Abstract:
A resilient seal used in an RV having a slide out room defining an interior space. The RV having a first sidewall having an exterior side, the first sidewall defining an opening through which the slide out room is shifted between extended and retracted positions. The slide out room including a second sidewall spaced from the first sidewall and an end wall defining the interior space. The end wall has a peripheral flange that overlaps the first sidewall when the slide out room is in its closed position. The seal of the present invention includes a single piece integrally connected corner piece having substantially perpendicular legs meeting at a fused mitered watertight corner. The corner piece prevents entry of water where seals supporting the corner piece meet particularly when the slide out room is retracted.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation-in-part claiming the benefit of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/963,851, filed Dec. 9, 2010, now abandoned the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Slide out rooms are a popular solution in the recreational vehicle (RV) industry to add interior space and due to their nature are difficult to seal. A major difficulty in sealing RV slide out rooms arises in the corners. Wiper seals and bulb seals have been used in the past with success to nearly completely seal slide out rooms when retracted and extended. A weakness of present systems is that they often lack ability to seal the corners. This is because traditional extruded seals are cut to length squarely, but the corners are not mitered. This provides a potential for leakage in the corners. Having mitered corners where the seals meet outside of the opening through which the slide out room moves could provide a method for sealing that would prevent water from entering at the corners where seals meet. It is desirable to have a sealing method that provides an outer seal to span an area where square cut seals meet to prevent leakage at corners of the slide out opening. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A resilient seal used in combination with a RV having a slide out room defining an interior space. The RV has a first sidewall having an exterior side, the first sidewall defines an opening through which the slide out room is shifted between open and closed positions relative to the first sidewall. The slide out room includes a second sidewall spaced from the first sidewall and an end wall defining the interior space. The end wall has a peripheral flange that overlaps the first sidewall when the slide out room is in its closed position. Edge seals that are installed along edges of the opening work with a corner piece. The edge seals have either a tongue or groove. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  a perspective view of an RV on which the seal is used with its slide out room extended; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the RV in  FIG. 1  with the slide out room retracted; 
         FIG. 3  is a view of the seal as taken from the line  3 - 3  in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the seal shown in  FIG. 3  shown in conjunction with a straight segment of bulb seal; 
         FIG. 4A  is an exploded perspective view of the seal shown in  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 4B  is a rear view of the corner piece shown in  FIG. 4A ; 
         FIG. 5  is a sectional view of the seal shown taken about the line  5 - 5  in  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a sectional view of the seal with the slide out room in a retracted position and taken about the line  6 - 6  in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a leg of the corner piece having outwardly facing tabs; and 
         FIG. 8  is a sectional view of a leg of the corner piece having inwardly facing tabs; 
         FIG. 9  is a sectional view of the RV showing the slide out room in its retracted position; and 
         FIG. 10  is a sectional view of the RV showing the slide out room in its extended position. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION 
     The seal  2  of this invention is particularly well adapted to be used on a recreational vehicle (RV)  6  having a slide out room  11 . The example of an RV  6  shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  is a motor home, but could also be a towable trailer. The RV  6  rides on wheels  8 . The RV  6  has a front wall  13  and a back wall  15 , opposite sidewalls  18  and roof  16  that cooperate to define a main living area generally indicated by the numeral  17 . At least one of the sidewalls  18  has an opening  20  through which a slide out room  11  may be shifted from retracted position shown in  FIG. 2  to an extended position shown in  FIG. 1 . Slide out rooms  11  are well known in the art of RVs  6  for adding interior space to the RV  6 . The slide out room  11  has a ceiling wall  22  and second sidewalls  24  that join an end wall  26 . The ceiling wall  22 , second sidewalls  24 , and end wall  26  cooperate to define an auxiliary living area generally indicated at  29 . The end wall  26  is wider than the distance between the second side walls  24  of the slide out room  11  and the end wall  26  extends above and below the slide out room  11 . As such, the end wall  26  has an outer peripheral flange  30  extending around the perimeter of the slide out room  11 . The flange  30  overlaps the first sidewall  18  when the slide out room  11  is in its retracted position.  FIGS. 6 and 9  show a sectional view that illustrates the overlapping relationship of the peripheral flange  30  with the first sidewall  18 . An inner peripheral flange  31  extends from sidewalls  24  and ceiling wall  22  in an overlapping relationship with sidewall  18  when the slide out room  11  is retracted. This overlapping relationship is shown in  FIG. 9 . 
     As known to those skilled in the art, the slide out room  11  is shiftable from the retracted position shown in  FIG. 2  to the extended position shown in  FIG. 1  to expand the living area within the RV  6  when the room is extended. A top sectional view of the slide out room  11  in its retracted position is shown in  FIG. 9  and a top sectional view of the slide out room  11  in its extended position is shown in  FIG. 10 . 
     The seal  2  is located along the periphery of the opening  20  to prevent dirt, water, and other materials from passing from the exterior to the interior of the RV  6 . This is of particular importance when the room  11  is in its retracted position because the seal  2  must be able to stand the elements when the RV is being driven at highway speeds. The opening in the sidewall  18  has outer edges  23  on the outer side of the sidewall  18  and inner edges  25  on the inner side of the sidewall  18 . The outer and inner edges  23 ,  25  define the perimeter of the rectangular opening  20 . Located between the edges  23 ,  25  is a transverse surface  19  that spans between the edges  23 ,  25  and is of a width equal to the thickness of the sidewall  18 . The transverse surfaces  19  meet to form corners  27 . 
     The seal  2  includes multiple pieces that work together to seal a corner  27  of the opening  20 . The seal  2  has edge seals  35  for spanning the transverse surface  19  of the opening  20 . Each edge seal  35  has a mounting flange  34  that is a flange adapted for being on the outside of the opening  20 . The edge seals  35  also have an inner flange  38  that is adapted for being on the interior side of the opening  20 . A bridge  36  connects the mounting flange  34  to the inner flange  38 . The bridge  36  is adapted to span the transverse surfaces  19 . This may be a fixed distance such as that of the bridge  36  shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , or can be of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,614,767 in which the bridge  36  is adjustable. A wiper seal  40  extends from the bridge  36  of each edge seal  35  toward one of the second sidewalls  24  of the slide out room  11 , or toward the ceiling wall  22 . The wiper seal  40  is a resilient material typically having a lower durometer than the mounting flange  34 . The wiper seal  40  is typically integrally molded with the mounting flange  34 , bridge  36 , and inner flange  38  by a coextrusion process. The edge seals  35  are made of a sufficiently resilient material such as thermoplastic elastomer. The wiper seal  40  has a general planar section and is cantilevered from the bridge  36  so that a distal end that is maintained in resilient contact with the second sidewall  24  and is flexed against the second sidewall  24  or ceiling wall  22  to maintain an effective seal at all times during the extension or retraction of the slide out room  11 . As can be seen in  FIG. 4 , the edge seals  35  differ from each other slightly. A horizontal edge seal  35 ′ is located along the upper most edges  23 ,  25  of the opening  20  and has a single wiper seal  40  extending from its bridge  36 . A vertical edge seal  35 ″ has two wiper seals  40  extending from its bridge  36 . When the horizontal edge seal  35 ′ and vertical edge seal  35 ″ are installed as shown in  FIG. 4 , the ends are cut squarely as shown in  FIG. 4A . 
     The edge seals  35 ′ and  35 ″ are adapted for being installed onto the opening  20  by first placing either edge seal  35 ′,  35 ″ so that it straddles one of the transverse surfaces  19 . For example, the vertical edge seal  35 ″ is placed along a vertical transverse surface  19  so that the mounting flange  34  is on the outside of the sidewall  18  adjacent to the outer edge  23  and the inner flange  38  is adjacent to the inner edge  25 . Next, the horizontal edge seal  35 ′ is placed as shown in  FIG. 4  so that it also straddles the horizontal transverse surface  19 . The wiper seal  40  of the horizontal seal  35 ′ is placed so that it is between the wiper seals  40  of the vertical edge seal  35 ″. The mounting portions  34  and inner flanges  38  of the edge seals  35 ′,  35 ″ are held in place with a strip of adhesive tape  42  having adhesive on both sides that holds the mounting portions  34  and flanges  38  in place with respect to their corresponding outer and inner edges  23 ,  25 . If additional securing of the mounting flange  34  is needed a mechanical fastener such as a screw  43  may be driven through the mounting flange  34  as shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 . 
     The edge seals  35  have L-shaped tabs  56  that extend away from the mounting flange  34  opposite the sidewall  18  of the RV  6  that the edge seals  35  straddle. The tabs  56  on the edge seals  35  point inwardly toward each other to form a groove  60  as shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 . The tabs  56  on the mounting flange  34  of the edge seal  35  may also point outwardly away from each other to form a tongue  62  as shown in  FIG. 8 . Typically the inwardly pointing tabs  56  shown in  FIGS. 5 ,  6  and  4 A are used for ease of installation. 
     In addition to the edge seals  35 , the seal  2  further includes a corner piece  44  having legs  46  that are continuously joined to form a corner. Each leg  46  has a constant cross sectional shape along its entire length. The legs  46  are straight segments of bulb seal  49  with each having a mounting portion  47  and a bulb portion  48 . The bulb portion  48  of each leg  46  on the corner piece  44  is hollow throughout its length and is integrally attached to the mounting portion  47 . The legs  46  are formed from a coextrusion process that uses a lower durometer material for the bulb portion  48 . Each bulb seal leg  46  is mitered at a forty-five degree angle and fused to an adjacent leg  46  to form a ninety degree corner  50 . The bulb portions  48  and the mounting portions  47  of both joined legs  46  are fused continuously so as to be impervious throughout the entire joined corner  50 . The bulb portions  48  where they meet at the joined corner  50  are hollow through the corner. This is done so that the bulb portion  48  is still flexible and will deform as the rest of the hollow bulb portion  48  that is not immediately adjacent the corner  50 . The mounting portion  47  of the legs  46  each have L-shaped tabs  52  extending along the length the leg  46 . As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 7 , the tabs  52  point outwardly away from each other to form a tongue  53 . The tongue  53  of the corner piece  44  can be seen in exploded view  FIG. 4A . Another embodiment of the corner piece  44  is shown in the sectional view of  FIG. 8 . In this embodiment, the tabs  52  point inwardly toward each other to form a groove  54 . The legs  46  of the corner piece  44  being formed so the tabs  52  form a groove  54  as shown in  FIG. 8 , or the legs  46  being formed so the tabs  52  form a tongue  53  as shown in  FIG. 7  function in substantially similar manner. The function of either embodiment of the corner piece  44  is to provide a tongue and groove connection between the corner piece  44  and mounting flange  34 , which piece carries the tongue or groove does alter the ability of the corner piece to be secured to the edge seals  35 ′,  35 ″.  FIG. 8  shows the tongue  62  being on the mounting flange  34  of the edge seal  35 , and  FIG. 5  shows the tongue  53  being on the mounting portion  47  of a leg  46  of a corner piece  44 . 
     To install the seal  2  onto an RV  6  about the opening  20 , adhesive tape  42  is applied adjacent to edges  23 ,  25  of the opening  20 . It is also contemplated that the edge seals  35 ′,  35 ″ could include adhesive tape applied to the mounting flange  34  and inner flanges  38  of the seals  35 ′,  35 ″. One of the edge seals  35 ′ or  35 ″ is first placed so that it spans a corresponding transverse surface  19 , and the bridge of the edge seal  35 ′,  35 ″ rests on its corresponding transverse surface  19 . This aligns the edge seal  35  being installed so that the wiper seals  40  contained thereon are extending into the opening  20  a uniform distance from the transverse surface. This ensures uniform contact with a wall  22 ,  24  of the slide out room  11 . Both of the edge seals  35 ′,  35 ″ are cut at the ends as shown in  FIG. 4A . The edge seals  35 ′,  35 ″ having a groove  60  are shown in  FIG. 4A . In this case, the horizontal edge seal  35 ′ has a lower tab  56 ′ partially cut away adjacent to its end. The outer tab  56 ″ of the vertical edge seal  35 ″ is partially notched to allow an upper tab  56 ′ on the horizontal edge seal  35 ′ to overlap with the removed portion of the outer tab  56 ″. The edge seals  35 ′,  35 ″ are installed in a configuration so that the wiper seal  40  on the horizontal edge seal  35 ′ is between the two wiper seals  40  of the vertical edge seal  35 ″. This is to maximize sealing of the wiper seals  40  against the slide out room  11 . The overlapping nature can be seen in  FIG. 4 . With the edge seals  35 ′,  35 ″ in place, the corner pieces  44  are placed over the installed edge seals  35 ′,  35 ″ adjacent to the corner  27  of the opening and over the mounting flanges  34  of the two adjacent edge seals  35 ′,  35 ″. With the corner piece  44  over the mounting flanges  34  the tongue  62 ,  53  on either the edge seal  35  or corner piece  44  is tucked or pressed into the groove of the other mating part.  FIG. 7  shows the tongue  53  of the corner piece being tucked into the groove  60  of an edge seal  35 . An installation knife  84  with a rounded edge may be use to tuck the tongue  53  into the groove  60  as shown in  FIG. 7 . The installation knife  84  is typically a thin elongate tool with a rounded edge so that it will not cut the seal during the installation process. The tongue  53  is designed to be slightly wider than the groove  60  to provide an interference fit to minimize undesired sliding. The tongue  53  is also designed using two L-shaped tabs  52  as opposed to a solid tongue because doing so allows greater resiliency to bias the tabs  52  against the tabs  56  of the groove  60  and this greater resilience can be used to accommodate tolerances in the mating parts. The geometry of the corner piece having substantially perpendicular legs  46  prevents substantial movement of the corner piece from its installed location. The process of tucking the tongue  53  as describe above may be done oppositely if the tongue is on the mounting flange  34  of the edge seals  35 . This configuration is shown in  FIG. 8 . In this case, the tongue  62  is tucked pressed into the groove  54  of the corner piece  44 . With the corner piece installed straight bulb seals  49  are fitted into each corner piece with a mating connector tube  70 . The connector tube  70  is a deformable hollow tube that joins adjacent bulb seal  49  to a leg  46  of a corner piece  44 , or can be used to join multiple sections of bulb seal  49 . The straight bulb seals  49  have the same cross sectional shape as the corner pieces  44  to be compatible with the mounting flanges of the edge seals  35 . If the corner pieces  44  have a groove  60  then the corner pieces  44  and straight bulb seals  49  must all have tongues  53  because the edge seals  35  have uniform cross sectional shapes along their entire length. With the tongue and groove connection between the corner piece  44  and mounting flanges  34  of adjacent edge seals  35 ′,  35 ″ water is prevented from dripping through an open corner due to the one piece design of the corner piece  44 . This is particularly true when the slide out room  11  is in its retracted position shown in  FIG. 2  because the bulb portion  48  will be deformed between the sidewall  18  of the RV and the outer peripheral flange  30 . The tongue and groove connection between the corner piece  44  and mounting flange  34  create a circuitous path through which water must travel that prevents water incursion. 
     The invention is not limited to the details given above, but may be modified within the scope of the following claims.