EP0220096B1 - Jamb for an industrial door - Google Patents

Abstract

A vertically-opening door installation which is exposed to cold on one side includes a vertically-opening flexible curtain (6) and two risers to guide the respective side edge of the curtain. Each riser includes a lining (12) made of a material which is a poor conductor of heat and which lines the inside of the channel section bar, and at least one longitudinally-extending cavity (14) providing a cushion of air between the outside surface of the channel section bar and the inside surface of its lining. The inside surface of lining (12) is smooth. At least one of the longitudinally-extending cavities (14) may include electrical heater resistance (15) or similar heating devices. The riser is provided to prevent frost and ice from forming around the side edges of the curtain of a goods-handling door which is exposed to the cold.

Description

The present invention relates to a lateral upright for a flexible curtain handling door.

It is known to produce, for industrial premises and for warehouses in particular, handling doors with vertical opening, intended to be opened and closed a large number of times per day. As in most cases we are concerned with limiting the heat exchange between the interior and the exterior, rapid actuation systems are provided. In practice, such systems can only be envisaged with doors with a light curtain, that is to say that do not require, for their actuation, excessive forces. This is why current handling doors, whether they are of the accordion type, or of the type for winding around a tree, -the tree can be placed at the top of the curtain or at its base-, comprise a flexible curtain possibly stiffened at regular intervals by rebar. In what follows, the invention will be described in relation to an accordion door, but it is understood that it can be applied to all types of handling doors with vertical deployment.

• - deux montants métalliques profilés en U, reliés à leur extrémité supérieure par une poutre supportant un dispositif d'actionnement comprenant essentiellement un moteur et un arbre d'enroulement pour sangles de levage,
• - un rideau souple rigidifié à intervalles réguliers par des barres d'armature horizontales, et
• - des sangles de levage fixées à une extrémité à la barre d'armature inférieure du rideau souple et, à l'autre extrémité, à l'arbre d'enroulement qui est en- trainé en rotation par le moteur.

Les sangles de levage passent de préférence dans des guides disposés sur certaines des barres d'armature. Certaines des barres d'armature, dont la barre inférieure, comportent un galet à chacune de leurs extrémités servant au guidage des bords latéraux du rideau dans les montants profilés en U et protégeant lesdits bords de l'usure qui résulterait de leur contact direct avec lesdits montants.According to a known embodiment, an accordion door comprises:

• - two U-shaped metal uprights, connected at their upper end by a beam supporting an actuating device essentially comprising a motor and a winding shaft for lifting straps,
• - a flexible curtain stiffened at regular intervals by horizontal reinforcing bars, and
• - lifting straps fixed at one end to the lower reinforcement bar of the flexible curtain and, at the other end, to the winding shaft which is rotated by the motor.

The lifting straps preferably pass through guides arranged on some of the rebar. Some of the reinforcing bars, including the lower bar, have a roller at each of their ends serving to guide the lateral edges of the curtain in the U-shaped uprights and protecting said edges from wear which would result from their direct contact with said amounts.

To solve the problem posed by the sealing of accordion doors, in particular at the lateral edges of the flexible curtain, which are guided in the uprights, several solutions have been considered so far.

One of these solutions, described in the French patent application in the name of NERGECO, number 85/02826 (EP-A 0 194 194), consists in providing the accordion door with a mobile sealing member subject to the edges of the flexible curtain. According to this patent application, the flexible curtain comprises on each of its lateral edges a strip made of a flexible material applying against the bottom of the U-shaped lateral uprights, said strips having a width greater than the length of the rollers. They can be formed either by a rubber ribbon possibly having notches in the width direction, or by the stacking and the assembly of at least two of these notched ribbons, the notches being able to be offset with respect to the others, either by a brush with long and flexible bristles, or by the lateral edges of the curtain themselves which have been extended for this purpose, or finally by any other flexible material, in any form whatsoever, capable of ensuring the same functions.

The sealing strips described in the patent application mentioned above are very effective but are vulnerable in two respects. On the one hand, to slide in contact with the U-shaped uprights, which are metallic and generally have a certain roughness, they wear out fairly quickly. On the other hand, in doors exposed to a fairly intense cold on one of their faces, they are frequently glued to the metal uprights by frost. In fact, when an accordion door fitted with lateral sealing strips, such as those described above, is used to separate two spaces whose respective ambient temperatures are above and below 0 _° C, as for example in in the case of a cold store opening to the outside, or a cold store opening to a room where the ambient temperature is above 0 ° C, we see that ice forms in its side uprights and between its strips sealing and said lateral uprights. This glass blocks the curtain rods and the rollers that are attached to it and sticks the sealing strips to the uprights, which prevents the curtain from being actuated. In all cases, the accordion door cannot open or close. Indeed, water vapor migrations take place between the two spaces, in particular from that where the ambient temperature is higher than 0 ° C towards that where it is lower there, the water vapor condenses on the uprights and the sealing strips and turns into ice on their parts which are at a negative temperature.

The object of the present invention is to overcome these drawbacks.

US Pat. No. 4,327,796 discloses a set of shutters housing two metal uprights separated by a plastic guide for a curtain. The purpose of this arrangement is to avoid the transfer of heat from one upright to another, but not to avoid the formation of frost on one side of the curtain.

The subject of the present invention is a lateral upright for a handling door comprising a flexible curtain with vertical deployment, intended for guiding the lateral edges of said curtain and for supporting an end of a transverse beam, this upright comprising a metal profile in the form of U having two parallel planes, a lining made of a material which is poorly conductive of heat and at least one longitudinal cavity forming an air mattress between the interior surface of said profile and the exterior surface of said lining, characterized in that the lining covers the interior of said profile and in that it comprises longitudinal cavities arranged inside said lining delimiting columns of air capable of being heated.

It is known from patent US-A 2 858 408 to have heating means in the door seals of refrigerators to avoid blocking the doors of the window.

The present invention makes use of this idea in one of its modes of application.

According to a characteristic of the present invention, a lateral upright is provided with heating means which make it possible to maintain its parts which are in contact with one of the edge of the curtain and the sealing strip adjoining it at a temperature above the freezing temperature. some water. These heating means can be constituted by electrical resistors placed inside the lateral guide, or incorporated in the lateral guide. In the case of a cold store, the air contained in the cavities of the upright can, for example, be heated by the cold production devices of this store, such as compressors or heat exchanger batteries.

• la Figure 1 représente une vue en perspective schématique, comportant un arraché, d'une porte accordéon selon l'art antérieur dont le rideau comporte des bandes d'étanchéité latérales; et
  • - un rideau souple 6 rigidifié à intervalles réguliers par des barres d'armature 7,
  • - des sangles de levage 5 fixées à une de leurs extrémités à la barre d'armature inférieure du rideau souple et, à l'autre extrémité, à l'arbre d'enroulement 4,
  • - des guides 8 pour les sangles de levage 5 fixés sur certaines des barres d'armature 7,
  • - des galets 9 fixés aux extrémités des barres d'armature 7.

Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will appear better on reading the following description given in relation to the appended drawings in which:

• Figure 1 shows a schematic perspective view, comprising a cutaway, of an accordion door according to the prior art whose curtain has lateral sealing strips; and
  • a flexible curtain 6 stiffened at regular intervals by reinforcing bars 7,
  • - lifting straps 5 fixed at one of their ends to the lower reinforcement bar of the flexible curtain and, at the other end, to the winding shaft 4,
  • guides 8 for the lifting straps 5 fixed on some of the rebar 7,
  • - rollers 9 fixed to the ends of the reinforcing bars 7.

The accordion door shown in Figure 1 further comprises a sealing member which consists of two sealing strips 10 fixed respectively on each of the side edges of the flexible curtain. These sealing strips each consist of a brush with flexible bristles, long enough to come into contact with the bottom of the lateral uprights 1. The brushes 10 therefore have a width greater than the length of the rollers 9.

Figures 2 to 6 show various embodiments of an amount 1 provided to equip an accordion door like that which has just been described above (and more broadly any type of handling doors).

The upright 1 shown in Figure 2 is half embedded in a wall. It consists of a metal U-shaped profile 11 lined internally with a lining 12 made of a thermal insulation material. The parallel planes 13, 13 ′ of the profile 11 comprise a double wall delimiting a cavity 14 extending over the entire height of said profile. These cavities 14 each form an air mattress. It is planned to heat at least that of the two air mattresses which is enclosed in the upright 13 or 13 'located on the side of the door exposed to the cold. In this way, the thermal bridge effect generated between planes 13, 13 'exposed to very different temperatures is neutralized, at least partially. The considered cavity can be heated by any suitable means, in particular by heating resistors 15 or by a circulation of hot air. In the case of a door located at the entrance to a refrigerated room, the heat generated by the compressors of the refrigeration units can be used for this purpose. The cavities 14 can also be advantageously used for the passage and protection of electric cables 16 used in particular for supplying the motor driving the winding shaft of the straps. In a variant (not shown) of this type of upright, only one of the parallel planes 13, 13 'of the U-shaped section 11 has a double wall. When the door is mounted, it is this double-walled plane, therefore capable of receiving heating means 15, which is arranged on the side of the door exposed to the cold.

The lining 12 lining the profile 11 has, thermally, an effect complementary to that of the heated air mattress enclosed in at least one of the uprights 13, 13 '. Thanks to it, the effects of the thermal bridge created in the amounts exposed to different temperatures is completely neutralized. Advantageously, this lining is made of polyurethane foam to which a surface treatment has imparted a rigid or semi-rigid envelope. Depending on the material in which it is made, it has a thickness of between about half a centimeter and about four centimeters. It is secured to the U-shaped profile 11 by any suitable means, in particular by gluing.

The lining 12 also has the function of limiting the wear of the curtain 6 at its lateral edges as well as the wear of the sealing strips 10 (constituted in FIG. 2 of a brush with long and flexible bristles) which there are subject. To this end, the inner wall of the lining 12 is treated so as to be perfectly smooth. In this way, one can possibly consider not lining the ends of the reinforcing bars 7 with rollers 9, said rollers having precisely the function of preventing friction of the curtain at its lateral edges against the parallel planes, generally rough , amounts 1.

FIG. 3 represents a second embodiment of an upright 1 according to the invention. This amount differs from the previous in that the parallel planes 13, 13 'of its metal profile 11 do not have a double wall. Chutes 17, metallic, welded inside said planes, serve to delimit cavities 14 inside of which at least one plans to optionally place heating means 15 and / or to pass cables 16 , as described above with reference to FIG. 2. The lining 12 is identical to that which is shown in FIG. 2, except that it has a longitudinal groove 18 in each of its parallel planes, for the housing chutes 17. It will be noted that the sealing member 10 shown here is constituted by the extension of the lateral edge of the curtain itself me. In a variant (not shown) of this type of upright, only one of the parallel planes 13, 13 ′ of the U-shaped profile 11 comprises a chute 17. When the door is mounted, it is this plane provided with a chute 17, therefore capable of receiving heating means 15, which is arranged on the side of the door exposed to the cold.

Figure 4 (a andQ) shows two variants of a third embodiment of an amount 1 according to the invention. The upright 1 comprises a simple metal U-shaped section 11, covered internally with a lining 12. The lining 12 is made of a material which is a poor conductor of rigid or semi-rigid heat. It consists of a gutter 19, of U-shaped cross section, on the outer surface of which are fixed vertical spacers 20 intended to keep the gutter 19 away from the U-shaped profile 11 and to define a series of cavities 21 enclosing as many columns of air. The gutter 19 and the adjoining spacers 20 are advantageously obtained by molding or by extrusion of a plastic material such as PVC. The thickness of these parts varies between three and ten millimeters depending on the nature of the material used and the height of the upright 1. Advantageously, the spacers 20 'and 20 "closing the cavities 21 located at the edges of the profile 11 have two ribs 22 parallel intended to pinch said edges. The lining 12 can be made in a single piece (FIG. 4a) or several pieces (four in FIG. 4b) having a trapezoidal cross section. Advantageously pieces 12 a, 12 b, 12 c, 12 d are held relative to each other by a quick fastening system.

As in the embodiments described above, at least one of the cavities 21 may include heating means 15 and be used for the passage of cables 16.

The uprights 1 shown in Figures 5 and 6, have a simple metal U-shaped profile 11 covered with an inner lining 12. This lining 12 is made of a material which is poor conductor of heat, comprising inner longitudinal cavities 23 (Figure 5 ) or longitudinal grooves 24 on its outer surface delimiting longitudinal cavities 25. The cavities 23 and 25 trap air mattresses capable of being heated by electric resistors 15 or by a circulation of hot air. The cavities 23, 25 can also be used for the passage of electric cables 16. Advantageously, the linings 12 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 are made of polyurethane foam to which a surface treatment has constituted a rigid or semi-rigid envelope. These linings 12 can also be made of polyurethane foam covered with a rigid or semi-rigid plastic envelope, such as PVC. They are one to four centimeters thick. These fittings, like that shown in Figure 4, can be made in one piece (Figure 5 a and 6 a) or several pieces 12 a, 12 b, 12 c, 12 d (Figures 5 b, 6 b ) having a trapezoidal cross section.

The advantage of the fittings 12 shown in Figures 4 to 6 is that they can be mounted on demand on uprights consisting of a simple metal U-shaped section, where they would not have been originally provided. These linings naturally have all the advantages which have been described above with regard to the amounts shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

• - la neutralisation des ponts thermiques naissant de la différence de température existant entre les deux plans parallèles des profilés en U métalliques exposés à des températures très différentes. Les conditions favorisant la formation de givre et de glace dans les montants des portes ne sont plus remplies;
• - la réduction substantielle des frottements par création de surfaces lisses limitant fortement l'usure des bords du rideau et des bandes d'étanchéité y attenantes;
• - le gain réalisé sur le coût de revient des portes, dû à la suppression des galets devenus inutiles.

The amounts according to the invention therefore have, compared to the embodiments of the prior art, many advantages among which the most important are:

• - the neutralization of thermal bridges arising from the temperature difference existing between the two parallel planes of metal U-shaped profiles exposed to very different temperatures. The conditions favoring the formation of frost and ice in the door jambs are no longer met;
• - a substantial reduction in friction by creating smooth surfaces greatly limiting wear on the edges of the curtain and the adjacent sealing strips;
• - the gain made on the cost price of the doors, due to the elimination of the rollers which have become useless.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments which have just been described; on the contrary, it is subject to modifications and variants which will appear to those skilled in the art.

Claims (7)

1. Vertical riser (1) for a goods-handling door, including a flexible curtain (6) moving vertically, for guiding the side edges of said curtain and for supporting one end of a transverse upper cross-beam (2), said riser comprising a U-shaped section metal bar (11) having two parallel plans (13, 13'), a lining made of a material which is a poor conductor of heat and at least one longitudinally extending cavity (14, 21, 23, 25) forming a cushion of air between the inner face of said bar (11) and the outer face of said lining, wherein said lining (12) covering inwardly said bar (11) and comprising longitudinally extending cavities (21, 23, 25) disposed inside said lining, delimit- ting air columns which may be heated.

2. Vertical riser according to claim 1, wherein heater means (15) and/or cables (16) are placed in said longitudinally cavities.

3. Vertical riser according to one of claims 1 or 2, wherein said longitudinally extending cavities are in form of alveoles (23) or longitudinally extending grooves (25), or are formed in a manner that said lining (12) comprises a U-shape transversal cross- section gutter (19) and longitudinally extending spacers (20) for maintaining said gutter at a distance from said bar (11).

4. Vertical riser according to any preceding claims wherein said lining (12) is made of a polyurethane foam hardened in surface.

5. Vertical riser according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein lining (12) is made of a polyurethane foam, covered with an envelope in a rigid plastic material.

6. Vertical riser according to one of the preceding claims, wherein said lining (12) is fixed by glue to said U-bar (11).

7. Vertical riser according to claims 2, wherein said heater means are electrical resistors (15).

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