EP0694111B1

EP0694111B1 - A gate with an extendable and retractable articulated structure

Info

Publication number: EP0694111B1
Application number: EP94901933A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Marcello Farina
Original assignee: Femak Di Farina Marcello & C SNC; Femak Di Farina Marcello & C S
Current assignee: Dibi Porte Blindate Srl
Priority date: 1993-04-13
Filing date: 1993-11-29
Publication date: 1998-04-08
Anticipated expiration: 2013-11-29
Also published as: ITMO930049A1; DE69317910D1; WO1994024399A1; ITMO930049A0; AU5629994A; ATE164916T1; EP0694111A1; IT1263532B

Abstract

The articulated structure of the extendable and retractable gate is designed to avoid having to suspend sliding guided vertical support rods to the lintel of the opening and also to avoid having to provide a bottom runner for the opposite end of the said rods; the articulated structure is a lattice and consists solely of linkages (1, 2) inclined in two directions, interconnected with each other and to the supporting uprights (8, 9) with structural elements that make it self-supporting; the sole function of the wheel (18) is that of facilitating the sliding movement; the gate can be applied, as well as for closing doors and windows, also for openings in walls or fences that do not have a lintel.

Description

The invention concerns a gate with an extendable and retractable articulated structure, that is, a vertical lattice able to slide transversely to close-off openings in windows, doors, walls, or fencing in general, for safety purposes.

The prior art involves single-piece extendable and retractable lattices for windows or french windows, made up of structures having an abutment, attached to the wall section, with a locking mechanism in which to secure a latch carried by a corresponding vertical sliding upright which is connected on its other side, by means of one or more sets of series of thin, short articulated linkages, cross-linked in a parallelogram configuration, to a sliding vertical upright having drilled flanges to attach it to the opposing wall section or fixed abutment: between the said sliding upright and this last fixed abutment, there being a number of evenly spaced vertical risers, each made up of two opposing C-sections, inside each of which there being, at the same height in each set of said crossed linkages, the pins that constitute the median node of each formation of linkages, whereas the pins that constitute the upper and lower hinges with respect to the median node can slide vertically inside the said vertical risers and inside the vertical upright that does not have the lock; the upper extremities of the said vertical sliding risers being suspended and guided in a square C-section runner, attached to the lintel, with supporting lips on its underside, whereas the lower extremities slide in a C-section runner.

This type of extendable and retractable gate has the considerable drawback of requiring the lintels, sills and thresholds to be drilled in order to insert the screws or expansion plugs to attach the said runners, spoiling or damaging the respective surfaces, especially if they are made of marble, in such a way that they cannot be restored should this be required.

Furthermore, the lower runner in particular constitutes an obstruction and a receptacle for dust and dirt.

Finally, the necessity of making the said risers slide in the runners requires that tolerances be adhered to, especially the vertical tolerances, therefore requiring that the height of the risers be adjusted in function of the actual difference in height between the threshold, or sill and the lintel.

The runners are also a source of difficulty in manoeuvering and installation as well as in using the gate, they reduce the effective height of the window or door and constitute an obstruction when hanging curtains, sheets or drapes at the window as required.

It is also evident that this type of gate cannot be installed in openings that are not covered by a lintel as it is not possible to suspend the risers that carry the diagonal linkages that constitute the lattice structure itself.

Lastly, such a structure is weak and not self-supporting: as a result it can be easily broken through, situation which cannot be improved with the use of larger section linkages, as this leads to excessive self-weight and making practically impossible the already difficult extending or retracting manoeuvres, which, furthermore, are subject to stick-slip and are noisy, even with lightweight structures.

FR-A-8907886, which is considered to represent the closest prior art, discloses an automatic door having an extendable structure comprising a plurality of opposingly inclined bars pivotally joined at their points of intersection and having outer ends vertically slidably mounted on a fixed upright and on a movable upright by means of respective transverse hinge pins slidably coupled in vertically extending slots in the upper portion of the uprights. The positioning of the hinge pins into the slots to determine positioning of the door with respect to the opening is quite precarious, since it depends on the radial play between each pin and the respective slot, the play being variable over the working of the door and becoming larger after a certain period of countinuos functioning. A certain play is requested also because the door is designed to reach the closed position under the action of the weight of the bars.

GB-A-2183716 and GB-A-2224073 disclose similar gates, but in which the bars are provided, in their outermost portions, with rollers slidably movable along a lower support track, an upper riser support track, a fixed support track and a movable side support track. The rollers are free to rotate around respective pins and, when the user decide to open or close the gate, said rollers necessarily roll along the tracks without opposing any substantial reaction to the movement of the gate. A further disadvantage of this gate is that a plurality of tracs is provided for guiding said rollers, which renders the installation quite complicated.

AU-B-596065 also discloses an extendable and retractable gate, having a lattice-like structure defined by obliquely disposed bars cross-linked in a planar arrangement and connected to vertical supports by means of sleeves. The sleeves encicle the outer surface of the supports so that are dangerously accessible from outside and therefore do not guarantee sufficent protection. A coil tension spring system bias the gate in its closed position.

The technical problem solved by the present inventon is therefore of inventing an extendable and retractable gate having an articulated structure which is safe, does not require horizontally extending vertical supports, i. e. upper and lower support tracks, and allows correct and precise positioning of the gate both in opening and in closing operation.

According to the invention, a gate is provided comprising an extendable and retractable articulated structure for barring openings, comprising two layers of inclined members and at least one supporting upright, each layer of members being inclined in opposing inclined directions, said members being connected to each other at their points of intersection by first connecting means and to the at least one supporting upright at a respective lateral end of the structure by second connecting means, said structure being attached to a fixed section of the opening having at least one abutment provided with first anchoring means, the inclined members being connected to each other and to the at least one supporting upright in such a way as to provide a self-bearing structure without the need for further vertical supporting elements, said members being connected with sliding means slidably movable in a track means, said track means being only provided into said at least one supporting upright, characterised in that said sliding means comprises sliding blocks slidably engaged with the inner surface of the respective supporting upright; spacing means being interposed between said sliding blocks.

Further advantages offered by the invention are: elimination of the vertical risers, of the suspension and sliding runner for the upper extremities of the risers and the runner for the lower extremities; elimination of the drilling of the lintels, the sills and the thresholds; elimination of the dust and dirt traps; increase in the effective dimensions of the openings; greater speed of installation and removal; reduced difficulty of operation due to improved smoothness; elimination of obstacles in hanging up drapery at windows; possibility of installing the gate in openings of walls or fencing.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated, by way of example, in the seven tables of drawings attached, in which: Figure 1 is a partial front view from the inside of the gate with the corresponding uprights in the closed position, shown, purely for the purposes of greater clarity, separated from the abutments and with only one of the far-side linkages, of which there are, in fact, as many as on the near-side, drawn with dashed lines, the front-side linkages being only shown in part: each linkage constituting a hinging support for the other linkages so creating the vertical articulated self-supporting structure of the gate; Figure 2 is the enlarged longitudinal centre-line section of one of the far-side linkages as drawn with dashed lines in Figure 1, showing the sections of the near-side linkages hinged at various heights to form the vertical structure; Figure 3 is an interrupted front view from the inside the gate as applied, for example, in the opening of a window; Figure 4 is an interrupted plan view, enlarged and partially sectioned, of the two extremities of the gate in its fully extended position, showing the abutment without lock and the two uprights; Figure 5 is an enlarged, interrupted and partially sectioned plan view of the closed gate, including the two abutments and the lock; Figures 6, 7, 8 are, respectively, enlarged and interrupted sections VI-VI, VII-VII, VIII-VIII, IX-IX of Figure 1, highlighting the articulation of the linkages by means of elements that render the gate self-supporting; Figure 10 is the front view of the support element that carries the lock; Figure 11 is the horizontal transverse section XI-XI of Figure 10 in the configuration of square section tubular element; Figures 12, 13 are, respectively, the interrupted front view and corresponding plan view of one of the two abutments (left); Figures 14, 15 are analogous frontal and plan views of one of the two uprights (left); Figures 16, 17 are analogous frontal and plan views of the other upright (right); Figures 18, 19 are analogous frontal and plan views of the abutment with the lock.

The figures show: 1, the near-side linkages (i.e. internal) inclined from the vertical to one side; 2, the far-side linkages (i.e. external) inclined in the opposite way; 3, through holes in linkages 2 for the insertion, in each of the holes, of hollow spindle 4 (Figure 2) having on one side head or boss 5, on the other side screw thread 6 into which is screwed screw 7 with washer 7a, in such a way so that it cannot be removed: the hollow spindle extending into the corresponding hole in the other inclined linkage; 8, the C-section upright with lip 8a (Figure 4) located on the opposite side of upright 9, also with lip 9a in its C-section, having slot 10 for lock 11, fixed to abutment 12, also with C-section: upright 9 being mobile, whilst upright 8 is fixed; 13 (Figure 3), a handle for operating the gate; 14, the opposite abutment, with C-section, from the one with the lock; 15, holes in the sides of abutment 14, to attach upright 8 inside it by drilling during assembly and inserting transverse screw 16 (Figure 3); 17, the mechanism of lock 11; 18, an optional wheel located at the lower extremity of upright 9 to facilitate sliding across the sill, threshold or pavement, in order to make the operation faster and without overstressing the structure, keeping the distance from the underlying surface unaltered when pushing, especially for long gates; the structure of the gate being self-supporting, in other words, not requiring a support surface or to be suspended; 19, expansion plugs to attach the abutments to the wall; 20 (Figure 4), spacing washers between

linkages

1, 2, coaxial with spindle 4 of head 5; 21, 22 spacing elements placed on pin 23, supported by a pair of sliding blocks 24 that slide against the inside of

uprights

8, 9 to separate them from

linkages

1, 2; the said uprights having guiding lips 8a, 9a; 25 (Figure 5), the key; 26 (Figure 5), the supporting element of lock 11 fixed to the inside of the abutment 12; 27 (Figure 10), the slot of supporting element 26 of the lock, having holes 28 for the mounting screws; 29 (Figure 8), the hinge pin of near-side linkage 1 in fixed upright 8; 30 (Figure 9), the support pin for wheel 18 centred by means of two equal length spacers; 31, another pin to hinge far-side linkage 2; 32,33 different length spacers of linkage 1 hinged on pin 29, against the sides of upright 8 that support the pin ; 34, 35, analogous spacers for linkage 2 against the sides of upright 8; 38, the qpacing washer placed between

linkages

1, 2 at the points where they couple with the uprights.

Assembly is as follows: once

abutments

12, 14 have been attached to the walls, or th the fixed part of the structure with the opening, using expansion plugs and screws 19, upright 8 is inserted in corresponding abutment 14, fixing it in place with transverse screws 16 placed in holes 15, after the corresponding holes have been drilled with the upright in position; wheel 18 will roll across the soll or threshold, as abutment 14 and its corresponding fixed upright 8 are made shorter so as to keep them lifted by an amount approximately corresponding to the amount that the wheel protrudes from the lower extremity of mobile upright 9, also made correspondingly shorter.

In practice, the materials, dimensions, and details of execution may be different from but technically equivalent to those described without departing from the giuridical domain of the present invention.

For example, the abutment (14) opposite the one with the lock could be eliminated, advantageously or not, attaching the corresponding upright (8), by means of side plates and screws, directly to the wall section.

Claims

A gate comprising an extendable and retractable articulated structure (1, 2, 8, 9) for barring openings, comprising two layers of inclined members (1, 2) and at least one supporting upright (8 or 9), each layer of members (1, 2) being inclined in opposing near-vertical directions, said members (1, 2) being connected to each other at their points of intersection by first connecting means (4, 5, 6, 7, 7a) and to the at least one supporting upright (8 or 9) at a respective lateral extremity of the structure by second connecting means (23, 29, 30, 31), said structure being attached to a fixed section of the opening having at least one abutment (14) provided with first anchoring means (19), the inclined members (1, 2) being connected to each other and to the at least one supporting upright (8 or 9) in such a way as to provide a self-bearing structure without the need for further vertical supporting elements, said members (1, 2) being connected with sliding means (24) slidably movable in a track means, said track means being only provided into said at least one supporting upright (8 or 9), characterised in that said sliding means comprises sliding blocks (24) slidably engaged with the inner surface of the respective supporting upright (8 or 9); spacing means (21, 22, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37) being interposed between said sliding blocks (24).
A gate according to claim 1, wherein said track means comprises two supporting uprights (8, 9), a first supporting upright (8) engageable with the abutment (14) by second anchoring means (16) and a second supporting upright (9) at the other lateral end of the structure.
A gate according to claim 1, wherein said first connecting means comprises a hollow spindle (4) having at one end a head (5), at the other end an internal screw thread (6) into which is screwed a screw (7) with washer (7a); there being a spacing washer (20) between members (1, 2) coupled by means of said connecting element.
A gate according to claim 2, wherein the first supporting upright (8) has a C-shaped cross section with two lips (8a); said first supporting upright (8) being insertable into and extractable from the associated abutment (14), which has a flared C-section.
A gate according to claim 2, wherein the second supporting upright (9) has a C-shaped cross section (9) with two lips (9a).
A gate according to claim 1, wherein said second connecting means between each lower extremity of inclined members (1, 2) and the C-section supporting uprights (8, 9) is made up of a pin (29, 31) that is connected to the sides of the upright (8, 9) in its lower portion; the positioning of each said member (1, 2) in its vertical plane being achieved by means of two spacers (32, 33; 34, 35) of different length and arranged in inverse order.
A gate according to claim 1, wherein the second supporting upright (9) is fitted on its underside with a wheel (18) that rolls across the underlying surface of the opening that contains the gate to prevent accidental overstressing during operation.
A gate according to claim 7, wherein said wheel (18) rotates around a pin (30) attached to the sides of the supporting upright (9) on the closing side and centred by means of two identical spacers.