Abstract:
A hinged vapor wall for use in mobile living quarters having a main living area and a secondary area such as a garage. The vapor wall has a first and second section that overlap to form a barrier between the garage and the main living area. When the sections of the vapor wall are in their closed position, the main living area and the garage area are divided into separate airtight compartments. Typically, small vehicles such as motorcycles and ATVs are placed in the garage, and the fumes from their fuel may spread into the main living space in the absence of a barrier. A permanent barrier sacrifices space within the main living area. The hinged vapor wall of this invention is movable to an open position when small vehicles are not being stored in the garage, enabling the garage to be used as living space as well.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    Modern toy haulers provide many of the same amenities of a fixed home, but have the added benefit of being portable. In an effort to make a toy hauler feel as much like a traditional home as possible, features such as slide-out rooms and garages have been added. Slide-out rooms are used to maximize the available interior space when parked. However, a separate garage can subtract from overall living space if a fixed wall is placed between the garage and the main living area. 
         [0002]    A fixed wall garage has been necessary in prior art designs because of the fumes from fuel carried in vehicles within the garage. Vehicles or toys, which are usually motorcycles or ATVs, may contain several gallons of gasoline per vehicle. Since gasoline is extremely volatile, the vapors would easily migrate into living space unless a fixed wall is placed between the garage and living area. Having a fixed wall is objectionable to most customers because that would mean losing twelve feet of living space from the end of the toy hauler. Ideally, a garage wall would have a position that separates the living area from the garage while blocking all vapors and the wall would be movable to extend the living area into the garage when it is empty. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    The hinged vapor wall of this invention is for use in mobile living quarters having a main living area and a secondary area such as a garage. The vapor wall includes a first section having a first major surface that faces the main living area and a second major surface that is substantially parallel to the first major surface and faces the secondary area. A transverse surface extends between the first and second major surfaces to define an edge surface. The edge surface has an upper portion, a lower portion, a hinged portion, and an unhinged portion. A first hinge is located adjacent to the hinged portion of the edge surface of the first section to connect the first section to a wall of the mobile living quarters. The first hinge facilitates movement of the first section between an open and closed position. A first flange extends from one of the major surfaces and adjacent to the upper, lower, and unhinged portions of the edge surface. A first seal is adjacent to the first flange and a hinge seal is adjacent to the hinge. 
         [0004]    A second section has a first major surface facing the main living area and a second major surface substantially parallel to the first major surface and facing the secondary area. A transverse surface extends between the first and second major surfaces to define an edge surface. The edge surface has an upper portion, a lower portion, and a hinged portion. A second hinge is located adjacent to the hinged portion of the edge surface and connects the second section to a wall of the mobile living quarters. The second hinge facilitates movement of the second section between an open and closed position. A second and third flange extends from a corresponding major surface to that of the first section. The second flange is adjacent to the upper portion of the edge surface and the third flange is adjacent to the lower portion of the edge surface. Flange seals are adjacent to the second and third flanges. A hinge seal is adjacent to the hinge. The flange seals and hinge seals are compressed when the first and second sections are in their closed positions. 
         [0005]    In an aspect of the invention, when the sections are in their closed positions, the flange seals are compressed against the hinge seals. 
         [0006]    In another aspect of the invention, the hinges include mounting flaps that have mechanical fasteners extending through the flaps. One flap of each hinge is affixed to a wall of the mobile living quarters and another flap is affixed to a hinged portion of the edge surface of a corresponding section. The hinge seal is located between the mechanical fasteners and the pivot point of the hinge. 
         [0007]    In another aspect of the invention, the first flange overlaps the second section when the sections are in their closed position 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the hinged vapor wall as viewed from the main living area; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a sectional view taken about the line  2 - 2  in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a sectional view taken about the line  3 - 3  in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a sectional view taken about the line  4 - 4  in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is a sectional view taken about the line  5 - 5  in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the first and second sections of the vapor wall shown in  FIG. 1  in a position intermediate to their open and closed positions as viewed from inside the main living area; 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view similar to that of  FIG. 6  as viewed from inside the secondary area; 
           [0015]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the second section of the vapor wall as viewed from inside the main living area showing the relationship of the flange seal and the hinge seal when the second section is in its closed position; 
           [0016]      FIG. 9  is a perspective view as shown in  FIG. 8 , with the second section in its opened position; 
           [0017]      FIG. 10  is a view of the second section as viewed from inside the main living area with a portion of the trim removed; and 
           [0018]      FIG. 11  is a sectional view taken about the line  11 - 11  in  FIG. 10 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION 
       [0019]    The hinged vapor wall  10  of this invention is placed in a toy hauler, which is often a fifth wheel trailer, but may be another type of mobile recreational vehicle. The vehicle is a mobile living quarters that has a main living area  12  and a secondary area  14  that is typically a garage for storing toys such as ATVs or motorcycles. The interior of the mobile living quarters is defined by walls  13 , a floor  15 , and a ceiling  16 . The vapor wall  10  includes a first section  20  and a second section  22 . The first section  20  has a first major surface  23  that faces the main living area  12  and a second major surface  24  substantially parallel to the first major surface  23  and faces the secondary area  14 . A transverse surface  25  extends between the first and second major surfaces to define an edge surface that has an upper portion  26 , a lower portion  28 , a hinged portion  30 , and an unhinged portion  32 . A first hinge  34  is affixed to the first section  20  and a wall  13  of the toy hauler as shown in  FIG. 1 . Screws  36  driven through the hinge flaps  37  attach file hinge  34  to the hinged portion  30  and the wall  13  as shown in  FIG. 2 . In the configuration shown in  FIG. 1 , a short wall section  38  extends from the walls  13  and the hinge is attached to the wall section  38 . 
         [0020]    A first flange  29  extends from the second major surface  24  adjacent to the upper portion  26 , lower portion  28 , and the unhinged portion  32 . The first flange  29  extends around the periphery of the first section  20  with the exception of the hinged portion  30 . The first flange  29  is made of individual metal strips  40 ,  42 ,  43 . A top metal strip  40  extends adjacent to the upper portion  26  and a vertical metal strip  42  extends from the unhinged portion  32 .  FIG. 6  shows how the metal strips meet near an upper corner of the first section. A lower metal strip  43  extends from the first section  20  adjacent to its lower portion  28 . The lower metal strip butts up against the vertical metal strip  42  in the same way as the top metal strip  40 . A retractable latch  44  is affixed to the first section  20  near the upper portion  26  of the first section. Another latch  44  is also affixed to the first section  20  near its lower portion  28 , opposite the latch near the upper portion  26 .  FIGS. 6 and 7  show the latch near the upper portion  26 . Each latch  44  is designed to catch in a pocket located in the vehicle. 
         [0021]    A second section  22  that is very similar to the first section  20  has a first major surface  50  that faces the main living area  12  and a second major surface  52  that faces the secondary area  54 . The first major surface  50  and the second major surface  52  are substantially parallel. A transverse surface  54  extends between the first and second major surfaces  50 ,  52  to define an edge surface that has an upper portion  56 , a lower portion  58 , a hinged portion  60  and an unhinged portion  61 . A second hinge  62  is mounted adjacent to the hinged portion  60  with screws  36  in the same way that the first section  20  is connected to the first hinge  34 . The second section has a second flange  64  that is adjacent to the upper portion  56  and a third flange  66  that is located adjacent to the lower portion  28 . Each of the flanges  64 ,  66  is made of a single strip of metal. 
         [0022]    Seals are located on the first, second, third flanges  29 ,  64 ,  66 . In the case of the first flange  29 , the flange seal  70  is made of three separate seals  72 ,  74 ,  76  that are located on metal strips  40 ,  42 ,  43  respectively. Seal  78  is on the second flange  64 , and seal  80  is on the third flange  66 . A first hinge seal  84  is located on a flap  37  of the first hinge  34 , and a second hinge seal  86  is located on a flap of the second hinge  62 . When the hinge seals  84 ,  86  are in their uncompressed state, they are located between the screws  36  and the pivot axis  88  of the hinges  34 ,  62 , as shown in  FIG. 2 . All of the seals  72 ,  74 ,  76 ,  78 ,  80 ,  84 , and  86  have a D-shaped cross section when uncompressed and are resilient. 
         [0023]    Each of the sections  20 ,  22  of the vapor wall  10  are bordered on their top by a header  90 , on their bottom by a threshold  93 . Trim pieces  94  conceal the gaps along the hinged portions  30 ,  60  and header  90 .  FIGS. 8 and 9  show the relationships of these parts in detail on the upper left corner of the second section. The hinges  34 ,  62  facilitate movement of the sections  20 ,  22  between a closed position shown in  FIG. 8  and an open position shown in  FIG. 9 . When both of the sections  20 ,  22  are in their closed positions, the first flange  29  of the first section  20  overlaps the second section  22  along its unhinged portion  32 . The closed position of both sections  20 ,  22  is shown in  FIG. 3 . When the sections  20 ,  22  are in this position, the latch will hold them both in their closed position. 
         [0024]    When the sections  20 ,  22  are in their open positions, the hinge seals  34 ,  86  and flange seals  72 ,  74 ,  76 ,  78 , and  80  will have cross sections resembling those in  FIG. 9 . The metal strips  40 ,  43  of the first flange  29  and the flanges  64 ,  66  all have an extension  98  that extends beyond the hinged portion  30 ,  60  of their respective section  20 ,  22 . The seals  72 ,  76 ,  78 , and  80  on their respective flanges extend to the end of the end  100  of the extension  98 . The extension  98  is typically chosen to be a length that reaches to at least the pivot axis  88  of each respective hinge  34 ,  62 . The hinge flap  37 , affixed to its respective hinged portion  30 ,  60  of a section  20 ,  22 , is shorter than the hinge flap  37 ′, affixed to the wall section  38 . In  FIGS. 8 and 9 , the flap  37 ′ is sectioned away for illustrative purposes. The flaps  37 ′ extend up to the header  90  and down to the threshold  93 . The flaps  37 ′ provide a flat surface that supports the hinge seals  84 ,  86  continuously from the header  90  to the threshold  93 . The flaps  37  that are affixed to the hinged portions  30 ,  60  are the length of their respective sections  20 ,  22 . The sections  20 ,  22  are necessarily shorter than the distance from the header  90  to the threshold  93  to provide clearance. The clearance on the top of the second section  22  in the upper right corner as viewed from the main living area  12  is shown in  FIG. 10 . 
         [0025]    When each section  20 ,  22  is closed, the hinged portions  30 ,  60  will resemble the configuration shown in  FIG. 8 , which shows a hinge seal  86  and flange seal  78  in their compressed state. When the seals  86 ,  78  are compressed, there will be an overlap between the hinge seal  86  and flange seal  78 . This relationship is maintained in all of the corners of the sections adjacent to the hinged portions  30 ,  60 . This overlap provides an air tight seal when the sections  20 ,  22  are closed. Additionally, the hinge seals  84 ,  86  will seal the hinges  34 ,  62  along their entire length. The flange seals  78 ,  72  adjacent to the upper portions  56 ,  26  will seal the tops of the sections  20 ,  22 . The flange seals  76 ,  80  adjacent to the lower portions  28 ,  58  will seal the bottoms of the sections  20 ,  22 . Seal  74  seals the gap formed between the sections  20 ,  22  when they are closed as shown in  FIG. 3 . The close relationship of the seals  72 ,  74 ,  78  that is shown in  FIG. 6  provides an airtight seal where the flanges  64  and  29  meet when the seals  72 ,  74 , and  78  are compressed. The relationship shown at the header in  FIG. 6  also applies at the threshold  93 . Thus the entire perimeter of both sections  20 ,  22  have an airtight seal when the sections  20 ,  22  are closed. 
         [0026]    A user of a toy hauler will typically put ATV&#39;s or motorcycles in the garage  14  for storage during a trip. When vehicles are in the garage  14 , the hinged vapor wall  10  will have both sections in their closed position. During transit, the vehicles in the garage  14  may emit fumes from their fuel tanks. The fumes will be contained within the garage area  14  when the vapor wall  10  is closed. When the vehicles are removed from the garage  14 , that space may be converted to additional living space by unlatching the latches  44  and opening the sections against the walls  13  of the toy hauler. An additional feature that may be included in the vapor wall is a smaller door through which people may pass when the vapor wall  10  is closed. This smaller door must also have airtight seals to maintain the integrity of the vapor blocking properties of the vapor wall. 
         [0027]    The invention is not limited to the description above, but may be modified within the scope of the following claims.