GB2530590A

GB2530590A - Prefabricated door assembly

Info

Publication number: GB2530590A
Application number: GB1420705.4A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Alan Leacock
Original assignee: GARAGE DOOR SYSTEMS Ltd
Current assignee: GARAGE DOOR SYSTEMS Ltd
Priority date: 2014-11-21
Filing date: 2014-11-21
Publication date: 2016-03-30
Anticipated expiration: 2034-11-21
Also published as: GB2530590B; GB201420705D0

Abstract

A prefabricated door assembly comprising a frame assembly (4, Fig. 2) with an opening in which a door (2, Fig. 2) is hingedly mounted, the door being symmetrical about its horizontal centre line whereby the door can be reconfigured between left and right opening configurations by inverting the door. The frame may comprise upper 10, lower 12, latch side 14 and hinge side 16 frame members. The latch and hinge side members may have a common profile and fixing hole arrangement and the upper and lower members may have a common profile, allowing the frame to be inverted and/or rotated to convert the door between left, right, inward and/or outward opening configurations. The door may have a cross support or brace 22 mounted on the door leaf 20 and may have reinforcing members mounted on the latch and hinge sides.

Description

Prefabricated door assembly This invention relates to a prefabricated door assembly and is particular to a prefabricated door assembly for providing pedestrian access to a garage or other structure.

It is common to provide prefabricated pressed steel door assemblies for pedestrian access to garages, storage sheds and similar structures. Such door assemblies typically comprise a frame for fitment into a door opening and a door hingedly received within the frame. The frame incorporates a header and threshold and is designed to enable the door to open inwardly or outwardly and to enable the door to be hinged on the left or right side of thereof, as specified by the customer. Typically the door and sometimes also the frame are formed from pressed steel as a low cost and secure solution to providing pedestrian access to a structure.

Such prefabricated door assemblies are typically designed to open to the left or to the right and to open inwardly or outwardly as specified by the customer. Once the specification of the door has been chosen, it cannot generally be changed on site.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved prefabricated door assembly which enables the door be assembled on site from a common set of components to open inwardly or outwardly or to be hinged on the left of the right hand side, as desired.

The use of the terms horizontal, vertical, upper and lower when used herein should be understood in relation to the normal orientation of the door assembly in use.

According to the present invention there is provided a prefabricated door assembly for providing pedestrian access to a garage or other structure, said door assembly comprising a frame assembly defining an opening within which a door is hingedly mounted, the door being symmetrical about its horizontal centre line, whereby the door can be reconfigured between a left opening and a right opening configuration by inverting the door.

The frame assembly may comprise upper and lower frame members, a latch side frame member, and a hinge side frame member defining between then a rectangular door opening within which the door is mounted by hinge means mounted on the hinge side of the frame. Preferably the latch and hinge side frame members have a common profile and fixing hole arrangement and the upper and lower frame members have a common profile, allowing the frame to be inverted and/or rotated to convert the door from a left to a right opening configuration and/or an open inwardly or open outwards configuration. A header is detachably mounted on the upper frame member of the frame and a threshold is detachably mounted on the lower frame member of the frame.

Preferably the door comprises a planar door leaf and a cross support or brace mounted on the door leaf. In one embodiment the door leaf may be formed from pressed sheet steel. Preferably the door leaf is symmetrical in a horizontal plane bisecting the centre point of the door. Preferably folded edges of the door leaf define upper and lower edges of the door, a hinge side of the door and a latch side of the door.

Reinforcing members may be mounted on the latch and hinge sides of the door to facilitate attachment of a locking mechanism to the latch side of the door and a hinge assembly to the hinge side of the door. A rebate may be formed in the latch side of the door for receiving the locking mechanism.

Preferably the frame and the door are assembled using a cold joining technique.

A prefabricated door assembly in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-Figure 1 is a front view of a door assembly in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a rear view of the door assembly of Figure 1; Figure 3 is an exploded view of the door assembly of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a side view of the door of the door assembly of Figure 1 showing the latch side of the door; Figure 5 is a detailed view of part of the latch side of the door; Figure 6 is a side view of the door assembly of Figure 1 showing the hinge side of the door; Figure 7 is a detailed view of part of the hinge side of the door; Figure 8 is front view of one side member of the frame of the door assembly of Figure 1; and Figure 9 is a detailed view of the side member of the frame of the door assembly.

A prefabricated door assembly in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in the drawings. The door assembly comprises a door 2 and a frame 4 within which the door 2 can be hingedly mounted. The door assembly of the present invention is particularly suitable for use a pedestrian entry or side door for a garage. However, it is envisaged that the door assembly may be used to provide access to many other structures, such as sheds, outbuildings and any other domestic or commercial building.

As will be shown below in more detail, a prefabricated building pedestrian entry door assembly in accordance with the present invention and as illustrated in the drawings has several advantageous features, including: 1. Direct fixing points to the prefabricated structure; 2. On-site conversion for open left open right and open in or open out configurations using the same set of components; 3. The use of cold joining assembly techniques (non-welded) allowing the use of prefinished materials (i.e. coated steel); and, 4. Improved weatherproofing.

The design of the door assembly also minimises the total part count when

compared to prior art door assemblies.

The component parts of the door assembly may be made from sheet metal, more preferably sheet steel, preferably coated with a weatherproof coating, such as PVC or other suitable plastic coating or painted finish. Each component part may be formed by a pressing or stamping process or any other suitable metal forming technique. The component parts may be assembled by a cold joining technique, such as riveting, bolting, self-piercing rivets, or any one of a number of similar techniques, avoiding damage to the coating applied to the sheet material which would result from the use of welding techniques.

The key underlying feature of the door assembly in accordance with the present invention is the symmetry of the door about its horizontal centre line. This symmetry enables the door 2 to be rotated about its centre point to provide an open left or open right configuration.

The frame 4 of the door 2 is designed to be adaptable on site for inward or outward opening. To achieve this, a header 6 and a threshold 8 of the door frame 4 are separable from the remainder of the frame assembly. The detachable nature of the header 6 and threshold 8 serve the dual purpose of enabling the frame 4 to be rotated and may also compensate for any building tolerances while still providing a weather tight seal between the door assembly and the door opening.

The door frame 4 comprises upper and lower frame members 10,12, a latch side frame member 14, and a hinge side frame member 16. The latch and hinge side frame members 14,16 have a common profile and fixing hole arrangement and differ only in optional additional features used for either the latch of the door assembly or the hinges of the door assembly.

Both the latch and hinge side frame members 14,16 are joined to the upper and lower frame members 10,12 by riveting, bolting, self-piercing rivets, or similar cold joining techniques. The entire frame assembly 4 then mates with both the threshold and header pieces 6,8.

The door 2 is an assembly made up of a planar door leaf 20 and a cross support or brace 22 mounted on the door leaf 20. The door leaf 20 is formed from pressed sheet steel and is symmetrical in a horizontal plane bisecting the centre point of the door 2. This enables an easy reconfiguration of the door to open left or open right by simply rotating or inverting the door 2 perpendicular the plane of the door leaf 20 about the centre point thereof. Folded edges of the door leaf 20 define upper and lower edges of the door 24,26, a hinge side 28 of the door and a latch side 30 of the door. As shown in Figure 1, handle mounting aperture 23 in the door leaf 20 are arranged symmetrically on either side of the horizontal centre line of the door.

A hinge channel 32, and a latch channel 34, are respectively mounted on either side of the door leaf 20, on an inner face of each of the hinge and latch sides 32,34 of the door leaf 20. The door leaf 20 is assembled by first inserting the hinge channel 32 and latch channel 34 into respective hinge and latch sides 28,30 of the door leaf before riveting and gluing the cross support 22 to the back of the door leaf 20.

Figures 4 and 5 comprise more detailed views of the latch side of the door 2. A rebate 36 is formed in the latch side 30 of the door leaf 10 to enable the insertion of a standard multipoint locking system, as commonly found in UPVC doors. A cooperating further rebate may be provided in the latch channel 34 to permit the flush insertion of a multipoint locking system (not shown). The latch channel 34, provides a means of attaching the lock securely to the door leaf 20 with a small degree of freedom with respect to the door leaf 20 to accommodate tolerances while ensuring the lock can operate freely.

Likewise a more detailed section of the hinge side 28 of the door leaf 20 is shown in figures 6 and 7. The hinge channel 32 mates directly with the hinge side 28 of the door leaf 20 and may be secured thereto using a suitable cold joining technique, such as riveting. Aligned holes 4042 may be formed in the hinge side 28 of the door leaf 20 and the hinge channel 32 respectively to enable hinges (not shown) to be attached to the door 2.

The primary purpose of the hinge channel 32 is to provide reinforcement to the hinge side 28 of the door leaf 20, enabling the use of thinner material in the door leaf 20 and hence a more efficient and lightweight design.

The open left/open right design feature of the frame 4 necessitates the use of multiple fixing holes 44 formed in the latch and hinge side frame members 14,16 of the frame 4 to match the prefabricated building structure to which the door assembly is to be fitted. Figures 8 and 9 illustrate these fixing holes 44, formed in the hinge side frame member 16 of the frame 4. Only three of the fixing holes 44 may be required to be used on each side frame member 14,16 of the door frame 3 for any given configuration. However if the frame 3 is rotated, the use of the opposite three holes 44 will be necessary to fix the door assembly to the door opening. The fixing holes 44 may be slotted to absorb tolerances in the prefabricated building.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment(s) described herein but can be amended or modified without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

Claims 1. A prefabricated door assembly for providing pedestrian access to a garage or other structure, said door assembly comprising a frame assembly defining an opening within which a door is hingedly mounted, the door being symmetrical about its horizontal centre line whereby the door can be reconfigured between a left opening and a right opening configuration by inverting the door.
2. A door assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the frame assembly comprises upper and lower frame members, a latch side frame member, and a hinge side frame member defining between then a rectangular door opening within which the door is mounted by hinge means mounted on the hinge side of the frame.
3. A door assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein the latch and hinge side frame members have a common profile and fixing hole arrangement and the upper and lower frame members have a common profile, allowing the frame to be inverted and/or rotated to convert the door from a left to a right opening configuration and/or an open inwardly or open outwards configuration.
4. A door assembly as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3, wherein a header is detachably mounted on the upper frame member of the frame and a threshold is detachably mounted on the lower frame member of the frame.
5. A door assembly a claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the door comprises a planar door leaf and a cross support or brace mounted on the door leaf.
6. A door assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein the door leaf is formed from pressed sheet steel.
7. A door assembly as claimed in claim 5 or claim 6, wherein the door leaf is symmetrical in a horizontal plane bisecting the centre point of the door.
8. A door assembly as claimed in any of claims 5 to 7, wherein folded edges of the door leaf define upper and lower edges of the door, a hinge side of the door and a latch side of the door.
9. A door assembly as claimed in claim 8, wherein reinforcing members are mounted on the latch and hinge sides of the door to facilitate attachment of a locking mechanism to the latch side of the door and a hinge assembly to the hinge side of the door.
10. A door assembly as claimed in claim 8 or claim 9, wherein a rebate is formed in the latch side of the door for receiving the locking mechanism.
11. A door assembly as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the frame and the door are assembled using a cold joining technique.
12. A door assembly substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.AMENDMENTS TO THE CLAIMS HAVE BEEN FILED AS FOLLOWSClaims 1. A prefabricated garage door assembly for providing pedestrian access to a garage, said door assembly comprising a frame assembly defining an opening within which a door is hingedly mounted, the door being symmetrical about its horizontal centre line in the plane of the door, the door and frame assembly being formed from sheet steel, the frame assembly comprising upper and lower frame members, in use, a latch side frame member to which is mounted a locking mechanism, and a hinge side frame member to which is mounted a hinge assembly, said frame members defining between then a rectangular door opening within which the door is mounted by said hinge assembly mounted on the hinge side frame member, wherein the latch and hinge side frame members have a common profile and fixing hole arrangement and the upper and lower frame members have a common profile, allowing the door and the frame assembly to be is inverted or rotated to convert the door from a left to a right opening configuration and an open inwardly or open outwards configuration, in use, a header being detachably mounted on the upper frame member of the frame, in use, and a 0 threshold is detachably mounted on the lower frame member of the frame, in use, the door comprising a single planar door leaf and a cross support or brace mounted O 20 on the door leaf, folded edges of the door leaf defining upper and lower edges of the door, a hinge side of the door and a latch side of the door, reinforcing members being mounted on the latch and hinge sides of the door to facilitate attachment of the locking mechanism to the latch side of the door and the hinge assembly to the hinge side of the door, a rebate being formed in the latch side of the door for receiving the locking mechanism.2. A door assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the door leaf is symmetrical about a horizontal line bisecting the centre point of the door in the plane of the door leaf.3. A door assembly substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.