GB2144473A - Suspension of strip doors - Google Patents

Abstract

A strip door or partition comprising a rail 20 having one or two narrow longitudinally extending channels 30, 32 with the open sides directed downwardly and a multiplicity of strips 10 preferably formed of a plastics material each having an upper end received in a channel 30, 32, each strip 10 being retained in its channel 30, 32 either by a transverse rib 14 formed or provided on the strip 10 or by a spring clip engaged with the rail (Figs. 7 and 8). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Strip doors and the like The present invention relates to strip doors and to other partitions made of suspended strips.

Such doors or partitions are widely used in factories where it is required to have a door or partition which does not create a barrier to movement, e.g. of a person or a vehicle such as a fork-lift truck, but which nevertheless can provide a significant barrier to (for example) heat loss, noise, and/or dust and other atmospheric contaminants. Such a door or partition is typically composed of a multiplicity of strips of a flexible plastics material such as pvc suspended in overlapping or side-by-side relationship. Usually the strips are hung in two rows, mutually staggered to provide the overlap. Often the strips are curved in transverse section, with the strips in each row having their concave sides facing the strips in the other row. This enhances the barrier properties of the door or partition.

The strips are generally hung from a rail which may be secured to a lintel over a doorway. Known modes of attachment of strips to the rail are rather expensive, in terms of time and materials. For example, one form has a rail which is an aluminium extrusion of complex section, which provides two T-section channels opening at respective sides but angled slightly downwardly. The extrusion provides a further channel, open upwardly, for attachment to brackets mounted to the lintel.

Each individual strip is attached to a respective clamp by two bolts, whose heads are received in a respective side-opening channel.

This arrangement has the disadvantage that the extrusion is heavy and complex, which causes it to be expensive. Furthermore, the connection of all the strips to the individual clamps is very time-consuming. When curved strips are used, there is the further problem that strips may be fitted with their curvatures facing the wrong way, thus greatly impairing the operation of the door.

According to the present invention in a first aspect, there is provided a strip door or the like comprising a rail having a narrow longitudinally extending channel with the open side directed downwardly, a multiplicity of strips each having an upper end received in the channel and means provided on each strip or engaged with each strip for retaining the strips in the channel.

Preferably the rail has two such channels located in parallel side-by-side relationship with the strips in one channel overlapping the strips received in the other channel. The channel or channels may have a mouth narrowed at only one side for co-operating with the retaining means. For example, the rail may comprise a portion having a generally mshaped section with both side limbs (or both sides of the central limb) having means defining longitudinal projections.

In another aspect the invention provides a method of manufacturing strips comprising providing a strip stock, indexing the strip stock past a securing station and at said station, attaching to one face of the strip a transverse strip to form a rib on the strip. The strip stock may also be cut adjacent the rib.

Preferably it is only partly cut or weakened, and is then reeled to provide a reel of preformed strips. This reel may be taken to a site, where the strips can be unreeled and detached. In another aspect the invention provides a reel of preformed strips. In yet another aspect it provides a rail.

Some embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of examples, with reference to the accompany drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a front view of a strip; Figure 2 is a side view of a strip; Figure 3 is an end view of a rail; Figure 4 is an end view of a second embodiment of a rail; Figure 5 is a schematic view showing the overlapping of curved strips; Figure 6 is a schematic view of a production line for producing strips; Figure 7 is an end elevation of a rail similar to that of Fig. 3 showing a further embodiment in which the strips are retained by spring clips; and Figure 8 is a side elevation of a spring clip.

The strip 10 shown in Figs. 1 and 2 consists of an elongate strip piece 12, with a transverse end strip 14 attached to one end face at one end. The strip piece 12 may be of extruded pvc about 3 mm thick and 100 mm wide. The end strip 14 may be a strip of a like material adhered to the strip piece 12 and/or held by fastening means such as staples 16.

The rail 20 shown in Fig. 3 may be an aluminium extrusion. Its lower portion provides a generally m-shaped section, having a central limb 22 and lateral limbs 24 and 26.

Each lateral limb 24, 26 has a longitudinal projection 28 extending inwardly towards the central limb 22, so that two narrow-mounted channels 30, 32 are defined. The projections 28 have shoulders 34 facing upwardly within the channels 30, 32.

The upper portion of the rail 20 defines a single mounting channel 36, which opens upwardly. This is shaped to receive bolts or nuts for attachment to a bracket, by which the raill 20 may be secured to a lintel. Thus the channel 36 has a cavity 38 in which a nut or the head of a bolt may be received. The channel is open at the top, having a mouth 40 narrower than the cavity 38, to allow the passage of the stems of bolts. The cavity 38 has a narrow upper portion 42 in which a nut or bolt head can be held against rotation.

Alternatively, the whole cavity 38 could be of this reduced diameter. The base of the cavity 38 is defined by lateral flanges 43, instead of by a continuous wall, so that if a nut is located in the cavity 38, a bolt can be screwed through it and extend some way beneath it. Of course, a rail 20 could have a simple cavity 38 closed at the bottom, if it were only intended to locate bolt heads therein. Such a rail 20' is shown in Fig. 4.

For use, the rail 20 is mounted where required, and strips 10 are fed into the channels 30, 32 from one end of the rail. It will be appreciated that this is a very simple operation, since there is no need to attach brackets to the strips or engage in other timeconsuming activities.

Although the strip 10 shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is flat, the invention is equally applicable to curved strips. For the illustrated rail 20 having the longitudinal projections 28 on the lateral limbs 24, 26, the end strips 14 are placed on the convex sides of the strip pieces 12. This has the effect of partially flattening a short end portion of each strip piece 12. The strips 10 as delivered to the site for erection will generally have the end strips 14 already attached. There is thus only a single orientation in which the strips 10 can be mounted in the channels 30, 32. There is thus no possibility of a workman installing any of the strips 10 the wrong way round.

The end strips 14 flatten the end portions of the strip pieces 12 sufficiently for them to be readily insertable into the channels 30, 32.

The slight remaining curvature may be a positive asset in serving to locate the strips at the desired locations once they have been slid into place. However, even for planar strips 10 there is little tendency for them to move out of place. They may be received quite snugly in the channels 30, 32. Alternatively or additionally, any lateral force on a lower region of a strip 10 tends to pivot the strip about its upper end, which has the effect of wedging the end strip 14 in the channel and hence restraining sliding.

Fig. 5 shows one possible configuration for overlapping curved strips 10.

Fig. 6 schematically illustrates the production of strips 10. A preformed reel 50 of strip stock 52, which may be planar or curved, is arranged to feed the stock 52 past a work station 54 and to a wind-up reel 56.

There are means (not shown) for indexing the strip stock 52 in steps equal to the length of strip 10 which is desired. After each step the stock is clamped at the work station 54 by means of a clamp jaw 58. This has a transverse opening 60 through which an adhesive-coated strip is placed on the stock 52 to provide an end strip 14. A stapling head 62 may then descend and staple the strip 14 to the stock to hold it in place until the adhesive has set. A knife 64 then descends to produce a line of weakening at a location just upstream of the strip 14. A further indexing strip then occurs, and the treated stock 52 is wound onto the reel 56. There is thus produced a reel 56 containing strips 10 joined end to end, and from which individual strips 10 can be easily detached at will. By altering the length of the indexing step, reels of strips 10 of different lengths can easily be produced.

It will be appreciated that this process of providing end strips 14 is much simpler than a conventional process of attaching strips to separate clamps. It has the further advantage of taking place in a factory, essentially automatically, so that human error is avoided.

The skilled reader will appreciate that much variation is possible in the invention as described. Some variants of the form of the rail 20 have already been mentioned, and others can easily be devised. For example, instead of having shoulders 34 on the lateral limbs 24, 26, these could be on the central limb 22, in which case the end strips 14 would be applied to the concave side of a curved strip piece 12. Of course, means other than end strips 14 could be used to provide the ribs.

For example, they could be integrally formed by moulding, or by folding over an end portion.

Figs. 7 and 8 illustrate an embodiment which utilises a rail 20, as described formed of metal but it may be formed of a suitable plastics material. The clip 70 comprises a portion 71 which at one end is bent at a right angle to form a portion 72 and the outer end of the portion is bent downwardly at its corners 73. The other end of the portion 71 is bent at a right angle to form a portion 74 which has an arcuate portion 75 that terminates in an inclined portion 76.

During assembly the strip 10, which is not provided with an end strip 14 as in Figs. 1 and 2, is inserted into the respective channel 30, 32 through the mouth of the channel and a clip 70 is placed, as shown in broken lines in Fig. 7, with the arcuate portion 75 engaged with the projection 28 and with the portion 71 inclined away from the outer face of the rail 20. With the strip 10 located in its desired position, the portion 71 is moved about the projection 28 to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 7 in which the portion 71 lies against the outer face of the rail 20 and the portion 72 extends across the upper face of the rail 20 and the downwardly bent corners 73 engage in the mouth 40. As the clip 70 is moved about the projeciton 28 the inclined portion 76 engages the side of the strip 10 to hold it against the central limb 22.

The holding force applied to the strip 10 increases as the slip 70 is moved about the projection 28.

The clip 70 can be released from the rail 20 to release the strip 10, enabling the strip 10 to be removed from the rail 20 in a downward direction. Therefore if a strip 10 is damaged in use, then it can easily be removed and replaced by another strip 10 with out having to remove the other strips from the rail 20.

The clip 70 can have a width equal to that of the strip 10.

Claims (17)

1. A strip door or the like comprising a rail having a narrow longitudinally extending channel with the open side directed downwardly, a multiplicity of strips each having an upper end received in the channel and means provided on each strip or engaged with each strip for retaining the strips in the channel.

2. A strip door or the like as claimed in claim 1, in which the rail is provided with two said channels located in parallel side-by-side relationship with the strips received in one channel overlapping the strips received in the other channel.

3. A strip door or the like as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, in which the or each channel is provided with a narrowed mouth.

4. A strip door or the like as claimed in claim 3, in which the mouth of the or each channel is narrowed only at one side.

5. A strip door of the like as claimed in claim 3 or claim 4, in which each strip is provided at its upper end with a transverse rib for retaining the strip in the channel.

6. A strip door or the like as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, in which each strip is retained in the channel by a clip member which engages the outer side of the rail and which has at one end a resilient portion which enters the channel and engages the strip.

7. A strip door of the like as claimed in claim 6, in which the clip member is provided at its other end with a portion which engages an upper side of the rail.

8. A strip door or the like as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the rail is provided with a further longitudinally extending channel with its open side directed upwardly for receiving the heads or nuts of fixing bolts.

9. A strip door or the like as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the strips are curved in transverse section.

10. A strip door or the like as claimed in claim 5, in which the rib is formed by a transverse end strip secured to the strip.

11. A strip door or the like as claimed in claim 5, in which the rib is formed integrally with the strip.

12. A strip door or the like as claimed in claim 5, in which the rib is formed by folding over one end portion of the strip and securing the folded portion to the body of the strip.

13. A strip door or the like substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

14. A method of manufacturing strip for a strip door or the like as claimed in claim 1, comprising providing strip stock, indexing the strip stock past a securing station and at said station attaching to one face of the strip a transverse strip to form a rib on the strip.

15. A method as claimed in claim 14, in which the strip stock is cut adjacent the transverse strip.

16. A method as claimed 15, in which the strip stock is only partly cut or weakened and is then reeled to form a reel of preformed strip.

17. A method of manufacturing strip for a strip door substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Fig. 6 of the accompanying drawings.