GB2239887A - Pet door having a prop to hold the flap open - Google Patents

Abstract

A pet door comprises a frame 1 for fitting into a door 2 and defining an access aperture 6. A closure flap 5 hung within the aperture 6 is pivotally displeaceable by a pet wishing to pass through the door. The closure flap 5 is pivoted about an axis which is offset inwardly of the top edge of the flap 5. A prop member 11 is provided which in operative position is disposed to act between the flap 5 in the region of said top edge thereof and the frame 1, whereby to hold the flap 5 in an "open" position which allows a pet to pass freely through the aperture 6. <IMAGE>

Description

"PET DOORS" The invention relates to pet doors of the type comprising a frame defining an access aperture and a pivoted closure flap which is displaceable by a pet to allow the latter to pass through the aperture, normally for entry to or exit from domestic premises to which the door is fitted.

When such a pet door is newly fitted, or a new pet is introduced, the pet has to be trained to use the door and in some cases animals are slow to learn when teaching them can be a time-consuming business. The object of the invention is to provide a pet door which facilitates the training of a pet to use the door.

According to one aspect of the invention a pet door of the foregoing type has the closure flap pivoted about an axis which is offset inwardly of an edge of the flap, and a member is provided which in operative position is disposed to act between the flap in the region of said edge thereof and the frame to hold the flap in an "open" position which allows a pet to pass freely through the access aperture. Preferably the flap is pivoted about a horizontal axis disposed at a level below the top edge of the flap, and said member acts as a prop disposed directly between the top of the flap above said axis and the frame of the door. For convenience said member will hereinafter be referred to a the "prop member" which term is to be construed broadly within the spirit of the invention as the context allows.

The prop member desirably acts to hold the flap in a generally horizontal position, and it may be a detachable member which clips on to, or otherwise attaches to, the door frame or the flap to retain the member in the operative position.

The prop member of the invention may be a multi-function component, alternatively usable as a locking member to lock the flap in the closed position and/or differentially so that the flap will open in one direction but not the other. When in locking mode the member may clip on to the flap, preferably at the bottom edge thereof, or on to the frame and it may have four alternative positions on the flap: a non-locking first position in which the flap is free to open in either direction, a locking second position with the flap locked in both directions, a locking third position in which the flap can open inwardly but not outwardly, and a locking fourth position in which the flap can open outwardly but not inwardly.

Thus, according to another aspect of the invention a pet door of the type concerned has a prop/locking member movable between a plurality of operative positions, in one of which the member acts as a prop to hold the flap in an open position and in another of which the member has a locking function and is operative to lock the flap against movement in at least one direction.

The access aperture and the flap can be of any desired shape, but the inwardly offset pivot axis of the invention particularly suits the employment of a novel circular shape. In my opinion this is preferable to the usual rectangular shape as in cross-section the body of an animal is round rather than square.

The prop or locking member preferably has side grooves which slidably engage the edges of a radial slot in the flap at the bottom edge thereof, the member having two effective positions within this slot. In one disposition of the member these two positions may provide said first and second positions; the member being taken out, inverted and then re-inserted one way round or the other according to whether the third or fourth of said positions is desired.

The invention will now be further described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of pet door, and in which: Fig. 1 is a front view of the door; Fig. 2 is a side view shown in section on the line Il-Il in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view in the region of the bottom edge of a flap of the door, to a larger scale; Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views to the same scale illustrating a prop/locking member of the door; and Fig.6 diagrammatically demonstrates how the invention is of application to pet doors of different shapes.

The pet door illustrated comprises a front frame 1 of circular shape for fitting into a house door 2 in which a suitable circular hole has been cut. It comprises two plastics mouldings la and lb which clip together, and is illustrated and will be described as fitted to the outside of the door 2, but it will be appreciated that it is a matter of choice whether the frame 1 is on the outside or the inside. The frame 1 is fixed in position by a ring of fixing screws such as 3 threaded into the latter and extending between the frame 1 and an annular clamping ring 4, which is also a plastics moulding, positioned against the other side of the door 2.

A circular closure flap 5 is hung within a circular access aperture 6 through the frame 1, and the flap 5 is moulded from a plastics material with integral pivot stubs 5a. The flap 5 is pivotally mounted about a horizontal axis A which is offset inwardly of the edge of the flap 5, being disposed at a level below the top edge of the flap 5. A pile-type sealing strip 7 around the periphery of the flap 5 provides a draught seal when the flap 5 is in the vertically-hanging closed position shown in full lines in the drawings. Small magnets 8 and 9, respectively fixed in co-operating pairs to the frame 1 and the flap 5 at a bottom region of the latter, serve to hold the flap 5 in the closed position in normal wind conditions whilst the magnetic attraction is easily overcome by a pet wishing to displace the flap 5 in order to pass through the aperture 6.

At the bottom edge the flap 5 has a radial slot 10 in which a moulded plastics prop/locking member 11 is normally positioned. The member 11 is slidable in the slot 10 and has longitudinal edge grooves 12 in which the flap 5 engages (see Fig. 4 which shows the member 11 in horizontal section) and it is retained in position with a frictional grip. To facilitate operation the member 11 has facial recesses lla across which horizontal central projecting ribs llb are moulded, and either of these ribs is readily engageable by a finger to displace the member 11 in the slot 10. When engaged in the slot 10 the member 11 has four effective positions related to its locking function.

In a first of these positions, the non-locking inoperative position illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 and 5(a), the lower end of the member 11 is clear of the bottom edge of the frame 1 so that the flap 5 is unlocked and free to open in either direction. If the member 11 is slid down in the slot 10 to its second position, illustrated in Fig. 5b, an edge slot 12 in the member 11 engages with a locking rib 13 extending across a recess 14 in the frame 1. With the rib 13 so received in the slot 12 the flap 5 is locked against both inward and outward movement about the pivot axis A.

For differential uni-directional locking of the flap 5 the member 11 is removed from the flap 5, inverted and re-inserted in the slot 10. At the end opposite the slot 12, now the lower end but the upper end in Figs. 1 to 3, the member 11 has an end projection 15 at only one side face. With the member 11 fully re-inserted in the flap 5 one way round the projection 15 is disposed on the inner side of the locking rib 13, thereby blocking opening movement of the flap 5 in the outward direction only.

Similarly, if the member 11 is inserted the other way round the projection 15 is disposed on the outer side of the rib 13 and the flap 5 is locked against movement in the inward direction. Thus for locking purposes the multi-function member 11 has four alternative positions.

The member 11 has a fifth operative position, removed from the slot 10, in which it acts as a prop to hold the flap 5 in a generally horizontal open position shown in broken lines in Fig. 1. When so acting as a prop the member, in this mode also being illustrated in broken lines, clips by way of the groove 12 on to a radial rib 16 in a recess 17 at the top outer side of the frame 1. In this position of the member 11 it acts on edge as a prop, directly between the frame 1 and the top edge region of the flap 5, to retain the flap 5 open and the aperture 6 unobstructed. Thus a new pet can freely pass through the pet door, and when the animal has become used to so doing the member 11 can be moved back to its normal position with the flap 5 hanging down, as the animal will naturally push it out of the way in order to effect its now-accustomed passage.Thus training is accomplished quickly and without wasting the time of the owner.

The recess 17 is duplicated at 18 on the inner side of the frame, allowing the flap 5 to be propped open either inwardly (as shown) or outwardly as desired.

As described all the major components of the illustrated pet door are conveniently plastics mouldings, particularly the frame 1, ring 4 and flap 5. The inner moulding lb of the frame 1 has an outer diameter which enables it to be telescopically and closely received within a projecting sleeve section 4a of the ring 4 if fitted to a thin door, for example in a door panel, or alternatively in a glass pane of a window. For thicker doors, such as the door 2 illustrated, a liner strip 19 is provided which is wrapped around the section 4a and secured with adhesive tape to bridge the gap between the frame 1 and the ring 4 within the door.

Whilst the circular shape which has been described is advantageously employed with the invention, Fig. 6 illustrates how the same locking and flap-propping functions can be achieved whatever the shape of the pet door. This figure shows a square door 20, with a flap 22 in the open training position in which it is propped by the member 11.

The pet door described is illustrated as fitted into a normal external door, typically of 45 mm thickness.

However, it can equally well be fitted into a glass panel with a circular hole of the appropriate diameter and the section 4a of the clamping ring 4 fitting over the frame 1, so that the glass panel is firmly clamped and a range of glass thicknesses can be accommodated. O-ring sealing members 23 and 24 respectively seat in annular grooves in the frame 1 and the ring 4, and these provide a tight seal at each side of the door or panel into which the pet door is fitted.

When fitted as a locking member to the flap 5 the member 11, as has been described, has two radial positions.

These are limit positions when the flap 5 is in closed position and retention is by a frictional grip. Instead of relying on the latter the flap 5 and the member 11 may be moulded with co-operating detent formations providing, for example, "click stops" which provide a positive location for the member 11 when in either radial position.

The illustrated prop/locking member has as described four effective positions associated with the locking function. This necessitates that to change the locking action the member has to be removed and inverted and/or turned round. To obviate the necessity for this two such members may be fitted at the bottom of the flap 5 side by side, in separate slots and each having two alternative radial positions. However, the bottom end of each locking member now corresponds to the Fig. 5(c) or Fig. 5 (d) condition of the previously described member, but the identical members are respectively fitted opposite ways round. Thus, one of the members now operates to lock the flap 5 in one direction and the other to lock it in the other direction. With both members in the outward locking positions the flap is locked in both directions. Either member can be removed from the bottom of the flap and fitted at the top as a prop to hold the flap 5 in the open "training" position.

Claims (13)

CLAIMS:

1. A pet door of the type set forth wherein the closure flap thereof is pivoted about an axis which is offset inwardly of an edge of the flap, and a member is provided which in operative position is disposed to act between the flap in the region of said edge thereof and the frame, whereby to hold the flap in an "open" position which allows a pet to pass freely through the access aperture.

2. A pet door according to claim 1, wherein the flap is pivoted about a horizontal axis disposed at a level below the top edge of the flap, and said member acts as a prop disposed directly between the top of the flap above said axis and the frame of the door.

3. A pet door according to claim 2, wherein the prop member acts to hold the flap in a generally horizontal position.

4. A pet door according to claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the prop member is a detachable member which clips on to, or otherwise attaches to, the door frame or the flap to retain the member in said operative position.

5. A pet door according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said member is a multi-function component, alternatively usable as a locking member to lock the flap in the closed position and/or differentially so that the flap will open in one direction but not the other.

6. A pet door according to claim 5, wherein when in locking mode said member is clipped on to the flap or on to the frame.

7. A pet door according to claim 6, wherein said member clips on to the flap at the bottom edge thereof.

8. A pet door according to claim 7, wherein the prop or locking member has side grooves which slidably engage the edges of a radial slot in the flap adjacent the bottom edge thereof, the member having two effective positions within this slot.

9. A pet door according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein said member clips on to the flap and has four alternative positions thereon: a non-locking first position in which the flap is free to open in either direction, a locking second position with the flap locked in both directions, a locking third position in which the flap can open inwardly but not outwardly, and a locking fourth position in which the flap can open outwardly but not inwardly.

10. A pet door according to claim 8 and claim 9, wherein in one disposition of the member said two effective positions thereof respectively provide said first non-locking position and said second locking position; the member being taken out, inverted and then re-inserted one way round or the other in said slot according to whether said third locking position or said fourth locking position is required.

11. A pet door of the type set forth and which has a prop/locking member which is movable between a plurality of operative positions, in one of which the member acts as a prop to hold the flap in an open position and in another of which the member has a locking function and is operative to lock the flap against movement in at least one direction.

12. A pet door according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the access aperture and the flap are of generally circular shape.

13. A pet door constructed and arranged substantially as hereinbefore particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings.