US2755894A

US2755894A - Water-excluding door strip

Info

Publication number: US2755894A
Application number: US369544A
Authority: US
Inventors: Bernard A Weyl; Kenneth N Gahagan
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1953-07-22
Filing date: 1953-07-22
Publication date: 1956-07-24
Anticipated expiration: 1973-07-24

Description

July 24, N56 5. A. WEYL ETAL WATER-EXCLUDING DOOR STRIP Filed July 22, 1953 N ORS N E:

hug in 7 INV Bernard Kenneth ATTORNEYS United States Patent 2,755,894 WATER-EXCLUDING DOOR STRIP Bernard A. Weyl and Kenneth N. Gahagan, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application July 22, 1953, Serial No. 369,544 Claims. (Cl. 189-46) This invention relates to auxiliary doors, such as storm and screen doors, jalousies, and the like, that are mounted in doorways outside of the usual main doors.

In the use of such an auxiliary door, there is a tendency for rain to penetrate the seam or crevice between the top edge of the door and the frame of the doorway, with the effect that water drains downwardly upon the inside surface of the door and accumulates upon the sill between the main and auxiliary doors. Efforts have been made to overcome these objectionable incidents to the otherwise desirable use of auxiliary doors, such as the provision of weather-strips, or the grooving of the top and side edges of the doors to catch and drain away the rain penetrating the seam at the top of the door. None of the expedients to this end is without handicap. Weatherstrips are, manifestly, unsightly and troublesome, while the presence of grooves in the top and side edges of a door spoils the appearance of the door edges, and, in the case of aluminum doors, with which this invention is particularly if not essentially concerned, the grooved edges are relatively sharp and dangerous to the fingers of the person using the door, especially if the fingers become caught or pinched between the edge of the door and the frame of the doorway.

In the use of auxiliary doors whose frames or bodies are constructed of aluminum, it is obviously impossible for the body of a door to be planed along its edges in such manner as a carpenter usually planes the edges of a wood-framed screen door, nicely to fit it in the doorway. Due to this circumstance, the art has turned to the use of extruded aluminum 2 strips that are secured to the top and the two jambs of the doorway. The 2 strips may be adjusted in their positions in the vertical plane of the frame of the doorway, whereby, when the strips have been properly adjusted and secured to the said frame, a seat of exactly the proper size is formed for the door. It is to be noted, however, that the use of 2 strips does not prevent the penetration of rain in the objectionable manner alluded to, and as mentioned the practice has been to provide grooves in the edges of the door.

In accordance with the objects of this invention, the undesirable and objectionable use of grooved edges in aluminum doors is eliminated, and the infiltration of rain at the top of the door is prevented, by virtue of certain new and useful improvements in the structure of extruded metal 2 strips used in mounting the doors.

The invention will be understood upon reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of an auxiliary door, mounted with the structure of the invention in a doorway of a building which is fragmentarily illustrated;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view, illustrating to larger scale the upper right-hand corner of a Z strip assembly embodying the invention;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view, taken on the line III-III of Fig. l, and showing the top of the frame of the doorway, with a Z strip structure of this invention secured

frame

5, 5,

of Fig. 3 being the same as Referring to the drawings the frame of a doorway is shown in Fig. 1, and in this doorway an auxiliary door 3 is mounted. The frame 4 of the auxiliary door may be formed of extruded aluminum sections of conventional form, and the seat for the door is formed of 2

strips

2, 2 secured to the two

jambs

5, 5 of the frame of the doorway, a top 2 strip 6 secured to the top 7 of said frame, and a door sill 8. Each of the 2 strips will be understood to comprise two

vertical flanges

9 and 10 that extend severally in two horizontally spaced, parallel vertical planes that parallel the plane of the doorway defined by 7. The outer and inner horizontally spaced

flanges

9 and 10, respectively, in each Z strip are rigidly interconnected by a web 11. The flanges 10 of the two

vertical strips

2, 2 and the horizontal strip 6 extend in common plane, up one jamb 5, along the top 7 of the door frame, and down the opposite jamb 5, providing a peripherally continuous seat against which the door 3 is adapted to seat along the margin of its inner surface, as indicated at 12 in Fig. 3. The webs 11 of the three

Z strips

2, 6, 2 extend peripherally of the two side and top edges of the door 3 and receive such edges of the door" 13 in Fig. 3,. upon the top in a relatively snug seam, as indicated at while the bottom edge of the door fits surface of the sill 8, as shown in Fig. l.

The three

Z strips

2, 6, 2 are seated upon and secured to the outer faces of the

doorway frame members

5, 7, 5,. wood screws 15 serving for the purpose. It will be understood that the several 2 strips are positioned and secured in such positions that the door-receiving opening formed by the Webs ll of the three strips and the sill 8 is of exactly the proper size snugly to receive the door.

In Fig. 3 it will be perceived that the edges 16 of the door 3 are not grooved; they are smooth and present no danger to the fingers of the user. But for the improvements of this invention, however, rain can work its way inwardly through the seam at the top of the door and drain downwardly over the inner surfaces 17 of the door,

as mentioned in the introduction to this specification. The means for preventing this objectionable infiltration of water, comprise a small V-shaped gutter or trough portion 18 formed integrally with the Z strip 6 used at the top of the doorway. Advantageously, the trough is formed as a V-shaped element located adjacent to the lower edge of the outer vertical flange 9 of the Z strip 6- More particularly, the bottom or bottom edge of the trough 18' is located substantially in a horizontal plane that extends through the corner formed by the merging of, the vertical flange 9 with the horizontal web 11 of the Z strip 6. The trough 18 is such in form that it may be formed integrally with the body of such 2 strip in an aluminum-extruding operation. The V-shaped portion 18 lies outwardly beyond the seam 13 between the door and the web portion 11 of Z strip 6 (Fig. 3), and

forms not only a shed or cover for such seam immediately below and within the portion 18, but provides a channel which receives rain striking the doorway structure above the door and running downwardly toward the seam 13. As shown in the drawing, the strip 6 and its trough portion 18 extend not only entirely across the width of the door, but also across the upper ends of the Patented July 24,1956

3, edges of the door, whence the water can drain freely downward without objectionable consequences,

Fig. 4 illustrates the manner in which the top 2 strip 6 .is assembled with ,thetopof the right-hand; stri-p l.v The strip 6 and its trough portion overlie the upperend of,, the-;ver.l;ic al Z-strip. From this showingit: willzbe understood that the; opposite end of the Z, strip 6-is similarly .assernbledwith, the upper end. of the left-hand Z strip 2. Fig. shows how portions of the horizontal web, 1 1;and ver;t ical-, ,doon-seat-forming flange 10 are cut andnremoved at 19, and 2t), respectively, to receive in nice fit the edges; 21, 22 ,and 23 of the upperend of the side, Z,strip 2. Andrthel-flangeqportionlit-of the said strip 2 -is. cut away; as indicated, to match the endportion. 24 of ,the flange 10 .of aha-top Z,,strip 6., Thus, every efficient ,,an d inexpensive structureof extruded aluminum is provided to, solve, the problemdescribed.

ltmaybepoted that, the V-shape form of; the trough 18,.is ,important asit providesewi-ththe body of the Z stripmsection that mayreadilybe extruded of aluminum orother suitable light metal; And: it isfurther importanbto, observe that the outer face of the saidtrough 18 is flat and, parallelsthe outer face of the flange 9 with, which it is integrally ,formed.

Within: the terms of the appended claims various, modiflcationsiwill occur to theengineer, without departing from the-spirit of the invention.

We claim:

1.. A Z strip assembly to provide a seat, in a doorway for; an auxiliary door comprising two 2. strips for each ofthedoor'jambs and a Zstrip for the topof said doorway,, each; of said three strips comprisingan extruded metal'section having ;anouterflange,. an inner flange, and ;a-,web interconnecting said flanges, the inner flanges of thethree assembled strips extending in a vertical plane andihe outerflanges extending in a vertical plane spaced from and parallel to the first-mentioned plane, with the intereonnecting webs ofv thethree assembled strips extending in continuity peripherally of. the jambs and top oL-saiddoorway, and, a longitudinally. extending continuoustroughportion formed integrally with and outstandingupon the outerflangetof said top strip, the. bottom .of said troughportion being locatedsubstantially in a hori zontal planeuthathextends.through thev corner formed by the merging of the. outer, verticalflange with the web of said top, strip and providing with such strip a section-that maybev integrally formedin .a metal extruding operation, said-top,strip at its, opposite ends overlying the-upper endsof said jamb strips, .whereby the ends of said trough portion :on the top strip open-laterally outward from the edges of a door mounted in said doorway and-strip assembha 2.1A Zstrip assembly to provide a seat in a doorway foranauxiliary door comprising two Z strips for each of, the door jambsand a Z strip for the top of said doorway, each of said three strips comprising an extruded metal section having an outer flange, an inner'flange, and a web interconnecting said flanges, the innerflanges of the three assembled strips extending in a vertical plane and the outer flanges extending in a vertical plane spaced from and parallel to the first-mentioned plane, with the interconnecting webs ofthe three assembled strips extending in continuity peripherally of the jarnbsand top ofsaid doorway, and a longitudinally extending continuous trough portion formed integrally with and outstanding upon the. outer flange of said top strip, the bottom of said trough portion being locatedsubstantially in a horizontal. planethat extends through the corner-formed by the. merging vof the outer, vertical flange with the web'- ofxsaidatopstrip and providing with such strip a section thatnnaybe integrally formedin a metal extruding operation, -said= top strip-at itsopposite ends overlying the up-' pen: ends of saidajambstrips; whereby the ends; ofsaidtrougheportionon tl1e-- top-strip'open laterally outward-- fromathe edgesof-a door-mounted in saiddoorway and 4., strip assembly, the interconnecting web of said top strip being deleted at the ends of such strip through intervals substantially equal to the breadth of the outer flange of said jamb strips, to provide for the assembly of the outer flanges of said top and jamb strips in said first-mentioned vertical plane.

3. A Z strip assembly to'provide a seat in a doorway for an auxiliary door comprising two Z. strips for each of the door jarnbsanda 'Z'strip for the'top ofsaid doorway, each of said three :stripscomprisinggan extruded metal section having an outer-flange, an inner flange, and a Web interconnecting said flanges, the inner flanges of the three assembled"'strips-extendingin avertical' plane and the outer flanges extending-:in a vertical plane spaced from and parallel to the first-mentioned plane, with the interconnecting webs of the three assembled strips extending in continuity peripherally of the jambs and top of said doorway, and. a.-. longitudinallyv extending continuous trough. portion. .formed .integrally -=with andoutstanding upon the outerflangeeof said top strip, the bottom of said, trough. portionrbeing located substantially int a-horizontalplanethat1 extends through the corner formedw-by the-:mergingrof the outer, vertical flange with: the webofi said-top'strip .andproviding with such strip a section that, maybe integrally formed in;a metal extrudingoperation, said-top strip atiits'oppositeends overlying the up-. per, ends of saidjarnb. strips, whereby the endsofsaid' troughyportion on -the'top stripiopenlaterally; outward from. the edges of a door -mounted insaid .doorwayand strip-=assembly,; the interconnecting .web andthe-inner flangevof rsaid top strip beingrdeleted at each'endtotsueh-,:st-rip' through:=intervals "substantially equalto the breadth of-theouter fla-ngesof-said jamb, strips, to pro vide for the, assembly of theouter flanges of said top :and jamb stripsin said first mentioned-vertical plane;

4. Aihoriz'ontafllysextending Z'; strip "for the tops of doorways comprising-ran; extruded metal section having anv outer :flange positionedzin; auvertical plane; aninner flange parallelwto and-lspacedzfromi-the outer fiangeyia horizontal .web, integrally connectingsaid 1 flanges, said zinner flange and said web forming aiseatportion for a door;.and a continuous horizontalutroughportion: formed orrthefouter fa'ce ofisaidouterflange; the bottom-of said trough portion :being located substantially in -a horizontal plane; thatextendsnhrough the corner formed by the merging ofa-the: outer," vertical flange. with the web ot said strip,

saidctroughs portion zprovidingwith the strip asectionthatmay be integrally formed in an extruding operation.

5.I-A horizontallyextending Z strip for tlretopsof doorways. .comprisingran. extruded metal section having an. outer: flanges-positioned 'a vertical plane; an innerflange parallel .toxand spacedfrom-theouter flange, a

horizontah ,web; integrally connecting said: flanges, said inner-flaugeand said-web 'forming a-seat portion fora I door, andtarcontinuous horizontal trough portion-formed on theouter. face of said outerflange, said trough portion being located substantially its a horizontal-plane-that extends through the corner formed by the merging of the outer, vertical: flange with the web of said" strip, said troughportionprovidingwiththestrip a section that maybeeintegrally formed in anextrudinggoperation, said trough portiorr-hauingaplaue outer-face spaced from'andpar-ai lelt-to the-.outerface of said outer flange;

References-Citedf'in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS