EP2101024A2

EP2101024A2 - Manually operated mechanical release device for electromechanical or oleodynamic actuators used for powering gates or doors with swinging leaves

Info

Publication number: EP2101024A2
Application number: EP20090154809
Authority: EP
Inventors: Mario Cinelli
Original assignee: Cebi Srl
Current assignee: Cebi Srl
Priority date: 2008-03-10
Filing date: 2009-03-10
Publication date: 2009-09-16
Anticipated expiration: 2029-03-10
Also published as: ITRM20080039U1; EP2101024A3; EP2101024B1

Abstract

A manually operated mechanical release device for electromechanical or oleodynamic actuators (2) used for powering gates or doors with swinging leaves (1), comprising manual releasing/blocking means designed to be set between a front end (3) of the actuator (2) and the motor-driven swinging leaf (1).

Description

The present invention basically relates to a manually operated mechanical device designed to release the swinging leaves of gates or doors motor-driven by the corresponding actuators, for example, of the arm type (both electromechanical ones and oleodynamic ones). The purpose of this is to enable ease of manual movement thereof, without the need for any particular effort and in emergency situations (for example, due to the absence of electrical supply or failure of the equipment), by persons that come to find themselves on the wrong side of the door, either closed in or closed out.
Currently, the leaves of gates and doors with swinging leaves, which will be referred to hereinafter for convenience as "doors", can be motor-driven so as to control remote opening or closing thereof without having to carry out manual opening thereof. Amongst the types of actuators most widely used for this purpose are the so-called "arm" actuators.
This type of actuator is fixed, via an appropriate articulation, at one end to the swinging leaf, whilst the other end is fixed to the doorpost. The electrically supplied arm actuator increases or reduces its length like a telescopic rod thus impressing the movement of opening or closing on the leaf.
The arm actuators produced by the various manufacturers are equipped with an emergency release device that enables manual opening of the door in the case of breakdown or absence of electrical supply to prevent the danger of getting trapped inside by persons that have to use the door as exit from buildings, garages, ramps, etc.
The pushing or pulling force to be impressed upon the leaf to obtain opening thereof by persons can, however, become excessive in unfavourable situations where the ratio between the length of the leaf and that of the actuator is excessively low (approaching unity, i.e., with actuator and leaf of same length).
This is due to the fact that to in order to open the leaf of the door the actuator must necessarily be shortened or lengthened in a telescopic way (according to the mechanism adopted), but opposing this movement is the internal friction of the actuator (and viscosity of the hydraulic oil in the case of oleodynamic actuators).
In addition, said release devices, on board the actuators, in general:

are not immediate and simple to manoeuvre;
are not accessible from outside with the door completely closed and panelled, thus not enabling the manual manoeuvre of emergency when entering.

Consequently, a first purpose of the present invention is to provide a solution for enabling manual operation, in cases of emergency, of the motor-driven leaves of doors with an effort comparable to the one necessary to move said leaves in the absence of the actuators.
A second purpose of the invention is to cause passage from motor-driven operation to manual operation to occur by means of a simple and immediate manoeuvre of a push or pull type by means of a knob in a way similar to the manoeuvre that would be made on said leaf if it were operated manually.
A third purpose of the invention is to cause the aforesaid manoeuvre to be made (where necessary) both from inside and from outside.
A fourth purpose of the invention is to be able to restore easily the normal automatic operation of opening/closing of the door.
A fifth purpose of the invention is to enable installation of the device also on automatic opening systems already installed without having to make any substantial modifications to the system itself.
The above and other purposes have been achieved, according to the invention, by providing a device equipped with release means designed to be set between the actuator and the motor-driven leaf.
A better understanding of the invention will be obtained from the ensuing detailed description and with reference to the attached drawings, which illustrate, purely by way of non-limiting example, a preferred embodiment.
In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a motor-driven leaf of a known type, with an arm directly fixed to the swinging leaf;
Figure 2 is a 3D view that shows the invention from the inside of the swinging leaf, where the actuator is located;
Figure 3 is a 3D view that shows the invention from the outside of the swinging leaf;
Figure 4, which is similar to Figure 1, shows the device according to the present invention installed between the attachment of the actuator and the leaf in a system of a known type;
Figure 5 is a vertical section of the invention, in a position corresponding to the bolt for blocking/releasing the leaf with respect to the actuator;
Figure 6 is a horizontal section, according to the plane of trace X-X indicated in Figure 5, of the blocking/releasing bolt;
Figure 7, which is similar to Figure 4, shows manual opening of the leaf after actuation of the releasing bolt according to the present invention; and
Figure 8, which is similar to Figure 5, shows a variant of the invention applied to a door with panic handle.

With reference to Figure 1, current motor-driven systems for automation of swinging leaves usually envisage: at least one swinging leaf 1, at least one arm actuator 2 equipped with a front attachment 3 fixed to the leaf to be opened/closed and with a rear attachment 4 fixed to a doorpost 5 to which the leaf is hinged.
Usually, motor-driven swinging leaves are in any case provided with locks S that prevent opening of the leaf by non-authorized persons. Evidently, to be able to open the leaf in the case of failure of operation of the motor-driven opening mechanism, before acting on the releasing bolt and manually displacing the leaf it is necessary to open the lock S.
The device forming the subject of the present invention, represented in Figures 2, 3 and 4 responds to the requirements referred to above and may be made of steel and/or metal alloys and/or plastic materials of adequate mechanical characteristics suitable for the use.
According to a peculiar characteristic of the invention, the device must be set between the leaf 1 and the front attachment 3 of the actuator 2 (see Figure 4).
With reference to Figures 5 and 6, the device basically comprises:

two elements having a length of approximately 50 cm, one of which is a slide 6 designed to slide within the other element that functions as guide 7;
according to the invention, the guide 7 is designed to be fixed to the leaf 1, and the slide 6 is designed to be constrained to the front attachment 3 of the actuator 2;
a preferably wedge-shaped bolt 9 designed to slide within its own casing 10 that is fixed with respect to the guide 7, the tip of which is designed to co-operate with a hole or slot appropriately provided in the slide 6 for blocking/releasing the latter with respect to the guide 7;
a spring 11 designed to push the bolt 9 towards the slide 6;
an internal manoeuvring rod 12 with end knob fixed to the bolt 9; and
a possible external manoeuvring rod 13 with end knob fixed to the bolt 9 and passing through the leaf 1 by means of a hole appropriately made in the latter; said external rod 13 is not necessary in the case where there is no need to make the manoeuvre from outside the swinging leaf 1.

It should be noted that fixing of the guide 7 to the leaf 1 can occur, for example, by means of screws passing in holes 8 appropriately provided in the guide 7 or by means of welding; the same may be said as regards the anchorage of the slide 6 to the front end 3 of the actuator 2.
During the normal automatic operation of the door, the bolt 9 is inserted in a blocking position in the hole provided in the slide 6, thanks to the thrust exerted by the spring 11.
In the example of embodiment illustrated, instead of a single hole in the slide 6 for the end of the bolt 9, two slots or holes are provided, which are set on top of one another, are appropriately made one in the slide 6 and the other in the guide 7 (see Figure 6), and are designed to receive the end of the bolt 9 that blocks them with respect to one another in such a way that they cannot slide with respect to one another. The result is that the device described mechanically constrains the leaf 1 of the door to the front attachment 3 of the actuator 2, which may thus exert its action on the leaf itself. The tip of the bolt 9, opposing relative sliding between the slide 6 and the guide 7, is subject to a shear stress.
In the case illustrated, the tip of the bolt 9 is wedge-shaped, and consequently the holes or slots with which it co-operates have a section that is appropriately flared or V-shaped.
According to the invention, in order to be able to move the leaf manually in a situation of emergency, for example in the case of failure or of absence of electrical supply, it is sufficient to pull (from inside) or push (from outside) the corresponding manoeuvring rod 12 or 13, thus overcoming the resistance of the spring 11. In this way, the bolt 9 will slide in its casing 10, and its wedge-shaped tip will be disengaged from the two slots (Figure 6).
In said configuration, the slide 6, which is fixed with respect to the actuator 2, is free to slide in the guide 7, which is instead fixed with respect to the leaf 1, consequently releasing the leaf 1 from the actuator 2, which cannot hinder the movement that the user impresses manually on the leaf itself. In practice, corresponding to the rotation of the leaf 1 is only a sliding of the slide 6 and not a shortening or lengthening of the actuator 2, which in this case turns about its rear attachment 4 keeping its length unvaried (Figure 7).
Once the cause that has rendered the manoeuvre of release necessary has been solved, it is advantageously possible to constrain the actuator 2 again to the leaf 1 by simply moving the leaf in the opposite direction.
According to the invention, in fact, as soon as the leaf 1 is brought back into the original position, i.e., the one in which the manoeuvre of release has been made, the two slots or holes present on the slide 6 and on the guide 7 again set themselves on top of one another, and the tip of the bolt 9, pushed by the spring 11 and facilitated also by its wedge shape, automatically slides back into said holes, thus blocking the slide 6 again in the guide 7. At this point the actuator 2 can exert again its action on the leaf 1 impressing, in a known way, the movement upon the latter.
A variant of the invention envisages applying the releasing/blocking device described so far also to automated swinging doors equipped with panic handles.
With said variant of the invention, the release device described so far makes it possible to use, as emergency exit, an automated swinging door (with opening towards the outside and without electrical lock) with the association of a normal panic handle.
In this case, the panic handle is provided with an appropriate mechanism preferably of the lever type, designed to transmit the movement imposed by the user on the panic handle directly to the pin 9 described above, overcoming the force of the spring 11 and bringing about immediate release of the slide 6 from its guide 7 in such a way that the door can be opened without the actuator 2 opposing any resistance to said opening.
With reference to Figure 8, which shows a vertical section of the device with the variant referred to above, it should be noted that in this case, by pushing the panic handle 22 in the direction of the arrow, a purposely provided L-shaped lever 16 is operated, designed to displace backwards the pin 9 for releasing the slide 6 from the respective guide 7, in such a way that the door can be opened even if the actuator 2 is stationary.
In particular, the smaller side of the L-shaped lever 16 is provided with an end slot A in such a way that the wedge-shaped bolt 9 is pulled by means of the manoeuvring rod 12, which in this variant is equipped with a through pin 15 instead of with the knob already described. The through pin 15 of the axial rod 24 is inserted in the slot A of the L-shaped lever 16, which turns about a purposely provided corner pin 19 fixed to the casing 10 of the pin 9 via a support 14.
Along the horizontal rod 26 of the panic handle 22 a ring 18 is provided, which is preferably blocked by fiction in an appropriate position on the rod 26 of the handle 22, by means of a screw 21, which, by advancing through the threaded hole made in the ring 18, grips the ring itself on the walls of the rod 26, which as a result is in no way altered or mechanically weakened.
The ring 18 is provided with a bracket 27 equipped with an end pin 25, hinged to which is a telescopic rod 17 that is adjustable in length by means of blocking of a screw 28 screwed on the outer part of the rod itself. The other end of the telescopic rod 17 is hinged, by means of a pin 20, to the long end of the L-shaped lever 16, to which it transmits the movement imposed by the panic handle 22. The telescopic rod 17 is adjustable so as to adapt to the various dimensional situations that can arise according to the positioning of the actuator and the type of door and/or panic handle that is installed directly on the leaf 1 or with the interposition of a depth adapter 23 of a known type.

Claims

A manually operated mechanical release device for electromechanical or oleodynamic actuators (2) used for powering gates or doors with swinging leaves (1), characterized in that it comprises manual releasing/blocking means designed to be set between a front end (3) of the actuator (2) and the motor-driven swinging leaf (1).
The device according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said manual releasing/blocking means comprise two elements (6, 7) that are able to slide with respect to one another, which are fixed respectively to the leaf (1) and to the actuator (2) and are designed to be released/blocked from/to one another via mechanical releasing/blocking means (9) that can be operated by the user if need be.
The device according to Claim 1, characterized in that it basically comprises:
two elements with longitudinal development, one of which is a slide (6), designed to slide within the other element that functions as guide (7), in which the guide (7) is designed to be fixed to the leaf (1) and the slide (6) is designed to be constrained to a front attachment (3) of the actuator (2);

a preferably pointed bolt (9), designed to slide within a casing (10) of its own, which is fixed with respect to the guide (7), the tip of said bolt being designed to co-operate with at least one hole or slot appropriately provided in the slide (6) for blocking/releasing the latter with respect to the guide (7);

a spring (11), designed to push the bolt (9) towards the slide (6); and

an internal manoeuvring rod (12) with end knob fixed to the bolt (9);
wherein, during normal automatic operation of the door, the bolt (9) is inserted in a blocking position in the hole provided in the slide (6), thanks to the thrust exerted by the spring (11).
The device according to the preceding claim, characterized in that it comprises a further external manoeuvring rod (13) with end knob fixed to the bolt (9) and passing through the leaf (1) by means of a hole appropriately provided in the latter.
The device according to Claim 3, characterized in that, instead of a single hole in the slide (6) for the end of the bolt (9), it envisages two slots or holes set on top of one another and appropriately made, respectively, in the slide (6) and in the guide (7), designed to receive the end of the bolt (9) that blocks them together in such a way that they cannot slide with respect to one another.
The device according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the tip of the bolt (9) is wedge-shaped and the holes or slots with which it co-operates have a section that is appropriately flared or V-shaped.
The device according to Claim 3, characterized in that to be able to move the leaf manually if need be, the manoeuvring rod (12) is designed to be pulled, thus overcoming the resistance of the spring (11), so as to slide the bolt (9) into its casing (10), disengaging its wedge-shaped tip from the hole in the slide (6); it thus being obtained that the slide (6), which is fixed with respect to the actuator (2), is free to slide in the guide (7), which is instead fixed with respect to the leaf (1), consequently releasing the leaf (1) from the actuator (2), which is thus unable to hinder the movement that the user impresses manually on the leaf itself.
The device according to the preceding claim, characterized in that to constrain the actuator (2) again to the leaf (1), the latter is designed to be brought back into the original position, i.e., the one in which the manoeuvre of release has been made, in such a way that the tip of the bolt (9), pushed by the spring (11) and facilitated also by its wedge shape, re-inserts automatically in the corresponding hole present in the slide (6), once again blocking said slide in the guide (7); it thus being obtained that the actuator (2) can exert its action again on the leaf (1), impressing the movement thereon in a way known.
The device according to Claim 3, characterized in that, in the case where the leaf (1) is provided with panic handle (22), the latter is provided with an appropriate lever mechanism, designed to transmit the movement imposed by the user on the panic handle (22) directly on the pin (9), overcoming the force of the spring (11) and bringing about immediate disengagement of the slide (6) from its guide (7) in such a way that the door can be opened without the actuator (2) opposing any resistance to said opening.
The device according to the preceding claim, characterized in that it comprises an L-shaped lever (16) kinematically connected to the panic handle (22), designed to displace the pin (9) backwards for releasing the slide (6) from the respective guide (7) in such a way that the door can be opened even if the actuator (2) is stationary.
The device according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the smaller side of the L-shaped lever (16) is provided with an end slot (A) in such a way that the wedge-shaped bolt (9) is pulled by means of the manoeuvring rod (12), which is equipped with a through pin (15) instead of with the knob (12); the through pin (15) of the manoeuvring rod (12) being inserted in the slot (A) of the L-shaped lever (16), which turns about a purposely provided corner pin (19), fixed to the casing (10) of the pin (9) via a support (14).
The device according to the preceding claim, characterized in that provided along a horizontal rod (26) of the panic handle (22) is a ring (18), which is blocked in a suitable position on said rod (26) by means of a screw (21), which, by advancing through the threaded hole made on the ring (18), grips the ring itself on the walls of the rod (26), which is thus in no way altered or weakened mechanically.
The device according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the ring (18) is provided with a bracket (27) equipped with an end pin (25), hinged to which is a telescopic rod (17) that is adjustable in length by means of a screw (28) screwed on the external part of the rod itself; the other end of the telescopic rod (17) being hinged, by means of a pin (20), to the long end of the L-shaped lever (16), to which it transmits the movement imposed by the panic handle (22).
A frame of a door or gate with a swinging leaf (1) motor-driven by at least one actuator (2), characterized in that it comprises a manually operated mechanical release device according to one or more of the preceding claims.