The present invention relates to improvements in the means for shipping sliding and tiltable sash windows, and more particularly to apparatus which relieve the stresses imposed on the window's sash locks during transportation.
There are many different window types available on the market, such as picture windows, bay windows, skylight windows, louvered windows, transom windows, casement windows, and the many versions of the sash window, with those being single-hung, double-hung, vertical sliding, and horizontal sliding sash windows. While the casement window is predominantly used in the United Kingdom and much of Europe, the sliding sash window remains an American favorite for both new construction and for replacement windows.
Many developments made in sliding sash windows are design changes that relate to improved functionality in the manufacture and/or operation of the windows, particularly with respect to its latches and hinges. However, there has been a long-felt, but unmet, need to improve the traditional methods of safely shipping sliding sash windows.
To prevent damage to either or both sashes due to uncontrolled sliding, the windows are normally transported with both sashes being latched. However, because of the bouncing and jarring motion including vibrations that are experienced during its transportation, a great deal of stress is placed on the lock and keepers of the window as well as the screws holding the locks and keepers in place. This stress can cause the locks and keepers to become broken or fractured and may also cause the screws to become dislodged from the sash. Such damage can result whether transportation is accomplished using freight cars on a railroad, or by a tractor-trailer on the nation's highways.
Window manufacturers attempt to address this problem in one of a number of different ways. One way is to insert blocking, made from cardboard, Styrofoam or any number of various different packaging materials, to support the sash windows, while other manufacturers will ship the windows in the closed position but with the sashes unlocked, and with some outer packaging solely relied upon to hold the sashes in place. But this is cumbersome and costly, not only in terms of the purchasing and needed supply of bulky packing materials, but also for its disposal.
Another method is to open the sash window, and to turn and pack the window upside-down. However, this method creates the potential risk of damage to the window sashes and frame from sliding motion, and furthermore makes the window awkward to maneuver and handle. Another solution is to ship the windows closed and locked, and to use air ride type cargo vans and trailers to reduce the stress to the hardware, with a corresponding increase in shipping costs.
This invention provides an economical and simple solution for the transportation of sash windows and doors through the use of a serrated strap. There has been some limited use of serrated straps in the art. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,852,852 to Rigal, it was used in combination with a ratchet locking member as a tightening device, with particular applicability for snowboard bindings, roller skates and the like. The Rigal patent improved upon the prior art use of serrated straps, such as those found, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,176 to Sims for an externally mounted binding, as well as the Ratchet-type Buckle shown by U.S. Pat. No. 5,416,952 to Dodge. However, all of these types of devices require the use of a separate pivoting ratchet element in combination with the serrated strap.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,462,542 to Alesi discloses a more simple arrangement in the form of a “Sternum Buckle With Serrated Strap.” The Alesi sternum buckle assembly is adapted to be looped about the split portions of tissue. The serrated strap extends outward from the pawl in a single piece that is formed of a bio-absorbable material. Similarly, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,570,497 to Lemole, the strap has a needle end to penetrate tissue, where retention of the serrations are more simply accomplished by a latch collar, and was intended to be used as a fast means of applying a suture. However, none of these approaches are capable of providing support needed for the safe transportation of a sliding sash window or door.
Using this invention allows a sash window or door to be shipped with the sashes in the closed position, while remaining unlocked, thus eliminating stress that causes damage to the lock, keeper, and screws.
It is an object of the invention to provide a means of safely transporting a sliding sash window or door.
It is another object of the invention to provide a means of safely transporting a sliding sash window or door without the use of bulky packing materials.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a single means of securing a sliding sash window or door that may universally be utilized by different sized windows and doors.
It is another object of the invention to provide a means of securing a sliding sash window or door in the closed position without use of the window's lock and keeper.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a means of securing a sliding sash window or door in the closed position by utilizing the sash window frame.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a means of securing a sliding sash window or door in the closed position without use of the window's lock and keeper, where a quick release of the securing means may be facilitated without the use of a tool.
The clip assembly of the present invention may be used to secure one or more objects, particularly the sliding sashes of a window or door during transportation, to prevent damage to the sashes or to prevent damage to the locks and corresponding keepers when shipped in the locked condition, as well as to obviate the need of using cumbersome cardboard blocking as a restraint.
The clip assembly may be comprised of two separate molded parts—a strap member and a pawl member. The strap member may be formed to have a bumper portion, and a strap portion extending from the bumper. The bumper may preferably have an engagement wall, and a bottom wall that is supported to be approximately orthogonal to the engagement wall by first and second side walls. The strap portion may have a plurality of teeth formed within the thickness of the strap. The strap teeth may be formed to have an engagement face and a back face, which converge to create a peak, and whereby successive teeth are separated by a trough. Also, the strap portion may terminate in a thinner strap section, with a ramp between the two strap sections, and where the thinner strap section may have a rounded end which may also be ramped to facilitate its insertion into the pawl.
The pawl member may have a pair of sidewalls supported by a top wall and an intermediate wall. The top wall may have a protrusion which includes a plurality of teeth formed to complement the teeth of the strap, and be located proximate to the intermediate wall. The teeth may be located at a distance from the intermediate wall to permit the strap to be trapped there between, once it is inserted. Insertion of the strap may be accomplished whereby the strap causes deflection of the pawl teeth and the protrusion. This required deflection of the pawl teeth and protrusion may be aided by a recess in the intermediate wall to take advantage of the flexible nature of the strap.
To restrain a window for transit by truck or rail, a strap of the current invention may be inserted through the gap between the top rail of an upper sash and the bottom rail of the second sash, and then be inserted into the pawl, such that engagement edges of the first and second side walls of the pawl abuts the top rail of the bottom sash. Insertion of the strap into the pawl may occur by inserting the free end of the strap portion into the gap between the strap teeth and the intermediate wall, to engage the pawl teeth until the engagement edge of the first and second side walls of said pawl member firmly contacts the bottom rail of said second sash.
The pawl member 20 and strap member 60 may be made from any suitable materials, including, but not limited to, plastic. In one embodiment the material may be an injection molded resin, such as nylon or polycarbonate. The pawl member 20 may be formed of various different shapes, and in one embodiment, shown in
The thickness of each of the walls may be adjusted to increase the overall strength of the clip assembly 10. The strength should accommodate most, if not all, sash windows, but could be increased with the aforementioned thickness changes to accommodate larger sliding doors. To encourage commonality, a single sized clip may be utilized for securing various fenestration products, and when it is necessary to secure larger, heavier sliding doors, multiple transportation clip assemblies 10 may be utilized rather than a single stronger clip.
The outer edges of the first side wall 21 and a second side wall 22 may have an outside corner radius 53 around the periphery of the walls to eliminate any sharp edges which might tend to scrape or otherwise damage the finish of the windows.
The periphery of the first and second side walls 21 and 22 may be formed with various different contours. As shown in one embodiment, side walls 21 and 22 may be formed with an engagement edge 38 that may transition into a rounded engagement corner 39 on one end, and into a lateral support edge 40 on the other end. These engagement features of the side walls 21 and 22 of pawl member 20 may bear up against the sashes of the window when engaged by the strap member 60, as seen in
The remaining outer edges of first and second side walls 21 and 22 may comprise various different configurations, and in one embodiment may have edges 41 and 42, whereby edges 40 and 41 may have a straight edge transition 43 between them, or a rounded corner (not shown), and edges 41 and 42 may have a straight edge transition 44 between them. Edge 42 may connect tangentially to the rounded engagement corner 39 (not shown), or alternatively, there may be edges 45 and 46, between which may be a radius 47, and there may also be an edge 48 that may be approximately parallel to edge 45. Edge 46 may transition into edge 48 using an outside corner 49. Edge 48 may transition into rounded engagement corner 39 by way of edges 50 and 51. The edges 42, 45, and 46 may serve as support for a tool that may be used to apply tension to the strap member 50 relative to the pawl member 20, and tightly secure both sashes 11 and 13 of the window relative to each other, and relative to the master frame 15 (
The section view of
The top wall 24 may span the entirety of edges 40, 41, and 43 of the first and second side walls 21 and 22, or may, as shown in
As seen in the enlarged view of the plurality of teeth 33 in
The strap member 60 may be formed to have a bumper portion 80 connected to a strap portion 61. Bumper portion 80 may be formed a number of different ways. In one embodiment, bumper portion 80 may be comprised of only an engagement wall 81. However, to help counter unintended rotation of the engagement wall 81 upon installation of the strap member 60 between first and second sashes 11 and 13 of a window, engagement wall 81 may preferably be connected to a bottom wall 84. Bottom wall 84 may preferably be approximately orthogonal to engagement wall 81. This orthogonal relationship between bottom wall 84 and engagement wall 81 may be supported by first and second side walls 82 and 83, which may be parallel to each other.
All of the exterior edges of the bottom wall 84, engagement wall 81, and first and second side walls 82 and 83 may be rounded through use of outside corner radius 85. Having the corners thus relieved may serve to prevent scrapes and other facial damages to the windows upon which the transportation clip assembly 10 may be installed. In addition, the engagement wall 81 may have a cushioning material (not shown) attached thereto to further protect the window. The cushioning material may include, but is not limited to, rubber that is attached to the engagement wall 81 through any acceptable means for the particular cushioning material chosen, including, but not limited to, glue or epoxy. The same cushioning material may also be utilized upon the engagement edges 38 of the first and second side walls 21 and 22 of the pawl member 20.
The strap portion 61 of strap member 60 may be comprised of a plain strap 62, which may be connected to the engagement wall 81 of the bumper portion 80 using fillet radii 63, which may thereby improve the durability of the connection. Plain strap 62, may, but need not, have a rectangular cross-section, having a thickness 71. The plain strap 62 may transition into a serrated strap 64, which may have the same cross-section as plain strap 62, but which further comprises a plurality of strap teeth 66, which may be similarly constructed as the plurality of pawl teeth 33, but formed so as to be complementary in nature to the pawl teeth 33 so as to mesh with and thereby be retained by the pawl teeth 33 of pawl member 20 when the strap member 60 is therein inserted.
The plurality of strap teeth 66 may be formed within the thickness 71 of the cross-section of the serrated strap 64, leaving a narrow portion of plain strap 64 on each side of the strap teeth 66, which may not extend to the full width of the serrated strap 64.
Proper functional engagement of the plurality of strap teeth 66 with the plurality of pawl teeth 33 is obtained through careful control of several features and dimensions. As previously stated, the distance between the apexes 37 of the plurality of teeth 33 of pawl 20 from the top surface 27 of the horizontal portion 26 of intermediate wall 25 may be crucial to this functional engagement. Proper engagement may generally depend upon trapping the serrated strap 64 against the top surface 27 of the horizontal portion 26 of intermediate wall 25. Snugly trapping the serrated strap 64 may preferably require a combination of deflection of the protrusion 23 and deflection of the serrated strap 64 when feeding the strap member 60 into pawl member 20.
Deflection of the protrusion 23 may occur when the strap teeth 66 contact the pawl teeth 33 resulting in an applied load to the protrusion and causing angular deflection at the gap 50 (
The recess 29 allows the serrated strap 64 region of strap 60 to deflect downward, under the compression loading, away from the plurality of teeth 33 of the triangular protrusion 23, as the triangular protrusion 23 and teeth 33 simultaneously deflect upward. The recess 29 may have curved transitions 51 with the top surface 27 of the intermediate wall 25 to facilitate bending of the strap 60 in proximity to the plurality of teeth 33 of the pawl 20. The recess 29 may preferably have a maximum depth such the distance between the apex of the teeth 33 of the pawl 20 and the recess 29 is approximately equal to the thickness 71 of the strap.
It may be seen that loading of the strap 60 in tension relative to the pawl 20, by sash windows 11 and 13 (
Initial engagement of the strap 60 with the pawl 20 may be furthered by having a plain strap section 67 which may be thinner than plain strap 62, and may transition to the serrated strap 64 using a ramp 68. The thin plain strap 67 may terminate in a tapered and ramped end 69. The tapered/ramped end 69 may have an orifice 70 which may be used in conjunction with a tool to apply tension to the strap 60 relative to the pawl 20, to pre-load the window sashes 11 and 13 relative to each other, and in a direction opposite to each other, when in the closed position. In general, the upper sash 11 will be loaded towards the upper portion of the master frame 15, with a corresponding loading of the lower sash 13 towards the lower portion of the master frame. The tool may have a prong that retains the orifice 70 and allows the strap portion 61 to be rolled up on the tool, and whereby the roll may act against the edges 45 and 46 of first and second side walls 21 and 22 of pawl 20. The ability to apply such tension between the pawl member 20 and the strap member 60 permits further engagement of one or more of the pawl teeth 33 with said strap teeth 66 to generate the pre-loaded sash arrangement. The pre-loaded window sashes 11 and 13 will be biased away from each other, and be biased to engage the master window frame (not shown), without having to use the locking hardware of the window.
The strap portion 61 may thus be continuously inserted until the engagement edge 38 of the first and second side walls 21 and 22 of the pawl member 20 contacts the bottom rail 12 of the sash 11. The rounded engagement corner 39 may also contact the bottom rail 12, as the installation of transportation clip assembly 10 may tend to cause slight rotation of the pawl member 20. In addition, the lateral support edge 40 and transition edge 43 may contact the lower sash 13, with such rotation. The existence of, or the amount of, rotation may depend upon the extent of pre-loading that is established.
An alternate installation embodiment is shown in
Removal of transportation clip assembly 10 is illustrated in
An alternate embodiment of the current invention is shown in
In another alternate embodiment, shown in
In
The protrusions 126 and 127 being thus arranged may accommodate two different installation, configurations. As seen on the right side of
The rotation of pawl 120 permits the edge 123 of pawl 120 to engage the top rail 14 of window sash 13, without necessarily contacting latch 16, and with second protrusion 127 to be engaged in the gap between the top rail 14 of the lower sash 13 and the bottom rail of the upper sash 11 in a horizontal position. This engagement of the second protrusion 127 may serve to prevent counter-rotation of the pawl 120, which would reduce the preloading of the sashes relative to the master frame. The rotation required for the horizontal installation may serve to provide a greater tension force between the window sashes 11 and 13, which may be needed for transportation of larger and heavier doors and windows.
Pawl 120 may also comprise, as seen in
The pawl 120 may also have walls 128 and 131 oriented at an angle from wall 121, with a narrow, necked down region 133 located at the intersection of those walls. The neck down region 133 may be utilized to cause failure of the engagement between strap 160 and pawl 120 by applying a force directly to the pawl 120, once the sash window or door is ready for installation in a building, and the installer seeks to remove the clip. Alternatively, failure may also be caused by applying a load only to the strap 160, as was previously discussed.
Another alternate embodiment of the present invention is seen in the perspective view of the engaged pawl/strap combination 210 in
The strap member 260 is specially configured to provide additional benefits in seeking to pre-load the two sash members with respect to each other, and with respect to the master frame in which they travel. The engagement wall 281 of the bumper portion 260B of strap member 260, rather than being directly and rigidly supported by the stiffeners that are used for wall 81 of strap 60 (
A portion of the engagement wall 281 of the bumper portion 260B of strap member 260 (
The enclosed geometric shape 281G may be supported at a portion of it that is distal from the “engagement wall” 281, by one or more stiffeners. It should be noted that the cross-section used for the enclosed geometric shape 281G of the strap member 260 in
The enclosed geometric shape 281G of the bumper portion 260B of the strap 260 that is formed using a racetrack cross-section, as illustrated throughout the figures herein merely to be exemplary, may be supported by only a single stiffener that may be centrally positioned thereon. However, with the use of a race track shape, a single central stiffener may tend to produce less resistance to the deformation that is caused by the preloading of the sash window/door (i.e., produces a “soft” support that may be better used for smaller light-weight sash members). The single stiffener may also be more suitable for where a circular cross-section was used to produce the enclosed geometric shape.
As seen in
The strap member 260 may be used with the pawl 20 that is shown in
Perspective views of the pawl 220 are shown in
A protrusion 223 may protrude from the top wall 224, and may have a narrow, necked-down connection 223N therewith, which may permit the protrusion to exhibit some flexible with respect to the top wall 224 and side walls 221/222. An arc-shaped connector tab 223C may be integrally formed with the distal end of the protrusion 223 and may also be formed to interconnect with a portion of the top wall 224, and may thereby serve to temporally provide added stiffness for the protrusion. The protrusion 223 may have a plurality of ratchet teeth 223R formed on an inward facing surface, as seen in
An inward facing surface of the intermediate wall 225 may also have a plurality of ratchet teeth 225R be formed thereon. The intermediate wall 225 may diverge outwardly and to an extent whereby it reaches the periphery of the first side wall 221 and second side wall 222, and may thus have an exterior bottom-wall portion 225X, which may provide additional structural integrity for the side walls of the pawl 220. (Note that in one embodiment of the pawl, the exterior bottom-wall portion 225X may be utilized without the intermediate wall 225). A protrusion 229 may protrude from a portion of the wall 225X, and may have a narrow, necked-down connection 229N therewith, which may permit the protrusion to exhibit some flexible with respect to the wall 225 and side walls 221/222. The degree of flexibility may be set by the amount that the protrusion necks down at connection 229N (i.e., the cross-sectional area at the neck), and by the material properties. The protrusion 229 may have a plurality of ratchet teeth 229R be formed on an inward facing surface. As seen in
Thus, the strap portion 260S of the strap member 260 may have correspondingly staggered ratchet teeth on its first and second sides (see
Extending from the distal end of the protrusion 223 and being integrally formed therewith may be a lever arm 229H. The lever arm 229H may have an integral connection with the protrusion 229 that exhibits greater structural integrity than the protrusion's narrow, necked-down connection 229N with the wall 225. A second lever arm 225H may similarly extend from the exterior portion 225X of wall 225, and may also be constructed to exhibit greater structural integrity than the narrow, necked-down connection 229N of protrusion 229 with the wall 225.
The pawl 220 may also have a pair of legs 225Li and 225Lii extending from the exterior portion 225X of wall 225, and may extend beyond the horizontal engagement surfaces 221EH and 222EH of the first and second side walls 221 and 222. The legs 225Li and 225Lii may preferably be canted with respect to those engagement surfaces, as seen in
A first step in the installation of the strap member 260 and pawl 220, to form the engaged pawl/strap combination 210 for securing sash members for transport, is shown in
With the bumper portion 260B of the strap member 260 positioned below the meeting rail 12 of the upper sash 11, and the pawl 220 positioned above the meeting rail 14 of the lower sash 13, the tilted sash may then be rotated back towards the master frame and secured thereto, as seen in
Contact at the bottom of the meeting rail of sash 11 being from the free end of the enclosed geometric shape 281G, rather than from the end where the engagement wall 281 joins the strap portion 262, permits a discrete amount of deformation of the geometric shape. This permits the strap to be incrementally fed (pulled) through the protrusions of the pawl to cause further preloading of the sashes relative to each other and relative to the master frame, as the geometric shape experience increasing deformation. This preloading may also result in residual tension in the strap portion 262, once the pulling has ceased, so that its ratchet teeth are caused to engage with the corresponding teeth of the protrusions 223 and 229, and cause loading of each of the protrusions against the strap, trapping it therebetween.
The disclosed geometry of the strap member 260 and pawl 220 creates an angled orientation for the strap portion 262, upon installation of the pawl/strap combination 210 between the sashes. This serves to not only preload the sashes in opposite directions relative to the master frame in which it slides, to prevent damaging the frame and/or damage to the sash locks which may now be left unlocked during transit, but also serves to cause separation between the sashes and prevent damage from chatter therebetween.
Removal of the pawl/strap combination 210 from between the sashes may be accommodated by the user simply gripping the lever arms 225H and 229H to cause the protrusion 229 to deform and pivot relative to the narrow, necked-down connection 229N, and disengage from the strap portion 262 (see
If a significant amount of tension was utilized to preload the sashes, the teeth of the strap portion 262 may not easily be released from its engagement with the corresponding teeth of the intermediate wall 225, and for that reason, those teeth may be eliminated therefrom, and the ratchet teeth may, in such an alternate embodiment, only be utilized on the protrusions 223 and 229. Furthermore, in another alternate embodiment, the ratchet teeth may only be utilized on one side of the strap and on the corresponding side of the pawl, as shown in
The examples and descriptions provided merely illustrate a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Those skilled in the art and having the benefit of the present disclosure will appreciate that further embodiments may be implemented with various changes within the scope of the present invention. Other modifications, substitutions, omissions and changes may be made in the design, size, materials used or proportions, operating conditions, assembly sequence, or arrangement or positioning of elements and members of the preferred embodiment without departing from the spirit of this invention.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/657,667, filed on Jan. 25, 2010, which claims priority on U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/284,244 filed on Dec. 15, 2009, with the disclosures of each being incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 12657667 | Jan 2010 | US |
Child | 13938338 | US |