AU707216B3 - Door stop - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 Mr Andrew Keriacou PETTY PATENT SPECIFICATION Invention Title: Improvements in door stops The invention is described in the following statement: Background of the Invention This invention relates to improvements in door stops.

Background of the Invention Door stops may be used to hold doors in an open position. Some types of door stop may also be used to prevent a door or door handle from striking adjacent walls when the door is opened to prevent damage to either the door or the wall. One existing type of door stops comprises a rubber cylinder which can be screwed or otherwise mounted on a floor and acts as a barrier in the path of the door as it opens to prevent the door or door handle from striking the wall when opened. While this type of stop prevents the door from contacting the wall, it cannot be used to actually hold a door in an open position. Also wooden or rubber wedges are known which can be wedged beneath the underside of a door and the floor to wedge the door open. One problem with using such wedge type door stops, is that they are often accidentally kicked out from under the door. They are loose and may be lost or misplaced. Further they do not prevent the door or door handle from striking the adjacent wall.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved door stop.

Summary of the Invention According to the present invention, there is provided a door stop comprising: a base portion for attachment to a floor or floor surface in use; a first stop means defined on an upper surface of the base portion; and an opposed, second stop means facing the first stop means, wherein a gap of approximately the thickness of a door is defined between the first and second stop means, characterised in that the second stop means is movable between an extended position and a retracted position in which it is displaced into the base to allow a door to swing over the second stop means, said second stop means being biased to return to the extended position thereafter thereby trapping the door between the first and second stop portions.

In a particularly preferred embodiment the second stop means is defined by one end of a tongue whose other end is integral with. the base portion and a recess is defined in the base beneath the tongue for receiving the tongue when the second stop is in the retracted position.

The door stop can be niade from any suitable material, although a plastics material is preferred. The stop is preferably moulded in a single piece. Use of a plastics material for forming the device is advantageous since it allows the tongue to be manufactured projecting upwards to define the second stop as a free end which will because of the flexibility and the resilience of the plastics material, be able to be pushed down into the recess and then flex upwardly without the use of a separate biasing means such as a spring.

The door stop may define two or more hole for receiving a screw or the like to enable the device to be screwed into a floor. Alternatively, the door stops might be fastened to the floor by means of adhesive or any other suitable fixing means.

It is preferred that the body of the device does not define any sharp corners or edges.

Spacer blocks having substantially the same configuration as the base of the device may be provided so that the height of the stop portions can be adjusted depending on the gap between the base of the door and the floor surface.

Brief Description of the Drawings Specific embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a door stop embodying the present invention; Figure 2 is a schematic side view of a door stop and the lower edge of a door; Figure 3 is a plan view from above of the door stop of Figure 1; and Figure 4 is a plan view from above of a spacer block.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments Referring to the drawings, it can be seen that the door stop embodying the present invention, generally indicated at 10 has a generally planar base portion having a wider main body portion 12 and a somewhat narrower neck portion 14. Holes 16, 18 extend through the base portion for attaching the door stop to a floor using screws. The upper edges of the holes are chamfered to receive screw heads. Projecting upwardly from the neck portion 14, there is a generally wedge shaped portion 20 which defines a sloping surface 22 and an end face or first stop face 24 which is generally perpendicular to the base. Where the top of the wedge portion and the top of the face 24 meet is rounded so as not to define a sharp edge.

Facing the wedge 22, and spaced apart from the same by a distance which is slightly larger than a typical door thickness, is a tongue portion 26 formed from a solid rectangular piece of plastics material having a first free end 28 and a second end 30 which is integral with the base. The second end of the tongue is located in a recess 32 which is also rectangular in plan and is slightly larger than the tongue 26. The tongue extends out from the recess at an angle to the base. The flexible tongue 26 can be pressed down by foot or by hand into the cut out recess 32 so that the upper surface of the tongue is substantially flush with the upper surface of the base 12 and the free end 28 is located in the recess. This retraction of the tongue is achieved partly by bending of the tongue and partly by the second end acting as a hinge.

Thus, as illustrated in Figure 2, a door 34 swinging about a hinge can be retained in an open position by securing the door stop embodying the present invention to the floor surface under the path of the door as it opens, at the desired position. The door may be held between the two faces 24 and 28 of the stop and the tongue by pushing the tongue portion into the recess to allow a door to swing over the base 12 into the gap between the tongue and stop 20. The tongue may be pushed down manually or may be simply deflected by a door as it swings and passes over the tongue. The tongue then returns to its extended position so that the door is held between two stop surfaces 28 and 24. If the door is swung back against the stop surface 28, this will tend to have the effect of pushing the tongue upwardly and therefore would prevent the door from swinging back over the tongue.

Figure 4 illustrates a sheet of spacer element 40, whose shape is the same as the outline of the base which can be secured beneath the door stop should it be necessary to raise the door stop to account for the size of the gap between the door and the floor surface over which the door swings.

To release the door, all that is necessary is to press the tongue 28 into the recess and this allows the door to be swung past the tongue and therefore close.

Advantageously, since the door stop 10 embodying the present invention may be screwed or otherwise fixed to a floor surface, unlike a wedge, cannot be kicked out from under the door. Also, the provision of the stop 20 can be used to prevent the door or the door handle from hitting adjacent wall and damaging either the wall or the door handle which is not possible with a wedge.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

Claims (3)

1. A door stop comprising: a base portion for attachment to a floor or floor surface in use; a first stop means defined on an upper surface of the base portion; and an opposed, second stop means facing the first stop means, wherein a gap of approximately the thickness of a door is defined between the first and second stop means, characterised in that the second stop means is movable between an extended position and a retracted position in which it is displaced into the base to allow a door to swing over the second stop means, said second stop means being biased to return to the extended position thereafter thereby trapping the door between the first and second stop portions.

2. A door stop as claimed in claim 1 wherein the second stop means is defined by one end of a tongue whose other end is integral with the base portion and a recess is defined in the base beneath the tongue for receiving the tongue when the second stop is in the retracted position.

3. A door stop as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 further including one or more spacer elements having substantially the same planar shape as the base of the device to allow the height of the stop portions above a floor surface to be adjusted to compensate for gaps between the base of the door and the floor surface. Dated this fourth day of May 1999 Mr Andrew Keriacou Patent Attorneys for the Applicant: F B RICE CO