FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an apparatus for rendering doors safer.

BACKGROUND ART

It has long been known that doors present a safety hazard. As a conventionally hinged door opens, it creates an aperture between it and the frame on the hinged side. As the door then closes, that aperture reduces down to essentially nil. Any items that are placed within the aperture while the door is open will therefore be crushed when the door is closed. This includes small loose articles and, more seriously, parts of the body such as fingers. Children are well known to be at risk in this regard, since they have less understanding of the risk and less familiarity with the need to keep fingers clear of door frames.

The problem is particularly acute where the door is equipped with an automatic closing device, since it is correspondingly less likely that the owner of the finger concerned will be aware that the door is closing, and the door may close with greater force then would otherwise be the case. Such door closes are very common in commercial establishments, and can also be required in residential premises such as on a door between a living area and a garage.

Conventional door finger protectors comprise an elongate strip of flexible material which is attached over the gap, one elongate edge being bonded to the door frame some distance from its edge, and the other being bonded to the door some distance from its edge. A similar arrangement is usually required on both sides. Thus, as the door closes or opens, the elongate strip takes up a correspondingly more or less arcuate form. Access to the gap between the door and frame is prevented and fingers cannot be trapped. However, this solution is visually obtrusive, and aesthetically unacceptable in many circumstances such as private homes. Its use appears to be limited to particularly high-risk commercial establishments such as nurseries, creches (kindergartens) and the like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention therefore provides a doorway, comprising a door frame including at least one upright, a door attached to the upright by at least one hinge, the orientation of the hinge thereby defining for the doorway a hinged edge and an opening edge that creates a gap between the door and door frame when the door is open, and a finger protector comprising a resilient sleeve having two elongate edges, the edges being attached to the door and the door frame respectively and the sleeve extending between the door and the door frame, thereby to occupy the gap between the door and the door frame when the door is open.

It will usually be the case that the doorframe extends around three edges of the door, such as an upper edge and two side edges. However, the invention can be applied to other types of doorframe.

The elongate edges of the sleeve can be adhesively attached to the door and the doorframe, respectively. The sleeve can include tab portions along its elongate edges, to allow it to be attached to the door and the doorframe respectively. The tab portions can be formed at a transverse angle to the remainder of the sleeve or coplanar therewith.

There will usually be a plurality of hinges attaching the door to the doorframe. Thus, it is preferred that such tab portions are interrupted by at least one hinge aperture.

The present invention further relates to a door protector for attaching in a doorway, comprising a sleeve portion with two opposing elongate edges, the two edges being attachable to a door and a door frame respectively, and the sleeve portion being of a resiliency deformable material to extend between the door and the door frame and to occupy the space therebetween when the door is open.

The elongate edges of the sleeve preferably carry an adhesive coating, and the sleeve preferably includes tab portions along its elongate edges for attaching to the door and the doorframe respectively. Again, the tab portions can be formed at a transverse angle to the remainder of the sleeve or coplanar therewith and are preferably interrupted by at least one hinge aperture. Alternatively, the device could be held in place by elastic tension, or by alternative fixing means.

The sleeve portion can be of a suitable plastics material.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying figures in which;

Figure 1 shows a view of an open door protected with a device according to the present invention;

Figure 2 shows a doorway according to the present invention from one side;

Figure 3 shows the doorway of figure 2 from the opposite side;

Figure 4 shows a door protector according to the present invention in its partially folded state; and

Figure 5 shows a door protector according to the present invention in its open state.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Referring to figure 1, there is shown schematically a door 10 mounted in a doorframe 12. In this case, only one upright of the doorframe is shown but it will be understood that doorframes generally comprise two uprights either side of the door, a lintel over the door, and sometimes a doorstep beneath the lower edge of the door.

The door is attached to the doorframe via a pair of hinges, of which the upper hinge 14 is visible. These connect one edge of the door 10 to a corresponding edge of the doorframe 12, such that when the door 10 is closed a side face 16 of the door 10 lies against a side face 18 of the doorframe 12. When the door 10 is open, as shown in figure 1, these two faces 16, 18 open out to form a space between them into which fingers (etc) can be placed.

Also shown in figure 1 is a door finger protector 20. This comprises a generally elongate strip of a flexible material 22 that is affixed along each lateral edge to the door 10 and the doorframe 12. However, in contrast to known systems, the strip 22 is affixed such that the body thereof lies on the opposite side of the door to the affixing points. Thus, the body of the strip 22 itself occupies the gap between the closing faces 16, 18 and is crushed therebetween when the door is closed. In this way, it excludes foreign objects such as fingers or the like as the door is closed.

This can be seen more clearly in figures 2 and 3, which show the complete door 10 and doorframe 12 from each respective side. Figure 3 shows the door 10 from the side towards which it opens. The protector 20 is visible only by tabs 24, 26, 28, 30 which extend from the lateral edges of the protector 20. Two tabs 24, 26 and 28, 30 are provided on each lateral edge so that there is a gap, between them for the lower hinge 14a. The tabs carry an adhesive surface that allows them to be affixed to the door 10 and doorframe 12, with the body 22 of

the protector 20 extending into the crack between the door 10 and doorframe 12.

Meanwhile, figure 2 shows the door 10 and doorframe 12 from the opposite side to that of figure 3. The tabs are not visible but the body 22 of the protector 20 can be seen extending arcuately into the space between the opposing faces 16, 18. In this case, the protector 20 covers only the lower section of the door, since the risk of entrapment is principally faced by children and hence a longer protector will be visually more striking and may also be unnecessary.

Figures 4 and 5 show the protector 20 itself. In figure 5, the protector 20 is flat whereas in figure 4 it is partially curved. The protector 20 thus consists of a central body region 22, generally elongate and rectangular. Lateral edges 32, 34 carry tabs 24, 26, 28, 30 which are covered with an adhesive surface to allow easy adherence to the door 10 or doorframe 12. These will typically be covered with a suitable peel-off strip prior to installation. A gap is placed between the tabs on the same lateral edge so as to accommodate a hinge.

The dimensions of the body portion 22 can be varied as desired. The body 22 should be long enough to conceal the gap up to a reasonable reach of a young child or of the relevant person. For example, in some contexts it may be necessary to protect adults with learning difficulties, in which case a full-length protector of some two or more metres may be required. Equally, it may be unnecessary to protect the very bottom of the door 10 if (for example) the area is not accessible to crawling infants, in which case the protector can be shorter.

The width of the body portion 22 is also susceptible of variation. A wider body 22 will extend more fully into the gap and will be more visually obtrusive, but may be more effective. A shorter body 22 will be less obvious, and will likely operate by pushing fingers etc out of the gap as the door is closed and the protector is progressively crushed. As a general guide, the body 22 of the protector 20 should be at least twice the thickness of the door 10 so that, when the door 10 is fully closed, there is no fold line crushed between the door 10 and

the doorframe 12. Such a crushed fold line might be an early failure point. However, particularly flexible materials may be able to withstand this.

Suitable materials for the body portion 22 include a range of flexible plastics sheets such as polyethylene and polypropylene, together with rubber or rubber-like materials and composites of these and other materials.

The tabs can protrude from the body portion (as shown) or they can be definable as an edge thereof, perhaps delineated by a fold line. If gaps are needed then these can be provided between defined tabs (as shown) or as indentations in the edge of the protector 20. To cater for a wide range of door styles, instructions could be provided to trim the edge as required, in lieu of pre- prepared gaps.

Thus, it can be seen that the above-described door protector provides an effective protection from entrapment of fingers in closing doors. It works in a fundamentally different manner to existing protectors; these seek to prevent fingers from entering the danger area but in doing so become visually obtrusive. The present invention, on the other hand, acts partly by occupying the relevant space and partly by moving as the door shuts to push at-risk fingers to safety.

It will of course be understood that many variations may be made to the above-described embodiment without departing from the scope of the present invention.