AU2004100416B4 - Roller door drive assembly - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 ORIGINAL COMPLETE SPECIFICATION INNOVATION PATENT Invention title: ROLLER DOOR DRIVE ASSEMBLY The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: chbm M0111511467v2 305348676 Roller door drive assembly Field of the Invention The invention relates to a drive assembly for a moveable closure. More particularly, it concerns a roller door driver assembly suitable for operating a roller door for a garage, shed or similar.

Background of the Invention In this specification, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, this reference or discussion is not an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date part of common general knowledge, or known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which this specification is concerned.

Moveable closure drive assemblies are well known, one such assembly being that described in Australian Patent AU-B-7111162 for a roller door. Typically, such an assembly includes a chassis surrounded by a housing and supporting an electric motor with an associated drive train driving a final drive unit (such as an internally-toothed gear drum meshing with the drive. train) connected to the roller door to cause it to move up and down through operation of the motor.

The rolling door is held in position by end supports (such as brackets) at both ends which engage a mounting axle passing axially through the roller door, the drive assembly mounted on said axle at one end, between the end of the roller door and the adjacent axle end support.

As the door opening is usually situated very close to the internal side walls of the garage or shed, there is a need to provide slimline drive assemblies which may fit in the limited space between the opening and the adjacent end support. Prior assemblies have attempted to address this in a number of ways, such as by reducing the dimensions of the internal electrical and mechanical components (electrical transformer, motor, drive components, clutch assembly; etc) as far as possible, but there are clear limits in the component size reduction possible. Another approach which has been taken in the past involves recessing a channel in the assembly housing to accommodate an axle mounting bracket. This can help reduce the width of the combined installed assembly, but it is a complex arrangement, which is difficult to install and to service.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an alternative moveable closure drive assembly, able to address at least partly the inconveniences of the prior art.

chbm MO1111511467v2 305348676 Summary of the Invention According to one form of the invention, there is provided a roller door drive assembly, including a chassis mountable to a wall support bracket by way of a chassis mounting means to support the chassis at a chassis fixation position, a final drive unit mounted to the chassis for rotation about an axis of rotation for driven connection to a roller door, an electric motor for providing drive for the final drive unit, and an electrical transformer for providing electric power to the motor, the assembly arranged such that, when installed, the motor and transformer are mounted to the chassis above or substantially above the level of said chassis fixation position, the assembly having an overall approximately planar shaping substantially perpendicular to the axial direction, having a first side on which the final drive unit is mounted, and a second side remote from said final drive unit, said second side presenting an upper part housing said motor and transformer, and a lower part below or substantially below the level of said chassis fixation position, wherein said upper part projects in the axial direction beyond the whole of said lower part, thereby to provide a relatively slim profile lower portion of the assembly to define a side space able to accommodate any one of a variety of forms of wall support bracket below the level of the chassis fixation position.

Preferably, the chassis mounting means includes a bracket extending laterally from the chassis and arranged to be carried on and fixed to the wall support bracket.

The chassis mounting means may include an axle arranged along said axis of rotation, the chassis fixedly mountable to the axle, the axle arranged to be carried on and fixed to the wall support bracket.

In a preferred form, the drive assembly includes a clutch unit for selectively engaging and disengaging the drive connection between the motor and the final drive unit, said clutch unit mounted to the chassis such that, when the drive assembly is installed, the clutch unit is positioned above, or substantially above, the level of said chassis fixation means.

The drive assembly of the invention may be arranged such that, when installed, the motor and transformer extend from an upper part of said chassis and wherein a lower part of the chassis supports electronic controller components arranged to control .operation of the electric motor, said electronic controller components housed in a lower housing portion, -the lower part of the chassis defining said lower part of the second side of the assembly.

Brief description of the drawings The invention will now be further explained and illustrated by reference to the accompanying drawings in which: chbm MO111511467v4 305348676 Figure 1 illustrates a typical roller door assembly; Figure 2 is a perspective front view of roller door drive unit according to one form of the invention; Figure 3 is a similar view with the translucent cover removed; Figure 4 is a perspective rear view of the drive unit of Figure 2, showing the drive components of the assembly; and chbm M0111511467v3 305348676 Figure 5 is a side view of the installed drive unit of Figure 2.

Detailed description of the drawings The roller door system 1 of Figure 1 includes a drum-mounted roller door 2 on an axle 3 mounted to two end brackets 4. At one end of the axle is mounted a drive unit including an electric motor and a drive gear train (not shown), as well as an electronic controller unit controlling operation of the motor protected by a translucent plastic light diffuser cover 14a. Drive assembly is provided with a disengagement pull handle 7 for actuating a clutch unit for disengagement of the drive train if manual operation of roller door 2 is required at any time. Figure 1 also shows the garage door opening, defined by outer frame 8. The space available for drive unit lOis defined by the distance between the proximate end of roller door 2 and the side wall adjacent frame 8, and this dimension can be very limited, particularly in newer garages.

It is to be noted that drive unit 10 illustrated in Figure 1 is a conventional unit of the type known in the prior art, whilst unit 10' in Figures 2-5 shows a device in accordance with the present invention.

As Figures 2-5 show, drive unit 10' includes an upper portion 12 generally comprising gear drum 11 and drive components 21, 22 housed in upper drive component housing portion 12a; a mid-section housing portion 13; and a lower portion 14 comprising controller circuitry 18. An aluminium alloy chassis 40 provides the load-bearing structure for unit Internally-toothed rotatable gear drum 11 is provided with a pair of finger elements 1 la projecting in the axial direction, for engaging with complementary elements of a circular hub (not shown) about which roller door 2 is mounted to roll and unroll in operation.

Drum 11 is located on sleeve 16 and retained for rotational movement thereabout by circlip 17, movement being provided by way of a driven gear engaging with the internal teeth of drum 11 (not shown). Sleeve 16 is fixedly mounted to (or is an integral part of) chassis 40, whilst chassis 40 is mountable by way of L-section chassis bracket 26 to the upper horizontal face of wall mounting bracket 4 (see Figure The lower portion 14 of drive unit 10' includes the electrical controller components of the unit, being controller circuitry 18 mounted on a circuit board as shown in Figure 3, as well as courtesy lights 19 to provide garage illumination for users. Translucent light diffuser cover 14a incorporates controller keypad 15 facing the front side of the unit (towards the door opening) and operable to set roller door parameters (eg. limit positions), as well as to operate the door.

Controller circuitry 18 includes RF receiver means to permit the operation of the drive chbm MO111511467v2 305348676 unit by a remote operator (not shown). Such functionality is known to the skilled person and will not be described in further detail in this specification.

Mid section portion 13 houses on the rear side of chassis 40 opto-encoder position unit 24, which is configured to interact with the mechanical drive train and with the controller circuity in order to constantly and accurately monitor the absolute position of door 2.

Again, this aspect of the assembly is known to the skilled person and will not be described in further detail here.

As Figure 3 shows, chassis bracket 26 is fixed to chassis 40 above mid section portion 13 by way of bolts, and a vertical U-bolt 25 is attachable to bracket 26, in order to clamp over axle 3 when the latter has been passed through sleeve 16 (see below), in order to rigidly fix axle 3 to its mountings.

Upper portion 12 contains electrical mains transformer 20, electrical stepper motor 21, and drive engage/disengage clutch assembly 22. Drive engage/disengage clutch assembly 22 is operable by way of pull cord 7 acting on lever 23 to repeatedly, on alternate pulls of cord 7, engage and disengage the drive train from gear drum 11, in order to free roller 2 door for manual movement if and when required. Guide lug 23a is mounted to the side of the central portion of chassis 40 to route cord 7 in use.

Power cable 31 and plug 30 connect to transformer 20 to provide mains power to drive unit 10 when installed.

Importantly, all of the relatively bulky components of drive unit 10', being transformer motor 21 and engage/disengage clutch assembly 22, are mounted above the lower side of shaft 16, and therefore above the level at which drive unit 10' is supported on wall mounting bracket 4. The significance of this feature will become evident in describing the installation of a roller door and drive unit, with particular reference to Figure In installing drive unit 10', the assembly is threaded over roller door axle 3 via sleeve 16.

If there is adequate sideroom, axle 3 may be clamped to wall mounting bracket 4 in a position between the drive unit 10' and the adjacent side wall, eg by way of a U-bolt. If very limited space is available, U-bolt 25 may be used to rigidly clamp axle 3, chassis bracket 26, and wall mounting bracket 4 together, with bracket 4 positioned very closely behind the rear face of the lower portion 14 of the drive unit, and underneath the rearwardly projecting part of upper drive component housing portion 12a, as shown in Figure 5. This arrangement considerably limits the side space required for the combined drive unit and bracket assembly, when compared with prior art devices, and is made possible by arranging all of the relatively bulky electrical and mechanical components in upper drive housing portion 12, ie above the horizontal level at which axle 3 is chbm MO111511467v2 305348676 supported. The inventors have found that this arrangement can reduce the side space required by over 40 mm, which can provide a significant space saving in restricted situations. It is not uncommon in modern garages that only a half-brick length return is available between the lateral edge of the garage door opening and the adjacent side wall, approximately 120mm.

Modifications and improvements to the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Such modifications and improvements are intended to be within the scope of this invention.

chbm M0111511467v2 305348676

Claims (5)

1. A roller door drive assembly including: a chassis mountable to a wall support bracket by way of a chassis mounting means to support the chassis at a chassis fixation position; a final drive unit mounted to the chassis for rotation about an axis of rotation for driven connection to a roller door; an electric motor for providing drive for the final drive unit; and an electrical transformer for providing electric power to the motor, the assembly arranged such that, when installed, the motor and transformer are mounted to the chassis above or substantially above the level of said chassis fixation position, the assembly having an overall approximately planar shaping substantially perpendicular to the axial direction, having a first side on which the final drive unit is mounted, and a second side remote from said final drive unit, said second side presenting an upper part housing said motor and transformer, and a lower part below or substantially below the level of said chassis fixation position, wherein said upper part projects in the axial direction beyond the whole of said lower part, thereby to provide a relatively slim profile lower portion of the assembly to define a side space able to accommodate any one of a variety of forms of wall support bracket below the level of the chassis fixation position.

2. The drive assembly of claim 1, wherein the chassis mounting means includes a bracket extending laterally from the chassis and arranged to be carried on and fixed to the wall support bracket.

3. The drive assembly of claim 1 or 2 wherein- the chassis mounting means includes an axle arranged along said axis of rotation, the chassis fixedly mountable to the axle, the axle arranged to be carried on and fixed to the wall support bracket.

4. The drive assembly of any preceding claim incluiding a clutch unit for selectively engaging and disengaging the drive connection between the motor and the final drive unit, said clutch unit mounted to the chassis such that, when the drive assembly is installed, the clutch unit is positioned above, or substantially above, the level of said chassis fixation means.

5. The drive assembly of any preceding claim arranged such that, when installed, the motor and transformer extend from an upper part of said chassis, and wherein a lower part of the chassis supports electronic controller components arranged to control operation of the electric motor, said electronic controller components housed in a lower chbm MO111511467v4 305348676 housing portion, the lower part of the chassis defining said lower part of the second side of the assembly. Automatic Technology Australia Pty Ltd 4 April 2005 chbm M0111511467v3 305348676