US1621717A - Coiling door - Google Patents

Description

March 22, 1927. W c. GRANT ET AL COILING DOOR Filed Aug. 29, 1925 2. Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS. WILLIAM. C. GRAN?- gD ARD J. THOMAS. v EOR .w-o Ew. fl b 3 ATTORNEYS.

March 22, 1927. w. (1 GRANT ET AL COILING DOOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR$ 'WILLIAM. C. GRANT.

EDWARD I THOMAS. GEQRG- 32 w- Drge: w.

ATTORNEYS.

Filed Aug. 29, 1925 Patented Mar. 22, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

DREW, OI OAKLAND, CALI- OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, A

COHIING DOOR.

Application filed August 29, 1925. Serial No. 53,305.

The present invention relates to coiling doors or closures for large openings such as the doors of warehouses, hangars and balloon sheds, and the object of the invention is to provide an improved mechanism for celling and uncoiling the door, provlslon being made for supporting the door at intervals along its entire length.

Amon the various features of our invention we have developed a particular manner of hanging the slats from a supporting track in which a slotted strap is hung from trolleys mounted on the track and a support-- ing tape is loosely mounted in the slot of the strap. These straps will be secured to different intermediate slats at regular intervals and the slats are supported from the tape above mentioned. The lower ends of the slats are held in proper relation by a cable extending through the slats and also by a guiding tape. A box or housing is provlded for coiling the closure and has a rotary table which supports the base of the slats after their carrying rollers leave the track.

Other improved details will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the drawings, in which Figure 1 is a broken elevation of an opening in a building or other structure having two of our coiling closures fitted therein to meet at the center.

Figure 2 is an inside elevation showing part of the housing for the coiled closure as if taken in the direction of the arrow 2 of Figure 3.

Figure 3 is an elevation of Figure 2 in the direction of the arrow showing part ofthe housing and sectional View of the slats on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along lines H of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a cross-section detail of the track, and carriage with the support for the slats.

Figure 6 is an elevation of an upper door section.

Figure 7 is a horizontal section of two of the slats taken on the line 77 of Figure 6 in the direction of the arrow.

'lation will necessari Figure 8 is a diagram on a reduced scale illustrating the relation of the rope drum to the coiling door.

Figure 9 is a diagrammatic plan of the rotary table and. reel upon which the door is coiled.

Referring particularly to Figures 1 2, and 3, the coiling door, designated generally by the numerall, comprises a plurality of vertlcal slats 2, hinged together at their edges to form a flexible closure which may be wound or coiled onto a vertical reel 4 positioned ina housing 3. The door is supported at intervals along its length by trolleys 5, wh1ch travel on rails 6, suitably suspended from the frame of the building. As shown in Figure 5, the rails 6, are formed as integral flanges of the beam 58, which is hung by brackets 8 from bars 9, which are secured to any suitable element of the building. At its upper surface, the beam is bent to form a trough-like depression to receive the rope 20. Each of the trolleys 5 comprises a pair of rollers 10 and an axle 11, from which is suspended a strap 12, preferably formed by doubllng a strip of metal into the shape illustrated, leaving a loop or slot 13 at its lower end to receive a flexible steel tape 14, wh1ch extends throughout the length of the door. In the embodiment shown, a trolley is provided for every third slat, but this rey vary with the weight of the door and with other factors. Those slats which are directly attached to the straps 12 I have designated by the numerallG and may speak of as main slats. Each main slat 1s provlded at its u per end with a slot 17 to receive the loops end'of strap 12, which is secured therein by means of bolts 15.

The intermediate slats 18 are provided Wltl'l narrower slots to receive the tape 14, to which they are secured by pins orrivets 19.

Near the lower edge of the door, asteel binding cable 20 is secured by lugs 21 to the end slats and extends through apertures in all the slats so as to hold them together. One or more of these cables may be used in accordance with the height of the opening in which the closure is fitted but one cable is preferably placed at about the elevation at which a person or vehicle would run or bump agalnst the closure. I

A second ta e 22 is threaded through slots in the lower e ge of the slats and each of the slats having a rivet or pin 23 engaging the lower end of the tape. i

The reel for supporting and windm 1n the coiling closure is constructed as fol ows;

Having reference particularly to Flgures 2, 3, and 4, the houslng 3 is preferably rectangular or box shaped havin a substantlal base 24 and a head 25 forme of metal and rigidly connected by metal or wooden side an ular flange 60 to engage the rope. It w' 1 thus be seen that as the rope is drawn in and wound on the drum the outermost trolley will be ulled along the track and the others will ollow engaging in the track in succession.- The supporting tape 14, the binding cables 20 and the binding tape 22 will guide the slats into proper osition. An. idler roller 61 is positioned at the lower part of the housing adjacent the turn table 41 to guide the lower part of the coiling closure in its inward and outward movement. The track is also slightly flared as indicated in 62, Figure 9.

walls 26. A socket 27 is centrally positioned It is manifest that the operating mechaon the base and contains a thrust bearing 28 forming a journal for the reel 4. This reel 4 has a lower shaft 29 engaging in the rotary element of a. bearing 28 and adjustably secured to a hollow core 30 by clamping bolts 31 or the like. The upper end of the core is connected to an upper shaft 32 which extends through a journal 33 and carries a loose drum gear 34 to which is secured a rope drum 35 by bolts'35 or the like. Discs 36 and 37 are adjustably secured to the core 30 by means of clamp bolts 38 or the like and function to hold the coiled slats in proper relation, and are provided at 39 and 40 with projecting studs to engage the end slat at the level of the tape 14 and cable 20 respectively. Instead of two discs, more may be used if desired.

A turn table 41 is secured to the lower shaft 29 by clamping bolts 42 or the like.

The rope drum is rotated to coil the slats in the housing by means of a crank 43 engaging in a socket 44 which through the pair of bevel gears 45 and the vertical shaft 46 leads to a pinion 47 meshing with teeth 48 on the periphery of the turn table 41. Therefore,

on rotation of the crank the turn table, the vertical shaft, the drum and the reel are rotated thereby drawing the slats into the housing. After they run off the end of the track as indicated in Figures 2 and 9, the slats will be wound upon the coil. The track 5 ends immediately inside the housing, leaving sufficient room therein for the Whole closure to be coiled.

The closure is drawn out or uncoiled by shifting the crank 43 to a socket 49 which retates a pair of bevel gears 50 carrying the rotary motion through a vertical shaft 51 to a top pinion 52 which meshes with teeth 53 on the drum gear 34. Assuming the closure is coiled in the housing, when the crank 43 is rotated in the proper direction the rope 54 will be wound on the drum 35. This rope leads over idler- pulleys 55, 56, and 57, in the upper portion of the track and thence around a return pulley 59 near the end of the travel of the particular closure. The rope is connected to one of the trolleys and preferably to the end trolley which has an nism for coiling the closure into the housing and for extending it may be operated by power mechanism such as electric motor with power connections to the turn table 41 and to the .drum gear 34. The details of construction can also be materially changed in accordance with the requirements of particular situations or the size of the closure to be constructed. Also guide rollers or the like can be used at the bottom of the slats and run in a track. It is also manifest that the slats may be made of metal instead of wood as shown in the present design.

It will be noted that some of the important features of our invention are supporting slats from a su porting tape which is carried at interva s by the trolleys 5 having the rollers operating on the tracks, with the intermediate slats hung loosely on this supportlng tape. The overhead track system supporting this type of closure is an im ortant feature and co-operatin therewit is the rotary turn table 41 whic supports the slats after they leave the track.

Having described our invention, what we claim is:

1. In a coiling closure comprising a series of vertical slats, means to suspend the slats from their upper ends, a housing-having a rotary turn table adjacent its base, a vertical shaft mounted on said turn table, a core mounted on the shaft, discs mounted on the core, a second shaft extending above the core, a rope drum mounted on the second shaft and a rope extending from the drum to a point adjacent the extreme outer position on the coiling closure.

2. A coiling closure comprising in combination an overhead track, a series of trolleys mounted thereon, slotted straps depending from said trolleys, a supporting tape threaded through the slots of the straps and a series of vertical slats hung by their upper ends from the said supporting ta e.

3. A coiling closure, as claime in claim 2, in which some of said slats are secured to the slotted strap and the intermediate slats are loosely suspended on the tape.

4. A coiling closure comprising in combination an overhead track, a series of trolleys depressed having rollers running on the track, slotted straps depending from the rollers, a supporting tape threaded through the slots of the straps, slats clamped to the slotted straps and a series of intermediate slats suspended from said supporting tape.

5. A coiling closure comprising in combination an overhead track having a plurality of rails with a slot there between, a series of trolleys each having a pair of rollers running on the tracks, slotted straps depending from the rollers supporting tape threaded through the straps, vertical slats secured at their upper ends to the said straps and a series of intermediate slats suspended from the supporting tape.

6. A coiling closure, as claimed in claim 5, in which the overhead track is formed of a substantially rectangular beam having a depressed portion in the upper portion, said ortion being adapted to form a guideway. or a rope, a rope in said guideway and a connection from the end of the rope to one of the trolleys.

A coiling closure comprising an overhead track, a plurality of trolleys movable thereon, a closure element comprising vertical slats suspended from said trolleys, a

turntable, means to operate said turntable to coil the closure element with the lower ends of the slats resting on the turntable, a drum adjacent said turntable, a rope coiled on said drum and extending to the outermost trolley, and means to wind the rope on the drum and thereby extend the closure element across an opening.

8. A coiling closure comprising an overhead track, a plurality of trolleys movable thereon, a closure element comprising vertical slats suspended from said trolley, a turntable, means to operate said turntable to coil the closure element with the lower ends of the slats resting on the turntable, a reel mounted on said turntable and having a shaft extending above the level of the said closure, a drum loosely mounted on said shaft, a rope extending from said drum to one of the outermost trolleys, and means to operate the drum to wind the rope thereon, and thereby extend the closure element.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures.

WILLIAM C. GRANT. EDWARD J. THOMAS. GEORGE W. DREW.

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