GB2280708A - Closure apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A roller latch 24 is height adjustable relative to an espagnolette bar 1, to aid fitting, and proper securement. The roller 24 is carried on a stud 19. A spring 26 acts to maintain the roller 24 at the end of the stud 19. The stud can be screwed into and through a bush 18 carried by the bar 1, to a selected height. <IMAGE>

Description

CLOSURE APPARATUS This invention relates to closure apparatus of the type fitted within a door or window frame member for transmitting the movement of a handle to one or more remote latches to enable the door or window to be opened or closed.

A known closure apparatus comprises an elongate bar receivable within a complementary channel provided on a first frame member of an opening window or door. At least one latch means is present on the bar which is engageable with a complementary latch means on a second outermost fixed frame member which, when the window or door is in the closed condition, lies adjacent to the first frame member.A bracket defining a through passageway to receive a portion of the bar is secured to the first member and includes, typically, rotary pinion means connectable between a rotary handle disposed externally of the first frame member and a rack means disposed on the bar, the assembly being arranged such that rotation of the pinion by the handle causes the bar to move in the direction of its length within the channel between a first condition in which the latches are engaged and a second condition in which the latches are disengaged to allow the door or window to be opened.

There is a problem with certain frame members, particularly plastics, e.g. UPVC, window frame members, in that they have a tendency to sag. A frame of this type when of the moving frame or opening vent type will tend to sag at different levels depending on the size of the frame and the weight of glazing it carries. Clearly a double glazed frame may sag even more than a single glazed frame.

Closure apparatus as described above can be fixed in place before or after glazing and it is quite likely that subsequent fitting of glass to the frame will induce more sagging than if the apparatus is fitted after glazing.

Moreover, transportation of the frames, particularly if glazed, to the site for installation can induce further sagging.

Sagging of the frame members affects the positional relationship between the latch arrangement, e.g. of studs and rollers, of the closure apparatus and the keep of the fixed member. This can make it difficult, or even impossible, to close or lock the window properly. It is conventional practice to overcome this problem by adjustment of the location of the hinge stays that are fitted to either side of the moving frame.

The problem is even more acute with top hung windows than side hung ones and the problem can be exacerbated when fitting a frame into a building if careful handling is not employed or if the window is not accurately aligned.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide closure apparatus having a latch arrangement that is adjustable for height so that the installer may, for example, make final adjustments on site, if necessary, with the frame member in its final position.

Accordingly, the invention provides closure apparatus including an elongate bar movable in the direction of its length within a complementary channel therefor in a frame member of an opening window or door, a latch means being present on the bar to be moved in and out of engagement with complementary latch means on a fixed frame member for the window or door, in which the latch means on the bar comprises at least a pair of longitudinally spaced latch members, each latch member being carried on a stud extending transversely with respect to the bar and which can be secured in alternative positions with respect to the bar by axial movement of the stud, each stud carrying a spring means to maintain the latch member in the desired position on its stud.

Preferably each stud can be secured in any of a continuum of positions with respect to the bar.

Preferably each stud has a thread and, whilst this could engage in a female thread tapped in the bar itself, it preferably engages in a female member which is itself secured to the bar. This further member could be threaded or, if of a suitable material, for example a plastics material, could have a plain bore in which the stud forms its own thread. Whichever type of female conformation is employed, adjustment of the position of the stud with respect to the bar is possible, provided that means are present to secure the stud in the selected position. Thus it is preferred that the female conformation has provision for interference with the stud, for example a plastics sleeve or ring, or a strip laid axially, or having several threads which are deformed, or with a mismatch in the threads of the stud and the female conformation.Thus the threaded stud when screwed into the female conformation will meet with resistance sufficient to require reasonable force, e.g. requiring a screwdriver, to position the stud in a desired position relative to the female conformation.

Preferably each latch member is a roller which is free to turn on the stud. Each roller is suitably of cylindrical or mushroom shape, and is in the form of a bush having a bore of sufficient internal diameter to allow passage of the stud through it.

Suitably the spring means acts between the latch member and the bar, and/or, when present, the separate female member. Suitably the latch member is thereby maintained in position at the end of the stud, the ends of the latch member and stud remote from the bar being shaped to retain the latch member on the stud.

By virtue of the spring means each latch member will always be in the same position relative to its stud even when the position of the stud is adjusted by screwing further into or out of the female conformation. The stud and latch member will therefore correctly locate in the corresponding latch means in the fixed frame member.

The head of each stud may conveniently carry a conformation suitable for the application of a driving tool, for example a slot for a screwdriver.

Each spring means may be any convenient means, e.g.

a conventional helical spring of metal or plastics material, a disc type spring or a wave washer or even suitably-compressed plastics or rubber bushings.

Suitably each female member, when present, extends transversely from the bar in a direction opposite to that in which the roller is carried. It may suitably be riveted to the bar.

By means of the invention, the installer of the window or door frame may make a final adjustment of the stud's protrusion from the bar to take into account any sagging of the frame that may have taken place. Thus frames that have sagged may be installed so that they open and close as desired.

Another aspect of the invention provides closure apparatus including an elongate bar movable in the direction of its length within a complementary channel therefor in a frame member of an opening window or door, a latch means being present on the bar to be moved in and out of engagement with complementary latch means on a fixed frame member for the window or door, in which the latch means on the bar comprise at least a pair of longitudinally spaced studs, each stud carrying a bushing roller and having a thread to engage in a female threaded member on the opposite side of the bar to the roller, a spring means being present on each stud between the roller and the bar to maintain the roller in the desired position on its stud.

Another aspect of the invention provides an opening window or door frame incorporating closure apparatus as described herein. As indicated above, the frame may be of plastics material, e.g. UPVC.

The invention will now be further described, by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a known closure apparatus, often called an espagnolette assembly; and Figure 2 is a sectional view of a portion of similar apparatus but having the latch means of the present invention.

The known closure apparatus of Figure 1 comprises a length of metal bar 1 of rectangular section. An L-shaped bracket 2 formed from metal is wrapped about the bar to define a through passageway 3. Screw holes 4 are present within the upstanding portion 5 of the bracket 2. Screw holes 4 are present within the upstanding portion 5 of the bracket 2. Alternatively the bracket may be made as a die casting in zinc alloy or aluminium, or an injection moulding in plastics material.

A rotary pinion 6 defining a square through aperture 7 to receive the shaft of a rotary handle (not shown) is sandwiches between the opposing walls of the upstanding portion 5. The pinion, as is well know in the art, has teeth (not shown) which intermesh with complementary teeth (also not shown) on a rack attached to the bar 1.

Rotation of the pinion, therefore, moves the bar in the direction of its length along a channel in a movable frame member in which the bar has been located.

Latch means in the form of rollers 15 which are riveted to and extend from the bar can, therefore, be moved into and out of corresponding latch means, e.g.

appropriately-shaped slots in a corresponding fixed frame member, whereby the movable frame member may be opened or closed and locked.

Apparatus according to the invention is shown in Figure 2. Extending to one side of the metal bar 1 is disposed a threaded female member 18 to receive one end of a threaded stud 19 passing through the bar. As indicated above, the thread of the female member 18 preferably has an interference fit with the thread of the stud 19. The female member 18 may be a metal bush riveted to the bar, having a narrowed portion extending through a hole in the bar. In this embodiment the bore of the female member 18 is fitted with a sleeve 20 of polyamide material, within which the stud cuts its own thread.

The head 22 of the stud 19 is widened, and cut with a slot to receive the tip of a screwdriver whereby the stud can be screwed into and out of engagement with the female member 18 while passing through the bar 1.

The stud 19 carries a roller 24 in the form of a cylinder of internal diameter sufficient to receive the stud. The roller 24 has a widened end 25, which is recessed to receive the head 22 of the stud 19. The roller 24 is thereby held in place on the stud. A helical spring 26 is positioned around the stud so as to lie between the roller 24 and the bar 1 when the stud 19 is positioned through the female member 18, and thereby through the bar 1. The spring urges the roller 24 against the head 22 of the stud 19. The roller 24 is free to turn on the stud 19.

Thus the height of the stud 19 above the bar 1 can be adjusted by the degree of penetration of the stud 19 into and through the female member 18. The height of the stud 19 above the bar 1 controls the height of the roller 24 above the bar, the apparatus being such that the roller is always located at the end of the stud 19. The likely range of adjustment is indicated by the broken line drawing and arrow X in Figure 2.

Claims (9)

1. Closure apparatus including an elongate bar movable in the direction of its length within a complementary channel therefor in a frame member of an opening window or door, a latch means being present on the bar to be moved in and out of engagement with complementary latch means on a fixed frame member for the window or door, in which the latch means on the bar comprises at least a pair of longitudinally spaced latch members, each latch member being carried on a stud extending transversely with respect to the bar and which can be secured in alternative positions with respect to the bar by axial movement of the stud, each stud carrying a spring means to maintain the latch member in the desired position on its stud.

2. Closure apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, wherein each stud can be secured in any of a continuum of positions with respect to the bar.

3. Closure apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein each stud has a thread, and engages with interference in a respective female member which is itself secured to the bar.

4. Closure apparatus as claimed in Claim 3, wherein there is a plastics material located between the thread of each stud and the thread of the respective female member, over at least a portion of their contact area.

5. Closure apparatus as claimed in Claim 3, wherein each female member is formed of a plastics material.

6. Closure apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein each latch member on the bar comprises a roller which is free to turn on the stud.

7. Closure apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the head of each stud has a conformation suitable for the application of a driving tool.

8. An opening window or door frame incorporating closure apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim.

9. Closure apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with particular reference to Figure 2, and/or an opening window or door frame fitted with such closure apparatus.