Seal with rat resistant barrier

Abstract

A flexible and oblong blade seal for sealing a gap between a door leaf and an adjacent surface includes A) a flexible outer material and B) a section with the sealing function (the sealing section), in which a barrier of a plurality of substantially parallel metal wires and/or narrow metal strips is embedded in the flexible outer material in such a way, that the wires and/or strips are arranged in parallel to the longitudinal direction of the seal. A method for mounting such seals and a method for producing them.

Claims

1. An elastic and oblong seal for sealing one or more gaps wherein the one or more gaps are selected from the group consisting of: one or more gaps between a building part and an adjacent surface, one or more gaps between a wall and an adjacent surface, and one or more gaps between a fence and an adjacent surface, said seal comprising: a sealing section comprising an elastic outer material in the form of a polymer; and a rodent proofing barrier embedded in at least a part of the elastic outer material, said barrier comprising a plurality of separate metal wires arranged at a distance to each other and extending substantially in parallel to a longitudinal direction of the seal.

2. The seal of claim 1, wherein the elastic outer material is a thermoplastic elastomer or rubber.

3. The seal of claim 2, wherein: the plurality of separate metal wires comprises at least two separate metal wires that each are solid single stranded wires with a surface that is coated with an adhesive coating to which the elastic outer material adheres better than to the at least two separate metal wires; and the elastic outer material constitutes one single outer material, in which the at least two separate metal wires are embedded.

4. The seal of claim 3, wherein the distance between the at least two separate metal wires is no larger than 10 mm; and the elastic outer material is the thermoplastic elastomer.

5. The seal of claim 2, wherein the a Shore A hardness of the thermoplastic elastomer or rubber is between 45 and 90.

6. The seal of claim 4, wherein the one or more gaps are the one or more gaps between the building part and the adjacent surface; and wherein the distance between the at least two separate metal wires is no larger than 8 mm.

7. The seal of claim 6, wherein the building part is a door leaf.

8. The seal of claim 7, wherein the door leaf is a door leaf of an up-and-over door.

9. The seal of claim 6, wherein: the seal is a blade seal; and the at least two separate metal wires are made of steel.

10. The seal of claim 9, wherein: a cross section of the seal is symmetric with a uniform structure; the at least two separate wires are at least six separate metal wires; and said at least six separate metal wires are distributed evenly over a width of the seal.

11. The seal of claim 6, wherein the seal has a substantially U-shaped cross-sectional form.

12. The seal of claim 6, wherein the seal has a substantially L-shaped cross-sectional form.

13. The seal of claim 6, wherein the seal has a substantially J-shaped cross-sectional form.

14. The seal of claim 1, wherein: the one or more gaps are the one or more gaps between the building part and the adjacent surface; the rodent proofing barrier consists essentially of the plurality of separate metal wires; the plurality of separate metal wires comprises at least two separate wires with a diameter of at least 0.4 mm; and the distance between the at least two separate metal wires is no larger than 10 mm.

15. The seal of claim 14, wherein the building part is a door leaf and the seal is a blade seal.

16. A method of securing the one or more gaps between the building part and the adjacent surface against pests comprising the step of mounting the seal according to claim 6 on the building part.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the building part is a door leaf.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the door leaf is a door leaf of an up-and-over door.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of mounting the seal comprises securing the seal to the door by means of a 20-80 mm wide mounting strip.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the mounting strip is made of a polymer.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a partially cut away perspective view of a flexible seal.

(2) FIG. 2 is a partially cut away perspective view of a flexible seal.

(3) FIGS. 3a, 3b and 3c are partially cut away perspective views of seals.

(4) FIG. 4 is a door seal with markings of recommended positioning of fasteners such as screws.

(5) FIG. 5 is an isometric illustration of a lower edge door sealing assembly.

(6) FIG. 6 is an illustration of a part of the lower edge door sealing assembly of FIG. 5.

(7) FIG. 7 is a solid single stranded wire with a deformed uneven surface.

(8) FIG. 8 is door seal with a bend mounted on the lower part of a door leaf with an end part of the door seal protruding from a side of the door leaf.

(9) FIGS. 9a, 9b, 9c and 9d illustrate a flexible seal provided with a brush or fiber material.

(10) FIG. 10 illustrates a sealed door assembly with two door leaves.

(11) FIGS. 11a, 11b, 11c and 11d are mounting strips for mounting a door seal.

(12) FIGS. 12a, 12b and 12c are L-shaped, J-shaped and U-shaped seals.