GB2368089A

GB2368089A - Method of attaching plant-on window bars

Info

Publication number: GB2368089A
Application number: GB0127773A
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: 2002-04-24
Anticipated expiration: 2019-11-10
Also published as: GB2356215A; GB2356215B; GB9926520D0; GB2368089B; GB0127773D0

Abstract

Window bars (26) having nibs/lips (24, 24A) are attached to a glazed opening having a frame by inserting a nib (24) into one side of the frame, flexing the bar (26) and allowing the natural resilience of the material forming the bar (26) to spring the other end of the bar (26) into position. The bars (26) may be made from UPVC and engaged with eachother by use of dovetail slots (14, 16, fig 4). The bars (26) can be used to form a Georgian effect (Fig 1) on a window.

Description

Title: Method of securing plant-on dividing bars to a glazed opening This invention relates to plant-on dividing bar arrangements for window or door glazing, and in particular to a method of fixing a multiple bar arrangement to a glazed opening.

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 cruciform covers.

UK Patent Specification 2,164, 694 also discloses the use of pegs (16C) at opposite ends of a bar made up of various sections 16 and 18 for springing into holes such as 17 in the frame extrusions (15). This approach is expensive to manufacture, requiring holes to be drilled at intervals along each extrusion after the latter has been cut to length to form a frame member. Similar holes 20B are required in the orthogonal (vertical) bars such as 15 to receive pegs such as 20A in a central bridging piece of the horizontal bar. Again the drillings increase the cost and complexity of the overall product.

An aim of the present invention is to provide a method of fixing in a glazed opening an improved 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 the present invention there is provided a method of fixing a multiple bar arrangement to a glazed opening in a door or window in which the glazing is held in place by a frame and/or by a glazing bead, and in which the bars are sprung into position individually, locating one end of each bar in position at one side of the frame and flexing the bar to spring the other end of the bar into position at the other side of the frame, wherein the bars are formed with projecting nibs or lips at their respective opposite ends and the method comprises the step of flexing each bar into a slightly curved shape and locating the nibs or lips at each end between the glazing and the glazing bead or frame of the window or door, whereby to fix the plant-on dividing bar arrangement in position.

Typically the bars extend in two different directions across the glazed opening and all the bars of the plant-on bar arrangement which are to extend in one direction are first located in place one at a time, followed one at a time by the bars which are to extend in the other direction.

The invention allows a plant-on dividing bar arrangement to be formed on a window or door glazing wherein at least two bars extending at an angle to one another are interengaged with a rigid dovetailed joint achieved by pressing into engagement with one another respective formations on the two bars by relative movement of the bars in a direction generally normal to their lengths, making use of the resilience of the material of which the bars are made, wherein the bars are formed with projecting nibs or lips at their respective opposite ends which individually are fitted between the glazing and the glazing bead or frame of the window or door by the aforementioned method.

In such an arrangement each bar may have a dovetail slot and a tail portion of reduced depth beyond the slot, and the bars are interengaged by flexing one bar into a slightly curved shape to open the aperture of its dovetail slot, entering the tail portion of the dovetail slot of the other bar into the opened dovetail slot of the first bar, and releasing the first bar so that it recovers its shape to grip the tail portion of the other bar. The joint may be a dovetailed crosshalving joint and the depth of the dovetail slots is substantially one half the depth of the bars.

In an arrangement as described the step of interengagement of the bars may be assisted by cutting away the base of the dovetail slot in the said other bar on at least one side with a chamfer, so that by tilting this bar about its longitudinal axis at the same time as flexing the first bar, the amount of flexing of the first bar and the pressure required to interengage the bars, are reduced.

The bars are typically of hollow cross-section and formed from UPVC.

An alternative method of engaging the dividing bars to form the arrangement includes the steps of interengaging pairs of bars by directly pressing the dovetail slot of one bar over the tail portion of the dovetail slot of the other bar while temporarily and resiliently slightly compressing the two side walls of said tail portion towards one another during the interengagement step.

The bars may have a Georgian profile, in which the dovetail slots are formed across the bars in a direction at right angles to the lengths of the bars to enable the arrangement of bars to extend orthogonally within the window or door frame.

Alternatively the dovetail slots may be 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.

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 hereinbefore 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 1 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 11 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.

Claims

Claims 1. A method of fixing a multiple bar arrangement to a glazed opening in a door or window in which the glazing is held in place by a frame and/or by a glazing bead, and in which the bars are sprung into position individually, by locating one end of each bar in position at one side of the frame and flexing the bar to spring the other end of the bar into position at the other side of the frame, wherein the bars are formed with projecting nibs or lips at their respective opposite ends and the method comprises the step of flexing each bar into a slightly curved shape and locating the nibs or lips at each end between the glazing and the glazing bead or frame of the window or door, whereby to fix the plant-on dividing bar arrangement in position.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein bars are to extend in two different directions across the glazed opening and all the bars of the plant-on bar arrangement which are to extend in one direction are first located in place one at a time, followed one at a time by the bars which are to extend in the other direction.
3. A plant-on dividing bar arrangement for window or door glazing wherein at least two bars extending at an angle to one another are interengaged with a rigid dovetailed joint achieved by pressing into engagement with one another respective formations on the two bars by relative movement of the bars in a direction generally normal to their lengths, making use of the resilience of the material of which the bars are made, and wherein the bars are formed with projecting nibs or lips at their respective opposite ends which fit between the glazing and the glazing bead or frame of the window or door and each is fixed in position by the method as described in claim 1 or claim 2.
4. An arrangement as claimed in claim 3 wherein each bar has a dovetail slot and a tail portion of reduced depth beyond the slot, and the bars are interengaged by flexing one bar into a slightly curved shape to open the aperture of its dovetail slot, entering the tail portion of the dovetail slot of the other bar into the opened dovetail slot of the first bar, and releasing the first bar so that it recovers its shape to grip the tail portion of the other bar.
5. An arrangement as claimed in claim 4 wherein the joint is a dovetailed crosshalving joint and the depth of the dovetail slots is substantially one half the depth of the bars.
6. An arrangement as claimed in either of claims 4 and 5 wherein the step of interengagement is assisted by cutting away the base of the dovetail slot in the said other bar on at least one side with a chamfer, so that by tilting this bar about its longitudinal axis at the same time as flexing the first bar, the amount of flexing of the first bar and the pressure required to interengage the bars, are reduced.
7. An arrangement as claimed in any of claims 1 to 6 wherein the bars are hollow and formed from UPVC.
8. A method of engaging dividing bars to form an arrangement as claimed in claim 3 wherein two bars are interengaged by directly pressing the dovetail slot of one bar over the tail portion of the dovetail slot of the other bar while temporarily and resiliently slightly compressing the two side walls of said tail portion towards one another during the interengagement step.
9. Bars as claimed in any of claims 3 to 8 having a Georgian profile and 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.
10. Bars as claimed in any of claims 3 to 8 in which 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.
11. A method of fixing a plant-on dividing bar arrangement to a glazed opening as claimed in claim 1 substantially as herein described with reference to Figs 11-13 of the accompanying drawings.