Abstract:
The present application is directed to a manual or automatic flush threshold door seal system used on folding exterior doors along with an alternate embodiment for conventional exterior entryway doors that will not impede the passage of a wheelchair. A flexible weather seal can be put in a retracted or down position within an aluminum extrusion imbedded within the threshold providing a flush access surface and may be raised up into the upright position providing an adequate weather seal.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    This application applies to the weather tight sealing of a door threshold by providing a flush threshold lower door seal that will not impede the passage of a wheelchair. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The thresholds on doors along with the added height of an adequate weather seal have long been an impediment to the movement of wheelchairs through doorways. There is a growing need for adequately weather sealing of doorways while providing a flush surface to walk through or operate a wheel chair. Conventional thresholds of varying heights with weather strips are a problem for the elderly being a trip hazard when going through. Additionally the weather sealing of doorways is only necessary during inclement weather and the rest of the time the passage of cool air under the door can be a benefit. This unique flush threshold door seal system provides a new and unique sealing method for a wide variety of doorways. 
         [0003]    The initial purpose of the design is to provide a weather seal on a flush threshold surface for a variety of folding doors, but it is not limited to folding doors and may be adapted to a variety of door thresholds including hinged entry doorways, garage and warehouse doors or open-air malls along with varying in size for different applications while remaining within the scope of this patent. 
         [0004]    The addition of large exterior wall openings incorporating multiple folding doors has become desirable on many elaborate homes, office buildings or open-air malls. With large openings, the conventional thresholds with weather seals or doors with weather seals attached are not desirable and the need for a flush surface is necessary for wheelchair travel. 
         [0005]    Numerous innovations for weather sealing doors have been provided in the prior art that are described as follows. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, they differ from the present design as hereinafter contrasted. The following is a summary of those prior art patents most relevant to this application at hand, as well as a description outlining the difference between the features of the flush threshold door seal system and the prior art. 
         [0006]    U.S. Pat. No. 3,654,730 of Alton L. Fraleigh describes a flexible barrier to be extended across the bottom portion of an opening, for example the door opening in a garage, to intercept foreign matter, such as leaves, snow or dirt. The barrier is preferably formed of elastomeric material and has a broad base to be secured to the floor of the garage and has a flexible wall projecting upwardly from the base in position to engage and prevent said foreign matter from entering the garage, said wall being deflectable to permit a heavy object, such as an automobile, lawn mower, work cart or the like, to pass there over on entering or leaving the garage without interference and will then return to normal position. The wall can be provided with vertical slits to increase the flexibility thereof and can have a laterally disposed lip or deflector portion extending from the upper edge thereof to intercept the foreign material and deflect it back out through said opening. 
         [0007]    This patent describes a fixed up-right flexible barrier for door openings in a garage. The folding doors described fold horizontally and are used primarily in garage door applications. It would not be practical to be used as a means of sealing an exterior opening to a residence, office building or open-air mall and it would be a definite impediment to the operation of a wheelchair. 
         [0008]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,357,979 of John D. Marontate tells of a skirted, hinged panel for an accordion folding door. A base member is attached to the end of each panel. Each base member mounts a plurality of guides. A flexible seal strip extends continuously along the ends of the panels. It includes an engaging bead configured to engage with the guides, and a flexible band attached to the bead and extending substantially to the adjacent structural surface to seal against the transmission of air, heat, light and sound. 
         [0009]    This patent describes a skirted, hinged panel for an accordion folding door. Although this type of sealing means will work over a flush floor surface, it is permanently attached to the lower surface of the doors and drags on the floor every time the doors are opened and closed. It does not incorporate a desirable appearance for high-end homes, office buildings or open-air malls. 
         [0010]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,052,949 of Jerome C. Procton et al. describes a building entryway system with a high degree of modularity to accommodate active in swing doors or inactive sidelight panels for use with conventional jambs. Specifically, an extruded aluminum sill is mated with an extruded polymeric receiving unit. The receiving unit defines a U-shaped channel, which accepts a weather strip or panel cap. Either the weather strip or panel cap is slidably positioned within the channel under the door. Additionally a door sweep attached to the active doors sealingly engages the weather strip to prevent water from entering the building. 
         [0011]    This patent describes a door seal incorporated into a conventional residential doorway. This invention would not be readily adaptable to a folding door system and exemplifies a trip hazard along with an impediment to wheelchairs. 
         [0012]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,345,477 of Steven P. Kepler et al. tells of a door sill assembly that is provided with an adjustable threshold. A sill assembly is made up of an elongated metal frame for installation on the floor of the doorway. The metal frame is provided with a tongue and sloping sill portion, a vertically extending rib and a shelf located below and integrally oriented relative to the rib. The threshold rail is supported on the frame member shelf portion upon two adjustable feet for varying the relative height level of the rail. A plastic threshold cap is sized to fit over the threshold rail and includes a pair of downwardly spaced ribs sized to securely fit over the vertical rib of the frame member to locate the threshold cap and rail relative to the frame member while providing limited vertical adjustment. Preferably, the interior trim molding is provided which is fixed relative to the frame member and oriented inboard of the threshold cap 
         [0013]    This patent describes another type of door seal incorporated into a conventional residential doorway. This invention would not be readily adaptable to a folding door system and again exemplifies a trip hazard along with an impediment to wheelchairs. 
         [0014]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,910,301 of Walenty Kalempa et al. A door seal for use with a bi-parting door in which the door panels of the door have supplementary angled leading edges. One leading edge has a triangular cross-section, while the other has a cross-section similar to a parallelogram. To further the reliability of the door seal, a plurality of magnets with corresponding magnet attracting plates may be attached along the leading edges. Alternatively, both leading edges may have at least one magnet aligned with a magnet on the other edge. With the double magnet configuration, the use of multi-pole magnets is necessary. The magnets also help reduce the bounce between the door panels, which may be closed roughly, and increase the force required to separate the door panels when closed. 
         [0015]    Although this patent addresses a door seal for use with bi-parting doors, either sliding or folding doors, it addresses the vertical surfaces and does not take into account the lower surface adjacent to the threshold area. These doors will most likely be used for warehouses, cold storage, freezers and the like. 
         [0016]    None of these previous efforts, however, provides the benefits attendant with the flush threshold door seal system. The present design achieves its intended purposes, objects and advantages over the prior art devices through a new, useful and unobvious combination of method steps and component elements, with the use of a minimum number of functioning parts, at a reasonable cost to manufacture and deals with the necessity of convenient handicap access to a wide number of facilities. 
         [0017]    In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the in detail it is to be understood that the design is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangement, of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The flush threshold door seal system is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. In addition, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present design. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent construction insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present application. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0018]    The principal advantage of the flush threshold door seal system is to provide an adequate flexible weather seal for a folding door entryway. 
         [0019]    Another advantage of the flush threshold door seal system is to provide a flush surface entryway that will not present an impediment to the handicap including those in wheelchairs. 
         [0020]    Another advantage of the flush threshold door seal system is to provide a flexible weather seal that can be operated manually. 
         [0021]    Yet another advantage of the flush threshold door seal system is to provide a flexible weather seal that can be lifted automatically as the doors are closed. 
         [0022]    And still another advantage of the flush threshold door seal system is that in the manual configuration the flexible weather seal does not have to be raised every time the doors are closed. 
         [0023]    A further advantage of the flush threshold door seal system is that the flexible weather seal is easily lowered by stepping down anywhere on the entire length. 
         [0024]    An advantage of an alternate embodiment of the flush threshold door seal system is that it provides a flexible weather seal for a conventional hinged entryway door. 
         [0025]    Another advantage of an alternate embodiment of the flush threshold door seal system is that it provides a flush surface entryway that will not present an impediment to the handicap including those in wheelchairs. 
         [0026]    These together with other advantages of the flush threshold door seal system, along with the various features of novelty, which characterize the design, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the flush threshold door seal system, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred and alternate embodiments of the flush threshold door seal system. There are additional features of the flush threshold door seal system that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
         [0027]    The manual flush threshold door seal system was initially designed to operate with high-end folding doors over large residential exterior openings, but with the further development of the product it has been made evident that it will work in a wide variety of door thresholds providing improved access for wheelchairs. With the folding doors of the initial design fully open, the flexible weather seal can be put in the retracted or down position providing a flush access surface and may be raised by putting a finger in a slot at either end of the flexible weather seal raising it into the upright position. This type of folding door has a unique door hinge where the folding doors are offset from the roller guide track in which the rollers translate when the folding doors are opened and closed. With this offset of the hinge, the door faces of the folding doors rotate against the flexible weather seal. A secondary transverse door-locking cavity is adjacent to the roller guide track furnishing a locking means when the folding doors are in the closed position. The roller guide track and the door-locking cavity are components of the flush door seal aluminum extrusion. 
         [0028]    A transverse pivot rod is incorporated into the design of the flush door seal aluminum extrusion providing a means for the flexible weather tight seal to pivot from the retracted or down position to the upright position. The flush door seal aluminum extrusion may be imbedded in a flush concrete surface but it must be understood that the flush door seal aluminum extrusion can be imbedded into a wide variety of building materials and still remain within the scope of this patent. At one or both ends of the flexible weather seal will be a finger slot as a means to manually raise the flexible weather seal to the upright position. The flexible weather seal can be lowered by stepping down anywhere along the surface. A transverse depression is located in the transverse cavity of the pivot rod and mates with a transverse raised section on the flexible weather seal to provide a restraint when the weather seal is raised to the upright position by pivoting on the transverse pivot rod. 
         [0029]    In the automatic mode of the flush threshold door seal system the primary section of the flexible weather seal is raised automatically when the folding doors are closed. A short section of the flexible weather seal will remain in the upright position leaving clearance for the seal-lifting guides in that area. As the folding doors are closed, the seal-lifting guide travels within the door-locking cavity to raise the primary section of the flexible weather seal to the upright position. By stepping on the primary section of the flexible weather seal at any point, it can be pressed down to the flush position. 
         [0030]    The alternate embodiment of the flush threshold door seal system may also be imbedded into a flush concrete surface although it must also understood that the alternate embodiment of the flush threshold door seal system can be embedded into a wide variety of door thresholds including the conventional thresholds with a step down landing on existing residences. The door seal aluminum extrusion would be similar but would not have the roller guide track or the door-locking cavity. 
         [0031]    The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the more pertinent and important features of the flush threshold door seal system in order that the detailed description of the application that follows may be better understood so that the present contribution to the art may be more fully appreciated. Additional features of the design will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of this disclosure. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and the disclosed specific embodiments may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures and methods for carrying out the same purposes of the present design. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions and methods do not depart from the spirit and scope of this application as set forth in the appended claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0032]    The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the flush threshold door seal system and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of this application. 
           [0033]      FIG. 1  depicts a perspective view of the flush threshold door seal system in the manual mode with the doors fully open and the flexible weather seal in the retracted position. 
           [0034]      FIG. 2  depicts a perspective view of the flush threshold door seal system in the manual mode with a single folding door face against the flexible weather seal in the raised position. 
           [0035]      FIG. 3  depicts a cross section through the aluminum extrusion with the flexible weather seal in the raised position. 
           [0036]      FIG. 4  depicts a section of the flush threshold door seal system in the manual mode imbedded into a flush surface illustrating the door in the closed position and the movement of the flexible seal to the up position. 
           [0037]      FIG. 5  depicts a perspective view of the flush threshold door seal system in the automatic mode where the flexible weather seal is raised automatically when the folding doors are closed. 
           [0038]      FIG. 6  depicts a perspective view of the door hinge and rollers incorporating the seal-lifting guide. 
           [0039]      FIG. 7  depicts a cross section of the flush threshold door seal system in the automatic mode imbedded into a flush surface illustrating the door in the closed position and the movement of the flexible seal being raised by the seal lifting guide to the up position. 
           [0040]      FIG. 8  depicts the alternate embodiment of the flush threshold door seal system imbedded into a flush surface illustrating the door movement against the flexible seal in the upright position. 
           [0041]      FIG. 9  depicts a cross section of the alternate embodiment of the flush threshold door seal system through the aluminum extrusion with the flexible weather seal in the lower position. 
           [0042]      FIG. 10  depicts a cross section of the alternate embodiment of the flush threshold door seal system through the aluminum extrusion with the flexible weather seal in the raised position. 
       
    
    
       [0043]    For a fuller understanding of the nature and advantages of the flush threshold door seal system, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification illustrates embodiments of the design and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of this application. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0044]    Referring now to the drawings, wherein similar parts of the flush threshold door seal system in the manual mode  10 A and flush threshold door seal system in the automatic mode  10 B along with the alternate embodiment of the flush threshold door seal system  10 C are identified by like reference numerals. There is seen in  FIG. 1  a perspective view of the flush threshold door seal system  10 A with the folding doors  12  fully open and the flexible weather seal  14  in the retracted or down position. With this type of folding door  12 , a unique door hinge  16  is used where the folding doors  12  are offset from the roller guide track  18  in which the rollers  20  translate when the folding doors  12  are opened and closed. With this offset of the hinge  16 , the door faces  22  of the folding doors  12  rotate against the flexible weather seal  14 . A secondary transverse door-locking cavity  24  is adjacent to the roller guide track  18  furnishing a locking means when the folding doors  12  are in the closed position. The roller guide track  18  and the door-locking cavity  24  are components of the flush door seal aluminum extrusion  26 . A transverse pivot rod  28  is incorporated into the design of the flush door seal aluminum extrusion  26  providing a means for the flexible weather tight seal  14  to pivot from the retracted or down position to the upright position. The flush door seal aluminum extrusion  26  has been shown imbedded in a flush concrete surface  30  but it must be understood that the flush door seal aluminum extrusion  26  can be imbedded into a wide variety of building materials and still remain within the scope of this patent. At one or both ends of the flexible weather seal  14  will be a finger slot  32  as a means to manually raise the flexible weather seal  14  to the upright position. The flexible weather seal  14  can be lowered by stepping down anywhere along the surface. 
         [0045]      FIG. 2  depicts a perspective view of the flush threshold door seal system  10 A in the manual mode with a single folding door face  22  against the flexible weather seal  14  in the raised position.  FIG. 3  depicts a cross section through the door seal aluminum extrusion  26  with the flexible weather seal  14  in the raised position. A transverse depression  40  located in the transverse cavity  42  of the pivot rod  28  mates with a transverse raised section  44  on the flexible weather seal  14  to provide a restraint for the flexible weather seal  14  when it is raised to the upright position by pivoting on the transverse pivot rod  28 .  FIG. 4  depicts a section of the flush threshold door seal system  10 A in the manual mode imbedded into a flush concrete surface  30  illustrating the folding door  12  in the closed position and the movement of the flexible seal  14  to the up position. The roller  20  on the door hinge  16  is located within the roller guide track  18 . 
         [0046]      FIG. 5  depicts a perspective view of the flush threshold door seal system  10 B in the automatic mode where the primary section of the flexible weather seal  50  is raised automatically when the folding doors  12  are closed. This view shows the folding doors  12  in the fully open position against the doorframe  52 . A short section of the flexible weather seal  54  will remain in the upright position leaving clearance for the seal-lifting guides  56  in that area. As the folding doors  12  are closed, the seal-lifting guide  56  travels within the door-locking cavity  24  to raise the primary section of the flexible weather seal  50  to the upright position. By stepping on the primary section of the flexible weather seal  50  at any point, it can be pressed down to the flush position.  FIG. 6  depicts a perspective view of the door hinge  16  and rollers  20  incorporating the seal-lifting guide  56  with a sloped section  58 .  FIG. 7  depicts a cross section of the flush threshold door seal system  10 B in the automatic mode imbedded into a flush concrete surface  30  illustrating the folding door  12  in the closed position and the movement of the primary section of the flexible seal  50  being raised by the seal lifting guide  56  to the upright position. 
         [0047]      FIG. 8  depicts the alternate embodiment of the flush threshold door seal system  10 C imbedded into a flush concrete surface  30  illustrating the pivoting door  60  movement against the flexible seal  14  in the upright position. It must also understood that the alternate embodiment of the flush threshold door seal system  10 C can be embedded into a wide variety of door thresholds  62  including the conventional thresholds  62  with a step down landing on existing residences. The door seal aluminum extrusion  64  would be similar but would not have the roller guide track  18  or the door-locking cavity  24 .  FIG. 9  depicts a cross section of the alternate embodiment of the flush threshold door seal system  10 C through the aluminum extrusion  64  with the flexible weather seal  14  in the lower position in the weather seal mating cavity  66 .  FIG. 10  depicts a cross section of the alternate embodiment of the flush threshold door seal system  10 C through the aluminum extrusion  64  with the flexible weather seal  14  in the raised position. 
         [0048]    The flush threshold door seal systems  10 A,  10 B and  10 C shown in the drawings and described in detail herein disclose arrangements of elements of particular construction and configuration for illustrating preferred embodiments of structure and method of operation of the present application. It is to be understood, however, that elements of different construction and configuration and other arrangements thereof, other than those illustrated and described may be employed for providing a flush threshold door seal systems  10 A,  10 B and  10 C in accordance with the spirit of this disclosure. Such changes, alternations and modifications as would occur to those skilled in the art are considered to be within the scope of the flush threshold door seal systems as broadly defined in the appended claims. 
         [0049]    Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.