Flexible or portable closure – partition – or panel – Plural strip – slat – or panel type – With mounting or supporting means
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-15
2001-12-11
Johnson, Blair M. (Department: 3634)
Flexible or portable closure, partition, or panel
Plural strip, slat, or panel type
With mounting or supporting means
C160S229100, C016S225000, C016S257000, C016S267000, C016S387000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06328091
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention pertains to an upward acting multipanel or sectional door with pinch resistant edge profiles between the door panels and wherein the panels are interconnected by hinge assemblies which may be snapped together to facilitate assembly of the door.
BACKGROUND
Multipanel or so-called sectional garage doors and the like have been developed with panel edge profiles between adjacent door panels which are adapted to minimize pinching a person's fingers between the panels when the door moves to a closed position. Although various configurations of door panels with pinch resistant edge profiles are known in the prior art, there has been a continuing need to provide an improved sectional door construction wherein a pinch resistant edge profile is provided between adjacent door panels or sections while satisfying other desiderata in the construction, assembly and operation of multipanel or sectional upward acting garage doors, in particular.
One improvement which has been sought in the development of sectional upward acting doors is the provision of door panels which may be fabricated economically while providing a suitable shape or profile of the upper and lower edges of the panels to minimize the chance of pinching a person's fingers between adjacent panels at the outer or inner side of the door during movement of the panels between door open and closed positions.
Another problem which has not been satisfactorily solved by prior art sectional door designs is the provision of a panel configuration, with or without a pinch resistant edge profile, which also provides for minimizing or eliminating hinge parts which project from the plane of the inner side of the door panel. Accordingly, there has been a need and desire to provide sectional doors wherein the door panels may be stored and shipped to an installation site as substantially flat panels without irregular thickness caused by hinge members or guide member support parts projecting from the plane of the panels.
Still further, there has been a need to provide sectional door assemblies wherein the door panels may be easily connected to each other during assembly of the door at its installation site. In this regard, it has also been deemed desirable to provide for hinge assemblies for interconnecting adjacent door panels wherein the hinge leaves may be easily connected to each other and wherein the hinge leaves may be preassembled to the respective panels, if desired, prior to shipment of the door to the installation site. Furthermore, it has been deemed desirable to provide panel guide member support brackets which permit substantially lateral assembly of the panels between the door guide tracks.
Other desiderata in the art of sectional upward acting doors have been provided by the present invention, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art upon reading the detailed description which follows in conjunction with the drawing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides an improved sectional upward acting door which includes door panels having cooperating edge profiles which minimize pinching action therebetween when moving between door open and closed positions.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a sectional upward acting door is provided with door sections or panels which are preferably constructed of rolled or extruded metal or plastic and have cooperating edge profiles wherein the panel edges coact in such a way as to minimize a pinching action therebetween and which edges have a configuration which facilitates interconnecting the door panels by improved hinge assemblies which, preferably, do not project inwardly beyond the inner plane of the door panel. The configuration of the door panels is also advantageous with respect to the configuration of and fabrication of multiple door types which include uninsulated panels as well as insulated panels of varying insulation thickness.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a sectional upward acting door is provided which includes improved hinge assemblies for interconnecting the adjacent door panels, which hinge assemblies are adapted to cooperate with the door panels to be disposed substantially within a channel or trough space formed between adjacent panels when the door is in a closed position to eliminate projection of the hinge assemblies from the inner side or plane of the door panels.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention hinge assemblies, particularly useful for interconnecting panels of a multipanel or sectional type door, are provided wherein opposed leaves of the hinge assemblies may be “snapped” or pushed together to facilitate ease of assembly of respective door panels to each other. In this way, the door hinge parts or leaves may be assembled to the respective panels prior to shipment to the installation site and the door panels may be interconnected onsite by merely “stacking” the door panels one on top of the other, during which process the hinge parts or leaves automatically interengage with each other to form hinge assemblies between adjacent panels.
Still further, the present invention provides an improved sectional or multipanel garage door and the like which includes hinge assemblies which may be easily snapped or pushed together and also includes improved door guide member support brackets which may also be quickly assembled to a door panel by a snap-in or push-in type motion to assemble the guide member support brackets to structural members of a door panel. In this way the door panels may be assembled substantially laterally with respect to the door guide tracks which receive the aforementioned guide members. Accordingly, an improved door assembly method is also provided which avoids a requirement to preassemble the guide member support brackets to the door panels, thus providing for easier packing and shipping. Moreover, the door panels do not require to be assembled by lifting the panels into positions required by prior art door panels with preassembled guide member support brackets and which must be connected to the guide tracks by inserting the door panels into the horizontal overhead run portion of the guide tracks. Accordingly, the door panels being fitted to a door opening may be assembled by stacking the panels vertically or inserting the panels through the horizontal sections of the guide tracks, if desired. A major advantage of the configuration of the improved sectional door is that the door panels no longer require that the hinge components be fastened to the panels after they have been put in place adjacent each other in the door opening or in the overhead horizontal run portion of the guidetracks.
Those skilled in the art will further appreciate the above-mentioned features and advantages of the present invention together with other important aspects thereof upon reading the detailed description which follows in connection with the drawings.
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Gardere Wynne & Sewell LLP
Johnson Blair M.
Overhead Door Corporation
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