GB2188968A

GB2188968A - Spacing plates for insertion between window frames and walls

Info

Publication number: GB2188968A
Application number: GB08607895A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Kenneth Alfred Hanley; John David Green
Original assignee: HANLEY PRECISION TOOLS
Current assignee: HANLEY PRECISION TOOLS
Priority date: 1986-04-01
Filing date: 1986-04-01
Publication date: 1987-10-14
Anticipated expiration: 2006-04-01
Also published as: GB8607895D0; GB2220971B; GB2188968B; GB8915795D0; GB2220971A

Abstract

A flexible spacing plate of substantially U-shaped construction having a slot 4 which is open at one end formed therein which is adapted to surround a fastening screw or the like, characterized in that the spacing place is provided with at least a portion 5 which is resilient and which does not lie in the plane of the U- shaped spacing plate and in that on application of force to the non-planar resilient portion the spacing plate becomes substantially lamellar and flat. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Spacing plates The present invention relates to spacing plates and, in particular, to spacing plates which are open at one end.

Spacing plates are used, for example in window buildings, to fill the space between the window frame and the wall to which the window frame is attached. Spacing plates of a substantially U-shaped configuration are known in the art and are placed over a fastening screw which is used to secure the window frame to the wall. However, these U-shaped spacing plates are difficult to retain in position during the screwing of the fastening screw into the wall. It is therefore difficult for a person working alone to ensure that the spacing plate stays in position whilst screwing the fastening screws into the wall.

EP-A-0127021 disclosed a lamellar platelike spacing plate with a slot which is open at one end, the spacing plate consisting of plastics material and having at least one elastic restraining projection which projects into the slot and is disposed at a distance from the slot end so as to assure freedom from clamping for the fastening screw. In a particular embodiment of the spacing plates disclosed in this specification the retaining projection or projections are spring tongues which, when the spacing plate is pushed onto the fastening screw, spring back into recesses provided in the slot edges. This type of spacing plate does not fall off the shaft of the fastening screw whilst the fastening screw is being screwed into the wall to secure the window frame to the wall.Whilst this spacing plate does not fall off the shaft of the screw it can, nonetheless, rotate about the shaft and thereby become oriented in a position which is different from that in which the spacing plate was initially put.

We have now developed a spacing plate which does not fall off the shaft of the fastening screw whilst the screw is being screwed through the window frame into the wall and, futhermore, remains oriented in the position in which it is placed originally.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a flexible spacing plate of substantially Ushaped construction having a slot which is open at one end formed therein which is adapted to surround a fastening screw or the like, characterised in that the spacing plate is provided with at least a portion which is resilient and which does not lie in the plane of the U-shaped spacing plate and in that on application of force to the non-planar resilient portion the spacing plate becomes substantially lamellar and flat.

The spacing plates of the present invention are preferably made from a plastics material, such as polyethylene or polypropolene.

The non-planar resilient portion may form at least a part of one or both of the legs of the U-shaped spacing plate. Alternatively, the nonplanar resilient portion may be provided in the closed end of the U-shaped spacing plate.

The non-planar resilient portion or portions may be provided by one or more resilient tabs, or one or more resilient hinges. Alternatively, a portion of the U-shaped spacing plate may be arcuate or of a wave-form configuration. In this embodiment a part only of one or both of the legs of the U-shaped member may be arcuate or of a wave-form configuration.

In use, the spacing plates of the present invention remain in the orientation in which they are placed over the fastening screws for fastening the window frame to the wall. The spacing plates are held in this position by friction between the non-planar resilient portion and the window frame or the wall. When the window frame is screwed to the wall by means of fastening screws, a force is applied to the non-planar resilient portion, thereby causing the spacing plate to become substantially lamellar and flat.

The present invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figures 1 to 3 illustrate spacing plates having one or more resilient tabs; Figures 4 to 7 illustrate spacing plates having one or more resilient hinges; Figure 8 illustrates a U-shaped spacing plate in which the legs are of wave-formed configuration; Figures 9 to 12 illustrate spacing plates a part of which is of arcuate configuration; Figure 13 illustrates a spacing plate in which the legs of the U-shaped plate are split into two substantially along their length; Figures 14 and 15 illustrate spacing plates in which the legs are bifurcated.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 3 of the drawings a U-shaped spacing plate 1 has two legs 2 and a body portion 3 joining the legs together.

The legs 2 form the boundaries of a slot 4.

The legs 2 of Fig. 1 are each provided with a resilient tab 5 formed adjacent to the outside edge of each leg. The tabs 5 are formed by cutting away a part of each leg. The resilient tabs 5 are inclined at an angle of approximately 45 to the plane of the U-shaped plate.

In Fig. 2 a single resilient tab 6 is provided in the body portion 3 which joins the legs 2 of the U-shaped plate together. The resilient tab is at an angle of approximately 450 to the plane of the plate. In Fig. 3 two resilient tabs 7 are provided at approximately the point where the legs 2 join body portion 3 of the U-shaped plate. The tabs 7 are elongate and arcuate and are formed by cutting away substantially rectangular portions of the plate.

Figs. 4 to 7 illustrate arrangements in which one or more resilient hinges are provided in the U-shaped spacing plate. Referring to Fig.

4, resilient hinges 8 of substantially V-shaped configuration are formed in each leg 2 of the spacing plate. The hinges 8 run the whole length of the legs 2 and meet the end 9 of the spacing plate remote from the slot 4. In Fig. 5 a single hinge 10 is provided and this hinge essentially forms the body potion 3 of the U-shaped plate which connects legs 2 together. The hinge is of substantially V-shaped configuration. Fig. 6 illustrates an arrangement in which the legs 2 of the U-shaped spacing plate themselves form the resilient hinges. The hinges are of substantially V-shaped configuration and are each hinged along line 11. Fig. 7 shows an alternative type of hinge 12 which is formed at the edge of each of the legs 2 of the spacing plate. The hinges 12 are essentially of L-shaped configuration and are angled upwardly as shown in the Figure.

Fig. 8 illustrates a spacing plate in which both legs 2 are of wave-form configuration.

Each leg is formed with two crests 13 and one trough 14. Figs. 9 to 12 illustrate spacing plates in which a portion of the spacing plate is of arcuate configuration. Thus, Fig. 9 illustrates a spacing plate in which both legs thereof 2 have an essentially flat planar portion extending from the open-end of the slot and an arcuate portion 16 connecting the planar portion of the leg to the body portion 3 of the spacing plate. The arcuate portion 16 of the legs 2 illustrated in this Figure of the drawings are curved in the same direction.

Fig. 10 illustrates a spacing plate similar to that shown in Fig. 9 where the arcuate portions 16 of the legs 2 curve in opposite directions. Fig. 11 illustrates a spacing plate in which the legs 2 and body portion 3 are all arcuate and form part of the surface of a vertically placed cylinder, if the legs 2 are imagined to be projecting vertically upwards. Fig.

12 illustrates another type of spacing plate in which the body portion 3 of the spacing plate is flat and is jointed to arcuate legs 2.

Fig. 13 illustrates a spacing plate in which each leg is split substantially along the whole of its length by means of a cut 17. The outside sections 18 of each leg are joined to the inside sections 19 of each leg where the legs meet the body portion 3 and at the ends 20 of the legs adjacent the open end of the slot 4. The outer sections 18 of the legs curve in one direction, whilst the inner sections 19 of the legs curve in the opposite direction.

Figs. 14 and 15 illustrate spacing plates in which the legs 2 are bifurcated. Referring to Figs. 14 and 15 each leg 2 has a flat planar portion which extends from the open-end of the slot 4. At point 21 on each leg there is a bifurcation and one branch 22 of each leg is flat and joins to the body portion 3. The other branch of each leg 23 is cut-away and does not meet the body portion. As shown in Fig.

14 the branches 23 are of arcuate configuration, whilst in Fig. 15 the branches 23 are of wave-form configuration.

It will be appreciated that when the spacing plates illustrated in the drawings are used in the construction of windows, the application of force to the non-planar portions of the various spacing plates shown, during the fastening of the window frame to the wall by means of a fastening screw, will cause each of the resilient portions to fiaten. In the arrangement shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 the resilient tabs will be pushed back into the slots or holes form which they were cut. In Figs. 4 to 7 the V-shaped or L-shaped hinges will flatten. In Figs. 8 to 12 the application of force will cause the arcuate or wave-form portions to flatten, as is the case also in the arrangements shown in Figs. 13 to 15. The spacing plate thus becomes substantially lamellar and flat when screwed into position between the window frame and the wall during the construction of a window.

Claims

1. A flexible spacing plate of substantially U-shaped construction having a slot which is open at one end formed therein which is adapted to surround a fastening screw or the like, characterized in that the spacing place is provided with at least a portion which is resilient and which does not lie in the plane of the U-shaped spacing plate and in that on application of force to the non-planar resilient portion the spacing plate becomes substantially lamellar and flat.

2. A flexible spacing plate as claimed in claim 1 which is made from a plastics material.

3. A flexible spacing plate as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein a non-planar resilient portion is provided in at least one of the legs of the U-shaped spacing plate.

4. A flexible spacing plate as claimed in claim 3 wherein both legs of the spacing plate are provided with non-planar resilient portion.

5. A flexible spacing plate as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the non-planar resilient portion is provided in the body portion of the U-shaped spacing plate which joins the two legs of the spacing plate together.

6. A flexible spacing plate as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the non-planar resilient portion is formed by at least one resilient tab.

7. A flexible spacing plate as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the nonplanar resilient portion is formed by at least one resilient hinge.

8. A flexible spacing plate as claimed in claim 6 wherein the flexible hinge is of substantially V-shaped or L-shaped configuration.

9. A flexible spacing plate as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the nonplanar resilient portion is provided by a part of the spacing plate being of arcuate configuration.

10. A flexible spacing plate as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the nonplanar resilient portion is provided by a part of the spacing plate being of wave-form configuration.

11. A flexible spacing plate as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein at least one of the legs of the U-shaped plate is bifurcated and at least one of the branches so formed is of arucate or wave-form configuration.

12. A flexible spacing plate as claimed in claim 6 substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in any one of Figs. 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings.

13. A flexible spacing plate as claimed in claim 7 substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in any one of Figs. 4 to 7 of the accompanying drawings.

14. A flexible spacing plate as claimed in claim 9 substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in any one of Figs. 9 to 12, or Fig. 13, of the accompanying drawings.

15. A flexible spacing plate as claimed in claim 10 substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Fig. 8 of the accompanying drawings.

16. A flexible spacing plate as claimed in claim 11 substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Fig. 14 or Fig. 15 of the accompanying drawings.