GB2198174A - Window frame assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

A coupling member 10 for a window frame assembly. The member 10 has a floor 40 inclined from an upstanding stop flange 41 to a gutter flange 42; provides upper coupling means 15, of a male form (functionally equivalent to coupling means 14 of a sill 12), comprising upstanding flanges 43 and 44 having further hooked end portions 33; and provides lower coupling means 16, of a female form (functionally equivalent to the coupling means 13 of a frame member (11) comprising a lateral wall 45, co-planar with the stop flange, and a lateral wall 46 offset form the gutter flange, which walls 45 and 46 have mutually opposed terminal flanges 47 to 48 to define a re-entrant channel 49 below the floor 40. The first and upper coupling means 13 and 15 interengage to interconnect the members 10 and 11; the second and lower coupling means 14 and 16 similarly interengage to interconnect the members 10 and 12; and the floor is extended so that the gutter flange is spaced apart from one side 17 of the member 11 to define a gutter 18 therewith. Drainage paths 19 are provided at intervals along the length of the run. <IMAGE>

Description

WIl#DOW FRALIE ASSERIRLY This invention concerns window frame assemblies and parts of such assemblies.

Many different means for collecting and draining water from window frame assemblies have been proposed, but such means suffer from a variety of disadvantages such as cost, inefficiency, blockages and unattractive appearance, and an object of the invention is to enable such disadvantages to be reduced or avoided.

According to the present invention there is provided a window frame assembly wherein a run of the frame assembly below a window comprises a first extruded member having on its underside first coupling means; wherein a second extruded member, having on its upper side second coupling means constructed and arranged to interengage with the first coupling means to connect the first and second extruded members together, is disposed below the first extruded member; and wherein there is provided, between said first and second extruded members, an extruded coupling member which interengages said first and second coupling means, provides a gutter flange alongside but spaced apart from one side of the first extruded member to define therewith a gutter, and provides a drainage path to convey liquid, collected by the gutter, to or towards the other side of the window frame assembly.

The first extruded member preferably has an internal drain path to allow liquid to drain down to said drainage path, and the latter preferably discharges liquid externally of the second extruded member.

The first and second extruded members may be standard extrusions utilised elsewhere in the assembly without interposition of the coupling member, and the interengagement of the coupling member with the extruded members is preferably such that it does not displace the extruded members relative to a median plane of the assembly.

The second extruded member may be a sill member.

The invention also provides an extruded coupling member, for use in the assembly of the invention, comprising a floor extending transversely from an upstanding gutter flange to an upstanding stop flange, upper coupling means upstanding from said floor intermediate said flanges, and lower coupling means projecting downwards below said floor; wherein the upper coupling means is constructed to interengage with a separate coupling means having a functional configurative equivalent to the configuration of the lower coupling means; and wherein said upper coupling means is interrupted and said floor is apertured to provide a drainage path extending away from the gutter flange and through the floor.

The upper and lower coupling means are preferably arranged so that, in use, said separate coupling means is vertically aligned with the lower coupling means.

The floor is preferably inclined towards the gutter flange.

The invention will be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawing showing a crosssection through a lower run of a window frame assembly incorporating a coupling member 10 of the invention.

The window frame assembly includes a lower frame member 11 and is a sill member 12, both of which are extrusions of thermoplastics material and are of known form, which members are examples only of a variety of forms of member, e.g. sub-frame, main frame and surround members, which are provided with coupling means permitting them to be connected together directly. The coupling means are, usually, bilaterally symmetrical, to permit side for side reversal of one such member relative to the other member prior to interconnection. Diost of these members have a plurality of internal cavities, e.g. the cavities 20, 21, 22 in the frame member 11, one or more of which, e.g. the central body cavity 21, may have a metal reinforcing member 23 inserted prior to the member being incorporated into the assembly.

In the example shown, the underside of the frame member 11 has first coupling means 13 of female form, comprising lower lateral extensions 24 and 25 having mutually opposed spaced apart terminal flanges 27 and 28; and the upper side of the sill member 12 has second coupling means 14, of male form, comprising upstanding flanges 30 amd 31 having hooked end portions 33 which can be pressed or snap-fitted into the re-entrant channel 29 between the extensions 24 and 25 to engage behind the flanges 27 and 28.

The coupling member 10 is an extrusion which provides a floor 40 which is inclined from an upstanding stop flange 41 to a gutter flange 42; provides upper coupling means 15, of a male form functionally equivalent to the coupling means 14, comprising upstanding flanges 43 and 44 having further hooked end portions 33; and provides lower coupling means 16, of a female form functionally equivalent to the coupling means 13, comprising a lateral wall 45, co-planar with the stop flange, and a lateral wall 46 offset from the gutter flange, which walls 45 and 46 have mutually opposed terminal flanges 47 and 48 to define a re-entrant channel 49 below the floor 40.

As shown in the drawing, the first and upper coupling means 13 and 15 interengage to interconnect the members 10 and 11; the second and lower coupling means 14 and 16 similarly interengage to interconnect the members 10 and 12; and the floor is extended so that the gutter flange is spaced apart from one side 17 of the member 11 to define a gutter 18 therewith.

In order to provide drainage paths 19 the flanges 43 and 44 and the extension 25 are interrupted at intervals along the length of the run, the floor 40 is apertured and, in the embodiment the flange 47 is interrupted to allow liquid to drain down onto an external sill surface 50 of the member 12. The upper and lower walls 51 and 52 of the cavity 20 are also apertured to provide a drain path for liquid seeping past seals 53 and joints 54 onto the member 11.

The gutter serves to collect any liquid, which drains down said one side 17, especially condensate from the window 55, and serves to overhand and conceal the junction between the assembly and an internal sill or ledge of the structure in which the assembly is fitted.

The invention is not confined to details of the foregoing example, and many variations and modifications are possible within the scope of the invention. For instance, the apertures in the floor may be positioned to cause the liquid to drain onto the upper surface, between the flanges 30 and 31 of the member 12 and the upper surface and other parts of the lower member below the coupling member may be apertured or interrupted, e.g. as shown at 56, in broken lines, to extend the drain path within said lower member.

The floor may be of shallow V-sectional shape and apertured at the base of the V, so that the overall effective thickness of the coupling member, and thus the separation of the members above and below the coupling member, may be minimised.

The coupling member may be retro-fitted into a window installation, and the invention further provides a suitable method comprising the steps of a) removing the window assembly from an opening and detaching the sill member from the remainder of the assembly, b) increasing the aperture height of the opening or providing an alternative sill member having a lesser effective height below said remainder, c) uniting the remainder and the sill member with the coupling member therebetween and refitting the assembly into the opening.

The invention also includes a novel feature, part or method, and any novel combination of features, parts or method steps herein disclosed or shown in the drawings.

Claims (8)

1. A window frame assembly wherein a run of the frame assembly below a window comprises a first extruded member having on its underside first coupling means; wherein a second extruded member, having on its upper side second coupling means constructed and arranged to interengage with the first coupling means to connect the first and second extruded members together, is disposed below the first extruded member; and wherein there is provided, between said first and second extruded members, an extruded coupling member which interengages said first and second coupling means, provides a gutter flange alongside but spaced apart from one side of the first extruded member to define therewith a gutter, and provides a drainage path to convey liquid, collected by the gutter, to or towards the other side of the window frame assembly.

2. An assembly as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the first extruded member has an internal drain path to allow liquid to drain down to said drainage path, and wherein the latter discharges liquid externally of the second extruded member.

3. An assembly as claimed in Claim 1 or 2 wherein the first and second extruded members are standard extrusions utilised elsewhere in the assembly without interposition of the coupling member, and wherein the interengagement of the coupling member with the extruded members is such that it does not displace the extruded members relative to a median plane of the assembly.

4. An extruded coupling member, constructed and arranged for use in the assembly claimed in Claim 1, 2 or 3, comprising a floor extending transversely from an upstanding gutter flange to an upstanding stop flange, upper coupling means upstanding from said floor intermediate said flanges, and lower coupling means projecting downwards below said floor; wherein the upper coupling means is constructed to interengage with a separate coupling means having a functional configurative equivalent to the configuration of the lower coupling means; and wherein said upper coupling means is interrupted and said floor is apertured to provide a drainage path extending away from the gutter flange and through the floor.

5. A member as claimed in Claim 4 wherein the upper and lower coupling means are arranged so that, in use, said separate coupling means is vertically aligned with the lower coupling means.

6. A member as claimed in Claim 4 or 5 wherein the floor is inclined towards the gutter flange.

7. A window frame assembly as claimed in Claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the coupling member is as claimed in Claim 4, 5 or 6.

8. An assembly or coupling member substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.