GB2576199A

GB2576199A - Elongate member for window or door or frame therefor and reinforcement member for window or door profile

Info

Publication number: GB2576199A
Application number: GB1812968.4A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Williams Tim
Original assignee: Veka PLC
Current assignee: Veka PLC
Priority date: 2018-08-09
Filing date: 2018-08-09
Publication date: 2020-02-12
Also published as: GB201812968D0

Abstract

The profile element 20 has an elongate plastic profile member 22 containing an internal elongate metal reinforcement member 24, the reinforcement member having multiple walls, each having a face, and at least two upstanding portions through which the reinforcement member engages with the profile. The reinforcement member may be rolled steel with a C or U profile, one of the upstanding portions being an intergal outwardly turned lip at an edge of the member, the other an integral folded portion at a corner of the member. The reinforcement member may be in a cavity in the profile and may divide the cavity into two chambers. Also claimed is a steel reinforcement member. The upstanding portions mean contact between faces of the reinforcement member and adjacent faces of the interior of the plastics profile is prevented and thermal bridging minimized across the profile.

Description

ELONGATE MEMBER FOR WINDOW OR DOOR OR FRAME THEREFOR AND REINFORCEMENT MEMBER FOR WINDOW OR DOOR PROFILE

The present invention is concerned with elongate members for windows and doors, and particularly with plastics members having internal metal reinforcement.

Plastics materials, typically but not exclusively PVC (polyvinyl chloride), are widely used to form the elongate members used in constructing windows, window sashes, casements, window frames, doors and door frames. Typically such members take the form of a shaped hollow extrusion.

It is a common practice to reinforce an outer plastics frame profile with an internal reinforcement member formed of metal. This contributes stiffness against bending or warping and can provide a robust substrate to which window or door furniture can be attached, e.g. using screw fixings. Also the fixings such as screws used to secure window or door frames to a surrounding reveal can be passed through the internal metal member which thus distributes the load that the screws apply. Commonly the reinforcement member takes the form of a simple box section. Figure 1 provides an example in the form of a PVC window frame profile 10 containing a box-section mild steel reinforcement member

12.

It is important to minimise the thermal conductivity of the frame member and so minimise heat loss through it to the exterior of a building. A disadvantage of the type of reinforced frame member depicted in Figure 1 is that the reinforcement member 12, having high thermal conductivity relative to the outer plastics frame profile, can to some degree compromise the thermal performance of the assembly as a whole. It can act in this context as a thermal bridge.

The inventor has recognised that the intimate contact of faces 14, 16 of the reinforcement member 12 with adjacent internal faces of the frame profile 10 contributes to this problem by providing a low resistance route for passage of heat between the two parts.

According to the present invention there is an elongate member for use in a window or door comprising a hollow elongate plastics profile and an elongate metal reinforcement member disposed within the profile and extending along it, wherein the reinforcement member comprises multiple walls having respective faces and further comprises at least two longitudinally extending upstands through which the reinforcement member engages with the plastics outer member.

Also in accordance with the present invention there is a reinforcement member for a plastics window or door profile, the reinforcement member being elongate and comprising steel, and having a cross sectional shape which includes multiple walls having respective faces and at least two upstands providing respective edges for engaging an interior surface of a plastics profile for a window or door, thereby to prevent contact between the faces of the reinforcement member and the plastics profile.

Specific embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:Figure la is a cross section through a frame profile belonging to the prior art incorporating a box section reinforcement member and Figure lb is a cross section through the reinforcement member alone; and

Figure 2a is a cross-section through a frame member according to the present invention incorporating a reinforcement member and Figure 2b is a cross-section through the reinforcement member alone.

The frame member 20 depicted in Figures 2a and 2b is for a window frame. That is to say, it is used to form the fixed frame that is secured to a window reveal and which carries a sash. But the present invention is potentially applicable to frame members making up other parts of a window or door including, without limitation, members for forming a sash or casement, elongate members of a frame and panel type door, members for forming a door frame, lining or casing, and window or door sills.

The frame member 20 comprises an outer member in the form of a plastics profile 22, and an internal reinforcement member 24.

In the present embodiment the profile 22 comprises PVC and is an extruded item. The profile 22 is elongate. Its cross-sectional shape may differ markedly from one embodiment of the present invention to another but in the present embodiment it comprises a hollow beam-type structure forming an elongate internal cavity 26 in which the reinforcement member 24 is contained. Longitudinally extending feet 28 depend from an outer face 30 of the profile 22. In use these rest upon the window reveal to which the frame member 20 is mounted. A tongue 32 stands proud of an inner face 34 of the profile 22 and provides a seal-mounting channel 36 for receiving a seal (not shown) to bear upon and seal against a glazing unit, the seal being formed against the glass in a fixed light (window) and against the sash profile in the case of an opening light. The illustrated profile also provides a bead-mounting channel 38. In a complete window installation, a glazing bead (not shown) is mounted in the bead-mounting channel 38 and a glazing unit is retained between the seal carried by the tongue 32 and the glazing bead.

The internal reinforcement member 24 comprises metal. In the present embodiment it comprises mild steel and is formed by rolling, although other alloys and other manufacturing processes may be employed in other embodiments. Whereas the prior art reinforcement member 12 has a closed box section, the reinforcement member 24 of the present embodiment has an open section with walls 40, 42 and 46 arranged along three edges of a notional rectangle, the fourth edge 48 of that rectangle being open. To put this another way, the reinforcement member 24 is roughly U shaped in section. Each of the walls 40, 42 and 46 provides planar inner and outer faces .

The reinforcement member 24 has a pair of upstands 50, 52 through which it engages with the interior of the profile 22. In the present embodiment the upstands 50, 52 extend along the length of the reinforcement member 24. One of the upstands 50 is formed as an outwardly turned lip. The other of the upstands 52 is formed by a return fold in the material of the reinforcement member 24. They provide respective edges 54, 56 which contact the adjacent face 58 of the interior of the profile 22.

The edges 54, 56 are narrow and thus provide a small contact area between the reinforcement member 24 and the profile 22. In this way heat flow between the two, and the tendency for the reinforcement member 24 to provide a bridge for heat flow or otherwise compromise thermal properties of the frame member 20 as a whole, are minimised. Typically screws (not shown) are passed through inner face 34 of the frame profile and into the reinforcement member 24, drawing the upstands 50, 52 into engagement with the adjacent interior face 58 so that these are the main, or even the sole, regions of contact between the two parts.

As well as mitigating the problem of thermal bridging, the reinforcement member 24 divides the internal cavity 26 of the profile into two sperate spaces, reducing conduction of heat by air through the cavity. Specifically, the wall 42 lies across the internal cavity 26 and achieves this purpose.

Claims

1. An elongate member for use in a window or door or frame therefor comprising a hollow elongate plastics profile and an elongate metal reinforcement member disposed within the profile and extending along it, wherein the reinforcement member comprises multiple walls having respective faces and further comprises at least two longitudinally extending upstands through which the reinforcement member engages with the profile.

2. An elongate member as claimed in claim 1 in which none of the faces of the reinforcement member contacts the profile.

3. An elongate member as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 in which the metal reinforcement member has an open cross-section comprising three walls.

4. An elongate member as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3 in which the upstands are integral with walls of the reinforcement member and provide respective edges through which the reinforcement member engages with the profile.

5. An elongate member as claimed in any preceding claim in which at least one of the upstands comprises an outwardly turned lip integrally formed with a wall of the metal reinforcement member.

6. An elongate member as claimed in any preceding claim in which at least one of the upstands comprises a return fold forming an edge through which the upstand engages with the profile.

7. An elongate member as claimed in any preceding claim in which the metal reinforcement member comprises rolled steel.

8. An elongate member as claimed in preceding claim in which a wall of the metal reinforcement member divides the interior space of the profile into two chambers.

9. A reinforcement member for a plastics window or door profile, the reinforcement member being elongate and comprising steel, and having a cross-sectional shape which includes multiple walls having respective faces and at least two upstands providing respective edges for engaging an interior surface of a plastics profile for a window or door, thereby to prevent contact between the faces of the reinforcement member and the plastics profile.

10. A reinforcement member as claimed in claim 9 which is a unitary component of rolled steel.

11. A reinforcement member as claimed in claim 9 or claim 10 which has an open cross-section comprising three walls.

12. A reinforcement member as claimed in any of claims 9 to 11 in which the upstands are integral with walls of the reinforcement member and provide respective edges for engagement with the profile.

13. A reinforcement member as claimed in any of claims 9 to 12 in which at least one of the upstands

5 comprises an outwardly turned lip integrally formed with a wall of the metal reinforcement member.

14. A reinforcement member as claimed in any of claims 9 to 13 in which at least one of the upstands comprises a return fold forming an edge through which the upstand engages with the profile.