US2406942A - Sealed doors - Google Patents

Description

Sept0 3, 1946. H. J. BUTTNER SEALED DOORS Filed Oct. 25, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet l SePt- 3, 1946. H. J. BUTTNER 2,406,942

SEALED DOORS v Filed oct. 23, 1943 5 sheets-sheet' 2 62 Bnventor rrn Patented Sept. 3, 1946 SEALED Doons Horace J. Buttner, Indianapolis, Ind., assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a

corporation f Delaware Application October 23, 1943, Serial No. 507,399

This invention relates to closures such as doors to exclude or keep out noises and gases which are produced in rooms or chambers for testing aircraft engines.

6 Claims. (Cl. 20-16) The usual testing space or room for aircraft engines comprises a room in which the engine is mounted on a block, while adjacent thereto and separated by a wall having a transparent panel and a door, there is a second room for the observer and tester and in this second room there are a plurality of instruments and controls to test and to operate the engine and determine its reliability or efficiency.

In making these tests, it has been found that the door between the engine room and the operators room has allowed noxious fumes from theengine to enter the operators room, and there also has been transmitted a considerable amount of objectionable noise caused by the operation of the engine. the operators standpoint, and in a measure detract from his careful observance of the instruments and the observance of the operation of the engine.

To eliminate the transmission of noises and noxious fumes from the engine compartment to the operators compartment, the closure between the two rooms was redesigned so that there will be one door on each side of the wall or partition, and in closed position these doors will rest against a sealing strip of yieldable material such as rubber, and by evacuating part of the air between the two doors, the outside air pressure causes the doors to be tightly pressed against the sealing strip to make a closure which is substantially gastight and substantially soundproof. This closure, it was found, removes the disadvantages of the noxious fumes and diminishes the noises to a degree where they are unobjectionable.

The closure of the invention is also applicable to other uses such as refrigerators where it is desired to prevent exchange of heat and the escape of annoying gases such as ammonia fumes.

On the drawings:

Figure 1 is a face view of the partition or wall between two adjacent rooms with the sliding door shown in elevation in closed position.

Figure la is an enlarged detailed View of the door mounting.

Figures 2 and 3 are sections on an enlarged scale on the lines 2-2 and 3 3 of Figure l, the intermediate part of the doors and the wall being broken away to facilitate the illustration.

Figure 4 is .a section on the line 4-4 of Figure Both of these are objectionable from v 't top of the opening 6 and down the sides.

5, showing a modied form of closure having hinged doors instead of sliding doors.

Figure 5 is a section on the line 5 5 -of Figure 4.

Figures 6 and 8 are views, similar to Figure 3, of a modication.

Figure 7 is a section on the line 'I-l of Figure 6.

With reference .to the drawings, the numeral 2 indicates the wall between adjacent rooms, and 4 :the floor ofthe rooms. The wall and floor may be made of any suitable material such as concrete, brick, wood and plaster, etc. The wall is -provided with a door opening 6, and to each side of the Wall at the opening there is applied an anglesha'ped frame member 8 which extends across the At the bottom of the opening and depressed iin the iioor 4 a channel-shaped frame member Iii is secured. This frame member I0 has the flange I2 directed inwardly of the door. `Secondary frame members I4, extendingalong the sides and top of the opening 6, are secured to the frame members 8 by means of the bolts IS. A fabric or rubber strip I8 is placed between the main frame members 8 and the secondary frame members I4 to form a seal. At the bottom of the opening 6 and over the flanges I2 there are secured the secondary frame members 20 which cooperate with the frame members I4.

At each side of the opening 5 there is mounted a sliding closure or metal door 22 and, as the structure of both doors and the mounting thereof are similar, the structure and mounting for but one will be described. The door extends downwardly into the channel of the lower frame member I0, and at its lower part has secured thereto a iiexible flap 24 which overlaps and covers the channel II) when the door is in closed position. The ap 24 may be secured to the door by means of the metal strip 26 and the bolts 28.

At the top of the door there are secured two brackets 3 each of which has a flange 32 at its upper end. A bolt 34 extends through the flange and is retained thereon by a nut 35. The bolt passes through a head 38 and suitable nuts 4E! above and below the head hold the bolt in place in the head. Extending laterally from the head are axles on which are mounted wheels 42 which run on tracks 44 at the bottom of a channelshaped member 46 secured to a bracket 48 which is secured to the frame ymembers 8 by means of bolts. The track extends beyond the width of the door as is shown in Figure 1, and by sliding the door to the left the door opening 6 is exposed to enable passage from one room to the other.

Each auxiliary frame member I4 at each side aioaofia of the opening l has secured thereto a channel iron l) in which there is secured a soft rubber strip This channel 50 and the rubber 52 extend along the sides of the opening and across the to-p while at the bottom a rubber strip 54 is secured by means of bolts and nuts 56 to one of the iianges of the U-shaped frame member l0. In the closed position oi" the doors, the door edges overlap slightly the rubber strips 52 and 54, and if the air between the doors or in the opening 6 as shown in Figure 2 can be exhausted, tending to create a vacuum in the space between the doors, the air pressure from the outside will cause the doors to be pressed tightly against the rubber strips 52 and 5d and form a tight seal.

In order to enable the evacuation of the air, there is provided a pipe or conduit El] which leads from the inter-door space to the outside, and by connecting any pump to the exit 62 of the conduit Gli, the air in the space between the doors can be partially evacuated to reduce the pressure and to give what may be called a pneumatic seal between the chambers. It has been found in practice that this seal will prevent the noxious gases from the engine reaching the operating room and will also eliminate the objectionable noises caused by the operation of the engine.

It desired, suitable expansion joints 54 may be provided in the iioor.

In Figure e, the structure is shown as applied to a closure which has hinged doors 22 instead or" the sliding doors shown in Figures l3 inclusive. The doors 22 are hinged at 65 and each door opening e is provided with the frame members at both edges thereof, These frame members are secured to the walls 2 by means of the bolts 63. The frame members B extend on the iour sides of the opening and have at their outer edges the soit rubber sealing strips 52', secured by the slats lili, and against these soft rubber strips the edges of the doorsI 22 abut when the doors are in closed position, as is best seen in Figure 4l. rlhe doors 2?! may be made of any suitable material, and in the drawings they are shown as being made oi a panel comprising laminated wood held together between edge frame members lit It desired, the walls 2 may be provided with any suitable soundprooiing material l2.

With the doors in the position shown in Figure 4i, a pump is applied to a conduit 6! (not shown in Figures ll and 5, but see Figures 1 and 3) to exhaust the air between the doors 22 to create a zone of reduced pressure in the space between the doors. The outside air pressure will cause the doors to be pressed tightly against the rubber strips to seal the closure and form a sound proof and gas proof closure in the wall 2.

In Figures 6-3 inclusive, two species of sealed door arerdisclosed which operate with air under pressure instead of with exhausted air. In Figure 6 the wall It is provided with a door opening E6 and a recessed wall part 13. A metal frame member El] is placed on one side of the wall and metal frame members 82 and S4 are placed at the opposite side of the opening at the ends of the narrow wall parts lila and 'hib formed by the recess lil, The bottom of the door opening has the channels 33 countersunk therein and which extend into the recessed part 'F8 to the end thereof. At the top of the opening the doors 22 are suspended by a structure such as shown in Figures la and 2.

An angle-shaped metal frame 88 is rigidly mounted at the inner and outer sides of the door opening lli and a strip of rubber fabric 9i) or other resilient material is secured to the frame 88. 'Ihe frames S8 at the bottom of the door are mounted in the channels Se.

In the position oi the parts shown in Figure 6, if air be forced through the inlet pipe 92 into the conduit Ella, the air pressure will press the doors against the material Si) to form a tight seal. When the air pressure is relieved, the doors 22 can be slid into the recess 'i8 to enable access to the testing room.

In Figure 8 a chamber or cabinet 95 is mounted in the wall lll. This chamber is open at its inner and outer sides and these openings have doors 22a hingedly mounted thereover. The doors are mounted to swing inwardly of the cabinet '94.

The door openings have the edge flanges y9S and a rubber or fabric strip is secured to the flanges. With the parts in the position shown, air forced through the inlet pipe 92 and through the conduit will cause the doors 22a to be pressed against the rubber SB to form a tight seal. When the pressure is relieved, the doors may be moved inwardly on their hinges to enable passage through the chamber 94.

I claim:

l. In a wall having an opening therethrough, a closure for said opening comprising two doors controlling access into said opening from both sides of the wall, means secured to the wall and supporting said doors for movement to open positions enabling access into said opening and to closed spaced positions closing said opening, sealing means adapted to be contacted by said doors when closed, the rst-mentioned means and wall defining with said doors and sealing means a closed space when said doors are closed, and means communicating with said closed space to enable changing the air pressure in said closed space to cause said doors to be pressed against said sealing means in substantially gastight relation.

2. In a wall having an opening therethrough, a closure for said opening comprising doors secured to the sides of the wall and controlling access into said opening, peripheral sealing means mounted near the edges defining said opening and adapted to be contacted by said doors when closed, the doors when closed being spaced and closing said opening to define with the wall a closed space, and a conduit communicating with said closed space to enable changing the air pres sure therein to cause the doors to be pressed against the sealing means in substantially gastight relation.

3. In a wall having `an opening therethrough, a closure for said opening comprising a door secured to each side of the wall, the doors when open admitting access to said opening and when closed overlying said opening, sealing means eX- tending 'entirely about and around .said opening, the doors when closed defining with the wall a closed space, and a conduit communicating with said closed space to enable reduction vof air pressure therein to cause the doors to be pressed against the sealing means in substantially .gastight relation.

4. In a wall having an opening therethrough, a closure for said opening comprising spaced doors controlling passage therethrough, means securing the doors within said opening and having peripheral sealing means near the edges delining said opening, said wall having a recess providing within the wall an extension of said opening adapted to receive the doors when open, said sealing means .being in continuous contact with the doors when closed, and a closed space being provided by the closed doors with the rst-mentioned means and said extension in the wall, and a conduit communicating with said closed space to enable increasing the air pressure therein above atmospheric pressure to cause the doors to be pressed against the sealing means in substantially gastight relation.

5. A closure for an opening extending through a Wall, said closure comprising two doors, means for securing the doors in substantially gastight relation to the wall and for supporting the doors for movement to open positions enabling access into said opening, and sealing means adapted to be contacted continuously by said doors near their peripheries when in their closed positions, the first-mentioned means and closed doors defining a closed space, and said closure having means communicating with said closed space to enable changing the air pressure in said closed space to cause the doors to be pressed against the sealing means in substantially gastight relation.

6. A closure for an opening extending through a wall, said closure comprising two spaced doors and means for supporting the doors for movement to open positions enabling access into said opening and to closed positions closing said opening, said means being adapted to be mounted in said opening in substantially gastight relation to the wall and having sealing means adapted to be contacted continuously by the doors near their peripiheries when in their closed positions, the rst-mentioned means being substantially gastight and dening with the closed doors a closed space, and the first-mentioned means having means to provide communication with said closed space to enable changing the air pressure therein to cause the doors to be pressed against the 20 sealing means in substantially gastight relation.

HORACE J. BUTTNER.

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