US-12618285-B2 - Liquid containment door with continuous gasket

Abstract

A pedestrian door system includes a door frame comprising a frame strike side, a frame hinge side, and a frame sealing surface that extends up each of the frame strike and frame hinge sides. A threshold extends between the frame strike and frame hinge sides and includes a base secured to a floor surface and a threshold sealing surface. A door panel includes a panel bottom side, a panel strike side, a panel hinge side, and a continuous gasket extending continuously along the panel bottom side and up each of the panel strike and panel hinge sides. A door hinge couples the panel hinge side to the frame hinge side and facilitates hinged movement of the door panel between an open position and a closed position in which the gasket seals against the frame sealing surface and the threshold sealing surface in a liquid-tight manner.

Inventors

• James Satrom
• Chad Joseph Rose
• Nathan Joel Ueland
• Daniel Thomas Satrom

Assignees

• PS INDUSTRIES INCORPORATED

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20241202

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A pedestrian flood door system, comprising: a door frame comprising a frame strike side, a frame hinge side, a frame stop surface, a frame sealing surface, and a hinge mounting surface, wherein the frame stop surface, the frame sealing surface, and the hinge mounting surface are non-coplanar with each other; a threshold configured to extend between the frame strike side and the frame hinge side, the threshold including: a base configured to be secured to a floor surface, and a threshold sealing surface that extends vertically upwardly from the base; a door panel including: a main panel that comprises a panel wet side, a panel dry side, a panel bottom side, a panel strike side, and a panel hinge side, a door edge flange that extends outwardly from the main panel and that comprises a flange wet side and a flange dry side, the flange wet side being coplanar with the panel wet side, and a gasket in contact with the flange dry side and extending along the panel bottom side and extending at least partially up each of the panel strike side and the panel hinge side; and a door hinge configured to hingedly couple the panel hinge side of the door panel to the hinge mounting surface of the frame hinge side of the door frame and to facilitate hinged movement of the door panel relative to the door frame between an open position and a closed position, wherein, in the closed position, the panel dry side is proximate to the frame stop surface of the door frame, and the gasket is squeezed between the door edge flange and the frame sealing surface and between the door edge flange and the threshold sealing surface to create a flood barrier.
2. 2 . The pedestrian flood door system of claim 1 , wherein the gasket is further in contact with the panel bottom side.
3. 3 . The pedestrian flood door system of claim 1 , wherein the gasket extends out to a flange outer edge along the panel bottom side.
4. 4 . The pedestrian flood door system of claim 3 , wherein the gasket extends beyond the flange outer edge along the panel bottom side.
5. 5 . The pedestrian flood door system of claim 1 , wherein the threshold further includes a first raised portion adjacent the frame strike side and a second raised portion adjacent the frame hinge side, the first raised portion and the second raised portion forming part of the threshold sealing surface in corners where the threshold meets the door frame.
6. 6 . The pedestrian flood door system of claim 1 , wherein the door frame further comprises a frame top side, and the frame sealing surface extends along an entirety of the frame strike side, the frame top side, and the frame hinge side, and wherein the door panel further comprises a panel top side, and the gasket extends continuously along an entirety of the panel strike side, the panel top side, the panel hinge side, and the panel bottom side.
7. 7 . The pedestrian flood door system of claim 1 , wherein the gasket extends between 3 feet and 8 feet up each of the panel strike side and the panel hinge side.
8. 8 . The pedestrian flood door system of claim 1 , wherein all portions of the threshold that are configured to extend at least ¼ inch above the floor surface have a rise: run ratio of no greater than 1:2.
9. 9 . The pedestrian flood door system of claim 1 , wherein an overall height of the threshold is vertically adjustable.
10. 10 . The pedestrian flood door system of claim 1 , wherein the panel wet side comprises a sheet of metal that is hemmed to create the door edge flange.
11. 11 . The pedestrian flood door system of claim 1 , wherein the flange wet side and the panel wet side are within 1/16 inch of flush with a wet side of the door frame when the door panel is in the closed position.
12. 12 . The pedestrian flood door system of claim 1 , wherein the door hinge comprises a hinge leaf that extends beyond the door edge flange and attaches to the main panel.
13. 13 . The pedestrian flood door system of claim 1 , wherein the door hinge comprises a flexible hinge leaf.
14. 14 . The pedestrian flood door system of claim 13 , wherein, in the closed position, the flexible hinge leaf allows the gasket to compress under liquid loading.
15. 15 . The pedestrian flood door system of claim 14 , wherein, under liquid loading, compression of the gasket is limited by the panel dry side making contact with the frame stop surface.
16. 16 . The pedestrian flood door system of claim 1 , wherein the gasket comprises a bulb-type gasket with holes defined in a wet side wall of the gasket, the holes being configured to receive liquid and/or air into an interior space within the bulb-type gasket.
17. 17 . The pedestrian flood door system of claim 1 , wherein the door hinge is configured to facilitate hinged movement of the door panel relative to the door frame about a hinge axis that is located outwardly from an outermost extent of the door panel by at least ⅝ inch.
18. 18 . The pedestrian flood door system of claim 1 , wherein the frame stop surface, the frame sealing surface, and the hinge mounting surface are parallel to each other.
19. 19 . The pedestrian flood door system of claim 1 , wherein, in the closed position, a portion of the panel dry side adjacent the panel strike side is proximate to the frame stop surface of the door frame.
20. 20 . The pedestrian flood door system of claim 1 , wherein the threshold sealing surface extends vertically upwardly from the base by a distance that is no greater than ¼ inch.

Description

RELATED MATTERS This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/298,170, filed Apr. 10, 2023, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/911,578, filed Jun. 25, 2020, now abandoned, the contents of both of which are incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD The disclosure relates to liquid-tight door systems. BACKGROUND In many instances, doors are generally used to separate one environment from another. While this may be as simple as separating one room in a building from another, this may also include separating an interior environment from an external environment that is subject to natural elements, or separating an environment that is to be protected from an environment that includes a liquid that could be detrimental if introduced into the environment that is to be protected. These doors can typically be in either a closed position, where the separation is intended to be in place by the presence of the door blocking passage from one environment to the other, or an open position, where passage is permitted through the area outlined by the frame of the door. While doors in a closed position generally do an adequate job of preventing large, solid objects from passing from an environment on one side of the door panel to an environment on the other side of the door panel, the mechanics of a door opening and closing create issues with the prevention of liquid from passing through the open crevices of the door system, even when the door is in the closed position. For instance, the presence of hinges on the door and the need for the door panels to swing open and closed typically prevent formation of a liquid-tight seal, as the hinges space the door panels away from the frame, and a door must be spaced away from the floor such that the door does not scrape the floor as it moves between open and closed positions. Examples of when it is desirable to prevent liquid from passing through open crevices of a closed door include floods and liquid spills. This problem is only compounded with double doors, where there are two door panels that swing away from one another and latch either together or into a common center structure. SUMMARY In general, the disclosure describes a liquid containment barrier or a liquid containment door (hereinafter referred to collectively as a “liquid containment door”). A liquid containment barrier/door is designed in such a way that a continuous gasket system is installed onto the door panel to make a continuous length of gasket to create a liquid-tight seal between the door panel and threshold, and between the door panel and frame, up to the designed water protection level. The continuous gasket system may be a single gasket piece or multiple gasket pieces connected to one another. In some instances, the liquid containment door may also be implemented into a door system with a low threshold. The low threshold has the benefit of allowing traffic through the doorway, such as foot traffic, carts, vehicles, or wheelchairs with little impedance. Low thresholds are generally preferred and often required by regulations, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), which detail specific dimensional requirements of the threshold size and shape. The continuous length of gasket attached to the door panel allows the door panel to create a liquid-tight seal to the perimeter door frame (two vertical jambs and header) and across the bottom of the door where the gasket makes a seal to a low profile threshold (e.g., an ADA-compliant threshold). An additional benefit of the continuous gasket being attached to the door panel and not attached to the threshold is that the gasket is not exposed to damage by traffic through the doorway. The liquid containment door can function as a normal use pedestrian door. Examples of pedestrian doors include walk doors, personnel doors, passage doors, entry doors, entrance doors, accessible entrance or passage doors, handicap accessible doors, and exit doors. The liquid containment door can perform as a flood barrier or a spill containment system or can perform any other similar function when in the closed and latched position. Further, the liquid containment door may be implemented into any other type of door system, such as a vertically hinged door system, a sliding door system, a double door system, a French door system, an automatic door system, a rotating door system, or any other door system that may move between open and closed positions. In one example, the disclosure is directed to a pedestrian door system that includes a door frame comprising a frame strike side, a frame hinge side, and a frame sealing surface that extends at least partially up each of the frame strike side and the frame hinge side. The pedestrian door system further includes a threshold configured to extend between the frame strike side and the frame hinge side, the threshold including a base configured to be secured to a floor surface