Patent Publication Number: US-11639629-B2

Title: Attic door support and trimming system

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
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     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM 
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     STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     The disclosure relates to ceiling opening trim structure and more particularly pertains to a new ceiling opening trim structure for providing trim around an attic doorway while further providing a support flange to hold and support a closure for the attic doorway. 
     (2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98 
     The prior art relates to ceiling opening trim and door structures that are typically pre-fabricated as an entire unit. While this may ease installation of an entire structure, such structures cannot be modified to custom open and must be precisely fit within an opening. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a plurality of frame sections each having a base wall with an inner edge, an outer edge, a top side and a bottom side, a first end and a second end. A vertical wall is attached to and extends upwardly from the base wall. The vertical wall is spaced from the inner and outer edges to define a first flange positioned between the vertical wall and the outer edge and a second flange positioned between the vertical wall and the inner edge. The vertical wall forms an angle with the base wall that is between 80° and 100°. The first ends of the frame sections are positionable against the second ends of other frame sections such that the frame sections form a rectangular shaped frame. The frame sections each are telescopic to allow a size of the rectangular shaped frame to be adjusted such that the vertical walls of the frame sections encompass and form a boundary around an opening in a ceiling. The top side of the first flange is abuttable against the ceiling adjacent to the opening and the top of the second flange supports a cover when the cover is placed in a closed position closing the opening. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
       The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
         FIG.  1    is a top isometric view of an attic door support and trimming system according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG.  2    is a top isometric view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG.  3    is a top view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG.  4    is a bottom view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG.  5    is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the disclosure taken along line  5 - 5  of  FIG.  4   . 
         FIG.  6    is a side isometric view of another embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG.  7    is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the disclosure taken along line  7 - 7  of  FIG.  6   . 
         FIG.  8    is an exploded end view of the embodiment of the disclosure depicted in  FIG.  6   . 
         FIG.  9    is a cross-section of an embodiment of an attic opening. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS.  1  through  9    thereof, a new ceiling opening trim structure embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS.  1  through  9   , the attic door support and trimming system  10  generally comprises an assembly and method to be used supporting a cover  12  for an opening  14  in a ceiling  16  formed by an attic doorway  18 . Typically, the “doorway” would be a rectangular box frame used to form the opening  14  that allows access to an attic or crawl space accessible upwardly through the ceiling  16 . The system  10  described herein includes an inwardly extending flange  22  bounding the opening  14  so that a cover  12 , or door, is positionable on the inwardly extending flange  22  and thereby supported in place. Typically, such openings  14  included a rough edge  26  of the ceiling  16  where the ceiling  16  meets the attic doorway  18 . In some examples the ceiling  16  may be comprised of drywall (also known as plasterboard, sheet rock, wallboard, etc.) having an exposed edge that would typically not be sanded and textured but instead is covered by trim. The system  10  herein further creates an outwardly extending flange  24  to extend over the exposed edge and function as trim. 
     The system  10 , more specifically, includes a plurality of frame sections  30 . Each of the frame sections  30  has a base wall  32  having an inner edge  34 , an outer edge  36 , a top side  38 , a bottom side  40 , a first end  42  and a second end  44 . A vertical wall  46  is attached to and extends upwardly from the base wall  32 . The vertical wall  46  is spaced from the inner  34  and outer  34  edges to define a first flange  48  positioned between the vertical wall  46  and the outer edge  36  and a second flange  50  positioned between the vertical wall  46  and the inner edge  34 . The vertical wall  46  is substantially perpendicular to the base wall  32  and will typically form an angle with the base wall  32  that is between 80° and 100°, and more often will form an angle between 85° and 95°. 
     The first ends  42  of the frame sections  30  are positionable against the second ends  44  of other frame sections  30  such that the frame sections  30  form a rectangular shaped frame  52  as shown in  FIG.  1   . As the opening  14  in the ceiling  16  is most often rectangular, the opening  14  will thereby match the shape of the rectangular shaped frame  52 . In one embodiment to facilitate the abutment of the first  42  and second  44  ends together, each of the first  42  and second  44  ends may form a 45° angle  54  with a corresponding one of the outer edges  36 . Since each first  42  and second  44  end will have a same angle, the first  42  and second  42  ends can be joined together at a 90° angle. In this embodiment, the frame sections  30  may comprise four frame sections  30  each being elongated and linear as shown in  FIG.  2   . However, it should be readily apparent that different numbers of frame sections  30  may utilized such as two frame sections  30  wherein each frame section includes a 90° bend but still utilizing 45° angled first  42  and second ends  44 . While other angles may be used that form 90° connections such as a 30° first end and a 60° second end, the 45° angle may be most preferred as it will be aesthetically pleasing. Alternatively, each may form a 90° angle with the outer edge  36  wherein the first ends  42  are abutted against the inner edges  34  and the second ends  44  are free, though such a structure would leave an “unfinished” appearance and would be less favored. 
     The frame sections  30  are each telescopic to allow a size of the rectangular shaped frame  52  to be adjusted such that the vertical walls  46  of the frame sections encompass and form a boundary around the opening  14  in the ceiling  16 . The top side  38  of the first flange  48  is abuttable against the ceiling  16  adjacent to the opening  14 . Thus, the first flange  48  forms trim extending around and outwardly from the opening  14 . This frees the top of the second flange  50  to support the cover  12  when the cover  12  is placed in a closed position closing the opening  14 . 
     To secure the frame sections  30  in place, a plurality of fasteners  56  extends through each of the vertical walls  46  and into the attic doorway  18 . The fasteners  56  may comprise nails, screws or other conventional mechanical fasteners used with wood and metal frames. This further ensures that the frame sections  30  are maintained in abutment with each other to maintain the appearance of continuous trim extending around the opening  14 . 
     As should be readily apparent from the Figures, each of the frame sections  30  consists of a first member  58  and a second member  60  telescopically engaged with each other to alter a length of the frame sections  30  from the first end  42  to the second end  44 . While each frame sections  30  could include a greater number of members telescopically engaged with each other, such a structure would increase height of the base wall  32  to such an extent as to provide aesthetically poor trim.  FIG.  5    shows an embodiment of a frame section  30  wherein the first member  58  entirely extends around an outer periphery of the second member  60 . Such an embodiment may be comprised of any material that is relatively rigid or resiliently bendable such as, for example, metals and plastics. 
       FIGS.  6 - 8    depict another embodiment wherein the first  62  and second  64  members are each formed of a single panel of material wherein the panels are folded to form the base  32  and vertical  46  walls. In this embodiment, the first member  62  need not extend completely around the second member  64 . Utilizing a panel to form the first member  62  and a panel to form the second member  64  provides ease of manufacture as the panels can be comprised of a bendable metallic material, such as aluminum, copper, lead and the like, which are bent to form the first  62  and second  64  members. As can be seen in  FIG.  7   , the first member  62  is bent to form a base wall  32  having a first lateral edge  66  creating a first lateral hook  68 , a nearly 360° bend to form the second lateral edge  70  and to cause the material to fold over to itself approximately half way between the first  66  and second  70  lateral edges. The folded over section  72  then having a bend therein to extend the material upwardly from the base wall  32  and then an upper edge  74  terminating in a downwardly extending hook  76 . The second member  64  includes a base wall  32  with its second lateral edge  78  comprising a second lateral hook  80 , its first lateral edge  82  having a bend to extend the material over itself toward the second lateral edge  78 , and then finally a bend in the folded over section  84  to extend the remaining material upwardly and terminating with a straight edge  86 . As shown in  FIG.  7   , the first lateral edge  82  of the second member  64  is extended under the first lateral hook  68  of the first member  62 , the straight edge  86  of the second member  64  is extended into the downwardly extending hook  76 , and the second lateral hook  80  is extended under folded over section  72  of the first member  62 . This structure allows the first  62  and second  64  members to slide telescopically relative to each other while retaining a very low profile due to the ability to utilize very thin sheet metal. Moreover, the second lateral hook  80  places tension on folder over section  72  to provide some resistance to unwanted movement between the first  62  and second  64  members. 
     The size of the frame sections  30  may vary depending on the required usage and the tastes of the user. Generally, the frame sections  30  include a base wall  32  having a width from inner edge to outer edge between 1.0 inches and 4.0 inches and a vertical wall  46  having a height between 1.0 inches and 4.0 inches. The frame sections  30 , when extended to their full telescoped length, typically have a length between 18.0 inches and 60.0 inches. It should be further understood that though the bottom side  40  of the base wall  32  is shown as being planar in the Figures, it may include embellishments and raised steps to enhance the visual appearance of the finished rectangular shaped frame  52 . 
     In use, the system  10  provides a support for the covering  12  of the attic opening  14  while also functioning as trim. However, the telescopic nature of the frame sections  30  and, in some embodiments, the first  42  and second  44  ends being angled, allows for extremely quick installation which is not possible when custom cutting trim pieces and support flanges for an attic doorway  18 . 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.