US2839135A - Rolling door - Google Patents

Description

June 17, 1958 J. ANDERSON ROLLING DOOR 3 Sheets-Shee'l*I 1 Filed Feb. 16, 1956 ATTORNEYS June 17, 1958 Filed Feb. 16, 1956 J. ANDERSON ROLLING DOOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 lsA FIGA

l l `II e@ I l g l ((ml i l i gg I l i I L JNVENTOR. JAMES ANDERSON ATTORNEYS June 17, 14958 J. ANDERSON ROLLING DOOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 16, 1956 ANDERSON INVENTOR.

AMES BY g m mlw ATTORNEYS United States ROLLING DOOR Application February 16, 1956, Serial No. 565,883

10 Claims. (Cl. 160 133) This invention relates to rolling doors and in particulai to an improved arrangement for rolling doors made up of a plurality of interconnected relatively thin slats.

ln a rolling door of the nature referred to above the relatively thin at slats which make up the door bend fairly readily when subjected to wind pressure, and this tends to cause the ends of the slats to pull out of the guides at the ends thereof. When these doors reach a substantial size, as they often do, it will be apparent that tremendous thrusts can be developed thereon by the wind :and this causes great forces to be present, tending to pull A.the ends of the slats out of the guides.

Heretofore it has been customary to arrange clips n the ends of the siats inside the guides which engage locking bars or other projections arranged along the guides whereby, when the slats bend under wind pressure, they are prevented from pulling out of the guides.

This arrangement for preventing the slats from pulling out of the guides is satisfactory to the extent that the slats are retained in position, but this makes the door very difficult to move and causes extremely rapid wear of the wind lock elements during opening and closing of the doors, as well as bringing about direct engagement between the slats and the guide itself under certain cases of deection of the slats, whereby the very life of the door is jeopardized.

Having the foregoing in mind, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved arrangement in connection with a Slat-type rolling door or rolling curtain for limiting the deflection of the slats when they are subjected to wind pressure.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of an arrangement for resisting the deflection of the slats of a rolling door or curtain when subjected to wind pressure which will not interfere with the movement of the door or curtain as it is opened or closed.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide in combination a device for attaching to the slats of a rolling door or curtain which will guide the door in the edge guides therefor, while at the same time resisting deflection of the door under Wind pressure.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become more apparent upon reference to the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a View of a rolling door according to the present invention looking at the door from inside a buildma;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional View indicated by line 2 2 on Figure 1 showing the general arrangement of a door or curtain and the guides therefor relative to the opening for which the door or curtain is adapted for closing;

Figure 3 is a sectional view indicated by line 3 3 on Figure l showing the door in a condition where it is ydelected by wind pressure;

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional viewshowing the atent VC) Patented June 17, i958 edge guide at one end of the door and the device according to this invention which attaches to the end of a slat of the door and rides within the guide;

Figure 5 is a sectional view indicated by line 5 5 on Figure 4 showing more in detail the device and its attachment to the end of the slat; and

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view indicated by line 6 6 on Figure 5 showing the relationship of adjacent slats of the door or curtain and the ,connection thereof with the device according to the present invention.

Referring to the drawings somewhat more in detail, there is illustrated in Figure l a building wall 10 having an opening generally designated at 12 adapted for being closed by a rolling door or curtain 14. The door or curtain 14 is composed of a plurality of individual slats 16 which have their mating edges formed to substantially cylindrical configurations so as to interengage swivelly, whereby the door or curtain is adapted to wrap about a barrel 18 which may be rotated by a motor mechanism or chain device to move the door in its opening or closing directions. Barrel 18 is preferably contained within a hood 20 of a size such that the entire door or curtaoin can be wrapped about barrel 18 to completely uncover opening 12,

In order to guide the door or curtain in its opening and closing movements, and for preventing the door or curtain from swinging, there is provided at each edge thereof means 22 forming guide channels into which the ends of the individual slats 16 extend.

The nature of these guide means is best illustrated in Figures 3, 4 and 5, wherein it will be seen that the vertically extending parallel plates 24 and 26 are interconnected rigidly by the frame part 28 to form a vertically extending channel receiving the ends of the slats.

According to the present invention the outer portion of the channel thus formed is provided with the bars 30 and 32 fixed to members 24 and 26 as by the welding 34 and which provide the vertically extending abutment surfaces 36 and the outwardly tapering surfaces 38.

According to the present invention the described guide arrangement is availed of for guiding the slats of the door or curtain vertically, while at the same time resisting or limiting deection thereof due to wind pressure by providing the opposite ends of certain ones, or all, of the slats making up the door or curtain with a special end casting 40 attached to each slat by rivet means 42 so as to be rigid therewith, and being provided with means for receiving a shaft 44 on which is mounted roller 46 which is located between the previously mentioned outwardly flaring surfaces 38. The end of shaft 44 at the outer end of casting 40 terminates in swivel portion 48 which is adapted for being received between the two arms 50 of a roller support casting 52 that carries the transverse shaft means 54 that support rollers 56 at the opposite sides of roller support casting 52. Vertically extending pin 58 pivotally interconnects roller support casting 52 with swivel portion 48 on the end of shaft 44 so that the said roller support 52 can ex in a horizontal plane relative to the casting 40 and, therefore, relative to the slat to which the casting is attached. y

With reference now to Figure 3, there is revealed the manner in which the guide arrangement according to this invention operates to resist or limit deection of the door or curtain under wind pressure, while at the same time permitting ready vertical movement thereof even while the door is subjected to pressure.

ln Figure 3 wind pressure is represented by the arrows 60, and it will be apparent that the door or curtain is deected as indicated by the dimension X in the center thereof. This deection is, of course, illustrated to an asesinas exaggerated degree in order to clarify the 'action of the device.

With the slats bent or detiected, as illustrated in Figure 3, the rollers 46 at the opposite ends of the slat bear against one of the surfaces 38, while the rollers 56 engage the inner end surfaces 35 of thebars 3l) and 3.2. It will be apparent that the arrangementis that the slats having the guide devices ofthe presentinvention on the ends thereof act as cables and are thrown into a condition of tension; in which condition, of course, they are extremely strong and able to resist extreme windV pressures. This prevents .deflection of theV door beyond the predetermined amount which is determined at the time of erecting the door while at the same time, due to the factk that all bearing is by way of rollers, the door is readily moved either upwardly or downwardly, and thus the wind pressure acting on the door and the deection thereof does not in any way operate to interfere with movement thereof.

It will be apparent from Figures 3 and 4 that the door is capable of withstanding wind pressure exerted thereon from either side and that the action of the device will be` exactly the same.

It will also be apparent that in instances whereupressures to be encountered are fairly small,.or the door itself is of generally small dimensions, the castings as illustrated might be attached to the slats only at spaced intervals therealong; whereas, for doors where the wind pressure might be quite high or Where the dimensions of the door are quite large,l particularly the Width thereof,

` it would be preferable to place the castings more closely together along the door, even to the extent of placing them on every slat.

It will be noted in Figure 6 that the end portions ofthe castings are so arranged that the castings could be arranged on every slat and the castings would not interfere with the swivel joints interconnecting the slats at their edges in'any way whatsoever.

Itwill be understood that this invention is susceptible to modification in order to adapt it to different usages and conditions, and accordingly it is desired to comprehend such modifications within this invention as may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: l

1. In a rolling door or curtain; a transversely extending relatively narrow elongated flexible slat, a vertically extending guide receiving each end yof said slat, a roller on each end of said slat adapted for engaging the guide upon lateral deection of the slat, a bracket pivotally connected at each end-of the slat within the adjacent guide, a pair of rollers on each said bracket on opposite sides of the axis of the slat, and abutment members carried by each guideadapted for engagement by said rollers upon deliection of said slat thereby to limit the deflection of the slat under wind pressure or they like without substantially increasing the frictional engagement of the slat with the guides. n *l 2. In combination with a rolling door or curtain made up of laterally extending relatively flexible slatsV swivelly interconnected along their edges and guide channels receiving the ends of said slats, bracket means attached to the opposite ends of at least'some of said slats, each bracket means comprising rst roller means 4adapted for engaging said guide means upon'lat'eral; deflection and channels at the sides of the door receiving the ends f the slats; an abutment member lfixed in each side of the channel, bracket means on the opposite ends of at least some of said slats and rollers carried thereby between said abutment members which project beyond the front and back limits of the slat whereby deection of the door from its normal plane will engage the rollers with the abutment members on one side of the door, each pair of said abutment members being tapered to forni a ythroat divergent toward the center .of the door whereby as ythe slats flex under wind pressure the rollers remain in engagement with the members while the slats clear the members.

4.*111 a rolling door having elongated transverse slats and channels at the sides of the door receiving the ends of the slats; an abutment member fixed in each side of the channel, bracket means on the opposite ends of at least some of said slats and rollers carried thereby between said abutment membe'rs'which project beyond Vthe front andback limits Vof the slat whereby deiection Vof the door from its normal plane will engage the'rolle'rs.

With'the abutment members on one side of the door, a carrierl pivoted to the outer end of each bracket means, a roller on each side of the carrier behind each abutment member and spaced laterally therefrom, and each abutment member having a surface positioned for engagementby the rollers therebehind uponV flexing of the door.

5. In awind lock for a door of the nature described to prevent the normally straight slats of the door from exing more than a predetermined amountunder Wind pressure, said door having its side edges located invertical channels; surfaces in said channels `substantially normal to thefpla'ne of the door facing outwardly from the center of the door, rollers in the channels Vnormally spaced outwardly A'from said surfaces, and brackets supporting the rollers and ilexibly connected with Vthe side edges of the doorat spacedpoints therealong,'the spacing between said'rollers and said surfaces being no greater Ythan what will Vpermit. an allowably small tlexure of a slat having wind locks on its opposite ends.

6. A device for mounting on the end of a slat for a rolling door or the like comprising; a bracket shaped -to iit against the slat and adaptedV to be rigidly fixed thereto,

an aperture in the portionof said bracket inthe region of' the end 'of the lslat adapted for receiving a roller having its axis of rotation extending in the direction of the length of said slat, a pivotpin extending into the yend of said bracket supporting said roller, a carrier. pivotally connected to said pin beyond the end of said bracket, said cartier. forming a transverse pivot axis, and -rollers mounted on the opposite ends of said transverse pivot axis, the aforementioned rollers providing means for rollingly resisting movement of lsaid bracket in any lateral direction.

.7. A rolling door comprising; a liexible curtain of slats, channel-like guideway means withinwhich the edges of said curtain -is movable, anV antifriction lelement on the edge of the curtain in said .guiding means and an abutment in the guideway means between said element and the mouth of said guideway means forlimiting the end wise movement of the slats of said curtain when bent due to Ywind pressures or the like `by engagement offthe ,abutment by said element.

8. A rolling door comprising;l a flexible curtain of Vswivelly interconnected slats, spaced vertically disposed channel-like tracks into which the ends of said 'slats-ex tend, antifn'ction means attached to the side edges of said curtain located within said tracks for -vertical move? Y- ment therein, and abutment means in the tracks inwardly of the curtain from said antifriction means, whereby said antifriction means is adapted vfor limiting the inward Y movement of the Vends of said curtain. when the curtain bends under the ien'ce of Wind pressures by engage.- ment with said abutment means.v y

` 9, :In a"rolling'dooriorcurtain; a'pluralit'y of elongated relatively narrow transversely extending articulated slats, vertically extending guide channels receiving the ends of said slats, said channels comprising vertically extending abutment surfaces facing outwardly away from the vertical center line of the door or curtain, and at least some of said slats having bracket means mounted on the ends thereof Within said channels outwardly of said abutment surfaces, and rollers on said bracket means spaced from said abutment surfaces adapted for engaging the surfaces when the slats deiiect due to Wind pressure or the like and the ends thereof move toward the center of the curtain.

10. In combination with a roller door or curtain made up of laterally extending relatively exible slats swivelly interconnected along their edges and guide channels receiving the ends of said slats, bracket means attached to the opposite ends of at least some of said slats, said guide channels comprising guide surfaces at right angles to the curtain and facing outwardly from the center of the curtain, each bracket means comprising rst roller means adapted for engaging said guide channels upon lateral deection of the pertaining slat in either direction from its normal plane, and other roller means positioned outwardly beyond said guide surfaces adapted for engaging said guide surfaces upon a predetermined endwise movement at the end of the slat toward the center of the door opening whereby the curtain is prevented from frictional engagement with said guide means under all conditions of deliection and yielding of the curtain due to wind pressure and the like.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNiTED STATES PATENTS 2,183,495 Laufersweiler Dec. l2, 1939 FOREIGN TATENTS 472,456 Italy July 26, 1952

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