Claims
- 1. A door seal for use with bi-parting doors comprising:
at least one magnet located proximate a leading edge of a first door panel having a substantially linear opening and closing direction of travel; and at least one magnet attracter located proximate a leading edge of a second door panel having an opening and closing direction of travel aligned with and inverse to the opening and closing direction of travel of the leading edge of the first door panel, wherein the leading edge of the first door panel forms one of either an acute or obtuse angle with the plane of the door panel and the leading edge of the second door panel forms one of either an acute or obtuse angle with the plane of the door panel, the two angles being supplementary, wherein the leading edge of the first door panel overlaps the leading edge of the second door panel in a closed position, and wherein the magnet of the first door panel is configured to magnetically engage the magnet attracter of the second door panel when the bi-parting doors are in a closed position.
- 2. A door seal as in claim 1 wherein the leading edges of the first and second door panels have a mating geometry permitting an abutting force sufficient to magnetically engage at least one magnet attracter with at least one magnet when the door panels close.
- 3. A door seal as in claim 2 wherein the geometry of the leading edges also provide some overlapping extent when the doors are in a closed position.
- 4. A door seal as in claim 1 wherein the first door panel leading edge has a triangular cross-section.
- 5. A door seal as in claim 1 wherein the second door panel leading edge has a cross-section substantially similar to a parallelogram.
- 6. A door seal as in claim 1 further comprising an extension on a leading edge of the first door panel, and an extension on a leading edge of the second door panel.
- 7. A door seal as in claim 6 wherein the extension on the leading edge of the first door panel has a triangular cross section and the extension on the leading edge of the second door panel has a cross-section substantially similar to a parallelogram.
- 9. A door seal as in claim 1 wherein the edge of the second door panel comprises:
at least one pocket; a strip of rigid material secured within the pocket; and at least one ferromagnetic plate attached to the rigid material.
- 10. A door seal as in claim 9 wherein the edge of the first door panel comprises:
at least one pocket; a strip of rigid material secured within the pocket; and at least one magnet attached to the rigid material.
- 11. A door seal for use with bi-parting doors comprising:
a first door panel having a leading edge with a substantially linear opening and closing direction of travel and a surface which recedes at an angle which is either acute or obtuse relative to the plane of the first door panel; and a second door panel having a leading edge with an opening and closing direction of travel aligned with and inverse to the opening and closing direction of travel of the first door panel leading edge, and a surface which projects at an angle which is either acute or obtuse relative to the plane of the second door panel, wherein the angle of the surface of the leading edge of the first door panel is supplementary to the angle of the surface of the leading edge of the second door panel, and wherein the leading edge of the first door panel overlaps the leading edge of the second door panel in the closed position.
- 12. A door panel as in claim 11 wherein the surface of the leading edge of the first door panel is supported by a first generally solid material.
- 13. A door panel as in claim 12 wherein the surface of the leading edge of the second door panel is supported by a second generally solid material.
- 14. A door panel as in claim 12 wherein the first generally solid material has a triangular cross-section.
- 15. A door panel as in claim 13 wherein the second generally solid material has a cross-section substantially similar to a parallelogram.
- 16. A door panel as in claim 11 wherein the leading edge of the second door panel includes at least one magnet, and the leading edge of the first door panel comprises at least one magnet attracting plate, and wherein the magnet and magnet attracting plate are aligned in pairs.
- 17. A door panel as in claim 15 wherein the leading edge of the first door panel includes at least one magnet, and the leading edge of the second door panel includes at least one magnet attracting plate, and wherein the magnet and magnet attracting plate are aligned in pairs.
- 18. A door panel as in claim 15 wherein the leading edge of the second door panel includes at least one magnet, and the leading edge of the first door panel includes at least one magnet attracting plate, and wherein the magnet and magnet attracting plate are aligned in pairs.
- 20. A door panel as in claim 1 wherein the at least one magnet in each door panel is a multi-pole magnet.
- 21. A door panel as in claim 2 wherein the at least one magnet in each door panel is a multi-pole magnet.
- 22. A door panel as in claim 3 wherein the at least one magnet in each door panel is a multi-pole magnet.
- 23. A door panel as in claim 17 wherein the at least one magnet in each door panel is a multi-pole magnet.
- 25. A door panel as in claim 1 wherein the first door panel has a plurality of magnets spaced vertically proximate the leading edge of the first door panel.
- 26. A door panel as in claim 11 wherein the first door panel has a plurality of magnets spaced vertically proximate the leading edge of the first door panel.
- 27. A door panel as in claim 16 wherein the first door panel has a plurality of magnets spaced vertically proximate the leading edge of the first door panel.
- 28. A door panel as in claim 17 wherein the first door panel has a plurality of magnets spaced vertically proximate the leading edge of the first door panel.
- 29. A door panel as in claim 18 wherein the first door panel has a plurality of magnets spaced vertically proximate the leading edge of the first door panel.
- 30. A door panel as in claim 20 wherein the first door panel has a plurality of magnets spaced vertically proximate the leading edge of the first door panel.
- 31. A door panel as in claim 21 wherein the first door panel has a plurality of magnets spaced vertically proximate the leading edge of the first door panel.
- 32. A door panel as in claim 22 wherein the first door panel has a plurality of magnets spaced vertically proximate the leading edge of the first door panel.
- 34. A door panel as in claim 24 wherein the first door panel has a plurality of magnets spaced vertically proximate the leading edge of the first door panel.
Related Applications
[0001] This is a continuation application of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/333,732, filed Jun. 15, 1999 which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/090,487, filed Jun. 24, 1998.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60090487 |
Jun 1998 |
US |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09333732 |
Jun 1999 |
US |
Child |
10039381 |
Jan 2002 |
US |