JP2004257176A - Accordion door - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an accordion door that can be automatically closed or opened with an urging means, can use wide use components as they are and can be inexpensively constituted without upsizing the components by making an opening and closing speed proper independent of product size or the like. <P>SOLUTION: The accordion body 14 is formed by arranging a decorative covering material 22 before and behind an expandable hinge 20, hung and supported with a runner 12 capable of running in a rail 10, can be opened and closed by allowing the runner 12 to run in the rail 10, and automatically runs in the direction of allowing the runner 12 to close the accordion door with a tension spring. A brake 40 interlocked with the extension and contraction of the hinge 20 to be operated is arranged in the inside of the accordion door body 14. Braking force is generated on the brake 40 by interlocking with the extension and contraction of the hinge 20, and when the accordion door is closed, the moving speed is decelerated. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an accordion door, and more particularly, to an accordion door that can be automatically closed or opened by a biasing means.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, as an accordion door, an accordion door body in which a decorative covering material is arranged before and after an extensible hinge is suspended and supported by a runner, and the runner runs on a rail and can be opened and closed freely. Generally known. Further, there is known an accordion door that can be automatically closed or opened by using an urging force of an urging means such as a spring (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
[0003]
In the accordion door described in Patent Document 1, an elastic body is an urging means for urging two opposing vertices of four vertexes of at least one rhombus-shaped portion of a hinge toward each other. Is provided. When the elastic body urges the hinge in the direction of extending or contracting, the hinge is automatically extended or contracted, and the accordion door operates in the closing or opening direction.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP, 2002-339665, A
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, when the conventional accordion door is automatically operated in the closing or opening direction, the opening / closing speed varies depending on the size of the product, the material of the decorative covering material, or the spring force of the spring constituting the urging means. Therefore, the opening / closing speed varies from product to product. For this reason, if the spring strength is set in accordance with a product of a small size, the opening and closing speed of a product of a large size becomes too slow, and in some cases, it may not be possible to completely close or open automatically. Conversely, if the spring strength is set in accordance with a product of a large size, the opening and closing speed becomes too fast with a small size. For this reason, it is conceivable to use different springs depending on the size, but it is not possible to use common parts, resulting in an increase in product cost.
[0006]
In order to solve such a problem, the applicant of the present invention has disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-288770 that a braking means for controlling the running speed of the runner is provided in the runner so that the opening / closing speed of the accordion door can be adjusted appropriately. It is proposed to be.
[0007]
However, since the braking means is built in the runner, the size of the runner and the size of the rail are increased, and a dedicated runner and rail are required.
[0008]
The present invention has been made in view of such problems, the opening and closing speed is too fast depending on the product, without being too slow, the opening and closing speed can be moderate, and without increasing the size of parts, or It is an object of the present invention to provide an accordion door that can use general-purpose parts as they are and can be configured at low cost.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, an accordion door body in which a decorative covering material is disposed before and after an extendable hinge is suspended and supported by a runner, and the runner runs on a rail. In the accordion door which can be opened and closed freely and further provided with biasing means, and the runner can automatically run on the rail in either the opening direction or the closing direction by the biasing force of the biasing means,
A brake that operates in conjunction with the expansion and contraction of the hinge is disposed inside the accordion door body.
[0010]
When the accordion door body automatically moves in the closing direction or the opening direction by the urging means, the brake controls the extension or contraction operation of the hinge to reduce the speed. That is, by setting the urging force of the urging means to some extent and decelerating by the brake, the maximum closing or maximum opening speed of the accordion door can be kept within a certain allowable range as a result. Thus, even if the urging force of the urging means is not precisely adjusted depending on the size of the accordion door or the material of the decorative covering material, the opening / closing speed is not too fast or too slow, and the opening / closing speed is moderate. It can be.
[0011]
Since the brake is arranged inside the accordion door, the brake can be set without increasing the size of existing parts. Existing parts can be used without using runners and rails as dedicated parts, and can be shared with accordion door parts that do not have the function of automatically closing or opening, so they are inexpensive. can do.
[0012]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the brake is installed between two points of an extendable hinge. Accordingly, the distance over which the brake is erected changes in conjunction with the expansion and contraction operation of the hinge, and the brake can be operated according to this change.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0014]
FIG. 1 is an overall view showing an accordion door of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes a rail, and an accordion door main body 14 is suspended and supported by a plurality of runners 12 that can run on the rail 10. The accordion door body 14 includes frames 16, 18 provided at both ends in the left-right direction, a hinge 20 that can extend and contract between the frames 16, 18, and a cloth connected to the hinge 20 and disposed in front of and behind the hinge 20. And a decorative covering material 22 made of a plastic sheet, leather or the like.
[0015]
A plurality of hinges 20 can be provided at appropriate intervals in the vertical direction. FIG. 2 is a partial detailed view of the hinge 20 disposed at the uppermost position. As shown, the hinge 20 comprises a pair of substantially equal length hinge pieces 24, 25 pivotally connected at the center of each other by a pivot 26 to form an X-shape to form a hinge element 28. Further, the end portions of the hinge pieces 24 and 25 constituting the adjacent hinge element 28 are pivotally connected to each other by a pivot 30 to connect the plurality of hinge elements 28 one after another. Therefore, the hinge 20 has four vertices with the opposed pivots 26, 26 (the pivot connection points) and the opposed pivots 30, 30 (the pivot connection points), and each of the hinge pieces 24, 25 constituting a hinge element 28. A plurality of rhombus-shaped portions 32 each having a rhombus shape having four sides each having a half and each half of the hinge pieces 25 and 24 constituting the hinge element 28 adjacent thereto are connected. When the inner angle of the diamond-shaped portion 32 changes and the diamond-shaped portion 32 deforms, the hinge 20 expands and contracts. Hereinafter, for the sake of explanation, a line connecting the axis 30 to the axis 26 of a certain hinge element 28 and the axis of the adjacent hinge element 28 connected from the axis 30 will be described. 26 is referred to as a hinge opening angle θ. Further, the respective pivots 30 of the hinge elements 28 corresponding to the respective vertical directions of the respective hinges 20 are connected by wires 36 passing through the respective pivots 30, so that the respective vertical hinge elements 28 expand and contract in synchronism. Formed.
[0016]
In the present embodiment, when the accordion door is closed, by manually operating the accordion door in a slightly closing direction, it is possible to automatically move the accordion door in the closing direction. As a means, a tension spring 34 as an elastic body is further provided only on the hinge 20 disposed at the uppermost position as an urging means. Of course, the urging means in this example is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to this example, and any urging means can be provided.
[0017]
The tension spring 34 is stretched between a pair of pivots 30, 30 that are opposing vertices of the rhombus-shaped portion 32, and the tension spring 34 constantly causes the pivots 30, which are opposing vertices of the rhombus-shaped portion 32, 30 are biased toward each other. The tension springs 34 can be provided on all the rhombus-shaped portions 32, but may be provided at appropriate intervals in every other rhombus-shaped portion 32 as shown in the example shown in the figure. 14 can be set as appropriate according to the balance with the weight of 14. The hinge on which the tension spring 34 is provided is not limited to the hinge at the uppermost position, but can be provided on any hinge 20, and can be provided on any rhombus-shaped portion 32 of any hinge 20. It is possible. Further, the tension spring 34 can be extended over a wire 36 passing through each pivot 30.
[0018]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the telescopic hinge 20 is provided with a brake 40. The brake 40 is provided across the two pivots 26, 26 of the hinge 20, and a pair of mounting ends 40a, 40a are mounted on the pivots 26, 26. One ends of arms 40b, 40c are pivotally mounted on the mounting ends 40a, 40a, and a rotary brake 40d is provided on the other ends of the arms 40b, 40c. As the rotary brake 40d, any known rotary brake such as an oil brake or a centrifugal brake can be used. The rotary brake 40d operates in accordance with the relative rotational movement of the other ends of the arms 40b and 40c, and is controlled. Output power. The rotary brake 40d outputs a braking force only in one direction of relative rotation generated at the other end of each of the arms 40b and 40c, and does not output a braking force in the opposite direction of relative rotation. Is good. In this embodiment, when the arms 40b, 40c relatively rotate in a direction in which the mounting ends 40a, 40a move away from each other, a braking force is output, and conversely, the arms 40b, 40a move in a direction in which the mounting ends 40a, 40a approach each other. It is preferable that the braking force is not output when 40c is relatively rotated. In addition, not limited to the rotary brake, a linear brake that generates a braking force according to a distance between two points of the hinge 20 can be used.
[0019]
A stopper case 42 is arranged in the accordion door main body 14, and one end of a cord 44 is connected to a mainspring having one end fixed to a part of the stopper case 42 in the stopper case 42. The cord 44 is wound by the action of the mainspring in the stopper case 42 unless an external force is applied. The other end of the cord 44 is connected to the left and right inner side surfaces of the frame 18 so that the cord 44 is pulled out or pulled out of the stopper case 42 as the frame 18 moves. A cord stopper 46 is attached at an intermediate position of the cord 44, and the cord stopper 46 is engaged with the stopper case 42, so that the accordion door can be kept open. A handle 50 is attached to the frame 18.
[0020]
In the accordion door configured as described above, the state shown in FIG. 2 is a state where the accordion door main body 14 is open, that is, the hinge 20 is contracted. At this time, although a tensile force is acting on the tension spring 34, the hinge opening angle θ of each rhombus-shaped part 32 is small, and the hinge pieces 24, 25 constituting two sides of each rhombus-shaped part 32 are respectively tensioned. The direction of the tensile force of the spring 34 is substantially parallel to the direction of the tensile force, and the rotational moment acting on each hinge piece 24, 25 is small. Therefore, the accordion door main body 14 is kept open by the engagement between the cord stopper 46 and the stopper case 42.
[0021]
When the accordion door is open, the cord stopper 46 and the stopper case 42 are disengaged from each other to separate them, and the frame 18 is moved in the closing direction by holding the handle 50 provided on the frame 18 in FIG. As the runner 12 travels along the rail 10, the hinge 20 changes from the contracted state in FIG. 2 to the extended state. Thereby, the hinge opening angle θ of each rhombus-shaped portion 32 of the hinge 20 increases. When the hinge opening angle θ increases, the rotational moment due to the tensile force of the tension spring 34 acting on the hinge pieces 24 and 25 forming the two sides of each rhombus-shaped portion 32 increases, and the thrust for extending the hinge 20 acts, and Even if the frame 18 is not moved, the runner 12 automatically runs on the rail 10 and the accordion door closes. When the frame 18 is completely moved, the tension of the tension spring 34 acting on the hinge pieces 24, 25 still keeps the accordion door body 14 closed.
[0022]
When the accordion door is automatically closed, the distance between the pivots 26 is extended in conjunction with the extension of the hinge 20, and the rotary brake 40d of the brake 40 generates a braking force. As a result, the extension speed of the hinge 20 is reduced. For this reason, if it is assumed that the brake 40 does not exist, the tension force of the tension spring 34 is set so that the hinge 20 extends at a large operation speed regardless of the accordion door size or the material of the decorative covering material 22. Is originally set to a somewhat large value, and is set so that the maximum operation speed falls within the allowable speed range irrespective of the dimensions and the material of the decorative covering material by being decelerated by the brake 40.
[0023]
Next, when opening the accordion door again after the accordion door is closed, the user moves the frame 18 in the opening direction by holding the handle 50. At this time, the hinge pieces 24, 25 must be rotated in the opposite direction against the rotational moment acting on the hinge pieces 24, 25 by the tensile force of the extension spring 34, but as described above, the accordion When the door is opened and the hinge opening angle θ of the rhombus-shaped portion 32 of the hinge 20 is reduced, the rotational moment is reduced, so that the operating force for moving the frame 18 is reduced, and the tension spring 34 The hinge 20 can be contracted with a light force to open the accordion door without being affected by force. Then, when the accordion door main body 14 is sufficiently contracted and the cord stopper 46 and the stopper case 42 approach and engage with each other, the accordion door main body 14 maintains the open state.
[0024]
If the brake 40 does not generate a braking force when the accordion door is manually opened, the braking force is not applied and the operation load applied to the operator does not increase. Even if the braking force is generated, the operation speed of the operator is not so high, so that the braking force that deteriorates the operability does not act.
[0025]
As described above, in this embodiment, when the accordion door is closed, only a small operation such as releasing the stopper and slightly moving the accordion door is performed, and thereafter, the accordion door is automatically closed. At this time, since the braking force by the brake 40 acts, the extension speed of the hinge 20 is limited, and the closing speed of the accordion door can be kept within the allowable speed range.
[0026]
Since the brake 40 is disposed inside the accordion door main body having a large accommodation space, it is set without increasing the size of existing components. Existing general-purpose parts can also be used for the runner 12 and the rail 10, and a brake 40 can be added to the hinge 20 as a retrofit. Therefore, an increase in manufacturing cost due to the addition of the brake 40 can be suppressed.
[0027]
In the accordion door of the above example, when the accordion door is moved in the closing direction, the accordion door is automatically closed and moved in the opening direction. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a tension spring 34 is stretched between a pair of pivots 26, 26 which are opposing vertices of the rhombus-shaped portion 32, so that the pivots 26, 26 approach each other. By energizing, the accordion door can be automatically closed when moved in the opening direction, and manually moved in the closing direction. In this case as well, the brake can be applied in the same manner, and the braking force is generated by the brake 40 in conjunction with the contraction of the hinge 20, and the braking force is not generated when extending in the closing direction. This can be realized by setting the direction in the opposite direction.
[0028]
Further, in the present invention, the example in which the tension spring 34 is used as the urging means has been described. The tension spring 34 is good for balancing the thrust and the spring load, but an elastic body other than the tension spring 34 can be used as a component of the urging means. Instead of the tension spring, a compression spring may be stretched between one opposing pivot connection points to urge the other opposing pivot connection points toward each other.
[0029]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, when the accordion door body is automatically moved in the closing direction or the opening direction by the biasing means, the brake controls the extension or contraction operation of the hinge to decelerate. In addition, by setting the urging force of the urging means to some extent and decelerating by the brake, as a result, the maximum closing or maximum opening speed of the accordion door can be kept within a certain allowable range. Even if the urging force of the urging means is not precisely adjusted depending on the type of the covering material, the opening / closing speed can be made appropriate without the opening / closing speed being too fast or too slow.
[0030]
Since the brake is arranged inside the accordion door, the brake can be set without increasing the size of existing parts. Existing parts can be used without using runners and rails as dedicated parts, and can be shared with accordion door parts that do not have the function of automatically closing or opening, so they are inexpensive. can do.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an overall front view of an accordion door of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating a contracted state of the hinge of FIG. 1 (a state in which an accordion door is opened).
FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an extended state of the hinge of FIG. 1 (a state in which an accordion door is closed).
4A and 4B are enlarged views of the vicinity of a brake, wherein FIG. 4A shows an extended state of a hinge, and FIG. 4B shows a contracted state of the hinge.
FIG. 5 is a plan view illustrating a contracted state of a hinge according to another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a plan view illustrating an extended state of a hinge according to another embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 Rail 12 Runner 14 Accordion door body 34 Tension spring (biasing means)
40 brakes

Claims (2)

An accordion door body (14) having a decorative covering material (22) disposed before and after an extendable hinge (20) is suspended and supported by a runner (12), and the runner (12) runs on a rail (10). The urging means (34) is provided, and the runner (12) is automatically moved in either the opening direction or the closing direction by the urging force of the urging means (34). ) On the accordion door,
An accordion door characterized in that a brake (40) that operates in conjunction with expansion and contraction of a hinge (20) is disposed inside the accordion door body (14). The accordion door according to claim 1, wherein the brake (40) is installed between two points of an extendable hinge (20).

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