EP0531330B1 - Closure for a vehicular opening - Google Patents

Abstract

The closure of the invention for an aperture (1) has strips (14) interlinked articulatedly via hinges (20, 20') in such a way that the distance between adjacent strips (14) defines a space in which the hinge pins (24, 24') engage. Rubber sealing strips (42) are fitted to interconnect adjacent strips (14); they are arranged coaxially with the hinge pins (24, 24') and engage with the strips (14) virtually without any clearance.

Description

The invention relates to a closure element for a drivable gate opening according to the preamble of claim 1, which can be moved from a closed position into an open position of the opening.

Such a closure element in, for example, a horizontally movable roller door is known from US-A-2 092 534.

From DE-A-3 244 743 a rolling wall for cooling and insulating containers has become known, which is made of heat-insulating material and has thermally insulated composite profiles made of light metal. The composite profiles are equipped with undercut grooves on their opposing longitudinal edges. A connecting band made of rubber or a correspondingly elastic material is provided for the connection of the mutually opposing lamellae and engages in a form-fitting manner in the undercut grooves of the composite profiles.

For example, from US-A-3 033 284 it is known to use hinge straps for the angled connection of the slats in a roller shutter.

As a further example of such a closure element for an opening, a roller shutter of a roller shutter is known as a vertically opening closure of a door opening that can be walked on or driven over, consisting of mutually angled slats which are guided into the closed position on the two side edges of the door opening by means of vertical guide rails, and which one by means of a winding shaft to which the roller shutter is attached, is raised to the open position and wound up.

The roll armor, as the protective part of a roller shutter that closes the door opening, consists of hinged slats, usually profile parts, for example extruded aluminum materials. The height of the individual slats is usually about 80 to 120 mm.

These profile parts are mostly provided as slide-in profiles, which due to their shape are connected to each other in an articulated manner without further connecting links to form the roll armor. In a typical aluminum extruded profile, the joint is designed, for example, as a pan and a web, so that when the profiles are pushed into one another, the joint formed in this way occurs when the roll armor is rolled up Can absorb and endure forces. The connection of the lamellas formed into a joint generally has a large amount of play. In addition, the shape of the nested profiles should be designed such that a deposit of dirt and water in the joints is prevented, and sufficient tightness against wind attack is guaranteed.

Furthermore, closing elements of an opening in so-called sectional doors are known, which are also used for large door openings. A conventional sectional door essentially consists of a tank with comparatively high sections which can be folded down from a vertical closed position into an upper horizontal position below the ceiling by means of a cable drive.

Due to the comparatively large height of the individual sections used in sectional doors, a mechanically overall more compact design is achieved due to the reduced number of connecting elements of the sections such as hinges or the like and also a reduction in the number of end faces to be sealed, with a correspondingly better strength against wind attack and security against unauthorized opening . Furthermore, the large height of the individual sections allows transparent sections to be provided in the form of glass or plastic windows.

As a rule, the individual sections are aligned with one another in the closed position, so that the entire end face of a section is available for the seal. The sectional door thus appears as a cleanly closed door with a continuous outer surface, with no gaps in between. A further improved tightness is achieved, for example, by rubber inserts which are pressed together in the closed position by the sections lying one above the other. Alternatively, the sections point a bulge running across the entire width of the door on one end face, which engages in a corresponding recess of an adjacent section when the sections are swung into the same plane as a tongue and groove connection, thus further improving the mechanical strength of the door leaf against wind pressure even with large door widths is.

On the inside of the gate, the sections are connected by means of a plurality of individual hinges, which are attached at certain intervals across the entire width of the gate in such a number that sufficient strength and support is achieved. The hinges attached to the side edge of the sections are generally designed at the same time as a holder for a roller that can run in a guide rail with a U-shaped cross section at the edge region of the sectional door. Since the individual hinges are attached to the sections in such a way that the sections can be folded away towards the inside, problems also arise here insofar as the projecting parts of the hinges which are attached and projecting on the inside of the door are visually disturbing and dangerous. A further risk of injury with sectional gates arises when the sections are angled due to the open gaps that occur or when the sections are folded back and the column is closed.

The invention has for its object to provide a closure element for a gate opening, which in the closed state offers sufficient tightness against wind and weather attack, and high stability even against selective pressure loads.

This object is achieved by a closure element with the features of claim 1.

The closure element according to the present invention has lamellae which are connected to one another in an articulated manner by means of hinges such that a space is formed by the spacing of respectively adjacent lamellae, in which the hinge pins of the hinges engage. By providing the pivot axis of each hinge within the space between the slats, the angular openings between the adjacent slats and also the tilting accelerations when moving the closing element into the open position are minimized, with correspondingly smaller acceleration forces when the closing element is angled, which enables low-wear guidance in tight radii is, and a correspondingly small amount of space is required in the open position without, on the other hand, accepting increased noise when opening and closing. In addition, protruding parts of the hinge are avoided, with a corresponding visual effect and a reduction in the risk of injury. Adjacent slats are provided with sealing strips almost over the entire width of the opening, which prevent windtightness and the ingress of rainwater and dust. The sealing strips are arranged in such a way that the geometric axis of the hinge pin comes to lie within the outline of the sealing strip, so that the sealing strips are only subjected to bending when the end element is bent. On the opposite sides, the sealing strips have beads or thickenings which engage in correspondingly shaped recesses in the lamellae, with mutually facing support surfaces of the thickenings having a minimal, but trouble-free, distance from corresponding holding surfaces of the lamellae, so that in the closed position of the closing element when there is a pressure load a slat transverse to the gate level - after initial restoring forces solely due to bending stress of the sealing strips to the neighboring slats - a tensile stress of the sealing strips occurs immediately, which prevents further deflection compared to adjacent slats or limited. Overall, the closure element thus behaves largely like a homogeneous flat plate with a corresponding force distribution in the plate plane, but nevertheless allows a low-force diversion or winding.

The closure element according to the invention can be used as a closure for any type of gate opening. The closing element can be guided by means of guideways, which enables higher running speeds with less noise when opening and closing, or can be wound up without any guidance. The closing element can be driven by an electric motor or manually.

A particularly fast run when closing and opening the closing element is made possible if, according to claim 2, the hinges are in the form of hinge straps, with hinge members which are connected to one another in an articulated manner and can be angled with respect to one another via the hinge pins, the hinge straps having a length which is clear Corresponds to the height of the opening. These hinge straps form the load-bearing structure of the closure element, since all tensile forces are absorbed by the hinge straps and are not introduced into the slats. According to claim 3, the slats are simply placed on the hinge members of the hinge straps.

According to claim 4, the sealing strips are preferably made of an elastic material, in particular rubber, which avoids moving mechanical parts for bending and only a small amount of force is required to bend the end element, as well as when bending resulting noises are kept as low as possible.

An even quieter, almost free of frictional and therefore faster running of the slat armor is achieved according to claim 5 in that rollers are mounted coaxially to the hinge pin, which run in corresponding guideways.

A particularly tight closure of the door opening results if, according to claim 6, a sealing lug is provided on the outside of each slat, due to which the distance between adjacent slats is reduced in the closed position, but without the slats themselves touching. Since this means that the sealing strips are no longer perceptible from the outside, there is at the same time an appealing external appearance of the end element in the form of a uniformly smooth surface.

If, according to claim 7, retaining collars are arranged on the two opposite sides of the closing element to secure the position of the slats, the closing element can also counteract larger compressive forces in the closed position without fear of pulling the closing element out of the opening.

Fig. 1

eine Rückansicht eines Abschlußelementes entsprechend eines erfindungsgemäßen Ausführungsbeispieles;

Fig. 2

eine schematische Schnittdarstellung entlang der Linie II-II in Fig. 1;

Fig. 2A

schematisch eine vergrößerte Darstellung der Einzelheit X aus Fig. 2; und

Fig. 3

eine Draufsicht eines Abschlußelementes gemäß der vorliegenden Erfindung, wobei das Abschlußelement bei einem vertikal nach oben zu verfahrenden Hubtor angewendet ist.

Further details and expediencies of the invention result from the following description of an embodiment with reference to the figures. It shows:

Fig. 1

a rear view of a closure element according to an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2

is a schematic sectional view taken along line II-II in Fig. 1;

Figure 2A

schematically shows an enlarged view of the detail X from Fig. 2; and

Fig. 3

a plan view of a closure element according to the present invention, wherein the closure element is applied to a lifting gate to be moved vertically upwards.

The exemplary embodiment of a closure element according to the invention described below takes place with reference to the use as a lifting gate, which can be moved vertically upwards from a closed position into an open position of a gate opening. However, the closing element here is in no way limited to use with a lifting gate, but can be used with any gate opening.

1 to 3 illustrate, the illustrated embodiment of a closure element 12 according to the invention of an opening 1 has a plurality of slats 14 for covering the opening 1, which are hingedly connected to one another by means of hinges 20, 20 '. Opposite sides of adjacent slats are each connected via sealing strips 42, as will be described in detail below. The closing element shown is guided according to FIG. 3 on the two opposite sides 3 and 3 'of the gate opening 1 by means of guideways 2 and 2', so that the closing element 12 can be moved from the vertical closing element into an area outside the opening 1 into the open position. Denote below deleted reference numerals each the corresponding parts of the closure element, which are arranged on the side 3 'of the opening 1, and which represent the mirror-image corresponding parts of the uncoated reference numerals.

Hinges in the form of hinge straps 20, 20 'are provided on the two edge sides of the closing element 12, which have a length which corresponds essentially to the height of the door opening 1. Each hinge band 20, 20 'consists of rigid hinge members 22 which are connected to one another in an articulated manner and can be angled relative to one another via hinge pins 24, 24'. For this purpose, each hinge member is shaped in a known manner at its end to form a rolled-up eyelet into which the hinge pin 24 can be inserted. In each case two adjacent hinge members are connected to one another in an articulated manner in such a way that their eyes are arranged coaxially to one another, in which a common hinge pin 24 is mounted.

In the example shown, rollers 26, 26 'are furthermore mounted coaxially to the hinge pins 24, 24', which serve for the rolling guidance of the hinge straps 20 and 20 'in the guideways 2 and 2'. In the example shown, each guideway has a pair of round rods 28 and 30 which are arranged at a constant distance from one another which is selected to match the diameter of the rollers 26. The hinge straps 20, 20 'and the round bars 28, 30 are made, for example, of hard, metallic material, while the rollers 26 can also be made of plastic material. To secure the individual slats 14 and thus the end element against being pulled out of the guideway, each roller 26, 26 'has a retaining collar 27, 27', the outer diameter of which is greater than the clear distance between the round bars 28, 30.

The slats 14 are, for example, placed and fastened on the hinge straps 20, 20 'by means of screw connections 32, 32' in such a way that a space 34 is formed by the distance between the adjacent slats 14, in which the hinge pins 24, 24 'or which engage the hinge pins 22, 22 'including the hinge pins as best shown in FIG. According to the invention it is achieved that the geometric hinge axis 36 comes to lie completely within the area which is delimited by the two outer main surfaces 38 and 40 of the closure element 12. This position of the hinge axis 36 ensures that the width of the angular opening between the adjacent lamellae 14 is reduced to a minimum when the end element is angled, so that the tilting accelerations when entering an upper, bent guideway outside the region of the opening 1 are correspondingly reduced . As a result, the possible running speeds of the closure element shown are further increased without being accompanied by excessive noise.

The slats with a height of, for example, up to 150 mm are placed independently of one another and individually on the hinge straps 20, 20 ', so that, for example, the absence of an entire slat has no effect on the mechanical stability and functioning of the closure element. The hinge straps 20 and 20 'thus form, as it were, the load-bearing framework or skeleton of the closing element, which absorbs all the forces which arise during the movement of the lifting gate. Because of the mechanically continuous cohesion of the hinge band 20, 20 ', the tensile forces which occur are absorbed by the hinge bands 20, 20' and are not transmitted to the slats 14. By transferring and distributing the forces to an articulated, continuous, but tensile Belt, even with extremely fast runs of the lifting gate, a smooth and smooth movement is achieved.

Since the individual slats 14 are initially placed at a certain distance from one another on the hinge straps 20, 20 'in order to make room for the hinge pin, the adjacent slats 14 are also in the closed position of the closing element without contact with one another, as a result of which the rattling noises known in conventional sectional doors when closing the gate also completely eliminated here.

To increase the mechanical stability of the lamellar armor and to increase the tightness, but without endangering the properties of the present closure element in terms of low noise, sealing strips 42 are provided in the form of rubber strips, which are arranged approximately over the entire door width between the hinge straps 20 and 20 ' , and connect opposite sides of adjacent slats 14. Each sealing strip 42 is arranged coaxially to the adjacent hinge axis 36, so that the sealing strips 42 are only subjected to bending when the lamellar armor 12 is angled in the guide region (not shown) outside the opening. Each sealing strip 42 has beads or thickenings 44 on opposite sides which engage in correspondingly shaped recesses 46 in the lamellae 14. As can best be seen from the enlarged section according to FIG. 2A, each thickening 44 has a support surface 43 which is arranged opposite a corresponding holding surface 45 of the lamella 14. The distance between a support surface 43 and the associated holding surface 45 of the lamella 14 is - taking into account the requirement of a jam-free and trouble-free installation by inserting the sealing strip 42 with the thickening 44 into the recess 46 from the side - as small as possible, so that any pressure loads that may occur in the closed position of the closing element lead to the end element that the sealing strip 42 is tilted to the side and after the contacting of the support surface 43 with the holding surface 45, the sealing strip 42 to the two adjacent slats is subjected to tension. With even smaller deflections of the slat under consideration from the door leaf level, ie as long as the support surface 43 does not touch the opposite holding surface 45, the sealing strip 42 is only subjected to bending in relation to the two adjacent slats, which lead to corresponding restoring forces. Since the distance between the support surface 43 and the associated holding surface 45 is chosen to be minimal, in order to obtain a strain on the sealing strip as far as possible even with small deflections, the pressure loads occurring on the closure element from the sealing strip 42 which is initially directly affected are also applied to the adjacent sealing strips transferred and distributed. In the event of a pressure load, the closure element according to the invention thus behaves largely as a homogeneous flat plate with a corresponding force distribution in the plate plane, but nevertheless permits a low-force deflection or winding. Therefore, the sealing strips 42 cause a noticeable increase in the mechanical stability of the closure element, so that the entire closure element in the closed position can withstand high wind or other pressure loads without further notice. Of course, the closure element according to the invention also offers sufficient security against unauthorized opening, so that the closure element according to the invention is to be regarded as a permanent closure of an opening.

To prevent the closing element 12 from being pulled out if even greater pressure forces occur, retaining collars 27, 27 'are arranged on the two opposite sides of the closing element, which in the exemplary embodiment shown are designed as an outer disk with a larger diameter than the diameter of the rollers 26, 26'. The Retaining collars 27, 27 'are arranged at such a small distance (not shown in the drawing) from adjacent support surfaces of the guide rods 28, 30 that they are supported only on the outside of the guide rods 28, 30 when the slats 14 are very strongly bent under load arrive, so that the closure element remains easy to operate and move at relatively low pressure loads. The described good distribution of forces via the sealing strip 42 in the door leaf plane prevents the retaining collars 27, 27 'of a loaded lamella 14 from reaching the support at an early stage due to their strong deflection and thereby hindering the movement of the closing element, even in the case of selective loading.

In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 2, each lamella 14 has a sealing lug 48 which projects on the outside 38 in the door leaf plane and on the basis of which the distance to an adjacent lamella is reduced. Due to the sealing lug 48, the rubber strip 42 can no longer be recognized from the outside in the closed position. The rubber strip 42 is then only visible from the inside (see rear view according to FIG. 1). At the same time, the design of the sealing nose 48 shown in FIG. 2 results in a more attractive appearance of the lamellar shell 12 in the form of a more uniform, smooth surface.

1 and 2, a closure 54 is provided, for example made of rubber, which is fastened to the lowermost lamella.

Claims (7)

1. A closure element for a passable gate aperture comprising

   1.1. strips (14) pivotally interconnected by hinge frames (20, 20') comprising hinge links (22) pivotally interconnected and flexible in relation to one another via hinge pins (24, 24'),
   characterised in that

   1.1.1. the distance between adjacent strips (14) defines a space (34),

   1.1.2. in which the hinge pins (24, 24') of the hinges (20, 20') engage;

   1.2. sealing strips (42) are provided for the flexible connection of opposite sides of adjacent strips, wherein:

   1.2.1. the sealing strips (42) are so disposed that the geometric axis (36) of the hinge pins (24, 24') comes to lie inside the contour of the sealing strip,

   1.2.2. the sealing strips (42) have on opposite sides thickenings (44) comprising support surfaces (43), the thickenings (44) engaging in correspondingly shaped recesses (46) in the strips;

   1.2.3. the facing support surfaces (43) of the thickenings (44) of the sealing strips (42) have a minimal distance from corresponding retaining surfaces (45) of the strips (14).
2. A closure element according to claim 1, characterised in that the hinge frames (20, 20') have a length corresponding to the inside height (h) of the aperture (1).
3. A closure element according to claim 2, characterised in that the strips (14) are fitted on the hinge links (22) of the hinge frames (20, 20').
4. A closure element according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the sealing strips (42) are made from an elastic material, more particularly from rubber.
5. A closure element according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised by rollers (26, 26') mounted coaxially to the hinge pins (24, 24') for rolling guidance in guideways (2, 2').
6. A closure element according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised by a sealing lug (48) provided on the closure element side remote from the hinges (20, 20'), resulting in a reduced distance from an adjacent strip.
7. A closure element according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised by retaining collars (27, 27') disposed at the two opposite sides of the closure element (12) to secure the position of the strips.

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