See Application Data Sheet.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a door and in particular to method of forming a door that is formed entirely out of a single lightweight pre-fabricated aluminium honeycomb core panel.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98
Door construction has remained the same for many years. One form comprises a perimeter structural timber frame, with a core made from honeycomb or other lightweight cardboard material. This construction provides rigidity whist being relatively light. The inner core material is typically covered with timber veneer or MDF panels that are suitable for staining or painting. In recent years, pre-finished material has been used for door surfaces, however by way of construction, the door ends are exposed in the raw state requiring further finishing.
By way of installation, all doors have only three visible surfaces, being the internal face of the door from inside the room, the external face from outside the room and the latched face. The top of the door and the bottom of the door are never visible on an installed door.
The present invention seeks to overcome or substantially ameliorate at least some of the deficiencies of the prior art, or to at least provide an alternative.
It is to be understood that, if any prior art information is referred to herein, such reference does not constitute an admission that the information forms part of the common general knowledge in the art, in Australia or any other country.
According to a first aspect, the present invention provides a door comprising:
In a preferred embodiment, fold grooves are formed into the inner surfaces of the first and second panels at the edge sections thereof, the fold grooves being spaced inwardly from edges of the first and second panels and defining the edge tabs in the first and second panels.
In another preferred embodiment, each inner frame section comprises an elongated C-section beam having a central portion and upper and lower flanges, wherein the upper and lower flanges are disposed in the honeycomb core adjacent the respective first and second panels, and the central portion extends perpendicularly between the first and second panels slightly inwardly of the fold grooves.
In another preferred embodiment, the door comprises an inner frame sections comprise a hinge frame section, a latch frame section, and top and bottom frame sections.
In another preferred embodiment, the frame sections comprise mitred cut ends to meet at the corners of the door and to form an inner perimeter frame.
In another preferred embodiment, the edge tabs meet in a contiguous manner at a centre width line of the door.
In another preferred embodiment, the edge tabs comprise hinge tabs, latch tabs, upper tabs and lower tabs.
In another preferred embodiment, the latch plate tabs comprise latch deformation outlines and a latch cutout opening, wherein the deformation outlines are punched and deformed into both latch tabs to provide a recess to house a latch plate.
In another preferred embodiment, the corners of the first and second panels include shaped cut outs to provide contiguous folded edges.
In another preferred embodiment, hinge holes are formed in the hinge tabs, with hinges joining the hinge tabs to each other.
In another preferred embodiment, the hinges are attached to the inner frame section at the hinge edge.
In another preferred embodiment, the inner frame section for the latch edge comprises a step in the central portion thereof, wherein latch edge tabs of the honeycomb core cover the step.
In another preferred embodiment, the first and second panels are made from rectangular aluminium sheets.
In another preferred embodiment, the honeycomb core is made from aluminium, polyurethane foam, or polystyrene.
The present invention also provides a method of forming the door, the method comprising:
In another preferred embodiment, each inner frame section comprises an elongated C-section beam having a central portion and upper and lower flanges, the method comprising removing honeycomb material for inserting the upper and lower flanges therein.
Other aspects of the invention are also disclosed.
Notwithstanding any other forms which may fall within the scope of the present invention, preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of examples only, with reference to the accompanying drawings.
It should be noted in the following description that like or the same reference numerals in different embodiments denote the same or similar features.
As shown in
There are V-shaped grooves 36, 36A, 36B are carved into the inner surfaces 61 and 71 of the first and second panels 58 and 59, at the edge sections thereof, to provide a guide for folding. The grooves 36 are spaced inwardly from edges of the first and second panels 58 and 59. The grooves 36 define edge tabs in the first panel 58, being a first hinge tab 62, a first latch tab 64, a first upper tab 66 and a first lower tab 68. The grooves 36 define edge tabs in the second panel 59, being a second hinge tab 72, a second latch tab 74, a second upper tab 76 and a second lower tab 78.
As shown in
As shown in
As best shown in
The inner frame sections 40 are inserted into the respective edges (hinge edge, latch edge, top and bottom edges) of the honeycomb core panel 20, between the inner surfaces 61 and 71 of the first panel 58 and the second panel 59. Sections of the honeycomb core 50 adjacent the inner surfaces 61 and 71 are removed to allow the upper and lower flanges 42 to be inserted therein. The inner frame sections 40 are inserted such that they are disposed inwardly of the respective panel tabs (hinge tabs 62 and 72, latch tabs 64 and 74, upper tabs 66 and 76, and lower tabs 68 and 78). The central portion 41 extends perpendicularly between the first panel 58 and the second panel 59, slightly inwardly of the V-groove fold lines 36.
The step 43 is formed by the central portion 41 comprising a first vertical section 81 extending from the upper flange 42a, a second horizontal section 82 at a mid-portion, and a third vertical section 83 extending to the lower flange 42b. The lower flange 42b is thus wider than the upper flange 42a.
As per above, the frame sections 40 are inserted into the honeycomb core panel 20b. For the latch edge, the first latch tab 64 covers the first vertical section 81, the additional tab 75 covers the second horizontal section 82, and the second latch tab 74 covers the third vertical section 83. The folded tabs secure the frame sections 40 to the honeycomb core panel 20b.
The present invention provides an improvement on the conventional door construction by using a prefabricated and pre-finished honeycomb core panel that is cut and V grooved with folded edges that form a substantially seamless door.
The present invention allows for doors to be completely manufactured on a CNC Computer Numerically Controlled machine ensuring greatest efficiency and accuracy.
The present invention also allows for very large doors of high strength that are capable of having a different colour or texture on the inside and outside.
The present invention provides an extremely lightweight door relative to the size due to the nature of material technology.
There are many possible alternative embodiments to the present invention.
The present embodiment provides a door that is formed entirely out of a pre-fabricated and pre-finished single panel of aluminium honeycomb core panel. The honeycomb panel is cut and grooved in such a way to accept an inner frame for structural strength, with edges being folded to lock onto the inner frame.
Whilst preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, it will be apparent to skilled persons that modifications can be made to the embodiments made.
The panel can alternatively be made from stainless steel or other metal sheet, with an alternate core other than a honeycomb core. As a further alternative, the panel can be made from plastics material core between two sheets of other metals.
According to a first aspect, the present invention provides a door comprising a prefabricated single honeycomb core aluminium panel, such that thickness of the honeycomb panel equals the thickness of the door required.
In a preferred embodiment, the pre-fabricated honeycomb core is sandwiched between upper and lower pre-finished aluminium sheets.
In another preferred embodiment, the pre-fabricated honeycomb core panel comprises edge tabs that are folded from the upper and lower faces respectively, folded to encompass the external door perimeter.
In another preferred embodiment, the pre-fabricated panel is substantially rigid and comprises grooves formed into the inner surface of the upper and lower panels, with grooves being spaced by a distance equal to half width of the panel.
In another preferred embodiment, V grooves are carved into the inner surface of the upper and lower panels, providing a folding guideline and control the folding radius.
In another preferred embodiment, the upper face and lower face folded sections meet at the middle of the panel thickness, and encompass the perimeter of the entire panel.
In another preferred embodiment, the upper and lower corners comprise of triangular cuts at such an angle that the adjacent tabs are substantially contiguous when folded.
In another preferred embodiment, the panel further comprises an inner aluminium frame which is inserted by sliding into the perimeter of the honeycomb core panel from the side.
In another preferred embodiment, the upper and lower panel folds are secured to the inner aluminium door frame section via the hinges that lock the frame to the upper and lower external faces and provide structural strength to the door.
In another preferred embodiment, the panel further comprises at least one flush mount hinge that is screwed into the inner aluminium frame to lock the upper and lower folds with the inner aluminium door frame.
In another preferred embodiment, the panel comprises additional grooves formed in the inner surface along lines parallel to and inwardly spaced from edges of the panel to form side, upper and lower edge tabs which are folded towards each other to form the latch, hinge, upper and lower faces of the door respectively.
In another preferred embodiment, the door comprises of one of the main faces being wider that the other, the wider main face comprising two adjacent edge tabs.
In another preferred embodiment, the two adjacent edge tabs are folded such to form a double rebate at the latch face.
In another preferred embodiment, the honeycomb core aluminium panel door is sufficiently rigid to accept a glass insert panel, and as such can be used for feature doors and front entry doors.
In another preferred embodiment, the external sheets are stainless steel.
In another aspect, the invention provides a door comprising of a single pre-fabricated aluminium honeycomb core panel that is of required door thickness, having upper and lower surfaces that are cut with triangular tabs, V grooved and edge folded to form a pre-finished door with fully enclosed edges.
In another preferred embodiment, the door can be made a much larger size up to 2.0 meters×4.0 meters and is super strong due to pre-fabricated nature of material used.
In another preferred embodiment, the door is extremely lightweight in comparison to conventional doors of equivalent size and strength.
In another preferred embodiment, the door has factory pre-finishing with nano technology and is capable of having the outside surface colour and or texture totally different to the inside surface colour and or texture, whereas the edge folds meet at the middle of the thickness of the door.
In another preferred embodiment, the door is completely waterproof, will not swell or distort, and has great thermal properties.
The invention provides a means for a completely pre-finished door to be manufactured from a pre-fabricated aluminium honeycomb core panel. The relatively lightweight honeycomb panel is manufactured with pre-finished upper and lower faces, having the advantage that each face can be finished in a different colour or texture for inside and outside use.
In a possible modification, the flanges of the frame sections can be omitted. The central section of the frame sections can alternatively comprise hollow sections such as rectangular hollow sections.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2015101579 | Oct 2015 | AU | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/AU2016/000364 | 10/26/2016 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2017/070727 | 5/4/2017 | WO | A |
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20180320435 A1 | Nov 2018 | US |