When constructing a glazed structure such as a conservatory, it is frequently necessary to glaze up to a wall. Where the glazing is vertical, such as a window, making a weatherproof seal between the glazing and wall presents few problems. It is more difficult to effect a waterproof seal between the wall and the glazing bar when the glazing is inclined to the vertical, or even horizontal, as is common with glazed roof sections in conservatories. Good practice dictates that the glazing is always fitted with a'fall'in at least one direction to allow rainwater to run off.

Many systems are in common usage to achieve such a seal, and an object of the present invention is to provide a design for a sealing system for effecting a seal between a wall and a glazing bar, that incorporates an improvement over existing systems.

One aspect of the present invention is set out in the attached claims.

The present invention will now be described, by way of an example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:- Figure 1 shows an exploded end-on view of a glazing bar assembly constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 shows the glazing bar assembly of Figure 1 partly assembled, and, Figure 3 shows the glazing bar assembly of Figure 1 fully assembled.

Referring to Figures 1 to 3, the glazing bar assembly 10 comprises a number of specially designed components 11,14,15, and 18 have been produced to support glazed roof panels 13 and effect a waterproof seal between the glazing bar assembly and a vertical wall 16.

In greater detail, as shown in Figure 1, the glazing bar assembly 10 comprises a spine member11 made in the form of a continuous aluminium extrusion of an inverted'T'section that is symmetric about a central web 12. The spine member11 is dimensioned so as to be capable of supporting a conventional glazed roof panel 13 (which may be a single or double glazed glass panel or, preferably a translucent polycarbonate material), an elongated extruded plastic top cap section 14, and an elongate extruded plastic bottom cap section 15.

Both sections 14 and 15 have flexibly sprung seals 16 co-extruded in their edges as shown.

The glazing bar assembly 10 includes a wall bar 18 in the form of an elongate plastic extrusion that has a flat back 19, an upwardly projecting portion 20, and a downwardly projecting portion 21. The lower projection 21 is shaped and dimensioned to engage with the bottom flange 22 of the spine member11. The upper projection 20 has a flexible seal 23 co- extruded in its edge.

To assemble the glazing bar assembly 10 on a wall 24, the wall bar 18 is assembled to the spine member 11 by engaging lower projection 21 with the bottom flange 22 of the spine member 11, effectively locking it into position. The spine member 11, with the wall bar 18 attached to it, is then mounted on end supports that are secured to the wall 24 with the wall bar 18 tight up to wall 24. Alternatively, the spine member11 can be mounted alone on its end supports (not shown) close up to wall 24, and the wall bar 18 is then pressed into the small gap between the wall 24 and the spine member11 to engage the lower bottom flange 22, effectively closing the aforementioned gap.

At this point in the construction sequence, the joint between wall bar 18 and the wall 24 may be finished by (preferably) conventional flashing 26 as shown in Figure 2, or the application of mastic between wall 24 and wall bar 18, or the fitment of a standard'L'section moulding for rendered walls. It is particularly beneficial to be able to complete the installation of the flashing 26 at this stage, because the glazing panels 13 are not yet in position and consequently it is easy to access the joint between wall 24 and wall bar 18 to fix the flashing 26. As the exposed portion of the flashing 26 is effectively flat, it requires considerably less material than similar conventional constructions and the resulting appearance is very neat.

The bottom flange 22 of the spine member11 has two recesses 27 into which projections 28 on the lower cap 15 locate when the cap 15 is'sprung'into position beneath spine member11. The glazing panel 13 is then mounted onto the bottom flange 26 of the spine member (2). The glazing panel 23 rests on seal 16 of the bottom cap section 15. The upper extremity of the central web 18 has a substantially"U"shaped serrated recess 28 into which a'fir tree'section tongue 29 is located to complete the assembly.

During the fitting of the top cap 14, the upper projection 20 of the wall bar 18 flexes in order to provide a seal between the underside surface of the top cap 14 and the wall bar 18. The upper projection 21 also prevents the top cap 14 from tilting when the seal 17 comes into contact with glazing panel 23.

The completed assembly is shown in Figure 3, where it can be seen that a weatherproof joint has been effected. During periods of rain, water hitting the top cap 14 either flows down onto glazing seal 23, or is deflected into the channel formed between the flat section 22 and upper projection 21 of the wall bar 18, ultimately discharging from the lowest point of wall bar 18 into guttering (not shown).

Failure of top cap seal will allow water to enter both sides of an internal channel formed between the central web 18 and the lower flange 26 of the spine member11. Further leakage into the building is prevented by the seals 16 constraining the water to run along the bottom flange 22 of the spine member 11, eventually also discharging into guttering (not shown).

Flow of rainwater along the channels can be encouraged by installing the wall bar 18 and the spine member with a slight run-off along its length so that rainwater flows along the length of the extrusions.

In the above-described embodiment the glazing bar assembly includes a wall bar for attaching a glazed structure against a wall, it is to be understood that the spine member 11, top cap 14 and bottom cap 15 could be used for normal glazing bars for use on other parts of a roof or sides of a conservatory instead of fixing to a wall. I this latter case, the wall bar 18 would be dispensed with, and in its place, a glazing panel 13 would be used. In other words, the left hand part of the assembly 10 would be symmetrical with the right hand part of the assembly shown in Figure 3.

The patent monopoly extends to the assembly and to the individual components.