Glass panel mounting sash for doors

May 7, 1957 g. f. kobil et al 2,791,007

GLASS PANEL MOUNTING SASH FOR DOORS

Filed May 29, 195.3 2 Sheets-Sheet 1

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INVENTOR.

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GEORGE F. KOBIL.

_DV THOMAS T. KOBIL.

DI

ATTORNEYS.

May 7, 1957

G. F. KOBIL ET AL

2,791,007

GLASS PANEL MOUNTING SASH FOR DOORS

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United States Patent Office

2,791,007

Patented May 7, 1957

2,791,007

GLASS PANEL MOUNTING SASH FOR DOORS ^β

George F. Kobil, Elizabeth, and Thomas T. Kobii, Clairton, Pa.

Application May 29,1953, Serial No. 358,362 1 Claim. (Cl. 20—36)

This invention relates, as indicated, to a sash for U mounting glass panels in doors, and, more particularly, to a sash which has provisions for clamping engagement with doors of varying thickness and which does not require special fastening elements such as threaded screws piercing the door structure to mount it in po- 2( sition.

Household doors, as mass produced today, are commonly solid in construction and in many cases it is desirable to provide a glass panel therein for purposes of visibility and admission of light. The sash of this 2i invention is particularly adapted for this purpose in that it may be applied to any type of door or supporting structure and does not require special fastening elements for securing it in position. It may be applied equally well to doors of solid wood construction, to hollow ply- 3C wood doors, and to metal doors, -the only requirement being that the door be provided with an appropriately shaped opening for its reception. After the door is provided with the proper opening, it may be mounted in position by unskilled labor and the fastening elements 3S for securing it in position are effective regardless of the construction of the door to which it is applied. Its simplicity is such that it is easily adaptable to provide doors with plural panel openings and with openings of different shapes for decorative purposes as well as for 40 visibility and the admission of light.

The sash of this invention is comprised essentially of two framing members which are insertable in the panel opening from opposite sides of the door. Each framing member has a vertical and outwardly project- 45 ing flange for clamping engagement with a side of the door in a peripheral area about the opening therein and an inwardly projecting lip normal to its clamping flange. The inwardly extending lips overlap each other within the door-panel receiving opening and are detachably ⁶⁰secured together to maintain the door clamping engagement of the clamping flanges which is all that is necessary to mount the sash in position thus rendering it applicable to doors of different mechanical construction and eliminating the necessity of special fastening elements ⁶⁵corresponding to a particular door construction. One of the framing members is provided with an integral molding against which the glass panel abuts,. and the other of the framing members is provided with plural spring clamps for holding the glass panel abutting ⁶⁰against the integral molding and has a detachable molding for covering the clamping fingers and lip securing connections. In this manner, when the sash is mounted in position, all mounting connections are concealed.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that this 65 invention has as one of its principal objects the provision of a panel mounting sash which requires only the formation of a panel opening of proper size in a door or supporting structure to condition the door for the application of the sash thereto. 70

A further object of the invention is to provide a mounting sash which is applicable to doors and supporting structures of varying thickness and of different mechanical construction.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a panel mounting sash comprised essentially of two 6 framing members in the form of clamps which are insertable respectively in a panel opening from opposite sides of the door to mount a panel in position and in which the sash is secured to the door solely by clamping engagement of clamping flanges on the two fram10 ing members with the sides of the door.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description.

In the drawings, there is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention. In this showing:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a door having three panel openings of different sizes and shape therein in which are mounted sash and panels respectively constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a door or supporting structure showing the panel mounting sash of this invention mounted in a panel opening therein;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view of the door and panel mounting sash looking in a direction from the 25 front of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the sash;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line V—V of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view .similar to 30 Fig. 2 illustrating the application of the sash of this invention to a ply-wood door of hollow construction.

In Fig. 1 of the drawings, the numeral 1 designates a door having glass panels 2, 3 and 4 mounted therein. The door is provided with openings extending there35 through corresponding to the shape of the glass panels, and the panels are held in position by metal framing members 5 having a contour corresponding to the shape of the panel and panel receiving openings in the door, there being a framing member 5 for each side of the 40 door. Each panel is held in position by two metal framing members 5 which are insertable into the door panel receiving opening from opposite sides of the door and which have identical appearances when viewed from opposite sides of the door.

The fragmentary showings of Figs. 2 through 5 show the construction of the framing members for mounting a panel 4 of rectangular shape in the door 1, and it will be understood that the sash construction illustrated in these figures is equally applicable to mount50 ing diamond and circular shaped panels such as the panels 2 and 3, or panels of any other desired configuration, the only difference being the shape of the panel receiving opening, the framing members 5 and the panel itself. The parts forming the framing members 5 have 55 a contour corresponding to the shape of the panel and the panel receiving opening and preferably are single integral units extending entirely around the periphery of the panel although they may be constructed of two or more sections if so desired.

Referring specifically to Fig. 2, it will be noted that the framing members 5 on opposite sides of the door, while having a similar appearance, are of different constructions designated respectively by the numerals 6 and 7. The framing member 6, as best shown in Fig. 5, 65 is of integral construction, and has a vertically extending flange 8 which has clamping engagement with one side of the door in a peripheral area about the panel receiving opening therein. A molding 9 is integrally connected to the inner edge of the clamping flange 7 and has 70 a vertical wall 10 at its inner edge providing an abutting surface positioned substantially centrally and parallel to the side walls of the door against which the panel

2,791,007 may be placed. From the lower edge of the vertical wall 10, a lip 11 projects inwardly under the panel in a direction toward the other side of the door 1.

The other framing member 7 has a vertically extending flange 12, similar to the flange 8, which has clamping engagement with the other side of the door in a peripheral area about the panel receiving opening therein. The inner edge of the flange 12 is provided with an inwardly extending lip 13 which extends into the panel receiving opening and overlaps and overlies the lip 11 forming a part of the framing member 6. The lips 11 and 13 are secured together by a plurality of flat headed screws 14 at spaced intervals about the panel receiving opening. The screws 14 thus operate to secure the framing members together and maintain the clamping engagement of their flanges 8 and 12 with opposite sides of the door. No other fastening connections engaging or piercing the door are required to hold the framing members 6 and 7 in their mounted positions.

As best shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the openings in the lip 13 through which the screws 14 extend are elongated slots 15 having a bevel as at 16 at their upper edges so that the tapered heads of the screws 14 will engage tightly with the lip 13 on opposite sides of the slots 15. Directly underneath each slot 15, the lip 11 is provided with threaded openings 18 in which the threaded shafts of the screws 14 are engaged. The provision of the elongated slots 15 provides an adjustment for the framing members 6 and 7 adapting them for application to doors of varying thickness.

The framing member 7 is further provided with plural spring clips 20 at spaced intervals about its length for holding the glass panel in position against the vertical wall 10 on the framing member 6. Each clip 20 has an elongated transversely extending slot 21 through which a fastening screw 22 extends for securing it to the lip 13. The inner ends of the clips 20 terminate in vertically extending portions 23 which have resilient clamping engagement with the panel 4. The outer end of each spring clip 20 is turned up and crimped as at 24 for interlocking engagement with a ridge 25 on the inner end of an inturned flange at the base of a molding 26. The molding 26 is thus detachably secured to the framing member 7 and has a contour corresponding to the contour of the molding 9 on the framing member 6 so that the sash will have an identical appearance from either side of the door. The molding member 26 when mounted in position covers the spring clips 20 and the fastening elements 14 so that such mounting and fastening elements are obscured from view.

With the sash of this invention, it is only necessary to cut a panel opening in the door of the proper shape to condition it for mounting a panel in position. After the panel receiving opening is formed in the door, the mounting of the panel is effected by first placing the framing member 6 in position with its flange 8 engaged with one side of the door and the other framing member 7 is then inserted from the other side of the door in a position with its lip 13 overlapping and overlying the lip 11 which are then secured together by the fastening elements 14 to hold the flanges 8 and 12 in tight clamping engagement with the sides of the door. The panel 4 is then placed in abutting engagement with the vertical wall 10 after which the spring clips 20 are applied to hold it in position and the screws 22 operated to secure the clips 20 against movement. The assembly is completed by application of the molding 26 and this is effected by moving it endwise into the position illustrated in Fig. 2 and in so doing its ridge 25 is snapped under the crimped edges 24 of the spring clips 20.

As has been indicated above, the sash of this invention does not require special fastening elements adapted particularly to the construction of the door and is applicable to doors of any construction. This feature of the invention is illustrated by the showing of Fig. 6 which shows the framing members 6 and 7 applied to a door la of hollow ply-wood construction. In this showing, the door la is comprised of ply-wood facing elements 30 secured together in. spaced relation by an internal bracing structure 31 of cell-like configuration and of conventional construction. The panel mounting structure of this invention is equally applicable to hollow metal doors. Regardless of the construction of the door, the sash is mounted in position solely by clamping engagement of its flanges 8 and 12 with opposite sides of the door in peripheral areas about the panel receiving opening therein.

While the above illustrates and describes a preferred embodiment of our invention, it will be understood that this is merely by way of illustration, and that various changes and modifications may be made therein within the contemplation of the invention and under the scope of the following claim.