EP1245779B1 - Roller shutter with integrated detection device, in particular for obstacles and/or for intrusion - Google Patents

Abstract

The roller shutter for a building door or window has a panel with louvres (3,4) and an integral sensor (8) for break in attempts, connected to the shutter drive and an alarm (11). The sensor can be connected to the drive and alarm via a radio connection. One of the louvres can be aluminum, with at least one slot (12) positioned as a function of the wavelength to act as an antenna.

Description

The invention relates to a shutter for a door, window or the like comprising an apron consisting of a juxtaposition of blades and incorporating any detection device, in particular obstacle and / or tampering, this device comprising transmission means to distance of a signal towards a management unit of operation of said shutter and / or an alarm center.

The invention will find application in the field of closure systems, more particularly roller shutters.

In this regard, it is more and more common to motorize roller shutters so that the opening and closing control can intervene under the effect of a single pulse on a control button within reach of the user. It is still very common to be able to thus remote control, closing and opening of several shutters.

In fact, this motorized control of roller shutter aprons poses a safety problem insofar as it must be ensured, in particular during a closing command, that the apron is properly and fully deployed. More specifically, during the deployment of this apron it is necessary to avoid that the presence of an obstacle on its trajectory generates its uncontrolled unfolding, in particular inside the box enclosing the drive mechanism, or that inadvertently a user, let alone a child, may be trapped under the apron. Also, it is quite common to equip this type of motorized roller shutter of obstacle detection devices that can borrow different embodiments.

Thus, for example, it is known to implant in a slide, laterally guiding the blades of the deck, an electrical coil at the terminals of which one comes to detect a voltage under the effect of the displacement of an otherwise associated magnet at the end of a deck blade. In sum, if, in the deployment phase, the voltage across a coil drops to zero, it is concluded the presence, on the path of the roller blind apron, an obstacle hindering its progression.

It is still known to associate with the final blade of the apron of a roller shutter an obstacle detection device in the form of a probe which, if it is actuated during the deployment phase of this apron, triggers, at its turn, shutting down the roller shutter drive motor. Because of the very design of this apron, this poses the problem of transmitting the perceived signal through the probe in the final blade towards the shutter operating management unit.

Knowing, on the one hand, that the deployment of such a rolling shutter deck occurs, most frequently, under the effect of the weight of the blades and that, on the other hand, possible friction at the slides can hindering or hindering such deployment, transmission by contact, necessarily has a number of disadvantages.

Another solution consists in equipping this detection device, for example in the form of a probe, with remote transmission means, in particular of the radio type, making it possible to address, more easily, the detected signal towards a control unit. operating management of the roller shutter.

The publication of U 9109436 discloses a shutter equipped with such a detection device according to the preamble of claim 1.

Such radio frequency remote transmission means require the development of a transmitting antenna at the blade accommodating the detection device.

If it is easy enough to implant this antenna inside a plastic blade, more particularly through an opening in the latter, especially on its inner side, this solution is not suitable. in the case of metal blades, such as aluminum. Indeed, it prevents any reception and / or emission.

In addition, the development of the antenna surface of such a metal blade, makes it directional which, again, undermines its effectiveness. Indeed, the reception of the transmitted signal is more difficult and subject to compliance with a particular provision of the associated receiving means, as indicated above, the management unit of the operation of the shutter or a central d 'alarm. In this connection, it should be noted that such obstacle detection means may, in certain cases, also detect an attempted break-in by raising the rolling shutter apron.

The present invention is intended to provide a solution to the various constraints recalled above through a simple design resulting in a cost lower than the current designs for a significantly improved result.

For this purpose, the invention relates to a shutter for a door, window or the like comprising an apron consisting of a juxtaposition of blades and incorporating any detection device, in particular obstacle and / or burglar, this device comprising means for remotely transmitting a signal to an operation management unit of said shutter and / or an alarm center, characterized in that the remote transmission means are of the radio frequency type and that at least one of the blades, more particularly that incorporating the detection device, is made of an electrically conductive material, in particular aluminum, in this blade being cut out at least one perimeter slot determined with respect to the wavelength of the signal to be transmitted and / or received, so as to define an antenna.

According to a first embodiment, the electrically conductive material blade defining the antenna is of the single-wall type.

According to another embodiment, the blade defining the antenna is of the double wall type, only one of which is made of electrically conductive material and comprises said slot, while the other is made of synthetic material and delimits, with the preceding one, an internal volume. , in particular for receiving all or part of the constituent elements of the detection device.

According to another embodiment, the blade defining the antenna takes the form of a closed profile and whose electrically conductive material walls delimit an internal volume, in particular able to receive all or part of the constituent elements of the detection device, the internal perimeter of the section of said blade being smaller than the largest of the perimeter sections of the slot separating the two connection terminals of the antenna to said slot, so that parallel to the latter is cut out a second slot capable of defining a chicane.

The advantages of the present invention are that the simple arrangement of one or two slots in a blade of electrically conductive material, in particular aluminum, makes it possible to transform the latter into an antenna capable of transmitting, with a maximum efficiency, a signal resulting from an appropriate detection device, this in the direction of a management unit of operation of the shutter and / or a control panel.

It is already understood that if the implementation of the present invention does not give rise to any difficulty in the context of a rolling shutter whose apron consists of metal blades, simply replace one of the blades of a plastic apron, especially that provided with a detection device, with a metal blade to achieve the same result. This modification represents, in all cases, a lower cost compared to the arrangement in a plastic blade, an antenna capable of emitting with similar performance.

• La figure 1 est une représentation schématisée d'un volet roulant conforme à l'invention ;
• La figure 2 est une vue schématisée et en plan d'une lame du tablier de ce volet roulant capable de définir une antenne ;
• La figure 3 est une représentation schématisée en coupe d'une telle lame.

The present invention will be better understood on reading the following description relating to the attached drawing.

• The figure 1 is a schematic representation of a shutter according to the invention;
• The figure 2 is a schematic and plan view of a deck blade of this shutter capable of defining an antenna;
• The figure 3 is a schematic representation in section of such a blade.

As seen in the figure 1 the present invention relates to the field of shutters.

It is more particularly a roller shutter 1 comprising an apron 2 consisting of a juxtaposition of blades 3, 4 at least articulated with respect to each other and whose lateral ends are guided through slides 5, 6 s extending substantially to the threshold 7 of a door, window or the like.

More particularly, this apron 2 incorporates a detection device 8 including obstacle and / or burglary. In fact, this detection device 8 can, as illustrated in FIG. figure 1 , be associated with the final blade 4 of the apron 2. Thus, for example, with regard to an obstacle detection device, when this final blade 4 encounters, along its trajectory and more particularly during the deployment of the deck 2, an obstacle hindering its progression, it can control the stop of the course of the latter in the case, of course, a shutter 1 motorized.

This detection device 8 is associated with remote transmission means 9 capable, precisely, of transmitting a signal delivered by this device in the direction of a management unit 10 for the operation of said shutter 1 and / or a control panel. alarm 11. It will be specified in this regard that the present invention does not apply exclusively to motorized roller shutters, but may also find its usefulness in the case of manually operated shutters, whose apron incorporates, for example, an obstacle detector.

Advantageously, these remote transmission means 9 are of the radio frequency type, while one of the blades 4 of the deck 2, more particularly that incorporating the detection device 8, defines, in itself, an antenna.

For this purpose, this blade 4 is made of an electrically conductive material, in particular aluminum, and comprises a cutout in the form of a perimeter slot 12 defined with respect to the wavelength of the radio signal to be emitted and, possibly signals to be picked up.

Thus, according to a first embodiment, the blade 4 comprises a single wall. However, in such a configuration this raises the problem of the integration of the detection device 8. Also, according to another embodiment, this blade defining the antenna 4 comprises an outer wall 13 and an inner wall 14 defining an internal volume. 15, knowing that only one of these walls 13, 14 is of electrically conductive material type, the other being made of an insulating material, including synthetic material.

Finally and according to another embodiment, this blade 4, defining the antenna takes the form of a closed profile and has an outer wall 13 and an inner wall 14, both made of electrically conductive material, defining a In fact, traditionally such blades result from an extrusion or folding operation of a strip of electrically conductive material, more particularly aluminum. However, it is possible, under these conditions, that the perimeter corresponding to the section 16 of such a double-walled blade 4, 14, 14 is smaller than the largest perimeter portion T1 of the slot 12, separating the two terminals 18 , 19 of the antenna connected to this slot 12, so that the antenna defined by said blade 4 is tuned to a wavelength different from the wavelength of the radio signal to be transmitted.

Also, it is made at the level of said blade 4, in one of its walls 13, 14 and parallel to the slot 12, an auxiliary slot 17 defining a baffle and, therefore, whose dimensions are determined so that the shortest path C to connect the two terminals 18, 19 of the antenna by the periphery of the blade 4 is greater than the largest section of perimeter T1 of the slot 12, separating these two same terminals 18, 19.

The advantages that flow from the present invention are that, not only the transmission means 9 may be free of antenna, the latter being directly defined by the blade in which they are advantageously integrated, but, moreover, a such antenna corresponding to a metal blade of the apron of the shutter 1 has an improved range. Indeed, it is not directional and the reception of the emissions resulting from the detection device 8 by the management unit 10 or a central alarm 11 is performed with great reliability.

Note that in the slot or slots 12, 17 of the blade 4 can be snapped shutters of any synthetic material. Especially one and / or the other of these slots 12, 17 can receive an information carrier, in particular a plate identifying the manufacturer of the shutter.

One can still imagine implant in both of these slots 12, 17, any type of insert, such as, for example, a temperature display device or a solar radiation sensor.

The invention therefore solves the problem positively.

Claims (8)

1. Roller shutter for a door, window or the like, including an apron (2) formed of a juxtaposition of slats (3, 4) and integrating a detection device (8) whatsoever, in particular for obstacles and/or intrusion, this device (8) including means for remotely transmitting (9) a signal to a unit for controlling (10) the operation of said roller shutter (1) and/or an alarm centre (11), wherein the remote-transmission means (9) are of the radio-frequency type and at least one (4) of the slats, in particular the one integrating the detection device (8), is made out of electrically conductive material, namely aluminium, in this slat (4) being cut out at least one slot (12) with a perimeter determined with respect to the wavelength of the signal to be transmitted and/or to be received, so as to define an antenna.
2. Roller shutter according to claim 1, wherein the slat (4) made out of electrically conductive material and defining the antenna is of the single-wall type.
3. Roller shutter according to claim 1, wherein the slat (4) defining the antenna is of the double-wall type (13, 14) delimiting an internal volume (15) and only one of which is made out of electrically conductive material and includes said slot (12), while the other one is made out of synthetic material.
4. Roller shutter according to claim 1, wherein the slat (4) defining the antenna adopts the shape of a closed profile bar, the walls (13, 14) of which are made out of electrically conductive material and delimit an internal volume (15), namely capable of receiving all or part of the elements the detection device (8) is comprised of.
5. Roller shutter according to claim 4, wherein in one of the walls (13, 14) of the slat (4) and parallel to the slot (12) is provided for an auxiliary slot (17) so as to define a deflector and the dimensions of which are so determined that the shortest path (C) for connecting both terminals (18, 19) for connecting the antenna while passing around the slat (4) is larger than the largest perimeter length (T1) of the slot (12) separating these two terminals (18, 19).
6. Roller shutter according to any of the preceding claims, wherein in the slot or slots (12, 17) of the slat (4) are snapped-in cover plates, in particular made out of synthetic material.
7. Roller shutter according to any of the preceding claims, wherein one and/or the other of the slots (12, 17) of the slat (4) receives an information carrier, in particular an identification plate of the manufacturer of the roller shutter.
8. Roller shutter according to any of the preceding claims, wherein in one and/or the other of the slots (12, 17) of the slat (4) is implanted an insert, such as temperature-display device or also a solar-radiation sensor.

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