GB2225376A

GB2225376A - Friction stay hinges

Info

Publication number: GB2225376A
Application number: GB8823000A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Edward Buckley
Original assignee: WALFAB Ltd
Current assignee: WALFAB Ltd
Priority date: 1988-09-30
Filing date: 1988-09-30
Publication date: 1990-05-30
Anticipated expiration: 2008-09-30
Also published as: GB2225376B; GB8823000D0

Abstract

In a friction stay hinge comprising a track member (1), a slide (3) movable along the track member, a strut (4) pivotally connected to the track member in spaced relation to the slide, a link (7) pivotally connected to the slide, a bar member (5) pivotally connected to the link and the strut for movement between a closed position above the track member and an open position and a control link (10) pivotally connected to the slide (3) and to the strut (4) intermediate the ends thereof, the strut (4) is U-shaped in cross-section and the control link (10) is pivotally mounted between the arms of the strut with the bar member (5) being pivotally mounted on the arm of the strut which is furthest from the track member (1). The link (7) may also be U-shaped in section. The pivots (13, 17, 22, 23, 25) connecting the members may be offset from the central axes of the members. Control link (10) has a cut-out (26). <IMAGE>

Description

Title: IMPROVEMENTS IN HINGES This invention relates to hinges and in particular to friction stay hinges for windows.

A friction stay hinge for a window is known which comprises a track member, a slide movable along the track member, a strut pivotally connected to the track member in spaced relation to the slide, a link pivotally connected to the slide and a bar member pivotally connected to the link and the strut for movement between a closed position in which the bar member is disposed above the track member and an open position in which the bar member is disposed at an angle to the track member. Such a hinge is disclosed in, for example, British Patent Specification No.

2174141.

The bar member of such friction stay hinges usually has a pointed end which is engageable in a V-shaped groove or angled plate provided at the end of the track member when the bar is in the closed position. These hinges have a weakness in their final closing action in that the end point of the bar member fails to enter the Vshaped groove at the end of the track member or it binds up in the early stages of entry. This weakness prevents the window, to which the hinge is attached, closing properly against its weatherseal. The smaller the hinge and the longer the link the greater is the danger of this occurring.

-Although these hinges are designed such that under normal operation this will not occur, hinge manufacturing error and/or incorrect installation of the hinge to the window and/or window weight above the maximum intended for the hinge and/or incorrect installation of the window into the building might cause failure.

The applicants' prior British Patent Application No.

88 07002 sought to overcome this problem by providing a friction stay hinge in which the outward motion of the pointed bar member was reduced at the initial opening and final closing stages of the hinge. Specifically, according to the invention forming the subject of said prior application, a hinge was provided comprising a track member, a slide movable along the track member, a strut pivotally connected to the track member in spaced relation to the slide, a link pivotally connected to the slide and a bar member pivotally connected to the link and the strut for movement between a closed position in which the bar member is disposed above the track member and an open position in which the bar member is disposed at an angle to the track member, the bar member having a pointed end engageable in the closed position of said bar member in an angled recess at one end of the track member wherein, in the closed position in which the bar member is disposed above the track member, the pivoting axis of at least one of the pivot points of the link was offset by at least 0.5mm from a line passing through the pivoting axes of the pivotal connections between the strut and track member and between the strut and bar member.

The present invention aims to provide still further improvements in friction stay hinges primarily intended for heavy duty use.

According to the present invention, there is provided a friction stay hinge comprising a track member, a slide movable along the track member, a strut pivotally connected to the track member in spaced relation to the slide, a link pivotally connected to the slide and a bar member pivotally connected to the link and the strut for movement between a closed position in which the bar member is disposed above the track member and an open position in which the bar member is disposed at an angle to the track member, wherein a control link is pivotally connected at one end to the slide and at its other end to the strut intermediate the ends thereof and wherein the strut is U-shaped in cross-section, the control link being pivotally mounted between the arms of the strut and the bar member being pivoted on an outer side of said strut.

Preferably, the bar member is pivoted on the side of the strut which is remote from the track member.

The link may also be U-shaped in cross-section.

According to one embodiment of the invention, one arm of the U-sectioned link is cut away in the region of its pivotal connection to the bar member and one end of the bar member is cranked at the region at which the bar member is pivotally connected to the other arm of the link, the remainder of said bar member overlying the said one arm of the link in the closed position of the hinge.

According to an alternative embodiment, the bar member is pivotally mounted on the arm of the link which is remote from the track member and overlies this arm of the link throughout the length thereof when the hinge is in the closed position. In this case, it is not necessary to crank the end of the bar member.

The pivoting axis of one of the pivot points of the link may be offset to one side of the longitudinal axis of said link and the pivoting axis of the other pivot point of the link may be offset to the other side of the said longitudinal axis. Preferably, the pivot points of the link are offset from the longitudinal axes of the slide and track member.

The pivot of the bar member and the strut may also be offset relative to the longitudinal axes of the bar member and strut.

Conveniently, the pivot of the strut and track member may also be offset relative to the longitudinal axis of the strut.

The pivot of the control link and strut may also be offset relative to the longitudinal axes of the control link and strut.

The invention will now be further described, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a plan view of one embodiment of a heavy duty friction stay hinge according to the invention shown in an open position; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the hinge shown in Fig. 1 but showing the hinge in the closed position; Fig. 3 is a section, to an enlarged scale, taken on the line III-III in Fig. 1 in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 4 is a section corresponding to Fig. 3 but showing an alternative assembly of the pivotal connection; Fig. 5 is a section, to an enlarged scale, taken on the line V-V in Fig. 2 in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 6 is a section corresponding to Fig. 5 but showing an alternative arrangement; Fig. 7 is a plan view of a second embodiment of a friction stay hinge according to the invention shown in an open position; and Fig. 8 is a plan view of the hinge shown in Fig. 7 but showing the hinge in the closed position and illustrating the offset pivot positions.

In the drawings, like parts are noted by like reference numerals.

Reference will first be made to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings in which the hinge comprises a track member 1 which is provided with holes to enable the track member to be secured to a window or like frame (not shown).

The track member is provided with a longitudinal groove in each of its side walls and said grooves may be formed by rolling the edges of a strip of metal or other suitable material from which the track member is made. Alternatively, the grooves may be formed by extruding the track member.

Slidably mounted in the grooves of the track member is a slide 3. One end of a strut 4 is pivotally mounted at 2 on one end of the track member 1, the other end of the strut being pivotally mounted on a bar member 5 intermediate the ends thereof. The bar member 5 is cranked at 6 and the cranked end is pivotally connected to one end of a link 7 the other end of which is pivotally connected to the slide 3. The bar member 5 is provided with a series of holes 8 to enable it to be secured to a window or like closable member (not shown). The cranked end of the bar member is provided with a pointed end 9. A control link 10 pivotally connected at one end to the slide 3, is pivotally connected at its other end to the midportion of the strut 4. An end stop 12 is mounted at the other end of the track member 1 and comprises a V-shaped groove or angled plate to engage the pointed end 9 of the bar member 5 when the hinge is moved to its closed position.

As shown in Fig. 3, the strut 4 is U-shaped in crosssection and the control link 10 is located between the arms of the strut and pivotally connected to it by a pivot pin or rivet 14. Part of one of the arms of the U-shaped strut is cut away in the region of the pivotal connection to facilitate the location of a nylon washer 15 between the said other end of the control link 10 and the other arm of the strut 4. The arm with the cut away region may be located on the side of the strut 4 nearest the track member 1 as shown in Fig. 3 or on the side remote from the track member as shown in Fig. 4.

The bar member 5 is connected to the strut 4 on the side of said strut which is remote from the track member 1 so that the bar member will overlie the strut 4 when the hinge is moved to the closed position shown in Fig. 2, the control link 10 then being located substantially entirely between the arms of the U-shaped strut 4.

The link 7 may also be U-shaped in cross-section with one if its arms cut away at the end which is connected to the bar member 5 as shown in Fig. 5. From this figure it will be seen that the purpose of cranking the bar member 5 is to enable it to overlie the link 7 and the strut 4 when the hinge is moved to the closed position shown in Fig. 2. As also shown in Fig. 5, a nylon washer 16 is mounted on the pivot pin or rivet 17 which connects the bar member to the link.

In an alternative construction shown in Fig. 6, the link 7 is U-shaped in cross-section throughout its length and the bar member 5 is connected to the outer side of the link remote from the track member 1. If the link 7 is arranged to have substantially the same overall thickness as the strut 4, it is not necessary to crank the bar member 5 since this member can then overlie both the strut 4 and the link 7 in the closed position of the hinge. However, it is necessary to utilise an end stop 12 of increased height in view of the increased height of the pointed end 9 of the bar member 5.

Turning now to the embodiment shown in Figs. 7 and 8 of the drawings, in this embodiment, the pivot point 13 of the link 7 on the slide 3 is offset from the longitudinal axes 18 of the slide 3 and track member 1 by 2mm in one direction. Alternatively or in addition, the pivot 17 of the link 7 and the bar member 5 may be offset by 2mm from the longitudinal axis 20 of the bar member and the longitudinal axis 21 of the link 7 in the opposite direction. Similarly, the pivot 22 of the strut 4 on the track member 1 may also be offset by 2mm from the longitudinal axis 18 of the track member 1 in the said opposite direction as well as being offset by the same amount from the longitudinal axis 24 of the strut 4.In this case, the pivot 23 of the structure 4 on the bar member 5 and the pivot 25 of the control link 10 on the strut 4 will also be offset by the same amount from the longitudinal axis 24 of the strut.

This offsetting of the pivot points 13, 17, 22, 23 and 25 improves the entry of the end point 9 into the end stop 12 in one direction while the movement in the other direction makes early contact between the end point and end stop worse. Thus alternative offsetting of the pivots makes the hinge left or right-handed opening as explained more fully in Patent Application No. 88 07002.

In order to accommodate the pivot connection 23 between the bar member 5 and the U-sectioned strut 4 in the closed position of the hinge shown in Fig. 8, the control link 10 is desirably provided with a cut-away region or recess 26 as shown in Fig. 7 of the drawings.

It will be appreciated that any or all of the features of the present invention may be used in combination with the invention forming the subject of Patent Application No. 88 07002 but this is not essential and the present invention may equally be applied to otherwise conventional friction stay hinges.

Claims

1. A friction stay hinge comprising a track member, a slide movable along the track member, a strut pivotally connected to the track member in spaced relation to the slide, a link pivotally connected to the slide and a ba member pivotally connected to the link and the strut for movement between a closed position in which the bar member is disposed above the track member and an open position in which the bar member is disposed at an angle to the track member, wherein a control link is pivotally connected at one end to the slide and at its other end to the strut intermediate the ends thereof and wherein the strut is U-shaped in cross-section, the control link being pivotally mounted between the arms of the strut and the bar member being pivoted on an outer side of said strut.

2. A friction stay hinge according to claim 1, wherein part of one of the arms of the strut is cut away in the region of the pivotal connection to the control link and wherein a nylon washer is located between the said other end of the control link and the other arm of the strut.

3. A friction stay hinge according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the bar member is pivoted on the side of the strut which is remote from the track member.

4. A friction stay hinge according to any preceding claim, wherein the link is U-shaped in cross-section.

5. A friction stay hinge according to claim 4, wherein one arm of the U-sectioned link is cut away in the region of its pivotal connection to the bar member and one end of the bar member is cranked at the region at which the bar member is pivotally connected to the other arm of the link, the remainder of said bar member overlying the said one arm of the link in the closed position of the hinge.

6. A friction stay hinge according to claim 4, wherein the bar member is pivotally mounted on the arm of the link which is remote from the track member and overlies this arm of the link throughout the length thereof when the hinge is in the closed position.

7. A friction stay hinge according to any preceding claim, wherein the pivoting axis of one of the pivot points of the link is offset to one side of the longitudinal axis of said link and the pivoting axis of the other pivot point of the link is offset to the other side of the said longitudinal axis.

8. A friction stay hinge according to claim 7, wherein the pivot points of the link are offset from the longitudinal axes of the slide and track member.

9. A friction stay hinge according to claim 7 or claim 8, wherein the pivot of the bar member and the strut is offset relative to the longitudinal axes of the bar member and strut.

10. A friction stay hinge according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the pivot of the strut and track member is offset relative to the longitudinal axes of the strut.

11. A friction stay hinge according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein the pivot of the control link and the strut is offset relative to the longitudinal axes of the control link and strut.

12. A friction stay hinge according to claims 9, 10 and 11, wherein the pivots are offset to the same side of the longitudinal axis of the strut by the same amount.

13. A friction stay hinge according to any preceding claim, wherein the control link is provided with a cutaway region or recess adapted to accommodate the pivotal connection between the bar member and the strut in the closed position of the hinge.

14. A friction stay hinge substantially as described herein with reference to the drawings.