AU2004100232A4 - A Method For Insulating Garage Doors and Doors of Similar Construction - Google Patents

Description

Christopher Adrian Haramija

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 INNOVATION SPECIFICATION Invention Title: A Method For Insulating Garage Doors and Doors of Similar Construction The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: TITLE OF THE INVENTION A Method For Insulating Garage Doors and Doors of Similar Construction This invention relates to a method for insulating doors. In particular, the invention concerns a method for retrofitting a garage door or a door of similar construction with insulation for reducing the transmission of heat, the cold or noise through the door.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Garages and other enclosures, which are accessed by way of an uninsulated garage door or door of similar construction having a large surface area, have the problem that they tend to be overly warm, overly cool or noisy places primarily due to the door being a poor insulator of heat, the cold and noise.

Such doors tend to comprise one or more uninsulated panels, and heat, the cold and noise tend to readily transmit through the panel/s into the garage or enclosure.

The present inventor has now invented a method for retrofitting a garage door or a door of similar construction with insulation which reduces the transmission of heat, the cold or noise through the door.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for retrofitting a garage door or a door of similar construction with insulation, said method comprising the step of attaching insulation to the door.

The insulation can be of any suitable size, shape and composition. The insulation can, for instance, be made of fibreglass, mineral wool, foam such as expanded polystyrene, polyurethane, vermiculite, cork or aluminium foil, or a combination of any of the aforementioned. The insulation can be in the form of a casing enclosing loose fill, a flexible blanket, a sheet, a panel, a rigid batt, a slab, or a combination of any of the aforementioned. The insulation can be multilayered and can comprise two or more different material layers. The aluminium foil can, for instance, be combined with bulk insulating materials for further protection against both heat and noise. Preferably, the insulation comprises one or more slabs of expanded polystyrene.

The insulation can be attached to the door in any suitable way. The insulation can be attached to the door, for example, with fasteners, brackets and/or adhesive. Alternatively, or additionally, the insulation can be attached using suitably shaped parts of the door, e.g. a tongue and groove arrangement.

Preferably, the invention relates to a method for insulating garage doors such as roller doors, single panel lift doors and sectional overhead doors. More preferably, the invention relates to a method for insulating a sectional overhead door having a plurality of sections hinged to and above one another.

Such doors are well known and are sold in Australia by CSI Doors (trade mark "Slimmasta"), Bluescope Steel, B&D Doors (trade mark "Panelift") and Gliderol (trade mark "Panel-Glide"). Such doors are also described in, for example, US Patent No 5,036,899, US Patent No 2,015,402 and European Patent Application No 1158131, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, there is provided a method for retrofitting a sectional overhead door with insulation, said door having a plurality of sections hinged to and above one another, said method comprising the step of attaching at least one slab of insulating material to at least one of said sections.

Each section of the sectional overhead door can include a rectangular panel having upper and lower rolled-over edges, and stiles extending between the upper and lower edges. The stiles of one section are preferably in vertical alignment with the stiles of all other sections. At least one section can also include a stiffener (eg. rail) connected to each of the stiles of that section.

Adjacent vertically aligned stiles can be connected to one another with hinges.

The slab of insulating material is attachable to the door in any suitable way.

Preferably, the slab is sized to fit snugly between adjacent stiles of a section, and upper and lower edges of the slab are retained within respective channels provided by the upper and lower rolled-over edges of the panel. The rail of a section can be spaced from the panel of that section and can be used to further hold the slab against the panel. If necessary, adhesive applied to the slab can be used to further attach the slab to the panel. Any suitable adhesive can be used, such as, for example, roofing gutter sealant.

The slab of insulating material can be flexible and made of foam, preferably expanded polystyrene. The slab can be of any suitable length, width and height. The slab can be cut into any suitable shape.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a garage door or a door of similar construction when retrofitted with the insulation according to the method of the invention.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided a slab of expanded polystyrene when used to insulate a garage door or a door of similar construction in accordance with the method of the invention.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a perspective view of part of a garage door assembly having a sectional overhead door retrofitted with expanded polystyrene slabs, according to a method of the present invention; Figure 2 is a partial cross-sectional view taken through plane A-A of the door of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a partially detailed rear elevation view of the door of Figure 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the figures, like reference numerals refer to like features.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of part of a garage door assembly 1 having a sectional overhead door 2 retrofitted with insulation 25 according to a preferred method of the present invention. A pair of tracks 15 receive rollers 16 (only some of which have been labelled) of the door 2 and guide the movement of the door 2 between open and closed positions. In this particular embodiment, the door 2 comprises five sections 3-7 hinged to and above one another with hinges 8 (only some of which have been labelled).

As seen in Figure 2, sections 3-7 each comprise a thin metal rectangular panel 9 having upper and lower rolled-over edges 10, 11 (only some of which have been labelled). Each section 3-7 has four metal stiles 18 (only some of which have been labelled) which extend between the upper and lower rolledover edges 10, 11. A metal rail 19 (stiffener) is spaced from panel 9 of section 3 and is connected to each of the stiles 18 of that section 3. Another metal rail 20 is spaced from panel 9 of section 7 and is connected to each of the stiles 18 of that section 7. The rollers 16 (not shown in Figure 2) are pinned to hinges 8 which are located at a periphery of the door 2. Two of the rollers 16 are also pinned to the ends of rail 20. The stiles 18 of each section 3-7 are in vertical alignment with one another. Adjacent vertically aligned stiles 18 are connected to one another with the hinges 8 such that the sections 3-7 can pivot relative to one another when moving between the open (overhead horizontal) and closed (lowered vertical) positions.

The insulation 2 consists of a plurality of flexible expanded polystyrene slabs (only some of which have been labelled). Each slab 25 is sized to fit snugly between adjacent stiles 18 of a section 3-7. Upper and lower edges of each slab 25 are received and retained within channels provided by the upper and lower rolled-over edges 10, 11 of each section 3-7. This is best seen in Figure 2. In the case of sections 3 and 7, the slabs 25 also extend between the respective rails 19, 20 and panels 9.

In order to insulate a sectional overhead door 2, expanded polystyrene slabs 25 of suitable size are fitted by an operator between adjacent stiles 18 and the upper and lower rolled-over edges 10, 11 of each section 3-7, much like fitting a sliding window within a window frame. If required, the operator can also pre-apply adhesive, such as roofing gutter sealant, to the slabs 25 in order to adhere the slabs 25 to the panels 9. The slabs 25 can be coloured or otherwise decorated such that they are aesthetically pleasing.

In this way, an uninsulated garage door can be readily retrofitted with insulation to effectively insulate the garage against heat, the cold and noise.

Whilst the above has been given by way of illustrative example of the invention, many modifications and variations may be made thereto by persons skilled in the art without departing from the broad scope and ambit of the invention as herein set forth.

Claims (4)

1. A method for retrofitting a garage door or a door of similar construction with insulation, said method comprising the step of attaching insulation to the door.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the insulation comprises at least one slab of expanded polystyrene.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the door is a sectional overhead door having a plurality of sections hinged to and above one another, with each said section including a rectangular panel having upper and lower rolled-over edges and stiles extending between the upper and lower edges, and wherein the slab is sized to fit between adjacent said stiles of a said section, and upper and lower edges of the slab are retained within respective channels provided by the upper and lower rolled-over edges of the panel.

4. The method of any one of the preceding claims further comprising the step of attaching the insulation to the door with adhesive. A door when retrofitted with insulation according to the method of any one of claims 1 to 4. DATED this 2 9th day of March 2004 Christopher Adrian Haramija By His Patent Attorneys CULLEN CO.