US2790213A

US2790213A - Rail structure for a garage door

Info

Publication number: US2790213A
Application number: US524468A
Authority: US
Inventors: Wesley A Smith
Original assignee: TILT A DOOR CORP
Current assignee: TILT A DOOR CORP
Priority date: 1955-07-26
Filing date: 1955-07-26
Publication date: 1957-04-30
Anticipated expiration: 1974-04-30

Description

April 1957 w. A. SMITH RAIL STRUCTURE FOR A GARAGE DOOR Filed July 26, 1955 IGN INVENTOR. W554: y /7. 5/1/ 771 a ORME'J U d States Patent RAIL STRUCTURE FOR A GARAGE nooR Wesley A. Smith, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Tilt-A- Door Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application July 26, 1955', Serial No. 524,468

2 Claims. or. 20-69) It is desirablethat canopy-type-garage doors be designed for shipment in knocked-down condition, for reasons of savings in shipping charges. However, in order to benefit from the economy of shipping the doors knocked-down, it is necessary that the assembly procedures be so simple and fool-proof that the doors can be assembled by unskilled labor at the point of distribution or use. In particular, a substantial increase in the market for this type of door is possible where the door is of such simplicity that the purchaser can assemble the door himself.

In developing a garage door which can be easily assembled, the :construction of a suitable bottom rail structure for the door has involved problems of considerable magnitude because this portion of the door receives harsh treatment in normal use. In addition, the bottom rail must be provided with a weather strip which desirably is easily and quickly attachable. Prior to my invention no satisfactory construction for this portion of the door capable of meeting all of the above requirements was known to exist.

Accordingly, a primary object of this invention is the provision of a bottom rail structure for a canopy-type, garage door, which structure is sturdy, attractive and can be easily assembled by unskilled labor with simple instructions and without special tools.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a bottom rail structure for a garage door, as aforesaid, which can be shipped in a completely knocked-down condition and assembled without difliculty at the site of its use or distribution.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a bottom rail structure, as aforesaid, wherein no welding, riveting, flanging or other type of complicated metal working is required at the assembly site for securing the door panels to the bottom rail.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a bottom rail structure, as aforesaid, including a weather strip which not only serves to seal the space between the rail and the door sill, but also seals and locks the connection between the bottom rail and the panels engaged thereby.

Other objects and purposes of this invention will become apparent to persons acquainted with this type of equipment upon reading of the following specification and examining the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a fra mentary front elevation view of a garage door embodying my bottom rail structure.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary, oblique view of said bottom rail structure with portions thereof broken away.

In meeting those objects and purposes set forth above, as well as others related thereto, I have provided an edge or rail structure including a rail member 11 and the adjacent portion of a closure panel 12. The rail member 11 is comprised of an edge element 13 having a U-shaped cross-section for the purpose of gripping a portion of said closure panel 12 along one edge thereof. Said rail member 11 also has a side plate 14 which is integral with and extends away from said edge element. Aweather strip 15 has one edge thereof inserted into said edge element 13 where it serves as a sealing device between the closure panel 12 and the rail member 11, in addition to its normal purpose of sealing the space between the rail member and the adjacent portion of the door frame.

For the purposes of convenience in description, the terms upper, lower and derivatives thereof will have reference to the structure as appearing in Figures 1 and 2. The terms front and rear will refer respectively to the right and left sides of the structure appearing in Figure 2. The terms inwardly, outwardly and derivatives thereof relate to the geometric center of the closure device and parts thereof.

Detailed description As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the rail member 11, which may be fabricated in a conventional manner from suitable sheet material such as aluminum, has an elongated edge element 13 with a substantially U-shaped crosssection opening downwardly, or outwardly with respect to the geometric center of the closure device 16 (Figure 1). In this particular embodiment, the front and

rear flanges

17 and 18, respectively, of the edge element 13 converge slightly toward each other at their outer

free ends

19 and 20, respectively. The side plate 14 is integral along one edge thereof with the free edge 20 of the rear flange 18 and extends rearwardly therefrom and preferably perpendicular thereto. Thus, the side plate 14 and front flange 17 are on opposite sides of the rear flange 18. A strengthening element 23 is integral with and extends along the length of the side plate 14 adjacent to its rearward edge.

The closure panel 12 is provided with a portion 24 extending along the lower edge thereof which is folded back upon itself to define a plane substantially parallel with the remainder of the closure panel 12. This folded portion, which is slightly shorter in length than the front flange 17 is disposed between said

flanges

17 and 18 so that the closure panel 12 embraces the front flange 17. This engagement between the closure panel 12 and the edge element 13 is primarily held by the end connections between the rail member 11 and the stile member 25 shown in broken lines in Figure 2. The specific connecting means between the rail member 11 and the stile member 25 may be of any convenient, conventional kind such, for example, as is shown in Figure 2, wherein a flange 22 extending upwardly from the side plate 14 is secured to stile member 25 by bolt 26.

The weather strip 15 (Figures 2 and 3) may be of any convenient material, such as extruded rubber or rubber impregnated cloth, so that it is both flexible and resilient. The weather strip 15 is provided with a sidewardly extending bead 27 adjacent to one lengthwise edge thereof. The bead is disposed between the free edge 28 of the folded portion 24 of the closure panel 12 and the web 29 of the edge element 13. Thus, the folded portion 24 serves to retain the weather strip 15 within the edge element 13 while said weather strip serves to seal the connection between the edge element and said closure panel. The weather strip 15 extends downwardly from the lower edge of the rail member 11 for engagement with door sill 31 as shown in broken lines in.Figure 2.

As shown in Figure 2, the folded'portion 24 of the 3 panel 12' may be' disposedat a slight diverging angle with the remainder of said panel '12 so that the upper free edge 28 of said folded portion 24 will tend to press the weather strip against the rear flange 18. It will be recognized that the structure disclosed herein, although specifically described as abottom rail structure, itmay under some circumstances 'be advantageously employed as "a stile or side edge structure or even as a top rail structure.

Operation If, as intended, the structure to which this invention relates is shipped in knocked-down position, it must be assembled before it can be used. In such case, the beaded upper edgeZi of the weather strip 15 is inserted into the edge element 13 between the flanges thereof so that the head 27 extends forwardly. The folded portion 24 of the panel 12, which is preformed, is then inserted into said edge element 13 on the forwardside of the weather strip 15 so that the head 27 is held snugly and firmly between the free edge 28 of the folded portion 24 and the web 29 of the edge element 13. The flange 22 on rail member 11 is then secured as by means of the bolt 26 at its opposite ends to the corresponding ends of suitable stile members 25. The rail structure 10 now having been assembled is in condition for sturdy and completely satisfactory operation as a part of the closure device 16.

Although a particular, preferred embodiment of my invention has been described above for illustrative purposes only it will be understood that modifications or variations thereof which lie within the scope of such invention are fully contemplated unless specifically stated to the contrary in the appended claims.

I claim:

I. In a closure device, an edge structure comprising: a panel of sheet material having a portion along one edge thereof folded back to define a plane substantially parallel with and spaced from said panel; an edge element having a portion of U-shapedcross-section including a pair of substantially parallel flanges and a connecting web, one flange being disposed between said, panel and said folded portion; a side plate integral along one edge with the free edge "oftheother flange and extending away therefrom on the opposite side from said one flange; and

a resilient sealing strip snugly inserted along one edge thereof between said other flange and the folded portion of said panel, said strip having a bead along said one edge disposed snugly between the free edge of said folded portion and the web connecting said flanges.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said flanges converge toward each other at'their free edges.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS l;527,7 39 Leach Feb. 24, 1925 2,037,369 Eager et al Apr. 14, 1936