A fire-proof window in which the edges of the glass pane are sealed by means of a sealing joint in a continuous, heat-insulating frame. A rigid element made of heat-insulating material extends over the entire length of each groove of the casing and can be adjusted in its position relative to the base of this groove. As a result, when this fire-proof window is installed on the building site, the frame can be mounted with a slight clearance between the rigid elements after they have previously been adjusted and before the grooves are laterally closed off.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a fire-proof window comprising a single or double 
pane the edges of which, surrounded by a suitable sealing joint, are 
housed in grooves provided by a casing. 
In known fire-proof windows, the glass is mounted directly in a groove of 
the casing, said groove being open on one side for this purpose. Then this 
pane is sealed by means of the sealing joint in the groove which has 
previously been closed off, for example by means of a window batten 
mounted on the casing. 
When a window of this kind is fitted on the building site, first the casing 
is placed in the corresponding opening in the masonry and fixed thereto. 
Then the glass is positioned in the opening in the casing and sealed in 
the grooves provided in the latter. 
During manufacture, it sometimes happens that the casing is not strictly 
right-angled, particularly in its large dimensions. It may be that the 
manufacturing tolerances of the casing are exceeded. Moreover, it may 
happen that the casing moves out of true when mounted in the masonry. In 
both cases, the opening defined by the bases of the grooves of the casing 
is out of true and takes on the approximate shape of a parallelogram or a 
trapezium instead of its normal rectangular form. In such cases, after the 
glass has been placed in the opening in question, the edges of the glass 
are not at a regular spacing from the base of the grooves, and the sealing 
joint is thicker at certain points on the perimeter of the glass. These 
points are weak points from the point of view of fire-proofing, since they 
permit the rapid passage of flames and hot gases in the case of fire. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The object of the invention is a new fire-proof window which remedies the 
abovementioned disadvantages of known windows. 
For this purpose, in the fire-proof window according to the invention, the 
edges of the glass are sealed by means of the sealing joint in a 
continuous, heat-insulating frame. Moreover, a rigid element made of 
heat-insulating material extends over the entire length of each groove of 
the casing and can be adjusted in its position relative to the base of 
this groove. As a result, when this fire-proof window is installed on the 
building site, the frame can be mounted with a slight clearance between 
the rigid elements after they have previously been adjusted and before the 
grooves are laterally closed off. 
Thus, the assembling of the glass and the frame in the factory makes it 
possible for a uniform sealing joint with no weak points or zones to be 
provided between them. Moreover, the installation of the frame in the 
grooves of the casing on the building site means that a particularly small 
clearance can be obtained between this frame and the rigid elements of the 
grooves, which creates a very high loss of charge for any excape of gas. 
Consequently, the window according to the invention has fire-proof 
characteristics which are both considerable and easily reproducible, 
whatever the actual dimensions of the opening provided for the casing in 
the masonry, and irrespective of the manufacturing tolerances of this 
casing. Preferably, the frame of the pane of glass is made of synthetic 
material. 
According to an advantageous feature of the invention, a tongue of 
expandable material is continuously provided between the base of the frame 
and the sealing joint. Owing to the nature of its constituent material, 
the tongue swells up under the effect of an increase in temperature and 
partially remedies the loss of seal of the joint when the latter is 
reduced in size by the action of the flames. 
To permit easy adjustment of each rigid element relative to the base of the 
corresponding groove in the casing, the rigid element is mounted on the 
base of the corresponding groove of the casing by means of fixing screws 
and with an interposed flexible elastic element which is compressed over 
the entire length of the groove. 
If the casing comprises a metal section which internally defines the 
opening of this casing, the section comprises the grooves and forms, on 
one side of said grooves, a continuous jamb acting as a support for the 
frame, and on the opposite side, an engagement opening for this frame, 
this opening being provided, after mounting, with a window batten acting 
as a support opposite said frame. 
Other details and features of the invention will become apparent from the 
following description, which refers to the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
In the drawings, reference numeral 1 denotes a window pane of laminated 
glass which is, in particular, resistant to thermal shock. The pane 1 
could be made of the same glass with double walls. The vertical and 
horizontal edges of the pane 1 are sealed in a continuous vertical frame 2 
by means of a sealing joint 3. The frame 2 advantageously consists of 
identical U-shaped sections made of synthetic material. The ends of the 
sections are integral with one another. The inwardly directed flaps of the 
sections are respectively located in two planes parallel to the glass 1. 
The continuous joint 3 surrounds the edges of the glass 1 inside the frame 
2. The joint 3, which is known per se, consists of synthetic material, 
based on silicone, for example. 
Advantageously, a continuous tongue 4 is applied against the cores of the 
sections of the frame 2 over the entire periphery of the latter. Thus, the 
tongue 4 is in fact inserted between the joint 3 and the base of the frame 
2. The tongue 4 is made of an expandable material, known per se, such as 
sodium silicate, for example. The advantage of the tongue 4 is as follows. 
In the case of a fire on one side of the fire-proof window, the joint 3, 
the frame 2 and the tongue 4 receive increasing heat and their temperature 
rises. Furthermore, the joint 3 is burned and progressively reduced by the 
flames. However, as the joint 3 is reduced, the tongue 4, becoming hotter 
and hotter, swells up in the frame 2 and reaches the edges of the pane 1 
so as to at least temporarily remedy, to a greater or lesser extent the 
loss of seal along these edges, caused by the elimination of the synthetic 
material of the joint 3. 
The fire-proof window is completed by a casing 5 housed in an opening in 
the masonry 6 and made integral with the latter in a manner known per se. 
In the first example shown (FIG. 1), the casing 5 comprises a metal 
section consisting, for example, of a steel sheet folded several times in 
the longitudinal direction. The section of the casing 5 is applied against 
the masonry 6 and also covers the latter. The section in question consists 
of two outer flaps 7 and 8 each provided with an edge 9, of two cores 10 
and 11, two inner flaps 12 and 13 and a base 14. The flaps 7, 8, 12 and 13 
are parallel to one another and perpendicular to the cores 10 and 11 and 
the base 14. The outer flaps 7 and 8 are anchored in the masonry 6 by 
their edges 9 which are embedded therein. The outer flap 7, the core 10 
and the inner flap 12 form a continuous jamb. The outer flap 8, the core 
11 and the inner flap 13 form a continuous shoulder which is, for example, 
shorter and narrower than the jamb. The inner flaps 12 and 13 and the base 
14 define a longitudinal groove 15 opposite which is located the frame 2. 
A hard, rigid element 16 is mounted in each groove 15 so as to be 
adjustable relative to the base 14. The rigid element 16 extends over the 
entire length and the entire width of the groove 15. The rigid element 16 
is in fact a flat piece of heat insulating material, such as compressed 
asbestos-cement or the like. Between the base 14 and the rigid element 16 
there is a soft, flexible, elastic element 17. This element 17 is in fact 
a strip of a preferably heat-insulating material, more particularly a 
wadding, consisting of asbestos foam, for example. The rigid element 16 is 
mounted on the section of the casing 5 and, more precisely, on the base 14 
of the groove 15, by means of self-tapping adjusting screws 18. The 
clamping of the rigid element 16 by the screws 18 produces the compression 
of the flexible elastic element 17. Thus, after a predetermined degree of 
tightening of the screws 18, the rigid element 16 is selectively 
positioned in the groove 15 and held in position by the elastic 
counter-pressure of the flexible elastic element 17 in its compressed 
state. 
The frame 2 engages without play between the rigid elements 16, is applied 
against the abovementioned jamb and held in place by window battens 19. 
Here, each window batten 19 is fixed to the shoulder by means of 
self-tapping fixing screws 20. 
The fire-proof window is assembled as follows. In the factory, the glass 1 
is mounted in the frame 2 provided with the tongue 4 and is sealed by 
means of the sealing joint 3. On the buiding site, the casing 5 is mounted 
in the corresponding opening in the masonry 6 and sealed therein. Then the 
position of the rigid elements 16 is adjusted relative to the bases 14 of 
the grooves 15, as a function of the dimensions of the frame 2 and so as 
to align them at right angles to one another. The frame 2 is engaged 
through the opening defined by the shoulders of the casing 5 and is 
introduced, without play, between the rigid elements 16 until it abuts on 
the jambs of this casing 5. Finally, the window battens 19 are mounted on 
the shoulders. 
If there is a fire inside the building, i.e. on the core side 10 relative 
to the plane of the glass 1, the flames, smoke and burning gases are 
unable to flow between the frame 2, on the one hand, and the inner flaps 
12 and the rigid elements 16, on the other hand, owing to the negligible 
play existing there which is due particularly to the possibility of 
adjusting these rigid elements 16. The flames also attack the joint 3 and 
burn it up but at the same time the tongue 4, whose temperature is 
increasing, progressively fills the inside of the groove in the frame 2. 
Thus, the tongue 4 replaces the joint 3 so as to temporarily prolong the 
seal between the frame 2 and the glass 1. As a result, the flames, smoke 
and hot gases are held inside the building for a relatively long time and 
cannot pass through the window, which is thus guaranteed fire-proof. 
The second example shown (FIG. 2) differs from the first only in that the 
window battens 21 are clipped between the shoulders of the casing 5 and 
the rigid elements 16 in the grooves 15 instead of being fixed by means of 
clamping screws. 
In the third example shown (FIG. 3) the casing is a wooden frame 22 having 
a jamb 23 and a wedge-shaped notch 24. Each notch 24 is closed off on the 
side opposite the jamb 23 by a wooden batten 25 fixed by means of wood 
screws 26 so as to define the groove 15 in which the flexible elastic 
element 17, the rigid element 16 and the frame 2 are also housed, as in 
the other two examples. 
It should be noted that, in the case of a fire, the tongue of expandable 
material can expand almost freely on the side of the casing 5 owing to the 
presence of the compressible element 17, thus increasing the efficacy of 
the expandable material. 
Obviously, the invention is not limited exclusively to the embodiment 
shown, and modifications may be made to the form, arrangement and 
construction of some of the elements used in these embodiments, without 
going beyond the scope of the present invention.