EP0979339B1

EP0979339B1 - Door safety device

Info

Publication number: EP0979339B1
Application number: EP97918280A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Stephen Robert Webb
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1995-10-19
Filing date: 1997-05-01
Publication date: 2003-03-19
Anticipated expiration: 2017-05-01
Also published as: GB2306538A; GB9521468D0; WO1998050665A1; GB2306538B; EP0979339A1

Description

This invention relates to a door safety device. It relates particularly to a device for fitting at the hinge side of a door and door frame in order to reduce the risk of injury to a child's fingers if they should attempt to enter this space.

When a door is in the open position, the hinge side of the opening between the door side and the door frame offers a gap into which a young child's hand or fingers can very easily be inserted. If the door should then be closed, possibly by another child or by pressure from a draught of wind, there is a serious risk that the hand or fingers will become hurt or badly damaged. In time, of course, any child will learn that the gap at the edge of a door that is being closed is a dangerous area in the home and any fingers should be kept well away from this zone. However, the younger child will not be aware of this risk and may be injured.

The present invention was devised to provide a shield that would reduce the risk of injury to a child's hand. One answer has been disclosed in WO/90 12945A, but this specification offers no solution to the problem of compensating for a door mounted on rising-butt hinges.

According to the invention, there is provided a door safety device comprising a cover for the gap at the hinge side of a door and door frame combination, the cover comprising a strip of a rigid material which is flexible about its major axis, the strip having attachment means at its long edges so that one edge may be secured to the door and the other edge to the door frame of the combination, the attachment means being such that one edge is firmly fixed to one of the door/door frame combination whilst the second edge is fixed in a manner that allows a vertical movement of that edge with respect to the other one of the door/door frame combination, and the cover being formed with rigid portions and longitudinally-directed fold areas, so that when the door is opened the vertical door edge can form a support for one rigid portion of the device whereby the device will be maintained in a generally convex attitude throughout the operation of opening and closing of the door.

The cover may be formed of four rigid portions connected by three fold areas. The cover may be made of a fibrous or fluted board material.

The attachment means at one side of the strip may include the strip edge being formed in a T-shape and this edge being positioned in a C-shaped housing which will hold the T-shape yet allow the necessary vertical movement.

By way of example, some particular embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a partial horizontal cross-sectional view through a door and door frame when fitted with the door safety device,

Figure 2 is a view similar to that of Figure 1 when the door has been opened through an angle of sixty degrees,

Figure 3 is a similar view when the door has been opened fully,

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view through the safety device,

Figures 5 and 6 are similar views of a different embodiment of safety device,

Figures 7 and 8 show a further embodiment, and,

Figure 9 depicts on a reduced scale a view of a door and door frame with a fitted safety device.

As shown particularly in Figure 1, the safety device is intended to be fitted at the hinge side of a door located in a door frame so that it will cover the large gap that appears when the door is opened. It is not necessary for the device to extend the full length of the vertical door side because a young child cannot be expected to reach very far up the door side. Therefore, a cover which extends a little more than halfway up the door side is likely in practice to be sufficient protection.

Figures 1 to 3 show the door being opened to different angles with respect to the door frame. The door 1 is mounted on hinges 2 that are located on the door frame 3. The safety device 4 is adhesively secured at one side to the door 1 and at the other side to the door frame 3. When the door is in the closed position (Figure 1), the safety device 4 forms a flattened shape which occupies the corner where the door and frame come together. As the door is opened, the device 4 unfolds into a generally convex shape (Figures 2 and 3) which will tend to cover over the gap that appears with the greater angle of opening. A child's fingers will thus be prevented from entering this gap so there will be a reduced risk of accidental damage when the door closes. Upon closure of the door, the safety device 4 becomes folded again so that it will return to the position of Figure 1.

Figure 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the safety device which was made of a PVC composition with sections of rigid and flexible material. At the left hand side, the view depicts a T-shaped foot 6 which carries an adhesive pad 7. The foot 6 is attached by means of a fold area 8 to a rigid portion 9 and then by a further fold area 8 to a second rigid portion 11. The second rigid portion 11 is attached by another fold area 8 to a plate 12 on which a further adhesive pad 7 is located.

In operation of the safety device, the pads 7 are secured in the positions shown in Figure 1 to the door and door frame. The installation is effected with the rigid portions (9,11) being bent about their connecting fold area 8. Upon opening the door 1, the rigid portions (9,11) then unfold from one another and open outwards so that a convex shield is provided over the door edge gap. When the door reaches the position depicted in Figure 3, the second rigid portion 11 is seen to lie in contact with the flat surface of the door 1 so that the door edge 13 forms a fulcrum for supporting the rigid portion 11. The door edge 13 thus serves to maintain the convex shape of the safety device 4 so that it is unlikely to be distorted by pressure from a child's fingers.

Figures 5 and 6 show a further embodiment which is particularly suitable for being made from a board material such as a rigid cardboard, a fluted board or a board made of a plastics material. The different parts have the same reference numerals as those already described. In Figure 6, the fold areas 8 are made by a creasing operation on the board.

Whilst the embodiments already described are suitable for use on doors with conventional door hinges, there is also in common use a different hinge termed a rising-butt hinge which allows a small vertical movement of the door upon opening so that a raised carpet edge can be cleared. The embodiment shown in Figures 5 and 6 is readily adapted for this type of hinge since the board material of the device can be allowed vertical movement by providing a vertical column of diagonally directed slits along the length of the device. There are also other ways of obtaining the vertical movement capability such as combinations of cutting and creasing and these techniques will be well-known to those familiar with this material.

In order to provide a safety device that was suited to both conventional and rising-butt door hinges, the embodiment shown in Figures 7 and 8 was devised. In this construction, the foot 6 is replaced by an anchor 14 in the shape of a letter T which is capable of being secured in a C-shaped housing 16. The housing 16 is provided with its own adhesive pad 7 by which it may be attached to the door frame 3. The housing 16 thus forms a secure fixing for the anchor 14 but it permits the anchor to move up and down along the housing as may be required to compensate for the vertical movement of a door mounted on rising-butt hinges.

Figure 9 shows a door 1 located in a door frame 3 with the safety device 4 of the invention mounted at the hinge side of the door 1. It will be seen that the device 4 does not need to extend up the full height of the door because a young child will not be able to reach much more than halfway up the door. The safety device 4 is designed to fold automatically upon closure of the door so that it can remain unobtrusive in appearance.

The foregoing description of embodiments of the invention has been given by way of example only and a number of modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims, For instance, instead of the safety device edges being secured by adhesive pads, an alternative method such as screw fixings could be used. The plastics material used for the safety device has been described as a combination of rigid and flexible PVC material. This is preferably a translucent PVC or even a PVC that has been given a light blue tint. It is also preferred that the safety device will have an unobtrusive appearance when it is located on the protected door and there are likely to be many other plastics and alternative materials that will fulfil this object.

Claims

A door safety device comprising a cover for the gap at the hinge side of a door (1) and door frame (3) combination, the cover (4) comprising a strip of a rigid material which is flexible about its major axis, the strip having attachment means at its long edges so that one edge may be secured to the door (1) and the other edge to the door frame (3) of the combination, the attachment means being such that one edge is firmly fixed to one of the door/door frame combination whilst the second edge is fixed in a manner that allows a vertical movement of that edge with respect to the other one of the door/door frame combination, and the cover (4) being formed with rigid portions and longitudinally-directed fold areas (8), so that when the door is opened the vertical door edge can form a support for one rigid vertical portion of the device whereby the device will be maintained in a generally convex attitude throughout the operation of opening and closing the door.
A device as claimed in Claim 1, in which the cover (4) is formed of four rigid portions connected by three fold areas (8).
A device as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, in which the cover (4) is formed of a fibrous or fluted board material.
A device as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 3, in which one strip edge (14) is formed in a T-shape, the said edge being positioned in a C-shaped housing (16) for vertical movement with respect to the housing.
A device as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 4, in which the cover (4) is shaped from a plastics material with the fold areas (8) being formed integrally in a plastics moulding construction.
A method of making a door safety device as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5, the method comprising the step of moulding the said strip of rigid material in a plastics extrusion operation.
A method as claimed in Claim 6, including the further step of forming a fold area (8) of the strip from a soft plastics material by a coextrusion process.