GB506558A - Improvements relating to balancing mechanism of sliding windows and other panels - Google Patents

Abstract

506,558. Regulating and balancing mechanism for sliding windows. SLEIGH, H. L., CHESTON, A. S., and OLDHAM, F. A. M. Feb. 19, 1938, No. 5232. [Class 20 (iii)] Relates to balancing mechanism for sliding windows, particularly vehicle windows, of the kind in which a balancing spring 22 acts upon a toothed member 19 which meshes with a further toothed member 13 connected to a control arm or lever 5. According to the invention, the toothed peripheries of the members 13, 19, are so contained as to cause the balancing force exerted by the spring on the window to remain substantially constant when the window is raised and lowered. The control arm shown is fitted with a roller 4 which slides in a guide 3 secured to the window panel 1, and is mounted to pivot on a spindle journalled in a fixed bracket 7. The spindle has a serrated portion 9, Fig. 6, which engages in a serrated aperture of a plate 11 secured to-lugs 12 on the toothed gear member 13. The other gear member 19 is rotatably mounted on a boss 20 projecting from the bracket 7, and is fitted with a screw 27 which anchors one end of the spring 22. The inner end of the spring is attached to a pin 21 journalled in the boss 20 and carrying an adjustably mounted plate which serves to control the initial tension of the spring. The spring is so mounted that its tension increases when the window is lowered, and in order to compensate for the varying tension of the spring and for the varying leverage of the control arm, the toothed members 13, 19, are shaped as shown to vary the balancing effect of the spring. Thus, when the arm is substantially horizontal the sections 13a, 19a, concentric with their pivots, are in mesh, and when the window is lowered from this position the section 19b of gradually increasing radius meshes with the section 13b of gradually diminishing radius. If desired, the sections 13c, 19c of the gears may be so shaped that a definite lifting action is given to the window as it approaches its closed position. To prevent any movement of the window due to vibration, a spring- controlled toothed member 30 is mounted between the plate 11 and member 13 and normally engages with a toothed rack 29 on the bracket 7. The member 30 has an aperture 32 engaged by a double cam 33 on the spindle of the operating handle. Release of the engaging teeth is thereby effected when the handle is turned, the member 30 being lifted by the cams until its shoulders 34 engage the lugs 12 ; continued movement of the handle rotates the gears to operate the window. In a modification, the arm 5 is of telescopic construction and is pivotally mounted at a fixed point to the lower edge of the window.