GB2347711A

GB2347711A - Thermally insulated sill member

Info

Publication number: GB2347711A
Application number: GB9905824A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Phillip Brian Allport; Brian Christopher Allport; Susan Margaret Allport; Mark Charles Allport; Hannah Susan Allport
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1999-03-12
Filing date: 1999-03-12
Publication date: 2000-09-13
Anticipated expiration: 2019-03-12
Also published as: GB9905824D0; GB2347711B

Abstract

A weatherbar for mounting below a door 14 comprises outer and inner sections 16, 18 respectively, the inner section being thermally insulated both from the front section and from the door threshold 12 by a body 20 of thermally insulating material which separates and connects the inner and outer sections and extends under the inner section to space the latter from the threshold.

Description

A WEATHERBAR FOR A WEATHER EXCLUDER This invention relates to an elongate sill member (herein referred to as a"weatherbar") for locating on a threshold below the lower edge of a door and having an upper surface for engagement by at least one elongated sealing member extending along the said lower edge of the door. Such a weatherbar is referred to herein as"of the kind defined".

A disadvantage with some existing weatherbars is that they are usually made of a high thermal conductivity material such as aluminium, and hence in cold weather there is cold transfer from the exterior of the building to the interior of the building via the weatherbar.

A known attempt to solve this problem is to provide a thermal break in the weatherbar by constructing the weatherbar in two sections, an outer section and an inner section, which are separated by a thermally insulating material.

However, in this known weatherbar both sections sit directly on the threshold, which is normally of concrete and extends from the outside of the building to the inside. Thus for a certain distance into the building the temperature of the concrete threshold is at or near the exterior air temperature. Therefore, the aluminium inner section sat upon the threshold will be at substantially the same temperature as the outside air despite the thermal break.

It is therefore an object of the invetion to provide an improved weatherbar in which this disadvantage is avoided or mitigated.

Accordingly, the invention provides a weatherbar of the kind defined, wherein the weatherbar comprises inner and outer sections, the inner section being thermally insulated both from the front section and from the threshold.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing whose single figure is a cross-section through the bottom part of a door fitted with a weather excluder including a weatherbar according to the invention.

Referring to the drawing, a weather excluder comprises an elongate weatherbar 10 mounted directly on the threshold 12 beneath a door 14. The weatherbar includes an outer section 16 which is exposed to the outside elements and an inner section 18 which is located below the lower edge of a door 14 when the door is closed. Both sections 16 and 18, which have the respective cross-sections shown in the drawing, are of extruded aluminium or other non-rusting lightweight metal or metal alloy. It will be recognised that the weatherbar 10 is highly elongated in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the figure, and extends fully across the width of the door opening.

The weatherbar 10 also includes a body 20 of thermally insulating material such as PVC-rubber, cellular hard rubber, cellular hard PVC or the like which connects the outer and inner sections 16,18 of the weatherbar 10 together. The body 20 not only separates and thermally insulates the inner section 16 from the outer section 16 but also extends fully under the inner section 18 to space and thermally insulate the inner section from the threshold 12. The body 20 engages the outer and inner sections 16,18 of the weatherbar in the manner shown in the drawing to form a relatively rigid self-suporting structure.

Although a weatherbar constructed as described above may be fitted between the vertical side frame members of an existing doorframe, it is preferred that the weatherbar 10 form the horizontal bottom frame member of a rectangular self-supporting door frame of which one vertical side frame member is shown at 22. Thus each end of the weatherbar 10 extends under the respective vertical side frame member 22, whose lower end is profiled to mate with the upper surface of the weatherbar, and is fixed thereto by upwardly extending screws 24. The weatherbar 10 therefore ties the lower ends of the side frame elements 22 together, the upper ends of the side frame elements being joined by a horizontal top frame member in conventional manner.

This allows the door frame, including the weatherbar, to be manufactured off-site and transported ready made to the site. The side frame elements 22 and top frame element are fixed to the surrounding brickwork in conventional manner, while the weatherbar is fixed to the threshold by a series of screws 26.

An elongate seal holder 28 is fixed to the lower edge of the door 14 by a series of screws of which one is shown at 30. The holder 28 is also made of extruded aluminium or other lightweight metal. The holder 28 has a downwardly and forwardly inclined drip deflection ledge 32 on the outside surface of the door and a plate 34 which extends under the bottom of the door. The plate 34 has two parallel channels 36 which accomodate and retain the heads of two flexible sealing blades 38 whose lower free ends engage the upper surface of the inner section 18 of the weatherbar 10 to seal the gap between the weatherbar and the bottom of the door against rainwater and draughts. The holder 28 also carries a seal 40 which seals against the rear of the outer section 16.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment described herein which may be modified or varied without departing from the scope of the invention

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A weatherbar of the kind defined, wherein the weatherbar comprises inner and outer sections, the inner section being thermally insulated both from the front section and from the threshold.
2. A weatherbar as claimed in claim 1, including a body of thermally insulating material which separates and connects the inner and outer sections and extends under the inner section to space the latter from the threshold.
3. A weatherbar as claimed in claim 2, wherein the body of thermally insulating material engages the inner and outer sections to form a self-supporting structure.
4. A weatherbar as claimed in claim 1,2 or 3, wherein the weatherbar forms the horizontal bottom frame member of a rectangular self-supporting door frame.
5. A weatherbar substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

5. A weatherbar as claimed in claim 4, wherein each end of the weatherbar extends under and is fixed to a respective vertical side frame member of the door frame whose lower end is profiled to mate with the upper surface of the weatherbar.

6. A weatherbar substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows CLAIMS 1. A weatherbar of the kind defined, wherein the weatherbar comprises inner and outer sections of thermally conductive material, the inner section having an exposed upper surface for contact by the sealing member, and a body of thermally insulating material which separates and connects the inner and outer sections and extends under the inner section to space the latter from the threshold.

2. A weatherbar as claimed in claim 1, wherein the body of thermally insulating material engages the inner and outer sections to form a self-supporting structure.

3. A weatherbar as claimed in claim 2, wherein the weatherbar forms the horizontal bottom frame member of a rectangular self-supporting door frame.

4. A weatherbar as claimed in claim 3, wherein each end of the weatherbar extends under and is fixed to a respective vertical side frame member of the door frame whose lower end is profiled to mate with the upper surface of the weatherbar.