AU662019B2 - Support mechanism for motorized doors - Google Patents

Description

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AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 662019 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

(ORIGINAL)

Application Number: Lodged: Class Int. Class Complete Specification Lodged: Accepted: Published: Priority Related Art: 0949 Cno eel....

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C C 09 0'4 9 Ou 0 *0 Applicant(s): G C RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT PTY LTD 69-75 High Street MELTON VICTORIA 3337

AUSTRALIA

Address for Service is: PHILLIPS ORMONDE FITZPATRICK Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys 367 Collins Street Melbourne 3000 AUSTRALIA Complete Specification for the invention entitled: "SUPPORT MECHANISM FOR MOTORIZED DOORS" Our Ref: 231376 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to applicant(s): -1- SUPPORT ARRANGEMENT FOR MOTORIZED DOORS This invention relates to support arrangements for doors, and is particularly although not exclusively concerned with a support arrangement for a motorized door. A support arrangement according to the invention is especially suited for a fully internal lift-up door and it will be convenient to hereinafter describe the invention with particular reference to that application. It is to be understood however that a support arrangement in accordance with the invention can be used with other types of doors.

Reference in this specification to "door panels" is to be understood as embracing panels or grilles suitable for providing a closure for a building opening. Examples include panels made from steel cladding, or glass or aluminium, or S iron bar grilles constructed to cover the complete building opening, but this is not an exhaustive list.

Fully internal lift-up doors include a door panel which is supported on upper and lower rollers respectively provided at or adjacent the upper and lower corners of the door panel. The lower rollers run along vertically extending tracks provided along opposing sides of the door opening, S~ while the upper rollers run along horizontally extending overhead tracks provided along the ceiling. Counterweight 6 assemblies on opposing sides of the panel help support its weight to facilitate the lifting and closing of the panel.

The panel tilts inwards as it is lifted, rising into a a horizon.ital position within the internal ceiling space of the 3 building.

SThere are a number of advantages of this door over other door types. For example, the door panel does not project from or only projects a small distance from the door opening as the door is being lifted or closed making the door suitable for garages with arched lintels or where the garage is built on the property boundary. The door panel lifts into the vacant ceiling space out of the weather and is therefore unaffected by high winds. The door panel lifts up to expose 39 the total height of the door opening. Because of the I I L j i I 2 r;

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counterweight suspension, the mass of the door panel is not a design constraint and the door can be used for relatively wide openings and can incorporate features such as glazed windows.

The fully internal lift-up door has particular application in low carpark entries and exits where structural strength and security are required and where there is only limited ceiling space and where there must be a clear drive through the total height of the entry and exit when the door panel is lifted.

As doors used in carparks need to be regularly lifted and closed, it is generally necessary for the doors to be motorized. However, because of the support arrangement of conventional fully internal lift-up doors, that door type can only be motorized by a system which can apply both vertical and horizontal force components to the door. A complicated and therefore expensive drive system is therefore required to motorize a conventional fully internal lift-up door.

Simpler and therefore less expensive drive systems can be used for other door types. For example, overhead chain S and sprocket drives are used to motorize single and multiple leaf spring balanced doors. These drives are manufactured by a number of companies.

It is not however possible to use this type of drive system on conventional fully internal lift-up doors because t they only provide push and pull forces which act substantially horizontally.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a support arrangement for a door which facilitates motorization of the door.

With this in mind, the present invention provide 3 support arrangement for a door panel including a raight S. trolley guide track, a trolley movable along th- rolley guide track, a roller guide track located adjac to and gen.rally aligned with the trolley guide tra and a roller assembly mountable on the door panel a supported by the trolley the roller assembly being m le along the roller guide track, wherein the distan bcebetween the trolley guide track and the roller guide rack progressively increases towards the upper ends o e tracks.

-'39 The present invention also provides a motorized fully i

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i 3 With this in mind, the present invention provides a support arrangement for moving a door panel between a closed substantially vertical position and an open substantially horizontal overhead position by tilting the door panel, the support arrangement including a straight trolley guide track, a trolley for supporting the door in opposition to a counterbalancing force the trolley being movable along the trolley guide track, a roller guide track located adjacent to and generally aligned with the trolley guide track, and a roller assembly mountable on the door panel and supported by the trolley the roller assembly being movable along the roller guide track, wherein the distance between the trolley guide track and the roller guide track progressively increases towards their upper ends such that the door panel may be tilted between closed and open positions by application of a force to the door substantially in a horizontal direction.

The present invention also provides a motorised fully (get ,t C t

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t t t 4 3a 4SSN'T 1 internal lift-up door having the support arrangement described above.

This invention is described and defined herein with reference to the support arrangement supporting a door panel which extends in a vertical plane when closed, and terms such as "horizontal", "vertical", "upper" and "lower" should be construed in the light of this door panel orientation.

However, it is to be appreciated that the support arrangement can be used when the door panel is in other orientations when closed and that consequential changes in terms such as those above may be required in the light of those other door panel orientations for a proper and complete understanding of the invention.

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The support arrangement may be provided on opposing sides of the door panel and the invention will therefore be described in this particular application. It is however also envisaged that only one side of the door panel be provided with the above support arrangement, the other side being supported in the conventional or other manner.

A pair of the trolley guide tracks may be respectively mounted along opposing sides of the door opening and may extend at least substantially in a vertical direction. A pair of roller guide tracks may also be provided with each roller guide track located adjacent to and behind each of the trolley guide tracks. The guide tracks are generally aligned such that their respective elongate axes are supported within a common vertical plane or are parallel to that plane.

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S& The distance between the trolley guide track and the roller guide track progressively increases towards the upper ends of the tracks. Each roller guide track may initially extend substantially parallel to the trolley guide track. An intermediate portion of the roller guide track may be inclined at a small angle away from .nAe trolley guide track. The uppermost portion of the roller guide track may extend in a curve away from the trolley guide track. The curved uppermost portion may be substantially elliptical in shape. The angle of inclination away from the trolley guide track of tangents 39 at points along the elongate axis of the roller guide track 4 i' i 0 may therefore progressively increase towards the upper end of the roller guide track.

Each trolley may have a main body which can be guided along the trolley guide track. The main body may have guide wheels rotatably mounted thereon and the trolley guide track may be in the form of a channel for accommodating the main body, with the guide wheels engaging the inner walls of the channel to facilitate movement therein.

A roller support bracket may extend laterally from the main body and trolley guide track and may extend adjacent to and across the roller guide track. The roller support bracket may have a guide slot provided therein which may extend at least substantially in a horizontal direction.

A roller assembly may extend from each side of the door panel. The roller assemblies may be located at or adjacent each of the lower corners of the door panel. This positioning of the roller assemblies is applicable for fully internal lift-up doors. Other locatioas for the roller assemblies may be used depending on the doer type.

2. Each roller assembly may include a support axle rotatably supporting two adjacent rollers. One of the rollers (to be referred to as the outer roller) may be supported at the free end of the axle and may be movable along the roller i guide track. The second roller (to be referred to as the 2,5 t inner roller) may be supported on the axle between the outer roller and the door panel and may be movable along the guide slot of the trolley. The roller guide track and trolley guide slot may be configured as channels to accommodate the respective rollers therein.

Where the door is of the fully internal lift-up type, o)ller assemblies may also be provided at or adjacent the top S" corners of the door panel, on opposing sides thereof. These upper roller assemblies may be guided along horizontally extending top roller guide tracks as in conventional fully internal lift-up doors.

The weight of the door panel can be supported by counterbalance assemblies provided on either side of the door panel. Each cozinterbalance assembly may include a cable with 39 a counterweight provided at one end thereof. The cable may be

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supported about a pulley mounted at the upper end of the trolley guide track and may be secured at the opposing end to the trolley. The weight of the door panel may therefore be substantially supported on each trolley via the roller assemblies, the trolley being balanced between opposing forces of the door and counterweight.

As the door panel is lifted the trolleys move upwardly along the trolley guide track in a vertical direction. The roller assemblies supporting the door panel move upwardly together with the trolleys. Because the outer roller is guided by the roller guide track, the roller assemblies also move laterally away from the trolley guide track as the door panel is lifted. The amount of lateral movement of the roller assemblies progressively increases as l5'Ia the door panel approaches its uppermost lifted position.

t: t This support arrangement enables the door panel to be lifted or lowered by a force which acts at least substantially et.' horizontally on the door panel. This allows a fully internal lift-up door using the support arrangement of the present invention to be motorized by a simple and inexpensive arrangement such as an overhead chain and sprocket drive, which only provides a substantially horizontal push and pull force, thereby enabling the door to be more economically S motorized.

25c It will be convenient to further describe the i:: j i:

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invention by reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate possible embodiments of the invention. Other r Sembodiments of the invention are possible, and consequently the particularity of the accompanying drawings is not to be 30: understood as superseding the generality of the preceding oQ description of the invention.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a side view of a fully internal lift-up door having an example embodiment of the support arrangement of the present invention with the door panel shown in closed, partially open and open positions; Figure 2 is a rear view of the door of Figure 1 with the door panel in the closed position; 39 Figure 3 is a plan view of the door of Figure 1i; 6 Figure 4 is a detail side view of the trolley of the support arrangement of Figure 1; Figure 5 is a detail plan view of the trolh.v of Figure 4 from a cross-section through the trolley guide track along the line V-V; and Figure 6 is a detail plan view of the trolley of another example embodiment of a support arrangement according to the present invention.

Referring initially to Figures 1 to 3, the fully internal lift-up door includes a door panel 1 supported at its upper end by upper roller assemblies on either side of the panel 1 adjacent the upper corners thereof. The upper roller assemblies 2 are guided along horizontally extending overhead tracks 8 which are in the form of channels to accommodate the roller assemblies 2. The lower end of the door panel 1 is supported by an example embodiment of the support arrangement 0 of the present invention.

The support arrangement includes a vertically extending trolley guide track 5 and a roller guide track 6 .28. located immediately adjacent to and behind the trolley guide track 5. Both the trolley and roller guide tracks 5, 6 are in the form of channels.

As shown in Figure 1, the roller guide track 6 i f initially extends parallel to the trolley guide track 5 at the a 51t lower portion thereof. The intermediate portion of the roller guide track 6 extends at a small angle from the trolley guide track. The upper portion of the roller guide track 6 extends in an elliptical curve away from the trolley guide track A trolley 4 is guided for vertical movement along the trolley guide track 5 and is shown in detail in Figures 4 and S 5. The trolley 4 includes a main body 10 accommodated within I the trolley guide trac 5. Guide wheels 11 are rotatably supported on the main body 10 for guiding the trolley 4 along the trolley guide track 5 the guide wheels 11 running along the inner walls of the trolley guide track 5. Ancillary guide wheels 9 can also be provided for running along edge portions of the trolley guide track 5 as shown in Figure 5. The rotational axes of the ancillary guide wheels 9 may be at 39 least substantially at right angles to the rotational axes of the main guide wheels 11. A support bracket 12 extends laterally from the main body 10 and across the roller guide track 6. In the example embodiment of Figures 1 to 5, the support bracket 12 extends at least substantially parallel to the rotational axis of the guide wheels. A roller guide slot 7 is provided within the support bracket 12 and extends at least substantially horizontally.

A lower roller assembly 3 is provided on opposing sides of the door panel 1 adjacent the lower corners thereof, each roller assembly 3 including a support axle 20, an outer roller 21 rotatably mounted on the free end of the axle and an inner roller 22 rotatably mounted between the door panel 1 and the outer roller 21. The outer roller 21 is guided within the roller guide track 6 while the inner roller 22 is guided within the roller guide slot 7 of the support S bracket 12.

Counterweight assemblies are provided in opposing sides of the door for supporting the weight of the door panel i, each assembly including a counterweight 15 suspended from one end of a cable 17 the other end being secured to the trolley 4. The cable 17 is supported about a pulley 16 provided at the upper end of the trolley guide track An overhead chain and sprocket drive 30 is provided i S above the lift-up door and includes a power head 31.. a drive tube 32 supporting the chain assembly, a door operator trolley S33 movable along the drive tube 32 and a link arm 34 connecting the door operator trolley 33 to the door panel 1.

Figure 1 shows the fully internal lift-up door in three positions, the closed position designated A, the j partially open position designated B, and the open position designated C. In the closed position A of the door panel i, S, the trolley 4 is at its lowest position designated a. As the door panel 1 is lifted, the trolley 4 moves upwards as shown in the example intermediate position designated 6. The roller 35 assembly 3 is guided along the roller guide track 6 while also being supported within the guide slot 7 for horizontal movement. At the open position C of the door panel 1, the trolley 4 is at its Appermost position designated C and the 39 roller assembly 3 has been guided along the curve of the -8t I w deinae I h lsdpstonAo h orpnl roller guide track 6 and is at its maximum lateral displacement away from the trolley guide track 5. The drive link arm 33 is only shown in its position when the door panel 1 is closed.

Figure 6 shows details of another example embodiment of the support arrangement and the same designation numerals are used for corresponding parts. The trolley 4 of the previously described embodiment is constructed for heavy duty commercial applications. In light duty domestic applications, the trolley 4 can be of a simpler construction as shown in Figure 6. The ancillary guide wheels 9 of the previous embodiment are not used and the support bracket 12 extending laterally from the main body 10 extends at least substantially at right angles to the rotational axes of the guide wheels 11. The open side of the trolley guide track 5 may also be S positioned at least substantially at right angles to the open side of the roller guide track 6 so that the support bracket 12 can extend across the roller guide track 6. The operation of this example embodiment is the same as that of the previous Q embodiment of the support arrangement of the invention.

Various alterations, modifications and/or additions may be introduced into the constructions and arrangements of parts previously described without departing from the spirit or ambit of the invention.

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Claims (14)

1. A support arrangement for moving a door panel between a closed substantially vertical position and an open substantially horizontal overhead position by tilting the door panel, the support arrangement including a straight trolley guide track, a trolley for supporting the door in opposition to a counterbalancing force the trolley being movabie along the trolley guide track, a roller guide track located adjacent to and generally aligned with the trolley guide track, and a roller assembly mountable on the door panel and supported by the trolley the roller assembly being movable along the roller guide track, wherein the distance between the trolley guide track and the roller guide track progressively increases towards their upper ends such that the door panel may be tilted between closed and open positions by application of a force to the door substantially in a horizontal direction.

2. A support arrangement according to claim 1 wherein a pair of trolley tracks 15 are mounted on opposing sides of the door extending at least substantially in a vertical direction and a pair of roller guide tracks are provided each behind respective trolley tracks.

3. A support arrangement according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein a lower portion of the roller guide track is substantially parallel to the trolley guide track and an upper portion curves away from the trolley guide track.

4. A support arrangement according to claim 3 wherein the curved uppermost portion is substantially elliptical in shape. A support arrangement according to claim 3 or claim 4 wherein a portion of the roller guide track is ,i'ovided intermediate the lower and upper portions said intermediate portion being straight diverging from the trolley guide track at a small angle.

6. A support arrangement according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the trolley comprises guide *,Iheels rotatably mounted thereon and the trolley guide track is in the form of a channel accommodating the trolley with the guide wheels engaging the inner walls of the channel to fac'" .ate movement therein.

7. A support arrangement according to any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the trolley is provided with a roller support bracket extending lateral'y from the trolley i i 1 h i: i ii I and trolley guide track said roller support bracket being adapted to support the roller assembly.

8. A support arrangement according to claim 7 wherein the roller support bracket comprises a guide slot extending in a horizontal direction and facilitating movement of the roller assembly therein to allow an increase in separation of the trolley and roller assembly at the upper end of the tracks by movement of the roller assembly in the slot.

9. A support arrangement according to claim 8 wherein tile roller assembly includes a door support axle, a roller movable along the roller guide track and another roller movable along the guide slot said guide slot being configured as a channel to accommodate said other roller. i A support arrangement according to any one of claim 1 or claim 9 wherein the roller movable within the roller guide track is rotatably mounted adjacent the end of a door support axle at least one of said door axle being located at or adjacent each of the lower corners of the door panel.

11. A support arrangement according to any one of claims 1 to 10 wherein the trolley is provided with a counter weight to counter balance the weight of the door on said roller assembly.

12. A lift-up door assembly comprising a door panel and a support arrangement according to any one of claims 1 to 11 wherein the door may be lifted or lowered by a force which acts substantially horizontally on the upper end of the door panel.

13. A lift-up door assembly according to claim 12 comprising a motorised drive means adapted to provide a substantially horizontal force to the upper portion of S 25 the door.

14. A lift-up door assembly according to claim 12 or claim 13 further comprising a horizontal overhead track and wherein the upper portion of the rear of the door is provided with an upwardly extending arm which is adapted to receive a substantially horizontal lifting force.

15. A support arrangement according to any one of claims 1 to 12 substantially as herein described with reference to the drawings.

16. A lift-up door assembly according to any one of claims 12 to 14 substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the drawings. DATED: 15 June, 1995 G. C. RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT PTY. LTD. By their Patent Attorneys PHILLIPS ORMONDE FITZPATRICK w~nwordW~vckPrayp277414b 4 C r 4 t C CCC (C C C 4-4 C (C 4 4 C CC 444 It's C C S CC S (15554 1 4 I L. 12 ABSTRACT The invention provides a support arrangement for a door panel including a straight trolley guide track, a trolley movable ;g along the trolley guide track, a roller guide track located adjacent to and generally aligned with the trolley guide track, and a roller assembly mountable on the door panel and supported by the trolley the roller assembly being movable along the roller guide track, wherein the distance between the trolley guide track and the roller guide track progressively increases towards 'he upper ends of the tracks. 0 t 1, 9 S i 0* j 0 C-> ii