GB2039975A - Improvements in or relating to the finishing of window assemblies - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of finishing window assemblies of the kind in which a window frame (13) is disposed within an aperture in a wall (10), there being provided at the lower part of the aperture a flat window board (15) extending from the interior side of the window frame to the interior side of the wall. After installation of the window assembly, there is secured over the window board, so as to cover it, a pre-formed rigid capping member (21) comprising a flat portion (22) which overlies the upper surface of the ledge and a lip portion (23) projecting downwardly from the interior edge of the flat portion. At least the exposed surfaces of the capping member are pre-formed with a plastics layer (24). Capping members may be cut from longer lengths of pre-formed material, or may be manufactured in a range of standard sizes. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in or relating to the finishing of window assemblies The invention relates to the finishing of window assemblies of the kind in which a window frame is disposed within an aperture in a wall, there being provided at the lower part of the aperture a flat ledge or sill extending from the interior side of the window frame to the interior side of the wall. (By 'interior side' is meant that side which faces the interior of the building in which the window is fitted).

It is desirable that the flat ledge or sill in such a window assembly should be hard wearing and yet present an attractive appearance, and the normal practice is for the ledge to be in the form of a window board which is secured across the bottom of the aperture. The edge of the board nearer the window is usually rebated and tightly received in a longitudinal groove in the lower horizontal member of the window frame. In the construction of a new building, such a window board is normally fitted after the shell and roof of the building have been completed, and at the same time as other internal carpentry work is carried out, prior to plastering.

Usually, the window board is simply painted, but in some circumstances it may be desirable to provide the board with a plastics finish for reasons of decor matching, appearance, maintenance (i.e. no requirement for painting), durability and/or hygiene (since a plastics finish provides a wipe clean surface which is particularly desirable for use in kitchens, bathrooms, hospitals and similar locations).

Hitherto, the plastics finish has been obtained by applying a plastics laminate directly to the surface of the window board after it has been fitted in place.

However, this requires individual work on each window board by a skilled craftsman. This is time consuming and expensive and, for these reasons, such finishing is rarely carried out in practice. The present invention sets out to provide a method whereby window assemblies may be finished, in the above respect, more easily, quickly and cheaply.

According to the invention a method of finishing a window assembly of the kind first referred to comprises securing over the said ledge, so as to cover it, a pre-formed rigid capping member comprising a flat portion which overlies the upper surface of the ledge and has an interior edge thereof which projects beyond the interior surface of the wall, and a lip portion projecting downwardly from said interior edge of the flat portion, at least the exposed surfaces of said flat portion and lip portion comprising plastics material.

The capping member, being a separate preformed member, may be fitted in position at any appropriate time after the window assembly has been fitted, and in the case mentioned above, where the ledge comprises a window board, the capping member will cover the window board.

The invention thus enables plastics finishing of window ledges relatively cheaply and by less skilled craftsmen than has been the case hitherto. By use of the invention, labour costs may therefore be less and the plastics finish will be of superior quality due to it having been applied to the capping member in the factory, using factory mass production techniques.

Such techniques will produce a superior products more cheaply than a similar product produced by hand.

The exposed surfaces of the capping member may comprise a plastics layer bonded to the base material.

The flat portion and lip portion of the capping member may comprise separately formed elements of base material which are secured together before the plastics layer is bonded thereto. The base material is preferably wood. For example, the base material of the flat portion may be plywood.

Preferably a single continuous plastics layer extends over the exposed surfaces of the flat portion and lip portion of the capping member.

In cases where the flat ledge at the lower part of the aperture comprises a window board, the capping member is preferably secured to at least the upper surface of the window board, for example by an impact adhesive.

The capping member may be initially of greater width and depth than the window aperture, and may be notched at each end thereof so that the part thereof between the notches fits within the lower part of the aperture and on top of the flat ledge.

The invention includes within its scope an element for use as one or more capping members in the method referred to above, which element comprises a flat portion formed of a basic material and having opposite parallel edges along one of which extends a lip portion projecting to one side of the flat portion, and a plastics layer extending over at least the other side of the flat portion, and the adjacent surface of the lip portion, and bonded thereto.

The following is a more detailed description of various embodiments of the invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a partly sectioned perspective view of part of a window assembly of the kind to which the invention is applicable, Figure 2 is a view, similar to Figure 1, showing such window assembly with a capping member applied thereto in accordance with the invention, Figure 3 is a horizontal section through the window assembly of Figure 2, and Figure 4 is a vertical section through the window assembly.

Referring to Figure 1, a cavity wall 10 comprises inner and outer skins 11 and 12 respectively. The wall is formed with a rectangular aperture which receives a window frame 13, the lower horizontal member 14 of which rests on the upper surfaces of the outer wall skin 12 forming the lower part of the aperture.

In the arrangement shown the window frame is formed from wood but the invention is equally applicable to metal or plastics window frames.

A horizontal wooden window board 15 rests on the upper surfaces of the inner wall skin 11 and extends from the interior side of the window member 14 to the interior side of the wall 10. One longitudinal edge of the window board 15 is rebated, as indicated at 16, and is tightly received within a longitudinal groove 17 formed along the interior side of the frame member 14. The depth of the window board 15 is greater than the thickness of the wall on the interior side of the window frame 13, so that the interior edge of the window board projects a short distance beyond the interior surface 18 of the wall.

The length of the window board 15, before fitting, is slightly greater than the width of the window aperture and one corner of the window board at each end thereof is removed as indicated at 19. The inner surface of the wall is plastered, in conventional manner, as indicated at 20.

Figure 2 shows a pre-formed capping member 21 which has been subsequently applied to the window board 15 in accordance with the invention.

As best seen in Figures 2 and 4, the capping member 21 comprises a flat portion 22 formed from plywood, for example 8" thick plywood, and a lip portion 23 in the form of a rectangular sectioned wooden batten (for example 1" x 431') secured to the underside of the projecting interior edge of the flat portion 22, for example by gluing.

The exposed upper surface of the flat portion 22 and the adjacent inwardly facing surface of the lip portion 23 are covered by a layer 24 of plastics material. The plastics material may be of any of the kinds normally applied, in known manner, to a base material in the form of a laminate or as a coating.

The layer covering the upper surface of the flat portion 22 may be separately applied from the layer covering the lip portion 23, for example they may be separately applied strips of plastics laminate. Alternatively and preferably, they may form parts of a single continuous layer which is formed over both surfaces in a single process, again in well known manner. Such a process is known as 'post-forming' and comprises bending and bonding one piece of plastics laminate to a set curve by the use of a machine which applies controlled heat and rollers to form the product.

The dimensions of the capping member 21, as seen in section, are such that the flat portion 22 extends completely over the window board 15 and the lip portion 23 abuts and covers the interior edge of the window board. The capping member is preferably secured to the window board by an adhesive, such as an impact adhesive.

The capping member will normally be fitted after the interior surface of the wall has been plastered and thus approximately one eigth of an inch of the plaster 20 will require to be removed adjacent the ends of the window board 15 to allow the notched end edges of the capping member to be fitted neatly in place. Fresh plaster, or other filler, will then be applied to make good.

The pre-formed plastics coated capping member may be cut from pre-formed lengths of material, of such a length that a number of capping members of required shape and size may be cut from them for mounting in particular sizes of window aperture.

However, window apertures in new buildings are usually of one of a comparatively limited number of alternative sizes, determined by a range of standard sizes of window frames. Consequently, pre-formed capping members may also be supplied in a limited number of alternative lengths each corresponding to a standard window size.

As best seen in Figure 3, the opposite ends of the pre-formed capping member require to be notched as indicated at 25, before fitting in place, so that the part of the capping member between the notches fits within the lower part of the window aperture and on top of the window board 15. Thus each standard size of pre-formed capping memberwill be initially of greater length than the width of the window aperture into which it is to be fitted, by approximately 3" at each end, making a total of 6" greater length. In cutting the notches 25 an allowance of approximate ly 8tH is made for setting the cut edges of the notches into the plasterwork. Similarly the capping member is of greater depth than the window board on to which it is to be fitted, to allow a projection internally beyond the internal face of the internal wall of approximately one inch.

It will be seen from Figure 3 that short lengths of batten 26 are mounted beneath the opposite ends of the flat portion 22 so as to form continuations of the lip portion 23. These short lengths of batten may be applied separately before or after fitting of the capping member, and their exposed surfaces may be painted or covered with a plastics laminate which matches the surface of the rest of the capping member. Alternativley, in the case where the capping members are pre-formed in predetermined sizes, the end battens may be mounted on the flat portion 22 at the same time as the front lip portion 23, and may also be covered by a plastics layer at that stage, so as to form parts of the pre-formed member. The unwanted portions of the end battens are then removed during fitting.

Although the invention is particularly applicable to the arrangements shown in which a window board is provided, it will be appreciated that it may also be applied where there is no such window board, in which case the capping member will simply be secured to the upper surface of the wall skin 11 forming the lower part of the window aperture, or any existing plastered or tiled window sill.

The plastics layer may be of any suitable colour or design to match the intended interior decoration of the room in which the window is located.

As previously mentioned, the pre-forming of the capping member away from the building site allows for accurate application of the plastics layers using factory mass production techniques and allows finishing of the window on the site by relatively unskilled labour. The capping members may also be used in the renovation of windows in existing buildings as well as in the course of construction of new buildings as described.

Claims (16)

1. A method of finishing window assemblies of the kind in which a window frame is disposed within an aperture in a wall, there being provided at the lower part of the aperture a flat ledge extending from the interior side of the window frame to the interior side of the wall, which method comprises securing over said ledge, so as to cover it, a pre-formed rigid capping member comprising a flat portion which overlies the upper surface of the ledge and has an interior edge thereof which projects beyond the interior surface of the wall, and a lip portion projecting downwardly from said interior edge of the flat portion, at least the exposed surfaces of said flat portion and lip portion comprising plastics material.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the exposed surfaces of the capping member comprise a plastics layer bonded to a base material.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the flat portion and lip portion of the capping member comprise separately formed elements of base material which are secured together before the plastics layer is bonded thereto.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the base material is wood.

5. A method according to claim 4, wherein the base material of the flat portion is plywood.

6. A method according to any of claims 2 to 5, wherein a single continuous plastics layer extends over the exposed surfaces of the flat portion and lip portion of the capping member.

7. A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said flat ledge at the lower part of the aperture comprises, in known manner, a window board, and wherein the capping member is secured to at least the upper surface of the window board.

8. A method according to any of the preceding claims wherein the capping member is secured to said flat ledge by an impact adhesive.

9. A method according to any of the preceding claims wherein the capping member is initially of greater width and depth than the window aperture, wherein the flat portion of the member is notched at each end thereof so that the part thereof between the notches fits within the lower part of the aperture and on top of said flat ledge.

10. An element for use as one or more capping members in the method according to any of the preceding claims, which element comprises a flat portion formed of a base material and having opposite parallel edges along one of which extends a lip portion projecting to one side of the flat portion, and a plastics layer extending over at least the other side of the flat portion, and the adjacent surface of the lip portion, and bonded thereto.

11. An element according to claim 10, wherein the plastics layer is a single continuous layer.

12. An element according to claim 10 or claim 11, wherein the flat portion and lip portion of the capping member comprise separately formed elements of base material which are secured together before the plastics layer is bonded thereto.

13. An element according to claim 12, wherein the base material is wood.

14. An element according to claim 13, wherein the base material of the flat portion is plywood.

15. A method of finishing windows according to claim 1 and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

16. An element according to claim 10 and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.