Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an adjustable threshold assembly, such as for use with a door, or a closet unit, particularly in a vehicle.
Doors and interior closets within a vehicle, such as an aircraft, a train, an automobile, a bus, and/or a boat, are used to secure loads during transit of the vehicle. These doors and closets, however, may stick or jam, such as by having the loads move within the vehicle during transit, or from having components of the vehicle itself bend or move from transit (e.g., a fuselage of an aircraft bending during transit). A threshold assembly and a striker plate may be adjustable to avoid such sticking and jamming. However, such threshold assemblies and striker plates may be overly complicated and expensive, potentially resulting in other inconveniences.
The systems, methods, apparatus, and devices of the disclosure each have several aspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for its desirable attributes. Without limiting the scope of this disclosure as expressed by the claims which follow, some features will now be discussed briefly. After considering this discussion, and particularly after reading the section entitled “Detailed Description” one will understand how the features of this disclosure provide advantages that include adjustability for a threshold assembly.
In one embodiment, a closet unit for a vehicle is disclosed. The closet unit includes a housing including a frame and a door configured to move with respect to the frame, a latching mechanism coupled to the door and including a latch configured to secure the door to the frame, and a threshold assembly coupled to the housing and configured to receive the latch of the latching mechanism. The threshold assembly includes a threshold body coupled to the frame and a striker component removably coupled to the threshold body and including a plate and a cup coupled to the plate with the cup offset from a center of the plate.
In another embodiment, a threshold assembly for use with a door is disclosed. The threshold assembly includes a threshold body configured to be coupled to a frame of the closet unit and including an opening formed therethrough. The threshold assembly further includes a striker component that includes a plate configured to be removably coupled to the threshold body and a cup coupled to and offset from a center of the plate with the cup configured to be positioned through the opening of the threshold body.
In yet another embodiment, a threshold assembly is disclosed. The threshold assembly consists essentially a threshold body configured to be coupled to a frame of the closet unit and includes an opening formed therethrough. The threshold assembly further consists essentially a striker component and a fastener configured to removably couple the plate of the striker component to the threshold body. The striker component includes a plate configured to be removably coupled to the threshold body and a cup coupled to and offset from a center of the plate with the cup configured to be positioned through the opening of the threshold body.
Embodiments generally include methods, apparatus, and systems, as substantially described herein with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings. Numerous other aspects are provided.
To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or more aspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative features of the one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of various aspects may be employed, and this description is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents.
So that the manner in which the above-recited features of the present disclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to aspects, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only certain typical aspects of this disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the description may admit to other equally effective aspects.
To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. It is contemplated that elements described in one aspect may be beneficially utilized on other aspects without specific recitation.
Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus, systems, and methods, for monitoring process water within a food processing system.
In the following, reference is made to embodiments presented in the present disclosure. However, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to specific described embodiments. Instead, any combination of the following features and elements, whether related to different aspects or not, is contemplated to implement and practice contemplated aspects. Furthermore, although embodiments disclosed herein may achieve advantages over other possible solutions or over the prior art, whether or not a particular advantage is achieved by a given aspect is not limiting of the scope of the present disclosure. Thus, the following embodiments, features, and advantages are merely illustrative and are not considered elements or limitations of the appended claims except where explicitly recited in a claim(s). Likewise, reference to “the invention” or “the disclosure” shall not be construed as a generalization of any inventive subject matter disclosed herein and shall not be considered to be an element or limitation of the appended claims except where explicitly recited in a claim(s).
As shown and described herein, various features of the disclosure will be presented. Various embodiments may have the same or similar features and thus the same or similar features may be labeled with the same reference numeral, but preceded by a different first number indicating the figure to which the feature is shown. Thus, for example, element “a” that is shown in FIG. X may be labeled “Xa” and a similar feature in FIG. Z may be labeled “Za.” Although similar reference numbers may be used in a generic sense, various embodiments will be described and various features may include changes, alterations, modifications, etc. as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, whether explicitly described or otherwise would be appreciated by those of skill in the art.
Vehicles often include doors and closets units for securing loads during transit. However, the doors or closet units may stick or become jammed from the movement of the load during transit, or even movement of a component within the vehicle itself. In accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, a threshold assembly is provided for use with such doors and closet units, such as to prevent sticking or jamming of the doors or closet units within the vehicle. The threshold assembly includes one or more components that may be adjustable. In particular, the threshold assembly includes a striker component that is removably coupleable to a threshold body, in which the striker component may be arrangeable in a first orientation or a second orientation with respect to the threshold body for adjustability purposes.
With reference to
A latching mechanism 108 is used to secure the door 102 to the frame 106, such as when the door 102 is in the closed position. The latching mechanism 108 is shown as coupled to the door 102 and includes a latch 110. The latch 110 is movable with respect to the door 102 to selectively engage and be received by the threshold assembly 120. In particular, the latch 110 is movable between a latched position and an unlatched position with respect to the door 102 and/or the threshold assembly 120. In the latched position, the latch 110 of the latch mechanism 108 may engage or be received within the threshold assembly 120 to secure the door 102 in the closed position. In the unlatched position, the latch mechanism 108 enables the door 102 to move between the open position and the closed position. In this embodiment, the latch mechanism 108 is shown as a rotary latch and the latch 110 is shown as a pin or a rod that is received by the threshold assembly 120.
The threshold assembly 120 is coupled to the housing 104 of the closet unit 100. More particularly, the threshold assembly 120 includes a threshold body 122 that is coupled to or along the frame 106 of the closet unit 100. The threshold body 122 includes an opening 124 formed therethrough, in which the latch 110 is shown as received within the opening 124. The latch 110 is received within the opening 124 to secure the door 102 to the frame 106, such as when the latch 110 is in the latched position and the door 102 is in the closed position.
The threshold body 222, as shown, includes an attachment mechanism 228 to facilitate coupling the threshold body 222 to the frame 106 of the closet unit 100. In this embodiment, the attachment mechanism 228 is integrally formed with the threshold body 222, though the present disclosure is not so limited, and includes a snap-fit feature to be able to couple the threshold body 222 to the frame 106. The threshold body 222 further includes an opening 224 formed therethrough, such as to receive the latch 110 of the latch mechanism 108 discussed above.
The striker component 226 includes a plate 230 and a cup 232 coupled to the plate 230. The plate 230 and the cup 232 may be integrally formed with each other, as shown here, or may be formed separately and then coupled to each other. The striker component 226 is removably coupleable to the threshold body 222. For example, the striker component 226 may be coupled to the threshold body 222 such that the cup 232 of the striker component 226 is positionable or extends through the opening 224 of the threshold body 222. As such, the cup 232 may be used to receive the latch 110 of the latch mechanism 108.
Further, the threshold body 222 may include a recess 240 to facilitate coupling the striker component 226 to the threshold body 222. As shown particularly in
One or more fasteners 234 may be used to removably couple the striker component 226 to the threshold body 222. The threshold body 222 includes one or more apertures 236 formed therethrough, such as formed in the recess 240, and the plate 230 of the striker component 226 includes one or more corresponding apertures 238 formed therethrough. A fastener 234, such as a pin, an example of which is shown in
As shown best in
As the striker component 226 is removably coupled to the threshold body 222, the striker component 226 may be uncoupled from the threshold body 222 and recoupled to the threshold body 222 in different orientations, such as to adjust the position of the striker component 226 with respect to the threshold body 222. For example, the striker component 226 may be removably coupled to the threshold body 222 in a first orientation and a second orientation with respect to the threshold body 222. In such an embodiment, the striker component 226 may be rotated by about 180 degrees between the first orientation and the second orientation. In particular, the threshold body 222 may include an internal side 250 and an external side 252, such as opposite sides of the opening 224. In the first orientation for the striker component 226, the larger width portion 246 of the plate 230 is positioned closer to the internal side 250 of the threshold body 222 than the smaller width portion 248 of the plate 230. In the second orientation for the striker component 226, the smaller width portion 248 of the plate 230 is positioned closer to the internal side 250 of the threshold body 222 than the larger width portion 246 of the plate 230.
By having the striker component 226 selectively movable between different orientations with respect to the threshold body 222, the cup 232 of the striker component 226 may be adjusted, as desired, within the threshold assembly 220. For example, the position of the cup 232 may be adjusted with respect to the threshold body 222, such as to modify or adjust tolerances or engagement between the cup 232 and the latch 110 received within the cup 232. This adjustable engagement between the cup 232 and the latch 110 may be used to prevent having the latch mechanism 108 stick or jam, such as by having the latch 110 stick or jam within the cup 232. Further, the cup 232 may be adjusted with respect to the respect to the threshold body 222, and thus the latching mechanism 108 and the door 102, by removing the striker component 226 from the threshold body 222, rotating the striker component 226 with respect to the threshold body 222, and then coupling the striker component 226 back to the threshold body 222.
The opening 224 of the threshold body 222 is larger than an outer surface of the cup 232. For example, for the opening 224 to accommodate the cup 232 in the first orientation and the second orientation, the cross-sectional area of the opening 224 is larger than the cross-sectional area of the outer surface of the cup 232. In
The embodiments discussed above have been described in the context of use with a closet unit or a door of a vehicle, such as an aircraft. However, the present disclosure is not so limited, as a threshold assembly in accordance with the present disclosure may be used with any latching mechanism and/or door. For example, a threshold assembly in accordance with the present disclosure may be incorporated into modular or temporary structures, such as for office work stations or buildings.
While the present disclosure has been described in detail in connection with only a limited number of embodiments, it should be readily understood that the present disclosure is not limited to such described embodiments. Rather, the present disclosure can be modified to incorporate any number of variations, alterations, substitutions, combinations, sub-combinations, or equivalent arrangements not heretofore described, but which are commensurate with the scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, while various embodiments of the present disclosure have been described, it is to be understood that aspects of the present disclosure may include only some of the described embodiments.
The term “about” is intended to include the degree of error associated with measurement of the particular quantity based upon the equipment available at the time of filing the application. For example, “about” can include a range of ±8% or 5%, or 2% of a given value.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, element components, and/or groups thereof.
While the present disclosure has been described with reference to an exemplary embodiment or embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the present disclosure without departing from the essential scope thereof.
Therefore, it is intended that the present disclosure not be limited to the particular embodiment described as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this present disclosure, but that the present disclosure will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the claims.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20200024876 A1 | Jan 2020 | US |