US3382617A

US3382617A - Door sill

Info

Publication number: US3382617A
Application number: US537215A
Authority: US
Inventors: Aubin William R St
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1966-03-24
Filing date: 1966-03-24
Publication date: 1968-05-14
Anticipated expiration: 1985-05-14

Description

y 1968 w. R. 51'. AUBIN 3,382,617

DOOR SILL Filed March 24, 1966 FIG. 7

I N VENTOR.

WILLIAM R, STI AUBIN United States Patent 3,382,617 DOOR SILL William R. St. Auhin, 232 Marie Place, Perrysburg, Ohio 43551 Filed Mar. 24, 1966, Ser. No. 537,215 7 Claims. (Cl. 49-468) This invention relates to door sills generally and more particularly to door sills which are adjustable and which are so constructed to insulate the inner member of a door sill from exterior temperatures.

With the advent in recent years of the ability to economically extrude or form lighter and corrosion resistant metals to almost any desired shape or form, many applications of such extrusions or forms have been found in the building industry, particularly with regard to doors, frames and thresholds for said doors. One difficulty in the uses wherein the extrusions are used in exterior door applications is that the conductivity of the extrusion or the like is so high that undesirable condensation will form on the interior side of the extrusion during cold weather, causing dripping or moist spots adjacent the door. Further, in different applications there is a marked variation in the outside to inside dimensions of door frames, so that a threshold of a given width cannot be satisfactorily used for all applications.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved door sill which prevents undesirable condensation on the inner side of the sill.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved door sill which is transversely adjustable to fit the varying widths of door jambs and wall structures while retaining its insulating qualities to prevent the condensation discussed hereinbefore.

'It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved door sill as described herein which is con- 3,332,.hi7 Patented May 14, 1958 The intermediate member is preferably secured to one of the inner or outer members, the other of the outer or inner members having a surface adapted to slidably engage the under surface of the intermediate insulating member. A stop means may be formed in one of the intermediate or outer and inner members. A guide means, adapted to cooperate with the stop means, is formed in the other of the slidably engageable members. The lower means may advantageously comprise first and second sections, at least one of the sections being adapted to provide support for one of the inner and outer memstructed to provide in addition to the other features, 5

a removable drip edge extension.

In attaining the above objects the invention features a sill adapted for installation beneath an exterior door, which comprises an outer member exposed to exterior temperatures, an inner member exposed to interior temperatures, and means for insulating the inner member from the outer member and the exterior temperatures. The insulating means advantageously includes an intermediate member which bridges between the inner and outer members. The insulating means may further advantageously include lower means positioned beneath the intermediate member and extending to floor level, which may act as a support for the sill and form a continuous thermal barrier between the exterior and interior temperatures.

The outer member may include F3. front apron extending downwardly and backwardly to form a drip edge to shed moisture. A drip edge extension means is provided along with means for easily removably securing the extension means to the front apron. The securing means set forth in the preferred embodiment illustrated herein comprises an interlocking slot and flange assembly formed from the front apron and the extension means. The inner and outer members have forward and rear portions, respectively, and means are illustrated for transversely adjusting the portions with respect to each other. The insulating means includes the intermediate member discussed above which is adapted to bridge between the forward and rear portions. The intermediate member is of sufiicient width to overlap the forward and rear portions throughout the range of the transverse adjustment for the portions.

bers. The first and second sections advantageously have substantially horizontal slidably engageable surfaces, illustrated herein in the form of a lap joint, to insure that the supporting one of the two sections may continue to provide proper support as the inner and outer members are transversely adjusted.

Other objects, advantages and features of this invention will become apparent when the following description is taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view in cross-section of a door sill embodying the teachings of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view of an outer member of the door sill illustrated in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view of an inner member of the door sill illustrated in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view of an intermediate or bridging member of the door sill illustrated in FIG- URE 1;

FIGURES 5 and 6 are cross-sectional views of support and insulating members utilized in the door sill apparatus of this invention; and

FIGURE 7 is a cross-sectional view of a drip edge extension means utilized in this invention.

Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated a door sill assembly indicated generally at 10 embodying the teachings of this invention. The door sill 10 has two relatively adjustable members or sections, an inner section 11 and an outer section 12. An intermediate or bridging section 13 is operative to cover the gap between the two inner and outer sections 11, 12 and to provide thermal insulation to prevent condensation from forming on the inner section 11.

The outer member 12 includes a front apron 16 which extends downwardly and backwardly to shed moisture from a drip edge 17. When the door sill of this invention is utilized for certain installations, a removable drip edge extension 18 may be slidably inserted in slot 19 formed in the underside of the front apron 16. An interlocking slot and flange assembly is shown for preventing the drip edge extension from falling from slot 19. Flanges 20 on extension 18 fit into recesses 21 formed on the sides of slot 19. The respective formations of flanges 2t and the recesses 21 may be reversed from extension 18 to slot 19 to accomplish the same result.

Normally, door sills installed on concrete slab floors do not require the use of a drip edge extension. However, it is desirable to prevent moisture from reaching a wood floor upon Which the door 'sill has been installed. The removable drip edge extension allows the door sill of this invention to be used with both types of floors. Further, the drip edge extension is easily positioned for use, permitting the installer to choose from a variety of extensions of various dimensions which depend from the front apron for one-half inch, one inch, one and one-half inches, etc., according to the requirements of the jab.

The outer member 12 has a downwardly and outwardly sloping upper face 25 which terminates in an upper level face 26. Support means are provided by

legs

27 and 28 depending from the under surface of the outer section 12. In this embodiment the

support legs

27 and 28 are shown as resting on the support and insulating

blocks

60 and 70. It should be noted that the support legs may be extended to floor level to support the outer member 12 if pro-vision is made for continuing the thermal insulation of the inner member from the outer member. Support leg 27 may be extended into support block 60 to provide an anchoring of the support block 60 to the outer member 12. Other suitable fastening means known in the prior art may also be used for securing outer member 12 to block 60. The outer member 12 has a vertical stop flange 29 formed at the rear portion of outer member 12 and the level face 26.

The inner member 1 1 has an upper level face 30 and a downwardly extending inner face 31. The downwardly extending inner face 31 may act as a support means in cooperation with the inwardly turned support flange 32. The downwardly extending inner face 31 may be recessed as at 33 to receive flooring tile, etc., to be applied to the interior floors. A vertical flange 35 is provided on support flange 32 to secure support block and insulating means 70 to the inner member 11. An inverted L-s-haped locking flange 34 extends upwardly from the upper level face 30 of the inner member 11.

The insulating bridge or intermediate member 13 has an upper face 49 inclined toward the interior of the house to cooperate with insulating weather stripping means on the bottom of the door to prevent air exchange between the interior and the exterior of the building. The intermediate member 13 has a lower or under surface 41. The under face or surface 41 has a forward level portion 43 adapted to engage and slide on the upper level face 26 of the outer member 12. A groove 44 may be formed in one of the s'lidably

engageable surfaces

43, 26 to receive a calking bead to prevent the entry of moisture to the interior of the door sill assembly. A guiding groove 45 is formed in the under face 41 to receive the stop flange 29 of the outer section 12. The width of the groove 45 determines the range of transverse adjustment of the door still means 10. A forward wall 46 and a rear wall 47 of the groove 45 provides shoulders against which the vertical stop flange 29 may abut to determine the range discussed. An inverted L-sh-aped slot 42 is formed in the under surface 41 to receive the locking flange 34 of inner member 11 to secure the intermediate bridge or member 13 to the inner member 11.

Referring to FIGURES and 6 there is illustrated support and insulating members generally indicated at 60 and 70. The member 60 has a downwardly and outwardly sloping upper face 61 terminating in a level face 62 and a forward portion 63, all formed to conform to and to support the outer member 12. Support leg 27 rests upon the level surface 62.

Member 70 has an upper face 71 which abuts against the lower surface 41 of the intermediate bridge member 13 and forms a continuous thermal barrier with bridge 13 from the floor level to the upper part of the door sill to provide insulation between the inner member 11 and the exterior temperatures and outer member 12. A slot 77 is formed in the lower surface 74 of the member 70 to receive the vertical flange 35 to the inner member 11 to secure the block 76 to the inner member 11.

The

members

60 and 70 are provided with substantially horizontal mutually slidably

engageable surface

66 and 76, respectively, to form a lap joint. This enables the upper level surface 62 to continue to provide firm support for the leg 27 whenever the door sill is transversely adjusted to a wider position, since the surface 66 of the block 61 is still resting on and being supported by the surface 76 of the block 76. The

members

60 and 70 are shown as wood but may be other substantially rigid insulating materials capable of supporting outer section 12 via

legs

27 and 28. As mentioned 'hereinbefore,

legs

27 and 28 may be extended tofloor level to support the outer member 12 if an insulating means is advtnageously provided beneath the bridging means to form a continuous thermal barrier between the inner member 11 and the outer member 12 and the exterior temperatures.

In operation, it may be seen from the above description that the door sill apparatus may be transversely adjusted within the range provided by the width of the groove 45 to a desired position. In certain installations, the door sill may be retained in its adjusted position by securing the support and insulating

members

60 and 70 to the adjacent door jambs. This may be particularly desirable when the door is being shipped as a complete unit with the door jamb, weather stripping, threshold and/or sill units as a completely assembled package ready for immediate installation. In other instances, it may be desirable to retain the door sill apparatus at its adjusted position by securing the inner and outer members and/ or the supporting and insulating block means 60, 70 directly to the floor.

There has thus been describe-d herein a preferred embodiment of an adjustable door sill which provides for optimum insulation between the inner and outer members thereof to prevent undesirable condensation on the inner member as well as to decrease the heat leak around the door by the conduction of heat from the interior of the building to the exterior.

In conclusion, it is to be noted that the embodiment disclosed and described herein is meant to be illustrative only and not limiting in any sense. The embodiment described serves merely to illustrate the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A sill adapted for installation beneath an exterior door comprising, in combination, an outer member exposed to exterior temperatures, an inner member exposed to interior temperatures, means for insulating said inner member from said outer member and said exterior temperat-ures, said outer member including a front apron extending downwardly and backwardly forming a drip edge to she-d moisture, drip edge extension means, and means removably securing said extension means to said front apron.

2. A sill as defined in claim 1 in which said securing means comprises an interlocking slot and flange assembly formed from said front apron and extension means.

3. A sill adapted for installation beneath an exterior door comprising, in combination, an outer member exposed to exterior temperatures, an inner member exposed to interior temperatures, means for insulating said inner member from said outer member and said exterior temperatures, said inner and outer members having forward and rear portions, respectively, means for transversely adjusting said portions with respect to each other, said insulating means including an intermediate member adapted to bridge between said forward and rear portions, said intermediate member being of sufficient width to maintain contact with said forward and rear portions throughout the range of transverse adjustment for said portions.

4. A sill as defined in claim 3 in which said intermediate member has an under surface and is secured to one of said inner and outer members, the other of said inner and outer members having an upper surface adapted to slidably engage said under surface of said intermediate member.

5. A sill as defined in claim 4 in which a stop means is formed in one of said under and upper surfaces and a guide means adapted to cooperate with said stop means is formed in the other of said surfaces.

6. A sill adapted for installation beneath an exterior door comprising, in oonbination, on outer member exposed to exterior temperatures, an inner member exposed to interior temperatures, means for insulating said inner member from said outer member and said exterior temperatures, said inner and outer members having forward and rear portions, respectively, means for transversely adjusting said portions with respect to each other, said insulating means including lower means extending from said inner :and outer members to the floor level to form a continuous thermal barrier between said exterior and interior temperatures.

7. A sill as defined in claim 6 in which said lower insulating means comprises first and second sections, at least one of said sections being adapted to provide support for one of said inner and outer members, said first and second sections having substantially horizontal slidably engageable surfaces.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Olson et a1. 49470 Coco 49467 Olteda'l et a1. 49-468 Odeg-aa-rd et a1. 49469 Lee-hr 49469 Ramsey 49468 Riedl 49468 Pease 49468 Wahlfeld 49469 DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner.

PHILLIP C. KANNAN, Assistant Examiner. a

Claims

1. A SILL ADAPTED FOR INSTALLATION BENEATH AN EXTERIOR DOOR COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, AN OUTER MEMBER EXPOSED TO EXTERIOR TEMPERATURES, AN INNER MEMBER EXPOSED TO INTERIOR TEMPERATURES, MEANS FOR INSULATING SAID INNER MEMBER FROM SAID OUTER MEMBER AND SAID EXTERIOR TEMPERATURES, SAID OUTER MEMBER INCLUDING A FRONT APRON EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY AND BACKWARDLY FORMING A DRIP EDGE TO SHED MOISTURE, DRIP EDGE EXTENSION MEANS, AND MEANS REMOVABLY SECURING SAID EXTENSION MEANS TO SAID FRONT APRON.