US2844843A - Means for suspension of window sashes - Google Patents

Description

July 29, 1958 M. F. LOGAN MEANS FOR SUSPENSION OF WINDOW SASHES Filed Nov 26, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 JJ7NVEN TOR.

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Juiy 29, 1958 I M. F. Lb'GAN MEANS FOR SUSPENSION 0F WINDOW SASHES Filed Nov. 26; 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

m l m 7 4 u Q. u w. ii v a m 5 W w. m mm 4 M M f/MAURICE 1-? L064!!! BY United States Patent MEANS FOR SUSPENSION 0F WINDOW SASHES Maurice F. Logan, Grosse Pointe Park, Mich.

Application November 26, 1954, Serial No. 471,429

Claims. (Cl. 16197) The object of my improvement is to provide a device whereby a sash in a window may be moved vertically easily and smoothly, without the need of employing weights suspended on cords to balance it. While the above cord and weight combination is in common use, it is well known that it is not entirely satisfactory and that the repairs or replacement of its component parts present considerable difii'culty, mainly because said parts are not easily accessible. It is partly because of the deficiencies of said combination that I have developed the means to be described herein.

Another object of my invention is to provide means whereby a sash may be raised or lowered, as the case may be, with a minimum of manual effort, but which means will hold the sash in any desired position.

A further object of the invention is to provide means having the above advantages and yet such as will be mechanically simple in construction and fully reliable in operation.

More specifically, the improvement calls for the employment of a flexible basket-weave sleeve in combination with a vertical rod, one of said elements being in a stationary position, while the other element is connected to the sash itself.

I shall now describe my improvement with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a window frame, the view including a part of a window sash and my device for suspension thereof;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the device as installed in one side of a window sash, the device being shown at one stage of its operational use;

Figs. 3 and 4 show the same device in different stages of its operative use;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a bracket for support of an element of said device;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 66 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 7 is a side elevational view of a modified species of my device as installed in a sash, and a window frame containing the sash;

Fig. 8 is a plan elevational view of one end of a rod forming a part of my device.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

In describing my device, I will refer to one sash generally identified by numeral 10, while the window frame will be identified by numeral 11 and another sash in said window frame will be identified by numeral 12.

Secured to the upper cross-member or rail 13 of the window frame, by means of a bracket 14, is a rod 15 which extends downwardly into a vertical groove 16 in a stile 17 of said sash 10. The rod is to be made, preferably, out of rust-proof metal, but may be made of any other suitable material.

As for the bracket, it includes a vertical plate 18 which is provided with a number of holes 19 for application of screws and a horizontal plate or shelf 20. The latter is provided with a depressed seat 21 having therein a slot 2,344,843 Patented July 29, 1958 ice 22 for admission of the upper portion of the rod 15. The rod, which terminates at the upper end with a radiallyexpanded head 23, is of such diameter that it may be thrust laterally into the seat through said slot 22 in order that the head of the rod may fit into said seat to hold the rod in place.

Partly for the purpose of alining the rod 15 within the groove 16, and partly for another purpose to which I shall presently refer, I employ two eye screws, 24 and 24a, the eye portion of the screws being alined vertically.

At the lower end, the rod is flattened out as indicated at 25 and is provided with a transverse hole, as shown in Fig. 8, for reception of a pin 26 by means of which the rod is secured to the side member of the window frame 11, or, more specifically, to the member which includes a runway for the stile 10. In order to keep the rod in a spaced relation to said side member, a cylindrical spacer 27 is used for the purpose.

The flexible sleeve 30 is made of a woven metal wire, plastic fibers, or any other suitable material. At its lower end the sleeve is provided with a rigid collar 32a which may be soldered or otherwise permanently secured to said sleeve in an axial relation thereto. Disposed upon the rim of the collar is a washer 31. If necessary, a plurality of such washers may be used.

At the opposite or the upper end, the rim 32 of the sleeve is stiffened by any suitable means, such as coating the wire strands with an alloy or a'plastic. The object of the stiifening is to prevent fraying and to provide means against which the cap 35 may be employed for the purpose of compressing the sleeve longitudinally.

As used in combination with the rod 15, the sleeve is located within the groove 16 in the spacing between the two eye screws 24 and 24a, and fits about that portion of the rod which at a given phase of the operative use of my device extends between said eye screws.

Loosely coiled about the sleeve 30 is a spring 33which at its lower end bears against washer 31 on said collar 32a, while the upper end of-said spring extends above the upper end of the sleeve and fits into a cylindrical cap 35 just under the upper eye screw 24, the cap having in its upper wall an axial aperture 36 for a sliding axial engagement with said rod 15.

Preliminary to the description of the device, I wish to point out the fact that the sleeve will slide smoothly and easily over the rod when means are used to compress the sleeve longitudinally so that the length thereof will be reduced, but that the sleeve will frictionally grip the rod when means are used which will elongate said sleeve.

I will now disclose the practical application of the principle with reference to the drawings in which Fig. 2 discloses my device in its normal, sash-holding position. For the purpose of this disclosure, it will be assumed that sash 10 is in the upper portion of the window frame 11. As shown in Fig. 2, the weight of the sash causes the upper eye screw to bear against the top of cap 35 mounted upon the upper portion of the coiled spring 33, and, through said spring, against the collar 32a. As a result, the sleeve is extended longitudinally, its diameter is reduced, and the sleeve grips the rod, preventing the movement of the sash downwardly.

It will be now assumed that the sash is to be moved downwardly by application of manual force to the upper end of the sash. As a result of the application of said manual force, an initial movement of .the sash will take place against the tension of the spring 33 without any change in the position of the sleeve. If anything, the downward pressure on the spring, and, through the spring, on the collar 3211, will only cause the sleeve to grip tighter the rod 15. This will continue till the top wall of the cap 35 will come in contact with the stiff upper end 32 of the sleeve, as shown in Fig. 3, when, by the movement of the cap downwardly, the sleeve will be compressed and, thus, expanded radially to release its grip upon the rod. This efiected, the sleeve will move smoothly downwardly with the sash.

On release of the manual pressure downwardly upon the sash, the spring will expand upwardly to its original position, as shown in Fig. 2, but the weight of the sash bearing upon the collar, by means of the spring, will tend to elongate the sleeve in the manner already described prior to the description of the downward movement of said sash.

Should now manual force be applied to the sash in order to move the sash upwardly, the lower eye screw 24a will push from below against the collar 31, as shown in Fig. 4, bringing about a longitudinal compression of the sleeve and a diametrical expansion thereof, with the result that the grip of the sleeve upon the rod will be released so that the sash will move upwardly smoothly and easily to any desired position.

The washers 31 are suggested for use to secure best operative results by shortening, in eflect, the length of the sleeve, as any washers interposed between the collar and the spring 33 will have that eflect.

A modified structure of my device, which includes the same flexible sleeve, is shown in Fig. 8. In this case the sash 40, including two stiles 43, contains a vertical groove 42 in each stile, and disposed vertically within each groove is a vertical rod 41, the rod being secured at each end to said sash.

I am using for this purpose, at each end of the respective stile, a shallow metal cup 46 seated in a shallow socket 47, each cup having an axial aperture for the reception of the respective end of the rod. As shown in the drawings, one end of the rod includes a diametricallyexpanded head 48 fitting into one socket, while the other end, passing into the cup at the opposite end of the stile, is secured in its place by means of a nut 49.

Concealed in a pocket 50 in the window frame, and facing the groove 42, is a bracket 52 made of spring-like wire, the bracket being secured in place by means of a clamping plate 53 and retaining screws 54. One arm 55' of the bracket extends horizontally from the pocket and terminates with acylindrical guiding member 56 embracing said rod 41. The upper portion of the bracket includes a loop 57 and another arm 58 extending from the loop and integrally connected therewith and terminating with a collar 59 loos'ely embracing said rod. Be

pending from the collar and embracing the rod is the flexible woven sleeve 60, the lower end of which has a rim 61 stiffened by means of solder or some other substance in a manner analogous to the upper end 32 in the sleeve 30 described above.

The manner in which the device operates is as follows:

As the rod 41 is disposed axially in the sleeve 60, the weight of the sash will extend the sleeve till it will grip the rod, preventing downward movement of the sash to which the rod is connected for movement therewith. Should it be desired to lower the sash, manual pressure upon the sash from the top will cause a downward deflection of the upper arm of bracket 52, causing rim 61 to contact cylindrical guide member 56, which results in longitudinal compression of the sleeve. As this will bring about the diametrical expansion of the sleeve, the grip of the sleeve upon the rod 41 will be released, permitting smooth movement of the sash in said downward direction.

On the reverse movement of the sash, the upward movement of the rod will, by itself, cause longitudinal compression of the sleeve against the collar 59 so that again the sash will be adapted to move smoothly towards the upper end of the window frame.

It will, be understood that some other modifications of the device for the purpose described herein may be des igned without departing from the inventive principle disclosed herein.

What I, therefore, wish to claim is as follows: 1. Means for supporting a first element, a vertically slidable window sash in various positions of adjustment in a second element, a window frame and wherein said first element has a side stile provided with a vertical groove; comprising a flexible basket-weave sleeve and a vertical rod axially passing through said sleeve, one of the elements being stationary, spring means associated with the sleeve to extend it longitudinally to cause said sleeve to grip the rod, and means responsive to the movement of the first element, under manual force, to compress the sleeve longitudinally to cause its radial expansion to release its grip upon the rod.

2. Means for supporting a first element, a vertically slidable window sash in various positions of adjustment in a second element, a window frame and wherein said first element has a side stile provided with a vertical groove; comprising a pair of eyelets fixed to the first element within said groove in an alined and verticallyspaced relation to each other, a flexible, basket-weave sleeve disposed within said groove between said eyelets, the sleeve including at its lower end a rigid collar, while the upper end of the sleeve includes a rim portion in a stiffened condition, a cap upon the upper end of the sleeve, the cap being provided with an axial aperture, a spring coiled about the sleeve, the upper end of the spring extending normally to a level above the upper end of the sleeve and fitting into said cap, while the lower end of the spring bears against said collar and serves to keep the sleeve in an elongated, rod-gripping position, and a stationary vertical rod affixed at one end to supporting means outside the first element, the rod passing through said eyelets and axially through said cap and through said sleeve.

3. Means for supporting a first element, a vertically slidable window sash in various positions of adjustment in a second element, a window frame and wherein said first element has a side stile provided with a vertical groove; comprising a pair of eyelets fixed to the first element within said groove and being vertically-alined and spaced relation to each other, a stationary vertical rod aflixed to means outside the first element, but passing through said eyelets,.a flexible, basket-weave sleeve fitting about the rod in the space between said eyelets, the sleeve including, at its lower end, a rigid collar having a radial flange and loosely fitting about the rod, the sleeve having a stiffened rim at its upper end, a spring coiled about the sleeve, the lower end of the spring bearing against said flange, while-the upper end of the spring extends above the upper end of the sleeve, and an axially-apertured cap slidingly seated upon said rod, the cap fitting upon the upper end of the spring and hearing from below against the upper eyelet of the two vertically-spaced eyelets.

4. Means for supporting a first element, a vertically slidable window sash in various positions of adjustment in a second element, a window frame and wherein said first element has a side stile provided with a vertical groove and the second element has a recess opening toward the groove in the first element; comprising a bracket in the recess in the second element, the bracket including a horizontal arm extending into the groove in the first element and terminating with a cylindrical guiding member and a spring-like arm in a vertically-spaced relation to the first-named arm, the arm extending into the groove in the first element and terminating with a substantially-horizontally-disposed collar, a vertical rod at its ends aflixed to the sash and disposed within said groove in the first element, the rod passing through said collar and through said guiding member for a sliding movement therethrough, a flexible, basket-weave sleeve fitting about said rod within the space between the guiding member and the collar, the upper portion of the sleeve being connected to said collar and extending downwardly therefrom, while the lower end of the sleeve is normally spaced from said guiding member, the rod being at said lower portion of the sleeve in a frictional contact therewith and tending to elongate said sleeve, the bracket arm, provided with the collar, being adapted to be flexed downwardly on the initial downward movement of the first element and to compress the sleeve longitudinally to release said grip upon the rod.

5. Means for supporting a first element, a vertically slidable window sash in various positions of adjustment in a second element, a window frame and wherein said first element has a side stile provided with a vertical groove; comprising a pair of eyelets fixed to the first element within said groove, a flexible, basket-weave sleeve disposed within the first element in the groove thereofand a vertical rod axially passing through said sleeve, one of the elements being stationary, while the other is in a movable relation thereto, the sleeve being provided at one end with a collar freely sliding upon said rod References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 950,850 Herrmann Mar. 1, 1910 2,335,816 Tappan Nov. 30, 1943 2,365,156 Viehweger Dec. 19, 1944 2,370,867 Luce Mar. 6, 1945 2,603,827 Brown July 22, 1952 2,622,267 Peremi Dec. 23, 1952 2,678,477 Russell May 18, 1954

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