Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
WO 94/24385 ~ ~ ~ PCT/SE94/00319
1
ARRANGEMENT FOR OPENABLE ROOF
The present invention relates to an arrangement for
openable roofs, especially openable roofs for glazed
verandas and balconies, comprising a substantially hori-
zontal supporting section which forms an elongate guiding
channel having an elongate side opening, and a roofing
panel whose one lateral edge extends into the guiding
channel of the supporting section through the side
opening thereof and which is movable relative to the sup-
porting section in the longitudinal direction thereof.
By the expression "a substantially horizontal sup-
porting section" is meant a section which is either hori-
zontal or slightly inclined relative to the horizontal
plane in dependence of the desired inclination of the
roof .
An arrangement of the above-mentioned type must be
designed while taking several factors into consideration.
First, the arrangement must be designed in view of the
fact that during mounting it may be difficult to attach
the supporting sections, between which the roofing panels
are movably mounted, in exactly correct positions rela-
tive to each other. Second, it must be taken. into consid-
eration that after completion of the mounting, some parts
of the arrangement may move little by little. Third, the
arrangement must withstand any downward bending of the
panel when subjected to wind and snow loads. Fourth, the
arrangement must be completely tight under any circum-
stances whatsoever. Fifth, the panel should always be
easy to move; in particular, the movability of the panel
must not be jeopardised by dirt or water penetrating into
the guiding channel or owing to the panel being inclined.
Sixth, the arrangement, especially the panel and any
guiding elements, should have a long life and withstand a
great number of opening and closing movements of the
panel. Finally, the arrangement must be easy to mount and
the manufacturing cost must be reasonable.
WO 94/24385 ~' - 3: ~.'.. v, ;. ,.>.
PCTISE94/00319
2
Today, there are no arrangements for openable roofs
of the type mentioned by way of introduction which
satisfy all of the above-mentioned criteria.
Examples of two prior-art arrangements of the type
mentioned above are disclosed in GB-A-2,169,326 and EP-
a
Al-0, 239, 141.
GB-A-2,169,326 discloses a structure especially de-
signed to cope with problems caused by different heat ex-
pansion coefficients of the panel and the supporting
structure. To this end, the panel of this prior-art ar-
rangement may move also laterally relative to the guiding
section, i.e. transversely of its direction of displace-
ment. The height of the side opening of the guiding
channel is smaller than the internal height of the guid-
ing channel, and the lateral edge of the panel is, at
least on one face, provided with an elongate ridge which
prevents the panel from falling out and which extends
continuously along the lateral edge of the entire panel.
The document also discloses embodiments in which the
panel is provided with two such ridges preventing the
panel from falling out and disposed opposite one another
each on one face of the panel. The ridge or ridges is/are
arranged with a play towards the inner wall of the chan-
nel, but are so high that they cannot be moved out
through the side opening of the section, thereby pre-
venting the lateral edge of the panel from falling out
from the guiding channel. According to GB-A-2,169,326,
the panel rests and slides with its lower side, at a dis-
tance from its lateral edge received in the guiding chan-
nel, directly against an elongate, upwardly directed sup-
porting edge of the section, which defines the lower bor-
der of the side opening. '
EP-A1-0,239,141 discloses an arrangement having both
a fixed and a displaceable panel. The displaceable panel
rests, like the panel according to GB-A-2,169,326, with
its lower side on an elongate, upwardly directed edge of
the section, in this case via a friction-reducing plastic
~WO 94/24385 ~ PCTISE94100319
3
strip. Furthermore, the lateral edge of the panel ex-
tends, in the same manner as in the GB publication, past
this supporting edge of the section and sideways into the
guiding channel of the section. Inside the guiding chan-
nel, there is a play both upwards and downwards between
the lateral edge of the panel and the inner wall of the
guiding channel. Therefore, a certain vertical turnabil-
ity should also be possible in this prior-art arrange-
ment. An elongate brush-type strip is mounted in a groove
in the upper wall of the guiding channel and extends
downwards into sliding engagement with the upper side of
the panel.
One more example of roofing panels having a certain
turnability about their supporting line is disclosed in
US 3,550,335 which concerns, however, stationary panels.
Like in the above-mentioned two documents, the panels
rest with their lower faces, spaced from their lateral
edges, directly on upwardly directed supporting edges in
the plane coinciding with the side opening of the guiding
channel.
However, none of the above-mentioned prior-art ar-
rangements satisfies all these requirements.
According to the present invention, an arrangement
for openable roofs having the features defined in the ac-
companying claims is provided in order to satisfy the re-
quirements mentioned above.
The most distinguishing feature of the invention is
that the panel can be inclined to a certain extent trans-
versely of its moving direction in the guiding channel,
while maintaining satisfactory sealing and movability.
This feature is not to be found in any of the prior-art
arrangements. Moreover, there does not, according to the
present invention, arise any wear of the panel caused by
the movement thereof since the side of the panel does not
abut directly against the supporting section, but rests
on mutually separate guiding and spacing members.
R f
WO 94/2 ; ~ PCT/SE94/00319
4
For better understanding of the inventive idea, an
exemplifying, non-restrictive embodiment of the invention
will now be described below with reference to the accom-
panying drawings. '
Fig. 1 is a schematic top plan view of an openable
roof to which the present invention is applied; '
Fig. 2 is a sectional side view taken along line II-
II in Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is an enlarged top plan view of a portion
marked with a circle in Fig. 1;
Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view along line IV-IV in
Fig. 3, some structural elements being removed for the
sake of clarity;
Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view along line V-V in
Fig. 3, some structural elements being removed for the
sake of clarity:
Fig. 6 is a sectional side view along line VI-VI in
Fig. 3;
Fig. 7 is a sectional side view along line VII-VII
in Fig. 3;
Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the inventive ar-
rangement in Figs 1-7, some parts being broken away;
Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to
Fig. 4, but illustrates an alternative embodiment of the
guiding and spacing members; and
Fig. 10 is a schematic perspective view of a roofing
panel according to an alternative embodiment of the in-
vention.
It will be appreciated that the arrangement illus-
trated in the accompanying drawings is shown schemati-
cally only and that the dimensional relationship between
different elements may, in practice, deviate to a sub-
stantial degree from that shown in the drawings.
The roof arrangement shown in the drawings comprises ,
two horizontal, mutually parallel supporting sections 10,
and four essentially identical roofing panels 20 which at
their opposite lateral edges 21 are movably received in
WO 94/24385
~ PCTlSE~4i00319
the supporting sections 10. The supporting sections 10
are preferably extruded aluminium sections. The roofing
panels 20 can be made of glass sheets, transparent plas-
' tic sheeting or some other sheeting.
5 As is best shown in the cross-sectional views in
Figs 4 and 5, each supporting section 10 comprises four
elongate, U-shaped guiding channels 11 for receiving one
roofing panel 20 each. The roofing panels 20 are movable
in the longitudinal direction of the supporting sections
10 between the closed position shown in Fig. 2, in which
the panels 20 partly overlap each other, and open posi-
tions in which the panels 20 are more or less moved to-
gether one on top of the other. The number of panels 20
and guiding channels 11 may, of course, vary. Moreover,
it is also conceivable that one or more of the panels 20
are fixedly mounted.
The arrangement according to the invention generally
relates to the supporting of the panels 20 and the possi-
bilities of moving them in the guiding channels 11, and
seals in connection therewith, and since this arrangement
in the illustrated embodiment is identical for all panels
20, only one such arrangement will be described below.
Figs 4 and 5, to which reference is now especially
made, illustrate how the lateral edge 21 of the panel 20
extends through a side opening 12 in the guiding channel
11 of the supporting section 10. For the purpose of rein-
forcement, the lateral edge 21 of the panel 20 is re-
ceived in a load-distributing~edge section 30 which is in
the form of a lying U and which may comprise an extruded
aluminium section. The edge section can be attached in
some suitable manner to the panel lateral edge 21, for
example by gluing, and this joint must be watertight. In
the illustrated embodiment, the edge section 30 is
essentially completely received inside the guiding
channel 11, but can, in other embodiments, extend outside
the guiding channel.
RE~;TIFIED SHEET (RULE 91)
WO 94/2 ~.~ ~ ~ j~ ~ ~ . .: F PCT/SE94/00319
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The edge section 30 is formed with five longitudi-
nal, mutually parallel mounting grooves (see also Fig.
3), viz. an upper and a lower outer groove 31, an upper
and a lower inner groove 32, and an edge groove 33. ''
In the upper and the lower inner groove 32 of the
edge section 30, a plurality of separate guiding and
spacing members 40 are mounted, spaced from each other in
the direction of the guiding channel 11 as illustrated in
Figs 3 and 8. The corresponding guiding and spacing
members 40 are also mounted in the edge groove 33. The
design of the grooves 32 and 33 and the spacing members
40 is such that, during mounting, the spacing members can
be pushed into the grooves at the end of the edge section
30 to the correct position and then be fixed in some
suitable manner, for example by local deformation of the
edge section 30.
In the illustrated embodiment, the guiding and spac-
ing members 40 are designed as rod-like, massive sliding
blocks made of a synthetic material having low friction
against the inner wall of the guiding channel 11. The
sliding blocks 40 have a convex exterior facing the inner
wall of the guiding channel 11 for reasons that will be
explained below.
The panel 20 rests via the edge section 30 and the
lower sliding blocks 40 on such a level in the guiding
channel 11 that there is a play in the plane of the side
opening 12 both upwards and downwards between the sup-
porting section 10 and the panel 20.
The upper sliding blocks 40 prevent the panel 10
from rising in the guiding channel, e.g. when subjected
to wind loads.
Since the panel 20 runs with a play both upwards and
downwards in the side opening 12 of the guiding channel
11 and since the supporting points of the panel 20 are ,
disposed inside the guiding channel 11, the panel 20 has
the possibility of assuming a slightly inclined position,
as indicated by a double arrow P in Fig. 5, while
WO 94/24385 PCT/SE94%60~~9
maintaining the supporting and moving function of the ar-
rangement. Such an inclination may arise if, for example,
the supporting sections 10 are not mounted exactly in
parallel and in alignment with each other, or if the
panel 20 is bent downwards owing to wind and snow loads.
' As shown in Figs 4 and 5, the walls of the support-
ing section 10 which form the top and bottom of the guid-
ing channel 11 are formed with longitudinal ridges 13
which are spaced in horizontal direction from the side
opening 12. The ridges 13, which extend continuously over
the entire length of the supporting section 10, function,
together with the sliding blocks 40, as guiding members,
especially during mounting when the lateral edge 21 of
the panel 20 with the edge section 30 mounted and the
sliding blocks 40 should be moved into the guiding chan-
nel 11 from the end of the supporting section 10. The
ridges 13 also cooperate with the sliding blocks 40,
thereby preventing the panels from falling out. The po-
sition of the ridges 13 in horizontal direction is, how-
ever, such that the above-mentioned turnability of the
panel 20 in the direction of arrow P is not jeopardised.
If, for example, the lateral edge 21 in Fig. 5 is turned
slightly clockwise, the lower sliding blocks 40 should be
able to slide to the left in the guiding channel away
from the lower ridge 13, while the upper sliding blocks
40 will abut, to the right, against the upper ridge 13.
As is best shown in Figs 3, 4 and 5, longitudinal
brush-type strips 50 of a type known per se are mounted
in the upper and the lower outer groove 31 of the edge
section 30. The brush-type strips 50 are disposed com-
pletely inside the guiding channel 11 between the side
opening 12 and the sliding blocks 40 received in the
grooves 32, and sealingly abut against the upper and the
lower side wall of the guiding channel 11. The brush-type
strips 50 prevent water and dirt from penetrating side-
ways into the guiding channel 11. By the brush-type
strips 15 being compressible, the above-mentioned, de-
WO 94/24385 ' . ~ . . . l~ ;~...~ PCT/SE94/00319
8
sired turnability of the panel 20 in the direction of
arrow P is not jeopardised.
The brush-type strips 50 extend from the outer ter-
minal edge 22 (Figs 1 and 2) of the panel 20 up to a '
transverse seal 52 (Fig. 3) which is spaced from the in-
ner terminal edge 23 of the panel 20 (Figs 1 and 2). This '
transverse seal 52 consists of a slightly wider brush-
type seal which is fixedly mounted on the edge section 30
and whose bristles sealingly engage the entire inner wall
of the guiding channel 11, as shown in the uppermost but
one guiding channel 11 in Fig. 5. The transverse seal 52
serves to prevent water in the guiding channel 11 from
flowing from below and upwards in Fig. 3, i.e. to prevent
water, if any, in the guiding channel 11 from flowing up
to the inner terminal edge 23 of the panel 20 and down
under the roof. The transverse seal 52 also helps effec-
tively to keep the inner wall of the guiding channel 11
clean from dirt, thereby maintaining satisfactory slid-
ability between the sliding blocks 40 and the inner wall
of the guiding channel 11. The upwardly extending end
flanges 14 of the bottom walls of the guiding channels 11
prevent any leaking water in the guiding channel 11 from
flowing into the space under the roof. These end flanges
14 may thus cause some damming up in the guiding channel
11 so as to force such leaking water to flow in the di-
rection of the sloping roof in the supporting section 10.
A seal between a panel 20 and a superjacent panel
20' (Figs 3 and 6) is established by means of a trans-
verse, upwardly directed brush-type strip 53. In the em-
bodiment illustrated, such transverse brush-type strips
53 are to be found merely on the three left-hand panels
20 in Figs 1 and 2. The brush-type strip 53 is mounted in
an upwardly open U-section 54 whose base is sealingly
connected to the upper side of the panel 20 approximately ,
on the same level as the transverse seal 52 (Fig. 3).
On the side 55 of the U-section 54 facing the outer
terminal edge 22 of the panel 20, a vertical brush-type
WO 94/24385 ~ ~ PCT/SE94/00319
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strip 57 (Fig. 3) is mounted on a holder 56 and slidingly
seals against the side of the supporting section 10. A
corresponding vertical brush-type strip 57 is understood
to be arranged also at the other end of the U-section 54
in Fig. 3.
By means of the sealing arrangement described above
and shown in the drawings, a satisfactory circumferential
seal is established in the space 60 open towards the out-
side of the roof (Figs 6 and 3) between two neighbouring
panels 20, 20'. In case of rain and wind, there will be
an "air pocket" at the very back of this space adjacent
the transverse seal 53 and the longitudinal brush-type
seal 50. In other words, water will normally not be blown
all the way to the transverse seal 53.
Condensation water, if any, from a superjacent panel
20' is collected in the U-section 54 and is conducted,
after some damming up, via drain holes (not shown) out on
the subjacent panel 20.
The component 70 shown in Figs 4 and 5 is a U-shaped
mounting section whose inner dimensions essentially cor-
respond with the outer dimensions of the supporting sec-
tion 10. When mounting the roof, first the mounting sec-
tion 70 is fixed, which may possibly consist of a number
of separate parts instead of a continuous section. Subse-
quently, the supporting section 10 can be mounted in the
mounting section 70 and adjusted in lateral direction be-
fore or after mounting of the panels 20, whereupon the
supporting section 10 is fixed in some suitable manner.
It will be appreciated that the invention is not re-
stricted to the embodiment described above, and that sev-
eral modifications can be made without deviating from the
scope of the invention as defined in the accompanying
claims.
For example, the guiding and spacing members 40 can
be designed in some other manner than as massive sliding
blocks, e.g. as separate wheels or rollers rotatably
mounted in the edge section 30, as illustrated in the
WO 94/24385 ',. , , , PCT/SE94/00319
cross-sectional view in Fig. 9. In this Figure, the slid-
ing blocks 40 received in the grooves 32 are replaced
with wheels 41 which are received in the respective
openings in the edge section 30 and each rotatably
5 mounted on its horizontal axle. It is understood that
there is a limited play between the wheels 41 and the top
wall of the guiding channel 11 so as to permit rolling. A
corresponding gap may also be found upwards and sideways
in the embodiment which comprises sliding blocks. Such
10 wheels or rollers 41 should have, as shown in Fig. 9, a
convex abutment surface against the inner wall of the
guiding channel 11 in the same manner as the sliding
blocks 40 in the embodiment shown so as to facilitate the
above-mentioned turnability of the panel 20. Corre-
spondingly, the horizontally extending sliding blocks 40
in the edge groove 33 can be replaced with separate hori-
zontal wheels or rollers. Fig. 10 schematically illus-
trates a roofing panel 20 with such horizontal wheels 42
at the ends of the supporting sections 10 and with verti-
cal wheels 41 according to Fig. 9 over the length of the
supporting sections 10.
The sliding blocks 40 in the edge groove 33 can pos-
sibly be excluded, but provide advantageous guiding when
the lateral edges 21 of the panels 20 are to be moved
into the supporting section 10 during mounting.
