Patent Publication Number: US-11661257-B2

Title: Double door restraining device and method

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS/PRIORITY CLAIMS 
     This application is a divisional of and claims priority under 35 USC 120 and 121 to U.S. application Ser. No. 16/580,980, filed Sep. 24, 2019 (now U.S. Pat. No. 11,332,295), that claims the benefit under 35 USC 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/750,222 filed Oct. 24, 2018 and entitled “Double Door Restraining Device and Method”, the entirety of both of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     The disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for use with a double door assembly before and during installation of the double door assembly in a structure. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In the building of a structure, a double door assembly may be installed in the structure. The double door assembly includes two typical doors with each door hinged at one side of the double door assembly so that the doors close at the center of the double door assembly and may have a locking mechanism that can lock the two doors shut when the double door assembly has been installed. For example, a double door assembly may be installed in a wall of a bedroom of a residence and the double door assembly may allow a person to open either or both of the doors to walk out onto an outdoor porch or deck of the residence. 
     The double door assembly may include interior double door assemblies and exterior double door assemblies without a threshold. One significant problem with any double door assembly is that, if there is nothing to hold the double door assembly stable at the middle during shipping and/or installation, the two doors are free to separate or swing open since the locking mechanism has yet to be installed. This separation and/or swinging open of the two doors can cause damage to the entire double door assembly. 
     Currently, the method to hold the two doors is to attach a 1″×4″ wood runner from the bottom of the jamb leg on one side to the bottom of the jamb leg on the other side. Because there is an approximately ⅞″ gap from the top of the runner to the bottom of the doors, the manufacturer must use miscellaneous wood strips to build up the space so that the doors do not sag. This method is extremely time consuming, require significant manual labor to install, often requires cutting of scrap or purchased material and requires numerous staples. 
     Thus, it is desirable to provide a double door assembly device and method that stably restrain the bottom of the door doors and it is to this end that the disclosure is directed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    illustrates an exemplary double door assembly with a double door restraining device installed; 
         FIGS.  2 A and  2 B  illustrate a front view of the double door restraining device; 
         FIGS.  3 A and  3 B  are perspective views of the double door restraining device; 
         FIGS.  4 A and  4 B  are views of a bottom of the double door restraining device; 
         FIG.  5    is a side view of the double door restraining device; and 
         FIG.  6    illustrates an exemplary double door assembly with an astragal with double door retaining devices installed. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ONE OR MORE EMBODIMENTS 
     The disclosure is particularly applicable to a double door restraining device that has the configuration shown in the drawings and it is in this context that the disclosure will be described. It will be appreciated, however, that the device and method has greater utility since the double door restraining device can be manufactured out of various materials, although a plastic material is preferred. Furthermore, the double door restraining device may be used for any type of double door assembly including interior double door assemblies and exterior double door assemblies. In addition, the double door restraining device may be used to ship and install a double door assembly in any structure including residential structures and commercial structures. The double door restraining device may also be manufactured in different sizes to accommodate different width or different sized doors. 
       FIG.  1    illustrates an exemplary double door assembly  10  with a double door restraining device  12  installed. The double door assembly  10  may further include a door frame portion  14  that surrounds a first door  16  and a second door  18 . Each door  16 ,  18  may be attached to the door frame portion  14  by one or more hinges  20  so that each door is closed when the two doors meet at a center as shown in  FIG.  1   . Once installed, each door may have a locking mechanism or latch installed to allow a user to lock the two doors shut when they meet at a center point of the double door assembly  10 . 
     The double door restraining device  12  may be constructed of a suitable material, such as a suitable plastic in one embodiment, but may be manufactured of other suitable materials. In one embodiment, the double door restraining device  12  may be a single monolithic piece (as shown), but may also be formed with different portions connected together. The double door restraining device  12  may hold each door  16 ,  18  and the double door assembly  10  stable in all three directions—vertically, horizontally and front to back. In particular, the double door restraining device  12  may have two base portions  22  upon which a bottom portion of each door  16 ,  18  rests thus stabilizing the double door assembly in the vertical direction and prevent sagging. Furthermore, the double door restraining device  12  may have a set of sidewall portions (with a sidewall portion  24  being shown in  FIG.  1   ) that is connected to the base portions  22  and extends across a bottom corner portion of each door  16 ,  18 . The sidewall portion  24 , when the double door restraining device  12  is installed and secured to the assembly  10 , prevents the door from swinging open and the hinges  20  prevent the doors  16 ,  18  from swinging in the other direction so that the sidewall portion  24  provides stability of the double door assembly  10  front to back. The double door restraining device  12  further has a separator portion  26  connected to the sidewall portion  24  that fits in between the two doors  16 ,  18  and separates the two doors  16 ,  18  and provides stability of the double door assembly  10  in the horizontal direction. The double door restraining device  12  may be attached to the double door assembly  10  so that it stays in place during shipping and installation. 
       FIGS.  2 A and  2 B  illustrate a front view of the double door restraining device  12  that shows the elements already described above and further shows a tab portion  30  that runs along a length of the device  12  and may be used to connect the device  12  to the double door assembly  10 , such as by stapling. The tab portion  30  may be made of the same material as the rest of the device  12 , especially when the device  12  is manufactured by injection molding of plastic. Some embodiments of the device  12  may have the tab portion while other embodiments of the device  12  may not have the tab portion  30 . As shown in  FIG.  2 A , the device  12  may include a first retainer mechanism  12   1  and a second retainer mechanism  12   2  wherein each retainer mechanism holds and supports one of the two doors of the double door assembly. 
       FIGS.  3 A and  3 B  are perspective views of the double door restraining device  12 . In the example in  FIG.  3 A , the device  12  does not have the tab portion while the example in  FIG.  3 B  has the tab portion  30  as shown. The device  12 , as shown in these figures, has the set of sidewall portions  24  and  24 ′ spaced apart from each other wherein the gap between the two sidewall portions  24 ,  24 ′ may be approximately a width of each door of the double door assembly  10  so that the device  12  can snugly secure each door. It is understood that the distance between the two sidewall portions  24 ,  24 ′ and the width of the base portions  22  may be varied depending on the type of double door assembly and the width of its doors. In general, a different embodiment of the device  12  may be manufactured for each different double door assembly  10 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  3 A , one of the base portions  22  is shown that supports the door  16 ,  18  vertically. Each base portion  22  is formed and connected to a bottom portion  32  of the device  12 , each sidewall portion  24 ,  24 ′ of the device  12  and the separator portion  26  of the device. Each base portion  22  as shown in  FIGS.  3 A and  3 B  may be formed through injection molding and have the voids as shown, but each base portion  22  may also be solid. Each sidewall portion  24 ,  24 ′ and the separator portion  26  may also be connected to the bottom portion  32  that acts as a skid plate and protects the double door assembly  10  from damage if the double door assembly  10  is, for example, slid along the floor during shipping and installation. As shown in  FIG.  3 A , the double door restraining device  12  may have a first door retainer assembly  34  and a second door retainer assembly  36  formed back to back (preferably as a single device) that share the separator portion  36 . Each of the first door retainer assembly  34  and the second door retainer assembly  36  may thus include one of the base portions  22 , a set of sidewalls  24 ,  24 ′ and share the separator portion  26 . 
       FIGS.  4 A,  4 B and  5    are views of the double door restraining device  12  that shows an embodiment that has the tab  30  that extends downward from the base portion and base portions  22  may have the voids. Also note that, in this embodiment, the sidewalls  24 ,  24 ′ may have a varying thickness along their length. Each embodiment of the double door restraining device  12  as shown in  FIG.  4 B  may have a hole  40  on each end of the base portion that may be used to secure the double door restraining device  12  to the double door assembly. 
     The above described and illustrated double door restraining device  12  holds/restrains a double door unit/assembly (interior units and exterior units without a threshold) stable at the bottom. The double door restraining device  12  easily slides onto the bottom of the doors  16 ,  18  (see  FIG.  2 B  for example) where they meet in the middle. The user/manufacturer/installer has the option to either screw through the designated holes  22  in the double door restraining device  12  into the bottom of the door slab or apply the 1″×4″ runner as described above then staple through the tab  30  into the runner. Screw holes  40  may alternatively be used to screw device  12  to the 1×4″ wood runner in lieu of or in conjunction with staples through the flap prior to applying the wood runner with attached device  12  combination to the double door unit assembly. 
     In use, the double door restraining device  12  may be placed onto a double door assembly at the bottom and secured to the double door assembly to stabilize the double door assembly during manufacture and shipping. Prior to installing the double door assembly in the structure, the double door restraining devise  12  must be removed. 
     In an alternative embodiment, the double door restraining device  12  may be cut in half so that the restraining device  12  may be used to stabilize a single door. 
       FIG.  6    illustrates an exemplary double door assembly with an astragal  60  with double door retaining devices  12  installed. In this embodiment, the double door restraining device  12  may be manufactured in the same manner and material as described above, but without the separator portion  26  (middle cross rib). The astragal  60  may be a metal or plastic piece that runs down the length of the doors as shown in  FIG.  6    and may including locking mechanisms or a trim piece that hides the separation between the two doors  16 ,  18 . Like the example in  FIG.  1   , the double door assembly  10  may include the door frame portion  14  that surrounds the first door  16  and the second door  18 . Each door  16 ,  18  may be attached to the door frame portion  14  by one or more hinges  20  so that each door is closed when the two doors meet at a center as shown in  FIG.  6    that may be hidden by the astragal  60  as shown in  FIG.  7   . Once installed, each door may have a locking mechanism or latch installed to allow a user to lock the two doors shut when they meet at a center point of the double door assembly  10 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  6   , for a double door with the astragal  60 , a first device  12  and a second device  12  (two double door restraining devices that do not have the middle cross rib) are placed adjacent to each door  16 ,  18  (such as 1.5 inches from the middle although the distance of each device  12  may be varied). Each device  12  may be stapled to a wood runner of the double door assembly to protect the double door assembly with the astragal  60 . 
     The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has been described with reference to specific embodiments. However, the illustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the disclosure and its practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the disclosure and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Although certain presently preferred implementations of the invention have been specifically described herein, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains that variations and modifications of the various implementations shown and described herein may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is intended that the invention be limited only to the extent required by the applicable rules of law. 
     While the foregoing has been with reference to a particular embodiment of the disclosure, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes in this embodiment may be made without departing from the principles and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims.