GB2057038A

GB2057038A - Circular pivoting windows

Info

Publication number: GB2057038A
Application number: GB8026081A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1979-08-09
Filing date: 1980-08-11
Publication date: 1981-03-25

Abstract

An opening circular window 1 comprises a main frame 3, sash 5 and hinges 7 interconnecting frame 3 and sash 5 and allowing sash 5 to pivot relative to frame 3 about a substantially horizontal axis passing through the centre of sash 5. Weather is excluded by (a) the provision of flanges 11 and 23 which project radially inwards from the main frame so as to cover substantially the whole of the gap between the sash and frame when the sash is in a closed position; and/or (b) the hinges and/or the sash and frame in the hinge area are shaped so as substantially to exclude any gap in the hinge area between the sash and frame when the sash is in a closed position. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Circular windows The present invention relates to circular windows.

Circular windows are well known and are often fitted in, for instance, the gable ends of houses.

However the weather excluding properties of known circular windows are not good due to the poor fit of the sash butts against the frame and the poor sealing of the pivot hinges when closed.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an opening circular window with superior weather excluding properties than presently known opening circular windows, and which is also cheaper and easier to manufacture.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a circular opening window comprising an outer circular window frame and an inner circular window sash which fits within the inner circumference of the outer circular wiridow frame, the outer circular window frame being provided with a first flange projecting radially inwards from one side of said window frame, and a second flange projecting radially inwards from the other side of said frame, each said flange extending about substantially half of the periphery of said frame, so that together said flanges cover substantially the whole of the gap between said sash and said frame with said sash in a closed position.

Preferably, said first flange extends around substantially the periphery of the upper half of said frame.

Preferably said first flange extends radially inwardly from the interior side of said frame.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a circular opening window comprising an outer window frame, an inner window sash which fits within the inner circumference of the outer window frame, and two pivot hinges mounted on a line passing through the centre of the window frame and sash, said pivot hinges comprising two parts, a first part being fixed to the outer frame and a second part being fitted to the inner window sash, said first and second parts being adapted for relative pivotal movement, for instance, said first part having a bore therethrough, and said second part being provided with a pin which projects through said bore of said first part of the pivot hinge and which is threaded at the end thereof so as to allow a nut to be screwed thereon so as to pivotally connect the first and second parts of the pivot hinge, said hinges and/or the sash and frame in the hinge area being shaped so as substantially to exclude any gap in the hinge area between said sash and said frame, when the sash is in a closed position.

Preferably said first part of said pivot hinge has a rebate around the area of said pivot pin so as to allow the interposition of a washer between said first and second parts of said pivot hinge. The second part of said pivot hinge may also have a rebate on the surface of the hinge which when fitted and in the closed position would normally be adjacent to the interior portion of the inner surface of the outer window frame.

Preferably the pivot pin is rotatable with said second part of said pivot hinge so that the pin and the nut screwed thereon move with said second portion of said pivot hinge, and there is no relative rotational movement between pivot pin and lock nut.

Preferably the frictional forces between said first and second parts of said pivot hinge are such that the inner window sash may be easily opened but when opened the frictional forces are great enough to ensure that the sash does not return to its closed position accidentally except by, for instance, a particularly heavy gust of wind.

Preferably the inner window sash is shaped with an inclined portion on the outer circumferential surface of the sash to form a chamfer so as to tend to decrease the radius of said sash in a direction away from the direction opening of the sash.

Preferably said inclination is over at least a portion of the outer circumferential surface of the bottom half of sash.

Preferably said inclination is over at least a portion of the outer circumferential surface of the top half of said sash.

Preferably the abutting surfaces of sash and frame are inclined in a corresponding manner.

Hence a side elevation of the inner window sash would not be rectangular but would have the bottom and/or top sides sloping slightly downwards towards the interior or exterior side. It should be noted that the radius of said sash need not actually vary, but that if the centre of each section through the sash were assumed to lie on the same axial line as the actual centre of the sash, then the radius would appear to vary, with one or two surfaces chamfered as described. This shaping allows no hindrance to the movement of the sash in the outer frame.

Preferably the inner window sash is made of a plastics material. More preferably it is of a polyester resin. Most preferably the inner window sash is made in a single piece by injection molding.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a rear elevation of an opening circular window in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the outer window frame of the window of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view of the inner window sash of the window of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a rear elevation of a pivotal hinge of the window of Figure 1; Figure 5 is a cross-section on a horizontal plane through the hinge of Figure 4; and Figure 6 is a side elevation of a part of the hinge of Figure 4.

A circular opening window in accordance with the present invention comprises outer circular window frame 3, inner window sash 5, and two pivot hinges 7. Inner sash 5 is designed so as to hold glass window portions in each of quadrants 9 and pivots on a horizontal line passing through the centre of inner sash 5 by means of pivot pins 17 of pivot hinges 7.

Each pivot hinge 7 comprises a portion 13 which is screwed securely to outer frame 3 and portion 15 which is screwed to inner sash 5. The two pivot hinges are disposed diametrically opposite each other so that pivot pins 17 lie on the horizontal line passing through the centre of inner sash 5.

Outer frame 3 has a flange 1 1 continuous with inner surface 21 of outer frame 3. Flange 1 1 extends about substantially the whole of the bottom half of outer frame 3.

A similar flange 23 is continuous with the outer surface of outer flange 3. Flange 23 extends about substantially the whole of the upper half of outer frame 3.

The axial distance between the inner edges of flanges 1 1 and 23 is slightly greater than the axial depth of sash 5, so that the top inner vertical surface 26 of sash 5 abuts the inner edge of top rim 11 and the bottom outer edge 24 of sash 5 abuts outer rim 23 when the sash and outer frame 3 are attached together by means of pivot hinges 7, and are in the closed position.

Rims 23 and 1 1 of outer frame 3 serve not only to prevent draughts through the gaps between the abutting surfaces of sash 5 and frame 3 but also limit the range of pivot of sash 5 on pivot hinges 7.

The vertical distance between the ends of rims 23 and 1 1 at corresponding sides of frame 3 together with the width of the sash defines the range of pivot of sash 5. In this embodiment these features are such as to allow a pivotting of sash 5 over an angle of approximately 450 but in alternative embodiments arrangements may be such as to allow a greater or lesser extent of opening of the window.

Referring to Figure 3 of the drawings, it will be seen that sash 5 has an inclined portion from its outer circumferential surface forming a chamfer 25. This chamfer 25 begins below the horizontal plane passing through the centre of sash 5, and also does not extend over the full depth of sash 5.

The extent is in fact approximately three quarters of the depth of sash 5 from its front surface 24.

The inclined portion 25 gives the lower side of sash 5, as seen in side elevation, a slope inwardly towards the central axis of sash 5 from back edge 26 of sash 5. This inclined portion serves to allow easier pivotting of sash 5 about pivot pins 17 by removing an edge which otherwise might catch on outer frame 3. In an alternative embodiment, the top half of sash 5 might also have a similar cutaway portion which would be a double mirror image of the bottom half of sash 5 in the present invention, chamferring the top left-hand corner as seen in Figure 3 of the circumferential surface of sash 5. In this embodiment, however, top surface 28 of sash 5 merely has a slight radial concavity.

It will be noted that flanges 1 1 and 23 do not extend to the immediate vicinity of the pivot hinges 7. This is a functional necessity so as to allow the window to open at all. Therefore, the hinges and/or the sash and frame in the hinge region should be arranged so as to have some degree of weather exclusion, to maintain the overall effectiveness of the window.

As seen particularly from Figures 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings, pivot hinges 7 comprise two main components. The first part 13 is static and is screwed by screws 39 to outer frame 3, in such a position so as to have central bore 47 on the exact pivot line required, that is to say, on the horizontal line passing through the centre of sash 5. Portion 13 of pivot hinge 7 has a flat bearing surface 45 facing inwardly towards the centre of sash 5 and also close to but set back from the edge of outer frame 3.

Second part 1 5 of pivot hinge 7 is screwed to inner sash 5 by means of screws 41. Pivot pin 17 which is securely fixed to second part 1 5 of pivot hinge 7 is inserted through bore 47 of first part 13 of pivot hinge 7 and is fixed therein by means of washer 35 and lock nut 37 screwed onto the end of pivot pin 17 on the exterior side of first part 13 of pivot hinge 7. Pivot pin 17 is thus held on the desired pivot line, and as pin 17 moves with part 1 5 of pivot hinge 7, lock nut 37 moves with pin 17 and therefore will not be caused to loosen by relative movement between pin 17 and lock nut 37.

Second part 15 of pivot hinge 7 has a bearing surface 31 in contact with bearing surface 45 of first part 13 of pivot hinge 17, but this is cut away in a circular region around pivot hinge 17 to form rebate 29. Into this rebate washer 33 can be interposed between the two parts 13 and 15 of pivot hinge 7. Rebate 29 is of one sixteenth of an inch depth from the surface 31 of second part 15 of pivot hinge 7. A second rebate 43 is made in the region of bearing surface 31 which is adjacent to the inner surface of outer window frame 3.

Rebate 43 is therefore approximately parallel to the top surface of outer frame 3 and forms with rebate 29 a single rebate region of part 15 of hinge 7.

It may be seen particularly from Figure 5 that bearing surfaces 31 and 45 of the two parts 13 and 1 5 of pivot hinge 7 are in close contact, as is washer 33, with both parts of hinge 7. Rebated regions 29 and 43 of second part 1 5 of pivot hinge 7 also form overlaps with outer frame 3 so as to provide satisfactory weather exclusion at allpoints along the vertical surfaces of pivot hinge 7.

Therefore, weather exclusion in a circular opening window in accordance with the present invention is provided by flanges or rims such as 1 1 and 23 and by pivot hinges 7 so as to provide good weather excluding properties around the entire circumference of the opening sash portion 5 of a circular opening window.

In this embodiment inner sash 5 is made in a one piece injection moulding of a plastics material polyester resin whilst outer frame 3 is made' of wood. However, in an alternative embodiment either or both of these components could be made of plastics material such as polyester resin, or wood.

Claims

1. A circular opening window comprising an outer window frame and an inner window sash, said frame having a first flange extending radially inwardly from one side of said frame and a second flange extending radially inwardly from the other side of said frame, each said flange extending about substantially half the periphery of said frame so that together said flanges cover substantially the whole of the gap between said sash and said frame when said sash is in a closed position.

2. A circular opening window according to claim 1 wherein said first flange extends around substantially the periphery of the upper half of said frame.

3. A circular opening window according to claims 1 or 2 wherein said first flange extends radially inwardly from the interior side of said frame.

4. A circular opening window according to any of the preceding claims wherein said first and/or second flanges do not extend into the immediate vicinity of any pivot hinges that might be fitted to said window.

5. A circular opening window according to any of the preceding claims wherein the outer circumferential surface of the sash is, at least over a portion thereof, inclined in a direction so as to tend to decrease the radius of said sash in a direction away from the direction of opening of the sash.

6. A circular opening window according to claim 5 wherein said inclination is over at least a portion of the outer circumferential surface of the bottom half of said sash.

7. A circular opening window according to claims 5 or 6 wherein said inclination is over at least a portion of the outer circumferential surface of the top half of said sash.

8. A circular opening window according to claims 5 to 7 wherein the surfaces of said frame abutting the outer circumferential surfaces of said sash are inclined in a corresponding manner to the abutting surfaces of said sash.

9. A circular opening window according to any of the preceding claims wherein said sash is made of a plastics material.

10. A circular opening window according to any of the preceding claims wherein said frame is made of a plastics material.

1 A circular opening window according to claims 9 or 10 wherein said sash and/or frame are each made in one piece by injection moulding.

12. A circular opening window according to any of claims 9 to 11 wherein said plastics material is a polyester resin.

13. A circular opening window comprising an outer window frame, an inner window sash and two pivot hinges, said hinges being mounted on a line passing through the centre of said frame and sash, each said pivot hinge comprising two parts, a first part being fixed to said frame and a second part being fixed to said sash, said first and second parts being adapted for relative pivotal movement and each of said hinges and/or said sash and frame including portions which, with the window in the closed position, substantially exclude any gap, in the vicinity of the hinge, between said sash and said frame.

14. A circular opening window in accordance with claim 13 wherein said pivotal means comprise said first part of each said hinge having a bore therethrough whose axis is on said line through the centre of said frame and sash, and said second part of each said hinge having a pin corresponding to said bore, and capable of being inserted and pivotally held therein.

15. A circular opening window in accordance with claim 14 wherein each said holding means comprise said pin projecting through and beyond said bore and being provided at the end thereof with a threaded portion, and a nut being screwed onto said threaded portion so as to prevent the removal of said pin from said bore.

16. A circular opening window in accordance with any of claims 13 to 15 wherein said second part of each said pivot hinge has a rebate in the region of said pivot pin.

17. A circular opening window according to claim 16 wherein said rebate is substantially filled by a washer interposed on said pivot pin between said first and second parts of said hinge.

18. A circular opening window according to any preceding claim from claim 13 onwards wherein said second part of each said hinge has a rebate on the surface of said hinge which, when fitted, and in the closed position, would normally be adjacent to the interior portion of the inner surface of said window frame.

19. A circular opening window according to any of the preceding claims from claim 13 onwards wherein there is no relative rotational movement between said pivot pin and said nut.

20. A circular opening window according to any preceding claim from claim 13 onwards wherein the frictional forces between said first and second parts of each said pivot hinges, are such that said sash might easily be opened, but that when opened the frictional forces are great enough to prevent the sash returning to its closed position accidentally except by, for instance, a particularly heavy gust of wind.

21. A circular opening window according to claim 1 and substantially as herein described.

22. A circular opening window substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.