Modular Window Unit

Abstract

A modular window or window frame unit is provided from a wooden frame including a pair of jambs, a sill and a header, a window is operatively positioned in the frame, and a plurality of metal frame extenders operatively engage each section of the wood frame on the outer surface thereof, are of the same sectional shape, and are in interlocking engagement with one of the frame members.

Description

The present invention relates to modular window or window frame systems, and particularly to modular units that can be made in quantity and be assembled in any desired numerical relationship with each other or other similar window units to facilitate assembly thereof in a building.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Heretofore there have been many types of windows provided, such as double-hung windows, one movable window in a double hung assembly, sliding windows, awning-type windows, casement windows, etc., and, in most instances, all of such windows have been made in widely varying sizes and design. Thus, there have been no real standards in sizes of the windows and each window frame has normally been a specially built unit made from frame members normally usable only in the one type of a window frame. Because of the various types of windows made and sold today and because of the different sizes required therein, the window manufacturer has had to produce a large number of various sizes of components for building window frames so that a wide variety in shapes and sizes of wood or metal members have been required to be stocked or built by the window manufacturer in order to provide ultimate windows of the windows and sizes of the types desired.

Yet a further problem in window installation in use is that the wall thickness in different buildings varies in quarter inch steps from 4 5/8 inches to 5 1/8 inches and this normally has required the carpenter or other person installing a window to make modifications in the window when installing it.

It also has been a problem to tie together multiple window units when building a home or making other installations of the windows whereby two or three or more window units can be combined with each other in assembly in a building.

The general object of the present invention is to provide a novel and improved modular window unit characterized by the use of a plurality of common shapes of members used in forming the modular window unit.

Another object of the invention is to reduce the number of sizes of window units that are supplied by window manufacturers.

Other objects of the invention are to provide modular window units so that they can be readily secured together in pairs or in other numbers of units to facilitate installation thereof; to provide attractive modular window units that are adjustable in depth so that they can be adjusted to the thickness of a building for installation therein; to provide a window unit that can be installed in a building with reduced installation labor; to provide modular window frames or units wherein the mounting means for securing the windows in the frame can be that conventionally used for any given window and which means can readily be mounted in the modular frame; to provide modular window units in standard sizes to reduce inventory costs and the number of windows required for inventory purposes; to provide a modular window unit which has a common metal extender member secured to and engaged with all four sides of a window frame; and to use the metal extender to aid in sealing the windows in the frame.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will be more apparent as the specification proceeds.

Attention now is particularly directed to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary horizontal section of a double hung modular window frame unit of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary vertical section of the double hung window of FIG. 1 with portions thereof broken away and removed;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary horizontal section through one side portion of the modular window unit mounting an awning window therein;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary horizontal section of one side of a modular window unit of the invention positioning a casement window therein;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary vertical section of the upper end of the modular window unit positioning a casement window;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary horizontal section through two abutted modular window units secured together in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 7 is an elevation of a typical modular window unit of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary vertical section of a further modified embodiment of the invention showing a double hung window; and

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary horizontal section through a modified double hung window of the invention.

When referring to corresponding members shown in the drawing and referred to in the specification, corresponding numerals are used to facilitate comparison therebetween.

INVENTIVE SUBJECT MATTER

A modular window unit is provided and comprises a wooden frame made from a plurality of wooden sections or members including a pair of jambs, a sill and a header, one or more windows operatively positioned in the wooden frame, and a plurality of metal frame extenders individually operatively engaging one member of said wooden frame on the outer surface thereof with all of said extenders being of the same sectional shape and interlocking with one of the associated wooden frame members.

Attention is now directed particularly to the details of the structure shown in the accompanying drawings, and FIG. 7 shows a modular window unit of the invention of which is indicated as a whole by the numeral 10. Any suitable windows indicated as W are provided in or carried by this modular window unit 10.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show the modular window unit 10 of FIG. 7 having double hung windows provided therein and wherein the modular unit 10 is positioned in a building 12. The modular unit 10 has a wooden frame that includes a pair of jambs 14 on the vertically extending sides of the frame, a header 16 and usually a wooden sill. However, for this frame, a special sill, for example a metal sill plate 19 is provided and is partly positioned on an inside stool 21. These jambs 14, header 16, and sill plate 19, or similar member, when used are suitably secured together to form a rectangular unit and it is a feature of the invention that an individual metal frame extender indicated as a whole by the numeral 20 as associated with and operatively engages each of the members of the wooden frame provided for the modular unit 10. FIG. 1 shows an extender 20a engaged with a side jamb 14 by means of a flange 22 that extends laterally outwardly from an axially inner, reduced thickness portion of the extender 20a being received in a vertically extending slot 24 formed in a laterally inner surface of the jamb 14 of the modular window unit. A similar extender 20b engages with the header 16 as shown in FIG. 2, while a third extender 20c is shown engaging a flanged outer end 19a of the sill plate 19. The outer end 19a may be interlocked with the extender 20c. FIG. 7 best shows that the adjacent ends of the various metal extenders 20 used in the modular unit of the invention are provided with mitered ends that cooperate with the wooden frame to form an axially outwardly protruding rectangular frame extension or outer frame means in the window unit.

In the particular structure shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a double hung window is provided and thus upper and lower sashes 26 and 28 are shown slidably engaged with means such as a jamb liner 30 that is adjustably engaged with the side jamb 14. The window sashes are slidably positioned in the window frame unit by conventional means such as the structures shown in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,461,608, or similar or equivalent positioning assemblies, may be used to position the sashes.

The metal frame extenders 20 preferably are made as metal extrusions and can be made from any conventional material such as aluminum and their external configuration, when operatively assembled, is designed to provide an attractive finished contour on the window unit of the invention. These metal extenders are provided with hollow centers, and a flat laterally outer section 32 is formed on the axially outer portion of each of the extenders 20 with such flat outer section 32 lying in a plane with the laterally outer surface of the jamb 14, as indicated in FIG. 1. Axially inwardly of these flat outer sections 32, a plurality of overhanging flanges 34, 36 and 38 are provided in axially spaced relationship to each other and with the laterally outer portions of the flanges lying in a common plane with the flat outer sections 32 of the extenders.

As a feature of the unit, these overhanging flanges 34, 36 and 38 provide special sections or portions in the metal extenders for adjusting the depth of the modular window frame unit 10 in relation to the building in which it is to be positioned. The metal extenders 20 have a continuous wall 40 at the base of the overhanging flanges 34, 36 and 38 whereby space is defined by these flanges for slidably engaging an edge portion of a nailing fin, or a wind break device 42. This nailing fin 42 has a generally h-shape section so that an end 44 thereof, which is contoured to be snugly and slidably received within the enclosure formed by the wall 40 and the associated flanges, can be used to lock the nailing fin in engagement with a metal extender. The nailing fin protrudes laterally from the extender to lie flush against the outer surface of a wall 43 of the building with which the modular unit is assembled. These nailing fins 42 can be made from any desired material, either plastic or metal, and the flanges 34, 36 and 38 define compartments for the end 44 of the nailing fin which are spaced 1/4 inch from each other whereby the modular unit can adjust to a standard variation in wall thickness normally encountered in buildings. It will be seen that the nailing fin 42 likewise will bridge any gap between the laterally outer surface of the jamb 14 and the associated building to form an air tight connection therebetween.

FIG. 2 of the drawings shows that the sill plate 19 is inclined and operatively engages the inside stool 21 by a flange and slot connection 46. The outwardly inclined sill plate and inside stool form a neat closed position for the lower sash 28.

FIG. 1 of the drawings shows that any conventional stop or guide 48 is secured to the jamb 14 to finish the mounting means for the sashes 26 and 28, and it also will be seen that the axially inner end of the jamb 14 terminates flush with the inner surface of the wall of the building 12 whereby no finishing action is required on the axially inner edge or margin of the jamb 14. In most window units as made heretofore, the carpenter or other person installing a window unit has had to do finishing operations on the axially inner edge of a window frame jamb when positioning it in a building. This is avoided by use of the window unit of the invention.

FIG. 3 of the drawing shows a fragmentary section of another modular unit of the invention wherein the modular unit itself is of the same construction and made from the same members as the unit 10 referred to hereinbefore but wherein in this instance, an awning type of a window 50 is positioned in the modular unit and where a wood sill is provided. It should be noted that at the laterally and axially inner surface of the frame extenders 120, an inclined surface or section 52 is provided on the extenders, and, in an awning type of a window assembly, a suitable conventional plastic seal 54 is resiliently received between the slanted laterally outer margin of the awning window 50 and the associated section 52 of the frame extender to provide an air tight engagement between the extender 120 and the window when closed. Any desired known type of hinge means indicated at 56 are received between a suitable stop or guide 58 and an axially inner portion of the window. FIG. 3 of the drawings further shows the various dimensional adjustments possible in the modular unit by the dimensions indicated at a, b, c in the drawing dependent upon where a nailing fin 42a engages in the associated frame extender 120.

The section 52 of the extender 120, as with all of the frame extenders, has a dove tail shaped slot or recess 59 formed therein with which one end portion of the seal 54 engages and interlocks with an end flange 61 to be held in position against an edge of the guide 58 for operative positioning of this seal 54.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show fragmentary sections of the modular unit of the invention adapted to position a casement window therein and the operative and positioning means (not shown) provided for a casement window are of a conventional nature. However, again the modular unit, as in FIG. 3, has been modified internally only slightly for positioning a casement window therein. To this end, a guide or stop 60 is provided in association with a jamb 14b for use in the positioning a window sash 62 in the window, while an auxiliary top header strip 64 and a stop 65 are secured to the header 16b in the modular window frame. Seal means 66 the same as the seal 54 are likewise secured to and positioned by extenders 130 in this modular unit for effective resilient positioning of the seal strip or means in operative association with the casement window for ready opening and closing thereof and forming of an air tight window assembly.

FIG. 6 of the drawings shows yet a further feature of the present invention in that jambs 14c and 14d of two adjacent modular units of the invention can be positioned in adjacent or abutted relationship so that two of the units would be laterally associated with each other and could be assembled as a pair in a building unit, if desired. Thus, the extenders 20d and 20e of the two modular units can be abutted with the flat sections 32a thereof contacting each other as shown in the drawing. Hence, the flanges 34a, 36a and 38a, corresponding to the flanges 34, 36 and 38, are in alignment with each other whereby a double h-shaped lock strip 70 can be used to secure a pair of such modular units together. This lock strip 70 can be made from extruded metal, or a hard surface plastic material such as a vinyl resin and the lock strip assembly has two end portions 72 and 74 connected together by a thin connecting section 76. Each of these end sections 72 and 74 is adapted to engage, slidably, one of the metal extenders adjacent one of the flanges provided therein and with the connecting section 76 extending between the two metal extenders so that the modular units are readily and fixedly secured together. This assembly can be made directly on the job before installation of a window unit in a building. Obviously, the modular units of the invention can be used to secure any desired types of windows together where a plurality of windows are to be assembled in laterally offset, or in vertically offset relationship in a building.

The overhanging flanges 34, 36 and 38 or equivalents provided on the metal extenders are removed for a short distance adjacent each end of the metal extenders to facilitate slidably inserting one of the nailing fins 42 into engagement with an extender to position the nailing fin in the assembly, or to slide one of the lock strips 70 into engagement between two of the modular units.

It will be realized that picture window assemblies can likewise be made wherein the jambs thereof can be made corresponding to those of the modular unit 10 and have a frame extender 20 secured thereto whereby flankers or side windows or any desired type can be readily engaged with a picture window, or a vertically positioned horizontally sliding window or other main central window.

It should be noted that in forming the modular units 10 of the invention, substantially all, if not all of the jambs, headers and sills used are formed to the same width in rough shape and then when such members are finished, some of the details of these members can be varied, but yet appreciable simplification of manufacturing procedures, stock sizes required, etc., have been made.

Furthermore, the use of common metal extenders 20 in forming the metal outer frame in the unit, as shown in FIG. 7, further simplifies stocking sizes and varieties down to a minimum.

When assembling two of the modular window units as shown in FIG. 6, the axially outer ends thereof are tightly secured together by the securing means 70, whereas the axially inner ends of these window frames can be secured together by tie-in nails, brackets, plates or the like, as desired, and this aids in forming a good bond between the two modular units.

FIG. 2 of the drawings shows, for example, that modified nailing fins 142 may be provided, particularly to cover the head portion or top extender strip in the modular window frame. These nailing fins 142 have a horizontally extending leg 143 thereon that overlies the flat section 32 provided in the metal extenders and aids in providing a smooth, attractive water and air-tight finish on the outer portion of the window unit.

In making up the modular windows and window frame units of the invention, it is not difficult to cut or rout out portions of the periphery of the side jambs, for example, of the frames, for special purposes. Reference is made to FIG. 8 where a modified modular unit 140 is shown and it in general is made in the same manner and from the same parts as the modular unit 10 referred to hereinbefore including extenders 20f. However, in this instance, a top header 16c has a slot or groove 141 which inclines axially outwardly and upwardly of the window frame and is adapted to receive the correspondingly slanted edge or upper edge surface of the upper rail 144 of an upper window provided in this window assembly. FIG. 8 also shows that a lower rail 145 of a lower sash assembly is shaped correspondingly to the rail 144 so that these members in the double hung window assembly are also interchangeable. A metal sill plate 146 is provided in the assembly shown in FIG. 8. No guide or top header strip is required separate from the header 16c as shown.

FIG. 9 shows another modification of the invention wherein a side jamb 14c is shown and in this instance, it has a slot or recess 147 milled or cut therein for receiving any suitable mounting means 148 for a lower sash 149 provided in this embodiment of the invention. This avoids the use of any stops or guide strips in the window frame and facilitate positioning of the double hung sashes.

The extenders 20f shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 engage with the jambs or header in the manner generally as described hereinbefore and the common shape of the extender is still available for use in forming the units shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.

It further should be noted that when the same wood shape is used to form the lower sash rail in the lower window of a double hung unit and the upper sash rail of the upper window in the double hung unit, even further savings are provided, part stocking is reduced, etc.

The modular units of the invention preferably are made in various heights, such as 4 inch size variations, and in standard widths or in 4 inch variations thereof, as desired. The units include common shapes of wooden frame means and metal extenders all made of a common extrusion shape. Hence, modular units can be supplied from the factory complete with windows therein, and the dealer or distributor or installer can assemble several of such units to each other or to a picture window when installing the units. The factory thus has furnished and/or made many fewer different pieces to form the units than with previous styles of windows. Furthermore, installation of the window units is greatly simplified. Hence, the objects of the invention have been achieved.

While several complete embodiments of the invention have been disclosed herein, it will be appreciated that modification of these particular embodiments of the invention may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A modular window unit comprising

a frame made from a plurality of frame members including a pair of jambs, a sill and a header,

a window operatively positioned in said frame, and

a plurality of metal frame extenders operatively engaging said frame on the axially outer surface thereof and including a pair of vertically positioned extenders, all of said extenders being of the same shape and engaging one of said frame members, said vertical extenders each having a flat laterally outer section flush with an edge of one of said jambs.

2. A modular window unit as in claim 1 where said frame extenders each have a plurality of edge portions spaced depthwise of said window from each other for engaging a nailing fin to adjust the window in depth to that of an associated building, said edge portions being positioned axially inwardly of said extender outer sections.

3. A modular window unit as in claim 1 where said frame extenders each have an inclined flat surface on an axially and laterally inner portion thereof, a sash is positioned in said frame and has a surface laterally adjacent said extender inclined flat surface complementary thereto, and resilient seal means are positioned intermediate said last-named surfaces.

4. A modular window unit as in claim 1 where said frame extenders have a plurality of overhanging flanges in said outer section spaced 1/4 inch part axially, and

a slide lock means of double h-shape in section can selectively engage corresponding ones of said flanges of adjacent vertically extending frame extenders of each of two adjacent modular units to secure the two units together.

5. A modular window unit as in claim 1 where said window comprises a pair of double hung sashes and a top rail of an upper sash is of the same shape as a lower rail of a lower sash, each of said rails having a finger engaging groove on the inner surface thereof.

6. A modular window unit as in claim 1 where said frame extenders have a series of overhanging flanges extending axially of the extenders on a laterally outer surface thereof, and

a slide lock means adapted to engage one of said flanges on a vertically extending frame extender of each of two adjacent modular units to secure the two units together by a concealed interlock.

7. A modular window unit as in claim 1 where said frame extenders have dovetail recesses at an axially inner end thereof, and

a foot portion of a sealing strip is engaged in said recess and retained therein to thereby be operatively positioned when the frame extender operatively engages the frame.

8. A modular window means comprising

a pair of window units each including a frame made from a plurality of frame members including a pair of jambs, a sill and a header,

a window operatively positioned in said frame, and

a plurality of metal frame extenders operatively engaging said frame on the axially outer surface thereof and including a pair of vertically positioned extenders, all of said extenders being of the same shape and engaging one of said frame members, said vertical extenders each having a flat laterally outer section having an outer surface lying in a plane including an edge of one of said jambs;

said frame extenders each having a plurality of contoured edge portions extending axially of the extender spaced depthwise of said window from each other and having laterally outer portions terminating at least in said plane;

said pair of window units being positioned in side-by-side relation with said outer sections of adjacent vertically positioned extenders of the two units being abutted; and

a lock means slidably engaging one of said edge portions of each of the two vertically positioned frame extenders of the two abutted modular units to secure the two units together by a concealed interlock.

9. A modular window means as in claim 8 where said edge portions have a plurality of overhanging flanges in said outer section spaced 1/4 inch apart axially, and

said lock means are of double h-shape in section to engage corresponding ones of said flanges of said abutted frame extenders of the two modular units to secure the two units together.