GB1580261A

GB1580261A - Door and window frames

Info

Publication number: GB1580261A
Application number: GB1234077A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: THERM A STOR Ltd
Current assignee: THERM A STOR Ltd
Priority date: 1978-04-19
Filing date: 1978-04-19
Publication date: 1980-11-26

Description

(54) DOOR AND WINDOW FRAMES (71) We, THERM-A-STOR LIM ITED, formerly known as M.G. Thermal & Accoustic Efficiency Limited, a British Company, formerly of 2 Imperial Drive, North Harrow, Middlesex, and now of Wodsworth Road, Perivale, Middlesex UB6 7BR, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to window and door frames.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a window or door frame, which comprises a plurality of composite structural elements joined to form the said frame, each of which elements comprises an elongate plastics member arranged so as to form a thermal break between the two sides of the frame, (i.e. between the external atmosphere and the inside of the building, when the frame is installed in a building) and an elongate metal member joined to the plastics member so as to lie on one of the said sides of the frame, the metal and plastics members being held together by an elongate barbed flange formed on one of the said members and extending generally perpendicular to the plane of the frame, the flange being received in a corresponding groove formed in the other of the said members and extending generally perpendicular to the plane of the frame, the size and position of the barb being such as to permit assembly of the composite structural element by forcing the flange laterally into the groove, whilst preventing its subsequent lateral removal.

As mentioned above the longitudinal flange is provided with a barb i.e. a projection having substantially triangular cross-sections extending longitudinally of the flange, and such barbs may be provided on each side or on only one side of the flange.

Assembly of the metal members and the plastics members to form the said composite structural elements may be carried out by lateral movement of the members towards each other, whereby the barbed flanges may be "snapped" into their respective grooves.

The barbs serve to prevent lateral removal of the flanges from the grooves.

Preferably, the flange is formed on the metal members, with the groove on the plastics members. In a particularly preferred embodiment, each of the said composite elements includes a second elongate metal member joined to the said plastics member, and arranged to be on the other side of the frame from the first-mentioned elongate metal member, the second elongate metal member being joined to the plastics member in the same manner as the first-mentioned metal member, whereby the plastics member forms a thermal break between the two metal members. In this case the flange of each metal member forms one side wall of a channel, the other side wall of the channel being formed by a second longitudinal flange formed on the respective metal member. In one embodiment, the second flange of each metal member has a lip at its free edge, facing into the channel, and the plastics member is shaped for interlocking engagement with the lip of each second flange. Such shaping may take the form of additional longitudinal grooves formed in the plastics member.

In a second embodiment of the invention the said barbed flange of each metal member has a barb on one face only, and the second flange of the metal member is also a barbed flange, the barb of the second flange pro- jecting inwardly of the channel formed by the two flanges.

The invention further provides a window or door having a frame as defined above.

By way of example, specific embodiments in accordance with the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows the general layout of a window; Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 in Figure 1; Figure 3 shows a pair of sliding doors mounted within a frame; Figure 4 is a section on 4-4 of Figure 3; Figure 5 shows the general layout of another kind of window; Figure 6 is a section along line 6-6 in Figure 5; Figure 7 is a section along line 7-7 in Figure 5; Figure 8 shows a pair of sliding doors mounted within a frane; Figure 9 is a section along line 9-9 in Figure 8; and Figure 10 is a section along line 1010 in Figure 4.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the fixed frame of a window includes elongate composite structural elements 1 and 2, which comprise respectively elongate members 3, 4 and 5 and 6, 7 and 8.

The composite element 1 is essentially similar to the composite element 2, except that it includes two of the elongate members 4 (each of which is identical with member 7) and the outer member 3 has an additional profiled section 9, which is included mainly for aesthetic purposes. The detail of this embodiment will therefore be described simply with reference to the element 1.

Each elongate member 4 is made from extruded plastics material, in this embodiment polyvinyl chloride, having the cross-section shown in Figure 2. Grooves 16 are provided on two opposite faces of each member 4 for receiving flanges 10 and 11.

Flanges 10 and 11 are integral respectively with the elongate metal inner members 5 and outer member 3, which are also formed by extrusion, in this embodiment from aluminium.

Flanges 10 and 11 each have two longitudinal barbs 12, one on each face thereof.

The barbs 12 are triangular in cross-section to prevent transverse removal of the flange from the groove. Corresponding undercut portions are provided in the walls of the longitudinal groove 16, for positive locking engagement with the barbs 12.

The flanges 10 and 11 each form one side wall of a channel, the base of the channel being formed by the elongate members 5 and 3 respectively, and the other side wall of the channel being formed by second longitudinal flanges 13 and 15 on the respective members 5 and 3. Flange 13 has a lip 14 at its free longitudinal edge facing into the channel, and the plastics member 4 has a second longitudinal groove 17, for interlocking engagement with the lip 14.

As can readily be seen from Figure 2, the composite element 1 is formed by relative movement of the members 3 and 5 towards each other to force fit the flanges 10 and 11 into the respective grooves 16, whilst simultaneously causing the interlocking engagement of the lips 14 in the groove 17. Once forced into the grooves, the barbs 12 prevent transverse removal of the flanges (i.e.

removal in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the frame). The composite element 2 may be formed in a similar way, by relative movement of the members 6 and 8 towards each other.

Assembly of several elements 2 end to end into a frame is generally carried out by forming mitred corners on the members which are held together by self-tapping screws. Internal channels 18 are provided, into which such screws may be driven. The transom elements 1 are similarly held in position by self-tapping screws passing through the main frame elements 1, the elements being either butt-jointed or having mitred ends with respect to the adjacent outer element 2.

The frame is screwed to the surrounding wall by means of a bracket 19, which has legs projecting in two of the channels 18.

The actual window glass is carried in a moving or wing frame 20. The wing frame 20 carries a plastics sealing strip 21, which is attached to the wing frame by means of a barbed flange on the wing frame, which locates in a corresponding groove in the strip 21. The strip 21 thus forms a thermal break between the two sides of the wing frame 20.

Figure 3 shows a pair of sliding doors constructed from elongate composite elements 22. The doors are mounted within a frame constructed from composite elements 23 and 24.

The composite elements 22 each comprise, as shown in cross-section in Figure 4, a pair of elongate plastics members 25 each of "C" cross-section, and two elongate members 26 and 27 of metal, preferably aluminium. All three members may conveniently be formed by known extrusion techniques.

The metal member 26 has two flanges 28, which define the side walls of a channel, each flange has a portion 29 curving inwardly of the channel, and the plastics members 25 are shown in position on the curved portions 29 of the' flanges 28.

Metal member 27 similarly has flanges 31, defining a channel, each of the flanges 31 having a portion 30 which is curved inwardly of the channel, and is shown in spring engagement with the plastics members 25.

A conventional double glass panel 32 is sandwiched between the members 26 and 27, to form a double glazed door unit.

The fixed frame for the doors is comprised of two sorts of composite elements 23 and 24.

Each of the element 23 comprises, as shown in Figure 4, an extruded elongate plastics member 35, having on opposite faces thereof longitudinal grooves 37, and extruded elongate metal members 33 and 34. Each metal member has an elongate flange 39 with barbs 38, which engage undercut portions in the walls of the respective grooves 37, in much the same way as previously described with respect to Figure 2.

The two metal members 33 and 34, thus define a channel for reception of the door frame element 22. A sealing strip 40 of conventional type is provided in a suitable channel in each metal member 33 and 34. The seal is completed by a further extruded plastics member 41, which is attached to the fixed frame 23, for example by self-tapping screws. The plastics member 35 has a protrusion 36 on one side thereof, facing the outside of the frame.

The horizontal fixed frame element 24 are identical with the illustrated element 23, except that the plastics member 35 is reversed so that the protrusion 36 faces into the frame, and the extruded plastics member 41 is omitted. The protrusion 36 thus forms a guide for the sliding of the doors, for example by the provision of rollers or pulleys within the frame element 22, which roll along the protrusion 36. The opposite edge 42 of the sliding door may preferably be fitted with an aluminium trim-strip, which engages between the two members 26 and 27.

The embodiment shown in Figures 5 to 10 are similarly constructed to the embodiments of Figures 1 to 4, and thus only the differences in construction will be described.

In Figures 5 to 7, the fixed frame of a window is again assembled from elongate composite frame elements 110, 111, which comprise respectively elongate members 112, 113, 114 and 115, 116 and 117, but the cross-sections of the elongate members are different. loach elongate plastics member 113 has a box cross-section as shown in Figures 6 and 7 with a thick wall 118 and a thin wall 119. The thick wall 118 has longitudinal grooves in opposite faces for reception of ribbed flanges 20 integral with each elongate metal member 112, 114, and a central channel 121 for reception of self-tapping screws during assembly of the window. The thin walls 119 of the members 113 are disposed in spaced relation to form a slot 122 therebetween for reception ob a central ribbed flange 123 projecting inwardly from each of the outer members 112, 114. Whilst each plastics member 113 has three undercut portions adjacent each outer member 112, 114, it is preferred that each flange 120, 123 has only a single rib for insertion into an associated undercut portion in one of the members 113, because a rib on both opposed faces of each flange would tend to inhibit assembly of the composite frame member.

The outer members 115, 117 of each frame element 11 each have two inwardly projecting flanges 24 for assembly with opposed faces of an intermediate member 116 which has the same cross-section as each member 113 of the transom 110. Each flange 124 has only a single barb for insertion in an associated undercut portion in the intermediate member 116.

The frame members 110, 111 are assembled into a frame in the same manner as described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 above.

However, in this embodiment, the assembled frame is attached to the surrounding wall by an outwardly projecting flange 125 forming a part of the member 115 of each frame member 111.

The window glass is again carried in a moving or wing frame 126. In this embodiment the wing frame 126 comprises outer metal members 127, 128 attached to an intermediate plastics member 129 having grooves in its opposed faces for receiving a single flange 130 projecting inwardly from each outer member. Because each outer member 127, 128 has only a single flange 130, the flange carries a barb on both opposite faces for insertion into an associated undercut portion in the respective groove of the intermediate member 129.

Figures 8 to 10 show a pair of sliding doors 140, 141 mounted within a frame 142. The composite members from which the frame is constructed are substantially the same as those described above with reference to Figures 3 and 4. However, in this embodiment, the elongate composite element 139 from which the doors 140, 141 are constructed has a different cross-section. Each elongate plastics member 143 is formed of H instead of C cross-section, the web 144 of the member 143 extending parallel to each elongate metal member 145, 146 and providing a thermal break therebetween. Also, the free end of each flange 147 of each metal member 145, 146 is formed of C-cross-section and is a tight fit into respective channel in one of the plastics members 145. The space within the composite member 139 is then filled with a filler 148 of thermally insulating material (e.g.

foamed plastics material).

The invention is not restricted to the specific detail of the embodiments described above.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A window or door frame, which comprises a plurality of composite structural elements joined to form the said frame, each of which elements comprises an elongate plastics member arranged so as to form a thermal break between the two sides of the frame, and an elongate metal member joined to the plastics member so as to lie on one of the said sides of the frame, the metal and plastics members being held together by an elongate barbed flange formed on one of the said members and extending generally perpendicular to the plane ob the frame, the

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Claims

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member has an elongate flange 39 with barbs 38, which engage undercut portions in the walls of the respective grooves 37, in much the same way as previously described with respect to Figure 2.

The two metal members 33 and 34, thus define a channel for reception of the door frame element 22. A sealing strip 40 of conventional type is provided in a suitable channel in each metal member 33 and 34. The seal is completed by a further extruded plastics member 41, which is attached to the fixed frame 23, for example by self-tapping screws. The plastics member 35 has a protrusion 36 on one side thereof, facing the outside of the frame.

The horizontal fixed frame element 24 are identical with the illustrated element 23, except that the plastics member 35 is reversed so that the protrusion 36 faces into the frame, and the extruded plastics member 41 is omitted. The protrusion 36 thus forms a guide for the sliding of the doors, for example by the provision of rollers or pulleys within the frame element 22, which roll along the protrusion 36. The opposite edge 42 of the sliding door may preferably be fitted with an aluminium trim-strip, which engages between the two members 26 and 27.

The embodiment shown in Figures 5 to 10 are similarly constructed to the embodiments of Figures 1 to 4, and thus only the differences in construction will be described.

In Figures 5 to 7, the fixed frame of a window is again assembled from elongate composite frame elements 110, 111, which comprise respectively elongate members 112, 113, 114 and 115, 116 and 117, but the cross-sections of the elongate members are different. loach elongate plastics member 113 has a box cross-section as shown in Figures 6 and 7 with a thick wall 118 and a thin wall 119. The thick wall 118 has longitudinal grooves in opposite faces for reception of ribbed flanges 20 integral with each elongate metal member 112, 114, and a central channel 121 for reception of self-tapping screws during assembly of the window. The thin walls 119 of the members 113 are disposed in spaced relation to form a slot 122 therebetween for reception ob a central ribbed flange 123 projecting inwardly from each of the outer members 112, 114. Whilst each plastics member 113 has three undercut portions adjacent each outer member 112, 114, it is preferred that each flange 120, 123 has only a single rib for insertion into an associated undercut portion in one of the members 113, because a rib on both opposed faces of each flange would tend to inhibit assembly of the composite frame member.

The outer members 115, 117 of each frame element 11 each have two inwardly projecting flanges 24 for assembly with opposed faces of an intermediate member 116 which has the same cross-section as each member 113 of the transom 110. Each flange 124 has only a single barb for insertion in an associated undercut portion in the intermediate member 116.

The frame members 110, 111 are assembled into a frame in the same manner as described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 above.

However, in this embodiment, the assembled frame is attached to the surrounding wall by an outwardly projecting flange 125 forming a part of the member 115 of each frame member 111.

The window glass is again carried in a moving or wing frame 126. In this embodiment the wing frame 126 comprises outer metal members 127, 128 attached to an intermediate plastics member 129 having grooves in its opposed faces for receiving a single flange 130 projecting inwardly from each outer member. Because each outer member 127, 128 has only a single flange 130, the flange carries a barb on both opposite faces for insertion into an associated undercut portion in the respective groove of the intermediate member 129.

Figures 8 to 10 show a pair of sliding doors 140, 141 mounted within a frame 142. The composite members from which the frame is constructed are substantially the same as those described above with reference to Figures 3 and 4. However, in this embodiment, the elongate composite element 139 from which the doors 140, 141 are constructed has a different cross-section. Each elongate plastics member 143 is formed of H instead of C cross-section, the web 144 of the member

143 extending parallel to each elongate metal member 145, 146 and providing a thermal break therebetween. Also, the free end of each flange 147 of each metal member 145, 146 is formed of C-cross-section and is a tight fit into respective channel in one of the plastics members 145. The space within the composite member 139 is then filled with a filler 148 of thermally insulating material (e.g.

foamed plastics material).

The invention is not restricted to the specific detail of the embodiments described above.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A window or door frame, which comprises a plurality of composite structural elements joined to form the said frame, each of which elements comprises an elongate plastics member arranged so as to form a thermal break between the two sides of the frame, and an elongate metal member joined to the plastics member so as to lie on one of the said sides of the frame, the metal and plastics members being held together by an elongate barbed flange formed on one of the said members and extending generally perpendicular to the plane ob the frame, the

flange being received in a corresponding groove formed in the other of the said members and extending generally perpendicular to the plane of the frame, the size and position of the barb being such as to permit assembly of the composite structural element by forcing the flange laterally into the groove, whilst preventing its subsequent lateral removal.
2. A frame as claimed in claim 1, wherein a barb is provided on each side of the flange.
3. A frame as claimed in claim 2, wherein the barb is substantially as shown in Figure 2 of the accompanying drawings.
4. A frame as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the said flange is formed on the metal member, and the said groove is formed in the plastics member.
5. A frame as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein each of the said composite elements includes a second elongate metal member joined to the said plastics member, and arranged to be on the other side of the frame from the first-mentioned elongate metal member, the second elongate metal member being joined to the plastics member in the same manner as the firstmentioned metal member, whereby the plastics member forms a thermal break between the two metal members.
6. A frame as claimed in claim 5, wherein the flange of each metal member forms one side wall of a channel, the other side wall of the channel being formed by a second longitudinal flange on the respective metal member.
7. A frame as claimed in claim 6, wherein the second flange of each metal member has a lip at its free edge, which faces into the channel, and the plastics member is shaped for interlocking engagement with the lip of each second flange.
8. A frame as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 7, including two of the said elongate plastics members, and wherein each metal member has three longitudinal flanges defining between them two channels, such that when the members are assembled to form a composite frame member, the two plastics members define between them a gap for the reception of the central longitudinal flange of each metal member.
9. A frame as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the or each plastics member is hollow.
10. A window or door frame substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.
11. A frame as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the members define a space which is filled with a foamed plastics material.