IE921017A1

IE921017A1 - Roller shutter

Info

Publication number: IE921017A1
Application number: IE101792A
Authority: IE
Inventors: Ralph Lang; Werner Haberditzel; Andrew Rynkiewicz
Original assignee: Rehau Ag & Co
Priority date: 1991-03-30
Filing date: 1992-03-30
Publication date: 1992-10-07
Also published as: EP0508112A3; DE59203941D1; EP0508112A2; DE9103919U1; EP0508112B1

Abstract

The invention relates to a roller shutter with a large number of laterally guided roller shutter profiles which are articulated on one another. On their rear side, these roller shutter profiles have groove-shaped recesses, in which the teeth of toothed wheels, arranged on a guide tube, engage as drive means. The guide tube is surrounded by a torsion spring which is fastened on the one hand to the central stationary shaft, which passes through the guide tube, and on the other hand to the guide tube itself. The guide tube is furthermore closed on both sides by end caps which support the shaft and are inserted into its opening. The characteristic feature of the invention is seen in that the end caps (5), which are inserted into the opening of the guide tube (3) on the end sides, project out of the opening with part regions (51). From these part regions (51), there project beyond the outer circumference of the guide tube (3) tooth-like projections (511) which are distributed uniformly on the circumference. These projections (511) engage in corresponding receiving grooves (421) which extend over the axial length of the toothed wheels (4) and are arranged on the inner circumference of the central bore (42) of the toothed wheels (4). The end caps (5) are at the same time mounted rotatably movably on the shaft (6). The toothed wheels (4) are detachably connected to one another with the end caps (5) via the guide tube (3), in each case by means of mechanical fastening means (41) which reach through.

Description

ROLLER SHUTTER The innovation relates to a roller shutter having a large number of interlinked, laterally guided shutter profiles which have groovelike recesses on the rear side, into which the teeth of gear wheels mounted on a guide tube mesh as a drive system, whereby the guide tube surrounds a torsion spring which is connected at one end to the central stationary axle which passes through the guide tube and, at the other end, to the guide tube itself, and whereby the guide tube is closed off at both ends by end caps inserted into its opening and which support the axle.

In the French patent application 2 421 259, a similar roller shutter is described which, for example, can be used for closing a garage or a truck body. In this known roller shutter, the shutter consists of individual shutter elements which are pivoted to one another. These shutter elements are moved by a horizontal drive shaft onto which a torsion spring is mounted. Drive shaft and torsion spring are both surrounded by a tubular cylinder on whose perimeter axially movable gear wheels are mounted. These gear wheels mesh into the recesses in the individual shutter elements and act as a shutter drive system during raising and lowering of the door shutter.

The door shutter is driven from the drive shaft via the gear wheels which, at the same time, guide the door shutter during the various opening and closing movements. The shutter is guided laterally by guide rails in which the ends of the individual shutter elements are guided during opening and closing.

The lowering of the known roller shutter is assisted by the torsion spring mounted on the drive shaft which acts as a classic counterbalance weight.

The system is designed in such a way that when the door shutter is closed, the torsion spring is tensioned. If the door shutter is unlocked for opening, the torsion spring tends to extend from the tensioned state into its rest state, exerting a rotating movement in opening direction on the tubular cylinder with the gear wheels. The door shutter is then moved to its open position by the gear wheels and their mesh in the recesses of the individual shutter elements, whereby the effect of the torsion spring can be supported by slight pushing by the operating person until the door shutter is completely open.

Although the known roller shutter with its drive mechanism described above does function, sufficient account is not taken of the fact, however, that with increasing use, the torsion spring can lose more and more of its initial pretension. With the known roller shutter design, this loss of tension, which has both technical and materialspecific causes, can only be compensated by removing the system unit drive shaft, torsion spring and tubular cylinder from its bearings. The complete assembly must then be disconnected from the roller shutter and the end caps removed from the drive shaft before the torsion spring can be retensioned. This is a very labour-intensive and time-consuming operation.

This is where the innovation comes in, having been developed with the aim of minimizing the time and labour involved in tensioning the torsion spring on the state-of-the-art roller shutter systems and of designing a drive system in which a removal of the drive system from the walls surrounding the roller shutter is no longer necessary for tensioning the torsion spring. The innovation proposes that part of the end caps inserted into the open ends of the guide tube protrude from the end of the tube, that from these end cap parts uniformly spaced toothed protrusions around the perimeter extend beyond the outer perimeter of the guide tube, that these protrusions mesh with corresponding mating grooves which run along the axle length of the gear wheels on the inner surface of the centre bore of the gear wheels, that the end caps can be rotated on the axle, and that the gear wheels are connected separably and by mechanical means to the end caps.

One advantage thereby is that one free end of the torsion spring is separably connected to the end cap support inserted into the open end of the guide tube by mechanical means, whilst the other free end of the torsion spring is pivoted to the axle itself. It has also proved expedient that the parts of the end caps protruding from the open end of the guide tube have a moulded hexagonal extension onto which a turning tool can be fitted. After loosening the mechanical connecting element between the gear wheel and end cap and after pushing the gear wheel out of the groove guide over the guide tube, this hexagonal extension can be used to turn the end cap with the guide tube to tension the torsion spring.

The roller shutter to which the innovation relates alows the torsion spring tension to be adjusted without any extensive disassembly or assembly work. Such adjustment can become necessary, for example, when fatigue of the torsion spring pretension has occurred due to repeated use or if the user requires a different setting of the tension ratio of the torsion spring. It is also possible to install the complete roller shutter assembly without preloading the torsion spring on site, e.g. as a closing element for a furniture opening. The torsion spring can then be adjusted to the desired tension ratio on site before the first use by loosening the mechanical connecting element between the gear wheel and end cap and pushing the gear wheel out of the groove guide over the guide tube.

The hexagonal extension of the end cap protruding over the end of the guide tube can now be turned using a turning tool and thus the tension of the torsion spring adjusted. The gear wheel pushed onto the guide tube with its mating grooves is then pushed back into the tooth-like protrusions of the parts of the end caps protruding from the open end of the guide tube and secured to the end cap using the mechanical connecting element . The mechanical connecting element also extends through to the corresponding end section of the guide tube so that when the gear wheel is in its final position, the end cap and the guide tube form a rotatable unit.

In view of the fact that the one free end of the torsion spring is connected to the end cap support inserted into the open end of the guide tube and the other free end of the torsion spring is attached directly to the axle, the movement of the end cap with the turning tool described above has tensioned or can be used for tensioning the torsion spring for its intended application.

The drawing shows schematically a design example of the roller shutter assembly to which the innovation relates: Figure 1 shows the roller shutter assembly to which the innovation relates in a perspective partial view; Figure 2 shows a part-section through the left-hand section of the assembly shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 shows the side wall 1 in sectional view, which can be, for example, the side panel of an item of furniture. At the upper edge of the side wall 1 is the roller shutter guide rail 11 in which the roller shutter 2 can slide during the opening and closing movements. The side wall 1 shows on its front edge the roller shutter guide rail 12 into which the roller shutter 2 has entered.

IE S21017 The opposite side wall, which is not illustrated in the drawing, is fitted with the same facilities.

The free end of the guide tube 3 facing towards the side wall 1 has the gear wheel 4 which, via the mechanical connecting element 41, is attached to the end cap 5 by the guide tube 3. The formation of the end cap 5 with its part lengths 51 protruding from the open end of the guide tube is visible at the opposite free end of the guide tube 3. The outer perimeter of the part lengths 51 correspond exactly to the perimeter of the guide tube 3, so that a practically transition-free connection between the part lengths 51 and the guide tube 3 is created here. The tooth-like protrusions 511 project over the perimeter of the part lengths 51 and of the guide tube 3. The dimensions of the tooth-like protrusions 511 correspond to those of the mating grooves 421 in the centre bore 42 of the gear wheels 4. The corresponding gear wheel 4 has been freed by loosening the mechanical connecting element 41 and pushed in the direction of the arrow over the perimeter of the guide tube up towards the other gear wheel 4, so that the tooth-like protrusions 511 have been pulled out of the mating grooves 421 . By loosening the mechanical connecting element 41, the end cap 5 can be turned within the guide tube via the hexagonal extension 52 and a turning tool not illustrated in the drawing. This turning adjusts the tension of the torsion spring 7 shown in section in Figure 2. The axle 6 protrudes out of the end cap 5 and its square end 61 is secured to prevent turning using a suitable bracket on the corresponding side wall - not shown in the drawing.

Figure 2 shows a part-section of the left-hand side of the assembly illustrated in Figure 1. The side wall 1 shows a shaft bracket 13, into the square opening of which the correspondingly shaped square end 61 of the axle 6 can be secured. After the square end 61 of the axle 6, the end cap 5 is mounted on the axle and the gear wheel 4 is mounted over this end cap 5.

The tooth-like protrusion 511 of the end cap 5 is shown in mesh with the mating groove 421 of the gear wheel 4. The mechanical connecting element 41, via which the gear wheel 4 is connected to the end cap 5 by the guide tube 3, is shown in outline in the opposite outer area of the part section.

In the upper area of the drawing inside the guide tube, the free end 71 of the torsion spring 7 is shown in contact with the end cap support 53. The free end 71 of the torsion spring 7 is positively connected to the end cap 5 and the guide tube 3 by a mechanical connecting element 72. The torsion spring 7 extends with its coils over the axle 6 up to the pivot point 62. In the illustration, this pivot point 62 is a bore through the axle 6, through which the free end 73 of the torsion spring 7 is drawn. The free end 73 of the torsion spring 7 is then bent, for example, over the axle 6 and thus secured. If required, this securing can be supported using a stateof-the-art method such as cementing, welding, screwing, etc.

The right-hand configuration of the end cap 5 with the gear wheel 4 not shown in the drawing corresponds to the assembly described in Figure 2. It is simply no longer necessary here to secure the free end 71 of the torsion spring 7 using the mechanical connecting element 72 to the end cap support 53.

Claims

1. Roller shutter having a large number of interlinked, laterally guided shutter profiles which have groove-like recesses on the rear side, into which the teeth of gear wheels mounted on a guide tube mesh as a drive system, whereby the guide tube surrounds a torsion spring which is connected at one end to the central stationary axle which passes through the guide tube and, at the other end, to the guide tube itself, and whereby the guide tube is closed off at both ends by end caps inserted into its opening and which support the axle, characterised in that part lengths (51) of the end caps (5) inserted into the open ends of the guide tube (3) protrude from the end of the tube, that from these part lengths (51) uniformly spaced toothed protrusions (511) around the perimeter extend beyond the outer perimeter of the guide tube (3) , that these protrusions (511) mesh with corresponding mating grooves (421) which run along the axle length of the gear wheels (4) on the inner surface of the centre bore (42) of the gear wheels (4), that the end caps (5) can be rotated on the axle (6), and that the gear wheels (4) are connected separably to the end caps (5) by a mechanical connecting element (41) which extends through the guide tube (3).

2. Roller shutter in accordance with Claim 1, characterised in that the one free end (71) of the torsion spring (7) is separably connected to the end cap support (53) inserted into the open end of the guide tube (3) by a mechanical connecting element (72), whilst the other free end (73) of the torsion spring (7) is pivoted directly to the axle (6). -8ΙΕ 9?-1θ 17

3. Roller shutter in accordance with Claim 1, characterised in that on the part lengths (51) of the end caps (5) protruding from the open end of the guide tube (3) have a moulded hexagonal extension (52) onto which a turning tool can be fitted.

4. Roller shutter in accordance with one or several of the above Claims, characterised in that after loosening the mechanical connecting element (41) between the gear wheel (4) and end cap (5) and after pushing the gear wheel (4) out of the groove guide (421, 511) over the guide tube (3), this hexagonal extension (52) can be used to turn the end cap (5) with the guide tube to tension the torsion spring.

5. A roller shutter according to any preceding claim substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.