Economical impact resistant compression molded door

Abstract

Improved synthetic doors having high impact resistance employ SMC skins having a layer of reinforcing extending throughout each skin, which skins are glued to rectangular frame forming the rails and stiles of said door and the cavity between the skins filled and a plastic foam. The process of making the doors include the steps of placing a layer of SMC in a compression mold, placing a flexible reinforcing sheet over this layer of SMC so that it covers the entire skin area, placing a second layer of SMC over said reinforcing sheet and curing said layers under heat and pressure in such mold to form the impact resistant skin. The door defined along can include a window light also having high impact resistance wherein the window light includes a sheet of tempered glass adhered to a sheet of polycarbonate, second sheet of tempered glass and a specific frame separating the two sheets of tempered glass along with a seal means about the perimeter of this assembly, so that the frame and sealing means will allow the perimeters of the sheets to articulate when the central portions of the panes flex.

Having Described my Invention, I claim:  
     
         1 . An improved synthetic door having high impact resistance comprising: 
 a rectangular frame forming the rails and stiles of said door;    a pair of skins, one skin glued to one side of said frame and the other skin glued to the other side of the frame forming a hollow cavity between said skins and the inside perimeter of said frame; each of said skins being formed with a flexible sheet reinforcing sandwiched between layers of its SMCs; and    plastic foam filling such cavity.    
     
     
         2 . The improved synthetic door in  claim 1  wherein the SMC is, by weight, 12% to 15% polyester resin, 5% to 15% polystyrene and 40% to 50% inert fillers and 15% to 25% chopped fiber glass.  
     
     
         3 . The improved synthetic door in  claim 1  where the flexible reinforcing sheet is a sheet of glass cloth which is sized to extend throughout its associated skin.  
     
     
         4 . The improved synthetic door in  claim 1  where the flexible reinforcing sheet is selected from the group consisting of fiber glass cloth, glass fiber chopped strand mat, glass fiber continuous strand mat, glass fiber filament mat and glass fiber roving mat, said sheet extending throughout its associated skin.  
     
     
         5 . A method of manufacturing a high impact resistant skin for a synthetic door comprising the steps of: 
 placing a layer of SMC in a compression mold;    placing a flexible reinforcing sheet over said layer of SMC;    placing a second layer of SMC over said reinforcing sheet, and curing said layers under heat and pressure in such mold to form the impact resistant skin.    
     
     
         6 . The method of manufacturing a high impact resistant skin defined in  claim 5  wherein the SMC is, by weight, 12% to 15% polyester resin, 5% to 15% polystyrene and 40% to 50% inert fillers and 15% to 25% chopped fiber glass.  
     
     
         7 . The method of manufacturing a high impact resistant skin defined in  claim 5  where the flexible reinforcing sheet is selected from the group consisting of glass fiber cloth, glass fiber chopped strand mat, glass fiber continuous strand mat, glass fiber filament mat and glass fiber roving mat.  
     
     
         8 . The improved synthetic door defined in  claim 1  wherein the door has a window frame and a window light mounted in said frame, said window light constructed of a sheet of tempered glass bonded to a sheet of polycarbonate and including a second sheet of tempered glass with a frame separating the sheets of tempered glass and sealing means about the perimeter of said sheets, said frame and sealing mean constructed so that said sheets can articulate at their respective perimeters.  
     
     
         9 . A window light having high impact resistance comprising: 
 a first sheet of tempered glass;    a sheet of polycarbonate bonded to said tempered glass;    a frame mounted on polycarbonate sheet, said frame having reliefs about its top and bottom edges;    a second sheet of tempered glass mounted on said frame, said frame being operable to separate said sheets of tempered glass; and    sealing means about the perimeter of said sheets of tempered glass operable to join and seal the assembly so that said frame is joined to the several sheets by said sealing means in said recesses.    
     
     
         10 . A window light having high impact resistance defined in  claim 9  wherein the sealing means is a butyl adhesive.  
     
     
         11 . A window light having high impact resistance defined in  claim 9  wherein the sheets are joined by a acrylic adhesive and the adhesive is cured by heat.