NZ242972A - Door draught and weather sealing strip including upwardly inclined portion providing anti-jamming ramped nosing - Google Patents

Description

Pat. S NEW ZEALAND Ttr™ 2A 2 9 7 2 (a) Insert title of Invention.

PATENTS ACT 1953 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (To be furnished in Duplicate) Where priority as provided by subsection (2) or (3) of section 11 of the Patents Act 1953 is desired in respect of one or more provisional specifications, quote number or numbers and date or dates <Weu. I'M? No.

Date j2± (a) Door Tl)rcu^lyf cLulAc r. (b) State (in full) name, address and nationality of applicant or applicants as in application form (c) Here begin full description of invention. The continuation of the specification should be upon paper of the same slae aa this form, on one side only with the lines well spaced and with a margin of 2.5cm on the left hand side of the paper. The completion of the description should be followed by the words "What I (or we) claim is" after which should be written the claim or claims numbered consecutively (see note below). The specification and the dup-licate thereof must be signed at the end. ai7«W-1,600/11/90MK (h) law I hoiUQ-S. 1 9l fcOjCXKV ftocvJj firing UdlM lytCL-lnrro^ Au.s-VroJ>cx.; S C Aot S-t~rod't On*-^ HEREBY declare the invention, for which 1/x* pray that a patent may be granted to me/W and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: (c) This mL/fcnDom (-o ; i pm i/-? ^ d^ulre.s fiof NOTE. The claims must relate to a single invention, must be clear and succinct, and must be fairly based on the matter disclosed in the specification. They should form in brief a clear statement of that fthich constitutes the invention. Applicants should be careful that their claims include neither more nor less than they desire to protect by their patent. Any unnecessary multiplicity of claims or prolixity of language should be avoided.

Claims should not be made for the efficiency or advantages of the invention. 4 24 2 9 7 restricting the passage of air and moisture below doors. This invention relates to improvements in devices for restricting the passage of air and moisture through the gaps between doors and the the floor and in particular for . restricting the passage of air and moisture through the gap between the door and the floor at the bottom of doors along the full width of the door.

Existing methods of restricting draught and weather at the I gap at the bottom of doors take several forms. One common method involves the manual placement of a device such as a soft flexible tubular container filled with sand, cloth or other filling so that the device may be manually pushed against the gap so that the device takes up the shape of the gap and restricts draught through the gap. Such devices are unsightly and cumbersome. Another common method is similar to the above method except that there is a mounting mechanism which must be screwed to the face of the door so that the tubular section moves with the door. Such devices are bulky, unsightly and can foul with the cavity in cavity sliding doors. Another common method involves the use of a mounting strip containi v a brush type material. The mounting strip must be fixed to the face of the door. This method is unsightly and can damage the face of the door. Another common method is to provide a mounting strip which contains a hinging mechanism which houses a resilient gasket. The hinge mechanism strikes a biasing stop when the door is closed so that the gasket is forced toward the 2 24 29 7 floor surface. This method is unsightly and limited to external hinged door use. Another common method is to provide a two part mechanism where one part is mounted to the underside of the door and the other part is mounted to the surface of the floor. This method is limited to external hinged doors and can make the door more difficult to operate.

The present invention provides a device for simply and effectively excluding draught and weather from penetrating the gap at the base of a door. This invention also provides a device which is concealed beneath the underside of the door. It also provides a device which does not require fixing to the door by the use of screws or nails. It also provides a device which can be simply and effectively fixed to the door without removing the door. It also provides a universal device for broad use. It also provides a device which does not require fixing to the face of the door. It also provides a single part device which seals a wide range of variation in a single gap. It also provides a.device which does not reduce the ease with which a door can be opened or closed. It also provides a device which actively clamps down onto the floor surface without the need for complimentary devices such as biasing stops. It also provides a device which does not require adjustment when used to seal a gap whose sides are not parallel along its length. It also provides a device which in use does not mar soft floor coverings. It also provides a device which in use has no components which are 3 24 2 9 7 subject to significant wear or deterioration. It also provides a device which is suited to sliding doors as well as hinged doors. It also provides a device which greatly reduces the operating forces on the fixing material when in use so that simple less strong fixing materials such as pads of double sided bonding tape may be successfully used to fix the device to the door. It also provides a device which may totally seal the door gap when the device is mounted to the underside of a door using small pads of bonding tape spaced widely apart, rather than requiring long lengths of bonding tape or similar fixing materials to the entire width of the door. It also provides a device which is able to actively climb and pass over significant obstacles above the floor surface. It also provides a device which may provide a relatively tight seal or a relatively less tight seal in the same device. It also provides a device which does not require any complimentary devices to be fitted to the underside of a door and does not require any modification to the underside of a standard door edge.

The present invention provides a draught and weather excluding device comprising a mounting web and a sealing web these webs being connected together in such a way so as to allow the sealing web to have a hinge action with the mounting web so that the sealing web is simply and effectively able to close the gap between the underside of the bottom of a door and the top surface of a floor or floor covering. Due to the hinge action between the two 4 24297 main webs the device has the ability to seal a substantial range of gaps between doors and floors without the need to adjust the location or configuration of the device. The device need not be fitted differently to accommodate different gaps on different doors. Due to the hinge action between the two main webs the device has the ability to automatically alter its vertical reach so that in situations where the gap width alters as the door is rotated, the device retracts or extends vertically so as not to cause any significant friction between the door and the floor.

The sealing web may be of resilient material so that in situations where the gap width is different along its length the sealing web is able to extend and retract vertically along its length so that an uneven gap may be effectively sealed.

The hinge position of the device may be located parallel to and at the furthermost edge of the underside of the door edge when viewed from within a room so that as the door is rotated toward the closed position the sealing web is caused to be extended vertically downward so as to ensure that the gap is effectively sealed when the door reaches its closed position. That is to say that the line of contact and resulting small frictional force between the sealing web and the floor is located at a distance from the axis of the hinge so that the sealing web experiences a rotational moment couple downwardly toward the floor. 2429 7 Larger gaps producing a greater such moment action so that large gaps are effectively sealed when the door is in the closed position and the sealing web has not needed to rely soley on gravity forces or material resilience or hinge biasing or any spring action in order to remain in contact with the floor surface to establish an effective seal. When the door is rotated in the opening direction the moment couple is reversed thus allowing the door to rotate totally freely in the opening direction.

The sealing web may be of suitable cross sectional shape such as a curved shape so that the floor surface makes contact with the sealing web at a tangent to the sealing web so that the sealing web is able to glide freely over the floor and actively climb obstacles on the floor so as to pass over them when the door is being opened or closed.

In one possible form of the invention a ramped nose web may be included extending from the sealing web toward the underside of the door edge so that the sealing web may efficiently and effectively climb and pass over significant obstacles on the floor surface without significantly increasing the effort required to rotate the door when the door is being rotated in a direction away from the hinge or weakened section. A biasing web may also be included extending from the ramped nose web and toward the underside of the door edge so that such a biasing web will act resiliently or by a similar spring action in contact with the underside of the door edge so as to ensure that web . 24 2 9 7 separation takes place so that the natural gravity force acting on the sealing web, or the frictional force between the underside of the sealing web and the floor surface causing the sealing web to separate downwardly away from the mounting web and toward the floor surface need not be relied upon in situations where a relatively tighter seal is required below the door. The mounting web may be constructed so as to be torsionally flexible so that compression of the sealing section causes the mounting web to contact the underside of the door edge in the region between successive tape pads so that any gap between the top of the mounting web and the underside of the door edge is effectively sealed.

The present invention may be constructed from resilient flexible type materials such as plastics or similar materials which can be effectively formed into the required cross sectional shape in lengths of approximately but not restricted to one metre.

To assist with understanding the invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which show two possible embodiments of the invention.

In the drawings: FIG. 1 shows an end view of one possible embodiment of the draught and weather excluder according to this invention; FIG. 2 shows an end view of another possible embodiment of the draught and weather excluder according to this invention. 24 2 0 7 2 FIG. 3 shows the application of the draught and weather excluder of FIG. 1 to a relatively large door to floor gap width as may be the case with an internal door where only a draught is required to be sealed so that a desirably weak seal is created between the sealing web and the floor.

Also shown in FIG. 3 is the intended action of the ramped nose web as the sealing section approaches an obstacle such as a carpet to tile interface as the door is being rotated toward the obstacle in the direction of arrow A.

FIG. 4 shows the draught and weather excluder of FIG. 1 in an application where the sealing web has mounted an obstacle such as an external door way raised tread by the action of the ramped nose web and subsequently a preferably stronger weather seal has been created at the base of the door by the action of the biasing web which now contacts the underside of the door edge.

FIG. 5 shows the draught and weather excluder of FIG. 2 being used in the same application of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 shows the draught and weather excluder of FIG. 2 being used in the same application as FIG. 4 FIG. 7 shows a plan view of a long portion of the draught and weather excluder of FIG. 1 when viewed in the direction of arrow B.

FIG. 8 shows a cross sectional view of the draught and 8 242972 weather excluder of FIG. 7 where the sectional view is taken through the centre of any tape pad and in the direction of arrow C. FIG. 8 also shows the sealing section of FIG. 7 in a slightly compressed state. That is to say that, prior to fitting of the sealing section to the underside of the door edge 10, the overall vertical depth of the sealing section was larger than the vertical distance from the underside of the door edge 10 to the top of the floor surface 9 prior to mounting the device.

FIG. 9 shows a cross sectional view of the draught and weather excluder of FIG. 7 where the sectional view is taken at any position between any pair of consecutive tape pads and in the direction of arrow D. FIG. 9 also shows the sealing section is in a compressed state between the underside of the door edge 10 and the top of the floor surface 9 due to the same action as described in the description of FIG. 8. FIG.9 also shows the torsional rotation of the mounting web wherein the extremity of the mounting web furthest from the hinge or weakened section is in contact with and firmly bearing against the underside of the door edge 10.

Referring to FIG. 1 it can be seen that the draught and weather excluding device according to this invention comprises a mounting web 1, a sealing web 2, and a hinge or weakened section 4. is The sealing web 2 boing- connected via a hinge or weakened section 4 to the mounting web 1. The sealing web 9 V o 242972 contains a ramped nose web 5 formed integral with the sealing web 2.

The ramped nose web 5 is an extension of the sealing web 2 and is inclined at a suitable angle to the plane of the mounting web 1 so that the ramped nose web 5 may actively climb significant obstacles on the floor surface so as to raise up the sealing web 2 by rotation about the hinge or weakened section 4. The ramped nose web 5 further contains a biasing web 3 formed integral with and being a continuation of the ramped nose web 5.

The biasing web 3 is connected to the ramped nose web 5 at the extremity of the nose web 5 furthest from the hinge or weakened section 4 and extends upwardly toward the underside of the door edge 10 and outwardly away from the hinge or weakened section 4.

The pad of bonding tape 6 is attached to the top surface of the mounting web 1.

The upstand 7 is extended upwardly from the mounting web 1.

By referring to FIG. 2 it can be seen that the alternative possible embodiment of this invention is similar to the embodiment of FIG. 1. The biasing web 3 in this embodiment extends in a direction upwardly towards the underside of the door edge 10 and inwardly towards the hinge or weakened section 4.

By referring to FIG. 3 it can be seen that the embodiment of the sealing section of FIG. 1 is attached to the underside of a door edge 10 by the use of a pad of bonding tape 6. FIG. 3 also shows the inclined orientation of the ramped nose web 5 as the sealing section 2 approaches an obstacle 11 in the form of a raised surface having a face profile 8, such as may occur with a carpet to tile interface, being not particularly complimentary to the incline of the ramped nose web 5 when the door edge 10 is rotated in the direction of arrow A. FIG. 3 also shows the region of contact between the sealing section 2 and the floor surface 9. It can also be seen that in this application a preferably minimal amount of contact force is applied between the underside of the sealing section 2 and the top of the floor surface 9, due to the lack of contact of the biasing web 3 with the underside of the door edge 10, so that the sealing web 2 does not mar the surface of the floor covering when in sliding contact with the floor surface. It can also be seen that the line of contact between the floor surface 9 and the underside of the sealing section 2 is along a line which is significantly displaced in a direction from the hinge or weakened section 4 and towards the extremity of the ramped nose web 5 so. that at all angles of rotation of the sealing web 2 from the plane of the underside of the door edge 10 to at least ninety degrees rotation away from the plane of the underside of the door edge 10, the sealing web 2 is actively caused to slide freely over the floor surface 9 11 242972 when the door is rotated in a direction opposite to arrow A. It can also be seen that the sealing web 2 is also caused to actively rotate towards the floor surface 9 by the above displacement of the line of contact when the door is rotated in the direction of arrow A.

By referring to FIG. 4 it can be seen that the sealing section of FIG. 3 has mounted an obstacle such as an external doorway tread 12 so that sealing web 2 has been rotated upwards by the action of the ramped nose 5 so that now the biasing web 3 is in firm contact with the underside of the door edge 10 and is resiliently deformed somewhat so as to restrict the sealing web 2 being further rotated towards the mounting web 1 so as to provide a strong seal between the sealing web 2 and the doorway tread 12.

By referring to FIG. 5 it can be seen that the embodiment of FIG. 2 is attached to the underside of the door edge 10 and is in the same application as that of FIG. 3.

By referring to FIG. 6 it can be seen that the embodiment of FIG. 2 is shown as having mounted a doorway tread as in the application of FIG. 4. Also shown in FIG. 6 is the action of the biasing web 3 whereby the extremity of the biasing web 3 makes contact with the underside of the mounting web 1, such action having a similar desired effect as the biasing web 3 of FIG. 4 By referring to FIG. 7 it can be seen that the embodiments of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 contain a mounting web 1 bej W / ~ . 12 242972 sufficient width so as to accept pads of bonding tape 6 being attached to the top surface of the mounting web 1. It can also be seen that the small portions of the mounting web 1 supporting the small tape pads 6 may be dislocated from the remaining portions of the mounting web 1 by the placement of slots 13 at either side of the tape pads 6.

By referring to FIG. 8 it can be seen that the device of FIG. 7 contains a mounting web 1 which may be relatively thin in wall thickness and may have relatively thick walled bonding tape pads 6 attached to it for the purpose of securing the mounting web to the underside of the door edge 10. It can also be seen that in the region where the mounting web 1 is attached to the underside of the door edge 10 by the use of the bonding tape pad 6, the plane of the mounting web 1 and the plane of the bonding tape pads 6 are both parallel to the plane of the underside of the door edge 10. It can also be seen that the reaction force of the floor 9 in the direction of arrow D, which causes the sealing section to be in a compressed state, has not caused the plane of the mounting web 1 to be altered in the region where the mounting web 1 is attached to the underside of the door 10 by the tape pad 6.

By referring to FIG. 9 it can be seen that the plane of the mounting web 1 has been altered by rotation of the mounting web 1 about the hinge or weakened section 4 so that the extremity of the mounting web 1 furthest from the hinge or weakened section 4 now makes firm and effective 13 72 contact with the underside of the door edge 10 along the lengths of the portions of the mounting web 1 which are located between the consecutive tap pads 6. That is to say that the upward reaction force of the floor surface 9 upon the underside of the sealing web 2 is transformed into a moment force at the hinge or weakened section, due to the small resilience retained within the hinge or weakened section 4, so that the mounting web 1 is caused to rotate upwardly and torsionally distorjt so as to twist and subsequently strike and bear against the underside of the door edge 10 in order to seal the gap between the underside of the door edge 10 and the top of the mounting web 1. That is to say that the sealing web 2 in contact with the floor surface 9 actively causes the mounting web 1 to torsionally distort so as to twist in the region between consecutive tape pads 6 and so close the gap formed by the tap pads. The tape pads 6 have downwardly displaced the mounting web 1 from the underside of the door edge 10 when the device is fitted to the underside of the door edge 10.

The slotted mounting web 1 is able to rotate freely and upwardly toward the underside of the door edge 10 in the region between consecutive tape pads 6 so that the gap formed by the tape pads is effectively sealed without any torsional resistance from the mounting web 1 The sealing web 2 is of generally deep convex shape shape so as to be able to glide smoothly over a floor surface where the convex surface makes contact with th^^tpp /> ' n 14 o 24FEB19 * 242972 of the floor surface 9 and includes a nose ramp 5, so as to prevent any fouling between the sealing web 2 and the floor surface 9 when the sealing web is required to slide freely over the top of the floor surface 9.

The biasing web 3 acts resiliently so as to separate the mounting web 1 and the sealing web 2 by producing a separating moment couple about the hinge 4.

The ramped nose web 5 is suitably inclined to the floor surface 9 so as to ensure that the sealing web 2 will glide smoothly over the floor surface where the floor surface may be rough or contain significant obstacles * By referring to FIG. 3 it can be seen that the mounting web 1 is flush mountable to the door underside 10 and that the sealing web 2 is in contact with the top of the surface of the floor 9 at a tangent to the curve of the surface of the underside of the sealing web 2. It can be seen that the sealing web 2 will, by the action of gravity forces, remain in contact with the floor surface 9 for a very significantly large range of gaps. It can also be seen that as the door is being closed in the direction of arrow A, the sealing web will be actively pulled downwardly and rotated toward the top of the floor surface due to the small frictional moment caused by the floor surface 9 in contact with the sealing web 2 in conjunction with the vertical distance of this contact point from the plane of the mounting web 1 so that the sealing force between the sealing web 2 and the floor surface 9 is actively andpN^ 2429 7 preferably increased as the door is closed. Conversely it can also be seen that as the door is being opened in a direction opposite to arrow A, the above moment is reversed thus allowing unrestricted rotation of the door.

The fixing material comprises small pads of double sided bonding tape 6. Due to the action of the device in use as described above, the fixing material experiences forces which are restricted to relatively small forces which are restricted to shear forces only so that simple fixing materials such as small pads of bonding tape are efficiently usable with the device.

The hinge or weakened section 4 is provided such that the sealing web 2 may rotate freely at its connection point to the mounting web 1. The hinge or weakened section 4 being positioned on the mounting web 1 so that when the door is being rotated in either direction there are no resultant rotational forces on the fixing material so that the fixing material experiences only compression or shear force only.

The ramped nose web 5 is so proportioned and of sufficient expanse as to provide a machine whiah will actively climb an obstacle 11 extending a significant distance above the top of the floor surface 9 by virtue of the combined action of the ramped nose web 5 and the hinge or weakened section 4 when the door is rotated in the direction of arrow A. The obstacle 11 having a concave vertical face profile 8 not being particularly complimentary to the intended action of the ramped i}60'ev* '* ' n ' 16 f • -J o 24 2 9 web 5. Since the ramped nose web 5 is a continuation of the general shape of the sealing web 2, the entire sealing web will climb and pass over the obstacle 11 as further rotation occurs.

By referring to FIG. 4 it can be seen that the free edge of the biasing web 3 is free to slide along the underside of the door edge 10 so that the convex shape of the sealing web 2 may be resiliently flattened out as the sealing web 2 is compressed between the underside of the door edge 10 and the top of the floor surface 9. In this configuration resulting from the small size of the gap between the underside of the door edge 10 and the top of the floor surface 9, the sealing web 2 is caused to make significantly firm contact with the top of the floor surface 9.

By referring to FIG. 9 it can be seen that the mounting web 1 is able to torsionally flex between successive tape pads when the sealing web 2 is biased in an upward direction due to the reaction of the floor surface 9 so that the gaps between the top of the mounting web 1 and the underside of the door edge 10 are effectively sealed.

By the use of draught and weather excluders of this type, draughts and moisture penetration through the gap which generally exists at the base of a door may be simply and effectively sealed without damage to the door and without removal of the door and without the draught and weather excluder being generally visible and without 17 242972 the restriction of having a floor surface which is free of obstacles. By the use of draught and weather excluders of this type, a large range of gap widths below a large range of door types may be simply and effectively sealed without modifying or adding to any visible part of the existing door structure or associated structures. Excluders of this type do not impinge upon the original intended operating ease of the door a',id do not foul with any part of the door or its associated structures. By the use of draught and weather excluders of this type, door gaps which are not constant in width along their length and/or are not of constant width vertically to the plane of the floor may be simply and effectively sealed. Draught and weather excluders of this type may be fixed to the underside of a door edge using small pads of bonding tape without resulting in gaps between the top of the mounting web and the underside of the door edge in the regions between successive tap pads.

Although particularly described for sealing gaps below doors the sealing section may be useful for sealing of gaps between other structures, for example the sealing of gaps between the corresponding vertical jambs of sliding doors.

It is to be understood that various alterations, modifications and/or additions may be made to the features of the possible and preferred embodiments of the invention as herein described without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims. 18 \ 4 i.

Claims (16)

24 2 9 72 WHAT I CLAIM IS

1. A gap sealing member for sealing gaps between the underside of a side hung rotating door and the top of a floor surface, the member having a mounting web on one side thereof to allow mounting of the member to the underside of a door edge by the use of adhesive bonding tapes between an upper surface of the mounting web and the underside of a door edge, the member also having a sealing web on its opposite side for making contact with and freely and smoothly sliding laterally over floor surfaces including floor coverings such as carpet, the two webs being flexibly connected at one extremity along a line through their length and being easily movable* by relative rotation about this line of their connection, said sealing web projecting downwardly and at an acute angle to the said surface of the mounting web and having an upwardly inclined nose portion extending from its side opposite the flexible connection, said nose portion providing to the sealing web a ramped face for forming a line of contact with a raised portion of a floor surface and preventing the sealing web from jamming on said floor surface or in a floor covering when the door is rotated in either direction, said line of contact being below the area defined by the surface of the underside of the door edge, the sealing web and nose portion being of a hard wearing plastic material restricting them from significant wear or deterioration due to sliding contact with a floor surface. ■'' 19 ^ 51 AUG I995 "■ yp 242972

2. A gap sealing member as claimed in claim 1 wherein the flexible connection comprises a weakened section or hinge so as to allow an angle defined between the webs to reduce or increase as a result of their relative rotation about the flexible connection so that rotational forces applied to either the mounting web or sealing web result in relative rotation of the webs about the flexible connection and only insignificant distortion of the shape of either the mounting web or the sealing web occurs as a result of such rotational forces.

3. A gap sealing member as claimed in any one of the above claims wherein the sealing web is of a substantially curved cross sectional shape and whereby the sealing web will make contact with a floor surface at a tangent to such curve and in use the sealing web will glide freely over floor surfaces including floor coverings such as carpets without jamming against the same when the door is being rotated in either direction.

4. A gap sealing member as claimed in any one of the above claims and wherein the flexible connection contains a small residual resilience such that the sealing and mounting webs are biased apart when the gap sealing member has been inserted into a gap which is less in overall vertical depth than the overall depth of the gap sealing member prior to its insertion into the gap, and whereby the mounting web in use is biased up toward the underside of a door edge so as to compress the adhesive bonding tapes between the upper surface of the mounting web and^_ihe 20 242972 underside of the door edge so that the adhesive bonding tapes secure the gap sealing member to the door and are thus not subjected to forces tending to downwardly separate the mounting web from the surface of the underside of the door edge and are thus always in compression.

5. A gap sealing member as claimed in any one of the above claims wherein the mounting web has an upstand projecting in a direction T'hich in use extends toward the underside of a door edge surface, the upstand ensuring that no gaps occur between the upper surface of the mounting web and the surface of the underside of the door edge when widely spaced adhesive bonding tapes are used to secure the mounting web to the underside of a door edge.

6. A gap sealing member as claimed in any one of the above claims and wherein the flexible connection is sufficiently weak in resisting rotation that rotation of the sealing web in use does not transmit a significant moment couple to the mounting web via its connection thereto so that the mounting web does not transmit any significant rotational forces to the adhesive bonding tapes which thus in use experience compression and shear forces only, so that in use the mounting web can be secured to the underside of a door edge ^adhesive bonding tapes so that stronger fixing \gitfy materials such as nails or screws or mechanically fixed mating parts or modifications to the underside of the door edge are not required.

7. A gap sealing member as claimed in any one of the above claims and wherein the sealing web has a cross sectional , *■" ^ Y> 21 ; \o'\ '-3 JUL 1995 '-j! £ 3 ^ ^ >/ 242972 shape that defines a deep convex cross - sectional profile perpendicular to its line of contact with a floor surface so that the sealing web provides a very substantial area of contact with the floor surface and in particular with floor coverings such as carpet so that the sealing web actively opposes any tendency thereof to become lodged in the gap or to jam with such floor surfaces during rotation of the door in either direction and in particular in a direction opening the door and wherein the sealing web will actively exit any depressions in such floor surfaces during -rotation of the door by virtue of its deep convex profile, the sealing web being allowed to rotate upward towards the mounting web via its movement at the flexible connection as the sealing web exits such depressions.

8. A gap sealing member as claimed in any one of the above claims and wherein the sealing web has a cross sectional curvature proportioned such that in use its line of contact with a floor surface is always located substantially directly below the mounting web and is always located away from a vertical plane through the flexible connection, rotation of the door in one direction thereby causing the sealing web to actively clamp down onto the floor surface due to th6 moment caused by the small friction between the floor surface and the underneath surface of the sealing web causing movement about the flexible connection and rotation in the opposite direction actively releases such clamp action.

9 A gap sealing member as claimed in any one of the 22 242972 above claims wherein the sealing web is formed in a cross sectional shape which is in the form of a part circular or arcuate shape and is of sufficiently flexible and resilient material such that the said shape of the sealing web will be easily deformed towards the plane of the underside of the door by compression forces exerted to the sealing web between the underside of a door edge and the top of a floor surface and such that the original shape of the sealing web will be resiliently restored on removal of such compression forces.

10. A gap sealing member as claimed in any one of the above claims and, wherein the sealing web has a cross sectional shape which is sufficiently and uniformly curved such that at all angles of rotation of the sealing web from a horizontal orientation to a completely vertical orientation and relative to the mounting web when fixed horizontally beneath a door edge, the sealing web makes contact with the floor surface at a relatively constant tangential aspect to the curvature of the underside of the sealing web along a line which is always displaced from the vertical plane of the flexible connection and whereby the sealing web will thus glide freely and smoothly over a floor surface and move easily with the door for all such angles of rotation of the sealing web and during movement of the door in either direction and particularly in the direction when opening the door.

11. A gap sealing member as claimed in any one of /jj^s the above claims and wherein, the -sealing web has'^ramped 23 ?! J ■ °;\ Tl' ii'J ^ r~G JUL 1335 ^ >v // ' s .•> ,, O// c £ t " 242972 nose portion extending from its extremity opposite the line of the flexible connection and for the full length of the sealing web, the ramped nose portion providing the sealing web with a significantly raised and inclined surface which in use will extend above the level of the floor surface when the underside of the sealing web is in contact with the top of the floor surface, the ramped nose portion being a continuation of the sealing web and being of sufficient height and expanse and proportioned* as to form a ramp which lies inclined to the plane of the floor surface, the ramped nose portion so formed will raise the sealing web vertically when the ramped nose portion makes contact with obstacles of significant height above the floor surface such as a carpet mat on top of a floor surface or a carpet to tile interface and the like, when the door is rotated and particularly for movement in a direction opening the door, an initial vertical motion of the ramped nose portion in contact with such obstacles causes a yet higher ramp surface to occur by virtue of the portion ramped nose -web being a continuation of the shape of the sealing web, the extremity of the sealing web in the region of the ramped nose portion thus being caused to be raised beyond the full height of such obstacles so as to raise the lowermost surface of the sealing web to the full height of the obstacle so as to allow the sealing web to completely pass over such obstacles during continued movement of the door, the extremity of the ramped nose portion being of sufficient height above the surface of the floor. sdj as not V-V" ' 24 7 o\j ^-3 31)1 1995 7 242972 to be less effective where the face profile of an obstacle does not facilitate the action of the ramped nose portion.

12. A gap sealing member as claimed in any one of the above claims and wherein, the sealing web has an outwardly directed biasing portion which extends from an extremity of the ramped nose portion and in use would extend upwardly towards an underside of the door edge and outwardly away from the flexible connection, the biasing portion being a general extension of the ramped nose portion and being integral with it and extending sufficiently upwards so as to make contact with the underside of the door edge when in use the sealing web is rotated significantly upwards towards the door edge, the biasing portion when in such contact with the underside of the door edge is subsequently caused to slide along the same when the sealing web is further rotated upwardly towards the door edge and the biasing portion when in contact with the underside of the door edge is resiliently deformed so as to provide a biasing force to the sealing web downwardly and away from the door edge, the biasing portion thus in use transmits an increased sealing force to the top of the floor surface in contact with the underside of the sealing web and the biasing portion is not in contact with the underside of the door edge when the sealing web is located downward away from the door edge.

13. A gap sealing member claimed in any one of the above claims and wherein, an inwardly directed biasing web is included, which extends from 25 o 242 9/2 nose portion furthest from the flexible connection and extends upwardly toward the underneath surface of the door edge and inwardly toward the flexible connection. 14. A gap sealing member as claimed in any one of the above claims wherein the mounting web is torsionally flexible and has adhesive bonding tapes spaced along its length for securing the mounting web to the underside of a door, the torsionally flexible mounting web poses insignificant resistance to small torsional forces applied to it about an axis parallel to its length and wherein the sealing web can transfer a moment couple to the mounting web when the gap sealing member is inserted into a door to floor gap which is less in over all vertical depth than the depth of the gap sealing member prior to its insertion into the gap, the moment couple causing the other extremity of the mounting web to rotate upwardly towards the underside of the door edge in the regions between consecutive bonding tapes so as to strike the underside of the door edge and bear thereon along a line parallel to the junction with the mounting web so as to effectively seal gaps between the top of the mounting web and the underside of the door edge resulting from the thickness of the bonding tapes; and wherein the spaced portions of the mounting web attached to the bonding tapes will remain in the plane of the underside of the door and the torsional flexibility of the mounting web allows significant torsional rotation thereof along approximately the entire length of the mounting web portions between consecutive bonding ^t;ap<?s". 26

' -S JUL 10915

15. A gap sealing member as claimed in any one of the above claims and wherein, the mounting web is segmented and has pieces of adhesive bonding tape spaced along its length for securing the mounting web to the underside of a door, the mounting web being segmented by cuts or slots through its width which are located at either or both sides of the pieces of bonding tape so that the regions of mounting web to be attached by the bonding tape are dislocated from the remaining portions of the mounting web, the cuts extending from the other extremity of the mounting web towards the line of the flexible connection; the segmented mounting web thereby enabling the portions of the mounting web between consecutive bonding tapes to rotate about the flexible connection independently of the regions of the mounting web supporting the bonding tapes and ensuring that the portions of the mounting web between consecutive bonding tapes are thus not subjected to any significant torsional restraint by the action of the bonding tapes when in fixed contact with the underside of the door edge; the segmented mounting web enabling the sealing web to transfer a small moment couple to the mounting web portions between consecutive bonding tapes via the flexible connection when the gap sealing member is inserted into a door to floor gap which is less in over all vertical depth than the over all depth of the gap sealing member prior to its insertion into the gap, the moment couple being sufficient however to cause the other extremity of the mounting web portions between consecutive bonding tapeso £oj rotate 27 upwardly and towards the underside of the door edge so as to strike the underside of the door edge and bear against the same along a line parallel to the length of the mounting web and to effectively seal gaps between an upper surface of the mounting web and the underside of the door edge caused by the thickness of the pieces of bonding tape whilst the regions of the mounting web attached by the pieces of bonding tape, remain substantially parallel to the plane of the underside of the door edge.

16. A gap sealing member substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 28