EP0611871B1 - Aligning corner key for metal window frames - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a square piece, allowing the leveling, that is to say the outcropping in the same plane containing the corresponding faces of two metal profiles cut in miter section and assembled for forming two sides of a window frame or window frame or the like.

In the conventional solutions for producing such chassis in metal profile, used in aluminum carpentry in particular, these profiles are two by two cut at their ends in a miter, with a slope at 45 °, so as to allow when they abut, to form one of the angles or corners of a support structure receiving for example a glazed wall and seals.

However, even with very careful manufacturing methods and a profile cutting process carried out with great precision, it can be seen that, during the assembly of the two profiles joined to one another along their bevelled edges, a certain misalignment occurs, so that one of the profiles is flush in practice slightly above or below the other, protruding from the plane of the latter and thereby creating a thickness offset which is most of the unacceptable time.

To overcome this drawback, the most usual solution consists in providing in the edges and along the sides of the two profiles, each joining with the other in the section at 45 ° from their ends, a groove delimited by parallel edges and into which can be introduced a small metal L-shaped square, the branches of which are parallel to the longitudinal direction of the two sections respectively, this square thus joining the two sections and above all maintaining the external faces thereof strictly in the same plane.

However, this solution has various drawbacks. First, it is necessary that the fitter who assembles the two sides of any chassis does not forget to put the square in place, prior to this assembly. In addition, in the case of painted or lacquered profiles, the insertion of the square in the ad hoc grooves of the two profiles is sometimes difficult, if not impossible, because of the extra thickness of paint or lacquer which may more or less obstruct these grooves.

In addition, for the square to give a satisfactory result and to appropriately stiffen the angle of the two sections while keeping them in the plane containing the external faces of these sections, the square must be adjusted in its grooves. with very little play. However, the dimensions of these grooves can vary from one profile to another, due to the extrusion tolerances during the manufacture of these profiles and their surface finish or finish which is not always very regular.

Finally, the use of the anti-flush square piece is made more difficult because, once this square is previously put in place, the two sections must still be joined and assembled definitively by means of a piece connecting which also fits between the two profiles and which can be hindered during its engagement by the brackets already housed in their grooves.

The present invention relates to a square piece of different design which avoids these drawbacks, in particular because it can be put in place on the two profiles after they have been previously connected together, the frame or chassis being completely assembled before that the leveling correction is not carried out.

For this purpose, the outcrop angle considered, intended to be associated with two metal profiles cut to miter cut and forming together once mutually assembled the angle or the corner of a window frame or the like. being adapted to accommodate its branches in open homologous grooves provided in the two profiles opposite edges respectively parallel to the grooves, is characterized in that it is made of a relatively flexible and elastic material, and has a V-shaped profile , whose two branches are free and form at rest an angle slightly less than 90 °, the top of the bracket being shaped as a point, so that the bracket can be deformed by a force exerted on its vertex substantially in the direction of the bisector of the angle formed by the two branches in the direction of the center of the frame, moving the latter in the grooves by spreading them apart, until the summit can be slid under the edges in the angle that they form at the junction of the two sections and against which it engages, before elastic relaxation of the bracket by relaxation of the force exerted.

In a preferred embodiment, the square piece is made of a plastic material having a certain flexibility allowing the momentary deformation of its V-profile, in particular in polyethylene, polyamide, polypropylene, or in semi-rigid polyvinyl chloride .

According to another characteristic of the invention, the upper face of the piece at right angles to its V-shaped top is slightly thinned at a bevel in order to allow engagement of the top under the contiguous edges of the two profiles.

Advantageously and according to another characteristic also, the lateral branches of the square part have a recess in their thickness to facilitate their engagement in the grooves of the profiles where they move consecutively to the force exerted on the top of the part.

• La Figure 1 est une vue en perspective et en coupe partielle de deux profilés métalliques, taillés à coupe d'onglet et assemblés l'un à l'autre pour former, de façon banale dans la technique, un coin d'un châssis de fenêtre ou analogue, ces deux profilés faisant apparaître après assemblage un décalage ou désaffleurement de leurs faces externes.
• La Figure 2 est une vue en perspective éclatée à plus faible échelle, montrant les profilés de la Figure 1, préalablement à leur assemblage et à la mise en place d'une équerre métallique permettant, de façon connue dans la technique, d'éviter en partie l'effet de désaffleurement des faces de ces profilés.
• La Figure 3 est une vue en perspective à plus grande échelle de la pièce en équerre selon l'invention, représentée lors de sa mise en place dans le coin formé par les deux profilés.
• La Figure 4 est une vue en coupe transversale à encore plus grande échelle du châssis formé par l'assemblage des deux profilés, selon un plan passant par la ligne de jonction de ces derniers et coupant la pièce en équerre selon sa bissectrice.

Other characteristics of a part at a right angle to ensure the leveling in the same plane of the external faces of two profiles constituting the sides of a window frame or the like, will become more apparent from the following description of '' an exemplary embodiment given by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the attached drawings in which:

• Figure 1 is a perspective view in partial section of two metal profiles, cut to miter cut and joined to each other to form, in the ordinary way in the art, a corner of a window frame or the like, these two sections showing, after assembly, an offset or a mismatching of their external faces.
• Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view further small scale, showing the profiles of Figure 1, prior to their assembly and the establishment of a metal bracket making it possible, in a manner known in the art, to partially avoid the effect of flushing of the faces of these profiles .
• Figure 3 is a perspective view on a larger scale of the square piece according to the invention, shown when it is placed in the corner formed by the two sections.
• Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view on an even larger scale of the chassis formed by the assembly of the two sections, according to a plane passing through the junction line of the latter and cutting the piece at right angles to its bisector.

In Figure 1, the reference 1 designates a window frame or the like, formed in itself well known in the art, especially in that of metal carpentry, by means of two profiles, respectively 2 and 3, similarly section, these profiles being cut or cut at their ends joining together according to a plane embodying a junction line 4 extending at 45 ° relative to the longitudinal direction of each of the profiles.

In a conventional manner, despite the care taken in the manufacture of profiles 2 and 3, generally produced by extrusion and in cutting their ends for their assembly along line 4, together forming one of the corners of the chassis 1, that these profiles are not perfectly contiguous and in particular that they show between their successive faces at the right of the line 4 a slight offset 5, the external face in particular of one of the profiles being located above or below the plane from the face of the other profile, which affects the aesthetics of the assembly and also can be dangerous for the fitters and users of the chassis due to the sharp angles discovered at the right of this offset.

Figure 2 shows in exploded perspective the two profiles 2 and 3 with their end edges cut at 45 ° to define their junction line 4, the assembly of the two profiles being carried out by means of a bent connecting tab 6 which engages in housings such as 7 provided inside the profiles, before being joined to the latter. Such a solution is also usual and, to avoid or at least limit the offset between the two profiles as mentioned above, provides for the use of a metal piece at an angle 8, bent at a right angle and whose branches such as 9 are provided to engage in a complementary groove 10 formed in the internal face of the profiles in the vicinity of the sides thereof which should be brought in the same plane to eliminate to the best possible extent the mismatch otherwise noted.

However, this solution is not easy to implement, the engagement of the brackets 8 in each corner of the chassis having to be carried out prior to the installation of the connecting lugs which carry out the actual assembly of the profiles, which induces efforts on these brackets and risks distorting them without being able to ultimately significantly reduce the offset between the external faces of the profiles. Conversely, if these tabs are first put in place and secure the two sections with one another in the corresponding corner, the engagement of the brackets in their grooves is practically impossible.

Figures 3 and 4 illustrate a square piece 11 produced in accordance with the invention and which can in particular be put in place in the two profiles 2 and 3 after the latter have been assembled together, this positioning being able to be carried out without being hindered by the previously attached connecting tabs. In these Figures, these connecting tabs have not been shown in order to simplify the drawings.

Each of the two profiles 2 or 3 has a groove 12, preferably delimited between the flat bottom 13 of the profile and a protruding part 14 formed in a blank 15 perpendicular to the bottom 13. In addition, opposite the groove 12, each profile comprises a vertical return 16, parallel to the blank 15 and terminated by a flange 17, itself parallel to the bottom 13 and extending at a certain distance from the latter.

According to the invention, the square piece 11 is made of a suitable plastic material having a relative rigidity but at the same time the faculty to deform elastically under an appropriate effort, before, when this effort is released, the square returns to its initial shape.

The part 11 has a V-shaped profile, with an angle at the top slightly less than 90 °, the lateral branches 18 and 19 of the V being joined by a connecting element 20, at the top of the bracket.

At their ends opposite the vertex 20, the two branches 18 and 19 of the bracket 11 have a recess 21a matching, in the case of the example shown, the shape of a pin whose width dimension corresponds substantially to the height of the groove 12 so as to allow this pin to freely engage in this groove, and this for each of the branches of the square piece according to the blanks 15 of the two sections 2 and 3 respectively.

In its top 20, the square part has a reduction in thickness corresponding in particular to an end part 21 of the part cut in a bevel, the top further comprising opposite this part 20 an undercut 22 also with a face slightly inclined in the longitudinal direction of the branches 18 and 19.

The implementation of the square part 11 is easily deduced from the foregoing explanations: the sections 2 and 3 being assembled together and having a certain offset between them during assembly, each of the corners formed by two consecutive sections in the chassis is associated to a part 11 of the kind described, the latter being presented substantially in the direction of the junction line 4 between the profiles, so that the recesses or pins 21a provided at the end of the branches 18 and 19, engage in the grooves 12 provided on each of these sections, the part being presented slightly at an angle as shown in FIG. 3.

In the next step, a force is exerted on the top 20 directed substantially in the direction of the bisector of the V formed by the branches 18 and 19 of the part 11, as shown diagrammatically by the arrow 23, this force causing a deformation of the V with spacing of the branches 18 and 19 which move slightly in the grooves 12. When the beveled end 21 of the apex 20 is plumb with the rim 17 and inside of it, it then suffices to apply the square in the direction of the bottom 13 of the profiles to bring this end 21 under this rim before, the driving force being released, the arms 18 and 19 return to the initial position, immobilizing the end 21 from above edge 17 as illustrated in Figure 4.

Thanks to its own rigidity, the square 11 thus put in place exerts on the two profiles a limited force but nevertheless sufficient to oppose the bending created by the offset of these profiles by bringing them back in the same plane where the The bracket itself no longer undergoes torsional stress.

This produces a square piece of very simple design, inexpensive, easy and quick to set up and which easily tolerates any dimensional variations of the grooves which receive its branches, the immobilization of the square under the edge of the profiles provided for this purpose taking place in the manner of a practically entrenched clip once fixed in position.

Of course, it goes without saying that the invention is not limited to the embodiment more specifically described and shown above; on the contrary, it embraces all its variants.

Claims (4)

1. Alignment key (11) for window frames (1) or the like, which is intended to be associated with two mitred metal section pieces (2, 3) which once assembled together form the angle or corner of the window frame or the like, the said key being designed to house its legs in open homologous grooves (12) provided in the two section pieces facing rims (17) which are respectively parallel to the grooves, characterized in that it is made of a relatively flexible and elastic material, and has a V-shaped profile, the two legs (18, 19) of which V are free and at rest form an angle slightly smaller than 90°, the vertex (20) of the key being shaped into a point so that the key can be deformed by a force exerted on its vertex substantially in the direction of the line which bisects the angle formed by the two legs in the direction of the centre of the frame, shifting these legs into the grooves, while separating them, until the vertex can be slipped under the rims in the angle formed where the two section pieces meet and against which rims it fits, before elastic relaxation of the key by release of the force exerted.
2. Key according to Claim 1, characterized in that it is made of a plastic which has a certain degree of flexibility allowing the temporary deformation of its V profile, especially made of polyethylene, polyamide, polypropylene, or alternatively semi-rigid polyvinyl chloride.
3. Key according to either of Claims 1 and 2, characterized in that its upper face, in line with its V-shaped vertex 20, is made slightly thinner by a chamfer (21) to allow the vertex to fit under the rims (17) of the two section pieces (2, 3).
4. Key according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the lateral legs (18, 19) have some of their thickness cut away (21) to make it easier for them to fit into the grooves (12) of the section pieces (2, 3) where they move, as a result of the force exerted on the vertex (20).

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