EP1989385B1

EP1989385B1 - Thermally resistive window sash member and window assembly

Info

Publication number: EP1989385B1
Application number: EP06706039.2A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Eirik BJØRN; Niels Peter Christensen
Original assignee: VKR Holding AS
Current assignee: VKR Holding AS
Priority date: 2006-02-08
Filing date: 2006-02-08
Publication date: 2013-08-21
Anticipated expiration: 2026-02-08
Also published as: EP1989385A1; PL1989385T3; WO2007090394A1; DK1989385T3

Description

The current invention relates to a profile member of a window sash for an outwardly opening window assembly. The profile member comprises an outer element which comprises a surface which is in contact with a portion of the outer surface of a window pane when assembled, a flange which extends at least partially underneath the window pane when assembled and means for attaching mounting hardware to said outer element, a thermally resistive element which is connected to said flange at a location between the plane of the inside surface of the window pane and the plane of the outside surface of the window pane and which extends past the plane of the inside surface of the window pane when assembled, and an inner element which is connected to said thermally resistive element and which comprises a surface which is in contact with a portion of the inside surface of the window pane when assembled. Due to the thermally resistive element arranged between the inner element and the outer element, the thermal properties of the entire window are significantly improved.
A similar type of profile element is known for inwardly opening windows. See for example DE 94 12 123 U1 , FR 2 802 969 A1 , and DE 298 09 322 U1 . However, outwardly opening window assemblies have some important differences from inwardly opening windows which have made it impossible to use the thermally resistive profile members known from inwardly opening windows for outwardly opening window assemblies. EP 0 548 531 A1 discloses a relevant top-hung window sash.
One of these differences is that outwardly opening windows have the mounting hardware mounted on the outside of the window and the locking hardware mounted on the inside of the window. For example, hinges are mounted on the outer side of a profile member on one side of a window pane and an espagnolette is mounted on the inner side of a profile member on another side of the window pane. Therefore both the inner and the outer side of the profile members have to be strong.
Inwardly opening window assemblies usually have both the mounting hardware and the locking hardware connected to the inner side of the profile member. It is therefore possible to use the thermally resistive profile members as disclosed above. These profiles are characterized in that they have a strong inner side made from aluminium and a weak outer side made from a thermally resistive material, for example plastic. Therefore, these profiles will not work for outwardly opening window assemblies since the thermally resistive element is not strong enough to support the loads placed on the inner element of an outwardly opening window assembly.
A first aspect of the current invention is therefore to provide a profile member as mentioned in the opening paragraph which has better thermal properties than the currently available profile members while still being strong enough to support the loads present in an outwardly opening window assembly.
The above mentioned aspect is solved in part
by providing a profile member as mentioned in the opening paragraph where said thermally resistive element comprises at least one attachment element which is connectable with a corresponding attachment element on the flange of said outer element and in that said outer element comprises a supporting element which extends underneath a portion of the thermally resistive element which is below the lowermost of said at least one attachment elements of the thermally resistive element and which is in contact with said portion in order to support the thermally resistive element against loads in a downward direction. Due to this construction a strong and effective connection is formed between the thermally resistive element and the outer element. Further, a surface of said support element lies up against a surface of said thermally resistive element, but not be positively connected to it. In this way a support element is arranged which does not make the assembly of the two components more complicated.
In a preferred embodiment, said supporting element can be an essentially horizontal flange protruding from the end of the flange which extends at least partially underneath the window pane. In another preferred embodiment, the support element could be in contact with the surface of the thermally resistive element which is furthest from the centre of the window.
In a preferred embodiment, the angle between the angled side and the window pane could be such that the side of the essentially horizontal hollow box section farthest from the centre of the window pane extends more towards the inside of the window than the side of the essentially horizontal hollow box section closest to the centre of the window pane. This also results in a profile member having good thermal properties:
It should be mentioned that in the current specification, mounting hardware is defined as the hardware which is used to hold the window sash connected to the window frame. For example, the hinges are considered to be mounting hardware. Locking hardware is defined as the hardware which keeps the window closed. For example, an espagnolette is considered to be locking hardware.
It should also be mentioned that the term "outwardly opening window assembly" when used in the current specification is to be understood as a window assembly where the "sash" is located outside the "frame". This means that even if the sash is permanently fixed to the frame, as long as the sash is outside of the frame, the window is considered to be an outwardly opening window assembly.
It should also be mentioned that when a term in this specification refers to an orientation, for example, upper, lower, etc. then this term is to be interpreted with respect to the orientation of the profile members as shown in the attached figures. The terms inside and outside respectively refer to the inside and the outside of the window assembly in the case that it were installed in a house. The description "centre of the window pane" refers to the centre of the entire window pane when it is seen from the outside, it does not refer to a point between the two panes of glass in a double glazed window pane.
In this respect it should also be mentioned, that if a feature of the profile element is described or claimed, the description or claim refers to the cross section of the profile element.
Furthermore, an object described as being "thermally resistive" in this specification is to be understood as being an object having a coefficient of thermal conduction which is lower than that of aluminium.
The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the attached figures. It is to be noted that the embodiments described herein are to be used as examples only and should not limit the scope of the invention in any way.

Figure 1 shows a cross section view of a prior art profile member for an outwardly opening window assembly.
Figure 2 shows a cross section view of a first embodiment of a profile member according to the current invention for an outwardly opening window assembly.
Figure 3 shows a cross section view of a second embodiment of a profile member according to the current invention for an outwardly opening window assembly.
Figure 4 shows a cross section view of a third embodiment of a profile member according to the current invention for an outwardly opening window assembly.
Figure 5 shows a cross section view of a fourth embodiment of a profile member according to the current invention for an outwardly opening window assembly.
Figure 6 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of an outwardly opening window assembly according to one aspect of the current invention.

Detailed Description

Figure 1 shows a typical prior art profile member 1 of a window sash of an outwardly opening window assembly. The profile member 1 is shown attached to one edge 2 of a double glazed window pane 3. The window pane 3 has an outer surface 4 and an inner surface 5. The profile member 1 comprises an outer element 6 which is in contact with the outer surface 4 of the window pane and an inner element 7 which is in contact with the inside surface 5 of the window pane. The actual contact between the window pane and the sash elements is via seals 8,9 attached to the outer and inner elements 6,7 respectively. For the sake of the current specification, the outer element 6 is considered to have a surface 8 which is in contact with the outer surface 4 of the window pane and the inner element 7 is considered to have a surface 9 which is in contact with the inner surface 5 of the window pane. In this way, the seals 8,9 are considered to be parts of respectively the outer and inner elements.
The outer element 6 also comprises a flange 10 which extends underneath the edge 2 of the window pane 3 and extends from the outer surface of the window pane towards the inside of the window and past the plane 11 of the inside surface 5 of the window pane 3. In the current embodiment 1, the flange 10 is a horizontal flange, at least a part of which has a cross section in the shape of a hollow box. The hollow box gives extra strength to the profile element. On the lower side of the flange 10, a channel 12 is arranged whereby mounting means (not shown), such as hinges, tracks, and so on, can be attached. The channel 12, for the sake of the current specification, is considered to be a form of attachment means.
As can be seen from figure 1, the inner element 7 is connected to the portion 14 of the flange 10 which is located on the inner side of the plane 11 of the inside surface 5 of the window pane 3. The inner element 7 is connected to the flange via a channel 13 located on the upper side of the flange. In the current embodiment, the inner etement 7 is made from via thermally resistive material, for example PVC, and the outer element 6 is made from aluminium for the sake of its strength properties.
In the case where locking hardware, such as an espagnolette, is added to the window sash, the locking hardware is attached to the portion 14 of the flange 10 which is located on the inner side of the plane 11. The locking hardware can in some cases be partially hidden from view within the inner element 7. Therefore, in the prior art solution shown in figure 1, it is necessary that the flange 10 of the outer element 6 is quite strong. This is because both mounting hardware and locking hardware are attachable to the flange 10.
In contrast, in order to insulate the warm inside of the window assembly from the cold outer side of the window pane, it is necessary for the inner element 7 to be thermally resistive. Since the strong outer element 6 is made from aluminium, it is very thermally conductive, which means that the innermost point 15 of the outer element 6 is roughly the same temperature as the outside surface 4 of the window pane 3. The plastic inner element 7 therefore, separates the warm inner surface 5 of the window pane 3 from the cold outer element 6. However, in the prior art, the distance "d" between the inside 16 of the window assembly and the innermost point 15 of the outer element 6 is rather small. The thermal insulating properties of the window are directly affected by the size of this gap. In addition, if the gap is too small and there is a large temperature difference between the inside temperature and the outside temperature, the inner surface of the window assembly will be cooled very strongly and there is a therefore a risk of condensation forming on the inner surface 5 of the window assembly. Note that the frame member 17 is typically made from wood which is very thermally resistive.
It is therefore well known that in order to increase the thermal properties of window assemblies it is desired to increase the distance "d" between the innermost point of the "cold" outer element and the inside of the window assembly. In the following, five different embodiments of profile members which have large distances "d" between the innermost point of the outer element and the inside of the window assembly are described.
Figure 2 shows a profile member 20 which has better thermal properties than the prior art profile member 1 shown in figure 1. The profile member 20 is again shown mounted at the edge 2 of a window pane 3. As before the window pane 3 has an outer surface 4 and an inner surface 5. A section of a wooden window frame 17 is also shown.
The profile member 20 comprises an outer element 21, an inner element 22, and a thermally resistive element 23. As in the prior art, the outer element 21 is in contact with the outer surface 4 of the window pane 3 via a seal 8 and the inner element 22 is in contact with the inner surface 5 of the window pane 3 via a seal 9. The outer element 21 is made of aluminium for the sake of its strength while the inner element 22 and the thermally resistive element 23 are made from a thermally resistive material. For example the inner element 22 could be made from PVC and the thermally resistive element 23 could be made from glass fibre re-enforced PA. However, many other types of materials could also be used. The materials can be chosen as a compromise between their strength properties and their thermal properties in order that the final window assembly has the strength and thermal properties required for the specific application.
The outer element 21 comprises a horizontal flange 24 which extends under the edge 2 of the window pane 3. The thermally resistive element 23 connects to the flange 24 at a location which is between the plane 25 of the outside surface 4 of the window pane 3 and the plane 26 of the inside surface 5 of the window pane 3. It can be seen that the thermally resistive element 23 can be considered as a form of "extension" of the flange 24 of the outer element 21.
In this way, the distance "d" between the innermost point 27 of the thermally conductive outer element and the outermost point 28 of the inside surface of the window assembly is much larger than in the prior art. In this way, the thermal properties of a window assembly constructed from the profile elements as shown in figure 2, are much better than those of a window assembly constructed from the profile elements shown in figure 1.
The horizontal flange 24 of the outer element 21 is formed with a hollow box shaped portion. One side 29 of the hollow box shaped portion is arranged at an angle to the plane of the window pane. An attachment element 30 in the form of the female part of a dovetail joint is arranged on this angled side 29. The thermally resistive element 23 has a correspondingly angled side 31 and a corresponding attachment element 32 formed as the male part of a dovetail joint. Due to the angled surface, the area of contact between the thermally resistive element 23 and the flange 24 of the outer element 21 is increased. Due to this increased area of contact, the strength of the connection is increased. Furthermore, due to the increased length of the angled side 29, a wider dovetail joint can be used. This also increases the strength of the connection since the points of engagement of the dovetail joint are spaced further apart thereby increasing the moment which can be supported by the dovetail joint.
In order to further support the thermally resistive elements against vertical loads, the outer element 21 comprises a support element 36. In this case, the support element 36 is a horizontal flange which extends a short distance undemeath the thermally resistive element 23. There is no "positive connection" between the support element 36 and the thermally resistive element 23. In this specification, positive connection is defined as a connection which works in both push and pull directions. In the current embodiment, the support element 36 supports the thermally resistive element via the contact between a surface of the support element and a surface of the thermally resistive element. Therefore, vertical downwardly directed loads on the thermally resistive element 23 will be supported by the support element 36. However, the absence of a positive connection between the two elements 23,36 makes it easy to assemble the two elements 23,36.
Please note that a virtual "connection plane" 33 could be drawn between the thermally resistive element 23 and the outer element 21. Note, the actual connection does not occur along a single plane, as is obvious from the figure. However, an imaginary "connection plane" 33 can be imagined as shown in figure 2. It can be seen that this "connection plane" 33 is angled with respect to the window pane such that the side 34 of the thermally resistive element which is closest to the centre of the window pane 3 extends closer to the outside of the window than the side 35 of the thermally resistive element which is farthest from the centre of the window. In this way, the shortest distance between the warm inside and the cold outer element 21 is increased in comparison to a thermally resistive element having a vertical plane of connection. If the plane of connection were angled the opposite way, then the distance between the warm inside and the cold outer element 21 would be reduced.
Note that in the case of the profile element shown in figure 2, there is a single positive point of connection between the thermally resistive element 23 and the outer element 21. By "positive" point of connection, is meant a point of connection which prevents relative motion between the two connected elements in both pull and push directions. This is in contrast to a simple support type of connection, as is the case between the flange 36 and the thermally resistive element 23. However, it could also be imagined that instead of a single positive point of connection, there could be two positive connection points. In this case, the two connection points would be offset from each other and placed such that the "connection plane" would also be angled as in the current embodiment.
As in the prior art, the outer element 21 also comprises a channel 37 for attaching mounting means (not shown). As was the case with the prior art profile, the channel 37 is arranged on the bottom surface of the box shaped hollow portion of the flange 24. In this embodiment however, one of the sides 38 of the channel 37 is arranged to be a continuation of the angled side 29 of the hollow flange 24 of the outer element 21. In this way, the strength of the outer element 21 is further optimized.
In the case of the current embodiment, the inner element and the thermally resistive element are two distinct elements which are assembled during assembly of the window sash, however, in another embodiment, it could be imagined that the two elements were integrated into a single element.
Figure 3 shows a second embodiment 40 of a profile member of a window sash of an outwardly opening window assembly. The second embodiment 40 is almost identical to the first embodiment 20, only the connection between the thermally resistive element 41 and the flange 42 of the outer element 43 is different, therefore, only this feature of this embodiment will be described.
In this embodiment, the upper surface 44 of the flange 42 of the outer element 41 is formed with an attachment element 45 in the form of the female part of a dovetail connection. The thermally resistive element 41 has a corresponding attachment element 46 in the form of the male part of a dovetail connection. The attachment element 46 extends a certain distance under-neath the edge 2 of the window pane 3 towards the outside of the window in order to engage with the attachment element 45 in the upper surface of the flange 42. In this way, the connection plane 47 is further angled when compared with the first embodiment 20. This increases the strength properties of the profile. The thermal properties of the profile are also improved slightly with respect to the embodiment shown in figure 2 since the distance between the cold outer element and the warm inside is increased slightly.
As in the first embodiment 20, the outer element 43 also comprises a support element 48 to support the thermally resistive element 41 even further.
Figure 4 shows a third embodiment 60 of a profile member. As with the previous embodiment, the profile member 60 is almost identical to the first embodiment 20. The only difference is with the support element 61. Therefore only this feature will be described here.
In this embodiment, the support element 61 is formed as an upwardly facing hook which extends underneath the thermally resistive element 62 and supports the thermally resistive element 62 at a point 63 instead of over a large surface as in the previous two embodiments. The purpose of this embodiment is to show that the support element can be formed in different ways and should not be limited to an essentially horizontal flange as in the first embodiment.
Figure 5 shows a fourth embodiment 70 of a profile member. Again, the profile member 70 is almost identical to the first embodiment 20. Therefore only the differences between this embodiment and the first embodiment 20 will be described. In this embodiment 70, the side 71 of the flange 72 of the outer element 73 is vertical instead of angled. However, the "height" of the essentially horizontal box shaped section of the flange 72 is larger than with the previous embodiments. That is to say that the distance between the two horizontal sides 76, 77 is larger than with the previous embodiments. This means that the innermost side of the box shaped section is longer than with the previous embodiments, thereby allowing the "width" of the dovetail joint to be increased. This results in a strong connection even though there is no angled surface. This embodiment is well suited for outer elements 72 which have a "tall" flange 72. It should be noted that the strength of this embodiment is as good as the previous embodiments, however the thermal properties are not quite as good because the shortest distance between the cold outer element and the warm inside is reduced.
Figure 6 shows a schematic view of an embodiment of an outwardly opening window assembly 100 placed in an opening 101 in a wall 102. The window assembly 100 comprises a window frame 103, a window pane 104 and a window sash 105 arranged around the outside edge of the window pane 104. The window sash 105 is made up of four profile elements 105a, 105b, 105c, 105d, one along each edge of the window pane 104. Mounting hardware in the form of hinges 106 are connected to one of the profile elements 105d and locking hardware in the form of an espagnolette 107 is connected to another one of the profile elements 105b. This is a typical sort of outwardly opening window assembly.
As was previously mentioned, on outwardly opening window assemblies, mounting hardware, such as hinges, are typically attached to the outer part of the profile member and locking hardware, such as espagnolettes, are typically connected to the inner part of the profile member. It can therefore be said that a profile having a really strong connection between the inner part of the profile element and the outer part of the profile element is actually only really necessary on profile members to which locking hardware is connected.
Therefore, according to one aspect of the current invention, one way of improving the thermal properties of the window assembly 100 while maintaining the required strength properties of the window assembly 100, is to assemble the window sash using thermally optimized profiles 105a, 105c, 105d on the sides of the sash having no locking hardware and using a "strong" profiles 105b on the side of the sash on which locking hardware is mounted. In the current embodiment 100, the three thermally optimized profiles 105a, 105c, 105d are identical to one of the profiles shown in figures 2-5. The "strong" profile 105b of the current embodiment 100 is similar to the one shown in figure 1.
This principle could be used with other combinations of profile elements. In certain cases, locking hardware is mounted on two profile elements. In this case, the window assembly could be constructed with two thermally optimized profiles and two prior art type profiles. In general the combination of elements can be chosen in such a way that the resulting thermal and strength properties of the window assembly match the desired thermal and strength properties.
It should also be clear to the person skilled in the art that this aspect of the current invention, namely using a combination of "thermally optimized profiles" and "strong profiles", could be used both for outwardly opening as well as inwardly opening window assemblies.
It should be noted that the embodiments described in this specification disclose a number of features. It should be obvious to the person skilled in the art that many of these features can be used independently of each other.

Claims

A profile member (20, 40, 60, 70) of a window sash for an outwardly opening window assembly, said profile member (20, 40, 60, 70) comprising:
- an outer element (21, 43, 73) which comprises:
- a surface (8) which is in contact with a portion of the outer surface (4) of a window pane (3) when assembled,

- a flange (24, 42, 72) which extends at least partially underneath the window pane (3) when assembled and

- means (37) for attaching mounting hardware to said outer element (21, 43, 73),

- a thermally resistive element (23, 41, 62, 74) which is connected to said flange (24, 42, 72) of said outer element (21, 43, 73) at a location between the plane (26) of the inside surface (5) of the window pane (3) and the plane (25) of the outside surface (4) of the window pane (3) and which extends past the plane (26) of the inside surface (5) of the window pane (3) when assembled, and

- an inner element (22) which is connected to said thermally resistive element (23, 41, 62, 74) and which comprises a surface (9) which is in contact with a portion of the inside surface (5) of the window pane (3) when assembled,
characterized in that said thermally resistive element (23, 41, 62, 74) comprises at least one attachment element (32) which is connectable with a corresponding attachment element (30) on the flange (24, 42, 72) of said outer element (21, 43, 73) and in that said outer element (21, 43, 73) comprises a supporting element (36, 48, 61, 75) which extends underneath a portion of the thermally resistive element (23, 41, 62, 74) which is below the lowermost of said at least one attachment elements (32) of the thermally resistive element (23, 41, 62, 74) and which is in contact with said portion in order to support the thermally resistive element (23, 41, 62, 74) against vertical loads in a downward direction and where a surface of said support element (36, 48, 61, 75) lies up against a surface of said thermally resistive element (23, 41, 62, 74), but is not positively connected to it.
A profile member according to claim 1, characterized in that said supporting element (36, 48, 61, 75) is an essentially horizontal flange protruding from the end of the flange (24, 42, 72) which extends at least partially underneath the window pane (3).
A profile member according to claim 1 or 2 , characterized in that said support element (36, 48, 61, 75) is in contact with the surface of the thermally resistive element (23, 41, 62, 74) which is furthest from the centre of the window.
A profile member according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the support element (36, 48, 61, 75) extends from the outer element (21, 43, 73) further underneath the window pane (3) than the attachment element (30).
A profile member according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that the support element (36, 48, 61, 75) extends from the outer element (21, 43, 73) and past the plane (26) of the inside surface (5) of the window pane (3).
A profile member according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that said flange (24, 42, 72) of said outer element (21, 43, 73) is formed as an essentially horizontal hollow box shaped section.
A profile member according to claim 36, 48, 61, 75, characterized in that the side of said essentially horizontal hollow box shaped section which is closest to the inside of the window is arranged at an angle to the window pane (3) and that said side is connected to a correspondingly angled surface on the thermally resistive element (23, 41, 62, 74) when the outer element (21, 43, 73) and the thermally resistive element (23, 41, 62, 74) are assembled.
A profile member according to claim 7, characterized in that the angle between the angled side and the window pane (3) is such that the side of the essentially horizontal hollow box section farthest from the centre of the window pane (3) extends more towards the inside of the window than the side of the essentially horizontal hollow box section closest to the centre of the window pane (3).
A profile member according to any one of the claims 1 to 8, characterized in that there is a single positive point of connection between the thermally resistive element (23, 41, 62, 74) and the outer element (21, 43, 73), whereby "positive" point of connection means a point of connection which prevents relative motion between the two connected elements in both pull and push directions.
A profile member according to any one of the claims 1 to 9, characterized in that an upper surface (44) of the flange (42) of the outer element (41) is formed with an attachment element (45) in the form of the female part of a dovetail connection, in that the thermally resistive element (41) has a corresponding attachment element (46) in the form of the male part of a dovetail connection, and in that the attachment element (46) extends a certain distance underneath an edge (2) of the window pane (3) towards the outside of the window in order to engage with the attachment element (45) in the upper surface of the flange (42).
A profile member according to any one of the claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the support element (61) is formed as an upwardly facing hook which extends underneath the thermally resistive element (62) and supports the thermally resistive element (62) at a point (63) instead of over a large surface.
A profile member according to any one of the claims 1 to 11, characterized in that a side (71) of the flange (72) of the outer element (73) is vertical.