EP0333293B1

EP0333293B1 - A frame assembly comprising a plastics frame, fastening means, and weather-proofing means

Info

Publication number: EP0333293B1
Application number: EP19890200654
Authority: EP
Inventors: Albert De Voogd; Wiebe Hiemstra; Marten Taekema
Original assignee: Europrovyl BV
Current assignee: EUROPROVYL BV
Priority date: 1988-03-15
Filing date: 1989-03-15
Publication date: 1992-08-05
Also published as: NL8800631A; EP0333293A1; DE68902335T2; DE68902335D1

Description

This invention relates to a frame assembly to be mounted in an opening in a wall comprising a synthetic plastics frame including jambs and a head; fastening means in use connected through coupling members to counter coupling members of the frame and further secured to the wall; synthetic plastics weather-proofing means provided around the edge of the frame near the outwardly facing surface of the frame; and synthetic plastics finish strips covering in use the fastening means.
A frame assembly having a synthetic plastics frame and weather proofing means as well as fastening means is known from Dutch patent application NL-A-7808923. The fastening construction of the known frame assembly incorporates sealing members made of a synthetic plastics material and substantially, if not exclusively, serving for obtaining a weather-proof abutment of the plastic frame on the surrounding brickwork.The fastening construction further includes members in the form of resilient metal anchors serving for the actual mechanical fastening of the plastic frame within the wall opening, and finally, members made of wood by means of which the wall, i.e. the circumferential surfaces bounding the wall opening, should be prepared in such a manner that the above sealing members and the resilient metal anchors can be used. These preparations of the wall by means of the wooden members result in an auxiliary construction which, in the event of the wall being a cavity wall, is an assembly of a wooden cavity cleat to be installed and secured in the cavity, and a wooden clamping lath, which should also be connected to the wall.
In general, the use of wood has the drawback that this material is not rot-free and therefore requires maintenance when used as construction material for fastening the plastic frame. Another drawback of the known construction for fastening the plastic frame is that, as indicated above, it requires a comparatively large number of components and is thus complicated, so that the fastening of the plastic frame is comparatively time-consuming.
Furthermore, there is the risk of corrosion when metal anchors are used, in particular steel anchors. Corrosion weakens the anchor and, moreover, increases its thickness, so that the frame may be deformed.
A frame assembly of the type described above has been disclosed in NL-A-8600119. Said known frame assembly requires the use of a mounting frame to be secured in the wall opening and comprising wooden or synthetic plastics plates bridging the cavity in case of a cavity wall. On the plates spaced steel anchors are secured having a U-shaped end which in use is hooked around an edge of a special coupling element, which in turn is connected to the synthetic plastics frame. The outer longitudinal edges of the wooden or synthetic plastics plates are need special covering elements for protection against the weather and moreover need to be sealed against the wall. Further along the inner longitudinal edges of the wooden or synthetic plastics plates a special sealing strip must be connected in the corner between the plates and the wall.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a frame assembly not requiring the use of wooden or metal elements for fastening the plastic frame, so that the advantage of the use of a plastic frame, viz. its being virtually free from maintenance, can become fully apparent.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a frame assembly resulting in a simpler fastening method of the plastic frame and hence in a shorter assembly time.
According to the present invention, a frame assembly of the above described type is characterized in that the fastening means comprise elongate synthetic plastics mouldings extending along the jambs and the head of the frame and being coupled through a coupling collar near one longitudinal edge of the moulding to a counter coupling collar of the frame, wherein the fastening means further comprise synthetic plastics adjustment members in use placed between the outer surface of the elongate synthetic plastics mouldings and the wall near an edge of the elongate synthetic plastics moulding which is remote from the frame, the synthetic plastics moulding in use being secured by securing means together with the adjustment members to the wall in a cantilevered fashion and wherein a groove-shaped space is formed between the wall, the adjustment members and a peripheral area of the elongate synthetic plastics moulding, which groove-shaped space in use is filled with sealing means.
A method of mounting a frame assembly according to the invention in an opening in a wall of a building is characterized by the steps of positioning the adjustment members in the wall opening near the surface of the wall inside the building; connecting the mounting members which are elongate synthetic plastics mounting mouldings extending along the jambs and the head of the frame to the frame by means of the coupling and counter coupling collars; positioning the frame provided with mounting mouldings in the opening in such a manner that the mounting mouldings overlap the adjustment members and with their edge remote from the frame reach beyond the adjustment members to form a channel formed on three sides by the boundary surface of the wall opening, the adjustment member(s) and the mounting moulding; filling a possible gap between the mounting mouldings and the adjustment members with one or more filler elements; securing the mounting mouldings the adjustment members and the possible filler elements jointly to the wall by means of the securing means; filling the channel formed between the boundary surface of the wall, the adjustment members and the mounting moulding with a sealing material which at least partly is a flowing, setting sealing material.
As, according to the present invention, the fastening means can be anchored directly in the wall leaf, and the plastic frame, in its turn, is connected exclusively to the fastening means, there is a substantial freedom of positioning the combination of the plastic frame and the fastening means within the wall opening and in a direction at right angles thereto. It is thus possible that, with an appropriate choice of the depth dimension of the plastic frame the frame assembly can be fastened in a cavity wall in such a manner that the cavity is bridged from the anchoring zone of the frame assembly without further support. In other words, the positioning of the frame assembly no longer depends on the presence of a cavity. This also renders the use of a wooden auxiliary construction, as is necessary with the known frame assembly, for preparing the cavity wall, superfluous.
After mounting the frame assembly, the fastening means of the frame assembly according to the present invention can be concealed from view by means of an elongate plastic finish strip, which can be fastened to the mounting moulding, e.g. through snap and counter snap joints.
However, it is also possible, according to another embodiment of the present invention, to connect the finish strip to the mounting moulding through a sliding joint.
It is observed that the plastic frame can be conceived as being composed of hollow frame sections consisting according to the present invention of a central tubular member with external mouldings, the tubular members of all types of frame sections having an internal free passage of fixed shaped and dimensions in cross-section. This is advantageous if the plastic frame, as is often the case in practice, has to be protected against deformation, such as bending. For that purpose, a metal reinforcing section is provided in the hollow space of the plastic frame section from which the frame is made. If the free passage of the hollow space has a fixed shape and dimensions, a single type of metal reinforcing section of fixed shape and dimensions in cross-section will be all that is needed for use with all frame sections, irrespective of the external shape thereof.
A number of embodiments of a frame assembly according to the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of a frame assembly according to the present invention provided within an opening in a cavity wall;
Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of another embodiment of a frame assembly according to the present invention;
Figs. 3-9 are diagrammatic cross-sectional views of different section shapes applicable in a frame assembly according to the present invention.

Where in the figures of the drawings the same reference numerals are used, these relate to members having analogous functions.
In the drawings (Fig. 1) 18 indicates a cavity wall with outer leaf 13, inner leaf 12 and cavity 14, while 15 represents a jamb or a head or sill of a plastic frame 25. The plastic frame is fastened to the inner leaf 12 through a fastening means 1.
The fastening means, like the plastic frame itself, are made of hard polyvinyl chloride material. In the embodiment shown, the fastening means comprise adjusting members 4 and a mounting moulding 2. Furthermore, a finish strip is shown at 8. The mounting moulding includes a web 32, a coupling collar 5 for effecting a joint with counter collar 16 of the jamb or head or sill of the frame.
In this example, the mounting moulding is further fitted with members 3 adapted to effect a snap joint with counter members of the finish strip.
An accurate abutment of the finish strip 8, after this has in general been brought to size, e.g. has been sawn, on the coat of plastering 19 of the inner cavity leaf 12 can be obtained, if desired, by using one or more fillers 17, which may also be made of a polyvinyl chloride material, between the adjusting members 4 and the mounting moulding 2. The assembly of "adjusting members 4 - fillers 17 - mounting moulding 2" is screwed into, and thus fixedly connected to, the inner cavity leaf 12 by means of a plurality of anchoring bolts 11.
The adjusting members 4 may consist of a plurality of continuous plastic laths, but may also comprise plastic blocks interspaced in the wall opening. Preferably, the blocks are composed of plates of varying thickness, so that the blocks thus composed may themselves serve as fillers. Separate fillers 17 are then superfluous.
The plates are e.g. of the commercially available type, which can be hooked or snapped about a screw 11 already loosely screwed into the wall.
The plastic frame 25 is provided with a counter coupling collar 16, which, engaging with the fastening collar 5 of mounting moulding 2, provides for the attachment of the frame to the fastening assembly and thus in the opening of the cavity wall.
Furthermore, the plastic frame is fitted with a sealing section holder 21 for retaining a sealing section 10 made of a half-hard synthetic plastics material for obtaining effective elastic properties and which, in the mounted position of the frame, presses with one or more tongues 20 against the outer cavity leaf 13. This allows to obtain besides a weather-proofing arrangement, an aesthetically good finish of the abutment of frame 15 peripherally on a wall, such as the cavity wall 18, and expansion and shrinkage phenomena under the influence of temperature differences can be readily taken up.
The groove produced after screwing down the assembly "adjusting members 4 - fillers 17 - mounting moulding 2" by means of bolt 11 at the side of said assembly facing away from the plastic frame can be filled up with e.g. a sealant or a polyurethane foam 7 formed in situ. Due to the rigid connection of the fastening assembly 1 to the inner leaf 12, in conjunction with the polyurethane foam 7, there is obtained a durable draft-proof and also moisture-proof seal.
In the event that the adjusting members are spaced apart blocks, first a continuous back infilling of e.g. closed foam tape is provided against the blocks and then a sealant or foam layer. Such a back infilling is shown diagrammatically at 7′. It is observed that the seal 7,7′ is hardly loaded mechanically, which is a result of the short distance from the anchoring point of the frame.
The finish strip 8 is connected to the mounting moulding 2 in a simple manner, e.g. through the aforementioned coacting snap and counter snap joints 3,9. Finish strip 8, however, can be connnected to mounting moulding 2 in any other suitable manner, e.g. through a sliding joint. In such a case, as shown in Fig. 2, the web of the mounting moulding may have double leaves with leaves 32 and 32′ between which the finish strip is slid.
For the sake of completeness, it is observed that, as nearly all parts of the frame assembly according to the present invention are made of a synthetic plastics material, this frame assembly requires hardly any maintenance, while the fastening means 1 themselves are, moreover, shielded from direct contact with the atmosphere by the plastic frame and are basically maintenance-free.
Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 show a stop rib 6 on the face 22 of the mounting moulding facing the wall. Stop rib 6 is not necessary and can also be omitted.
An important advantage not yet mentioned herein can be elucidated as follows with reference to Fig. 1. By virtue of the possibility for the frame assembly according to the present invention to be freely positioned within relatively wide limits in the wall opening, a deeper nude dimension can in general be maintained thereby than hitherto possible. This effect is especially clearly apparent when the frame assembly is installed in a cavity wall, as shown in Fig. 1, wherein the fastening assembly is anchored in the inner leaf.
Because, moreover, the depth dimension of the plastic frame can be chosen relatively large, the positoning, marked by rebate 31 in Fig. 1, of a hinged or non-hinged sash in its turn can be chosen still further from the façade face. As a result, a closed opening in a wall or façade shows a clear, stepped configuration which recedes from the wall or façade face 34 towards the front face 33 of the plastic frame and recedes still further towards rebate 31. Such a stepped configuration, staggered in depth, is a conventional effect for classical wooden frames, but has not so far been found possible to that extent for plastics frames. This stepped configuration imparts in particular to façades of buildings a lively appearance, which is highly sought by architects.
Fig. 2 shows two different embodiments of finish strips. The finish strip 8 is L-shaped and is received with its one leg 50 between leaves 32,32′ of the mounting moulding, while its other leg 51 extends towards the wall but still within the frame opening.
The finish strip 52 again has a leg 53 corresponding with leg 50, said leg 53 being accommodated between leaves 32, 32′ said leg extends from the frame to beyond the face of the wall wherein the frame is positioned, and is bent into a U-shape at the end remote from the frame. The U-shape is formed by the end of leg 53, a leg 54 extending at right angles thereto, and a leg 55 bent back at right angles to leg 54. Leg 55 may be provided with an internal lip 56 or the like, which engages behind a shoulder 57 of a lath 58 mounted on the wall, so that the finish strip can be mounted without further aids.
Fig. 3 shows a mullion or transom of a plastic frame according to the present invention, which is provided with two rabbets 31 for accommodating two sashes opening out. Fig. 4 shows such a frame member with two rabbets 31 for accommodating a sash opening out and one opening in. Fig. 6 shows a frame member with two rabbets for accommodating two sashes opening in. Fig. 5 shows a frame member with one rebate 31 for just one sash opening outwardly. Fig. 7 shows a frame member with a rabbet 31 for just one sash opening inwardly. Naturally, the embodiments of the plastic frame shown in Figs. 3-7 (and that in Fig. 8), also apply to doors.
Fig. 8 shows more clearly the cooperation between a plastic frame according to the present invention and an outwardly hinged sash 30, in particular the seal achieved in the closed position of sash 30 by abutment of the framing against the seals 42,43 mounted in sealing sections 27,44.
Fig. 9, finally, shows a frame member according to the present invention for a fixed, non-hinged sash.
It is observed that with the greater freedom of positioning the frame assembly according to the present invention, also given the present development in building construction, in which a broader cavity is used in connection with the installation of layers of insulating material in the cavity, such a broader cavity can be bridged with facility.
Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 8 show how the frame sections can be reinforced internally by means of uniform metal reinforcing sections 40 which, irrespective of the nature of the external mouldings, have a fixed form and fixed dimensions.
The reinforcing sections, as shown, preferably have a substantially rectangular cross section which, however, near the exterior of the frame passes into a trapezoidal shape, as indicated at 41 in Fig. 5.
When such a section is used as a horizontal frame element, this shape makes it particularly suitable to throw water falling on the section and/or moisture penetrating into the section away from the wall. It is observed that when a frame assembly according to the present invention is used in a cavity wall, where it is, as it were, self-supporting, the cavity need not be shut off by a cavity cleat or the like.
Naturally, modifications may be made to the frame assembly according to the present invention, as described hereinbefore and shown in the drawings, without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A frame assembly to be mounted in an opening in a wall comprising a synthetic plastics frame (25) including jambs and a head; fastening means (1) in use connected through coupling members to counter coupling members of the frame and further secured to the wall; synthetic plastics weather-proofing means (10) provided around the edge of the frame near the outwardly facing surface of the frame; and synthetic plastics finish strip (8), covering in use the fastening means, characterized in that the fastening means (1) comprise elongate synthetic plastics mouldings (2) extending along the jambs (15) and the head of the frame (25) and being coupled through a coupling collar (5) near one longitudinal edge of the moulding to a counter coupling collar (16) of the frame, wherein the fastening means further comprise synthetic plastics adjustment members (4) in use placed between the outer surface of the elongate synthetic plastics mouldings (2) and the wall near an edge of the elongate synthetic plastics moulding which is remote from the frame, the synthetic plastics moulding in use being secured by securing means (11) together with the adjustment members (4) to the wall in a cantilevered fashion and wherein a groove-shaped space is formed between the wall, the adjustment members (4) and a peripheral area of the elongate synthetic plastics moulding, which groove-shaped space in use is filled with sealing means (7,7′).

2. A frame assembly as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the adjustment members (4) comprise a elongate narrow synthetic plastics lath.

3. A frame assembly as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the adjustment members (4) include a number of spaced apart synthetic plastics blocks, wherein a continuous sealing strip (7′) is placed against the faces of the blocks facing away from the frame, said sealing strip bridging the interspaces between the blocks.

4. A frame assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the elongate synthetic plastics mounting mouldings (2) and the synthetic finish strips (8) have been provided with longitudinally extending click and counterclick elements (3,9) for mounting the finish strips on the mounting mouldings.

5. A frame assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that the finish strip (8) and the mounting moulding (2) are attachable to one another through a sliding joint.

6. A frame assembly as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the mounting moulding (2) comprises two parallel legs (32,32′) extending away from the frame, between which a first leg (50) of the finish strip can be fittingly accommodated.

7. A frame assembly as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that the edge (51) of the finish strip (8) away from the mounting moulding (2) is bent into an L-shape.

8. A frame assembly as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that the edge (54,55) of the finish strip away from the mounting moulding is bent into a U-shape.

9. A frame assembly as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that the free edge of the finish strip portion bent into a U-shape is provided with means (56) adapted to effect a coupling with a member (58) fastened on the wall.

10. A frame assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that the adjustment members (4) include one or more synthetic plastics fillers (17).

11. A frame assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1-10, characterized in that the mounting moulding (2) is provided with at least one stop member engaging the adjustment members (4).

12. A frame assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1-11, characterized in that the synthetic plastics frame comprises a tubular core adapted to accommodate a metal reinforcing section of substantially rectangular cross section (40), which in the direction of the exterior of the frame passes into a trapezoidal shape (41).

13. A method of mounting a frame assembly according to any one of claims 1-12 in an opening in a wall of a building, wherein a number of adjustment members of the fastening means (1) are fastened successively by means of securing means (11) in mutually flush relationship in longitudinal direction against a boundary surface of the opening corresponding with one of the jambs or the head of the synthetic plastics frame (25) and wherein the synthetic plastics frame is connected by means of engagement of coupling collars and counter-coupling collars (5,16) to mounting members (2) of the fastening means, characterized by the steps of positioning the adjustment members (4) in the wall opening near the surface of the wall inside the building; connecting the mounting members (2) which are elongate synthetic plastics mounting mouldings (2) extending along the jambs and the head of the frame to the frame by means of the coupling and counter coupling collars (5,16); positioning the frame provided with mounting mouldings (2) in the opening in such a manner that the mounting mouldings overlap the adjustment members and with their edge remote from the frame reach beyond the adjustment members to form a channel formed on three sides by the boundary surface of the wall opening, the adjustment member(s) (4) and the mounting moulding (2); filling a possible gap between the mounting mouldings and the adjustment members with one or more filler elements (17); securing he mounting mouldings the adjustment members and the possible filler elements jointly to the wall by means of the securing means (11); filling the channel formed between the boundary surface of the wall, the adjustment members and the mounting moulding with a sealing material (7,7′) which at least partly is a flowing, setting sealing material (7).

14. A method as claimed in claim 13, characterized in that a sealant is used as the flowing setting sealing material (7).

15. A method as claimed in claim 13 or 14, characterized in that a flexible sealing backing (7′) is placed in the channel before the channel is filled with the flowing, setting sealing material (7).

16. A method as claimed in any one of claims 13-15, characterized in that a material or materials to be formed in situ to a polyurethan foam material is/are used as the flowing setting sealing material.

17. A method as claimed in any one of claims 13-16, characterized in that, after positioning the frame and securing the mounting mouldings, he fastening means (1) are covered by coupling the finish strips (8) to the associated mounting mouldings (2).

18. A method as claimed in any one of claims 13-17, characterized in that the synthetic plastics frame is installed in a recessed position with respect to the surface of the wall through a corresponding recessed installation of the fastening means (1).

19. A method as claimed in any one of claims 13-18, characterized in that, when he frame is installed in a cavity wall (18), the fastening means (1) are fastened within the wall opening to the inner leaf (12) of the cavity wall.