Patent Publication Number: US-9889803-B1

Title: Extrusion corner piece

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This present disclosure relates to slide-out rooms, particularly the trim flange that goes around the outside wall of the slide-out. Slide-out rooms reside in an opening in the side wall of an RV, trailer, or other mobile living quarters. The slide-out room provides additional living or storage space when the RV is parked without increasing the overall footprint of the vehicle. The slide-out room must be properly sealed from the outside elements, whether it is in the extended position or the retracted position. Typically, the room is sealed with a face seal that goes around the perimeter of the opening in the sidewall, along with wiper seals that slide on the sidewalls of the room as the room moves in or out. In order to have a mating surface for the face seal, a flange is attached to the perimeter of the outside wall of the slide-out room. Currently this is accomplished through a long extrusion with mitered corners that is attached to the slide-out room. The corners are subsequently covered up and protected with decorative trim pieces. Mitering corners on a room that can be quite large requires precision measurement and attachment to the room. A high level of skill is required. Cutting the extrusion too short or too long results in poor fitment, leaks, and bad aesthetics. Further, the trim pieces are held in with screws that require drilling and tapping to be properly attached to the extrusion. The screws must be no longer than the thickness of the extrusion and trim piece, as any part that extends too far could damage the seal, side wall, or prevent proper closure of the slide-out room. Due to the extreme time pressure when manufacturing an RV, an improved flange system is needed. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present disclosure describes a flange system that utilizes corner pieces that receive an extrusion and conceal the end of it. The corner piece allows the extrusion to be cut squarely with a wide tolerance band where the corner piece can still fit and perform its function. The corner piece is held to the slide-out room with the extrusion, so no external fasteners are needed. Each corner piece has two channels, each cannel receives the end of the extrusion. The channels are fixed at ninety degrees to locate and align the extrusions. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       A preferred embodiment of this invention has been chosen wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a front isometric view of the system; 
         FIG. 2  is a rear isometric view of the system; 
         FIG. 3  is a side view of the corner piece; 
         FIG. 4  is a rear view of the corner piece; 
         FIG. 5  is a rear isometric view of the corner piece; 
         FIG. 6  is a front perspective view of the system as installed on an RV with the slide-out room in the extended position; 
         FIG. 7  is a front perspective view of the system as installed on an RV with the slide-out room in the retracted position; 
         FIG. 8  is a section view  8 - 8  of the system as installed on an RV in  FIG. 7 ; 
         FIG. 9  is a section view  9 - 9  of the system as installed on an RV in  FIG. 7 ; and 
         FIG. 10  is a partial view  10  of the corner piece in  FIG. 4 . 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     A flange system  10  is shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The flange system  10  is designed to be affixed to an RV  12 , shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , specifically on the outside surface  14  of a slide-out room  16 . As is well-known in the art, recreational vehicles, travel trailers, and other mobile living quarters frequently have slide-out rooms  16  to increase living area without increasing the footprint of the vehicle during transport. The slide-out room  16  is received in an aperture in a main wall  18  of the RV  12  and moves between an extended position as shown in  FIG. 6  and a retracted position as shown in  FIG. 7 . The flange system  10  attaches to the perimeter of the outside surface  14  to conceal the gap between the room  16  and the main wall  18  and provide sealing when the room  16  is in the retracted position. 
     The flange system  10  is comprised of elongate extrusions  20  that are mated to flange corners  22 . The RV  12 , as shown, has elongate extrusions  20  and flange corners  22  that form a continuous perimeter, but it is also common for the RV  12  to have three or fewer where only a partial perimeter is formed. The elongate extrusions  20 , as shown, are common elongate aluminum extrusions. The flange system  10  serves several purposes. First, it provides a decorative trim that conceals the gap between the room  16  and the main wall  18 . Second, it provides a sealing surface when the room  16  is in the retracted position as shown in  FIG. 6 . 
     The elongate extrusions  20  have an outside wall  28  with an outside facing surface  30  and inside facing surfaces. The inside facing surface is separated into a sealing surface  32  and an overlaying surface  34  by a mounting wall  36 . The mounting wall  36  is perpendicular to the outside wall  28  and has mounting holes  38 , as shown in  FIG. 8 . The mounting wall  36  has a room facing surface  37  and an oppositely located surface  39 . The outside wall  28  has a lip  41  located on an outside lateral edge  40  and an oppositely located inside lateral edge  42 . The elongate extrusions  20  as shown are common aluminum extrusion, but other materials and manufacturing processes are contemplated. The elongate extrusions  20  have a consistent cross-sectional shape along their length. The cross section profile of the flange member  20  is shown in  FIG. 8 . Terminal ends  24  of the flange member  20  are identical to the section shown in  FIG. 8 . 
     The flange corners  22  have a planar base wall  50  with an outside facing surface  52 . A portion of the base wall  50  is a bridge portion that is located between the receiving pockets  54 ,  56  and is shown as a large planar area in  FIG. 5  that is thicker than the base wall  50  that is located in the receiving pockets  54 ,  56 . The flange corners  22  are mirror symmetrical about a plane  58  with first and second receiving pockets  54 ,  56  that receive and fix the terminal ends  24  of the elongate extrusions  20 . The plane  58  is perpendicular to the outside facing surface  52 . The receiving pockets  54 ,  56  are orthogonally angled with respect to each other. As shown in  FIG. 5 , the first receiving pocket  54  has an inner lateral boundary wall  60  and an outer lateral boundary wall  62  that extends away from the outside facing surface  52 . The first receiving pocket  54  has a mouth  66  and terminates at a first end surface  64  which serves as a stop for the terminal end  24  of the elongate extrusions  20 . A portion of the end surface  64  is located in the receiving pocket  54  and extends toward the lateral boundary wall  60  between the planar base wall  50  and a retaining wall  72 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , the end surface  64  extends to the corner wall  74 . The outer lateral boundary wall  62  is perpendicular to the base wall  50  and extends to a relatively narrow step wall  68  that is parallel to the planar base wall  50 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , the step wall  68  extends to a knee wall  70  that is parallel to the outer lateral boundary wall  62 . The knee wall  70  extends into the retaining wall  72  that is spaced from and parallel to the base wall  50 . A corner wall  74  extends perpendicularly from the retaining wall  72  and terminates at a lateral edge  76 . The corner wall  74  has inside facing surface  73  and an oppositely located outside facing surface  75 , shown in  FIG. 10 . The second receiving pocket  56  has an inner lateral boundary wall  80  and an outer lateral boundary wall  82  that extends away from the outside facing surface  52 . The second receiving pocket  56  has a mouth  86  and terminates at a first end surface  84  which extends between the planar base wall  50  and a retaining wall  92 . A portion of the end surface  84  is located in the receiving pocket  56  and extends toward the lateral boundary wall  60  between the planar base wall  50  and a retaining wall  92 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , the end surface  84  extends to the corner wall  94 . The outer lateral boundary wall  82  is perpendicular to the base wall  50  and extends to a relatively narrow step wall  88  that is parallel to the planar base wall  50 . The step wall  88  extends to a knee wall  90  that is parallel to the outer lateral boundary wall  82 . The knee wall  90  extends into the retaining wall  92  that is spaced from and parallel to the base wall  50 . A corner wall  94  extends perpendicularly from the retaining wall  92  and terminates at a lateral edge  96 . The corner wall  94  has inside facing surface  93  and an oppositely located outside facing surface  95 , shown in  FIG. 10 . 
     The corner walls  74 ,  94  have a thinned area  104 ,  114  that is made to overlay the mounting wall  36 . The thinned area  104 ,  114  transitions to a thick area  106 ,  116  at the end surface  64 ,  84 , as is visible in  FIG. 5 . The thick area  106  has an inside facing surface  107  that is coplanar with the room facing surface  37  when the elongate extrusion  20  is inserted into receiving pocket  54 . Similarly, the thick area  116  has an inside facing surface  117  that is coplanar with the room facing surface  37  when the elongate extrusion  20  is inserted into receiving pocket  56 . The thickness of the thinned area  104 ,  114  and the mounting wall  36  is substantially equal to the thickness of the thick area  106 ,  116 , to ensure the room facing surface  37  and corner walls  74 ,  94  form a continuous surface to mate with the side walls of the slide-out room  16 . 
     Apertures  108 ,  118  are located at the end of the outer lateral boundary walls  62 ,  82 . The apertures  108 ,  118  allow liquids such as water to drain out and prevent it from becoming trapped, where freezing can cause parts to be distorted or broken. 
     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.