EP0918131A2

EP0918131A2 - Glazing assemblies and methods of sealing glazing assemblies

Info

Publication number: EP0918131A2
Application number: EP98309420A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Graham Bright; Julian Wiseman; Brian Keer
Original assignee: Titon Hardware Ltd
Current assignee: Titon Hardware Ltd
Priority date: 1997-11-19
Filing date: 1998-11-18
Publication date: 1999-05-26
Also published as: GB9724502D0; EP0918131A3; GB2331542A; GB2331542B

Abstract

A ventilator portion (12) comprises an elongate central portion (18) of generally constant cross section, connected at either end thereof to an end cap (20). During assembly, the ventilator portion (12) is located on the upper edge (52) of a glazing panel (16), with a gasket (14) between the ventilator portion (12) and the glazing panel (16). Each end cap (20) includes a bore (104,104') and a screw (112) may be inserted into the bore to fix the end cap to the central portion (18). The bore (104') includes a cross port (118) leading from the bore to a lower surface (122) of the end cap (20). A gap (200) between the lower surface (122) of the end cap (20) and the upper edge (52) of the glazing panel (16) may be filled by inserting a flowable sealant (210) into the bore (104'), through the cross port (118) and into the gap (200).

Description

The present invention relates to a method of sealing a glazing assembly to a window or door section. The invention also relates to glazing assemblies, window and door panel assemblies and window and door assemblies.
The invention also relates to ventilators and window or door assemblies incorporating ventilators, more particularly but not exclusively for use in rooms, with sealed windows and/or double glazing or doors where it is desirable to provide for ventilation without having to open the window or other glazing panel or door. This type of ventilation is now usually referred to as "secondary ventilation".
It is known to provide a glazed-in ventilator in which an elongate housing is provided having a ventilation passage through it, the housing being designed to be located in a gap left between the top edge of a glass glazing panel and the glazing channel of the element of the sash of a window, usually the upper element. In such arrangements, the upper edge of the ventilator housing is usually formed to have substantially the same thickness as the glazing panel itself, the lower edge of the housing being slightly flared (in section) to provide a glazing channel within the housing to receive the glazing panel, the housing thereby filling the substantially rectangular gap between the glazing panel and the upper element of the sash. The applicants' specifications GB-A-2113825 and GB-A-2224826 relate to such arrangements.
It is conventional for a generally elongate central portion of the ventilator or glazing assembly to be connected to end caps at either end thereof, as shown in GB-A-2113825. In order to prevent water from passing between the glazing assembly and the window glazing panel, it is conventional to fit an extruded soft plastic or rubber gasket between the central portion of the glazing assembly or ventilator and the glazing panel. However, if the gasket were to extend so far longitudinally that it were to engage the perpendicularly aligned seal (of e.g. the vertical sash members of the window when the glazing assembly is installed at the top), the increased section of the seal compared to that of the glazing panel would be likely to impair the operation of the adjacent seal, since the vertical seal would have to turn abrupt corners in passing over the gasket. Therefore, it is the conventional practice to terminate the plastics seal at either end, where the central portion of the glazing assembly is connected to the end cap, so that the vertical seal passes over the substantially constant section of the glazing panel and end-most portion of the end cap only and not over the gasket.. During assembly of the glazing assembly to the window glazing panel, it is the practice to apply an amount of flowable sealant to either end of the glazing panel, before the connection of the glazing assembly or ventilator to the glazing panel, so that, as the glazing assembly is fitted to the glazing panel, the flowable sealant is squashed between the end caps and the glazing panel to form a seal.
However, this requires great skill on behalf of the fitter, since it is easy to use too little sealant so that there is insufficient sealing, or, as is more usual, too much sealant, which is wasteful, and tends to be extremely messy because the sealant is squeezed out from between the glazing assembly and glazing panel and then has to be removed. This is often achieved simply by the fitter wiping away the excess flowable sealant with one of his or her fingers and it will therefore be appreciated that the procedure can be rather messy.
The present invention aims to alleviate the problems of the prior art.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of sealing a glazing assembly to a window or door section which comprises mounting the glazing assembly to the section and then filling a gap between the glazing assembly and the section with a flowable sealant.
This is a substantially improved method of sealing, since as soon as the gap is sufficiently filled, the fitter is able to stop filling the gap, so that substantially less material is wasted and the procedure is less messy.
The window or door section may comprise a window glazing panel (or door panel) having a generally planar edge and the method may comprise filling a gap which is located between the edge of the window glazing panel and the glazing assembly.
The method may include mounting the glazing assembly and window glazing panel in a window sash frame, preferably after the filling of the gap with sealant. In this way, the fitter is able to fill the gap while the glazing assembly and window glazing panel are relatively easily handleable and the sealed unit may then be conveniently fitted in the window sash frame, without the fitter having to conduct further sealing operations for the glazing assembly, when, once fitted, the glazing assembly and entire window could be in a difficult location.
The method preferably includes assembling the glazing assembly by connecting a central portion thereof of generally constant cross section to end caps at either end thereof. Preferably, the method includes locating a gasket, preferably of polymeric, e.g. plastics or rubber, preferably being extruded and/or of generally constant cross section between the central portion and the window glazing panel.
Preferably, the filling of the gap comprises injecting the sealant into a first end of a bore formed in a said end cap. In a preferred embodiment, one gap is located adjacent each end cap, and both are filled in this manner. The bore may be circularly cylindrical and may have an interior cross-dimension of 5 to 20mm, about 8 to 10mm being preferred.
Preferably, the filling of each gap includes flowing the sealant into the gap through a cross port formed in each end cap between the interior of each bore to a surface of each end cap which is spaced from the window glazing panel. Preferably the cross port has a, preferably circular, entrance where the cross port meets the interior bore, the entrance preferably having a cross dimension or diameter of 2 to 20mm, preferably about 2 to 7mm, e.g. about 4mm. Preferably, the cross port is countersunk, becoming larger in cross-dimension away from the bore.
A second end of each bore may include an annular shoulder forming a screw hole of smaller diameter than each respective bore, and the method may include inserting the tip end of a screw having a tip end and a head end through the screw hole to engage the central portion of the glazing assembly, and tightening the screw until the head end thereof engages the shoulder. Thus, the bore may serve two purposes, one being to provide access for a screw to hold the end cap to the central portion, and the other being to provide a conduit for the flowable sealant to flow to the gap. This therefore assists in minimising the cost of the product.
Preferably, the filling of the gap comprises inserting a conical injector nozzle of a sealant dispenser into the bore until the conical injector nozzle seals against an entrance to the first end of the bore, and pressurising sealant in the dispenser to force the sealant to flow into the gap. This has the advantage that the bore may be sized to seal with many commercially available conical sealant or mastic injectors.
In one example, the bore is of circular cross section and has an internal diameter of 8mm. However, the bore need not be of circular section and, for example, could be of generally square or rectangular section.
Preferably, the filling of the gap with sealant comprises filling with a hardenable sealant, such as a hardenable mastic.
Preferably, the filling of the gap with sealant comprises filling with a silicone sealant, such as a silicone mastic.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a glazing or panel assembly comprising an elongate central portion, and end caps located at either end thereof, the end caps having lower surfaces, at least one said end cap having a bore formed therein which communicates with the lower surface thereof. Therefore, it is possible to pass material, such as flowable sealant, to be adjacent the lower surface of the end cap, via the bore. Preferably, the elongate central portion is of generally constant cross section.
Preferably, the bore is generally axially aligned with a longitudinal direction of the central portion of the glazing assembly.
The bore may be of generally circular section, having an internal diameter of preferably approximately 5mm to 20mm, about 8mm to 10mm being preferred. However, the bore need not be of circular section and may, for example, be generally square or rectangular.
Preferably, the bore communicates with the lower surface of the end cap via a cross port which passes from an interior surface of the bore to the lower surface of the end cap in a direction generally perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the bore.
An end of the bore adjacent the central portion of the glazing assembly may include an annular shoulder and a screw hole formed therethrough which is concentric with the bore.
A screw having a head end and a tip end may be located at the said end of the bore with the tip end thereof engaged in the central portion of the glazing assembly and the head end thereof abutting against the shoulder.
The central portion may include ventilation apertures therein, enabling the passage of ventilation between two sides thereof. The central portion and end caps may therefore comprise a ventilator which is adapted to be located on one edge of a window or door section, such as a window glazing panel, the central portion including the apertures which provide an airflow path from one side of the ventilator to another.
The central portion may include a closure member for restricting or blocking the airflow path.
The closure member may be movable for controlling the level of ventilation between the two sides of the ventilator.
The closure member may comprise a rotatable elongate flap which is hinged to a main portion of the central portion at one longitudinal edge of the flap.
According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a window or door assembly comprising a glazing or panel assembly according to the second aspect of the invention which is located adjacent one edge of a window glazing or door panel. Preferably, the assembly is a window assembly.
The window glazing or door panel is preferably generally rectangular. The window glazing or door panel may comprise a single window glazing panel or a double or multiple window glazing panel unit. In this case, preferably, the edge of the window glazing panel comprises a generally planar surface which is generally perpendicular to the main surfaces of panes of window glazing on either side of the glazing panel.
Preferably an elongate plastics, rubber or polymeric seal is located between the central portion of the glazing or panel assembly and the glazing panel and an injected sealant is located between a said end cap and the window glazing or door panel, in a gap between said end cap and said glazing or door panel.
Preferably, in the case of a window assembly, the window assembly includes a window sash frame and the glazing assembly and window glazing panel are sealingly located inside a rectangular aperture of the sash frame.
Preferably, the glazing assembly comprises a glazed-in ventilator for a window assembly.
While the invention has been discussed above generally in relation to window and door assemblies, the invention is equally applicable to or other assemblies, where a glazing assembly such as a ventilator is to be located between one edge of a generally planar panel and a surrounding frame thereof.
The present invention may be carried out in various ways and one preferred embodiment of a glazing assembly and method of sealing a glazing assembly in accordance with the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is an isometric exploded view of part of a preferred embodiment of a glazing assembly in accordance with the present invention;
Figure 2 is a view from below of parts of the glazing assembly shown in Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a section on line A-A in Figure 2;
Figure 4 is a section on line B-B in Figure 3, showing a flowable sealant, once applied to the glazing assembly;
Figure 5 is a schematic view corresponding to Figure 4, showing the application of flowable sealant to the glazing assembly; and
Figure 6 is a schematic isometric view of a window assembly incorporating the glazing assembly of Figure 1.
A preferred embodiment of a window panel assembly 10 in accordance with the present invention includes a glazing assembly or ventilator portion 12, an extruded polymeric gasket 14 and a double glazing panel 16.
The ventilator portion 12 comprises an elongate central portion 18 of generally constant cross section, connected at either end thereof to an end cap 20.
The central portion 18 is of generally conventional construction per se and the invention is applicable to glazing assemblies having a wide range of ventilator portions. The particular central portion 18 shown in the drawings has an exterior flow inlet formed as part of an exterior weather hood 24. The inlet 22 communicates via a series of regularly spaced apertures 26 (Figure 4) formed through a main wall 28 of a main part 30 of the central portion to an interior flow outlet 32. The exterior flow inlet 22 and interior flow outlet 32 are located on opposite sides 34,36 of the central portion 18 and thus of the window panel assembly 10 as a whole. While the exterior flow inlet is described as an inlet and the interior flow outlet as an outlet, the direction of ventilation need not necessarily be from the exterior side 34 to the interior side 36 of the central portion 18 and therefore also of the glazing 16; it will be envisaged that the flow could be in the opposite direction, dependent upon the ambient pressure on either side of the glazing panel 16.
On the interior side 36, the ventilator portion 12 includes a flap 38 which is pivotable about a hinge 40, by manual operation of a snib 42. In other embodiments, the flap may be fixed to provide a fixed level of ventilation, such as in a fully opened or fully closed or partially opened position. Alternatively, the flap 38 may be rotatable about the hinge by a remote cord operation means (not shown).
Figure 6 shows a fully assembled configuration of the window panel assembly 10 once incorporated in a window assembly 50. The ventilator portion 12 is located on the upper edge 52 of the glazing panel 16, with the ventilator portion 12 and glazing panel 16 sealingly engaging a surrounding rectangular window sash frame 54. In turn, the sash frame 54 is mounted by hinges 56 to a surrounding window frame 58, and the window frame is mounted in an aperture 60 of a wall 62 of a building. The sash frame 54 incorporates a conventional locking handle 64 for locking the sash frame 54 to the window frame 58 and unlocking the sash frame 54 to enable rotation thereof about the hinges 56 relative to the window frame 58.
With reference to Figure 4, it will be seen that each end cap 20 includes an upper screw fixing 100 and a lower screw fixing 102. The upper screw fixing 100 comprises a guide bore 104 leading to an annular shoulder 106 and screw hole 108 at an end 110 thereof which is adjacent the central portion 18. A screw 112 is, during assembly, inserted with its tip end 114 first into the guide bore. The screw 112 is then turned in a conventional manner so that a thread (not shown) on the tip end 114 engages a corresponding surface (not shown) of the central portion 18, until a head end 116 of the screw 112 engages against the shoulder 106.
The lower screw fixing 102 is generally similar to the upper screw fixing 100 and the structure thereof will not be repeated so far as it is similar. However, the lower screw fixing 102 has a longer guide bore 104' than the guide bore 104 of the upper screw fixing 100. The guide bores 104,104' are generally circularly cylindrical with an inner diameter of approximately 8mm. The axes of the guide bores 104,104' are generally aligned with the longitudinal direction of the elongate central portion 18. It will be noted that the guide bore 104' includes a cross port 118 which communicates in a direction transverse to the guide bore 104' from an interior surface 120 of the guide bore 104' to a lower surface 122 of the end cap 20 which is opposite an upper surface 124 of the end cap 20. The cross port 118 is countersunk, becoming wider in cross section towards the lower surface 122, in order to ease the distribution of flowable sealant between the end cap 20 and glazing panel 16, during assembly which will be described below. At the juncture of the cross port 118 with the guide bore 104', the cross port has an internal diameter of 4mm. The cross bore includes a short entrance bore portion 119 about 1 to 2mm in length which leads to a countersunk portion 121 about 2mm in length whose diameter increases from 4mm at the juncture with the bore portion 119 to about 8mm at its juncture with the lower surface 122 of the end cap.
The method of assembly of the window panel assembly 10 will now be described.
First, the ventilator portion 12 is assembled, by connecting the end caps 20 to the central portion 18. The end caps 20 are secured to the central portion 18 by inserting, at each end, the screws 122 into the guide bores 104,104', and by tightening the screws in a conventional manner. Thus, the assembled ventilator portion 12 has the configuration shown at the top of Figure 1.
Next, the polymeric gasket 14 which is generally flexible is cut to be substantially the same length as the central portion 12 and is pushed into a channel 150 (Figures 1 and 3) which runs along the full length of the central portion 18.
In this state, the configuration is as shown in Figure 2, which, unlike Figures 3 and 4, does not show the glazing panel 16. Therefore, with reference to Figure 2, it will be seen that the gasket 14 terminates at one end thereof 152 substantially at the junction 154 between the central portion 18 and the end cap 20. Therefore, the lower surface 122 of the end cap 20 is, at this stage, ungasketed. As indicated above, the reason that the gasket 14 does not extend fully along to the aligned peripheral edges 156,158 of the glazing panel 16 and end cap 20, once the glazing assembly is fully assembled, is that the additional width of the gasket 14 over and above the substantially equal and continuous cross dimension D of the glazing panel 16 and end most portion 160 of the end cap 20, is that the gasket 14 would otherwise be likely to interfere with the line of the vertically extending gasket or seal (not shown) of the upright members 162 of the sash frame.
Once the gasket 14 has been inserted into the channel 150, the ventilator portion 12 and gasket 14 are then pushed on to the upper edge 52 of the glazing panel 16, taking up the orientation shown in Figure 3. Alternatively, to reach the same configuration, the gasket 14 may first be placed on top of the glazing panel 16 and the ventilator portion 12 may subsequently be pushed down on top of both of the gasket 14 and glazing panel 16.
As shown in Figure 3, the lower surface 122 of the end cap 20 and the upper edge 52 of the glazing panel 16 are spaced apart, due to the presence of the gasket 14, forming a gap or cavity 200. Although flanges 202 of the end cap 20 which form part of the channel 150 extend down the glazing panel 16 on either side 34,36 of the glazing assembly, further sealing is required to prevent, for example, water from passing across the glazing assembly 10 in this area, i.e. via the gap 200.
To provide a seal, as shown in Figure 5, a sealant dispenser 204 having a cylindrical body 206 and conical nozzle 208 is used to apply a flowable sealant or mastic 210 to fill the gap 200.
The dispenser 204 includes a piston 212 which may be pushed towards the nozzle 208 by a force F, in order to push the sealant 210 out of the dispenser 204, through a hole 214 at the tip 216 of the nozzle 208.
Due to the circular nature of the guide bore 104', the conical nozzle 208 may be inserted into the bore 104' until the exterior surface 218 of the nozzle 208 engages and generally seals against a circular entrance aperture 220 of the bore 104'. When the force F is applied to the piston 212, in a conventional manner, the sealant 210 is thus forced into the bore 104' and down through the cross port 118, into the gap 200, to fill the gap with sealant 210. As soon as sufficient sealant has been applied - this may be ascertained by the fitter as the sealant 210 just starts to emerge from an exit 222 from the gap or cavity 200, located between the aligned peripheral edges 156,158 of the glazing panel 16 and end cap 20, the dispenser 204 may be simply removed from the bore 104'. Accordingly, there is very little wastage of the sealant 210 and, compared to known methods, the procedure for sealing the window panel assembly 10 in the region of the end caps 20 is far less messy. It will be understood that the ventilator portion 12 need not be moved relative to the glazing panel 16, after application of the flowable sealant 210.
Next, the assembled window panel assembly 10 consisting of the ventilator portion 12, gasket 14, glazing panel 16 and sealant 210, may be installed in the window sash frame 54 in a, per se, conventional manner to form the window assembly 50 shown in Figure 6.
The flowable sealant is preferably a silicone hardenable mastic type sealant, which hardens to a generally hardened and unflowable but flexible state, within a period of hours or days from dispensing from the dispenser 204. Many different types of currently available sealant may be used, such as those available under the trade marks Unibond and Homebase (e.g. Homebase Silicone Frame Sealant) at many outlets of Homebase stores in the U.K. It is not essential, but preferred, to use silicone sealants. Acrylic sealants may alternatively be used, but they generally do not have such a long life expectancy, although they are generally less expensive than silicone sealants.
Many modifications may be made to the apparatus and method described herein without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, while the specific embodiment has been discussed with reference to a window assembly 50, it is envisaged that the invention is applicable to other arrangements, such as where a ventilator is fitted to one edge of a door panel. In addition, while the window panel assembly 10 in this specific embodiment includes a ventilator portion, other types of glazing components may be substituted in its place, such as condensation channels, grills, glazing beads or other generally elongate components.

Claims

A method of sealing a glazing assembly (12) to a window (10) or door section which comprises mounting the glazing assembly to the section and then filling a gap (200) between the glazing assembly and the section with a flowable sealant (210).
A method as claimed in claim 1 in which the window or door section comprises a window glazing panel (16) (or door panel) having a generally planar edge (52); preferably which comprises filling a gap (200) which is located between the edge (52) of the window glazing panel and the glazing assembly.
A method as claimed in claim 2 which includes mounting the glazing assembly (12) and window glazing panel (16) in a window sash frame, preferably after the filling of the gap (200) with sealant.
A method as claimed in any preceding claim which includes assembling the glazing assembly by connecting a central portion (12) thereof of generally constant cross section to end caps (20) at either end thereof; preferably which includes locating a gasket (14), preferably of polymeric, e.g. plastics or rubber, preferably being extruded and/or of generally constant cross section, between the central portion (18) and the window glazing panel (16).
A method as claimed in claim 4 in which the filling of the gap (200) comprises injecting the sealant (210) into a first end of a bore (104') formed in a said end cap (20); preferably in which the bore (104') is circularly cylindrical and has an interior cross-dimension of 5 to 20mm, preferably about 8 to 10mm.
A method as claimed in claim 5 in which the filling of each gap (200) includes flowing the sealant (210) into the gap through a cross port (118) formed in each end cap between the interior of each bore to a surface (122) of each end cap which is spaced from the window glazing panel; preferably in which the cross port (118) is countersunk, becoming larger in cross-dimension away from the bore.
A method as claimed in claim 5 or claim 6 in which a second end (110) of each bore includes an annular shoulder (106) forming a screw hole (108) of smaller diameter than each respective bore, and the method includes inserting the tip end of a screw having a tip end and a head end through the screw hole to engage the central portion of the glazing assembly, and tightening the screw until the head end thereof engages the shoulder.
A method as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 7 in which the filling of the gap comprises inserting a conical injector nozzle (208) of a sealant dispenser into the bore until the conical injector nozzle seals against an entrance (220) to the first end of the bore, and pressurising sealant in the dispenser to force the sealant to flow into the gap
A method as claimed in any preceding claim in which the filling of the gap (200) with sealant (210) comprises filling with a hardenable sealant, such as a hardenable mastic.
A method as claimed in any preceding claim in which the filling of the gap (200) with sealant (210) comprises filling with a silicone sealant, such as a silicone mastic.
A glazing or panel assembly (12) comprising an elongate central portion (18), and end caps (20) located at either end thereof, the end caps having lower surfaces (122), at least one said end cap having a bore (104') formed therein which communicates with the lower surface thereof.
An assembly as claimed in claim 11 in which the bore (104') is generally axially aligned with a longitudinal direction of the central portion (18) of the glazing assembly.
An assembly as claimed in claim 11 or claim 12 in which the bore (104') is of generally circular section, having an internal diameter of approximately 5mm to 20mm.
An assembly as claimed in claim 11 or claim 12 or claim 13 in which the bore (104') communicates with the lower surface (122) of the end cap (20) via a cross port (118) which passes from an interior surface of the bore to the lower surface of the end cap in a direction generally perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the bore.
An assembly as claimed in claim 11 or claim 12 or claim 13 or claim 14 in which an assembly includes an annular shoulder (106) and a screw hole (108) formed therethrough which is concentric with the bore; and preferably which includes a screw having a head end and a tip end; the screw being located at one end of the bore with the tip end thereof engaged in the central portion of the glazing assembly and the head end thereof abutting against the shoulder.
An assembly as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 15 in which the central portion (18) includes ventilation apertures (108) therein, enabling the passage of ventilation between two sides thereof, the central portion and end caps comprising a ventilator which is adapted to be located on one edge of a window or door section (10), such as a window glazing panel (18), the central portion including the apertures which provide an airflow path from one side of the ventilator to another; and preferably in which the central portion includes a closure member for restricting or blocking the airflow path; and preferably in which the closure member is movable for controlling the level of ventilation between the two sides of the ventilator, the closure member comprising a rotatable elongate flap which is hinged to a main portion of the central portion at one longitudinal edge of the flap.
A window or door assembly comprising a glazing or panel assembly according to any one of claims 11 to 16 which is located adjacent one edge (52) of a window glazing or door panel.
An assembly as claimed in claim 17 in which the window glazing (16) or door panel is generally rectangular.
An assembly as claimed in claim 17 or claim 18 in which the window glazing or door panel comprises a single window glazing panel or a double or multiple window glazing panel unit; preferably in which the edge (16) of the window glazing panel comprises a generally planar surface which is generally perpendicular to the main surfaces of panes of window glazing on either side of the glazing panel.
An assembly as claimed in claim 17 or claim 18 or claim 19 in which an elongate plastics, rubber or polymeric seal (14) is located between the central portion of the glazing or panel assembly and the glazing panel and an injected sealant (210) is located between a said end cap and the window glazing or door panel, in a gap (200) between said end cap and said glazing or door panel.
An assembly as claimed in any one of claims 17 to 20 which comprises a window assembly (10) including a window sash frame (54), the glazing assembly and window glazing panel being sealingly located inside a rectangular aperture of the sash frame.