GB2304376A

GB2304376A - Window stay

Info

Publication number: GB2304376A
Application number: GB9516712A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Neil Martin Baker
Original assignee: Securistyle Ltd
Current assignee: Securistyle Ltd
Priority date: 1995-08-15
Filing date: 1995-08-15
Publication date: 1997-03-19
Anticipated expiration: 2015-08-15
Also published as: GB2304376B; GB9516712D0

Abstract

In a stay comprising a support track 1 for attachment to a fixed frame, a vent arm 7 for attachment to a movable vent, a plurality of links and/or struts 9,11,13,19 for carrying the vent arm 7 from an open position to a closed position and an end cap 101 on the support track 1 for receiving an end point 107 of a vent arm 7 during closing of a stay, the interaction of the end cap 101 and end point 107 assisting in closing the stay, either the end cap 101 or the end point 107 or both can be temporarily displaced from their normal position during closing of the stay to facilitate entry of the end point 107 into the end cap 101. The invention is particularly applicable to egress hinges and allows a significant improvement in the engagement of the end point 107 into the end cap 101, thereby improving the security of the complete hinge.

Description

A STAY This invention relates to stays.

Stays, or hinges, are well known for windows and other vents. Indeed, a specific type of hinge, namely an egress hinge, is known from the present applicant's earlier patent GB-2262308. The egress hinge disclosed in GB-2262308 is shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings hereinafter and comprises a support track 1, a first slider 3, a second slider 5 and a vent arm 7. An end of the vent arm 7 is pivotally attached via a thrust link 9 to the first slider 3. A midpoint of the vent arm 7 is pivotally attached via a control link 11 to the second slider 5. A brace 13 joins the first slider 3 to a midpoint of the control link 11 via pivots 15,17. For additional strength, reinforcing link 19 joins the vent arm 7 to the brace 13 via pivot pins 21,23.

The support track 1 comprises a bottom wall 25, two side walls 27 and two inwardly facing flanges 29 at the tops of the two side walls 27. The first and second sliders 3,5 are shaped to be received in the support track 1 and to be held therein by means of the flanges 29 in known manner.

Restricting means 31 formed integrally with the first slider 3 comprises a neck region 33 and two ears 35 extending perpendicularly thereto. The neck 33 extends from a region of the first slider 3 near to the bottom 25 of the support track 1 towards the flanges 29. In this way, the ears 35 of the restricting means 31 are continuously biased against the undersides of the flanges 29.

Two cut-out regions 37 in the flanges 29 of the support track 1 are shaped to receive the ears 35 of the restricting means 31. When the ears 35 are received in the cut-out regions 37, the first slider 3 is held in position in the support track 1. The second slider 5 is, however, still free to move along the support track 1, thereby moving the vent arm 7 between its open and closed positions. In this regard, when the second slider 5 is moved to a position adjacent the restricting means 31, the vent arm 7 is substantially perpendicular to the support track 1 and the vent (not shown) mounted thereon is in its fully open position.

On opening the egress hinge from its closed position, the second slider 5 moves along the support track 1 towards the restricting means 31 whilst the first slider 3 is held in a fixed position by means of the ears 35 of the restricting means 31 engaging the cut-out regions 37 of the support track 1. Thus, the vent arm 7 moves outwardly towards its fully open position.

When the egress hinge is fully open, the vent mounted on the vent arm 7 is supported at one side of the fixed frame (to which the support track 1 is attached) and does not hinder entry or exit through the frame. If, however, it is desired to clean the outside surface of the vent, the restricting means 31 needs only to be depressed into the support track 1. The ears 35 then disengage from the cutout regions 37 and the first slider 3 is free to move along the support track 1. Indeed, the vent arm 7, the first slider 3 and the second slider 5, together with all the links 9,11,19 and the brace 13, can be moved relative to the support track 1. When the vent arm 7 is positioned somewhere near the middle of the support track 1, as shown in figure 2, access is readily available to both sides of the vent.

When the egress hinge of Figures 1 and 2 is to be closed from a cleaning position, the two sliders 3,5 move in opposite directions and, when the restricting means 31 has relocated to hold the first slider 3 in position, an asymmetric end point 39 on the vent arm 7 can engage in an asymmetric end cap 41 on the support track 1. However, due to the arrangement of an egress hinge, which of necessity opens to hold a vent adjacent one side of a fixed frame for egress, the depth of the recess in the end cap 41 must be shallow to enable the end point 39 to enter the end cap 41.

Hence, the angle of inclination of the internal wall of the end cap 41 to the axis of the support track 1 in the prior art egress hinges as shown in Figures 1 and 2 is between 70800. Further, the end point 39 is correspondingly shaped to be accommodated in the end cap 41. As a result, engagement between the end point 39 and the end cap 41 is limited and is therefore not ideal in high security applications.

In the light of the foregoing, the present invention aims to provide a novel stay wherein improved engagement can be achieved between the end point and end cap of the stay. Although the invention is particularly applicable to egress hinges, those skilled in the art will appreciate that it can be applied to many other types of stay, if desired.

With the foregoing in mind, the present invention provides a stay comprising a support track for attachment to a fixed frame, a vent arm for attachment to a movable vent, a plurality of links and/or struts for carrying the vent arm from an open position to a closed position and an end cap on the support track for receiving an end point of the vent arm during closing of the stay, the interaction of the end cap and the end point assisting in closing the stay, wherein either the end cap or the end point or both can be temporarily displaced from their active (or normal) positions during closing of the stay to facilitate entry of the end point into the end cap.

As far as the applicant is aware, the idea of a temporarily displaceable end cap or end point in a stay of this kind is not known, even though it can result in a distinct improvement in the engagement of the end point in the end cap of the stay. As will be appreciated from the foregoing, this additional engagement can be particularly important for security purposes.

Preferably the end point is pivotally mounted on the vent arm.

If the end point is pivotally mounted on the vent arm, a spigot offset from the pivot axis of the end point preferably defines the angle through which the end cap can pivot. This angle may be defined by the spigot moving in a recess or aperture in the vent arm, for example.

The end cap may be pivotally mounted on the support track. Alternatively, the end cap may be temporarily displaceable in the axial direction of the support track.

Although the end point and end cap can be made of any appropriate material, at least one of them is preferably made of plastics material.

Preferably the end cap includes an internal surface inclined at an angle of about 50 to the axis of the support track. By having such an angle, engagement of the end point in the end cap produces a significant improvement in the strength of the engagement. Of course, if the angle is less than 500, even stronger engagement may occur.

In a particular embodiment, the end point may include a peak for maximum entry into the end cap and a hump or other bearing surface for engaging the end cap during closing of the stay to urge the end point into its active position. Other arrangements for realigning the end cap and/or end point upon closing of the stay will, of course, be obvious to those skilled in the art.

As mentioned above, the invention of this application is particularly applicable to egress hinges. However, the invention can also be applied to other forms of stay.

A specific embodiment of the present invention is now described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a prior art egress hinge in a partly open position; Figure 2 is a plan view of the hinge of Figure 1 in a fully open position, the restricting means having been released to allow the vent arm to be moved to a cleaning position; and Figure 3 is an enlarged plan view of part of a stay according to the present invention showing the end point of the vent arm as it enters the end cap on the support track of the stay.

Although not shown in Figure 3, the specific embodiment of egress hinge according to the present invention comprises essentially the same features and components as shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, but with a modified end point and end cap. Accordingly, repetition of the description of Figures 1 and 2 will not be made here and the reader is referred to Figure 3 which shows the novel end point and end cap arrangement, and the manner in which these two components engage upon closing of the egress hinge.

With reference to Figure 3, an end cap 101 is received in an end of the support track 1 in known manner. The end cap 101 is an asymmetric end cap of known type having a first internal surface 103 substantially parallel to the axis of the support track 1 and a second internal surface 105 inclined at an angle of approximately 500 to the axis of the support track 1. A rivet (not shown) passes through the support track 1 and a tongue (not shown) of the end cap 101 to fix these two components together.

The vent arm 7 carries a novel end point 107 which is pivotally attached to the vent arm 7 by means of a rivet 109 which attaches the first link 9 to the vent arm 7. The end point 107 is stepped such that the symmetrically pointed end of the metal vent arm 7 abuts against the step in the end point 107. A flat body portion (not shown) of the end point 107 accommodates the rivet 109 and carries a spigot 111 which is received in an aperture 113 in the vent arm 7. The step in the end point 107 does not conform exactly to the shape of the symmetrically pointed end 7a of the vent arm 7, but is slightly more flared such that the end point 107 can rock or tip about the symmetrically pointed end 7a of the vent arm 7. The spigot 111, which can travel from one side of the aperture 113 to the other, assists in defining the maximum rocking of the end point 107.

The portion of the end point 107 which protrudes from the vent arm 7 includes a peak 115 and a small hump 117 which engage the inclined internal wall 105 of the end cap 101 during closing of the stay.

The engagement of the end point 107 with the end cap 101 during closing of the stay will now be described in detail.

When the end point 107 and end cap 101 are completely separated, the spigot 111 abuts one side of the aperture 113 as shown in Figure 3, thereby extending the peak 115 and withdrawing the hump 117. As the end point 107 approaches the end cap 101, the peak 115 abuts the inclined internal surface of the end cap 101 and is urged backwards towards the vent arm 7 such that the end point 107 pivots about the rivet 109 and rocks on the symmetrically pointed end 7a of the vent arm 7. As this occurs, entry of the end point 107 into the end cap 101 is facilitated. The peak 115 therefore begins to enter the end cap 101.

As the peak 115 of the end cap 107 proceeds into the end cap 101, the hump 117, which has been projected by the rocking action of the end point 107, engages the edge of the end cap 101. Further closing of the stay causes the hump 117 to be urged towards the vent arm 7, such that the end point 107 rocks about the symmetrically pointed end 7a back into its original orientation on the vent arm 7. The end point 107 is thus once again aligned with the vent arm 7 and engages fully within the end cap 101. Improved engagement of the end point 107 in the end cap 101 is thereby achieved, which adds significantly to the security of the complete egress hinge.

It will of course be understood that the present invention has been described above purely by way of example, and that modifications of detail can be made within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A stay comprising a support track for attachment to a fixed frame, a vent arm for attachment to a movable vent, a plurality of links and/or struts for carrying the vent arm from an open position to a closed position and an end cap on the support track for receiving an end point of the vent arm during closing of a stay, the interaction of the end cap and the end point assisting in closing the stay, wherein either the end cap or the end point or both can be temporarily displaced from their active positions during closing of the stay to facilitate entry of the end point into the end cap.

2. A stay as claimed in claim 1, wherein the end point is pivotally mounted on the vent arm.

3. A stay as claimed in claim 2, wherein a spigot offset from the pivot axis of the end point defines the angle through which the end point can pivot.

4. A stay as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the end cap is pivotally mounted on the support track.

5. A stay as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the end cap is temporarily displaceable in the axial direction of the support track.

6. A stay as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the end point or the end cap or both are made of plastics material.

7. A stay as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the end cap includes an internal surface inclined at an angle of about 500 to the axis of the support track.

8. A stay as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the end point includes a peak for maximum entry into the end cap and a hump for engaging the end cap during closing of the stay to urge the end point into its active position.

9. A stay as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the end point includes a step which abuts against an end of the vent arm.

10. A stay as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the stay is an egress hinge.

11. A stay substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.