GB2304361A

GB2304361A - Door leaf frame

Info

Publication number: GB2304361A
Application number: GB9517077A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Victor John Colley
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1995-08-21
Filing date: 1995-08-21
Publication date: 1997-03-19
Anticipated expiration: 2015-08-21
Also published as: GB2304361B; GB9517077D0

Abstract

A door comprises a rectangular frame and a central panel 12, the frame being formed by four metal stiffening elements each extending along a respective horizontal or vertical side of the frame and secured to each other at respective corners of the frame. Decorative door styles 13 and door rails 14 are mounted on the exterior of the stiffening elements to conceal the stiffening elements, the door styles and door rails being formed of a material of less structural rigidity than the stiffening elements.

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO DOORS The invention relates to doors. It is particularly applicable to sliding doors and to tall doors for storage units such as wardrobes and the like.

Doors for storage units such as cupboards are commonly formed by a frame having vertical styles and horizontal rails at the edges of the door together with a central panel or panels mounted within the frame. Many doors are now made with materials such as medium density fibre board (MDF) which have limited strength and rigidity. Such materials are particularly convenient for cost and ability to be formed into desired moulded shapes for door styles and rails. Problems do however arise with lack of rigidity with such materials when forming large doors. This is particularly so with large sliding doors such as are required for storage cupboards such as wardrobes or other floor to ceiling units. Such sliding doors may have widths up to 1.07 metres and heights up to 2.44 metres.

It is an object of the present invention to provide improved door construction having sufficient rigidity to permit door manufacture for such tall storage cupboards and for tall sliding doors while still enabling the use of materials such as medium density fibre board with limited rigidity.

The present invention provides a door comprising a rectangular frame and a central panel supported within a rectangular frame, said frame providing structural rigidity for the door and being formed by four metal stiffening elements each extending along a respective horizontal or vertical side of the frame, the four stiffening element being secured to each other at respective corners of the frame, and decorative door styles and door rails being mounted on the exterior of the stiffening elements to conceal the stiffening elements, the door styles and door rails being formed of a material of less structural rigidity than the stiffening elements.

Conveniently the door styles and rails are made of medium density fibre board.

Generally the door styles are moulded to form a required decorative shape.

Preferably the door styles comprise two limbs at right angles to each other, one limb concealing a front face of a stiffener and a second limb concealing an edge of the stiffener.

Preferably said one limb is recessed on a rear wall of the limb to provide a cavity in which the stiffener is located.

The door may comprise a sliding door and may be arranged for a tall storage cupboard.

Wheels may be attached to a stiffening element at the bottom of the frame.

Preferably each vertical stiffening element comprises an elongated extrusion having in-cross section a first part to provide rigidity and a second part to form a channel to receive a peripheral edge of the central panel of the door.

Preferably said first part comprises a hollow box section and said channel projects from one side of said box section.

Preferably said stiffening elements each comprise an aluminium extrusion.

Preferably the stiffening elements on each side of the frame have a similar construction.

The central panel may comprise a mirror panel. Alternatively other boarded panels may be used.

When wheels are fitted, they are preferably adjustable in height.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a front view of a tall sliding door for a storage cupboard in accordance with the present invention, Figure 2 is a rear view of the door of Figure 1 with one wheel mounting cut away, Figure 3 is a section on part of the line X-X of Figure 1, and Figure 4 is a section through a stiffening extrusion of Figure 2.

This example consists of a sliding door for a tall storage cupboard such as a wardrobe unit having a height up to 2.44 metres and a width of up to 1.07 metres. The door comprises a rectangular frame 11 and a central panel 12 which in the example shown comprises a glass mirror. Other central panels including a panel board may be used in other embodiments. The frame 11 is rectangular having vertical styles 13 extending vertically at each side of the frame and horizontal rails 14 at the top and bottom of the frame and interconnecting the styles 13. In this example the styles and rails are formed of medium density fibre board (MDF) having limited rigidity over the length necessary for doors of such height.The frame also consists of stiffening elements 15 extending upwardly at each side of the frame behind the styles 13 and further stiffening elements 16 extending horizontally behind each of the rails 14. Each of the stiffening elements 15 and 16 is formed of similar aluminium extrusion having a cross section as shown in Figure 3 or Figure 4. The stiffening elements have a first part 17 which is a hollow rectangular box section and formed integrally with the first part is a second channel part formed by a wall 18 spaced away from the box section 16 to form the channel 19 in which the edges of the mirror panel 12 are located. The walls of the channel 19 are serrated to provide a tight grip on the central door panel which is located in the channel 19. The rectangular box section 17 provides required rigidity for the door frame over the full vertical height needed for such sliding doors.

As shown in the rear view of Figure 2, the vertical and horizontal stiffeners 15 and 16 are secured together at their corners by angle brackets 20 which are riveted to respective stiffeners. The horizontal stiffeners have a cutaway portion at each end to allow satisfactory mating with the ends of the vertical stiffeners.

Adjustable wheels 22 are provided at the bottom of the frame so as to run in grooves of a surrounding framework when mounted in a cupboard assembly. Each of the wheels 22 is mounted on a wheel unit 23 having an adjusting screw 24 to allow vertical adjustment of the wheel height. The units 23 are riveted to adjacent stiffeners 15 and 16.

As shown in Figure 3, the door styles are moulded to provide a decorative appearance. The style 13 has two parts arranged at right angles. A front part 24 is arranged to conceal the stiffener 16 by lying entirely over the front wall of the stiffener. The part 24 is recessed on its rear face to accommodate the wall 18 of the stifferier so that from the front of the door the style is fully concealed by the front face of the style 13. The second part 25 of the style 13 extends along the vertical edge of the stiffener 15 so as to conceal the stiffener at the edge of the door. As shown in Figure 3 the corner of the style 13 is cut away in a convex shape to give a decorative appearance to the corner of the style. As shown in Figure 2, the styles 13 are fixed to the stiffeners 15 by screws 26 which pass through the stiffener into the style. The rails 14 are secured to the horizontal stiffeners 16 by two-sided adhesive tape on the top and bottom rails. To allow smooth and silent operation in sliding track of a cupboard, the door is provided with brush pile elements 27 secured to the front and rear faces of the door on the front face of the styles at their upper end and on the rear face of the upper stiffener 16.

The invention is not limited to the details of the foregoing example. The styles and rails may be formed of materials other than MDF where appropriate. The shape or pattern of the styles and rails may be made as required to suit the required appearance of the door.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A door comprising a rectangular frame and a central panel supported within a rectangular frame, said frame providing structural rigidity for the door and being formed by four metal stiffening elements each extending along a respective horizontal or vertical side of the frame, the four stiffening element being secured to each other at respective corners of the frame, and decorative door styles and door rails being mounted on the exterior of the stiffening elements to conceal the stiffening elements, the door styles and door rails being formed of a material of less structural rigidity than the stiffening elements.

2. A door according to claim 1 in which the door styles and rails are made of medium density fibre board.

3. A door according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which the door styles are moulded to form a required decorative shape.

4. A door according to any one of the preceding claims in which the door styles comprise two limbs at right angles to each other, one limb concealing a front face of a stiffener and a second limb concealing an edge of the stiffener.

5. A door according to claim 4 in which said one limb is recessed on a rear wall of the limb to provide a cavity in which the stiffener is located.

6. A door according to any one of the preceding claims in which said door is a sliding door and the frame is arranged to be located in slide elements.

7. A door according to claim 6 in which said door comprises a sliding door for a tall storage cupboard.

8. A door according to claim 6 or claim 7 in which said door has wheels attached to a stiffening element at the bottom of said frame.

9. A door according to any one of the preceding claims in which each vertical stiffening element comprises an elongated extrusion having in cross section a first part to provide rigidity and a second part to form a channel to receive a peripheral edge of the central panel of the door.

10. A door according to claim 9 in which said first part comprises a hollow box section and said channel projects from one side of said box section.

11. A door according to any one of the preceding claims in which said stiffening elements each comprise an aluminium extrusion.

12. A door according to any one of the preceding claims in which the stiffening elements on each side of the frame have a similar construction.

13. A door according to any one of the preceding claims in which said central panel comprises a mirror panel.

14. A door according to any one of the preceding claims having wheels adjustable in height mounted on adjustable mountings at the lower edge of said frame.

15. A sliding cupboard door substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and shown in the accompanying drawings.