Patent Application
20230003077
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The disclosure relates to guard devices and more particularly pertains to a new guard device for inhibiting an animal from damaging weather stripping on a door. The device includes a resilient member that is mounted to a door jamb is positioned adjacent to weather stripping on the door jamb. In this way an animal does not damage the weather stripping when the animal scratches the door jamb or door to be let in.
The prior art relates to guard devices including a ridged scratch plate that is mountable to a door to produce an audible sound when an animal scratches the ridged scratch plate to be let in. The prior art discloses a panel that can be suspended from a door knob to protect a finish of a door from being scratched by an animal. The prior art discloses an angled member that is positionable around a corner of a pair of walls for protecting the corner from being scratched by an animal. The prior art discloses a member that is wrapped with rope for facilitating a feline to scratch the rope.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a member that is positioned against a door jamb having the member being positioned adjacent to weather stripping on the door jamb. The member is comprised of a scratch resistant material to inhibit an animal from being able to scratch the weather stripping beneath the member. The member is comprised of an ultraviolet radiation resistant material to resist being degraded by sunlight. The member is comprised of a thermally expansive material to withstand extreme temperatures. A plurality of fasteners is each extendable through the member to engage the door jamb to retain the member on the door jamb.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
The member 12 has a first surface 20, a second surface 22 and a perimeter surface 24 extending between the first surface 20 and the second surface 22, and the perimeter surface 24 has a lower side 26, an upper side 28, a first lateral side 30 and a second lateral side 32. The member 12 is elongated between the upper side 28 and the lower side 26 to a length of at least 24.0 inches. The first surface 20 is positionable against the door jamb 14 having the lower side 26 being spaced from a lower portion 34 of the door jamb 14 to inhibit moisture from wicking upwardly along the member 12. Furthermore, the first lateral side 30 is spaced from a door 36 that is hingedly disposed in the door jamb 14 to facilitate the door 36 to be closed unimpeded against the weather stripping 16. The door jamb 14 may be a door jamb for an exterior door in a building and the door 36 in the door jamb 14 may be an exterior door.
The member 12 has a plurality of apertures 38 each extending through the first surface 20 and the second surface 22. The apertures 38 are spaced apart from each other and are distributed between the upper side 28 and the lower side 26, and each of the apertures 38 is positioned closer to the second lateral side 32 than the first lateral side 30. Each of the apertures 38 has a bounding surface 40 and the bounding surface 40 of each of the apertures 38 has a first portion 42 extending from the first surface 20 toward the second surface 22. The bounding surface 40 of each of the apertures 38 has a second portion 44 angling outwardly between the first portion 42 and the second surface 22 to define a countersink in each of the apertures 38.
A plurality of fasteners 46 is each extendable through the member 12 to engage the door jamb 14 to retain the member 12 on the door jamb 14. Each of the fasteners 46 has a head 48 and the head 48 has a bottom surface 50 which is sloped. Each of the fasteners 46 is extendable through a respective one of the apertures 38 having the bottom surface 50 of the head 48 abutting the second portion 44 of the bounding surface 40 of the respective aperture. In this way the head 48 is recessed with respect to the second surface 22 of the member 12. Additionally, each of the fasteners 46 may comprise a screw, a nail or other type of penetrating fastener.
In an alternative embodiment 52 as is most clearly shown in
In use, the member 12 is mounted to the door jamb 14 such that the weather stripping 16 is positioned between the member 12 and the door 36. In this way an animal 18, such as a domesticated dog, is not able to damage the weather stripping 16 when the animal 18 scratches on the member 12 to notify a pet owner that the animal 18 wishes to enter the door 36. Thus, the door 36 can continue to function normally over extended periods of time without being damaged by the animal 18 scratching against the member 12.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
