Water evacuation system for façade systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12312858-B2
Application number	US-202318300611-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 14, 2023
Priority date	Apr 26, 2022
Publication date	May 27, 2025
Grant date	May 27, 2025

Abstract

A water evacuation system includes a sill providing a dam that defines one or more drain ports, an accumulation chamber defined within the interior of the sill and in fluid communication with the dam via the one or more drain ports, and one or more discharge ports defined in a front face of the sill and in fluid communication with the accumulation chamber. An internal ramp is arranged within the accumulation chamber and includes an angled upper surface directed toward the one or more discharge ports to urge water to the discharge ports. Alternatively, or in addition thereto, a pump is in fluid communication with the sill and a float switch is secured to the sill to send a signal to operate the pump when water accumulating in the sill reaches a predetermined level for evacuation.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A water evacuation system, comprising:
a sill providing:
a dam that defines one or more drain ports;
an accumulation chamber defined within an interior of the sill and in fluid communication with the dam via the one or more drain ports, the interior providing an upper interior surface through which the one or more drain ports are defined and a lower interior surface opposite the upper interior surface; and
one or more discharge ports defined in a front face of the sill and in fluid communication with the accumulation chamber; and

an internal ramp comprising a structure separate from the sill and arrangeable within the accumulation chamber between the upper and lower interior surfaces and below the one or more drain ports, the internal ramp contacting the lower interior surface of the accumulation chamber and including an angled upper surface directed toward the one or more discharge ports, the angled upper surface extending at an angle from an upper edge of the angled upper surface toward a lower edge of the angled upper surface, where the upper edge is closer to the upper interior surface than the lower edge,
wherein water entering the accumulation chamber via the one or more drain ports will contact the angled upper surface and flow towards the one or more discharge ports to be evacuated from the sill.

2. The water evacuation system of claim 1 , wherein the internal ramp further comprises:
an elongate body having opposing first and second ends; and
a bottom arranged opposite the angled upper surface and contacting the lower interior surface, each of the bottom and the angled upper surface extending between the first and second ends,
wherein the lower edge of the angled surface is arranged closer to the one or more discharge ports when the internal ramp is arranged within the accumulation chamber.

3. The water evacuation system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a pump in fluid communication with the sill via an inlet conduit to draw water from the sill into the inlet conduit;
a discharge conduit extending from the pump to an outlet orifice to convey the water from the pump to the outlet orifice to be discharged to an exterior of a building; and
a float switch mounted to the sill and in communication with the pump,
wherein, when the water accumulating in the sill reaches a predetermined level and acts on the float switch, the float switch sends a signal to the pump to commence pumping the water out of the sill.

4. The water evacuation system of claim 3 , wherein the float switch is arranged within one of the dam and the accumulation chamber, and the inlet conduit extends between the pump and the one of the dam and the accumulation chamber.

5. The water evacuation system of claim 1 , further comprising a discharge port cover secured to the sill at a corresponding one of the one or more discharge ports, the discharge port cover including a body that includes:
a front plate;
a top extending laterally from and perpendicular to the front plate; and
one or more coupling members receivable within the corresponding one of the one or more discharge ports to secure the discharge port cover to the corresponding one of the one or more discharge ports,
wherein, when the discharge port cover is received within the corresponding one of the one or more discharge ports, a downspout is cooperatively defined between the discharge port cover and the front face of the sill.

6. The water evacuation system of claim 1 , further comprising a movable shield actuatable between a stowed configuration and a deployed configuration, wherein, when the movable shield is transitioned to the deployed configuration, the movable shield diverts water away from the dam.

7. The water evacuation system of claim 1 , wherein the sill provides a mounting portion and a sliding door assembly is configured to be mounted to the sill at the mounting portion, the sliding door assembly including:
a sill receptor that defines a cavity sized to receive the mounting portion; and
one or more panels mounted to the sill receptor and extending vertically therefrom.

8. A water evacuation system, comprising:
a sill providing:
a dam that defines one or more drain ports;
an accumulation chamber arranged vertically below the dam and defined within an interior of the sill and in fluid communication with the dam via the one or more drain ports, the interior providing an upper interior surface through which the one or more drain ports are defined and a lower interior surface opposite the upper interior surface; and
one or more discharge ports defined in a front face of the sill and in fluid communication with the accumulation chamber;

an internal ramp comprising a structure separate from the sill and arrangeable within the accumulation chamber between the upper and lower interior surfaces and below the one or more drain ports, the internal ramp contacting the lower interior surface of the accumulation chamber and including an angled upper surface directed toward the one or more discharge ports, the angled upper surface extending at an angle from an upper edge of the angled upper surface toward a lower edge of the angled upper surface, where the upper edge is closer to the upper interior surface than the lower edge;
a pump in fluid communication with the sill via an inlet conduit that extends from the pump and terminates in the dam; and
a discharge conduit extending from the pump to an outlet orifice to convey water from the pump to the outlet orifice to be discharged to an exterior of a building.

9. The water evacuation system of claim 8 , further comprising a float switch mounted to the sill and communicably coupled to the pump, the float switch including:
a static portion secured to the sill; and
a floating portion pivotably coupled to the static portion and buoyant in water,
wherein, when water accumulating in the sill reaches a predetermined level, the floating portion floats on the water and sends a signal to the pump to commence operation.

10. The water evacuation system of claim 9 , wherein the float switch is arranged within one of the dam and the accumulation chamber.

11. The water evacuation system of claim 9 , wherein one or both of the inlet and discharge conduits extend at least partially through a frame member extending vertically from the sill.

12. The water evacuation system of claim 8 , wherein the internal ramp further comprises:
an elongate body having opposing first and second ends; and
a bottom arranged opposite the angled upper surface and contacting the lower interior surface, each of the bottom and the angled upper surface extending between the first and second ends,
wherein the lower edge is arranged closer to the one or more discharge ports.

13. The water evacuation system of claim 8 , further comprising a discharge port cover secured to the sill at a corresponding one of the one or more discharge ports, the discharge port cover including a body that includes:
a front plate;
a top extending laterally from and perpendicular to the front plate; and
one or more coupling members receivable within the corresponding one of the one or more discharge ports to secure the discharge port cover to the corresponding one of the one or more discharge ports,
wherein, when the discharge port cover is received within the corresponding one of the one or more discharge ports, a downspout is cooperatively defined between the discharge port cover and the front face of the sill.

14. The water evacuation system of claim 8 , further comprising a movable shield actuatable between a stowed configuration and a deployed configuratio

Assignees

• Arconic Tech Llc

Inventors

• Barbulescu Ion-Horatiu
• Delgado Emmanuel
• Faeq Ahmed Hassan
• Nguyen Thuan
• Salazar David
• Tran Huong Ngoc
• Tran Thanh Nhan

Classifications

• E06B7/26

  Rain or draught deflectors, e.g. under sliding wings {also protection against light for doors} · CPC title

• E06B7/14 Primary

  Measures for draining-off condensed water or water leaking-in {frame members for draining off condensation water, throats at the bottom of a sash} · CPC title

• E06B3/4636

  for doors (E06B3/4609 and E06B3/4654 - E06B3/4681 take precedence; sliding shower doors A47K3/34) · CPC title

• E06B1/70 Primary

  Sills; Thresholds · CPC title

• E06B3/26347

  specially adapted for sliding doors or windows · CPC title