This invention relates to improvements in the design of a window, and in particular to improvements in the design of a double-hung window to provide a uniform wood interior appearance to the double-hung window.
Traditionally, windows were constructed of wood because wood was readily available for construction. Wood windows are desirable in some applications for their aesthetic appearance. The exposed interior wood can be stained to expose the natural look of the grain of the wood or the interior wood can be painted repeatedly to match the interior of the building or home.
Constructing a window from wood is costly. First, the wood material is expensive. Second, because wood is a naturally occurring material with each piece having a unique structure, some of the wood has natural defects inherent with its structure making it unusable for construction. Additionally, during the manufacturing process the wood can be damaged rendering a piece unusable for construction, thereby increasing waste and costs.
Developments in material science have produced materials like plastic, vinyl, and wood composite materials, which have desirable properties for use in constructing windows. Therefore, although many portions of a window may still be made of wood, like the frame of the sash, there are other portion of the window that are more easily and inexpensively constructed of materials other than wood. Plastics, vinyl, and wood composite materials are desirable because of durability, low cost, and consistency during manufacture, fabrication, and installation. Materials other than wood can give the window better performance by improving window mechanics (i.e., movement) and increasing the structural integrity of the window.
The side jambs, which contain the extension slots and balance tubes for raising and lowering the sashes, and the housing for the sash locks, are more easily constructed from a vinyl extruded material than from wood. However, when the window is closed, this vinyl extruded material is exposed on the interior portion of the window and diminishes the traditional all-wood appearance of the window. Generally, materials like plastics, vinyl, and wood composites cannot be as effectively painted or cannot have their color as easily changed as wood.
It would be desirable to construct some parts of the window from materials other than wood to obtain the advantages that plastic, vinyl, and wood composite materials produce, while constructing the parts of the window exposed to the interior of the building or home from wood to achieve an aesthetically pleasing window. Therefore, there is a need for a side jamb liner cover, which covers the vinyl exposed at the side jamb of the window and gives the window a uniform all-wood appearance. In particular, there is a need for an upper jamb liner cover that gives the interior of the double-hung window a uniform and traditional wood appearance while the window is in the closed position but still allows for slidable movement of the lower sash of the window.
Weatherstripping is often provided in a window to improve the energy efficiency of the window. The top rail of the upper sash often lacks weatherstrip because the weather strip would be exposed to the interior, thereby diminishing the wood interior appearance of the window. Placing the weatherstrip directly into the sash presents expensive and cumbersome assembly concerns. Providing alternative, non-wood, structures for holding the weatherstrip improves the ease of manufacturing but does not allow for a uniform wood interior appearance of the window. A locking mechanism is provided at the top rail of the upper sash to hold the upper sash in the window frame but still allows for disengagement in order to tilt the upper sash towards the interior of the building or home for maintenance and cleaning. Often this locking mechanism, normally constructed of a non-wood material, is exposed to the interior of the window, thereby diminishing the wood interior appearance of the window. Therefore, there is a need for a top rail weatherstrip and lock holder, which contains a sash locking mechanism and weatherstripping, but still provides a uniform wood interior appearance while the window is closed.
The present invention provides a double-hung window having an upper sash with a wood frame, a lower sash with a wood frame, and a vinyl side jamb for securing the upper sash and the lower sash within the window. The vinyl side jamb has an interior extension slot, a lock slot, and an exterior extension slot. The present invention provides means for covering the interior extension slot and lock slot to provide a uniform wood interior to the double-hung window while the upper sash and the lower sash are in the closed position and allowing slidable movement of the lower sash.
While the above-identified drawings and figures set forth several embodiments of the invention, other embodiments are also contemplated, as noted in the discussion. In all cases, this disclosure presents the invention by way of representation and not limitation. It should be understood that numerous other modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the art which fall within the scope and spirit of the principals of this invention. The figures may not be drawn to scale. Like reference numbers have been used throughout the figures to denote like parts.
Surrounding the upper sash 102 and lower sash 104 and securing the upper sash 102 and lower sash 104 within the double-hung window 100 is a window frame 105 having a first side jamb 118, second side jamb 120 head jamb 122, and sill 124. The first side jamb 118 has an upper portion 126 and a lower portion 127. The second side jamb 120 has an upper portion 128 and a lower portion 129. When the window is closed, the top rail 108 of the upper sash 102 sealably contacts the head jamb 122. In the closed position, the bottom rail 113 of the lower sash 104 sealably contacts the sill 124. In the closed position, there are no openings from the interior to the exterior of the double-hung window 100. When the double-hung window 100 is in the closed position, a portion of the upper first side jamb 126 and upper second side jamb 128 is visible from the interior of the window 100.
The upper sash 102 and lower sash 104 each slide vertically and independently along the first side jamb 118 and the second side jamb 120. The first and second side jambs comprise slots for receiving the respective upper and lower sashes. As shown in
To conceal the side jambs, each of the upper side jambs have been covered with a concealed jamb liner cover 140 (See FIGS. 2 and 5-9) to give the interior of the double-hung window 100 a uniform wood appearance. Additionally, the lower side jambs, at the exterior of the window can be covered with an exterior jamb liner cover 225 (See
In constructing the concealed jamb liner cover 140, the contoured profile 146 is extruded, and then an overlayer of wood veneer 148 is adhered to the contoured profile 146. In one embodiment, a polyurethane reactive (PUR) hotmelt glue system is used to laminate the wood veneer 148 to the contoured profile 146.
As can be seen in
Lower sash 104 has a lock pin 158 positioned to extend outwardly (to the side) from each end of the top rail 109 of the lower sash 104. Each lock pin 158 slidably engages with lock channel 150 of its respective concealed jamb liner cover 140 to hold the lower sash 104 in the double-hung window 100 during opening and closing of the lower sash 104. Because the lock channel 150 extends the entire length of each concealed jamb liner cover 140, the lower sash 104 can travel vertically along the opposed concealed jamb liner covers 140 with the lock pins 158 sliding in the lock channels 150. The flat portions 156 of the concealed jamb liner covers 140 allow for the side rails 111 of the lower sash 104 to slide vertically.
Each concealed jamb liner cover 140 extends from the top of the upper first side jamb 126 or the top of the upper second side jamb 128 to just below the top of the lower sash 104 when the window is in the closed position. Thus, the front side 142 of the concealed jamb liner cover 140 is entirely exposed to the interior of the window 100 while the lower sash 104 is in the closed position. The front side 142 of the concealed jamb liner cover 140 contains the wood veneer 148 surface so that the interior of the window has a uniform wood appearance while the window 100 is in the closed position.
It is understood that although the description was with respect to the upper first side jamb 126, a similar design is applied to the upper second side jamb 128. The design for the upper second side jamb 128 would be a mirror image of the description with respect to the upper first side jamb 126.
In addition to a concealed jamb liner cover 140 to cover the upper interior side jamb, an exterior jamb liner cover 225 can also be provided to cover the lower exterior side jamb (i.e., the exposed portion of the side jamb on the outside of the window 100 below the upper sash 102 when the upper sash 102 in fully closed as seen in
The exterior jamb liner cover 225 can be fixed to the side jamb or can be removable. To connect the outer cover 228, one or more engagement legs 230, having a low profile and extending from the exterior cover 228, connect with one or more openings 232 in the side jamb 118. To connect the inner cover 226, a connector leg 234, which extends from the lock channel cover 226, securely engages with an opening or slot 236 in the side jamb 118. The exterior jamb liner cover 225 extends from the bottom of the side jamb to just above the area where the upper sash 102 and lower sash 104 meet while in the closed position.
The exterior jamb liner cover 225 can be constructed of a durable, low-maintenance material like vinyl or aluminum to protect the exterior of the window 100 from weathering. Alternatively, the exterior jamb liner cover 225 can be constructed similar to the concealed jamb liner cover 140 having a profile covered with a wood veneer to give the exterior a uniform wood appearance.
By placing the lock channel 150 of the concealed jamb liner cover in a plane other than the interior extension slot 119, the lock chamber 125 can be added to the design without interfering with moving parts in the interior extension slot 119 or complicating the manufacturing of the side jamb. The lock chamber 125 adds to the strength of the double hung window from pressure fluctuations from exterior or interior forces.
When the upper sash 102 is closed, as is shown in
The upper sash lock housing 166 is more easily constructed of a vinyl material, however exposing a vinyl housing to the interior diminishes from the wood appearance of the window. The upper sash lock housing 166 has been constructed with a low profile and when the upper sash 102 is in the closed position, wooden parting stop 188 entirely conceals the upper sash lock housing 166 from sight from the interior of the window 100. Therefore, no vinyl or weatherstrip is visible from the interior and only the wood parting stop 188 and the upper sash 102 are visible. With the wood frame of the upper 102 and lower 104 sashes and the wood parting stop 188 concealing the upper sash lock housing 166, the double-hung window 100 has a uniform wood interior when the window 100 is in the closed position.
The double-hung window of the present invention combines the ability to use plastic, vinyl, wood composite, or metal materials at the side jambs to create an efficient modern window while providing a jamb liner cover that gives the side jambs a uniform wood appearance. Such a design is suitable as a replacement window in older homes and building where a new window is desired having a traditional wood interior.
Additionally, the double-hung window provides an upper sash lock housing constructed of a plastic or vinyl material. The lock housing contains weatherstripping to improve the energy efficiency of the window and houses the lock so the window can be released and tilted towards the interior for cleaning. The lock housing has a low profile but also a wood upper parting stop is provided to conceal the lock housing while the window is closed. Additionally, this feature allows for modern features of a window to be provided while preserving the traditional look of a wood window interior. Additional thermal conduction features of a window are disclosure in co-pending application Ser. No. 10/760,102 titled, “Double-hung Window with Improved Thermal Efficiency,” filed on even date herewith, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
This application claims priority to provisional application 60/526,146, which was filed on Dec. 1, 2003.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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60526146 | Dec 2003 | US |