US2492896A - Sliding window sash mounting device - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 27, 1949 H. SCHWARTZMANN SLIDING WINDOW SASH MOUiiT'ING DEVICE Filed Dec. 5, 1947 IN V EN TOR.

Patented Dec. 27, 1949 .UNITED STATES PATENT orricr.-

SLIDING WINDOW SASH MOUNTING DEVICE Harry Sehwartzmann, New Rochelle, N. Y.

Application December 3, 1947, Serial No. 789,387

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to sliding window sashes and their mountings in fixed window frame members and more particularly to a means for guiding and fixing such a sash in adjusted positions in the frame. The structure constitutes an improved substitute for the conventional counterweight which is commonly enclosed in the frame and connected with the sash by a cord trained over a pulley journalled in the upper part of the frame.

Such counterweights are subject to a number of objections, and it has heretofore been proposed to substitute for them various forms of mounting guides which will fix the sash at any vertically adjusted position and frictionally hold it in place. However, none of such devices with which I am acquainted has proved entirely satisfactory, so that none of them has come into extensive use. The present invention aims to provide a device of the frictional type which will be Simple and inexpensive in construction, foolproof and durable in operation, and entirely efficient and satisfactory in accomplishing its dual principal purposes of guiding the sash in its sliding movements and fixing it securely at any adjusted position.

A further object is to provide a device of the character indicated which will incidentally have important Weatherstripping or sealing functions.

Other and further objects and advantages are contemplated, all of which it is believed will be evident to those skilled in the art from the following description of the principles of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing which illustrates certain preferred embodiments of the invention which have been thoroughly tested in actual practice and found to be entirely satisfactory and dependable.

In the drawing,

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the lower right hand corner of a vertically slidabl window sash mounted in a fixed frame opening, with the sash shown partly broken away to illustrate, in

Fig. 5 is a horizontal cross sectional view,

corresponding to that of Fig. 2, but showing av modified embodiment of the invention; and

2 responding to that of Fig. 4, but showing "the device of Fig. 5.

Generally speaking, the invention comprises providing one of the fixed window frame or sliding sash members (preferably the frame member) with lengthwise, vertical ribs which project laterally into channels or grooves formed in. the other member (preferably the sash) and providing such other member with a plurality of devices which will engage the side faces of the ribs.

with a degree of friction great enough to maintain the sash securely at any predetermined ad-- justed elevation in the frame opening but small enough to be readily overcome so that the sashcan be moved vertically to any other desired position in the opening.

Fig. 1 shows at I a vertical side member of a fixed window frame which stands upright from a sill 2 and defines therewith one of the lower corners of a window opening containing a vertically slidable sash 3 having an upright .side rail 4, a lower cross rail 5 and a glass pane 6. It is to be understood that the sash 3, which may be one of the two sashes of a conventional double hung window, has two side rails 4 and two cross rails 5, and of course the frame opening has two side members I. I

Each of the side members I of the fixed window frame is provided with a rib element 1 of .T- shaped cross section, as best shown in Fig; 2, conveniently made of copper, zinc, or other noncorrodible sheet metal of the type commonly used in making metal Weatherstripping. This element is bent to provide a pair of co-planar side? frame member I and extends appreciably into the window opening. 1

Each of the side rails 4 of the sash is vertically channeled or grooved along its outer edge toreceive the rib 9 in such a way that the interfit of the rib and channel mounts the sash for free vertical sliding movement but prevents lateralmovement of the sash to the left or right of the structure as viewed in Fig. 1, or in or out of the Thus the sash is slidably mounted in the frame and held captive therein.

The sash is provided with one or more guiding I and fixingdevices as proposed by the invention;-

frame opening.

I prefer to equip each of the sash side rails with two such devices, one located near the bottom of the rail, as shown in Fig. 1, and one located 3 near the top of the rail, but it will be understood that any number of such devices may be employed within the broad spirit of the invention.

The function of each device is to embrace the rib 9 in frictional engagement which will permit the sash to be raised and lowered at will and to be held by the frictional engagement at any adjusted position in its range of movement.

Each device is permanently inserted in a suitable recess il drilled into the-side rail 4 from its outer vertical edge, or from the base of the channel thereof, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The device illustrated in Figs. 1-4 comprises a generally tubular housing member I 2, conveniently made of die cast zinc alloy or the like, having one or more small outer surface ribs or keys l3 for making a drive fit in the recess H so as to hold the housing securely in place and keep it from becoming dislodged or turned.

The generally tubular body of each housing has a pair of diametrically opposite relatively narrow slots 14 penetrating it fromwhat may be regarded as its outer end, shown at the right in Figs. 1 and 2. These slots terminate in circularly enlarged seats for the reduced ends of a shaft is which make a tight drive flt in the seats, and on the shaft there are loosely mounted for free rotation and free axial movement a pair of relatively thin rollers 16, which are yieldably urged toward contact with each other by a coil spring l1 encircling the shaft and interposed between each roller and the adjacent inner wall of the housing l2.

A washer 48 may if desired serve as an abutment for the outer convolution of each of the coil springs to keep its terminal end from becoming caught in the slot I4, and the outer face of each of the rollers may be provided with a circular axial projection l9 around which the inner convolution of the spring seats, but these are details which form no essential part of the invention.

Similarly, the rollers may have the peripheries of their inner, opposed faces beveled slightly, as shown at 20, so that the two rollers, pressed into engagement by the springs i1, present a peripheral pocket or groove, as is best shown in Fig. 3.

Midway between the narrow slots 14 the housing 12 has a pair of diametrically opposite wider slots 2| which expose the outer half or more of each of the rollers for penetration of the rib 9 between them, as will now be explained.

With the device, made as thus described, driven into place in one or more recesses H in each of the sash side rails, the sash is installed in the frame opening by interfltting each of the ribs 9 between the two rollers iii of each of the devices. This interfitting has the efiect of canting the rollers from their more or less accurately radial positions on the shaft 15, shown in Fig. 3, to their inclined positions shown in Fig. 2, which movement is accommodated by the loose fit of the rollers on the shaft. In this canted position the inner faces of the rollers are pressed by the springs I1 into frictional engagement with the opposite side faces of the rib 9. As the sash is moved up and down in the window opening the rollers turn, or at least they are free to turn, on the shaft 15. They ride along the length of the rib 9 and by their frictional engagement with the rib they serve to hold the sash in any vertically adjusted position at which theperson lifting or lowering the sash may stop it in itsmove ment.

It will be appreciated that since the rollers are 4 free to move axially along the shaft within the considerable limits determined by the inside diameter of the housing, the rollers will not bind against the rib despite any inequalities or irregularities by which the rib may deviate from true and accurate straightness.

It will also be evident that the interfit of the rib into the sash channel or groove forms a light trap and an air trap, thus performing incidental valuable Weatherstripping functions.

Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate a modified embodiment in which a housing 24, made generally like the housing l2, and having wide slots 25 similar to and for the same purpose as the slots 2|, encloses a. pair of levers 25, each of which is provided between its ends with an outwardly projecting lug or trunnion 21 which is journalled in one of a pair of sockets 28 formed at diametrically opposite points in the housing side wall. The two levers are fulcrumed by their trunnions to rock in a plane which is horizontal when the housing is mounted in a sash, as shown in Fig. 5. The outer end of each lever mounts a rotatable element, here shown in the form of a ball 29, set in a substantially hemispherical recess formed in the inner surface of each lever, and these elements are pressed toward contact with each other, or into frictional engagement with the opposite faces of the rib 9, by the expansive action of a coil spring 30 which is seated in shallow sockets 3! formed at the opposite, or inner, ends of the levers.

It will be appreciated that, when mounted as shown in Fig. 5, this embodiment of the invention provides frictional engagement of the elements 29 with the rib 9 and that the elements are free to move laterally, either jointly or individually, to accommodate irregularit in the thickness of the rib 8 or deviations of the rib' from accurate straightness, in much the same way as the rollers l6 act.

The parts are all made of metal, and the assembly constituted by each embodiment is permanent and not subject to accidental dismantling or separation of its parts when the devices are being handled prior to installation. Thus, the journals formed at the ends of the shaft 15 make a tight drive fit in their seats at the bases of the slots l4, so that the shaft is not likely to become separated from the housing l2 when the device is being handled. Similarly, theballs 29 are maintained in their sockets because they are pressed into engagement with each other by the action of the spring 311.

While I have shown the fixed frame provided with the ribs, and the sliding sash equipped with the friction element devices, it is to be understood that within the broad principles of the invention this relationship may be reversed, with the ribs attached to the sash and the friction element devices mounted in the fixed frame.'

It will be appreciated that the arrangement provided by the invention requires no lubrication or any other kind of attention and contains no part or assembly that is likely to break, wear out, or become disconnected. Moreover, the cost of a complete installation of a pair of ribs and set of frictional element devices is favorably comparable with that of a pair of sashweights and the-necessary complement of pulleys, cords, etc.

In addition to these advantages, the present invention eliminates the need of providing the usual box-like enclosure in each of the window frame upright members for housing the movingsashweight. Accordingly, the frame used with the present devices may be made narrower and at lower cost and may be set closer to the window buck or to the masonry or other material of the building wall.

It is noteworthy also that the friction provided by the devices is constant and uniform and remains so at all times in any given installation. This friction can be predetermined in accordance with the weight of the particular sash to be mounted and can be adjusted and regulated by proper selection of springs I! or 30, thickness or number of washers I8, depth of sockets 3|, or in other ways. Moreover, in accordance with the well known law of mechanics, the static friction which must be overcome to start the sash sliding from a position of rest is greater than the sliding friction which must be overcome to keep the sash in motion. It follows that the frictional force or quantity for any given installation can be predetermined at such a value that a very moderate pull up or down on the sash will start the sash in motion and will keep it in motion and yet the same frictional force or quantity will be adequate to hold the sash securely at any desired stopping position.

It is believed that the foregoing disclosure of the principal details of two preferred embodiments of the broad inventive ideas is adequate to acquaint those skilled in the art with the manner in which the invention is practiced and that these explanations will be found sufficient to support the appended claims which are directed to a selected embodiment specifically as well as to the broad principles of the invention incorporated in other and further modified forms.

I claim:

1. A device for guiding and fixing a sliding window sash in adjusted positions along a rib projecting from a fixed frame comprising a houshousing, a pair of rollers rotatable on the shaft and having their opposed faces beveled and bearing against the opposite lateral faces of the rib, and a spring reacting between the housing and each roller for yieldably pressing the rollers against the rib.

3. A device for guiding and fixing a sliding window sash in adjusted positions along a rib projecting from a fixed frame comprising a housing recessed in the sash, a shaft mounted in the housing, a pair of rollers rotatable and slidable axially on the shaft and engaged with the opposed lateral faces of the rib, and a spring reacting between the housing and each roller for yieldably pressing the rollers against the rib.

HARRY SCHWARTZMANN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 512,647 Donahl Jan. 9, 1894 1,562,523 Slappey Nov. 24, 1925 1,646,068 Rosner Oct. 18, 1927 1,798,409 Ferris Mar. 31, 19.31 2.453.935 Quigley et al Nov. 16, 1948

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