US3252260A

US3252260A - Thermal insulating window structures

Info

Publication number: US3252260A
Application number: US313935A
Authority: US
Inventors: Warren L Mills
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1963-10-04
Filing date: 1963-10-04
Publication date: 1966-05-24
Anticipated expiration: 1983-05-24

Description

y 4, 1966 w. L. MILLS 3,252,260

THERMAL INSULATING WINDOW STRUCTURES Filed Oct. 4, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. M/LA s,

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a 6 gmanw n FIG. 1.

y 4, 1966 w. MILLS 3,252,260

THERMAL INSULATING WINDOW STRUCTURES Filed Oct. 4, 1963 8 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 4.

3 6 fj Ff VI I A 4d? 5 9 9e 40 4 M INVENTOR 9g 9 WfliPEA/ 4. M/LLS United States Patent 3,252,260 THERMAL INSULATING WINDOW STRUCTU Warren L. Mills, 5742 Maryland Ave., Chicago, 111. 60637 Filed Oct. 4, 1963, Ser. No. 313,935 2 Claims. (Cl. 52-497) This invention relates to novel thermal insulating window structures resembling glass-block Windows, which are composed of window elements each composed of .a pair of registered panels, novel means of assembling registered panels and adjacent window elements, and.

novel means for mounting the assembled windows in wall openings.

The primary object of the invention is the provision of efficient and practical window structures of the kind indicated, which are cheaper through adaptability for mass production, are more easily and quickly assembled and installed in window openings than glass-block window structures, and whose components are lighter in weight and are more easily and economically transportable than the components of glass window structures.

Other important objects and advantageous features of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanyng drawings, wherein, for purposes of illustration only, specific forms of the invention are set forth in detail.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspective view, showing one form of window structure of the present invention, installed in a window opening in a brick wall;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged vertical transverse section taken on the line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a horizontal section, on the scale of FIGURE 2, taken on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is an exploded perspective view of a pair of window element panels;

FIGURE 5 is a further enlarged fragmentary perspective view of an associated pair of panel assembling members and a self-threading screw therefor;

FIGURE 6 is an exploded horizontal section showing a pair of panels preliminary to being snapped together;

FIGURE 7 is a horizontal section taken through another form of window structure of the present invention showing the same installed in a window of a wall;

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of an assembly member and a screw, involved in the structure of FIGURE 7.

Referring in detail to the drawings, and first to FIG- URES 1 to 6 thereof, a wall W is shown, which is composed of outer and

inner elements

10 and 12, respectively, having a space 14 therebetween, through which a window opening 16 is formed, in which is installed a window structure 18, in accordance with the .present invention.

The window structure .18 is composed of a plurality, here shown as four, panels 20, each composed of a pair of registered inside and

outside panels

22 and 24, respectively. These panels, while being capable of being made of glass, are preferably made of light-weight translucent plastic materials, in the interest of substantially lower production costs, greater ease of transportation and handling, and substantial reduction in installation costs because installation thereof does not require costly and highlyskilled labor.

As shovm in FIGURES 2 to 4 and 6, the inner and outer panels '22, 24 are of substantially the same square or rectangular shape and are composed of relatively thin

outer walls

26, 28, respectively, which, in their outer surfaces, are formed with parallel and intersecting vertical and

transverse grooves

30, 32,'which divide the panels into rectangular panes 34. These grooves are provided to "ice receive calking compound or mortar, for more realistic simulation of glass blocks.

The

outer walls

26, 28 of inside and outside panels,

respectively, are formed with relatively large'rectangular cross section, inwardly extending peripheral ribs 36, 38, which have outwardly extending

lateral flanges

40, 42, flush with their inner edges 44, 46. The

outer walls

26, 28 are further formed with intermediate vertical

andhorizontal ribs

48, 50 and 52, 54, respectively, which are of the same cross section as the peripheral ribs, and which are aligned with the

external grooves

30, 32, respectively.

The inner edges of the vertical peripheral and intermediate ribs of the inside panels 22 are formed with centered, reduced cross section rounded vertical detent beads 56, and the inner edges of the same ribs of the outside panels 24 are formed with concave vertical detent grooves 58. The beads 56 are made slightly wider than the grooves 58, so that the beads snap securably into the grooves, when the panels are registered with each other and are pressed together, as shown in FIGURE 3, with their lateral flanges engaged.

The

panels

22 and 24 are assembled together, by means of vertical and horizontal inside and outside hollow

rectangular bars

60, 62, respectively, whose forms are shown in detail in FIGURE 5. The outside bars 62 have imperforate outside walls 64,'and inside walls 66 which are formed with centered longitudinal slots 68, which preferably open to the ends of the bars. The slots 68 are of a width to be spread and securably indented by the tapered shanks 70 of self-threading screws, having enlarged tapered heads 72.

The inside assembly bars 60 have outside walls 74 which are imperforate, except for longitudinally spaced flared holes 74, adapted to receive the heads 72 of the screws. The inside bars 60 have inside walls 78 which are formed with centered longitudinal slots 80, smaller in width than the shanks 70 of the screws, which preferably open to the ends of the bars 60.

As shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, the

assembly bars

60, 62 are at least twice as wide as the widths of the

panel flanges

40, 42 so that half the widths of these bars project outwardly beyond these flanges, and are available to effectively engage the same flanges of adjacent window elements.

In addition, and, as shown in FIGURE 1, intermediate sets of vertical and horizontal assembly bars 82, 84, re.- spectively similar to the inside and outside bars, above described, extend between the vertical and horizontal sets of

bars

60, 62. This arrangement entails separation of the sets of vertical bars 82 into sections 86, whose inner ends abut the bars of the horizontal set 84.

The assembled window structure 18 is set into the window opening 16, and is secured in place, by any suitable means, as by means of mortar or the like (not shown) placed in the external grooves 88 defined by the peripheral assembling bars and the space 14 between the

wall elements

10 and 12.

The window structure 18a, shown in FIGURES 7 and 8, requires a wall Wa, in which the window op ning 16a, is defined by wall elements 10a and 12a, wherein the wall element 1 2a extends further into the opening than the wall element 10a.

The window structure 18a itself is the same in construction as the window structure 18 of FIGURES 1 to 6, except that the assembly bars thereof are replaced by compressible spring brackets 90, which extend laterally outwardly from the sides of the window structure 18a, and are compressed and jammed into the space 14a between the wall elements 10a and 12a.

The brackets 90 comprise elongated J-shaped resilient plates having flat arms 92, which merge, at one end,

'into sharply bent crooks 94, which are shorter thanthe arms 92 and are adapted to be jammed into the space 14a.

The window structure 18a is placed in the window opening 16a 'with the outer surfaces of one of the panels thereof engaged with the end surface of' the wall element 12a, and with its lateral flange 40a engaged with the inner surface 96 of the wall element 12a.

The brackets 90 are secured to the lateral flanges 42a of the other panel of the window structure 18a, as by means of screws 98, passed through holes 99 in the arms 92 of the brackets and bearing against the outer sides of the flanges 42a of the other panel.

The chambers 100 and 100a of the. window structures 18 and 19a, respectively, are air-sealed because of the structure and assembly of the structures, whereby the structures are endowed with a high degree of thermal insulation against the passage of heat or cold through the structures.

It is to be noted that the terms inside and out side panels, etc., are not necessarily limitative, but are relative, and the reversal of these components is contemplated as being within the scope of the present invention. In pursuance of this, the terms first and second, used in the appended claims, are employed merely for purposes of distinctive separation, in language, of the components so designated.

Although there have been shown and described preferred forms of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention'is not necessarily confined thereto, and that any change or changes in the structure of and in the relative arrangements of components thereof are contemplated as being within the scope of the invention as defined by the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

1. 'In a thermal insulating window structure, a window element comprising registered and engaged first and second panels, said panels of one-piece construction having outer walls, and integral intersecting ribs extending inwardly from each of the outer walls, related one of the panels having peripheral lateral flanges which are enribs having inner edges engaged with each other and 4 defining air-sealed chambers with the outer walls, said gaged with each other, and assembling means engaged with the exposed surfaces of the flanges, the inner edges of the ribs of one panel being formed with detent grooves and the inner edges of the ribs of the other panel being formed with integral detent ribs, the ribs being larger in cross section than the grooves and being snapped into the grooves.

2. In a thermal insulating window structure, a window element comprising registered and engaged first and second panels of one-piece construction, said panels having outer walls, and integral intersecting ribs extending inwardly from each of the outer walls, related ones of the ribs having inner edges engaged with each other and defining air-sealed chambers with the outer walls, the inner edges of the ribs of one panel being formed with detent grooves and the inner edges of the ribs of the other panel being formed .with integral detent beads, said beads being larger in cross-section than and snapped into the grooves, said panels having peripheral lateral flanges which are engaged with each other, and assembling means engaged with the exposed surfaces of the flanges, said assembling means comprising first and second spaced assembly bars, and means extending between said first and second bars for clamping said bars about said flange.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 650,209 5/1900 White 265 X 1,821,343 9/1931 Honer 52-3l4 1,984,924 12/ 1934 Fox. 2,164,138 6/1939 London 18934 2,245,047 6/ 1941 Odell 523 14 3,002,236 10/1961 Humphner 20-40 FOREIGN PATENTS 513,587 2/1955 Italy.

HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner.

REINALDO P. MACHADO, Examiner.

Claims

1. IN A THERMAL INSULATING WINDOW STRUCTURE, A WINDOW ELEMENT COMPRISING REGISTERED AND ENGAGED FIRST AND SECOND PANELS, SAID PANELS OF ONE-PIECE CONSTRUCTION HAVING OUTER WALLS, AND INTEGRAL INTERSECTING RIBS EXTENDING INWARDLY FROM EACH OF THE OUTER WALLS, RELATED ONE OF THE RIBS HAVING INNER EDGES ENGAGED WITH EACH OTHER AND DEFINING AIR-SEALED CHAMBERS WITH THE OUTER WALLS, SAID PANELS HAVING PERIPHERAL LATERAL FLANGES WHICH ARE ENGAGED WITH EACH OTHER, AND ASSEMBLING MEANS ENGAGED