Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02686268 2009-11-24
A FIREPROOF DOOR PANEL STRUCTURE
BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
1. Field of the Present Invention
The invention relates to a fireproof door panel, particularly to a fireproof
door panel
structure having a polyurethane (PU) foam, or phenolic resin, or perlite plate
or calcium
silicate plate as its core material.
2. Description of Prior Art
Normally the fireproof structure of the conventional door panel is constructed
by filling
the inner side of the door panel with fireproof material such as foamed
phenolics to form a
solid door panel which can provide a fireproof effect by fire retardance of
the foamed
phenolics. When the door panel is on fire, even if the surface layer of the
door panel is
burned into ash the fire retardant material inside the door panel can still
develop fireproof
effect or the effect of blocking the fire out of the room and prevent the fire
from spreading
across the fireproof door.
The fireproof structure shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is a conventional plate type
door panel 10
which is formed by covering the inner side of the surface plate 11, 12 with
two magnesium
oxide plates 23 having the same size as the surface plate 11, 12, and then
filling the inner
side of the door panel 10 with foamed phenolics 22. When the door panel 10 is
on fire, the
effect of blocking the fire out of the room is developed by the fire
retardance of the foamed
phenolics 22 and the magnesium plate 23.
However, an upper rail 13, a lower rail 14, a left stile 15 and a right stile
16 of the
conventional plate type door panel 10 are mostly made of PVC foamed material,
plastic
injection forming material or wood. When the door is on fire, the PVC foamed
material,
plastic injection forming material and wood all are unable to resist fire, and
are apt to
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burning, so that licking flames can run into the room through the gap between
the door panel
and the doorframe due to the deformation or burning out of the door panel 10
caused by
fire. Consequently, though the conventional type door panel 10 has adopted the
fire
retardance material such as foamed phenolics 22 and magnesium oxide plate 23,
or even
5 further
adopts knob reinforcing material 17, heat insulating plate 20 or reinforcing
material 21
etc., there is room for further improvement of fireproof property of the
conventional type door
panel 10.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
10 In view
of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional type door panel, it is an
object of the invention to seek to mitigate them.
According to the invention there is provided a fireproof door panel structure,
comprising
a front surface plate and a rear surface plate formed as door leafs, a
quadrilateral frame
formed as a door frame, one or more sealing members formed as outer edge
sealing
structures and a core material formed as an inner sandwich structure,
characterized in that
the core material is formed by one or more of phenolic resin, perlite, calcium
silicate or wood
composite plate.
Thus in a door panel of a first aspect of the present invention, the structure
comprises a front surface plate and a rear surface plate as door leafs, an
upper rail, a lower
rail, a left stile and a right stiles formed as a quadrilateral frame of the
door panel and
sandwich core materials to fill up the hollow of the door panel therein, and
the core material
is provided with excellent fire retardance and formed by phenolic resin,
perlite plate, calcium
silicate plate or wood composite plate.
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In use of the invention if the door panel is on fire, the core material of the
door panel can
block the fire, prevent the fire from burning into the room and provide the
effect of preventing
the fire from spreading or burning across the door panel.
An improvement of the fireproof door panel of the invention may include having
the front
surface plate and the rear surface plate of the door panel made of SMC, BMC or
FRP
material of which the inner surface is covered with glass-fibre cloth, glass-
fibre net or
carbon-fibre cloth to form a flat type door panel with plane surface or the
door panel carrying
a rugged panel pattern.
A further improvement of the fireproof door panel of the invention may include
having
the quadrilateral frame of the door panel made of hard PVC, foamed PVC, PVC
composite
extrusion, hard wood block, high density press binding plate, multi-layer wood
lamination,
drawn and extruded unsaturated polyester (UP), stainless steel, galvanized and
coated steel
plate or calcium silicate plate.
Another improvement of the fireproof door panel of the invention may include
having a
sealing member for forming as an outer edge sealing structure of the fireproof
door panel
designed as a hard PVC sealing member, foamed PVC sealing member, PVC
composite
extrusion sealing member, calcium silicate plate sealing member, U-shaped
aluminum
sealing member or drawn-extruded U-shaped sealing member.
Yet another improvement of the fireproof door panel of the invention may
include having
the front surface plate or rear surface plate equipped with outer snap-
connection means or
inner snap-connection means or having the front surface plate and the rear
surface plate
assembled together by nailing the sealing member on the edges of the surface
plate.
Further again another improvement of the fireproof door panel of the invention
may
include fastening on one of the frame members of the fireproof door panel a
flat steel bar, a
U-shaped steel bar or a rectangular cross-section steel pipe.
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Further again an improvement of the fireproof door panel of the invention may
include
having one of the members of the quadrilateral frame of the door panel coated
with fireproof
heat expansive material, or sticking magnesium oxide plate on the centre,
lower or upper
part of the door panel to improve the fire retardance of the fireproof door
panel.
In an alternative aspect of the present invention there is provided a door
panel structure,
comprising a front surface plate and a rear surface plate formed as door
leafs, a
quadrilateral frame formed as a door frame, one or more sealing members formed
as outer
edge sealing structures and a core material formed as an inner sandwich
structure,
characterised in that the surface plates are equipped with snap-connection
means for
allowing the front surface plate and a rear surface plate to be snap-connected
together.
In another alternative aspect of the present invention there is provided a
door panel
structure, comprising a front surface plate and a rear surface plate formed as
door leafs, a
quadrilateral frame formed as a door frame, one or more sealing members formed
as outer
edge sealing structures and a core material formed as an inner sandwich
structure,
characterised in that a piece of edge sealing material is attached on one of
the surface
plates for forming one of the outer edge sealing structures, that piece of
edge sealing
material being able to be trimmed such that the door panel structure can be
trimmed to a desired size.
In another alternative aspect of the present invention there is provided a
door panel
structure, comprising a front surface plate and a rear surface plate formed as
door leafs, a
quadrilateral frame formed as a door frame, at least one sealing member formed
as outer
edge sealing structures and a core material formed as an inner sandwich
structure,
characterised in that a magnesium oxide plate, a flat steel bar, a U-shaped
bar or a
rectangular steel tube or pipe is fastened to said at least one sealing member
of the quadrilateral
frame.
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4a
The present invention also provides a doorway, comprising a door panel
structure as
described herein.
The present invention also provides a building, including a door panel
structure as
described herein or a doorway as described herein.
CA 02686268 2009-11-24
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fireproof door panel structures embodying the invention are hereinafter
described, by
way of example, with reference to accompanying schematic drawings.
Fig. 1 is a schematic drawing showing the cross section of the fireproof
structure of a
5 conventional plate type door panel;
Fig. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional drawing of the convention plate type
door panel
shown in Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is a schematic drawing of the SMC fireproof door panel of the
invention;
Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional drawing along line 4-4 of the fireproof door panel
in Fig. 3 for
showing the structure of the fireproof door panel;
Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional drawing along line 5-5 of the fireproof door panel
in Fig 3 for
showing the structure of the fireproof door panel;
Fig. 6 is a partial enlargement of the cross-sectional drawing to illustrate
different
structures of the fireproof door panel according to the invention;
Fig. 7 is a partial enlargement of the cross-sectional drawing to illustrate
further different
structures of the fireproof door panel of the invention;
Fig. 8 is a cross- sectional diagram of a rectangular steel pipe adapted on
the fireproof
door panel according to the invention to improve the bending strength of the
fireproof door
panel;
Fig. 9 is a cross- sectional diagram showing the assembly of the fireproof
door panel
according to the invention comprising a front surface plate and a rear surface
plate provided
with rugged panel patterns or equipped with outer snap-connection means for
snap
connection;
Fig. 10 is a cross- sectional diagram showing the assembly of the fireproof
door panel
according to the invention comprising a front surface plate and a rear surface
plate provided
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with rugged panel patterns or equipped with inner snap-connection means for
snap
connection; and
Figs. 11 to 14 are further cross-sectional diagrams showing the assembly of
door
panels according to further embodiments of the invention, each comprising a
front surface
plate and a rear surface plate provided with rugged panel patterns and
equipped with inner
snap-connection means for snap connection. The embodiments differ in the
construction of
their sealing members and stiles/rails.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Shown in from Fig. 3 to Fig. 5, the fireproof door panel 30 of the invention
is generally
constructed by two pieces of surface plate of door panel which form a front
surface plate 31
and a rear surface plate 32 (as considered in use) of the door panel 30, and
further
comprises an upper rail 33, a lower rail 34, a left stile 35 and a right stile
36 (again as
considered in use) to form a quadrilateral frame of the fireproof door panel
30, one or more
sealing member 37 formed as an outer edge sealing structure, and core
materials 40 to form
an inner sandwich structure of the fireproof door panel 30.
The front surface plate 31 and the rear surface plate 32 is made of fibre
reinforced
plastic (FRP), by a sheet molding compound (SMC) method, or by a Bulk Molding
Compound (BMC) method, which inner side can be bound with one or more layers
of glass-
fibre cloth, or glass-fibre net or carbon-fibre cloth and which outer
appearance can be
shaped as a flat door panel as shown in Fig. 6, or a kind of surface plate
having rugged
panel pattern 31a, 32a as shown in Fig. 9, or a kind of surface plate equipped
with outer
snap-connection means 31b, 32b on outer edge sealing structure as shown in
Fig. 9, or a
kind of surface plate shown in one of Figs. 10, 12, 13 or 14 on which a piece
of edge sealing
material 37a is attached for being able to be trimmed to the desired size to
form the surface
plate of door panel as well as equipped with inner snap-connection means 31c,
32c.
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And, the surface of the front surface plate 31 and the rear surface plate 32
can be
designed as plain and smooth surface without wood grain or as a surface
decorated with
imitating solid wood grain, but the reverse side of the surface plate has a
rough surface to
increase the binding force when the surface plate is bound to the core
material with
adhesive.
The upper rail 33, the lower rail 34, the left stile 35 and the right stile 36
are formed as a
quadrilateral frame and assembled with the front surface plate 31 and the rear
surface plate
32 to form the fireproof door panel 30. Therefore, the material for the upper
rail 33, the lower
rail 34, the left stile 35 and the right stile 36 must have the property of
high strength and high
fire retardance such as hard PVC, foamed PVC, PVC composite extrusion, drawn
and
extruded UP, hard wood, high density press binding plate, multi-layer wood
lamination,
stainless steel frame, galvanized and coated steel plate or calcium silicate
plate. Or, one of
the members of the quadrilateral frame of the door panel 30 shown in Fig. 6
shall be coated
with fireproof and heat expansive material, or selectively a magnesium oxide
plate 50 is
stuck on the centre, upper layer or lower layer of the member of the
quadrilateral frame to
increase its ability of fire retardance.
Shown in from Fig. 6 to Fig. 8, on the outer side of the upper rail 33, the
lower rail 34,
the left stile 35 and the right stile 36 a flat steel bar 39a, or a U-shaped
steel bar 39b or a
rectangular steel pipe or tube 39c is attached to increase the bending
strength of the fire
proof door panel 30 of the invention.
Also shown in Figs. 5 and 6, along the outer edge of the left stile 35 and/or
the right stile
36 of the fireproof door panel 30 of the invention a sealing member 37 can be
installed. The
sealing member 37 shall also have high strength, fire resistance and fire
retardance, and
shall be made of hard PVC, foamed PVC, PVC composite extrusion, calcium
silicate plate,
wood or drawn-extruded UP, or can adopt U-shaped aluminum sealing material 60
for the
outer sealing structure of the fireproof door panel 30 to increase its fire
retardance.
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The core material 40 formed as a sandwich structure inside the fireproof door
panel 30
of the invention can be made of fireproof material such as foamed phenolics to
form a solid
core, but the more preferred structure is to adopt directly one or more sheets
of perlite plate
or calcium silicate plate to form the core 40 of the fireproof door panel, or
in the way as
shown in Fig. 6, on the inner side of the front surface plate 31 and the rear
surface plate 32
to attach a sheet or piece of magnesium oxide plate 38 with the same size as
the front
surface plate 31 and the rear surface plate 32, and then install one or more
sheets or pieces
of perlite plate, calcium silicate plate or wood composite plate to form the
core 40 of the
fireproof door panel 30. The core can alternatively be, or can additionally
comprise, a
polyurethane (PU foam). When the door panel 30 is on fire the core material 40
can block or
help to block the fire and keep the fire out of the room, and prevent the fire
from spreading
across the door.
Referring next to Figure 11, there is shown a further embodiment of door
panel, again
having stiles 35, 36, rails 33, 34, a front surface plate 31, a rear surface
plate 32 and a core
40 therebetween. It also has the snap-connection means 31c, 32c for connecting
the two
surface plates together. Figure 12 likewise has these features, but in another
embodiment of
door panel. The embodiment of Figure 11 has a steel reinforcement member 39c
between
the core 40 and the or each stile 35, and perhaps between the core 40 and the
rails 33, 34
(not shown). Further, it has a multi-component sealing member 37, 37a provided
along the
outside of the right stile 35 (with the snap-connection means 31c, 32c
sandwiched
therebetween). The embodiment of Figure 12, however, instead has a substantial
thickness
W of sealing member ¨ preferably between 20mm and 100mm thick, and often it
might be
thicker than the depth D of the door panel. The depth D of the door panel is
typically
between 35mm and 50mm. The thicknes D of the sealing member provides a large
degree
of adjustability for the door panel since a significant amount of one or more
of the edges of
the door panel can be trimmed off the edges of the door panel without
compromising the
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structural integrity of the door panel, whereby it can be adapted to fit in a
number of different
vent sizes.
The multi-component sealing member 37,37a can be formed of similar or
identical
materials to those described above in relation to the earlier embodiments, or
it may be made
from wood, e.g. a hard wood block or a laminated veneer lumber (LVL)
component, or one
or more calcium silicate plates, or combinations thereof, such that either
each component or
one or more of the components is made of a particular material, and with the
remaining
components being made from one or more of the other possible materials
described above.
The present invention also provides for additional permutations of the above
features.
For example, the multiple components of the multi-component sealing member 37,
37a can
be split across the snap-connection means, or it may have three or more
different materials
in that multi-component sealing member. Further, the frame, i.e. the stiles
and rails, can be
made of multiple elements, perhaps being split across the snap-connection
means. For
example, as shown in the further embodiment of Figure 13, the sealing member
37 could be
made of PVC, and it can be retained onto the edge of the door panel for
example by in-
turned lips 41 of the front and rear surface plates 31, 32, those lips 41
either engaging over
the outside perimeter of the door panel, as shown in Figures 13 or 14 or
locating within slots
in the component of the sealing member, as shown in Figures 10 or 11. It might
otherwise
be held in place with a friction fit, or with adhesive. There could then be a
three or more layer
laminated veneer lumber component (LVL) 43, followed by the snap-connection
means 31c,
32c. That LVL component 43 forms the main structure of the stile, extending
along
effectively the full height of the door. Internal of that LVL component,
however, there can
also be provided a lock block 44, for completing the multi-component stile.
That lock block is
the member into which a door lock can be morticed. It can extend substantially
the full length
of the door panel. However, typically it extends only along a part length of
the door panel
since deeply morticed locks are not typically installed at the top or bottom
of a door panel.
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Usually the lock block estends only along about 1/3 of the length of the door.
It is usually
made of a lighter weight, or softer, wood than the LVL component, the latter
generally being
made of a hardwood. This allows the easier processing of the door for fitting
of the lock, and
also allows the door to be made more economically.
5 The
arrangement in Fig. 14 differs to that of Fig. 13, however, in that the stile
is not split
by the snap-connection means 31c, 32c. Instead the snap connection means 31c,
32c splits
the sealing member 37 from the stile.
Returning to the feature of the inturned lips 41, as discussed above they are
formed in
the front and rear surface plates 31, 32. They serve an additional function:
in addition to
10
securing the sealing member 37, they also allow workers, when assembling the
door panel,
to use the lips 41 for quickly determining whether the assembly of the door
panel is correct
and they allow the elements to be kept tight. For example, the lip can provide
enough grip to
hold the sealing member 37 in the correct place as the door panel is bonded
together. This
therefore saves time in the manufacturing process.
Finally, it should be observed that the core 40 in the last four embodiments
(Figs 11 to
14) is preferably PU foam, although the fire resistant cores described above
can also, i.e.
alternatively, be used.
As concluded from the above, the door panels 30 of the invention provide not
only the
effect of preventing licking flames of fire from penetrating or passing the
door through the
gap along the edges of the door panel but can also have the effect of forming
a fire-wall with
its core material 40 which possesses not only the properties of high heat
resistant and fire
retardance but also the property of no deformation caused by fire. The
structure of the frame
also provides improvements. The present invention therefore provides a better
fireproof
property for door panels 30, whereby the invention can be developed to block
fires and
prevent fires from rapidly passing the door panel and spreading across the
door into a room
or space closed by the door panel.
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