in that through the longitudinal axis the piston rod extending plane aligned perpendicular to the window plane. The pawl located above the piston rod comes into the coupling position under the influence of its own weight. Starting from the closed position of the window, the pawl is thus always in the ready-for-coupling position when the sash is opened and the sash can only be opened up to a part of the possible opening angle of the sash by reaching behind the catch nose of the catch behind the feed box-side stop. In the clutch ready position, the pawl rests on the eye of the piston rod or on the piston rod and the catch is still at a distance from the wing-side stop. As the opening width of the wing increases, the distance of the catch nose from the stop decreases, and when the catch nose comes to rest against the feed box-side stop, the wing opening width is limited.

So that the wing opening width can be varied in the view position like a roof window to adapt to given roof pitches, etc., it is advantageous that the sleeve carrying the pawl is attached to the cylinder of the gas spring with adjustable length. By moving the sleeve on the cylinder towards the wing, the opening width of the Reduced wing and by moving the sleeve in the direction of the feed box there is an increase in the opening width of the wing limited by the catch.

This length adjustment is achieved in a simple manner in that the sleeve is provided with a longitudinal slot and the longitudinal slot is penetrated transversely by a clamping screw, so that the sleeve can be moved to the desired new opening position of the wing by loosening the clamping screw and in this position by clamping the sleeve on the cylinder of the gas spring can be fixed again by pressing the clamping screw.

It is particularly preferred that the stop for the catch nose is formed by the eye of the piston rod or by the bearing assigned to the eye. Then no additional loose components and no additional assembly steps are required for the fixing device, since the fixing device is arranged on the gas spring as a unit and since the bearing for the eye of the piston rod or its eye itself forms the stop; the stop is thus formed by a part that is required anyway.

In order to bring the sash into the emergency opening position, the fixing device has to be loosened when the sash is open, that is, the catch is disengaged from the feed box-side stop, whereby the full extension stroke of the gas spring is released. This release of the fixing position takes place without an additional aid. The catch of the pawl lies under the influence of its own weight or under the action of an additional load, such as a spring acting on the pawl, on the piston rod and slides along it. At the subsequent When the sash is closed again from the emergency opening position, the catch nose, resting on the piston rod, slides back towards its stop. Since the eye of the piston rod forms a thickening compared to the diameter of the piston rod, a paragraph is given here. So that the catch nose can overflow this paragraph without inhibition, it is favorable to provide the back of the catch nose with a bevel.

To make it easier to lift the pawl out of the fixing position when it engages behind the feed box-side stop with its catch and is under the pressure of the gas spring in this engagement position, it is preferred to provide the pawl with a handle attachment, which makes the pawl easier to grip by hand by the operator.

In order to reduce the friction between the piston rod and the catch lug resting thereon, it is advantageous that at least the catch lug of the pawl is equipped with a plastic sheath in order to avoid damaging the surface of the piston rod. This sheathing also gives the possibility of dampening the impact when the catch strikes the stop on the feed box side, for example by means of a sheathing made of an elastic plastic. A signal can also be set by coloring the sheathing in order to draw the operator's attention to the respective arrangement of the latch or to the possibility of actuating it.

In a roof window which is provided with gas springs as a weight compensation device, it is customary to arrange a gas spring on each longitudinal side of the roof window. In this case, it is preferred that each gas spring is provided with a pawl and that the two pawls are coupled to one another in a movement-locking manner are, so that by actuating only one of the pawls both pawls are lifted out of the fixing position at the same time, or the catches are pressed in simultaneously behind the stop.

So that the gas springs are not visible from the interior of the room when the wing is closed, it is customary to arrange the gas springs in the plane of the longitudinal spars of the feed box, that is to say to fasten a bearing for the gas spring on the end face of a longitudinal spar of the feed box. The gas spring is located in the closed position of the sash on the side next to the sash frame, covered by a sash cover or a subframe likewise overlapping the sash frame, which can also be overlapped by a sash cover. The wing cover is used as a carrier for the second bearing of the gas spring. The gas spring bearings thus mounted in the plane of the longitudinal spar of the feed box have no or only a slight offset from the wing-side to the feed box-side bearing point on which the gas springs act. It is therefore necessary that the operator must exert a great deal of force on the wing at the start of the opening movement of the wing.

In order to facilitate the opening movement of the wing right from the start, the wing is therefore preferably provided with a compression spring which interacts with the upper end face of the longitudinal spar of the feed box near the horizontal folding axis of the wing. The compression spring, which is preferably designed as a coil spring, is biased with the leaf closed, so that when the closed leaf is unlocked by the spring force of the pressure spring, the leaf is lifted from the feed box until the force of the gas spring then the further opening movement of the leaf supports or takes over. The compression spring is thus used as an auxiliary weight compensation device.

It is advantageous that a pressure plate is attached to the front side of the feed box as a support surface for the compression spring.

Further expedient designs of the roof window are the subject of dependent claims 12-14.

Fig. 1

eine Ansicht eines Dachfensters in Einbaulage bei geöffnetem Flügel, wobei die Gewichtsausgleichsvorrichtung von Gasfedern gebildet ist,

Fig. 2

in vergrößertem Maßstab die mit der Gasfeder der Fig. 1 verbundene Fixiereinrichtung,

Fig. 3

einen Schnitt III-III durch Fig. 2 und

Fig. 4

in vergrößertem Maßstab die Anordnung der Druckfeder bei geöffnetem Flügel.

Further advantages and details emerge from the figures, which represent a preferred solution form. Show it:

Fig. 1

2 shows a view of a roof window in the installed position with the sash open, the weight balancing device being formed by gas springs,

Fig. 2

on an enlarged scale the fixing device connected to the gas spring of FIG. 1,

Fig. 3

a section III-III through Fig. 2 and

Fig. 4

on an enlarged scale the arrangement of the compression spring with the sash open.

1 consists of a feed box 1 to which a wing 2 is articulated with the interposition of a subframe 3. A gas spring 5, which is supported by a compression spring 6, serves as the weight compensation device 4. A fixing device 7 is attached to the gas spring 5.

The gas spring 5 consists of the cylinder 8, in which a piston arranged on a piston rod 9 is pressurized by means of gas. The gas spring 5 is articulated at one end to the feed box 1, namely in a bearing 10 which is fastened on the end face 11 of the longitudinal beam 26 of the feed box 1, the bearing pin 12 an eye 13 of the piston rod 9 passes through. The other end of the gas spring 5 is fastened to the subframe 3, likewise pivotably in a bearing 14. The cylinder 8 of the gas spring 5 carries a sleeve 15 near its end on the feed box side, which sleeve is provided with a longitudinal slot 16 which is removed from the tensioning screw 17 is crossed. In the area facing the wing 2, that is to say above the piston rod 9, the sleeve 15 is equipped with a pivot axis 18 arranged in a horizontal plane, on which a pawl 19 is pivotably mounted. The pawl 19 extends essentially parallel to the piston rod 9 and in a plane extending through the longitudinal axis 20 of the piston rod 9 and oriented perpendicular to the window plane.

Near the free end of the pawl 19 it carries a catch lug 21 and a handle attachment 22. The active surface of the catch 21 and the ramp 24 are part of a casing 25 made of elastic plastic.

In the closed position of the roof window, the wing 2 rests on the feed box 1 and the wing 2 is locked against the feed box 1, the compression spring 6 arranged near the horizontal folding axis 28 of the roof window in the region of the longitudinal bar 26 of the feed box 1 being under tension and the Gas spring 5 is in the pushed-in state of the piston rod 9. The pawl 19 lies under the influence of its own weight on the eye 13 of the piston rod 9, the catch lug 21 being arranged at a distance from the bearing 10 below this bearing 10-side bearing 10.

After releasing the locking of the wing 2 against the feed box 1, the stored force of the compression spring causes 6 a lifting of the wing 2 about the folding axis 28. A lifting of the wing 2 by a few degrees relative to the plane of the feed box 1 is sufficient so that the articulation points of the gas spring 5 of the feed box-side bearing 10 to the subframe-side or wing-side bearing 14 are displaced more strongly from one another, whereby the force of the gas spring 5 can in turn act more effectively on the wing 2. During the opening movement of the wing 2, the pawl 19 slides along the eye 13 of the piston rod 9 in the direction of the bearing 10. The compression spring 6 stands out from its pressure plate 29 on the end face 11 of the feed box 1 and the weight compensation is then carried out exclusively by the gas springs 5.

The opening movement of the wing 2 under the influence of the gas springs 5 is terminated when the catch on the eye 13 of the piston rod 9 or on the bearing 10 comes to rest. As a result of the interaction of the catch lug 21 of the pawl 19 with the bearing 10 on the feed box 1 or the eye 13 of the piston rod 9 pivotably arranged in the bearing 10, the extension stroke of the piston rod 9 is limited. This limitation corresponds to an opening angle of the wing 2 with respect to the feed box 1 which is customary in roof windows. When the wing 2 is closed again, the pawl 19 slides down on the piston rod 9 and its eye 13. The roof window must therefore always be brought into the standard viewing position for a roof window during normal operation.

If it is necessary, however, that the living space located under the roof surface should or must be left through the opening of the feed box 1, the wing 2, as described above, must be brought into the opening position shown in dashed lines in FIG. 1 and which corresponds to the opening width customary for roof windows. When this viewing position is reached, the pawls 19 are gripped and raised on the handle attachments 22 so that the catch lugs 21 disengage from the stops 27. The fixing of the force of the gas springs 5 is thus eliminated and the gas springs 5 bring about an automatic further lifting of the wing 2 into the emergency opening position shown in solid lines in FIG. 1, the catch lugs 21 running along the piston rods 9. In the emergency opening position, the opening of the feed box 1 is largely released.

If the wing 2 is closed, starting from the emergency opening position, the catch lugs 21 of the pawl 19 slide down on the piston rods 9. During the transition from the piston rod 9 to its eye 13, the pawl 19 is raised slightly as a result of the ramp 24 of the catch lug 21, glides along the eye 19 or the bearing 10 without pressure and the pawl 19 then falls behind the stop 27 due to its own weight, when the catch 21 has left the area of the eye 13. This results in the limitation of the extension stroke of the piston rod 9 to the viewing opening required for a roof window in an automatic manner, without the need for additional manipulations.

To set different opening widths for the viewing position of the wing 2 or to adapt to different roof pitches, the sleeve 15 can be moved longitudinally after loosening the clamping screw 17 on the cylinder 8 of the gas spring 5 and can be fixed again at the desired point by tightening the clamping screw 17.

With the automatically acting fixing device 7 for limiting the extension stroke of the piston rod 9 of the gas spring 5, a roof window is thus created, which can be used with a restricted opening width as a roof window with the usual viewing position and which, if necessary, continues to move the wing 2 into an emergency opening position by simply lifting the pawl 19, and which, when subsequently closing, automatically returns to its limit Ausfahrhubes the piston rod 9 arrives, this is done with simple means, a layman-friendly operation is possible and without additional steps in the attachment to the roof window are required.

5 and 6, a further embodiment of a fixing device 7 'is shown. The sleeve 39, which is clamped on the cylinder 8 of the gas spring 5 and is equipped with a longitudinal slot 41, carries a pawl 30 with an approximately U-shaped cross section. The pivot axis 38 of the pawl 30 on the sleeve 39 extends horizontally, namely parallel to the end face 11 of the feed box 1 and is arranged such that the pivot axis 38 extends simultaneously through the longitudinal axis of the piston rod 9. At the free end, the pawl 30 carries a handle projection 43 protruding from the web 42 of the U cross-section, to which the catch lugs 32 adjoin, which are each formed on one of the legs 31 of the pawl 30. A catch lug 32 extends to both side surfaces 35 of the bearing 34. The stop 33 for these catch lugs 32 is formed by the stubs 37 of the bearing bolt 36 which project beyond these side surfaces 35 and which are engaged by the catch lugs 32.

At its end facing the piston rod 9, the sleeve 39 carries a spring 40, as can be seen in FIG. 6, which biases on the web 42 of the pawl 30 in the vicinity of the end of the pawl 30 on the pivot bearing side acts. This creates a moment exerted on the pawl 30, which takes effect about the pivot axis 38, which means that the catch tabs 32 cannot unintentionally detach from their stop 33 and that when the wing closes, starting from its emergency opening position, the catch tabs 32 again automatically snap into place behind the stubs 37 of the bearing journal 36 of the bearing 34.

Claims (14)

1. A roof window with a frame (1), casement (2) and weight-compensating device (4), constructed of at least one pneumatic spring (5), which is secured in an articulated manner to the frame (1) by means of one end formed by the mounting for the lug of the piston rod (9) of the pneumatic spring (5) and to the casement (2) by the other end formed of the mounting for the cylinder (8) of the pneumatic spring (5), wherein the casement (2) when unlocked from the frame (1) is opened largely automatically under the effect of the pneumatic spring (5) and is brought into an emergency open position by full extension of the piston rod (9) from the cylinder (8) of the pneumatic spring (5), in which the opening of the frame (1) is unencumbered by the casement (2), characterised in that the cylinder (8) of the pneumatic spring (5) is provided with a sleeve (15) which acts on the pneumatic spring (5) as fixing device (7), on the sleeve (15) a catch (19) fitted with a dog (21) is swingably mounted and in that the dog (21) can be placed behind a stop (27) mounted on the frame (1) to limit the stroke of the piston rod (9) when the casement (2) is unlocked from the frame (1).
2. A roof window according to claim 1, characterised in that the swinging axis (18) for the catch (19) is located in the part of the sleeve (15) facing the casement (2) and the catch (19) extends substantially parallel to the piston rod (9) and above the piston rod (9) in the longitudinal axis (20) of the piston rod (9) at right angles to a plane in the plane of the window.
3. A roof window according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterised in that the sleeve (15) bearing the catch (19) is secured to the cylinder (8) of the pneumatic spring (5) in a manner which is adjustable for length.
4. A roof window according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the sleeve (15) is provided with a longitudinal slot (16) and the longitudinal slot (16) is transversely engaged by a tensioning screw (17).
5. A roof window according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that the stop (27) for the dog (21) is formed from the lug (13) of the piston rod (9) or from the mounting (10) which engages the lug (13).
6. A roof window according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the rear edge (23) of the dog (21) is provided with a lead-in ramp (24).
7. A roof window according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterised in that the catch (19) is provided with a grip (22).
8. A roof window according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterised in that at least the dog (21) of catch (19) is provided with a plastics covering (25).
9. A roof window according to one of claims 1 to 8, in which a pneumatic spring (5) is located on both longitudinal sides of the roof window, characterised in that each pneumatic spring (5) is equipped with one catch (19) and the two catches (19) are connected together by a movement interlock.
10. A roof window according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterised in that the casement (22) is provided with a compression spring (6) which acts together with the front side (11) of the longitudinal member (26) of the frame (1) close to the horizontal hinge axis (28) of the casement (2).
11. A roof window according to claim 10, characterised in that a pressure plate (29) is secured to the front side (11) of the frame (1) as a supporting surface for the compression spring (6).
12. A roof window according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterised in that the catch (30) has a U-shaped cross-section and that each limb (31) of the U-shaped cross-section is equipped with a dog (32) and the stop (33) for the dogs (32) is formed from the ends (37) of the mounting bolts (36) projecting from the side surfaces (35) of the mounting (34) on both sides of the frame (1).
13. A roof window according to claim 12, characterised in that the swinging axis (38) of the catch (30) is horizontal to the sleeve (39) and intersects the longitudinal axis of the piston rod (9).
14. A roof window according to claim 13, characterised in that a spring (40) is secured on the sleeve (39) which acts close to the end of the catch (30) away from the dogs (32) so as to automatically engage the dogs (32) behind the ends (37).

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