Friction-Fit Nosings for Window Door Frame Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
The window and door framing industry lacks an effective interface structure for easily joining transom window frames to underlying door frames, leading to misalignment and increased maintenance due to the reliance on screws for alignment and securement, which can result in water penetration and aesthetic issues.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of elongate nosings with receptacles that facilitate frictional engagement between nosings, allowing for alignment and securement without external fasteners, and a method of bending these nosings and drip caps into a cohesive arcuate configuration for enhanced stability and water resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If screws are used to align and secure the transom window frame to the door frame, then the frames can be joined together, but water penetration occurs and aesthetic issues arise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes screws entirely from the interface between the door frame nosing and transom window frame nosing. Instead, a friction-fit receptacle system is used where the door frame nosing inserts into a receptacle on the transom window frame nosing, eliminating the need for external fasteners that create water penetration paths and aesthetic issues.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a receptacle structure as an intermediary element between the two frames. The door frame nosing acts as a male element that inserts into a female receptacle on the transom window frame nosing, creating a hidden friction-fit connection that eliminates the need for visible screws and seals the interface against water penetration.
2Strength
If screws are used to secure the drip cap to the nosing, then the drip cap is attached, but alignment must be manually maintained and aesthetic appearance is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes screws from the drip cap attachment system. Instead, the drip cap is secured through a friction-fit mechanism where the nosing structure itself provides the attachment, eliminating the need for manual alignment and external fasteners.
Solution Approach 2:
The nosing structure is designed to be self-aligning and self-securing. The geometry of the nosing and its interface with the drip cap creates automatic alignment and friction-based retention, allowing the components to assemble themselves without manual intervention for alignment or external fasteners.
3Shape
If arcuate nosing is fabricated by bending straight extrusions, then arcuate shapes are achieved, but the nosing requires additional handling and potential misalignment
Solution Approach 1:
The arcuate nosing pieces are designed with self-aligning features that eliminate the need for manual alignment during assembly. The friction-fit receptacle system and the geometry of the bent nosing create automatic positioning, allowing workers to simply insert components without needing to maintain alignment during installation.
4Strength
If multiple screws are spaced uniformly along the nosing, then securement is achieved, but the assembly process becomes time-consuming and complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes all screws from the nosing attachment system. The friction-fit receptacle design provides securement through friction and geometric interlocking alone, eliminating the time-consuming process of spacing, drilling, and fastening multiple screws along the length of the nosing.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution reduces the need for screws, minimizes water penetration, and simplifies the assembly process while providing a durable and aesthetically pleasing joint between window and door frames, enhancing the structural integrity and weather resistance of the assembly.
Implementation Method 1
The spacings and tolerances of the remote upper and lower walls of the nosings, and the corresponding receptacles are such that, once the remote walls are engaged in the receptacles, the engagements of the remote walls of the respective nosings in the respective receptacles are substantial frictional engagements.
Data Source
AI summary
Interfaces between nosings on respective frames and frame combinations to be joined. Each nosing has an elongate receptacle extending along the nosing length. A remote wall of the receptacle is displaced from the remainder of the nosing. The remote wall on the nosings to be joined can be generally aligned with and proximate the receptacle opening on the other nosing. With the remote walls and respective receptacles aligned, the frames are moved toward each other with the remote walls on the respective nosings entering the receptacles, with the remote walls in generally facing relationship with each other. Spacings and tolerances of the remote walls, and corresponding receptacles, can optionally provide frictionally-restrained engagements of the remote walls in the receptacles, whereby the frames can be re-oriented with limited assembly support to such assembly without disengagement of the nosings from each other by the action of gravity.