EP0328770A2

EP0328770A2 - Folding shutter

Info

Publication number: EP0328770A2
Application number: EP88121103A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Renzo Secco
Original assignee: INDUSTRIE SECCO SpA
Current assignee: INDUSTRIE SECCO SpA
Priority date: 1988-02-19
Filing date: 1988-12-16
Publication date: 1989-08-23
Also published as: EP0328770A3; IT8884105A0; IT1221262B; PT89726A

Abstract

A folding shutter characterised by comprising a plurality of slats (1) provided with two longitudinal cavities (2,3) in correspondence with their upper and lower edge and, for connecting together said slats (1), means consisting of a continuous section bar (9) formed from a flexible central web (10) and two enlarged flanges (11) which engage simultaneously in the facing longitudinal cavities (2,3) of two adjacent slats.

Description

Shutters are known consisting of a plurality of wooden, plastics or metal slats connected together by hinging elements which also allow the various slats to stay spaced apart to a limited extent during shutter opening. These hinging elements can consist either of metal hooks fitted s2along the slats at a predetermined distance apart or, in the case of plastics or metal slats, of a continuous longitudinal appendix engaged in a corresponding longitudinal cavity in the adjacent slat.
When in the closed configuration the slats are in contact one resting on the other and retained by their ends in vertical guide channels provided in the side walls of the aperture to which the shutter is applied. The shutter is opened by winding the slat assembly about a shaft disposed in a suitable upper compartment or box and rotated by manual or mechanical systems.
In addition to this type of roll shutter, another type of shutter known as a folding shutter is becoming increasingly used. Its upper operating shaft does not wind the slat assembly about it but simply transfers it into a collection compartment in which said slats are folded zig-zag preferably in pairs.
The advantages of this method are essentially the smaller overall size of the folded slat assembly and its ability to be housed in this condition in a suitable compartment the thickness of which does not exceed that of the overall shutter.
Known folding shutters generally consist of a plurality of metal slats connected together by hooks which to allow the zig-zag folding must enable a slat to rotate relative to the adjacent slat through an angle of at least 180° in both directions. These hooks are fitted at various points along the individual slats after drilling and riveting.
In order to fold pairs of slats zig-zag rather then individual slats, and thus better utilize the overall depth of the shutter installation, it is known to provide the ends of the slats with pegs which project alternately from the ends of the slats to engage in lateral guides in the shutter to obtain correct folding, or to interpose clips between those slats which are not to fold about each other, and thus prevent this unrequired folding.
A drawback of known folding shutters is that the fact that the hooks are fitted to the slats means firstly that these must be of metal, which in itself represents a not indifferent cost, and secondly that the construction is somewhat complicated with resultant high cost due to the need to drill each slat at several points to allow this fitting. On the other hand, plastics shutters, which traditionally have resulted in simplified slat assembly, cannot be used in this case because the connection system between one slat and the next does not allow them to be rotated relative to each other through 180°, this being an essential requirement for this type of shutter.
Another drawback is the fact that known metal folding shutters have a low coefficient of thermal insulation and therefore oppose the current tendency of reducing heat loss as much as possible. A further drawback is that the current system used for connecting slats together requires these to be drilled, consequently weakening the entire shutter.
A further drawback is that as the position and number of connection hooks between the slats must obviously be related to their length, it is difficult to standardise shutter production and complete their construction in the factory without knowing their final destination.
A further drawback is that the presence of the pegs or clips for allowing only pairs of slats to fold results in a certain constructional complexity which negatively affects the shutter cost.
A further drawback is that the connection between the pegs and their guides in the lateral walls of the box does not allow the extraction of the folded slats from the inside of the room thus obliging to laborious and even dangerous inspections to be carried out from outside.
According to the invention, all these drawbacks are obviated by a folding shutter characterised by comprising a plurality of slats provided with two longitudinal cavities in correspondence with their upper and lower edge and, for connecting together said slats, means consisting of a continuous section bar formed from a flexible central web and two enlarged flanges which engage simultaneously in the facing longitudinal cavities of two adjacent slats.
The present invention will be better clarified with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a partial diagrammatic vertical section through a first embodiment of a shutter according to the invention;
Figure 2 is a partial vertical section thereof housed in a compartment, and
Figure 3 is the same view of Fig. 1 of a second embodiment.

As can be seen from the figures the shutter according to the invention comprises a plurality of slats 1 formed preferably from an extruded plastics section and comprising two longitudinal cavities 2 and 3 communicating with the outside through apertures 4,5 provided along the minor sides of the slat.
More specifically, the edges 6 of each lower cavity 3 are bent inwards to form overall a dovetail profile, whereas the edges 7 of the upper cavity 2 are not only bent in the same manner but comprise an external rib 8 bent in the opposite direction, so that each slat has an overall inner profile which is symmetrical but has a complementary outer profile to allow mutual engagement.
The element which connects together adjacent slats 1 consists of a continuous strip indicated overall by 9 and comprising a flexible central portion 10, preferably of glassfibre-reinforced synthetic fabric, and a pair of enlarged rigid flanges 11, preferably formed by coextrusion with the portion 10 in any suitable plastics material.
The portion 10 is obviously of smaller thickness than the width of the apertures 4,5, whereas the flanges 11 have a maximum width exceeding the width of said apertures 4,5, but less that the width of the longitudinal cavities 2 and 3. In addition, each flange 11 has an inner dovetail profile substantially complementary to the profile of the bent edges 6 and 7 of the cavities 2 and 3.
From an examination of the drawings it is apparent that the shutter according to the invention operates in conventional manner, ie when in its closed state its various slats are vertically overlying and in contact, and to open it the slats are raised by a polygonal shaft 12 which transfers them into a suitable compartment 13 provided in the depth of the shutter itself. If the vertical plane passing through that shutter portion turned by the polygonal shaft 12 falls within the base of said compartment 13, the shutter collecting within it automatically lies in a zig-zag arrangement.
In order to ensure the start of the folding of the slats during the closure phase of the shutter it is convenient that the first slat is slightly inclined with respect to the overhanging one. In the same way the start of the folding can be made easier by constructing a shutter in which the first slat rests on the bottom of the compartment 13 even in closed state.
It is clear that the shutter according to the invention obviates all the drawbacks of conventional folding shutters in that:
- it can be constructed of plastics material,
- it requires practically no assembly effort as the connection between the slats is obtained by simply inserting a strip portion 9 axially between two adjacent slats without having to drill them,
- the connection points do not have to be predetermined on the basis of the length of the slats, so that it can be totally assembled in the factory by operations which can be completely mechanised standardized,
- it ensures that the slats are totally indeformable even when in a stressed condition.
It should be noted that the strips 9 can comprise a plurality of apertures 14 formable during the construction of the strips. The purpose of such apertures is to provide a certain ventilation to the room and a certain passage of light even when the shutter is in its lowered but not totally closed state, as in the case of conventional shutters.
In the embodiment shown in Figure 2 the slat connection strips are alternately of two types, specifically the one indicated by 9 being identical to the previous embodiment whereas the one indicated by 9′ has substantially the same shape as the strip 9 but is of rigid type. By this means it is possible, because of the rigid nature of this second type of strip, to obtain zig-zag folding of the pairs of slats without requiring the use of guide pegs, clips or other elements used in the past for this purpose.
The rigid strip 9′ allows, because of its even if limited flexibility and of amount of play, the shutter to adhere to the shaft 12 during its dragging into the open or closed state.
Obviously by alternating flexible strips and rigid strips it is possible to modify the folding way of the shutter. If for example a flexible strip is placed between every second rigid strip, a three slats folding of the shutter is obtained, thus exploiting in the best way the transverse size of the box.
The same result of partly stiffening the connection between the slats to ensure folding "in pairs" can be obtained by the modification shown in Figure 3. In this modification two types of slats are provided, one for the flexible connection heretofore described, and the other for a semi-articulated connection comprising an appendix 15 formed on the actual body of the slat and engaging in the longitudinal cavity 3 of the adjacent slat.
Obviously also in this case the appropriate choice and coupling of the two different kind of slats will allow to obtain two or three slats foldings, according to the sizes of the box.

Claims

1. A folding shutter characterised by comprising a plurality of slats (1) provided with two longitudinal cavities (2,3) in correspondence with their upper and lower edge and, for connecting together said slats (1), means consisting of a continuous section bar (9) formed from a flexible central web (10) and two enlarged flanges (11) which engage simultaneously in the facing longitudinal cavities (2,3) of two adjacent slats.

2. A shutter as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the connection means consist of a coextruded strip (9) comprising a web (10) of reinforced synthetic fabric and two flanges (11) of rigid plastics material.

3. A shutter as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that of each flange (11) of the connection strip, that portion which faces the other flange is of dovetail shape and such as to allow engagement with a complementary portion provided in each slat (1) and to prevent the edges (6,7) of the corresponding longitudinal cavities (2,3) succumbing outwards even when said connection strip (9) is subjected to traction in a vertical direction.

4. A shutter as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the flexible central web (10) of the continuous section bar (9) comprises a plurality of apertures (14).

5. A shutter as claimed in claim 1 characterised in that the slats (1) are connected together by two different continuous section bars (9,9′,15) one (9) being of flexible type and the other (9′,15) being of substantially rigid type and substantially alternating with each other.

6. A shutter as claimed in claim 5, characterised by comprising two different types of slat , one of which being provided with a rigid continuous section bar (15) engaging in the longitudinal cavity (3) of the same or other type of slat.