GB2365910A

GB2365910A - A method of engaging plant-on dividing bars

Info

Publication number: GB2365910A
Application number: GB0127777A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Brian Webster
Original assignee: Anglian Windows Ltd
Current assignee: Anglian Windows Ltd
Priority date: 1999-11-10
Filing date: 1999-11-10
Publication date: 2002-02-27
Anticipated expiration: 2019-11-10
Also published as: GB2365910B; GB2365910A8; GB0127777D0

Abstract

A method of engaging plant-on dividing bars (10, 12) involves placing a dovetail slot (16) of a first bar (12) over a tail section (18) of a dovetail slot (14) of a second bar (10) while temporarily and resiliently compressing the side walls of the tail section (18) and pressing together the bars (10, 12). The plant-on window bars (10, 12) are made of UPVC and can be used to produce a Georgian effect (Fig 1). The bars (10, 12) may carry nibs or lips (24, 24A Figs 11-13) which facilitate engagement with the window or door frame. The bars (10, 12) maybe bonded to the glazing by double-sided adhesive tape.

Description

2365910 Title: Plant-on window bars This invention relates to a plant-on

dividing bar arrangement for window or door glazing, and particularly to a method of interengaging such bars.

Hitherto, in the manufacture of windows and doors having glazing bearing plant-on dividing bars, such as for example as imitation Georgian windows and doors, the usual practice, at least in the case of UPVC windows and doors, has been to interengage the bars by means of cruciform shaped joining elements at the intersections of the bars. The manufacturing procedure involved is relatively time-consuming and expensive, and the result can be regarded as aesthetically unattractive. Such a technique is described in UK Patent Specifications 1,564,447, and 2,164,694.

UK Patent Specification 2,292,411 describes an arrangement in which the bars are merely stuck to the glazing and are roughly cut to length and their crude joints covered by cruciforrn covers.

An aim of the present invention is to provide a method of engaging interengaging dividing bars of a plant-on dividing bar arrangement for window and door glazing which is simpler and less expensive to produce, whilst achieving what may generally be considered to be an aesthetically more pleasing result.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a method of engaging hollow cross-section dividing bars of UPVC of a plant-on dividing bar arrangement for window or door glazing wherein at least two hollow UPVC bars extending at an angle to one another are interengaged so as to form a rigid dovetailed joint and wherein the two bars are interengaged by the step of directly pressing a dovetail slot of one bar over the tail portion of the dovetail slot of the other bar in a direction generally normal to their lengths, while temporarily and resiliently slightly compressing the two side walls of said tail portion C towards one another during the interengagement step, by making use of the resilience of the material of which the bars are made.

In the case of a dovetailed crosshalving joint, the depth of the dovetail slots is substantially one half the depth of the bars.

The invention is generally applicable to all profiles which may be desired for plant-on bars, including all typical Georgian profiles.

In the case of plant-on bars for an imitation Georgian window or door, the bars will extend horizontally and vertically in the final product. When the bars extend normally to one another, the dovetail slots are formed across the bars in a direction at a right angle to the length of the bars. However, the invention is equally applicable to a plant-on bar arrangement having, for example, a diamond pattern. In this case the dovetail slots may be formed across the bars at an angle other than a right angle to the length of the bars.

The glazing bars may be formed with projecting nibs or lips at their respective opposite ends so that by flexing the bars into a slightly curved shape, the nibs or lips can be located between the glazing and the glazing bead or frame on all sides of the frame of the window or door, whereby to fix the plant-on dividing bar arrangement in position.

In practice, with a multiple bar arrangement, it is preferable to spring the bars into position individually, locating one end of a single bar on position at one side of the frame and then flexing the bar to spring the other end of the bar into position at the other side of the frame. All the bars of the plant-on bar arrangement extending in one direction are preferably first located in place one at a time, followed one at a time by the bars extending in the other direction.

It is possible to construct the plant-on dividing bar arrangement so that it assumes a hollow dish shape so as to present a convex underside which is to lie against the glazing, whereby the fitting of the nibs or lips under the glazing bead or frame ensures tight abutment of the bar arrangement against the glazing. In practice, however, whether or not the abovedescribed method of fitting is employed, the plant-on dividing bar arrangement may be bonded to the glazing, typically by use of double-sided adhesive tape.

It will also be clear that, during manufacture of the plant-on dividing bar arrangement, the dovetail slots may be formed at predetermined positions along the lengths of the bars, appropriate to the final design of the window or door to be produced.

The invention also extends to a window or door carrying a plant-on dividing bar arrangement constructed according to the invention and fitted to the glazed opening in any of the methods hereiribefore described.

The method of engaging dividing bars of a plant-on dividing bar arrangement in accordance with the invention is further described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: - Fig I shows a typical Georgian window, Fig 2 shows a plant-on dividing bar arrangement for a Georgian window, Fig 3 shows a typical Georgian bar profile, Figs 4 to 6 show stages in the process of interengaging two dividing bars, Fig 7 shows a different Georgian bar profile, Figs 8 to 10 show stages in the process of interengaging two dividing bars having the alternative profile, Figs I I to 13 show stages in the process of planting the bar arrangement onto the glazing, and Fig 14 shows a dished dividing bar arrangement after assembly.

A typical Georgian window is shown in Fig 1. This has one vertical bar and two horizontal bars dividing the glazing. It is common current practice to simulate such a window by means of a plant-on dividing bar arrangement or bar matrix. Such a plant-on bar arrangement, for the window of Fig 1, is shown in Fig 2. The present invention is especially concerned with the manner in which the respective bars of the plant-on bar arrangement are interengaged.

Fig 3 shows one typical bar profile for a Georgian window.

As shown in Fig 4, two such bars 10, 12 (e.g. of UPVC) to be interengaged are formed at predetermined positions along their lengths with dovetail slots 14, 16 of a depth one half that of the bars, Beyond each slot 14, 16 the remaining depth of the bars is referred to as a tail portion 18, 20. Such slots 14, 16 are referred to as dovetail slots as, when the bars are interengaged at such slots, a rigid dovetail crosshalving Joint is produced.

For convenience only, bar 10 is referred to as the lower bar and bar 12 as the upper bar. As described in UK Patent Specification 2356215, flexing or springing the lower bar 10 opens the aperture of its dovetail slot 14 so that tail portion 20 of the upper bar 12 can be pressed into it. When the lower bar 10 is released, it recovers its shape tightly to grip the tail portion 20, resulting in the dovetail crosshalving joint. The two bars interconnected by such a joint are shown in Fig 5,

In practice, as shown in Fig 6, it is possible to chamfer one side edge of the base of the slot 16 in the upper bar 12, as indicated at 22, to assist the interengagement step. By slightly twisting the upper bar 12 at the same time as slightly springing the lower bar 10, the tail portion 20 of the upper bar can be readily entered into the opened-up aperture of the slot 14 of the lower bar 10 with reduced flexing of the lower bar and a minimal requirement for application of pressure in a direction normal to the lengths of the two bars.

Fig 7 shows another typical Georgian bar profile and Figs to 10 show the manner of interengagement of two such bars, similar reference numerals to Figs 4 to 6 being employed, but with the letter A suffix.

The invention provides an alternative method for interengaging the bars from that described with reference to Figs 3 to 10.

Thus, especially with some hollow bar profiles, it is possible to form a rigid joint between two bars simply by pressing the bars into engagement at their preformed slots, relying on the resilience of the material of which the bars are made to enable the side walls of the tail portion of one bar to be temporarily squeezed towards one another when engaging the slot of the other bar.

It will readily be understood that the plant-on bar arrangement of Fig 2 can be built up by interengaging two upper (horizontal) bars with one lower (vertical) bar.

The invention can equally be applied to form a diamond plant-on bar matrix simply by appropriately cutting the dovetail slots so that they extend across the bars at an angle other than a right angle to the lengths of the bars.

Figs 11 to 13 show a possible method of application of the plant-on dividing bar arrangement of Fig 2 to the glazing, in order to simulate a Georgian window of the pattern shown in Fig 1.

For enabling this method of fitting the bar matrix, each bar is formed at each end with a nib or lip 24, 24A. Fig 11 shows the lip 24 at one end of one horizontal bar 26 of the bar matrix 28 inserted under the glazing bead 30 or frame at one side of the window frame 32. Fig 12 shows the bar 26 flexed or sprung to enable location of the lip 24A at the other end of the bar 26 beneath the glazing bead or frame at the other side of the frame, Fig 13 shows the final position of the bar matrix 28 when planted, after all the bars have been sprung into position one at a time.

It is also possible, by appropriate cutting of the dovetail slots, to achieve a slight dishing of the assembled bar arrangement 28, as shown in Fig 14. This automatically ensures that the bars are held tightly against the glass when the lipped ends of the bars are engaged under the window frame or glazing beads, In Figs 11 to 13, the plant-on dividing bar arrangement is applied to the exterior face of the outside pane of a double glazed unit, but this is not essential to the invention, For example, a second bar matrix could be applied to the interior face of the outside pane, the internal spacers 34 of the double glazed unit being adapted to locate the lips of the bars of the matrix in position against the glass, C1055/A

Claims

1. A method of engaging hollow cross-section dividing bars of UPVC of a plant-on dividing bar arrangement for window or door glazing wherein at least two hollow UPVC bars extending at an angle to one another are interengaged so as to form a rigid dovetailed joint, and wherein the two bars are interengaged by the step of directly pressing a dovetail slot of one bar over the tail portion of the dovetail slot of the other bar in a direction generally normal to their lengths, while temporarily and resiliently slightly compressing the two side walls of said tail portion towards one another during the interengagement step, by making use of the resilience of the material of which the bars are made

2. A plant-on dividing bar arrangement for window or door glazing in which dovetailed joints between bars are formed as claimed in claim 1.

3. A plant-on dividing bar arrangement for window or door glazing as claimed in claim 2 in which the joint is a dovetailed crosshalving joint.

4. An arrangement as claimed in claim 3 wherein the depth of the dovetail slots is substantially one half the depth of the bars.

5. A plant-on dividing bar arrangement as claimed in claim 2, 3 or 4 wherein the transverse cross-sectional shape of each of the bars is a Georgian profile.

6. A plant-on dividing bar arrangement as claimed in claim 5 for forming an imitation Georgian window or door wherein the dovetail slots are formed across the bars in a direction at right angles to the lengths of the bars to enable the bars to extend orthogonally within the window or door frame.

7. A plant-on dividing bar arrangement as claimed in any of claims 2 to 5 wherein the dovetail slots are formed across the bars at an angle other than a right angle to the length of the bars to enable the assembly of interengaging bars to form a diamond pattern.

8. A plant-on dividing bar arrangement as claimed in any of claims 2 to 7 wherein the bars are formed with projecting nibs or lips at their respective opposite ends so that by flexing the bars into a slightly curved shape the nibs or lips can be located in use between the glazing and the glazing bead or frame of the window or door, whereby to fix the planton dividing bar arrangement in position.

9. A plant on dividing bar arrangement as claimed in claim 8 in which the nibs or lips engage the glazing bead or frame on all sides of the opening in the window or door,

10. A plant on dividing bar arrangement as claimed in any of claims 2 to 9 which is fitted externally to the outside glass pane of a double glazed unit.

I I - A plant-on dividing bar arrangement as claimed in any of claims 2 to 10 wherein the assembled bar arrangement assumes a hollow dish shape so as to present a convex underside which is to lie against the glazing, whereby the fitting of the nibs or lips under the glazing bead or frame ensures tight abutment of the bar arrangement against the glazing.

12. A plant on dividing bar arrangement as claimed in any of claims 2 to 11 which is bonded to the glazing.

13. A plant-on dividing bar arrangement as claimed in claim 12 wherein the bonding is achieved using double-sided adhesive tape,

14. Bars for arrangements as claimed in any of claims 2 to 13 in which dovetail slots are formed during manufacture at predetermined positions along the lengths of the bars, appropriate to the final design of the window or door to be produced.

15. A window or door carrying a plant-on dividing bar arrangement as claimed in any of claims 2 to 13.

16. A method of engaging hollow cross-section UPVC dividing bars of a plant-on dividing bar arrangement substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.