Supporting element for orientable louver boards for shutters with simplified assembly

Abstract: The supporting element for orientatable louver boards, for shutters with simplified assembly which comprise a hollow body (2) which has, on its two longer sides, variously shaped seats (3) (4) for coupling to other orientatable louver boards of the shutter, comprises guiding means (6) and retention means (7) for associating a louver board with the supporting element itself along a direction which is substantially orthogonal to the axis of the louver board; the retention means are furthermore suitable for releasing the louver board from its respective supporting elements along two mutually orthogonal directions, one of which is substantially parallel to the axis of the louver board.

Description: The present invention relates to a supporting element for orientatable louver boards for shutters with simplified assembly. As is known, the installation of a shutter with orientatable louver boards usually initially entails the insertion of the louver board supporting elements into the ends of said louver boards along a direction which is substantially parallel to the axis of the louver boards and subsequently the association of the supporting elements, with the respective assembled louver boards, with the uprights of the frame of the shutter. This assembly system has considerable disadvantages, the first of which is the fact that if the dimension of the frame of the shutter do not perfectly match the dimensions of the seat in which said shutter is to be mounted it is necessary to dismantle all the louver boards from their supports in order to replace them with longer louver boards or possibly shorten them to the required size. Secondly, it can be easily understood that such an assembly of a shutter requires a certain skill and necessarily entails the use of specialized labor. CH-A-425165 discloses a supporting element for louver boards. This supporting element has not guiding means and retention means for associating the louver board with the supporting element along a direction substantially orthogonal to the axis of the louver board. IT-U-214651 discloses another supporting element for louver boards. This supporting element has means for guiding the louver board along an assembly direction which is substantially othogonal to the axis of the louver board, and retention means for retaining the louver board with the supporting element. Said retaining means, which are constituted by a resiliently movable tab, comprise a raised portion extending from the supporting element to retain the louver board along the assembly direction and allowing the release of the louver board along a direction substantially parallel to said axis of said louver board. The present invention aims to provide a supporting element for orientatable louver boards for shutters with simplified assembly which effectively retains the louver boards once they are associated therewith. Another object of the present invention is to provide a supporting element for orientatable louver boards which has no play once it is assembled to the louver boards. Not least object is to provide a supporting element for orientatable louver boards for shutters in which, when the louver boards are in closed position, the regions of contact with the other louver boards define a perfect barrier to the passage of light. This is achieved by a supporting element for orientatable louver boards for shutters with simplified assembly, having the features disclosed in claim 1. The dependent claims outline advantageous forms of embodiment of the invention. Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of the supporting element for orientatable louver boards for shutters with simplified assembly according to the invention, illustrated only by way of a non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein: figure 1 is a cross-section of a louver board according to the invention; figure 2 is another cross-section of the association of two louver boards according to the invention in a closed position; figure 3 is an enlarged view of the region of coupling of the opposite ends of two adjacent louver boards and of the related sealing gasket; figure 4 is a plan view showing the insertion of an end of a louver board, along a direction which is substantially perpendicular to the axis of said louver board, into the supporting element; figure 5 is a plan view showing the final coupling of the louver board to the related supporting element; figure 6 is a plan view of a further embodiment of the supporting element according to the invention; figure 7 is a partial side elevation view of the louver board, with the coupling element according to the invention inserted; and figure 8 is a plan view of the coupling element according to the invention. Referring to the above figures, an orientatable louver board for shutters with simplified assembly comprises a hollow body 2 which has, on its two longer sides, which are ar ranged to the right and to the left of the hollow body in the drawing, variously shaped seats, generally indicated by the reference signs 3 and 4, adapted to cooperate with conjugated parts belonging to another orientatable louver board of the shutter, as illustrated in figure 2. A supporting element 5 according to the invention is mounted at each end of the louver boards and is rotatably coupled to the lateral uprights of the shutter, which are not illustrated in the drawings. Each supporting element 5 has guiding means, generally indicated by the reference sign 6, and retention means, indicated by 7, to allow the valid retention of the louver board to the supporting element along a direction which is substantially perpendicular to the axis of said louver board. More particularly, guiding means 6 comprise a first wall 8 and a second wall 9 which define between them a region 10 for the accommodation of the louver board; the configuration and width of said accommodation region are substantially equal to those of the cross section of the hollow body of the louver board. The second wall 9 is furthermore inclined with respect to the first wall 8 by the same angle by which the corresponding surface 11 of the louver board is inclined. The retention means 7 comprise at least one raised portion and, according to this form of embodiment, two raised portions 12 and 13 which extend perpendicularly from the accommodation region 10. Each raised portion 12, 13 has an upper wall 29 which is inclined so as to facilitate the insertion of the louver board in the supporting element and a wall 30 which is perpendicular to the accommodation region so as to provide a final locking to the supporting element by virtue of its engagement with the inner surface thereof. In particular, the raised portion 12 engages within hollow body 2, whereas the raised portion 13 engages within seat 4 or, according to another form of embodiment, the raised portion 12 engages within the seat 3. Furthermore, said second wall 9 has, on the opposite side with respect to the two raised portions 12 and 13, a curved end portion 14, the function of which is to cooperate with the raised portions 12 and 13 to retain the louver board to the supporting element. Finally, as can be seen in figure 2, when seats 3, 4 are mutually coupled during the closure of the louver boards, each seat has recessed parts 18 on one which are located at protruding parts 17 of the other, so as to define a labyrinth-like path which has at least two barrier regions and, more precisely, three barrier regions against the passage of light when the louver boards are in closed position. A recess 15 for accommodating a sealing gasket 16 is furthermore advantageously provided within seat 3; said gasket has an arrow-like shape defined by a first rod 19 from which a second rod 20 extends vertically; two wings 21 divergently extend from said second rod. Wings 21 are simultaneously in contact with shoulders 22 of two contiguous louver boards so as to provide a perfect seal, preventing the passage of dust or water as well as light. In a different embodiment, the retention means comprise at least one coupling element 40 which has, on one side, a raised portion 41 adapted to be inserted within each louver board 2 and, on the opposite side with respect to the raised portion 41, at least one pin, two pins 42 in the illustrated example, suitable for engaging snap-together in respective holes 43 provided in the supporting element when the louver board is associated therewith. Pins 42 are conveniently associated with respective tabs 44 which are elastically yielding since they are coupled to the accommodation region 10 of the supporting element only with one of their sides. In a further form of embodiment, the coupling element can also be provided without the two end portions 45 and 46 and therefore its exact placement on the supporting element is obtained by providing there on two steps 47 and 48 which abut on the end portions 45 and 46 of the coupling element which are indicated in broken lines in figure 7. The association of the louver board with the respective supporting element according to the invention is apparent from the preceding description; in particular, with reference to figures 4 and 5, it can be seen that by moving the louver board along a direction which is substantially perpendicular to its longitudinal axis, also by virtue of the presence of the second wall 9, said louver board is guided until it is proximate to the raised portions 12 amd 13 or to the holes 43 if the coupling element 40 is associated with the louver board. By subsequently exerting a slight pressure, raised portions 12, 13, by virtue of the presence of an inclined wall on their face, respectively insert in seat 4 and within hollow body 2 or seat 3 of the louver board, locking said louver board to supporting element 5. In the same manner, pins 42 insert in respective holes 43 if the coupling element 40 is associated with the louver board. The curved end portion 14 of second wall 6 furthermore co-operates to retain in place the louver board within its accomodation region in the supporting element. In practice it has been observed that the orientable louver board for shutters with simplified assembly according to the invention is particularly advantageous in that it allows the casement installer for example to couple a specimen louver board to the respective supporting element after mounting the shutter's frame,to check if the length of the louver board is exactly the preset one and thus confidently mount all the ramaining louver boards on the respective supporting elements. If instead the length of the louver board is not the preset one, it is possible to already preset the other louver boards with the right measurements without the disadvantage of having rejects.

Claims: Element (5) for supporting and retaining a louver board, said louver board being constituted by an elongate hollow body (2) having a cross section defining on the two longer sides a respective pair of variously shaped opposed seats (3, 4) provided with recessed parts (18) suitable for cooperating, when the louver board is coupled to other louver boards of a shutter in a closed position, with corresponding protruding parts (17) of said other louver boards, said hollow body (2) comprising a first portion including a first flat surface and two curved surfaces, and a second portion including a second flat surface (11), inclined in respect of said first flat surface, and a curved surface, said element (5) comprising a first wall (8) including a flat surface and a curved surface and a second wall (9) including a flat surface, said first and second walls (8, 9) defining between them a region (10) for housing and retaining said louver board, characterised in that said element (5) further comprises at least one raised portion (12, 13, 41) for retaining said louver board in said region once said louver board is inserted into said region, and a second retaining means constituted by a curved portion (14) of said second wall (9), said curved portion (14) being suitable for cooperating with said first retaining means (12, 13, 43) and firmly holding with no play said louver board when the latter is assembled on said element (5), in order to allow said protruding parts (17) to be joined to said recessed parts (18) when the elements (5) of said shutter are rotated by means of said mechanism from an open to a closed position. Element (5) according to claim 1, characterised in that said at least one raised portion (12, 13) extends towards the hollow body (2) of said louver board. Element (5) according to claim 1, characterised in that said raised portion (41) for retaining said louver board is included in a coupling element (40) and is, at one side thereof, placed inside of the hollow body of said louver board and the coupling element comprises, on the opposed side, at least one pin (42) which is resiliently engageable in a corresponding hole (43) provided on said region (10). Element (5) according to claim 3, characterised in that said pin (42) is supported by an elastic tab (44) which is integral to said coupling element (40). Element (5) according to claim 1, characterised in that said opposed seats (3, 4) define a region (15, 18) for accomodating a sealing gasket (19). Element (5) according to claim 5, characterised in that said sealing gasket has an arrow-like cross-section.

Inventors: MANCUSO GIOVANNI, MANCUSO, GIOVANNI
Applicants: ITALSYSTEM S R L, ITALSYSTEM S.R.L.
Application year: 1990
Main classification: E06B9
IPC codes: E06B7