Corner seal

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.

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.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

The seal2of this invention is particularly well adapted to be used on a recreational vehicle (RV)6having a slide out room11. The example of an RV6shown inFIGS. 1 and 2is a motor home, but could also be a towable trailer. The RV6rides on wheels8. The RV6has a front wall13and a back wall15, opposite sidewalls18and roof16that cooperate to define a main living area generally indicated by the numeral17. At least one of the sidewalls18has an opening20through which a slide out room11may be shifted from retracted position shown inFIG. 2to an extended position shown inFIG. 1. Slide out rooms11are well known in the art of RVs6for adding interior space to the RV6. The slide out room11has a ceiling wall22and second sidewalls24that join an end wall26. The ceiling wall22, second sidewalls24, and end wall26cooperate to define an auxiliary living area generally indicated at29. The end wall26is wider than the distance between the second side walls24of the slide out room11and the end wall26extends above and below the slide out room11. As such, the end wall26has an outer peripheral flange30extending around the perimeter of the slide out room11. The flange30overlaps the first sidewall18when the slide out room11is in its retracted position.FIGS. 6 and 9show a sectional view that illustrates the overlapping relationship of the peripheral flange30with the first sidewall18. An inner peripheral flange31extends from sidewalls24and ceiling wall22in an overlapping relationship with sidewall18when the slide out room11is retracted. This overlapping relationship is shown inFIG. 9.

As known to those skilled in the art, the slide out room11is shiftable from the retracted position shown inFIG. 2to the extended position shown inFIG. 1to expand the living area within the RV6when the room is extended. A top sectional view of the slide out room11in its retracted position is shown inFIG. 9and a top sectional view of the slide out room11in its extended position is shown inFIG. 10.

The seal2is located along the periphery of the opening20to prevent dirt, water, and other materials from passing from the exterior to the interior of the RV6. This is of particular importance when the room11is in its retracted position because the seal2must be able to stand the elements when the RV is being driven at highway speeds. The opening in the sidewall18has outer edges23on the outer side of the sidewall18and inner edges25on the inner side of the sidewall18. The outer and inner edges23,25define the perimeter of the rectangular opening20. Located between the edges23,25is a transverse surface19that spans between the edges23,25and is of a width equal to the thickness of the sidewall18. The transverse surfaces19meet to form corners27.

The seal2includes multiple pieces that work together to seal a corner27of the opening20. The seal2has edge seals35for spanning the transverse surface19of the opening20. Each edge seal35has a mounting flange34that is a flange adapted for being on the outside of the opening20. The edge seals35also have an inner flange38that is adapted for being on the interior side of the opening20. A bridge36connects the mounting flange34to the inner flange38. The bridge36is adapted to span the transverse surfaces19. This may be a fixed distance such as that of the bridge36shown inFIGS. 5 and 6, or can be of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,614,767 in which the bridge36is adjustable. A wiper seal40extends from the bridge36of each edge seal35toward one of the second sidewalls24of the slide out room11, or toward the ceiling wall22. The wiper seal40is a resilient material typically having a lower durometer than the mounting flange34. The wiper seal40is typically integrally molded with the mounting flange34, bridge36, and inner flange38by a coextrusion process. The edge seals35are made of a sufficiently resilient material such as thermoplastic elastomer. The wiper seal40has a general planar section and is cantilevered from the bridge36so that a distal end that is maintained in resilient contact with the second sidewall24and is flexed against the second sidewall24or ceiling wall22to maintain an effective seal at all times during the extension or retraction of the slide out room11. As can be seen inFIG. 4, the edge seals35differ from each other slightly. A horizontal edge seal35′ is located along the upper most edges23,25of the opening20and has a single wiper seal40extending from its bridge36. A vertical edge seal35″ has two wiper seals40extending from its bridge36. When the horizontal edge seal35′ and vertical edge seal35″ are installed as shown inFIG. 4, the ends are cut squarely as shown inFIG. 4A.

The edge seals35′ and35″ are adapted for being installed onto the opening20by first placing either edge seal35′,35″ so that it straddles one of the transverse surfaces19. For example, the vertical edge seal35″ is placed along a vertical transverse surface19so that the mounting flange34is on the outside of the sidewall18adjacent to the outer edge23and the inner flange38is adjacent to the inner edge25. Next, the horizontal edge seal35′ is placed as shown inFIG. 4so that it also straddles the horizontal transverse surface19. The wiper seal40of the horizontal seal35′ is placed so that it is between the wiper seals40of the vertical edge seal35″. The mounting portions34and inner flanges38of the edge seals35′,35″ are held in place with a strip of adhesive tape42having adhesive on both sides that holds the mounting portions34and flanges38in place with respect to their corresponding outer and inner edges23,25. If additional securing of the mounting flange34is needed a mechanical fastener such as a screw43may be driven through the mounting flange34as shown inFIGS. 5 and 6.

The edge seals35have L-shaped tabs56that extend away from the mounting flange34opposite the sidewall18of the RV6that the edge seals35straddle. The tabs56on the edge seals35point inwardly toward each other to form a groove60as shown inFIGS. 5 and 6. The tabs56on the mounting flange34of the edge seal35may also point outwardly away from each other to form a tongue62as shown inFIG. 8. Typically the inwardly pointing tabs56shown inFIGS. 5,6and4A are used for ease of installation.

In addition to the edge seals35, the seal2further includes a corner piece44having legs46that are continuously joined to form a corner. Each leg46has a constant cross sectional shape along its entire length. The legs46are straight segments of bulb seal49with each having a mounting portion47and a bulb portion48. The bulb portion48of each leg46on the corner piece44is hollow throughout its length and is integrally attached to the mounting portion47. The legs46are formed from a coextrusion process that uses a lower durometer material for the bulb portion48. Each bulb seal leg46is mitered at a forty-five degree angle and fused to an adjacent leg46to form a ninety degree corner50. The bulb portions48and the mounting portions47of both joined legs46are fused continuously so as to be impervious throughout the entire joined corner50. The bulb portions48where they meet at the joined corner50are hollow through the corner. This is done so that the bulb portion48is still flexible and will deform as the rest of the hollow bulb portion48that is not immediately adjacent the corner50. The mounting portion47of the legs46each have L-shaped tabs52extending along the length the leg46. As shown inFIGS. 5 and 7, the tabs52point outwardly away from each other to form a tongue53. The tongue53of the corner piece44can be seen in exploded viewFIG. 4A. Another embodiment of the corner piece44is shown in the sectional view ofFIG. 8. In this embodiment, the tabs52point inwardly toward each other to form a groove54. The legs46of the corner piece44being formed so the tabs52form a groove54as shown inFIG. 8, or the legs46being formed so the tabs52form a tongue53as shown inFIG. 7function in substantially similar manner. The function of either embodiment of the corner piece44is to provide a tongue and groove connection between the corner piece44and mounting flange34, which piece carries the tongue or groove does alter the ability of the corner piece to be secured to the edge seals35′,35″.FIG. 8shows the tongue62being on the mounting flange34of the edge seal35, andFIG. 5shows the tongue53being on the mounting portion47of a leg46of a corner piece44.

To install the seal2onto an RV6about the opening20, adhesive tape42is applied adjacent to edges23,25of the opening20. It is also contemplated that the edge seals35′,35″ could include adhesive tape applied to the mounting flange34and inner flanges38of the seals35′,35″. One of the edge seals35′ or35″ is first placed so that it spans a corresponding transverse surface19, and the bridge of the edge seal35′,35″ rests on its corresponding transverse surface19. This aligns the edge seal35being installed so that the wiper seals40contained thereon are extending into the opening20a uniform distance from the transverse surface. This ensures uniform contact with a wall22,24of the slide out room11. Both of the edge seals35′,35″ are cut at the ends as shown inFIG. 4A. The edge seals35′,35″ having a groove60are shown inFIG. 4A. In this case, the horizontal edge seal35′ has a lower tab56′ partially cut away adjacent to its end. The outer tab56″ of the vertical edge seal35″ is partially notched to allow an upper tab56′ on the horizontal edge seal35′ to overlap with the removed portion of the outer tab56″. The edge seals35′,35″ are installed in a configuration so that the wiper seal40on the horizontal edge seal35′ is between the two wiper seals40of the vertical edge seal35″. This is to maximize sealing of the wiper seals40against the slide out room11. The overlapping nature can be seen inFIG. 4. With the edge seals35′,35″ in place, the corner pieces44are placed over the installed edge seals35′,35″ adjacent to the corner27of the opening and over the mounting flanges34of the two adjacent edge seals35′,35″. With the corner piece44over the mounting flanges34the tongue62,53on either the edge seal35or corner piece44is tucked or pressed into the groove of the other mating part.FIG. 7shows the tongue53of the corner piece being tucked into the groove60of an edge seal35. An installation knife84with a rounded edge may be use to tuck the tongue53into the groove60as shown inFIG. 7. The installation knife84is typically a thin elongate tool with a rounded edge so that it will not cut the seal during the installation process. The tongue53is designed to be slightly wider than the groove60to provide an interference fit to minimize undesired sliding. The tongue53is also designed using two L-shaped tabs52as opposed to a solid tongue because doing so allows greater resiliency to bias the tabs52against the tabs56of the groove60and this greater resilience can be used to accommodate tolerances in the mating parts. The geometry of the corner piece having substantially perpendicular legs46prevents substantial movement of the corner piece from its installed location. The process of tucking the tongue53as describe above may be done oppositely if the tongue is on the mounting flange34of the edge seals35. This configuration is shown inFIG. 8. In this case, the tongue62is tucked pressed into the groove54of the corner piece44. With the corner piece installed straight bulb seals49are fitted into each corner piece with a mating connector tube70. The connector tube70is a deformable hollow tube that joins adjacent bulb seal49to a leg46of a corner piece44, or can be used to join multiple sections of bulb seal49. The straight bulb seals49have the same cross sectional shape as the corner pieces44to be compatible with the mounting flanges of the edge seals35. If the corner pieces44have a groove60then the corner pieces44and straight bulb seals49must all have tongues53because the edge seals35have uniform cross sectional shapes along their entire length. With the tongue and groove connection between the corner piece44and mounting flanges34of adjacent edge seals35′,35″ water is prevented from dripping through an open corner due to the one piece design of the corner piece44. This is particularly true when the slide out room11is in its retracted position shown inFIG. 2because the bulb portion48will be deformed between the sidewall18of the RV and the outer peripheral flange30. The tongue and groove connection between the corner piece44and mounting flange34create 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.