Traditional entryways into a dwelling typically contain an entry door system. The entry door allows ingress and egress to the dwelling. A typical entry door system includes a door frame that includes a plurality of hinge mechanisms that pivotably mount a door panel. The door panel typically includes a handle that has a latch mechanism that cooperates with a strike plate mounted in the frame to hold the door in a closed position. One or more locks can be provided to secure or lock the door in the close position. These conventional locks typically include a handle based or mounted lock that locks or secures the latch in the deployed position, thus locking the door relative to the frame. In addition, entry door systems can also include a deadbolt that provides a further and separate means for locking the door in the closed position.
A disadvantage of traditional door entry systems of this type are that they have a single or at most dual point of locking connection between the door panel and the frame. Hence, by applying the appropriate amount of force to the door panel at the locking sites, the door panel can typically be forced open. Further, the entry door system typically provides one or more seals between the frame and the door in an attempt to provide a fluid tight seal. However, the locking mechanisms themselves do not function as sealing elements, and there is typically an issue associated with these types of door panel seals. In many instances, the seals are not effective at preventing the transfer of environmental elements such as noise, weather, water, and insects from one side of the panel to the other side.
Prior attempts have been made to address these issues by using various types of weather stripping between the panels and frame. For example, the weather stripping may be a strip of felt, foam, or a pile of flexible synthetic material. In many instances, however, this weather stripping fails to act as a sufficient seal between the door panel and the frame. Another prevalent issue associated with seals formed between the door frame and the door panel or between adjacent panels is that these seals can become disjoined. Either intentionally or unintentionally, the alignment between the frame and the panel or between adjacent panels may be disturbed which can degrade the quality of the seal, since, in many instances, the integrity of the seal relies upon these members having certain positional relationships relative to one another.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds