NZ250774A - Insect screen for open window or doorway comprises a peripheral strip with sheet holding jaws and protrusion adapted to be mechanically attached to another strip - Google Patents

Description

Patents Form # 5 250774 NEW ZEALAND Patents Art 1953 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION TITLE: A Screen for an Opening I, Stanley James Norris Address: 74 Opanuku Road, Henderson Valley, Auckland, New Zealand Nationality: New Zealand hereby declare the invention, for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: PF05.JWP FEE CODE-1050 250774 This invention relates to a screen for an opening and is applicable particularly, but not exclusively to screens used to inhibit the passage of insects through an open window.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved screen for an opening (such as an 5 insect screen for a window), or one which will at least provide the public with a useful choice.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a screen for an opening including a sheet material to extend across the opening and attachment means attached to said sheet material whereby the sheet material can be removably attached to a structure surrounding the 10 opening, wherein said attachment means includes a first peripheral strip and a second peripheral strip, said first peripheral strip having a pair of jaws attached to the peripheral edge of said sheet material and having a protrusion extending away from said pair of jaws, said second peripheral strip adapted to be attached to said structure around the opening, the first IS and second peripheral strips being adapted to be mechanically attached to each other along the length thereof in a detachable manner by at least part of the protrusion of the first peripheral strip coming into contact with at least part of the second peripheral strip, screen for an opening including a sheet material to extend across the opening and attachment means attached to said sheet material whereby the sheet material can be removably attached to 20 structure surrounding the opening, in which said attachment means includes a first peripheral strip.

Preferably the first and second peripheral strips are adapted to be attached to each other by pressure or force applied to the first peripheral strip to urge it against the second peripheral strip.

Conveniently, one of the peripheral strips includes a female formation and the other of the peripheral strips includes a male formation which can be pushed into the female portion and retained thereby, for attachment, and which can be pulled from the female formation for removal.

Advantageously, the male and female formations are co-acting linear formations extending along 30 the length of the peripheral strips. Conveniently the female formation is springy and the male formation has an enlarged protruding end larger than the opening in the female opening.

Preferably the male formation is attached as a frame or surrounding border to a flexible insect screen. Optionally the border may be provided with one or more pull tabs to assist in the removal 35 of the insect screen.

% OEC I .3. 95^7"* DRAWINGS These and other aspects of this invention which should be considered in all its novel aspects will become apparent from the following description, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig 1: is an illustration of a cross-sectional view of the second embodiment of the invention.

Fig_2: is an illustration of a front view of the second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig 3: is an illustration of a cross-section of an alternative shape of part of Figure 1.

FIRST EMBODIMENT One embodiment of the present invention is described, by way of example only as 20 applied to an insect excluding screen for a window or similar opening.

The screen includes a sheet of flexible gauze or mesh material, conveniently of glass fibres or plastics material, or carbon fibre, and of a size to cover the window opening. The size of the apertures in the mesh is selected in relation to the size of the insects or 25 the like to be excluded. In order that the mesh can be attached and removed from the window frame or other structure surrounding the opening,there is provided a two-part attachment means including a flexible first peripheral strip attached to the peripheral edges of the sheet and a second flexible, rigid (or semi-rigid) peripheral strip to be attached to the structure around the opening.

The first and second peripheral strips are preferably made of a suitable grade of plastics material typically being extrusions. They are preferably made of PVC, although other plastics could be used (eg, polyethylene). The inner edge of the first peripheral strip is formed as a pair of inwardly-facing overlying leaves between which the raw edge of the 35 mesh can be introduced and the leaves stuck or heat sealed together through the mesh to trap it The second peripheral strip conveniently has an adhesive surface which is to be 6307HZCS.H94/BS/M 250774 stuck to the structure adjacently the opening. The adhesive surface may be provided on the strip itself and protected by a peel-off covering or adhesion may be effected by a double-sided tape.

Attachment of the first strip to the second strip is by a suitable mechanical means. For example, the first strip may have a longitudinal rib having an enlarged head and the second strip may have a pair of adjacent parallel ribs, forming a groove with an opening slightly narrower than the interior thereof, the rib on the first strip being dimensioned 10 and adapted to snap into the groove in the second strip and be retained thereby. Detachment of the first strip from the second strip is achieved by pulling them apart.

If preferred, the groove may be provided on the first strip and the co-acting rib on the second strip.

Instead of the rib-arid-groove attachment means, other forms of mechanical detachable means may be used, for example a multiple loop-and-hook material, such asVelcro (TM).

The screen described above can be used for purposes other than inhibiting the passage of insects, birds or the like. For example, instead of the mesh, a clear sheet plastics material, preferably flexible, can be used for double glazing purposes. Such clear plastics material can be chosen to filter out ultra- violet radiation, can be tinted to reduce glare, reflective for privacy, or can be translucent or opaque as required SECOND EMBODIMENT This embodiment is a refinement of the above embodiment. It incorporates some improvements and some better choices of material. The embodiment is illustrated by 30 Figs 1,2, and 3.

Fig 1 illustrates, as a section, profiles of plastics extrusions used as lengths that substantially surround an opening and are preferably fabricated as rectangular frames to fit onto a range of openings, to provide the male and female formations as described 35 above. The first peripheral strip is indicated as 102 - 103 - 104, while the second peripheral strip is indicated as 105 - 106 - 107 - 108. The base 107 of the second strip is 6307NZCS.N94/at 2io y 1 Z.A shown attached by ai: adhesive formulation 109 to a substrate 110; preferably a window casement or the like. Arising from the base 107 are two raised parallel strips 105 and 106, and the space between them, preferably having a narrowed entry as illustrated in Fig I, comprises the female formation described above. The male formation of the first embodiment is the protrusion 104, which bears at its distal end an enlargement that f?is into the female formation if the wings 105 and 106 of the second peripheral strip are springy, or have some resilience. The diagonal wings (e.g. 106) tend to steer the male formation into the female formation so that minor misalignment is not a problem.

The male formation can be removed from the second strip at any time on the application of significant force. An example of a suitably resilient type of material for use in making the strips is polyvinyl chloride (PVC), partly for reasons of resilience and partly for reasons of making satisfactory adhesive joints to it. The strips can be 15 fabricated according to (or similar to) the outlines shown in Fig 1 by extrusion from a die in the conventional way.

The upper part of the first formation in Fig 1 includes a receptacle for attachment of a screen 101 or the like, beneath the part-strip 102 and above the part-strip 103. Screens 20 made of a plastics material such as a polyvinyl chloride woven screen are preferred. As this strip also has some resilience; the receptacle may be opened by prising the strips apart. Then an edge of a selected screen 101 may be placed inside the receptacle and caused to remain in place preferably by means of the application of a glue (shown as hatching) although other methods such as RF or ultrasonic bonding may be applicable.

Fig 2 depicts at 200 a corner of a flyscreen 201 according to this invention, within a frame (the first strip) 202, coupled to a second strip 207, which is in turn adherent to a substrate as shown in Fig 1. The frame or first strip is generally a rectangular frame and it has been found sufficient to mitre the adjoining comers of the second strip in order to 30 finish the frame off properly.

The actual flyscreen frame (the first strip) 102, 103, 104 is preferably forced as a rectangular frame and then the screen 101 is inserted and secured in place by gluing, welding or the like. If the frame is made from an extruded flexible PVC strip it is 35 preferred that the screen is secured to the frame by use of a suitable PVC adhesive. The strips 102, 103 may be pressed tight against the screen 101 during gluing. 6507NZCS.N94/BS/M 0 71 The actual flyscreen frame 102,103,104 (the first strip) is a little more difficult to finish off well at the corners. A preferred method is to lap the outer portion 102 of a first strip over the inner portion 103 of an abutting strip. Alternatively a separate corner 5 piece may be glued over both parts. Preferably four comers are provided with one or more of them (preferably two of them) being provided with protrusions or free tongues (for example a 25' mm long strip of the same dimensions as the outer portion 102) which may be grasped by a person who is attempting to commence to disengage the screen (and the first strip) from the casement and the second strip. Otherwise it is 10 difficult to get a grip on the screen without causing damage to it or to one's fingernails.

As the portion of this invention (comprising the screen and the first strip) is preferably flexible, it may be rolled up for storage when not required, as through the winter in the case of a flyscreen, or when bright sunlight is not present if the screen is to block excess 15 light Fig 3 illustrates an alternative pattern or shape (in section and at a reduced scale) of the first strip 102,103,104 which is primarily intended for use in situations wherein at least part of a window to be screened abuts a surface whose plane would be projected 20 through the window and the system shown in Fig 1 where the male formation projects in a plane normal to that of the screen would not be usable. Screen surrounds comprised partly of the strip of Fig 3 and partly of that of Fig 1 (102 - 103 - 104) may be constructed for particular installations.

Finally, it will be appreciated that various alterations or modifications may be made to the foregoing without departing from the spirit or scope of this invention. 6307NZC8.N94/«t

Claims (14)

7 Si/ ^^WHATI CLAIM IS:

1. A screen for an opening including a sheet material to extend across the opening and attachment means attached to said sheet material whereby the sheet material can be removably attached to a structure surrounding the opening, wherein said attachment 5 means includes a first peripheral strip and a second peripheral strip, said first peripheral strip having a pair of jaws attached to the peripheral edge of said sheet material and having a protrusion extending away from said pair of jaws, said second peripheral strip adapted to be attached to said structure around the opening, the first and second peripheral strips being adapted to be mechanically attached to each 10 other along the length thereof in a detachable manner by at least part of the protrusion of the first peripheral strip coming into contact with at least part of the second peripheral strip. 250 7 7 4

2. A screen for an opening according to claim 1, in which the first and second peripheral 15 strips are adapted to be attached to each other by pressure or force applied to the protrusion of the first peripheral strip to urge it against the second peripheral strip.

3. A screen for an opening according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the second peripheral strip has an adhesive surface suitable for engagement with the structure surrounding the 20 opening.

4. A screen for an opening according to claim 1 or 2 in which one of the peripheral strips includes a female formation and the other of the peripheral strips includes a male formation which can be pushed into the female portion and retained thereby, for 25 attachment, and which can be pulled from the female formation for removal.

5. A screen for an opening according to claim 4 in which the male and female formations are cc-acting linear formations extending along the length of the peripheral strips. 30 6. A screen for an opening according to claim 5 in which the female formation is springy and the male formation has an enlarged protruding end larger than the opening in the female opening.

A screen for an opening according to claim 4, 5 or 6 in which the male formation is attached as a frame or surrounding border to a flexible insect screen.

7. 35 N.Z. PAtENT OFFICE 8 PEC 1997 "received 250 77

8. A screen for an opening according to claim 7 in which the border is provided with one or more pull tabs to assist in the removal of the insect screen. 5

9. A screen for an opening according to any preceding claim in which either or both of the flexible strips is a plastics extrusion.

10. A screen for an opening according to any preceding claim in which the sheet material is a gauze. 10

11. A screen for an opening according to any preceding claim in which the other material is a clear, translucent or opaque substantially air-tight material.

12. A screen for an opening according to any preceding claim in which the sheet material 15 and the first peripheral strip attached thereto are both flexible, whereby they can be rolled up after detachment from the second peripheral strip.

13. A screen for an opening according to claim 1 or 2, in which the first and second strips are adapted to be mechanically attached to each other by the use of a multiple loop-and- 20 hook material, such as Velcro (TM).

14. A screen for an opening constructed and arranged and adapted to operate substantially as described herein and as shown in the accompanying drawings. 25 Stanley James Norris By his attorneys JAMES W PIPER & CO 30