Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
I'his invention relates to window assemblies. In
particular, this invention relates to a window assembly in which
the window units may be removed.
PRIOR ART
Considerable di~ficulty has been experienced in attempt-
ing to provide window assemblies from ~Jhich the window units may
be removed while also providing adequate safety for the prevention
of the undesired or unlawful removal of the window un~ts. In many
sliding window assemblies the window unit sashes are slidably
mounted on guide rails and removed by raisin~ the lower sash out
of engagement with the lower guide rail and moving the lower sash
outwardly over the lower guide rail. The principal action in the
removal of window units of this type is the raising of the lower
sash. It has been found that the lower sash may be accidentally
raised out of engagement wl~h the guide rail by the appl~cation of
a direct force against the window pane wlth a result that the
window assembly may be forced out of the window frame when an
lndividual falls or leans heavily agalnst the window pane.
Furthermore, in these known devices the window units may be re-
rnoved to permit unlawful entry by raisin~ the lower sash out ofengagement with lts associated sill.
The present invention overcomes the above difficulties
by providing a sash and frame construction which requires the
w~ndow units to be moved inwardly in the d~rection away from their
normal removal direction with respect to the frame before they may
be removed from the frame. This is movement in a direction
opposite to the direction in which a force would be applied to the
window unit by an individual applying an outwardly directecl force
to the windo~r unit.
SUMMARY
According to an embodiment of the present invention~
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"~ a window assembl~! consi.sts of at least one window unit mo~lntecl
in the frame, each window unit having an u~per and ].ower sash
:~; member, the window frame includin~ a header and a sill each
having opposi.tely disposed side w~l].s defi.ning a. header channel
and a sill channel respectivel~, each of sai.d chànnels o~entng
~ inwardly of the frame and bei.ng actapted to receive the urrer and
.
,lower ,sashes res~ectively of each window Ullit, a sash lock-Ln~
member mounted in sai~ heac1er channel and extendi.n~ lon~it,uclinally
thereof, said sash locki.n~ member bei.n~ resi].iently ur,~ed in a
direction outwardl,y Or said header channel, the improvement of
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i ~ ' header flange means pro,~ecting transversely inwardlv of the
header~.channel from at lea3t one o~ said side walls Or the
header, sill flange means pro,~ecti.n~, transversel!J inwar(llv of
the slll channel from at l.east one of ~aid si.de l^r,~].ls of the s-l.ll
and underlying a header flan~e, f:lrst sash flan~e means ~ro-
ectin~ outwardly from the up~er sash member Or each window
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unit to overlap said header rlan~e means~ second sash flan~e
means proJectin~ outwardly from said lower sash member of each
~ window unit to underlie said sill flan~e means, said sash
locklng member an~ said upner sas}l member beln~ adarted to
releasably enga~e one another to Prevent lateral movement o~
said up~er sash mem~er wt.th resr~ect to said hea.cler when said
first sash ~lan~e means of ~said upper .sash i.s in an operative
position overlyin~ said header flan~e means, sald sash locki.n~
member being movable i.nwardl,y of said header channel to release
said upper sash member~ said sill and the lower sash member of each
window unit bein~ adapted to releasabl,y cnga~e one another to
prevent lateral movement. of the lower sash member ~Jith res~ect to
said sill when saia second sash flange is ln a position underly-
30- ing sald slll flan~e means, said lower sash member bein~ movahle
upwardly to release sai.d lower sash memher for lateral movement
with respect to said s:t.ll, whereupon ~said lower sash member may be .
moved laterall,y away from its associ.ated sill s1de wall to w~thdraw
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the second sash flange from'its underlyln~ relationshi~ with the
~ill flange means and thereafter its associated window unit ma,y be
raised until its lower sash member is clear of the sill whereupon
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said lower sash member may be moved laterally outwardl,y over the sill
and the up~er sash member may be withdrawn rrom the header to there
~,'' by remove said associated window unit ~rom the window assembl,Y~
' The lnventio* wiil be more clearl,v understood after reference
.~ to the following detalled specification read in con~unction with the
- drawings wherein,
Flg. 1 is a pictorial vlew Or a window assembly accordlng to
an embodiment of the present invention mounted in a window openln~;
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'; ; Fig. 2 ls a sectlonal vlew along the line 2-2 of Fig. l;
Fig. 3 ls a sect:lonal view of a sash illu~tratin~ the
manner in which a window ~ne ls mounted therein;
Flg. Il ls a sectional view alon~ the llne ll-4 of ~i~. 1;
~Flg. 5 is a sectional view along the llne 5-5 Or ~ig. 1.
, With reference to the drawin~s, the reference numeral 10
re~ers generally to a window unlt according to an embodiment Or the
present inventlon. The window unit has a rrame consistinF, of a
~ill 12~ a header 14 and a pair Or Jambs 1~. Each of the members
of the frame may be made from extruded plastlc material such as a
polyvin,ylchloride or the like.
. The structure of the sill is illustrated in ~ig. 2 of the
drawin~s in cross-section. The sill consists Or a horizontall,Y
-extending bottom wall 18 and an angularly inclined bottom wall 20
spaced from one another by ribs 22~
One Or the ribs 22 forms a front wall of the Will and
has an extension 24 which is adapted to pro~ect into a slot 26
- formed ln the base 28. A simllar extension 21la ~roJects downwardl,y
30 ' from the inner edge o~ the bottom wall 18 into a similar slot 2~a
formed in the base member 28. The extcnslons 20 and 21l have
small locking ribs pro~ectin~ outwardl,y thererrom that serve to
secure the extensions withln the slots 26 and 26a. A ~air of slde
walls 30 proJect outwarc~ly from op~osite ~i~es Or the sil:l member
~ 3--
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to define a slll channel 32 therebetween. A pair of hook-shaped
sill flange members 28 project inwardly and downwardly from the
upper edge of the side walls 30. The bottom wall 1~ of' the sill
has a pair of raised guide rails 36 extending longitudinally
thereof. Each of the guide rails 36 has a side face 38 which is
inclined upwardly and away from its associated side wall 30. The
inclined faces 38 serve to guide the flange members of the sashes
into and out of overlapping relationship with the flange member of
the sill, as will be described hereinafter. The ridge 40 is
located between the rails 38 and spaced inwardly thereof to provide
a pair of locking channels 42 extending longitudinally of the sill.
As shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, each window assembly
50 consists vf a thermal window pane unit 52 bounded by a sash
member 54. Each of the sash members 54 consists of a ~-shaped
channel portion 56 adapted to receive the edge of a window unit and
to lock the edge of the window unit therein. A proJection 58
extends outwardly from the outer edge of the sash members 54 and
has a recess 60 at the outer edge thereof shaped to conform to
the configuration of the guide ralls 36 of the sill member. A
short lip 62 projects downwardly from the inner edge of the sash
and ls adapted to fit in the close fitting relationship wlthin the
recesses 42 formed in the sill. A sash locking flange 64 pro~ects
laterally from the opposite edge of the proJection 58 and has a
short upwardly extending lug 66 at its outer edge.
As shown in ~ig. 4 cf the drawings, the header 14 consists
of a p~ir of hanger members 70 which are secured in a recess 72
formed in the upper frame member 74. One of the hangers 70 has a
flange 76 pro~ecting outwardly therefrom in an overlying relation-
ship with respect to the frame member 74 to form a weather seal
therewith. The hangers 70 are secured with respect to the frame
~ 3E~
members 74 in a conventional manner~ such as by staples or the like.
The hangers 70 each have header ~langes 7~ projecting inwardly o~
the channel 80 which is formed between the oppositely disposed
hangers 70. The ~langes 78 each have an upwardly directed portlon
82 at the inner edge thereo~.
A sash locking member 90 is located in the channel 80
formed between the hanger members 70. The sash locking member 90
consists of a bottom wall 92 and a composite spring web 94. The
spring web 94 serves to urge the bottom wall 92 outwardly of the
header assembly. The bot50m wall 92 is ~ormed with substantially
the same contour as the upper wall of the sill 18 and has a pair
of guide rails 36a located thereon and a spacer wall 40a is located
therebetween. Channels 42a are located between the guide rails
36a and the spacer wall 40a. The guide rails 36a each have angu-
larly inclined side f'aces 38a. The bottom wall 92 also has flange
portions 96 at opposite edges thereo~ which project in an overlying
relationship with respect to the hanger flange portions 78, 82
and prevent removal o~ the locking member from the channel 80.
As shown ln Fig. 5 of the drawlngs, the channel members 16
each have a longitudinal opening ~9 to receive the outer edges of'
the slde sash members 54a and 54b. The side sash member 54a
differs from the top and bottom sash members 54 in that it does
not include the locking flange ~4 but does include a shoulder 95
that serves to sealingly engage within the recess 89 ~ormed in the
Jamb. The sash member 54b is the same as the sash member 54a with
the addition of a hand engaging flange 97 which may be engaged to
move the window unlt 50 tc the open position. Meeting rails 99a
and 99b are located at the opposite side edges of the window units
50 and include overlapping sealing flanges 98 and resilient spring
30 members 100 which serve to urge the overlapping ~langes 98 towards
~3~
one another into sealing engagement. ~esilient seal ~embers 102
are also provided to fQrm a weather seal between the meeting rails.
The meeting rail 99b has a narrow lip 104 projecting outwardly
therefrom onto which the edge of the frame 106 of a screen member
10~ may be secured in a conventional manner. A similar flange
104a is formed on the oppositely disposed sash 16 for securement
to the opposite edge of the screen member.
~ ach of the ~amb members 16 has a resilient flange 91
adapted to bear against the outer edge of the sash members 54a and
54b and a resilient flange 93 adapted to bear against a side edge
of the sash members 54a and 54b so that the sash members 54a and
54b may be sealingly located within the Jamb members 16.
In order to remove the window units 50 frorn the assembly
10, the sliding window unlt or inner window unlt is moved away
from its assoclated ~amb member to a position in which the meetlng
rails 96a and 96b are spaced one from the other. The inner wi~dow
unit ls then raised slightly, thereby elevating the upper sash
locking member 90. The inner w:indow unit 40 is raised to a helght
sufficlent to release the flange 62 frorn the passage 42 ln the
sill member. The lower sash member 54 of the inner window unit
is then moved inwardly and upwardly to move the sash locking
flange 64 inwardly o~ the slll locking flange 2~. The wlndow unit
50 is then raised by further compressing the sash locking member
90 until the ~lange 64 of the sash member 54 is at a height above
the locking flange 28 of the sill. Thereafter, the lower sash
member 54 is moved outwardly over the flange 23. The upper sash
locking member 90 is then manually compressed and raised out of
engageMent with the upper sash member 54 and the sash member 54 is
moved inwardly and downwardly to move the flange 64 thereof out of
its overlylng relatlonship wlth respect to the flange 7~ of the
hanger member.
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31~
To remove the outer window unit 50, the screen member 108
is first removed and the outer window unit is moved out of en-
gagement with lts associated ~amb 16. Thereafter, the outer
window unit 50 is removed in the same manner as that described
above with respect to the inner window unit.
From the fore~oing description of the removal of the
window units, it will be apparent that if an attempt is made to
raise the lower edge of each window unit to a height sufficient
to permit its removal from the main channel of the sill, the sash
locking flange 64 will engage the sill locking flange 28 to pre-
vent the removal of the window unit. Furthermore, if after
raisirlg the window uni~s to the full extent permltted by the
locking ~langes the window unit is moved inwardly of the sill,
the hook shaped ends o~ the locking flanges 64 and 28 wlll engage
one another to prevent removal of the window units. Thus, it
will be seen that the window units cannot be removed without
careful manipulation thereof in a manner which cannot be readily
duplicated by accidental application of forces to the winclow
units and consequently the window assembly of the present invention
incorporates important safety features.
