AU2004231268A1

AU2004231268A1 - Garage door drive system

Info

Publication number: AU2004231268A1
Application number: AU2004231268A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Sergyl Clerget; Daniel Depaix; Arnaud Heurtault; Manuel Molliex; Marc Sonzini
Original assignee: Somfy SA
Current assignee: Somfy SA
Priority date: 2003-12-11
Filing date: 2004-11-24
Publication date: 2005-06-30
Also published as: ATE528477T1; EP1541794B1; CN1626765A; PL1541794T3; EP1541794A1; FR2863645A1; FR2863645B1; ES2239939T1

Abstract

The device has a guide rail (4) for horizontally moving a carriage (3) between two ends of the rail using a chain (5). The chain is driven by two driving wheels placed at the ends of the rail, where one of the driving wheels is driven in rotation by a gear motor (2). The gear motor is cylindrical and has a longitudinal axis (XX) around which the driving wheel is rotated.

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Applicant (s) SOMFY SAS Invention Title GARAGE DOOR DRIVE SYSTEM The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us O Garage door drive system >FIELD OF THE INVENTION 0 z The invention relates to a garage door drive system comprising a gear motor, a rail for guiding the translational movement of a carriage, and an endless 00 IN flexible drive link between the gear motor and the carriage, the flexible drive link being driven by an M 10 output wheel of the gear motor.

CPRIOR ART A great variety of garage door drive systems are known in the prior art.

Most garage door drive systems are mounted centrally relative to the door. The drive motor is placed in line with a rail, along which there slides a carriage connected by an arm to the garage door. In most cases this carriage is driven by a flexible drive link that is caused to move by the motor.

The flexible drive link is usually guided in the rail, but other arrangements are possible as document US 3 722 141 shows.

Certain garage door drive systems such as that disclosed in utility model DE 200 09 154 U employ flexible drives links mounted in parallel on either side of the door, in guide rails.

Application WO 02/055824 discloses a drive system for a sectional type of garage door comprising a motorized tube mounted at right angles to the guide rails of the door. Straps attached to either side of the door, at the bottom of the door, are wound around this tube. The winding tube is situated at the top end of the guide rails. In other systems such as that disclosed in 2 application WO 92/09777, the winding tube is situated q where horizontal door guide rails meet vertical rails.

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z The constraints on garage door drive systems are rather severe: in the first place, strict standards apply, notably to the safety of property and persons, because the doors such systems have to drive can be very heavy.

00 In the second place there are mechanical constraints.

M 10 The garage door drive system is usually fitted to an existing installation that was not designed for this Spurpose. Accordingly, lintel heights (between the top of the door and the ceiling) or total lengths (the length available at the ceiling measured from the door to the back of the garage) are often small and sometimes insufficient.

Another point is that there are different types of garage doors on the market. They may be opened by raising them, as in the case of sectional, tilt-up or roller doors. They may also be moved horizontally on rails. It would be useful to have a garage door drive system that would be adaptable to most types of existing doors.

Patent US 4,520,684 discloses a garage door drive system. This system comprises a motor, a gearbox, a guide rail for a carriage, and a flexible drive link between an output wheel of the gearbox and the carriage, the drive link moving in a vertical plane.

Patents US 2 822 166 and US 3 909 980 also disclose garage door drive systems similar to that disclosed in the previous patent.

The problem with these systems is the very strict space requirements (measured vertically and/or along the axis of the guide rail) of their motor and/or gearbox.

3 O Also known from patent IT 1 159 772 is a tubular gear motor for tilting a garage door through an intermediate >rigid component.

o z SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to provide a garage 00 0 door drive system that will mitigate these problems and improve on the known systems of the prior art. The invention provides in particular a garage door drive system which, because of its dimensions and its Sarchitecture, can be installed and used to drive most existing garage doors. The limited height requirements of the system according to the invention enable it to be installed in garages having small lintel heights, and the small space requirements of the system according to the invention along the axis of the guide rail enable it to be installed in short garages. The door drive system according to the invention also exhibits better mechanical efficiency than the known systems of the prior art.

In the drive system according to the invention, the gear motor is elongated along an axis termed the longitudinal axis, the output wheel of the gear motor being positioned at one of its ends and being rotatable about the longitudinal axis, and the flexible drive link moving in a vertical plane.

The gear motor may comprise an electric motor and an epicyclic gearbox, both mounted on the same axis.

The carriage may have a cylindrical or polygonal bore and may slide along the circular- or polygonal-section guide rail, the dimensions of the bore being equivalent to the dimensions of the cross section of the guide rail, plus the operating clearance.

4 SThe plane in which the flexible drive link moves may be displaced away from the axis of the guide rail.

o Z The flexible drive link may comprise one portion made of a chain and one portion made of a cable.

The carriage may include a configuration capable of 00 0 guiding the flexible drive link in its movement relative to the carriage.

The garage door may be of tilt-up or sectional or sliding type.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The attached drawing shows, by way of examples, various embodiments of garage door drive systems according to the invention.

Figure 1 is a schematic side view of a first embodiment of the garage door drive system according to the invention.

Figure 2 is a schematic top view of this drive system.

Figures 3 and 4 are top views of a drive system designed to drive a sliding garage door.

Figures 5 and 6 are side and top views of a second embodiment of the garage door drive system.

Figure 7 is a side view of a carriage for a drive system in accordance with the second embodiment.

Figure 8 is a cross section through the carriage on the plane marked VIII-VIII in figure 7.

5 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the drive system 1 shown in the 0 z figures 1 and 2 is designed for operating a sectional or tilt-up door 10. It comprises a guide rail 4 for a carriage 3. This carriage 3 moves translationally between the two ends of the rail. It is moved by a

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0chain 5 running between two sprockets located at the ends of the rail. The sprocket 8 nearest the door when the door is closed turns idly in a guiding element. The other sprocket 7 at the other end of the rail is turned Sby a gear motor 2. This gear motor is cylindrically shaped and comprises an electric motor and a speedreducing epicyclic gear train. These are arranged in such a way that the motor axis coincides with the axis of the speed reducer. The rail is fixed to the ceiling of the building at these ends. The rail may be fixed at the location of the guiding element of the sprocket 8 to minimize the number of parts of the installation.

In this first embodiment of the drive system, the upper and lower runs of the chain 5 are in a vertical plane, above and below the guide rail 4. The height of the garage door drive system (not including the motor/ gearbox assembly but including the deflection of the chain) is represented by the reference a.

The carriage 3 is connected mechanically, by an arm 9, to a garage door 10. The mechanical connections between the carriage and the arm on the one hand, and the arm and the door on the other, may be of pivot type, for example. When the carriage slides along the rail 4, the door 10 is pulled or pushed by the arm 9 and thus moves to an open or closed position in a movement defined by the door's guide means.

The gear motor 2 also includes means for controlling the position of the door, end stops, and any obstacles.

6 The length of the rail is adapted to the dimensions of the door defining the travel of the carriage required to move the door from an open position to a closed 0 position.

The drive system is provided with a manual clutch system to allow the door to be operated manually in

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0 case of a power failure or malfunction of the gear motor. This clutch system is preferably installed at the mechanical connection between the chain and the Scarriage.

As is clearly visible in figure 2, the structure of the garage door drive system 1 is asymmetric, unlike most known garage door drive systems. The gear motor 2 is of elongated shape along an axis XX. The expression "elongated shape" here means that the diameter of the gear motor is substantially less than its length, for example, the length of the gear motor is at least twice its diameter, and preferably at least three times its diameter. The gear motor is set at right angles to the axis YY of the support rail 4. The transmission wheel 7 can thus be mounted directly on the output shaft of the gear motor without a motion transfer member, in other words the axis of rotation of the transmission wheel 7 coincides with the longitudinal axis of the gear motor.

Since the longitudinal axis XX of the gear motor 2 is thus in a plane parallel to that in which the door opens, the length of the garage door drive system 1 is shorter than in conventional garage door drive systems in which the gear motor extends parallel to the axis of the rail 4. At the same time the cylindrical shape of the gear motor minimizes the height requirement of the garage door drive system.

As shown in figures 3 and 4, this embodiment of the garage door drive system can also be used for driving garage doors that remain vertical while sliding. Such a 7 door moves in tracks 11 laid in the ground and wall.

These tracks form two straight guides lying at right angles to each other and connected by a curved guide.

o The elongated shape of the gear motor allows it to be (1 placed in a horizontal plane. The rail or the gear motor is behind the lintel as shown in figure 3, or 0 figure 4 respectively. The gear motor could also be (1 placed in a vertical position at the join between the two straight guide sections, but this solution is in principle less advantageous. It forces the chain to move in a horizontal plane, whereas the most suitable (N plane for the chain to move in is the vertical. The reason for this is that in this position the chain is better able to withstand the tensile forces and the forces due to its own weight. When the chain is meshing in the teeth of the sprockets in the vertical plane, the deflection of the chain occurs through the hinging of its links. It therefore experiences no sideways load.

A second embodiment of the garage door drive system is shown in figures 5 and 6. This second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the upper and lower runs of the chain are no longer in a vertical plane passing through the rail axis. Instead, the chain is displaced to the side of the rail. This particular architecture allows the use of smaller diameter sprockets and thus reduces the reduction ratio of the gearbox and reduces the height of the drive system represented by reference b. The diameter of the sprockets can be reduced because it is now independent of the height of the rail, whereas if the flexible drive link has to travel in a vertical plane containing the rail axis, it is difficult to reduce the height of the garage door drive system.

The chain could be replaced by any other form of flexible drive link such as a smooth belt, a toothed 8 belt or a metal cable, in which case pulleys are used instead of sprockets. The flexible drive link may also comprise one part formed by a chain and one part formed 0 z by a cable, in which case only the sprocket nearest the door when the door is closed is replaced with a pulley.

The chain-cable combination is the most advantageous in terms of mechanical efficiency and cost. The chain part 0 allows easy driving by the sprocket and precise (1 counting. The cable part limits the relaxation of the Mn 10 flexible drive link and therefore the deflection of the Sslack runs. The flexible drive link may also be of the Ssame type as described in utility model DE 94 02 813 U, i.e. comprising a part with teeth or notches for engaging with a drive wheel and a part consisting of a smooth belt.

Also, the run situated between the carriage and the idle wheel, which is slack when the door is being opened, does not sag, or sags very little compared with a chain, which, being heavy, creates a large deflection.

This configuration is sufficient to eliminate the risk of a slack run of the flexible drive link rubbing against the outer face of the door and damaging it when the door approaches its open position.

When a garage door drive system is being installed, a number of factors must be borne in mind: the height under the lintel, which limits the amount of space available for the mechanical parts, and the maximum available height for the trajectory of the door. To take the case of tilt-up doors or sectional doors sliding in a horizontal rail, the highest point of the door (the top edge) follows a curve known as the door trajectory, which tends to rise at the beginning of the opening operation before dropping back down again tangentially to the horizontal corresponding to the top of the door when the door is closed.

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To prevent the flexible drive link rubbing against the top of the door, notably because of the deflection of 0 z the slack run and the door trajectory, it is wise to limit the total height of the garage door drive system I (comprising the rail and the flexible drive, including the deflection created by the slack run), along the 0 full length of the rail, to the height between the C highest point of the door trajectory curve and the M 10 ceiling.

SThe point of the chain attached to the carriage is I situated on the lower run of the flexible drive link in the lower part of the carriage. When the door is closed, the upper run is taut, while most of the lower run is slack.

To open the door, the gear motor rotates in a direction Sl that exerts traction on the lower run. The part of the lower run lying between the carriage and the idle wheel is slack. When using a cable, the deflection of this part of the run is very slight and does not increase the maximum height above the door trajectory curve.

The upper run is also slack, but tends to sag into the space between the runs. Its deflection may even be limited by resting on the lower run. Thus, however much the slack run deflects, its deflection does not add to the desired maximum height. If the upper run is so slack as to rest on the lower run, this does not cause any problems because of the slow speeds at which garage door drive systems work. In this architecture in which the chain is displaced to one side, the upper run when slack rests on the lower run and not on the tubular rail. This eliminates the rubbing between the flexible drive link and the rail, which would otherwise be a source of noise.

10 Contrariwise, when the door is closing, the gear motor rotates in a direction S2 that applies traction to the >part of the upper run situated between the transmission z wheel and the carriage. As a result, the upper run and that part of the lower run which lies between the carriage and the idle wheel remain taut, whereas the other part of the lower run is slack. Since this slack

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0 part is behind the door, there is no risk of this part (N of the chain rubbing against the top of the door.

SThe carriage could also be connected to the upper run of the flexible drive. The "taut" and "slack" conditions of the runs would then be the opposite of those described above. This would benefit the visual appearance of the system, because when the door is open, the rail and the flexible drive link are hidden behind it, and when the door is closed the upper run is slack and possibly resting on the lower run, which is taut. Thus, whichever position the door is in the user never sees either run of the flexible drive link drooping below the drive system.

The carriage 3 shown in figures 7 and 8 comprises an elongated body and a cover. A cylindrical bore 14 passes longitudinally through the elongated body. This bore allows the carriage to be inserted onto a circular-section guide rail and to be guided translationally by this rail. The diameter of the bore matches the diameter of the guide rail, plus an operating clearance. The bore and the rail could also be polygonal in cross section.

The carriage 3 also includes a longitudinal through orifice 15 for the lower run of the flexible drive link 5 to run in. Some means of clamping the flexible drive link inside this orifice provide the mechanical link between the flexible drive link and the carriage to allow the kinematic driving of the carriage by the 11 Ndrive. One possible example is to use a hook system engaging with a shuttle that closes the chain.

0 The carriage 3 may also have a longitudinal groove 16 for guiding the upper run of the flexible drive link (1 This groove may also be replaced with a longitudinal through orifice. This orifice will ensure better 0 guidance, but would mean that one of the runs of the (1 flexible drive link would have to be threaded through the carriage during installation of the system. This (orifice carrying the chain could also, by the action of the chain on its walls, serve to prevent the carriage (N from rotating about the rail axis if the latter is circular. This solution would be useful when using a connecting arm connected by ball joints to the door and carriage or where using a flexible connecting arm, in which case dedicated means would have to be used for locking the door in a closed position.

The carriage 3 also includes a yoke for connection to the arm 9. This yoke is formed by two lugs 17 which can be welded to the carriage body and have a common drilling 18.

For the drive system according to the invention, it is preferable to use a gear motor of "tubular" type, meaning that it is usually designed to be housed in the winding tube of a wind-up shutter or roller blind. This means that the gear motor cannot be mounted vertically without modifying its sealing system to prevent its lubricant leaking out.

The invention would also be applicable to a garage door opening system in which the carriage is guided by the flexible drive link only (there is no rail).

The features of the carriage described and illustrated by way of example in figures 7 and 8 are also useful for example in keeping the carriage in the plane of the 12 rail when using a non-rigid connection arm between the carriage and the door which it drives.

z In the specification the term "comprising" shall be to have a broad meaning similar to the term "including" and will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of 00 integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other Clinteger or step or group of integers or steps. This M 10 definition also applies to variations on the term "comprising" such as "comprise" and "comprises".

(Ni It is to be understood that the above embodiments have been provided only by way of exemplification of this invention, and that further modifications and improvements thereto, as would be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art, are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of the present invention defined in the following claims.

Claims

1. A garage door drive system comprising a gear 0 z motor, a rail for guiding the translational movement of a carriage, and an endless flexible drive link between the gear motor and the carriage, the flexible drive link being driven by an output wheel of the gear motor OO 00 and moving in a vertical plane characterized in (Ni that the gear motor has a longitudinal axis (XX) and is elongated along this longitudinal axis (XX)and in that Sthe output wheel of the gear motor is positioned at one O of its ends and being rotatable about the longitudinal axis (XX).

2. The drive system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the gear motor comprises an electric motor and an epicyclic gearbox, both mounted on the same axis.

3. The drive system as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the gear motor is a gear motor of tubular type usually designed to be housed in a winding tube for a wind-up shutter or roller blind.

4. The drive system as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the carriage has a cylindrical or polygonal bore and slides along the circular- or polygonal-section guide rail, the dimensions of the bore being equivalent to the dimensions of the cross section of the guide rail, plus the operating clearance.

The drive system as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the plane in which the flexible drive link moves is displaced away from the axis of the guide rail.

6. The drive system as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the flexible 14 Sdrive link comprises one portion made of a chain and one portion made of a cable. 0 z

7. The drive system as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the carriage includes a configuration capable of guiding the flexible drive link in its movement relative to the 00 00 carriage. INC 1 0

8. The drive system as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the garage door is of tilt-up or sectional or sliding type.

9. A garage door drive system substantially as hereinbefore described and/or illustrated in the accompanying drawings. DATED THIS TWENTY-FOURTH DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2004. SOMFY SAS BY PIZZEYS PATENT AND TRADE MARK ATTORNEYS