CA2285521A1 - Frictional door stopper - Google Patents

Abstract

A frictional door stopper, having a continuous strip of resilient thermoplastic material, and an attachment device to hold it against the lower edge of the door, and a slotted opening, and, the strip being resiliently flexible to form a loop, and having tongue which can be slid into the slotted opening to form a resilient loop.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a door stopper which is easily attachable to a door to provide greater or lesser friction between the door and the floor, so that the door is held in a predetermined partially opened position by friction, but can be moved to and from by hand pressure.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
to A door may typically be swung between open and closed positions.
When it is closed the latch is locked and holds the door shut. When the door is open, it is usually free to swing to and fro. Wedges and other devices are available to wedge a door open. However they had the disadvantage that once wedged the door is immovable until the wedge is released by moving the door away from the wedge. Once the door is released it is free to swing to and fro.
In addition, the positioning and insertion of the wedge usually requires a person to bend over, and this may be inconvenient and tiresome.
Various products have been designed to provide releasable door wedges which can be attached to the bottom of doors, and simply operated by the foot. Such devices again usually function to hold a door securely in a wedged open position, and once released leave the door free to swing.
It is however desirable in many situations to provide a door which is held partially open, while rendering the door movable by hand to allow free access to a room. Typically these situations occur in the care of small children or elderly persons or persons suffering from some kind of sickness. In these cases it may be desirable to leave the door "ajar", so that if the child or person cries out, or moves unexpectedly, the sounds can be heard through the door opening, and the care person may react swiftly.
Particularly for example, in the case of child care, it is a common experience for parents or child care persons to simply prop a door open by the use of a shoe or slipper.
These simple homely expedients are however inconvenient and to ineffective. In particular, if there is any draft or if there is a wind from an open window the door will swing open and closed and will continually bump against whatever is being used as a door stopper. This may awaken a child or irritate a person in a room, and may in itself create a problem for a child care person resting in an adjacent room.
The requirement for a frictional door stopper may also arise in many other situations such as bedrooms, bathrooms, offices, kitchens and the like, in all of which situations it may at some time be desirable to leave a door ajar so that it is not fully closed and is not fully open, and is held against random 2 o swinging, but is nevertheless rendered movable by hand.
For all of these reasons, it is desirable to provide form of door stop which engages the floor simply by means of friction. In this way, the door may be held open at any desired position, either being open no more than a few inches, or being swung wider open, and the adjustable door stopper will hold the door by means of friction in that position, and prevent it from being swung to and fro by forces such as drafts and wind.

However, it is clearly further desirable that the friction should not be so great that the door cannot be swung open by hand, by an adult or by a child when it is required.
s It is not intended that the door stop shall totally prevent movement of the door, and indeed it is considered undesirable that it should do so. It is simply intended that the door stop will prevent uncontrolled swinging of the door in a random fashion.
to It is also desirable that the door stopper shall be capable of being readily attached to a door wherever it is required, and in some cases, it is desirable that it may be readily attached to and detached from the door without the need of special tools, and without damaging the door.
15 It is also desirable that the door stopper shall be of simple construction without the requirement for special instructions or skill as to use. Further, a desirable characteristic is that the door stopper may be moved readily from one door to another, depending upon the requirements of a particular time or day.
Ease of manufacture, packaging, shipping and sale are also important factors.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
With a view to providing a door stopper which meets the major objectives described above, the invention comprises a frictional door stopper, consisting of a continuous strip of resilient thermoplastic material, and having one attachment portion of the strip which is provided with means whereby it may be held flat against the lower edge of the door, and having at it send a slotted opening, and, the remainder of the strip being resiliently flexible to form a loop, and having an upper tongue portion which can be slid into the slotted opening to provide a loop, which is dimensioned and arranged so that it extends downwardly below the edge of the door and frictionally engages the surface of the floor.
s In one form of the invention, the exterior generally convex portion of the loop will be provided with a strip of frictional material, which may provide a greater friction against the floor, or floor covering.
Another feature of the invention in one embodiment, is the provision of 1 o a moveable positional lock on the upper tongue, so that once the upper tongue portion may be adjusted into the desired position to produce the correct amount of friction for a particular door, and the lock may be positioned so as to prevent the tongue portion from being slid further through the slotted opening.
15 In a further form of the invention, a resilient attachment clip is provided together with the door stopper, the attachment clip being capable of being clipped around the underside or lower edge of the door, so that the clip holds the door stop against the door in the desired position, without the need for any special fastenings such as screws or the like which.might damage the door.
In one embodiment the attachment clip may be in the form of a piece of wire bent into a generally U-shape. In another embodiment the attachment clip may be formed out of thermoplastic material, of the same type as the material forming the continuous strip. In this way, the entire door stopper and clip may 2 s be stamped or formed integrally, by molding techniques, for example, out of a single piece of plastic, in one operation, thereby greatly reducing manufacturing costs. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the loop will extend outwardly away from the lower edge of the door into the room. This provides two additional advantages. In the first place, by having the loop extended away from the door, the loop will ride more smoothly on the surface of the floor.
In addition, where the loop extends away from the surface of the door, in many cases it will function as a bumper, for engaging a wall when the door is swung fully open, thereby preventing the door hardware or door knob from slamming into the wall. Thus the invention provides two entirely different but complementary functions.
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with more particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part to of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its use, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the invention.
IN THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a perspective illustration showing a typical door and the door stopper in position along the lower edge of the door, holding the door in a partially opened position by friction;
Figure 2 is a greatly enlarged perspective illustration of the door stopper, and showing a portion of the door broken away;
Figure 3 is an end elevational view of an alternate form of door stopper and showing one form of a resilient clip for holding the door stopper on the door, Figure 4 is a perspective illustration of the resilient clip shown in Fig. 3, with the flexible door stopper shown partially in phantom;

Figure 5 is a perspective illustration of another form of door stopper, and resilient attachment clip, being particularly suitable for forming by stamping out of sheet thermoplastic, or integral molding as a one-piece structure;
Figure 6 is a plan view of one form of combined door stopper and clip, shown formed integrally out of a single piece of thermoplastic, and, Figure 7 is a plan view of another form of resilient clip door stopper also to formed together integrally out of one piece of thermoplastic.
Figure 8 is a perspective view of a wheel arrangement for increasing the degree of friction between the door stopper and floor surface.
Figure 9 is a plan view of another embodiment having a mechanical threaded screw adjustment for friction.
DESCRIPTION OF A SPECIFIC EMBODIMENT
Referring to Figure 1, the invention will be seen to be illustrated there in the form of a door stopper indicated by the general reference 10, shown position on a door indicated as D, which is shown partially open. Referring to Figure 2, the door stopper 10 will be seen to comprise a continuous strip 12, formed of flexible resilient thermo-plastic material. The strip 12 in this case is shown secured to the lower edge of the door by means such as screws 14, although this is merely for the sake of illustration, and may not always be the preferred form of attachment in practise. At the fixed end of the strip 12, there is formed a generally Tee-shaped head portion 16, and a slot 18 is formed through the head portion 16.
The lower portion of the strip 12 is bent around itself to form a generally s curved loop 20. Although it may not always be required in practice, in this particular embodiment, the size of the loop 20 is adjustable in the manner described below.
The free end of the strip 12 forms tongue portion 22. The slot 18 is 1 o sized so as to make a snug sliding fit on the tongue 22. The tongue 22 is slid through the slot 18, up against the surface of the door D, in this embodiment.
In order to provide an increased degree of friction against the surface of a floor F, a pad of frictional material indicated generally as 24 may be secured, 15 typically adhesively bonded, to the outer downwardly directed curve of the loop.
The pad 24 will be located so that it may engage the floor. The use of the frictional pad as an extra feature may not always be required. In some cases it will be possible to form the strip by injection molding for example, or other forming techniques, so that convex curved portion of the loop already has some 2 o kind of frictional formations or "tread" (not shown) formed on it, so that the additional frictional pad is not required.
In this particular embodiment, with the length of the loop being adjustable, the location of the pad, or other frictional means if provided, will 2s extend along the strip for a sufficient distance so that it may contact the floor, at various different adjusted positions of the loop 20 so as to account for variations in the clearance between the lower edge of the door and the floor F.

In this way, by doubling the strip 12 back on itself and sliding the free end through a slotted opening, the position and shape of the loop can be adjusted and set to a predetermined position, so that the loop, and/or the frictional pad 24 bears down on the surface of the floor F and provides a sufficient degree of friction to hold the door without the door swinging in a random fashion.
Alternatively, an increased degree of friction can be achieved by adapting the door stopper with a wheel (103) as shown in Figure 8. This to additional frictional feature requires that the tongue (22) portion of the strip (12) be provided with an elongated slot (111). A wheel (103) having either a symmetrical or asymmetrical located axle (112) is placed and secured within the loop formed by the tongue. The opening or closing of the door will thus additionally rotate the wheel (110) causing it to move forward or aft within the 15 loop. This fore or aft movement will cause frictional binding between the axle and the underside of the tongue or the perimeter of the wheel at the point of engagement against one end (113) of the slot (111 ).
Figure 8 shows the axle symmetrically located through the center of the 2 o wheel. Asymmetrical placement of the axle with reference to the center of the wheel will cause additional binding and friction as the wheel rotates in a cam-like fashion within the loop.
However it will be, of course, noted that the door stopper is not such as 2 s to entirely prevent movement of the door, the door being capable of being moved at least by manual force of an adult, and preferably by a child. It is envisaged that the door stopper will be used principally to hold a door ajar, for example while an infant is sleeping, or sick person, or indeed a person occupying an space with the door held ajar, but would not be such as to prevent a child or sick person or indeed any other occupant of the space, from being able to open the door by manual force.
In accordance with further inventive concepts, the door stopper may be s secured in a position along the bottom edge of the door by means of a resilient clip as illustrated in Figure 3 and 4. In this embodiment, the resilient clip is indicated generally as 30, and is comprised of a continuous strip of steel wire, preferably coated with some material so as to avoid damaging the surface of the door. The resilient clip 30 is comprised of a lower horizontal bar portion 32, to and an upright door engaging portion 34 at one end, to engage the surface of the door on the opposite side of the door stopper.
On the side of the door where the door stopper is to be positioned, the bar 32 is formed into a spring loop 36, and a retaining bar 38 extends upward 1 s from the loop 36.
In this embodiment the strip 12 is provided with one or more holes 14 (Figure 4) and the wire clip 30 can be passed through such a hole, and then snapped around the lower edge of the door so as to secure the strip 12 in position as shown in Figure 3.
In accordance with a further feature the invention, a moveable tongue lock indicated generally as 42 may be provided (Figure 3). The lock 42 will typically be a pad of thermo-plastic material or thermo-set material such as for example foam plastic or the like, and will be provided with an adhesive backing, 2 s by means of which it may be secured to the tongue 22. If it is desired to adjust the position of the tongue 22 then the lock 42 may be removed and replaced in a different position.

This is, of course, but one form of a tongue locking device, and other locking devices may be devised from time to time, the objective being to simply secure the tongue in its adjusted position so that it does not move out of adjustment.
As illustrated in Figures 5 and 6, the invention may be made entirely out of thermoplastic material in a further embodiment, which greatly reduces the cost. In the embodiment shown in Figures 5 and 6, a strip 50 is formed of predetermined width. At each end there are end tabs formed of reduced width.
to A thermoplastic strip holder or clip indicated generally as 52 is provided to fit under the lower edge of the door, and to fit up on either side surface of the door.
The strip 50 in this embodiment comprises a strip centre portion 56, and two end tab portions 58-58. The end tab portions 58 are identical in this embodiment, for reasons to be described. There may be frictional edge formations or hooks (not shown) formed on the end tabs for reasons to be described.
The strip 50 is adapted to be folded, to form a generally convex loop, in 2o much the same way as is shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3. Frictional pad 59 is secured to strip 50.
However, in this embodiment, the strip 50 is not itself directly attached to the door. Instead, a clip indicated generally as 52 is provided. The clip is also formed of thermoplastic material, and comprises two spaced a part transverse horizontal plate portions 60 and 62, which are intended to be located on opposite sides of the door D (Figure 5).
to The two horizontal plate portions 60 and 62 are integrally formed with front and rear side portions 64-64 and 66-66. The side portions 64 and 66 are themselves integrally joined with generally longitudinal spaced a part cross members 68-68. The cross members 68-68 are intended to be placed under the door D (Figure 5) and the side members 64-64 extend up the forward side of the door D and the side members 66 extend up the rear with side of the door D. It will be appreciated that the reference to forward and rear sides is merely by way of explanation and without limitation. The door D may be considered as having forward and rear sides, in any configuration of the door in any location, whether the door swings inwardly into a room, or outwardly, or in any other fashion.
The transverse plate portion 62 merely serves to join the two side members 66, so as to provide an integral brace on the rearward side of the door 1 s D.
The transverse portion 60 however, is formed with a transverse slot 70.
The slot 70, in this embodiment, receives the two tab portions 58-58 on the strip 50.
It will thus be seen that in this embodiment the clip 52 may be placed around the door, with the cross members 68-68 extending underneath the lower edge of the door in the clearance between the lower edge of the door and the floor. The strip 50 is then folded on itself to provide a generally convex loop 56 2 s and the two tab portions 58 are slid upwardly through the slot 70. In this way, the loop 50 is held in its folded over position as shown in Figure 5, without being directly secured or attached to the door itself, the attachment simply being through the medium of the clip 52.

This embodiment is particularly suitable for integral formation out of a single piece of thermoplastic material. This formation may either be stamping or die-cutting out of sheet material in some cases, or may be integrally formed by injection molding techniques in other cases. In either case the integral formation of the two components namely the strip 50 and the clip 52 will look substantially like the plan view of Figure 6.
The two components namely the strip 50 and the clip 52 in this embodiment are shown joined by integral junction straps 72-72. It will, of to course, be appreciated however that in the case of for example, injection molding, the two components could be molded in a single injection molding die, without the requirement for the connecting straps 72, although the use of such connecting straps 72 facilitates the design of the die and also facilitates the handling of large numbers of such products as they come out of the dies.
In addition, in some cases it may be desirable to simply ship the product flat as it is shown in Figure 6, where large quantities are desired to be shipped in a confined space without extra packaging.
2 o It is even possible that the product may be actually distributed and sold in the flat plan form as shown in Figure 6, with suitable directions for breaking the two parts a part and assembling them as shown in Figure 5, if this should prove to be the most satisfactory method of distributing a product.
A further embodiment is shown in Figure 7. This embodiment is somewhat similar to the embodiments to Figures 5 and 6, but in this case the two parts are truly formed as an integral whole, and are not intended to be separated.

Thus in this embodiment, there is a strip generally indicated as 80, and an attachment clip generally indicated as 82. The strip 80 is formed at its free end with a tab 84, somewhat similar to one of the two tabs 58 of the Figure 6 embodiment.
However, the other end of the strip 80 is formed as an integral extension of the clip 82, for reasons to be described.
The clip 82 in this embodiment is formed with front and rear transverse 1 o plate portions 86 and 88. A slot 90 is formed in the plate portion 86 to receive the tab 84 of the strip.
The clip 82 is further formed with integral side portions 92 and 94, and, on one of the side portions 92 and 94, an integral cross member 96 is formed.
The side members 92 and 94 are adapted to be folded at right angles to the cross members 86, 88, and the cross member 96 is to be adapted to be folded at right angles to the side members 92, 94, and thus will be substantially parallel to the plane of the underside of the door D.
2 o Along the ends of the other two side members 92, 94, a strip extension 98 is formed. Strip extension 98 is hinged to the side members 92, 94 to which it is attached.
In use, the side members 92 and 94 on either side of the transverse plates 86, 88 are folded downwardly along fold lines 95at right angles 2s substantially into the configuration shown in Figure 5, in respect of the side members 64 and 66.

The cross member 96 is then folded again, along fold lines 97 relative to its two side members 94 and 94, so that it lies parallel to the underside of the door, and extends underneath the door.
s The strip extension 98 is similarly folded along fold lines 99 relative to its side members 92, 94 so that is also underlies the door.
This will then bring it into alignment with the slot 90 in the cross member 86. By folding the strip 80 on itself, the tab 84 can then be inserted into the slot l0 90, thereby providing an integral one piece door stop consisting of the strip 80 and the clip 82 molded in one piece, and functioning as a unitary whole.
An additional feature shown in this embodiment, but also applicable to the Figures 5 and 6 embodiment, is the provision of an additional knock-out 15 portion 100, defined by slots 102. The knock-out portion 100 is preferably about 3/8 of an inch wide. This enables the same clip 82 to be adapted to use either on a door of 1 3/8 inch width, or a thicker door of 1 3/4 inch width.
Yet a further embodiment is shown in Figure 9 wherein the size of the 20 loop is not adjustable to selectively engage the surface of the floor.
Rather, the loop is formed integrally with and pivotally attached to a door attachment clip (114). According to this aspect of the invention, the loop itself may be downwardly or upwardly adjusted with reference to the clip by means of providing a threaded bolt (115) attached to the frame of the attachment clip 2s (114) and extending through holes formed in the strip of the loop material as shown in Figure 9 and beyond the top surface of the loop. A screw cap (116) is provided for rotation onto the free end of the threaded bolt in order to either bear down on, or release, from the top surface of the loop thus pivoting the loop either into or out of engagement with the surface of the floor (F).

The invention provides significant advantages in the positioning of a door so that it will not swing to and fro, but which can still nevertheless be swung open when desired by manual operation of the door. The door stop can be attached to the lower edge of the door when required and where required in any room, whether in a dwelling or elsewhere and may be removed when it is no longer required, or when it is required somewhere else. All of these features are provided in a relatively simple low cost door stopper which is highly effective in practical use.
to The foregoing is a description of a preferred embodiment of the invention which is given here by way of example. The invention is not to be taken as limited to any of the specific features as described, but comprehends all such variations thereof as come within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (8)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A frictional door stopper for attachment to the lower edge of a door and comprising;
a continuous strip of resilient thermoplastic material;
attachment means of one end of the strip whereby it may be held flat against the lower edge of the door;
a slotted opening in said one end, and, the remainder of the strip being resiliently flexible to form a loop; and, an upper tongue portion which can be slid into the slotted opening and adjusted in and out to increase or decrease the size of the loop.

2. A frictional door stopper as claimed in claim 1 wherein the loop is dimensioned and arranged so that it extends downwardly below the edge of the door and engages the surface of the floor.

3. A frictional door stopper as claimed in claim 1 wherein the exterior generally convex portion of the loop an area of frictional material is formed which provides a greater friction against the floor, or floor covering.

4. A frictional door stopper as claimed in claim 1 wherein a moveable positional lock is located on the upper tongue, so that once the upper tongue has been adjusted into the desired position to produce the correct amount of friction for a particular door, the position lock may be positioned so as to prevent the tongue portion from being slid further through the slotted opening.

5. A frictional door stopper as claimed in claim 1 including a resilient attachment clip provided together with the door stopper, the attachment clip being capable of being clipped around the lower edge of the door, so that the clip holds the door stop per against the door in the desired position, without the need for any special fastenings such as screws or the like which might damage the door.

6. A frictional door stopper having a first portion comprising attachment means for securement against the lower edge of the door, a second portion pivotally connected to the first portion and downwardly adjustable with respect thereto for engagement against the surface of the floor, and adjustment means for downwardly adjusting said second portion with respect to said first portion.

7. A frictional door stopper as claimed in Claim 6 where said adjustment means comprises a screw thread attached to said attachment means having a free end extending through and beyond said second portion, and rotationally operable cap means on said free end for travel thereon to downwardly adjust said second portion.

8. A frictional door stopper as claimed in Claim 7 wherein said second portion includes rotational means in frictional engagement with said second portion and operable in response to the movement of the said door.