EP0085861A1 - Roller shutter - Google Patents

Abstract

1. A roller shutter with - a horizontal winding roller (1) rotatably mounted in a roller shutter casing, - a first flexible roller shutter shield (3) which at its upper end is attached to the winding roller, can be wound thereon and, when unwound, rests with its lower end, which is preferably provided with an end strip (13), on an abutment (10) and forms a generally flat vertical first surface for closing a door or window aperture or the like, - a respective roller shutter track (9) on either side of said aperture for guiding the roller shutter shield, - a second roller shutter shield (5) which at its upper end is likewise connected with a winding roller, can be wound thereon, is preferably guided on either side in roller shutter tracks and, when unwound, forms a second surface, parallel to and arranged spaced from the first, for again closing the aperture, - and with a device for rotating the winding roller (1), characterised in that the second roller shutter shield (5), which in the unwound condition with its lower end preferably provided with an end strip (14) rests on an abutment (10), is secured to the same winding roller (1) as the first roller shutter shield via a connecting member (7) which is substantially inextensible when winding but which deflects flexibly when not under tensile loads and the length of which in winding-up direction is of such dimensions that the lower ends (13, 14) of the two roller shutter shields (3, 5) are situated at the same level when these latter are wound up (Fig. 2).

Description

The invention relates to a roller shutter with the features of the preamble of claim 1.

Exterior windows and doors are known to form the zones in which the greatest heat losses occur when air conditioning buildings. It is also known that such heat losses can be reduced by means of a roller shutter curtain which is attached - preferably on the outside of the window and door openings - in such a way that it can cover the entire corresponding opening. As a rule, the roller shutter armor is in the side of the roller shutter. seemed guided and sits after complete lowering with its lower edge on the window sill or door sill, so that the individual, articulated interconnected profile bars, which form the roller shutter curtain, slide over each other in such a way that a certain seal between the individual bars is made. On top of the window or door opening is an _R to olladenkasten brought, in which a horizontally extending, drivable for rotation winding roller is mounted.

In order to improve the heat-insulating effect, it has already been proposed (DE-PS 1 659 775) to arrange two roller shutter curtains, each with the same pitch (same profile height of the individual bars that form the shell), in an opening to be blocked off. Such a "double roller shutter" creates a considerably more effective draft and heat barrier.

Since each of the two roller shutter curtains needs a winding roller, a very deep roller shutter box results, which severely limits the possible uses of the known double roller shutter. In particular, it is not possible to convert existing, simple roller shutters, since the space which is present in the roller shutter boxes already present is generally not sufficient to accommodate two winding rollers.

If one does not arrange the two winding rollers at the same height, but one above the other, the roller shutter box becomes disadvantageously high.

Finally, it is known (DE-OS 27 49 037) to arrange two roller blinds together on a winding roller for the purpose of better air conditioning. That down The blind and the lowered roller shutter have a space between them that can be used for air conditioning and extend parallel to each other practically to the bottom of the respective window or door opening.

However, this design cannot be used with roller shutters, since their roller shutter curtains have a considerable thickness. For this reason, when the two roller shutter curtains are pulled up, a winding radius would be effective for the additional, second roller shutter curtain that is larger by the thickness of the first roller shutter curtain than the winding radius effective for this first roller shutter curtain. The second roller shutter curtain then moves faster with its lower edge when winding up than the first roller shutter curtain. If you were to use such a double roller shutter instead of a previous, simple roller shutter in an existing roller shutter box, which would basically be possible with the appropriate dimensioning of the respective roller shutter thickness, and if the lower edges of both roller shutter curtains were on the same or only slightly different height, then these lower edges are at a significantly different height after pulling up the double roller shutter. Since the complete entry of the lower edge of the roller shutter curtain into the roller shutter box must be avoided in order to ensure the safe function, the clear would also be in this case Height of the window or door opening is significantly reduced by the lower edge of the first roller shutter curtain projecting into this opening.

Based on this problem, the invention creates a roller shutter in which two roller shutter curtains arranged parallel to one another, each guided in guide rails, assume the same height with their respective lower edge both in the upper and in the lower position. This is achieved according to the invention by a particularly simple and, in particular, adjustable and readjustable device, so that the invention creates a particularly good thermal insulation of window or door openings with simple means, without the clear height of this opening being appreciably cut, or particularly large installation depth or height is required for the roller shutter box.

The invention achieves this by means of the characterizing features of claim 1. Here two roller armatures are wound one on top of the other on a single winding roller. The top of the first roller shutter curtain, which forms the first winding layer when it is wound up, is fastened to the winding roller with its upper edge. The second, additional roller shutter curtain, which forms a second layer between the layers of the first roller shutter curtain during winding, is with its upper edge on the lower Side of a flexible connector attached, which is in turn attached to the take-up roller with its top. This connecting link is capable of transmitting tensile forces essentially without elongation, but, on the other hand, immediately deviates due to its flexibility in the action of compressive forces or pushing forces, forming a loose loop. The length of this connecting member is dimensioned such that when the double roller shutter is pulled up, the lower edges or the end strips of the two roller shutter curtains attached there are at the same height at the upper end of their path of movement. If the double roller shutter is now lowered, then, as already described above, the second roller shutter armor moves faster than the first roller shutter armor and thus arrives first with its lower edge at the lower end of its path of movement. As the take-up roller rotates further, this second roller shutter curtain remains at rest, while the first roller shutter curtain moves further down to its end position. During this last movement section, the lower end of the connecting member is already at a standstill, while the upper end attached to the winding roller continues to move in the circumferential direction thereof. As a result, the connecting member dodges without a force transmission between the second roller shutter curtain and the take-up roller. This means that the take-up roller can continue to rotate unhindered until the first roller shutter curtain has reached its end position.

If the double roller shutter according to the invention is rewound, then the sequence of movements described above takes place in reverse order: first, the first roller shutter armature moves upwards, while the connecting element pulls taut. Then both roller shutter curtains move at different speeds, whereby the later rolling shutter curtain that has just started has caught up with the lower edge of the first up to the upper end of the path of movement of the two curtain curtains.

By changing the length of the connecting link accordingly, each mutual relative position of the two lower edges of the roller shutter curtain can be adjusted. It is thus possible that the outer roller shutter curtain with its lower edge overlaps the inner one downwards in order to achieve better thermal insulation.

The length of the connecting link can be determined constructively from the outset. According to one embodiment of the invention, however, it is advantageous that the length is adjustable in order to permit installation and manufacture with high tolerances and yet to be able to adjust the double roller shutters according to the invention after installation in such a way that the cleanly aligned closure of the two lower edges of the individual Roller shutter curtain is possible in its upper end position.

The use of the principle according to the invention also leaves the Arrangement of more than two roller shutter curtains in a row.

It is basically possible to use e.g. use a highly flexible roller shutter curtain. However, in order to keep the diameter of the winding roller as small as possible when the roller shutter curtains are wound up, the thickness of the connecting link should be as small as possible, so that, according to a further embodiment of the invention, the connecting link consists of at least two belts which are located on the upper edge of the second roller shutter curtain or are attached to the take-up roller.

In the sense of the greatest possible standardization of the individual parts, it would be advantageous and it is possible to provide the two roller shutter curtains with the same division, that is, to produce them from profile bars with the same profile in each case. According to one embodiment of the invention, however, it is advantageous that the first roller shutter curtain has a smaller pitch than the second, in particular the second roller shutter curtain having a normal pitch, while the pitch of the first roller shutter curtain is chosen to be smaller than usual. Such a small roller shutter division results in a smaller, possible winding radius for the first roller shutter curtain forming the first layer during winding, so that this inventive feature reduces the diameter of the winding roller with wound roller shutter curtains even further. If one additionally chooses roller shutter armor with a correspondingly suitable thickness, then it is possible to replace already existing single roller shutters by the double roller shutter according to the invention simply by replacing the winding roller, roller shutter armor and its lateral guidance by corresponding elements according to the invention.

When installing the roller shutter on the outside, it should be noted that the weatherproof roller shutter armor must withstand the wind pressure that occurs, while the thickness of the inner roller shutter armor can be largely reduced. In order to ensure the interchangeability mentioned above, it is also possible to form the outer roller shutter curtain, for example from stiff metal profiles, while the inner roller shutter curtain can be formed from heat-insulating plastic according to a further embodiment of the invention.

The object of the invention is explained in more detail with reference to the attached schematic drawing, in which the double roller shutter according to the invention is shown in cross-section, the two roller shutter armatures being in their lower and Fig. 2 in their upper end position.

The double roller shutter shown has a winding roller 1 which can be rotated in the direction of the arrow (FIG. 1) for winding up a first roller shutter armor 3 and a second roller shutter armor 5 and in the direction opposite to the arrow for unwinding the wound roller shutter armor 3, 5 (FIG. 2).

The first roller shutter curtain is fixed at point 2 on the circumference of the winding roller 1. The second roller shutter curtain 5 is attached with its upper end 6 to two belts 7, which are attached with their other end at point 8 on the circumference of the winding roller 1. In this case, the belts 7 overlap the first roller shutter curtain 3 from the outside.

Between an area near the winding roller 1 and an underlying window sill 10, two guide rails 9 are arranged vertically, one on each side of the two roller shutter curtains 3, 5. The guide rail 9 has two longitudinally extending guide grooves of different widths, such as will be explained in more detail below. At the top of the guide rail 9, an inlet area 11 is provided which permits the wear-free and low-noise entry of the two roller shutter curtains 3, 5.

An end strip 13 is arranged on the underside of the first roller shutter curtain. At the bottom of the second Roller shutter curtain 5, an end strip 14 is arranged.

Each of the two roller shutter curtains 3, 5 is composed of individual links 4 (tanks 3) and 12 (tanks 5), each of which is formed from a plastic hollow profile rod, the upper and lower sides of which are articulated into the next higher or lower link 4, 12 intervene. As can be seen from the drawing, the link has an average thickness d, a length in the roller shutter running direction 1 and an associated guide groove width w, while the links 13 of the second roller shutter armor have an average thickness D, a height L and an associated slot width W. All mentioned values of the links 12 are considerably larger than those of the links 4. Otherwise, the cross sections of the two links 4, 12 are essentially similar.

When installing the double roller shutter shown, the members 12 and the shutter armor 5 form the outside or weather side, so that they have to have certain minimum dimensions to withstand the wind pressure, efforts to penetrate and the like. The inner, first roller shutter curtain 3, on the other hand, takes on the task of additional thermal insulation, is therefore arranged at a distance from the second roller shutter curtain 5 and consists of relatively slender links in order to be wound up to take up as little space as possible on the winding roller 1.

In the operating position shown in FIG. 1, the double roller shutter is closed, with both end strips 13, 14 resting on the window sill 10. The take-up roller 1 assumes a position into which it was brought under the force of gravity of the inner, first roller shutter armor 3.

The outer, second roller shutter curtain 5 has already reached the window sill 10 with its lower end strip 14; at this point, the belts 7, starting from the upper end 6 of the second armor 5, were placed tightly around the winding roller 1, the fastening point 8 for the belts 7 being offset in the direction of the arrow with respect to the illustration in FIG. 1. At this time, the end bar 13 of the first tank 3 has not yet reached the window sill 10, and thus continues to drive the roller 1 against the direction of the arrow for rotation. This rotation comes to a standstill when the first tank 3 has come to a standstill by sitting on its bar 13. In the meantime, the fastening point 8 for the belts 7 has shifted further in the direction of rotation (counter to the direction of the arrow), so that the belts 7 are spread apart in an arc. It is advantageous here that the straps 7 are unable to carry pressure or drawer loads to transmit, but are sufficiently stiff to bulge when such a load occurs. If the straps were 7 slack, they could hang down and get tangled under certain circumstances.

If the take-up roller 1 is rotated in the direction of the arrow in the state shown in FIG. 1, then the first shell 3 is immediately pulled upwards, while the second shell 5 remains in its position, until the belts 7 are tight around the Winding roller 1 or the first winding layer, which is already located there and consists of the first shell 3, is pulled around. Only then does the second tank 5 move. Since there is always a larger winding radius for this second tank 5 than for a corresponding section of the first tank 3, this second tank 5 will move upward at a higher speed than the first tank 3, whereby that Advance dimension of the first armor 3 or the length of the belts 7 is dimensioned such that the position shown in FIG. 2 is just reached at the upper end of the range of motion of the two armor 3, 5.

Since the second roller shutter curtain 5 cannot be made much lighter than a conventional roller shutter curtain for a single roller shutter for reasons of stability, there is a higher torque for rotating the winding roller 1 against the direction of the arrow than for the comparable one Single roller shutters, since the weight of the first roller shutter curtain 3 also contributes to this torque. However, because the two roller shutter curtains 3, 5 do not touch the lower stop 10 at the same time, a relatively gentle run-out takes place at the end of the range of motion, which prevents the winding roller 1, which is always slightly braked anyway, from over rotating and thereby leads to faults.

The winding roller 1 shown in FIG. 2, on which the two roller shutter curtains 3, 5 are wound, has a radius R which is not significantly larger than the corresponding radius of a winding roller for a single roller curtain because of the relatively small dimensions of the first roller shutter curtain 3 Roller shutters, since the winding roller 1 shown has a winding body radius r which is smaller by about the thickness d for the members 4 of the first roller shutter armor 3 than the permissible minimum radius for winding the second roller shutter armor 5, the members 12 of which have the dimension usually used .

As can also be seen from Fig. 1, the links 4 of the first shell 3 have a concave curvature with a smaller radius on their inside facing the winding roller 1 than the links 12 of the second shell 5, in order to ensure the trouble-free function even when the named, unusually small bobbin radius r is used. Here, the radius of curvature of the links 4 corresponds essentially to the radius r mentioned.

The links 4 also have a larger radius on their outside facing the second shell 5, which essentially corresponds to the radius of curvature of the concave inside of the links 12.

Between the two roller shutter curtains 3 and 5, when these are in the position of FIG. 1, an insulating space largely sealed towards the outside and inside is created which, together with the insulating cavities of the links 4, 12, provides particularly good thermal insulation across the lowered roller shutter guaranteed.

End of description.

Claims (6)

1. Roller shutters with - a take-up roller which is rotatably mounted horizontally in a roller shutter box, - A flexible roller shutter curtain, which is attached with the upper end to the take-up roller, can be wound onto it and unwinds with its lower edge, which is preferably provided with a sealing strip, on a stop and has a substantially flat, vertical first surface for closing forms a door or window opening or the like, one roller shutter running rail on both sides of the opening mentioned for guiding the roller shutter curtain, - A second roller shutter curtain, which is also connected at its upper end to a take-up roller, can be wound thereon, is preferably guided on both sides in roller shutter guide rails, and unrolled forms a second surface that is parallel to and spaced from the first for closing the opening again , - And with a device for rotating the rollers, characterized in that the second roller shutter curtain (5), which also sits on a stop (10) in the unwound state with its lower edge, which is preferably provided with an end strip (14), on the same winding roller ( 1) How the first roller shutter curtain is fastened via a connecting element (7) which is essentially inextensible in the winding direction, but flexible in the event of shear stress, the length of which in the winding direction is dimensioned such that the lower edges (13, 14) of the two roller shutter curtains (3, 5) when they are wound up (Fig. 2), are at the same height. 2. Roller shutter according to claim 1, characterized in that the connecting member (7) is adjustable in length. 3. Roller shutter according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the connecting member consists of at least two belts (7). 4. Roller shutter according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the second roller shutter curtain (5) has a greater division (L) than the first (3). 5. Roller shutter according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the second roller shutter armor (5) is arranged on the weather side of the door or window opening and has thicker members (12) for greater strength than the other. 6. Roller shutter according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that at least one of the roller shutter curtain (3,5) is made of heat-insulating plastic.

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