Knock-down Weather Seal Assembly for Overhead Doors
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional overhead sectional door bottom weather seals are typically shipped in long, expensive, and easily damaged extruded retainer rails, which increases shipping costs and risks damage during handling.
Innovation Solution
A knock-down weather seal assembly using shorter extruded retainer rails with extension channels and clips, allowing on-site assembly into longer lengths, reducing shipping costs and damage risk.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If long extruded retainer rails are shipped, then the weather seal assembly can be installed in one piece, but shipping costs increase and damage risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The retainer rail assembly is divided into multiple separate retainer rail sections that can be shipped individually in shorter, more manageable lengths. These sections are then joined together on-site using coupling mechanisms, eliminating the need to ship long continuous rails that are expensive and prone to damage.
2Length of moving object
If short extruded retainer rails are shipped, then shipping costs decrease and damage risk decreases, but assembly complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Coupling mechanisms serve as intermediary components that simplify the assembly process. These couplings are designed to easily join retainer rail sections together, providing a straightforward connection method that reduces assembly complexity despite using multiple short sections.
3Ease of operation
If long extruded retainer rails are shipped, then installation is simpler, but shipping costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The retainer rail system is segmented into multiple shorter sections that can be shipped separately at lower cost. The segmentation allows standard shipping rates to be used while maintaining installation simplicity through designed coupling mechanisms that easily join the sections.
Data Source
AI summary
A knock-down seal assembly for an overhead-sectional door having horizontal joints between adjacent panels and a leading lateral edge that seals the lateral leading edge of the door as the door closes against the floor or traffic area. The seal assembly includes a pair of retainer rails which do not exceed about 6 feet in overall length. Each of the retainer rails has seal channels formed so as to extend from a bottom surface thereof for receiving a flexible weather seal strip. Each of the rails also has an extension channel formed so as to extend from the bottom surface thereof for receiving an elongate retainer clip. The retainer clip can be used to join the pair of retainer rails to form a single rail.