STRAIN ME AS UREMNT S

The invention relates to a device for controlling a building aperture covering such as a door or a window, a building aperture covering system, and a method for detecting entrapment of a foreign object at a window such as a roof window.

Background

When operating e.g. windows, such as roof windows, and/or doors by means of a device comprising a drive arrangement and e.g. a chain, this should normally live up to certain safety standards to ensure that no foreign objects get trapped between e.g. window sash and frame when closing the window.

EP3 235 991 Al relates to an actuator solution for operating pivot hung or top hung windows, and discloses that a force applied by the actuator may be measured by monitoring the electric current to an electric drive motor, or by usage of a strain gauge.

EP 2 540 946 A2 discloses a driving solution for windows and doors where a drive unit is connected to a housing by means of a spring so that a movement of the drive unit relative to the housing can be detected by a sensor.

When utilizing e.g. a strain gauge, or other types of sensors, this may provide some drawbacks with respect to e.g. complexity, cost efficiency and/or other drawbacks. The present invention may e.g. help to reduce or even avoid such drawbacks.

The invention

The invention relates to a device for controlling a building aperture covering such as a door or a window. The device comprises:

-a housing arrangement -a drive arrangement arranged in said housing arrangement, wherein the drive arrangement comprises a sprocket a reduction gear arrangement and a motor,

-a strain measurement arrangement.

A control arrangement is configured to control said drive arrangement, and the drive arrangement may be configured to operate a push-pull chain. One or more parts of said drive arrangement is connected to the housing arrangement by means of a connection system. The strain measurement arrangement may be configured to transmit strain measurement information to said control arrangement, and said control arrangement may be configured to transmit control signals to control the motor based on the strain measurement information when a strain measurement exceed one or more thresholds.

The strain measurement arrangement may be configured to detect strain changes acting on said housing arrangement and occurring due to reaction forces transferred from at least a part of said drive arrangement to the housing arrangement.

The inventor has realized that as the housing is arranged to house the drive arrangement, and as the building aperture covering such as a window is to be connected to the drive arrangement, this will cause that when foreign objects acts on the building aperture covering, such forces (e.g. pulling or pushing forced dependent on the type of building aperture covering be controlled) may be transferred to the housing. Accordingly, the inventor has realized that foreign objects acting on e.g. a door or a window connected to the chain drive may thus be detected by a strain measurement arrangement configured to detect strain changes acting on the housing.

Thus, by detecting such forces by determining/monitoring strain changes in the housing, advantageous operations of the drive arrangement may be obtained in e.g. a reliable, simple, space saving and yet efficient manner. The present invention may moreover provide advantages with respect to device cost optimization and/or manufacturing optimization, as the present invention may allow advantageous adjustment/adaption of e.g. threshold values and thus may e.g. be adapted to various application areas. For example, the weight of a window or door may vary dependent on the type and/or size of glass panes that is placed in the window sash (e.g. 2 or 3 layered glass), if a blind or shutter is arranged on the door or window or the like. Moreover, if the window is a roof window, the angle with which the window is arranged with respect to horizontal may influent on the torque/weight acting on the chain drive and/or the like. Additionally, a device may be utilized for a various range of windows and doors that might act with different forces on the device. The present invention may help to provide a solution that may allow advantageous utilization irrespectively of variations in the application area and/or aperture covering connected to the chain drive and operated by the device.

The present invention may for example, in aspects of the invention, provide an advantageous solution for detecting foreign objects acting on the building aperture covering, and such situations may thus be acted upon in a fast manner, thereby reducing the risk of e.g. persons or animals getting clamped or in other ways physically harmed by the building aperture covering, and/or reduce the risk of damaging the aperture covering, the device and/or the like.

Moreover or alternatively, the present invention may in aspects of the invention provide the possibility of intuitive control of the drive arrangement, as e.g. a person may interact manually with the building aperture covering, and thus be considered a “foreign object", and based thereon, the control arrangement may transmit control signals to operate the building aperture covering e.g. to open or close the building aperture covering.

The strain measurement arrangement is thus preferably arranged away from the connection system connecting the motor arrangement to the housing, but at a position where the strain measurement arrangement is able to detect strain changes caused by forces transferred from the drive arrangement to the housing.

Generally building actuators are often sold and retrofitted to for example windows. However the installation of external sensors and wiring may hinder widespread adaptation/utilization, the present invention may however reduce this

limitation/issue.

In preferred aspects of the invention, said connection system may be configured to provide a substantially rigid connection between the housing arrangement and the drive arrangement. This may e.g. help to provide an improved transfer of forces to the housing and may thus help to improve the strain measurement.

In aspects of the invention, the housing arrangement is configured to

shield/cover/hide the parts, such as the drive arrangement, a part of the chain, and/or the like in the housing arrangement.

The placement of the strain measuring arrangement may e.g. vary dependent of the placement of the drive arrangement, the type/configuration of the connection system and/or how the device is mounted. Thus, dependent on e.g. these factors, the strain measuring arrangement may be placed in order to assure a sufficient housing strain measurement.

It may e.g. be tested whether the strain measurement arrangement is configured to detect strain changes acting on the housing arrangement and occurring due to reaction forces transferred from at least a part of said drive arrangement to the housing arrangement by installing the device as it should be (e.g. in accordance with installation instructions provided with the device) at the intended location and/or with the intended orientation, and provide forces to the chain and thus see if the strain information from the strain measurement arrangement varies correspondingly. The device may e.g. be a device configured for retro fitting to existing windows or doors, and/or it may be configured to be built into a frame part of a door or window such as a roof window.

In preferred aspects of the invention, said strain measurement arrangement is arranged at and/or near a part of the housing which is connected to the drive arrangement by means of the connection system, e.g. comprising one or more receiving parts, so as to detect said strain changes acting on said part of the housing arrangement and occurring due to forces transferred from said drive arrangement to the housing arrangement.

This may e.g. provide advantageous strain detection at the housing as the strain changes in the housing which may be desired to measure may gradually decrease with distance to the part of the housing which is connected to the drive arrangement by means of the connection system. This may e.g. be caused by the material of the housing wall. In aspects of the invention, the distance between the part of the housing which is connected to the drive arrangement by means of the connection system, and the strain measurement arrangement such as a strain gauge may be between 5mm and l50mm, such as between l5mm and lOOmm.

In aspects of the invention, at least the part of the housing arrangement at which the strain measurement arrangement is configured to detect strain changes, and/or the part of the housing arrangement to which the drive arrangement is connected by the connection system, is made from a polymer material such as a plastic material, e.g. a fibre reinforced plastic material.

In preferred aspects of the invention, said control arrangement may be configured to activate the motor if a strain change detected by the strain measurement arrangement exceeds said more or more thresholds, preferably so as to move said push-pull chain into said housing to close a building aperture covering connected to said push-pull chain. This may e.g. be provided in order to facilitate that a user may e.g. pull or push the building aperture covering such as a window in a closing direction. This may be registered as a strain change in the housing by the strain measurement arrangement, and thus indicate that the user wishes to close the window, and the control arrangement may thus e.g. control the motor to close the window.

In preferred aspects of the invention, said housing arrangement may be made from metal or a plastic material. For example, it may in aspects be made from a fibre reinforced plastic material, such as a glass fibre reinforced PBT (Polybutylene Terephthalate) material, and/or a Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS) material such as a fibre reinforced PPS material. The strain measurement arrangement may hence, in aspects of the present disclosure be configured to detect a strain change in walls of the housing arrangement made from this/these material.

The present inventors have discovered that e.g. a plastic material housing, preferably a fibre reinforced plastic material housing may provide advantageous features from a strain measurement perspective, and that the above mentioned strain changes due to reaction forces caused by load changes on the chain, may advantageously be detected on the housing arrangement as strain changes when it is made from such material. Such a material may moreover be advantageous material as such material may provide a housing which is strong enough to withstand forces acting on the housing due to force changes on a building aperture covering and/or due to the weight of such coverings. It may at the same time provide a material which is easy to handle to provide the desired physical shape of the housing to sufficiently enclose and hold the drive arrangement and e.g. other parts, relative to the housing.

Generally, in aspects of the invention, the housing arrangement may e.g. be made from a glass fibre reinforced plastic material such as glass fibre reinforced PBT (Polybutylene Terephthalate), e.g. PBT 30%GF, it may be made from a PPS material (Polyphenylene Sulfide) comprising a glass fibre filler such as a 40% glass fibre filler (PPS 40%GF) and/or the like. E.g. the housing walls enclosing the drive arrangement may be made from a plastic material, preferably a fibre reinforced plastic material such as a glass fibre reinforced PBT (Polybutylene Terephthalate) material, and the strain measurement arrangement may be configured to detect a strain change in one of these walls.

In preferred aspects of the invention the housing arrangement encloses said drive arrangement, and preferably also at least a part of said control arrangement and/or said strain measurement arrangement. In other embodiments, the control arrangement may be arranged external to the housing, and may e.g. be connected to motor, strain measurement arrangement and e.g. other sensors by means of one or more wires such as electrical or optical wires.

The strain measurement arrangement may in aspects of the invention preferably be arranged inside said housing on e.g. a housing wall surface, or it may in other aspects of the invention be arranged externally at said housing,

In preferred aspects of the invention, said drive arrangement comprises one or more fixed parts and driving parts configured to be moved relative to the one or more fixed parts so as to adjust said push-pull chain, wherein said one or more fixed parts of the drive arrangement is connected to said housing arrangement by the connection system, preferably by means of a connection system providing a substantially rigid connection to the housing arrangement. In advantageous aspects of the invention, said strain measurement arrangement may comprise one or more sensors attached to a surface, such as a wall surface of said housing arrangement, preferably attached directly to one or more housing walls by means of e.g. an adhesive. This may e.g. provide a simple and cost efficient solution. In preferred aspects of the invention, the strain measurement arrangement may comprise one or more strain gauges arranged to detect strain changes on said housing arrangement such as at one or more housing walls. The present inventors have found that a strain gauge arrangement arranged to e.g. provide a Wheatstone bridge may be advantageous in order to detect strain changes in the housing.

In aspects of the invention, said strain measurement arrangement may comprise one or more sensors such as strain gauges arranged to detect strain changes at different side parts/walls of said housing such as at a bottom part and/or a mounting side part of the housing arrangement. This may e.g. provide a more reliable and simple assembly and no or a more simple wiring may be required.

In preferred aspects of the invention, said strain measurement arrangement is arranged at and/or near a chain drive outlet of said housing arrangement so as to detect said strain changes acting on said housing arrangement and occurring due to forces transferred from said drive arrangement to the housing arrangement.

In advantageous aspects of the invention, said sprocket may be connected to the housing arrangement by means of the connection system, and said strain

measurement arrangement may be arranged to detect strain changes acting on said housing arrangement due to forces transferred from said sprocket to the housing arrangement.

The sprocket may be in direct contact with the chain, and the present inventors have, through tests, found that the sprocket may transfer force changes to the housing from the chain, causing strain changes in the housing which a strain measurement arrangement may advantageously detect to.

In aspects of the invention, said one or more thresholds is/are configured to be set to a threshold based on the weight of the building aperture covering such as a door or a window to be connected to the chain arrangement. The connection system may in preferred embodiments of the invention be a mechanical connection system, but may also in further embodiments of the invention comprise e.g. an adhesive for connecting a part of the drive arrangement to the housing.

In advantageous aspects of the invention, said control arrangement may be configured to register a weight change, such as a weight reduction, of said building aperture covering, such as e.g. a window sash of e.g. a roof window, based on said strain measurement information from the strain measurement arrangement, and control said motor based thereon.

This may e.g. be advantageous if the building aperture covering is a roof window, or e.g. a top hinged window pressing on the push pull chain due to gravity. When e.g. a foreign object is entrapped between for example a window sash and e.g. frame, this initially causes a weight reduction on the chain when the motor starts to close the window. This weight change may cause a strain change in the housing which the strain measurement arrangement may detect, and the control arrangement may thus e.g. stop the motor based on this information.

The control arrangement may in advantageous aspects of the invention be configured to register a change in a strain direction acting on the housing arrangement, based on said strain measurement information from the strain measurement arrangement, and control said motor based thereon.

This may e.g. be relevant in order to provide an advantageous control parameter for the control arrangement. A strain direction change may e.g. indicate that the motor needs to pull“actively” in the window to close the window, but if e.g. another sensor arrangement detects that the window is not yet in a closed position, this may be an indication of a foreign object being trapped between window sash and frame.

It may also be advantageous in relation to e.g. centre hinged window solutions which may not provide a sufficiently large weight on the chain. In preferred embodiments of the invention, said control arrangement may be configured to detect when the strain in the housing arrangement changes a certain amount within a predefine time period, such as a time period within the range of 0.1- 5 seconds, such as within 0.3 - 4 seconds, e.g. within 0.5 - 2 seconds, and control the motor based thereon.

For example, a strain change larger than 20% such as larger than 50%, and which is detected within a predefined time period of e.g. 300ms-2 sec, may indicate that a foreign object is present between window sash and the fixed window frame and is clamped between these.

In preferred embodiments of the invention, a processing of the measurement data from the strain measurement arrangement, by means of e.g. the control arrangement, may comprise a d ,ifferent ,i·at ,i·on ca ,lcu ,lat ,i·on such as a - Strain ca , ,

lculat ,i·on e.g. a calculation.

The mechanical characteristic of the housing material may e.g. change over time, and may thus e.g. influence on the housing strain over time, during the lifetime of the device. Also or alternatively, the strain characteristics may vary in the different housings manufactured, the drive arrangement installed and/or the like.

The inventors have however realized that by differentiating the strain measurement information, this may remove such drawbacks and thus e.g. provide a more robust and/or precise solution which may be implemented in various housings and/or different housing configurations without the need of individual calibration or adaption. It may also be especially advantageous when the housing in further embodiments of the invention is made from a plastic material as e.g. described above. By utilizing a differentiation approach at the strain measurement information, this may moreover provide that a calibration of each device before or after installation may not be needed. The threshold may thus, in preferred aspects of the invention, be set based on/set to a predetermined ^dliousl " ^{g stram} value such as a predetermined value (where

V=voltage indicative of housing arrangement strain, and t=time).

Generally, it may be preferred to provide differentiation calculation to determine the “strain change slope” /“strain change speed” per time unit according to aspects of the present invention.

An adjustment of the threshold(s) and/or interpretation/processing of the

measurement data may be provided, in aspects of the invention, in order to allow the present solution to be used for various sizes and/or types of building aperture coverings and/or at/in different positions.

In advantageous aspects of the invention, said control arrangement may be configured to

a) stop and/or reverse the driving direction of the motor if a strain change

exceeds said threshold, and/or

b) provide one or more initial closing attempts for closing of said building

aperture covering, wherein the one or more initial closing attempts are configured to be interrupted by the control if said threshold is exceeded, and wherein said control arrangement is preferably moreover configured to provide a further, subsequent closing attempt where the strain measurement information is left out of account.

This may e.g. be advantageous from a safety point of view. Said control arrangement may, in advantageous aspects of the invention, be configured control said motor based on input from a further position sensor, such as a tacho sensor arrangement, and/or a sensor arrangement, such as a motor current consumption measuring circuitry, configured to detect if the building aperture covering is sufficiently closed.

In advantageous aspects of the invention, said control arrangement may be configured to stop said motor from providing a closing operation if

- the motor is determined to be active to provide a closing operation,

- a position sensor arrangement, such as a tacho sensor arrangement, registers that a closed position has not yet been reached, and

- if said one or more thresholds are exceeded.

These may be advantageous criteria for determining whether a foreign object may be present/ entrapped, and that the device should thus not try to close a building aperture covering, such as a window or door connected to the chain, before a person has e.g. checked for foreign objects, before the window has been opened again to allow the foreign object such as a hand or another body part to be removed, before a subsequent closing attempt and/or the like.

In one or more aspects of the invention, said strain measurement arrangement may be attached to a support member such as a plate or sheet material, wherein said support member is attached to said housing arrangement, such as attached to a housing wall of said housing arrangement. Strain changes in the support member are hence representative of and provided by strain changes in the housing arrangement such as a housing wall. The strain measurement arrangement may here e.g. comprise one or more sensors, such as one or more strain gauges, attached to the support member, e.g. to a surface of the support member or embedded in the support member.

The present inventor has seen indications that attaching the strain measurement arrangement, such as a strain gauge, directly to a wall, such as the housing wall, by means of e.g. an adhesive may be rather time consuming and inconvenient during manufacturing of the device. However utilizing a measurement arrangement that already has been attached to a support member such as a plastic, metal plate, or alternatively a plate of another suitable material, and attaching this support member to the housing arrangement by means of a suitable fastening system may help to provide an improved, such as a faster manufacturing of the device. In further embodiments of the present disclosure, the support member may be a circuit board such as a printed circuit board.

Also or alternatively, this may e.g. help to provide a more long lasting or reliable strain measuring solution.

In aspects of the present invention, the strain measurement arrangement may thus be configured to detect strain changes in said support member occurring due to the reaction forces transferred from at least a part of said drive arrangement to the housing arrangement.

The support member may in aspects of the present disclosure be attached to the housing arrangement by means of one or more fastening arrangements. These fastening arrangements may in further aspects of the present disclosure comprise one or more of an adhesive, a melted connection and/or a mechanical fastening arrangement.

The mechanical fastening arrangement may e.g. comprise one or more screws one or more snap connections and/or one or more pop rivets or the like.

This may e.g. help to provide a solution where a sufficient strain transfer is provided by the fastening arrangement(s) and which may be fast and/or cost efficient to manufacture. Using a screw solution, clips solution, pop rivet solution or the like may e.g. also help to ease a possible replacement of the strain measurement arrangement later on. In aspects of the present invention, said support member may be attached to the housing arrangement at a plurality of discrete fixation positions by means of a plurality of fastening arrangements. This may e.g. help to provide a solution that may be advantageous from a manufacturing point of view, such as helping to increase manufacturing speed, and/or help to provide a sufficient strain transfer between the housing arrangement and the support member to enable a sufficient detection of the strain changes.

Hence, in aspects of the present disclosure, the strain changes in the housing arrangement occurring due to the reaction forces may in aspects of the present disclosure be configured to be transferred from the housing arrangement, such as from a wall of the housing arrangement, and to the support member through the one or more fastening arrangements. In aspects of the present invention, the strain measurement arrangement may e.g. be connected to the control arrangement by means of a plug and socket connection.

In aspects of the present invention, said device may be configured, based on said strain measurement information, to provide one or more of:

• entrapment detection of a foreign object at a window such as a roof window,

• measurement/input for detecting house breaking/burglary,

• detecting and/or controlling upon wind loads acting on a window or door controlled by the device,

• detecting weight of snow on a window or door to which the device is

connected, and/or

detecting force overloads. The invention moreover relates to a building aperture covering system comprising

a window, such as a roof window, and a device for controlling the opening and closing of said window,

wherein said device comprises

-a housing arrangement, and -a drive arrangement arranged in said housing arrangement, wherein the drive arrangement comprises a sprocket a reduction gear arrangement and a motor,

wherein said building aperture covering system comprises a control arrangement configured to control said drive arrangement,

wherein said drive arrangement is configured to operate a push-pull chain, and wherein the push-pull chain connects a window sash and a frame of the window to enable the drive arrangement to open and close the window,

wherein one or more parts of said drive arrangement is connected to the housing arrangement by means of a connection system,

wherein the system comprises a measurement arrangement configured to transmit strain measurement information to said control arrangement,

wherein said control arrangement is configured to transmit control signals to control the motor based on the strain measurement information when a strain measurement exceed one or more thresholds,

wherein said strain measurement arrangement is configured to detect strain changes acting on said housing arrangement and occurring due to reaction forces transferred from at least a part of said drive arrangement to the housing arrangement, and wherein said reaction forces are caused by a load change acting on said window sash.

In aspects of the present disclosure, a device as previously described may be connected to the fixed window frame and a sash/swinging sash respectively, in order to control the opening and closing of the window. The sash preferably comprises a frame part and a window pane (preferably comprising a plurality of glass panes spaced apart and arranged in parallel relative to each other) arranged in the frame, the window is preferably a roof window or a top hinged window which will push on the chain due to gravity when installed and opened. In preferred aspects of said building aperture covering system, said device may be a device according to with any of claims 1-20. It is understood that the building aperture covering system may provide e.g. one or more of the advantages/features as described in one or more aspects relating to the device.

The device may in advantageous aspects of the invention be integrated in a frame of said building aperture covering system. For example, the device may e.g. in aspects of the invention be installed/enclosed in a fixed frame of the window.

In one or more aspects of the present disclosure, said building aperture covering system may be configured, based on said strain measurement information, to provide one or more of:

• entrapment detection of a foreign object at a window such as a roof window,

• measurement/input for detecting house breaking/burglary,

• detecting and/or controlling upon wind loads acting on a window or door controlled by the device,

• for detecting weight of snow on a window or door to which the device is connected, and/or

• detecting force overloads.

The invention additionally relates to a method for detecting entrapment of a foreign object at a window such as a roof window, wherein said roof window comprises a window sash configured to be opened and closed by means of a device comprising a drive arrangement enclosed in a housing arrangement,

wherein the drive arrangement comprises a sprocket a reduction gear arrangement and a motor,

wherein a control arrangement controls said drive arrangement, and wherein the drive arrangement operate a push-pull chain to open and close the window based on control signals from the control arrangement,

wherein a strain measurement arrangement transmits strain measurement information to said control arrangement, and wherein the control arrangement transmit control signals to control the motor based on the strain measurement information when a strain measurement exceed one or more thresholds,

wherein one or more parts of said drive arrangement is connected to the housing arrangement by means of a connection system,

wherein said strain measurement arrangement detects strain changes acting on said housing arrangement and occurring due to reaction forces transferred from at least a part of said drive arrangement to the housing arrangement.

It is understood that the method may provide e.g. one or more of the

advantages/features as described in one or more aspects relating to e.g. the device.

In preferred aspects of the method, said strain measurement arrangement may comprise one or more strain gauges detecting strain changes on said housing arrangement.

In preferred aspects of the method, the housing arrangement may be made from a plastic material, preferably a fibre reinforced plastic material. This material may e.g. be a material such as a glass fibre reinforced plastic material, e.g. glass fibre reinforced PBT (Polybutylene Terephthalate), e.g. PBT 30%GF, it may be made from a PPS material (Polyphenylene Sulfide) comprising a glass fibre filler such as a 40% glass fibre filler (PPS 40%GF) and/or the like.

In advantageous aspects of the method, said sprocket may be connected to the housing arrangement by means of the connection system, and said strain

measurement arrangement may preferably detect strain changes acting on said housing arrangement due to forces transferred from said sprocket to the housing arrangement.

In advantageous aspects of the method, a weight change, such as a weight reduction, of said building aperture covering is registered based on said strain measurement information from the strain measurement arrangement, and wherein the motor is controlled based thereon.

In preferred aspects of the method, a processing of the measurement data from the strain measurement arrangement comprise a differentiation calculation such as a

* Housing Strain

dt calculation, e.g. by a— dt calculation. r Thi ·s i ·nf rormat .i·on may e.g. in aspec ,ts of / t,.he method, i be compared j t ,o a

threshold, such as a — threshold, and the motor may be controlled based thereon.

In advantageous aspects of the method, the driving direction of the motor may be stopped and/or reversed if a strain change exceeds said threshold.

In advantageous aspects of the method, one or more initial closing attempts for closing of said building aperture covering may be provided,

wherein the one or more initial closing attempts are interrupted by the control arrangement if said threshold is exceeded, and

wherein said control arrangement preferably moreover provides a further, subsequent closing attempt where the strain measurement information is left out of account and/or where the threshold value is changed.

In one or more aspects of the method, said measurement arrangement may be attached to a support member such as a plate or sheet material, and wherein said support member is attached to said housing arrangement, such as attached to a housing wall of said housing arrangement. In further aspects, the strain measurement arrangement may detects strain changes in said support member occurring due to reaction forces transferred from at least a part of said drive arrangement to the housing arrangement. It is generally understood that in other aspects of the present invention, the measurement arrangement, such as one or more strain gauges, may be attached directly to a wall of the housing arrangement by means of for example an adhesive.

In aspects of said method, the method may be provided by means of a device (1) according to any of claims 1-20, and/or said method may be provided by a system according to any of claims 21-23.

In one or more aspects of said method, said strain measurement information may additionally be utilized to provide one or more of:

• measurement/input for detecting house breaking/burglary,

• detecting and/or controlling upon wind loads acting on a window or door controlled by the device,

• for detecting weight of snow on a window or door to which the device is connected, and/or

• detecting force overloads.

In one or more aspects of the present disclosure, said building aperture covering system may be configured to provide the method of any of claims 24-34.

Figures

Aspects of the present disclosure will be described in the following with reference to the figures in which:

fig. 1 : illustrates a device according to embodiments of the invention for controlling a building aperture covering fig. 2 : illustrates further embodiments of a device according to

embodiments of the invention, fig. 3 : illustrates an embodiment of the invention where a drive

arrangement is connected to a housing arrangement by means of a connection system, fig. 4 : illustrates an embodiment of the invention where a housing is provided by two parts according to embodiments of the invention fig. 5 : illustrates embodiments of the invention relating to possible sensor input, figs. 6-7 : illustrates various embodiments of the invention relating to e.g.

detection whether a foreign object is present, fig. 8-9 : illustrates various further embodiments of the invention, fig. 10 : illustrates schematically an embodiment of the invention wherein a device is arranged pivotally on a hinge part, figs. 11-12 : Illustrates embodiments of the invention graph showing a

possible example of the detection of the strain in the housing wall in response to a load change, figs. 13-14 : illustrates building aperture covering system according to various embodiments of the invention,

figs. 15,

l5a-l5d

and fig. 16 : illustrates a strain measurement arrangement configured to detect strain changes acting a housing according to various embodiments of the invention, and

Fig. 17 : illustrates a graph according to further embodiments of the

invention.

Detailed description

Fig. 1 illustrates schematically a device 1 according to embodiments of the invention for controlling a building aperture covering such as a door or a window such as a roof window.

The device comprises a housing arrangement 2 enclosing a drive arrangement 10. The drive arrangement 10 comprises a sprocket 13 a reduction gear arrangement 9 and a motor 4.

The motor drives the sprocket 13 by means of the reduction gear 9, and the sprocket 13 is arranged to operate/adjust a push pull chain 3 of the device 1 so that when the sprocket 13 is rotated by means of the motor 4, the chain 3 is either retracted or pushed forward dependent of the rotation direction of the motor 4 and/or the reduction gear arrangement 9.

Moreover, the device 1 comprises a strain measurement arrangement 5, preferably comprising one or more strain gauges, but it may also be other types of sensor arrangements such as e.g. optical sensor solutions. Also, an inductive sensor may be utilized for strain measurement in embodiments of the invention by e.g. measuring movement of a metal connected to the housing to measure strain changes causing metal movement.

The strain measurement arrangement 5 is configured to detect strain changes acting on the housing arrangement 2 and occurring due to forces transferred from the drive arrangement 10 to the housing arrangement 2.

A control system/arrangement 6 is arranged in the housing 2 and is configured to control the drive arrangement 10.

The control arrangement 6 comprises a computer processor which is configured to transmit control signals 8 to the motor 4 in response to input signals 7 received from e.g. the strain measurement arrangement 5. These input signals 7 comprises strain measurement information 7 transmitted to the control arrangement 6, this is described in more details later on according to various embodiments of the invention.

The control arrangement 6 may thus in embodiments of the invention comprise a computer processor, a data storage comprising computer program code according to which the computer processor operates and e.g. other information such as look up tables, it may comprise timer functionalities and/or the like. This may e.g. be referred to as control circuitry.

The strain measurement arrangement 5 may e.g. in embodiments of the present disclosure be connected by a wire to the control arrangement 6, e.g. by means of a plug and socket connection where the plug may be engaged with and released from the socket. This wire is configured to transfer the strain measurement information 7 to the control arrangement 6.

The control arrangement 6 may moreover, in embodiments of the invention, comprise an antenna or the like configured to receive control signals from a wireless remote control (not illustrated) comprising buttons (either physical buttons or buttons in a touch panel) to allow a user to open and close the building aperture covering by operating the remote control. The remote control may also comprise a status display for displaying status (e.g. opened/closed) of the building aperture covering. Also or alternatively, the control arrangement 6 may in embodiments of the invention be connected by a wired connection to a control panel (not illustrated) comprising buttons (either physical buttons or buttons in a touch panel) to allow a user to operate the building aperture covering.

In various embodiments of the invention, the control arrangement 6 may be arranged external to the housing, and may e.g. be connected to motor, strain measurement arrangement and e.g. other sensors by means of one or more wires such as electrical or optical wires.

In further embodiments of the invention (not illustrated), the control arrangement may comprise a first controller outside the housing and comprising circuitry for e.g. receiving and transmitting signals from a remote control, and preferably also processing/interpreting received control commands from a remote control. This first control arrangement may e.g. transmit (wired or wirelessly) control commands based thereon to a motor/drive arrangement controller, e.g. arranged in the housing, (for example as the control arrangement illustrated in fig. 1) and configured to control the drive arrangement. The strain measurement arrangement 5 and/or other sensors as e.g. described later on in this document may be connected to either the first or second control arrangement.

One or more parts of the drive arrangement 10 is/are connected to the housing arrangement 2 by means of a connection system 12 (not illustrated in fig 1).

Thus, when a load change on the chain 3 (e.g. a weight increase and/or decrease of the building aperture covering) occur, this change is transferred from the chain to the drive arrangement 10, and thus to the housing arrangement 2 through the connection system. The strain measurement arrangement 5 registers/detects the load change as a load change on the chain 3 will provide/result in a strain change at the housing.

In preferred embodiments of the invention, the strain measurement arrangement 5 comprises one or more strain gauges, e.g. in embodiments of the invention arranged in a Wheatstone bridge configuration. When the strain on the housing arrangement 2 changes, this causes the strain gauge(s) to be deformed and thus causes the electrical resistance to change. This information is registered by the control arrangement 6 by the signal 7, and when a strain measurement exceed one or more thresholds (which may e.g. be determined by the control arrangement 6), the control arrangement 6 is configured to transmit control signals 8 to control the motor 4.

The control arrangement 6 and motor 4 may in embodiments of the invention be supplied with electrical power from a power supply PS comprising a battery, e.g. arranged in or together with the housing 2 as illustrated, it may be supplied with power from a mains connection (not illustrated) and/or from a solar power cell arrangement (not illustrated). In embodiments of the invention, the power supply may comprise a transformer arrangement to transform supply voltage to one or more desired voltage levels.

The push pull chain 3 is configured to interlock the chain links so that the chain may only roll or fold-up in one direction. When the chain is unfolded, the chain links latch together to form a rigid, linear chain that may push on the building aperture covering connected to the chain 3 at e.g. a connection point 3a. Accordingly, when the chain 3 is retracted into a housing, preferably the housing 2, this is provided by rotating the motor and thus the reduction gear in a first direction. When changing the rotation direction, the chain 3 and the connection part 3a is pushed forward through an opening 11 in the housing, and the chain links thereby interlocks so that the chain can push on the building aperture covering such as a window sash of fixed window frame (not illustrated in fig 1) dependent on how the device 1 is installed. In preferred embodiments of the invention, at least the part of the housing

arrangement 2, such as one or preferably the walls of the housing arrangement at which the strain measurement arrangement 5 is configured to detect strain changes, and/or the part of the housing arrangement 2 to which the drive arrangement 10 is connected by the connection system 8, is made from a polymer material such as a plastic material, and/or a carbon and/or glass fibre reinforced material.

E.g. the walls enclosing the drive arrangement 10 may be made from a plastic material, preferably a fibre reinforced plastic material such as a glass fibre reinforced PBT (Polybutylene Terephthalate) material, and/or a Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS) material, and the strain measurement arrangement may be configured to detect a strain change in one of these walls made from this material.

In further embodiments, the walls enclosing the drive arrangement 10 may be made from a metal such as aluminium or steel or another suitable alloy, and the strain measurement arrangement 5 may be configured to detect a strain change in one of these walls made from this material.

In embodiments of the invention, the housing arrangement 2 may be made from a polymer material such as a plastic material, a carbon fibre reinforced and/or glass fibre reinforced material.

It is to be understood that the strain measurement arrangement 5 in embodiments of the invention may comprise one strain gauge. In other embodiments of the invention, it may comprise a plurality of strain gauges arranged at different locations and configured to detect strain changes in one or more of the housing walls. The strain gauges may thus be arranged at different housing walls, at different locations at the same housing wall, at an internal housing wall surface 20 as illustrated in figs 1 and 2 and/or or at an external housing wall surface. The housing 2 may preferably comprise a rear wall W2c, a front wall W2b and bottom wall W2a, (a top wall is not illustrated but is preferably present) and the strain measurement arrangement may comprise one or more sensors such as strain gauges attached to one or more of such wall surfaces 20 and configured to determine strain changes on the respective wall. The strain measurement arrangement may preferably be arranged at a substantially plane surface of the housing wall.

Fig. 2 illustrates further embodiments of the device 1 according to embodiments of the invention.

The housing 2 may as illustrated in fig. 2, in embodiments of the invention be equipped with a chain storage 14 arranged to guide and store the chain upon retraction of the chain 3 into the housing 2. The housing 2 may in embodiments of the invention comprise a guiding arrangement for guiding the chain during retraction and/or when pushing the chain 3 forward, and the chain 3 is preferably configured to be stored at a substantially isolated part of the housing with one or more separation walls (not illustrated in fig. 2) arranged to provide that dirt, oil and/or the like is not transferred to the other parts of the housing 2 comprising e.g. the drive arrangement 10, measuring arrangement 5, the control arrangement 6 and/or the like.

Fig. 2 moreover illustrates a more detailed embodiment of the reduction gear 9 where the reduction gear 9 comprises a suitable arrangement of toothed wheels arranged to reduce the rotational speed of the motor’s 4 shaft and enabling that the drive arrangement 10 is able to provide a push force F2 and/or pull force Fl to the chain between 5 kg and 70 kg, preferably between 10 kg and 45 kg such as between 15 kg and 40 kg.

The motor 4 may in preferred embodiments of the invention e.g. be an electric motor such as a DC motor such as a 24 DC motor or a 12 V DC motor. Fig. 3 illustrates an embodiment of the invention where a part of the drive arrangement 10 is connected to the housing arrangement 2 by means of a connection system 12. In this embodiment, the sprocket 13 is connected to the housing arrangement 2 as the sprocket 13 comprises a shaft part l2a rotatable arranged in receiving parts l2b such as an annular ring fixed to or integrated in the interior housing wall of the housing arrangement 2. This receiving part l2b may e.g. be attached to the housing by welding or be provided during a moulding process of the housing arrangement. The connection system 12 supports the sprocket 13 so that when a force F3 acts on the chain 3, e.g. caused by the weight of the building aperture covering, the sprocket 13 takes up a part of this force and transfer it to the housing arrangement 2 through the connection system 12 as a reaction force.

The strain in the housing arrangement 2 thus change when the force acting on the chain 3 changes, and this is detected by the strain measurement arrangement 5, and the strain measurement information 7 will thus reflect such strain changes.

It is generally understood that the strain measurement arrangement 5 may comprise a single sensor, such as a strain gauge, but it may also, in other embodiments comprise a plurality of sensors such as strain gauges (not illustrated in fig. 3) arranged at different locations of the housing.e.g. at different housing walls in order to obtain strain measurement reflecting load changes acting on the housing as e.g. described above and/or below.

Fig. 4 illustrates an embodiment of the invention where the housing is provided by two parts 2a, 2b which, when connected e.g. by a mechanical assembling system l5a-l5c. An example of a result of such mechanical assembling is illustrated in fig.

3. The mechanical assembling system l5a-l5c may comprise one or more screws, clips systems, pop rivets and/or the like l5a, l5c, and e.g. a connecting part l5b for receiving this/these. In other embodiments of the invention, the housing may be connected/assembled by a welding or gluing assembling (not illustrated) to provide provides the housing arrangement 2 enclosing the drive arrangement 10, control arrangement 6, a chain storage and/or the like..

The two housing parts 2a, 2b may in embodiments of the invention, as e.g.

illustrated, each comprises a part l2b of the connection system 12.

Fig. 5 illustrates schematically embodiments of the invention relating to sensor input utilized for controlling the drive arrangement 10.

The control arrangement 6 may receive input from the strain measurement arrangement 5 as e.g. described above or below. Moreover, the control arrangement 6 may receive information from a position sensor arrangement 21 configured to determine the position of the building aperture covering such as a door or a window. This may e.g. be provided by a tacho sensor or the like arranged to detect/count rotations provided by the motor, it may comprise pressure sensitive sensors arranged to detect when the building aperture covering is closed, it may comprise a sensor arranged to detect the chain to determine how much and/or if the window is opened or not sufficiently closed and/or the like. Such a position sensor may e.g. be provided by means of an optical sensor, a hall sensor, mechanically actuated sensor and/or the like.

The sensor arrangement 21 may e.g. provide information enabling the control arrangement 6 to determine if the building aperture covering is in an open position or a closed position. It may moreover, in further embodiments of the invention be able to provide information of where the building aperture covering is positioned between a fully opened and a fully closed position.

Moreover, the control arrangement 6 may in further embodiments of the invention receive information from a sensor arrangement 22 configured to detect if the building aperture covering is sufficiently closed. This may e.g. be provided by a current consumption measuring circuitry arranged to measure the current supplied to the motor 4, and when the motor current reaches a certain, preferably predefined, level/amount, this reflects that the motor pulls the chain and thus the building aperture covering with a desired force to provide that the building aperture covering is sufficiently closed. This information may however, also be provided by the strain measurement sensor in embodiments of the invention.

In further embodiments of the invention, the control arrangement 6 may also be configured to utilize information regarding whether the motor 4 is active, either by detecting motor current by sensor arrangement 22, by registering a state of a software parameter reflecting the activity of the motor and/or the like. For example, a software parameter may reflect information regarding whether the motor /and thus drive arrangement) is active/controlled to open the building aperture covering, if the motor is active/controlled so as to close the building aperture covering, or is inactive. This information may e.g. be utilized during detection regarding whether a foreign object is present between sash and fixed frame of the building aperture covering.

Fig. 6 illustrates a flowchart according to embodiments of the invention, relating to detection whether a foreign object is present.

In test 61 (BAC Clos?), the control arrangement 6 tests whether the building aperture covering, such as a window, e.g. a roof window, is in a closed position. This may e.g. be provided by means of a position sensor arrangement 21 as described above in relation to fig. 5.

If the building aperture covering is detected to be closed in test 61, there may be no need for further actions regarding detecting whether a foreign object is present.

If however the building aperture covering is detected to be open, the control arrangement 6 tests whether the motor motor/drive arrangement is detected to be in an operational mode/active to e.g. close the building aperture covering, or alternatively to open the building aperture covering. This is tested in Test T62 (Mot active?). If the drive arrangement/motor is determined not to be active, the building aperture covering may merely be in a desired, open state, and thus, no further action regarding detection of foreign objects may be desired.

If however, the motor/drive arrangement is determined to be active, the control arrangement 6 may process the strain measurement information 7 from the strain measurement arrangement 5, to determine if the strain on the housing exceeds one or more thresholds. If the threshold(s) is/are exceeded, this may reflect that a foreign object is present between sash and fixed frame of the building aperture covering, and thus, the control arrangement 6 may stop the motor (step S61 Stop Mot) to avoid damaging the foreign objects, such as a body part of a human or animal, and/or to avoid overloading the drive arrangement and/or other part of the housing.

This may e.g. be the case if the control arrangement certainly detects a sudden reduced strain in the housing, as this may reflect that a foreign object is present between a sash part or the like and a frame part of building part (see e.g. fig 14), thus lifting/providing a lifting force to lift/move the sash part, and e.g. reducing the weight of acting on the chain 3 or even resulting in a pulling force on the chain.

In further embodiments of the invention, (not illustrated in fig. 6) if

• the building aperture covering is in an open position (e.g. as determined in test T61),

• the motor is not active, and

• a strain exceeding a certain threshold is detected on the housing by

arrangement 5, e.g. caused by wind load, by a foreign object such as an animal, a human body part such as a human hand pushing on the window aperture covering or the like, this may initiate an automatic closing of the building aperture covering as a large pushing force may thus provide a strain increase in the housing 2 while the window is not closed or operated to be closed. In such a case, the control arrangement may be configured to close the window.

Fig. 7 illustrates a flowchart according to further embodiments of the invention, relating to detection whether a foreign object is present.

Tests T71-T73 may substantially correspond to tests T61-T63 as described in relation to fig. 6. However, test T72 relates to testing whether the motor is set to or is in a mode to close the building aperture covering.

If the strain measurement arrangement 5 detects that the strain on the housing at one or more positions of the housing arrangement 2 exceeds a threshold, this may trigger the control arrangement 6 to stop and reverse the motor rotation direction (Step S71 - Reverse Mot) to open the building aperture covering again, so that the foreign object can rapidly be removed to avoid that it is clamped between a sash part or the like and a building part or a fixed frame part of the building aperture covering.

Then the control arrangement 6 determines whether the building aperture covering has been sufficiently opened again (test T71 - BAC opened) and is ready for a new try to close the building aperture covering. This may be determined by means of e.g. a position sensor arrangement 21 as described in relation to fig. 6 and/or it may be provided by an acknowledgement signal generated by a human operator by means of a remote control, it may be provided by a timer functionality set in the control arrangement 6 and/or the like)

Then, in step S72 (Mot Clos), the control arrangement 6 provides a new attempt to close the building aperture covering, and test T76 tests if the window is then closed at this second closing attempt. During this, the control arrangement 6 may in Test T75 process information such as information from a sensor arrangement 22 as described in relation to fig. 6, e.g. current consumption information of the motor, to determine if the force provided in the chain to close the building aperture covering is sufficient, and this may e.g. be tested against one or more thresholds. The second closing attempt may e.g. be provided with an allowable larger force, and thus larger current consumption and/or e.g. larger strains on the housing (2), than allowed during the previous attempt.

Measurement information from the strain measurement arrangement 5 may in embodiments of the invention thus also or alternatively be utilized during the test T75.

If a position sensor arrangement now determines (Test T76) that the building aperture covering is closed correctly, this may end the closing operation as described in relation to fig. 7.

If, however, the second closing attempt to close the building aperture covering does not succeed (Test T75 and/or T76), this may trigger an alarm signal (Step S72 - Al). This may e.g. comprise a sound signal triggered by the control arrangement 6 and detectable by human hearing, (e.g. within 20 Hz to 20 kHz), it may comprise a wireless alarm signal transmitted to a remote control or the like to be displayed in a display to warn a human operator/user that the window cannot be closed, possibly because of a foreign object obstructing a sufficient closing of the window, and/or the like.

It is generally understood that the steps S71 and test T74, and preferably also the step S72 and Test T75 in further embodiments of the invention may be configured to repeated a number of times such as e.g. two, three four or even more times, and these closing attempts may be considered as initial closing attempts which may be configured to be interrupted by the control arrangement 6 if the strain threshold is exceeded, a final closing attempt may however also be utilized where some sensor information, such as the strain measurement on the housing, current consumption information and/or the like is neglected/ left out of account, or where strain threshold and/or current consumption threshold are set very high, to assure that the building aperture covering is closed after assuring that e.g. foreign object has been/may have been removed, for e.g. safety purposes.

Fig. 8 illustrates a cross sectional view, seen in perspective, of a part of a device 1 according to embodiments of the invention for controlling a building aperture covering such as a door or a window such as a roof window. A part of the chain storage 14 is also visible.

The device 2 comprises a housing arrangement 2 enclosing a drive arrangement 10. The drive arrangement 10 comprises a sprocket 13 a reduction gear arrangement 9 and a motor 4.

As can be seen, the sprocket 13 is connected to the housing 2 through a connection system 12. The sprocket 13 is thus rotatable arranged in sprocket receiving/holding parts l2b such as an annular ring fixed to/integrated in the interior housing wall, see also fig. 3.

As can be seen, the device 1 preferably comprises one or more separation walls 25 in the housing 2 for separating the chain 3 from the drive arrangement 10 and the like, so as to avoid that fat, dirt and the like sticking to the chain 3 over time enters the drive arrangement.

The strain measurement arrangement 5 is preferably attached to the housing wall comprising a part of the connection system l2b.

Fig. 8 moreover illustrates a further embodiment of the invention, wherein the drive arrangement 10 is connected to the housing by means of a plurality of connections 12 providing the connection system. For example, different parts of the drive arrangement 10, such as different toothed wheels of the reduction gear arrangement 9, such as the motor 4 and/or the like, may be connected to the housing to e.g. keep these parts of the drive arrangement 10 fixed sufficiently in the housing to be able to take up e.g. torque forces from the motor provided when operating the chain.

The strain measurement arrangement 5 may in embodiment also be able to detect such torque forces acting on the housing due increased or decreased torque caused by increased or decreased load on the chain.

However, in preferred embodiments of the invention, the strain measurement arrangement 5 may at least be arranged to detect strain changes in the housing 2 due to changes in forces provided to the chain, and transferred to the housing via the sprocket 13.

Fig. 9 illustrates schematically a cross sectional view of an embodiment of the invention wherein the housing 2 provides a connection system 12 including a support structure around which the sprocket 13 is arranged to rotate, e.g. on a ball bearing or the like (not visible in fig, 9). The chain 3 is not illustrated to increase the readability of the drawing.

The connection system 12 comprises support parts l2a, l2b extending from opposite interior housing walls and which are connected to each other, e.g. where one of the parts l2b fits into an opening or slit in the other l2a, when two housing walls 2a, 2b are connected. The connection system may thus provide a support around which the sprocket rotates when the motor is activated and drives the reduction gear (not illustrated in fig. 9)

Fig. 10 illustrates schematically an embodiment of the invention wherein the device 1 is arranged pivotally on a hinge part 30. The hinge part 30 is connected to a frame 51 of the building aperture covering 50, which in this case is a window. The sash part 52 of the window, e.g. enclosing one or more glass panes (not illustrated) is connected to the chain 3, and when the chain 3 is controlled by the device 1 to open the sash part 52, or close the sash part, the housing 1 will be able to pivot correspondingly around axis AX1. This may e.g. be advantageous where the building aperture covering is a top hung window, a skylight/roof window or the like.

The chain may also in other embodiments (not illustrated) be configured to provide a push force while describing a arch shape to adapt to the opening direction of the window or door due to the hinge system.

Fig. 11 Illustrates a graph displaying the detection of the strain in the housing wall in response to a load change on the chain 3 according to embodiments of the invention. The dashed line 60 illustrates the strain measurement information 7 obtained from the strain measuring arrangement 5 configured to detect strain changes acting on the housing arrangement 2. In the present example, the strain measuring arrangement 5 comprises a strain gauge, and the Y axis on the graph represents a voltage representing the strain measurement information 7 from the strain gauge, where a voltage change in the information 7 (see fig. 1) is indicative of the strain change in the housing 2.

The solid line 70 indicates a load acting on the chain 3. From time= tO-tl, the load (Solid line) on the chain is constant, and thus, also the strain in the housing is constant, this may e.g. indicate that the building aperture blinding, such as a window, is in an opened position, and pushes on the chain due to gravity and the weight of the building aperture blinding. Between tl and t2, a pulling force is gradually provided to the building aperture blinding in a direction away from the housing 2, and is removed again at t2. This force acts on the drive arrangement 10, and is thus transferred to the housing 2. This load change is thus registered by the strain measuring arrangement 5 as a sudden decrease in strains on the housing, and thus a change in the resistance of the strain gauge, and the control arrangement is thus able to act accordingly to e.g. stop the motor.

If the motor e.g. continues to try to close the window, this may provide that the force acting on the chain will change direction from a force provided due to the weight of the building aperture covering to a pulling force provided by the motor 4. This may change the strain direction detected by the strain measurement arrangement 5, and may thus also be detected and acted upon by the control arrangement.

Fig. 12 illustrates another graph displaying the detection of the strain in the housing wall in response to a load change on the chain 3 according to embodiments of the invention.

The dashed line 60 illustrates the strain measurement information 7 obtained from the strain measuring arrangement 5 configured to detect strain changes acting on the housing arrangement 2. In the present example, the strain measuring arrangement 5 comprises a strain gauge, and the Y axis on the graph represents a voltage representing the strain measurement information 7.

The solid line 70 illustrates a load acting on the chain 3.

From time= tO-tl, the load (Solid line) on the chain is constant, and thus, also the strain in the housing is constant. Between tl and t2, a pushing force is gradually provided and removed again to the chain 3, in a direction towards the housing 2. This force acts on the drive arrangement 10, and is thus transferred to the housing 2. This load change is registered by the strain measuring arrangement 5 as a sudden increase in strains on the housing, and thus a change in the resistance of the strain gauge, and the control arrangement is thus able to act accordingly to e.g. start the motor to close the building aperture covering or the like.

In figs. 11 and 12, the dotted line reflects a predetermined threshold for the housing strain measurement 60, and when the threshold is exceeded, the control arrangement may be set to act to e.g. start and/or stop the motor of the drive arrangement.

Generally, it is to be understood that the strain change in the housing may be determined so that when a strain change is detected within a predefined time span.

Accordingly the control arrangement 6 may in preferred embodiments of the invention be configured to act to transmit control signals 8 to control the motor 4 based on the strain measurement information 7 when a strain measurement changes a certain amount within a predefine time period such as a time period of e.g. 0.1-5 seconds, such as within 0.3 - 4 seconds, e.g. within 0.4 - 2 seconds.

In preferred aspects of the invention, the processing of the measurement data from

d

the strain measurement arrangement may comprise a Housing Strain

dt calculation such dV

as a— calculation, determined by e.g. the control arrangement 6.

It is generally understood that the threshold(s) may be any suitable threshold.

In preferred embodiments of the invention, the threshold may be set based on a derivative/differentiated value of the measurement signal. Accordingly, when the housing strain changes (measured by measurement arrangement 5) a certain amount per time and when this amount exceeds a predefined threshold, the

motor may be stopped/started and/or reversed dependent on the application and the input signal. In other embodiments of the invention, the threshold(s) may e.g. be set directly based on the measured strain value, and the one or more thresholds may e.g. be set and e.g. calibrated accordingly.

Fig. 13 illustrates schematically a building aperture covering system 100, in this embodiment comprising a window roof/skylight window 50 comprising a device 1 according to embodiments of the invention. The roof window 50 is installed in a roof 60 and provides a building aperture covering. The roof window comprises a window sash part 52 for holding a window glass, and a fixed frame part 51 to which the window is connected by a hinge connection. The connection between the window sash and the frame arrangement may provide a top hinged window as illustrated, it may provide a centre hinged connection (not illustrated) and/or the like.

The device 2 is fixed to the frame in fig. 13, but may alternatively be fixed to the sash frame 52, and the push/pull chain connects the sash frame 52 and the fixed frame 51. Thus, when the control arrangement 6 (not illustrated in fig. 13) controls the motor in the device housing 1, the window may be opened or closed.

The window frame 51 may preferably be arranged in the roof 60 having an angle compared to horizontal which is between 5° and 90°, such 10° and 75° such as between 20° and 50°.

The sash 52 provides a weight on the housing 2 due to gravity, when the window is opened, and when an external force acts on the sash 52, this causes a weight change and thus a force change which is transferred to the housing 2, and which may be detected by the strain measurement arrangement as e.g. described above and/or below.

Fig. 14 illustrates an embodiment of the invention where a force F3 is provided on the window sash by a foreign object 70. This force provides a weight reduction of the window sash 52, and/or may even result in a pulling force in the chain before the window is closed dependent on if the motor tries to close the window and the resulting force acting on the chain provides a pulling force in the chain 3 due to the object 70 hindering a closing of the window.

In the present example, the object 70 supports on the roof or frame 51, and thus transfer a part of the weight of the sash 52 to the frame 51 directly.

This causes a reaction force change and thus a strain change in the housing 2 of the device 1 which the strain measurement arrangement may detect.

Fig. 15 illustrates an embodiment of the invention wherein the strain measurement arrangement 5 is configured to detect strain changes acting on the housing arrangement 2. The strain measurement arrangement 5 comprises one or more strain gauges attached to a plate or flexible sheet material 80 made from e.g. a plastic material, a metal or the like. This plate or sheet material 80 is attached to the housing wall 20, e.g. by an adhesive, or alternatively by mechanical fastening means such as one or more screws, an integrated clips system of the housing and/or the like. The strain measurement arrangement 5 thus detects the strain changes in the housing as strain changes in the plate or flexible sheet material 80. This solution may e.g. help to provide a more long lasting strain measuring solution.

Figs. l5a-l5d illustrates various embodiments of the present disclosure, wherein the strain measurement arrangement 5, such as a strain gauge, is attached to a support member 80, in the present disclosure a plate-shaped member, and the support member 80 is attached to a suitable wall W2c of the housing arrangement 2.

The support member 80 may be a plate or sheet material. For example, it may be a metal plate, a plastic plate, a fibre reinforced plastic material plate, a plate made from a composite material such as a glass fibre material or carbon fibre material and/or the like. Also, in embodiments of the present disclosure, the support member 80 may be a circuit board such as a printed circuit board (PCB). In this embodiment, the circuit board may in embodiments comprise electronic components and/or electrically conductive tracks connected to the strain measurement arrangement 5 used for processing and/or transferring input signals 7 comprising strain measurement information 7 transmitted to the control arrangement 6 as e.g. described above, see e.g. fig. 1 and/or 5 and the description thereto.

The support member 80 may also in embodiments of the present disclosure have another constitution and/or shape than plate-shaped.

The strain measurement arrangement 5 is attached to a surface 83 of the support member 80 by means of e.g. an adhesive 81 such as a glue placed between the strain measurement arrangement 5 and the surface 83 of the support member 80.

The strain measurement arrangement 5 is thus configured to detect strain changes in the support member 80 which occurs due to the reaction forces transferred from at least a part of the drive arrangement 10, 13 (not illustrated in figs. 15- l5d, see e.g. description above and/or below) to the wall W2c of the housing arrangement 2.

In figs. l5a-l5d, the support member 80 is attached to the housing arrangement 2 wall W2c by means of a fastening arrangement 82. This fastening arrangement 82 may e.g. comprise an adhesive, one or more melted fastening connections and/or one or more mechanical fastening arrangements as for example illustrated in the various embodiments of the present disclosure in figs. 15- l5d.

In figs. l5a-l5d, the support member 80 is attached to the housing arrangement 2 wall W2c at a plurality of discrete fixation positions by means of a plurality fastening arrangements 82.

In fig. l5a, the discrete fastening arrangements 82 comprises protrusions arranged between the support member 80 and the housing wall providing the wall surface 20. These protrusions may have been attached to or provided during the manufacturing of the housing arrangement 2. Hence, the support member 80 may be attached to the housing wall by means of the fastening arrangements 82, such as by means of a melted connection (such as heat to melt or soften the protrusions and attaching the support member 80 to the protrusions before they cool down and cure again).

Alternatively or additionally, an adhesive may be used.

In fig. l5b, the fastening arrangement 82 comprises discretely arranged screws that fixes the support member 80 to the housing arrangement 2 wall W2c. Alternatively, pop rivets or another mechanical solution may be used in other embodiments.

In fig. l5c, the fastening arrangements 82 comprises protrusions of different sizes extending from the support member 80 and the wall W2c of the housing arrangement 2 respectively. At least one of the protrusions is hollow and/or has an open structure, and has an opening or slit configured to receive the other protrusion. In further embodiments, the parts of the protrusions may be supplied by an adhesive such as a glue. So as to bond the protrusions together. The protrusions may hence be arranged to provide an at least temporary fixation solution until this adhesive cures.

In further embodiments of the present invention, the fastening arrangement(s) 82 may comprise a clips/snap connection system where a part on the wall W2c is configured to engage with another part fixed to the support member 82.

In fig. l5d, the fastening arrangements 82 comprises legs or protrusions arranged to extend into a receiving opening/recessed portion in the wall W2c. these legs or protrusions transfers strain changes in the wall W2c caused by at least a part of the drive arrangement 10, 13 (not illustrated in figs. 15- l5d, see e.g. description above and/or below) to the support member 80. The legs or protrusions may e.g. as illustrated be L-shaped to enable a sufficient fixation of the support member 80 to the wall. The legs or protrusions may e.g. be fixed by a resiliency in the support member that provides a holding or weding force so that the legs or protrusions are maintained engaged with the receiving opening/recessed portion in the wall W2c. When strain changes occur in the housing arrangement 2 wall W2c in the embodiments of Fig. 15 and figs. l5a-l5d due to reaction forces transferred from at a part of the drive arrangement (see e.g. previous description), these strain changes are transferred to the support member 80 through the fastening arrangement(s) 82. This induces strain changes in the support member 80 which are detected by the strain measurement arrangement 5.

It is understood that at least two, (see e.g. fig. l5d), at least three (see e.g. figs. l5a- l5c), at least four such as at least six discrete fastening arrangements 82 may be provided in embodiments of the present disclosure in order to assure a sufficient transfer of strain change from the housing wall W2c to the support member 80. For example, between 2 and 15 (both end points included), such as between 2 and 10, such as between 3 and 8 discrete fastening arrangements 82 may be used for fastening the support member 80 to the housing arrangement such as a housing wall in embodiments of the present disclosure.

It is understood that one or more types of fastening arrangements 82 as described in relation to e.g. figs. 15- l5d may be combined in further embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, one or more of the fastening arrangements 82 described in figs. l5a-l5c may be combined with an adhesive such as a glue, e.g. a two- component glue, and hence when the adhesive cures this may enhance strain transfer to the support member 80 from the fastening arrangements 82. Also or alternatively, an adhesive may in embodiments of the present disclosure additionally be supplied between the support member 80 and the wall so that the support member 80 surface facing the wall surface 20 adhere to the surface.

In further embodiments of the present disclosure, alone a glue such as an adhesive, e.g. a two component glue may be used for attaching the support member 80 to the wall of the housing. As can be seen in figs. l5a-l5d, a space may be provided between the support member 80 and the wall surface 20, but the support member 80 may also be arranged to abut the surface 20 in further embodiments of the present disclosure, or be screwed or in other ways attached, see e.g. the above description, directly to the housing wall.

Fig. 16 illustrates schematically a further embodiment of the invention wherein the strain measurement arrangement 5 is configured to detect strain changes acting on the housing arrangement 2. The strain measurement arrangement 5 comprises one or more strain gauges attached the housing wall 20 surface directly by an adhesive layer 81 such as a glue layer.

Fig. 17 illustrates schematically a graph according to embodiments of the invention wherein the control arrangement may be configured to detect strain direction changes in the housing 2. The Y axis indicates the voltage representing a measurement input from/provided based on the strain measurement arrangement 5, comprising a strain gauge arrangement, and graph 60 is the measurement input.

PRF refers to“Pressure Force”, i.e. where the window/sash pushes on the chain due to e.g. gravity, which is detected by the strain measurement arrangement. PUF refer to“Pull Force”, i.e. where the motor actively pull the chain in order to provide a sufficient closing of the window/door.

At time tiO-til, the building aperture covering, in this embodiment a roof window or a top hinged window, is open and thus acts on the chain 3 with a constant pushing force, which in this case is in the PRF zone on the y axis. The motor is started to close the window at til, and the window moves towards a closed position. At ti2, the window reaches a foreign object (see e.g. fig. 14), causing a gradual weight reduction on the window as the motor continues to close the window and as the frame or a building part may take some of the weight of the window. At ti3, the weigh transferred to the frame or building part substantially corresponds to the weight normally acting on the chain 3 when no foreign object is present. Thus, substantially no strain is detected in the housing 2 due to the window weight from the window.

From ti3 to ti4, the motor tries to pull (PUF zone in graph) the chain to close the window, and this provides a strain in a different direction which may be detected by the control arrangement 6

The change from pushing force to pulling force may e.g. (or vice versa) may e.g. be detected by a change in operational sign of the input signal, it may be detected by a predefined value such as e.g. a strain gauge resistance value and/or it may also be detected in other ways dependent on the processing of the measurement information from the strain gauge(s) and/or dependent on the measurement arrangement 5 output 7 signal type/configuration.

At ti4, the foreign object 70 is removed and the chain thus is exposed the window weight again and/or the motor rotation direction is reversed.

It is understood that no threshold is indicated in fig 17, but that a threshold may be set based on any suitable value in order to provide a proper detection of foreign objects. For example at a proper location within the PUF zone in the graph, where the strain is detected or determined to be a pulling force and the housing strain changes a predefined amount per time (e.g. based on a differentiation calculation of the information 60 from the measurement arrangement 5). This may however e.g. depend on the weight of the sash and window part acting on the chain, and such a weight is determined to be too high to be accepted as a force acting on a human body part, the threshold may e.g. be set at a location in the PRF zone of the graph, and e.g. also be based on input from a position sensor arrangement as described in relation to e.g. fig. 5. For example, if the weight is determined to be reduced, but that a pull force is not yet provided by the motor and the position sensor arrangement provides the information that the window or door is not yet closed, this may reflect that a foreign object is catched between sash and frame or building part, and the control arrangement may thus reverse the motor or stop the motor for closing the window sash or door further.

In embodiments of the invention, it is understood that the threshold may be varied dependent on the sash position, e.g. so that the threshold is lowered as the wsash gets closer to the window frame, and allows a reduced about of pulling force (in the PUF zone) before the window is closed. This may be provided in order to assure that if a person e.g. get a finger or smaller body part in between sash and fixed frame, this may faster trigger a stopping and preferably also reversing of the motor rotation direction compared to if the sash is more open.

Generally, it is noted that the measurement information 60, may be utilized for controlling the motor to e.g. close the building aperture blinding.

For example, if

• it is detected that the motor 4 is active,

• that the strain detected in the housing changes a direction (e.g. in a situation like at ti3 in fig.16),

• that a calculation, determines that a rapid load/strain change is

registered, and

• that a sensor detects that the window is not in a closed position,

this may cause the control arrangement 6 to stop the motor 4, and/or reverse the motor rotation direction to allow a removal of the foreign object.

It is generally understood that the building aperture covering system 100 and/or the device described above in embodiments of the present disclosure may be configured to provide one or more of the following based on the strain measurement information 7 obtained by the strain measurement arrangement 5: • entrapment detection of a foreign object at a window such as a roof window,

• measurement/input for detecting house breaking/burglary,

• detecting and/or controlling upon wind loads acting on a window or door controlled by the device,

• for detecting weight of snow on a window or door to which the device is connected, and/or

• detecting force overloads.

For example, an entrapment detection may e.g. be provided determine whether or not a foreign objects is trapped between e.g. a window sash and a frame when closing the window.

The strain measurement information 7 may e.g. be utilized as measurement information/input parameter for detecting house breaking/burglary. For example, if the value of the strain measurement information 7 exceeds a threshold for a certain amount of time, and a timer (e.g. controlled by the control arrangement) has elapsed (and/or other predefined criteria are complied with), a house breaking/burglary alarm may be set. The strain measurement information 7 may for example in embodiments be utilized for detecting and/or controlling upon wind loads acting on a window, where the position of the window is controlled by the drive arrangement 10. Hence, a wind load may provide a force that may be detected by the strain measurement information 7, and the control arrangement may thus e.g. be programmed to either refuse an opening of the window, to automatically close the window or only allow the window to open a certain amount based on e.g. a threshold as previously explained, see e.g. figs. 11 or 12.

If the strain measurement information 7 is used as input by the control arrangement 6 for e.g. detecting the presence/weight of snow on a window, a predetermined force threshold may e.g. be set, and if the threshold is exceeded upon opening of the window, the control arrangement 6 may be configured to not allowing opening of the window, and a warning or information may be presented to a user on a screen indicating this. In general, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the particular examples described above but may be adapted in a multitude of varieties within the scope of the invention as specified in e.g. the claims. It is e.g. to be understood that the device 1 in embodiments of the invention may be a device configured to be retrofitted onto existing windows, such as roof windows, doors or the like. In other embodiments of the invention, at least the housing 2 of the device may be integrated into a window or door frame.