Abstract:
A resilient seal for living quarters that is for used sealing around a slide out room that has an aperture slidably receiving a slide out room. The resilient seal has a pair of attaching members extending along the inside and outside surfaces of the main living area wall at the aperture and includes a connecting member that extends between the attaching members and along the edge of the wall defining the aperture. A wiper seal extends from the connecting member for sealing against a wall of a slide out room. A bulb seal is integrally joined to at least one mounting portion that is bendable away from a groove on the mounting portion. The groove may be used for a separate bulb seal connectable thereto in the case the integral bulb seal is cut away. This facilitates replacement of the integral bulb seal.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    Recreational vehicles such as motor homes and travel trailers are commonly equipped with one or more slide out rooms that are retracted within the main living quarters when the unit is transported, but can be extended from the main living quarters to provide auxiliary space when the unit is parked. The seal typically has a resilient wiper portion to seal the sliding wall of the room and a resilient face sealing portion to mate with a flange on the room. Commonly, bulb seals are used as the face seal and extend around the aperture defined in the outside of the sidewall of the main living quarters through which the slide out room extends and retracts. This seal is engaged by a first flange on the exterior side of the slide out room to seal the gap between the slide out room and the main living quarters when the slide out room is retracted. Similarly, a second bulb seal extends around the aperture on the inside of the sidewall and is engaged by a second flange on the interior side of the slide out room when the slide out room is extended for use. Wiper seals are mounted on sidewalls adjacent to the aperture and are flexed against corresponding walls of the slide out room. The bulb seals seal the slide out room in the extended and retracted positions, and the wiper seal wipes against the slide out room as it is extended and retracted to prevent moisture and debris from entering the vehicle. Many designs are available that have a separate bulb seal that attaches to the main body of the seal. Others have an integral bulb sealing portion. The bulb sealing portion is prone to wear and damage. With an integral bulb seal design, the entire seal must be replaced, at significant expense and difficulty. An improved seal design is needed. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    According to the invention, a resilient seal for mobile living quarters is provided for sealing around a slide out room of mobile living quarters having an aperture slidably receiving a slide out room. The resilient seal has a pair of attaching members extending along the inside and outside surfaces of the main living area wall at the aperture and further include a connecting member extending between the attaching members and along the edge of the wall defining the aperture. A wiper seal extends from the connecting member that flexes against the walls of the slide out room, and the connecting member further includes an accordion pleat for adjusting the distance between the attaching members to accommodate walls of different thicknesses. 
         [0003]    Further, the bulb seal can be cut and removed from the seal base, revealing a tongue and groove interface that allows the installation of a commonly available bulb seal. This invention combines the ease of installation of a bendable bulb portion seal assembly and the serviceability of a separate bulb sealing portion. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0004]    A preferred embodiment of this invention has been chosen wherein: 
           [0005]      FIG. 1  is a side view of the trailer; 
           [0006]      FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view taken about the line  2 - 2  in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0007]      FIG. 3  is a magnified view of area  3  in  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0008]      FIG. 4  is an isometric view of the seal installed on a sidewall; 
           [0009]      FIG. 5  is a sectional view of the seal shown in  FIG. 4 ; 
           [0010]      FIG. 6  is a sectional view of the seal with the replacement bulb seal; 
           [0011]      FIG. 7  is a sectional view of the seal in a single-side embodiment; 
           [0012]      FIG. 8  is a close-up view of the seal in  FIG. 7 ; 
           [0013]      FIG. 9  is a close-up view of the seal in  FIG. 8  with the bendable bulb portion in the position to be cut; and 
           [0014]      FIG. 10  is a close-up view of the seal in  FIG. 9  with the bendable bulb portion removed and the replacement bulb seal before installation. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0015]    Referring now to the drawings, mobile living quarters, such as the fifth wheel recreational vehicle  10  in  FIG. 1 , includes side walls  12  and a ceiling wall  14 . The mobile living quarters  10  is mounted on wheels  16  for transport. An aperture  18  ( FIG. 3 ) is provided in one of the side walls  12  and slidably receives a slide out room  20  ( FIG. 1 ). This is best seen in the magnified view shown in  FIG. 3 . The side walls  12  and ceiling wall  14  cooperate to define an enclosed main living area generally indicated by the numeral  22  in  FIG. 2 . The slide out room  20  includes side walls  24 , a ceiling wall  26 , and a front wall  28 . As known to those skilled in the art, the slide out room  20  is mounted for movement through the aperture  18 , so that it may be retracted into the main living quarters  22  when the unit is transported, but can be extended from the main living quarters when the unit is parked, thereby providing auxiliary living space. The slide out room  20  is shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3  at a point between the extended and retracted position. The slide out room  20  includes an exterior flange  30  extending around the side walls  24  and front wall  28 . The slide out room  20  includes another flange  32 , being an interior flange, extending around the side walls  24  and ceiling wall  26  at the ends thereof opposite the ends joined to the front wall  28 . The side walls  24 , ceiling wall  26  and front wall  28  cooperate to define an auxiliary living area  34 , which is available for use when the unit is parked and the slide out room  20  is moved to the extended position. 
         [0016]    It is necessary to assure that moisture, dirt, debris, etc. be prevented from entering the living quarters. A single part seal  35  is shown in  FIGS. 2-6 . A single side seal  48  is shown in  FIGS. 7-10 . Seals  35  are installed adjacent to the aperture  18 . Each seal  35 ,  48  must provide sealing at the extended position, retracted position, and all intermediate positions. Accordingly, the seal  35  includes a bulb portion  44  mounted around the aperture on the exterior surface and the interior surface of the side wall  12  adjacent the aperture  18 . When seal  48  is installed, it is typically installed on both the exterior surface  50  and the interior surface  52  ( FIG. 3 ). A wiper seal  54  engages the side walls  24 , ceiling wall  26 , and front wall  28  of the slide out room to wipe against the walls as the slide out room  20  extends and retracts. Preferably, the seals  35 ,  48  are made continuously through an extrusion process and are consistent along their entire length, so that an appropriate length can be cut off and installed. 
         [0017]      FIG. 4  shows the seal  35  in isometric as it is assembled onto a sidewall  12 . Seal  35  has a pair of longitudinal attachment members  36 ,  38 , which are connected by a longitudinal connecting member  40 , which extends over the transverse edge  42  of the sidewall  12 . The seal  48  has a single attachment member  66 . Protruding from the attachment members  36 ,  38  are two L-shaped groove tabs  70 ,  72 . The L-shaped groove tab  70  has an upstanding portion  74  and an overhang portion  76 . The L-shaped groove tab  72  has an upstanding portion  78  and an overhang portion  80 . Upstanding portion  78  is thinner than upstanding portion  74  as shown in  FIGS. 5-10 . Bulb portions  44  are integrally connected to the attachment members  36 ,  38 , and  66 , specifically the terminal end of the upstanding portion  74 . An offsetting member  45  has a durometer that is lower than the attachment members  36 ,  38 ,  66  and spans between the bulb portion  44  to its corresponding terminal end of the upstanding portion  74 . The offsetting members  45  extend perpendicularly to their respective mounting portions  36 ,  38 . The bulb portions  44  have an inner wall  46  that has a higher durometer and an outer portion  47  with a lower durometer that is arcuately shaped. This is best shown in  FIG. 8 . The inner wall  46  is substantially parallel to the mounting portion for a majority of its length. The inner wall overlays its respective L-shaped tab  72 . This is best shown in  FIG. 8 . The bulb portion  44  is hollow as shown in  FIGS. 4-10  with the outer portion  47  made of a lower durometer material than the attachment members  36 ,  38 ,  66 , or inner wall  46 . Compression of the bulb portion  44  will cause a portion of the inner wall  46  to contact a corresponding L-shaped tab  72 . The offsetting member  45  spaces the inner wall  46  from the attachment member  36 ,  38  by a predetermined distance. The offsetting member  45 , adjacent to the bulb portion  44  is made from the same material as the outer portion  47 . As such, the bulb portion  44 , is easily bent back about the offsetting member  45  to expose the attachment member  36 ,  38 .  FIG. 9  shows the bent position.  FIGS. 8 and 9  show the different materials as indicated by the hatching. The offsetting member  45 , corresponding attachment member  36 ,  38 , and inner wall  46  form a pocket  53  ( FIG. 8 ) that is capable of hiding mechanical fasteners such as screws  55  driven through the mounting portions  36 ,  38 .  FIG. 7  illustrates this. 
         [0018]    Different manufacturers of mobile living quarters manufacture the sidewalls  12  from different materials and thus, the sidewalls  12  of different manufacturers are of different thicknesses. It is clearly desirable that the number of different variations of the seal assembly  35  be minimized. Accordingly, an accordion pleat  56  extends along the length of the connecting member  40  to permit the width of the connecting member  40  to be adjusted, to thereby accommodate walls of varying thicknesses, as illustrated in  FIGS. 5 and 6 . 
         [0019]    The single sided seal  48  is shown in  FIGS. 7 through 10 . This has the same structure as the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 3 through 6  but lacks the connecting member  40 . This allows the user to install the seal on one side only if desired, or both sides separately. The single sided seal  48  includes a stop  68  ( FIG. 8 ) that is designed to overlay and directly contact the transverse edge  42 . 
         [0020]    In  FIGS. 3 through 6 , the seal  35  is in the “closed” or narrow position, to accommodate a relatively narrow sidewall. In this position, the accordion pleat  56  projects into the space between the wiper seals  54 . When the assembly is in the “open” position, it accommodates a wider sidewall. In the open position, the accordion pleat  56  is stretched out so that the connecting member  40  lies substantially flat against the transverse edge  42 . It will be noted that as the attachment members  36 ,  38  are secured to their corresponding inside and outside surfaces  52 ,  50 , the width of the connecting member  40  automatically adjusts to accommodate a sidewall  12  of any thickness between those accommodated by the fully open and fully closed positions. The pleat  56  is formed by scoring parallel, longitudinal score lines  58 ,  60  on the side of the connecting member  40  facing away from the transverse edge  42  and between the wiper seals  54 , and by forming a third longitudinal score line  62  on the side of the connecting portion  40  that lies against the transverse edge  42  when the seal assembly is installed on the sidewall. The third score line  62  extends parallel to the score lines  58 ,  60  and is located midway between the latter. The first  58 , second  60 , and third  62  score lines define corresponding first, second and third fold lines, thereby forming the accordion pleat  56 . 
         [0021]    To facilitate installation of the seal  35  on the unit  10 , a strip of double sided adhesive tape  49 , is connected to the attachment member  38  to the side facing the sidewall  12 . The opposite side of the adhesive tape  49  that faces away from the attachment member  38  is covered by a protective removable coating that prevents it from sticking to anything. Likewise, the attachment member  36  includes a strip of double sided adhesive tape  49  attached to it and protected with a protective removable coating on the side that faces the side wall  12 . For the single side seal  48 , the tape  49  is located on attachment member  66 . 
         [0022]    After the adhesive tape is attached to the outer surface  50  and inner surface  52  of the side wall  12 , the seal  35  may be more securely attached to the corresponding inside and outside surfaces  52  and  50  by appropriate mechanical fasteners as is shown in  FIG. 7 . Screws or nails may be driven through the attachment members  36 ,  38  into the side wall  12 . This may be accomplished by bending back the bulb portions  44  to expose the attachment members  36 ,  38 . Wiper seals  54  extend from the connecting portion  40  and are adapted to flex against the side walls  24  and ceiling wall  26  of the slide out room  20  during extension and retraction of the latter. 
         [0023]    At some point, the user may desire to replace the bulb portion  44 . This could be as a result of normal wear or damage. The user would bend back the bulb portion  44  as is shown in  FIG. 9 , pivoting it about the offsetting portion  45  and cutting it to separate it from the attachment portion  36 ,  38 , or  66 . Once the bulb portion  44  is separated from its attachment portion, the L-shaped tabs  70 ,  72  are revealed as is shown in  FIG. 10 . At that point, a bulb seal  100  can be installed as shown in  FIG. 6 . The bulb seal  100  has a bulb portion  102  and a mounting portion  104  shown best in  FIG. 10 . The mounting portion  104  has a pair of L-shaped tabs  88 ,  90  that are complimentary to the L-shaped tabs  70 ,  72  that are located on the attachment member  36 ,  38 , and  66 . The L-shaped tab  88 ,  90  has an upstanding portion  92 ,  94  and an overhang portion  96 ,  98  as shown in  FIG. 10 . The complimentary nature of the tongue and groove allows the user to install the bulb seal  100  by slidably attaching the bulb seal  100  to the attachment portion  36 ,  38 , or  66 . 
         [0024]    It is understood that while certain aspects of the disclosed subject matter have been shown and described, the disclosed subject matter is not limited thereto and encompasses various other embodiments and aspects. No specific limitation with respect to the specific embodiments disclosed herein is intended or should be inferred. Modifications may be made to the disclosed subject matter as set forth in the following claims.