Patent Application
20170175436
The invention relates generally to firewall access doors which are decorative, aesthetically match the surrounding wall and meet 90 minutes fire rating with a maximum 250° C. temperature rise over 30 minutes.
One of the most critical issues for architects is to ensure that building design addresses fire-safety issues. Use of fire rated drywall constructions have increasingly become popular in modern building designs due to the flexibility they offer. The fire-resistance rating classifies the ability of an assembly to confine and isolate fire within a zone comprised of fire-resistance rated walls, ceilings and floor assemblies. The ratings relate to fire tests designed to determine how quickly fire can raise the temperature to unacceptable levels. Fire-rated assemblies are tested and certified in their entirety installed in a Firewall. Whenever an access opening through such fire rated drywall structure is desired the continuity of fire rating gets discontinued and architects/construction professionals face the challenge of providing doors that meet fire rating requirements and yet satisfy aesthetics, as much as possible.
Conventional Access doors are available in the market that are such made that do not blend with the environment and more importantly are not fire rated. There is no such door available which blends with surrounding drywall finishes to satisfy aesthetics and yet meets fire rating requirements with temperature rise criterion to ensure continuity of fire-safe constructions.
Having realized this gap in market, Nelson Industrial Inc.—the manufacturer of ACUDOR brand of access doors, dedicated itself to innovate, design and develop a new model FW-5015 Access Door. Intertek Testing Services NA Ltd., Canada have certified that FW-5015 complies with UL 10B (2009) or CAN/ULC S104 (2010) for a 90 minute rating including a maximum 250° C. temperature rise over 30 minutes.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a firewall access door which is both decorative and which is highly rated against fire. The firewall access door includes a rectangular/square door frame with a rectangular/square door coupled there to by at least one door hinge, the door being dimensioned to fit within the door frame. The door consists of a rectangular/square door pan having a length and width and a mineral core fire resistant decorative gypsum wall panel. The decorative wall panel has a flat surface and four side edges and the rectangular/square door pan has a flat surface with opposite side walls extending perpendicularly from the flat surface. The rectangular/square door pan is dimensioned to receive the decorative/square gypsum panel such that the flat surface of the decorative gypsum panel is held flat against the flat surface of the door pan and the side edges of the decorative gypsum panel abut the side walls of the door pan. The door further includes a stiffener panel which consists of a rectangular/square pan having a flat surface with opposite side walls extending perpendicular from the flat surface of the stiffener panel. The side walls of the stiffener panel have flanges dimensioned to mount to the flat surface of the door pan opposite the gypsum panel and adjacent the side walls of the door pan to mount the stiffener panel to the door pan such that the flat surface of the door pan is positioned parallel to the flat surface of the stiffener panel with an air space separating the two flat surfaces. The stiffener panel has a length and width dimensioned to span the length and width of the door pan, respectively.
With the foregoing in view, and other advantages as will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates as this specification proceeds, the invention is herein described by reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, which includes a description of the preferred typical embodiment of the principles of the present invention.
In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.
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Stiffener panel 22 is a rectangular shallow pan which is preferably formed from a formed steel sheet. Stiffener panel 22 has a flat surface 56 and side walls 58 extending perpendicularly from flat surface 56. Flanges 60 are formed on side walls 58 and extend parallel to flat surface 56. Stiffener panel 22 is dimensioned to substantially span the length and width of door pan 18. Flanges 60 are used to secure stiffener panel 22 to the back of door pan 18 by welding or by other means known generally in the art. A tapered corner element 62 is formed at each corner of the stiffener plate and extend perpendicular to flanges 60 and flat surface 56. The tapered corner element 62 tapers from flange 60 to flat surface 56, getting narrower as it approaches the flat surface. Tapered corner elements 62 ensure that the door is properly centered in the door frame when the door is fully closed. Stiffener panel is provided with cut outs 64 which permit the hinges (item 16 in
Firewalls are required to remain structurally intact for a length of time when exposed to fire and should have the ability to limit the amount of heat passing through it. Whereas, Fire Barriers are non-load bearing walls, typically having lower fire-resistance ratings than Firewalls. FW-5015 with its certified parameters is suitable for installation on Firewalls. By providing additional springs to make it self-closing when horizontally installed, this same door can be made suitable for ceiling applications.
A specific embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed; however, several variations of the disclosed embodiment could be envisioned as within the scope of this invention. It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.
