Closure device

March 17, 1970

3,500,599

S. SCIOLINO

CLOSURE DEVICE

<img file="US3500599A_D0001.tif" />

March 17, 1970

3,500,599

S. SCIOLINO

CLOSURE DEVICE

<img file="US3500599A_D0002.tif" />

ATTORNEY'S.

United States Patent Office

3,500,599

Patented Mar. 17, 1970

3,500,599 CLOSURE DEVICE Samuel Sciolino, Buffalo, N.Y., assignor to Weathershield Corporation, Buffalo, N.Y.

Filed Oct. 23, 1967, Ser. No. 677,210 _β

Int. CL E04h 9/14; 14/00 U.S. CI. 52—173 3 Claims

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE ₁₀

The construction disclosed herein is for a closure device including protective and resilient pads for the sides of doors to be used by trucks or other vehicles when backing to the door opening for loading or unloading. These pads are designed to close the spaces between the 15 sides of a truck and the sides of. the door opening so as to obstruct the flow of air through the door opening during the loading and unloading.of trucks.

In the accompanying drawings:

. FIG. 1 is a face view of a part of a building provided with a door opening through which the rear end of a truck may extend.

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation thereof on line 2—2, 25 FIG. 1. ..

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 and showing a part of a truck backed into position at the door opening.

FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional view on an enlarged scale showing in detail the padding employed at the door ³⁰opening.

FIG. 5 is a horizontal sectional view of a door opening provided with pads of modified construction.

FIG. 6 is a view showing the same padding when deflected by a truck. ³⁵

FIG. 7 is a horizontal sectional view showing a different arrangement of pads on the exterior surface of the building about the door opening.

FIG. 8 is an elevation of one of the pads at a side of the door opening. .

FIG. 9 is a similar view of the pads when shifted by movement of a truck.

In the drawings 10 represents the side of a building having a door opening 11 therein provided with a sill 12 at the lower edge of the opening. Trucks or other 45 vehicles, when loading or unloading material are usually backed toward the door opening so that the rear end thereof extends into or into proximity to the opening. The door opening is usually made of greater width than the width of a truck or vehicle so that vehicles of different 50 widths can be readily backed into operative relation to the door opening. When the door opening is wider than the width of the truck, air spaces are left between the truck and the opposite sides of the door opening. Frequently the temperature on the inside of the building is ⁵⁵different from that on the outside and consequently the flow of air through the spaces between the truck and the door opening may be objectionable. If, for example, a building is refrigerated or maintained at a temperature higher than the outdoor temperature, the passage of air ⁶θ through the spaces between the truck sides and the door opening, will interfere with maintaining the desired temperature in the building.

In order to remedy this situation I have provided on the exterior of the wall adjacent to the door opening ⁶³flexible and resilient strips 15 to occupy at least some of the space between the vehicle and the building. These pads or strips may be made of any suitable yielding or resilient material which are engaged by a truck 16 as it γθ is backed into operative relation to the door opening and then compressed or changed in shape so as to maintain a yielding pressure against the side walls of the truck, to form a seal against movement of air through the space between the door opening and the truck. The yielding material may be of any well known cellular material such, for example, as cellular polyethylene foam. This material is very flexible and after being deformed out of its usual shape, it will return to such shape when pressure on the same is released. Thus the pads or strips will exert yielding pressure against the sides of the truck and their flexibility will enable them to cooperate with trucks of different widths and shapes.

In the particular construction shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the positions of these strips or pads 17 which extend across the door opening are made with converging sides. For example, the inner walls 18 of the pads and the outer walls 19 converge so that the inner edges of the pads are of less thickness than the parts thereof which are secured to the building wall. This enables pads to flex more readily when engaged by a vehicle.

Preferably the resilient pads are secured to boards or other flat supports or plates 20 which in turn are secured to the side walls of the building. The pads are secured to the supporting plates or boards 20 by suitable cement or adhesive, and these supports 20 may then be secured to the building in any suitable or usual manner. As clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the converging sides 18 and 19 formed by inclined faces 18 on the portions of the pads which extend across the door opening. As a truck or other vehicle is backed toward the door opening, as shown in FIG. 3, it first engages the outer, flat surfaces 19 of the pads oh opposite sides of the door opening to seal the spaces between the truck and the door frame. If it is desired to back the truck farther toward the building, it then bends the tapered parts of the pads inwardly toward or into the door opening. These pads, because of their tapering shape can readily adapt themselves to the sides of the truck, regardless of the extent to which the same is backed into the door opening.

The outer surfaces of the pads, when made of light, flexible material, are sensitive to damage, particularly when engaged by any irregularities on the sides of the truck, such for example as door hinges or the like, and consequently it is desirable to cover these pads with material which offers high resistance to tearing or damage by the sides of the truck, without interfering with the flexing of the pads. For this purpose, as shown in FIG. 4, the pads are initially covered with a layer of tough, flexible lining material 25 which, for example, could be a woven fabric or a synthetic sheet material, and which serves mainly to protect the exterior of the pads from damage, but also sufficiently flexible to conform to the shape of the pads whether in their normal or deformed positions.

The exterior surfaces of the pads or strips which may be contacted by a vehicle are preferably protected by a layer 27 of flexible material which is much tougher and much less subject to tearing than the lining layer 25. This outer layer 27 may extend throughout the height of the pads. It may be for example, a neoprene or other synthetic sheet material which is shaped to cover the outer, flat surfaces 19 of the pads and which has inwardly extending portions or flanges 28 and 29, the portions 28 extending along the tapered face 18 of the pad. The other edge or flange 29 of the tough, flexible outer material 27 extends around the rear edge of the pad.

It is of course desirable to have the outer protecting material 27 attached to the strips or pads in such a manner that the protecting strip may move vertically relatively to the pad. The protecting material may, for example, be attached to the lining material in some suitable manner so that the bending of the inner edges of the pads will not cause breaking or cracking of the protect3,500,599 c ·.: ,/:. . : · 3 ing. material,, and.. for. this purpose. I provide. along., the edges or flanges of the outer protecting material a readily flexible, elastic material 32, such for example, as sheet rubber. This highly flexible material may be cemented to the outer protecting material 27 at the edges or flanges 28 and 29 thereof. This elastic material 32 extends beyond the side portions or flanges 28 and 29 and may then be secured to the inner lining layer 25 in any suitable manner, for example, by means of stapling or sewing, as indicated at 33.

It is of course obvious that during the loading or unloading of a truck positioned in engagement with the strips or pads, the truck will move upwardly or downwardly depending on the change in load of the truck. These changes in weight .cause the outer protective material 27 to move up and down relatively to the pads and the lining material material 25, and this movement is made possible by the elastic material 32.

In FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 I have shown different forms of 'the resilient strips or pads. In FIG. 5, strips 35 ,of rectangular shape are provided which are cemented to plates or panels 36, and these panels are secured to the .building.· . .

, FIG. 6 shows how these strips or pads are flexed when engaged by a truck 38.

Tn FIG. 7 I have shown padding strips or pads 40 which are arranged on the building adjacent to the door opening 41 but not extending across the same. These strips , serve to engage trucks or vehicles which may be wider than the door opening, and which when backed against the pads 40 will form a suitable obstruction to the passage of air into the door opening beyond the sides of the truck.

While I have shown in FIG. 4 in detail the arrangement of the lining and the outer protected layer 27, it will be understood that this arrangement is employed in connection with all of the strips or pads shown in the other figures of the drawings.

The upper edge of the door opening may be provided with a curtain or other means for contacting the roof of the truck to prevent passage of air through this part of the door space.

In FIG. 8 I have shown a strip or pad of the type illustrated in the preceding FIGS. 1-7 inclusive, and in FIG. 9 is shown a similar pad or strip when engaged by a truck 38 which has been at least partially unloaded so that the body portion of the truck is moved upwardly as indicated by the arrow. In this movement the truck has carried the outer protective covering material 27 upwardly while flexing the elastic strips 32, without producing any material upward movement of the outer parts of the strips or pads within the protective part 27.