GB2136485A

GB2136485A - Door sealing strips

Info

Publication number: GB2136485A
Application number: GB08306872A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Leighton John Michael Hall; Robert William Tunnicliffe
Original assignee: Ventrolla Ltd
Current assignee: Ventrolla Ltd
Priority date: 1983-03-12
Filing date: 1983-03-12
Publication date: 1984-09-19
Also published as: GB8306872D0

Abstract

A sealing strip for use with inwardly opening external doors comprises a hollow body portion 16 carrying a sealing flange 12 which is normally in a depressed position in which it is not engaged by the door as the door closes and an actuating member 13 which is engaged by the closing door after it has passed over the sealing flange causing the sealing flange to pivot into a position where it engages the door to form a seal therewith. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Door sealing strips The invention relates to strips for sealing between doors and the frames within which they are received.

It is a requirement that any such seal is both continuous around the whole door and that there is no tendency for the seal to be broken by gusts of air which pass between the door and surrounding frame. This is a problem in external doors which open inwardly and are received in a correspondingly shaped rebate provided in the frame, particularly when using one form of previously proposed sealing strip which comprises an angled flange which is nailed or otherwise fixed to the frame.

If such a sealing strip is fixed to the rebate surface which is normal to the plane of the door frame, then an incomplete seal is provided because the strip will be interrupted by the hinges, which are commonly fixed to this surface, and by any bolt or latch hole. If the strip is placed on the surface which is parallel to the plane of the frame, it can be orientated in one of two ways. The first is with the flange extending upwardly and outwardly from the rebate surface towards the edge between the rebate surfaces. This has the disadvantage that any gust of air will tend to depress the flange and so break the seal. The alternative mounting on this surface is with the flange extending upwardly and away from the surface in a direction towards the outer edge of the rebate surface.Although this overcomes the problem posed by gusts of wind, it has the greater disadvantage that the free edge of the sealing strip can be engaged by the door as the door closes, thus damaging the sealing strip and preventing full closure of the door.

According to the invention, there is provided a sealing strip for forming a seal between a door and a rebate formed on an associated frame, and having rebate surfaces which are respectively parallel and normal to the plane of the frame, the sealing strip being formed of a flexible material and comprising a body portion, a sealing flange carried on an outer surface of said body portion and an actuating member associated with the sealing flange, the arrangement being such that when the sealing strip is mounted on the parallel rebate surface with the sealing flange extending from its connection with the body portion towards the free edge of the rebate surface, the door, on closing, passes over the sealing flange which is positioned adjacent the outer surface of the body and then engages the actuating member which is then moved to cause the sealing flange to pivot relatively to the body portion to a position in which the sealing flange engages the door to seal therewith, the actuating member maintaining the sealing flange in this sealing position while the door is closed.

In this way, the sealing flange is orientated so that it is pressed firmly against the door by the action of gusts of wind while preventing any possibility of the door damaging the sealing flange as the door is being closed.

The actuating member preferably projects from the outer surface of the body portion for engagement with the closing door.

The actuating portion may be formed by a flange connected to the sealing flange and extending upwardly and outwardly from the outer surface of the body portion in a direction opposite to the direction of the sealing flange.

The actuating member, the sealing flange and their connection to the body portion may be formed by a generally T-shaped part of the sealing strip, one half of the cross piece forming the actuating member, the other half the sealing flange and the leg the connection of the flanges to the body portion.

The body portion may be so formed as to be compressible as the door closes so allowing the actuating member and the sealing flange to be depressed by the door as they rotate.

This allows the seal to be used where the door is a tight fit within the frame.

This compressibility may be provided by a chamber extending along the length of the sealing strip.

The body portion of the sealing strip may be so dimensioned as to be receivable in a recess cut in the rebate surface so that the outer surface of the body portion is substantially coplanar with the rebate surface before cutting away.

The sealing strip may include a root receivable in a groove cut in the rebate surface.

This sealing strip may further include an abutment for engagement by the door as the door is closed to limit the closing movement of the door.

The abutment may be formed along that edge of the sealing strip which is to be adjacent the outer edge of the rebate surface.

The following is a more detailed description of some embodiments of the invention, by way of example, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which:- Figure 1 is a cross-section of a sealing strip for forming a seal between a door and an associated frame having a rebate in which the door is received, Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of a door for receiving the sealing strip of Fig. 1, Figures 3, 4 and 5 are cross-sectional views of a part of the door of Fig. 2, at a hinge end, showing the action of the seal in use, and Figure 6 is a cross-section of an alternative form of sealing strip.

Referring first to Fig. 1, the sealing strip 10 is extruded from any suitable plastics or rubber or thermoplastic rubber material. The sealing strip 10 comprises a body portion 11, a sealing flange 12, an actuating flange 13, an abutment 14 and a root 15.

The body portion 11 is of generally rectangular cross-section and is provided with an interior longitudinally extending chamber 16.

An outer surface 17 of the body portion 11 carries the sealing flange 12 and the actuating flange 13 and an undersurface 18 carries the root 15.

The sealing flange 12 and the actuating flange 13 are formed by a part of the sealing strip of generally T-shaped cross-section. One half of the cross piece of the T forms the sealing flange 12 which, in the inoperative position shown in Fig. 1, lies closely adjacent the outer surface 17 of the body portion. The other half of the cross-piece forms the actuating flange 13 which extends upwardly and outwardly from the outer surface of the body portion in a direction opposite to the direction or projection of the sealing flange. The shortened leg of the T 19 connects these two parts to the body portion.

The root 15 depending from the undersurface 18 of the sealing strip 10 is formed with flanges 20 to assist the retention of the root 15 in a groove in a manner to be described below.

The abutment 14 is formed along one edge of the body portion 11. It includes a portion 21 depending from the undersurface of the base portion to form a rebate 22 having an angle of approximately 80 .

In use, the sealing strip 10 is fitted to an inwardly opening exterior doorway of the kind shown in Fig. 2. The doorway comprises a frame,23 and door 24 which is received in a corresponding rebate 25 provided around the frame. The door 24 is hinged on the frame 23 and has a hinge side 24A and a side 24B remote from the hinge. The rebate 25 has a surface 26 normal to the plane of the frame, which ends at the interior of the doorway, and a surface 17 parallel to the plane of the frame, which terminates at the exterior of the doorway.

In order to mount the sealing strip 10 on the frame 23, the parallel rebate surface 17 is cut away (as shown in broken line in Fig. 3) to form a recess 28 of a generally rectangular cross-section which is substantially the same as the rectangular cross-section of the sealing strip. The base surface 29 of this recess is formed with a longitudinally extending groove 30 extending normal thereto. The recess 28 and groove 30 are continued all the way around the frame. The strip 10 is then mounted on this surface by pushing the root 15 into the groove 30 where it is held by the action of the fins 20 gripping the side walls of the groove 30. The edge rebate 22 formed along the sealing strip extends around the edge between the recess 28 on the rebate surface and the outer surface of the frame to prevent splintering and also to prevent the ingress of water around this edge.The upper surface 17 of the sealing strip is substantially level with the surface 26 of the rebate, before formation of the recess.

The sealing flange 12 is thus directed outwardly towards the exterior but closely adjacent the upper surface 17 of the body portion 11 and the actuating flange 13 extends above the level of this surface.

At the corners, successive lengths of sealing strip are heat welded together to provide a continuous seal.

It will be appreciated that the way in which the door 24 contacts this sealing strip 10 is different at the hinge side 24A of the door than at the side 24B of the door opposite the hinge side. At the hinge side, there is a wiping and compressive action of the door on the sealing strip whereas at the non-hinge side, there is substantially pure compression of the sealing strip by the door. The operation of the sealing strip, in use, will now be described in relation to the hinge side 24A, which is shown in Figs. 3 to 5.

As the door 24 is closed, the edge 32 between the front face and the side of the door, which may be bevelled, as shown, to prevent damage to the sealing strip, passes over the sealing flange 12, because it is positioned close to the level of the rebate surface. The door edge 32 then contacts the actuating flange 13 (see Fig. 4), because of its upward projection, and this causes the whole T-shaped part of the sealing strip to pivot, thus urging the sealing flange 12 against the outer door surface. At the same time, the door pushes the T-shaped portion downwardly and this is accommodated by the compressibility of the body afforded by the longitudinal chamber 16. Continued closing movement of the door 24 increases this compression and continues to cause the actuating flange 13 to urge the sealing flange 12 against the front surface of the door. As the door 24 reaches the closed position (see Fig.

5), the front surface contacts the abutment 14 which prevents further movement.

In the closed position (see Fig. 5), therefore, the sealing flange 12 is urged against the door surface to seal therewith. Because the sealing flange faces outwardly, any gusts of wind on the front of the door 24 will serve only to urge the sealing flange 12 more securely against the door surface, so ensuring that the seal is maintained and improved.

Because the compressibility of the body portion is variable, the sealing strip can be used with doors 24 and frames 23 having any size of gap between them, when they are closed.

The action of the door 24 at the side 24B opposite the hinge is substantially the same, except that the door edge does not wipe over the surface of the flanges. The door surface first contacts the actuating flange 13 which pivots the sealing flange 12 into engagement with the door surface while pressing the flanges 12, 13 downwardly.

It will be appreciated that the two flanges 12, 13 need not be constructed as described above. Provided that the actuating part 13 moves the sealing flange 12 from a position in which it does not engage the closing door surface, to a position in which such engagement is achieved after the edge of the door has passed over the sealing flange 12, it will satisfy the necessary requirement.

It will also be appreciated that the compressibility of the body portion 11 need not be provided by a central chamber 16; it could be provided by making the body portion from a highly compressible material.

The root 15 shown in the drawings extends generally normal to the undersurface 18 and so the groove 30 is correspondingly arranged in the rebate surface 29. A groove at such an angle may not, however, be desirable because it may form a weakness in the frame which may cause it to split. For this reason, the groove may be cut at an angle of, say, 45 so that it extends downardly towards the centre of the frame. This will reduce the weakness introduce by the groove. In this case, the root 15 will be similarly angled. A sealing strip of this configuration is shown in Fig. 6 which will not be described in detail since the remainder of the construction is substantially the same as the sealing strip shown in Fig. 1.

Claims

1. A sealing strip for forming a seal between a door and a rebate formed on an associated frame, and having rebate surfaces which are respectively parallel and normal to the plane of the frame, the sealing strip being formed of a flexible material and comprising a body portion, a sealing flange carried on an outer surface of said body portion and an actuating member so associated with the sealing flange that when the sealing strip is mounted on the parallel rebate surface with the sealing flange extending from its connection with the body portion towards the free edge of the rebate surface, the door, on closing, engages the actuating member which is then moved to cause the sealing flange to pivot relatively to the body portion from a depressed position to an operative sealing position in which the sealing flange engages the door to seal therewith, the actuating member maintaining the sealing flange in this sealing position while the door is closed.

2. A sealing strip according to claim 1, wherein the actuating member projects from the outer surface of the body portion for engagement with the closing door.

3. A sealing strip according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the actuating portion is formed by a flange connected to the sealing flange and extending upwardly and outwardly from the outer surface of the body portion in a direction opposite to the sealing flange.

4. A sealing strip according to claim 3, wherein the actuating member, the sealing flange and their connection to the body portion are formed by a generally T-shaped part of the sealing strip, one half of the cross piece forming the actuating member, the other half forming the sealing flange and the leg forming the connection of the flanges to the body portion.

5. A sealing strip according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the body portion is so formed as to be compressible as the door closes so allowing the actuating member and the sealing flange to be depressed by the door as they move.

6. A sealing strip according to claim 5, wherein the compressibility is provided by a chamber extending along the length of the sealing strip.

7. A sealing strip according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the body portion of the sealing strip is so dimensioned as to be receivable in a recess cut in the rebate surface such that the outer surface of the body portion is substantially coplanar with the rebate surface before cutting away.

8. A sealing strip according to any one of claims 1 to 7 and including a root receivable in a groove cut in the rebate surface.

9. A sealing strip according to any one of claims 1 to 8 and further including an abutment for engagement by the door as the door is closed, to limit the closing movement of the door.

10. A sealing strip according to claim 9, wherein the abutment is formed along that edge of the sealing strip which is to be adjacent the outer edge of the rebate surface.

11. A sealing strip substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 1 to 5 or to Figs. 1 to 5 as modified by Fig. 6 of the accompanying drawings.

12. A door and door frame assembly, in which the door is received in a rebate formed in the frame, and having rebate surfaces which are respectively parallel and normal to the plane of the frame, the parallel rebate surface carrying a sealing strip according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

13. A door and door frame assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.