GB2392469A

GB2392469A - Door/window with inflatable seal

Info

Publication number: GB2392469A
Application number: GB0220124A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Paul Wallace
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-08-30
Filing date: 2002-08-30
Publication date: 2004-03-03
Also published as: GB0220124D0

Abstract

A door 2 or jamb 1 comprises an inflatable seal 5 which to be inflated when in between said door 2 and said jamb 1 and may serve as a flood barrier. The inflatable seal 5 may be inflated by means of compressed air or liquid supplied by a compressor pump 3 and/or by activation of a mechanical/ electrical switch 7. The seal 5 may be deflated by activation of a vacuum pump 3 operated using a mechanical/electrical switch 7. The seal 5 may be made so as to automatically inflate once the door 2 has been locked onto the jamb 1. The invention is intended to prevent the flow of water and other liquids, gases and noxious substances, noise and other pollutants past the seal 5 when inflated.

Description

AUTOMATIC INFLATABLE DOOR & WINDOW SEW.

The invention relates to a automatic inflatable door and window seal which may be fixed into pre existing Commercial and Domestic door and window profiles of variable materials but may include doors and windows made of Wood, PVCu, Plastic, GRP, Aluminium, Steel or other materials.

The invention may be used to provide a watertight seal around the perimeter of the door or window profile during manufacture of the door and frame itself. The invention may also be used to provide a watertight seal to pre existing and pre installed doors and windows.

It is well known that during flood conditions entrance doors and windows are the main points of entry for floodwaters to infiltrate Commercial properties, shops and homes.

Existing flood protection measures to protect doors and windows often include deployment of sandbags, separate purpose made flood barriers or floodguards across the door or window. This presents a difficulty due to the nature of flooding which can happen with little or no warning (flash floods), or can occur when the property is unoccupied (during periods of work, holidays). Existing flood protection measures for doors and windows have the disadvantage that they require some notice that a flood is likely as they are not mainly designed to be a permanent barrier. They need some physical effort to be fitted to the door or window frame when needed. They can be detrimental to the character and appearance of the property as many systems rely on a permanent framework being fitted to the property.

They require storage space when not in use.

Also the design of Commercial doors and Shop front entrances in particular purposely use a low threshold plate across the bottom of the door or omit a threshold plate altogether to allow free and easy access for customers without them tripping or falling. The disadvantage of this is that floodwater easily penetrates these doors.

An object of this invention is to provide doors and windows with their own watertight seal without the need for sand bags or other separate flood protection barriers or guards bein, fitted. A watertight seal around the perimeter of door and window frames is inflated with compressed air, gas, water or other materials that will remain intact every time the door or window is locked preventing the infiltration of floodwater and raw sewage during flood conditions as well as gases and other materials. The invention also provides that the watertight seal is maintained over prolonged periods until such time that the door or window is unlocked, then the watertight seal automatically deflates due to the design and memory qualities ofthe manufacturing material used. When unlocked normal access and use of the door or window is available immediately.

The invention accordingly provides a automatic deflatable seal of varying design to accommodate the design of existing door and window frame profiles. Made of silicone, rubber PVC or other similar material the automatic deflatable seal expands accordingly to preset levels to provide a watertight seal when a miniature compressor is activated by the physical action of locking the door. The seals and control apparatus can be incorporated within the door or window frame section itself or the control apparatus can be housed remotely in a separate control box.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described with references to the accompanying drawings in which: 1.

FIGURE 1). Shows an exploded cut through sectional view of a typical PVCu Door frame with the automatic deflatable seal and component parts fitted within the door framework. FIGURE 2). Shows an exploded cut through sectional view of a typical design of a automatic deflatable seal extrusion that may be used and fitted to the door or window frame in a denated state.

FIGURE 3). Shows an exploded cut through sectional view of a typical design of a deflatable seal extrusion that may be used and fitted to the door or window frame in an innated state using compressed air or other inflators.

FIGURE 4). Shows an exploded cut through sectional view taken through a typical mortise lock fitted within a typical PVCu door frame, showing the control switch housed within the lock keep and the condition of the automatic deflatable seal when the door and lock are in an unlocked (deactivated) state.

FIGURE 5). Shows an exploded cut through sectional view taken through a typical mortise lock fitted within a typical PVCu door frame, showing the control switch housed within the lock keep and the condition of the automatic deflatable seal when the door and lock are in a locked (activated) state.

FIGURE 6). Shows a control panel that may be fitted remotely from the door or window when a suitable cavity is not available in the door or window frame.

FIGURE 7). Shows an exploded cut through sectional view taken through the bottom door rail of a aluminium swing door that may be typically used by shops and commercial premises with no weather bar or threshold plate fitted across the floor. This shows the automatic deflatable seal extrusion for this type of door section in the deflated, unlocked (deactivated) state.

FIGURE 8). Shows an exploded cut through sectional view taken through the bottom door rail of a aluminium swing door that may be typically used by shops and commercial premises with no weather bar or threshold plate fitted across the floor. This shows the automatic deflatable seal extrusion for this type of door section in the inflated, locked (activated) state.

2.

As shown in Figure 1, in this case the automatic deflatable seal (5) and it control apparatus are housed within the door jamb locking stile of a PVCu door (l), and comprise ofthe automatic deflatable seal (5) which is fixed by means of waterproofadhesives and a locating plug (13), the compressor pump (3),the DC or AC power supply (4), the air control valve (6), the manual/electric control switch (7), the vent to atmosphere valve (8), the electrical wiring (9) the connecting small bore silicone tubing (to).

When the door frame (2) is closed shut but not locked as shown in Figure 4, the automatic deflatable seal (5) is in its normal state (donated) as shown in Figure 2, the door frame when shut also compresses the existing neoprene seal (11).

As shown in Figure 5, when the door frame (2) is locked by means of a Yale type, mortise type or similar locking device to the door jamb locking stile ( I) the mechanical action of the lock switches the manual/electric control switch (7) to the activated state. This inflates the automatic deflatable seal (5) to a specific bar pressure by the compressor pump (3) as shown in Figure 3, which turns off once the preset bar pressure is achieved. The air pressure within the automatic deflatable seal is held to the set bar pressure by a non return valve within the air control valve (6).

When the door frame (2) is unlocked as show in Figure 4, the vent to atmosphere valve (8) is activated which releases the stored compressed air to atmosphere. The automatic deflatable valve returns to its normal state as shown in Figure 2. To allow immediate normal use of the door or window.

Figure 6, shows a control box (19), made of PVCu, plastic, wood, metal or other similar material in which the compressor pump (3), AC / DC power supply (4), air control valve (6), electrical wiring (9), the connecting small bore silicone tubing (to), the small bore silicone tubing (12) connected to the remote automatic deflatable seal (5), the manual/electric control switch which is fitted remotely in the door lock keep. This control box may be fitted on the on a wall or close to the door or window.

As shown in figure 7, A aluminium bottom rail section comprising of the extruded aluminium box section (16), the Glass panel (17), the floor level (18), the automatic deflatable seal (5). The gap between the aluminiurn box section (16) and the floor level (18) allows the door to open and close freely when the automatic deflatable seal (5) is in the deflated (unlocked) state. As shown in Figure 8, this gap between the aluminium box sec-

tion (16) and the floor level (18) is taken up and sealed when the automatic deflatable seal.

(5) is in the inflated (locked) state.

Claims

i/. 4. Claims.

1). A single or multiple inflatable gasket or seal that is fixed to a door or window.

2). An inflatable seal as claimed in Claim I above which inflates by means of compressed air or liquid supplied by a compressor or activated by a mechanicaV electrical operated switch.

3). An inflatable seal as claimed in Claim 1 above which deflates by activation of a mechanical/electrical operated switch providing vacuum by means of a pump.

4). An inflatable seal as claimed in Claim 1 and Claim 3 above that returns to its normal ( uninflated) shape without additional force or power due to the composition of any plastic, rubber, silicone or other material used to manufacture the seal.

5). An inflatable seal as claimed in any preceding claim to prevent the flow of water and other liquids, gases and noxious substances, noise and other pollutants past the seal when inflated.

6). An inflatable seal substantially is herein described and illustrated in the accompanying description and drawings.