Patent Application
20160168904
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This invention pertains or relates to the field of door safety.
It has been reported that according to the National Safety Council—Injury Facts 2011 Edition; U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's National Electronic Injury surveillance system that approximately 380,800 door related injuries occur in the United States ever year. Shockingly, statistics show that door related injuries occur at a rate of 31,000 month, 1,000 every day, 42 every hour and 1 every 1.4 minutes. According to one study; Clinical Pediatric Study: “Children Treated in the United States Emergency Departments for Door-related Injuries, 1999-2008”, approximately eighty percent of door-related injuries occur to children in the home and approximately forty two percent of these children were under the age of four. Of these injuries, forty two percent occur at the leading edge of the door. Thousands of children each year are sent to the hospital with fractures or broken bones because their fingers were caught in slamming doors.
Door injuries are very serious, disastrous, and potentially life changing. Amputations are a triple threat involving loss of function, loss of sensation, and loss of body image causing postoperative complications such as psychological problems, phantom pain, adverse emotional health, and needed psychosocial support. Individuals who earn their living from motor skills are especially vulnerable to amputations. Youth are particularly sensitive to peer acceptance and rejection. Amputation in the preadolescent or adolescent age group is a great threat to emerging sexual identity. The elderly are also likely to have fingers amputated in doors as many times they lose their awareness of surroundings, and balance. Elderly amputees are at a greater risk for psychiatric disturbances such as depression, social isolation, new financial stringencies, and occupational limitations with complicate the adjustment to serious door hand injuries or finger amputations.
The true incidence of door-related injuries is underestimated because not all door-related injuries are treated in hospital Emergency Departments and urgent care centers do not report statistics. Of the reported cases, tens of thousands of door injuries result in finger amputations to children. The inventor believes one door injury is too many. Embodiments of the present invention can prevent these injuries.
The present invention will not only prevent little finger door amputations and hand injuries by unintended door closings, but will mitigate real potential legal and financial liability to many public and private facilities. There are many potential legal theories under which these public and private facilities having known and foreseeably unsafe doors can be found liable including: premises liability, landowner-occupier duties, general negligence, attractive nuisance doctrine, and products liability. For example, under the attractive nuisance doctrine, where the trespass of a child is likely, a landowner owes a duty to exercise ordinary care to avoid a reasonable foreseeable risk of harm posed by dangerous artificial conditions, which result from the child's inability to appreciate the risk of harm. Many heavy commercial doors in commercial buildings readily attract children. Some of these doors and door surrounds have attractive shinny metallic finishes or bright colored paint baiting the eyes and fingers of child. Doors are easily accessible to the exploring fingers of young children who are unaware and cannot appreciate the dangerous condition.
For at least the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a door safety closure device that will prevent hands and fingers from being crushed, injured, or amputated between the leading edge of the door and door surround. Moreover, the invention will prevent the economic loss of serious door injuries resulting from loss of livelihood, increased government disability payments, and diminished functional capacity of the amputees. Further, the invention will mitigate financial and legal liability that is created under legal causes of action filed under premise liability, landowner-occupier liability, general negligence, attractive nuisance doctrine, or products liability law suits.
Major problems facing current users of door safety closure prevention devices is that such devices require modifications to door or door frame construction and do not provide a stable gap width between the leading edge of the door and the door surround sufficient to prevent hands and fingers from being crushed, injured, or amputated. Moreover, many door safety closure prevention devices are just movable stops that many times get displaced from their original intended position and fail to prevent a door from closing.
The present invention is directed to a hand and finger door protector for residential or commercial doors that will protect hands and fingers from being crushed, injured, or amputated between the leading edge of the door and door surround by the unintended slamming or closing of the door. The embodiments of the invention are designed to be interchangeable with standard door handles, door knobs or dead bolt recesses, latching mechanisms, lock assemblies, and striker plates providing for easy and quick installation.
The apparatus and method disclosed herein prevents injury to body parts resulting from door closure. Impacts of a slamming door can produce 40 tons of pressure per square inch. The apparatus and method described herein achieve the injury prevention by the steps of providing a door frame and a door having a reversibly extendable door lock bolt actuated by a handle; and, at least retraction of the lock bolt requiring intentional rotation of the handle. When the lock bolt is extended, the door is placed in a closure impeded state that produces a gap possessing a width sufficient to prevent door impact injury to hands or fingers placed in the gap. Sufficient gap width is achieved through a striker member mountable on the door surround wherein a portion of the striker member projects beyond the door surround, and when the bolt is extended, complete door closure is impeded by the striker member which stops the progression of the bolt and the door producing a gap between the leading edge of the door and the door surround that has a width sufficient to protect hands and fingers from being crushed, injured, or amputated.
Retracting the bolt requires active manipulation of a handle such as a knob, or lever in which the handle is fully turned to its limit in order to retract the lock bolt sufficiently to close the door. When the lock bolt is normally extended, in the default position, the bolt will not retract merely from forces acting on the distal end of the bolt; e.g., axial or tangential forces that are producced when the bolt contacts a strike plate. This contrasts with common latch-style locks possessing a latch tube assembly with a spring mechanism that maintains the bolt in a normally extended position except when the bolt is moved over and against the curved surface of a conventional strike plate which pushes the bolt into the body of the door.
Factors and Aspects of the Invention
The inventor is not aware of existing hand and finger door safety devices such as that described herein having a cooperating door locking mechanism and striker members mountable to the door.
In one aspect, embodiments of this invention include latching mechanisms and striker members that are interchangeable with standard sized door knobs, dead bolt holes, latching mechanisms, lock assemblies, and conventional striker plates which provides for easy and quick installation. Regarding the door and door frame for which installation is intended, excepting the special hardware described in embodiments of the invention, no material removal or additions to the door or door frame are required outside of customary practice for installing a conventional lock and strike plate.
In a second aspect, embodiments of the latching mechanism require at least intentional manipulation; e.g., turning of the handle to make certain that the handle fully retracts the reversible bolt for door closure.
In a third aspect, the hand and finger protector is designed so that the handle or other handle and the striker member cooperate together to achieve the best advantage of ensuring that a sufficient gap width to protect hands and fingers is formed between the leading edge of the door and the door surround. Moreover, embodiments of the invention are sold and packaged together.
In a fourth aspect, embodiments may include force distributing and dissipation means such as a bumper portion or projecting portions for insertion into a door frame to dissipate the impact of the door when the lock bolt of the door impacts portions of the striker member.
In a fifth aspect, common to the embodiments, the reversibly extendable door lock bolt is as long as it can be while still fitting in a bolt recess of customary depth as are found in residential and commercial door frames. Thus, the reversibly extendable door lock bolt will possess a throw length longer than current reversibly extendable latch-style bolts that are commercially available, which on average extend ½ inch beyond the face plate of the latch tube assembly.
It is intended that any aspect, object or feature may be combined with any other aspect, object or feature described herein. Embodiments of the invention, the details and features of which are shown in the drawing figures and detailed description that follow will reduce the risk of hand and finger injuries and amputations, lessen the economic loss of serious door injuries due to loss of livelihood, lessen government disability payments, prevent amputation and the sequela of diminished functional capacity of the amputees and reduce the risk of legal causes of action against premises having foreseeably dangerous doors.
The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying figures wherein the scale depicted is approximate.
Definitions
In the following description, the term “door” as used herein, includes pivoting or hinging panels that are designed to occlude an opening. The term “complete door closure” as used herein, means the door is substantially flush with a door surround and wherein there is minimal gap between the edge of the door and the door frame while still permitting the door to transition between an open and closed position. The term “door surround” as used herein, means the structure surrounding a door, whether outward facing or inward facing, and includes raised molding; e.g., casing, or other non-raised surface; e.g., wall or cabinetry surfaces directly adjacent to, or abutting the door's edge(s). The term “door frame” as used herein, refers to portions of the door surround that are typically at a right angle relative to the facing plane of the door when the door is shut. The term “leading edge” as used herein, refers to that portion of a door that leads when the door is being moved from an open to closed position; e.g., the lock stile portion of a rail and stile door. The term “lock” as used herein, means a door lock including at least a latch tube assembly having an internal spring, a normally extended bolt, and means for actuating the bolt which may be, but is not limited to a handle, a key or a knob. The term “latch type bolt” as used herein, means bolts that are typically spring loaded wherein the bolt is in a normally extended position, but where the distal end of the bolt is tapered or angled. The term “lock type bolt” or “lock bolt” as used herein, means bolts that are not typically spring loaded, such as deadbolts that require extension or retraction by actuation of a key or knob, and that typically possess a distal end that is flat rather than angled. The term “conventional strike plate” when used herein, refers to plates inset into door frames, normally of stamped steel, having an aperture for receiving a bolt and which may or may not include a curved lip whereby a latch type bolt is compressed when moved thereagainst, and then guided to a bolt recess. The term “handle” as used herein, refers to a manipulatable actuator for retracting or extending a latch or lock style bolt which extends to knobs, levers and other actuators. Unless otherwise explained, any technical terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. The singular terms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Similarly, the word “or” is intended to include “and” unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Although methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of this disclosure, suitable methods and materials are described below. The term “comprises” means “includes.” All publications, patent applications, patents, and other references mentioned herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes. In case of conflict, the present specification, including explanations of terms, will control. In addition, the materials, methods, and examples are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting.
Referring generally to
Striker member 300 may be paired with a special door lock having a reversibly extendable lock bolt 210 that must be at least retracted by moving a handle 220, and which will not retract passively when axial or tangential force is applied directly to the projecting end of the lock bolt. In cases where the bolt is normally extended, a compression spring extends the bolt, but the bolt is prevented from retracting unless the handle is actively rotated, turned or levered. While door lock mechanisms of varying design may be selected by those having skill in the art and access to this disclosure for use with embodiments described herein, a latch tube assembly 202 with a compression spring loaded bolt may be used wherein the spring is selected to be sufficiently stiff to resist the typical axial and tangential forces applied to the distal end of the lock bolt when abutting the striker plate. In any case, the lock bolt possesses a throw length sufficient to abut an edge of the striker plate 310 when pushed thereagainst. Accordingly, the reversibly extendable door lock bolt will possess a throw length at least 1/16 inch longer than typical reversibly extendable latch-style bolts, which on average extend ½ inch beyond the face plate 204 of the latch tube assembly.
The striker member 300 may be installed on an existing door 100 and door surround 130 to replace a conventional strike plate, or, may be pre-installed on pre-hung doors. In one exemplary installation, striker member is mounted to a door frame 140 in the same manner as a conventional strike plate in which a small section of door frame material is removed prior to fitment in order to flush fit striker plate 310 against the door frame and fasten it thereto by threaded fasteners. Flanges 330 of the striker member extend into a lock bolt recess 150 of a door frame 140 and are braced against inside surfaces of the lock bolt recess in order to distribute and dissipate door impacting forces when an extended lock bolt 210 of a closing door impacts portions of the striker member. Although in the particular embodiments described herein, portions of the striker member extending into the lock bolt recess are shown as flanges 330, with each projecting at substantially a right angle to the striker plate 310 of the striker member, other projecting members capable of insertion into a lock bolt recess of a door frame which are unitary with, connected to, or coupled to the striker member will suggest themselves to those having skill in the art having access to this disclosure.
Once the striker member 300 is installed to a door frame 140 and paired with a door lock having a reversibly extendable lock bolt 210 that requires active turning of a door handle 220 in order to at least retract the lock bolt and the lock bolt is in an extended position, attempts to fully close the door will be impeded when the lock bolt contacts portions of the striker member that results in a gap between the leading edge of the door and the door frame of sufficient width to prevent injury from impact in cases where a hand or fingers are inadvertently placed in the gap. In order to close the door, the lock bolt is retracted by rotating the door handle which retracts the lock bolt and permits the leading edge 120 of the door and retracted bolt to pass the striker member. Securing the fully closed door by means of the locking mechanism is the same as conventional doors having reversibly extendable lock bolts.
While in the embodiments depicted herein, the handle is depicted as a door knob that is rotated, it is not intended that the invention be limited to the use of bolt actuation mechanisms that are rotated in a clockwise or counter-clockwise motion. Other door handles such as sliding handles or push levers, may be contemplated. Further, the locking mechanism for fixing the position of the lock bolt may be, but is not limited to push button, keyed or turning knobs.
It should be understood that the drawings and detailed description herein are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive manner, and are not intended to be limiting to the particular forms and examples disclosed. Accordingly, it is intended that this disclosure encompass any further modifications, changes, rearrangements, substitutions, alternatives, design choices, and embodiments as would be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art having benefit of this disclosure, and falling within the scope of the following claims.
