GB2272935A - Door construction - Google Patents

Abstract

The door construction, which includes four extrusions 10 (e.g. of uPVC or aluminium) so interconnected as to form a sash, has an infill panel 11 mounted within the confines of the sash. The panel is clad by sheets of material 14 (e.g. plastics material) applied to its opposite planar surfaces one of which is to be the outside (weather) surface of the panel. A strip 13 of the same material is applied over one surface of each extrusion in order to become the outside (weather) surface 15 thereof and that strip is wide enough for part of it to be applied to part of the outside (weather) surface of the panel. Instead of four strips being applied separately, a one-piece member or "frame" may be used. The strips, or the alternative one-piece member, may be used with/without beads, and will maintain the panel in position and the squareness of the door. <IMAGE>

Description

DOOR CONSTRUCTION This invention relates to a door construction.

Doors, and in particular doors for private residences, include sashes made from extruded rigid material, by which is usually meant uPVC or aluminium profile. It is common practice for a door system which has been designed for the accommodation of a double-glazed unit to be utilised by replacing the double-glazed unit with an infill panel. The limitations of such a practice are : (a) The infill panel has to be the same thickness as the double-glazed unit it is replacing.

(b) The infill panel is beaded in and therefore has black gasket sightlines.

(c) Perceived and actual security for residential door applications are low.

(d) There is always the considerable if not insuperable problem of trying to match up the sash with the infill panel, albeit white/white or woodgrain/woodgrain. Coloured sashes and doors are quite impracticable.

(e) The door sash is light in weight but still has a tendency to drop because the infill panel only fills in a space rather than improves the rigidity of the sash.

It has been proposed in Patent Application No 90.20323.3 (publication No A) to try to use a panel whose thickness is the same or substantially the same as the depth of the space bounded by the frame or sash and to cover at least the outer (weather) surfaces of both the sash and the panel with a single sheet of plastics material. As an idea, this proposal was good but carrying it into effect has proved too difficult to do satisfactorily because, in the finished door, there is always a visible line (bump or depression) at the point or region where the surface to which the plastics material is stuck changes from the panel to the sash or vice versa.It couls be argued that, if one tried hard enough to eliminate this visible line and its underlying cause, the problem could be solved; however, when one is talking about factory production rates (rather than the one-off DIY scene) with the thickness tolerances of panels which are bought in from outside source(s), the problem is too great. The certainty is, however, that the purchaser of the door will not accept a door with an unexpected and unsightly bump or depression where there should be perfect flatness.

The principal object of the present invention is to try to overcome the problem which has been found in making the earlier product whilst retaining its obtainable advantages or possibly even improving on them at least to some degree.

According to a first aspect, the present invention consists in a door construction which includes a sash made from four interconnected extrusions of rigid material, a panel mounted within the confines of the sash, said panel comprising a core each of whose opposite planar surfaces is clad by a sheet of plastics or other material, strips being secured not only to surfaces of the sash in order to become the outside (weather) surfaces thereof by covering substantially the whole of said sash surfaces but also to part of that surface of the clad panel which is to be the outside (weather) surface of said clad panel, the appearance of the visible surfaces of the strips being identical to that of the visible surface of the clad panel.

In a door construction as described in the preceding paragraph, the respective portions of the strips which are secured to the respective outside (weather) surfaces of the sash and the clad panel may be secured by adhesive.

In a door construction as described in either of the two preceding paragraphs, the four strips, each of which is laid so as to form a right angle with each of its adjacent ones, preferably have mitred joints which are rendered weathertight in any suitable manner.

In a door construction as described in any of the three preceding paragraphs, the strips may be made as decorative profiles.

According to a second aspect, the present invention consists in a door construction which includes a sash made from four interconnected extrusions of rigid material, a panel mounted within the confines of the sash, said panel comprising a core each of whose opposite surfaces is clad by a sheet of plastics or other material, said opposite surfaces being planar, a one-piece member being secured not only to surfaces of the sash in order to become the outside (weather) surfaces thereof by covering substantially the whole of said sash surfaces but also to part of that surface of the clad panel which is to be the outside (weather) surface of said clad panel, the appearance of the visible surfaces of said one-piece member being identical to that of the visible surface of the clad panel.

Some exemplary embodiments of a door construction according to the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which : Figure 1 shows, in section, one of four extrusions of a rigid material which would be interconnected to form a sash, and a panel mounted in the sash by means of a conventional bead and a strip; Figure 2 shows, in section, one of four extrusions of a rigid material which would be interconnected to form a sah, and a panel mounted in said sash by means of a rebate and a strip; and Figures 3 and 4 are similar to one another and show, in relation to the same extrusions as are shown in Figures 1 and 2, respectively, other ways of making up doors, according to the invention, by means of rebates, beads and strips.

In the drawings, none of the glazing gaskets (which would be used in accordance with standard practice) has been shown, even though the extrusions exhibit the customary channels therefor; this omission has been made in order to simplify the drawings.

Referring to Figure 1, an extrusion 10 of rigid material (for example, of uPVC or aluminium) is shown with a panel 11 mounted thereon by the combination of a bead 12 holding one side of the panel 11 in a rebate and a strip 13 secured (for example, by an adhesive or two-sided adhesive tape) to the sash and to the surface of the plastics or other material 14 with which the panel 11 is clad. The standard glazing gasket (not shown) which would be concealed by the profiled shape of the strip 13 from the view of people looking at the outside of the door provides the weatherproofing.

Figure 2 shows an extrusion 20 of rigid material having a panel mounted thereon by being held in position in a rebate by a strip 22. In this case, unlike the Figure 1 construction, the strip 22 provides the weatherproofing, with the result that where the strips 22 are mitred or otherwise fitted against one another at the corners of the sash, the mitred or other joints of the strips must be sealed in some way (e.g. by welding). The panel, identified by the numeral 21, is (as before) clad on its opposite planar surfaces by sheets 23 of plastics or other material.

In Figure 3, one edge of a panel 30 is mounted on an extrusion 31 by a combination of a rebate and a bead 32, the presence of the bead being hidden by a strip 33 secured both to the sash and to the panel which is clad as described with reference to Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 4 is very similar to Figure 3, one edge of a panel 40 being mounted on an extrusion 41 by means of a rebate and a bead 42, a strip 43 secured to the sash and to the panel hiding the bead.

We have, however, discovered that the strips need not be separate from one another, need not be mitred or otherwise fitted against one another at the corners of the sash and need not be separately applied and secured to the sash and to the surfaces of the plastics or other material with which the surfaces of the core of the panel are clad.One the contrary, in order to carry into effect the invention according to the second aspect thereof, a sheet of a plastics material is vacuum-formed in such a menner that the marginal portions thereof have imparted thereto a profile and the central portion of said sheet remains flat; said central portion is thereafter excised in any suitable manner, whereby a one-piece "frame is left which is then applied and secured not only to the sash made from the interconnected extrusions but also to the surface of the plastics or other material with which the core is clad and which is to be the outside (weather) surface of the panel.By the creation and use of the one-piece member or "frame", the task of making the mitred joints is eliminated, and the appearance of the finished door is enhanced because there are no mitred joints at the corners, Examples of said profile which is imparted to said marginal portions are the profiled shapes which are illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 of the drawings.

It must be made clear that although, in describing Figures 1 to 4 of the drawings, it has been stated that the respective panels in the various Figures have been mounted on the respective extrusions, such wording was merely a shorthand way of saying that the panels are mounted within the confines of a sash made from four interconnected extrusions. From this it follows that the various strips extens along the outside (weather) surfaces of the sash.

Some of the advantages obtained are : (1) By using the same sheet material for the strips or one-piece member as is used for cladding the opposite planar surfaces of the panel, there will be a perfect match of whites, woodgrains or colours (red, blue, green, et cetera).

(2) As the panel is effectively bonded to the sash, the structure of the door has been made unitary and the door structure is unlikely to drop into the familiar quadrilateral shape with none of the angles being 900.

(3) Security is improved because (i) the door does not look like a door with an infill panel, (ii) the strips or one-piece member act(s) as an extra barrier to attempted forced entry, and (iii) the strips or one-piece member constitute(s) an extra means of attachment in Figures 1, 3 and 4 embodiments of the panel to the sash.

(4) The door has been given an aesthetically pleasing style by the shaping of the strips or one-piece member as profile(s), thereby getting away from the uninteresting flatness of some existing products.

(5) In the Figure 2 embodiment, it has been possible to use a much thicker panel in order to give greater strength and security against attempted forced entry.

(6) With the embodiments of Figures 2, 3 and 4, the panels are held against solid parts of the extrusions by beads or strips or one-piece member, thus giving greater strength against a person trying to kick or barge the panel in than when the panel is only "supported" by a bead.

(7) The profiled section of the strips or onepiece member can be vacuum-formed or extruded, and they do not need to be limited to plastics material or aluminium.

(8) The profiled section of the strips or onepiece member can be of any shape.

(9) The strips can be secured to the sash in any suitable way, including by welding, and they can be mitred or butt-jointed at the corners of the sashes.

(10) The one-piece member can be secured to the sash in any suitable way, including by welding.

(11) In the Figures 3 and 4 embodiments, edges of the strips 33, 43 have been shaped in order to provide what may be regarded as rolled beads 34, 44, respectively. The beads 34, 44 will not only be decorative but will also conceal the edge of the double-sided adhesive tapes used to bond the strips 33, 43 to the extrusions 31, 41, respectively. Such rolled-bead edges may be imparted also to the one-piece member.

(12) It has been stated above that each strip is secured to a surface of the sash in order to become the outside (weather) surface thereof by covering substantially the whole of said sash surface.

Figures 1 and 2 show embodiments in which the strips 13, 22 cover the expanses indicated by the reference numerals 15, 24 and by the associated brackets, respectively; this is coverage of the whole of the sash surface concerned. In Figures 3 and 4, however, there are areas 35, 45, respectively, which are not covered by the strips 33, 43 (this is coverage of substantially the whole of the sash surface concerned) but this will not matter aesthetically because said areas will be covered by the door frame (not shown) when the door is shut. Everything said in this paragraph in relation to the strips of the first aspect of the present invention applies, mutatis mutandis, to the one-piece member of the second aspect of the present invention.

If the strips are to be mitred at the cbrners of the sashes, it will be necessary to cut the mitres very carefully in order to avoid ragged edges which will spoil the whole appearance of the door. One way of guarding against the appearance of the door being spoilt would be to provide small mouldings for insertion between, or for placing over, the cut edges of the mitred strips, the mouldings being secured by adhesive and disguising any imperfections.

Moreover, kits could be sold to the door manufacturers, each kit comprising at least a panel and the requisite strips or one-piece member. Instead of the strips in the kit being loose and unmitred, they could be sold in the kit to the door manufacturer in made-up (mitred) form, namely, resembling a picture frame of the size required for the sash concerned.

The strips could be applied to the extrusions before the extrusions are made-up into sashes; thus, the door manufacturer could be sold not only the panels but also the extrusions to which the strips have already been applied, leaving the door manufacturer to make the sash for himself. This would obviate the necessity for the separate step of making mitred joins for the strips because the cutting of the extrusions in order to make mitred corners for the extrusions would simultaneously provide mitred corners for the attached strips.

Lastly, referring again to Figures 2, 3 and 4, the inner surface of the clad panel may be secured to the part of the respective extrusion which it touches; this may be acieved by double-sided adhesive tape or by silicone.

Claims (10)

1. A door construction which includes a sash made from four interconnected extrusions of rigid material, a panel mounted within the confines of the sash, said panel comprising a core each of whose opposite piaflar-surfaces is clad by a sheet of plastics or other material, strips being secured not only to surfaces of the sash in order to become the outside (weather) surfaces thereof by covering substantially the whole of said sash surfaces but alo to part of that surface of the clad panel which is to be the outside (weather) surface of said clad panel, the appearance of the visible surfaces of the strips being identical to that of the visible surface of the clad panel.

2. A door construction as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the respective portions of the strips which are secured to the respective outside (weather) surfaces of the sash and the clad panel are secured by adhesive.

3. A door construction as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the four strips, each of which is laid so as to form a right angle with each of its adjacent ones, have mitred joints which are rendered weathertight.

4. A door construction as claimed in any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the strips are made as decorative profiles.

5. A door construction which includes a sah made from four interconnected extrusions of rigid material, a panel mounted within the confines of the sash, said panel comprising a core each of whose opposite surfaces is clad by a sheet of plastics or other material, said opposite surfaces being planar, a one-piece member being secured not only to surfaces of the sash in order to become the outside (weather) surfaces thereof by covering substantially the whole of said sash surfaces but also to part of that surface of the clad panel which is to be the outside (weather) surface of said clad panel, the appearance of the visible surfaces of said one-piece member being identical to that of the visible surface of the clad panel.

6. A door construction as claimed in Claim 5, wherein said one-piece member resembles a "frame" and wherein said one-piece member is vacuum-formed in such a manner that a profile is imparted thereto.

7. A door construction which is constructed, arranged and adapted to operate substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in any of Figures 1 to 4 of the accompanying diagrammatic drawings.

8. A method of making a door construction according to the present invention, said method being substantially as hereinbefore described with or without reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings.

9. A door construction when made in accordance with the method claimed in Claim 8.

10. Any features of novelty, taken singly or in combination, of the embodiments of the invention hereinbefore described.