Flexible insulated door panels with internal baffles
AssigneeRite-Hite Holding Corporation
InventorsPerry W. Knutson, Mark Ungs
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An example of a vertically operating door includes a flexible panel comprising two pliable sheets of material with a plurality of pads or mats of thermal insulation between the two sheets. In some examples, a plurality of horizontally elongate baffles made of pliable strips of material are installed between the two sheets. The baffles effectively divide one large interior volume between the sheets into more manageable smaller volumes or chambers. The baffles restrict the air between the sheets from being forced to the bottom of the panel as the panel ascends and bends across an overhead roller. Without the baffles and smaller chambers, the panel sheets in the area near the bottom of the panel would tend to bulge outward as the door opens.
Claims20
A door for a doorway, the door comprising:
- a flexible door panel movable between an open position and a closed position relative to the doorway, the flexible door panel including a first sheet, a second sheet that is generally parallel to the first sheet when the door is in the closed position, and a plurality of baffles extending between the first sheet and the second sheet to define a plurality of air chambers within the flexible door panel;
- and
- a mandrel about which the door panel bends as the door opens and closes.
A method of producing a door panel that can move between an open position and a closed position relative to a doorway, the method comprising:
- connecting a first sheet to a second sheet to create an overall chamber therebetween;
- installing a plurality of baffles between the first sheet and the second sheet, thereby dividing the overall chamber into a plurality of air chambers that contain air at a pressure that can vary, such that, when the door panel is moved from the closed position to the open position, the pressure of the air within at least one air chamber of the plurality of air chambers will be increased.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.