GB2312916A

GB2312916A - Glazing sheet edge gripping and sealing member

Info

Publication number: GB2312916A
Application number: GB9609572A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Brian Christopher Allport; Susan Margaret Allport; Mark Charles Allport; Philip Brian Allport; Hannah Susan Allport
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1996-05-08
Filing date: 1996-05-08
Publication date: 1997-11-12
Anticipated expiration: 2016-05-08
Also published as: GB9609572D0; GB2312916B

Abstract

A gripping member for gripping and sealing the edge of a glazing sheet 18 comprises a elongated clip 10 having opposing arms 12, 14 which can be resiliently deflected away from one another to allow the arms to grip the edge of the glazing sheet inserted between them. One arm 12 has a resilient sealing blade 24 for engaging a surface of the glazing sheet, the blade being located on the inside surface of the arm at a position which is spaced inwardly from the free end 12a of the arm. Arm 12 also has a step 28 which, with the deflected sealing blade 24, provides a planar contact surface for the glazing sheet. The other arm 14 has a rib 22 which serves as a stop member for the edge of the glasing sheet 18. Arm 14 also has a groove 20 which sufficiently weakens it to allow it to deflect more than arm 12 on insertion of the glazing sheet.

Description

GRIPPING MEMBER FOR A GLAZING SHEET This invention relates to a member for gripping and sealing the edge of a glazing sheet, for example polycarbonate or glass roof sheeting used in the manufacture of pre-fabricated conservatory roofs.

Existing gripping members have a flexible seal along an exposed edge of the member. This has the disadvantage that, because the flexible material has to withstand ultra-violet light, the choice of materials which can be used is very limited, and quite often the material has to be a different colour from that of the gripping member itself.

According to the present invention there is provided a gripping member comprising an elongated clip having opposing arms of which at least one arm can be resiliently deflected away from the other to allow the arms to resiliently grip the edge of a glazing sheet inserted between them, wherein at least one of the arms has a resilient sealing member for engaging a surface of the glazing sheet, the sealing member being located on the inside surface of the said at least one arm at a position which is spaced inwardly from the free end of the arm.

The advantage of the invention is that the sealing member is completely out of sight and shielded from ultra-violet light.

Hence a much wider range of materials is available for use and the material used in any particular case can be optimised to give the best seal against the surface concerned, without regard to colour or the need for the material to withstand ultra-violet light.

Preferably the sealing member comprises a sealing blade inclined away from the free end of the arm. In such a case the inside surface of the arm preferably includes a step and the sealing blade is deflected down in front of the step by engagement with the surface of the glazing sheet.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a cross-section of a gripping member according to the embodiment, and Figure 2 is a cross-section of the gripping member of Fig. 1 gripping the edge of a polycarbonate roof sheet.

It will be understood that the gripping member shown in the drawings is of substantially constant cross-section and is highly elongated in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawings.

The gripping member comprises a clip 10, generally of U-shaped cross-section, having opposing arms 12 and 14 extending from a base portion 16. The clip 10 is made of a relatively hard plastics material, and is formed by extrusion.

The plastics material has sufficient inherent resilience to permit the arms 1 2 and 14 to be resiliently forced apart to receive and resiliently grip the edge of a glazing sheet 1 8 inserted between them. The glazing sheet 18 may, for example, be a polycarbonate triple glazed roof sheet as shown in Fig. 2. The edge of the roof sheet 18 is slid in between the free ends 1 2a and 1 4a of the arms 1 2 and 14 respectively, and the free end 1 4a of the arm 14 is appropriately curved to facilitate this.

In this embodiment the outside surface of the lower arm 14 has a longitudinal groove 20 adjacent to the base portion 16.

This sufficiently weakens the lower arm 14 along the line of the groove that, although some movement of the upper arm 1 2 occurs, most of the resilient movement occurs in the lower arm 14 when the edge of the sheet 18 is inserted between the arms. This will be seen by comparing Figs. 1 and 2.

The lower arm 14 also has a longitudinal rib 22 on the opposite surface to the groove 20 (i.e. on its inside surface).

This rib defines the maximum extent to which the sheet 18 may be inserted between the arms 12 and 14, and is located slightly nearer to the free end 1 4a of the arm 14 than the groove 20. The rib 22 serves as a stop member against which the edge of the glazing sheet 18 abuts when the sheet is pushed fully home into the clip 10.

In order to provide a weatherproof seal against the ingress of wind and rainwater into the clip 10, the inside surface of the upper arm 1 2 has a resilient sealing member 24 for resiliently sealing against the upper surface 26 of the sheet 18. As seen in the figures, the sealing member 24 is located at a position which is spaced substantially inwardly from the free end 1 2a of the arm 12. In this embodiment the sealing member 24 comprises a sealing blade which, in its free state (Fig. 1), is inclined away from the free end 1 2a of the arm 12. The sealing blade 24 may be formed integrally with the clip 10 in the same extrusion, and is preferably made of a material which is more resilient than the material of the clip. A suitable material which may be used is ultraviolet pvc for the clip 10 and a flexible pvc for the sealing blade 24.

When the glazing sheet 1 8 is inserted between the arms 1 2 and 14 the upper surface 26 of the sheet 18 will engage the blade 24 and deflect it against the inside surface of the arm 12, as seen in Fig. 2. The inside surface of the arm 1 2 has a step 28 just behind the sealing blade 24, the distance between the step 28 and the root 24a of the blade 24 being slightly greater than the length of the blade, and the depth of the step being approximately the same as the thickness of the blade 24. Thus, when the blade 24 is engaged by the surface 26 it is deflected down in front of the step 28, and its surface 24b in contact with the surface 26 will be generally in the same plane as the portion 1 2b of the inside surface of the arm 12 behind the step 28. This allows the surface 26 of the sheet 18 to lie along and substantially in contact with the portion 1 2b of the inside surface of the arm 12, so that the edge of the sheet 1 8 is adequately stabilised against rocking movement in the clip.

In an actual example of the gripping member shown in the drawings, the distance apart D of the arms 1 2 and 14 at the base portion 16 was approximately 16mm, and the distance apart of their free ends was approximately 7mm. This proved suitable for gripping the edge of a 15mm thick polycarbonate sheet 18.

Claims

1. A gripping member comprising an elongated clip having opposing arms of which at least one arm can be resiliently deflected away from the other to allow the arms to resiliently grip the edge of a glazing sheet inserted between them, wherein at least one of the arms has a resilient sealing member for engaging a surface of the glazing sheet, the sealing member being located on the inside surface of the said at least one arm at a position which is spaced inwardly from the free end of the arm.

2. A gripping member as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sealing member comprises a sealing blade inclined away from the free end of the arm.

3. A gripping member as claimed in claim 2, wherein the inside surface of the said at least one arm includes a step and the sealing blade is deflected down in front of the step by engagement with the surface of the glazing sheet.

4. A gripping member as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the clip is made of an inherently resilient material by extrusion, and the sealing member is formed integrally with the clip in the same extrusion.

5. A gripping member as claimed in claim 4, wherein one of the arms has a longitudinal groove remote from its free end so that such arm is deflected preferentially to the other.

6. A gripping member as claimed in claim 4 or 5, wherein the sealing member is made of a material which is more resilient than the material of the clip.

7. A gripping member substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

7. A gripping member as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein one of the arms has a stop means on its inside surface which defines the maximum extent of insertion of the glazing sheet between the arms.

8. A gripping member substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows 1. A gripping member comprising an elongated clip having opposing arms of which at least one arm can be resiliently deflected away from the other to allow the arms to resiliently grip the edge of a glazing sheet inserted between them, wherein at least one of the arms has a resilient sealing member for engaging a surface of the glazing sheet, the sealing member being located on the inside surface of the said at least one arm at a position which is spaced inwardly from the free end of the arm and wherein the sealing member is made of a material which is more resilient than the material of the clip.

6. A gripping member as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein one of the arms has a stop means on its inside surface which defines the maximum extent of insertion of the glazing sheet between the arms.