EP1772581A1

EP1772581A1 - A window element, a profiled pultruded panel, a system of a profiled pultruded panel and one or more fixation elements, a covering of a building or a house, and a method of providing an outer weather resistant covering

Info

Publication number: EP1772581A1
Application number: EP05388084A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Henrik Thorning
Original assignee: Fiberline AS
Current assignee: Fiberline AS
Priority date: 2005-10-07
Filing date: 2005-10-07
Publication date: 2007-04-11

Abstract

A window element comprises a first glass panel constituting an outer window pane of an overall rectangular configuration and a second glass panel constituting an inner window pane of an overall rectangular configuration. The window element further comprises a first and a second set of pultruded elements extending along the first and second set of parallel sides, respectively. The window element still further comprises a window frame made of profiled pultruded elements circumferentially encircling the glazed window structure, a set of co-operating hinged parts comprising a first part and a second part, the first part being adhered to the window structure at a first edge parallel with one of the sides of the first set of sides, and the second part being integrated into or constituted by one of the profiled pultruded elements of the window frame, and a set of closure elements adhered to the inner window face of the second glass panel at a second edge parallel with another side of the first set of sides.

Description

The present invention generally relates to the technical field of houses and buildings and techniques of building houses and buildings and more particularly relates to novel window elements and panels to be used for wall covering and novel techniques for providing an outer weather resistant covering of a building.
Through the last century, numerous techniques have been developed within the technical filed of building houses and constructing buildings involving window elements and covering or facing elements such as high insulating windows including glazed windows, and furthermore certain techniques of constructing building elements or window elements have been developed by the applicant company such as the techniques described in applicant's published international patent application WO/2005/066444 .
A window element to be used in a house or a building has to combine a number of different and sometimes conflicting requirements such as a maximum aperture for allowing light to be introduced into the building or housing and at the same time provide a maximum insulation which in the major part of the industrialised world serve to reduce the transmission of heat from the interior of the building or housing to the environment although in certain specific countries the insulating properties serve to reduce the transmission of heat from the environment into the building or housing.
The window element including a window frame further has to prevent the window frame from establishing a thermal bridge and also, as far as the window frame is concerned, has to prevent the window frame from being deteriorated or destroyed through the exposure to heat, rain and moisture under varying weather conditions.
In addition, the window element of a modern building has to comply with aesthetic requirements and also functional requirements in terms of an attractive appearance allowing the window element to be easily incorporated into and allowing the architect to design the building without being limited by the design and the structure of the window element, and at the same time, from a functional point of view, should be easy to operate provided the window is openable and easy to maintain in terms of cleaning and service in case e.g. a broken window pane need to be substituted by a novel window pane.
An object of the present invention is to provide a window element composed of a minimum number of components and allowing the window pane itself to serve as an openable window without any casements circumferentially enclosing the window pane.
A feature of the present invention is to provide a window element made from a minimum number of components which may be integrated into the facade of a building or housing allowing the window elements to cover the facade of the building and at the same time allows a specific window to be constructed as an openable window or alternatively a permanently closed window without influencing to any substantial extent the appearance of the window element in question.
A particular advantage of the present invention relates to the fact that the window element according to the present invention produced from a minimum number of components may be easily converted by the simple substitution of a few components integrated into the window element from an openable window into a permanently closed window and vice versa, and in the conversion from an openable window to a permanently closed window or vice versa allows the building or housing to be configurated or modified in accordance with specific and altering use or requirements.
The above object, the above feature, the above advantage together with numerous other features and advantages which will be evident from the below detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment of a window element are according to a first aspect of the present invention obtained by a window element comprising:

a first glass panel constituting an outer window pane of an overall rectangular configuration defining a first set of parallel sides and a second set of parallel sides,
a second glass panel constituting an inner window pane of an overall rectangular configuration substantially co-extensive with the first glass panel, the second glass panel defining an inner window face,
a first and a second set of pultruded elements extending along the first and second set of parallel sides, respectively, and adhered to the first and second glass panels for interconnecting the first and second glass panels in a glazed window structure,
a window frame made of profiled pultruded elements circumferentially encircling the glazed window structure,
a set of co-operating hinged parts comprising a first part and a second part, the first part being adhered to the window structure at a first edge parallel with one of the sides of the first set of sides, the second part being integrated into or constituted by one of the profiled pultruded elements of the window frame, and
a set of closure elements adhered to the inner window face of the second glass panel at a second edge parallel with another side of the first set of sides and co-operating with recesses provided in an adjacent profiled pultruded element of the window frame for arresting the window structure in a closed and sealed state.

The window element according to the first aspect of the present invention includes only a minimum number of components, viz. the two glass panels which are joined together by means of a set of edgewise interconnecting pultruded elements serving as distance elements and also as high thermal insulating joints between the two glass panels.
Obviously, the window element according to the present invention may be modified by the provision of an additional glass panel providing a three layer glazed window structure or even more than three glass panels provided specific requirements relating to thermal insulating property or acoustic insulating property necessitate the provision of more than two glass panels or glazed window structures.
In addition to the integrally joined glass panels the window frame serves to circumferentially encircle the glazed window structure and sealing off the glazed window structure without the necessity of providing a window casement in which the glazed window structure is encased for sealing against the window frame.
In the window element according to the present invention a set of hinges parts are provided interconnecting the glazed window structure and the window frame as the hinged part connected to the glazed window structure is simply adhered to the glazed window structure at the top or side edge thereof for providing a top-hinges or side-hinged window structure, respectively, as the first part of the set of co-operating hinged parts is preferably adhered to the pultruded element at the top or side of the glazed window structure in question.
Provided the window element according to the present invention constitutes a permanently closed and sealed window element, the closure elements which are simply adhered to the inner surface of the second glass panel are permanently arrested in the recesses of the adjacent profiled pultruded element of the window frame for permanently closing the window element.
Provided the window element is to be opened and constitutes a openable window, the set of closure elements are simply implemented as a set of closure elements having a handle serving to engage or alternatively disengage the closure elements from co-operating with the respective recesses for allowing the window structure to be opened.
The provision of the set of closure elements adhered to the inner side of the second glass panel of the glazed window structure on the one hand provides a highly attractive aesthetic appearance as the set of closure elements may be implemented as fairly small closure elements which irrespective of whether or not the closure elements are operable in an openable window element structure or are permanently closing and sealing off the window structure have the same overall appearance from the inside and also from the outside of the building.
Consequently, the overall appearance of the window element is independent of whether or not the window element is an openable window element or a permanently closed and sealed window element, and in addition, the window element may easily be modified by the substitution of the set of closure elements from a set of permanently closing off closure elements to a set of closure elements having an operable handle or vice versa for converting the window element from a permanently sealed off or closed window element into an openable window element or vice versa.
The first and the second glass panels of the glazed window structure of the window element according to the first aspect of the present invention may be of identical size providing outer parallel hedges or alternatively, the second glass panel may be larger or smaller than the first glass panel.
According to the presently preferred and highly advantageous embodiment of the window element according to the present invention, the first glass panel extends beyond the first and the second set of pultruded elements and seals against an outer circumferentially rim of the window frame. In the above highly advantageous and preferred embodiment of the window element according to the present invention, the window element may be positioned juxtaposed another window element allowing the first glass panel to provide an almost integral and unbroken outer glass panel face allowing an easy cleaning of the outer window facade and also provides a highly advantageous appearance.
According to the technique described in applicant's above-mentioned international patent application, the first and second set of pultruded elements are preferably made from glass fibres for providing pultruded elements integrally joining the first and second glass panels exhibiting a coefficient of thermal expansion similar to the coefficient of thermal expansion of the glass panels.
The circumferentially encircling window frame may be made from glass fibre or carbon fibre filaments or a combination thereof for fulfilling the coefficient of thermal expansion and also mechanical strength and stability.
The pultruded elements which according to the pultrusion technique itself may be made from various polymer materials including polyesters and epoxy may be adhered to the glass panels by means of PU adhesive or preferably epoxy adhesive.
For providing a gas tight inner space defined between the first and second glass panels, a gas tight foil such as an aluminium foil or stainless foil is preferably provided as a gas tight sealing of the first and second set of pultruded elements.
As mentioned above, the window element according to the first aspect of the present invention may be implemented as a top-hinged or a side-hinged window element and, consequently, the first edge may constitute the top edge of the window structure providing a top-hinged window or alternatively, the first edge constitutes a side edge of the window structure providing a side-hinged window.
The above object, the above feature, the above advantage together with numerous other features and advantages which will be evident from the below detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment of a window element are according to a second aspect of the present invention obtained by a profiled pultruded panel to be used as a wall covering, preferably an outer wall covering, of a building or a house, the panel comprising:

an elongated, planar plate defining opposite first and second sides and a top and a bottom edge,
a set of profiled top and bottom flanges extending perpendicularly from the plate at the first side thereof along the top and bottom edges, respectively, the profiled top flange defining a top surface and the profile bottom flange defining a bottom surface complementary to the top surface of the top flange,
at least one further flange extending from the plate at the first side thereof from a position between the top and bottom flanges and defining an acute angle, preferably an angle of 45⁰, relative to the plate and sloping downwardly towards the bottom edge, and
the planar elongated plate, the set of profiled top and bottom flanges and the at least one further flange being integrally produced in a pultrusion process.

The profiled pultruded panel according to the second aspect of the present invention constitutes a weather resistant facing panel which may easily be mounted and joined to similar panels by interconnecting the top and bottom flanges of the profiled pultruded panels which are positioned on top of one another.
In addition, the profiled pultruded panel according to the second aspect of the present invention is positioned and fixated relative to a supporting surface such as a supporting building structure made from e.g. concrete, steel, wood or any other building material as the further flange defining an acute angle relative to the first side of the elongated planar plate is caused to grip behind a fixation device which has previously been fixated to the supporting building structure.
As distinct from conventional profiled pultruded panels or panels which are conventionally made from a planar plate having a plurality of perpendicularly pending webs, the further flange characteristic of the profiled pultruded panel according to the second aspect of the present invention extends in an acute angle, preferably in an angle of approximately 45⁰ relative to the first side of the plate or to the inner side of the plate providing a flange which itself catches behind the fixation device and provides a self-locking of the panel relative to the supporting building structure due to the sloping configuration of the further flange.
In order to improve the fixation of the profiled pultruded panel according to the second aspect of the present invention to the supporting building structure, additional sloping flanges may advantageously be provided for providing several fixation and arresting flanges co- operating with corresponding fixation devices fixated to the supporting structure.
In order to improve the fixation of the profiled pultruded panel according to the second aspect of the present invention, the further flanges preferably have at their outer ends a downwardly protruding lip and have at their lower surfaces facing towards the bottom flange an inner recess complementary to the downwardly protruding lip.
The provision of the sloping flanges exhibiting the downwardly protruding lip and the inner recess which is complementary to the downwardly protruding lip allows the profiled pultruded panel to be used in combination with a fixation device which is simply produced by cutting off a part such as a web having a width of e.g. 5-20 cm of the profiled pultruded panel itself and turning upside down the web for providing the fixation device to be mounted and fixated to the supporting building structure.
As the fixation device is produced by a part of the profiled pultruded panel itself, the registration of the fixation devices provided a plurality of panels are positioned above one another is easily obtained by simply positioning the individual fixation devices on top of another by using the complementary configurated surfaces of the top and bottom flanges for properly positioning the fixation devices. In this context it is to be understood that the top flange of the profiled pultruded panel and the bottom flange of the profiled pultruded panel constitute in the inverted positioning of the fixation device cut from the profiled pultruded panel a bottom flange and a top flange, respectively.
The profiled pultruded panel according to the second aspect of the present invention further allows the panel to be configurated to integrally include fixtures for e.g. fixating electrical cables or wires, heating or water tubes and/or insulating panels or alternatively, a specifically configurated web into the profiled pultruded panel as the web may be integrated into the profiled pultruded panel in the pultrusion process itself.
The pultrusion process ifself also allows the integration of differently configurated elements or components such as e.g. reservoirs extending longitudinally along the profiled pultruded panel which reservoirs may serve for dispensing e.g. a constituent for preventing the growth of micro organisms at the first side of the plate.
Although the configuration of the fixation flange or flanges provided by the downwardly sloping flanges of the profiled pultruded panel characteristic of the present invention prevents water from being accumulated within the inner space defined between the first side of the elongated planar plate and the supporting building structure, humidity may condense at the inner surface of the planar plate of the profiled pultruded panel and for preventing any micro organism such as algae to develop and cause a colouring of the profiled pultruded panel which may be at least partly translucent, reservoirs for the dispensing of micro organisms at the inner surface may be provided. According to a variant of the profiled pultruded panel having an integral micro organism growth preventing component, a copper conductor is simply integrated into the inner surface of the planar plate of the profiled pultruded panel which copper conductor dispenses copper irons which are contemplated to be capable of preventing any growth of micro organisms at the inner surface of the profiled pultruded panel constituted by the first side of the elongated planar plate.
The profiled pultruded panel itself may as stated above be translucent or be pigmented in order to provide a coloured profiled pultruded element. Alternatively, the panel may simply be painted and in this context e.g. a UV resistant paint or coating may advantageously be used. In addition, e.g. fire retarding coatings or paints may be used.
The present invention further relates to a system of a profiled pultruded panel according to the second aspect of the present invention and one or more fixation elements which one or more fixation elements are preferably and advantageously constituted by segments of the profiled pultruded panel being turned upside-down as discussed above.
The present invention further relates to a covering of a building or house which covering is constituted by a plurality of profiled pultruded panel according to the second aspect of the present invention and fixated in the system according to the present invention.
Still further, the present invention relates to a method of providing an outer weather resistant covering of a building or a housing by use of the profiled pultruded panels according to the first aspect of the present invention.
The invention is now to be further described with reference to the drawings in which

Fig. 1 is an overall and schematic view of a facade implemented in accordance with the teachings of the present invention by the use of a number of profiled pultruded panels according to the present invention and also including two window elements implemented in accordance with the teachings of the present invention,
Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the window element according to the present invention,
Fig. 3 is a top sectional view of the window element also shown in Fig. 2,
Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the window element also shown in Figs. 2 and 3,
Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a detail of the top hinge of the window element also shown in Figs. 2-4,
Figs. 6 and 7 are views illustrating details of a closure of the window element shown in Figs. 2-5,
Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view illustrating a detail of a bottom part of the window element shown in Figs. 2-7,
Fig. 9 is a top, perspective and schematic view of a presently preferred embodiment of a profiled pultruded panel according to the present invention to be used as a building covering panel,
Fig. 10 is a bottom perspective and schematic view of the profiled pultruded panel also shown in Fig. 9,
Fig. 11 is a vertical sectional view of the profiled pultruded panel shown in Figs. 9 and 10,
Fig. 12 is a vertical sectional view of a variant of the profiled pultruded panel according to the present invention,
Fig. 13 is a vertical sectional view illustrating the technique of using a segment of the profiled pultruded panel shown in Figs. 9-11 as a fixation device for fixating the profiled pultruded panel shown in Figs. 9-11 to an outer wall of a building or a house,
Fig. 14 is a perspective and schematic view of a plate element to be used for interconnecting two profiled pultruded panels to be adjoined edgewise to one another, and
Fig. 15 is a perspective and schematic view similar to the view of Fig. 14 of a joining element to be used for joining two profiled pultruded panels along a corner of a building structure.

In Fig. 1, an outer wall of a house or a building is shown which outer wall is designated the reference numeral 10 in its entirety. The wall is supported by a supporting structure 12 which may be made from concrete, steel, wood, pultruded elements or combinations of the above materials and which delimits the configuration of the outer wall and also includes e.g. insulating material and optional heating pipes, electrical installations including electrical power, computer wiring, etc. The supporting structure 12 may be made as a single layer or double or multi layer structure in which the individual layers are insulated relative to one another by means of an interlayer insulating material layer. On the outer surface of the supporting structure 12, a plurality of profiled pultruded panels are mounted and fixated in accordance with a technique which will be described in greater details below.
In Fig. 1, a total of six profiled pultruded panels are shown, two of which are designated the reference numeral 14 and constituting a bottom set of panels on top of which two panels 16 and 18 are positioned adjacent to two windows 20 and 22.
Above the panel 18, a further profiled pultruded panel 24 is mounted bridging across the window 20 and on top of the window 22, a further profiled pultruded panel 26 is positioned and fixated.
The profiled pultruded panels are shown in greater details in Figs. 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13, and the window elements are shown in greater details in Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 to be discussed in greater details below.
The window elements 20 and 22 are constructed from identical elements, however, differing from one another in that the window element 20 is a permanently closed or sealed-off window, and the window element 22 is a openable window element as illustrated in Fig. 1. According to the teachings of the present invention, the window elements 20 and 22 will readily be modified as the permanently sealed window element 20 may readily be modified into an openable window, and similarly, the window element 22 may readily be converted into a permanently closed window element.
In Fig. 2, the window element 20 is shown in greater details. The window element 20 comprises a stationary cincumferential rim composed of two side posts 30 and 34, a top post 32 and a bottom post 36. From the top post 32, an outwardly protruding element 38 extends providing a top drip cap. Similarly, a bottom drip cap 40 is provided at the bottom post 36. The window element 20 is, as is evident from Fig. 4 and 5, composed of two glass panels 42 and 44 which are kept in space apart relationship by means of a set of circumferential distance elements 46 which seal off an inner space 48 defined between the two glass panels providing a glazed window structure.
The glazed window structure is at its upper edge adhered to a top hinge part 50 constituted by a pultruded element providing a circular cylindrical body part 52 which is received within a circular groove of the top drip cap 38. The top drip cap 38 constitutes an extension of a profiled pultruded element which is fixated in a wedged joint to the top post 32 of the frame of the window element. The profiled pultruded element 50 constituting the movable hinged part of the window element adhered to the glazed window structure is, as is evident from Fig. 5, provided with an integral T-shaped flange 56 on which an insulating sealing body 58 is mounted. The insulating body 58 may be made from a high insulating rubber or elastomer material such as natural rubber or foamed plastics material. Similar to the insulating body 58, insulating bodies are provided extending along the sides of the glazed window and also along the bottom edge of the window element as is illustrated in greater details in Fig. 8.
In Fig. 8, the lower drip cap 42 is shown which is fixated to the bottom post 36 in a wedged joint similar to the joint between the top drip cap 38 and the top post 32.
In Fig. 8, a pultruded element 47 is shown serving the same purpose as the above described distance element 46 shown in Fig. 5. The bottom part of the window element 20 further discloses a bottom profiled pultruded element 51 similar to the above described element 50 and fixated to the bottom part of the glazed window structure in which the outer glass panel 42 extends beyond the distance element 47 as distinct from the top part shown in Fig. 5 in which the upper edges of the outer glass panel 42 and the inner glass panel 44 are positioned at identical heights. From the profiled pultruded element 51 joined and adhered to the glazed window structure including the glass panels 42 and 44, a downwardly protruding flange 57 similar to the above described flange 56 serves to fixate an insulating and sealing body 59 similar to the above described insulating and sealing body 58.
In Figs. 6 and 7, a detail of the closure elements of the window element 22 is shown. The closure element is constituted by a supporting body 60 which is adhered to the inner side of the glass panel 44 and further a handle 62 which is joined to a lath 64 which is shown in Fig. 6 in its raised position in which the window 22 may be opened as is illustrated in Fig. 1 as the lath 64 is raised freely above the bottom edge part of the bottom web 36. By turning the handle 62 clockwise to a position shown in the dotted line in Fig. 6, the lath 64 is caused to move into a recess 66 of the bottom post 36 for causing the window element to be closed and sealed. According to the basic teachings of the present invention, the handle operated locking and sealing lath 64 may be omitted in which case the lath 64 is permanently arrested in the recess 66 permanently closing and sealing off the window element. In this context, the use of a minimum of components and identical pultruded elements in both window elements 20 and 22 shown in Fig. 1 constituting a permanently closed and an openable window, respectively, allows even permanently closed or fixed windows to be made from the same components and include inherently the hinged parts of the openable window 22 without increasing the overall price of the window element by the presence of the unused hinged part.
Apart from the hinged parts described above with reference to Fig. 5, additional arresting elements such as an arresting arm 70 shown in Fig. 1 may be provided and furthermore, conventionally known multi-positioning window elements may be provided for allowing the window element to be opened in different orientations and tilted.
In Figs. 9 and 10, one of the profiled pultruded panels shown in Fig. 1 is illustrated in greater details. In Fig. 9, the profiled pultruded panel 14 is illustrated as viewed from the outside, and in Fig. 10, the profiled pultruded panel is illustrated as shown from the inner side facing the supporting building such as the supporting building 12 shown in fig. 1. The panel 14 comprises a substantially planar plate 72 which may be non-transparent or at least partly translucent provided no substantial content of pigments be included in the polymer material from which the profiled pultruded panel is made.
At an upper edge of the plate 72, a top flange 74 extends perpendicularly from the inner side of the plate. Opposite to the top flange 74, i.e. at the bottom edge of the plate 72, a bottom flange 75 extends which has an outer configuration which is complementary to the configuration of the top flange 74 allowing the bottom flange 75 to fit with and lock into the top flange of another panel similar to the panel 14 shown in Fig. 9. From the inner side of the plate 72, a total of three additional flanges extend which are designated the reference numeral 76. The three flanges 76 are mutually parallel and extend at an angle of approximately 45⁰ sloping towards the bottom flange 75 and has an outwardly protruding lip 78 which is shown in greater details in Fig. 11.
Each of the sloping edges 76 is further at its innermost lower side provided with a recess 80 which is configurated so as to allow the recess to receive the outwardly protruding lip 78 of the profiled pultruded panel as is illustrated in Fig. 13. According to the advantageous and preferred embodiment of the profiled pultruded panel 14 shown in Figs. 9, 10 an 11, each of the sloping flanges 76 are configurated so as to allow the lower surfaces of each of the flanges to co-operate and receive an inversely orientated flange of an identical same profiled pultruded element. This feature of allowing the identical element to be received provides an extremely simple fixation technique as the profiled pultruded panels shown in Fig. 1 are easily mounted in their intentional position by cutting off along an edge of the panels a segment such as a segment having a width of 10-20 cm, turning the segment upside-down and fixating the element to the supporting building by e.g. screws or nails or by means of an adhesive or a combination thereof and positioning additional segments on top of the previously mounted segment so as to provide a row of supporting segment serving as fixation devices for the panels to be fixated to the supporting wall.
In Fig. 13, the fixation technique is illustrated as the right side cross-hatched profiled element 14 constitutes the panel whereas the unhatched left-hand side elements constitute the fixation segments to which the cross-hatched panel 14 is fixated. In addition to the arresting of the outwardly protruding lip 78 within the recess 80, the panels may be further fixated by means of a fixation screw 82. In Fig. 13, the fixation device is constituted by a segment of the profiled pultruded panel designated the reference numeral 84.
The technique of providing the outer surface covering of a building as panels produced in an integral pultrusion process also allows the pultruded elements to be configurated so as to receive cables by integrally providing cable holding elements which are included in a variant of the profiled pultruded panel which variant is shown in Fig. 12 and designated the reference numeral 14'. In addition to the top and bottom flanges 74 and 75, respectively, and the downwardly sloping fixation flanges 76, a major cable holder 86 is provided together with a plurality of three minor cable or tubing fixation elements 88.
In Fig. 12, a further duct 90 having a cover 92 is shown in which duct e.g. low voltage cables such as telephone or computer cables may be mounted. In Fig. 12, the reference numeral 94 designates a water tube which may be housed within the inner space defined behind the profiled pultruded panel 14.
According to a further alternative or variant of the profiled pultruded panel 14, the sloping flanges 76 are elongated by adding a further extension of each of the flanges allowing the profiled pultruded panel to be positioned with a larger spacing to a supporting building as the extension of each of the flanges 76 may be cut off the supporting fixation element such as the element 84 shown in Fig. 13.
In Fig. 12, one extension of one of the flanges 76 is shown in phantom line and designated the reference numeral 76'.
For joining two adjacent panels together such as the panels 24, 26 shown in Fig. 1, a sealing and joining element is preferably used, which element is shown in Fig. 14 and designated the reference numeral 96. The element is simply introduced edgewise into one of the panels 24 or 26 and fixated in the recesses 80. Then the next panel is pushed into and joined with the element 96.
At the corners of the building, a similar bent joining element may be used which element 98 is shown in Fig. 15.
Although the present invention has been described above with reference to a set of presently preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the present invention may be modified in numerous ways without deviating from the inventive concept and idea as defined in the appending claims. Such amendments which will be evident to a person having ordinary skill in the art are to be contemplated part of the present invention.

Claims

A window element, comprising:
a first glass panel constituting an outer window pane of an overall rectangular configuration defining a first set of parallel sides and a second set of parallel sides,

a second glass panel constituting an inner window pane of an overall rectangular configuration substantially co-extensive with said first glass panel, said second glass panel defining an inner window face,

a first and a second set of pultruded elements extending along said first and second set of parallel sides, respectively, and adhered to said first and second glass panels for interconnecting said first and second glass panels in a glazed window structure,

a window frame made of profiled pultruded elements circumferentially encircling said glazed window structure,

a set of co-operating hinged parts comprising a first part and a second part, said first part being adhered to said window structure at a first edge parallel with one of said sides of said first set of sides, said second part being integrated into or constituted by one of said profiled pultruded elements of said window frame, and

a set of closure elements adhered to said inner window face of said second glass panel at a second edge parallel with another side of said first set of sides and co-operating with recesses provided in an adjacent profiled pultruded element of said window frame for arresting said window structure in a closed and sealed state.
The window element according to claim 1, said first glass panel extending beyond said first and second set of pultruded elements and sealing against an outer circumferential rim of said window frame.
The window element according to claims 1 and 2, each of said set of closure elements including a handle for disengaging said closure elements from co-operating with a respective recess for allowing said window structure to be opened.
The window element according to any of the claims 1-3, said first and second set of pultruded elements including glass fibres.
The window element according to any of the claims 1-4, said profiled pultruded elements including carbon or glass fibres or combinations thereof.
The window element according to any of the claims 1-5, said first and second set of pultruded elements being adhered to said first and second glass panels by means of a PU adhesive or alternatively and preferably an epoxy adhesive.
The window element according to any of the claims 1-6, further comprising a gas tight foil such as an aluminium foil or stainless steel foil providing a gas tight sealing of said first and second set of pultruded elements relative to an inner space defined between said first and second glass panels.
The window element according to any of the claims 1-7, said first edge constituting the top edge of said window structure or alternatively a side edge of said window structure.
A profiled pultruded panel to be used as a wall covering, preferably an outer wall covering, of a building or a house, said panel comprising:
an elongated, planar plate defining opposite first and second sides and a top and a bottom edge,

a set of profiled top and bottom flanges extending perpendicularly from said plate at said first side thereof along said top and bottom edges, respectively, said profiled top flange defining a top surface and said profile bottom flange defining a bottom surface complementary to said top surface of said top flange,

at least one further flange extending from said plate at said first side thereof from a position between said top and bottom flanges and defining an acute angle, preferably an angle of 45⁰, relative to said plate and sloping downwardly towards said bottom edge, and

said planar elongated plate, said set of profiled top and bottom flanges and said at least one further flange being integrally produced in a pultrusion process.
The profiled pultruded panel according to claim 9, further comprising one or more additional flanges providing a total of two or more further flanges extending from said plate at said first side thereof from positions equidistantly spaced from said top and bottom flanges and each defining an acute angle, preferably an angle of 45⁰, relative to said plate and extending mutually parallel.
The profiled pultruded panel according to claim 9 or 10, each of said further flanges having at their outermost ends a downwardly protruding lip and each of said further flanges having at their lower surfaces facing towards said bottom flange an inner recess complementary to said downwardly protruding lip.
The profiled pultruded panel according to any of the claims 9-11, further including fixtures at said inner surface for the fixation of electrical cables or wires, heating or water tubes and/or insulating panels.
The profiled pultruded panel according to any of the claims 9-12, said inner surface having an alga growth preventing surface coating or a dispenser for dispensing a constituent preventing the growth of micro organisms at said first side.
A system of a profiled pultruded panel according to any of the claims 9-13 and one or more fixation elements for fixating said profiled pultruded panel to a wall of a building or a housing, said one or more fixation elements each having a face plate and one or more outwardly pultruding and upwardly extending flanges configurated complementary to said one or more further flanges.
The system according to claim 14, said one or more fixation element being constituted by a segment of said profiled pultruded panel being turned upside-down.
A covering of a building or a house comprising a plurality of profiled pultruded panels according to any of the claims 9-13, each fixated by means of a set of fixation devices constituting the fixation devices of the system according to any of the claims 14-15, said plurality of profiled pultruded panels being positioned and fixated relative to one another by interconnecting said complementary top and bottom flanges of adjacent panels.
A method of providing an outer weather resistant covering of a building or a housing comprising the step of fixating sets of fixation devices constituting the fixation devices of the system according to any of the claims 14-15 and positioning a plurality of profiled pultruded panels according to any of the claims 9-13 on said set of fixation devices and positioning the bottom flanges of a respective profiled pultruded panel complementary catching with and arresting with a profiled top flange of a previously mounted profiled pultruded panel.