EP1722059B1

EP1722059B1 - A sectional door

Info

Publication number: EP1722059B1
Application number: EP06008716A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Massimo Biassoni
Original assignee: Ferport Sas Di M Biassoni & C
Current assignee: Ferport Sas Di M Biassoni & C
Priority date: 2005-05-10
Filing date: 2006-04-27
Publication date: 2009-10-07
Anticipated expiration: 2026-04-27
Also published as: DE602006009578D1; ATE445077T1; ITMI20050832A1; EP1722059A1

Abstract

A rolling or sliding door arrangement movable between two side guides (10, 11), comprising an actuating motor and a safety device on the terminal portion of the door (1) cooperating with an electronic circuitry adapted to stop the closing motion of said door (1) upon detecting the presence of an obstacle in the path of said door. The safety device includes an infrared barrier with sensors (23) and emitters (22) fitted to pivotable members (2, 3) in proximity of said guides (10, 11). (Fig. 1).

Description

The present invention concerns closing devices of the slidable type, such as sliding doors and gates, roll-up shutters, bascule barriers, single or double doors gateways and in general the so-called sectional doors, particularly sectional doors and flexible doors. In the following the above devices will be referred to as sectional doors.
As it is known the above sectional doors comprise doors and gateways usually employed to close garages, industrial warehouses and the like, and are made up by a plurality of panels hinged to one another so as to form a flexible structure that behaves like a shutter, and is moved from an open position to a closed position and vice versa being guided along side guides fixed to the building structure.
The panels are generally formed as hollow members of sheet-steel, filled with a thermally insulating material, such as a polyurethane foam, rock wool, polystyrene and the like. The panels can also be made of a material different from sheet-steel, for example plastic materials, wood, aluminium.
Flexible doors are made of flexible plastic materials, such as PVC, movable between side guides, and are generally movable along a vertical direction. Flexible doors are of two main types, that is with the shutter being packed in the upper wall, and with the shutter being rolled like a sunblind, respectively, in both cases the door being movable along a vertical direction. The most frequent use of flexible doors occurs in an industrial environment where there is a frequent passage of moving vehicles that requires a fast opening/closing of the door to keep the inner temperature as much constant as possible.
In the case of vertical flexible doors and sectional doors, i.e. with the door sliding along a vertical direction, the door is lifted and lowered, whereas in the case of horizontal doors the door is movable sideways from right to left or vice versa. In the following, for simplicity sake, reference will be made mainly to vertical sectional doors, but this is not to be construed as a limitation of the invention that applies to both types of doors.
The opening and the closing of the door are accomplished though an electric motor coupled with a suitable gearmotor, that is operated through a remote control or through other means, e.g. by proximity sensors, key-operated devices, pushbuttons. In order to protect the people that are nearby the door when this latter is being closed, on the lower edge of such doors there are provided portions incorporating sensors, normally formed as a rubber hollow profile in which a detection system is fitted, that can be of different types, such as an optical system using infrared light or a mechanical system using a steel cable connected to a microswitch, or an inductive detection system, or a system of other types. Upon detecting the presence of an obstacle, the circuitry connected to the sensors stops the closing door and reverses the door motion.
In order to be actuated, these known safety systems require a physical contact with the obstacle and such contact may be dangerous for the involved people.
US 2004/0088922A1 (D1) discloses a non-contact sensor system for sensing the presence of an object during the door closing, providing for an aligned transmitter-receiver arrangement movable into retracted positions when the arrangement comes into contact with a floor abutment near the end of the closing motion.
Moreover, the more recent safety laws anyhow provide a well defined shape of the impact curve which could be met only through high costs and great difficulties.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the drawbacks and the limitations of the prior art safety devices, through a safety device for rolling or sliding doors, overhead doors and the like, that allows to reveal the presence of an obstacle without requiring a physical contact with such obstacle, and that is operatively working until the complete closure of the door.
The invention achieves these objects through a rolling or sliding door with the features recited in claim 1. Additional advantageous characteristics are recited in the dependent claims.
The safety device of the invention is applicable to any closing arrangement, both for industrial premises and domestic building, provided with either a vertical or a sideways motion, which motion can be either a rolling or a sliding motion. Preferably the invention provides for a modulated infrared barrier, pivotally fitted to supports at the lower edge of the door in a vertical closing arrangement, or pivotally fitted to the abutting edge of a sideways closing door.
Thanks to its configuration projecting from the door edge, the device of the invention is capable to detect the presence of an obstacle well in advance before a possible impact. More particularly, the device of the invention can be precisely aligned in a direction perpendicular to the door motion, and since the transmitting/receiving arrangement of the infrared signals can be positioned up to a few centimetres, e.g. 5-13 cms from the lower edge of the door, the invention allows to prevent any impact with an obstacle, thus automatically meeting the provisions of the most recent rules.
The characteristic of the invention according to which the barrier of the safety device laterally pivots in the final portion of the door closing motion, while always maintaining the capability of detecting an obstacle, allows to maintain the protection operating even in the last length of the door motion (typically 4-5 cms.), thus rendering the device compliant with the safety law in force.
Thanks to its extreme simplicity, the device of the invention has a long life and is very reliable in the time, and as a matter of fact no aesthetical change is required to the door, whereby a device of the invention can be easily fitted to doors already installed.
The invention will now be disclosed with reference to the attached drawings illustrating some preferred but not limiting embodiments of the invention, in which:

Fig. 1 is a partial perspective view illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention;
Fig. 2 illustrate the structure of a pivotable sensor/emitter according to the invention.

Throughout all the Figures the same numerical references have been used to indicate equal components or components substantially accomplishing equivalent functions.
Fig. 1 shows the end portion of a sectional door 1, particularly but without limiting purposes, the end panel of a sectional door, vertically slidable along side guides 10, 11, and equipped with at least a pair of pivotable sensor/ emitter members 2 and 3 in accordance with the invention. The door is actuated through a motor which is not shown since the arrangement is of conventional type. Advantageously both members of the pair are mounted at the lower edge of the door 1, in proximity of the guides 10, 11.
The sensor/emitter pair, whose construction will be disclosed with more details in the following, realizes a contact-less barrier, such as an infrared barrier, that is pivoted sideways when the door end approaches an abutment member 4 of the door, usually secured to the masonry. This way the arrangement supporting the safety barrier is displaced (preferably towards the inside of the door) so as not to interfere with the closure of the door. In Fig. 1 the positions of the sensor/emitter pair when the door is completely closed are shown at 2a and 3a.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the barrier can include one or more pairs, each comprising a source of infrared light on one member and a photocell (aligned with the associated infrared source) on the opposite member, coupled to a circuitry (not shown, but of a conventional type) capable to stop the motor and to reverse its rotation when the presence of an obstacle is detected in the space surrounding this (movable) barrier. In the illustrated embodiment, as mentioned above, the member 2 of the pair is an emitter 22 of infrared light, and the member 3 of the pair is an IR detector such as a photocell 23 (or a IR sensor, e.g. a diode, etc.) lined up with the emitter 22.
As illustrated with more details in Fig. 2, the pivotable member 2 comprises an upper portion 5, pivotally connected through a pin 14 (or in general through one joint or hinge allowing an angular rotation of at least 90°) to a main body 6, preferably of plastic material that carries (at least) one emitter 22 of infrared light lined up with (at least) one photocell 23 on the opposite member to realize the contact-less barrier or a part thereof.
At the other end of the main body there is rigidly secured a contact assembly comprising two steel rolls 15, 16, the axes of such rolls being orthogonal to the main body axis and not aligned to each other, whereby the shape of the assembly resembles a boot. The pivotable member 3 has a similar structure, with a photocell 23 in lieu of the emitter 22. Although not illustrated, it is clear that both the emitter(s) and fotocell(s) are connected to a suitable circuitry (not illustrated) controlling the motor that operates the door, in a manner analogous to that of the conventional safety devices. Of course different arrangement of the contact portions are possible.
Inside the main body 6 there is fitted a steel spring 7 (partially shown in the cross-sectioned detail) ensuring that the barrier maintains a vertical alignment during the movement of the door and returns to such vertical (or anyhow lined up) position when the door edge is lifted (or moved sideways).
When the edge of the door 1 is about to complete its closing motion, but before it comes into contact with the abutment 4, the rolls 15, 16 strike one after the other the abutment 4 and apply a torque to the main body 6, overcoming the spring force and causing a pivotal movement towards the inside of the structure to which the door is fitted, while always maintaining active the infrared barrier since the movements of the two members occur in a parallel and synchronous manner. This way the safety device remains active until the door has practically reached its closing position. A characteristic of this kind cannot be obtained in the known systems in which the safety device must compulsorily be shut off or disabled in the final portion of the closing path, otherwise the abutment would be regarded by the door control circuitry as an obstacle and would cause a reopening of the door.
Of course it is possible to employ other types of contact-less barriers, for instance ultrasounds barriers or barrier using other radiations, all of these falling within the scope of the invention, as well as all the obvious modifications and changes that although not expressly illustrated, will be evident to the skilled of the art.

Claims

A rolling or sliding door arrangement in which said door (1) is movable between two side guides (10, 11) from an open position to a closed position in abutment (4) against a portion of the structure to be closed and vice versa, comprising an actuating motor and detection means on the end portion of said door (1), said detection means cooperating with an electronic circuitry to stop the closing motion of said door (1) upon detecting the presence of an obstacle in the path of said door,
said detection means (2, 3) comprising a contactless barrier laterally pivoting when striking an abutment (4) in the final portion of the door closing motion, the barrier including signal transmitters (22) and signal receivers (23) fitted to pivotable members (2) of said door end portion located near said guides (10, 11),
characterized in that the main body (6) of each pivotable member (2) provides an assembly comprising two rolls (15, 16), the axes of such rolls being orthogonal to the main body (6) axis and not aligned to each other.
A door arrangement as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said barrier is an infrared barrier and said signal transmitters (22) and receivers (23) are infrared emitters and sensors, respectively.
A door arrangement as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that each of said detection means comprises a member (2, 3) comprising said main body (6) carrying at least one emitter (22) of infrared light, respectively at least one photocell (23), and an upper portion (5) secured to the door (1) and connected through a pivot (14) to said main body (6).
A door arrangement as claimed in claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said door (1) is a vertically sliding door.
A door arrangement as claimed in claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said door (1) is a sideways sliding door.
A door arrangement as claimed in the preceding claims, characterized in that said door (1) is a sectional door.
A door arrangement as claimed in claims 1 - 5, characterized in that said door (1) is a flexible door.