GB2084638A - Adjustable Awning - Google Patents

Abstract

An adjustable awning including at least one support member, e.g. upright 10 and bracket 11, supporting at least one blade 19, control means, e.g. link 34, worm screw 29, and actuating means, e.g. handle 30 operatively associated with the control means and the at least one blade such that upon operation of the control means the at least one blade may be pivoted relative to the at least one support member from a closing position to an opening position and vice versa. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Adjusting awning This invention relates to an adjustable awning.

There are many types of fixed awnings available which may be fitted to buildings to shield windows or doors from the sun in the hot summer months.

The major problem with fixed awnings that they also shield out the sun in winter, making the building much cooler than it need be and increasing heating costs.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an adjustable awning where the awning blades can be adjustably set to control the passing of sunlight therethrough.

It is a preferred object to provide such an awning adapted for modular manufacture and pre-assembly before installation.

It is a further preferred object to provide such an awning which has a single operating control which can be operated remotely inside the building.

The present invention resides in an adjustable awning including: at least one support member; at least one blade supported by said at least one support member; control means; and actuating means operatively associated with said control means and said at least one blade wherein upon operation of said control means said at least one blade may be pivoted relative to said at least one support member from a closing position to an opening position and vice versa, said opening position being adjustable relative to said closing position so as to control or vary the passing of sunlight therethrough.

Suitably there are provided a plurality of support members which may include spaced uprights having a plurality of equally spaced brackets on each upright. It is also preferred to provide a multiplicity of blades supported by the plurality of support members.

There are also preferably included blade mounting members pivotally attached to each support member and more preferably to opposed arms on each bracket at the mid-point of the blade mounting member.

Preferably each blade is "snapped" over each blade mounting member and is held in position without the aid of fasteners.

Preferably the control means includes control units comprising a travelling nut mounted on a worm screw. Preferably the control units are attached to associated uprights and are interconnected by suitable actuating shafts to operate in unison when the master control unit, having a suitable operating handle, is operated.

It is also within the scope of the invention to have adjustable awnings interconnected by vertical actuating shafts and/or horizontal actuating shafts from a master control unit as will be apparent from the following description.

Preferably the actuating means includes a link interconnecting the travelling nut with one of the blade mounting members. An operating member or bar may be connected to each blade mounting member so that axial movement of the operating bar may cause each blade mounting member to be pivotally moved in unison.

To enable the invention to be fully understood, a preferred embodiment will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In these drawings: FIG 1 illustrates a side elevation of an adjustable awning constructed in accordance with the invention showing the awning in the closed position; FIG 2 illustrates a rear perspective view of part of a modified adjustable awning constructed in accordance with the invention; and FIG 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of a plurality of adjustable awning all interconnected by common actuating means.

In the drawings, there is shown a plurality of tubular uprights or stringers 10 mounted in spaced parallel relationship in front of a window or door (the stringers may be vertical or horizontal).

A plurality of brackets 11 are fixed on the front surface 12 of each stringer 10 at equally spaced intervals by suitable fasteners e.g. rivets passing through the bases 13 of the brackets.

Each bracket 11 has a pair of parallel arms 14 connected to respective sides of the base 13 at their inner ends. Each arm 14 has a laterally inwardly directed pin 15 adjacent its free end as shown. The pins 15 may be coaxial as shown.

A blade clip or mounting member 76 has a pair of side walls 17 connected by a web 18. The clip 16 is pivotally mounted at its midpoint between the free ends of the arms 14, each pin 15 engaging in a hole (not shown) in the adjacent side wall 17 of the clip 16.

As shown, a blade 19 (formed of any suitable material such as an aluminium or plastic extrusion), is "snapped" onto a respective blade clip 16 on each stringer 10, the blades 19 extending the full width or height of the awning as the case may be. The clips 16 have an outer surface as shown which is complementary to the inner surface of the clip as shown to facilitate the snap fit therebetween.

A control arm 20 has a body 21 which has a slot or aperture therethrough to receive an operating bar 22. The body 21 is fixed to the operating bar 22 by suitable fasteners 22a e.g. rivets.

A leg 23 extends forwardly and upwardly from the body 21 and terminates in a bush 24 having an axial bore. A pin 25 passes through the bore and through aligned holes in the side walls 17 of the adjacent blade clip 16 to pivotally interconnect the control arm 20 to the clip 16. As shown, this connection is adjacent one end of the clip 16.

In the closed position, the adjacent end 26 of the web 18 of the clip engages the leg 23 to form a stop to prevent the adjacent blades 19 coming into contact and rattling.

As shown in FIG 1, the spacing between the respective control arms 20 on the operating bar 22 is equal to the distance between the respective pivot points of the blade clips 16 so that axial movement of the operating bar 22 will cause the blade clips 16 (and blades 19) to pivotally move in unison and the blades 19 will remain substantially parallel throughout their range of movement.

A control box 27 is mounted on a side wall 28 on one of the stringers 10. A worm screw 29 is rotatably mounted in the box and is rotated by an external handle 30 via a drive shaft 31 and a bevel gear assembly 32.

Atravelling nut 33 is screw-threadedly mounted on the worm screw 29 and moves along it as the latter is rotated.

A link 34 is pivotally connected at one end to the nut 33 by a pin 35. The other end of the link 34 is pivotally connected to block 36 which has a laterally extending pin 37 engages in a hole in the link.

A second pin 38 extends from the other side of the block 36 and passes through the blade clip 16 and bush 24 of the control arm 20 to replace the usual pin 25. A third pin 39, on the same side as pin 38, engages in a hole in the adjacent side wall 17 of the bide clip 16 to assist in holding the block 36 in position.

An aperture 40 in the front wall 41 of the control box 27 allows free movement of the link.

The lower end of the worm screw 29 is connected to a pair of laterally extending connecting shafts 42 via a second bevel gear arrangement 43. These connecting shafts 42 are connected to the bevel gear arrangements 43 in the respective control boxes 27 on the adjacent stringers 10 so that the worm screws 29 are rotated in unison.

The operation of the awning shown in FIG 1 will now be described.

The awning is assembled and installed with the stringers 10 parallel and at equal spacings; the blade clips 16 interconnected by the respective operating bar 22 for each stringer; one of the blade clips 16 per stringer connected to the travelling nut 33 in each control box 27; and the control boxes 27 interconnected by connecting or actuating shafts 42.

As shown, the awning is closed with the blades 19 overlapping.

To open the awning, the handle 30 is rotated to rotate the worm screw 29 in the main control box 27.

Simultaneously, the worm screws 29 in the other control boxes are rotated via the connecting shafts 42 and bevel gear arrangements 43.

The travelling nuts 33 move down the worm screws 29 in unison.

The links 34 pull the upper ends of the blade clips 16 downwardly and rearwardly so as to pivot them in an anti-clockwise direction relative to the brackets 11. The blade clips 16 above and below the clips 16 connected to the links 34 are pivotally moved in unison therewith by the operating bar 22 which is moved downwardly and rearwardly also.

At approximate mid-point of the pivotal movement of the blades 19, they are substantially horizontal.

Continued operation of the handle 30 continues the pivotal movement of the blades until they are approximately 45-70 to the normal to the stringers.

This allows any winter sun to pass through the awning onto the door or window behind it.

To close the awning, the handle 30 is rotated in the opposite direction to pivotally move the blades 19 in a clockwise direction until the blades 19 again overlap.

It will be readily apparent to the skilled addressee that the awning can be arranged with its blades 19 either horizontal or vertical as required.

By the modular construction of this awning, awnings of any length can be assembled using two or more stringers 10 with their respective assemblies and blades 19 cut to the required length.

As the blades 19 may be simply "snapped" onto the blade clip 16, they do not require fasteners to hold them in position.

As the blade clips 16 are pivotally mounted attheir mid-points, any forces due to winds are substantially equalized about the pivot point and the blade clips 16 are simply connected to the brackets 11 by the pins 15 on the arms 14.

In FIG 2 there is shown an adjustable awning simi-, lar in all respects to the awning shown in FIG 1 except in relation to the control means. FIG 2 also clearly shows the interconnection between blade clips 16 and blades 19. In FIG 2, however, instead of a direct attachment between operating handle 30 and shaft 31 there is shown an indirect attachment means wherein the awning is operated from inside a building. Thus there is shown handle 30 engaging with attachment plate 46 attached to the interior surface of a wall of a building (not shown) via bush 48.

There is also shown a common shaft 45 interconnecting attachment plate 46 and attachment plate 47 which is attached to the exterior surface of the wall.

Shaft 45 engages in bush 49 associated with wall attachment plate 47. There is also shown shaft 44 engaging with universal joint 50 associated with attachment plate 47 and universal joint 51 which is operatively associated with shaft 31 previously described in relation to FIG 1.

In Fig 3 it is illustrated how a common control handle which engages with control box 27 of awning 52 can be used to operate a plurality of awnings 53, 54 and 55. Control box 27 has horizontal actuating shaft 42 operatively associated with slave boxes 27A of both awnings 52 and 53 whereby actutation of the control handle associated with control box 27 in turn actuates awning 53.

Also by the use of vertical actuating shafts 42A it will be clear that operation of awning 54 and 55 can also be controlled through control box 27.

Thus awning can be operated by the use of vertical actuating shafts 42A as well as horizontal shafts 42 and thus awnings attached by actuating shafts horizontally and/or vertically can be controlled by a single operating means within the interior of the building in accordance with the invention.

Claims (5)

1. An adjustable awning including: at least one support member; at least one blade supported by said at least one support member; control means; and actuating means operatively associated with said control means and said at least one blade wherein upon operation of said control means said at least one blade may be pivoted relative to said at least one support member from a closing position to an opening position and vice versa, said opening position being adjustable relative to said closing position so as to control or vary the passing the sunlight therethrough.

2. An adjustable awning as claimed in Claim 1 wherein there are provided a multiplicity of blades supported by said plurality of support members.

3. An adjustable awning according to Claim 1 or 2 wherein there are provided blade mounting members pivotally interconnecting a respective blade and an associated support member.

4. An adjustable awning as claimed in Claim 3 wherein the plurality of support members include a plurality of upright members having support brackets rigidly attached thereto, said blade mounting members being pivotally attached to an associated support bracket

5. An adjustable awning as claimed in claim 3 or 4 wherein each of the blade mounting members have an outer mounting surface which is complementary in shape to the undersurface of an associated blade wherein said blades may engage in a snap fit with their respective blade mounting members.

5. An adjustable awning as claimed in Claim 3 or 4 wherein each of the blade mounting members have an outer mounting surface which is complementary in shape to the undersurface of an associated blade wherein said blades may engage in a snap fit with their respective blade mounting members.

6. An adjustable awning as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5 wherein said actuating means includes a link member pivotally associated with at least one blade mounting member, said link member being operatively connected to a control unit attached to an adjacent support member.

7. An adjustable awning as claimed in Claim 6 wherein the control unit includes a travelling nut mounted on a worm screw which is rotated either directly or indirectly by a control handle.

8. An adjustable awning as claimed in Claim 7 wherein there are provided connecting members between adjacent control units which are each attached to an associated support member so that said control units may operate in unison when a master control unit having said control handle is operated.

9. An adjustable awning as claimed in Claim 8 wherein said connecting members comprise connecting shafts which at each end thereof are coupled to gear means associated with worm screws included in said adjacent control units.

10. An adjustable awning as claimed in any one of Claims 3 to 9 wherein there is provided an operating member which is pivotally attached to respective ends of said blade mounting members so that axial movement of the operating member will cause each of the blade mounting members and their attached blades to pivot substantially in unison.

11. An adjustable awning as claimed in Claim 1 substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

12. An assembly of adjustable awnings wherein each awning is an awning as claimed in any preceding claim wherein there is provided common interconnecting means between awnings located side by side and/or common interconnecting means between awnings located one above the other wherein operation of a single control means associated with one awning causes each awning to be opened or closed in unison.

13. An assembly of adjustable awnings wherein each awning is an awning as claimed in Claim 8 wherein said connecting members of each awning are interconnected by a common horizontal member in the case of awnings located side by side and/or said connecting members of each awning are interconnected by a common vertical member in the case of awnings located one above the other and wherein operation of said master control unit causes each awning to be opened or closed in unison.

14. An assembly of adjustable awnings as claimed in Claim 8 substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

New claims or amendments to claims filed on 10.12.81.

Superseded claims 1-5.

New or amended claims:- 1-5

1. An adjustable awning including: at least one support member; at least one blade supported by said at least one support member; control means including a travelling member mounted on a mounting shaft which may be operated either directly or indirectly by a control handle; and actuating means operatively associated with said control means and said at least one blade wherein upon operation of said control means said at least one blade may be pivoted relative to said at least one support member from a closing position to an opening position and vice versa, said opening position being adjustable relative to said closing position so as to control or vary the passing of sunlight therethrough.

2. An adjustable awning as claimed in claim 1 wherein there are provided a multiplicity of blades supported by said plurality of support members.

3. An adjustable awning according to claim 1 or 2 wherein there are provided blade mounting members pivotally interconnecting a respective blade and an associated support member.

4. An adjustable awning as claimed in claim 3 wherein the plurality of support members include a plurality of upright members having support brackets rigidly attached thereto, said blade mounting members being pivotally attached to an associated support bracket.