GB2183723A

GB2183723A - Window or door operating mechanism

Info

Publication number: GB2183723A
Application number: GB08529445A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Mayes
Original assignee: Securistyle Ltd
Current assignee: Securistyle Ltd
Priority date: 1985-11-29
Filing date: 1985-11-29
Publication date: 1987-06-10
Also published as: GB8529445D0

Abstract

The mechanism has a plate (24) adapted to be attached to the window or door frame (13) and a bar (26) to be attached to the window light or door, the plate and the bar being interconnected by two or more links. The window or door is moved by rotation of a handle (30) which drives a worm (29) in mesh with a wormwheel (28A) attached to one of the links (25). The opening light or door is carried by the bar (26) pivoted to a link (25) and via a link (27) to a slider (26A) which slides in a track of the plate (24) contained in a channel (31) in the window or door frame. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Window or door operating mechanism This invention relates to operating mechanismsfor windows or doors and is particularly concerned with the type of stay used to support opening and closing windows and doors, which has a plate adapted to be attached to the window or doorframe and a bar adapted to be attached to the window light or door, the plate and the bar being interconnected bytwo or more links. One example of such a supporting stay is illustrated in our UK Patent 2081 803B.

An object of the present invention is to provide a compact mechanism for opening and closing a windowordoorsupported by such stays.

It has been proposed in the past to employ a mechanism which is separate from the stays and which involved the introduction of additional links or flexible drives into the space within the window or door frame.

Particularly in relation to modern windows in which the frames are formed from extruded metal such as aluminium or from extruded plastics space is art a premium and the use of very flat compact hinges such as the stays described in our above-mentioned patentspecification has enabled the width of the channels in the frame containing the stays to be kept to a minimum thus improving the appearance ofthe frames etc. One result of this is that there is not space within existing types of frames to introduce known window opening mechanisms involving additional struts etc.

An object of the present invention isto provide a windowopening and closing mechanism which occupies very little space additional to the space currently occupied by the stays themselves and which is effective and inexpensive to produce.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is a combination of a stay, for use on window or door, with an operating mechanism; the stay being of the kind which has a plate adapted to be attached to a window or doorframe and a bar adapted to be attached to the window light ordoor, and two links interconnecting the bar and the plate, the operating mechanism comprising a driven gear fixed to one of the links and a driving gear operable by handle or motor.

From another aspect the invention comprises a windowordooropening and closing mechanism in which the window or door is supported in a frame by stays ofthetype comprising a plate adapted to be attached to the window or door frame, a baradapted to be attached to the window or door, and links interconnecting the plate and the strut, said mechanism comprising a direct drive onto one of said links.

Preferably the direct drive comprises a gear fixed to one end of a Iinkadjacentthe point where the link is pivoted to the plate, so that rotation of the gearwill cause pivotal movement of the link, and a second gear meshing with thefirstgear,the second gear being manually rotatable or being rotatable by a motor so asto cause the opening and closing movements of the window or door.

Preferablythe first gear is a pinion gear and the second gear is a worm gearandthe link may befitted into a recess i n the first gea r.

The drive mechanism may be contained in a two-part housing which fits over the end of the link and contains the first and second gears and provides the bearing surfaces. Preferably the two-part housing informed as a metal die casting, such as aluminium, ora plastics moulding which may be for examplefrom Delrim 100,anAcetal plastic manufactured by Du Pont. The bearing surfaces for the gears and recesses for the gear and related shafts may then be die-cast into the metal housing or moulded into the plastic housing.

The gears may be operable by a winding handle either directly orvia a universal joint so arranged thatthe axis ofthe handle is at an angle to the axis of the second gear.

The mechanism may be used on side-hung ortop and bottom hung windows and a single mechanism may be used on one of the stays where two stays support a window.

One or more locking handles may be located along one edge of the window, being an edge lying between the two hinged edges, so as to drawthe windows into its final sealed position when it has been closed bythe opening and closing mechanism.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 isa diagrammaticfrontelevation of a plasticsframedside-hugewindowembodyingthe present invention; Figure2 is a diagrammaticfront elevation of a plastics framed top-hung window embodying the present invention; Figure 3 is a plan of the window mechanism embodying the invention shown diagrammatically as incorporated into the window of Figure 1 or Figure 2; Figure 4 is a section on line 4--4 showing how a link fits into a pinion gearforming partofthe mechanism; Figure 5shows a universal joint which may be used to setthe operating handle at an angletothe worm gearshown in Figure 4;; Figures 6- 9show a locking handle and the details of its mounting and operation Figures 10-12 show details of the housing ofthe mechanism and its practical constructions.

In Figure 1 is shown a side-hung window, the window vent 10 being supported buy a pair of stays 11 & 12 located respectively at the bottom and top of the window frame 13 and contained within the cavities in the plastics moulding oftheframe 13.

The stays 11 and 12 are preferably of the kind illustrated in our British Patent Specification 2144173A.

To openthewindow an opening and closing mechanism generally indicated at 14, and embodying the present invention, is employed.

To ensure that the window is fully closed and sealed afterthe operating mechanism has moved the window to its closed position a pair of locking handles 15 and 16 are used in-the position shown.

Alternatively a single locking handle located centrally could be used.

Atop-hung window is shown in Figure 2 and here the stays 17 and 18 are located vertically on either side of the window vent 19 in a frame 20. Again locking handles 21,22 are employed and the window opening and closing mechanism 23 which will be described in detail with reference to the other figures ofthe drawings.

An operating mechanism for opening and closing the windows is shown diagrammatically in Figure 3.

Each ofthe stays comprises a plate ortrack member 24to which is pivoted a link 25. On the track member 24 is a slider26A. The opening light is carried by a bar 26 and the bar is joined to the track24 bythe link25 and also bya second link27 inturn attached to the slider 26A. Afurther link 28 is provided between the slides and the link 25. The mechanism for opening the window and closing it comprises a wormwheel 28A attached to the link 25 and a worm drive gear 29 in mesh with the wormwheel 28A and operable by means of a handle 30.

As is conventional the stay, or hinge is located within a channel 31 in the window frame 13 and a hole is provided intheframe 13throughwhichthe handle or a shaft from the worm 29 protrudes so as to operate the worm.

Because the link 15 sits in a recess 32, (see Figures 3 and 4), in the wormwheel 28A it is possible to keep thewhole mechanism very flat and to arrange tin a flat housing which occupies very little greater depth than the original strut.

Asimple handle 30 can be used orthe handle can be replaced by a handlethatis set at an angletothe frame by using a universal joint as shown in Figure 5.

The universal joint housing 33 can be attached to the frame 13 and a shaft34from the worm 29 can be connected through a universal joint 35 to a handle 36. By use of this universal joint with its offset handle any problems arising from the proximity of other parts of the frame can be overcome.

The locking handles 15 and 16 can be ofthetype shown in Figures 6-9. In figure 6 part of the vent 10 and frame 13 are shown diagrammatically and a handle 15 is shown which has a shaft 37 having an offset portion 38. The offset portion 38 engages in a wedge-shaped slot 39 in a keep plate 40. Figure 9 illustrates the movementfrom an open to a locked position and itwill be seen that byturningthe handle 15 the offset 38 engaging in the wedge-shaped slot 39 drawsthevent in the direction ofthearrowAto seal againsttheframe.

Figures 10 and 11 are a vertical section through the operating mechanism and a section on lineA-A (of Figure 10) respectively. It will be seen that the gearbox housing 41 (also shown diagrammatically in Figure 3) fits into a recess 42 in the frame 13. The wormwheel 28A rotates on a rivet 43 which also serves to attach the gear box to the end 44 of the link 25, which may be offset as shown.

The housing 41 provides bearing surfaces 45,46 forthe shaft47 of the worm gear 29. The shaft 47 is attached to the housing 35a ofthe universal joint 35 and another shaft 48 is held in the universal joint by the usual pin mechanism 49. The shaft 48 can be used forthe attachment of the handle 36 as shown in Figure 5.

The housing may be split in two along atransverse section for ease of assembly. It will be noted that the housing is open at 50 so asto allow for movement of the linkasthe gear28Arotates.

Instead of using a worm wheel and worm drive alternative forms of drive could be used depending upon the location of the driving handle. Two simple meshing gears could be used or bevel gears.

If it is necessary to operate the handle from a remote location the worm shaft could be connected via a flexible drive to the remote location.

The additional locking handles 21,22could be ganged together or an espagnollette mechanism can be employed to operate the two locking handles simultaneously.

The invention is particularly useful for modern PVCframed windows and for aluminium framed windows but can be applied to any form of window ordoorwherestaysareusedtosupportthewindow or door in a frame.

Claims

1. Acombination of a stay, for use on awindow ordoor,with an operating mechanism; the stay being of the kind which has a plate adapted to be attached to a window or door frame and a bar adapted to be attached to the window light or door, andtwo links interconnecting the bar and the plate, the operating mechanism comprising a driven gear fixed to one ofthe links and a driving gear operable by handle or motor.

2. Awindowordooropening and closing mechanism in which the window or door is supported in a frame by stays of the type comprising a plate adapted to be attached to the window or door frame, a bar adapted to be attached to the window or door, and links interconnecting the plate and the strut, said mechanism comprising a direct drive onto oneofsaid links.

3. A mechanism according to claim 2 and in which the direct drive comprises a gearfixed to one end of one of the links adjacentto the pointwherethe link is pivoted to the plate, so that rotation of the gear will cause pivotal movement of the link, and a second gear meshing with the first gear, the second gear being manually rotatable or being rotatable by a motor so as to cause the opening and closing movements of the window or door.

4. A mechanism according to claim 3 and in which the first gear is a pinion gear and the second gear is a worm gear and the link is flitted into a recess inthefirstgear.

5. Amechanism according to any of claims 2 to 4 in which there is a two-part housing which fits over the end ofthelinkandcontainsthefirstandsecond gears and provides the bearing surfaces.

6. A mechanism according to claim 6 and in which thetwo-part housing informed as a metal die casting.

7. A mechanism according to claim 6 and in which the two-part housing informed as a plastics moulding.

8. A mechanism according to claim 6 or claim 7 and in which the bearing surfacesforthe gears and recesses for the gear and related shafts are die-cast into the metal housing or moulded into the plastic housing.

9. A mechanism according to any of claims 2 to 8 and in which the gears are operable by a winding handle either directly or via a universal joint so arranged that the axis of the handle is at an angle to the axis of the second gear.

10. A mechanism according to any preceding claim when used on a side-hung ortop and bottom hung windows, a single mechanism being used on one ofthe stays where two stays support a window.

11. A mechanism according to any preceding claim in which one or more locking handles are located along one edge of the window, being an edge lying between the two hinged edges, so as to drawthewindowinto itsfinalsealed position when it has been closed by the opening and closing or operating mechanism.

12. Awindowordooropening orclosing mechanism substantially as hereinbefore particularly described and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.