GB2089413A - Glazing of windows and doors - Google Patents

Abstract

Strips 14 of triangular cross- section are stuck to the outer surface of the marginal portions of a pane of glass and to the respective adjacent surface of a glazing rebate in order to keep the glass in position and in order to provide a weather-tight seal. Those faces of each strip which make an included angle of 90 DEG or so carry adhesive; which can be of strip form. Strips of various cross-sectional shapes are stuck onto both sides of large panes of glass, in alignment with each other, in order to resemble glazing bars and in order to subdivide said pane. The strips may be wood, metal or synthetic resin material and will not need as much maintenance and care as putty. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Glazing of windows and doors This invention relates to the glazing of windows and doors.

In the following description "a window unit" is intended to mean a rectangular area which is bounded by four appropriately rebated frame elements (for example, two parallel vertical jambs whose corresponding ends are joined to one another by a transom and a cill, respectively) and which is intended to be occupied by a pane of glass which is seated in the glazing rebates.

The layman or handyman who chooses to, or is forced by economic circumstances to, carry out routine maintenance work on the dwelling which he occupies does not find the re-glazing of a window unit (as defined above) or the re-puttying of a glazed window unit to be an easy task. This is because glaziers' putty is a rather sticky substance to deal with and seems sometimes to stick more readily to one's fingers than to the window unit and the glass.

The principal object of this aspect of the present invention is to simplify the glazing or reglazing of a window unit and the replacement of worn-out (dried-out, cracked, damaged, missing) exterior putty in a glazed window unit.

Therefore, according to a first aspect, the present invention consists in a glazing system which includes a window unit (as defined above) having glazing rebates, a pane of glass seated in said rebates and having a surface which, in use, is to be exposed to the weather, and strips of triangular section applied both to marginal portions of said surface and to those surfaces of the frame elements of said window unit which face one another across said surface of said pane, each of said strips having adhesive on two of its elongate surfaces which acts to secure the strip to said marginal portions and to said surfaces of the frame elements in a weather-tight fashion.

The body of each of said strips may be made of a more or less rigid material such, for example, as wood or metal; alternatively, said body may be made of a flexible material such for example as polyvinylchloride C 90/20.

Preferably, the two elongate surfaces of each strip are coated with a cross-linked acrylic adhesive, but other adhesives may well be suitable.

Each strip, of triangular section, will preferably be such that its cross-sectional shape is a rightangled triangle whose other angles are 600 and 300, the adhesive being applied to the two surfaces which are perpendicular to one another.

The adhesive on each of the two surfaces of each strip will preferably be covered by a cover which is made of a suitable material to protect the adhesive prior to use and which can readily be peeled therefrom at the time of use.

According to a second aspect, the present invention consists in a method of securing a pane of glass which is seated in glazing rebates of a window unit (as defined above) and which has a surface which, in use, is to be exposed to the weather, said method including the following steps, namely, cutting an elongate strip of triangular section into lengths commensurate with those of the frame elements of said window unit and in such manner that they fit together; removing a protective covering from surfaces of adhesive which coats two of the surfaces of each of said lengths; and applying the surfaces of said adhesive coating to marginal portions of said surface of the pane of glass and to those surfaces of said frame elements which face one another across said surface of the pane of glass.

Sometimes, houses have been equipped with so-called "picture windows" or else have windows with large panes of glass, and the owners of such houses may want to alter the appearance of the windows by getting rid of the large uninterrupted area(s) of glass and by having smaller panes measuring say 7 inches by 11 inches. The obvious way of achieving this desirable object (namely, replacing the existing windows by new ones) would be too expensive for most people and would be likely to need the services of a builder.

According to a third aspect, therefore, the present invention consists in a glazing system which includes a window unit (as defined above) having glazing rebates, a pane of glass seated in said rebates and having a first surface which, in use, is to be exposed to the weather and a second surface which, in use, is to be exposed to an interior space in a building, and elongate strips of appropriate cross-sectional shape applied to said first surface and to said second surface in alignment with one another to resemble glazing bars, each of said strips carrying on a surface thereof adhesive which acts to secure the strip to the respective surface of the glass.

According to a fourth aspect, the present invention consists in a method of visually subdividing a pane of glass in a window unit (as defined above), said method including the following steps, namely, cutting an alongate strip to a length commensurate with one of the dimensions (height or width) of the area bounded by the four frame elements of the window unit and in such a manner that the ends of said strip will fit together with the two opposite frame elements; removing a protective covering from the surface of adhesive carried by said strip: applying said surface of the adhesive to a surface of said pane of glass in order to divide said surface of the pane of glass into two visually separated areas; and repeating said three steps in respect of the other surface of said pane of glass, taking care to place the two applied strips in alignment with one another.Obviously the aforementioned method is repeated as often as is necessary to obtain the required degree of subdivision and the required aesthetic effect.

In its simplest forms, the elongate strip may be of oblong section or of trapezoidal section, but the cross-sectional shape used will depend on that of the "moulding" used in the manufacture of said window unit. If trapezoidal in section. the two non-parallel faces of the strip will preferably make respective angles of 600 with the larger of the two parallel faces.

The adhesive carried by the strip described in the three preceding paragraphs may be coated on a flat face of the strip (for example, on the larger of the two parallel surfaces if the strip is of trapezoidal cross-section shape) or may be partially accommodated in a channel provided therefor in said flat face.

In the case of the invention according to said third and fourth aspects, the material of the strip may be rigid or flexible (for example, wood, metal or a synthetic resin material such as polyvinylchloride C 90/20). Likewise, the adhesive may be a cross-linked acrylic adhesive.

In the case of the invention according to said third and fourth aspects, the strips may be extruded if they are made of a synthetic resin material of which the preferred one is polyvinylchloride C 90/20. In such a case, the extrudate section may be solid, or hollow to economise on material.

Adhesive may be of the order of one millimetre thick in all four aspects of the invention.

The he present invention will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawing, in which:~ Figure 1 illustrates part of a window unit (as defined above) according to the present invention, in section; Figure 2 illustrates different forms of imitation glazing bars for use in carrying the third and fourth aspects of the present invention into effect; and Figures 3 to 6 illustrate additional different forms of such imitation glazing bars.

Referring to Figure 1, there is illustrated therein one embodiment of the means for carrying the first and second aspects of the present invention into effect. Said figure illustrates part of a frame 10 of a window unit 11 (as defined above), the frame 10 having a glazing rebate 12 for the accommodation and support of the marginal portions of a sheet of glass 13.

In order to provide a weather-tight seal, an elongate strip 14 of triangular (right-angled triangle) section is applied to the respective marginal portion of the sheet of glass 13 and to the respective surface of the glazing rebate 12, said strip 14 carrying adhesive 15 on those two of its elongate surfaces which meet to form the included angle of 900. The adhesive adheres tenaciously both to the frame 10 and to the glass 13.

In Figure 1, a marginal portion of the other surface of the sheet of glass 1 3 (namely, the surface which will not be exposed to the weather) is bedded onto a strip 16 of adhesive which has already been applied to the respective surface of the glazing rebate. Whilst said strip 16 will obviously give a very secure mounting of the sheet of glass when used in conjunction with the strip 14 described in the preceding paragraph, it is not considered to be essential.

The strip 14 may be made of a more or less rigid material (such for example as wood or metal) or it may be made of a more flexible material (such for example as an appropriate synthetic resin material of which an example is polyvinylchloride C 90/20). One considerable advantage would be obtained by the use of a suitable plastics material (particularly if U.V. stabilised), namely, that of reduced or nil maintenance; such a material would not deteriorate fairly rapidly as is the case with glaziers' putty which has not been properly protected from the weather by paint.

The strip 14 is such, in cross-section, as to resemble a triangle whose angles are 900, 600 and 300 but other configurations could be used.

The adhesive 15 on the strip 14 would, for marketing purposes, be protected by a strip of material (not illustrated) which would be peeled off immediately prior to the strip 14 being applied to the glass 13 and rebate surface 12.

The adhesive 16 would, for marketing purposes, need to be protected on both sides by similar strips of material which would be peeled off one at a time, namely, one strip being removed when the adhesive 1 6 is to be pressed onto the respective rebate surface and the other strip being pelled off immediately prior to the glass 13 being mounted in the rebate.

The adhesive used in the adhesive 1 5, 1 6 will preferably be a cross-linked acrylic adhesive, but other adhesives may be as good as or better than the preferred one. The adhesive 15. 16 in a preferred embodiment is in strip form and is manufactured from expanded plasticised polyvinylchloride foam, a long-lasting aggressive acrylic adhesive being applied to both flat surfaces of said foam strip.

Referring to Figure 2, a sheet of glass 20 is illustrated, to one surface of which there have been stuck imitation glazing bars 21, 22 and 23.

Each of said imitation glazing bars carries an adhesive 24 of the same kind as that described above, in detail, with reference to Figure 1. Figure 2 is merely intended to show the principle underlying the third and fourth aspects of the present invention and also to show different forms of said imitation glazing bars. The bar 21 is of solid section, the bar 22 is hollow and both bars 21 and 22 have the adhesive 24 applied in such a manner that the respective surfaces thereof are covered by said adhesive. The bar 23 is a composite illustration intended to show that a solid-section bar or a hollow bar could be provided with a recess 25 in which the adhesive would be seated; this form gives a very neat appearance (no adhesive visible) and the adhesive 24 is more protected from the weather or from the heated atmosphere of a room.

Obviously, it would be desirable to provide both surfaces of any sheet of glass with elongate strips in order to create, much more realistically, the desired imitation glazing bars. These are illustrated, in some of their varied forms which are given by way of example only, in Figures 3 to 5. In each of said Figures, an elongate strip 30 is stuck to the respective surface of a sheet of glass 31 by an adhesive 32, following the procedure already explained.

Figure 6 simply exemplifies a flat (rectangular) elongate strip 40.

The materials used for the imitation glazing bars shown in Figures 2 to 6 can be as already stated, the precise material used depending, at least to some extent, on the desired crosssectional shape. Thus, hollow sections could only be extruded and wood could only be used for solid-section bars.

In the name polyvinychloride C 90/20, C 90 relates to the formulation and 20 relates to the softness of the material according to the relevant British Standard. Said material is U.V. stabilised.

It will be understood that, when re-g!#zing is to be effected, it will be necessary (or at least desirable) to chip away all of the existing and probably dried-out putty in order to start with clean rebates for the new sheet of glass. Once that has been done, double-sided adhesive "tape" 1 6 (Figure 1) will be pressed onto the rebates as a bed for the glass; this is in imitation of the existing technique employing putty. Thereafter, the glass will be placed in position and the elongate strips having adhesive on two on their elongate surfaces are placed as described above to secure the pane of glass in position in a weather-proof fashion.

Although other suitable products no doubt exist, I have obtained very satisfactory results by employing the product known as KWIKSTIK DGV 50 which is the trade mark designation of Kwikstik Products Limited of Chesham, Buckinghamshire for their double-sided adhesive "tape" which comprises a carrier manufactured from expanded plasticised polyvinylchloride foam and coated with a cross-linked acrylic adhesive on both sides. Such "tape" is used as the bedding 16 referred to in the preceding paragraph and is also used as the adhesive 15 on the elongate strips 14, 21-23, 30 and 40 which are described in connection with the first, second, third and fourth aspects of the present invention.

A pane or sheet of glass which has been visually subdivided by imitation glazing bars, as described above, can be mounted in the window frame in the manner and by the means described with reference to Figure 1.

Claims (12)

1. A glazing system which includes a window unit (as defined above) having glazing rebates, a pane of glass seated in said rebates and having a surface which, in use, is to be exposed to the weather, and strips of triangular section applied both to marginal portions of said surface and to those surfaces of the frame elements of said window unit which face one another across said surface of said pane, each of said strips having adhesive on two of its elongate surfaces which acts to secure the strip to said marginal portions and to said surfaces of the frame elements in a weather-tight fashion.

2. A glazing system as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the body of each of said strips is made of a more or less rigid material such, for example, as wood or metal.

3. A glazing system as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the body of each of said strips is made of a synthetic resin material.

4. A glazing system as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the two elongate surfaces of each strip are coated with a crosslinked acrylic adhesive.

5. A glazing system as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims, wherein each strip, of triangular section, is such that its cross-sectional shape is a right-angled triangle whose other angles are 60O and 30 , the adhesive being applied to the two surfaces which are perpendicular to one another.

6. A method of securing a pane of glass which is to be seated in glazing rebates to a window unit (as defined above) and which has a surface which, in use, is to be exposed to the weather, said method including the following steps, namely, cutting an elongate strip of triangular section into lengths commensurate with those of the frame elements of said window unit and in such manner that they fit together; removing a protective covering from surfaces of adhesive which coats two of the surfaces of each of said lengths; and applying the surfaces of said adhesive coating to marginal portions of said surface of the pane of glass and to those surfaces of said frame elements which face one another across said surface of the pane of glass.

7. A glazing system which includes a window unit (as defined above) having glazing rebates, a pane of glass seated in said rebates and having a first surface which, in use, is to be exposed to the weather and a second surface which, in use, is to be exposed to an interior space in a building, and elongate strips of appropriate cross-sectional shape applied to said first surface and to said second surface in alignment with one another to resemble glazing bars, each of said strips carrying on a surface thereof adhesive which acts to secure the strip to the respective surface of the glass.

8. A method of visually subdividing a pane of glass in a window unit (as defined above), said method including the following steps, namely, cutting an elongate strip to a length commensurate with one of the dimensions (height or width) of the area bounded by the four frame elements of the window unit and in such a manner that the ends of said strip will fit together with the two opposite frame elements: removing a protective covering from the surface of adhesive carried by said strip; applying said surface of the adhesive to a surface of said pane of glass in order to divide said surface of the pane of glass into two visually separated areas; and repeating said three steps in respect of the other surface of said pane of glass, taking care to place the two applied strips in alignment with one another.

9. A glazing system which includes a window unit (as defined above) constructed, arranged and adapted to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figure 1 or Figure 2 or any of Figures 3 to 6 of the accompanying diagrammatic drawing.

10. A method of securing a pane of glass which is to be seated in the glazing rebates of a window unit (as defined above), substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 1 of the accompanying diagrammatic drawing.

11. A method of visually subdividing a pane of glass in a window unit (as defined above), substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any of Figures 2 to 6 of the accompanying diagrammatic drawing.

12. Any features of novelty, taken singly or in combination, of the embodiments of the invention hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawing.