DOUBLE PANEL DOOR OR WINDOW FRAME STRUCTURE
The present invention relates to a door and window frame structure made of extruded structural shapes consisting either of light alloy or synthetic material and having a sealed double panel section for doors or windows.
As it is known, glazed window and/or door frames
or sashes are conventionally produced in accordance with the three main following types of technical solutions. The first type includes a fixed peripheral frame that can be secured in any suitable manner to the jambs, the lintels and, possibly, the sill of a window or the doorstone of a door. One or two wings or hung sashes are mounted on the fixed frame by means of articulation hinges and comprise, in turn, a sash bearing a glass panel or a double panel held in position by means of removable glazing strips.
The second type comprises a fixed frame to which a frame(s) or εash(eε) are hinged, each of which includes a peripheral frame and a glass panel or double panel which is glued to it.
The third type includes a glass panel with no peripheral frame, which is equipped with closing
hardware and hinges for its direct anchoring to a support. Such a solution, however, does not result in a door or window providing a sealed closing and it is why the same is only adopted in internal partitions or equivalent applications.
Apart from the third type which is necessarily of limited use, the other two mostly adopted types comprise a fixed frame and one or more moving frames for wings or hung sashes. The provision of a fixed bearing frame obviously requires a number of operations to be carried out, such as weldings in the case of iron structures or bonded joints in the case of structures of plastic material (e.g. polyviny lchlor ide - PVC) or the application of mounting brackets in the case of frames made of aluminum or wood structural shapes and gluing especially with wooden frames.
The main object of the present invention is to provide a new technical solution concerning the structuration of a double panel structural shape frame, so as to obtain a considerable simplification in the production process of door or window frames made either of metal alloy or synthetic material, with respect to conventional frames, thereby attaining substantial advantages so far both a reduction in the
number of used components and the useful transparent area for the light coming in from outside, the window or door opening being equal, are concerned.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new door or window frame structure, which makes it possible to eliminate the fixed frame in the case of a window that cannot be opened or the wing sash in the case of door or window frame that can be opened. According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a double panel door or window frame structure having a single peripheral frame which also acts as peripheral spacer for the double panel. According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of manufacturing double panel door or window frames, which comprises cutting in size at least a pair of panels made of glass or another transparent material, arranging a peripheral spacer between the or each pair of panels, applying a sealing material along the borders of the peripheral spacer, and assembling the panels onto the peripheral spacer by means of a suitable adaptor, possibly after suitable humidity absorbing salts, pressing of the panels thus assembled
and outer sealing between panels and spacer or spacers to obtain a stable sealed double panel frame, and is characterised in that the or each peripheral spacers extend beyond and around the glass panels to form a dummy frame integral with the sealed double panel structure.
If desired, air can be emptied from the inner space of the sealed double panel structure or a gas can be supplied therein through a suitable check valve.
Further aspect and advantages of the present invention will better appear from the following detailed description of some presently preferred embodiments thereof given by way of non limiting examples with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a partial cross-sectional view of a sealed or insulated double panel structure having a peripheral built-in mounting frame and panels glued to a spacer section so as to be co-planar therewith;
Figure 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of a sealed double panel structure according to the present invention ith panels arranged and glued into respective grooves formed in the peripheral spacer section provided with a handle;
Figure 3 shows a partial cross-sectional view of a sealed double panel structure according to the invention, which is mounted on a doorpost or a windowpost and having a rabbet formed by the inner panel of the sealed double panel structure;
Figure 4 is a partial plan view in cross-sectional of a sealed double panel structure according to the invention which forms a wing of a door or window
mounted for rotation on a fixed frame; and Figure 5 shows a partial cross-sectional view of a sealed double panel structure provided with an inner lower groove or seat for accommodating dehydrating products; and
Figure 6 is a diagrammatic front elevation view of two window wings according to the invention with no mobile frame and mounted on a fixed frame.
In the Figures of the accompanying drawings the same or similar parts or components have been indicated with the same reference numerals. With reference to the above listed Figures, it will be noted that a door or window frame in accordance with the present invention comprises a pair of panels 1 and 2 of glass or another suitable transparent material, which are cut out in size and peripherally glued and sealed, e.g. by means of a
butylic sealant, to a peripheral frame 3 made of metal or of a suitable plastics material or of composite materials (organic-inorganic, organic- organic, inorganic-inorganic) or a combination of such materials. The frame 3 acts both as a spacer to delimit an inner space or chamber 4 of the sealed double panel structure and as a stiffening structural element replacing the frame of a conventional wing.
The peripheral frame 3 may consist of an extruded section either of metal, such a light alloy, or of synthetic material, e.g. PVC.
Figure 1 shows a frame comprising a tubular section, which has two opposite side shoulders 5 and 6, each of which delimits a step seat for receiving a respective glass panel 1 or 2 flash with its peripheral border, with the interposition of a sealant layer 7. On the opposite side, the tubular section 3 has a side extension 8 which projects as an extension of and flash with the inner panel 1, so as to act as an abutting rabbet, possibly formed with a groove for receiving a sealing gasket 9.
In Figure 2 the frame 3 comprises an L-shaped section, in one wing of which two side grooves 10 and
11 are formed for receiving the panels 1 and 2 of the sealed double panel structure. In this embodiment
each glass panel 1 and 2 receives on both its faces a sealant layer 7. The other wing of the spacer section 3 bears a control handle 12, whereas a check valve 13 for emptying air from the space 4 is provided between the panels 1 and 2.
The embodiment of Fig. 3 includes a mobile frame 3 which also forms the spacer between the glass panels 1 and 2 that consists of a tubular section.
The inner panel 1 extend beyond the side of section 3 to form an abutment rabbet of the mobile wing against a fixed frame 14 similar to that shown in Fig. 4. Section 3 also has a gasket receiving groove 9a for sealing purposes.
Figure 4 shows a further embodiment of a sealed double panel structure according to the present invention having a tubular spacer section 3 which delimits two abutting rabbets with respective sealing gaskets 9 against a fixed frame 14 secured to windowposts 15 and a window sill 16.
The embodiment shown in Fig. 5 comprises a groove 17 formed in the inner portion 3a extending between panels 1 and 2 of the bottom section of spacer 3 and arrange to locate dehydrating substances in the space 4.
As shown in Fig. 6 , owing to the fact that the
RECTIFIED SHEET (RULE 91)
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spacer 3 also acts as a stiffening frame for the sealed double panel structure, mobile frame conventionally provided around the double panel structure is omitted, which considerably simplifies the construction of a door or window frame and makes available a larger area for the transparent panels 1 and 2.
Such a solution also entails substantial modifications in the process of manufacturing a sealed double panel structure, since it implies the use of a spacer frame which also acts as a stiffening structural element to obtain a finished wing or a door or window frame, and thus the double panel structure does not need to be in turn mounted in a further support and reinforcing frame. Should such a structure be designed to close a fixed window opening, it can be directly mounted in the window opening, whereas if the same is designed to form a mobile wing or a sash or hung-sash, it can be secured to a fixed frame by means of any suitable metal hardware, even of conventional type. All the operations up to now involved with the assembling of both the mobile frame and the double panel structure on the mobile frame are thus dispensed with.
Of course, the peripheral configuration of the double panel structures according to the present
invention can be any according to the requirements, i.e. even different from the usual rectangular shape. The door or window frame structure described above is susceptible to numerous modifications and changes within the protection scope as defined by the tenor of the claims.
Materials as well as dimensions could be any according to requirements.