GB2267742A - Ventilator with retractable actuation knob. - Google Patents

Abstract

The ventilator, e.g. for window frames, includes an actuation knob (20) mounted in a housing (60) which is attached to a pair of rib flanges (40, 42) of the facing strip (44) of the ventilator. The knob is threaded and can be unwound from a recessed position, through an aperture in the facing strip, to an exposed position at which it is lockable. The housing is formed integrally with the facing strip, or alternatively is clipped onto the facing strip. Retracting the knobs during transit allows more efficient transport and prevents damage to the knobs. <IMAGE>

Description

VENTILATOR This invention relates to a ventilator, for example, a slot ventilator.

It is known to provide secondary ventilation for a room with sealed windows and/or double glazing without having to open the window by inserting a slot ventilator, such as a parallel motion ventilator of the type described in GB-A-1417751, into a slot routed in the frame or sash of a window.

Such ventilators include a facing strip which is movable relative to a channel ' for controlling ventilation. In use, the channel is fixed to the frame or sash. An actuation knob is attached to the front face of the facing strip in order to provide manual purchase for an operator to control ventilation.

A problem with this type of conventional ventilator is that, if the ventilator is attached to the window at the factory, the knob is liable-to be damaged during transit to the installation site. It has become known to stack the windows next to one another during transit using spacing parts between the windows to protect the projecting knobs from damage. The spacers cause relatively inefficient transport of the windows.

Alternatively, to load more windows for transport, it is known to instal the ventilator into its slot after transit to the installation site. However, it is often preferable to instal the ventilator into its slot at the factory.

The resent invention aims to alleviate these problems of the prior art.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a ventilator having a front facia and an actuation knob mounted to the ventilator for moving the facia to control the ventilator, wherein the knob is movable relative to the facia from a recessed position to an exposed position forward of the facia. Such a ventilator has the advantage that windows can be packed efficiently next to one another and the actuation knob is not liable, when located in the recessed position, to damage during transmit.

Preferably, the ventilator comprises a slot ventilator and the facia comprises a ventilator facing strip which is connected by a control mechanism to a channel member for securing the ventilator to a slot in a structural member. The structural member preferably comprises a member of a window frame or sash such as the top rail thereof.

The ventilator preferably includes a mount for guiding the knob from the recessed position to the exposed position. The mount preferably comprises a housing mounted adjacent to a rear surface of the facing strip. The housing preferably includes a bore for guiding the knob. Preferably, a helical thread is provided on at least one of the knob and bore such that the knob is arranged for axial movement in the bore in response to a torque applied at one end of the bore.

This has the advantage that, when a fitting for actuation by a tool (such as a transverse slot for rotation by a screwdriver) is provided in the end of the knob, the knob can be unwound to the exposed position towards the end at which the tool is applied. Preferably, an aperture is provided in the facing strip of the ventilator and the knob is arranged for movement to the exposed position through the aperture.

Preferably, the knob is lockable in the exposed position. To effect such locking, one of the knob and the mount may be provided with a detent and the other with a projecting pin or peg, and the detent and peg may be arranged to engage one another on the knob reaching the exposed position to prevent further movement of the knob. Alternatively, one of the knob and mount could be provided with a projecting peg and the other with a nonreturn spring, such as a leaf spring, for snapping into position to effect non-return locking of the knob.

The ventilator may be provided with means for confining the knob to an attached engagement with the mount while the knob is in the recessed position. The confining means may comprise a blocking element for preventing rearward movement of the knob away from the facing strip. The blocking element may be mounted to or integral with the ventilator channel member where such is provided.

The mount may be formed integrally with the facing strip of the ventilator in which case the integral housing and facing strip unit is preferably moulded, for example of plastics material in an injection mould.

Alternatively, the mount may be formed separately from the facing strip. In this case, the facing strip may be of extruded aluminium material and the mount may be of injecting moulded plastics material.

Preferably, the mount is arranged for clipping securement to the facing strip on the rear side of the facing strip. The facing strip may include an integral rearwardly projecting flange and the mount may include a connection means for lockably securing the mount on the flange. Preferably, one of the flange and connector means includes a detent and the other a wedge for engaging the detent to lock the mount to the facing strip.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a ventilator having a front facia and an actuation knob for moving the facia to control the ventilator, wherein the actuation knob is arranged for clipping securement to the facia.

Preferably, the ventilator comprises a slot ventilator and the facia comprises a ventilator facing strip which is connected by a control mechanism to a channel member for securing the ventilator to a slot in a structural member. The structural member preferably comprises a member of a window frame or sash such as the top rail thereof.

Preferably, the facing strip includes a rearwardly extending flange onto which the knob may be secured by means of a mount or housing. One of the mount and flange preferably includes a detent and the other a wedge for engaging the detent to lock the mount firmly to the facing strip.

In each aforementioned aspect of the invention, the mount preferably includes a pair of spaced parallel flanges which extend radially from the mount and are arranged to pass either side of the flange on the facing strip such that the slot formed between the pair of flanges provides a sliding fit for the flange on the facing strip.

In one embodiment, the facing strip includes two integral rearwardly extending flanges, each of which includes a locking detent, and the mount includes two pairs of flanges and two wedges. Thus, the facing strip and the mount may be arranged for locking engagement with one another with the detents on the facing strip engaged by the-wedges on the mount and the two pairs of flanges straddling and engaging the respective flanges on the facing strip.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of assembling a ventilator comprising mounting a ventilator actuation knob in a recessed position relative to a front facia of the ventilator and then moving the knob to an exposed position forward of the facia.

Preferably, the method includes locking the knob in the exposed position. The knob is preferably moved to the exposed position through an aperture in the facia.

Preferably, the facia is connected to a slotted ventilator channel before the knob is moved to the exposed position. In one embodiment, the knob is clipped onto the rearwardly facing surface of the facia with a mount or housing.

The present invention may be carried out in various ways and various embodiments in accordance with the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figs 1A, 1B and 1C show respective rear, side and front views of an extractable knob for actuating a slot ventilator; Figs 2A, 2B and 2C show respective side, side and rear views of an embodiment of a housing for the knob of Figs 1A, 1B and lC; Figs 3A and 3B show respective side and rear views of a portion of a slot ventilator facing strip for the housing of Figs 2A, 2B and2C; Figs 4A and 4B show respective side partial sectional and rear views of an alternative embodiment with an integral housing and facing strip for the knob of Figs 1A, 1B and lC; ; Figs 5A and 5B show side partial sectional views of the assembled embodiment of Figs 1A to 3B with the knob in respective recessed and extracted positions; Figs 6A and 6B show side partial sectional views of the assembled embodiment of Figs 1A, 1B, lC, 4A and 4B with the knob in respective recessed and extracted positions; Fig 6C is a rear view of the assembly shown in Fig 6B; and Figs 7A, 7B and 7C show respective sectional end, sectional side and rear views of a ventilator channel for either of the embodiments shown in the earlier figures.

Referring to Figs 5A and 5B of the drawings, a knob 20 is shown mounted in a housing 60 which is attached to a pair of rib flanges 40,42 of the facing strip 44 of a slot ventilator having a conventional air control mechanism, for example such as the parallel motion system described in GB-A-1417751.

In this specification, "forward" or "to the front" would be taken to be a direction perpendicular to the slot aperture to be controlled and towards that side of the aperture on which, in use, control of the ventilator will be effected; this direction will often be perpendicular to the glass of a window in which the ventilator is to be secured, towards the interior of a room. The terms "rearwardly" and "rear" will be understood accordingly. The forward direction is shown by the arrow 1 in the drawings.

The slot ventilator has a ventilator channel 50 (see Figs 7A, 7B and 7C) which is. mounted in a ventilation slot (not shown) such as a slot routed in the frame or sash of a window (not shown) such that the facing strip 44 is flush or slightly recessed with respect to the surrounding frame or sash.

As will be explained, the knob 20 is operable from the retracted position of Fig 5A to the extracted position of Fig 5B. In its retracted position, the front of the knob is flush or slightly recessed with respect to the front face 46 of the facing strip 44 so that the knob 20 is protected and cannot be contacted and perhaps damaged by, for example, another window (not shown) stacked against the facing strip 44 during transit. In its extracted position, the knob 20 may be gripped by the finger and thumb (not shown) of a person to move the facing strip 44 to operate the ventilator for controlling ventilation.

The knob 20 has a generally cylindrical appearance somewhat resembling a bolt. Thus, the knob 20 has a disc-shaped head 21, a narrower diameter helically threaded portion 22 and a tip 23. The head has a central pozidrive fitting 24 for rotating the knob with a tool (not shown) as will be discussed below. The head 21 includes a radially intruding detent 25 in its circumferential outer disk surface 26. The threaded portion 22 has a single helical thread 27 of substantially constant diameter and pitch which extends in approximately five turns from the head 21 approximately & of the length of the knob towards the tip 23.

The tip 23 has generally constant diameter of approximately the same dimension as the inner diameter 28 of the thread 27, but the tip's 23 form is slightly waisted to assist the grip for example of a finger and thumb pulling on the tip 23. The tip 23 terminates in a flat front face 29 which has an integral transverse slot 30 for operation with a tool such as a screwdriver (not shown) as discussed below.

As Fig 2C shows, the housing 60 has a generally tubular body 61 which has a through-bore 62 which is dimensioned to be a sliding fit with the thread 27 of the knob 20. A helical thread element 63 with substantially the same pitch as the thread 27 on the knob 20, is located inside the bore 62 so that the knob 20 can be introduced tip first into the bore 62 and turned for longitudinal movement therein.

The tubular housing body 61 has a rear ring-like face 64 on which an axially upstanding peg 65 is located.

The orientations of the peg 65 on the rear face 64 and the detent 25 in the knob head 21 and the resilience of the knob and peg materials are such that, when the knob 28 is fully screwed to the housing 60, the peg 65 snapfits into the detent 25, locking the knob 20 to the housing 60 with the head 21 of the knob held against the rear face 64 of the housing body, so that the knob 20 and housing 60 are firmly locked together.

For connecting the housing 60 to the facing strip 44, the housing has a pair of flanges 66,67 extending outwardly from the housing body 61 on each of respective diametrically opposed sides 68,69 of the body 61.

Each flange pair 66,67 includes a short flange 70 and a long flange 71 each of which extends rearwardly from a front face 72 of the body towards its rear face 64. The short flanges 70 extend rearwardly approximately of the length of the housing body 61, whereas the long flanges 71 extend rearwardly approximately 1i times the length of the housing body 61.

The short 70 and long 71 flanges are spaced apart from and parallel to one another in each flange pair 66,67 such that an axially extending slot 73 is formed therebetween. The short 70 and long 71 flanges are orientated such that both short flanges 70 are on one side and both long flanges 71 are on the other side of an imaginary side sectional plane passing through the housing body 61 and coincident with its bore axis 74.

Facing inwardly towards the same plane, each long flange 71 includes a wedge 75 for locking the long flange 71 to one of the facing strip flanges 40,42.

The wedges are located slightly rearwardly of the rear face 64 of the housing body 61. Each wedge 75 includes a forwardly facing ramp surface 76 and a rearwardly facing locking surface 77.

The rib flanges 40,42 are located centrally on the rearwardly facing surface of the facing strip 44 of the ventilator in line with one another so that, viewed in longitudinal side section (not shown), the facing strip 44 and the rib flanges 40,42 resemble a 'T' shape. The rib flanges 40,42 terminate inwardly at substantially parallel inner edges 47 which are arranged for slidingly fitting with the outer surface of the housing body 61.

The thickness of the rib flanges 40,42 is such that the rib flanges 40,42 are a snug but sliding fit with the slots 73 formed by the flange pairs 66,67 of the knob housing 60.

For locking the facing strip 44 and knob housing 60 together, detents 48 are formed in the inner edges 47 of the rib flanges 40,42.

The detents 48 are orientated for engagement with the locking surfaces 77 of the housing wedges 75 when the housing is assembled to the facing strip 44 as discussed below.

The-facing strip 44 includes an aperture 49 located between the rib flanges 40,42, and the aperture 49 has a diameter which allows the knob 20 to pass axially through it as discussed below.

To assemble the ventilator, the knob 20 could first be attached to the housing 60 and the assembled housing 60 and knob 20 subsequently attached to the facing strip 44 of the ventilator, but the following text describes the attachment first of the housing 60 to the facing strip 44 and the subsequent attachment of the knob 20.

It will be readily appreciated how to effect the former attachment sequence.

To assemble the ventilator, the housing 60 is brought into a position rearward of the facing strip 44 with its front face 72 aligned with the aperture 49 in the facing strip 44 and the housing 60 is pushed forwards with its short flanges 70 sliding up one side of the rib flanges 40,42 and its long flanges 71 up the other side (ie the rib flanges 40,42 are straddled by the flange pairs 66,67). At a certain extent of this movement, the ramp surfaces 76 of the wedges 75 come into contact with their respective rib flanges 40, 42 and the resilience of the cooperating parts permits further movement in the same direction until the front face 72 of the housing 60 engages the facing strip 44 at the same time as the wedges 75 and their rear locking surfaces 77 snap into firm engagement with the detents 48 in the rib flanges 40,42.Thus, the housing 60 is fixed firmly to the facing strip 44 with sideways movement being prevented by the engagement of the flange pairs 66,67 and the housing body 61 with the rib flanges 40,42 and axial movement being prevented by the engagement of the wedges 75 with the detents 48 in the rib flanges 40,42.

To effect the subsequent attachment of the knob 20 is then a simple matter of presenting the knob 20 to the housing bore 62 and twisting the knob 20, using a pozidrive tool if necessary in the fitting 24, until the front face 29 of the tip 23 is flush or just recessed with respect to the front face 46 of the facing strip 44.

Subsequently, the assembled facing strip 44, housing 60 and knob 20 may be attached to the ventilator channel 50 with a conventional linkage such as described in GB-A1417751 referred to above.

As shown most clearly in Figs 7A, 7B and 7C, the channel 50 includes a rearwardly extending bridge member 52 which, as shown in Fig 5A, prevents the knob from retracting further than desired while the ventilator is in transit.

For transit, whether the ventilator is connected at the factory to the window frame (or sash) or not, the knob 20, in its recessed position is held inside the ventilator without projecting forwards of the front face of the facing strip. Thus, the need in factory fitted conventional ventilators to provide ventilator actuation knob protection blocks (not shown) is dispensed with and it is possible to stack larger numbers of factory fitted ventilators into a smaller space for transport.

Once the ventilator has been installed, or it is otherwise desired to extract the knob 20 through the aperture 49 in the facing strip 44, it is a simple matter of unscrewing the knob 20 1 to 2 turns from its recessed position with a screwdriver or other suitable tool (not shown) engaging in the slot 30 in the front face 29 of the knob 20 locks into its extracted position (see Fig 5B) by virtue of the locking engagement of the housing peg 65 with the detent 25 in the knob head 21. Since the lock so formed is to the rear of the facing strip 44 it is difficult or impossible to tamper undesirably with the knob 20 once it is locked in position.

With the knob 20 in its-extracted position locked relative to the facing strip 44, a person can control the ventilator by pushing or pulling on the knob 20 to move the facing strip 44 as desired.

The knob 20 has a length of approximately 2.3 cm from head 21 to tip 23 and, in the extracted position, the tip extends approximately 7mm forwards of the front face 46 of the ventilator facing strip 44. These dimensions could be varied for other embodiments.

The facing strip 44 and rib flanges 40,42 are manufactured integrally of a metal material such as aluminium by extrusion, although it is envisaged that the rib flanges 40,42 could be formed separately from the facing strip 44 and attached subsequently or that methods of manufacture other than extrusion could be employed.

The knob 20, housing 60 and channel 50 are of injection moulded plastics material although conventional materials and methods of manufacture could be employed in other embodiments.

For example, in the alternative embodiment of Figs 6A, 6B and 6C, the facing strip 44' is formed of injection moulded plastics material. As shown in Figs 4A and 4B, the facing strip 44' and knob housing 60' in this embodiment are injection moulded integrally, strengthened by integral rib flanges 40',42'. In this embodiment, the step of attaching the housing 60 to the facing strip 44 described above would be dispensed with. Otherwise, assembly and operation of the embodiment would be similar to that of the embodiment described above. Figs 6A, 6B and 6C show the simple, yet effective construction of the integral housing 60' and facing strip 44'.

In another embodiment, the channel 50 does not include a bridge 52 for stopping undesirable retraction of the knob 20 during transit. Instead, one of the long flanges 71 of the housing (or-another fixed point on the housing or facing strip) includes a resilient inwardly radially projecting peg for preventing the knob head 21 from passing a certain point in the retraction direction after the head has passed the peg in the forward direction.

Preferably, the thread element 63 in the housing is moulded integrally with the housing 60. Alternatively, the thread element 63 could be machined in the bore 62 or inserted after the moulding step.

The head 21 of the knob 20 could be manufactured separately from the threaded portion 22 of the knob 20 and could be attached thereto, for example, by a selftapping screw (not shown) the head of which could conveniently take the place of the pozidrive fitting 24 discussed above.

In another embodiment, where the housing 60 and facing strip 44 are formed separately, the rib flanges 40,42 could be provided with rearwardly extending attachment teeth 40'',42", as shown in dotted lines in Fig 3A, and the housing body 61 could extend all of the way in a tubular fashion from its front face 72 (engaging the facing strip 44) to a rear face 64 alongside the teeth 40'',42'', with slotted ear portions (not shown) extending radially from the housing body 61 for engagement with the teeth 40'',42''. In this case, the long flanges 71 could be made more flexible than in the arrangement shown in Figs 2A, 2B and 2C by attaching them as a leaf spring near the front of the housing 60.

Thus, the housing would be very firmly fixable to the facing strip 44 since the housing 60 would be held against sideways twisting forces not only by the short 70 and long 71 flanges but also at the rear by the ear portions. With a longer housing body 61, of course a longer knob 20 could be used.

Arrangements for locking the knob 20 and housing 60 together in the extracted position, other than the peg 65 and detent 25 specifically described above, are also envisaged. For example, the knob 20 could be provided with a peg for locking engagement with the. housing 60.

In one embodiment, the knob 20 has a peg (not shown) extending radially outwardly from the knob head 21 and the housing 60 includes an arcuate leaf spring finger (not shown) moulded integrally with the housing 60. As the knob 20 is extracted, the peg comes into contact with the spring finger and, as the peg travels along its helical path along the arcuate surface of the spring finger, the spring finger deflects forwards.

Eventually, the peg rides off the end of the spring finger which snaps backs to its undeflected position, locking the peg in position between the spring finger end and an engagement surface (not shown) of the housing.

In integrally formed housing and facing strip embodiments, a simple mould without provision for moulding the bore 62 could be used and the bore 62 could be formed and the threaded element 63 could be formed or located subsequent to moulding.

Claims (28)

1. A ventilator having a front facia and an actuation knob mounted to the ventilator for moving the facia to control the ventilator, the knob being movable relative to the facia from a recessed position to an exposed position forward of the facia.

2. A ventilator as claimed in Claim 1 which comprises a slot ventilator, and in which the facia comprises a ventilator facing strip which is connected by a control mechanism to a channel member for securing the ventilator to a slot in a structural member.

3. A ventilator as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 in which an aperture is provided in the facia, and the knob is arranged for movement to the exposed position through the aperture.

4. A ventilator as claimed in any one of the preceding claims which includes a mount for guiding the knob from the recessed position to the exposed position.

5. A ventilator as claimed in Claim 4 in which the mount comprises a housing mounted adjacent to a rear surface of the facia, and the housing includes a bore for guiding the knob.

6. A ventilator as claimed in Claim 5 which includes a helical thread on at least one of the knob and bore.

7. A ventilator as claimed in Claim 6 which includes a fitting in the end of the knob for actuation by a tool to unwind the knob to the exposed position.

8. A ventilator as claimed in any of one of Claims 4 to 7 in which the knob is lockable in the exposed position.

9. A ventilator as claimed in Claim 8 in which one of the knob and the mount is provided with at least one detent and the other with at least one projecting peg, and the detent and peg are arranged to engage one another on the knob reaching the exposed position to prevent further movement of the knob.

10. A ventilator as claimed in Claim 8 in which one of the knob and the mount is provided with a projecting peg and the other with a non-return spring for snapping into position to effect non-return locking of the knob.

11. A ventilator as claimed in any one of Claims 4 to 10 which is provided with means for confining the knob to an attached engagement with the mount while the knob is in the recessed position.

12. A ventilator as claimed in any one of Claims 4 to 11 in which the mount is formed integrally with the facia.

13. A ventilator as claimed in any one of Claims 4 to 11 in which the mount is formed separately from the facia, and the mount is arranged for clipping securement to the facia on the rear side of the facia.

14. A ventilator as claimed in Claim 13 in which the facia includes an integral rearwardly projecting flange and the mount includes a connection means for lockably securing the mount on the flange.

15. A ventilator as claimed in Claim 14 in which one of the flange and connection means includes a detent and the other a wedge for engaging the detent to lock the mount to the facing strip.

16. A ventilator having a front facia and an actuation knob for moving the facia to control the ventilator, the actuation knob being arranged for clipping securement to the facia.

17. A ventilator as claimed in Claim 16 which comprises a slot ventilator, and in which the facia comprises a ventilator facing strip which is connected by a control mechanism to a channel member for securing the ventilator to a slot in a structural member.

18. A ventilator as claimed in Claim 16 or Claim 17 in which the facia includes a rearwardly extending flange onto which the knob may be secured by means of a mount or housing.

19. A ventilator as claimed in Claim 18 in which one of the mount and flange includes a detent and the other a wedge for engaging the detent to lock the mount firmly to the facing strip.

20. A ventilator as claimed in Claim 14, Claim 15 or Claim 18 which includes a pair of spaced parallel flanges which extend radially from the mount and are arranged to pass either side of the flange on the facia, the slot formed between the pair of flanges providing a sliding fit for the flange.

21. A ventilator as claimed in Claim 20 in which the facia includes two integral rearwardly extending flanges, each of which includes a locking detent, the mount including two pairs of flanges and two wedges, the facia and mount being arranged for locking engagement with one another with the detents on the facia engaged by the wedges on the mount, and with the two pairs of flanges straddling and engaging the respective flanges on the facia.

22. A ventilator substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7 of the accompanying drawings, or as modified with reference to Figures 4 and 6.

23. A method of assembling a ventilator comprising mounting a ventilator actuation knob in a recessed position relative to the front facia of the ventilator and then moving the knob to an exposed position forward of the facia.

24. A method as claimed in Claim 23 which includes locking the knob in the exposed position.

25. A method as claimed in Claim 23 or Claim 24 which includes moving the knob to the exposed position through an aperture in the facia.

26. A method as claimed in Claim 23, Claim 24 or Claim 25 which includes connecting the facia to a slotted ventilator channel before moving the knob to the exposed position.

27. A method as claimed in any one of Claims 23 to 26 which includes clipping the knob onto the rearwardly facing surface of the facia with a mount.

28. A method of assembling a ventilator substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 1, 2, 3,5 and 7 of the accompanying drawings, or as modified with reference to Figures 4 and 6