EP0398791B1 - Door with liftable, reinforced by horizontal bars - Google Patents

Abstract

A rolling or folding doorway shutter, for use e.g. in an industrial or commercial building, consists of vertical supports (1,2) on either side of the doorway, connected by a cross member (3) at the top. Each support contains a slider guide for the door shutter (4) which is roller or folded at the top. The shutter is reinforced by a number of horizontal bars (5) which have their ends moving in the sliders. At least one of the bars has a flexible section (e.g. spring-loaded and telescopic) which enables it to jump out of the slider in the event of an abnormal transverse effort being applied to it, without creating any permanent deformation in the bar which might ultimately affect the operation of the shutter. The bar's flexibility can be provided in the centre or at one or both ends, and the slider containing the flexible bar can have a branched track to allow for the replacement of the bar once it has been deformed.

Description

The present invention relates to the doors of premises and industrial buildings, sheds and shops, formed by a flexible semi-rigid or rigid curtain, foldable or rollable, which releases a bay by rising and closes it down, the curtain stowing up of the door when it is raised, by winding or folding. Some of these doors are exposed to the action of the wind. To avoid significant deformation which could damage or block the door, various means are known. You can fix on the vertical edges of the curtain an extra thickness or pads that slide in a cannula (like boat sails). We also use horizontal reinforcement bars spaced vertically, and the ends of which slide in slides. In particular, the invention relates to a lifting curtain door comprising a frame formed by two vertical lateral uprights joined at their upper parts by a cross member, said lateral uprights each constituting or comprising a slide, each slide having a guide guide wall. on either side of the plane of the curtain, the latter being able to build up at the upper part by winding or folding, the curtain being reinforced by horizontal bars, the ends of which slide in said slides.

These various systems have the drawback that during certain traffic incidents, when a vehicle hits the door before it is fully opened, the door is damaged: often it is blocked, it must be dismantled. Traffic is interrupted, moreover repair can be costly: tearing of the curtain, extraction of a bent bar, etc ...

The Applicant has already proposed (EP-A-0 320 350) a curtain reinforced by at least one bar which has at each of its ends an area of less mechanical resistance such that it escapes from the slides when it is subjected to a thrust excessive. In this way, in the event of an impact on a bar, the end breaks or deforms elastically and the door continues to operate. As a result, there is a bar end which is no longer guided. This does not prevent the door from working and can be repaired easily.

The latter system, which is advantageous in many circumstances, is not suitable for all applications, however, a certain repair time must be allowed.

European applications EP-A-033 199, 264 220 and 272 733 describe doors with a lifting curtain, the edges of which are guided in guides, and which do not include reinforcing bars. The curtain is held in the slides against the effect of the wind, by edges having extra thicknesses, which slide in slides with reduced opening which retain the thickened edges. In the event of an abnormal effort on the curtain, the edges may escape from the guides to avoid curtain tear. In the first two requests, it is the elastic extra thicknesses which can flatten out of the slide; in the last, the slides are flexible and can move apart to let out the edge of the curtain. These devices do not promote good sliding and are only applicable to doors of small dimensions.

The object of the present invention is to prevent the door from being damaged when a vehicle is struck against the unopened curtain, or under excessive wind thrust, this resulting from the fact that under impact, the door, or at at least one of its components, undergoes a non-permanent deformation, and returns to the correct position by its only normal operation, without intervention.

The subject of the invention is therefore a liftable door comprising a liftable curtain which can collect at the top by winding or folding, the curtain being reinforced by horizontal bars or other equivalent means, such as panels, the ends of which slide in two vertical slides having a guide wall on either side of the plane of the curtain, characterized in that at least one of the bars has sufficient overall flexibility to allow it to exit from at least one slide in the event of 'Abnormal transverse force on the bar, without undergoing permanent deformation which may subsequently interfere with the operation of the curtain.

In a variant, at least one bar is flexible in the middle.

The above provisions allow the door to suffer an impact or an abnormal push without being damaged. However, after a bar has come out of its slides, it must be put back into it. The invention also relates to means for facilitating the return to the slides of a bar which has come out of it. Advantageously, the invention provides for automatic delivery without intervention of the bar in its slides, either during the upward movement of the door, or during its downward movement after opening.

For this purpose, in one embodiment of the invention, the outer walls of the slides or walls integral with the slides define oblique vertical planes with respect to the plane of the door, the two walls of each slide approaching towards the center of the door.

Advantageously, the slide is limited in height to a level located below the lowest bar when the curtain is raised, and has a flared opening upwards below this bar in the raised position so that it , and all the others in succession, engage in the slide during the descent.

Preferably, inclined guides are provided above the upper end of the slide to bring the ends of bars out of the normal vertical plane of sliding of the curtain.

In another particularly advantageous embodiment, at least one of the outer walls of the uprights comprising the slides is provided with a guide projecting from said wall, and generally oriented upwards and towards the opening of the slide, this guide s 'extending over at least part of the width of said wall to the edge of the opening of the slide, so as to bring back into the slide the end of a bar pulled upwards which would have come out of it, deforming to shorten the bar by bending or contraction (for example: telescopic shortening).

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear during the description which follows, given by way of nonlimiting example, with reference to the attached drawings, and which will make it clear how the invention can be implemented.

• la figure 1 est une vue en perspective d'une porte selon l'invention ;
• la figure 2 est une vue en coupe par un plan horizontal d'un des montants de la porte de la figure 1 ;
• la figure 3 est une vue en coupe par un plan vertical d'une partie de la porte de la figure 1 ;
• les figures 4 et 5 représentent en perspective et en coupe un mode de réalisation d'une glissière pour porte selon l'invention ; et
• la figure 6 es une vue en coupe de l'extrémité d'un autre exemple de barre selon l'invention.

In the drawings,

• Figure 1 is a perspective view of a door according to the invention;
• Figure 2 is a sectional view through a horizontal plane of one of the uprights of the door of Figure 1;
• Figure 3 is a sectional view through a vertical plane of a portion of the door of Figure 1;
• Figures 4 and 5 show in perspective and in section an embodiment of a door slide according to the invention; and
• Figure 6 is a sectional view of the end of another example of a bar according to the invention.

Figure 1 shows in perspective an embodiment of a frame, or gantry, of a handling door according to the invention. The frame comprises two vertical lateral uprights 1, 2, joined at their upper ends by a cross member 3 forming a lintel.

Each upright has in section the shape of a pentagon open at a vertex, with a base a, two sides b perpendicular to the base, and two sides c approaching, leaving between their ends a gap d which constitutes the opening d 'a slide 21 in each upright, to each receive an edge of the curtain 4, and the ends of reinforcing bars 5. The opposite sides may or may not be equal. To facilitate observation, the curtain is assumed to be made of transparent material (which is possible and actually done in some cases).

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view of an upright, at a curtain reinforcing bar, illustrating how it is arranged in the slide.

According to the invention, the reinforcing bars are produced with a flexibility such that, under a thrust force, they leave the guide groove before undergoing permanent deformation or subjecting the guide groove to permanent deformation. This can be achieved by the overall flexibility of the bar. It can be produced by a plastic tube reinforced with fiberglass, and withstand significant non-permanent deformation, which leaves one or both of its ends out of the guide groove, without permanent deformation or rupture. Flexibility can be limited in the middle of the bar. The middle of the bar can be constituted by a more flexible part, for example an elastic sleeve or a coil spring, allowing the bar to be folded.

It is interesting to avoid having to intervene to put the system back in place. The orientation of the sides c of the uprights comprising the rails promotes the reinsertion of the bars in the rails during the movement of the curtain upward, under the effect of the traction exerted upwards on the bars by the curtain. It is also advantageous to provide additional provisions to force the ends of the bars to enter the slides. For this purpose, in one embodiment of the invention, shown in Figure 3 which is a sectional view through a vertical plane perpendicular to the curtain 4 in the middle, the slides 21 stop a little below the volume d accumulation of the curtain, either a winding, as shown in section in the figure or a folding, and have a flared end 21a, so that by letting the curtain come down, the ends of the bars naturally engage in the slide 21.

In order to facilitate the repositioning of the ends of the bars taken out during the raising of the curtain, provision is made, above the flaring of the slide, below the accumulation zone of the curtain, for centering surfaces 7a, 7b, or reinsertion ramps which, when the curtain rises, bring the ends of the bar back in line with the axis of the accumulation zone.

The space between the flaring 21a and the reinsertion ramp 7 forms a reinsertion window. Several may be provided along the height of the curtain.

A variant shown in Figures 4 and 5 comprises a slide 21 as described above. The slide 21 is defined essentially by two parallel flat walls 22, 23 on either side of the plane of the curtain, which delimit an interstitial space in which the ends of the horizontal reinforcement bars of the curtain door move, these ends being guided through walls 22, 23. The bottom of the slide can be blocked by a wall 24, improving the rigidity and protecting the interior from dust and other foreign bodies. According to a characteristic of the invention, the slides are externally lined with oblique faces 25, 26 (protective walls) which facilitate the re-entry into the slides of the ends of the bars which have come out of them. The slide generally has other side walls 27, 28 and a bottom 29 to form a rigid assembly.

In the embodiment shown partially in schematic perspective in Figure 4, the slide 21 has no interruption. There is preferably a reinsertion ramp 35 at the top of the door. When a bar has come out of the slide 21, during the rise of the curtain, the end of the bar rubs on the surface 25 or the surface 27 of the profile which surrounds the slide. Arrived at the level of the ramp 35, the end of the bar is engaged on the latter, by the traction due to the raising of the curtain, on the one hand, and by the effect of the inclined guide 33 on the other hand. The end of the bar goes up the ramp 35, which forces the bar to shorten. This can be done by bending the bar. The end of the bar is guided to the end 35A of the ramp, and at this point relaxes to enter the slide 21. When the curtain is lowered, the slide being uninterrupted, the bars will not be able to come out of the slide, even if a strong wind forces the curtain.

In order to facilitate the shortening of the bar, to allow an easy sliding along the guide 33A, and an easy reinsertion in the slide, the ends of the bars can be telescopic, as on the bar 20 represented in FIG. 6.

A sleeve 47 is mounted on the end of the tube 12, either by force fitting, or by means of a pin 18 which serves at the same time to fix the inner end of the spring 19, which biases outwards a piston 41. To allow the bar to come out of the slides under the effect of an abnormal force, this bar must have overall flexibility or have a particularly flexible central zone. But when such a bar is out of the slide, we can clearly see that it can be returned by pushing the piston 41 inside the sleeve 17, for example manually or during the raising of the curtain thanks to the presence a guide ramp, in which the piston is driven during the raising of the curtain. During the raising of the bar, the piston 41 is pushed by the action of said ramp in the tube 12, and is guided to the edge of the slide. At this time, the spring 19 relaxes and the piston engages in the slide. He can no longer come out during the subsequent descent.

In FIG. 4, the guide ramp has been shown slightly hollow relative to the plane of the surface 25. This is in no way necessary. The ramp can be constituted only by the protruding edge 33A of the reinsertion guide. In this case, the guide can be fixed or movable or removable. In this case, the surface 25 can also be parallel to the bottom 29 of the slide.

The bars can all be made according to the same model. It is also possible to provide only one bar in accordance with the invention, for example at the most exposed level, or even the lower bar.

Claims (7)

1. A lifting curtain door (4) comprising a frame constituted by two vertical side uprights (1, 2) interconnected at their top ends by a cross member (3), said side uprights each constituting or including a slideway, each slideway having a guide wall on either side of the plane of the curtain, which curtain may be gathered together at the top of the door by being rolled up or folded, the curtain being reinforced by horizontal bars whose ends slide in the said slideways, wherein at least one of the bars (5) has sufficient overall flexibility to enable it to escape from at least one of the slideways in the event of an abnormal transverse force being applied to the bar, without the bar being deformed permanently which could impede subsequent operation of the curtain.
2. A lifting curtain door (4) comprising a frame constituted by two vertical side uprights (1, 2) interconnected at their top ends by a cross member (3), said side uprights each constituting or including a slideway, each slideway having a guide wall on either side of the plane of the curtain, which curtain may be gathered together at the top of the door by being rolled up or folded, the curtain being reinforced by horizontal bars whose ends slide in the said slideways, wherein at least one bar (5) is flexible in the middle so as to enable it to escape from at least one of the slideways in the event of an abnormal transverse force being applied to the bar, without the bar being deformed permanently which could impede subsequent operation of the curtain.
3. A door according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein said vertical side uprights (1, 2) constituting slideways (21) are formed of several walls defining a horizontal cross section of polygonal form, the both walls (25, 26) placed on each side of said slideway (21) and adjacent to the latter, define vertical planes, oblique with regard to the plane of the curtain so as to define with the curtain plane a horizontal section having substantially the form of a V, so as to simplify the coming into the slideways (21) of the bar ends (5) which have gone out of said slideways, through sliding of said ends against said oblique walls.
4. A door according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the slideway (21) is limited vertically at a level situated beneath the lowest bar when the curtain is raised, and has an opening (21a) which is flared upwards so that when the curtain is lowered from its raised position, the end of the bars engage in the flared portion of the slideway.
5. A door according to claim 4, wherein sloping guides (7a, 7b) are provided above the top end of the slideway to urge the ends of escaped bars back towards the normal vertical sliding plane of the curtain while the curtain is being raised.
6. A door according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein at least one of the outside walls of the uprights including the slideways is provided with a guide (33) projecting from said wall and oriented generally upwards and towards the opening of the slideway, said guide extending over at least a portion of the width of the said wall up to the edge of the opening in the slideway so as to return the end of a bar that has left the slideway into the slideway when the bar is pulled upwards, by deforming it so as to shorten the bar by bending or contraction.
7. A door according to claim 6, wherein at least one bar has at least one telescopic end allowing to reduce the length of said bar when a strain is applied to the bar which is leading to bring both ends nearer from one another.

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