GB2255588A

GB2255588A - Stays.

Info

Publication number: GB2255588A
Application number: GB9208317A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Andrew Cowley
Original assignee: Cotswold Architectural Products Ltd
Current assignee: Cotswold Architectural Products Ltd
Priority date: 1991-04-19
Filing date: 1992-04-15
Publication date: 1992-11-11
Anticipated expiration: 2012-04-15
Also published as: GB9208317D0; GB9108414D0; GB2255588B

Abstract

A stay for a window has an arm 11 to support a window and can be moved between a position in which it overlies a base and a second position in which it extends at an angle to the base. A cam member is fixed to the base and presents a planar cam surface which extends across one end of the base 12 to engage the tip of the nose 17 of the arm 11 as the stay moves into its first position to ensure correct closing of the stay. The cam surface and nose 17 are inclined so that they are parallel or near parallel just prior to engagement. <IMAGE>

Description

Stavs This invention relates to hinges in the form of stays such as side-hung window stays.

Such stays generally include an arm for supporting a window or other load which is hingingly connected to a longitudinal base member so that it can be pivoted from a first position in which it overlies the base member to a second position in which it extends at an angle to the base member. Over the years it has been discovered that there is a problem with ensuring that the stay moves fully into its first position, when under load, because most of the mechanical advantage inherent in the hinge mechanism has been lost by the time the first position for the arm is approached. It has therefore been proposed that an end cap should be mounted on the base member for engaging one end of the arm as it moves towards the first position so that the reaction between the arm and the end cap is such as to force the arm into its first position.However existing designs of end cap all have a number of problems and in particular it is often found that the end of the arm, or nose as it is sometimes known, becomes caught on the outside of the end cap rather then engaging its operative surface.

This is particularly true when one is dealing with heavy duty stays or so called egress stays which have to incorporate a particularly large movement between the first and second positions of the arms.

The present invention consists in a stay including an arm for supporting a load, an elongate base member, means for hingingly connecting the arm to the base for movement between a first position in which it overlies the base member and a second outward position in which it extends at an angle to the base member and a cam member upstanding from the base member at or adjacent one end thereof for providing a generally planar cam surface extending across the width of the base member and inclined with respect to its longitudinal axis, the leading end of the arm being cut away across its width such that as it first overlies the base member it is parallel to or forms an acute angle with the cam surface and such that its most forwardly projecting part is the first to contact the cam surface.

In a preferred embodiment the leading end of the arm is engaged by the cam surface for a substantial part of its movement across the base.

Although the invention has been defined above it is to be understood it includes any inventive combination of the features set out above or in the following description.

The invention may be performed in a number of ways and one embodiment will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is an overall view of a stay, and Figure 2 is a scrap section of an identical, but oppositely handed, stay showing the movement of the arm into its first position.

Figure 1 illustrates a stay 10 of the type which is generally known, for example in our co-pending Application No. 9101633. However in this case the strut is mounted on a slider whilst the brace and link are mounted on fixed pivots. This enables the stay 10 of the current Application to be used as an egress hinge. However this aspect will not be described in detail in this Application.

The stay 10 includes an arm 11 and a track or base member 12 on which the arm 11 is hingingly mounted by means of the mechanism generally indicated at 13. As is known this mechanism enables the arm 11 to be moved from a first position in which it overlies the base 12 to a second position in which it is at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the base 12, for example as shown in Figure 1. The arm is configured to carry a window or the like.

The base 12 has an end cap or cam member 14 fixed at one end. The cam member 14 provides an upstanding wall 15 which extends across the width of the base 12 and is inclined to the longitudinal axis of the base 12. The wall 15 thus provides a cam surface 16. The leading end or nose 17 of the arm is also cut away across its width. This defines a tip or furthest projecting part 18.

The extent to which the nose is cut away depends on the angle of the cam surface 16. This is because it has been established that if the leading edge 19 of the nose 17 is cut away at such an angle that when the tip 18 first engages the cam surface 16 on closing of the stay, the leading edge is either parallel to the cam surface or forms an acute angle with that surface, then the nose 17 cannot become caught on the lateral edge of the cam member 14. Preferably the angle is no more than 100. It can also be seen from Figure 2 that as the stay 10 moves progressively through positions 2,3 and 4 the cam surface 16 acts on the tip 18 for a substantial part of the width of the base member thus providing very positive and controlled closing of the stay 10. This is in part a feature of the extent of the cam surface 16 and also arises because the tip 18 is formed at the edge of the arm 11 which is first to reach the cam surface 16.

Claims

1. A stay including an arm for supporting a load, an elongate base member, means for hingingly connecting the arm to the base for movement between a first position in which it overlies the base member and a second outward position in which it extends at an angle to the base member and a cam member upstanding from the base member at or adjacent one end thereof for providing a generally planar cam surface extending across the width of the base member and inclined with respect to its longitudinal axis, the leading end of the arm being cut away across its width such that as it first overlies the base member it is parallel to or forms an acute angle with the cam surface and such that its most forwardly projecting part is the first to contact the cam surface.

2. A stay as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the leading end of the arm is engaged by the cam surface for a substantial part of its movement across the base.

3. A stay as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the acute angle is less than 10 .

4. A stay substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.