Patent Application
20140346787
The door plate pertains to safely securing doors in particular in strengthening a door's jamb.
A home is broken into every 14.5 seconds. Either the door is kicked in or the door latch is pried open with the use of a credit card. Many of the composite doors are strengthened with metal but this is not enough to prevent one from kicking in the door. What is needed is an unparalleled door protection again kicking in doors or compromising the door bolts by strengthening the door's jamb.
Currently, a doorjamb does not prevent the door from being kicked in with brunt force. A brunt force will split the jamb out on the inside edge or have the door jamb split enough for the door to open.
The present invention prevents exterior wooden doorjambs from being kicked in through the use of a door plate. The door plate enhances the effectiveness of dead bolts, prevents punching door bolts in, and deters thieves from credit carding the dead bolts.
The present invention strengthens the doorjamb with a steel door plate making the door jamb, in conjunction with the plate, “practically one unit” by wrapping the vulnerable area of the jamb with the steel. The doorjamb becomes more impervious to splitting at the edge or any part of the “protected” area.
The present invention includes a steel plate that wraps the doorjamb under the exterior brick molding and wraps the inside edge under the interior trim casing and extends above and below the door unit.
The invention profiles the doorjamb and wraps the doorjamb from exterior to interior while strengthening the jamb and any lock assembly. It eliminates the weakness in existing current doorjambs that are made of wood, which can easily split wholly or partially.
Some of the benefits include:
1. Flanges inside and out to make the doorjamb secure;
2. Profiles to match the doorjamb;
3. Provides reinforcement to stop deflection;
4. Opens latch areas to allow change service or additions without removal of the secure and safe plate; and,
5. Reverses to be installed in a left side or a right side hinging door.
This makes the doorjamb stronger in the applied area. The latch area strongly resists splitting from exterior efforts. The plate enhances strength while making it aesthetically pleasing. A gusset or hem stops the secure plate from bending or flexing at a critical point. The invention allows for changing regular latch plates or adding another lock assembly at any time after the plate is installed.
The plate includes “wrapping flanges” that hold the jamb secure and distribute any force applied to the door over a large area on the face edge of the jamb to disperse and weaken the force of a blow. A center reinforcement web resists flexing but in turn absorbs and negates some of the force. The wrapping flanges also stop the inside of the doorjamb from splitting away. The reinforcement web area also protects the latch bolts from easy access for breaching. The reinforcement web makes it extremely difficult to pry the door bolt back from its latch plate to open the door without turning a doorknob. The result is a far more secure door assembly.
The instant invention would be made from steel and could be pressed out from flat stock or bent in presses. The door plate areas could be punched out in another press. The screw holes would then be drilled or the entire unit could be cast in a mold and the prefinished unit plated with bright brass, antique brass, or nickel for the end finish.
The instant invention is envisioned to have added a plate for a deadbolt and could be made as part of the plate. This plate would work for left or right hinging doors with no alteration and if a deadbolt plate were part of this then you would have to have a reversed unit to fit opposite swing doors.
While this unit is configured for a four inch wall or door jamb it would need to stretched two inches in width to accommodate a six inch door jamb.
It is envisioned that the reinforcement web is a bent hem or a lip welded to a second lip representing a gusset.
Install the plate on the doorjamb leaving spaces open where an existing latch plates are located. Briefly hold the safety plate in place over the doorjamb and mark the top, bottom and center of the unit on the doorjamb. Cut the weather stripping that would be covered by the new plate. Remove the weather stripping that was cut and set aside. Gently pry the exterior and interior trim away from the doorjamb. Now slide the new plate into position and attach with four screws. Glue the weather strip back in place or use the self-sticking strip that came with the new plate. Adjust the moldings as needed.
As shown in
As shown in
It should be understood that the strengthening hem 1h strengthens the safety plate overall and prevents thieves from credit carding any door lock. Similar in concept, the first lip 10f and the second lip 10g together strengthen the safety plate and deter thieves from credit carding any door lock. Although it is envisioned to make the safety plate 1, 10 from steel, the safety plate could as well be made from any known material. While the fastening hole 1j is circular, they can be countersunk or counterbore to accommodate a respective fastener.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61826739 | May 2013 | US |
