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US 4,069,618 AGranted
Radiant resistant closure assembly
AssigneeAll-Shield Enclosures, Inc.
InventorCharles Geiss
Life of this patent
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AssigneeAll-Shield Enclosures, Inc.
InventorCharles Geiss
Estimating the term…
A radiant resistant closure assembly is described for joining a door and its frame including a resilient contact retained in position by a holding plate attached to the frame of the door. The contact extends into a slot along the edge of the frame and receives a blade-like rigid contact mounted to the door. The door is closed in a manner whereby the rigid contact blade-like member enters into the slot, is frictionally engaged by the resilient finger contact, and is held in position. For insuring further radiation resistance, an RF shielding mesh may be placed down in the bottom of the slot. The resilient contact encountered by the blade may include two offset bowed finger-like members, the second being retained on the opposite side of the slot from the first by means of a retaining clip friction fitted into the slot itself.
A radiation resistant closure assembly for joining a door and its frame, comprising first and second closure members, one of said members secured to the frame of said door, the other to the frame adapted to receive said door, said first and second members each including a pair of walls spaced from each other and defining a slot, each outer wall of said pair being insertable into the slot formed by the pair of walls on the opposing closure member, said walls thereby forming a pair of slots between said door and said frame, a first finger contact positioned in a first of said pair of slots along one of said walls, a second finger contact positioned in the second of said pair of slots along another of said walls, said first and second finger contacts opposed to one another and each having a bowed portion displaced from one another along the path defined by said pair of slots, said bowed portions of each of said finger contacts being resiliently urged against an opposing wall of a respective slot to apply a pressure against said opposing wall, thereby holding said door and door frame in relatively rigid fixed relationship.
A radiation resistant closure assembly for joining a door and its frame, comprising first and second closure members, one of said members secured to the frame of said door, the other to the frame adapted to receive said door, said first member comprising a first finger contact, a holding means retaining said first finger contact to said first member with a portion of said first finger contact extending into a slot formed along the length of said frame by two parallel walls, said first finger contact extending into said slot along one of said walls, a second finger contact, a retaining clip coupled to said frame for holding said second finger contact along the other of said parallel walls, said first and second finger contacts opposed to one another and each having a bowed portion displaced from one another along the path defined by such slot, said second member including a rigid contact extending from said second member and insertable for closure into said slot and electrically contacting the bowed portion of both said first and second finger contacts in a manner wherein said rigid contact is maintained in position between said first and second finger contacts.
A radiation resistant closure assembly for joining a door and a frame each respectively comprising first and second closure members, a slot formed along the length of each said closure member by two parallel frame walls, said first closure member including a first finger contact, said second closure member including a second finger contact, holding means for retaining each said finger contact in said slot adjacent a respective one of said walls, each said finger contact having a portion thereof resiliently formed and bowed in a transverse direction in said slot, said portion of one finger contact being offset from the corresponding portion of the other finger contact, one of said walls of each of said closure members being a rigid blade extending therefrom and insertable for closure into the slot formed in the other closure member and electrically contacting the facing bowed portions of said finger contacts in a manner wherein rigid contact is maintained by the resilient force applied to each said blade by said finger contacts.
A radiation resistant closure assembly for joining a door and a frame comprising first and second closure members, one of said closure members secured to said door the other to said frame, a slot formed along the length of said frame by two parallel frame walls, said first closure member comprising a finger contact, a means for retaining said finger contact in said slot adjacent one of said walls, said finger contact having a portion thereof resiliently formed and bowed in a transverse direction in said slot, said holding means comprising a generally L-shaped clip which is positioned in said frame slot, said clip having a first leg segment thereof extending generally parallel to one of said walls and a second leg segment thereof extending transversely in said frame slot, said clip formed to provide a resilient force for retaining said clip in said frame slot, said clip and said finger contact each having segments thereof formed for providing engagement therebetween for retaining said contact finger in said slot, said second closure member including a rigid contact extending therefrom and insertable for closure into said slot and electrically contacting the bowed portion of said finger contact in a manner wherein said rigid contact is maintained in position in said slot by the resilient force applied thereto by said finger contact, said frame slot includes an opening thereof for entry of said rigid body into said slot for contacting said finger contact, said clip flange is formed along an edge thereof extending parallel to said wall and adjacent said aperture, and said finger contact includes a U-shaped segment thereof positioned near said entry aperture and engaging said clip flange.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
Drawings are temporarily unavailable. Open the PDF at USPTO
From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Gaskets or seals: having a spring contact
Printed circuits
Term ended 24 Jan 1995 (estimated)
USPTO file history isn’t available for this patent, so only indexed dates are shown.
This invention relates to door closure mechanisms and more particularly to a mechanism and construction for a door and frame whereby closure may be effected in a radiation resistant manner.
RF shield mechanisms utilized in enclosures in conventional use today experience unreliable performance due to improper use of materials, marginal design and inability of closures to withstand constant usage. The present construction techniques result in a high incidence of mechanical failure whereas the use of improper materials result in marginal electrical performance and are subjected to continuous degradation. Typical configurations have employed step joint constructions having pluralities of metal strips along the step contacts between door and frame, and sliding arrangements where each of the abutting sliding contacts include strip-like metal portions forming a closure seal between the door and frame. In the U.S. Pat. No. to C. A. Hansen, 3,589,070, issued June 29, 1971, a radiation resistant enclosure is constructed of two strips of oppositely offset resilient friction engaging elements which must be fitted into specially designed channels formed as elongated grooves along both sides of a holding slot designed to accommodate these members. These construction techniques require extensive soldering, positioning and fabricating techniques and are difficult to align, maintain and repair.
It is accordingly the object of the present invention to provide a novel and unique enclosure design resulting in a rigid lightweight construction.
The foregoing objects and brief description of the present invention will become more apparent from the following more detailed description and appended drawings wherein:
FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the closure mechanism of the present invention showing the relationship of the first and second closure members;
FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the two-edge portions of the door frame showing the door in partially closed position;
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a door 10 and a frame 12 in isometric view, each having a closure member indicated generally as 14 and 16, respectively, affixed thereto. It is understood that although it is preferred that the door 10 has the closure 14 and that frame 12 has the closure 16, the roles of the closure members may be reversed on the respective elements.
The door panel 10 is constructed as a hollow metal unit with either honey comb or framing installed inside in the area 18 inside the door so as to provide stiffness. The hinge area and latching areas (not shown) are reinforced to accommodate the hinges on the door closing system itself. The entire door panel is completely RF sealed with all seams heli-arced welded. The door material is preferably 18 gauge steel or heavier. The door panel is further provided with an internal panel frame 22 for containing the interior portion 18 which is also constructed of heavy gauge steel and attached to the main frame by welding or pop riveting. The frame 22 may also be formed as part of the door as a single structural element.
Door panel 10 includes a rigid contact element 20 formed as a blade and which is constructed so as to protrude from the door panel about the complete circumference of the door. It is, of course, also possible to utilize the blade in only sections around the door frame, however, maximum RF sealing is achieved when the blade 20 is provided around the entire perimeter of the door. The blade is constructed of plated steel and is of a thickness to provide the maximum magnetic attenuation at all frequencies. The blade is designed to resist wear and is self-cleaning when making contact with its complementary structure in the door frame 12 as will be described further hereinbelow. The choice of plated steel in the fabrication of the entire door assembly provides attenuation which cannot be achieved satisfactorily in all areas of application, particularly magnetic, by the use of bronze or brass extrusions or by aluminum or other similar material that is not completely compatible with achieving magnetic attenuation at all frequencies. By magnetic attenuation at all frequencies it is intended that achieving attenuation of 45 db at 1 kilohertz and 120 db in electric and plane wave through 10 ghz is considered a satisfactory level of attenuation.