EP0032218A1 - Folding door or partition composed of panel-like door wings - Google Patents

Abstract

1. Folding door or folding partition, consisting of plate-like door panels (2), which are hingedly connected along adjoining vertical edges (3a) to form pairs of panels (1a), which are hinged along vertical edges (3b) to one another or to vertical supporting battens (4, 6, 8) with support members (5) between the pairs of panels and at the ends of the folding door, which members engage in at least one upper guide rail (1) and are displaceable horizontally in the closure plane, the pairs of panels, on opening, being folded outwardly from the closure plane substantially transversely of the latter and, in the closed position, being held level and under tension in the closure plane by at least one horizontally quided traction cable (22) which is loaded by a tension spring (24) and is fixed to both ends of the folding door, and with guiding elements (18, 20) for guiding the traction cable, wherein the traction cable (22) in the guiding elements (18, 20) is guided so as to protrude inwardly at the inside surface of the folding door or partition and assumes a relatively large spacing from the folding door in the region of the support members (5) and a relatively small spacing from the said door between the support members (5).

Description

The invention relates to a folding door or folding wall made of plate-shaped door leaves which are articulated along adjacent vertical edges to form pairs of wings which are hinged along vertical edges to one another or to vertical supporting strips, with supporting members between the pairs of leaves and at the ends of the folding door, which extend into at least one upper guide rail intervene and are horizontally displaceable in the closing plane, the folding door having an outer and an inner surface, and the pairs of wings when opening from the closing plane essentially open out transversely to the closing plane.

Such a foldable door or wall is known from DE-PS 2 438 985 and has a two-shell structure. Spring mechanisms inside the door, between the two shells, allow this known folding door to be pulled out flat in the closed state and when the wall is opened, the foremost section consisting of two opposing plate-shaped elements is completely opened, while the subsequent sections remain fully unfolded in the wall plane. Then the next section, finally the fold third section etc. The spring mechanisms are limited to the use of double-leaf folding doors and have a relatively complicated structure.

In contrast, the object of the invention is to provide a folding door or folding wall of the type mentioned at the beginning which can be brought into the smoothly extended closed state with little mechanical effort. In particular, the folding door or folding wall should be of single-shell design.

This object is achieved according to the invention in the folding door or folding wall of the type mentioned in that at least one tension cable with a tension spring is stretched horizontally between both ends of the folding door and guided in guide elements and in the area of the supporting members at a relatively large distance, between the supporting members in relative is a small distance from the outer surface of the folding door or folding wall.

The advantages of the invention are, in particular, that in a mechanically particularly simple manner, namely suitable with a spring-tensioned pull rope of a predetermined length when closing the folding door or folding wall, directed closing forces are exerted, which keep the pairs of wings on the plate-shaped door leaves flat in the door plane and neither Closing still hinder the opening process. The invention is particularly suitable for single-leaf folding doors in which only the outer surface is visible due to its special area of application, while the inner surface, for example, faces the interior of a cabinet and is not seen by the user. The folding door or folding wall according to the invention can, however, also be constructed as a double-skin wall, the two shells of which each have vertically pivoted door leaves on the supporting strips. The locking mechanism can then also be accommodated invisibly from both sides in the cavity between the door leaves.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a vertical support strip is provided between two adjacent wing pairs, to which the outer vertical edges of the wing pairs are articulated. At the two ends of the folding door or folding wall, a vertical support bar is preferably also attached. The support members are attached to the support strips. The traction cable is preferably attached to the two outer support strips by means of fastening elements at a relatively large distance from the closing plane, which runs vertically through the upper guide rail, and runs horizontally in the guide elements which are connected to the support strips lying between the pairs of wings, i.e. in the area of the supporting elements, as well as on the door leaves, i.e. between the support members, is guided and keeps the folding door flat in the closed state.

The fastening elements on the end support strips of the folding door or folding wall and the cable guides on the intermediate support strips, which are arranged between the end support strips, preferably all have the same distance from the Closing level and are attached to the inner surface of the folding door. The support strips are slidably suspended on support elements in the upper guide rail, and the support strips can contain guide elements on their underside which run in a corresponding lower guide rail.

The guide elements on the wing pairs are also attached to the inner surface of the folding door in the region of the hinged vertical edges. In the area of these rope guides, the pull rope has a distance from the surface of the plate-shaped wings that is smaller than the distance that the pull rope takes up on the fastening elements and the rope guides of the support strips relative to the closing plane. The length of the traction cable is such that the tension spring is tensioned in the closed state of the folding door or folding wall and relaxes when the folding door is opened, when the hinged vertical edges of the plate-shaped wings move out of the closing plane with a movement component in a direction perpendicular to the closing plane in the direction facing away from the pull rope, i.e. outward, move.

The fastenings and guides for the traction cable are selected so that - when the folding door or folding wall is closed - the distance of the traction cable from the closing plane in the area of the support members is greater than in the area of the hinged vertical edges of the wing pairs, so that the traction cable then tensioned onto the plate-shaped Wings a force exercises, which is directed perpendicular to the plate-shaped wings and pulls the pairs of wings flat in the closing plane. The fastenings and cable guides on the support strips preferably have essentially a uniform shape, and likewise the cable guides on the plate-shaped wings preferably all have the same shape in order to exert approximately the same force on the individual slat pairs between the individual plate pairs between the support strips when the folding door is closed, so that the plate-shaped wings all pass into the closing plane at about the same time.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the pull rope is guided on the upper and / or lower end edge of the folding door. Alternatively, the door leaves can be made from a hollow profile, which receives the traction cable and the guide elements in the cavities. The lateral displacement of the guide elements required to generate the closing forces is relatively small in this way, but the closing mechanism is then invisibly and protectedly fitted inside the door leaf.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the support members are each located on the upper end edge of a door leaf. When opened, the pairs of wings then fold partially outwards and partially inwards transversely to the closing plane. The pull rope with the tension spring is stretched horizontally between both ends of the folding door and guided in guide elements, which are then at a relatively small distance in the area of the middle pivot joint of the wing pairs from the outer surface, and in the region of the pivot joints connecting the wing pairs at a relatively large distance from the outer surface of the folding door. In this embodiment, no support strips are required between the pairs of leaves, but it is accepted that the door leaves partially open inwards, for example in the interior of a cabinet, when opening.

• Fig. 1 eine Seitenansicht einer erfindungsgemäßen Falttür oder Faltwand mit einem Zugseil;
• Fig. 2 einen Schnitt längs der Linie II-II in geschlossenem Zustand der Falttür;
• Fig. 3 einen Schnitt längs der Linie II-II der Fig. 1 in halb geöffnetem Zustand der Falttür;
• Fig. 4 eine der Fig. 2 entsprechende Darstellung einer weiteren Ausführungsform der Erfindung ; und
• Fig. 5 eine der Fig. 2 entsprechende Darstellung einer weiteren Ausführungsform der Erfindung.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail below with reference to the drawing. Show it:

• Figure 1 is a side view of a folding door or folding wall according to the invention with a pull rope.
• Figure 2 is a section along the line II-II in the closed state of the folding door.
• Fig. 3 is a section along the line II-II of Figure 1 in the half-open state of the folding door.
• 4 shows a representation corresponding to FIG. 2 of a further embodiment of the invention; and
• FIG. 5 shows a representation of a further embodiment of the invention corresponding to FIG. 2.

1 shows a side view of the folding door or folding wall according to the invention. Several plate-shaped elements or wings 2 are alternately articulated along their vertical edges 3 either to one another or to vertical support strips 4. In each case, two door leaves 2 are hinged to one another with their internal vertical edge 3 (vertical joint 3a) and form a pair of wings 1a; the outer vertical edge 3 is articulated on a support bar 6, 8 (vertical joint 3b). The vertical support strips 4 are provided at their upper end with support elements 5, for example pivotably mounted pairs of rollers, and horizontally displaceable along an upper guide rail 1. When the folding door is closed, the door leaves 2 lie in one plane, the so-called closing plane, which runs through the support strips 4, 6, 8. An outer support bar 6 is fixed with a wall extension 26 or the like. connectable, the other outer support strip 8 represents the free closing end of the folding door. The plate-shaped wings 2 are all articulated to one another at their vertical edges so that when the folding door is opened, the interconnected vertical edges are all exposed to the outside in the same direction perpendicular to the closing plane.

As shown in FIG. 1 and in particular in FIG. 2, a pull cable 22 is arranged horizontally over the entire width of the folding door a predetermined distance below the upper edge of the folding door. The pull cable 22 contains a tension spring 24 and is fastened to the outer support strips 6, 8 on fastening elements 16 at a predetermined distance from the closing plane. The pull rope 22 is also guided on the inner support strips 4, which are arranged between two plate-shaped wings 2, a predetermined distance from the closing plane in guide elements or cable guides 18, which are fastened, for example, to the support strips 4. Furthermore, the pull rope 22 is guided on guide elements 20, which sit on the wings 2 approximately in the vicinity of the middle vertical edges 3 of the wing pairs 1a which are hinged to one another.

The fastening elements 16 and cable guides 18 attached to the support strips 4, 6, 8 are all at the same distance from the outer surface 2a of the folding door in order to exert an equally large force on the wings 2 present between two support strips 4, 6, 8. Due to the cable guides 20, the pull cable 22 is brought relatively closely to the plate-shaped wings 2. The distance of the pull cable 22 from the wings 2 is the smallest in the area of the cable guides 20 and increases steadily in the direction of the support strips 4 and 6, 8, respectively. The pull rope 22 is attached to the inner surface 2b of the folding door or folding wall.

The length of the pull cable 22 is dimensioned such that the pull cable 22 tightens at the end of a closing process when the folding door is pulled into the closing plane and e.g. is releasably fixed to the free end by means of a locking element which can be actuated by a pawl 30. When the pull rope is tensioned by the action of the tension spring 24, 20 forces are exerted on the individual door leaves 2 on the cable guides, which have a component perpendicular to the surface of the leaves 2 and pull the leaves 2 into the closing plane and keep them flat in the closing plane.

When the folding door is opened, cf. FIG. 3, the tension spring 24 and tension cable 22 relax, since the cable guides 20 are gradually moved towards one another, so that the pull rope 22 then has a certain excess length and is loosely held in the rope guides 18, 20. The pull rope and the fastening elements and rope guides attached to the pull rope do not hinder the closing or opening process of the folding door.

FIG. 4 shows a cross section corresponding to FIG. 2 through a further embodiment of the invention. In each case two door leaves 2 are articulated to one another along adjacent vertical edges 3 to form wing pairs. The free vertical edges of the wing pairs 1a are articulated to one another and form vertical joints 3a between adjacent wing pairs 1a. Above the joints 3a between the adjacent pairs of wings 1a are supporting members 5, e.g. Castors, attached to the folding door or folding wall. The vertical joints 3b each between the door wings of a pair of wings 1a lie on the inner surface 2b of the folding door, which e.g. is assigned to the interior of a cupboard or a wall recess. The vertical joints 3a between adjacent wing pairs 1a lie on the outer surface 2a of the folding door. While vertical support strips are inserted between the wing pairs 1a of the door according to FIGS. 1 to 3, adjacent wing pairs 1a in FIG. 4 are articulated directly to one another, and the support members 5 sit over these connection points on a suitable construction (not shown).

On the inner surface 2b of the folding door, a pull rope 22 is arranged horizontally between the ends of the folding door at a predetermined distance below the upper edge. The pull rope 22 contains a tension spring 24 and is tensioned when the folding door is closed. The pull cable 22 is fastened to fastening elements 16 at the ends of the folding door and is guided horizontally movably in the region of the support members 5, for example on a vertical edge 3 of the wing pairs 1a, at a relatively large distance from the folding door. Between the support members, on both sides of the vertical joints 3b, 2 further guide elements 20 are fastened to the door leaves and guide the traction cable 22 at a relatively short distance from the door leaves.

FIG. 5 shows a further embodiment of the invention in a representation corresponding to FIG. 2 or 4. Wing pairs 1a are articulated with their vertical edges 3 without support strips and form the vertical joints 3a there. The two door wings 2 of the wing pairs 1a are articulated on adjacent vertical edges 3 and form the vertical joints 3b there. The support members 5, which are preferably designed as rollers, are fastened to the upper edge of a door wing 2 of the wing pairs 1 a - approximately in the middle. On the upper end face of the folding door - and possibly also on the lower end face - guide elements are arranged at a predetermined distance from the outer surface 2a and the inner surface 2b of the folding door. The guide elements 20 sit on both sides of the vertical joints 3b of the wing pairs and are at a relatively small distance from the outer surface 2a. The guide elements 18 are arranged on both sides of the vertical joints 3a and are at a relatively large distance from the outer surface 2a of the folding door, but at a relatively small distance from the inner surface 2b. Through the guide elements 18, 20, a traction cable 22 is passed, which with is provided with a tension spring and is dimensioned so long that the traction cable tensions when the door is closed and thereby generates the transverse forces which are required to press the pairs of wings 1a flat into the closing plane and to hold them there. The pull rope 22 is attached to the two ends of the folding door.

Claims (9)

1. folding door or folding wall made of plate-shaped door leaves, which are articulated along adjacent vertical edges to pairs of wings, which are hinged along vertical edges to each other or to vertical support strips, with support members between the wing pairs and at the ends of the folding door, which engage in at least one upper guide rail and are horizontally displaceable in the closing plane, the folding door having an outer and an inner surface, and the pairs of wings unfold outwards from the closing plane essentially transversely to the closing plane, characterized in that at least one traction cable (22) with a tension spring (24) is stretched horizontally between both ends (6, 8, 16) of the folding door and in guide elements (18 , 20) is guided offset inwards against the outer surface of the folding door or folding wall, and occupies a relatively large distance in the region of the supporting members (5), and a relatively small distance between the supporting members (5) from the outer surface of the folding door or folding wall. 2. Folding door or folding wall according to claim 1, each with a vertical support bar between adjacent pairs of wings and at the two ends of the folding door, the support members being arranged on the support bars, characterized in that the traction cable (22) at a relatively large distance from the closing plane attached to the two outer support strips (6, 8) by means of fastening elements (16), and horizontally in the guide elements (18, 20) on the support strips (4) lying between the wing pairs and on the door leaves (2) and the folding door in keeps the closed state plan. 3. folding door or folding wall according to claim 2, characterized in that the fastening elements (16) and the guide elements (18) on the support strips (4, 6, 8) all have the same projection from the closing plane. 4. Folding door or folding wall according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the guide elements (20) are attached to the plate-shaped elements (2) in the region of the articulated vertical edges and the traction cable (22) at a predetermined distance from the surface of the plate-shaped elements. (2) lead, which is smaller than the distance that the pull cable (22) on the fastening elements (16) and the guide elements (18) of the support strips (4, 6, 8) from the closing plane. 5. folding door or folding wall according to claim 1, characterized in that the pull cable (22) is guided on the upper and / or lower end edge of the folding door or folding wall, 6. folding door or folding wall according to claim 1, characterized in that the door leaf (2) consist of a hollow profile, and that the pull rope (22) in the guide elements (18, 20) is guided within the cavities of the door leaf (2). 7. folding door or folding wall made of plate-shaped door leaves, which are articulated along adjacent vertical edges to pairs of wings, which are hinged together along vertical edges, with at least one support member on each wing pair, which engage in at least one upper guide rail and are horizontally displaceable in the closing plane, whereby the folding door has an outer and an inner surface, and the wing pairs
protrude outwards and inwards essentially at right angles to the closing plane, characterized in that at least one traction cable (22) with a tension spring (24) extends horizontally between the two Ends (6, 8, 16) of the folding door is tensioned and guided in guide elements (18, 20) and in the area of the central vertical joint (3b) of the wing pairs at a relatively small distance from the outer surface, in the area of the vertical joints (3a ) is guided at a relatively large distance from the outer surface of the folding door or folding wall. 8. Folding door or folding wall according to claim 7, characterized in that the pull cable (22) is guided on the upper and / or lower end edge of the folding door or folding wall. 9. folding door or folding wall according to claim 7, characterized in that the door leaf (2) consist of a hollow profile, and that the pull cable (22) in the guide elements (18, 20) is guided within the cavities of the door leaf (2).

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