AU3937800A - Door assembly - Google Patents

Description

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT e Invention Title: DOOR ASSEMBLY Applicant: MARTIN STUART-SKINNER The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: 1 C:\windows\TEMP\CAP-D-L#.DOC i. Ir -2- DOOR ASSEMBLY Field of the invention This invention relates to a door assembly that enables emergency access to a space through a doorway where access would otherwise be prevented as a result of the door being locked or obstructed. The invention is particularly suited to situations where an occupant of a relatively small enclosed area (behind a locked door) may experience a lack of consciousness or mobility and require rescue.

Background of the invention Emergency access to enclosed spaces is a requirement in the design of both 15 commercial and domestic living environments. A particular problem exists with respect to small areas such as those generally provided for lavatories or relatively small bathrooms.

For convenience, doors to rooms in a dwelling are generally inwardly opening into the enclosed space. This provides for the least inconvenience with respect to traffic passing the outside of the room. In the particular instance of lavatories and small bathrooms, these are generally situated in an area that has restricted area for passing traffic and hence inwardly swinging doors have obvious advantages.

Doors for these areas, such as lavatories, generally include a lock to prevent access from the outside whilst an occupant uses the facilities. However, in certain instances, an occupant may experience difficulty and require assistance.

A particular concern with regard to small rooms such as lavatories is the requirement to gain access to rescue occupants who are unable to remain clear of an inwardly opening door. In certain instances, it has been known for an (a.

-3occupant to collapse against the door thus preventing the opening of the inwardly swinging door from the outside.

Building regulations have become increasingly stringent in recent times to address this problem. Regulations in Australia currently require all new buildings to include sanitary compartments with sufficient space, or other means, to permit an unconscious occupant to be removed from the compartment. As the increased cost of providing large sanitary compartments is an option that builders wish to avoid, an alternative means for enabling unconscious occupants to be removed from a sanitary compartment is required.

Various devices have been proposed to enable a door to be removed from the door frame from outside the enclosed space thus enabling the rescuers to gain access to the room without the necessity of the door opening inwardly into the 15 occupied space.

O One example of a device includes removable hinges. The hinges enable rescuers to release the door from the hinge mounts thereby enabling the door to be removed. These devices are generally relatively expensive and can cause *ooo further problems if an occupant is slumped against the door when the hinges are released. This is a particular problem if the occupant is large or heavy and the rescuer activates the release mechanism without the knowledge that the door, which itself may be heavy, may be forced outwardly onto the rescuer.

Additionally, it may be necessary to retain the tongue of the door latching mechanism in a withdrawn position during removal of the door.

Another example of a device includes modification of the door frame to exclude the standard door stops and to replace them with a removable stop. This requires the door frame to be constructed without conventional door stops. In addition, this approach requires a pivot such that the door may swing inwardly and/or outwardly. During normal use, the removable door stop remains in place and the door swings inwardly. In the event that an occupant requires rescue, -4the removable door stop is removed, thereby enabling the door to swing outwardly and hence allowing access to the occupant.

The use of pivoted door ensures that a door would not be forced onto a rescuer.

However, both the use of removable hinges and pivoted door requires the removal of the standard door stops. This in turn requires relatively large gaps around the periphery of the door. This has obvious consequences with regard to draft, noise and the escape of odour from the enclosed space and reduced privacy. In addition, it is difficult to use a door closer with either type of arrangement.

In addition, the use of a pivoted door is relatively more costly than the use of removable hinges. Whilst seals have been proposed to overcome the problems with gaps around the periphery of the door, this has the effect of further o* *ooo 15 increasing cost.

*l S The above discussion is included in this specification solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not suggested that any or all of these matters formed part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention as it existed before the priority date of each claim of the specification.

Summary of the invention The present invention provides a door assembly including a door adapted for mounting substantially within the plane of a door frame the door assembly also including a sub-door adapted for mounting substantially within the plane of the door.

Preferably, the door and sub-door have separate latching mechanisms. It is also preferred that the door include a latching mechanism operable by hand and the <.Ib sub-door include a latching mechanism requiring the use of a tool to disengage the sub-door latch.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the tool for disengaging the subdoor latch is a budget lock key. However, the tool may also be a screwdriver or some other form of tool that is relatively inexpensive or readily to hand.

In one particular embodiment, the sub-door is a substantially planar panel residing, in a closed position, in a plane generally co-incident with the plane of the door. In this embodiment, it is preferable that the door and sub-door be capable, in use, of opening in opposite directions. When the door assembly of this embodiment is mounted in the doorframe of a room, it is preferable that the door be capable, in use, of opening inwardly, and the sub-door be capable, in use, of opening outwardly with respect to the room.

It is preferable that the door include a conventional latching mechanism and the sub-door include a latching mechanism operable by use of a tool outside the room.

20 In a particularly preferred embodiment, the sub-door includes a plurality of discrete panels each panel being hingedly connected to at least one other .panel. It is also preferred in this embodiment that at least one of the discrete panels be hingedly connected to the door. In addition, the discrete panels of the sub-door may be generally vertically disposed. However, the discrete panels may also be generally horizontally disposed.

In an alternative embodiment, the sub-door is a substantially planar panel detachable from the door assembly and is capable, in use, of being detached from the door assembly by hand. The detachment of the panel in this embodiment may also be such that detachment is difficult by hand and generally requires the use of a removal tool.

The present invention thus provides a door assembly that may be mounted in a standard door frame such that the door opens inwardly to a small room such as a lavatory, but that also enables access from the outside of the room if an occupant requires assistance. The invention provides a solution to the abovementioned problems that is less costly as compared with other suggested means with respect to the manufacture and installation of the door assembly.

The door assembly of the present invention additionally requires no change to the parts required or the standard installation procedure for standard doors.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiment A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described in relation to the accompanying drawings. However, it is to be appreciated that the following description is not to limit the generality of the above description.

The description of the preferred embodiment refers to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 provides an isometric view of the relative positioning of a door frame 20 with respect to the various components of a sanitary compartment with the door assembly of a preferred embodiment in a closed position; Figure 2 provides an isometric view of the embodiment of Figure 1 with the door in an open position; Figure 3 provides an isometric view of the embodiment of Figure 1 with the door in a closed position and the sub-door in a partially open position; Figure 4 provides an exploded isometric view of an alternative embodiment of where the sub-door comprises a single planar panel; Figure 5 provides a sectioned plan view of the embodiment of Figure 4; and Figure 6 provides a sectioned plan view of the embodiment of Figure 1.

With reference to Figure 1, a door assembly 5 according to the present invention is illustrated having a door 30 residing within a door frame 8 at the entrance of a lavatory. For illustrative purposes, an outline only of the lavatory walls 10 and the general location of the toilet pan 12 and cistern 14 are represented.

In addition, as the door 30 opens inwardly during normal use, the position of the door 30 when fully opened is detailed in dashed outline 15, along with the arc of travel of the outer edge of the door 30. The door 30 includes a latching mechanism that may be used to effect latching of the door 30 and which may also enable the door 30 to be locked in its closed potision from the inside by the occupant of the lavatory thus protecting the privacy of the occupant in the usual manner. The door 30 is connected to the door frame 8 by way of standard edge mount door hinges (not detailed in Figure 1).

The position of the door 30 when fully opened is better detailed in Figure 2. In Figure 2, and as is generally the case for most lavatories, the door 30 does not remain at least 1.2 m from the toilet pan at all positions during opening. As such, and in order to conform with building regulations, this particular arrangement requires some means to remove an unconscious person from the room without the need for the door to swing towards the sanitary fittings.

An unconscious person may be removed from the lavatory by opening the subdoor 17 as detailed in Figure 3. In the embodiment detailed, the sub-door 17 includes two generally vertically disposed discrete portions 17a and 17b connected by a hinge 20 and also includes latching mechanisms 19a and 19b.

In the preferred embodiment, the latching mechanisms 19a and 19b may only be operated by use of a tool, such as a budget lock key or a screwdriver, thereby enabling the sub-door 17 to be opened. As such, the latching mechanisms 19a and 19b effectively latch and lock the sub-door 17 in its closed position as the latch mechanisms 19a and 19b may only be released from outside the lavatory and by use of a tool. The tool required may be a budget lock key, a screwdriver or any readily available implement such as a coin. In one embodiment, the latching mechanisms 19a and 19b are disengagable by hand. This may be particularly useful is hospitals or aged care homes and with at least one of the latching mechanisms located in an upper region of the subdoor 17, the risk of the sub-door being unnecessarily opened by a child is substantially reduced.

The discrete portions 17a and 17b of sub-door 17 fold as the sub-door 17 opens. The sub-door 17 is mounted to the door 30 by way of standard edge mount door hinges (not detailed in Figure 3).

As would be recognised by persons skilled in the art, the sub-door 17, and the opening in the door 30 for the purpose of removing an unconscious occupant, may be of a number of possible shapes or sizes and may even extend to the floor.

e* Figure 4 details an exploded isometric view of an alternative embodiment where sub-door 35 consists of a single planar panel. Figures 5 and 6 detail sectioned plan views of the two alternative arrangements with the sub-door 35 and 17 respectively.

S*i Figure 5 details the arrangement of sub-door 35 as presented in Figure 4. The door 30 is detailed in its closed position residing within door frame 8. Door stops 21 and 22 prevent the door 30 from opening outwardly. The door 30 is connected to the door frame 8 by way of edge mounted hinge 7. The latch mechanism 32 retains the sub-door 17 in its closed position and as there is no means to operate the latch mechanism 32 by hand, it is effectively locked in that closed position. However, when latch mechanism 32 is released, the sub-door -9is then able to swing open outwardly, whilst remaining mounted to the door by way of edge mounted hinge 18.

Although doors may be manufactured and mounted to provide a relatively good seal when in their closed position, it may be desirable to provide a better seal between the sub-door 35 and the door 30. This could be provided by way of mouldings 25 which have the added effect of improving the aesthetic appearance of the overall door assembly Figure 6 details a sectioned plan view of the embodiment of Figures 1, 2 and 3.

In this instance, an extra edge mounted hinge 20 is provided to accommodate the two separate portions 17a and 17b. The concertina form of the sub-door 17 has the benefit of reducing the space required outside the lavatory when C opening the sub-door 17. As would be appreciated by those skilled in the art, l 15 the number of panels may be varied to suit any particular circumstance or requirement. This particular arrangement of the sub-door 17 also allows the use of lever style door handles that may otherwise interfere with the operation of a single panel sub-door As can be understood from the above description, the present invention provides a relatively inexpensive solution to conform with building requirements ***for lavatories or other small rooms with doors that may be locked from the inside. The invention uses standard components that are already in use in the building industry and in particular, provides a door assembly that may be mounted in a door frame using the same procedure as for standard doors. As such, door assemblies according to the present invention may be produced such that they require no on-site assembly and do not require any specialised experience or training on the part of the installer.

Finally, it will be appreciated that there may be other modifications and alterations made to the configurations described herein that are also within the scope of the present invention.

Claims (20)

1. A door assembly including a door adapted for mounting substantially within the plane of a door frame the door assembly also including a sub-door adapted for mounting substantially within the plane of the door.

2. A door assembly according to claim 1 wherein the door and sub-door have separate latching mechanisms.

3. A door assembly according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the door includes a latching mechanism operable by hand and the sub- door includes a latching mechanism operable by hand.

4. A door assembly according to either claim 1 or 2 wherein the door 15 includes a latching mechanism operable by hand and the sub-door includes a latching mechanism requiring the use of a tool to disengage the sub-door latch.

A door assembly according to either claim 3 or claim 4 wherein the tool for disengaging the sub-door latching mechanism is a budget lock key.

6. A door assembly according to either claim 3 or claim 4 wherein the tool for disengaging the sub-door latching mechanism is a screwdriver.

7. A door assembly according to any one of claims 2 to 6 wherein the sub-door is a substantially planar panel residing, in a closed position, in a plane generally co-incident with the plane of the door.

8. A door assembly according to claim 7 wherein the door and sub-door are capable, in use, of opening in opposite directions. -11

9. A door assembly according to any one of claims 2 to 6 wherein the sub-door includes a plurality of discrete panels each panel being hingedly connected to at least one other panel.

10. A door assembly according to claim 9 wherein at least one of the plurality of discrete panels is hingedly connected to the door.

11. A door assembly according to claim 9 or 10 wherein the discrete panels are generally vertically disposed.

12. A door assembly according to claim 9 or 10 wherein the discrete panels are generally horizontally disposed. a 06

13. A door assembly according to claim 1 wherein the sub-door is a 0 15 substantially planar panel detachable from the door assembly and is capable, in .o•use, of being detached from the door assembly by hand.

14. A door assembly according to claim 1 wherein the sub-door is a substantially planar panel and is detachable from the door assembly, the sub- door being capable, in use, of being detached from the door assembly by the use of a removal tool.

A door assembly according to claim 8 wherein the door assembly is mounted in the doorframe of a room, the door being capable, in use, of opening inwardly, and the sub-door being capable, in use, of opening outwardly with respect to the room.

16. A door assembly according to claim 15 wherein the door includes a conventional latching mechanism such that the door is capable, in use, of being locked from inside the room. -12-

17. A door assembly according to any one of claims 10, 11 or 12 wherein the door assembly is mounted in the door frame of a room, the door being capable, in use, of opening inwardly.

18. A door assembly according to claim 17 wherein the door includes a conventional latching mechanism such that the door is capable, in use, of being locked from inside the room.

19. A door assembly according to claim 1 substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 1, 2, 3 and 6. A door assembly according to claim 1 substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 4 and 0 DATED: 9 June 2000 PHILLIPS ORMONDE FITZPATRICK Attorneys for:

20 MARTIN STUART-SKINNER PI S. S