DE29614899U1 - Device for locking a door of a partition element - Google Patents

Description

Hüppe Form Sun Protection and Room Divider Systems GmbH
Cloppenburger Strasse 200, 26133 Oldenburg

Device for locking a door of a partition wall element

The invention relates to a device for locking a door of a partition wall element, wherein the door is essentially only mounted on the remaining part of the partition wall element via a pivot point and can additionally be anchored to another object to create a further pivot point, with a locking means, in the first operating state of which the door is locked in its closed position on the remaining part of the partition wall element and in the second operating state of which the door can be freely pivoted between its closed position and its open position.

Usually, in a partition wall element of the type mentioned above, the door contained therein is only attached to the rest of the partition wall element via an upper pivot hinge, while the lower pivot hinge is formed by a floor bolt that extends from the underside of the door and must be anchored in the floor at a location provided for this purpose. During the assembly or dismantling of the partition wall and thus during the movement of the partition wall element, the door is not anchored to the floor, since the floor bolt on the underside of the door is retracted to allow the partition wall element to be moved freely. A

Opening the door in this operating state would have the unpleasant consequence that the door would only hang on the upper hinge, which would lead to a pendulum movement of the door across the hinge axis in the direction of the floor, which would destroy the upper hinge and also damage the door. In order to prevent the door from being opened accidentally while the partition wall element is moving, the locking device is provided, which locks the door to the rest of the partition wall element in the first operating state.

Such a device is known, for example, from DE 93 17 236.2 U. In this known device, the locking means is designed as a swivel hook, which is pivotably mounted on the upper edge of the door and can be brought into engagement with a retaining pin arranged on the supporting beam of the partition wall element.

When assembling the partition wall and thus a partition wall element of the type mentioned above, it is essential to ensure that the door contained in the partition wall element is first anchored to the floor before the locking device is moved from the first to the second operating state in order to release the door from the rest of the partition wall element and make it available for use. Conversely, when dismantling the partition wall, care must be taken to ensure that the locking device is first moved from the second to the first operating state in order to lock the door in its closed position to the rest of the partition wall element before the door is released from the anchoring in the floor. If the previously described sequence is not observed during assembly and dismantling, this would have the unpleasant consequence that the door would temporarily only hang on the upper hinge, which, as already mentioned, would lead to a pendulum movement of the door perpendicular to the hinge axis in the direction of the floor, which would destroy the upper hinge and also damage the door.

In order to avoid these negative effects in the event of incorrect operation, which unfortunately can never be completely ruled out, the device of the type mentioned at the outset is provided with a safety device according to the present invention which, in the event that the locking means is in the second operating state and the door is not anchored to the other object, supports the door in its closed position on the remaining part of the partition wall element.

With the help of the invention, the undesirable pendulum movement of the door across the hinge axis towards the floor is avoided in the event of incorrect operation by the door being caught by the safety device. Accordingly, even in the event of incorrect operation, the door is supported at two bearing points, namely at the existing pivot point and additionally by the safety device.

In a currently particularly preferred embodiment, the safety device has a first securing means provided on the remaining part of the partition wall element and a second securing means provided on the door, and in the closed position of the door the first and second securing means can be brought into engagement with one another. The securing means can expediently be brought into sliding engagement with one another or into abutment against one another.

In the event that the two securing means can be brought into contact with one another, in the closed position of the door the securing means should be arranged one above the other in an overlapping arrangement. Furthermore, at least one securing means can have a projection extending at an angle to the pivot axis of the door, which could, for example, have the shape of an L-shaped hook. In a further development of this design, one securing means could have the projection extending at an angle to the pivot axis of the door and the other securing means could have a recess complementary to the projection, into which the projection engages.

Another currently particularly preferred embodiment is characterized in that one safety means is formed on the locking means and can only be brought into engagement with the other safety means when the locking means is in the second operating state. In a preferred development of this embodiment, the locking means can be arranged either on the door or on the remaining part of the partition wall element and the other safety means can be arranged either on the remaining part of the partition wall element or on the door and the locking means with its locking section in its first operating state can engage directly with the other safety means, which results in a particularly space-saving arrangement of locking means and safety device.

In the closed position of the door, in the event that the locking means is in the first operating state and/or the door is anchored to another object, the first and second securing means should be disengaged from each other

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and in particular be arranged next to each other and at a distance from each other. The advantage of this design is that in the normal state the door can be used unhindered and without any possible disruptive influences from the safety device; the safety device only becomes active when the normal state is abandoned, i.e. the door is in danger of hanging on only one pivot point due to the previously described incorrect operation.

A preferred embodiment is explained in more detail below using the drawings. They show:

Figure 1 is a side view of a partition wall element;

Figure 2 shows a longitudinal section through a locking device

direction section of the partition wall element, wherein the locking device is shown in a first operating state; and

Figure 3 shows a longitudinal section through a locking device

direction section of the partition wall element, wherein the locking device is shown in a second operating state.

Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of a partition wall element 2 that contains a door 4. In the embodiment shown, the door 4 is made of glass and is provided with an upper frame part 4a on its top and a lower frame part 4b on its bottom. The frame parts 4a and 4b can be made of an aluminum profile, for example. A swivel joint 6 is provided on the top of the upper frame part 4a, which is acted upon by a locking device 8 contained in the upper frame part 4a. The door 4 is connected to a support beam 10 via the swivel joint 6, which is also part of the partition wall element 2. The support beam 10 hangs on carriages 12, which are mounted so that they can move in the longitudinal direction within a guide rail 14 attached to a ceiling. The partition wall element 2 shown is part of a partition wall with several further partition wall elements, which can also be moved in the guide rail 14 and of which at least one part usually does not have a door, unlike the partition wall element 2 shown.

In order to enable the door 4 to be opened and closed in the installation position of the partition wall element 2 shown in Figure 1, in the embodiment shown

A floor latch 16 corresponding to the pivot joint 6 is provided on the lower frame part 4b of the door 4. This floor latch 16 is designed as a pivot pin which can be extended from the lower frame part 4b into the floor 18, where it engages in a corresponding recess there (not shown in Figure 1).

In the assembly position of the partition wall element 2 shown in Figure 1, the door 4 is therefore anchored in the floor 18 via the floor bolt 16 so that the door 4 can be opened and closed. In the travel position of the partition wall element 2 - not shown in Figure 1 - the floor bolt 16 is pulled out of the floor 18 and retracted into the lower frame part 4b of the door 4, whereby the anchoring of the door 4 to the floor 18 is removed.

The pivot joint 6 between the upper frame part 4a and the support beam 10 forms the only permanent fastening point of the door 4 on the support beam 10 in the embodiment shown. So that the door 4 is not pivoted about the pivot joint 6 and/or swings transversely to the axis of the pivot joint 6 towards the floor 18 while the partition wall element 2 is moved along the guide rail 14, a locking device 20 is provided, which is shown in detail in Figures 2 and 3.

In the area of the locking device 20 on the left side of the partition wall element 2 according to Figure 1, the upper frame part 4a of the door 4 has an L-shaped inward-facing recess 5, which is essentially filled by a corresponding L-shaped projection 11, which is formed on the left side of the support beam 10 according to the figures and has a vertical leg 11a protruding beyond the underside of the support beam 10 and a horizontal and inward-facing horizontal leg 11b provided thereon. The L-shaped projection 11 of the support beam 10 is designed in such a way that its vertical leg 11a is essentially aligned with the vertical, free edge 4c of the door 4 below it in the closed state, as can be seen from the figures.

The locking device 20 has a ceiling bolt 22, which is designed as a pin that can be extended in the axial direction and can be locked into a recess (not shown in more detail) in the ceiling or in the guide rail 14.

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The locking device 20 is actuated via a spindle protruding from the side or from the underside of the upper frame part 4a of the door 4, onto which a hand crank 26 can be plugged, as shown schematically in Figure 1.

In Figures 2 and 3, the locking device 20 is shown in detail in a longitudinal section through the left edge section of the support beam according to the figures

10 and the upper frame part 4a of the door 4 located underneath, whereby the locking device 20 is shown in a first operating state in Figure 2 and in a second operating state in Figure 3. In contrast, the door 4 is shown in the closed state in both cases.

The spindle 24 is rotatably mounted within the upper frame part 4a of the door 4 and has a screw thread at its inner end 24a, which is in screw engagement with an articulated nut 30, which is rotatably mounted on a cam element 34 via a joint 32 with a joint axis running transversely to the longitudinal axis of the spindle 24 and approximately horizontally. The cam element 34 is in turn pivotably mounted on the upper frame part 4a of the door 4 by means of a joint 36, the joint 36 being arranged at a distance from the joint 32 and the joint axis of the joint 36 running parallel to that of the joint 32.

The cam element 34 is provided with a first edge section 34a which has approximately the shape of a quarter circle, the center of which coincides approximately with the axis of the joint 36, so that the radial distance of the surface of the first edge section 34a, which is curved in the direction of rotation of the cam element, from the axis of the joint 36 is essentially constant. In the first position of the cam element 34 shown in Figure 2, its first edge section 34a is in sliding engagement with the horizontal leg 11 b of the L-shaped projection.

11 of the support beam 10, in that the first edge section 34a of the cam element 34 engages in a recess formed on the top of the horizontal leg 11b (not shown in the figures). Since the cam element 34 is arranged essentially in the plane of the door 4 and thus vertically, the first edge section 34a also extends in the vertical direction, so that the engagement of the first edge section 34a in the recess on the top of the horizontal leg 11b of the L-shaped projection 11 of the support beam 10 takes place transversely to the opening and closing direction of the door.

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On the side of the cam element 34 that is diametrically opposite the first edge section 34a with respect to the joint 36, a second edge section 34b is formed, which is also curved in the direction of rotation of the cam element 34, but in such a way that the radial distance of the surface of the second edge section 34b from the axis of the joint 36 decreases towards the left side according to Figure 2, where the second edge section 34b opens into a substantially straight third edge section 34c, which runs in the direction of the first edge section 34a and is arranged vertically in the first position of the cam element 34 shown in Figure 2.

In the first position of the cam element 34 shown in Figure 2, a first arm 38a of a double lever 38 rests on the surface of the second edge section 34b, which is pivotably mounted on the support beam 10 via a joint 40. The axis of this joint 40 runs parallel to the axes of the joints 32 and 36 and, like them, is also horizontal. The second arm 38b of the double lever 38 has the shape of a fork, with the open recess 40 thus formed loosely receiving a pin 42 which is arranged horizontally and is fastened to the ceiling bar 22 or to a part connected to it. The ceiling bar 22 is mounted in the support beam 10 so that it can move in the vertical direction and is pre-tensioned into a locking position by means of a spring 44 shown in Figure 3, in which the ceiling bar! 22 is extended from the top of the support beam 10 and engages in a recess in the ceiling or in the guide rail 14 (not shown in the figures).

The joint 36 is arranged above the horizontal leg 11b of the L-shaped projection 11 and below the first arm 38a of the double lever 38, with the first arm 38a of the double lever 38, the joint 36 of the cam element 34 and the horizontal leg 11b of the L-shaped projection lying approximately on top of one another on an imaginary vertical line. Due to this arrangement, in the first position of the cam element 34 shown in Figure 2, its first edge section 34a is directed downwards and its second edge section 34b is directed upwards.

By turning the spindle 24, the cam element 34 can be pivoted from the first position shown in Figure 2 by approximately 90° inwards (to the right according to the figures) into the second position shown in Figure 3. Conversely, the cam element 34 can be pivoted from the second position shown in Figure 3 by turning the spindle 24 in the opposite direction back into the first position.

Position according to Figure 2; further pivoting back beyond the first position shown in Figure 2 to the outside (to the left according to Figure 2) is prevented by a stop 46 which is mounted in the L-shaped recess 5 on the vertical outside of the upper frame part 4a of the door 4 and against which the cam element 34 comes into contact with its straight third edge section 34c, as can be seen in Figure 2.

In the first position of the cam element 34 shown in Figure 2, as already mentioned, its first edge section 34a is in engagement with the horizontal leg 11b of the L-shaped projection of the support beam 10, as a result of which the door 4 is locked to the support beam 10 of the partition wall element 2. In addition, the opposite second edge section 34b is in contact with the first arm 38a of the double lever 38, as a result of which the double lever 38 is pivoted into a tilted position in which the first arm 38a is in its upper position and the second arm 38b of the double lever 38 is in its lower position, as a result of which the rotary latch 22 is essentially retracted into the support beam 10 against the force of the spring 44, so that the partition wall element 2 is unlocked from the ceiling or the guide rail 14.

If the cam element 34 is pivoted to the right according to Figures 2 and 3 in the direction of the second position according to Figure 3 by turning the spindle 24, the second edge section 34b of the cam element 34 slides along the underside of the first arm 38a of the double lever 38, whereby as the pivoting movement progresses, due to the decreasing radial distance of the curved second edge section 34b from the joint 36 of the double lever 38, it experiences a pivoting movement in the opposite direction, i.e. to the left according to Figures 2 and 3. This pivoting movement of the double lever 38 is brought about by the spring 44 which preloads the rotary latch 22 into its locking position according to Figure 3 and exerts a torque on the second arm 38b of the double lever 38 via the pin 42. The surface of the second edge section 34b therefore serves as a control surface which determines the course of the double lever 38 pre-tensioned by the spring 44. When the rotary latch 22 pre-tensioned by the spring 44 reaches its locking position according to Figure 3 during continued pivoting movement of the double lever 38, it is prevented from moving further by corresponding stops not shown in detail in the figures, so that the double lever 38 also no longer experiences any further pivoting movement, but remains in the position shown in Figure 3, with the first arm 38a now in its lower position and the second arm 38b of the double lever 38 in its

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its upper position. This now has the consequence that, with continued rotation, the cam element 34 with its second edge section 34b begins to detach from the first arm 38a of the double lever 38.

Up to this point, the cam element 34 was still in engagement with the horizontal leg 11 b of the L-shaped projection 11 of the support beam 10 with a part of its first edge section 34a. During the rotary movement of the cam element 34, the lower edge section 34a is guided in the longitudinal direction through the recess on the top of the horizontal leg 11 b of the L-shaped projection 11 (not shown in detail in the figures), so that during the initial rotary movement the cam element 34 with its first edge section 34a is still in (sliding) engagement with the horizontal leg 11 b of the L-shaped projection 11. This is achieved in that, as already mentioned, the radial distance of the surface of the first edge section 34a from the axis of the rotary joint 36 of the cam element 34 remains essentially constant over its entire length, whereby the sliding engagement is maintained at the beginning of the rotary movement of the cam element 34. As long as the sliding engagement between the cam element 34 and the horizontal leg 11b of the L-shaped projection 11 still exists at least in part, the door 4 is locked to the support beam 10 against unintentional opening.

The length of the curved first edge section 34a is therefore dimensioned such that it comes out of engagement with the horizontal leg 11b of the L-shaped projection 11 of the support beam 10 after the cam element 34 with its second edge section 34b has detached itself from the first arm 38a of the double lever 38. This ensures that the ceiling latch 22 is first fully extended into its locking position according to Figure 3 and thereby locks the partition wall element 2 to the ceiling or to the guide rail 14 before the door 4 is unlocked for opening and thus released for use.

As can be clearly seen in Figure 3, in the second position of the cam element 34, its first and second edge sections 34a and 34b are at a distance from the horizontal leg 11b of the L-shaped projection 11 and from the first arm 38a of the double lever 38. In this case, measured by the radial distance to the axis of the rotary joint 36, the distance of the second edge section 34b from the first arm 38a of the double lever 38 is greater than the distance of the first edge section 34a from the horizontal leg 11b of the L-shaped projection.

11, from which it can also be clearly seen that the first edge section 34 of the cam element 34 only disengages from the horizontal leg of the L-shaped projection 11 when the second edge section 34b has detached from the first arm 38a of the double lever 38. As can also be seen from Figure 3, the cam element 34 in its second position assumes a position such that its first edge section 34a lies above the horizontal leg 11b of the L-shaped projection 11 and adjacent to its vertical leg 11a, while the second edge section 34b lies below the double lever 38 opposite.

When the cam element 34 rotates in the opposite direction, its first edge section 34a engages with the horizontal leg 11b of the L-shaped projection of the support beam 10 rather than its second edge section 34b with the first arm 38a of the double lever 38, so that the door 4 is initially locked in its closed position on the support beam 10 before the partition wall element 2 is unlocked from the ceiling or the guide rail 14 by retracting the rotary latch 22. After the first edge section 34a of the cam element 34 has already come into sliding engagement with the horizontal leg! 11b of the L-shaped projection 11 of the support beam 10, the second edge section 34b of the cam element 34 runs against the downwardly pivoted first arm 38a of the double lever 38 and, as the rotation continues, slowly pushes it upwards against the pressure of the spring 44, whereby the second arm 38b of the double lever 38 is pivoted downwards and, via the pin 42, takes the rotary latch 22 from the locking position according to Figure 3 into the retracted position according to Figure 2.

In the first position shown in Figure 2, the cam element 34 with its first edge section 34a is not only in engagement with the horizontal leg 11b of the L-shaped projection, but also rests on it, whereby the door 4 is additionally supported on the support beam 10. This is important in order to prevent the door 4 from being pivoted about the pivot joint 6 and/or swinging towards the floor 18 during the movement of the partition wall element 2 along the guide rail 14 after the floor bolt 16 has also been retracted into the lower frame part 4b and the door 4 is therefore no longer anchored to the floor 18. Therefore, during the dismantling of the partition wall, care should always be taken to ensure that the cam element 34 is first rotated back from the second position according to Figure 3 to the first position according to Figure 2 before the anchoring of the door 4 to the floor 18 is released by retracting the floor latch 16. If in the closed

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If, in the second position of the door 4, its anchoring on the floor 18 is nevertheless accidentally released by retracting the floor latch 16 when the cam element 34 is still in the second position shown in Figure 3, the L-shaped projection 11 nevertheless supports the door in that the cam element 34 comes to rest with its opposite fourth edge section 34d, which is in a horizontal position in the second position, on the upper side of the horizontal leg 11b of the L-shaped leg 11. In this way, an interaction of the cam element 34 and the L-shaped projection prevents the door 4 from being pivoted about the pivot joint 6 and/or swinging towards the floor 18, even in the event of unintentional incorrect operation. The L-shaped projection 11 therefore acts as a hook-shaped safety device which catches the door 4 in the event of unintentional misoperation, whereby the door 4 only falls towards the floor 18 to the extent that a gap is formed between the horizontal leg 11 b of the L-shaped projection 11 and the fourth edge section 34d of the cam element 34 lying above it.

Even in this situation, the cam element 34, which rests with its fourth edge section 34d on the horizontal leg 11b of the L-shaped projection 11, can now be easily rotated back from its second position according to Figure 3 to the first position according to Figure 2, in that the force transfer from the fourth edge section 34d to the adjoining first edge section 34a when the first edge section 34a of the cam element 34 comes into sliding engagement with the horizontal leg 11b of the L-shaped projection 11.

With regard to the safety device for preventing a pendulum movement in the event of unintentional incorrect operation, it would also be conceivable as an alternative to arrange the cam element 34 on the upper frame part 4a of the door 4 and to design the upper frame part 4a in such a way that it comes to rest directly on the upper side of the horizontal leg 11 b of the L-shaped projection 11 in the event of unintentional incorrect operation.

Claims (13)

- 12- Claims 1. Device for locking a door (4) of a partition wall element (2), wherein the door (4) is mounted essentially only via a pivot point (6) on the remaining part (10) of the partition wall element (2) and can be additionally anchored to another object (18) to create a further pivot point (16), with a locking means (34, 34a), in the first operating state (Figure 2) of which the door (4) is locked in its closed position on the remaining part (10) of the partition wall element (2) and in the second operating state (Figure 3) of which the door (4) can be freely pivoted between its closed position and its open position, characterized by a safety device (11, 34d) which, in the event that the locking means (34, 34a) is in the second operating state (Figure 3) and the door (4) is not attached to the other object (18) is anchored, the door (4) in its closed position is supported on the remaining part (10) of the partition wall element (2). 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the safety device has a first securing means (11, 11b) provided on the remaining part (10) of the partition wall element and a second securing means (34, 34d) provided on the door (4), and that in the closed position of the door the first and second securing means (11, 11b and 34, 34d) can be brought into engagement with one another. 3. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that the first and second securing means can be brought into sliding engagement with one another. 4. Device according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the first and second securing means (11, 11b and 34, 34d) can be brought into contact with one another. 5. Device according to claim 4, characterized in that in the closed position of the door the securing means (11, 11b and 34, 34d) lie one above the other in an overlapping arrangement. 6. Device according to claim 5, characterized in that at least one securing means (11, 11b) has a projection (11b) extending at an angle to the pivot axis of the door (4). - 13- 7. Device according to claim 6, characterized in that the securing means (11, 11b) has the shape of an L-shaped hook. 8. Device according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that one securing means has a projection (11b) extending at an angle to the pivot axis of the door (4) and the other securing means has a recess (5) complementary to the projection (11b) into which the projection (11b) engages. 9. Device according to at least one of claims 2 to 7, characterized in that one securing means (34d) is formed on the locking means (34) and can only be brought into engagement with the other securing means (11b) when the locking means (34) is in the second operating state (Figure 3). 10. Device according to claim 9, characterized in that the locking means (34) is arranged on the door (4) and the other securing means (11b) on the remaining part (10) of the partition wall element (2) and the locking means (34) with its locking section (34a) in its first operating state (Figure 2) directly engages the other securing means (11b). 11. Device according to claim 9, characterized in that the locking means is arranged on the remaining part of the partition wall element and the other securing means is arranged on the door and the locking means with its locking section in its first operating state engages directly with the other securing means. 12. Device according to at least one of claims 2 to 11, characterized in that in the closed position of the door (4) in the event that the locking means (34, 34a) is in the first operating state (Figure 2) and/or the door (4) is anchored to the other object (18), the first and second securing means (11, 11b and 34, 34d) are disengaged from one another. - 14 - 13. Device according to claim 12, characterized in that in the closed position of the door (4) in the event that the locking means (34, 34a) is in the first operating state (Figure 2) and/or the door (4) is anchored to the other object (18), the first and second securing means (11, 11b and 34, 34d) are arranged adjacent to one another and at a distance from one another.