GB2334547A - Window stays - Google Patents

Abstract

A stay 10 includes a keeper 14 provided at one end of a base member 12. The keeper 14 has an overhang position 15, which is formed to overlie the nose 16 of a window supporting arm 11, when that arm is in its closed position and a foot 17 for securing the keeper 14 to the base member 12. The foot 16 has a transverse extension 18 for providing offset engagement to the window frame on which the stay is located.

Description

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

Such stays generally include an arm for supporting a window or other load which is hingingly connected to a longitudinal base 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.

In recent years a development of such stays have been known as "security stays11 and various designs have been proposed, which are intended to prevent the stay being opened by jemmying the window. GB-A-2 247 914, for example, describes a variety of such stays where either an extension of the slider of the stay or of the load carrying arm of the stay enters a recess in the frame member which extends at right angles to the member on which the base is mounted or in which the end cap of the stay is secured to that second frame member and is formed to enclose the nose of the load carrying arm. An alternative arrangement involves a spigot on the keeper locating in a hole in the second frame member.

Whilst these designs are relatively successful in resisting jemmying of the window, they are awkward to fit, because holes are required in the correct places in two orthogonal frame members.

The present invention consists in a stay including an arm for supporting a window or other load which is hingingly connected to a an elongate base member for pivoting 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 and a keeper at one end of the base member having a part formed to overlie an end of the arm, when the arm is in the first position, so as to resist upward movement of the arm characterised in that the keeper or a cover thereof includes a transverse extension having a portion formed for engagement with or to a window frame at a position laterally offset from the base member.

In one embodiment the portion may be arranged to engage with or in a formation formed in the window frame, for example the portion may be a lip which lies within a channel or recess in the frame. Additionally or alternatively the portion may include a hole for receiving a fastener, so that the portion can be engaged on the window frame. Typically the fastener will be a screw.

It will be understood that this arrangement serves to prevent the rotation of the keeper, which can occur during jemmying and which can hence allow the arm to be moved out of the keeper. At the same time it either removes the need for additional holes to be drilled or restricts them to being in the same plane as those which need to be drilled to secure the base member to the frame, reducing problems which may arise,for example, to inexact construction of the frame.

The invention further includes a window assembly including a frame, a window, and at least a pair of stays as defined above mounted on the frame to support the window, the transverse portions of the stays being respectively engaged with or to the window frame.

The frame may be formed from extruded elements, which may define a channel or recess for receiving the portion or a part thereof. Additionally or alternatively the portion may be screwed to the frame.

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 various ways and specific embodiments will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a stay in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a section along the line A-A in Figure 1 but with the stay mounted on a window frame; Figure 3 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the stay; and Figure 4 is a detail showing a variation on the stay of Figure 3.

A stay, which is generally indicated at 10, comprises a load bearing arm 11, an elongate base or track member 12 having fixing holes 12a, and a linkage, generally indicated at 13, for allowing the stay to move between a position in which the arm 11 is at an angle to the base member (as shown in the Figure) and a position in which the arm 11 lies along the base member 12. In this respect the stay is entirely conventional and its operation will be well understood by those skilled in the art.

A keeper 14 is provided at one end of the base member 12 and includes an overhang portion 15 which is formed to overlie the nose 16 of the arm 11, when the arm 11 overlies the base member 12, which position corresponds to the closed position of a window supported on the arm 11. The keeper 14 is secured to the base member 12 by a foot 17.

In a surprising departure from the prior art, this foot 16 has a transverse extension 18 which extends outwardly from the base member 12. As shown in Figure 1, this extension may have a screw hole 19 to enable the extension to be screwed to the window frame and/or its lip portion 20 may be dimensioned to engage in the formation 21 on a window frame 22. In either case, the keeper is now provided with an additional offset engagement with the frame, which will serve to prevent rotation of the keeper and hence significantly increase the security of the stay.

Turning to Figure 3 a similar result is achieved by providing the keeper 14 with a plastic moulded cover 23 that itself is provided with a lateral extension 24 that can be screwed to the window frame by means of a hole 25. The extension 24 could alternatively extend to the other side of the base member 12 (see Figure 4) so that it acts in compression rather than tension under force. This could enable the nose 16 to have a free passage into the keeper 14, as in the Figure 1 embodiment.

Not only do the above designs overcome many of the fitting problems of existing security stays, but tests have shown that such stays enable windows made of a variety of profiles to pass British Standard No. 7950, when previously they could not.

Claims (6)

1. Claims 1. A stay including an arm for supporting a window or other load which is hingely connected to an elongate base member for pivoting 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 and a keeper, at one end of the base member, having a part formed to overlie an end of the arm, when the arm is in the first position, so as to resist upward movement of the arm characterised in that the keeper, or a cover thereof, includes a transverse extension having a portion formed for an engagement with or to a window frame at a position laterally off-set from the base member.
2. 2. A stay as claimed in claim 1 wherein the portion is arranged to engage with or in a formation formed in the window frame.
3. 3. A stay as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the portion includes a hole for receiving a fastening.
4. 4. A window assembly including a frame, a window, and at least a pair of stays as claimed in anyone of the preceding claims mounted on the frame to support the window.
5. 5. A window assembly as claimed in claim 4 when the frame is formed from extruded elements, at least one of which defines a channel or recess for receiving the portion or a part thereof.
6. 6. A window assembly as claimed in claim 4 or claim 5 wherein the portion is screwed to the frame.