A connecting device for handles, in particular recessed handles

Abstract

 A connecting device (1) for fitting a handle body (2) to a door/window frame (3) having a slot (4) for accommodating the handle body (2) comprises: a first, fixed member (6) integral with the handle body (2); a second, rotatable member (7) fitted to the handle body (2) and designed to forcedly abut a wall (8) of the slot (4); and tightening means (9) interacting with the first member (6) and the second member (7) in such a way as to apply on the second member (7) a tightening torque sufficient to force it against the door/window frame (3), thereby locking the handle body (2) to it.

Description

[0001] This invention addresses the technical field relating to the manufacture of doors, windows and the like and more specifically concerns a connecting device by which a handle body can be fitted to a frame for a door, window or the like, whose structure can be made from metal profiles.

[0002] Known to the prior art in this field are locking devices for doors, windows and the like - described for example in document EP 1.333.138 - which basically comprise a mechanism for actuating the lock of the door, window or the like and housed in a recessed handle body.

[0003] The recessed design of the handle body allows the latter to be housed in a matching slot formed in the structure of the frame of the door, window or the like. The recessed design also allows the user to insert a finger into the hollow in order to open or close the mobile part of the door, window or the like.

[0004] The handle body is also equipped with a fastening system which allows it to be connected to the structure of the door, window or the like.

[0005] The closed or locked configuration of the mobile part of the door, window or the like can be obtained by sliding a boss (or a catch, depending on the type of door, window or the like) relative to a fixed striker. The sliding command can be imparted in totally manual manner by inserting a finger in the recess of the handle body and activating a control element housed in the recess and sliding the control element in one of the two directions of travel of the recess.

[0006] In devices that operate semi-automatically, unlocking is accomplished manually in exactly the same way. Locking, on the other hand, is accomplished by the elastic return of a spring which - after being loaded and set by a hooking mechanism during unlocking - reactivates the device's lock when the user voluntarily presses a button mounted on the handle body.

[0007] As regards the system of tightening the handle body to the frame of the door, window or the like, in these prior art devices the handle body is fixed to the structure of the door, window or the like by a system of wedges which substantially comprises a fixed jaw built into the handle body and a movable jaw that moves in a guide relative to the fixed jaw under the action of a grub screw. By operating on the grub screw, passing through the hollow of the recess, the movable jaw is made to slide relative to the fixed jaw in such a way as to react against an inside wall of the frame structure of the door, window or the like surrounding the slotted cavity housing the handle body, so as to lock the handle body to the frame structure by geometrical interference and mechanical forcing.

[0008] In the device made in this way, the degree of tightening obtainable depends solely on the intensity of the force applied to the grub screw.

[0009] The extent of forcing obtainable thus depends entirely on the expertise of the installer who, according to the type of handle body and frame structure (for a door, exterior entrance door and/or window) must decide how much force must be applied to the grub screw in order to tighten it to an extent such as to properly secure the handle body, this also being determined by the material the frame structure is made of.

[0010] This state of things basically has two inherent disadvantages.

[0011] The first disadvantage is that in practice the degree of tightening is never uniformly repeatable but varies from one installation to another even for a single range of doors, windows or the like of the same kind.

[0012] The other basic disadvantage is due to the fact that the quality of the installation obtainable is strictly dependent on the experience and expertise of the installer.

[0013] This invention therefore has for an aim to overcome the above mentioned disadvantages by providing a device for connecting a handle body which can be housed in a slot in the frame structure of a door, window or the like and which is made in such a way that the degree of tightening can be derived from a tightening torque and not from a force.

[0014] That way, the installer can apply a practically constant force for all the different types of door, window or like installations, where such force will correspond to a different tightening torque for each different type of handle body, the intensity of the force being adapted to the type of door, window or the like and to the specific type of frame for that.

[0015] The connecting device according to the invention also has the added advantage of being of a general purpose type not necessarily linked to handle bodies of specific design and/or for a particular type of use. It is understood, therefore, that specific references to a recessed handle in this specification shall be construed as an example embodiment of the invention without in any way limiting the scope of the invention.

[0016] The technical features of the invention, with reference to the above aims, are clearly described in the claims below and its advantages are more apparent from the detailed description which follows, with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred non-limiting example embodiment of the invention, and in which:

• Figure 1 is a perspective assembly view illustrating the connection of a handle body according to the invention to a frame for a door, window or the like;
• Figure 2 is a side view of the assembly of Figure 1;
• Figure 3 is a cross-section through the plane III
• III indicated in Figure 1;
• Figures 4 and 5 are scaled-up details A and B of parts of the assembly of Figure 1;
• Figure 6 is a diagram schematically illustrating the method of mounting the handle body;
• Figure 7 shows a scaled-up detail C from Figure 6.

[0017] With reference to the accompanying drawings, in particular Figure 1, the numeral 1 denotes in its entirety a connecting device for fitting a handle body 2 to a door/window frame 3 (i.e. a frame for a door, window or the like) consisting, for example, of tubular metal profiles, and having a slot 4 made in such a way that the handle body 2 can be accommodated inside a tubular chamber in the door/window frame 3 itself substantially flush with an outside wall 5 of the frame.

[0018] The device 1, better illustrated in Figures 4 and 7, substantially comprises:

• a first, fixed member 6 integral with the handle body 2;
• a second, member 7 fitted to the handle body 2 and movable in such a way as to abut a wall 8 of the slot 4 (as will become clearer as this description continues); and
• tightening means 9 interacting with the first member 6 and the second member 7 in such a way as to apply on the second member 7 a tightening torque sufficient to force it against the door/window frame 3, thereby locking the handle body 2 to it.

[0019] By way of an example, the handle body 2, in the embodiment illustrated, has a vertically elongated shape, preferably recessed, that is to say, having the concave shape of a shell, delimited by a boundary wall 10, with the first, fixed member 6 being directly built into the top thereof.

[0020] Obviously, the device according to the invention can be used on different types of handles necessitating housings and fastenings similar to these, without thereby limiting the scope of the invention.

[0021] The second member 7 substantially comprises a curved, stubby body having a first end 11 hinged at 22 to the handle body 2, and a second, free end 12 preferably shaped to match the boundary of an inside edge 14 of the abutment wall 8 of the slot 4.

[0022] More specifically, the first end 11 is hinged to a flange 13 made as one with the handle body 2.

[0023] In use, the flange 13 is positioned towards the inside of the door/window frame 3, and hence the articulated joint 22 is located on the flange 13 and at a suitable distance from the slot 4 wall 8 designed to engage the free end 12 of the second member 7.

[0024] In other words, the hinge point 22 is located on the innermost end of the flange 13 and inside the tubular chamber of the door/window frame 3.

[0025] That way, the end 12 of the second member 7 can be positioned to face and locked to the edge 14 of the wall 8.

[0026] The second member 7 also has a back 15 with a curved profile whose convexity extends in the direction of the first, fixed member 6 and towards the first, fixed member 6 itself.

[0027] The profiled back 15 also has a housing 16 recessed towards the inside of the curved profile.

[0028] The tightening means are embodied by a threaded rod 9, that is a grub screw, that is engaged by a matching thread made on the first fixed member 6.

[0029] The threaded rod 9 passes through the shell wall 10 and, thanks to the presence of a respective hole 21 on the wall 10 that bounds the handle body 2, extends towards the second, movable member 7.

[0030] That way, the rod 9 applies to the back 15, that is, to the seat 16 recessed in it, a pushing action directed along its axis of symmetry 17 which substantially intersects at an angle close to 90° an imaginary straight line 18 joining the two ends of the second member 7, namely the free end 12 and the hinged end 11.

[0031] From the above it may be inferred that the second, movable member 7 constitutes a second-class lever where the effort force is applied by the threaded rod 9, while the load force is applied by the wall 8 on the free end 12 of the lever.

[0032] A structure of this kind is highly advantageous.

[0033] First of all that is because it is entirely independent of the type and size of the tubular profile of the door/window frame, since the interaction of the lever with the profile of the door/window frame - whatever its type - is always and in all cases applied to the outermost wall 8, which is evidently the only element that all the different types of profiles must have in common.

[0034] A second important advantage is due to the fact that the lever has a projecting portion, that is, the part 23 of the second member 7 between the rod 9 and the wall 8, and thus the part 23 has a certain elasticity that provides an elastically tight fit.

[0035] This type of tight fit prevents the connection from coming loose even in the event of shocks to the door/window frame during use which might in the long run, if the fit were totally rigid, cause the connection to slacken and require periodic adjustment and maintenance.

[0036] As shown in Figure 5, at an end of it opposite the end connected by the device 1, the handle body 2 has a slit 19 made in the wall 10 bounding the recess of the handle body 2 and shaped in such a way as to engage an opposite lower portion 5 of the wall around the slot 4.

[0037] The handle body 2 can be mounted on the door/window frame 3 - as shown in Figures 2 and 3 - by inserting the handle body 2 into the door/window frame 3 through the slot 4.

[0038] During its insertion the handle body 2 is engaged by the slit 19 in the lower wall 5 in such a way as to lock to the latter and line up vertically with the slot 4, as in the configurations shown in Figures 3 and 4.

[0039] At this point (Figure 6), by inserting a key 20 through the recess in the handle body 2 to act on the threaded rod 9, it is possible to tighten the device 1 by forcing the movable member 7 against the door/window frame 3, that is, against a portion of the inside of the wall 8 by partially turning the second member 7 (as indicated by the arrow F7, Figure 7).

[0040] It is clear, therefore, that the extent of tightening obtainable with the device 1 is proportional to the static moment produced by the pushing force of the rod 9 relative to the articulated joining point 22 by which the hinged end 11 of the second, movable member 7 is attached to the flange 13.

[0041] Thus, under equal conditions of pushing force applicable to the threaded rod 9, if the flange 13 is shaped to move the position of the hinging position of the movable member 7 closer or further, it will be possible to create static tightening moments whose intensity varies according to the requirements of different operating conditions and different types of door/window frames the handle body 2 can be mounted on.

[0042] Also, as may be inferred from the accompanying drawings, the shape of the back 15 of the second, movable member 7 makes it possible to minimize the stroke of the rod 9 during tightening.

[0043] As to the recessed housing 16, its position and orientation are such as to allow the rod 9 to operate with minimum or zero bending in such a way as to obtain regular and stable tightening while at the same time allowing the possibility of removing the handle body 2 from the slot 4 and remounting it whenever necessary, even several times, without having to replace the threaded rod 9 which, since it can operate by purely axial force, is not in any way damaged when tightened.

[0044] The invention described above is susceptible of industrial application and may be modified and adapted in several ways without thereby departing from the scope of the inventive concept. Moreover, all the details of the invention may be substituted by technically equivalent elements.

Claims

1. A connecting device for fitting a handle body (2) to a door/window frame (3) having a slot (4) for accommodating the handle body (2), the device (1) being characterized in that it comprises:

- a first, fixed member (6) integral with the handle body (2);

- a second, rotatable member or lever (7) fitted at one end of it (11), at (22), to the handle body (2) and designed to forcedly abut a wall (8) of the slot (4) at the other, free end (12); and

- tightening means (9) interacting with the first member (6) and the second member or lever (7) in such a way as to apply on the second member or lever (7) a tightening torque sufficient to force it against the door/window frame (3), thereby locking the handle body (2) to it;

- the second member or lever (7), the tightening means (9) and the wall (8) creating a second-class lever where the effort force is applied by the tightening means (9), while the load force is applied by the wall (8) on the free end (12) of the lever (7).

2. The connecting device according to claim 1,
characterized in that the first, fixed member (6) is built into the handle body (2) as a single block.

3. The connecting device according to claim 2,
characterized in that the handle body (2) is of the recessed type.

4. The connecting device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the free end (12) of the second member or lever (7) is shaped to match the boundary of an edge (14) of the wall (8) of the slot (4).

5. The connecting device according to claim 1,
characterized in that the second, rotatable member (7) has an elastically compliant, projecting part (23) located between the wall (8) and the tightening means (9).

6. The device according to any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that the second member (7) has a suitably profiled back (15) facing the first, fixed member (6).

7. The connecting device according to claim 6,
characterized in that the back (15) has a curved, convex profile extending towards the first, fixed member (6).

8. The connecting device according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the profiled back (15) includes a housing (16) for the tightening means (9).

9. The connecting device according to claim 1 or 8, characterized in that the tightening means comprise a stem (9) engaged on the first, fixed member (6) and projecting from the latter towards the second, mobile member (7), in such a way as to apply a suitably directed pushing action on it.

10. The connecting device according to claim 9,
characterized in that the stem (9) is symmetrical about an axis (17) that intersects, at a suitable angle, a straight line (18) joining the free end (12) to the connected end (11) of the second member (7).

11. The connecting device according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the stem (9) occupies a hole (21) through a wall (10) that bounds the handle body (2).

12. The connecting device according to claim 1,
characterized in that the handle body (2) has a flange (13) for supporting an articulated joint (22) for the second member (7).

13. The connecting device according to claim 12,
characterized in that the articulated joint (22) is located on the flange (13) at a convenient distance from the wall (8) of the slot (4) designed to engage the free end (12) of the second member (7); the end (12) of the second member (7) being designed to be positioned to face and locked to an edge (14) of the wall (8).

14. The connecting device according to any of the foregoing claims, where the handle body (2) has an elongated shape to match the slot (4), the device (1) being characterized in that it is located at one end of the handle body (2); the handle body (2) has a second, opposite end with a matching slit (19) that can be associated with a wall (5) of the door/window frame (3).

Drawing