GB2275061A - Mounting frame and coupling arrangement - Google Patents

Abstract

A mounting frame, for example a UPVC door or window panel, has its hollow frame members secured together at the corners by a coupling member 205. The coupling member has legs, which carry resilient fingers which are pushed into the cavities of the respective frame members and the fingers sprag against the inside walls, so that the legs are firmly retained within the frame members. Use of the coupling member means that the mounting frame can be constructed on-site with ease and accuracy. <IMAGE>

Description

MOUNTING FRAME AND ARRANGEMENT FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a mounting frame and arrangement, and in particular to a mounting frame and arrangement for use in securing a building panel in a wall opening.

A typical panel for which the mounting frame of this invention is suitable is a window frame, specifically a factory pre-assembled double or triple glazed window unit.

Such units are popular with users, but the fitting staff often find them difficult to manipulate into position into a wall opening, especially in a multi-storey building in adverse weather.

DISCUSSION OF THE PRIOR ART One currently-used panel fitting method requires a pre-built wall opening, shaped from the surrounding bricks and/or blocks; this opening has to be accurately sized and shaped both to receive the respective panel e.g a ready-glazed unit, and to permit the fitting staff to hold the panel in position until secured. Several fitting staff are usually involved.

Another fitting method requires a pre-built (outer) mounting frame to be installed in the wall opening, into which the panel can subsequently be mounted or fitted. Thus in US Patent 4,488,391 there is disclosed a mounting frame, typically of wood, into which can be fitted a window frame.

Mounted to the external periphery of the window frame are centring clips, and in use the window frame is then inserted into the opening of the mounting frame until a flange of the window frame engages the mounting frame to limit further inward movement.

An alternative pre-fitted mounting frame is disclosed in my international application WO 91/14066, one embodiment including a base, an abutment projecting from one side of the base, a column projecting away from the opposed side of the base, a tooth projecting from the said one side of the base, the abutment projecting at least as far from the base as the tooth, the tooth having a retention flank, the column being spaced away from at least one end of the base.

In use, the abutment is directed "inwardly" of the opening and so acts to limit movement of the window unit towards the building interior. The abutment also provides a plasterer's limit and guide. The column fits between cavity walls, and indeed has utility as a former built into "new-build" structures to define the required opening, which is thereafter enclosed by the brickwork or blockwork forming the cavity walls. This former has achieved considerable commercial success, particularly for installations requiring cavity closing, cavity sealing, and damp-proofing.

For a standard rectangular arrangement, of a plastics material extruded to a hollow profile, it is the usual practice to select suitable lengths, mitre their ends, place some or all of the mitred lengths (usually all four required lengths for a square or rectangular mounting frame) in conjunction in a jig to ensure squareness, and butt weld adjacent ends together to form right-angled corners.

However, when factory assembled in this manner, the mounting frame is bulky to transport, and furthermore can be distorted during transport, on-site storage and at the workplace whilst awaiting installation.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION It has heretofore been considered essential for commercially acceptable mounting frames to be factory-built, since these are intended as outer frames into which (as mentioned above) a factory-built glazing unit or other precision-made wall panel can be fitted without re-working; the mounting frame needs thus to be accurately formed, which heretofore has been believed to require factory pre-forming.

I now propose a mounting frame of connected hollow profile frame members characterised by a coupling member having a first leg and a second leg, the legs having a pre-set orientation one to the other, the first leg being within one frame member and the second leg being within another frame member.

For some uses, it may be sufficient for the frame members to be interconnected solely by gripping means such as spring fingers carried by the respective legs; but in an alternative preferred embodiment the legs are used to set the frame members at the orientation (usually perpendicular, and in a common plane) determined by the coupling member, forming corners, and these frame corners are subsequently welded or otherwise secured together. For a frame in the (external) wall of a building, the corners should be sealed, for instance to avoid moisture ingress, and such securement, conveniently on-site by adhesive, can ensure this.

Usefully the corners will be formed on-site one at a time, but in an alternative assembly method can be formed simultaneously.

Further, I now propose a mounting frame for securing a window panel or the like in a wall opening, and which includes two frame members set at a defined included angle, preferably 90 degrees, each frame member comprising a base, an abutment projecting from one side of the base, a column projecting away from the opposed side of the base, a tooth projecting from said one side of the base, said abutment projecting at least as far from said base as the tooth, said tooth having a retention flank, the column being spaced from at least one end of the base, characterised by a coupling member internally of the frame members.

Preferably the frame members are perpendicular, the coupling member having first and second legs with the first leg in the column of one frame member and the second leg in the column of the other (adjacent) frame member whereby to form a right-angled frame corner.

Preferably, the frame members have mitred corners, which can be sealed together externally of the profile, as by adhesive.

Usefully, the coupling member is constructed from two sections of pre-formed U-section metal strip, secured one to another by a spot weld.

In a particularly suitable embodiment, each column has a hollow region into which a coupling member leg can fit; the leg will be of smaller dimension than the hollow region, but will have outwardly protruding fingers, preferably resilient fingers, which sprag against structural walls forming the hollow region, firmly to locate the leg and thus the coupling member. Preferably the leg is biassed into engagement with the frame member base; and also is biassed to be centred midway between sidewalls of the column, preferably between structural column ribs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig.l is a front view of a mounting frame according to the invention fitted in a partly built new-build structure, with a coupling member according to the invention shown in dotted outline; Fig.2 is a sectional view towards the end of one portion of mounting frame; Fig.3 is a side view of a coupling member fabricated from a pre-formed U-section metal strip; and Fig.4 is a section along the line IV-IV of Fig.3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the arrangement shown in Fig.l, a bricklayer will typically lay a line of bricks 60 and blocks 70 to a selected height; he will then lay a further layer of either the bricks or blocks, position the column 200 of a pre formed rectangular mounting frame 230 against the extra layer, and then clamp the column in position by laying further bricks or blocks so as to sandwich the column 200.

In the embodiment shown, the four frame members 230a,230b, 230c,230d of the mounting frame 230 are not identical i.e.

the members 230a,230c are of narrower section than the members 230b,230d, and so the corners are not mitred at 45 degrees; in an alternative embodiment the members are of identical section, with the corners mitred at 45 degrees.

As shown in Fig.2, mounting frame 230 has an abutment 236, upstanding from base 238, and having a rearwardly angled surface 237 (which provides a plastering level for plastering region 235). To help key the plaster, surface 237 is ridged. column 200 is of hollow extruded construction, with structural ribs 220, strengthening ribs 222, and cross rib 224, each being a part of an extruded plastics frame member 230a, 230b, 230c or 230d and so extending into the paper.

Although for clarity, a gap is shown between the column 200 and the bricks 60 and blocks 70, in practice the column is of a width conforming closely to the industry standard cavity, or else another extension part is used as a cavity spacer when building up the lower cavity wall, below the window opening. However, the mounting frame can, if required, be laid on a bed of mortar or equivalent, or the gap can be sealedby a known resilient sealing compound.

When located as above described, the bricklayer will continue to lay bricks 60 and blocks 70 above the opening provided by mounting frame 230, which therefore defines an opening 120 in a wall into which a multi-glazed window or equivalent can subsequently be fitted.

In order that the window unit can fit accurately when delivered, it is necessary to ensure that the window opening 120 be of the correct size, and in particular that adjacent frame members 230a,230b and 230b,230c and 230c,230d and 230d,230a be truly perpendicular one to another.

It is not, however, always convenient or desirable for the mounting frame 230 to be manufactured off-site, and thus according to the invention, the adjacent frame members 230a, 230b, 230c, and 230d are delivered individually to length, preferably pre-mitred, whilst pre-formed coupling members 205 are also provided separately. Thus, the frame members can readily be delivered in large numbers, transported and stored whilst laid side by side.

Furthermore, distortion of the mounting frame during on-site storage awaiting installation, is minimised.

As shown in Fig.3, the coupling member 205 comprises two legs 206,208 of U-section (Fig.4) strip, joined together by spotweld 210. In this embodiment, legs 206 and 208 are identical, though in alternative embodiments they may for example be of differing lengths.

In order that the mounting frame 230 can be assembled on site, a first leg 206 is wedged into the hollow region 232 of e.g. frame member 230a, with the open end of the "U" facing the base 238, facing "inwardly" towards what in the finished mounting frame will become the opening 120.

Thereafter the second leg 208 is wedged into the adjacent member 230d, to form a corner arrangement utilising coupling member 205 as generally seen in dotted outline in Fig.1.

The sprung fingers 212,214 are conveniently punched from the spring-metal U-section coupling member 205.

Preferably the legs 206,208 have two sets of outwardly directed fingers 212,214. As best seen in Fig.4, the side fingers 214 project outwardly less than the base fingers 212. The side fingers 214 are for lateral location, biassed in use against structural ribs 220 to centralise the respective legs 206,208 within the hollow region 232, to help ensure that the mitred extremities of the adjacent sections are in alignment, after assembly of the corner, ready for sealing on site, as with adhesive; whilst the base fingers 212 react against cross rib 224 to bias in use the leg firmly against the surface 238 of the hollow region 232.

Usefully the sections 206,208 can be pre-formed from a continuous length of metal strip. Thus in the factory, the strip will be cut to length, before being cut at an angle to create edges 250, 252. Thereafter leg 208 is swung towards edge 252 such that edge 250 can fit alongside edge 252; these legs will be held accurately in a jig at 90 degrees with respect to one another, whilst being spotwelded or otherwise secured together at 210. In an alternative embodiment, the strip is not fully cut through, so that the material at 260 is continuous, the two parts 206,208, then being swung relative to each other through ninety degrees before being further joined as above.

In an alternative embodiment, the sections 206,208 can be of a hard plastics material, with external deformable rounded or triangular dimples (gripping means) on the outer periphery, i.e. instead of the punched-out spring fingers 212,214. Usefully the plastics sections will have mitred corners hot-plate welded in butting relationship.

We have thus provided a simple means for accurately assembling the a mounting frame, particularly that of WO 91/14066, not requiring factory pre-assembly but suited for assembly of hollow profile mounting frames on-site.

When the mitred corners of the mounting frame are held in abutting relation by the pre-formed coupling members, they can be additionally secured as by adhesive, for additional sealing and security. Thus the mounting frame comprises four frame members 230a, 230b, 230c,230d first "snapped together" on site, which is of great operational and commercial advantage and makes available for more widespread use the mounting frame disclosed in my WO 91/14066.

Claims (7)

1. A mounting frame of connected hollow profile frame members characterised by a coupling member having a first leg and a second leg, the legs having a pre-set orientation one to the other, the first leg being within one frame member and the second leg being within another frame member.

2. A mounting frame as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the said legs comprises spring fingers.

3. A mounting frame for securing a window panel or the like in a wall opening, and which includes two frame members set at a defined included angle, each frame member comprising a base, an abutment projecting from one side of the base, a column projecting away from the opposed side of the base, a tooth projecting from said one side of the base, said abutment projecting at least as far from said base as the tooth, said tooth having a retention flank, the column being spaced from at least one end of the base, characterised by a coupling member internally of the frame members.

4. A mounting frame as claimed in Claim 3, wherein the coupling member has first and second legs with the first leg in the column of one frame member and the second leg, perpendicular to the first leg, in the column of the other (adjacent) frame member whereby to form a right-angled frame corner.

5. A mounting frame as claimed in Claim 4, wherein each column has a hollow region into which a coupling member leg can fit; the leg being of smaller dimension than the hollow region, but having outwardly protruding fingers, which sprag against structural walls forming the hollow region, firmly to locate the leg and thus the coupling member.

6. A coupling member per se, as herein defined or described.

7. A mounting frame substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawings.