CA2141634A1

CA2141634A1 - Folding garage doors and the like and hinges therefor

Info

Publication number: CA2141634A1
Application number: CA 2141634
Authority: CA
Inventors: Vittorio De Zen
Original assignee: Royal Group Inc Canada
Current assignee: Westlake Canada Inc
Priority date: 1995-02-01
Filing date: 1995-02-01
Publication date: 1996-08-02
Also published as: MX9705804A; AU4479196A; NZ300136A; WO1996023948A1; AU706873B2

Abstract

A folding garage door or the like comprising a plurality of transverse rows of door panels of plastic material hingedly connected by a plurality of spaced transverse hinges each of the transverse hinges comprising an elongated extrusion having one rounded longitudinal edge wall which is notched to provide a series of spaced aligned integrally connected hinge barrel elements with the hinge barrel elements of one of the pair of extrusions being offset and interleaved with the hinge barrel elements of the other extrusion. A pintle extends through the interleaved hinge barrel elements providing a pivotal connection therebetween and means are provided extending along the longitudinal edges of the extrusions opposite to the notched edges to engage the door panels.

Description

~ 21~163~

FOLDING GARAGE DOORS AND THE LIKE
AND HINGES THEREFOR

FTFT T~ OF TlITF INVENTION
This invention relates to folding doors and the like having hingedly connected panels, and has particular Arrlir~;rn to large folding doors such as garage doors and the hinges therefor and will be described with particular reference thereto.
BA(~TCGROUNI) OF TllF INV~NTION
At present, garage doors are usually formed of rows of wood panels hinged together by a number of separate metal hinges fastened thereto.
20 The doors also have a series of separately mounted rollers at their edges which run in tracks extending upwardly at the sides of the door opening and 'Iy inwardly at the top of the door opening so that the door can be moved upwardly and then because of the hinging ~ move hnri7rntAlly inwardly at the top of the door opening. Very frequendy such 25 folding garage doors are provided with a remote controlled motor to raise and lower dhe doors in response to a signal from a small Lla~ ilL~l device.
At present such garage doors are both expensive to ~ Art-lre both from the cost of the wood and the ~ amount of hardware 30 required in the form of hinges and rollers which have to be individually assembled. Moreover, these doors are heavy and awkward to handle, ship and install. The garage door opener ....~ to handle such heavy doors require motors of ~i~nifirAnt torque and relatively heavy duties cables, pulleys or other h~rness for effecting the door movement.

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Further, present such doors require m~ e and painting and, when damaged, cannot readily be repaired as the panels cannot be replaced without the removal and ~ of the door.

BRTT~F DFr~(~RTPTlON (lF TTTF~ PRF~r~F~T INV~lYTION
The present invention provides for the provision of a folding door 0 such as the garage door formed essentially or entirely of plastic material which is ci~.,ir;,~ ~ly less expensive to m~nl-fAr~llre and ~i~nifir~nt1y lighter than present such doors and does not require any hinge hardware to assemble, nor track hardware to run in the tracks or guides at the sides of the door opening.
Not only is the door of the present invention lighter and therefore easier to handle and instal but the ~ parts are easily ~ss~ ' so that the door can be shipped in knock down form to provide important ion costs.
Further the door of the present invention requires no ~~ ' e and, if a door panel becomes damaged, it may be simply and easily replaced without having to remove the door from its installed position or disturb the other panels.
Moreover, because of the light weight of the door of the present invention, lighter duty and less expensive door operating ~ can be employed to provide additional cost savings.

3 o In its broadest aspect the present invention involves, as the means of hingedly c~ door panels of the like, the utilization of elongated L,~ ;r extrusions having a lr~n~it~ ir ~ edge which is notched to provide a series of hinge barrel elements along the length thereof adapted to interleave with the hinge barrel elements of a mating extrusion to provide a s-lhst~rltislly cc pintle receiving hinge barrel formation along the length of the extrusions.
According to a preferred form of the present invention, the folding 5 or garage door comprises a plurality of transverse rows of door panels of plastic material hingedly connected by a plurality of spaced transverse hinges, each of said transverse hinges cm ~ a pair of elongated extruded hollow hinge bars of thllrm~pls~tir material having 1.~ ".1; 5l front, rear and edge walls, one of the l~n~ihl~ l edge walls of each of the bars being notched to 10 provide a series of spaced slots therein, a series of spaced aligned integrally connected hinge barrel elements project outwardly from said notched edge wall beyond said slots with the hinge barrel elements of one of the pair of hinge bars being offset and ' v~,~ with the hinge barrel elements of tne other of the pair of hinge bars. A pintle extending through the interleaved 15 inge barrel elements provides a pivotal c, l:~ between the hinge bars, and the hinge bars have means extending along the l~,~L.il, li..~l edges thereofopposite to said notched edges to engage the edges of the door panels.
According to a preferred aspect of the invention, the said hinge 2 o bars are extruded so that said notched If'n . ~ 1 edge wall is an outwardly extending wall of part circular cross section and the notching of said wall provides said series of aligned integrally connected hinge barrel elements.
According to another aspect of the invention, the hinge barrel 25 elements comprise part circular strap members connected together by two it---l;n~l base rails with said strap members being projected through the slots in the notched h-n~itlll' I edge of the hinge bar.
According to another preferred aspect of the invention, the door 30 panels are held in a mortise joint at the !~ it; ~ l edges of the hinge bars opposite to the notched edges whh one of the walls of the mortise joint being removeable for the ,~,~la~., of individual panels.

According to another aspect of the preferred form of invention, the edges of the panels at the edges of the door are held in a mortise joint provided by an edge bar having one wall of the joint removeable the edge bar having an outwardly extending spine adapted to run in a track way at the edge 5 of the door, the spine being notched to provide a series of cog teeth for d~;~ with the drive of a garage door opener These and other features of the invention will be ~.~d~ ood from the following detdiled description tdken in ~ n with the ~rn~ , yillg 10 drawings.
~RTFF DF.~CRTPTION OF TTIF DBAWT~GS
Figure 1 is a pcil~e~liv~ view of a garage door according to the invention.
Figure 2 is a p~ e~,~ive view showing two rows of door panels secured to their hinge bars with the pintles removed and the rows separated.
2~
Figure 3 is a didg.~.ll...~ pc.~l,e.,~ive view illustrating a garage door according to the invention mounted for sliding and folding in trackways either side of the door opening.
Figure 4 is a front cl~v -I part broken away view showing one form of drive I I I~ I I for raising and lowering the garage door.
Figure 5 is a~ g,A~ view illustrating how the hinge panels of the door are guided from vertical to horizontal lllOVI ` at the top of the 3 o door opening.
Figure 6 is a broken away p~lspe~live view iII~ r~rin~ the preferred form of hinge bars and the manner in which the door panels are removeable secured thereto.

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Figure 7 is a top plan view of one of the ' vertical frame bars illustrating the manner in which the door panels are removeably secured thereto.

Figure 8 is a broken away sectional view showing the hinged ~c ~: r~rl of one pair of hinge bars and illustrating the manner in which the door panels are removeably secured to the hinge bars.
Figure 9 is a broken away rear elevational view showing the edge frarne rails provided with cog teeth at the edges of two hinged door panel rows.
Figure 10 illustrates one form of pintle that may be used.
Figures 11 and 12 illustrate other forms of pintles that may be used.
Figure 13 is a ~~ tiV~ view illlletr?~in~ a modified hinge 20 ~I~ulg~ lt in which the hinge barrel elements of one of the hinge bars are integral with the hinge bar whereas the other hinge bar is notched to provide slots in one lon~it~ edge thereof and the integrally connected hinge barrel elements comprise a separate c~-mr~- to be sleeved inside the one hinge bar with the hinge barrel elements projecting outwardly through the 2 5 hinge bar slots.
Figure 1~ is an end elevational view showing the three components of Figure 13 assembled into hinge forrning relation ready to receive a hinge pintle.

~ 214163~

DF,TATT .F.l ) DF,~t'RTPTION ACCORT)ING TO T~IF. PRF.F~,RRF,n F,MRODTMF.lYTS OF T~IF. PRF.!~F.l~IT INVT;,NTION
While it will be llntlcr~o~l that the novel hinges of the present 5 invention have wide application, they have particular importance in large folding doors such as the garage door lPei~n:~t~-d at l in Figure l mounted in a door opening 2. Door l comprises a plurality of rows of door panels 3 hingedly cor~ected by elongated extruded hollow hinge bars 4 and associated pintles 5 such as shown in Figures 2 and 12.

The door panels 3 are formed of a suitable plastic material such as foamed PVC and may be plain panels or may be vacuum formed to provide any desired decorative design.
The hinge bars 4 are extruded from a suitable ~ in rnaterial such as PVC, vinyl or ABS or mixtures thereof and may include a~,v~-' fillers or stiffening agents such as calcium carbonate as will be 1PrS~otld by those skilled in the art.
The edges of the individual panels 3 ~ ' the door edges are engaged and supported by frame members or bars 6 running between the hinge bars 4 and being welded thereto while the edges of the panels at the edges of the door are engaged by edge frame rails 7. These edge rails 7 also run between the hinge bars 4 and are welded thereto by mitre joints 7'.
With reference to Figures 6 and 8, each of the hinge bars 4 has spaced parallel l, ,,' '' -' front and rear walls 8 and 9 respectively, and one n~ihl~lin:~l part circular edge wall l0 with the center of the part circular portion thereof falling on a line midway between the walls 8 and 9 and with the inner diameter thereof less than the spacing between the walls 8 and 9.
The opposite l(!n~ l edge wall l l is formed to engage the edge of a door panel 3 as more particularly set out hereafter.

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The part circular edge wall 10 is connected to the front wall 8 by a short rearwardly inclined leg 12 and to the rear wall 9 which is shorter than the front wall 8 by a longer forwardly inclined leg 13 to provide a Ion~itIl-1inql hinging clearance groove 14 to facilitate the hiDging action as 5 h~ .afl~. will appear.
As seen particularly in Figure 6 the l-n~ih-~1inql part circular hinge bar walls 10 are notched to provide a series of hinge barrel elements 15 arranged in spaced _ligned relation and separated by edge slots 16.
As shown in Figure 8 each hinge of the door comprises a pair of binge bars 4 formed æ described with the notching of one hinge bar A of the pair being offset from the notching of the other hinge bar B of the pair so that upon ~ of hinge bars A and B the hinge barrel elements 15 will 5 interleave to provide a hinge barrel assembly extending ! ~ ~Iy ly along the length of the bars and 1)~ an aligned circular passage t~ luuugh for the reception of a pintle 5 such as shown in Figure 1 or a pintle 17 such as shown in Figures 8 and 10 or a pintle 18 as shown in Figure 11.
The pintle 5 shown in Figures 1 and 12 may be either an extruded rod of high strength plastic material or a metal bar. Similarly the tubular pinde of Figure 11 may be ûf extruded plastic or tubular metal.
The pintle illustrated in Figures 8 and 10 is preferably extruded of high density polyethylene to provide a series of outwardly extending spokes or vanes 19 having only the tips thereof engaging the hinge barrel elements 15. This pintle 18 provides minimum friction and in effect is self-lllhri~qtin~
As will be seen from Figure 8 with the hinge ~ul ~
illustrated the hinge will be hidden when the door is viewed from the front.

21~1~3~

While the l~ G;III~ 1 bar edge walls 11 could simply be formed to provide a fixed mortise groove or slot for engaging the edge of a door panel 3 this would result in the door panels not being clllov~,dblc individually oncethe door has been :IgsPmhlP~ Accordingly, in the preferred form of the 5 invention, these 1cm~itll~ l edges 11 are formed as illustrated to provide a front stop wall 21 having a bevelled edge 22 and rising above a ledge 23 having formed therein adjacent the rear wall 9 a channel 24 provided with a restricted mouth or entrance or mouth 25. This channel 24 is adapted to receive and interlock with the spearhead 26 of a l~, G;I~ extruded hollow 10 bar stop 27 formed of high density polyvinyl or other suitable material.
As shown in Figure 8, when ~ggPmhlP~I the door panels 3 will be held against the front stop walls 21 of the lonGitll(lin~ll edge walls 11 of thehinge bars by the stop bars 27. However, when these stops are removed 15 under force to pull the ~ lc 26 out of the channels 24, the panels will be free to be removed and replaced.
As illustrated in Figures 6 and 7, the - ' frame bars 6 are hollow extrusions which extend between and are welded to the spaced hinge 20 bars 4 on the opposite side of the panels. Each of the frame bars 6 has a front face 28 with bevelled edges 29 which extend beyond ledges 30. These ledges 30 are provided towards the rear face 31 or the bar 6 with inwardly extending channels 32 having reduced entrances or mouths 33 to ~rkinGly engage the ~calh.,dd~ 34 of stop bars 35 which are similar to 2 5 the stop bars 27.
When installed the door panels 3 are engaged behind the bevelled edges 29 of the bars 6 and held in position seated on the ledges 30 by the stop bars 35.
Again, it will be d~ that by removing the stop bars 35 the door panels are free to move ~c~ vv~dly of the intPrmP li--- bars for panel l~illa~rlllf ~

g Also illustrated in Figure 6 is one of the edge rails 7 which extends between the hinge bars 4 and is welded thereto at 7'. As shown this edge rail 7 engages the edge of the door panel 3 at the side of the door.
Again this edge panel is a hollow e~trusion having the inner edge formed with the same ~vllr~ dLion of one of the sides of the - ' frame bars 7 to releasably grip a side edge of the door panel behind a bevelled front stop edge wall 36 by means of a stop bar 35. The outer edge of the edge frame rails 7 are provided with central projecting spines which are notched to provide a series of cog teeth 37 which extend into garage door tracks 38 arranged at each side of the door. These cog teeth 37 are adapted to be engaged by a suitable garage door opening ",~ ", here shown as a motor driven belt drive generally d~ci~r l at 39 at each side of the door driven by small ~ LIvllvuj motors 40. As illustrated in ~igure 4, each motor 40 drives a belt 41 (only one being shown) through a drive sprocket 42 and idler sprocket 43 the belt having projecting cogs 44 which engage the cog oeeth 37 of the edge frame bars 7 and projecting sprocket engaging cogs 44'.
As illustraoed in Figures 3 and 5, the garage door tracks 38 as they curve as at45 from the vertical section 46 to the horizontal secvion 47 are widened to ~ r~ r the ll~ of the edge frame rails 7 ~I.c.~ as the door panels pivot relative to each other.
As shown in Figure 87 the hinge bars 4 are provided with an inoernal transverse web 10' adjacent to the part circular notched edge wall 10 to provide added strength in this notched area.
While in the preferred form of the invention, the hinge barrel elements 15 are an integral part of the hinge bar extrusions and are formed by notching7 the hinge barrel elements mdy be formed as a separate member as illustraoed in Figures 13 and 14. In Figure 13 the hinge bar 4 to the left isextruded in the same way as the previously described hinge bars 4 and the hinge barrel elements 15 are part and parcel of the extrusion being formed by the notching of the wall 10 to produce the hinge barrel elements 15 separated by the slot 16.

~ 2141634 The hinge bar 48 shown at the right in Pigure 13 is extruded to provide one l--ng ~ 1 edge wall 49 between parallel front and rear walls 50 and 51 which is formed to provide a part circular concavity and tnis wall 5 49 is notched to provide a series of spaced slots 52.
In this case, a separate hinge barrel member generally ~l~ c;~ I at 53 is provided. The member 53 comprises a part circular extrusion having outturned feet or rails 54 which has been notched to provide a series of lo ~ul~ t~l hinge barrel elements 55 bridging across between the outturned rails or feet 54.
As illustrated in Figure 14, the hinge barrel member 53 is sleeved inside the hinge bar 48 and the hinge barrel elements 55 are projected 15 through the slots 52 to extend outwardly thereof to interleave with the hingebarrel elements 15 of the bar 4 to provide a hinge ba~rel formation extending ~ b. 'Iy continuously along the length of the bars ready to receive a pintle such as the pintles 5, 17 or 18 to hingedly connect bars 4 and 48.
With this a~ , the hinge bar member 53 may be made of material different from the hinge bars themselves and may, if desired, be formed of met~l which may be aluminum or light gage steel for added resistance against inward buckling of the door.
As in the case of hinge bars 4, the hinge arrangement of Figure 14 is such that the hinge is hidden with the door closed and the hinge bars are free to turn one relative to the other without interference.
The 1~ ..1;"~1 edge wall ~ at 56 of hinge bar 48 3 o opposite the edge wall 49 is identical to that of hinge bar 4.
While Figures 13 and 14 show one bar 48 which employs a separate hinge barrel member extending through slots in the edge of the bar, two such t ~ 21A163~

bars each with their own individuai hinge barrel members such as 53 could be employed if desired.
It will be understood that the door panels 3 and hinge bars 4 or 48 5 may contain color agents, ultraviolet light protecting agents and the lii~e as will be understood by those sicilled in the art.
The garage doors to which the invention is p~uli~ul~lly applicable can be single car doors or double car doors and, as will be ~ from 0 their cO~ U~ol~ as set out above, they can be easiiy and ir ~/t;ly c;d and easily assembled at a cost much lower than present garage doors without requiring any of the extensive hardware of existing doors.
Moreover, their ability to be assembled in the field and their light weight ailows for easy handling, ll~lll~JUl~ and installing and enables tne use of low torque garage opening -- '- -It will be ullJ~ ood variations in the details of the doors andhinges may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of tbe appended claims.

Claims

1. A folding garage door or the like comprising a plurality of transverse rows of door panels of plastic material hingedly connected by a plurality of spaced transverse hinges, each of said transverse hinges comprising a pair of elongated extruded hollow hinge bars of thermoplastic material having longitudinal front, rear and edge walls, one of said longitudinal edge walls of each of said bars being notched to provide a series of spaced slots therein, a series of spaced aligned integrally connected hinge barrel elements projecting outwardly from said notched edge wall beyond said slots with said hinge barrel elements of one of said pair of hinge bars being offset and interleaved with the hinge barrel elements of the other of said pair of hinge bars, a pintle extending through said interleaved hinge barrel elements providing a pivotal connection between said pair of hinge bars; said hinge bars having means extending along the longitudinal edges thereof opposite to said notched edges to engage said door panels.

2. A folding door as claimed in Claim 1 in which said hinge barrel elements of at least one of said hinge bars of each pair of hinge bars is integral with said at least one hinge bar.

3. A folding door as claimed in Claim 1 in which the hinge barrel elements of at least one of said hinge bars of each pair of hinge bars comprises a series of hinge barrel elements connected at their inner side by longitudinal side rails and projecting through said slots in the longitudinal edge of said at least one hinge bar with said longitudinal side rails contained internally of said at least one hinge bar.

4. A folding door as claimed in Claims 1, 2 or 3 having track engaging means at the side edges of said door.

5. A folding door as claimed in Claim 4 in which said track engaging means are provided with cog teeth for engagement with a door drive mechanism.

6. A folding door as claimed in Claims 1, 2 or 3 in which said means connecting said hinge bars to said rows of door panels includes interlocking means which can be released to allow replacement of individual door panels.

7. A folding garage door or the like comprising a plurality of transverse rows of door panels of plastic material hingedly connected by a plurality of spaced transverse hinges, each of said transverse hinges comprising a pair of elongated extruded hollow hinge bars of thermoplastic material having longitudinal front, rear and edge walls, said front and rear walls being parallel, one of said longitudinal edge walls of each of said bars being of part circular cross section and being notched to provide a series of spaced hinge barrel elements along the length thereof with the spaced hinge barrel elements of one of the pair of bars being offset with respect to the spaced hinge barrel elements of the other of the pair of the bars and being interleaved therewith to provide an aligned hinge barrel formation along the length of said bars, a pintle extending through said hinge barrel formation hingedly connecting said pair of hinge bars, said hinge bars having means extending along the longitudinal edges thereof opposite to said notched edges to engage said door panels.

8 A garage door as claimed in Claim 7 in which the inner diameter of the part circular cross section notched edge wall of each of said bars is less than the spacing between bar front and rear walls, said part circular notched edge wall being joined to the bar rear wall to form a clearance recess to accommodate the hinging of said bars.

9. A garage door as claimed in Claims 7 or 8 in which the longitudinal edges of said bars opposite to said notched edges are formed to provide a front stop wall rising above a transverse ledge, said transverse ledge having adjacent the rear bar wall a channel with a restricted entrance formed therein, and the horizontal edges of said door panels are engaged behind said front stop wall and are releasably held in position by a hollow extruded thermoplastic stop bar having a spearhead introduced into said channel and releasably engaging said restricted channel entrance.

10. A garage door as claimed in Claim 9 in which edges of adjoining door panels intermediate the side edges of the door are engaged by hollow extruded frame bars extending between adjacent pairs of hinge bars, each of said frame bars having a front and rear wall, said front wall being wider than said rear wall and extending outwardly at each side thereof beyond locating ledges to form a pair of spaced stop walls said locating ledges each having a channel with a restricted entrance formed therein adjacent to said frame bar rear wall, and the edges of adjoining door panels are releasably held in position against said spaced frame bar stop walls by hollow extruded stop bars having spearheads introduced into said frame bar channels and releasably engaging the restricted entrances thereof.

11. A garage door as claimed in Claims 9 or 10 in which the edges of said door panels extending between spaced pairs of frame bars at the edges of said door are engaged by edge frame rails, each of said edge frame rails being a hollow extrusion of thermoplastic material having one longitudinal edge formed to engage the edge of the respective door panel the other of said longitudinal edges of said edge frame rails having a central projecting spine which is notched to provide a series of cog teeth along the length thereof.

12. A garage door as claimed in Claim 11 in which of said edge frame rails has a front wall and a rear wall with said front wall extending beyond said rear wall to define a locating ledge therebehind, said ledge of said edge frame rail having a channel with a restricted entrance formed therein adjacent to said edge rail rear wall and the edge of a respective adjoining door panel isreleasably held in position against said edge rail front stop wall by a hollow extruded stop bar having a spearhead introduced into said edge rail channel and releasably engaging the restricted entrance thereof.

13. A garage door as claimed in Claims 11 or 12 mounted in a door opening having door guide tracks at the sides thereof with the cog teeth of said edge frame rails engaging in said tracks and guiding said door to follow said tracks.

14. A garage door as claimed in Claim 13 in which motor driven means are provided to engage the cog teeth of said edge frame rails to operate the door to open and close.

15. A garage door as claimed in Claim 7 in which said pintle is a polyethylene rode having radially projecting vanes which engage the walls of said hinge barrel formation to provide a self-lubricating pintle.

16. A garage door as claimed in Claim 7 in which said pintle is selected from a solid extruded plastic rod, a solid metal rod, a hollow extruded plastic rod, and a hollow metal rod.

17. A hinge member for use in a folding door or the like comprising an elongated extruded hollow bar of thermoplastic material having spaced front and rear walls and having one longitudinal edge formed by an outwardly extending edge wall of part circular cross section, said part circular edge wall being notched to provide a series of aligned hinge barrel elements along the length of said bar separated by spaces therebetween adapted to receive the hinge barrel elements of a mating hinge member with the hinge barrels thereof in alignment with said bar hinge barrel elements.

18. A hinge member as claimed in Claim 17 in which the other longitudinal edge of said bar opposite said part circular edge wall is formed to provide a stop wall adjacent said bar front wall said stop wall rising above a transverse ledge.

19. A hinge member as claimed in Claim 18 in which said ledge is formed with a channel therein adjacent said rear wall said channel having reduced mouth adapted to releasably retain a locking member introduced into said channel whereby a door panel or the like is adapted to be releasably retained between said stop wall and locking member.

20. A hinge member as claimed in Claims 17, 18 or 19 in which said front and rear walls of said bar are parallel and said part circular edge wall has the center of the circular part thereof located on the center line between said front and rear walls.

21. A hinge member as claimed in Claim 20 in which the inner diameter of the circular part of said part circular edge wall is less than the spacing between said front and rear walls and said circular part is connected to said rear wall by a wall extending inwardly towards the center line of said front and rear walls.

22. A hinge member as claimed in Claim 21 in which said front and rear walls are bridged by a transverse web adjacent to said part circular edge wall.

23. A hinge member as claimed in Claim 14 in which the other longitudinal edge of said bar opposite said part circular edge wall is formed to provide a mortise groove to receive a door panel.

24. A member adapted for hingedly connecting to a mating member comprising an elongated thermoplastic extrusion having a round longitudinal edge which is notched to provide a series of spaced hinge barrel elements along the length thereof adapted to interleave with hinge barrel elements of a mating member to provide a substantially continuous pintle receiving hinge barrel formation along the length of said extrusion.

25. A folding door as claimed in Claims 1 or 7 in which said door panels are formed of foamed plastic.

26. A folding door as claimed in Claims 1, 7 or 24 in which said hinge bars are extruded from a thermoplastic material selected from PVC, ABS, or a mixture thereof.