GB2272483A

GB2272483A - Stays

Info

Publication number: GB2272483A
Application number: GB9326033A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Andrew Cowley
Original assignee: Cotswold Architectural Products Ltd
Current assignee: Cotswold Architectural Products Ltd
Priority date: 1990-05-11
Filing date: 1993-12-31
Publication date: 1994-05-18
Anticipated expiration: 2010-05-11
Also published as: GB2246163B; GB9010633D0; GB2272483B; GB9326033D0; GB2246163A

Abstract

A stay 10 includes a brace 15, a link 16 and an arm 18. Plastics mouldings 24, 25 are provided on the brace 15 and link 16 to reduce binding and increase support. The arm 18 has a nose element 19 which has an extension 20 having a cam path 21, which on closing engages a projection 23, to pull the stay 10 into its fully closed position. The arm 18 also carries, at its other end, a guide element 34 which, on closing engages, with a corresponding element 29 on a track 11, of the stay 10, to lift the arm 18 clear of the track member 11. <IMAGE>

Description

Stavs This invention relates to hinges in the form of stays such as side hung window stays.

The invention is particularly concerned with a stay comprising an arm for supporting a load, a track member, a slider movable along the track member, a strut pivotally connected to the track member and spaced from the slider, a brace pivotally connected to the slider and the strut, and a link pivotally connected to the slider, the arm being connected to the link and the strut for movement between a first position in which it overlies the track member and a second outward position in which it extends at an angle to the track member. Such stays will be referred to as "a stay as hereinbefore defined".

For many reasons windows are becoming bigger and heavier, for example as triple glazing becomes more important. This puts a considerable strain on existing stays and great problems are experienced from binding between the members, the stays dropping so that they do not return properly and stays becoming jammed outside their end caps due to loosening of the rivets.

From one aspect the invention consists in stay as hereinbefore defined, wherein the track member has an upstanding guide element with an inclined lifting surface and the arm has a co-operating element, on its undersurface, with an oppositely sensed inclined surface, such that on movement of the arm into the first position the inclined surface on the co-operating element rides up the inclined surface on the guide element to lift the arm clear of the track member.

In a preferred embodiment one or both of the link and brace may have a low friction undersurface whereby the link and/or brace can bear on the track member, when under load, without binding, throughout the movement between the first and second position.

Preferably at least part of the upper face of the link and/or brace has a low friction surface and such low friction surfaces may be formed by plastic mouldings mounted around the respective elements.

The arm may have a longitudinal extension and the base may have an upward projection located such that the projection engages the extension as the arm is moved into the first position to exert a pivotal force on the link to draw it into a position in which it, and hence the arm, overlies the track member. The extension may be formed with a cam surface on which the projection acts so that the geometry of movement of the link and arm can be precisely defined.

In this arrangement the guide element and the cooperating element may have corresponding inclined surfaces on their opposite sides such that the stay is either handed.

The arm may have a longitudinal extension and the track member has an upward projection located such that the projection engages the extension as the arm is moved into the first position to exert a pivotal force on the link to draw it into a position in which it, and hence the arm, overlies the track member.

The invention may be performed in various ways and a specific embodiment will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing which is a perspective view of a stay.

A stay, generally indicated at 10, comprises a track member 11 having inturned lips 12 and retaining a slider 13 for movement along its length; a strut 14 pivotally connected to the track member 11, a brace 15 pivotally connected to the slider 13 and strut 14, a link 16 pivotally connected to the slider and a further link 17 pivotally connected to the brace 15, and an arm 18 for supporting a window or the like connected to the strut 14 and the links 16,17 for movement between a first position in which it overlies the track member 11 and a second outward position (shown in the Figure) in which it extends at an angle to the track member 11.

This general arrangement is essentially conventicnal and its operation is so well understood in the art that it will not be described in any more detail.

The arm 18 is provided with a nose element 19 which defines an extension 20 and a related cam path 21. As the arm 18 is moved into its first or closed position the nose element 19 approaches an end cap 22 mounted at the opposite end of the track member 11 from the strut 14. The end cap 22 has an upward projection 23 which is dimensioned and positioned to engage the extension 20 before the stay 10 is fully closed so that it will exert a reaction force on the link 16 causing it to pivot fully and smoothly into its closed position overlying the track. This is significant because with existing stays the pivots are rapidly coming into line as the stay closes and the forces on the link drop rapidly with the result that the final closing movement can be difficult to achieve.The use of the projection 23 in combination with the extension 20 applies the forces to the link 16 in an effective position and the cam path 21 can be selected so that the geometry of movement of the link 16 and arm 18 is precisely defined.

As has been mentioned above the increasing weight of windows carried by the stays has a tendency to distort the stay at an angle to its plane of movement with the result that the brace 15 and link 16 tend to bind on the surface of the track member 11. The conventional approach has therefore been to attempt to space these elements away from the track member 11 but this only increases the likelihood of the stay being distorted. In contrast the Applicants provide plastic mouldings 24,25 which may be in a number of parts, for covering the undersurface of the brace 15 and link 16 so as to reduce the friction between them and the track member 11, with the result that they can engage the lips 12 throughout the movement of the stay 10.They are thus always supported on either side of their pivot and the degree of distortion of the stay is reduced, whilst the provision of the low friction surface over the complete length of the undersurface of the link and brace provides for a smoothly acting stay. The mouldings can also extend over the upper surface although channels 26,27 may be required to allow for fixing in the arm 18.

At the end 28, remote from the end cap 22, the stay 10 has an inserted guide element 29 which is formed with a pair of inclined side surfaces 30,31 and an intermediate plateau 32. On the undersurface of the end 33 of the arm 18 is a corresponding element 34 which has inclined surfaces 35,36.

As the stay is closed the surface 35 engages the cooperating surface 30 and rides up it until the element 34 sits on the plateau 32. The arm 18 is therefore held clear of the track member 11. It is known to provide similar elements singularly but these do not deal with the problem when the stay has dropped through use. The double wedging action proposed by the Applicants enables the arm to be picked up from a dropped position and acts much more positively than previous proposals.

A pair of inclined sides 31,32 are provided so that the stay can be either handed. This is true of all other elements apart from the nose element 19 and end cap 22.

Mirror images are obviously required for each of these if the hand of the stay is to be swopped. To simplify this the arm 18 is provided with a normal nose on which the nose element 19 sits. As the fixing at that point is a pivot the nose element 19 is provided with an anti-rotation tab 37 which is received in a co-operating recess in the step 38 of the arm 18.

Claims

1. A stay as hereinbefore defined, wherein the track member has an upstanding guide element with an inclined lifting surface and the arm has a co-operating element, on its undersurface, with an oppositely sensed inclined surface, such that on movement of the arm into the first position the inclined surface on the co-operating element rides up the inclined surface on the guide element to lift the arm clear of the track member.

2. A stay as claimed in Claim 1, wherein one or both of the link and brace have a low friction undersurface whereby the link and/or brace can bear on the track, when under load, without binding throughout the movement between the first and second positions.

3. A stay as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein at least a part of the upper face of the link and/or brace has a low friction surface.

4. A stay as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the low friction surface or surfaces are formed by plastics mouldings.

5 A hinge as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the guide element and the co-operating element have corresponding inclined surfaces on their opposite sides such that the stay is either handed