1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improved sill and related jamb and head construction for windows and doors and associated methods and more specifically, it relates to improved means for handling and discharging water therefrom, as well as resisting air and sound passage therethrough, and more specifically, it also relates to a sill which prevents water leakage from the sill into other parts of building construction by providing a faster which passes through a flexible resilient plastic element and on opening in the sill and is secured to adjacent building components.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has been known in various window and door constructions to have undesired water leakage from frame components into areas where it might cause structural deterioration and aesthetic problems.
The problem is particularly acute where fasteners, such as metal screws or bolts, for example, pass through openings in a sill thereby providing the opportunity for water to seep through such openings into regions where water is not desired and can be damaging. Water leaks can cause mold, mildew and decay problems which are potentially serious. Air leaks waste energy and, in some instances, may cause an undesired, disturbing sound such as whistling. Sound leaks are often of particular importance in respect of city and airport installations.
It has been known to install windows and doors by securing the jambs to the frames in order to resist leakage to the sill and head. Water leaking through the sill into surrounding frame structure can contribute to undesired mold, mildew and decay. Water can also leak from the wall cavity through the head and into the building.
For wider windows and door units, and to resist higher wind load, it is desirable to employ fasteners at multiple points across the sill and head. Such fastening also serves to eliminate to resist crowning at the sill and sagging at the head. One of the problems which emerges from such placing fasteners through the sill and head is that the openings for the fasteners can facilitate undesired water leakage and air and sound passage.
In an effort to solve the foregoing problems, it has been known to provide sill pans, dams and cladding. See generally U.S. Pat. No. 7,222,462 and U.S. Patent Publications 2007/0289226 and 2006/0156654.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,266,929 discloses a threshold positioned above a sub-sill. It discloses several embodiments of the attachable sealing fins which provide a threshold recess. The sealing fin which is said to reduce moisture penetration may be established through a coextrusion employing polyvinyl chloride to provide an extendable and contractible bridging portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,152 discloses a sill which is secured to a base by means of wood screws and a sealing strip which may be a polyvinyl chloride extrusion. Drain holes are provided to discharge water to the exterior of the window.
U.S. Published Patent Application 2015/0096235 discloses a door sill assembly which has a multi-component sill construction having a flexible seal formed by coextrusion. Drainage channels are said to be provided.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,018 discloses two interlocking seal members connected by a flexible hinge with the members said to be coextruded from polyvinyl chloride.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,795 discloses a pressure plate which cooperates with glazing gaskets and employs coextrusion and a screw member to secure the assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,544 discloses sealing instructions which are said to resist water leakage through holes in sills. A bolt and cooperating nut secure the building component to a building section with an overlying molded plastic cap being secured around the exterior of the hole through which the bolt passes to resist passage of water through the hole.
Despite the foregoing prior art disclosures, there remains a very real and substantial need for a window having a sill construction which will permit fasteners to pass through the sill in securing the sill to a building element while effectively resisting undesired leakage of water from the sill into the adjacent building components. The present invention provides a solution to the foregoing problems.
The present invention provides a structure and associated method which establishes effective resistance to undesired water leakage from window and door sills. The window or door may have a frame and a panel such as a glazing pane with a sill frame section having at least one hollow chamber. A fastener having a head disposed within a chamber and a shank passing through a first opening in the sill frame section secures the sill frame section to an adjacent structural member. A plastic element is secured to an interior surface of a wall defining a hollow chamber, preferably by coextrusion with the frame extrusion. The fastener passes through the plastic element and the first opening in the wall and is secured to the adjacent structural member. The plastic element is compressed between the interior surface and the fastener head in order to seal the first opening.
In a preferred embodiment, the sill frame section may be composed of a vinyl material such as rigid polyvinyl chloride. Additional materials which may be employed effectively are ABS/ASA (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer/acrylic ester—modified styrene-acrylonitrile terpolymer) and products made of or with glass fibers or glass flakes such as those sold under the trade designation Fiberglas. The plastic element may be composed of a material selected from the group consisting of flexible polyvinyl chloride, thermoplastic elastomers, polysiloxanes, acrylonitrile-butadienes, ethylene propylene diene monomer, styrene butadienes fluorinated hydrocarbons, natural rubber and neoprene.
The plastic element is preferably composed of a compressible and flexible plastic. The plastic element may be elongated and continuous to provide an overlay for a series of relatively spaced first openings through which a plurality of relatively spaced fasteners will pass.
The sill frame section may have a plurality of hollow chambers with a plurality of fasteners passing through a series of first openings therein with the interposed plastic element providing the desired seals.
A further feature of the invention is that selected chamber defining walls may have openings to facilitate delivery of water contained within the sill frame section, directly or indirectly, to the exterior of the sill frame section.
The holes through which the fasteners pass may be preformed or may be formed during passage of the fastener therethrough. The holes are preferably clearance holes so as to resist the frame bowing when the tip of the screw contacts the structural member into which it will penetrate. The fasteners are preferably metal screws and most preferably panhead or truss head screws. Also, concrete screws such as those sold under the trade designation Tapcon are among the suitable fasteners.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved sill construction and related jamb and head construction and related method for windows and doors which resists undesired penetration of water through the sill and into other portions of the building construction.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a sill construction and related method which will permit the use of penetrating fasteners in securing the sill to adjacent building components while resisting undesired water penetration.
It is a further object of the present invention to avoid prior art inadequacies which required avoidance of the use of through fasteners in the sill such as by securing windows and doors to frames through jambs only.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide systems which are effective with specialty products such as vertically hung windows, horizontal slider windows, sliding patio doors, swing doors, casement windows, tilt turn windows and fixed windows.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide effective sealing through the use of coextrusion of the sealing elements with the sill frame sections.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide improved frame construction and related methods for windows and doors which resist air leaks, sound leaks and crowning.
It is another object of the present invention to provide means for effectively sealing head portions of windows and doors by means of through fasteners to resist undesired sagging of the head and water, air and sound leakage.
These and other objects of the invention will be more fully understood from the following description of the invention on reference to the illustrations appended hereto.
As employed herein the term “sill” mean a generally horizontally oriented structural member positioned at or adjacent to a lower portion of window, door or other building opening.
Referring to
With reference to one of the two jamb frame sections,
As shown in
The window 2 of
The plastic element 26, 60 is preferably made from a flexible, compressible plastic such as one selected from the group consisting of flexible polyvinyl chloride, thermoplastic elastomers, polysiloxanes, acrylonitrile-butadienes, ethylene propylene diene monomer, styrene butadienes, fluroinated hydrocarbons and natural rubber and neoprene. The plastic element 60 provides for intimate sealing. The plastic element 26, 60 preferably has a width of about ⅜ to ⅝ inches and an uncompressed thickness of about 0.040 to 0.250 inch. Drainage openings may, for example, be present at or adjacent each corner and be rectangular in shape having a dimension of about ¼ inch by 1½ inch. The plastic element 26, 60 is preferably elongated so that it may be positioned adjacent a plurality of openings through which a plurality of fasteners, such as relatively spaced screws, will pass. This construction not only provides for intimate sealing relationships but, also, maintains the fixed position between the sill frame section and the plastic element.
The openings through which the fasteners pass may either be pre-formed or created as the fastener advances through the wall of the hollow chamber.
Referring to
The jamb sill frame section 90 taken through 5-5 of
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
As shown in
Referring to another embodiment of the sill construction,
The closure cap, as shown in
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
As shown in
Referring to
Referring to
The method of the present invention may provide the structures disclosed herein. The method involves providing a window or door having a sill provided with a sill frame section having at least one hollow chamber. A plastic element is secured to the sill frame section on a wall of the hollow chamber which provides one or more openings for a fastener to pass through the opening and have its head compress the plastic element so as to seal the opening against undesired water leakage through the opening. Elated jamb and head constructions may also be provided.
The method may involve the use of the plurality of preformed holes spaced relatively along the extrusion and cooperating with a plurality of fasteners receiving openings and the plastic element. The openings for receipt of the fasteners which preferably will be screws, may be pre-formed in the extrusion or may be created by advancement of the screws through the material.
It will be appreciated from the foregoing that the present invention provides various forms of sill constructions for windows and doors and the like, which permit the use of fasteners which pass through the sill and are secured to another building component while providing positive sealing action. This serves to resist undesired entry of water, air and sound into portions of the building. It further permits drainage of water contained with upwardly open channel portions of a sill frame section wherein water might otherwise accumulate. Various structural arrangements for sills having hollow chambers with some of the chamber defining walls serving to facilitate transport of water to the exterior of the sill frame section and also providing strength as in compressive loading on generally vertical portions of the sill frame section in order to minimize glass deflection under load. The structures also facilitate employing the number, shape and design of the hollow chambers so as to meet dimensional and loadbearing design specifications while permitting efficient discharge of undesired water along the length of the sill member. Related jamb and head constructions are also provided.
Whereas particular embodiments of the invention have been disclosed herein for purposes of illustration, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that numerous variations of the details may be made without departing from the invention as described in the appended claims.
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Entry |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20180106095 A1 | Apr 2018 | US |