WO2017145059A1

WO2017145059A1 - A shutter

Info

Publication number: WO2017145059A1
Application number: PCT/IB2017/050995
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jacobus Johannes VAN DER WESTHUIZEN
Original assignee: Van Der Westhuizen Jacobus Johannes
Priority date: 2016-02-25
Filing date: 2017-02-22
Publication date: 2017-08-31
Also published as: ZA201805150B

Abstract

A shutter for window or door openings includes a rectangular frame 10, a number of louvres 14 pivotally mounted within the frame and a reinforcing bracket 16 at each corner of the frame. The frame comprises a bottom rail 18, a top rail and a pair of stiles 22. The stiles are of hollow extruded aluminium and include a vertically extending web 32 and flanges 38.1 and 38.2 which define an open mouth within which end regions of the bottom rail 18 and the top rail, are received. The flanges 38.1 and 38.2 define outwardly facing grooves 42.1 and 42.2, respectively, within which inwardly extending lips of the brackets 16 are received. Screws 50 extend through the brackets for fasting the stiles to the rails. Upon tightening of the screws, the webs 32 deform inwardly pushing the lips 46 further into the grooves 42.1 and 42.2 such that chamfers defined at inner corners of the reinforcing brackets exert a force via wedging action on inner walls 49 of the stiles.

Description

A SHUTTER

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates to shutters for window or door openings or for enclosing or dividing areas of a building structure.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

According to the invention there is provided a shutter for window or door openings or for enclosing or dividing areas of a building structure, including: a frame comprising a top rail, a bottom rail and a pair of stiles extending between the top and bottom rails, the top and bottom rails and the stiles being of extruded hollow aluminium section, the stiles being connected to the top and bottom rails at corners of the frame in an arrangement wherein the top and bottom rails extend orthogonally relative to the stiles, each stile having an operative vertically-extending web at least at end regions thereof, which defines at least one hole therein in which a screw is received for screwing into a receiving formation of a particular one of the top and bottom rails for securing the stile to the rail, the stile defining a pair of projecting flanges which extend orthogonally from the web towards an inner region of the frame with end regions of the rails being located between the flanges, each flange defining an engagement formation which is spaced from the web; and a reinforcing bracket for reinforcing one or more corners of the frame, the reinforcing bracket being located in the space between the web of the stile and the engagement formations thereof, the reinforcing bracket comprising a plate body and a pair of spaced extending lips which each engage a different one of the engagement formations of the stile in an arrangement where tightening of the screw causes deformation of the web so as to exert a force on the reinforcing bracket such that the lips of the reinforcing bracket frictionally engage the engagement formations of the stile thereby enhancing connection between the stile and the rail.

The engagement formations of the stile may be in the form of grooves which are spaced from and which extend parallel to the web, with open sides of the grooves facing the web. More particularly, the reinforcing bracket may have a rectangular configuration, with the lips being located along longitudinal side edges of the reinforcing bracket, with the grooves being correspondingly spaced from one another so as to receive the lips of the reinforcing bracket therein. The reinforcing bracket may define a chamfer in a corner defined between the plate body and each lip in order to provide for deformation of the flanges in a direction towards one another so as to more effectively grip the rails between them, when an inner wall of the stile defining the groove is engaged and displaced inwardly when acted upon by a wedging action of the chamfer against the wall upon tightening of the screw.

The shutter may include a reinforcing bracket at each corner of the frame for reinforcing the connection between the stiles and the bottom and top rails. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further features of the invention are described hereinafter by way of a non-limiting example of the invention, with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying diagrammatic drawings. In the drawings:

Figure 1 shows a three-dimensional view of a rear side of a door shutter in accordance with the invention; Figure 1 A shows enlarged detail P of the door shutter of Figure 1 ;

Figure 2 shows a three-dimensional view of a front side of the door shutter of Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 shows a sectional side view of the door shutter of Figure 1 , sectioned along section line Ill-Ill of Figure 2;

Figure 3A shows enlarged detail A of the door shutter shown in Figure 3;

Figure 3B shows enlarged detail B of the door shutter shown in Figure 3;

Figure 4 shows a three-dimensional view of a reinforcing bracket of the door shutter of Figure 1 ;

Figure 4A shows an end view of the reinforcing bracket of Figure 4;

Figure 5 shows a sectional end view of the door shutter of Figure 1 , sectioned along section line V-V of Figure 2, illustrating the stile / bottom rail assembly in an untensioned state; Figure 5A shows enlarged detail D of the stile / bottom rail assembly of Figure 5; Figure 6 shows a sectional end view of the door shutter of Figure 1 , sectioned along section line V-V of Figure 2, illustrating the style / bottom rail assembly in a tensioned state; Figure 6A shows enlarged detail E of the stile / bottom rail assembly of Figure 6; and Figure 6B shows enlarged detail F of detail E of Figure 6A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

With reference to the drawings, a door shutter in accordance with the invention, is designated generally by the reference numeral 10. The door shutter 10 comprises, broadly, a frame 12 having a rectangular outer profile, a number of louvres 14 which are pivotally mounted within the frame 12 and aluminium reinforcing brackets 16 for reinforcing the corners of the frame. The frame is of extruded aluminium section and comprises a bottom rail 18, a top rail 20 and a pair of stiles 22.1 and 22.2. The frame further includes a mid rail 24, a bottom spacer rail 26.1 and a top spacer rail 26.2.

The louvres 14 are arranged in a row adjacent one another so as to span the spaced apart stiles, with each louvre defining an axis of rotation and having a pair of opposite ends having mounting pins at each opposite end which are pivotally mounted to a particular one of the stiles in an arrangement wherein the louvres are pivotally displaceable between open positions wherein the louvres define spaces between them so as to permit light to pass between the louvres and closed positions wherein the louvres block the passage of light. The door shutter 10 includes two hand adjustment rails 28.1 and 28.2 which link the louvres to one another for pivotally displacing the louvres in unison between the open and closed positions. The bottom rail 18 and the top rail 20 are identical in configuration. The width of each spacer rail may vary depending on the construction of the door shutter. The bottom and top spacer rails are required to close off the space between the lowermost louvre and the bottom rail and the uppermost louvre and the top rail, respectively.

The bottom and top rails are of hollow extruded aluminium section and define two spaced socket formations 30 at ends thereof. Similarly, the spacer rails are of hollow extruded aluminium section and define a single socket formation 30. The spacer rails have the same configuration with only the width of the spacer rails varying according to the size of the space to be closed off.

The stiles 22.1 and 22.2 are of hollow extruded aluminium section. Each stile has a vertically-extending web 32 along an inner side thereof. The web defines a set of three holes 34 at each of upper and lower ends of the stile. An outwardly-facing side wall of each stile defines a set of three holes 36 at each end of the stile at positions corresponding to the positions of the holes 34 such that each hole 34 is aligned with a hole 36.

Each stile defines a pair of vertically-extending spaced flanges 38.1 and 38.2 which project inwardly towards an inner region of the frame. More particularly, the flanges extend orthogonally from the web towards an inner region of the frame. End portions 40.1 and 40.2 of the flanges 38.1 and 38.2, respectively, define an open mouth between them within which an end region of each of the bottom rail, top rail, mid rail and spacer rails is received such that the rails extend between the stiles. The flanges 38.1 and 38.2 define engagement formations 42.1 and 42.2, respectively, in the form of grooves which are spaced from and which extend parallel to the web 32 with open sides of the grooves facing the web.

The door shutter includes four of the reinforcing brackets 16, each of which is located at a corner of the frame. More specifically, each reinforcing bracket has an elongate rectangular configuration and is located in the space between the web of a particular one of the stiles and the engagement formations thereof. Each reinforcing bracket 16 comprises a plate body 44 and a pair of spaced inwardly-extending lips 46 which are located along longitudinal side edges of the reinforcing bracket and which are received in the grooves of the engagement formations. Furthermore, each reinforcing bracket 16 includes three spaced holes 48 which are arranged so as to be aligned with the holes 34 and 36 when the reinforcing bracket is located in the space provided therefor between the flanges of each stile. A screw 50 is received in each of the holes 48 for fastening the stile to the top / bottom rail. More specifically, the screws are received within the holes 34 of the web and the holes 48 of the reinforcing bracket and screwed into the sockets 30 in the bottom and top rails 18, 20 and in the bottom and top spacer rails 26.1 , 26.2. The shank of a tool such as a screwdriver, is received in the holes 36 in the stiles so as to provide access to the heads of the screws. A chamfer 47 is defined in the corner of each reinforcing bracket between each projecting lip 46 and the plate body 44, the purpose of which will be explained below.

With reference to Figure 5A of the drawings, the web 32 and the reinforcing bracket 16 is shown in an untensioned state wherein the screws 50 are screwed into the sockets 30 but with a force insufficient to cause any deformation of the web 32. With reference to Figure 6A of the drawings, the screws 50 are further tightened causing inwards deformation of the webs 32 such that each web exerts a force on the reinforcing bracket 16 associated therewith, pushing the lips 46 further into the grooves of the engagement formations such that the chamfers 47 exert a force by a wedging action of the chambers on inner walls 49 of the stiles defining each of the grooves, displacing the inner walls inwardly thereby gripping the inner walls 49 more tightly and causing deformation of the end portions 40.1 and 40.2 of the flanges in a direction towards one another so as to more effectively grip the rails between them.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1 . A shutter for window or door openings or for enclosing or dividing areas of a building structure, including: a frame comprising a top rail, a bottom rail and a pair of stiles extending between the top and bottom rails, the top and bottom rails and the stiles being of extruded hollow aluminium section, the stiles being connected to the top and bottom rails at corners of the frame in an arrangement wherein the top and bottom rails extend orthogonally relative to the stiles, each stile having an operative vertically- extending web at least at end regions thereof, which defines at least one hole therein in which a screw is received for screwing into a receiving formation of a particular one of the top and bottom rails for securing the stile to the rail, the stile defining a pair of projecting flanges which extend orthogonally from the web towards an inner region of the frame with end regions of the rails being located between the flanges, each flange defining an engagement formation which is spaced from the web; and a reinforcing bracket for reinforcing one or more corners of the frame, the reinforcing bracket being located in the space between the web of the stile and the engagement formations thereof, the reinforcing bracket comprising a plate body and a pair of spaced projecting lips which each engage a different one of the engagement formations of the stile in an arrangement where tightening of the screw causes deformation of the web so as to exert a force on the reinforcing bracket such that the lips of the reinforcing bracket frictionally engage the engagement formations of the stile thereby enhancing connection between the stile and the rail.

2. The shutter as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the engagement formations of the stile are in the form of grooves which are spaced from and which extend parallel to the web, with open sides of the grooves facing the web.

3. The shutter as claimed in claim 2, wherein the reinforcing bracket has a rectangular configuration, with the lips being located along longitudinal side edges of the reinforcing bracket, with the grooves being correspondingly spaced from one another so as to receive the lips of the reinforcing bracket therein.

4. The shutter as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the reinforcing bracket defines a chamfer in a corner defined between the plate body and each lip in order to provide for deformation of the flanges in a direction towards one another so as to more effectively grip the rails between them, when an inner wall of the stile defining the groove is engaged and displaced inwardly when acted upon by a wedging action of the chamfer against the wall upon tightening of the screw.

5. The shutter as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the shutter includes a particular one of the reinforcing brackets at each corner of the frame for reinforcing the connection between the stiles and the bottom and top rails.