US3381991A - Devices for coupling window sashes to each other - Google Patents

Description

G. HOLM 3,381,991

DEVICES FOR COUPLING WINDOW SASHES TO EACH OTHER May 7, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. '7, 1965 DEVICES FOR COUPLING WINDOW SASHES TO EACH OTHER Filed Dec. 7, 1965 V 2 Sheets-Sheet t'-.

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United States Patent M 3,381,991 DEVICES FOR COUPLING WINDOW SASHES TO EACH OTHER Giista Helm, P.O. Box 41, Ransta. Sweden Filed Dec. 7, 1965, Ser. No. 512,071 Claims priority, application Sweden, Dec. 23, 1964, 15,638/ 64 7 Claims. (Cl. 292--87) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A device for coupling a pair of window sashes to each other comprising an anchoring member, a resilient latch arm movably connected to the anchoring member and a locking member engageable by a hook integrally affixed to the latch arm, wherein the latch arm is stepwise shaped with the ends thereof transversely displaced relative to each other so that the arm will flex longitudinally when the hook engages the locking member and will resiliently urge the sashes together when they are coupled to each other.

The invention relates to a device for coupling a pair of window sashes to each other.

In the devices for releasably coupling window sashes to each other, as hitherto generally used, it is necessary to utilize a screw driver for disengaging and closing the same in connection with window-Washing. Usually these known devices are not pulling the window sashes together and, moreover, they can disengage unintentionally.

The object of the invention is to create a device well adapted for coupling window sashes togelher and being so as to allow disengaging and closing by a simple movement of the hand without the aid of a screw driver and being safely kept in closed position under a resilient clampin force.

According to the concept of the invention it should be possible to attain this object by utilizing a latch means of hasp type and with a resilient hook member, if the device could be made simple and compact both regarding the hook-shaped latch arm and regarding the anchoring member in which it is journalled, as Well as the locking member with which the hook proper engages. Now, the inventor has succeeded in creating such simple and compact device by combining certain features in the way appearing from the appendant claims.

One embodiment of a device according to the invention is by way of example diagrammatically illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fractional front elevation of the device as seen towards the vertical edges of the two coupled window sashes;

FIG. 2 is a fractional horizontal longitudinal section along the line II--II in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an end view of the anchoring member as seen towards its left-hand end in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a coupled window, I indicating the place where FIG. 1 is taken.

In the drawing, the reference numeral 1 indicates the sash of the inside window and 2 is the sash of the outside window. Moreover 3 indicates the latch arm, 4 is the anchoring member for the same, and 5 is the locking member. The anchoring member 4 is disposed in a recess in the window sash 1 and is fixed by means of screws 6. The locking member 5 is disposed in a recess in the window sash 2 and is fixed by means of screws 7.

The locking member 5 is a body with a groove 8 made in the top surface for accommodating the latch arm 3, the hook 9 of said latch arm being arranged to engage Patented May 7, 1968 over the outer edge of the locking body 5. The anchoring member 4 is a body with a socket 10 made in the bottom surface, the latch arm being pivotally mounted in said socket with an enlargement formed at the end of the same. The enlargement could be a pivot pin but in the preferred embodiment shown it is a ball 11. Towards the groove 8, the socket is open through a slot 12 for the latch arm. A conical centering pin 13 on the anchoring body 4 is arranged to engage in a corresponding hole 14 in the locking body 5. The anchoring body 4 and the locking body 5 are compression-moulded elements, preferably of plastic.

The latch arm 3 together with the hook 9 and the ball 11 consists of a compression-moulded element of a somewhat resilient plastic (for instance nylon), the hook 9 being resiliently clamped over the outer edge of the locking body 5 while resiliently pulling the bodies 4, 5 together as much as allowed by the centering pin. The book 9 can engage in a depression in the outer end face of the locking body 5, and the hook 9 can be plateshaped and disposed at an oblique angle with respect to the latch arm, inclining towards the right in FIG. 2, such that the hook 9 with its free edge will engage with the outer edge of the locking body 5 while: resiliently yielding for the same. These edges on the hook 9 and the locking body 5, respectively, should be bevelled or rounded. The latch arm 3 is provided with a grip 15' which is made in connection with the hook 9, preferably in the shape of a semicircular plate, constituting a convenient handle, so that the hook 9 can be easily disengaged by rocking the same downwards in FIG. 2 or closed by rocking in the opposite direction. Although the latch arm 3 possibly could be a straight arm, it is preferred that the arm be stepwise shaped with the end-portion thereof supporting the hook 9, and the other end-portion thereof supporting the ball 11 transversely displaced relative each other, as shown in FIG. 2, whereby the latch arm will have a certain amount of resiliency also in its longitudinal direction, permitting it to flex longitudinally.

In the closed position of the device the latch arm lies will protected within the groove 8 in the locking body 5, and by the centering pin 13 an exact alignment of the bodies 4, 5 in relation to each other is secured both in the vertical direction, so that the latch arm 3 is guided in the groove 8 without jamming, as well as in the horizontal direction, so that a resilient engagement between book 9 and locking body 5 is always secured. The two bodies can be delivered while kept together by the latch arm 3, so that the carpenter in mounting the device can screw them to the sashes without special adjustment operations. If desired, the circular socket 10 can be closed by a filler 18 in the portion adjacent to the bottom surface of the anchoring body 4, after the latch arm has been mounted with the ball within the socket 10.

The anchoring body 4 could be made with a height equal to that of the locking body 5', but the anchoring body 4 can be made with a lower height than the locking body 5 and be recessed below the outer surface of sash 1, as shown in FIG. 2, for accommodating a concealing member 16 thereover. As also shown in FIG. 2, the locking body 5 can be made with a thin flange 17, preferably semi-circular, extending inwards over the surface of the sash 2, to provide a narrow space between the two sashes 1, 2 corresponding to the thickness of a painted layer on each sash. In FIG. 1, the painted layers are indicated at A.

In order to insure that the latch arm 3 will remain in open position so that the latch arm will not be broken, when the two sashes are placed together, the slot 12 can be made more narrow adjacent the front side thereof, as shown in FIG. 3, for holding the latch arm open by 3 a Wedging action, but preventing the closing of the arm by hand.

I claim:

1. A device for coupling a pair of window sashes to each other comprising:

(a) an anchoring member attached to one sash and having a slot and an internal socket therein, said slot communicating between said socket and one end of said member;

(b) a latch arm composed of a resilient plastic and having a ball and a hook integrally affixed to the opposite ends thereof, said ball being held by and movable within said socket so that the arm extends through and is movable within said slot; and

(c) a locking member attached to the other sash and having a groove in one surface thereof and an outer edge, said arm being accommodated within said groove and said outer edge being engaged by said hook to couple the sashes to each other, said arm being stepwise shaped with the ends thereof being transversely displaced relative to each other so that the arm will flex longitudinally when the hook engages the outer edge of the locking member and will resiliently urge the sashes together when they are coupled to each other.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein said hook is plate-shaped and is disposed at an oblique angle with respect to the latch arm for resilient engagement with the outer edge of the locking member.

3. A device according to claim 1, wherein said latch arm includes a plate-shaped grip integrally afiixed to the same end of the arm as the hook.

4. A device according to claim 1, wherein a conical centering pin is atfixed to said anchoring member and said locking member includes a hole for receiving said pin when the sashes are placed together so that the sashes will be aligned properly to be coupled to each other by said latch arm when they are placed together.

5. A device according to claim 1, wherein said anchoring member is recessed below the outer surface of the 5 sash to which it is attached for accommodating a concealing member which is positioned thereover.

6. A device according to claim 1, wherein said locking member includes a thin flange which exends between the sashes when they are coupled to each other to thereby 10 provide a narrow space between the sashes corresponding to the combined thickness of a layer of paint on each sash.

7. A device according to claim 1, wherein said slot extends from the front to the rear of said anchoring 15 member and is narrower adjacent the front of said member than the rear thereof, the narrower portion of the slot serving to hold the latch arm open by a wedging action so that the arm will not be broken when the sashes are placed together.

r MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner.

0 JOHN R. MOSES, Assistant Examiner.

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