EP0001956B1 - Guiding and actuating device for a sliding door - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a guide and control device for a sealed vertical sliding door intended to close an opening formed in a wall and ending at a horizontal plane which may be the ground. This device comprises suspension means for guiding the door parallel to the wall and means for applying it simultaneously against the wall and against said horizontal plane when it is located opposite the abovementioned opening. The suspension means comprise at least two carriages secured by guide means to move horizontally along the wall, and each carriage is provided with a first shaft connected by articulation means to a second shaft fixed to the door , and means for locking the articulation means are provided to prevent movement of the second shaft when the door is not opposite the opening.

Such doors are encountered in particular for access to cold rooms or operating rooms. They can also be used as interconnecting doors in high-speed rail cars to contribute to sound insulation, air conditioning and to form a firebreak. They are generally of large dimensions. To avoid a prohibitive size, this requires to provide a sliding maneuver.

On the other hand, the types of use mentioned above require a total seal, that is to say distributed as well on the side of the door located near the ground as on the three other sides formed by the frame of the opening to be closed.

We know how to achieve such a seal by giving the door, at the end of the closing stroke, a combined downward movement, to crush a seal forming a seal under the door, and of application to the wall to crush a seal on this next wall. the other three sides of the door.

It is known, from French patent 1,588,063, to obtain such a movement by suspending the door by rollers rolling on rolling tracks which have local depressions where the rollers engage when the door arrives in face of the opening to be closed. The door is suspended from portegalet trolleys by means of an arm of a bracket, the other arm of which extends horizontally just above a profile linked to the wall. When, under the effect of depressions, the door takes a downward movement, the horizontal arm of the square comes to rest on the profile, the square turns around its top, and its vertical arm to which the door hangs the latter parallel to itself to press it against the wall.

This system has a significant drawback. Indeed, the door is pressed against the opening only by the effect of its weight. Once closed, it can only be operated by the actuator of the carriages. If a person is locked in the room, he can only push it away from the wall without sliding it, the rollers continuing to rest in their depressions.

The present invention aims to provide a guidance and control device which allows in particular the opening of the door from the inside without any auxiliary mechanism.

According to the present invention, the two shafts defined above have their vertical axes and the articulation means are arranged to allow the second shaft, upon the release of the locking means, a movement composed on the one hand of a rotational movement around of the first tree and, on the other hand, of a movement having a compostant parallel to the direction of the axis of the first tree.

Thanks to this characteristic, the component of rotation, which obligatorily intervenes as soon as a perpendicular thrust is applied to the door, and which itself comprises a component in the direction of sliding, initiates a sliding movement which opens the door and allows to slide the hand to complete its opening.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the aforementioned locking means comprise a roller with a vertical axis mounted on a part of the articulation means and bearing on a rectilinear raceway integral with the wall to prevent said part from turning in causing the second shaft, an interruption of the raceway allowing the roller to escape and the device to be released.

It suffices to provide an interruption in the raceway in front of each of the carriages when the door is opposite the opening to cause the unlocking of the rotary movement of the articulation means and the closing of the door.

According to a first embodiment of the invention, the first shaft is bent and rotatably mounted on a folded plate articulated to the second shaft by a ball joint, the closing movement of the door being effected by rotation of the folded plate.

The articulation means then comprise a horizontal drive plate carrying the roller, rotatably mounted around the first shaft and carrying mechanical connection means with the folded plate to drive said folded plate in rotation.

The mechanical connection means between the drive plate and the folded plate comprise a fork mounted on one of the plates and cooperating with a roller mounted on the other.

The trajectory of the rather complex folded plate can, as a first approximation, be considered as enveloping a cone, while the drive plate is rotated in a horizontal plane. The fork and roller device gives the degree of freedom necessary to make these trajectories compatible.

To control the device, the drive plate of each carriage carries an operating arm connected by a coupling bar to the arm relative to the other carriage and the assembly is controlled by a control member with rectilinear movement.

According to a second embodiment of the invention, the second shaft carries an auxiliary carriage resting on an inclined plane integral with the first shaft, this inclined plane being arranged so as to apply the roller on the raceway. Here again, the door suspension carriages are connected to a control member with rectilinear movement.

Other particular features of the invention will emerge from the detailed description which follows.

• - la Figure 1 est une vue d'ensemble, en perspective, d'une première réalisation de l'invention, dans la position fermée de la porte;
• - la Figure 2 est une vue en coupe, suivant II-II de la Figure 3, d'un des chariots de la Figure 1;
• - la Figure 3 est une vue en coupe suivant III-III de la Figure 2;
• - la Figure 4 est une vue suivant IV-IV de la Figure 3;
• - la Figure 5 est une vue en élévation, avec coupe partielle, d'un des chariots dans une seconde réalisation de l'invention, en position fermée de la porte;
• - la Figure 6 est une vue en coupe transversale suivant VI-VI de la Figure 5;
• - la Figure 7 est une coupe en plan suivant VII-VII de la Figure 6, avec indication supplémentaire de la position ouverte de la porte.

In the appended drawings, given by way of nonlimiting examples:

• - Figure 1 is an overall perspective view of a first embodiment of the invention, in the closed position of the door;
• - Figure 2 is a sectional view along II-II of Figure 3, one of the carriages of Figure 1;
• - Figure 3 is a sectional view along III-III of Figure 2;
• - Figure 4 is a view along IV-IV of Figure 3;
• - Figure 5 is an elevational view, partly in section, of one of the carriages in a second embodiment of the invention, in the closed position of the door;
• - Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view along line VI-VI of Figure 5;
• - Figure 7 is a plan section along VII-VII of Figure 6, with additional indication of the open position of the door.

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, the device according to the invention comprises two carriages 1 to which is suspended a door 2 intended to close an opening 3 in a wall 4, this opening descending to the ground 5.

The carriages 1 each comprise a bracket 6 fixed to a ball cage 7 rolling in a raceway 8 to form a slide 9 fixed to the wall 4 by fixing plates 11, so that the carriages 1 can move so straight parallel to the wall 4.

More specifically, the slide 9 is fixed in a recess in the wall 4, the depth a (Figure 3) is determined according to the dimensions of the carriages, so that the door 2 can be applied to the wall 4 by crushing a joint plastic 2a disposed on its periphery.

A first vertical shaft 12 is rigidly fixed to the bracket 6 by means of a ring 13 welded to the bracket and a pin 14. The lower part 15 of the shaft 12 is bent and carries, via a plain bearing 16, a folded plate 17 to which is articulated, by means of a ball joint 18, a second vertical shaft 19 to which the door 2 is suspended. In order to adjust the height of the door 2 relative on the ground, the shaft 19 is provided with a thread 21 cooperating with a threaded socket 22 welded to the door, the blocking being ensured by a lock nut 23.

The plain bearing 16 is axially blocked by a ring 24 fixed by a pin 25, by means of a ball bearing 26.

The slide 9 does not lie in the vertical plane of the door 2, the shaft 12 carries a roller roller 27 which cooperates with a raceway 28 parallel to the slide 9 and which is held axially by a shoulder 29. in this way, the roller 27, by pressing on the raceway 28, absorbs the moment of rotation exerted by the door 2 on the carriage 1.

A horizontal drive plate 31 is rotatably mounted on each of the two shafts 12, in their vertical part, by means of a plain bearing 32. On this plate is fixed an operating arm 33 articulated on a coupling bar 34.

A jack 35 comprises a movable rod 36 whose head 37 cooperates, via a roller 38, with an articulation piece 39, fixed on the coupling bar 34, and having an oblong hole 41 (Figures 1 and 3).

The drive plate 31 carries a fork 42 constituted by a folded sheet and rotatably mounted on its base around an axis 43. This fork cooperates with a roller 44 carried by the folded plate 17, so that the whole of the folded plate 17 and the drive plate 31 constitute articulation means making it possible to transmit the movements of the jack 35 to door 2. The fork 42 is provided a little wider than the roller 44 (Figure 3) to allow a certain travel.

Finally, the drive plate 31 carries a roller 45 of vertical axis capable, depending on the position of the carriages 1 on the slide 9 and the angular position of the plate 31, from rolling on the raceway 28 or, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, to engage in an interruption 46 of the raceway 28.

• Partant de la position de porte fermée représentée sur les figures, on fait fonctionner le vérin 35 de manière à entraîner sa tige 36 vers la droite, suivant la flèche 0 (Figure 1). L'effort, transmis par la barre d'accouplement 34 aux bras de manoeuvre 33, fait tourner les plaques d'entraînement 31 dans le sens inverse des aiguilles d'une montre (vu de dessus), entraînant, par l'intermédiaire des fourchettes 42 et des galets 45, la rotation des plaques pliées 17 autour de la partie inférieure oblique 15 des arbres 12.

The operation of the device thus described is as follows:

• Starting from the closed door position shown in the figures, the actuator 35 is operated so as to drive its rod 36 to the right, along arrow 0 (Figure 1). The effort, transmitted by the coupling rod 34 to the operating arms 33, rotates the drive plates 31 anticlockwise (seen from above), driving, by means of forks 42 and rollers 45, the rotation of the folded plates 17 around the oblique lower part 15 of the shafts 12.

The movement of the folded plates 17 is communicated to the shafts 19 by means of the ball joints 18 and causes the door to take a compound movement which, on the one hand, distances the wall 4, and, on the other hand, lifts it up. making him lose contact with the ground.

At the same time, the rotation of the plates 31 releases the rollers 45 from the interruptions 46 of the raceway 28 where they were engaged. They can therefore roll on this raceway, driving the carriages 1 and the door 2 to the right parallel to the wall 4.

When the opening 3 is fully cleared, conventional end-of-travel devices stop the stroke of the jack 35.

From this open position, the reverse operation of the jack 35, along arrow F, first causes the translation of the door 2 parallel to the wall 4, the carriages 1 rolling on the one hand in the slide 9, and each by their rollers 27 and 45, while the plates 31 are subjected to rotation, this rotation being prevented by the support of the rollers 45 on the raceway 28.

When the rollers arrive in front of the interruptions 46 of the raceway 28, this solicitation forces them to engage in it, causing the rotation of the plates 31 and of the articulation means which allow the door 2 to descend, letting it approach the wall 4. In this movement, the door 2 crushes the seal 2b against the ground and it crushes against the wall the seal 2a lining its three other sides. The lower part of the door is then guided by conical guides 47 cooperating with an angle iron 48 fixed on the door.

In the aforementioned movements, the movement of the cylinder rod is strictly rectilinear and can follow the movement of the carriages 1 at the cost of the slightly oblong hole 41 to take account of the movement of the coupling rod 34. The movement of the door can therefore be controlled and controlled from end to end, since the actuator does not control the door directly, but only through the device of the invention which ensures the conversion of movement. This movement can therefore be controlled smoothly from one end of the stroke to the other.

On the other hand, the articulation means are perfectly reversible and, in the event of a breakdown, a person trapped on the other side of the door can easily cause it to open, first by exerting a push which moves it away from the wall and raises it, then, once the rollers thus released, by sliding the door laterally by the simple grip of the hands, the only efforts to overcome being negligible rolling resistances. There is therefore no need for any mechanism for transmitting an operation from one side to the other of the door, or, if necessary, in the case of very heavy doors, such a mechanism can be constituted by a entirely external element which increases the operator's effort tenfold. r.

We will now describe a second embodiment of the invention, referenced in FIGS. 5 to 7, in which only the details of a carriage have been represented, it being understood that, for the overall appearance, reference may be made to the general provisions in Figure 1. In this new description, elements similar to those described in the previous embodiment, will be designated by the same reference number increased by 100.

In this embodiment, at least two carriages such as 101 support a door 102 intended to close off an opening (not shown) ending on a horizontal plane such as the ground, and formed in a wall 104. Each carriage 101 includes a hanging bracket 106 to a ball cage 107 mounted in a raceway 108 to form a slide 109 fixed to a fixing plate 111, itself sealed in the wall 104.

The carriage 101 also has a first shaft 112 fixed to the bracket 106 by means of a ring 113 welded to this bracket and a pin 114. This shaft has at its lower part a threaded part 151 on which is fixed by two nuts 152, a part 153 having an inclined plane 154 whose inclination is directed towards the wall 104.

The shaft 112 carries a roller 127 rolling on a raceway 128 to absorb the torque resulting from vertical forces applied along the axis of this shaft.

The shaft 112 also carries, by means of two bearings 155, 156, a rotary housing 116 which rests, by means of a ball bearing 126, on a ring keyed by a pin 125.

A second shaft 119 (Figure 5) has a threaded portion 121 screwed into a socket 122, itself fixed to the door 102 by any means, such as an intermediate plate 157. A lock nut 123 ensures the blocking of the shaft 119 in socket 122.

At its upper part, the shaft 119 is carried by a plain bearing 118 included in a housing 158 secured by a web 117 with the housing 116 rotating around the shaft 112. In this way, the shaft 119 can rotate around the shaft 112, the sleeve 122 freely passing through the piece 153 in an elongated opening 159 having the desired layout.

An axis 161 passing through the sleeve 122 carries at its two ends rollers 162 resting on the inclined plane 154, so that the aforementioned rotational movements of the shaft 119 are accompanied by an axial translational movement of this shaft, resulting in a sliding in the bearing 118.

Finally, the sleeve 122 carries a roller 145 for rolling on the raceway 128 and possibly escaping this race when it exceeds its end 146.

The operation of the device is ensured by a rectilinear displacement motor member which, for clarity, has not been shown, but which may be a jack of the kind described in relation to the previous embodiment. This member directly attacks the brackets 106 which can be coupled by a special bar or simply by the door 102.

• La porte 102 étant supposée fermée, dans la position représentée sur les Figures 5 à 7, on fait exercer par l'organe moteur un effort parallèle à glissière 109. Cet effort provoque une réaction de l'extrémité 146 du chemin de roulement 128 sur le galet 145, qui oblige les galets 162 à remonter le plan incliné 154 en entraînant la douille 122 qui se déplace dans l'ouverture allongée 159 suivant laflèche F1, éloignant ainsi la porte 102 de la paroi 104.

The operation of the device thus described is as follows:

• The door 102 being assumed to be closed, in the position shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the motor member exerts a force parallel to slide 109. This force causes a reaction from the end 146 of the raceway 128 on the roller 145, which forces the rollers 162 to go up the inclined plane 154 by driving the sleeve 122 which moves in the elongated opening 159 along arrow F1, thus moving the door 102 away from the wall 104.

The movement continues until the roller 145 has escaped from the end 146, the sleeve 122 having come to 122a (Figure 7). Consequently, the whole of the carriage can move in the direction of the arrow F ₂ , the rollers 127 and 145 rolling on the raceway 128. The carriage 101 then comes into a position such that 101 a, shown in phantom (Figure 7), the door 102 therefore moving parallel to the wall 104. The stop is effected by limit stops of a known type when the opening closed by the door is fully exposed.

The closing operation is carried out in the opposite direction and begins with a movement of the carriages 101 parallel to the slide 109, with rolling of the rollers 127 and 145 on the raceway 128. When the roller 145 reaches the end of the raceway, it escapes, letting the rollers 162 roll on the inclined plane 154 by driving the sleeve 122 from position 122a to position 122 according to arrow F3 (Figure 7). This movement causes the door to be applied to the wall with crushing of the seal 102a and, at the same time, its descent with crushing to the ground of the seal 102A (not shown).

Once the door is closed, it is always possible to reopen it manually from the inside in the event of a failure of the actuating motor. It suffices to push it outwards to move it away from the wall, the rollers 162 going up the inclined plane 154. Consequently, the joints 102a and 102b are no longer engaged and the roller 145 being released from the end 146, just a very slight lateral push, using for example the grip of the hands, to cause the lateral movement of the door.

With this embodiment, substantially the same sealing and control continuity advantages are obtained as with the previous embodiment, the differences being purely technological and the choice between them being dependent only on the manufacturing conditions.

We can also provide many other embodiments of the invention which are only variants belonging to the same framework. For example, from the first embodiment described above, it is possible to envisage keeping the first shaft straight, instead of bending it, and mounting it inclined and rotatable. The "folded plate" could then be flat and welded to the shaft in an approximately horizontal position, not perpendicular to said shaft. We see that these are means equivalent to those described.

Similarly, the rectilinear actuating member can be of any kind, such as a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder, or an electric motor provided with a worm.

Claims (7)

1. Guiding and actuating device for a vertical air-tight sliding door which is intended to close an opening formed in a wall and terminating at the level of a horizontal plane which can be the floor, comprising suspension means for guiding the door parallel to the wall and means for applying it simultaneously against the wall and against said horizontal plane when it is located opposite to the opening aforementioned, the suspension means being constituted by at least two carriages constrained by guiding means to move horizontally along the wall, each carriage being provided with a first shaft coupled by articulation means to a second shaft fixed to the door, and means for locking the articulation means being provided in order to prevent the movement of the second shaft when the door is not located opposite to the opening, characterized in that the two shafts (12, 112; 19, 119) have vertical axes and that the articulation means are so arranged that the second shaft (19, 119) is permitted at the time of release of the locking means (45, 28; 145, 128) to carry out a movement composed on the one hand of a movement of rotation about the first shaft and on the other hand a movement having a component parallel to the direction of the axis of thefirstshaft.

2. Device in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the locking means comprise a roller (45, 145) having a vertical axis mounted on a component (31, 122) of the articulation means and applied against rectilinear rollertrack (28, 128) which is rigidly fixed to the wall (4,104) in orderto preventsaid component (31,122) from rotating and driving the second shaft (19,119), a gap (46, 146) of the roller track (28, 128) being, intended to permit release of the roller (45, 145) and unlocking of the device.

3. Device in accordance with claim 2, characterized in that the first shaft (12) is elbowed and rotatably mounted on a bent plate (17) which is pivotally coupled to the second shaft (19) by means of a ball-joint assembly (18), the closing movement of the door (2) being carried out by rotation of the bent plate (17).

4. Device in accordance with claim 3, characterized in that the articulation means comprise a horizontal driving plate (31) for carrying the roller (45), which is rotatably mounted on the first shaft (12) and carries means for providing a mechanical coupling with the bent plate (17) in order to drive said plate in rotation.

5. Device in accordance with claim 4, characterized in that the means for providing a mechanical coupling between the driving plate (31) and the bent plate (17) comprise a fork (42) mounted on one (31) of the plates and cooperating with a roller (44) mounted on the other (17).

6. Device in accordance with claim 5, characterized in thattheplate (31) for driving each carriage (1) carries an actuating arm (33) connected by means of a coupling bar (34) to the actuating arm relative to the other carriage, said coupling bar (34) being connected to a rectilinear- motion actuating element (35).

7. Device in accordance with claim 2, characterized in that the second shaft (119) carries an auxiliary carriage (161, 162) which rests on an inclined plane (154) which is rigidly fixed to the first shaft (112), this inclined plane (154) being so arranged as to apply the roller (145) against the roller track (128).

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