FI96713C - Ready-made wall system - Google Patents

Abstract

A system in which movable panels (15) are supported from overhead tracks (10,12,14) by carriers (32,34) engaged in the tracks so that the panels are movable between a storage area (19) and operable positions by moving the carriers along the tracks. The tracks are provided with an arrangement of bars (18) which are selectively positioned at the junction between angularly related track sections (10,12) and which, in cooperation with a preselected portion or portions (38,68) of the carriers, permit only certain panels to move from one track section into another and block the entry of others. In addition, an arrangement of diverters (16) are selectively positioned in the track sections (10) in the area of the junctions between track sections, these diverters, in cooperation with a preselected portion or portions (66) of the carriers, preventing certain panels from continuing along a given track section (10) and diverting these panels into an adjacent, angularly related track section (12). <IMAGE> <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to a ready-to-use wall system comprising, in combination, a ready-to-use wall storage area in which ready-to-use walls can be stored and from which the walls can be put into use, first rails connected to the wall storage area, side rails connected to and extending laterally therefrom, and the si-10 rails open to the first rails, a plurality of conveyors each including at least one roller and support means for mounting on a ready-to-use wall, and projections in said first and side rails defining roller support surfaces, the rollers engaging and are 15 movable relative to the rails on the support surfaces.

When large spaces are to be temporarily subdivided into smaller rooms, such as hotels, clubs, meeting rooms, and the like, a partition system is usually provided that allows partitions or panels to be moved between the storage area and the location when the storage area is far from the space to be shared. These application and storage systems comprise a roof rail network arrangement, usually made of straight track sections and siding sections that form straight sections; : rectangular bends, intersections and T-joints with seams, and these are sprinkled along straight sections of track.

In some situations, a certain type of panel is required for the areas to be divided. For example, when making a corridor, a fire-rated panel may be required, or sound-rated panels may be required in certain areas. It is often still desired to ensure that the panels can be stored in a certain direction, so that they can be moved from the warehouse directly to the places of use 35 without first having to be turned in the right direction. For this reason, special attention must be paid in some cases to the placement of the panels in the warehouse and also to their use.

One of the main objects of the present invention is to provide a rail and conveyor system with which the partitions can be placed automatically in the warehouse in the desired direction.

2 96713 5 Another main object of the invention is to provide a rail network system which automatically sorts the panels and ensures that only a certain type of panel can be moved to a certain operating position.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a rail network system with simple and cost-saving features.

To achieve these and other objects, the invention provides a combination of a roof rail system and a partition conveyor. In other words, the panels depend on conveyors arranged as their rail network systems and rotating along it.

The rail network system is made of main rails and side rails. 20 The side rails extend from the main rails but open to the main rails so that conveyors attached to the sliding wall can move between the main and side rails of the menus. In order to achieve the selected movement between the rails, the combination of obstacles on the main and side rails and the preselected shape of the conveyors 25 ensure the correct orientation of the panels when storing and / or accepting only a preselected type of panel with a predetermined rail section.

This is most preferably achieved by providing the drive wall with a conveyor protrusion 30 which runs on rails with the conveyor. An obstacle is placed on the path of the main rail and the conveyor protrusion. The obstacle is placed in the area where the side rail opens into the main rail and when the protrusion of the conveyor engages the obstacle, the conveyor turns to the adjacent side rail. The side rail to which this conveyor 35 is directed also comprises an obstacle in the path of the conveyor. The conveyor guided on the side rail is further shaped so as to remove the second obstacle and can then pass freely on and through the side rail. The 3 96713 device assembly for removing a barrier on the side rail is mounted on selected conveyors that also include a protrusion that engages the separator. Other conveyors are not shaped in this way, so they do not remove the obstacle on the side rail, and thus prevent them from entering the side rail.

5

These and other objects and advantages of the invention are set forth in detail and will be apparent from the specification and claims, as well as from the clear modifications of the embodiments shown in the drawings.

10

Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a rail mesh system and illustrates how sliding partitions or walls are stored.

Fig. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating a single Liu-15 wall wall conveyor connected to a single rail.

Figure 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of a second conveyor connected to a second rail.

Figure 4 is an enlarged plan view of the slide rails at the point where the side rail opens to the main rail.

Figure 5 is a plan view of an alternative wall storage arrangement for a rail network system.

Fig. 6 is a view of an alternative rail and conveyor arrangement used in an alternative embodiment, partly in section.

Fig. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of the alternative embodiment of Fig. 6, but illustrating a second panel conveyor.

Fig. 8 is a plan view of an area where the side rail opens to the main rail and which may be used with the alternative embodiments of Figs. 6 and 7.

Fig. 9 is a plan view of a portion of a rail network system and illustrates the use of the present invention in the application of partitions.

Fig. 10 is a plan view of a portion of a rail network and illustrates another embodiment of the invention.

The drawings, in particular Figure 1, show a roof rail mesh model or system made of rails 10, 12 and 14. Several movable partitions or walls 15 depend on the rail 4 96713 mesh system. The rail system is shown below and the walls 16 are placed on the rails and highlighted by shading. describing their different positions. The figure shows the grooves 30, which are explained in more detail below. The grooves 30 extend along the entire length of the rails, but are not shown at the point where the walls are placed on top of the rails.

The walls 15 are usually stored by stacking them side by side 10 in the distal area 17. The walls are moved out of the storage area along the side rails 12 and 14 and then to the operating locations along the rail 10. The operating locations are locations where room dividers are required. In these places, the walls depend on the rail 10 or on additional side rails similar to the slide rails 12 and 14, but which are usually at right angles to the rails 10. This detachment of the walls is illustrated in part in Figure 9 and will be explained in more detail below. The walls are returned to storage along rail 10 and through side rails 12 and 14.

20

The wall support conveyors are illustrated in Figures 2 and 3. The rails 10, 12 and 14 have the same shape except for the projections 16 and 18. Therefore, the respective parts of Figures 2 and 3 can be identified by the same numbers, and the rail 10 is illustrated in Figures 2 and 25. 3.

•

The rails comprise an upper wall 20 and hanging side walls 22 and 24. The lower ends of the side walls carry opposite protrusions 26 and 28 which terminate a short distance apart and define a notch 30. The top wall and side walls define the interior and the conveyors 32 and 34 are located in this space. The conveyor has a different structure and these differences are explained below.

It can be seen from Figure 2 that the conveyor 32 comprises a hanging bolt 36 extending downwards through the notch 30. The lower end of the bolt is threaded for attachment to the actual movable partition or wall (not shown in Figure 2). Plates 38 and 5 96713 40 are inserted into bolt 36 so as to rotate about the bolt. Below each plate is a corner surface 42 and 44 extending completely around the plates 38 and 40. These corner surfaces 42 and 44 engage upward, preferably similar, corner surfaces 46 and 48. The second corner surface 46 is part of the protrusion 26. The corner surface 48 is part of the protrusion 50 projecting from the wall 24 but positioned horizontally and vertically from the protrusion 26. By this arrangement there is an intermediate space for the bolt 36 and the plates 38 and 40 rotate on the protrusions 26 and 50 as they move along the 10 rails.

It can be seen from Figure 3 that the conveyor 34 also comprises a hanging bolt 52 extending through a notch 30 for connection to the movable wall. Two circular plates 54 and 15 56 rotate in the bolt 52, and below them are corner surfaces 58 and 60 which engage the corner surfaces 46 and 48 on the rail in the same manner and for the same reasons as shown in connection with Figure 2.

Until now, the conveyor and rail structure has followed the lines of the arrangement disclosed and claimed in U.S. Patent 3,897,799, which has been assigned to the assignee of the present application.

Referring to Figures 2, 3 and 4, the difference between the structure of the conveyors 32 and 34 and the reasons for this difference will now be explained.

Figure 4 shows a portion of the slide rail 10 in an area where the rail 12 extends laterally from the rail 10 but opens into the rail 10 30 so that there is an open connection between the rails 10 and 12 for the passage of the conveyors. The rail 14 also opens onto the rail 10. for the transfer of equipment between them.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a system which automatically places partitions in a desired orientation. This is achieved by preventing the conveyors from accessing the side rails for storage if the partitions are not oriented correctly.

6 96713

More specifically, a latch bar 16 is attached to the top wall 20 of the rail 10. As can be seen from Figure 4, this bar is placed in the area where the side rail 12 opens into the rail 10. The forward surface 62 is angular and is usually placed on the rail 12 directly in line with the notch 30. The conveyor 32 extends upward, but the end 64 of the bolt 36 extends below the latch bar 16. In contrast, the bolt 52 comprises an upper extension, a protrusion 66 extending above the top plate 56 into a recess 68 in the wall 20. The protrusion 66 is most preferably in the form of a roller 10 rotating on the end bolt 52. The latch bar 16 is in the path 10 of the protrusion 66 on the rail 10. to surface 62, the conveyor 34 pivots onto rail 12.

For clarity of illustration, the conveyor 34 is shown on the rail 12 after its orientation has been changed and the conveyor 32 is shown on the rail 10 as it passes the rod 16.

It should also be noted that the conveyor plate 54 has a reduced proportion in the longitudinal direction or thickness of the plate relative to the plate 56, and above all the plate 58. This defines a cut 68 above the plate 54 which passes the latch bar 18 when the plate 54 is on the rail 12. Since the rail 12 the recess 68 is open and has no latch bar 16, and when the plate 54 passes the latch bar 18, the conveyor 34 is free to go to the rail 12 and move along it until it reaches the left. rastointiasennon.

• *

In contrast, the plate 38 of the conveyor 32, which is in the same relative position on the conveyor 32 as the plate 54 on the conveyor 30 34, does not comprise a cut or notch portion 68. When the conveyor 32 is at the mouth of the rail 12, * occurs between the plate 38 and the rod 18. a collision that prevents the conveyor 32 from going to the side rail 12. But as can be seen in Figure 2, the conveyor 32 runs freely on the rail 10 until it reaches the side rail 14. The side rail 35 has no protrusion like the protrusion 18 and the conveyor 32 can be moved to the storage position.

In this construction, the conveyor 32 is placed in a conductive direction relative to the movement of the partition along the rail 10 to the storage position. The conveyor 34 is placed in the rear position. After the wall. moved to storage, the conveyor 32 bypasses the side rail 12 and reaches the side rail 14 at the same time as the conveyor 34 reaches the side rail 12. The conveyor 34 is turned to the side rail 12 and the partitions are then stored relative to each other in a relationship commonly referred to as a parallel stacked relationship. The partitions are stored in a pre-selected direction, the direction of which is determined by the front and rear conveyors.

10

Figure 5 shows an arrangement commonly referred to as a laterally stacked storage arrangement. Here only one side rail 12 'is used and the rail 10' extends all the way to the storage area 17 '. Conveyors 32 'and 34' are depicted with shielded rings as shown in Figure 1. Conveyor 32 'extends below the latch bar 16' and the latch bar 18 'prevents the conveyor 32' from entering the side rail as described above. When the conveyor 32 'reaches the storage position, the conveyor 34' is at the junction of the rail 10 'and the side rail 12'. The latch bar 18 'pivots the conveyor onto the rail 12' as described. The conveyor 34 'continues on the rail 12' to the storage position, and the partition wall pivots around the conveyor 32 and follows this movement.

The embodiment of Figures 6, 7 and 8 shows that the protrusion of the conveyor, which turns the selected conveyors onto the side rails, can be part of the plate.

In this embodiment, a guide bar 30 100 is attached to the rail 102, but to a lower level than the latch bar 16. Here, the latch bar 100 is attached to the lowest portion 104 of the shaped top wall 106. The conveyor 108 is shown on the rail 110 after the latch bar 100 has changed direction. The conveyor 108 has an upper plate 112, the outer wall 114 of which extends upwardly and gives an enlarged upper portion compared to the plates of the conveyor already described and which will be explained later. This enlarged upper portion provides a protrusion that engages the latch bar 100 and is thus pivoted to guide the 8 96713 conveyor 108 to the side rail 110. The plate 116 has a cutting portion 120 so as to bypass the latch bar 118 in the side rail 110.

The conveyor 122 is depicted on the rail 102. The longitudinal dimension of the upper plate 124 is reduced and the end 126 of the bolt 128 is embedded in the plate 124 so that the plate and bolt pass the latch bar 100 allowing the conveyor 122 to extend along the rail 102. The plate 130 is longitudinal complete, as was the thickness of the plate 38, so that it engages the latch bar 118 10, preventing the conveyor 122 from going to the side rail 110.

The preferred embodiment has been described in connection with transfer to and from storage. The same system of main rail separators and side rail latch bars can also be used in applications where the side rails are drive rails from which certain walls are suspended at the described location. With this system, it can be ensured that only the desired walls, e.g. refractory or acoustic walls, can be moved to certain operating modes.

20

Figure 9 shows such an arrangement. In this figure, the conveyors 32 and 34 are schematically shown with shaded rings placed on the main rails and the side rails. For imaging, the rails form two intersections 130, 132 25 and a T-section 134. The conveyors 32 and 34 have the same shape as in Figures 2 and 3, and the handlebar 16 and latch bars 18 are set in different positions for clarity of view. The side rails 136, 138, 140, 142 and 144 are at right angles to the main rails 146, 148, 150 and 152.

30

By changing the type J of the conveyors attached to the movable walls, it is possible to automatically select the operating walls for placement. In Fig. 9, only the walls provided with conveyors 34 can go to the side rail 136, 138, the latch bars 18 es-35 allow the conveyor 32 to access it. At junction 132, only the panels with conveyors 34 can go to the side rail 142, the latch bars 18 again block access from the conveyors 32. Only the panels with conveyors 32 are able to go to the side rail 140 and continue past the junction 132 to pass * ia.ii in itim 9 96713 to the side rail 144 or continue moving on the rail 152 through.

Figure 10 shows another embodiment. In this embodiment, the pivot arm 160 extends through the wall of the rail and is supported by a pin 164 by a protrusion 162. The arm pivots freely around the pin 164 between position A marked with a solid line and positions B and C marked with a dashed line. In position A, it engages the uppermost plate or bolt end and the angular surface 10 166 pivots this conveyor onto rail 168. The conveyor moves the arm farther onto the rail to position C and pivots the conveyor onto rail 168. Deflected conveyors or panels may be moved into storage by other rail portions. As these inverted panels move from the warehouse to the rail portion 170 along the pit, the top plate engages the arm 160 and this is free to be moved to position B by a plate or bolt, allowing the conveyor to pass. Compression springs 172 and 174 are mounted between the arm 160 and the supports 176 and 178 and work together to bias the arm 160 to a position A, which is a neutral or normal position. The opening through which the arm extends into the rail 170 is bounded by edges 184 and 186. The edge 186 acts as a stop for the arm 160 and provides a position C in which the conveyor is turned away. Rail sections 168 and 170 are provided with latch bars 180 and 182 that prevent unwanted conveyors from entering rail sections 168 and 170, respectively.

The possible combinations and applications are practically limitless, but they can be achieved in a simple and efficient way. The panels can be provided 30 with conveyors 32 or 34 only, or, as in a storage application, with one conveyor 32 and one conveyor 34.

Although the present invention has been described and described in connection with specific embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the nature of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (9)

10 96713 A ready-to-use wall system comprising, in combination, a ready-to-use wall storage area (17) for storing ready-to-use walls (15) and from which the walls (15) can be put into operation, first rails (10; 102; 170) connected to the wall storage area (17), side rails (12, 14; 110; 168) connected to the first rails and extending laterally therefrom, and the side rails 10 opening onto the first rails, a plurality of conveyors (32, 34; 122, 108) each containing at least one roller (38, 40; 54, 56; 124, 130; 112, 116) and support means (36; 52; 128) for mounting on a ready-to-use wall (15), and protrusions (26, 50) on said first and side rails (10, 12 , 14; 102, 110) defining roller support surfaces (46, 48), whereby the rollers (38, 40; 54, 56; 124, 130; 112, 116) engage and are movable relative to the rails on the support surfaces (46, 48). ), 20 known in each v a protrusion (66;) in the aliquoted conveyor (34; 108); 114) moving by means of the respective selected conveyor, notch portions (68; 120) in rollers on each of the selected conveyors (34; 108), 25 guide means (16; 100; 160) supported on the first rails (10; 102; 170) adjacent to the selected side rails (12, 14; 110; 168) and located in the path of the projections (66; 114) on the selected conveyors (34; 108) so as to engage the projection guiding the conveyor to the thighs on the side rails, with other conveyors not have no protrusion and are able to move past and continue the control means; along the first rails, and a barrier means (18; 118; 180) supported on the selected side rails (12, 14; 110; 168) and located adjacent to the first rails (10; 102; 170) and selected conveyors ( 34; 108) in the path of the notch portions (68; 120) of the rollers to the selected side rails, whereby the selected conveyors are able to move past and along the side rails formed by the barrier means, while other conveyors (32; 122) in which there are no notch portions, barrier means are prevented from moving on the selected side rails. Ready-to-use wall system according to Claim 1, characterized in that each of the ready-to-use walls (15) is supported by two conveyors (32, 34; 122, 108), one of which (34; 108) has a projection (66; 114) and a notched portion of the roller. (68; 120), 10 of each of the conveyors (32, 34; 122, 108) have bolt means (36; 52; 128) for securing the conveyor to a ready-to-use wall, and first and second rollers (38, 40; 54, 56; 124, 130; 112, 116), at vertical distances from each other by bolt means, are rotatably mounted relative to the bolt means, each of the rails (10, 12, 14; 102, 110; 170, 168) including wall means defining a top wall (20; 106), dependent sidewalls (22, 24) and lower flange means (26, 28) defining a slot (30) through which the bolt-20 means (36; 52; 128) of the conveyors extend, the protrusion of one conveyor (34; 108) defining an upwardly extending protrusion (66; 114) on the conveyor 11a, the guide means (16; 100; 160) is located on the first rails (10; 102; 170) adjacent to the top wall (20) and has an angle (62) at an angle 25 facing the direction of movement of the conveyors on the first rails and tilting toward adjacent side rails (12; 110; 168), the angled surface (62) being positioned so as to that it engages the upwardly extending projection (66; 114) and guides the conveyor to the side rails, the second conveyor (32; 122) terminating at its upper end below the level of the guide means (16; 100; 160) so that the conveyor can: · move under the guide means along the first rails , the barrier means (18; 118; 180) is attached to one side wall (24) of the side rails (12; 110; 168) and extends inwardly to the side rails adjacent the junction of the side rails and the first rails in a position where it engages the rollers of the second conveyor (32; 122) (38; 130) to one part so as to prevent the second conveyor from entering said side rails, and 12 96713 one conveyor in the corresponding roll (54 ; 116) is a notch portion (68; 120) that allows the roller (54; 116) and thus said one conveyor (34; 108) can move past the obstruction means (18; 118; 180) without disturbing it. 5 A ready-to-use wall system according to claim 1, characterized in that each of the conveyors (32, 34; 122, 108) comprises two vertically spaced rollers (38, 40; 10 54, 56; 124, 130; 112, 116 ), the protrusion of the selected conveyors (34) is defined by a protrusion (66) extending above the uppermost roller (56) of the conveyor, the guide means (16) being supported on the first rails (10) above the level of the upper rollers (40, 56) of the conveyors (32, 34) -15 la, and is positioned in the path of travel of the protrusion (66) so as to guide the selected conveyors (34) to adjacent side rails (12, 14) and one roller (54) of each selected conveyor (34) has a notch portion (68) (54) and thus the selected conveyor (34) can move past the barrier means (18) on the side rails when the selected conveyor is guided to it by the guide means (16). A ready-to-use wall system according to claim 3, characterized in that each of the conveyors (32, 34; 122, 108) comprises bolt means (36; 52; 128) and said two rollers of the two conveyors are supported on the bolt means so as to rotate the bolt spacing. - around which the conveyor is moved along the rails (10, 12, 14) 30, the projection (66) of each selected conveyor (34) being formed: · formed as an extension of the bolt means (52) and the conveyors of non-selected conveyors (34) 32) the rollers (38, 40) are shaped in the same way as each other. 35 Ready-to-use wall system according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the 13 96713 side rails (12, 14) comprise wall means (22, 24) defining the inside of the side rails, the barrier means (18) in the selected side rails extending from the wall means (24) and the notch portion (68) 5 of the roller of the selected conveyors (34) is formed by a reduced portion of the roll relative to the rest of the roll, substantially at the level of the barrier means (18). A ready-to-use wall system according to claim 5, characterized in that the second roller (56) in the selected conveyors (34) with the upwardly extending projection (66) and said notched roller (54) have the same shape as the non-selected conveyors (34). ) with 15 rollers (38, 40) of conveyors (32). Ready-to-use wall system according to one of Claims 2 to 6, characterized in that the notched roller (54; 20 116) of each selected conveyor (34; 108) is its lower roller. A ready-to-use wall system according to claim 1, characterized in that the guide means comprises an arm (160) having a first position extending into the path of travel of the projections (66; 114) by selectively conveyed (34), and support means (162, 164) for mounting the arm (160) in and out of position so that in one direction of travel of the selected conveyors (34) the conveyors (34) engage the arm (160) which guides them away from the first rails (10) to adjacent side rails (12, 14) and in the opposite direction of travel, the conveyors (34) engage the arm (160) and move it away from the conveyor path. A ready-to-use wall system according to claim 8, characterized in that it comprises springs (172, 174) which tilt the arm (160) of the control means to the first position. 14 96713 PaLsnysrav