The present invention is a system made of aluminium, glass and steel made of independent panes that allow the delimitation, enclosurements, or isolation of spaces, either in houses (balconies, patios, porches . . . ) or in businesses (restaurants, offices . . . )
This invention can be included into the technical sector of building systems or materials.
At present there are different enclosurements systems in the world based on independent panes made of glass and aluminium, as described in patents SE9902369, F1924654, SE9804540, F1955693 and F1891666. All these systems are based in the use of bearings and wheels and are designed being the weight top hang. Top bearings hold the weight of the system and the bottom ones guide the sliding panes along the bottom track.
These kind of systems using bearings and top hanging are under a continuous stress due to the force of gravity and it is a matter of time they start to show problems and a maintenance is required, such as: panes get stuck, the panes are not well adjusted and don't match perfectly, etc. Also the weight being on top constrains the commercialization possibilities of these systems because the ceiling can't be strong enough to hold that weight without being reinforced, also the fitting process will require an additional effort designing an additional structural ad-hoc solution for every situation.
The invention described in this patent solves these problems cause by the use of bearings and having the weight top hang. The solution doesn't make use of bearings or wheels and the weight of the system is on the bottom instead on the top.
The invention also has a system of sliding tracks designed in such a way that the system becomes waterproof against any possible water leakage, something very common in these systems as the moving panes have joints in between the panes that are not 100% waterproof and, else more, have a progressive aging as they are exposed to the direct sun and other inclement weather conditions.
This invention, unlike other state of the art known systems, allows some certain margin of error in the fabrication of the glasses provided by the suppliers as it has adjustable bottom profiles that overcome the possible imperfections on the glass, such as not perfect rectangular shapes, over or under measurements comparing to the exact measurements of each panel, etc.
Unlike other systems, the turning and guidance mechanisms of the panes are not fabricated following a model of screwing the parts to a plate and then welding them. On the contrary, the screwing process has been replaced for a fixation by pressure of one part into the other and then welding them together. This way the fitting of the components into the plates can be done in a unique way, this helps the installation process and the future safety of the everyday use of the system.
The system described is made of a set of independent panes that can be operated manually sliding them along the top and bottom track. The bottom track supports the weight of the panes that slide on it, without any kind of bearings or wheels.
There are two kinds of panes, a fix one called door and the rest are all the same and slide over the bottom track. It is named door because it works exactly as a normal door, i.e. it has an axis to turn around so the system can be open or close. Like normal doors, it has a locking part to open or lock the whole system. The pane called door it is always placed in one of the track ends; the rest of the panes will have to be moved to the door position to be folded. All the panes will be folded in parallel to the door open mode, i.e. orthogonally to the bottom and top tracks direction. All the independent panes are made of glass, tempered or laminated, with a thickness within a range of 6 to 20 mm. The panes slide over the tracks by means of two sliding strips and all the weight rests on the bottom track. The top track works as a guide for the panes, not supporting any weight. All the panes work independently and a person can slide them along the tracks. The panes only have two possible positions or modes. The first one is the folded position, perpendicular to the direction of the tracks, and the second one is the deployed position over the tracks, following the same direction of them, when they are not folded. All the panes can be folded only at the door position. If they are not folded they can be placed at any position along the tracks, offering a great flexibility in the configuration of the panes depending in weather conditions (wind, heat, cold . . . ). For example, a pane can be followed by an empty space of the same size as a panel, followed by another pane and so on. Obviously, to achieve this configuration half of the panes must be folded at one end of the track.
The glass is always glued to a top and bottom aluminium profile; there are no fixing screws in between glass and profile.
The top part of the profile includes two arms, each of them having two tiny prominences in the inner face and a base where the glass fits on. Two side arms extend down, from the base of the profile, resulting in a trapezoidal shape that is opened on the bigger side. Inside the trapezoid there is a flat steel plate that joins the pane profile to the top axis part. This part goes into the top track by means of a stainless steel T axis-guide and a piece called top guide bushing, made of polyamide or similar material, and allows the longitudinal sliding movement over the top track.
The bottom part of the profile includes two arms and a base. Each arm has two tiny prominences in the inner face and a base where the glass fits on. There are two more arms extend from the base of the profile. This profile has an H shape. This profile is assembled into another profile, the sliding profile, by means of bolts. These bolts allow a regulation in height of the H shape inside the sliding profile to correct any mismatch in the glass measurements because it is usual the glass supplier can not supply glasses with a precision better than 2 mm. This sliding profile has two upper arms to hold the H shape profile, where the glass is glued.
Because the sliding profile contains the H profile where the glass is glued, it makes invisible any possible internal adjustment to correct any mismatch in the glass measurements. Otherwise, the profiles in the joints of two panes wouldn't be aligned and the visual effect would be quite poor.
From the bottom of this profile extend down two lower arms, resulting in a trapezoidal shape that is opened on the bigger side. Inside the trapezoid there is a flat steel plate that joins the pane profile to the top axis part. This part goes into the bottom track by means of a stainless steel T axis-guide and a piece called bottom guide bushing, made of polyamide or similar material, and allows the longitudinal sliding movement along the bottom track.
The bottom guide bushing is made of one piece with five different steps or layers of different sizes:
The bottom track has a rectangular shape with the base closed. The upper part is partially opened. The opening in the bottom track has two equidistant internal sides in the inner area but not for the outer ones, that partially close it. In the upper sides that partially close the opening there are two equidistant channels, with a depth of 4 mm, equidistant to the longitudinal axis of the track, where the sliding strips, made of a mixture of self-lubricating polymers, fit perfectly. The weight of every pane rests on these two strips. These two channels have a perpendicular 7 mm width channel to accommodate brushes. There is a third channel designed to collect any possible water leakage from the outside, making it waterproof. This channel has holes, every certain length, along the track to collect the water from the channel and let it flow to the interior of the bottom track, and from there, to the exterior through the evacuating holes in the outer face of the track. The bottom track is fixed to the floor using self-tapping screws.
Inside the trapezoid there is a steel plate crossed by the bottom axis-guide. This steel plate also works as a fixation for the bottom guide bushing, that is placed inside the bottom track. These parts allow a fine adjustment of the profile to the bottom track in order to achieve an optimal assembly between the profile and the self-lubricating strips, made of a mixture of polymers, where the weight of the pane rests, allowing an optimal sliding operation of it.
The top edge of the glass is glued to an aluminium H profile, in particular, to two arms of this profile and the base of this profile has a trapezoidal shape, and with the upper part opened, being this the bigger side of the trapezoid. The base is the smaller side that holds two arms. Inside the trapezoid there is a set of parts that is called the upper part of the top axis. These parts are:
The head of the axis-guide fits into the turning mechanism. The base of this T axis-guide crosses the open side of the trapezoid shape of the top profile, profile that holds the glass in the opposite hole, and joins to the steel plate placed inside the trapezoid hole of this profile. This steel plate has two holes of identical diameter and another one with a semicircular shape, placed along the longitudinal axis of this part. The steel plate has a rectangular shape with three straight sides and one small side in a rounded shape. The T axis-guide fits in the semicircular shape hole that is closer to the rounded shape side, which is closer to the edge of the pane or door. This steel plate is positioned over the trapezoidal profile area with the help of two endless screws, screwed into the circular holes with identical diameters, until they press the edges of the open side of the trapezoid and fix the plate to the profile. The purpose of this steel plate is keeping the profile close to the top track with the help of the components of the T axis-guide part. These parts are not designed to stand the weight of the panes, as it rests on the bottom of the system.
The top track is identical to the bottom track. There are two small channels with a depth of 4 mm, and inside those channels a perpendicular notch with a length of 7 mm for the brush, placed at an equidistant position from the longitudinal axis of the track. The additional channel is designed to collect any water leakage in the bottom track and can be used as a fixing notch for embellishing plates in the top track.
The pane called door, is placed at one of the track ends, has a different configuration from the rest of panes, it works as a real door instead of a sliding pane. The top edge of the glass is glued to an aluminium profile, in particular to two arms of this profile. The base of this profile has a trapezoidal shape, with the upper part opened, being this the biggest side of the trapezoid. The base is the smaller side and holds two arms. Inside the trapezoid there is a steel plate that is crossed by an endless screw, the screw head fits inside the top pivot. The top pivot is made of polyamide or similar material with a cubic shape with a hole placed in its centre. This hole has a smaller diameter than the head of the screw that crosses the base of the top track and is screwed to a nut placed on the ceiling to fix it. Another screw comes out the bottom hole, whose circular section has a bigger diameter than the head of the screws, allowing the screw heads to fit inside this part. The bottom part of the door has the same elements between the bottom profile, having a trapezoidal shape, and the bottom track.
These bottom and top guides allow the rotation of the door in both directions. With the help of an endless screw the door can be adjusted to the top track. This axis parts are not designed to stand the weight of the door, that task is done by the bottom track.
There is the possibility of having another door in the system that is not placed at the tracks ends, this door is named sliding door. The configuration of the sliding door is similar to the normal panes, the only difference is that the bottom bushing guide has a cylindrical base instead of an oval one with two straight long sides. Inside the bottom track there is a tramp piece, it has a rectangular form with an open circular shape side to trap the bottom bushing guide of the sliding door and allow the pivoting of this sliding door.
The door, fix or sliding, and all the panes, have in the upper part of the profile, at the opposite side to the pivoting axis, a mechanism, called top guide, made of a bolt that goes through a hollow cylinder made of polyamide. The head of this bolt is bigger than that the diameter of the cylinder in such a way that when is completely screwed in the steel plate, the head is inside the cylinder but like a cap of it. That steel plate is fixed inside the trapezoid of the profile using an endless screw. This steel plate, made of stainless steel, has consequently two threaded holes.
In the bottom track, the bottom sides of the profile trapezoid are in contact with the strips, made of a mixture of polymers, accommodated inside the bottom track channels. Inside that trapezoid is placed a washer with an H shape, it is partially described in between the sides of the open side of the trapezoid hole of the bottom profile, in such a way that the bottom of the H shape washer matches the open side of the bottom track. The washer doesn't rest on the sliding strips made of a mixture of self-lubricating polymers. With the help of a screw that crosses the threaded hole through the longitudinal axis of the H washer and reaches the trapezoid base, this H washer has to be positioned along the bottom profile to pass through the notch made in one of the polymer strips when the panes are folded.
At any of the end of both tracks, where the door is placed, there is a mechanism fitted inside the track. This mechanism has a row of spoon or semicircular shapes. In every spoon hole fits the head of the T axis-guide that is placed in the corner of the top profile in every pane. At this hole will be the point where the turning axis will be operating for every pane while folding.
The top track has a rectangular hole on the interior side from where the panes will be folded, attached to this hole there is a metal piece called guide-arm that will allow the panes to be folded. This hole on the top track allows the pane to pivot and be folded close to the door. The semicircular holes or spoons not only allow the turning movement of the panes but also keep then blocked to avoid up and down movements in the panes when they are in the folded position.
The pivoting of the panes is achieved by making the head of every T axis-guide fit into every turning mechanism spoon placed at the end of the tracks, by the door pivot axis. The spoon shape allocates and assures the exact point of the pivot axis for every pane. Else more, the little tolerance in the matching of the spoon and the head of the T axis-guide, allows a little unbalance pivot movement that helps the opening process of the panes. When a pane folds back, it turns around at the pivot axis that is enabled by the former parts as described before and at the same time the H washer passes through the notch done in one of the sliding strips made of a mixture of polymers in the bottom track. On the top side, the top guide can only get out of the top track through the square hole where the guide-arm is placed.
The door has a rod that operates in conjunction with the bottom lock to open and lock the door and consequently the whole system. The rod is fixed to the guide-arm. This locking system is placed in the indoor side of the system, by doing so the system can not be opened from the outside.
The sliding movement of the panes can be done manually and has to be done individually. The sliding and folding movement of the panes will allow an easy cleaning process of both glass faces. The panes can reach a height of 3.5 mts and be operated manually by a person.
The sliding strips are made of a homogeneous mixture of polymers. This material has optimal properties that allow the aluminium slide easily over it with a minimal effort by the person operating the system. The usage and the years won't spoil these strips because they are very tough and friction-resistant. The wearing-out of this material is almost zero, the same happens with its maintenance.
There are two possible pane (1) movements. A longitudinal one sliding over the strips, made of a homogeneous mixture of polymer (8) fitted into two channels (52, 53) in the bottom track,
The top turning set (9, 10, 11) pivots on the turning mechanism (15), which is always fitted inside the top track (6) and bottom track (7) nearby the door (24) pivot axis. As shown in
A top and bottom guide set, as shown in
The guide-arm (23) helps the pivot movement of the panes (1) and is perpendicular to the axis defined by the top track (6) and bottom track (7). Else more, it holds the door (24) locking system pin (56). The guide-arm (23) is fitted in a hole done in the top track (6) and, close to the opposite edge of the door (24) pivot axis. The guide-arm (23) is made of stainless steel. As it is shown in the
Through the hole done on the top track (6) interior side, and touching slightly the guide-arm (23), the top guide screw (30) and the hollow bushing (18) leave the top track (6). This light touch or levering on the guide-arm (23) makes the folding pivot movement of the panes (1) easier. When the pin (56) of the door (24) locking system (59) is inserted into the guide-arm (23) hole (57) that is closer to the top track (6), the door (24) is locked. Otherwise, when the pin (56) is inserted in the second hole (58) the door (24) is partially opened and locked so the air can pass through the system, this is called ventilation mode.
The bushing (10) in the top turning set is made of plastic with a circular shape and is place inside the top track (6), and it has two layers fabricated in one block made of polyamide or similar material, as it is shown in
The steel plate (11), identical to the steel plate (12), it has a long shape and two threaded holes (21) of the same diameter and another hole with a semicircular shape (20) located along the longitudinal axis of the piece. The semicircular hole (20) is placed at one edge of the steel plate (11, 12).
The top T axis guide (9) is made of stainless steel and it has a T form. The head (34) of the axis (9) has two long straight arms with two small oval sides, in such a way that when it pivots this oval side touches the inner side of the spoon (16) in the turning mechanism (15) that delimits the movement of the T axis. The base of the T axis guide (9) has a semicircular shape so it can match perfectly, by pressure, into the semicircular hole (20) in the edge of the steel plate (11). Therefore, the T axis guide (9) is perfectly aligned with the steel plate (11) axis.
The other two threaded holes (21) in the steel plate (11) are designed to place endless screws to fix the top turning set to the top profile (3) in each pane.
The bottom axis guide (13) crosses the bottom bushing guide (14). This axis (13) is made of steel and is fitted and welded to the steel plate (12) and the other end is inserted into the bottom bushing guide (14) hole, placed inside the bottom track (7). The bottom bushing guide (14) is made of polyamide or similar material and is fabricated in one block with 5 layers that travels along the bottom track (7) hole and guide the pane along that track (7):
The operation of both mechanisms are base in an axis formed by screws (26, 28) and steel plates (11 y 12) that fix those axes to the top profile (6) and the bottom sliding profile (7). These steel plates (11 y 12) are fixed to the profiles (3, 5) using endless screws, not shown in this figure. These steel plates (11, 12) adjust the position of the axis in such a way that they can perfectly balance the door (24) position in relation to the top (6) and bottom track (7). The parts that enable the turning movement are two pivots (25, 27) with a cubic shape, made of polyamide or similar material. These two pivots (25, 27) are similar and have a central hole with two openings of different sizes. The one with the biggest diameter receives the head of the screw-axis (26 y 28) and the one with a smaller diameter allows the fixation of these pivots (25 y 27) to the floor and to the ceiling by means of screws (29).
As shown in
In the bottom aluminium profile (4),
Top (6) and bottom tracks (7) are identical. As seen in the
A variation of this windbreak system includes a sliding door that can be operated manually sliding along the top (6) and bottom track (7). This sliding door, not shown in the figures, has a pane (1) with a modified version of the bottom bushing axis guide of the panes (1), previously described, to ease the pivot movement of this sliding door. The rest of the components of the bottom turning set and the top turning set are identical to the other panes (1). Therefore, the bottom axis (13) is welded at the hole (20) in the semicircular section of the steel plate (12), as in the rest of the panes (1). This steel plate (12) is placed inside the bottom sliding profile (5) hole. This bottom axis (13) crosses and holds a bushing, not shown in the drawings, with five layers, in a very similar fashion to the bushings (14). Therefore, the sliding door bushing, made of polyamide or a similar material, has this configuration:
As depicted in
This sliding door can be placed in the other endpoint of the track, opposite side of the door (24). To allow the opening of this door and leave the tracks (6, 7) in the other endpoint of the track, at the opposite side of the door (24) a hole is done in the top track (6) with a size of one centimetre bigger than the diameter of the top bushing guide (18) and a notch in the polymer strip (8) with a size of one centimetre bigger than the diameter of the H washer (19), both located at the same distance from the sliding door pivot axis and in a position where the sliding door is going to be open and close.
Another possible configuration is having two doors (24), in each endpoint of the system and a sliding door that can be open and close in the middle of the system
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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P200901275 | May 2009 | ES | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/ES10/00187 | 4/28/2010 | WO | 00 | 11/18/2011 |