EP0526346A1 - Overhead flexible door for safe folding up - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a door having a flexible screen which can be stacked away, comprising a brake/motor 9, a manual brake-release device 16, a counterweight 10, and a closing device 4, 5, 6, 18 having a flexible screen connected mechanically to the motor and to the counterweight. According to the invention, the force exerted by the counterweight 10 on the movable closing device 4, 5, 6, 18, being applied counter to the force due to the mass of the latter and being exerted downwards in the direction of closing, is greater than the said force due to the mass of the movable closing device from its completely closed position to its completely open position, so that, in the event of failure of the energy supply means, the movable closing device will be driven to its completely open position. The invention can be used to equip buildings, in particular industrial and commercial buildings. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a flexible curtain door with a stack, of the type comprising substantially vertical uprights, a substantially horizontal crosspiece between the uprights, a brake motor connected to energy supply means, a counterweight, and a closing device. comprising the flexible curtain, mechanically connected to the brake motor and to the counterweight so that the force exerted by the counterweight on the movable closure device applies against the force due to the mass of the latter acting down in the closing direction.

Such doors are already known, in which a counterweight balancing the moving masses allows the use of a lower power brake motor than on a door without counterweight.

The lifting being carried out by means of the brake motor, it is necessary to provide an emergency lifting device operating in the event of a power supply failure of this brake motor. It is possible to conceive either of an auxiliary power source, or of a back-up motor allowing the lifting from such an auxiliary source, or a possibility of manual lifting, for example by means of a brake release device and a crank. Such devices do not allow rapid lifting of the curtain, which is annoying and can even be dangerous if the failure is caused by an external event such as a fire for example.

In addition, known doors are expensive, difficult to manufacture, to transport, and to assemble, because of their weight and their large dimensions; in the event of significant deterioration, they are difficult to repair, at least on site, and require a long partial disassembly; in addition, the electro-mechanical brake-motor control device is also complex and difficult to repair.

The object of the invention is to remedy these drawbacks, and for this purpose relates to a flexible curtain door with a stack, of the type comprising substantially vertical uprights, a substantially horizontal crosspiece between the uprights, a brakemotor connected to supply means. in energy, a manual brake release device to release it in the event of a power failure, a counterweight, and a flexible curtain closing device movable between a fully open position and a fully closed position, mechanically connected to the motor and counterweight, so that the force exerted by the counterweight on the movable closure device is applied against the force due to the mass of the latter and acting downward in the direction of the closing, door characterized in that said force exerted by the counterweight is greater than that due to the mass of the mobile closing device from its fully closed position ju s to its fully open position, so that in the event of failure of the energy supply means, the mobile closing device is driven to its fully open position.

Thanks to these characteristics, in the event of a power failure of the brake motor when the closing device is in the low position, total lifting of the curtain is possible by simple manual release of the brake. The opening speed is at least as fast as in the case of a motorized opening, and faster than by means of a crank.

• - la figure 1 est une vue schématique d'une forme de réalisation d'une porte selon l'invention lorsque le rideau est en position de fermeture,
• - la figure 2 est une vue schématique de la porte de la figure 1 lorsque le rideau est en position d'ouverture,
• - la figure 3 est une vue en coupe d'un premier exemple de réalisation du contrepoids, de son dispositif de guidage, et du dispositif de réglage du dispositif de guidage,
• - la figure 4 est une vue d'un deuxième exemple de réalisation du contrepoids et de son dispositif de guidage,
• - la figure 5 est une vue schématique montrant les modules constituant la même porte lorsque celle-ci, selon l'invention, est réalisée sous forme modulaire.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge from the description which follows of embodiments given by way of nonlimiting examples and represented in the attached drawings in which:

• FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an embodiment of a door according to the invention when the curtain is in the closed position,
• FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the door of FIG. 1 when the curtain is in the open position,
• FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a first embodiment of the counterweight, of its guide device, and of the device for adjusting the guide device,
• FIG. 4 is a view of a second embodiment of the counterweight and of its guide device,
• - Figure 5 is a schematic view showing the modules constituting the same door when the latter, according to the invention, is produced in modular form.

The door shown in the closed position in Figure 1 and in the open position in Figure 2 has a frame consisting of a left upright 1 and a vertical upright 2, and a horizontal cross 3 carried by the uprights and s 'extending between these. A mobile closing device comprising a flexible curtain 4 in the form of a tarpaulin provided with substantially horizontal stiffening tubes, its suspension straps 5 here made of nylon, passanged guide stirrups 6 carried by the curtain to guide the straps by relative to it in the region of the folds thereof, and of strap clamps 18 allowing the attachment of the straps to the base of the curtain, is suspended from a drive shaft 7 by means of drums 8 strap winders to which these are fixed; alternatively (not shown in the drawings), in the case of medium and small dimensions doors used in particular for the passage of pedestrians, which have only two straps, the latter can be arranged at ends of the curtains themselves housed in the uprights, provided of course that they are open in their respective opposite faces to give access to these ends in a housing deep enough to contain the straps; this variant makes it possible to prevent a user from coming into contact with the straps when the door is mounted and therefore eliminates a source of accident; the last two tubes at the bottom of the door are then connected to each other to minimize deflection. The drive shaft 7 is mechanically linked on the one hand to a geared motor-brake 9 fixed at the top of the left upright (or, as a variant, to one end of the cross-member 3), and on the other hand to a counterweight 10 , of constant mass and exerting a constant tensile force, by means of a connecting device 11 with pulley 111 and belt 112, the pulley 111 being fixed on the drive shaft 7, and the belt on the one hand at counterweight 10 and on the other hand to the pulley 111 so as to be able to wrap around it during the ascent of the counterweight; the drive shaft 7 is fixed to the upper part of the door, for example to the cross member, by means of self-aligning bearings 12. The movement of the counterweight 10, housed in the upright 2, is secured by a device for guide 13 of which, in a first embodiment, the verticality is adjustable by means of an adjustment device 14, the guide device 13 then being carried to the ground at its base by a fixing sole 15; in a second embodiment, in which the counterweight is guided by the internal walls of the upright 2, the verticality of its movement is ensured by that of the upright. The rotor of the brake gearmotor 9 is secured to a manual release device 16 accessible from one of the uprights, and the gearmotor is electrically connected to an energy source, here an electrical source, and controlled by means of a device electric control 17.

It should be noted that among the many possible modes of using the gearmotor-brake, the one consisting of electrically supplying the motor for raising and lowering the curtain was selected, and simultaneously the brake to release its drum in order to allow this rise and this descent, so that in the event of non-supply, the brake is applied, the release being obtained, in the event of a supply failure, by means of the manual release device 16, if necessary, as mentioned above. above ; the manual release device can be a device comprising for example a chain, a cable, or even a rod, hooked to the drum and actuated by a handle possibly via a pinion, a pulley or a linkage of reference.

As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the counterweight 10 works in reverse with respect to the curtain, that is to say that the curtain is in the low position when the counterweight is in the high position, and vice versa; thus, when the brake is released, the curtain rises from a closed position to an open position, which can be total, the mass of the counterweight being slightly greater than that of the closing device (curtain 4, straps 5 and stirrups pass - straps 6 and strap clips 18); it follows that if the brake is applied following a failure of the electrical power supply when the curtain is in the fully closed position, the curtain can be automatically raised to its fully open position simply by actuating the device manual release 16.

For safety reasons, it is useful for the counterweight 10 to be guided, and this is the role of the guide device 13.

FIG. 3 shows a first possible embodiment of this guide device 13, here inside, of the adjustment device 14, and of the counterweight 10.

The guide device 13 comprises a tubular guide 130 resting on the sole 15 and fixed to the latter by means of a centering pin 131 fitted in its lower part, comprising a central centering stud welded in a hole in the sole, and secured to the tubular guide by means of a pin, for example a longitudinally split tubular pin 132 known in the art under the name of MECA-NINDUS pin.

The adjusting device 14 is constituted by a square 141 with an L-shaped section, one wing of which is fixed by two screws to the right upright 2, and a collar 142 comprising a body threaded around the tubular guide 130 and a fixing base welded to the body and fixed by bolting to the other wing of the bracket 141, at least one of these members, for example this other wing of the bracket 141, comprising an oblong hole allowing the verticality of the guide tube to be adjusted; a screw inserted in a nut welded to the body of the collar allows the tube to be blocked in this part.

The counterweight 10, metallic, is either in one piece pierced with a central bore for the tubular guide 130, or consists of two tubular parts 101, 102 fixed one inside the other, the internal part 101, bored, being itself threaded around the tubular guide 130, with a fairly large clearance in both cases; a hoop 103 is fixed to the upper part of the counterweight, for hanging the connecting strap (or chain, or even the cable) 112; the counterweight is guided around the guide 130 by at least one and in this case two nylon rings 104 disposed respectively at the top and at the bottom of the counterweight 10; these two rings comprise a body inserted in a respective housing produced here in the inner part 101, the two housings opening into the free ends of this inner part, and a fixing flange to this inner part; fixing the flanges to the counterweight is ensured by screws, which allows the replacement of the guide rings 104 when they are worn. The risks of seizure are thus minimized as a result of the self-lubricating properties of nylon, without the need for any lubrication, and the friction surface being low, the friction noises are kept at a very low level; moreover, even in the event of the belt 112 breaking, the counterweight does not risk damaging a protective casing by knocking against it.

FIG. 4 shows a second possible embodiment of the guide device 13 and the counterweight 10. In this embodiment, a guide 130 is formed by the internal walls of the right upright 2 or of a compartment extending vertically in this upright and delimited by one or more internal vertical partitions, the counterweight 10 being housed inside the upright 2 or this compartment; the counterweight 10 then consists of superimposed steel blocks 105 whose horizontal section is slightly less than that of the guide 130, and two anti-friction plates 106 made of a material with a low coefficient of friction such as that known commercially under the name of NOFRIX arranged respectively on each side of the superimposed steel blocks, the assembly being assembled by bolting, and the two anti-friction plates having a shape similar to that of the interior section of the upright or of the longitudinal compartment and being adjusted in this guide 130; as in the case of the first embodiment, a hoop 103 is fixed to the upper part of the counterweight to hang the connecting belt 112. In order to optimize the volumes, the internal horizontal section of the guide being rectangular, the blocks 105 have also a rectangular section, and thus almost the entire section of the guide or the upright is occupied by the counterweight metal masses. Thanks to the external guidance by anti-friction plates, the effects of friction are notably limited, lubrication is unnecessary, and maintenance is simplified.

Just as the counterweight system is housed in the upright here on the right, the control device 17 can be housed in the left upright or in the cross member, provided that its dimensions are smaller than those of conventional devices.

However, the control device 17, if it was conventionally electro-mechanical, would be rather bulky; it is therefore here replaced by a programmable automaton known per se, housed in an electrical cabinet whose dimensions allow its integration into an upright or the crosspiece, which improves the presentation, removes a large part of the wiring required hitherto between the device in the form of an external cabinet and the outside of the door, and allows the pre-wired doors to be delivered, the cables passing inside the uprights and the upper crosspiece, which reduces the installation time on the site and thus the installation cost (the cost of labor in the workshop being lower than on site), and reduces the risk of errors during assembly.

The structure described above allows the door to be produced in a modular form. Thus, some of the modules, comprising the mechanical and electrical parts, identical for all the doors, can be produced in advance, while others are produced on demand. Then simply assemble the modules to obtain a complete door. In this way, the manufacturing time is considerably reduced, as well as the exposure time, because the assembly team only handles relatively light sub-assemblies. The after-sales service is also simplified since in the event of mechanical shock or breakdown, there is only a limited number of sub-assemblies to be replaced.

• - un module électrique A comprenant le dispositif électrique de commande 17,
• - un module de montant B (partie du montant de gauche 1),
• - un module moteur C comprenant, fixés dans un caisson d'angle supérieur, le motoréducteur-frein 9 et son dispositif de desserrage manuel 16,
• - un module de traverse D comprenant en plus de la traverse 3, l'arbre d'entraînement 7, les tambours 8 enrouleurs de sangles, le dispositif de liaison 11, et les paliers 12,
• - un module contrepoids E comprenant, fixé dans un caisson d'angle supérieur, le contrepoids 10, le dispositif de guidage 13, et son dispositif de réglage 14,
• - un module de montant F (partie du montant droit 2),
• - un module de semelle G comprenant, dans un carter de base, la semelle de fixation 15, et, naturellement
• - le rideau souple 4, ses sangles 5, ses étriers 6, et les pince-sangles 18.

In the modular form shown in Figure 5, the door consists of the following modules:

• an electrical module A comprising the electrical control device 17,
• - an amount module B (part of the left amount 1),
• a motor module C comprising, fixed in an upper corner box, the brake gear motor 9 and its manual release device 16,
• a cross member module D comprising, in addition to the cross member 3, the drive shaft 7, the drums 8 strap winders, the connection device 11, and the bearings 12,
• a counterweight module E comprising, fixed in an upper corner box, the counterweight 10, the guide device 13, and its adjustment device 14,
• - an amount module F (part of the right amount 2),
• a sole module G comprising, in a base housing, the fixing sole 15, and, of course
• - the flexible curtain 4, its straps 5, its stirrups 6, and the strap clamps 18.

The electrical module A, the engine module C, the counterweight module E, and the sole module G are identical modules for all doors, made in advance.

The upright modules B and F, of identical cross-section, are produced on request by cutting a profile of standard length, and the same is true of the cross-member module D; the flexible curtain is also produced on request.

Alternatively, one can also have, for example, a base module used to support the entire door, two upright modules intended to be fixed on the base module, a cross module comprising the drive shaft , the drums, the bearings, the control device, and the motor, a counterweight module comprising the counterweight fixed in a corner box, and the curtain, its straps, its stirrups, and the strap clamps.

This modular structure therefore gives great flexibility in the manufacture and assembly of the door according to the invention.

Of course, this invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown, and we can provide other forms without departing from its scope.

Claims (13)

1. Flexible stacked curtain door, of the type comprising substantially vertical uprights (1, 2), a substantially horizontal cross-member (3) between the uprights, a brake motor (9) connected to energy supply means, a manual brake release device (16) to release it in the event of a power failure, a counterweight (10), and a closing device (4, 5, 6, 18) with flexible curtain movable between a position total opening and a fully closed position, mechanically connected to the motor and the counterweight, so that the force exerted by the counterweight on the mobile closing device is applied against the force due to the mass of the latter and acting downwards in the closing direction, door characterized in that said force exerted by the counterweight (10) is greater than that due to the mass of the mobile closing device (4, 5, 6, 18) from its fully closed position to its open position total ture, so that in the event of failure of the energy supply means, the mobile closing device is driven to its fully open position. 2. Door according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a guide device (13) for the counterweight (10), comprising a guide (130), and in that the counterweight is pierced with an internal bore by which it is threaded through this internal bore, around the guide (130), with the interposition of at least part of a guide ring (104) of self-lubricating material. 3. Door according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a guide device (13) for the counterweight (10), comprising a guide (130) constituted by internal walls of one of the uprights, in that the counterweight comprises guide plates (106) having a shape similar to that of the section delimited by the guide and adjusted therein, and in that the plates are made of an anti-friction material. 4. Door according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a control device (17) in the form of a programmable automaton housed in one of the uprights or in the cross-member, and in that electrical cables are also housed in at least one upright and / or cross member. 5. Door according to claim 1, characterized in that it is in modular form and comprises at least one electrical module (A), two upright modules (B, F), a motor module (C), a transom module (D), and a counterweight module (E). 6. Door according to claim 1, characterized in that it also comprises a sole module (G) intended to rest on the ground. 7. Door according to claim 1, characterized in that the motor and the brake are supplied with energy for the descent and the ascent of the closing device (4, 5, 6, 18), and the brake is applied when n is not powered, unless it is loosened by means of the manual declutching device (16). 8. Door according to claim 1, characterized in that the closing device (4, 5, 6, 18) is mechanically connected to the motor (9) and to the counterweight (10) by means of a drive shaft (7 ) by means of drums (8) strap winders, the drive shaft (7) being itself connected to the counterweight by a connecting device (11). 9. Door according to claim 3, characterized in that it comprises an adjustment device (14) for the guide device (13), comprising parts (141, 142) fixed to one another by bolting to through an oblong hole, one of which is also attached to a upright (2) and the other to the guide (130). 10. Door according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a sole (15) for fixing the guide device (13) at its base, by means of a centering pin (131) fitted in the lower part of the guide device to which it is secured, and welded to the sole. 11. Door according to claim 1, characterized in that the uprights (1, 2) have respective openings facing each other, the lateral ends of the curtains (4) being housed in the uprights, and in that suspension straps (5 ) of the curtain extend into said uprights. 12. Door according to claim 1, characterized in that the motor (9) is housed in one of the uprights or in the crosspiece (3). 13. Door according to claim 1, characterized in that it is in modular form and comprises at least two upright modules, a cross module, and a counterweight module.

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