Overhead Door Seal With Elongated Apertures For Gap Coverage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Overhead doors often have gaps around their perimeter due to their sliding mechanism, leading to issues with sealing, which affects energy efficiency and allows pests and environmental elements to enter.
Innovation Solution
A seal designed for overhead doors, featuring a unique shape with perpendicular sidewalls and adjustable apertures for fastening, which covers the gap between the door and the ground, providing a tolerance for movement and attachment to the door's corners.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the overhead door uses a sliding mechanism on tracks, then the door can move smoothly between open and closed positions, but gaps are created around the perimeter that prevent proper sealing
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing solution is divided into multiple independent corner seal components, each addressing a specific corner of the door opening. This segmentation allows the seals to be installed independently at each corner without interfering with the sliding mechanism, effectively blocking gaps while maintaining door mobility.
Solution Approach 2:
Corner seals serve as intermediary elements positioned between the door structure and the opening frame. These seals fill the gap created by the sliding mechanism, acting as a mediator that prevents air leaks and pest entry while allowing the door to continue its sliding motion along the tracks.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the seal is rigidly attached to the overhead door, then the seal maintains its position, but the seal cannot accommodate movement when the door hits the ground
Solution Approach 1:
The aperture in the corner seal is designed to be elongated rather than circular, creating a dynamic fastening system. This elongated aperture allows the fastener to move within the aperture boundaries, accommodating the dynamic movement of the seal when the door hits the ground while maintaining overall seal position stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The aperture geometry is changed from a fixed circular shape to an elongated shape with specific dimensional parameters. This parameter change provides a tolerance range that allows the seal to move relative to the door while remaining attached, accommodating impact forces without compromising reliability.
3Strength
If the aperture for fasteners is small and precise, then the attachment is secure, but the seal cannot tolerate movement relative to the overhead door
Solution Approach 1:
The elongated aperture creates a dynamic fastening system where the fastener can move within the aperture boundaries. This provides both secure attachment (when the fastener is engaged) and movement tolerance (when the door impacts the ground), resolving the contradiction between attachment strength and adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The aperture dimensions are specifically designed with an elongated shape that provides sufficient lateral tolerance for movement while maintaining adequate engagement length for secure attachment. This parameter optimization allows the seal to accommodate movement without compromising attachment strength.
Data Source
AI summary
A seal for an overhead door includes a first sidewall, and a second sidewall that extends from the first sidewall. The first and second sidewalls extend beyond a bottom corner of the overhead door to cover an opening formed by compression of an astragal attached to a bottom surface of the overhead door.