EP1970515A2

EP1970515A2 - Sliding and locking device

Info

Publication number: EP1970515A2
Application number: EP08100792A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Ari Laitinen
Original assignee: Suomen Parveketekniikka Oy
Current assignee: SKAALA PRODUCTION OY
Priority date: 2007-01-24
Filing date: 2008-01-23
Publication date: 2008-09-17
Also published as: FI20080019A0; EP1970515A3; FI120011B

Abstract

The invention relates to sliding and locking means (1) for locking the position of a glass panel (5), movable along an upper and a lower rail, at a given angle with respect to the upper rail (7), said upper rail consisting of an upper side (73), a bottom (70), an inner side (75) and outer side (76), where at the top edge of the glass panel, there are connected, by intermediation of a support bead (4), two upper guide members (2; 2' and 2, 2") slidable along the upper rail (7), and at the lower edge of the glass panel, there are connected, by intermediation of a lower support bead (300), two lower guide members slidable along the lower rail (8), so that the glass panel (5) is immovably connected between said lower support bead (300) and upper support bead (4), and that at least the upper support bead (4) extends from one end of the glass panel (5) to the other end and can be turned and locked at an angle with respect to the upper rail (7). Each upper guide member (2; 2', 2; 2") is semisphere-shaped and formed as a locking member by connecting it to an upper support bead (4) secured at the top part of the glass panel (5) by a rigid fastening that prevents a mutual turning motion of the upper support bead (4) and the upper guide member (2), so that the counterpiece (20) of the upper guide member (2) serving as the locking member constitutes a circle segment shaped aperture (20) located on a shelf (200), and that the horizontal plane running through said aperture is located roughly at halfway of the height of said upper guide member (2). Each upper guide member (2', 2") of each pair of upper guide members (2) is fastened to the upper support bead (4) at the end of the support bead and simultaneously at the top edge end of the glass panel. The invention also relates to sliding and locking means (1) for locking the position of a glass panel (5), movable along an upper and a lower rail, at a given angle with respect to the upper rail (7), so that at the upper and lower edges of the glass panel, there are connected pairs of upper and lower guide members that can be slid along the upper and lower rail (7, 8) respectively, and in between which pairs of upper and of lower guide members there is immovably secured a glass panel (5) that can be turned and locked at an angle with respect to the upper rail (7). Each upper guide member (2) is made as a combined sliding and locking element that is semisphere-shaped, connected by glass panels (5), rotary around its vertical axis and functions simultaneously both as a structure guiding and supporting the upper rail (7) of the glass panel and as a locking member, and the employed locking counterpiece (20) of the upper guide member (2) is an aperture that is circle segment shaped in cross-sectional profile, and the horizontal plane running through said aperture is located roughly halfway along the height of said upper guide member.

Description

The invention relates to sliding and locking means according to the preamble of claim 1 for locking the position of a glass panel, movable along an upper and a lower rail, at a given angle with respect to the upper rail.
The invention also relates to a balcony glazing system according to the preamble of claim 19.
The glass panels encircling glazed balconies must be removable for example for cleaning operations or weather changes. For this, the balcony glass panels must be transferred to a suitable place in the balcony (generally against the balcony side wall) and turned or locked at an angle of 90 degrees or larger with respect to the upper and lower rails of the balcony glazing system.
In balcony glazing systems known from prior art, the sliding and locking systems of the glass panels generally include upper and lower rails, along which the panels can be moved. For moving the glass panels along the rails, guide members are arranged inside the upper and lower rails, and separate locking means are provided for locking the glass panels at a desired spot. There are known several types of locking means, but they are generally based on getting a pin-shaped or disc-shaped locking member into contact with its counterpiece, when the glass is turned at a desired angle with respect to the upper rail.
The main drawback with the locking means of the known balcony glazing systems is their low tolerance for any unevenness in the balcony surfaces of the glass guide members slidable inside the upper rail and of the locking means, which leads to an increased need for maintenance and poor functioning. The currently used sliding and locking means of balcony glass panels work well, if they can be installed on straight surfaces, but in case the surfaces are skewed, as they in most cases are, several problems arise; for instance, the passage of the guide members in the rail is prevented, and the locking means do not function. Often the sliding and locking means known from the prior art are complicated in their locking and sliding mechanisms, which means an increase in their manufacturing costs.
A typical arrangement of sliding and locking means for balcony glass panels is described in the patent publication FI 101823 . Said publication introduces a lower and upper guide member, and the glass panel 3 can be turned in a turning station by an axis passing through said elements. For locking the glass panel, the system includes a bar-like or disc-like locking member 7 located above the upper guide member, which locking member is locked with its counterpiece. This type of locking member functions well, if the locking part can be installed in the designed position with respect to the counterpiece, but in case the upper rail for example must be installed at an inclined position, there may easily occur problems in the locking function. This type of sliding and locking means also include an upper guide member and locking part supported against a separate rail, which makes the structure complicated.
In sliding and locking systems for glass panels known from prior art, the turning station of the upper rail includes a supporting protrusion, by which the turning rear end of the glass panel is supported when turning the panel, until the locking parts arranged in the rail have time to receive the locking parts connected to the front end located in the turning station of the glass panel. Now the location of the upper and lower guide members of the glass panel sliding and locking means arranged at the upper and lower edges of the panels must be adjusted depending on which point of the turning station each glass panel should be locked to. When the upper and lower guide members are not located at the ends of the glass panel, this in turn results in that the location of the glass panel turning station at the balcony end, i.e. the handedness of the turning station in the balcony, cannot be freely chosen after the installation.
The object of the invention is to eliminate the above described drawbacks of the prior art.
Hence, the main object of the invention is to realize a balcony glazing system provided with such simple sliding and locking means for balcony glass panels that function in all conditions. An additional object of the invention is to realize a balcony glazing system in which the location of the glass panel turning station at a desired end of the balcony can be freely chosen.
The main object of the invention is achieved by the sliding and locking means according to claim 1, and by a balcony glazing system according to claim 19.
More precisely, the invention relates to sliding and locking means for locking the position of a glass panel, movable along an upper and a lower rail, at a given angle with respect to the upper rail. The upper rail consists of an upper side, a bottom, an inner side and an outer side. At the top edge of the glass panel, there are connected, by intermediation of an upper support bead, two upper guide members that are slidable along the upper rail, and at the lower edge of the glass panel, there are connected, by intermediation of a lower support bead, two lower guide parts that are slidable along the lower rail. The glass panel is arranged immovably between said lower and upper support beads, so that at least the upper support bead extends from one end of the glass panel to the other, and the panel can be turned and locked at an angle with respect to the upper rail. Each upper guide member is semisphere-shaped and made as a locking member by connecting it to a support bead secured at the top part of the glass panel by a rigid fastening that prevents a mutual turning motion between the support bead and the upper guide member, whereby the counterpiece of said upper guide member serving as the locking member constitutes a circle segment shaped aperture located on a shelf, so that the horizontal plane passing through said aperture is located roughly at halfway of the height of said upper guide member. The upper guide member of each pair of upper guide members is attached to the support bead at the end of said bead, and at the same time at the end of the top edge of the glass panel.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the upper rail is provided with recesses that are located at the same longitudinal point of the upper rail as the locking counterpiece located on the shelf attached to the side wall.
A balcony glazing system according to the invention comprises several upper and lower rails encircling the balcony, as well as glass panels that are movable along the upper and lower rails, so that each upper rail consists of an upper side, a bottom, an inner side and an outer side, and that at the top edge of the glass panel, there are connected, by intermediation of a support bead, two upper guide members that are slidable along the upper rail, and that at the lower edge of the glass panel there are connected, by intermediation of a lower support bead, two lower guide parts that are slidable along the lower rail, whereby the glass panel is immovably secured in between said lower support bead and support bead, and at least the upper support bead extends from one end of the glass panel to the other and can be turned and locked at an angle with respect to the upper rail. Each upper guide member is semisphere-shaped, and it is formed as a locking member by connecting it to a support bead secured at the top part of the glass panel by a rigid fastening that prevents a mutual turning motion between the support bead and the upper guide member, so that the counterpiece of said upper guide member serving as the locking member constitutes a circle segment shaped aperture located on a shelf, so that the horizontal plane passing through said aperture is located roughly at halfway of the height of said upper guide member. The guide member of each pair of upper guide members is attached to the support bead at the end of said bead, and at the same time at the end of the top edge of the glass panel.
The invention is based on the idea that the guide members sliding along the upper rail are arranged to function simultaneously both as a bearing structure when sliding the glass panels along the rails and as locking means when turning the glass panels in the turning station at a given angle with respect to the longitudinal direction of the upper and lower rails. This, in turn, is made possible by a fixed fastening of these upper guide members to the upper support bead, and by their semispherical shape and the location of their locking counterpieces with respect to the semisphere - the counterpiece is located on the horizontal plane passing through the center line of the semisphere.
By making the fastening between the upper guide member and the upper support bead fixed and rigid, the upper support bead and the upper guide member can be locked simultaneously in the locking position, in which case there are not needed any separate sliding and locking means, as in the prior art balcony glazing systems.
This kind of semisphere-shaped, combined guide and locking member is not sensitive to unevenness and skewness in the fastening surface of the rail structure; even if the side walls (outer and inner side) directed downwardly from the upper side of the upper rail were not positioned exactly vertically, but were slightly inclined with respect to the vertical direction, this does not affect the functionality of the locking system, because the counterpieces still remain on the horizontal plane passing through the center line of the semisphere; in the prior art elements used for locking, skewness in the rail structure often results in functional disturbance of the locking elements.
By using a semisphere-shaped, combined locking and guide member, there also is achieved the advantage that its moving along the upper rail is not encumbered, even if the rail were inclined with respect to the vertical direction, as opposed to the case with prior art locking members, where the locking members are arranged as separate from the guide members and may hit the rail walls.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the upper rail is provided with a double bottom, and from the glass panel support bead, there is pointed a bracket in between the upper and lower bottoms of the double bottom. In addition, there may be a sliding support arranged in between the lower bottom and the bracket of the double bottom. In that case the bracket thrust in between the double bottom now supports the top edge of the glass panel that is being turned in the turning station K, until the locking member counterpiece located on the upper rail receives the locking member. By using this kind of structure of the support bead of the upper rail and the glass panel connected to a combined locking and upper guide member, there is achieved the additional advantage as compared to prior art arrangements, that there is no need to connect to the upper rail an additional supporting protrusion in order to ensure a horizontal position for the glass panel when turning the glass in the turning station to locking position. Now the combined sliding and locking means according to the invention can be placed at the ends of all glass panels, which in turn enables a free selection of the location of the turning station at the desired end of the balcony, i.e. the handedness of the turning station can be chosen before installation and even after the installation. The term 'balcony end' refers to that part of the balcony where the balcony space ends.
In prior art balcony glazing systems, it has been necessary to make the upper guide members rotary around a vertical axis, i.e. the fastening between the support bead and the upper guide member is not fixed, because part of the upper guide members located further in the back with respect to the sliding direction are not located at the support bead ends. This kind of fastening method between the support bead and the upper guide member has its origins in that in known systems, there is used an additional protrusion for supporting the position of the glass panel when turning the glass in the turning station.
Consequently, the advantages of a balcony glazing system according to the invention over the prior art are based on two interconnected features: the junction between the upper guide member and the support bead is made to be fixed, which in turn is due to that all upper guide members are placed at the ends of the glass panel. The upper guide members can be placed at the ends of the glass panel, because in the arrangement of the invention, it is not necessary to provide the upper rail with a separate supporting protrusion when turning the glass panels. The need for a supporting protrusion has been eliminated, because in the invention, the structure of the upper rail is modified by forming the upper rail bottom as a double bottom, and by providing the support bead with a bracket, by which the glass panel can be supported against said double bottom when turning the glass panel.
Moreover, in another preferred embodiment of the invention, in the turning station K, adjacent to the counterpiece of each upper guide member, at the same point with respect to the upper rail length, on the bottom of the upper rail, there is made a number of identical recesses that are concentrical in relation to the longitudinal center line of the bottom. By means of these recesses, the glass panel is prevented from sliding, when turning it in the longitudinal direction of the upper rail.
In another preferred embodiment of the invention, each lower guide member movable along the lower rail includes a horizontally rotary guide part. The guide part consists of two horizontal wheels geared on the same axis, said wheels being rotary in opposite directions while the guide part moves in a guide chute made in the lower rail. The guide chute is an element made in the lower rail, in parallel with the lower rail and bordered at one side by the lower rail bottom, the vertical sides of said guide chute forming a wedge-like structure; its function is to rotate the guide parts in different directions when sliding a guide part along the guide chute. The guide part can be forced towards the guide chute by a support arm connected to the guide part; spring force is applied on the top part of said support arm.
Advantageously the vertical sides of the guide chute are shaped so that the guide parts getting into contact with them touch different vertical sides irrespective of the inclination of the lower rail.
By using this kind of structure in the lower rail and the guide part, there is achieved the advantage that in all conditions, the guide part slides smoothly in the guide chute. Likewise, the fitting between the guide part and the guide chute remains in all conditions without any clearance, because the guide part is evenly forced towards the guide chute by a given spring force.
The elongate support arm passing through the housing and pressing the guide part also has a certain motional tolerance in the vertical direction, which means that a certain vertical creep tolerance is achieved in the balcony glazing system.
The invention and its various advantages are further illustrated below, with reference to the appended drawings.

Figure 1 A shows a perspective illustration of a balcony glazing system according to the invention, showing the principal parts of the sliding and locking means of one glass panel as placed in the upper and lower rail.
Figure 1B shows the glass panel sliding and locking means according to Figure 1, viewed from the direction 1B of Figure 1A, without the upper and lower rails.
Figure 2 shows a glass panel and its sliding and locking means according to Figure 1, viewed from the direction II of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a perspective illustration showing the upper guide member of the glass panel sliding and locking means of the first embodiment of the invention, and part of the glass panel attached thereto, as well as the upper guide member counterpieces arranged inside the upper rail.
Figure 4A illustrates the support and locking device, the upper guide member and part of the glass panel attached thereto, as well as the counterpieces arranged inside the upper rail, viewed from the direction IV of Figure 3.
Figure 4B illustrates the upper guide member of another embodiment, seen from the same viewpoint as in Figure 4A.
Figure 4C illustrates the upper guide member of the embodiment shown in Figure 4B, viewed from the direction IVC of Figure 4B, when the upper guide member is slightly turned with respect to the upper rail.
Figure 5 illustrates the locking motion of the upper guide member with its counterpiece.
Figure 6A is a top-view schematical illustration showing, for the sake of comparison, how glass panels in a prior art balcony glazing system are brought to a turning station located in a balcony corner.
Figure 6B illustrates, from the same viewpoint as in Figure 6A, how glass panels in a balcony glazing system according to the present invention are brought to a turning station located in a balcony corner.
The upper picture series of Figure 7 illustrates the recesses arranged in the upper rail bottom, in a turning station, in the vicinity of the upper rail bottom, viewed in a longitudinal cross-section and directly from the side, towards the outer wall of the upper rail, and the lower picture series illustrates the upper guide members in this same turning station, viewed directly from above.
Figures 8A, 8B and 8C illustrate a lower guide member located further back on the lower rail when viewed directly towards the end of the glass element, with the lower rail visible in cross-section.

In the following specification, we shall deal with the features of the invention, illustrated by the appended drawings, and the structures visible in the drawings.
Figures 1A-1B and 2 illustrate one glass panel 5 in a balcony glazing system according to the invention, as connected to the upper and lower guide members 2, 3, i.e. to the sliding and locking means 1, seen from different viewpoints. There is one pair of each, both of the upper guide members 2 and of the lower guide members 3, as is apparent from Figures 1A-1B. The upper guide members 2 are attached to the upper corners of the glass panel 5 by intermediation of an upper support bead 4, and the guide parts 30 of the lower guide members 3 are attached to the lower corners of a rectangular glass panel by intermediation of a lower support bead 300.
The glass panel 5 is connected to semisphere-shaped upper guide members 2 located above its top edge and upper corner by intermediation of an (upper) support bead 4, which support bead in turn is fastened to the top part of the glass panel. On the same vertical line Q with the upper guide members 2 there are located the guide parts 30 of the lower guide members 3. Each lower guide member 3 is formed of a lower support bead 300 secured to the lower part of the glass panel and serving all lower guide members, and two guide parts 30 are attached to said lower support bead. The guide parts 30 of the lower guide member 3 are located underneath the lower corner of the glass panel, and they slide turnably along the lower rail 8. Both the upper support bead 4 and the lower support bead 300 extend from one end of the glass panel 5 to the other.
The upper rail 7 is connected to the surrounding fastening support 6, by which the system in turn is attached to the balcony structures (not illustrated). The glass panel 5 is turnable around the vertical lines Q1; Q2 drawn via the guide parts of the front and rear (upper) guide members 2; 2', 2" located at the front and rear ends of the glass panel and via the respective lower guide members 3; 3', 3" located at the front and rear ends of the glass panel. By this arrangement, there is achieved the advantage that the glass panel can be turned with respect to either one of the vertical lines Q; Q1 or Q; Q2, so that the handedness of the turning station K to be described below can be chosen freely. The elongated upper rail 7 consists of an upper side 73 and of outer and inner sides 76, 75 connected at right angles to the upper side, as well as of a double bottom 70 positioned on a horizontal plane, on top of which upper bottom there is supported an upper guide member 2. In cross-sectional profile, the upper rail 7 is more or less rectangular, and an aperture is provided in between its inner side 75 and its bottom 70. Inside the space defined by the double bottom 70, the inner side 75, the outer side 76 and the upper side 73 of the upper rail 7, there remains a casing-like slide space T, where the upper guide member 2 is placed. The outer side 76 and the inner side 75 extend in the vertical direction and are mutually parallel. The double bottom 70 and the upper side 73 extend in the horizontal direction and are mutually parallel.
Figures 3 and 4A-C show a semisphere-shaped upper guide member 2 seen from different viewpoints and in more detail, said guide member being located on the upper rail 7 in the slide space T. The upper guide member 2 is attached to the glass panel 5 by intermediation of a support bead 4. The upper guide member 2 serves simultaneously both as a bearing structure for the glass panel 5 when sliding on the double bottom 7 of the upper rail, and as a locking member 2 when being locked with the counterpiece 20.
In Figures 3 and 4A-4B, the upper guide member 2 located inside the slide space T of the upper rail 7 and the glass panel connected underneath it is illustrated in the rest position, i.e. in the position where the upper guide members 2 normally are when sliding along the double bottom 70 of the upper rail, and where they have not yet been turned and locked with their counterpiece 20 (semisphere-shaped aperture) located in the upper rail turning station K, on the shelf 200
In Figure 4C, the upper guide member is illustrated in the position where it is turned to its locking position in the turning station.
In the rest position, the vertical straight surface 2a of the semisphere-shaped upper guide member 2 is turned towards the vertical inner side 75 of the upper rail 7. The upper rail 7 is at its top part connected to a fastening support 6, and underneath the upper side 73 of the upper rail 7, there remains an adjusting member 9, used for adjusting the angle between the fastening support 6 and the upper rail 7, and the vertical position of the upper rail 7.
Generally the upper side 73 of the upper rail 7 and the horizontal part of the fastening support 6 attached to the balcony are in parallel. If the horizontal part of the fastening support 6 attached to the balcony must, however, be secured at an abnormal station or position, for instance owing to unevenness occurring in the balcony ceiling, the adjusting member can be used for adjusting the height of the upper side 73 of the upper rail 7, as well as for adjusting it in the horizontal direction. The upper rail 7 is provided with a double bottom 70 connected horizontally to the outer side 76, but not to the inner side 75, said double bottom being respectively formed of an upper bottom 71 and a lower bottom 72 that are in parallel. The upper bottom 71 is provided with a guide slot 70; 71; 71a in the longitudinal direction of the upper rail, and the turning station is provided with a number of successive depressions or recesses (cf. Figure 7). The guide slot 71a is formed by turning the free end of the horizontal upper bottom 71 upwardly.
The semisphere-shaped upper guide member 2 is at its lower surface supported against the upper surface of the upper bottom 71, in its guide slot 71a, so that the straight surface 2a of the upper guide member 2 is in a vertical position or even slightly inclined from the vertical position, for example with an inclination of 5 -10 degrees. The upper guide member 2 is attached to the top part of the glass 5 by intermediation of the support bead 4 that in the horizontal direction extends from one end of the glass panel 5 to the other. In the vertical direction, the support bead 4 extends from the upper guide member from an aperture provided in the corner between the inner side 75 of the upper rail and the double bottom 70 towards the glass 5 located underneath the upper rail 8, and is secured to said glass with a rigid pressure joint. The semisphere-shaped upper guide member 2 is attached to the support bead 4 underneath a narrow, plate-like support arm 2b connected directly to the straight surface 2a of the semisphere. The support arm 2b is permanently fixed in an upwardly opening groove 4a formed by the upper end of the support bead 4. Owing to the fixed, rigid mutual fastening of the upper guide member 2 and the support bead 4, the mutual position of the upper guide member 2 and the glass 5 rigidly fastened to the support bead 4 is not changed, when the upper guide member 2 is turned (cf. Figures 3C, 5 and 6) in the turning station, as opposed to the situation in the arrangements according to the invention. Now the guide member 2 of the upper guide can serve both as a sliding member when moving along the upper rail and as a locking member, when the glass panel 5 is turned in the turning station.
From the support bead 4 connecting the upper guide member 2 and the glass 5, a bracket 41 is projected to between the upper and lower bottom 71, 72 of the double bottom 70 of the upper rail 7. The bracket 41 extends from one end of the upper rail 7 to the other end, equidistantly from the upper side 73 of the upper rail. The horizontal part 72a of the lower bottom 72 of the double bottom 70 is provided with a pocket 72b, in which a slide plane 72c can be inserted. The slide plane 72c arranged in the pocket 72b helps the sliding of the support bead 4 and also the sliding of the upper guide member 2 attached thereto on top of the lower bottom 72 (cf. Figures 4B and 4C). The junction between the upper guide member 2 and the support bead 4 is located immediately adjacent to the longitudinal vertical plane P drawn through the middle of the upper rail 7, and on the horizontal center line L of the upper rail drawn halfway along the height of the semisphere. Now the straight surface 2a of the upper guide member 2 is in the rest position located roughly on said vertical plane P extending in the longitudinal direction of the upper rail, said vertical plain being placed halfway along the width of the upper side 73, in the middle of the slide space T. While the upper guide member 2 is in the rest position, its lower surface is supported against the upper bottom 71 of the double bottom 70, against the fold 71a left between the horizontal part of the upper bottom 71 and its upwardly turned free end, said fold serving as the guide slot 71a of the upper guide member 2.
The semisphere-shaped counterpieces are located on a triangular shelf 200 that is narrowed towards the free tip thereof and is fastened at the inner side 75 of the upper rail 7, said free tip extending to the vicinity of the straight surface 2a of the guide member 2.
The locking counterpiece 20 of each upper guide member 2 is an aperture 20 located on the shelf-like structure 200. The shelf is best shown in Figures 3 and 4A - 4C. The apertures located on the shelf are illustrated in Figures 5 and 7.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, at the locking counterpieces placed on the shelf 200, at the upper bottom 71 of the upper rail, there is arranged a number of recesses 25 by means of an aligning element 250. This embodiment is illustrated in Figure 7 and in Figures 4A - 4C.
The horizontal shelf 200 is on the horizontal plane fastened to the turning station K of the inner side 75 of the vertical upper rail 7, i.e. at a point where the glass panels 5 should be turned at a desired angle (generally about 90 degrees) with respect to the longitudinal direction of the upper rail. The turning station illustrated in Figure 3A is placed at the other end of the upper rail 7 (cf. Figure 6). The lower edge of the shelf 200 is located on a horizontal plane that is drawn halfway along the height of the upper guide member 2. Thus the shelf 200 is fastened at such a height on the inner side 75 that the horizontal lower edge of the shelf is placed about halfway along the height, i.e. diameter, of the semisphere-shaped upper guide member 2, when viewed from the upper bottom 71 of the upper rail 7. The apertures 20 arranged on the shelf 200 are located adjacently, and they are at least as many as there are glass panels included in the balcony glazing system. In their longitudinal section profiles, the apertures 20 have a circular shape, and their orifice opens away from the inner wall 75, towards the upper guide member 2 arranged on the upper rail. The radius r of the apertures is roughly equal to the radius of the semisphere-shaped guide member 2. The free edge of the shelf 200 extends to the vicinity of the straight surface 2a of the semisphere-shaped guide member 2.
The locking of the guide member 2 with the counterpiece 20 is carried out as is illustrated in Figure 5. For the sake of simplicity, the drawing only depicts the upper guide members 2; 2'a, 2'b and the shelf 200, on which the counterpieces 20; 20',20",20"' are located. In the situation shown in Figure 5, the first glass panel on the right-hand side is turned at an angle of 90 degrees with respect to the inner wall 75 of the upper rail, said inner wall 75 extending in parallel with the shelf 200. The semisphere 2'b connected to a first glass panel and used as an upper guide member is turned 90 degrees in order to be locked with the counterpiece 20; 20' that is circle segment shaped in cross-section. Adjacent thereto, there is the semisphere 2'a, connected to a second glass panel, which semisphere 2'a has just been set adjacent to the counterpiece 20"; now, by turning the semisphere 90 degrees counterclockwise, the glass panel attached thereto is aligned in parallel with the first glass panel.
Figure 6B shows a number of glass panels 5 that are adjacently turned in the turning station K according to the method illustrated in Figures 4B, 5A and 5B, which panels are arranged at an angle of 90 degrees with respect to the longitudinal direction of the upper rail. Figure 6B also shows the placing of the pair of upper guide members; both longitudinal ends of the support beads 4 of each glass panel are provided with a guide member 2. In the inner side 75 of the upper rail there is now made an aperture, not illustrated in the drawings, by removing a piece before the turning station, in order to allow the guide member 2; 2" running further back to turn out of the upper rail. The upper guide member 2 shown in Figures 4B and 4C is the foremost guide member 2,2' that runs inside the upper rail in Figure 6. From Figure 4C it can be seen how the bracket 41 of the support bead 4 turning along with the guide member 2 all the time remains at least partly inside the intermediate bottom, i.e. in between the lower bottom 72 and the upper bottom 71, even if the rear end 4" of the support bead 4 and at the same time the rear end of the glass panel 5 fastened to the support bead are turned outwardly, i.e. towards the inner wall 75 of the upper rail. Owing to the double bottom 70 constituting a turning support for the bracket 41 of the support bead 4, the end of the glass panel slid along the rails 7, 8 supported by the guide parts of the upper guide members 2 and of the lower guide members 3, in other words that end of the glass panel that is run further back, i.e. the rear end, need not be supported by a supporting protrusion separately arranged on the upper rail 7 as is the case in prior art balcony glazing systems, when the guide member 2; 2" attached by a support bead 4 at the top edge of the end located furthest back in the sliding direction of the glass panel 5 is turned outwardly in the turning station K. In a preferred embodiment explained in more detail below, in connection with the description of Figure 7, the reliability of the turning function of the glass panel 5 is improved by making depressions or recesses 25 on the upper bottom 71 in the turning station K by means of an aligning element 250. The recesses 25 prevent the glass panel 5 from moving in the longitudinal direction of the upper rail 7 during the turning operation. The structure of the aligning element 250 is for the main parts visible also in Figures 4A, 4B and 4C.
For the sake of comparison, balcony glazing systems known from the prior art are illustrated in Figure 6A. Here only the sliding members 21; 21', 21" running on the upper rail of the glass panel that is the first to be brought to the turning station K are fastened at the ends of the upper support bead 4 of the glass panel, but in the rest of the glass panels, the sliding member 21 " that is located further back in the transfer direction is attached at a given distance from that end (rear end) 4" of the support bead 4 that is located further back in the transfer direction. Said distance depends on the location where the glass panel is turned in the turning station K. The reason why the sliding member 21 " located further back cannot be placed at the rear end 4" of the support bead, as in the arrangement of the present invention, is that in prior art balcony glazing systems, there is a supporting protrusion (not illustrated) arranged on the upper rail and protruding therefrom, in the vicinity of the turning station K, against which supporting protrusion the end 4" of the support bead of that glass panel that is located further back in the transfer direction is supported when turning the glass panel in the turning station K. In the arrangement of the invention this problem does not arise, because the support bead 4 is, by intermediation of the bracket 41, supported against the double bottom 70, when the glass panel is turned.
Figure 6B also demonstrates an advantage that is achieved by this kind of a structure for a balcony glazing system 10 according to the invention, as compared with known balcony glazing systems (Figure 6A); in case a railing V is arranged to run outside the upper rails 7, in their immediate vicinity, a glass panel 5 provided with guide members according to the invention can be conducted without difficulty past the angle between the upper rails 7; 7' and 7; 7", because the upper guide members 2 are located at the ends of the support bead 4 fastened to the glass panels, and the upper guide members 2 all the time run inside the upper rail 7. In prior art systems, only the guide members of that glass panel that is the first to be brought to the turning station K are both placed at the ends of the support bead connected to the glass panels, but the upper guide member of the other glass panels running further back in the sliding direction is fastened more centrally in the glass panel support bead, in which case those ends of these glass panels that are located further in the rear may hit the railings V in the corner between the two upper rails.
In the balcony glazing system 10 according to the invention, both of the upper and lower pairs of the guide members of all glass panels can be placed at the opposite ends of each glass panel (Figure 6). Now the upper and lower rails meeting in the corner at an angle of 90 degrees can be sloped at a mitre slot of 45 degrees.
When the glass panels 5 of the balcony glazing system 10 are being moved on the upper and lower rails, supported by the upper guide members 2 and by the guide parts of the lower guide members 3, the upper guide members 2 can in the corner between the upper rails be transferred directly from the upper bottom of the first upper rail to the upper bottom of the second upper rail. Normally the guide member 2 runs inside the rail in the rest position (cf. Figures 3 and 4), i.e. its straight surface 2a is parallel with the lengthwise axis of the upper rail, but in the corner and after the corner, the foremost guide member runs for a moment so that its straight part is placed at an angle with respect to the lengthwise axis of the upper rail. Thus the upper guide member need not be turnable with respect to its vertical axis P and to the support bead, as is the case in corresponding balcony glazing systems known from the prior art, but the fastening between the upper guide member 2 and the support bead 4 can be arranged to be permanently fixed.
In prior art balcony glazing systems, the upper guide members must be made rotary around the vertical axis, i.e. the fastening between the support bead and upper guide member is not fixed, because part of the upper guide members 21; 21" that are located further back in the transfer direction are not placed at the ends of the support bead 4. An upper guide member 21 that is thus arranged to be turnable with respect to the support bead cannot in the same way function both as sliding and locking means as the upper guide member 2 according to the invention.
As was already pointed out, that end of the glass panel 5 that runs further in the back with respect to the transfer direction need not be in any way supported in the turning station K, when the glass panel is turned in the way illustrated in Figure 6. This is due to the fact that the bracket 41 of the support bead 4 is long enough to extend so deep in between the lower and upper bottoms of the double bottom 70 that the bracket 41 is during the turning motion supported for a sufficiently long time, at least for one of its parts, to between the lower and upper bottoms of the double bottom 70, thus forming a turning support together with them. At a certain point of the turning motion, the foremost guide member 2; 2" starts being pushed in the locking counterpiece 20, so that the end 5" of the glass panel coming further back need not be separately supported.
When using a balcony glazing system 10 according to the invention, the balcony glass panels can be gathered at any of the balcony sides, because the upper guide members 2: 2', 2" of all glass panels are located at the same point of the support bead 4 attached to the glass panel 5, i.e. at the ends 4' and 4" of the glass bead 4. Thus the structures of all upper guide members 2 as well as their location on the support bead 4 of the glass panel are mutually identical. Also the lower guide members 3 are mutually identical and located at the same point of the guide members.
Figures 7 and 4A - 4C illustrate yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, comprising an aligning element 250 installed in the turning station on the upper rail. In the upper rail turning station, adjacent to the counterpiece of each upper guide member, at the same point of the length of the upper rail 7, on the upper bottom 70; 71 of the upper rail 7, there is made a number of identical recesses 25; 25', 25", 25"' that are concentrical with respect to the longitudinal center line of the bottom, by means of the aligning element 250, which also is seen in Figures 4A - 4C.
Figures 4A - 4C show the location of the aligning element 250 on top of the upper bottom 71 of the upper rail 7. The aligning element 250 is a separate plastic aligning part installed in the turning station on top of the upper bottom 71 of the upper rail, comprising a number of recesses 25 made in the slide part 27 arranged on top of the upper bottom 71, and a joining piece 26 that is connected at right angles to the slide part 27 of the aligning element. The joining piece 26 is in parallel with the outer side 76 of the upper rail, and attached thereto by a suitable junction.
Figure 7 illustrates the aligning element 250 located on top of the upper rail in the turning station, provided with three recesses 25 on the slide part 27. In the upper series of drawings in Figure 7, the upper rail is viewed directly from the side, and in the lower series of drawings, it is viewed directly from the top. In the lower series of drawings, the outer side of the upper rail is viewed from the level of the upper bottom; here said outer side of the upper rail remains behind the joining piece 26 of the outer side attached on top of the aligning element. In the lower series of drawings, said joining piece 26 is visible in the top part of the picture. Two recesses 25; 25' and 25; 25" of the recesses 25 are provided with an upper guide member 2, while one of the recesses 25; 25"' remains free.
Consequently, the two upper guide members 2; 2'a and 2; 2'b shown in the series of drawings are placed in the two left-hand side recesses 25' and 25", while the right-hand side recess 25; 25"' remains free. The upper guide member 2; 2'a brought in the recess 25; 25' located farthest on the left-hand side is in the position in which the glass panel was recently brought in the turning station, i.e. the glass panel and the upper guide member 2; 2'a are not yet turned in the recess 25; 25'. Therefore said upper guide member 2'a has not yet been turned to its locking counterpiece, which means that its straight part 2a; 2aa is aligned in the longitudinal direction of the upper rail 7. As for the second upper guide member 2; 2'b located in the centermost recess 25", it has already been turned 90 degrees in its locking position, which means that the glass panel has respectively been turned 90 degrees with respect to the longitudinal direction of the upper rail, so that it is now in the turning station K, in the position illustrated in Figure 6B. The straight part 2a; 2ab of said upper guide member 2; 2'b is positioned at an angle of 90 degrees with respect to the longitudinal direction of the upper rail 7.
The purpose of the recesses 25 is to align the upper guide member 2; 2' with respect to its counterpiece, so that the user cannot even accidentally turn the glass panel elsewhere than exactly at the counterpiece. When the upper guide member 2; 2' is set in the recess 25, said recess 25 prevents the motion of the upper guide member in the longitudinal direction of the upper rail 7, thus simultaneously also preventing the glass panel from moving in the longitudinal direction of the upper rail 7, so that the upper guide member 2; 2' is turned and easily locked in its counterpiece. Likewise, because the recess 25 prevents the upper guide member 2; 2a from moving in the longitudinal direction of the upper rail 7 during the turning process, the edge of the straight part 2a of the upper guide member 2 does not, when turning, get into contact with the counterpiece tip.
Figures 8A, 8B and 8C illustrate in more detail a lower guide member 3 of the glass panel sliding and locking means used in a balcony glazing system. The structure of the lower guide member 3 was illustrated more generally above, in Figures 1 and 2 and in connection with the description of said drawings.
Figure 8A illustrates a situation where the rearmost lower guide member 3; 3" placed on the lower rail 8 is in the rest position, or where said lower guide member is when sliding the glass element supported by the upper and lower guide members located on the respective lower and upper rails.
Figure 8B in turn illustrates a situation where the turning of a glass element 5 in the turning station is just being started.
Figure 8C illustrates a situation where the glass element and its lower guide member have already been turned to some extent in the turning station.
Figures 8A - 8C show the cross-section of the lower rail 8 and the rearmost lower guide member 3; 3" located on the lower rail, which guide member is connected to the lower support bead 300. Said rearmost lower guide member 3" can together with the glass panel 5 be turned in the turning station (cf. Figure 6B). The lower guide member 3 comprises the following elements, to be described in more detail below: a support arm 32, a vertical housing 301 provided with a pressure string surrounding the support arm, and a guide part 30 connected to said support arm.
The glass element 5 is at its lower end fastened to a lower support bead 300 that is directed downwardly from the glass panel and extends from one end of the glass panel 5 to the other. Through a vertical housing 301 that is arranged in the lower support bead 300 and located adjacent to the glass panel, there runs in the up and down direction a support arm 32 of the lower guide member 3; 3', said support arm extending in its lower position (Figure 8A) for a certain distance underneath the lower edge of the housing 301 provided in the lower support bead 300. Inside the housing, there is arranged a prestressed pressure string (not illustrated) that forces the support arm 32 downwardly, towards a guide chute 80, and simultaneously towards the bottom of the lower rail 8. The lower end 32a of the support arm 32 is made as a horizontal bracket 32a that is pointed directly towards the outer side, and a horizontal guide part 30 is geared to said bracket 32a. The guide part 30 is formed of two parallel, concentrically geared and superimposed wheels: an upper guide part 30a and a lower guide part 30b. The support arm 32 aligns the gearing point of the guide parts 30 on the same vertical level with the plane of the glass panel 5.
The lower rail 8 is formed of a vertical outer wall 86 and a vertical inner wall 85 as well as a horizontal bottom 81 that connects the outer and inner walls. As can be seen in Figures 8A - 8C, the inner wall 85 and the outer wall 86 are roughly equally high. The top edge of the inner wall 85 is folded inside to form a horizontal bracket 85a. The bracket 85a extends from one end of the inner wall to the other, except that at the turning station, there is arranged an aperture, in order to be able to lift the lower guide part 30 away from the guide chute (aperture of bracket 85a: cf. Figure 8B). From the bottom 81 of the lower rail, there rises upwardly a mainly vertical intermediate wall 8; 88. To the lower rail bottom 81, there are attached two supports 81b, with cross-sectional shapes of two upside down turned letters L, the small notches of the letters being pointed towards each other.
In the space defined by the intermediate wall 88, the bottom 81 and the inner wall 85, there now remains a guide chute 80. The vertical walls bordering the guide chute 80, i.e. the inner wall side 88a of the intermediate wall 88 and the outer wall side 85b of the inner wall 85, are mutually shaped so that when moving, the lower guide part 30b of the guide part 30 and the upper guide part 30a both touch only one of said sides 85a and 88a, and that each of the guide parts 30a and 30b also touches a different side. In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figures 8A - 8C, the lower guide part 30b, when being placed in the guide slot, touches the inner side 88a of the intermediate wall 88, and the upper guide part touches the inner side 85b of the inner wall. When the guide part 30 is moved along the guide chute 80, the upper guide part 30a and the lower guide part 30b rotate in opposite directions, on one hand due to the friction between the lower guide part 30b and the side 88a, and on the other hand due to the friction between the upper guide part 30a and the side 85b. In the embodiment according to Figures 8A - 8C, the contact of the equalsized guide parts 30a, 30b with different guide chute sides 88a, 85b, when the guide part 30 is moving along said guide chute, is realized by a wedge-like structure of the guide chute, as well as by a pressure string that forces the support arm 32 and further the guide part 30 downwardly. In the embodiment illustrated in the drawing, the wedge-like structure of the guide chute 80 is realized so that from roughly below the halfway along the height of the inner side 88; 88a of the intermediate wall, the side 88a is curved towards the inner wall 85, but from above the halfway of said height, the side 88a is curved towards the outer side 86. Thus the cross-sectional profile of the side 88a resembles a low-gradient letter S in. Respectively the inner side 85b of the inner wall 85 is shaped so that from roughly above the halfway of the height, the surface of the inner side 85b is straight or curved slightly towards the outer wall 88, but from below the halfway, the surface of the inner side 85b is strongly curved away from the outer wall 86.
Figure 8A shows a situation where the guide part 30 of the rearmost guide member 3; 3' moves in a wedge-like guide chute 80, or alternatively the guide part 30 is in the rest position in said guide chute 80. The support arm 32 is in its lower position, pressing the upper guide part 30a of the guide part 30 towards the inner side of the intermediate wall 88, and the lower guide part 30b towards the inner side of the inner wall 85, owing to the effect of the pressure string arranged in the housing 301. The guide part 30 is wedged against the vertical walls 85 and 88 of the guide chute 80. Thus the pressure string ensures that the parts 30a, 30b of the guide part 30 are always pressed compactly, without any clearance, against the vertical sides 88a and 85b of the guide chute 80, so that the guide parts 30 of the glass elements in the balcony glazing system cannot, even in strong wind, move in the guide chute 80. This prevents the customary noise and rattle of the balcony glass panels in windy conditions. The wedge-like structure of the above described guide chute 80 ensures that the lower guide part 30b and the upper guide part of the guide part 30 always rotate in opposite directions although they are located on one and the same rotary axis, which brings forth a further advantage, i.e. that the guide part 30 moves in all conditions smoothly and evenly in the guide chute 80. In addition, the vertical walls 88a and 85b of the guide chute are also shaped in the above described way, so that the upper guide part 30a and the lower guide part 30b always touch different sides of the vertical wall, even if the bottom 81 of the lower rail 8 were inclined from the horizontal direction.
Figure 8B in turn illustrates a situation where the glass panel 5 is prepared for turning it in the turning station (cf. Figure 6B and its description). The guide part 30 is lifted up from the guide chute 80 through an aperture provided in the bracket 85a of the top edge of the inner wall 85. The support arm 32 supporting the guide part 30 is in its high position.
Figure 8C illustrates a situation where the front end of the glass element 5 and simultaneously the rearmost guide member 3" attached to the front end of the lower support bead of the glass element is turned inwardly through an aperture arranged in the inner wall 85 of the turning station. The pair of horizontal wheels forming the guide part 30 of the rearmost guide member 3', i.e. the lower guide part 30b and the upper guide part 30a, are as a whole turned over the edge of the inner wall 85 of the lower rail 8, in which case the turning motion can be continued, so that the glass element 5 is turned 90 degrees with respect to the lower rail (cf. Figure 6B). In Figure 8C, the glass element is opened to inside the balcony. At a corresponding foremost lower guide member in the turning station, there is not arranged an aperture in the inner wall 85, which means that it cannot escape from the guide slot 80.
The elongate support arm 32 running through the housing 301 has a certain motional tolerance in the vertical direction. In case the support structures above the upper rail 7 in the balcony glazing system, or the upper rail 7 itself, happen to sink lower, so that the upper rail 7 is lowered towards the lower rail 8, the distance between the lower end 32a of the support arm and the lower edge of the glass panel 5 can be adjusted in the high and low positions of the support arm. By using the above described structure of the support arm 32 and of the pressure string forcing said arm downwardly, there is now achieved the advantage that the support arm 32 cannot touch the lower rail, and the guide part 30 continues sliding smoothly in the guide chute 80. Thus a certain vertical creep tolerance is obtained in the balcony glazing system.
In the above specification, we have only described a few embodiments of the sliding and locking means 1 according to the invention as well as embodiments of balcony glazing systems, and for a man skilled in the art it is obvious that the invention can also be realized in many other ways within the scope of the inventive idea apparent from the appended claims.
Thus, the adjusting member 9 can likewise be located in between the fastening support and the upper rail, as underneath the upper side 73 of the upper rail 7. The shelf 200 can also be planar in shape.

Reference numbers

1: Sliding and locking means
2: Upper guide member
2a: Straight side of upper guide member
2b: Support arm of upper guide member
2'a, 2'b: Front ends of upper guide members connected to separate glass panels
2', 2": Front and rear ends of upper guide member (according to the invention)
21', 21": Front and rear ends of upper guide member (not according to the invention)
25: Recesses in upper rail
20: Counterpiece of the locking of upper guide member
20', 20", 20": Counterpieces of the locking of upper guide member
200: Shelf of the locking counterpieces
250: Aligning element
25: Aligning element recess, depression
26: Joining piece of aligning element
27: Slide part of aligning element
3: Lower guide member
30: Guide part
30a: Lower guide part
30b: Upper guide part
32: Support arm
300: Lower support bead
301: Housing provided in lower support bead
4: (Upper) support bead
4', 4": Front and rear end of support bead
41: Bracket of support bead
5: Glass panel, glass
5', 5": Front and rear edge of glass panel
6: Fastening support
7, 7', 7": Upper rail
70: Double bottom of upper rail
71: Upper bottom of double bottom
72: Lower bottom of double bottom
71 a: Guide slot in upper bottom
72a: Horizontal part in lower bottom
72b: Pocket in lower bottom
72c: Slide plane
73: Upper side
75: Inner side
76: Outer side
8: Lower rail
80: Guide slot in lower rail
81: Bottom of lower rail
85: Inner wall of lower rail
86: Outer wall of lower rail
88: Intermediate wall of lower rail
9: Adjusting member
10: Balcony glazing system
K: Turning station
L: Central line of upper rail
P: Vertical plane
Q1, Q2: Vertical lines
r: Radius of locking member
T: Slide space
V: Railing

Claims

Sliding and locking means (1) for locking the position of a glass panel (5), movable along an upper and a lower rail, at a given angle with respect to the upper rail (7), said upper rail (7) consisting of an upper side (73), a bottom (70), an inner side (75) and an outer side (76), where at the top edge of the glass panel, there are connected, by intermediation of a support bead (4), two upper guide members (2; 2' and 2, 2") slidable along the upper rail (7), and at the lower edge of the glass panel, there are connected, by intermediation of a lower support bead (300), two lower guide members (3; 3' and 3; 3") slidable along the lower rail (8), so that the glass panel (5) is immovably connected between said lower support bead (300) and upper support bead (4), in which case at least the upper support bead (4) extends from one end of the glass panel (5) to the other end and can be turned and locked at an angle with respect to the upper rail (7),
characterized in that
- each upper guide member (2; 2', 2; 2") is semisphere-shaped and formed as a locking member by connecting it to an upper support bead (4) secured at the top part of the glass panel (5) by a rigid fastening that prevents a mutual turning motion of the upper support bead (4) and the upper guide member (2), so that the counterpiece (20) of the upper guide member (2) serving as the locking member constitutes a circle segment shaped aperture (20) located on a shelf (200), and that the horizontal plane running through said aperture is located roughly at halfway of the height of said upper guide member (2),

- each upper guide member (2', 2") of each pair of upper guide members (2) is fastened to the upper support bead (4) at the end of the support bead and simultaneously at the top edge end of the glass panel.
Sliding and locking means (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the
- bottom of the upper rail (7) is made as a double bottom, comprising an upper bottom (71) and a lower bottom (72),

- from the upper support bead (4) of the glass panel, there is pointed a bracket (41) arranged as a turning support to in between the upper and lower bottoms (71, 72) of the double bottom (70),

- the upper rail (7) can be fastened, by intermediation of its upper side (73), either directly or indirectly, to a planar element, such as the balcony ceiling.
Sliding and locking means (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that
- both the upper support bead (4) and the bracket (41) attached to the support bead extend from one end of the glass panel (5) to the other,

- the bracket (41) of the support bead (4) of the glass panel, thrust in between the upper and lower bottoms (71, 72) of the double bottom (70), serves as a bearing structure when sliding the upper guide members (2; 2', 2") on the upper rail (7), along the upper bottom (71) of the double bottom (70).
Sliding and locking means (1) according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that on top of the lower bottom (72) of the double bottom, there is arranged a slide plane (72c) that helps the sliding of the bracket (41) of the upper support bead and also the sliding of the upper guide member (2) fastened to the upper support bead (4).
Sliding and locking means (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that the upper rail (7) is rectangular in cross-sectional profile and consists of a planar upper side (73), a double bottom (70), an outer side (76) and an inner side (75), which together form a casing-like structure, inside which there is left a slide space (T).
Sliding and locking means (1) according to claim 5, characterized in that
- the counterpiece (20) of the upper guide member (2) is located on a shelf (200) attached to the turning station (K) on the inner side (75) of the upper rail,

- when the upper guide member (2) is placed in the rest position in the turning station, the shelf (200) is placed in between the plane drawn via the straight surface (2a) of the upper guide member (2) and the inner side (75) of the upper rail.
Sliding and locking means (1) according to claim 6, characterized in that the shelf (200) is horizontally projected from the inner wall (75) of the upper rail to inside the upper rail, immediately adjacently to the straight surface (2a) of the semisphere-shaped guide member (2).
Sliding and locking means (1) according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that in the turning station K, adjacently to the counterpiece (20) of each upper guide member (2), at the same point of the length of the upper rail (7), on the bottom (70) of the upper rail (7), there is made a number of identical recesses (25) that are concentrical with respect to the longitudinal center line of the bottom.
Sliding and locking means (1) according to claim 8, characterized in that the recesses (25) are made in the turning station (K) by an aligning element (250) located on the upper rail, said aligning element constituting a part placed on top of the upper bottom (71) of the upper rail and comprising a number of recesses (25) provided in a slide part (27) set on top of the upper bottom (71) as well as a joining piece (26) arranged in parallel with the outer side (76) of the rail and fastened thereto by a suitable joint, said joining piece (26) being connected at an angle to the slide part (27).
Sliding and locking means (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that each lower guide member (3) that is movable on the lower rail (8) includes a horizontally rotary guide part (30), having a lower guide part (30b) and an upper guide part (32a) geared on the same axis, said guide parts (30a, 30b) being rotary in opposite directions, while the guide part (30) moves along a guide chute (80) made in the lower rail (8).
Sliding and locking means (1) according to claim 10, characterized in that the guide chute (80) is an element located in parallel with the lower rail, placed on the lower rail, and bordered by the lower rail bottom (81) on one side, the vertical sides (85, 88) of said chute (80) forming a wedge-like structure, for rotating the guide parts (30a, 30b) in opposite directions when sliding the guide part (30) along the guide chute (80).
Sliding and locking means (1) according to claim 11, characterized in that the vertical sides (85, 88) of the guide chute are shaped so that the guide parts (30a, 30b) getting into contact with them touch different vertical sides irrespective of the inclination of the bottom (81) of the lower rail (8) with respect to the horizontal direction.
Sliding and locking means (1) according to claim 10, characterized in that the guide part (30) is geared at the lower end of an elongate support arm (32), so that the guide part (30) can be forced by intermediation of the support arm (32) towards the bottom of the guide chute (80).
Sliding and locking means (1) according to claim 13, characterized in that the top part of the support arm (32) is connected to a housing (301) provided adjacent to the lower support bead (300) of a glass element, inside which housing there is arranged a spring member that presses down both the support arm (32) and the guide part (30) geared at its lower end.
Sliding and locking means (1) according to claim 14, characterized in that the distance between the lower end (32a) of the support arm (32) and the lower edge of the glass panel can be adjusted both in the lower position and in the higher position of the support arm.
Sliding and locking means (1) according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that on the upper bottom (71) of the upper rail (7), there is made a guide slot (71a) in the longitudinal direction of the upper rail, in which slot the lower end of the upper guide member (2) can be thrust, and which guide slot (71a) is advantageously a fold made on a planar upper bottom (71).
Sliding and locking means (1) according to claim 16, characterized in that the guide slot (71a) is advantageously located in the cross-sectional profile of the upper rail, halfway along its width (L).
Sliding and locking means (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the upper rail (7) is, by intermediation of its upper side (73), attached to a fastening support (6) that can be attached to a planar element, such as the balcony ceiling,
- and that immediately underneath the upper side (73) of the upper rail (7), there is an adjusting member (9) for adjusting the vertical position of the upper rail and/or the distance between the planar element and the fastening support (6).
A balcony glazing system (10) comprising several upper and lower rails (7, 8) encircling a balcony, as well as glass panels (5) movable along the upper and lower rails, so that each upper rail (7) consists of an upper side (73), a bottom (70), an inner side (75) and an outer side (76), where at the top edge of the glass panel, there are connected, by intermediation of a support bead (4), two upper guide members (2; 2' and 2, 2") slidable along the upper rail (7), and at the lower edge of the glass panel, there are connected, by intermediation of a lower support bead (300), two lower guide members (3; 3' and 3; 3") slidable along the lower rail (8), so that the glass panel (5) is immovably connected between said lower support bead (300) and upper support bead (4), in which case at least the upper support bead (4) extends from one end of the glass panel (5) to the other end and can be turned and locked at an angle with respect to the upper rail (7),
characterized in that
- each upper guide member (2; 2', 2; 2") is semisphere-shaped and formed as a locking member by connecting it to an upper support bead (4) secured at the top part of the glass panel (5) by a rigid fastening that prevents a mutual turning motion of the upper support bead (4) and the upper guide member (2), so that the counterpiece (20) of the upper guide member (2) serving as the locking member constitutes a circle segment shaped aperture (20) located on a shelf (200), and that the horizontal plane running through said aperture is located roughly at halfway of the height of said upper guide member (2),

- each upper guide member (2', 2") of each pair of upper guide members (2) is fastened to the upper support bead (4) at the end of the support bead and simultaneously at the top edge end of the glass panel.
A balcony glazing system (10) according to claim 19, characterized in that to each glass panel (5), there is connected, by an upper support bead (4) and a guide part, two pairs formed of an upper and a lower guide member (2, 3), said pairs being located at the ends of each glass panel.
A balcony glazing system (10) according to claim 20, characterized in that
- the upper guide member (2) and lower guide member (3) of each glass panel (5) is located on the same axis (Q),

- each upper guide member (2) is attached to an upper support bead (4) connected to the glass panel (5), so that its straight surface (2a) is in the rest position turned towards the inner side (75) of the upper rail (7),

- each upper guide member (2) is in the rest position supported against a guide slot (71a) made in the double bottom (70) of the upper rail, which guide slot (71 a) is advantageously located halfway along the width (L) of the cross-sectional profile of the upper rail.
A balcony glazing system (10) according to any of the claims 19 - 21, characterized in that it includes a glass panel turning station (K) that is arranged at any point of the upper rail (7) by placing in the turning station a shelf (200) provided with locking counterpieces (20), and by making an aperture on the inner side (75) of the upper rail (7), so that the rearmost upper guide member (2; 2") of each glass panel (5) can be turned out of the upper rail (7) through said aperture.
A balcony glazing system (10) according to any of the claims 19 - 22,
characterized in that
- from the upper support bead (4) of the glass panel, there is pointed a bracket (41) to between the upper and lower bottoms (71,72) of the double bottom (70), said bracket (41) serving as a bearing structure for the glass panel (5) when sliding said glass panel, supported by the upper guide member (2), adjacent to the upper rail (7) and/or underneath it,

- the upper support bead (4) and the bracket (41) extend from one end of the glass panel (5) to the other,

- in between the lower bottom (72) of the double bottom and said bracket (41), there is arranged a slide plane (72c) that helps the sliding of the support bead and also of the upper guide member 2 attached thereto.
A balcony glazing system (10) according to claim 19, characterized in that the bracket (41) of the upper support bead (4) and the double bottom (70) of the upper rail (7) together form such a turning support at the rear end of the glass panel (5), that when turning the guide member (2), connected to the rear end of said glass panel by intermediation of the upper support bead (4), away from the upper rail (7) in the turning station (K), the bracket (4) remains in between the lower and upper bottoms (71, 72) of the double bottom (70) during said turning motion.
A balcony glazing system (10) according to claim 19, characterized in that the bracket (41) of the upper support bead (4) is arranged to function together with the double bottom (70) as a turning support during the turning motion, until the foremost upper guide member (2; 2') begins to be supported against its locking counterpiece (20).
A balcony glazing system (10) according to claim 19, characterized in that in the turning station (K), adjacent to the counterpiece (20) of each upper guide member (2), at the same point of the length of the upper rail (7), in the bottom (70) of the upper rail (7), there is made a number of identical recesses (25) that are concentrical with respect to the longitudinal center line of the bottom.
A balcony glazing system (10) according to claim 26, characterized in that the recesses (25) provided in the upper rail are made in the turning station (K) by an aligning element (250) that is an element located on top of the upper bottom (71) of the upper rail and comprises a number of recesses (25) made in the slide part (27) set on top of the upper bottom (71), as well as a joining piece (26) that is parallel with the outer side (76) of the rail and fastened thereto by a suitable joint, said joining piece (26) being connected at an angle to the slide part (27).
A balcony glazing system (10) according to claim 19, characterized in that each of the lower guide members (3) movable along the lower rail (8) has a horizontally rotary guide part (30) including a lower guide part (30b) and an upper guide part (32a) geared on the same axis, said guide parts (30a, 30b) being rotary in opposite directions, as the guide part (30) moves in the guide chute (80) made in the lower rail (8).
A balcony glazing system (10) according to claim 28, characterized in that the guide chute (80) is an element located on the lower rail (8) in parallel thereto, bordered on one side by the bottom (81) of the lower rail (8), the vertical sides (85, 88) of said guide chute (80) forming a wedge-like structure, for rotating the guide parts (30a, 30b) in different directions when sliding the guide part (30) along the guide chute (80).
A balcony glazing system (10) according to claim 28 or 29, characterized in that the inner wall (85) of the lower rail (8) is in the turning station provided with an aperture, through which the rearmost lower guide member (3; 3") is brought when turning the glass panel (5) at an angle with respect to the lower rail (8).
A balcony glazing system (10) according to claim 30, characterized in that in the turning station (K), there is no aperture in the inner wall (85) of the lower rail (8) at the foremost lower guide member (3; 3").