GB2425330A

GB2425330A - Window Hinge

Info

Publication number: GB2425330A
Application number: GB0606221A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Richard Bryant
Original assignee: Heywood Williams Components Ltd
Current assignee: Heywood Williams Components Ltd
Priority date: 2005-04-18
Filing date: 2006-03-29
Publication date: 2006-10-25
Anticipated expiration: 2026-03-29
Also published as: GB0606221D0; GB0507766D0; GB2425330B

Abstract

A window stay assembly is provided comprising a slide assembly attached to a window frame 11 and a hinge assembly attachable to a window 10, to enable the window to be pivoted with respect to the frame between open and closed position, the slide assembly having a trailing catch part 14 and a leading catch part 15, each slidable along a track 16, the trailing catch part being lockable in the track in the region where the pivoting of the window takes place, the leading catch part being lockable in the track in a more central region of the track, and the catch parts 14, 15 being shaped and arranged to interact such that when the window is pivoted into its fully opened position, the leading catch part releases the trailing catch part 14 so that the whole slide assembly can be slid along the track, permitting the window 10 to carry out translational movement with respect to the frame 11 but once the window 10 has undergone translational movement into a more central region of the window frame, the leading catch part 15 moves into its locked position in the track, such that applying pivoting movement to the window in the closing direction causes reaction forces to be generated from the leading catch part 15, in turn causing the trailing catch part 14 to slide back to its original position, the overall effect of this being that the window can be pivoted closed without any additional manual operations, even from its more central position within the frame.

Description

WINDOW STAYS

The invention relates to window stays, and particularly to window stays which not only permit a window to be pivoted open and closed with respect to a surrounding window frame, but also enable the window to undergo translational movement with respect to the frame to give access to both sides of the window from within a building, to enable the window to be cleaned easily from within the building.

io Some examples of such stays are known, but all require significant manual operations, either to release the window before it can undergo translational movement or to return the window to its original position to enable it to be closed once again.

The invention provides a window stay in which the only additional manual operation needed is to move the window in the translational direction prior to cleaning.

The invention provides a window stay assembly comprising a slide assembly attached to a window frame, and a hinge assembly attachable to a window, to enable the window to be pivoted with respect to the frame between open and closed positions, the slide assembly having a trailing catch part and a leading catch part, each slidable along a track, the trailing catch part being lockable in the track in the region where the pivoting of the window takes place, the leading catch part being lockable in the track in a more central region of the track, and the catch parts being shaped and arranged to interact such that when the window is pivoted into its fully opened position, the leading catch part releases the trailing catch part so that the whole slide assembly can be slid along the track, permitting the window to carry out translational movement with respect to the frame, but once the window has undergone translational movement into a more central region of the window frame, the leading catch part moves into its locked position in the track, such that applying pivoting movement to the window in the closing direction causes reaction forces to be generated from the leading catch part, in turn causing the trailing catch part to slide back to its original position, the overall effect of this being that the window can be pivoted closed without any additional manual operations, even from its more central position within the frame.

Preferably the catch parts are each lockable in position in the track by inter- engagement of at least one notch with at least one recess.

Preferably the, or each, notch is on a catch part and the, or each recess is in io the track.

The notches and recesses are preferably wedge-shaped.

Preferably there are two notches, each on a resilient arm, such that the notches can snap into position with associated recesses.

Preferably the leading catch part releases the trailing catch part by urging towards one another two resilient arms on the trailing catch part, to withdraw notches on the arms from associated recesses in the track.

The leading catch part may have a V-shaped recess in one end, the sides of this recess carrying out a camming action on the resilient arms of the trailing catch part to bring about release of the trailing catch part.

At least one resilient arm may have its resilient strength increased by means of a spring clip.

By way of example, specific embodiments of the invention will now be described, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of window stay according to the invention, connected to a window and frame; Figure 2 is a plan view showing the window stay in more detail; Figure 3 is a perspective view of a trailing catch part of the embodiment; Figure 4 is a perspective view of a leading catch part of the embodiment; Figures 5 to 11 show various stages in the operation of the window stay during movement of the window with respect to the frame; and Figure 12 is a view similar to Figure 2 but showing an alternative embodiment.

Figure 1 illustrates a window 10, a surrounding frame 11, and a window stay 12 interconnecting the window 10 and the frame 11. It should be understood that in practice there should be two window stays, positioned respectively at the top and bottom of the frame, but as the window stays are identical, and operate in an identical manner, only one will be described in detail, for the sake of complicity.

The window stay comprises various links 13 which are, in themselves, conventional and the way in which these links enable the window 10 to pivot between open and closed positions will not therefore be described in detail.

What is unique about the window stay is that the links 13 are pivotally connected to a unique slide assembly which comprises a trailing catch part 14 and a leading catch part 15, each of which is slidable along a track 16 fastened tothewindowframe 11.

The trailing catch part 10 is shown in more detail in Figure 4. The trailing catch part comprises a base portion 17 which is captive in the track 16, and an upper portion 18. The upper portion 18 is of flexible plastics material which is cut away at 19 to provide two flexible arms 20, each arm 20 has a wedge-shaped notch 21 thereon.

The leading catch part 15 is shown in more detail in Figure 4. It also has a base part 22 and an upper part 23. The upper part 23 is similar to the part 18 and has flexible arms 24 carrying wedge-shaped notches 25. The other end of the leading catch part 15 has a V-shaped recess 26.

Figure 5 is a detailed perspective view showing the arrangement of the components as the window, which is attached to link 13, starts to pivot open away from the frame 11. The wedge-shaped notches 21 of the trailing catch part 14 are engaged in complementary shaped wedge-shaped recesses 27 in the track 16. The trailing catch part 14 is thus locked in position and provides a secure pivot point from which the hinge links can operate.

In contrast, the leading catch part 15 slides to the left, as viewed in Figure 5, as the window opens.

The window can be pivoted to any desired degree of opening by the user. If however the window is moved towards it fully opened position then, as shown in Figure 6, the V-shaped recess 26 begins to approach the arms 20. When the window reaches its fully opened position as shown in Figure 7, the camming action of the V-shaped notch 26 has urged the arms 20 together freeing the notches 21 from the recesses 27 in the track 16. Thus, the trailing catch part 14 is free from its locked position.

If the user of the window now applies manual pressure to the upright of the window nearest to the window frame, the whole window can undergo translational movement with respect to the frame. The two catch parts 14 and both slide in unison to the right, as viewed in Figure 8, as the trailing catch part 14 is no longer locked in position within the track 16. This movement can be continued until the wedge-shaped catches 25 of the leading catch part 15 snap into complementary shaped wedge-shaped recesses 28 in the track 16.

The leading catch part 15 is now locked in position within the track 16 and cannot move any further to the right as viewed in Figure 9.

Anyone within the building, housing the window, now has unrestricted access to both sides of the window, for example to clean the window.

When it is desired to close the window again, there is no need for the user to apply further manual pressure to the window upright, to return the window. All that the user needs to do is to pivot the window closed. Because the leading catch part 15 cannot move any further to the right as viewed in Figure 9, applying pivotal closing force to the window brings about reaction forces from the locked catch part 15 which cause the trailing catch part 14 to slide along the track 16, away from the catch part 15, as shown in Figure 10.

Continued movement brings about full closing of the window, whereupon the window stay takes up the position in Figure 11.

Even if the window is not translated to the full extent, pivoting movement will still return the window to its original closed situation.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 12, each catch part 14, 15 is fitted with a metal spring clip 30, to increase the resilient strength of the arms of the catch parts 14 and 15. Each spring clip 30 is U-shaped with the ends of the arms of the U turned back at 31 to engage around portions of the arms of the catch parts 14 and 15, so that the arms of the catch parts 14, 15, and the arms of the spring clips 30, move as one.

Attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with or previous to this specification in connection with this application and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference.

All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive.

Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise.

Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiment(s).

The invention extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.

Claims

1. A window stay assembly comprising a slide assembly attached to a window frame, and a hinge assembly attachable to a window, to enable the window to be pivoted with respect to the frame between open and closed positions, the slide assembly having a trailing catch part and a leading catch part, each slidable along a track, the trailing catch part being lockable in the track in the region where the pivoting of the window takes place, the leading catch part being lockable in the track in a more central region of the track, and the catch parts being shaped and arranged to interact such that when the window is pivoted into its fully opened position, the leading catch part releases the trailing catch part so that the whole slide assembly can be slid along the track, permitting the window to carry out translational movement with respect to the frame, but once the window has undergone translational movement into a more central region of the window frame, the leading catch part moves into its locked position in the track, such that applying pivoting movement to the window in the closing direction causes reaction forces to be generated from the leading catch part, in turn causing the trailing catch part to slide back to its original position, the overall effect of this being that the window can be pivoted closed without any additional manual operations, even from its more central position within the frame.

2. A window stay assembly as claimed in Claim 1, in which the catch parts are each lockable in position in the track by inter-engagement of at least one notch with at least one recess.

3. A window stay assembly as claimed in Claim 2, in which the, or each, notch is on a catch part and the, or each recess is in the track.

4. A window stay assembly as claimed in Claim 3, in which the notches and recesses are wedge-shaped.

5. A window stay assembly as claimed in Claim 3 or Claim 4, in which there are two notches, each on a resilient arm, such that the notches can snap into position with associated recesses.

6. A window stay assembly as claimed in Claim 5, in which the leading catch part releases the trailing catch part by urging towards one another two resilient arms on the trailing catch part, to withdraw notches on the arms from associated recesses in the track.

7. A window stay assembly as claimed in Claim 6, in which the leading catch may have a V-shaped recess in one end, the sides of this recess carrying out a camming action on the resilient arms of the trailing catch part to bring about release of the trailing catch part.

8. A window stay assembly as claimed in any one of Claims 5 to 7, in which at least one resilient arm has its resilient strength increased by means of a spring clip.

9. A window stay assembly constructed and arranged substantially as herein described, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

10. A window when fitted with a window stay assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.