CA2102052A1

CA2102052A1 - Collapsible revolving door

Info

Publication number: CA2102052A1
Application number: CA 2102052
Authority: CA
Inventors: Horst J. Appelmann
Original assignee: C J RUSH
Current assignee: C J RUSH
Priority date: 1993-10-29
Filing date: 1993-10-29
Publication date: 1995-04-30

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

A collapsible revolving door rotatable about a vertical access in a doorway having a floor and a ceiling Is disclosed. The door includes the central support shaft supported at its lower end on a rotatable bearing element resting on the floor. A motor is coupled to the upper end of the shaft for driving said shaft. Upper and lower support plates are affixed to such shaft and between them support the door leaves. Each of the upper and lower support plates includes pivot openings forming a pivot axis about which the door leaves can pivot relative to the shaft. Releasable locking means connects the door leaves to the central support shaft generally between the upper and lower edges of the door leaf. The locking means comprises at least one biased locking element which

Description

BP File No. 0557-034 Titl~. COLLAPSIBLE R13~570I.VING DOOR

FIELD OF ~ED~ ~TION
This invention rela~es ~o building entrance way designs and in particular to revolving doors which allow for the passage of people into and out of a building. In particular, this invention relates to a revolving door having a vertical axis of rotation and a plurality of door leaves extending outwardly from the axis.
~ACKGROUWD OF T~E I~V~TIO~
Revolving doors having a vertical axis of rotation and a plurality of door leaves are known and have been used extensively in entrance ways to public buildings. Revolving doors typically have a higher efficiency than other types of doors and are especially useful in extreme climates. In particular, the amount of air exchange between the inside and the outside with the passage of a person through the revolving door is limited to the moving compartment through which the person passes while passing through the entrance way. The amount of air exchange between inside and outside of a building is much reduced compared to say a conventional doorway which requires the door to be open allowing air to flow from the inside to the outside while the door is open.
Conventional hinged doors therefore typically require a double line of doors to prevent loss of inside air to the exterior. A single revolving door can replace a double line of conventional hinged doors and may be more efficient and less expensive.
However, a problem arises in revolving doors because of the difficulties of installation and design which increase the cost o~ the doors. In particular, conventional revolving doors include a subgrade bearing element which must be cemented in place in the concrete during the construction of the entrance way. The alignment between the subgrade bearing element and the upper bearing fitting must be exact in order to have -`` 2:10~2 .. ,.~. :

proper rotation of the door through the entrance way. It is difficult and time consuming the ensure the proper subgrade anchoring of the door bearing in this manner.
Further, in fire situations or the like it is necessary to have the door leaves rotatable r01e~ant ~o the axis of rotation to allow the door leaves to be aligned parallel to provide double exit access in an emergency situation. Such rotation has been accomplished by means of different releasable locking mechanisms which are typically housed in the ceiling of the door. However, such mechanism~ are bulky and expensive to build, and require a greater door height to acco~modate them at the top of the doorway.
Finally, the prior designs are typically very difficult to service in that the parts are not easily remov~ble without removing the roof of tha doorway and the other doorway frame elements. This is especially tru~ for powered doors having a motor located in the subgrade well, which is the preferred prior art location.
S~NMAR~ OF TH~ INV~NTIO~
What is desired is an improved revolving door which overcomes the design difficulties associated with the prior designs while at the same time providing the same efficient easy to use entranc~ access as the prior designs. Therefore, according to ~he present invention there i~ provided a coll~psible revolving door rotatable about a vertical axis in a doorway, the doorway having a floor and a ceiling, said door comprising:
a central support shaft;
a lower bearing element for rotatably supporting a lower end of said shaft on the floor;
an upper coupling for rotatably supporting an upper end of said shaft;
an upper support plate attached to said shaft which rotates as said shaft rotates on said lower bearing element and said upper coupling elem~nt~
a lower support bar attached to said shaft which -- 2:~020~

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rotates as said shaft rotates on said lower bearing element and said upper coupling element; and a plurality of door leaves, each said door leaf having an upper edge and a lower edge and being connected to said upper and lower support plates by a respective upper pivot point and a lower pivot point, said upper and lower pivot points being generally on the same vertical axis; and being releasibly connected to said shaft by a 10 locking means located between said upper and lower edges `
of said door leaf, said locking means comprising at least one biased locking element which extends between said shaft and said door leaf into a mating detent.
BRIEF DE:SCRIPTIO~ OF TEIE: DRZ~WINGS
Reference will now be made to the following figures, which, by way of reference only, illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention and in which:
Figure 1 is a side view of a revolving door according to the present invention installed in an entrance way;
Figure 2 is a cross section through lina 2-~ of Figure l;
Figure 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of the ~ :
section of Figure l;
Figure 4 is a side view of the upper portion of Figure 1 showing a hydraulic motor according to the :.
present invention;
Figure 5 is an enlarged view showing in part :. ~ :
breakaway section of a lower portion of the door according to the present invention;
Fisure 6 is a view of an upper bearing plate according to the present invention; and Figure 7 is a side view of a lower be~ring plate ~:
accordi.ng to the present invention. . .:.:
3 5 DETI~ILED Dl~SCRIPTION OF PR~E:FERRE:D E~BODIME~
Figure 1 shows a revolving door indicated generally at 10 housed in an entrance way 12. Revolving : .

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door entrance way 12 includes a pair of opposite sides 14 and 15. The side 14 is shown as a single pane of curved glass. The side 16 is shown as a plurality of individual straight panes of glass which are mounted in a curved manner. It will be appreciated that these or other conventional alternatives may be used for the curved sides 14, 16.
The revolving door 10 includes a central shaft 18 and upper and lower support plates 20, 22 respectively.
Two door leaves 24, 26 are shown in the view of Figure 1.
Also shown is a motor 28 and a motor mounting bracket 30.
The motor 28 and the motor mounting bracket 30 are mounted in the door header 32 in a manner described hereafter.
Figure 2 is a cross sectional view of the door entrance way of Figure 1 along the lines 2-2. It will be appreciated that the entrance way 12 takes the form of a circle within which the door leaves 24, 26 and 27 rotate about the central shaft 18. Shown in ghost outline as 24l, 26~ and 27'is a view of the revolving door 10 of the present invention partially rotated. As can be seen by the dotted projection line 40, the ends of the sides 16 and 14 lie on a circle having its centre on the shaft 18.
The ihaft 18 forms an a~is for rotation of the door 10.
It will be appr0ciated that three door leaves are shown, and preferred.
Also shown in Figure 2 are handle elements 42 and handle flanges 44. As can be seen from Figure 2, each door consists of a pane of glass shown as 46 which is contained within a frame which is indicated as 48. At the ends of the doors 24, 26 and 27 are located flexible sweeps 50 which are held in sliding contac-t with the sides 14 and 16 to prevent air loss between an interior and an exterior of an entrance way.
Figure 3 shows a detailed view of the central shaft 18 and ~he frames 48 which comprise the doors 24, 26 and 27. Only a portion of the doors 24 and 26 are shown 2 ~
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in Figure 3 and the door 27 is shown wi~h a break in order to illustrate the componen~s of the present invention.
Shown at the top of the Figure 3 is an ex~ruded section 52 which forms an end of one of the curved sides 14 or 16.
Shown below the extruded section 52 is the sweep 50 which is housed in a mounting strip 54. The mounting strip 54 in turn is retained in a groove 56 located in an end frame element 58. The end frame element 58 supports and is attached to a glazing element 60 which houses the window pane 46. An equivalent structure is loc~ted at the opposite end of window pane 46 where there is shown a glazing element 62 and a frame element 64 to complete the door. The central shaft 18 is shown and underneath is the lower plate 22 which includes three limb~ shown as 66, 68 and 70 respectively each having an angle of approximately 120 between them. It will be appreciated that the lower plate 22 has a limb corresponding to each door leaf. Also shown are pivot openings 67, 69 and 71 in each limb respectively which provide a lower pivot point for the door during emergency collapsed operation. This is described in more detail below.
Figure 3 also shows a locking means ex'ending between the doors 24, 26 and 27 which is indicated generally at 80. ThP locking means sa includes a biased locking element 82 which extends between the door and a matching detent 84 formed in a locking element 86. The function o~ the locking means 80 is described in more detail below.
Figure 4 is an enlarged view of the upper portion of the door of Figure 1 showing the motor 28, the motor mounting bracket 30 and the door header 32. In the preferred embodiment the motor mounting bracket comprises opposed C-shaped channel members 90, 92 which are bolted to a ceiling 94 of the entrance way 10. The bolts are shown at 95. Attached to the C-shaped channel members 90, 92 are right angled members 98, 100 to which are bolted a flat bar 102. The flat bar 102 is pre~erably in the ~ ~` 2~20~2 form of a disk, having an opening 109 for the shaft 18.
The flat plate 101 hides the motor and door header from view, and adds to the fini~hed appearance of the door entrance way. Bolts 106 and 108 are shown by which the flat bar 102 is bolted to the right angled mambers 98, 100. In turn, the motor 28 is bol-ted to the flat bar 102 at 110 and 112.
It will be noted that the bolts 106, lOB, 110 and 112 all project downwardly which facilitates easy removal and servicing of the motor 28. In particular, all that is required is to remo~e the door leaves, remove screws 96 to free plate 101 free the motor bolts 110, 112, remove the center shaft 18, undo bolts 106, 108, and remove the motor through the opening remaining.
Preferably the motor 2~ is in the form of hydraulic motor having hydraulic hoses 114 leading away to a reservoir.
Satisfactory results have been obtained with a 50 SUS LSHT
motor made by Parker Hannifin Corporation. The output shaft of the motor is shown at 116 and which by mean~ of a key 118 is attached to a bearing 120. As the output shaft 116 rotates the bearing 120 rotates which in turn rotates the shaft 18. Al~o shown in Figure 4 is the locking means 80 including the resilient biasing element 82 and the detent fitting 86. The detent is indicated by dashed lines and is shown at 84.
Also shown in Figure 4 is ~he upper support plate 20 with outwardly extending limb indicated at 120.
Each of the outwardly extending limbs (the upper support plate has three equally spaced limbs as does the lowex support plate) inclu~es a pivot opening one of which is shown in limb 120 a~ 122. A pair of socket head cap screws 124 are shown which house a plate 126 against the limb 120. This closes the pivot opening 122 and allows easy removal of the door by simply unscrewing the socket head cap screws 124 thus freeing the door to be laterally tilted away from the upper pivot plate and then lifted out of the pi.vot opening in the lower pivot plate.

2 f ~ 2 Figure 5 shows a detailed ~iew from the side of the lower portion of the door according to the present invention. As can be seen, there is a grade level indicated by line 130. A bolt is anchored into the grade shown at 132. The grade would typically be cement or the like and the bolt would typically be installed in a hole that was pre-drilled in the cement. The bolt retains a lower bearing element 134 tight against the grade. The thickness of the lower bearing element can be set to allow for floor finishing. For example, enough space would be left under the doors to allow tile, grills or the like to be placed over the grade. A thrust bearing is then located between the lower bearing 134 and the shaft 18 and is shown at 136. The thrust bearing 136 is of the roller~
bearing ring type. Also shown is lower support plate 22 and locking means 80.
It will now be appreciated that in the preferred form of the invention there is a locking means 80 located towards the ~op and the bottom of each door edge which abuts the central shaft 18. It will be appreciated that satisfactory results may also be achieved with only one locking means or with more than two, however for ease of assembly two are preferred. The pivot opening 67 is shown as well as the detent 84 in fitting 86. The resiliently biased element 82 is shown in this view to be housed within a spring block 140. The spring block contains a spring shown in dotted outline at 14~ contained within a bore or spring chamber 144. The element 82 extends into the spring chamber 144 and is biased outwardly, namely into enyagement with the detent 84 by the spring 142.
While it is appreciated that this type of spring engagement ~ay be used, other types of resiliently biased detent may also be used. For example, as shown in Figure 3, the elements 82 or the detents 84 may be in the form of resilient rubber elements which deform under significant loads to slip out of engagement. However, the preferred manner is the spring loadad element as shown.

0 ~) 2 Extending from the bottom of the door is the pivot rod 146 upon which the door may pivot. It will be appreciated that the pivot rod 146 at the bottom of the door is on the same axis as the pivot rod located at the top of the door which together form an emergency pivot axis about which the door may rotate relative to the central shaft 18. Each of the uppQr plate 22 and lower plate 20 are secured to the central shaft 18. Thus, as shaft 18 rotates, so do the support plates 20, 22.
Because the doors are held in place against the shaft 18 by the locking means 80, the doors will also rotate.
Figure 6 is a plan view of the upper support plate 20 according to the present invention. As can be seen, each limb includes a plate 126 with bolts 124 securing the plates around the pivot opening 122 into which the upper pivot rod fits. Also shown is a central opening 160 into which shaft 18 fits. No shaft is shown in Figure 6.
Figure 7 is a plan view of lo~er plate 22 having pivot openings 67, 69, 71 and a central opening 152 to accommodate central shaft 18. It can now be appreciated to those skilled in the art that it is only necessary that one of -~he upper or lower support plates 20, 2~ have the plates 126. It is preferable that the upper support plate have these plates 126 in order that the door leaves may be easily removed from the central ~haft lB for servicing or the like. However, the plates 126 could be located at the bottom if that were pref~rred.
The features and advantages of the present convention can now be appreciated. In order to install downwardlythe present invention, all that is required is to locate a bolt hole centrally within the circular entrance way and screw down a bearing at grade. Unlike the prior installations, which required precise alignment of anchoring structures below grade which alignment was achieved by placing components in concrete prior to the concrete setting, the present inven~ion provides a simple lO~f~2 g and easy way to attach the base of the door within the entrance way. The ability of the lower bearing element to be located at grade is as a result of placing ~he motor overhead, and the locking means of the present invention extending laterally between the side edges of the doors and the shaft. In the prior art, it was conventional to extend the locking mechanisms vertically, upwardly and downwardly or alternatively to house the motor below grade - and to install the locking mechanisms above the ceiling.
10The locking means 80 must be sufficiently rigid to withstand normal stresses associated with users of the door pushing against the door handles. However, the locking means 80 is resiliently displaceable, as outlined above, in order that the biased locking element 82 may be rocked out of the detent 84 in an emergency situation.
This has the effect of causing the door to pivot about the emergency pivot axis formed between the upper and lower platss 20, 22 allowing all doors to be set parallel with each other rather than at 120. This provides the emergency access through the doorway in the event of fire or the like as is often required by building codes and regualtions. Additionally/ an emergency release will prevent in~ury, which could otherwise occur if the door leaf was locked to the shaf~ and a person~s limb was caught between a door leaf and the curved sides as the door rotated.
It will be appreciated that some e~perimentation is rsquired in order to achieve the appropriate release weight and good results have been achieved when with the door swinging at normal speeds, and a door leaf is jammed, such as by an obstruction or the likel then the door leaf will be released by the biased locking member allowing the door to swing about the emergency pivot axis.
In addition, it will be appreciated that the present invention provides for easy servicing of the components of the door. Specifically, the upper plates 126 can be easily removed allowing the upper pivot shaft to be laterally pivoted out of the upper plate 20 and lifted up out of the lower pivot opening 67 in lower plate 22. Then it may be easily removed for servicing. Once the door leaves are removed, it is possible to easily reach the bolts attaching the hydraulic motor, which in turn facilitates easy servicing of the hydxaulic motor.
Prior art designs conventionally ho~se the drive means of khe door underneath the door rather than above the door.
The foregoing description has been with respect to a preferred embodiment of the invention and i~ will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that ~ariations can be made to the form of the invention without departing from the broad scopP of the intended claim For example, while reference has been made to spring loaded biasing elements at the bottom of the door, other forms of flexible biasing elements could be used to form a rigid yet openable attachment be~ween the pivoting door leaves and the central shaft.

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Claims

1. A collapsible revolving door rotatable about a vertical axis in a doorway, the doorway having a floor and a ceiling, said door comprising:
a central support shaft;
a lower bearing element for rotatably supporting a lower end of said shaft on the floor;
an upper coupling for rotatably supporting an upper end of said shaft;
an upper support plate attached to said shaft which rotates as said shaft rotates on said lower bearing element and said upper coupling element;
a lower support plate attached to said shaft which rotates as said shaft rotates on said lower bearing element and said upper coupling element; and a plurality of door leaves, each said door leaf having an upper edge and a lower edge and being connected to said upper and lower support plates by a respective upper pivot point and a lower pivot point, said upper and lower pivot points being generally on the same vertical axis; and being releasibly connected to said shaft by a locking means located between said upper and lower edges of said door leaf, said locking means comprising at least one biased locking element which extends between said shaft and said door leaf into a mating detent.

2. The collapsible revolving door of claim wherein said locking element is carried by said door and said detent is carried by said shaft.

3. The collapsible revolving door of claim wherein said lower bearing element is attached directly to said floor, at grade.

4. The collapsible revolving door of claim wherein each of said upper pivot points comprise an opening in said upper support plate and wherein a pin extends from said upper edge of said door and is rotatably carried in said opening.

5. The collapsible revolving door of claim 4 wherein said upper plate includes a removable element forming at least a portion of each of said opening, wherein when said element is removed, said pin can be withdrawn laterally from said opening.

6. The collapsible revolving door of claim wherein said central support shaft is hollow and includes a fastening plug located adjacent a lower end.

7. The collapsible revolving door of claim 6 wherein said fastening plug is supported on a bearing means on a bronze bearing to facilitate easy rotation of said door, and said bronze bearing has an opening for an anchor bolt to secure said bearing to said floor.

8. The collapsible revolving door of claim wherein said ceiling includes an opening through which said shaft extends, and located above said ceiling there is a motor having a drive connection to said shaft.

9. The collapsible revolving door of claim 8 wherein said motor is a hydraulic motor and is secured by bolts which are accessible from below said upper support plate.

10. The collapsible revolving door of claim 2 wherein said motor is carried on a motor support plate, said motor support plate being small enough to fit through a larger opening in said ceiling, whereby access to said motor is facilitated.

11. Collapsible revolving door of claim 2 wherein said locking element comprises a housing, secured within said door leaf, said housing having a bore having an open end and a closed end, a spring located in said bore between said open and closed ends and a protruding element partially compressing said spring and partially protruding from said open end.

12. The collapsible revolving door of claim 2 wherein said detent comprises a cam surface formed in a fitting inserted into said shaft opposite to said protruding locking element.

13. The collapsible revolving door of claim 12 wherein said fitting is welded onto said shaft.

14. The collapsible revolving door of claim 13 wherein there are two fittings and opposed locking elements pairs on each said door leaf, one of said pair being located generally towards the top of the shaft and the other of said pair being located towards the bottom of said shaft.