AU2006100004A4 - Variable Height Door Seal - Google Patents

Description

Our Ref: 3351Inno P/00/009 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 INNOVATION SPECIFICATION FOR AN INVENTION ENTITLED Invention title: Name of Applicant: Address for Service Variable Height Door Seal Raven Products Pty Ltd A.P.T. Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys PO Box 222 Mitcham, S.A. 5062 The invention is described in the following statement: FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention is useful as an accessory for windows and doors or similar features of buildings. The invention relates to a seal arrangement which can be used to seal the gaps between windows, doors or similar products and window frames or floors.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Once a window or door of a building has been installed, it is inevitable that a gap will be created between the frame of the window or door, or between the door and the floor. The existence of gap can have adverse effects resulting in, for example, invasion of rain, insects, smoke, light, dust and noise. The solutions available at present include using a sweeping brush or mechanical seal to seal the gaps. Some rely on door sills to seal the gaps between the door and the floor. However, some of these seals can be worn off or age quickly due to their structure. Some, such as mechanical seals, are expensive and the results created by some of these seals may not be ideal.

For the purposes of this specification the word "comprising" means "including but not limited to", and the word "comprises" has a corresponding meaning. Also a reference within this specification to a document is not to be taken as an admission that the disclosure therein constitutes common general knowledge in Australia.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a seal arrangement that obviates or reduces one or more problems associated with earlier known seals or at least provides the public with a useful choice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one form the invention might be said to reside in a sealing member, suitable for installation at a part a closure or a surround of the closure, the closure and surround spaced apart to define a gap therebetween, the sealing member being elongate and having a flexible sealing section and a leg section, the leg section being joined with the sealing section, a fixing means on the leg section to fix the leg section onto the surround or closure so that when installed the sealing part extends away from the surround or the closure, the sealing section when so installed being resiliently flexible.

In one form the leg section comprising a first leg and a second leg, both joined to the sealing section, the legs being either rigid or semi-rigid and harder than the sealing section.

Preferably the sealing member has fixing means, the fixing means including screw holes spaced apart along the legs and further comprising suitable screws for the holes to fix the strip to the closure or surround through the screw holes, more preferably the screw holes or the screws in the holes are covered either completely or partially by the sealing section or are exposed entirely at the external side of the sealing part when the sealing member is fitted.

In another form the fixing means includes a double-side adhesive on a surface of the legs.

In another form the sealing member includes a supporting means, the height of which is greater than the thickness of the supporting legs to reduce the deformability of the sealing section when deflected past a predetermined position.

The supporting means may comprise two or more elongate members that join together at upper edges thereof to form an inverted V, the supporting pieces being flexible and inside of the sealing section.

The supporting mean may alternatively comprise the sealing section having a progressive increase of cross sectional thickness of the sealing section toward a centre thereof.

In a preferred form the sealing member comprises a polymeric material the sealing section containing plasticizer, whereas the legs have no plasticer, the legs and sealing section being co-extruded so as to be joined together.

Preferably the legs are rigid or semi-rigid and the sealing section and legs are joined by reason of being formed by co-extrusion, the strip being made wholly or partly of PVC, thermal-plastic rubber, TPU, natural rubber or artificial polymers.

The plasticizer of the sealing section may be either a non-volatile organic liquid or low melting point solid particle, and in a specific form the plasticizer is either dioctyl phthalate or stearic acid.

The legs are preferably flat shaped, and the sealing section when fitted is arched, the sealing section generally taking the form of a strip.

Where two supporting legs are provided these are preferably joined to the sealing section respectively at the external and the internal side (relative to the closure), or both are joined at the middle between the external and internal ends such that on installation the two legs are completely or partially covered by the sealing section, or exposed entirely.

In one application the sealing member is fixed to a floor to seal the gap between the floor and the bottom of the door.

In another application the sealing member is installed at the bottom of the door the sealing section extending downwardly to contact the sill below the bottom of the door.

The advantages of at least some preferred forms of the invention are as follows: When the edge of a window and door touches and gently presses the soft sealing section of the sealing member, or the sealing member is installed on a closure such as window and door and when the window/door is closed, the soft sealing section will be depressed. The sealing section, with the capability of transforming flexibly, will create a tight sealing section. It can effectively eliminate the invasion of rain, insects, dust, smoke, light, and noise. The sealing section will go back to its original shape when the door or window is opened.

The sealing member has a very simple structure and can be easily manufactured.

The sealing section and legs can be easily made with the technology of co-extrusion using polymers such as PVC.

The sealing member has a strip shape and is easy to transfer and store.

Installation is easy. Firstly, measure the distance between the two legs to ensure the sealing section reaches the height required after installation; then use either double-side adhesive or screws to fix the two supporting legs on the floor or the position of the door sill, or the edge of a door or window such as the bottom edge of a door. The double-side adhesive can be applied onto the legs in the process of manufacture. Screws will be packed together with the sealing device. Further, as the height of the sealing device depends on the distance between the supporting legs, the height can be adjusted in the process of installation so to make the sealing device suitable for various gaps.

When installing the sealing device, it is recommended that the height of the sealing member be slightly higher than the actual size of the gap. This will ensure good sealing result as the sealing part is very soft and able to change the shape easily when pressed when either the bottom of a closing component such as door touches the sealing part, or when the sealing device installed at the bottom of the door touches the section above the ground.

For a better understanding the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings wherein: BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a cross sectional view of a first illustrated embodiment of a sealing member installed on a floor. The closure such as the bottom of the door does not touch the top of the device. However, when the installation is completed and the closure is in a closed position, it will depress the top of the sealing section by contact from the top, as illustrated in Figure 3, Figure 2 is the same view as in Figure 1 after the first step of installation has been completed, Figure 3 is the same view as in Figure 1 after the second step of installation has been completed, Figures 4-8 are cross sectional views of a range of embodiments of sealing members showing some variations of positions of legs and screw holes, Figure 9 is a cross sectional view of an embodiment of the sealing device having an upright supporting member, Figure 10 is a cross sectional view of a further embodiment of the sealing member having a supporting member with an inverted V shape, Figure 11 is a cross sectional view of a further embodiment of the sealing member with fixing means on the legs being a double-side tape. Also illustrated is the progressive increase in thickness of the sealing section toward the centre thereof, Figure 12 is a perspective view of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 1, and Figure 13 is a side view of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS As figure 1 shows, the new sealing member can be installed on a bottom part of a gap that needs to be sealed, so that when a closure is in a closed position, the sealing member can seal the gap between the edge of the closure and the surface of the bottom part. In such a situation, the closure is a door and the bottom part means a floor. However the sealing member is not limited to this type of application. For instance, the closure can be a window and the bottom part can be a window frame that is vertical, horizontal or curved. When the closure is a door, the bottom part can be a vertical door head, horizontal door frame, threshold or door sill. The sealing member can also be fitted onto a closure such as bottom of a door, working in conjunction with a threshold installed at the bottom, or with a strip-shaped fixture above the base. The sealing member can be used to seal the gap extant in a hinged door or window, or a slide door or window.

In the process of manufacturing the sealing member, PVC is used to make the rigid or semi-rigid legs and the soft sealing section. However, for the flexible sealing section, plasticizer can be added into the PVC to increase the flexibility and softness of the sealing section. Also in the manufacture process, plasticizer may serve as stabilizer and reagent. For the supporting legs, they need to be rigid and semi-rigid as a final product therefore no plasticizer should be added in the manufacture process.

Alternatively, apart for PVC, the material used to make the sealing device can also be thermal-plastic rubber, TPU (thermo plastic polyurethane elastomer), natural rubber or artificial polymers.

The plasticizer referred to is either non-volatile organic liquid or low melting solids such as dioctyl phthalate or stearic acid.

Claims (16)

1. A sealing member, suitable for installation at a bottom part a closure or a surround of the closure, the closure and surround spaced apart vertically to define a gap therebetween, the sealing member being elongate and having a flexible sealing section and a leg section, the leg section being joined with the sealing section, a fixing means on the leg section to fix the leg section onto the surround or closure so that when installed the sealing part extends vertically away from the surround or the closure, the sealing section when so installed being resiliently flexible.

2. The sealing member as in claim 1, the leg section comprising a first leg and a second leg, both joined to the sealing section, the legs being either rigid or semi-rigid and harder than the sealing section.

3. The sealing member as in either claim 1 or claim 2 having fixing means, the fixing means including screw holes spaced apart along the legs and further comprising suitable screws for the holes the matching screws to fix the strip to the closure or surround through the screw holes.

4. The sealing member as in either claim 1 or 2 having fixing means, the fixing means including a double-side adhesive on a surface of the legs.

The sealing member as in either claim 1 and 2 having a supporting means, the height of which is greater than the thickness of the supporting legs to reduce the deformability of the sealing section when deflected past a predetermined position.

6. The sealing member of claim 5 where the supporting means comprises two or more elongate members that join together at upper edges thereof to form an inverted V, the supporting pieces being flexible and inside of the sealing section.

7. The sealing member of claim 5 wherein supporting part comprises the sealing section having a progressive increase of cross sectional thickness of the sealing section toward a centre thereof.

8. The sealing member of claim 2 of a polymeric material the sealing section containing plasticizer, whereas the legs have no plasticer, the legs and sealing section being co-extruded so as to be joined together.

9. The sealing member of claim 8 wherein the legs are rigid or semi-rigid and the sealing section and legs are joined by reason being formed by co-extrusion, the strip being made wholly or partly of PVC, thermal-plastic rubber, TPU, natural rubber or artificial polymers.

The sealing member of claim 8 wherein the plasticizer is either a non-volatile organic liquid or low melting point solid particle.

11. The sealing member of claim 10 wherein the plasticizer is either dioctyl phthalate or stearic acid.

12. The sealing member of either claim 1 or 2 where the leg are flat shaped, and the sealing section when fitted is arched, the sealing section generally taking the form of a strip.

13. The sealing member of claim 2 wherein both supporting legs are joined to the sealing section respectively at the external and the internal side, or both are joined at the middle between the external and internal ends such that on installation the two legs are completely or partially covered by the sealing section, or exposed entirely.

14. The sealing member of claim 3 wherein the said screw holes or the screws in the holes are covered either completely or partially by the sealing section or are exposed entirely at the external side of the sealing part when the sealing member is fitted.

The sealing member of claim 1 being fixed to a floor to seal the gap between the floor and the bottom of the door.

16. The sealing member of claim 1 being installed at the bottom of the door the sealing section extending downwardly to contact the sill below the bottom of the door. Dated this 3rd day of January 2006 RAVEN PRODUCTS PTY LTD By their Patent Attorneys A.P.T. Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys