This invention relates to doors. More particularly, it relates to combination doors, for vehicles such as motorized recreational vehicles, utility trailers and the like, that are designed for trouble free and comfortable service, and for economical, efficient and flexible production.
This invention provides a door assembly with a frame assembly having a substantially continuous sealing surface around the entire periphery of the frame assembly. A first door, such as a prime door, has a substantially continuous sealing member mounted thereon. The sealing surface and sealing member provide a substantially continuous seal around the door when it is closed. Preferably, a second substantially continuous seal on a second door, such as a screen door, seals against insects. The weather seal on the prime door and the insect seal on the screen door are mechanically fastened or otherwise attached to the main frame of the door for consistent performance and aesthetics.
In one embodiment, a stepped U-shaped frame member has an opening at one end that is closed with a square-cut member, such as a threshold, leaving gaps at the outer steps of the frame. Plugs fill these gaps, providing a continuous surface without expensive machining of the threshold. The frame and doors shown herein have curved upper corners, but it should be understood that the term “U-shaped” includes other shapes with three closed sides and one open side, such as a rectangular door frame with a straight top and sides.
Continuous sealing surfaces may be formed with interfitting frames and hinges. The preferred frame has a rib with an outwardly facing surface that forms much of the sealing surface. The rib is notched to accept the fixed hinge leaf of a hinge assembly. The fixed hinge leaf is stepped to fit into a notch in the frame rib, and to provide a surface that is substantially coplanar with the outwardly facing surface of the rib. In turn, the fixed hinge leaf is notched to accept at least one pivoting hinge leaf, which is also stepped to provide a surface that is coplanar with the above-identified surfaces of the fixed hinge leaf and the frame rib. The end result is a substantially coplanar, outwardly facing sealing surface that extends through the hinge area, eliminating the need for multiple, specially constructed seal parts, which improves seal integrity.
Inter-fitting frames and hinge parts can also simplify manufacture, strengthen the completed assembly and help meet Federal motor vehicle safety standards, such as Federal Standard FMVSS 206. For example, the main frame assembly for a door may have a groove with an undercut or dovetail surface, and parts of a hinge assembly attached to this frame may have a rib with an outwardly sloping surface that complements and interlocks with the dovetail groove in the frame. Another interlocking system has a component, such as a door surround, with kerfs to support a sealing member and notches for other components, such as hinge leafs, which also have kerfs for the sealing member. The surround has a rib that fits into a grove on the hinge leaf, which ensures precise alignment of the kerfs, facilitates installation of the sealing member and increases structural integrity.
The preferred door assembly has at least one hinge assembly with a mounting plate having an upper fixed knuckle, a lower fixed knuckle and, optionally, one or more intermediate fixed knuckles. Stepped bushings, with bodies that complement the bores of the knuckles, and larger heads that ride on the rims of the knuckles, are inserted into the top end of the fixed hinge bushings, and into the bottom end of the knuckle or knuckles of one or more pivoting hinge leafs that fit between and are coaxial with the fixed hinge knuckles. As a result, the bushings in the pivoting leafs, which support the door or doors, bear on bushings in fixed knuckles. The hinge pin extends through these bushings and, optionally, through cylindrical plugs that limit the required length of the bushings and ease molding requirements. The moveable hinge leaf can pivot with respect to the fixed hinge leaf without metal-to-metal contact between the knuckles, and between the pin and the knuckles. Metal-to-metal wear is eliminated, which also reduces attendant discoloration.
The bores and bushings are preferably designed, e.g. with matching grooves and ribs, so that the bushings must be properly oriented to fit into the bores. In one embodiment, the heads of the bushings have at least two steps or raised contact surfaces and at least two indentations or depressed contact surfaces. When the doors are opened, the steps on their bushings in the pivoting hinge leaves drop into the indentations in the adjacent fixed hinge leaf and hold the door in position.
Other features and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description.
The door assembly illustrated in
The doors are attached to the frame by three hinge assemblies 80, shown in
The prime door 40 has a core 41 of an expanded material such as polystyrene, a smooth skin 43 of a material such as fiberglass or aluminum on the outside of the core, and a similar smooth skin 45 on the inside of the core. A generally U-shaped steel stile 47 protects the edges of the foam core, and provides substantial strength and rigidity. The inner and outer skins 43, 45, are laminated to the core 41 and to the stile 47. As also shown in
The kerf 835 in the prim hinge leaf 83 supports weather seal member 555, as shown in
As shown in
A noise reduction seal 57 may optionally be used with weather seal member 555. As shown in
When the prime door is closed, weather seal 55 presses against a substantially continuous and coplanar sealing surface formed by main frame member 21, threshold 23, and the hinge assemblies 80. As best seen in
As also best seen in
Referring to
The main frame member, hinge assemblies and prime door are also designed for ease of assembly and structural integrity. As best seen in
In addition to providing a continuous mount for weather seal member 555, as described above, prime hinge leaf 83 and door surround 49 contribute to ease of assembly, structural integrity, and effective sealing. As may be seen in
The weather seal provided by seal assembly 55 is supplemented by a screen door seal assembly 61, shown in
As best seen in
As best seen in
The bushings in hinge knuckles 811, 831 and 851 may be designed to hold one or both doors in a certain open position.
Bushing 86 has a head 875 with a flat contact surface 876 that does not influence the position of either door, but indexing bushing 88 is designed to hold either door in place when it is opened 90°. The head 885 of the indexing bushing 88 has two steps 886 on opposite sides of head 875, and two indentation is 887 separating the steps. Inclined surfaces 888 connect the steps and indentations. Each of the steps and indentations surfaces spans an arc of approximately 30°
With these indexing bushings, the steps 886 of the bushings in the prime hinge knuckle 831 and the screen hinge knuckle 851 rest on the steps 886 of bushings in fixed hinge knuckles 811 when the doors are closed. However, when a door is opened 90°, the steps of the bushings in the pivoting leaves will rest in the indentations of bushings in fixed hinge knuckles 811, and the door will remain in this position until it is closed, manually, or opened further. The doors described above are considerably thicker than conventional doors. This provides extra stiffness and allows the doors to be manufactured as a flat assembly, unlike conventional doors that bowed to provide compression against seals to provide additional compression against seals and reduce door vibration and “flutter” in motion. The ability of the doors to seal as a flat rather than a concave assembly reduces closing force and adds to the perceived quality of the door during operation. As those skilled in the art will recognize, the structures described above, shown in the accompanying drawings and defined by the following claims offer substantial advantages over door assemblies previously available for recreational vehicles, including a substantially continuous sealing surface around the entire periphery of the main door frame, which in turn makes it feasible to use a substantially continuous weather seal around substantially the entire periphery of the door, including the area where the hinges are mounted. The substantially continuous sealing surface is formed, in part, with an interfitting frame and hinges. The hinges are also mechanically locked into the frame, which increases structural integrity and eases assembly. Knuckles of the pivoting leaves of the hinges are spaced from the fixed leaf knuckles by bushings, and further separated from the hinge pin by plugs. The bushings and plugs eliminate metal-to metal wear. The bushings may also serve as indexing function, holding the doors in position when open.
Of course, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications may be made in the structure disclosed above. The foregoing description is merely illustrative, and is not meant to limit the scope of this invention, which is defined by the following claims.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20030070768 A1 | Apr 2003 | US |