GB2037854A - Folding Doors - Google Patents

Abstract

A sectional overhead door (10) and sections (10a-d) therefor which are articulated to each other, each section being formed from a preferably thin steel structural member (26) which provides a generally planar and preferably ribbed rigid wall (32), and decorative panelling (16) which can be easily mounted to the structural member so that different panels with different decoration can be provided, the panel being formed of insulative material such as paper with a plastics binder, foamed urethane or the like. The structural member is sufficiently strong both to support its weight in a horizontal direction and to support the panel, as well as providing an intrusion resistant component. One means of mounting the panelling to the structural member is by means of rails acting in grooves in the paneling, by this means the paneling can be reversed. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Overhead Door This invention relates to overhead doors and, more particularly, to an improved garage door of the sectional overhead type.

Wooden garage doors formed in sections disposed horizontally and arranged one above the other and hinged for rolling movement upon a track for the opening and closing of a garage entrance have become very popular in recent years. The paneled wood door and its counterpart the flush wood door have become dominant in the residential garage door market and are preferred by architects, builders and homeowners particularly for garages which face the street. In the paneled wood door construction, each door section comprises one or more wooden panels surrounded by frame members which are interconnected at the corners and which include flanges to receive the edges of the wooden panels around the entire periphery thereof. The top and bottom of each section is a single length of wood extending across the width of the garage entrance opening.This piece may be very long depending, of course, on the width of the garage entrance opening, and 1 6-foot lengths are common.

Although wood doors have become immensely popular, there are a number of problems associated with their use. Because the door must support its own weight in a horizontal direction over substantial widths only specific woods may be used. These include either hemlock or Douglas fir. To obtain the lengths required, these trees must be on the order of 200 years old. Such woods are becoming increasingly unavailable and expensive. Use of wood also presents maintenance problems in that wood tends to warp and rot from exposure to moisture; and, therefore, wood must be maintained by periodic painting. The panels in the doors are also relatively thin and of low strength. It is therefore a simple matter to kick in a panel to gain entrance to the garage. Such doors thus have relatively little intrusion resistance. Moreover, being wood such doors are not fire resistant.

The desirability of an overhead door construction which overcomes or eliminates the foregoing disadvantages while maintaining the appearance of the traditional wood door has been recognized. Prior art workers have attempted to achieve this objective in several ways. For example, fiberboard panels mounted in wood or metal frames have been employed. Such constructions, however, are prone to both vertical and horizontal warpage and even with paint protection are subject to rotting and warping.

Moreover, such constructions, like the panels in the paneled wood door, are of relatively low strength. It is therefore a simple matter to kick in a panel in the area of the door lock to unlock the door and thereby gain entrance to the garage.

Fiberboard panel constructions thus offer very little intrusion resistance. Moreover, both wood and fiberboard doors offer very little fire resistance.

Plastics such as polyesters reinforced with nylon or glass fibers have been employed in garage door constructions in an attempt to make a strong, lightweight and intrusion resistant door.

However, such constructions also have warpage problems and, in addition, simply do not have the desirable appearance of the traditional wood door. Such constructions are illustrated in U.S.

Patent Nos. 2,907,383,2,951,533, 3,178,776 and 3,703,061.

According to the invention there is provided a sectional overhead door section comprising: an elongated structural member having a generally planar, rigid wall, the member having a relatively thin cross-section and being sufficiently strong to support its weight in a horizontal direction, and a panel formed of an insulative material mounted to said member, the panel having a decorative exterior face and an interior face confronting the rigid wall over substantially its entire area such that the rigid wall forms a structural backing to the panel over substantially its entire area.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a sectional door comprising a plurality of transverse sections as above and articulated together.

The decorative panel may be mounted to the structural member by means of rails attached to the structural member along its long edges which slide in grooves in the long edges of the panel.

This interfitting relationship securely holds the panel on the structural section. The panel may include decorative faces on both sides thereof, for example, one simulating the appearance of a panelled wood door and the other simulating the appearance of a flush wood door. Such panel is reversible by sliding it in and out of the mounting rails to quickly and easily change the appearance of the door.

The door sections are prefabricated, and may advantageously be shipped and stored as individual sections. To construct the door, the sections are merely stacked one upon another forming the vertical closure and then joined together by attaching hinges at the side edges and center of the adjacent sections.

Among the many advantages of the present invention, the combination forming the sections of the overhead door construction has strength, rigidity, durability and security and yet may be given the appearance of the traditional wood door. It is also intrusion and fire resistant, and the panels are interchangeable and reversible minimizing inventory for the door installer. The door is essentially maintenance-free and provides good insulating characteristics.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a front elevation view of an overhead door made in accordance with the present invention, the door being shown installed in the opening of a garage when viewed from the exterior thereof; Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the opposite or interior side of the door shown in Fig.

1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of the door shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a side elevation view of the door shown in Figs. 1-3 partly in cross-section; Figs. 5 and 6 are sectional views in perspective of a door section in accordance with the present invention viewed from the exterior side thereof; and Fig. 7 is a sectional view in perspective showing the opposite side of the door section shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

Referring now to Fig. 1, there is shown an overhead door generally designated by the numeral 10 made in accordance with the present invention. The door 10 is shown mounted in the opening 11 of a structure such as the wall 12 of a garage with the opening 11 being surrounded by the usual frame 14. The door 10 shown in Fig. 1 is made up of four horizontally disposed sections 1 Oa, b, c, d arranged one on top of the other. A typical dimension for each section is 21 inches in height and 16 feet in length.Each section 1 Oa--d includes a panel 16 having four indented panellike sections, e.g., 1 6a, b, c, d equally spaced across the width of the door section so that the door has the appearance of a traditional fourpanel wood door although each panel portion 16 of each section 1 Oad is actually a single molded piece, as will be described.

Referring now to Fig. 2, the door 10 is mounted for movement in a conventional track 18 on either side of the garage opening 11 which includes the vertical run shown in Fig. 2 and an overhead horizontal run (not shown). The individual door sections 1 Oa--d are joined by hinges 20 at their side edges and at their midpoint. As shown more clearly in Fig. 3, the hinge pins 22 of the hinges 20 joining the edges of the sections 1 Oad also serve as axles carrying the rollers 24 mounted in the track 18.

Accordingly, the door 10 is movable from a door closed position wherein the door sections are disposed in a vertical rientation and a door open position wherein the door sections are rolled in the track to a generally horizontally disposed overhead position.

Referring now to Figs. 4-7, each section 1 Oa--d of the door 10 is made up of an elongated, channel-shaped structural member 26 and the decorative panel 16. The structural member 26 is formed of a high strength material such as structural steel sheet which is galvanized for corrosion protection. The structural member 26 extends across the door opening and includes upper and lower flanges 28, 30 and a generally, planar, rectangular-shaped rigid wall 32 therebetween. When the door 10 is in the door closed position, the flanges 30 are oriented in a generally horizontal direction with the wall 32 being disposed vertically, as shown in Fig. 4.The structural member 26 is of relatively thin cross section, for example, 26 gauge steel, and the wall 32 is provided with reinforcing ribs in the form of spaced grooves 34 of relatively shallow depth with deeper contours 36 therebetween extending in the long direction of the door. These ribs strengthen and stiffen the wall 32 thereby eliminating any distortion or warping of the wall.

Straps 38 are attached to the backside of each door section 26 extending between the flanges 28 and 30 at the side edges and at its midpoint for further strengthening of the door in a vertical direction and for providing attachment of the hinges 20 to the door.

Mounted to the structural member 26 is the panel 1 6. In a presently preferred form of the invention, the panel 16 is formed of a foamed plastic material, such as polyurethane, or reclaimed waste paper molded with a plastic binder, such as polyurethane in a foamed or unfoamed state. Desirably, the material forming the panel has good heat insulating characteristics to provide an insulated garage door. One face 39 of the panel 16, the exterior face as shown in Fig.

4, is molded to provide a recess 40 with a surrounding bezel 42 so that the panel looks like the panels of a traditional wood door. The panel 16, as shown in Figs. 1,4 and 5 is molded in one piece, having four sections 16and to simulate the appearance of a standard four panel wood door. As shown in Fig. 6, the opposite side 44 of the panel 16 is flat to simulate the appearance of a flush wood door when the panel is reversed as will be described below. The configuration of the panel 16 may take any of a variety of decorative forms including a painted surface.

As may be seen, the decorative panel 16 is of relatively thin cross-section. It is also of relatively low structural strength. However, it does provide a decorative appearance as well as a high resistance to warpage. It is essentially waterproof and, therefore, rot-free and maintenance-free.

The structural member 26 has attached to it upper and lower mounting flanges 48, 50, respectively, which when the door 10 is in its lowered vertical position define inwardly extending rails 52, 54 extending horizontally across the width of the door. The panel 1 6 has grooves 56 in its marginal edges to receive these rails whereby the panel may be slid into engagement with the structural member 26 from the side edge of the door. When mounted on the member 26, the interior face of the panel contacts or lies against the rigid wall 32 of the member 26.

The planar wall 32 of the member 26 thus provides a structural backing for the low strength panel 16 over substantially its entire area from top to bottom and side to side. This structural section provides the combination with a high degree of security or intrusion resistance since the wall 32 prevents the panel from being kicked in to gain access to the interior locking mechanism of the door.

Referring now to Figs. 5 and 6, in a preferred form of the invention, the panel 39 is removable and reversible to provide a single door section which may take either of two different appearances. For example, referring to Fig. 5, in one form the face 39 of the panel 1 6 has the decorative appearance of the wood panel door exposed with its flush interior face 44 contacting the wall 32 of the structural member 26. If it is desired that the door have the appearance of a flush wood door, the panel 16 is removed by sliding it lengthwise out of engagement with the rails 52, 54, reversing it, and reinserting it so that the flush side 44 of the door is now exposed. This enables the door installer to minimize his inventory since the panels may be quickly and easily interchanged or reversed. The door of this invention thus provides an exposed face which is changeable so that the door can look like a paneled wood door, a flush wood door, or any other desired architectural appearance while eliminating the disadvantage and limitations of traditional wood garage doors.

Moreover, it may be seen that the individual sections either with or without the panel mounted thereon may be shipped in a knocked down condition which is advantageous as it reduces shipping cost. The panels may be shipped individually in a flat, stacked condition thereby minimizing the cost of lost shipping space.

Having described this invention and its presently best contemplated mode, it will become apparent to those of ordinary skill that obvious variations may be made in view of the above description to obtain the benefits thereof.

Claims (8)

Claims

1. A sectional overhead door section comprising: an elongated structural member having a generally planar, rigid wall, the member having a relatively thin cross-section and being sufficiently strong to support its weight in a horizontal direction, and a panel formed of an insulative material mounted to said member, the panel having a decorative exterior face and an interior face confronting the rigid wall over substantially its entire area such that the rigid wall forms a structural backing to the panel over substantially its entire area.

2. A door section according to claim 1 wherein the panel is mounted directly against the rigid wall.

3. A door section according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the panel is formed in one piece of a nonmetallic material having an appearance simulating wood, the combination of panel and structural member providing an intrusion and fire resistant door.

4. A door section according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the interior face of the panel is also decorative and the panel is reversibly mountable to the structural member.

5. A door section according to any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the structural member is channelled.

6. A door section according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the panel is mounted to the structural member by means of a pair of opposed rails attached to the structural member engaging grooves in marginal edges of the panels.

7. A door section according to any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the panel comprises foamed plastics material.

8. A door section according to claim 5 wherein the insulative material is formed from reclaimed waste paper.

8. A door section according to any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein the insulative material is formed from reclaimed waste paper.

9. A sectional overhead door section substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

10. A sectional overhead door comprising a plurality of transverse articulated sections according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

11. A sectional overhead door substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

New Claims or Amendments to Claims filed on 22 January 1980.

Superseded Claims 1, 4, 7 and 8.

New or Amended Claims:

1. A sectional overhead door section comprising: an elongated structural member having a generally planar, rigid wall, the member having a relatively thin cross-section and being sufficiently strong to support its weight in a horizontal direction, and a panel formed of an insulative material releasably mounted on the said member, the panel having a decorative exterior face and an interior face confronting the rigid wall over substantially its entire area such that the rigid wall forms a structural backing to the panel over substantially its entire area, the panel being removable from its mounting on the structural member and reversible to expose either face.

4. A door section according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the exterior face of the panel has the appearance of a panelled wood door.

7. A door section according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the panel comprises foamed plastics material.