-
The invention concerns a finishing slat assembly for construction opening, including fastening of the slats, to be installed on at least part of the opening perimeter, in particular of a polygonal opening, in a construction partition, that is in a wall or a roof. In particular the slat assembly according to the invention is intended for framing a recess in a roof for a roof window, as a cover on the lining surfaces facing the building interior, encasing this roof window recess.
-
A lining solution with its finishing slats, encasing a recess in a roof for a roof window, where the finishing slats are fixed to the walls with angular holders, secured to the both connected parts with screws, is known from the publication
WO 02/20914 . The angular holders are situated at the outer side of the lining walls, with the result that after the lining is installed in the roof window recess, the holders remain hidden and inaccessible for the window users. The lining as a whole, including the finishing slats is mounted to the roof window frame, and it is secured to the window frame with snap fixtures. The need to install finishing slats earlier and to install the lining as a whole, makes the assembly difficult and the obtaining of intimate contact of the finishing slats and possible irregularities of the wall, which is covered by the slats in the immediate vicinity of the recess for the roof window, impossible.
-
The essence of the solution according to the invention is the fact that the finishing slats comprising the assembly with their fastening, encasing individual segments of the construction opening perimeter covered and secured to the structure covered have snap fastening sub-assemblies, each of the sub-assemblies consists of mainly a catch tongue secured to the finishing slat and a holder secured to the structure covered by this slat. The catching tongue has at least one surface with grooves and projections situated crosswise, favourably of a saw-like contour, whereas the holder has at least one elastically deformable catch, the catch surface mating the catching tongue has crosswise grooves and projections, and their pitch and contour are compatible with the pitch and contour of the grooves and projections in the catching tongue. Favourably, the catch in the holder has a few grooves and projections but it can also have one projection only with its contour adjusted to the contour of the grooves and projections of the catching tongue. The finishing slats fit with their shape the segments of the covered perimeter of the construction opening, in addition they fit the adjacent slat in the places where they are connected together.
-
The holders mating the catching tongues are secured to the structure covered, mounted in the construction opening, for instance they are secured to the walls of the lining, which is a casing of the recess for the roof window from the inside of the room, or are secured to the door or window frame. These holders are situated at the outer side of the structure components covered, which is subsequently covered with the finishing slats. As a result both the holders and the mating catching tongues are not visible for people using the roof window or door.
-
In the first invention variant a holder at the side of the surface adjacent to the structure covered, to which the holder is secured, has a pit, favourably a through pit, slightly deeper than the catching tongue thickness. The holder is secured to the surface of the structure covered with screws going through holes in the body of this holder. An elastically deformable holder catch is situated so that the catch surface cooperating with the catching tongue in a free state enters the pit space, and the distance between the tips of the projections on the catch and the surface to which the holder is secured is shorter than the thickness of the catching tongue. To retain the holder position in the correct distance from the edge of the structure covered to which it is secured the holder has two retaining claws, situated favourably at the ends of the body of this holder, engaged at the edge of the structure covered. The catching tongue faces the catches in the holder with its projections and pits, and with its opposite smooth side it faces the structure covered. When the finishing slat is put onto the structure covered, the catching tongue is inserted into the pit in the holder, pushing it in between the surface of the structure to which the holder is secured and the catch of this holder. Due to the pressure of the catching tongue the catch in the holder deviates elastically, and as the tongue slides in, this catch engages subsequent catching tongue projections inserted into the pit in the holder.
-
In the second invention variant, the holder has a hole, favourably a rectangular and through hole, slightly higher than the catching tongue thickness, in addition this hole is separated with a wall from the holder surface adjoining with its whole width, or only with its outer sections, the structure covered, to which the holder is secured, in particular with screws going through the holes in its body. The elastically deformable holder catch is situated so that the catch surface mating the catching tongue in a free state enters the inside of the rectangular hole, and the distance between the tips of the projections on the catch and the opposite surface of the hole is shorter than the catching tongue thickness. To retain the holder position in the correct distance from the edge of the structure covered to which the holder is secured the holder has a retaining claw, engaged at the edge of this structure. The claw may be single, being an extension of the wall separating the rectangular hole from the plane of intimate contact of the holder and the surface of the structure covered. It may also have the form of two separate claws, as in the first invention variant.
-
In both invention variants the holder is favourably fitted with two parallel catches mating the catching tongue, having projections and pits shifted against each other by a half of the pitch of the catching tongue projections. Therefore the holder catches engage alternately the catching tongue projections, which enables the positioning of the tongue against the holder to be twice as accurate, and thus the fixing of the finishing slat position to be more accurate. It is also possible to use more catches in the holder and the fractional part of the pitch of the catching tongue projections, being a shift of the pitch between individual holder catches, constitutes the converse of the number of these catches.
-
Each catching tongue, at one of the ends of its segment fitted with grooves and projections, has a cross-bar securing this tongue to the finishing slat from its inner side, that is from the slat side hidden after the slat is installed. The securing cross-bar has holes for intermediary fasteners, in particular screws securing the catching tongue to the finishing slat. At its end opposite to the one that is connected to the catching tongue segment fitted with grooves and projections, the securing cross-bar has a groin, favourably perpendicular to the securing cross-bar, facing the opposite side than the slat segment fitted with grooves and projections. This groin enters the groove situated in the finishing slat at its inner side, retaining the correct position of the catching tongue in the direction crosswise to this slat.
-
In the first variant of the catching tongue, the securing cross-bar is perpendicular to the segment of the catching tongue fitted with grooves and projections. The catching tongues with a perpendicular cross-bar are for securing slats covering the structure components perpendicular to the axis of the opening in the construction partition, for instance slats covering the ending of a side wall of the lining in a recess in a roof for a roof window or the frames of doors or windows installed in a building wall.
-
The second variant of the catching tongue is intended for securing finishing slats covering the ending of the top or bottom wall of the lining in the recess in a wall for a roof window, as these walls are not perpendicular to the axis of this recess. In the variant of the catching tongue securing the finishing slats to the lining top or bottom wall, the angle between the securing cross-bar and the catching tongue segment fitted with grooves and projections, is compatible with the inclination of the wall covered against the roof inner surface.
-
The catching tongue segment fitted with grooves and projections has a guiding bevel at its end opposite to the securing cross-bar, the function of the bevel is to facilitate the sliding in of the catching tongue tip to the mating holder, secured to the construction opening closure structural component covered. The bevel is situated at least in the catching tongue surface fitted with grooves and projections, favourably also the side surfaces of this catching tongue are bevelled.
-
The finishing slat assembly is also characterised by a washer situated at the side of the structure covered, in the connection of the adjacent finishing slats, in particular in their corner connection, secured, favourably with screws, to one of the finishing slats. At the connection of these finishing slats there is also a crosswise shield, covering the gap between the slats connected, in addition the crosswise shield has favourably on its ends catches connecting it to the washer located under the finishing slats connected. The washer has also a limiter situated at the side of the structure covered, to retain the slat position with secured washers against the structural component covered with the other segment of the finishing slat, thus retaining the relative position of the both slats connected. Favourably also a retaining groin is a component of the washer, the groin is situated between the trimmed edges of adjacent finishing slats.
-
A favourable effect of the use of the invention is the accurate and sure securing of the construction opening finishing slat assembly to the structure covered and aesthetic connection of the adjacent slats together. The accurate adjustment of the slat position against the lining allows the finishing slats to be fitted, within their transverse elasticity, to the wall irregularities and thus to obtain the intimate contact of the slats and the wall.
-
The subject matter of the invention is shown in the embodiment examples in the picture, where the individual figures present:
- Fig. 1 - the overview of a roof window with the lining and finishing slats - in the axonometric view;
- Fig. 2 - the cross-section through the lining side wall and the fastening of the side finishing slat to this wall;
- Fig. 3 - the cross-section through the lining top wall and the fastening of the top finishing slat to this wall;
- Fig. 4 - the catching tongue with the perpendicular securing cross-bar - in the axonometric view;
- Fig. 5 - the catching tongue with the non-perpendicular securing cross-bar - in the axonometric view;
- Fig. 6 - the holder with a pit for the catching tongue with two catches - in the axonometric view;
- Fig. 7 - the corner connection of the finishing slats: the top one and the side one in the axonometric view from the side of the lining covered;
- Fig. 8 - the corner connection of the finishing slats - in the cross-section perpendicular to the slat intersection plane;
- Fig. 9 - the corner connection of the slats - in the cross-section along the slat intersection plane;
- Fig. 10 - the holder with a hole for the catching tongue and the uniform surface of adherence to the wall to which it is secured - in the axonometric view;
- Fig. 11 - the holder with a hole for the catching tongue and the broken surface of adherence to the wall to which it is secured - in the axonometric view;
-
Example 1. The finishing slat assembly 1 shown in the first embodiment example consists of two side finishing slats 11, an the top finishing slat 12 and the bottom finishing slat 13, trimmed in the corners at the angle 45°. The side finishing slats 11 cover the edge of side walls 21 of the lining 2, the top finishing slat 12 covers the edge of the lining top wall 22, and the bottom finishing slat 13 covers the edge of the lining bottom wall 23, and every one of the finishing slats covers with a part of its width a respective fragment of the roof surface, situated at the side of the attic interior. All walls 21, 22, 23 of the lining 2 cover the internal roof structure, including thermo-insulating layers, from the side of the roof window recess, and with their edges opposite to the finishing slats 11, 12, 13 they are connected to the window frame 24. The walls of the lining 2 are connected to each other with screws 25 (for wood) going through the side walls 21 and screwed into the top wall 22 and the bottom wall 23 of the lining.
-
On the lining 2 walls 21, 22, 23, at their outer side, or the side covered after mounting the finishing slat assembly 1, the holders 3, made of plastics, are secured to the walls in regular intervals with screws 31, going through the through holes 32 in the holder. To set the holder 3 in the right distance from the edge of the walls 21, 22, 23 of the lining 2, the holder is fitted with two retaining claws 33, which rest against the edges of the respective lining walls.
-
The rectangular catching tongues 4, secured to the side finishing slats 11, as well as the oblique catching tongues 5, secured to the top finishing slat 11 and the bottom finishing slat mate the holders 3. Each of the catching tongues has a flat working arm 41, 51, one surface of the arm is fitted with grooves and projections 42, 52, of a saw-like contour, situated crosswise on the arm surface, whereas the opposite surface of the working arm 41, 51 is smooth. The catching tongues have also cross-bars, connected to their working arms, to secure the catching tongue to the finishing slat. The rectangular catching tongue 4 has a perpendicular securing cross-bar 43, situated at an angle of 90° to the working arm 41. The oblique catching tongue 5 has an oblique securing cross-bar 53, which forms an angle "α" with the working arm 51, the angle is compatible with the inclination of the lining wall covered against the inner roof surface. The oblique catching tongues may have different angles "α" for the top finishing slat 12 and the bottom finishing slat 13. The securing cross-bars 43, 53 have through holes 44, 54 for the screws 45, 55, securing the catching tongues 4, 5 to the finishing slats. The securing cross-bars 43, 53, at their ends opposite to the working arms 41, 51 have groins 46, 56, perpendicular to the securing cross-bars and facing the other side than the working arms. The groins 46, 56 enter the grooves in the finishing slats 11, 12, 13 retaining the right position of the catching tongues in the direction crosswise to the slats.
-
The holder 3 has in its central part a pit 34, situated at the side of the surface adjacent to the lining wall to which the holder is secured. The holder 3 has in the central zone of its body a recess, in which there are two elastically deformable catches 35, their surfaces entering the pit 34 and mating the catching tongues 4, 5 have several crosswise grooves and projections 36, their pitch and contour are compatible with the pitch and contour of grooves and projections 42, 52 in the catching tongues. The holder catches 35 are situated so that the grooves and projections 36 of one catch are shifted by the half of their pitch against the grooves and pitches 36 of the other one.
-
In the holder 3 secured to the lining 2, the surfaces of the pit 34 and the lining wall 21, 22, 23, together form a rectangular cross-section channel, into which the working arm 41, 51 of the catching tongue 4, 5 slides during the assembly of the finishing slats, the arm is situated with its smooth surface at the lining wall side and with its surface fitted with grooves and projections 42, 52 at the side of catches 35. The depth "H" of the pit 34 in the holder is slightly bigger than the thickness "g" of the catching tongue working arm 41, 51. The catches 35 with their surfaces fitted with grooves and projections 36 enter the space of the pit 34, in addition in the free state the distance between the tips of the projections 36 in the catches 35 and the surface of the lining wall 21, 22, 23 to which the holder 3 is secured is shorter than the thickness "g" of the catching tongue. During sliding the catching tongues 4, 5 into the pit 34 of the holder 3, the catches 35 deviate elastically under the pressure of the catching tongue working arms 41, 51, and as the working arm is slid in, the catches 35 alternately engage the subsequent projections 42, 52 of the catching tongues inserted into the pit in the holder.
-
To facilitate the inserting of the catching tongues 4, 5 in the pit 34 in the holder 3, the catching tongue working arms 41, 51 on their surface with the grooves and projections have gentle bevels 47, 57 as well as side bevels 48, 58. Also the side surfaces of the pit 34 in the holder 3 have inclinations 37 at the entrance side for the catching tongue. Moreover the width "B" of the pit 34 of the holder 3 is extended in relation to the width "s" of the catching tongues 4,5, which ensures sufficiently large plays in the direction along the finishing slats, allowing the inaccuracies in mounting of holders and catching tongues to be accommodated.
-
The finishing slats 11, 12, 13 are connected in the corners, where every one of them is trimmed at an angle of 45°. In the connection place, the finishing slat assembly 1 has washers 6, situated at the side of the lining covered. The washers 6 are secured to the top finishing slat 12 and to the bottom finishing slat 13 at both ends of each slat with two screws 61 (fig. 8 shows one screw, the other one is covered with the corner of the side wall 21 of the lining). Securing the washers 6 to the finishing slats: the top one 12 and the bottom one 13, is justified by the fact that the lining width, and thus the length of the both finishing slats is constant, so the finishing slats: the top one 12 and the bottom one 13, are trimmed by the manufacturer. However the length of the side finishing slats 11 depends on the roof thickness, therefore they require trimming during erection and are delivered by the manufacturer with an excessive length.
-
Each of the washers 6 on its segment protruding beyond the finishing slats: the top one 12 or the bottom one 13, has a limiter 62 situated at the side of the lining covered.
-
The limiter 62 adjoins the side wall 21 at the outer side of the lining, and its function is to retain the position of the finishing slats: the top one 12 and the bottom one 13 against the lining 2. The endings of the side finishing slats 11, trimmed at the angle 45° rest on the washer 6 segments protruding beyond the finishing slats: the top one 12 and the bottom one 13. The washer has a retaining groin 63 at this outer side, the groin is situated between the trimmed edges of the adjacent finishing slats 11, 12, 13.
-
At the corner connection of the finishing slats 11, 12, 13 there is also a crosswise shield 7, put at the outer side of the finishing slats, covering the gap between the trimmed slats connected. The crosswise shield 7 has its central segment 71 basically flat, covering the frontal contact surfaces of the slats connected, and has short segments perpendicular to the central segment: the concave one 72 and the convex one 73, covering the side contact surfaces of the slats covered. These short segments of the crosswise shield 7 are ended with catches 74, connecting the crosswise shield to the washer 6 placed under the finishing slats covered.
-
Example 2. In the second embodiment example the design of the holders (Fig. 10) mating the catching tongues is different, while the other components of the solution are identical as in the first embodiment. The holder 8 has a rectangular through hole 81 for entering the catching tongue 4, 5, however the height of this hole is slightly bigger than the catching tongue thickness. The wall 82 closing the hole 81 at the side of the holder adjacent to the lining 2 walls is a part of the uniform contact surface of the holder, which is secured to the lining walls 21, 22, 23 with screws going through the holes 83, in addition the holder has a single, wide claw 84, engaging the lining wall edge. The holder has a single elastically deformable catch 85, entering the hole 81, the grooves and projections 86 of the catch engage the grooves and projections 42, 52 of the catching tongues. The solution with the holder 8 fitted with the hole 81 is useful when it is necessary to secure the holders on surfaces which are not uniformly flat.
-
Example 3. In the third embodiment example, the design of the holders (Fig. 11) mating the catching tongues is also different, whereas the other components of the solution are identical as in the first embodiment. The holder 9 has a rectangular through hole 91 for entering the catching tongue 4, 5, however the height of this port is slightly bigger than the catching tongue thickness. The wall 92 closing the hole 91 at the side of the holder adjacent to the lining 2 wall is sunk against the surface of the fastening 93 of this holder to the lining walls 21, 22, 23, as a result the hole 91 is away from this surface. The holder 9 is secured to the lining walls 21, 22, 23 with screws going through the holes 94 in the holder's body, in addition it has two claws 95, engaging the edge of the lining wall. The holder has two elastically deformable catches 96, their grooves and projections 97 mate the grooves and projections 42, 52 of the catching tongues. The pitch of the grooves and projections 97 in both catches is shifted against each other. The solution with the handle 9 is useful when it is necessary to secure the holders on surfaces which are not uniformly flat. Placing the hole 91 away from the surface 5 of the fastening 93 of the handle is useful in the case of wide finishing slats, allowing the catching tongues to be situated closer to the symmetry plane of these slats.
