GB2281580A

GB2281580A - Draught proofing sliding sash windows

Info

Publication number: GB2281580A
Application number: GB9417759A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Tolson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1993-09-02
Filing date: 1994-09-02
Publication date: 1995-03-08
Anticipated expiration: 2014-09-02
Also published as: GB9417759D0; GB9318200D0; GB2281580B

Abstract

A sash window has two parallel but independent glazed sashes 21, 22 which slide in channels formed in a frame 11. Draughtproofing seals 42, 43, 46, 47 are fixed longitudinally to the comers of each sliding sash enabling one seal to contact both faces of the channel. The seals fixed to the head of the top sash, the bottom of the inner sash and the meeting rails are butt jointed at right angles to the seals that slide against the flexible seal 34 or parting bead (31, figure 1). The positioning of the seals removes any direct contact between the sashes and the frame ensuring efficient draughtproofing and a window that is easier to operate. <IMAGE>

Description

DRAIJGHTPROOFING SLIDING SASH WINDOWS This invention relates to improving the efficiency of sliding sash windows by providing a draughtproofing system which both improves sealing and reduces the effort necessary to open and close the windows.

Vertical and horizontal sliding sash windows have two parallel but independent glazed openings which slide in respective portions of the window frame. Draughtproofing these windows present a particular problem because of the dual requirements of a loose fit to enable the sashes to be easily opened and closed and a need for nominal clearances to reduce air infiltration to a minimum.

It is an aim of the present invention to abrogate or reduce the above mentioned problems of sliding sash windows.

Firstly by providing an integrated system of draughtproofing whereby each vertical seal attached to the sashes co-operates with each of the horizontal and fixed seals to reduce air infiltration to a minimum.

Secondly by providing additional vertical seals, to those strictly necessary to ensure efficient draught reduction, the sliding sashes are completely isolated from any direct contact with the window frame reducing to a minimum the force necessary to open and close the window.

According to the first aspect of the invention there is provided a system of draughtproofing comprising of longitudinal seals attached to the corners of each sash that slide against the parting bead dividing the two channels so that each seal makes contact with the two faces of the frame which are at right angles to each other.

According to the second aspect of the invention there is provided additional longitudinal seals fixed to the other corners of each sash to ensure that both sashes are prevented by the seals from touching any part of the jambs of the window frame, the external restraining beading and any internal restraining beading, enabling the sliding frictional forces to be reduced to a minimum.

According to the third aspect of the invention there is provided elongate seals are fitted to the top rail of the upper sash and the lower rail of the bottom sash so that they permanently abut at right angles each of the longitudinal seals adjacent to the parting beads, ensuring that each plane and corner of the sash windows that comes into contact with the frame is sealed.

Preferably for sashes that slide in a fixed channel formed by a rigid parting bead a flexible seal is fitted to the frame, in place of or in addition to the parting bead, at the point where the bottom of the outer sash rail meets the top of the inner so that the seal co-operates with all the vertical and horizontal seals.

Additionally a flexible seal can be fitted longitudinally to the meeting rail of the upper sash so that, with the window fully closed, it closes the gap with the other meeting rail and the fixed seals attached to the frame at the parting beads.

Alternatively for sashes that are able to both slide and tilt a flexible parting bead forms a channel for the seals fixed to the corners of the sashes to bear against while still enabling the sash to be tilted past the parting bead into the building.

Additionally seals can be fitted to the meeting rails of the upper and lower sashes so that they abut the seals ajoining the parting beads and also, with the window fully closed, each other.

The flexible seals may comprise of a fibre-brush seal with or without a central strip of plastic sheeting, a compressible foam material covered in a plastic film, or a flexible plastic material. They may be attached to a groove in the window, to a holder fixed to the window, by adhesive or metal fixings.

This is a draughtproofing system that can equally well be fitted to new vertically sliding windows, to horizontally sliding windows, to slide and tilt windows or retro-fitted to existing windows. Also, it is equally applicable to sliding sashes that are solid such as shutters and doors.

An additional feature of this system is that when the window is closed the draughtproofing is hidden from view, both internally and externally.

A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Fig 1 is a cross section of the window jamb and the upper sash; Fig 2 is a cross section of the window jamb and the meeting rails of the upper and lower sashes; Fig 3 is a vertical section of the window head and the upper sash; Fig 4 is a vertical section of the meeting rails of the upper and lower sashes; Fig 5 is a vertical section of the lower sash at the junction with the sill of the window; Fig 6 is a vertical section of the window jamb and the upper and lower sashes; Fig 7 is a vertical section of the junction of the lower sash with the window jamb; Fig 8 is a cross section of the upper sash and window jamb of a window that can tilt inwards for cleaning and maintenance (a slide and tilt window); Fig 9 A, B, C, D, E are cross sections of the sliding sash snowing alternative flexible seals and different methods of attaching them to the window; Fig 10 is a cross section of the jamb and the meeting rails of the upper and lower sashes of a slide and tilt window; Fig 11 is a vertical section of the window jamb and the upper and lower sashes of a slide and tilt window and Fig 12 is a vertical section of the junction of the lower sash with the window jamb of a slide and tilt window.

Referring first to Figs 1 to 5 the vertical sliding sash window comprises a frame 11, 12, 13, 14 and upper and lower sliding sashes 21 and 22 which are supported by the jambs of the frame in separate vertical planes to allow the windows to be opened and closed. The upper sash is held in place on the outside of the window by a section of the frame and the inner sash by removable staff beads 23, 24, 25, 26. The two sashes are themselves separated by the fixed vertical parting beads 31 and 32.

An alternative to this arrangement is the slide and tilt sash window as shown in Figs 8, 10, 11 and 12. In this case the individual sashes, 27 and 28, as well as working in the traditional manner as described above, can be tilted into the building to allow for easier cleaning and maintenance. To allow for this dual movement the parting bead, which can be either rigid or of flexible construction, has to low enough to allow the outer sash to pass over it and there are no staff beads.

The sashes are held in place by a swivel joint at the base of the sash and a removable clip 34 to the balancing mechanism at the top.

Sash windows need to have enough movement to enable the individual sashes to be easily opened while at the same time ensuring the draughtproofing is tight enough to ensure an adequate seal. In order to both reduce draughts and to facilitate easy movement of the sashes the following measures are adopted.

Referring again to Fig 1 and 2 the two sash windows are physically isolated from the frame by vertical seals fixed at the two external corners of each sash 40, 41, 42, 43, 46, 47.

By being fitted at 45 degrees to either face of the sash one draughtproofing profile can be in contact with two faces of the window frame. This ensures that in normal operation the individual sashes are prevented from touching the jambs of the window frame, the parting bead or the external or internal restraining beading.

Referring to Fig 2, 6, 7, a flexible seal 34 is fitted to the frame, in place of or in addition to, the parting bead 31, at the point where the bottom of the outer sash meets the top of the inner sash rail.This has the function of helping to seal the junction of the upper sash 21, the lower sash 22 and the meeting rail seal 49 with the jamb of the frame 12. When the window is closed the flexible seal 34 tightly abuts the sides of the respective fleeting rails and the horizontal seal 49 which closes the gap between the two meeting rails.

The junction of the meeting rails of the upper and lower sashes are shown in Fig 4. The inner sash meeting rail has a seal fixed along the full length 49 that both abut the outer meeting rail and also fits tightly up against the flexible seal 34 when the window is in the closed position.

To ensure efficient draughtproofing, but enable the window to be opened with less effort, small wedges 32 and 33 can be fitted to each sash to compress the seal 34 only when the window is shut.

The top rail of the upper sash and the bottom rail of the lower sash are shown in Fig 3 and 5 respectively. The flexible seal 48 is fixed horizontally, in a similar manner to the vertical element 40, to the inner corner of the outer sash. The seal runs the full width of the sash with a butt joint to the vertical seal 40. The seal 45 is fitted in an alternative manner to the rear edge of the top face but similarly abuts the vertical seal 40. To give an additional seal these junctions of the horizontal seals with the vertical elements can be joined with a flexible setting mastic.

A slightly different approach needs to be adopted to draughtproofing sliding sash windows that also tilt inwards.

This is shown in Fig 8, 10, 11, 12. The flexible seals 50 to 55 are fixed, in an identical manner to that already described above, at the two external corners of each sash. The outer vertical seal 51 attached to the upper sash 27 also operates in a similar way being supported by the two sides of the corner formed by the outside of the frame 16 and 17.

However to enable the sashes to be tilted into the building parting beads 61 and 62 that only just protrude beyond the face of the frame are fitted and no staff beads are provided. The parting bead may be either formed from a rigid or flexible material similar to the seals used elsewhere.

The vertical seals 50 to 55 operate in a similar manner as already described. The inner vertical seal 50 fitted to the upper sash 27 touches the jamb of the frame on one face and the parting bead 61 with the other. However at the meeting rail there is no need for a special flexible seal as before because the two vertical seals 52 and 55 are able to overlap and touch each other as well as the parting bead 61 when the window is shut.

The two norizontal seals 59 and 60 are fixed to the meeting rails 27 and 28 in such a manner as to permanently overlap the vertical seals 52 55 whatever the position of the window.

The horizontal seals fitted to the top of the outer sash 27 and the bottom of the inner sash 28 co-operate with the vertical seals 50 to 55 in an identical manner to that already described for the traditional sash window.

The flexible seals profiles are formed from a number of different materials; rubber, plastic, woven fibre-brush or compressible foam covered with a low friction polyethylene film. As an indication of different profiles in use Fig 2 shows two types 40 and 46 fitted to the upper and lower sashes.

The flexible profiles can be fixed to the corners of the sashes in a number of different ways, as shown in Fig 9 A, B, C, D, E to accommodate different draughtproofing materials and windows made from timber, aluminium, steel or PVC.

Claims

1) A sash window with two parallel but independent glazed openings sliding in respective portions of the window frame is fitted with draughtproofing comprising of longitudinal seals attached to the corners of each sash that slide against the parting bead dividing the two channels so that each seal makes contact with the two faces of the frame which are at right angles to each other.

2) A sash window as claimed in Claim 1 wherein additional longitudinal seals are fixed to the other corners of each sash ensuring that both sashes are prevented by the seals from touching any part of the jambs of the window frame, the external restraining beading, and any internal restraining beading, enabling the sliding frictional forces to be reduced to a minimum.

3) A sash window as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein seals are fitted to the top rail of the upper sash and the lower rail of the bottom sash so that they permanently abut at right angles each of the longitudinal seals adjacent to the parting beads, ensuring that each plane and corner of the sash windows that comes into contact with the frame is sealed.

4) A sash window as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 3 wherein for sashes that slide in a fixed channel formed by a rigid parting bead a flexible seal is fitted to the frame, in place of or in addition to the parting bead, at the point where te bottom of the outer sash rail meets the top of the inner so that the seal co-operates with all the vertical and horizontal seals.

5) A sash window as claimed in Claims 4 wherein a seal is fitted to the meeting rail of the upper and sashes so that, with the window fully closed, it abuts both the other meeting rail and the fixed seals attached to the frame at the two parting beads.

6) A sash window as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 3 wherein for sashes that are able to both slide and tilt a flexible or rigid parting bead forms a channel for the flexible seals fixed to the corners of the sashes while still enabling the sash to be tilted past the parting bead into the building.

7) A sash window as claimed in Claims 6 wherein seals are fitted to the meeting rails of the upper and lower sashes so that they abut the vertical seals ajoining the parting beads and also, with the window fully closed, each other 3) A sash window as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 7 wherein each seal comprises a fibre brush seal.

9) A sash window as claimed in Claim 8 wherein the fibre brush seal includes a central strip of flexible plastic sheeting.

10) A sash window as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 7 wherein each seal comprises a compressible foam material covered in a plastic film.

11) A sash window as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 7 wherein each seal comprises a flexible plastic material.

12) A sash window as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein each seal is attached to a groove in the sash or frame.

13) A sash window as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein each seal is attached to a holder fixed to the sash or frame.

14) A sash window as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein each seal is attached by adhesive.

15) A sash window as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein each seal is attached with a number of metal fixings.

16) A sash window substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 1-12 of the accompanying drawings.