Abstract:
An adjustable threshold protector to be used during the construction of a house or building is an apparatus made of durable material covering the threshold, removably attached to the threshold and which can be adjusted in width and length by removable sections to fit a wide variety of doorway thresholds.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed, in general, to an improved protective covering for the thresholds of doorways in houses or buildings under construction that can be modified by breaking off sections along built in serrations to facilitate covering the doorway with an appropriate width and that can also be cut to shorten the length of the protector for smaller threshold lengths. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     During the construction of houses and buildings doorframes are installed in the building at an early stage. After installation, workers tread upon the threshold in shoes or boots, that carry mortar, dirt and rocks on the soles. Workers wheel or drag equipment into the house or building subjecting the threshold to scraping and impact. Bricks may be placed on the threshold or fall onto the threshold by workmen installing the exterior brick. Mortar, paint and chemicals, such as lacquer or thinner, can drip onto the threshold during varying phases of construction resulting in discoloration or damage. During the acid wash of the exterior brick, hydrochloric acid can fall onto the threshold causing additional discoloration or damage. 
     Removing dirt, rocks, mortar, paint, thinner, lacquer or acid discoloration from the threshold of a doorway takes one worker from fifteen to thirty minutes per doorway. In a typical residential construction with three doorways, three quarters of one man hour to one and one-half man hours of labor are required for the clean-up. Moreover, the clean-up work cannot remove scratches or dents. If a drop cloth is thrown over the threshold, it may not stay in place, or it will wear out before the construction is completed. More importantly, a drop cloth will be a hazard for workers who may trip over the loose material thereby causing increased expenses through on the job injuries and lost time. Putting tape on the threshold requires a good deal of time and will not survive the entire construction cycle due to the traffic and loads to be borne. Therefore, a need exists for an inexpensive disposable threshold protector that will have sufficient durability to last the entire construction period of the house or building. 
     Additionally, protection of thresholds is beneficial during moving of furniture, installation of new doors and during remodeling of existing buildings. 
     The prior art does not disclose such a protector. There are many examples of thresholds; however, no device has been patented to provide for the protection of the threshold during the construction of the house or building. U.S. Pat. No. 4,492,062 to Levenez discloses a window sill assembly for protecting and covering an existing window sill at the base of the window. The device is meant for permanent installation and is not adaptable to door thresholds. 
     Applicant disclosed a threshold protective cover in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/247,798 which could be made in any number of sizes; however, a single threshold protective cover was not designed to be adaptable to various widths and lengths of doorways. A need exists for an improved threshold protective cover that can be adjusted in width and length, easily and economically, so that one threshold protective cover can be used for a wide variety of doorways. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A threshold protector to be used during the construction of a house or building is an apparatus made of durable material covering the threshold, removably attached to the threshold and which can be adjusted in width and length to fit a wide variety of doorway thresholds. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The apparatus of the invention is further described and explained in relation to the following figures of the drawings wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the improved threshold cover with the score or cut lines shown by hidden lines; 
     FIG. 2 is a section taken on  2 — 2  of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is an enlarged portion of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 4 is a top view of the improved threshold cover; and 
     FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the adjustable threshold cover with removable width section  50  detached and front section  60  detached showing the modification for a smaller doorway. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     In the discussion of the figures, the same numbers will be used to refer to the same or similar components throughout. The term threshold as used herein is defined as the plank, timber, metal piece or stone lying under the door of a building and as used herein has the same meaning as the term doorsill which is defined as the horizontal lower member of a door casing. Adhesive tape is defined as a piece or strip of paper, fabric, vinyl, or metal coated with an adhesive substance such as a glue or paste capable of adhering to a range of surfaces such as wood, metal, plastic, vinyl or stone. By double sided adhesive tape is meant tape with adhesive on a side that can be affixed to one surface and another side that can be affixed to a second surface. By adhering is meant the ability to stick fast or together while allowing removal without damage to the surface to which the adhesive is applied. By covering is meant placing something over or upon the threshold for the purpose of protecting the threshold. By doorway is meant a passage for entrance and exit into and out of a house, building or room wherein the doorway contains a door and door frame used for closing or opening the passage. By non-skid surface is meant a surface that has been roughened so that traction is improved between the soles of human footgear and the non-skid surface. A non-skid surface be either molded into the material of the surface or it may be applied with one sided adhesive tape. 
     According to the present invention, FIG. 1 depicts cover  30  showing the general shape and profile. Cover  30  has front flange  31 , first top section  34 , vertical section  32 , second top section  35  and rear flange  33 . Cover  30  has first side  36 , second side  37  and bottom surface  38 . Either one or both of first top section  34  and second top section  35  may be molded with a built-in non-skid surface(not shown). Moreover, either one or both of first top section  34  and second top section  35  can have a non-skid surface affixed by means of an adhesive backing on the non-skid material. 
     FIG. 2 shows threshold  10  with cover  30  positioned on threshold  10 . Threshold  10  has front edge  11  and rear edge  12 . Threshold  10  has main step  16 , door step  18 , first face  13  and second face  14 . In FIG. 2 cover  30  is viewed from second side  37 . Cover  30  is affixed to threshold  10  by first tape  40  and second tape  44 . Cover  30  has four flanges  56  and four notches  52 . However, any number of flanges  56  and notches  52  could be utilized in order to increase the adaptability of cover  30 . Flange  56  is followed by notch  52  so that first top section  34  can be bent upward and broken off along notch  52  to achieve the desired width of cover  30  while leaving a flange at the new forward edge of cover  30 . Alternatively, first top section  34  can be flexed back and forth along notch  52  until the outer portion of first top section  34  breaks and separates from the remainder of first top section  34 . Second tape  44  extends under first top section  34  in a continuous piece and can be perforated or pre-cut to facilitate separating when first top section  34  is manipulated to separate the desired outward section or sections from first top section  34 . 
     Cover  30  is made of molded plastic, polyurethane, polyvinyl chloride, rubber, wood, cardboard or any suitable commercially available material capable of being molded into a single unitary piece. Cover  30  can be made from any material which has the characteristics of durability and resiliency to dirt, water, chemicals, abrasion and impact. In the preferred embodiment, Cover  30  is manufactured in a mold so that there are no seams or breaks between the various sections. Alternatively, Cover  30  could be heat pressed from a single sheet of plastic or synthetic material. Cover  30  could also be stamped or pressed from a single piece of metal. As a further alternative cover  30  could be assembled by spot welding, gluing or taping. 
     Cover  30  can function to protect the threshold by aligning cover  30  above threshold  10  and lowering cover  30  onto threshold  10 . Cover  30  can be made more secure by means of adhesive. First tape  40  is affixed to bottom surface  38  beneath second top section  35 . Second tape  44  is affixed to bottom surface  38  beneath first top section  34 . First tape  40  is a double sided tape with adhesive on both sides so that first adhesive surface  41  of first tape  40  is covered with an adhesive compound such as glue, paste or rubber cement so that when pressed against bottom surface  38  of first cover  30  first tape  40  will be fixedly attached to first cover  30 . Second adhesive side  42  of first tape  40  also has adhesive covering second adhesive side  42 . Adhesive on second adhesive side  42  can be covered with removable foil or paper which can be peeled off prior to installation of first cover  30  to threshold  10 . Likewise, second tape  44  is double sided tape with adhesive on both sides so that third adhesive side  45  of second tape  44  is covered with an adhesive compound such as glue, paste or rubber cement so that when pressed against bottom surface  38  of first cover  30  second tape  44  will be attached to first cover  30 . Fourth adhesive side  46  of second tape  44  also has adhesive covering fourth adhesive side  46 . Adhesive on fourth adhesive side  46  can be covered with removable foil or paper which can be peeled off prior to installation of first cover  30  to threshold  10 . 
     Cover  30  is installed on threshold  10  by removing any paper or foil to expose adhesive on second adhesive side  42  of first tape  40  and fourth adhesive side  46  of second tape  44 , aligning cover  30  with threshold  10  and lowering cover  30  onto threshold  10  and pressing down manually on first top section  34  to engage adhesive from fourth adhesive side  46  to main step  16  of threshold  10 . Pressing down manually on second top section  35  will engage adhesive from second adhesive side  42  to door step  18  of threshold  10 . 
     FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of cover  30  along line  2 — 2 . Flange  56  and notch  52  are shown. Notch  52  runs the length of cover  30  from first side  36  to second side  37  (See FIG.  1 ). In the preferred embodiment, notch  52  is made by scoring. However, notch  52  can also be molded into cover  30 . The purpose of notches  52  are to allow breaking cover  30  along the line defined by the notch  52  selected for breaking cover  30  and thereby separating a pre-selected portion of cover  30  from the main body of cover  30 . The purpose of flange  56  is so that when cover  30  is broken along a line defined by a notch  52 , that cover  30  will have a flange  56  to replace front flange  31  which will have been removed. Dotted line  57  depicts a break in flange  56  which will be shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. 
     FIG. 4 is a top view of cover  30 . Flanges  56  and notches  52  are shown by dotted lines. First tapes  40  and second tapes  44  are also shown by dotted lines as they cannot be seen from the top. In FIG. 4, Flanges  56  do not run continuously the length of cover  30  but rather flanges  56  begin after a space for a second tape  44  and continue for a distance which is less than ¼ the length of cover  30 . Another space is left for another second tape  44  and then flange  56   b  continues for a distance which is more than ¼ the length of cover  30  and less than ½ the length of cover  30 . After flange  56   b  another space is left for another second tape  44  and then flange  56   c  begins and continues until another space for a second tape  44  is left. After the space for second tape  44 , cover  30  ends in first end  36 . Three positions are shown for first tapes  40  under second top section  35 . First tape  40  could be one continuous piece or first tape  40  could be any number of pieces. In the preferred embodiment any number of first tapes  40  from one to three are satisfactory. Moreover, additional second tapes  44  could be added to underside  38  of cover  30  by creating additional spaces for second tapes  44  and decreasing the size of flange  56   a  and flange  56   b  and adding additional flanges  56   a  and  56   b  as necessary to place flanges  56   a  and flanges  56   b  between the additional spaces for second tapes  44 . 
     The purpose of having flange  56  extend for a shorter distance than flange  56   a  or flange  56   c  is that the length of cover  30  can be shortened by cutting cover  30  along a line parallel to second side  37  and extending through the space for second tape  44  between flange  56  and flange  56   a . Cover  30  would be cut using a standard handsaw or cover  30  could be cut using a circular table saw. In FIG. 4, flange  56  is shown positioned near second side  37 ; however, flange  56  could be positioned near first side  36  so that flange  56  would follow flange  56   c  and a space for a second tape  44 . Flange  56  would then be followed by a space for a second tape  44  and then cover  30  would end in first side  36 . 
     FIG. 5 depicts a bottom view of cover  30  with the flank section  60  removed and removable width section  50  removed from the length of cover  30 . In FIG. 5, flanges  56  are positioned near second side  37  so that second side  37  is followed by a space for a second tape  44  and then flanges  56 . Flanges  56  are followed by a space for a second tape  44  and then flanges  56   b . Flanges  56   b  are followed by a space for a second tape  44  and then flanges  56   c . Flanges  56   c  are followed by a space for a second tape  44  and then cover  30  ends at first side  36 . In FIG. 5, flank section  60  has been removed by cutting cover  30  along a line parallel to second side  37 . Also shown in FIG. 5, removable width section  50  has been removed by bending removable width section  50  along notch  52  which runs the entire length of cover  30  next to flanges  56 , flanges  56   a  and flanges  56   b . In FIG. 5, only the first removable width section  50  has been removed; however, any number of sections could be removed by selecting the appropriate notch  52  along which to bend the outermost portion of cover  30 . 
     Those skilled in the art should appreciate that the conception and the specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. Those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. Other alternatives and modifications of the invention will likewise become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the present disclosure, and it is intended that the scope of the invention disclosed herein be limited only by the broadest interpretation of the appended claims to which the inventor is legally entitled.