This invention was not federally sponsored.
This invention relates to the general field of garage doors, and more specifically to a window designed for a panel of a garage door.
Garage doors have been in existence for since Roman times, but as pertaining to the automobile industry began in the early 1900's, beginning as monolithic, single panel garage doors. Over the past several decades, sectional garage doors have become more and more popular as they can be “rolled” up in sections, thereby not requiring any “swing distance” away from the garage to swing as they are pulled up. A second advantage of sectional, or panel, garage doors is that each section or panel has a connection to track upon which it slides, thereby giving the door a more secure means of attachment to the garage door than would a traditional, monolithic garage door, which is usually connected to the garage door through two springs.
An ongoing problem with garage doors is that the common materials from which they are made—namely metal, plastic and wood—do not tend to “breath” well. Garages are notorious for storing a wide variety of smelly and toxic articles, ranging from the gasoline-powered engines of automobiles and lawnmowers to paint and other chemicals. While some monolithic garage doors had glass windows built into them that could be opened, the same technology has not made its way in a significant manner to the panel construction industry.
In addition to using their garages to store automobiles, yard equipment and the like, many homeowners use their garages as a temporary home for pets. Since the pets often have to share the garage with the aforementioned smelly and toxic items, it would be advantageous to improve the air circulation in a garage. While it would be relatively easy to build in some opening windows into a monolithic garage door, it is more difficult trying to fit an efficient “vent” into a single panel.
Even if a venting panel were to be successfully integrated into a panel, no pet owner would want his or her pet to escape from the garage through the vent—hence, there would need to be means of allowing air, but not the pet, to escape the garage. Thus, has been created a long-felt need for a window that can be installed—either during the construction or as a retrofit—into a panel that allows for both air ventilation and pet confinement.
It is commonly known that there are many garage door manufacturers that manufacture several different garage door styles. Many of styles, from the various manufactures, have different window, or vent, opening dimensions. Typically, each garage door manufacturer has premade window, or vent, frames that are four sided and rigid in nature and produced to fit only the window, or vent, opening that is cut into the garage door panels and that fits that particular size. These variations in the window, or vent, design dimensions create the need for dozens of different window frame dimensions requiring dozens of different plastic injection molds, requiring a huge expense, and making it difficult to create a standardized window frame size. In today's market there are over one hundred different sizes of garage door windows collectively from all current garage door manufactures. All requiring a specific size window and frame to be produced.
The current invention provides just such a solution by having a customized, adjustable frame and brace assembly, providing a solution for these needs by creating a method allowing varied and numerous window, or vent, design dimensions to be outfitted with this one design product. When inserted, into a precut garage window opening, it can be expanded or reduced in size to fit that particular size window opening. In addition, this concept has an added feature of a screen assembly that most garage windows, currently on the market, do not provide. Thus, it can also be manually opened and closed to allow free flowing air and ventilation into the otherwise confined spaces of a garage. In turn, because this one adjustable design concept can be manufactured from a limited number of plastic injection molds, and parts, the savings on production costs, that would otherwise be needed to manufacture all the other various sized frames, would be substantial.
This invention would not only permit garage door manufacturers to reduce costs, inventory controls, and have an additional screen equipped window option available to their consumers but would also be available for the aftermarket homeowners, that already have a garage door with traditional non-opening windows, to purchase this one adjustable size design to easily retrofit their current window, regardless of size, with newly installed screened windows. They may also be used in place of any standard garage door frame that is customarily of a fixed and rigid design if the manufacturer of the garage door should choose to use this design instead.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a window that can be built into a garage door.
An additional object of the invention includes providing a window that can be installed into an existing garage door.
Another object of the invention is to provide a sliding mechanism by which the garage door window can be opened and closed easily.
A further object of the invention is to provide bars on the window to prevent pets from escaping through the garage door window.
Another object of the invention is to provide an easily-installed garage door window.
A final object of the invention is to provide for multiple windows to be inserted into a single panel of a garage door.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. The features listed herein and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description and appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
It should be understood the while the preferred embodiments of the invention are described in some detail herein, the present disclosure is made by way of example only and that variations and changes thereto are possible without departing from the subject matter coming within the scope of the following claims, and a reasonable equivalency thereof, which claims I regard as my invention.
One preferred form of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is noted that the following figures are not drawn to scale.
Many aspects of the invention can be better understood with references made to the drawings below. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. Instead, emphasis is placed upon clearly illustrating the components of the present invention. Moreover, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts through the several views in the drawings. Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the embodiments of the invention are not limited in their application to the details of construction and to the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The embodiments of the invention are capable of being practiced and carried out in various ways. In addition, the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
It is commonly known that there are many garage door manufacturers that manufacture several different garage door styles. Many of styles, from the various manufactures, have different window, or vent, opening dimensions. Typically each garage door manufacturer has premade window, or vent, frames that are four sided and rigid in nature and produced to fit only the window, or vent, opening that is cut into the garage door panels and that fits that particular size. These variations in the window, or vent, design dimensions create the need for dozens of different window frame dimensions requiring dozens of different plastic injection molds, requiring a huge expense, and making it difficult to create a standardized window frame size.
This concept, of a customized frame and brace assembly, is designed to create a method allowing various window, or vent, design dimensions to be produced from a limited number of plastic injection molds.
It is noted that for proper instillation each garage window, or vent, design requires two types of frames. First is an exterior frame which is placed on the exterior side of a garage door panel and is typically visible when viewing the exterior of the home, or building. It is usually more ornate than the interior frame. The second frame would be the interior frame placed on the interior side of the of the garage door panel. The exterior and interior frames would be of different construction styles. They would be placed adjacent to one another and secured together, against the garage door panel, using a securing device such as screws, nut and bolts, glue, tape, or by other means. In most current garage window, or vent, designs the frame consists of four sides, similar to a picture frame.
It is noted that the following figures are not drawn to scale.
It is also shown in
As mentioned and shown above in
As is the case, in order to achieve the correct window size adjustment and fit into the precut garage door window space, when the Front Corner Braces are adjusted so to may the Front Horizontal and/or Vertical Frame Trim. This is achieved by moving the corresponding Frame Trim to its desired position and then tightened down using the corresponding Interior Wing Nuts along their respective Wing Nut Adjustment Slots. The Horizontal and Vertical Frame Trim will have corresponding threaded holes, on their interior side, permitting the wing nuts to securely tighten them against the garage door panel. As already mentioned, the garage door panel would be tightened between the Interior Panel Insert and the Exterior Frame Trim and Braces. It is also noted that, as the Corner Braces are moved, the Horizontal and Vertical Frame Trim stays in basically their same positions relative to the Interior Panel Insert (#9) only being adjusted in relation to the Interior Wing Nuts Adjustment Slots (#12).
In addition to functioning as the stationary foundation for the adjustment aspects of this invention the Interior Panel Insert (#9) also has additional features. It also functions as the foundation that the holds the Stationary Clear Glass/Plexiglas Insert (#6) and the Screen Insert (#5). In addition, it has the Window Guide Rail (#10). These Guide Rails permit the Sliding Window Insert (#13) to be slid left or right to an opened or closed position. In the closed position, the Sliding Window Insert will be positioned on the interior side of the screen Insert. In the opened position, the Sliding Window Insert would be positioned on the interior side of the Glass/Plexiglas Insert.
It is noted that the both the Window inserts (#6 & #13) and the Screen Insert (#5) remain a fixed size. In the inventions smallest adjusted size the Front Corner Trim Braces and the Front Frame Trim will cover a portion of the windows and screen. As the adjustment in size becomes larger the newly adjusted positions of the Front Frames and Braces will allow for an expanded view of the window and screen thus allowing for additional light and ventilation (See
It is noted that this invention allows for this one adjustable frame insert to be adjusted in size to up to 3 inches in length and/or up to 3 inches in height thus fitting a large portion of the different garage door window sizes. In order to accommodate a different range of window sizes, this invention can be manufactured in various dimensions similar to a small, medium, and large size which is common to other products.
It should be understood that while the preferred embodiments of the invention are described in some detail herein, the present disclosure is made by way of example only and that variations and changes thereto are possible without departing from the subject matter coming within the scope of the following claims, and a reasonable equivalency thereof, which claims I regard as my invention.
All of the material in this patent document is subject to copyright protection under the copyright laws of the United States and other countries. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in official governmental records but, otherwise, all other copyright rights whatsoever are reserved.
This application is a continuation-in-part from U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 16/441,860 entitled Garage Door Window, filed 14 Jun. 2019, which in turn, was a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/274,001, entitled Garage Door Window, filed 12 Feb. 2019, the contents of which are incorporated by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 16441860 | Jun 2019 | US |
Child | 16874076 | US |