Field of the art
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The present invention refers to an adjustable counter-frame for door and window fittings.
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In particular, the present invention refers to a counter-frame suitable for being used in combination with fittings of different size.
Prior art
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Counter-frames inserted in the wall structure of a building in order to receive the frames of corresponding door and window fittings have been known for some time and are universally widespread.
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As an example, illustrated in Figure 1 - in cross section - is a counter-frame of known type, produced by the Applicant. With reference to Figure 1, said counter-frame 101 comprises a section 103, shaped in a manner so as to comprise a pair of orthogonal walls 105a,105b which allow defining a seat 105 suitable for receiving the frame of a fitting, and a jamb 107, made of a material with high mechanical strength, e.g. steel.
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The section 103 and the jamb 107 are rigidly connected to each other: for such purpose, the hollow jamb 107 has an opening 109 and the section 103 correspondingly has a coupling element 111 which is fit inside said opening.
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In recent times, in most industrialized countries - for the purpose of respect and concern for environmental conditions - laws were introduced which compel builders to make fittings with low thermal transmittance, in order to obtain energy savings for the heating and/or air conditioning of buildings. Therefore, the section 103 can be advantageously made of a material with good thermal insulation properties.
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In such a manner, also the counter-frame contributes to reducing the thermal transmittance at the fitting.
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Notwithstanding the optimal results in terms of thermal transmittance reduction obtainable with a solution of the type illustrated in Figure 1, one such counter-frame can in any case be improved.
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In particular, since numerous fittings with frames of different size are sold on the market, it is necessary to make a correspondingly wide range of counter-frames, with seats of different size for the frame of the fitting.
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It is clear that such requirement leads to high production costs.
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It also obliges final users (e.g. builders) to maintain storage stocks of a high number of different counter-frames. The main object of the present invention is to overcome such drawback, by providing a counter-frame suitable for being used in combination with fittings with frames of different size.
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Another object of the invention is to provide a very versatile counter-frame that allows being used in combination with a wide range of different fittings.
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These and other objects are attained by the counter-frame for door and window fittings according to the invention, as claimed in the appended claims.
Description of the invention
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The counter-frame according to the invention comprises a jamb, preferably made of a material with high structural strength, and a section which defines the seat for the frame of the fitting, wherein said jamb and said section are separate, distinct elements that can be coupled to each other; according to the invention said jamb and said section are designed so that they can assume a plurality of different mutual positions and be rigidly fastened to each other in one of said desired mutual positions.
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Thanks to such expedient, the section which defines the seat for the fitting can be mounted nearer to or farther from the jamb, thus allowing to house frames of smaller or bigger size.
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Preferably, said section is made of a material with good thermal insulation properties, so that the counter-frame contributes to reducing the thermal transmittance at the fitting.
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In a preferred embodiment of the invention, said section comprises a first component and a second component, that can be coupled to each other, which can assume a plurality of different mutual positions and which can be rigidly fastened to each other in one of said mutual positions. Advantageously, thanks to this expedient a further degree of freedom in the adjustment of the counter-frame is added, with particular reference to the size of the fitting frame that can be housed in said counter-frame.
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Furthermore, according to this preferred embodiment of the invention, the aforesaid section has a modular structure conferring great versatility to the counter-frame according to the invention, allowing said counter-frame to be adapted to a wide range of different applications.
Brief description of the drawings
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Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will be clear to the man skilled in the art from the following detailed description of several embodiments of the invention, given as a non-limiting example, with reference to the enclosed drawings, in which:
- Figure 1 is a cross section view of a counter-frame of known type;
- Figure 2 is a cross section view of a counter-frame according to a first embodiment of the invention;
- Figure 3 is a cross section view of a counter-frame according to a second embodiment of the invention;
- Figure 4 is a cross section view of a counter-frame according to a variant of the second embodiment of the invention.
Description of several preferred embodiments of the invention
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With reference to Figure 2, a counter-frame 1 is illustrated according to the first embodiment of the invention.
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Said counter-frame 1, suitable for being inserted in a wall structure, comprises a section 3 which defines a seat 5 for the frame of a fitting. For such purpose, said section 3 comprises a first wall 5a and a second wall 5b that are substantially orthogonal and connected to each other.
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The counter-frame 1 also comprises a jamb 7, preferably made of a material with high structural strength, for instance steel.
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By the way, it is to be noted that the use of a jamb made of steel or a similar material allows easily obtaining clamps in the jamb itself, which facilitate the installation of the counter-frame 1 in the wall structure.
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According to the invention, said section 3 and said jamb 7 are distinct and separate elements which can be arranged with respect to each other in a plurality of different mutual positions as well as be rigidly fastened to each other in one of said mutual positions.
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For such purpose, in the illustrated embodiment, the section 3 comprises a cavity 9, on the walls of which a plurality of seats 11 are made, which are separated from one another by projections 13.
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Correspondingly, the jamb 7 comprises an engaging portion 7a intended to penetrate into the cavity, said engaging portion ending with hooked ends 15.
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Said hooked ends 15 of the jamb 7 can be inserted in one of said seats 11 of the cavity 9 of the section 3 and held therein thanks to the projections 13 delimiting the selected seat 11.
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It will be clear that by suitably selecting - among the plurality of seats provided in the cavity 9 - the seat 11 in which the ends 15 of the jamb 7 are inserted and held, it is possible to increase or decrease the distance of the wall 5b of the seat 5 from the jamb 7. In other words, it is possible to fit the counter-frame 1 according to the invention to fittings with frames of different size.
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It will also be clear that the coupling system between the section 3 and the jamb 7 shown in Figure 2 is given by way of pure example and any conventional technique can also be used which allows positioning said section 3 and said jamb 7 in a plurality of different mutual positions and rigidly fastening said section to said jamb in a desired mutual position.
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In this respect, it is observed that according to the coupling system which is used it will be possible to obtain either a discrete adjustment (such as in Figure 2) or a continuous adjustment of the mutual position of said section 3 and said jamb 7.
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From the above disclosure, it will be immediately clear that the counter-frame according to the invention achieve the above-stated object, since it can be adjusted so as to be used in combination with a wide variety of fittings with frames of different size.
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Preferably, as above mentioned, the section 3 is preferably made of a material with good thermal insulation properties, so that the counter-frame 1 contributes to the reduction of the thermal transmittance at the fitting.
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In Figure 2, knurled zones 17 are also visible on the faces of the walls of the section 3 opposite the seat 5 for the frame of the fitting. Such knurled zones 17 allow increasing the hold of the section 3 on the concrete of the wall structure in which the counter-frame 1 must be inserted.
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Referring now to Figure 3, a second embodiment of the invention is shown.
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In this embodiment, the section 3 which defines the seat 5 for the frame of the fitting comprises two different components 3a, 3b, that can be coupled to each other and that can be arranged with respect to each other in a plurality of different mutual positions as well as be rigidly fastened to each other in one of said mutual positions.
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For such purpose, the first component 3a comprises a wall 5a' in which a plurality of recesses 19 are made and the second component 3b comprises a wall 5a" in which a plurality of corresponding projections 21 are made, complementary to said recesses 19 with regard to shape and size. In this manner, said first and said second component 3a,3b can be coupled by press-fitting and the wall 5a of the seat 5 is defined by the coupling of the wall 5a' of the first component 3a and the wall 5a" of the second component 3b.
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It will be clear to the man skilled in the art that by suitably selecting how to align the recesses 19 and the projections 21, it is possible to couple the components 3a,3b in different mutual positions.
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In this manner, a further degree of freedom is brought in the possibility of adjusting the counter-frame 1: not only the position of the section 3 with respect to the jamb 7 can be varied by suitably selecting the seat 11 of the section 3 in which the hooked ends 15 of the engaging portion 7a of the jamb 7 are inserted, but also the configuration of the section 3 can be modified, by suitably choosing how to align and couple the projections 21 of the second component 3b with the recesses 19 of the first component 3a.
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It is observed that in the example shown in Figure 3, said recesses 19 and said projections 21 have a semicircular profile; it is clear that they could also have a different profile, e.g. dovetail, polygonal and so forth.
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In addition, as an alternative to the configuration illustrated in Figure 3, it would also be possible to provide for the recesses on the second component 3b and the corresponding projections on the first component 3a.
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Once again, it will be clear to the man skilled in the art that as an alternative to the coupling via press-fitting, any conventional technique can be used which allows rigidly fastening said first and second component 3a,3b in a desired mutual position (for example gluing, welding, coupling via levers or the like).
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Also in this case, according to the coupling system which is used it will be possible to obtain either a discrete or a continuous adjustment of the mutual position of the components 3a,3b of the section 3.
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Moreover, even in this embodiment, the components 3a,3b of the section 3 can be preferably made of a material with good thermal insulation properties.
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It is evident that the modular structure of the section 3 characterizing this second embodiment of the invention confers great versatility to the counter-frame 1, since - the structure of the first component 3a providing the coupling to the jamb 7 being the same - it is possible to use second components 3b with different shape and structure according to the needs related to each specific application. By way of example, in Figure 4 a variant of the second embodiment of the counter-frame 1 for fittings according to the invention is shown, which has shown to be particularly advantageous for use in combination with fittings provided with accessory devices, such as mosquito screens, shade devices and the like.
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Also in this variant, the second component 3b' of the section 3, in addition to the second wall 5b for defining the seat 5 for the frame of the fitting, also comprises one or more additional seats 23,25 - two in the embodiment of Figure 4 - that are adjacent to and substantially aligned with said seat 5 for the frame of said fitting.
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For such purpose, said second component 3b' is structured in a manner such that the wall 5a " ' is extended beyond said second wall 5b of the seat 5 and one or more additional walls 23b,25b - two in the embodiment of Figure 4 - which are substantially perpendicular to said wall 5a " ' and parallel to said second wall 5b of said seat 5, are connected to said wall 5a"' , each of said additional walls defining a corresponding additional seat 11,13. Advantageously said additional seats can at least partially receive accessory devices associated with the fitting mounted on the counter-frame 1. For example, a first additional seat 11 can receive a mosquito screen, while the second additional seat 13 can receive a shade device, such as a roller shutter.
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In order to increase the rigidity of the walls of the second component 3b' of the section 3, and in particular of the walls 5b,23b which separate adjacent seats, said walls can comprise an air space 27 in which reinforcement ribs 29 are provided for.
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Also in this case, the first and the second components 3a,3b' of the section 3 can be preferably made of a material with good thermal insulation properties, e.g. of a plastic material with high thermal resistance. Advantageously, in this manner a reduced thermal transmittance is obtained not only at the fitting, but also at the accessory devices associated therewith.
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It will be clear to the man skilled in the art that the above-described embodiments must not be intended as in any way limiting and that numerous modifications and variants are allowed for the modular structure of the counter-frame according to the invention allows without departing from the protective scope defined by the appended claims.
