US2017012A

US2017012A - Door structure

Info

Publication number: US2017012A
Application number: US620912A
Authority: US
Inventors: David H Morgan
Original assignee: Truscon Steel Co
Current assignee: Truscon Steel Co
Priority date: 1932-07-05
Filing date: 1932-07-05
Publication date: 1935-10-08
Anticipated expiration: 1952-10-08

Description

D. H. MORGAN DOOR STRUCTURE Filed July 5, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Get. 8, 1935. D. H. MORGAN 2,017,012

DOOR. STRUCTURE Filed July 5, 1952 .4 Sheets-Sheet 2 avail-wiggle,

Qct. 8, 1935.

D. H. MORGAN 'DOOR STRUCTURE Filed July '5, 1932 [4 Sheets-Sheet 3 D. H. MORGAN DOOR STRUCTURE Filed Jul 5, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 vidE.M01ga Patented Oct. 8, 1935 UNITED STATES DOOR STRUCTURE David H. Morgan, Youngstown, Ohio, assignor to Truscon Steel Company, Youngstown, Ohio, a corporation of Michigan Application July 5, 1932, Serial No. 620,912

- 9Claims. (or. 20-20) One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a simple practicable door structure particularly intended for doorways of large size in which the weight of the door is in great measure supported directly by the guiding means when the door is opened, and in which novel mecha-' nism is provided for counterweighting the door and eliminating in part the action 01' the counterweighting means as the door becomes thus supported.

Another object is to provide a door structure of .a character that will permit a small or pilot door being formed therein so that entrance to or exit from the building may be had by individuals without the necessity of operating the large door structure.

In the accompanying drawings: 1

Figure 1 is an inside elevation of one embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fi ure 1.

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view showing the relation of the door when partially opened.

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view illustrating the relation of the counterweighting means when the door is in substantially the position shown in Figure 4.

- Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 4, but showing the door fully opened.

Figure 7 is a vertical sectional view through the counterweighting means showing said means in the relation assumed when the door is in the po-= sition shown in Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a top plan view of the door and par ticularly the door operating mechanism. I

Figure 9 is a'plan view oi. the door structure with said operating mechanism removed.

L0 As shown in certain of the figures, particularly 3, 8 and 9, a doorway I0 is defined by spaced walls ll of any suitable structure. On the inner sides of the walls ll adjacent to the doorway I are placed vertical supports shown in the form inafter explained. The portions are shown as hung at their rear ends by/a carrier bar I I supported by hanger rods l6 that may be attached in any suitable way to convenient over- 5, lying structural parts of the building.

A doo'r'for the doorway I0 is shown as consisting of a lower section II and an upper section 18. These sections consist of suitable frame bars t9, the top frame bar of the lower section and the bottom frame bar of the upper section being I hinged together, as shown at 20. The walls of the door sections are formed bysuitable plates or panels 2| welded or otherwise secured to the frame bars. The upper section may have win dows as illustrated at 22. v '10 The door as a whole being primarily intended for relatively large doorways or openings is much higher than the ordinary human being, and as an entity may be said to be fiexible'because of the hingedly connected sections. In the strucl5 ture shown the lower section .ll is in itself higher with the usual latch and lock indicated at 26.

Thus ingress to and exit fromthe building may be made through the doorway 23 without operat- 25 ing the main door structure.

The door is vertically and then .rearwardly movable to an open position and forwardly'and then downwardly movable to aclosedposition. In order that it be guided properly rollers 21 so operating in the guideways l3-ll are carried on spindles 28 fixed to brackets 29 secured to the upper portion of the upper section l8, to the lower portion of the lower section l1, and to one of the sections, preferably the lower section ad- 35 jacent to the hinged joint between them. As will be clear by a comparison -of Figures 2, 4 and 6, if the door is elevated the upper section initially moves vertically, but almost immediately the upper end turns rearwardly and its rear end be- 40 gins to be supported 'by the portions H of the guideways by reason of the uppermost rollers 21 resting thereon. In like manner the lower door section II moves vertically until'it too turns rearwardly and when the door is fully opened, as inll dicated in Figure 6, only the front. portion thereof will be unsupported by the rearwardly turned portions ll of the guideways.

The operating mechanism for the door is preterably constructed as follows. Two

cables

30 and 3|, which may be in the form of chains, have ends secured as indicated at 32 to the lower corner portions of the lower section H. The cable 3| passes around a driving sheave 33 10- cated above its poi of connection 32 to the 58 door. The other cable 3|, passing around a guide sheave 34 above its point of connection 32, extends over to and about another drive sheave 35. The two

sheaves

33 and 35 are fixed to a common shaft 36 carrying a spur gear 31. Meshing with this-spur gear is a drive pinion 38 on a shaft 39 that carries an operating pulley 40. An endless operating chain 4| extends around the pulley 40 and freely drops to thelower portion of the structure at one side of the doorway where it may be readily grasped and operated. Other operating means may of course be employed.

The two cables 30 and. 3| after passing over 1'' the

operating sheaves

33 and 35 have their ends djustably but fixedly secured to a suitable support as shown at 42. There is enough of the two cables between the support 42 and said operating pulleys to form depending bights 43 in said cables, and these bights hang in the upper portion of a guide housing 44 located alongside .the doorway and preferably at the outer side of one of the vertical guideways I3.

In said housing 44 is located a counterweight mechanism consisting in the present embodiment of two distinctive counterweights 45' and 46. Each may consist of a series of weight sections which can be added to or depleted in number according to the weight and arrangement of the door. The upper section 45 has its units secured together by rods 41 and said rods are connected to a top plate 48 carrying a bracket 49 in which are idler pulleys 50. These pulleys are engaged in the bights 43 of the cables and allow free movement of the cables. The lower counterweight 46 is supported by vertical tie rods that pass therethrough and through the uppercounterweight 45, being slidable in the upper weight as will be clear by a comparison of Figures 5 and 7..-

The operation of this counterweight mechanism may thus be described. When the door is in its closed position or as shown in Figure 1 and 2 both weights are supported by the

cables

30 and 3| as indicated -in Figure 1, the lower weight being some distance above the floor or bottom of the housing 44. If now the operating means is actuated, by moving the chain 4| in the appropriate'direction, the rotation of the

operating sheaves

33 and 35 causes a pull to be exerted on the

chains

30 and 3| to elevate the door. The bights 43 of the cables thereby increase in thus taken from the cables, so that a substantial balancing action occurs in that the upper weight 45 is then alone in operation and is partly counterbalancing the lower door section As the opening of the door is continued the lower weight section also I comes substantially on to the supporting portions l4 of the guideways, but

.even when the door is fully open as will be clear by reference to Figure 6, the lowermost rollers 21 are still on the turn of the guideways and there is a material portion of the weight still carried by the cables. The fully open position of the parts is determined by stops 52 at the rear ends 01 the guideways l4 and which are abutted by the uppermost or now rearmost rollers 21 (see Figure 6). While the upper counterweightis permitted to move downwardly by reason of its sliding engagements with the tie rods 5|, as shown in Figure 7, and said upper weight 5 45- may be allowed to rest directly upon the lower weight, preferably the upper weight is always in action, or in other words spaced from the lower weight so that it acting to hold the door in open position and against its tendency ove forwardly by reason of gravity acting on the front or normally lower end of the lower section II as illustrated in Figure 6. To close the door therefore it is only necessary for the operator to move the actuating chain 4| in a reverse direction, whereupon the holding action of the upper weight 45 is overcome, gravity is permitted to act and move the front end of the lowermost section 21 from its position shown in Figure 6 and the door moves downwardly, its

active weight on the chains increasing until the upper counterweight 46 is elevated sufliciently to cause the tie rods 5| to again raise the lower counterweights 46.

From the foregoing, it is thought that the construction, operation and many advantages of the herein described invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art without further description, and it will be understood that various changes in the size, shape, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

What I claim, is:

1. A closure structure comprising a door to be 3 raised and lowered, a guide means for the door including means for supporting at least a portion of the weight of the door when the same is elevated, mechanism for elevating and lowering the door including upper and lower counterweights that are lowered and raised as the door is elevated and lowered, means operating with the door and connected to the upper weight for moving said upper weight, a stop for limiting the downward movement of the lower weight, and means other than the said means which operates the said upper weight, and connecting the upper and lower weights for causing the lower weight to move upwardly after the upper weight has been elevated a predetermined distance, said weight connecting means permitting the upper weight to lower toward the lower weight when the latter is on the 2. A closure structure comprising a door to be raised and lowered, a guide means for the door 55 including means for supporting at least a portion of the weight of the door when the same is elevated, mechanism for elevating and lowering the door including upper and lower counterweights that are lowered and raised as the door is Q elevated and lowered, a cable connected to'the door and supporting the upper weight to cause its movement with the door, and means other than said cable connecting the upper and lower weights for causing the lower weight to move upwardly after the upper weight has been elevated a predetermined distance, said weight connecting means permitting the upper weight to lower toward the lower weight when the latter is on the stop.

3. A closure structure comprising a door to be raised and lowered, a guide means for the door ineluding means for supporting at least aportion of the weight of the door when the same is elevated, mechanism for elevating and lowering the door are lowered and raised as the door is elevated and lowered, a cable connected to the door and having a bight, a pulley connected to the upper weight and operating in said bight, and a connection between the two weights having a sliding engagement in the upper weight and permitting the upper weight to move toward the lower weight, when the latter is seated on the stop.

4. A'counterweighting mechanism for a door that is raised and lowered and, which has at least a portion of its weight supported by its guide means, said counterweighting mechanism including a plurality of counterweight bodies that are lowered and raised as the door is elevated and lowered, a supporting connection between one of the counterweight bodies and the door, means for supporting said counterweight body in a state of rest and independently of the connection, when the door is partially elevated, and means other than said door connection, directly connecting the counterweight bodies to support one bodyfrom the other and permitting theunsupported body to move toward and from the other body when supported in said state of rest...

5. A counterweighting mechanism for a door thatis raised and lowered and which has at least a portion of its weight supported by its guide means, said counterweighting mechanism includ-- ing a plurality of counterweight bodies that are lowered and raised as the door is elevated and lowered, a supporting connection between one of the counterweight bodies and the door, means for supporting said counterweight body' in astate of rest and independently of the connectionwhen the door is partially elevated, and means directly connecting the counterweight bodies to support one body iromtheother, said connectingmeans being slidable in one of the counterweight bodies and permitting theunsupported body to move toward and from the other body when supported in said state of rest.

6. A counter-weighting mechanism for a door that is raised and lowered and which has at least a portion 'of its weight supported by its guide means, said counterweighting mechanism including an upper counterweight and a lower counterweight, means for connecting the upper counterweight to the door to cause said counterweight to rise and fall as the door moves,a support on which ;the lower weight is adapted to rest, and tie rods carrying the lower weight and slidable in the upper weight to permit said upper'weight to move toward and from the lower weight when the latter is 5 in a state of rest on its said support.- I

7. A counterweighting mechanism for a door that is raised and lowered and which has at least a portion of its weight supported by its guide means, said counterweighting mechanism includ- 10 mg a sheave, a cable fixed to the door, passing over the sheave and having a fixed end, forming a loop between the sheave and its fixed end, an upper counterweight hungv directly from and having a a traveling mounting in the loop, a second counl5 terweight below the first counterweight, a support on which the lower counterweight is adapted to rest, means suspendingthe lower counterweight from the upper counterweight and permitting the upper to move toward the lower when the latter is 20 on its support.

8. A counterweighting mechanism for a door that is raised and lowered and which has at least a portion of its weight supported byits guide means, said counterweighting mechanism includ- 25 ing a sheave, a cable fixed to the door, passing over the sheave and having a fixed end, forming a loop between the sheave and its fixed end, an upper counterweight, a pulley. on the ,loop and from which the upper counterweight is directly sup- 30 ported, a lower counterweight, a support on'which the lower counterweight rests when lowered, and a tie rod connecting; the lower and upper counterweights and slidable in one of the same, said means, said counterweig'hting mechanism includ- 40 ing a sheave, a cable fixed to the door, a pulley on f said cable, an upper counterweight directly suspended from said pulley, and a lower counterweight suspended i'rom the upper weight by means which permit a relative sliding" of the weights 45 after the lower weight reaches the limit of its travel.

,DAVID E, MORGAN.