Door Frame Threshold Assembly Water Drainage Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current door frame and threshold assembly designs fail to effectively prevent water ingress and efficiently drain water away from enclosures, leading to weather element penetration.
Innovation Solution
A door frame and threshold assembly featuring a reservoir tube with inlet and outlet weep holes, an interior sill portion with a sloped surface, an exterior sill portion with a sloped surface, and a sill pan that forms a conduit in fluid communication with the outlet weep hole, facilitating water drainage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional door frame and threshold assembly designs are used, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but water penetration resistance is insufficient and water drainage efficiency is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The door frame assembly is segmented into multiple functional components: header, sill, jambs, threshold, and integrated drainage system. Each component is designed to perform specific functions - the header and sill provide structural support while the integrated tube and pan handle water drainage, allowing complex functionality to be distributed across manageable segments
Solution Approach 2:
The drainage system is merged with the door frame structure itself. The tube is integrated into the header and sill components, and the pan is built into the threshold assembly, combining water drainage functionality with the structural elements rather than adding separate, auxiliary drainage components
2Productivity
If conventional door frame and threshold assembly designs are used, then manufacturing and installation are straightforward, but water drainage efficiency is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The drainage path is pre-configured during manufacturing with the tube embedded in the header and sill, and the pan integrated into the threshold. This preliminary arrangement of drainage components ensures efficient water flow from the moment of installation, eliminating the need for complex field assembly of drainage elements
Solution Approach 2:
The tube acts as an intermediary element that captures water at the header-sill interface and channels it to the pan in the threshold. This intermediary drainage component mediates between the upper and lower portions of the assembly, efficiently transporting water away from the door frame
3Reliability
If a more complex integrated drainage system is implemented, then water drainage efficiency improves, but manufacturing and installation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The drainage components (tube and pan) are merged with the structural elements (header, sill, threshold) to form integrated assemblies. This merging allows the drainage system to be manufactured as part of the door frame components themselves, reducing the number of separate parts and simplifying installation while maintaining effective water drainage functionality
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The assembly effectively prevents water ingress and efficiently drains water away from the enclosure, enhancing the barrier against weather elements and maintaining a dry interior.
Implementation Method 1
a third top surface arranged adjacent and elevationally below the second top surface, the third top surface angled elevationally downward in a first direction... an exterior sill portion, including a fourth top surface angled elevationally downward in the first direction
Implementation Method 2
a sill pan operatively arranged under and spaced apart from at least one of the first bottom surface and the third bottom surface, wherein the sill pan forms a conduit in fluid communication with the outlet weep hole
Implementation Method 3
a first weather stripping, the first weather stripping operatively arranged to sealingly engage the door stop... a second weather stripping, the second weather stripping operatively arranged to sealingly engage the second top surface
Data Source
AI summary
A door frame and threshold assembly including a substantially closed reservoir tube having a first plurality of spaced apart weep holes therein and a second plurality of spaced apart weep holes, an interior sill portion arranged on a ceiling of the reservoir tube, the interior sill portion having a first sloped surface having a descending slope arranged in a direction towards the plurality of spaced apart weep holes, and an exterior sill portion at least abutting one of a pair of sidewalls of the closed reservoir tube, the exterior sill portion having a second sloped surface having a descending slope arranged in a direction away from the closed reservoir tube, wherein a channel is formed by the ceiling of the closed reservoir tube, an edge of the interior sill portion, and an edge of the exterior sill portion.