US2162640A

US2162640A - Door

Info

Publication number: US2162640A
Application number: US127430A
Authority: US
Inventors: Claude L Post
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1937-02-24
Filing date: 1937-02-24
Publication date: 1939-06-13
Anticipated expiration: 1956-06-13

Description

C. L; POST June 13, `1939.

DOOR

4 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Feb. 24, 1937 (Zelfde C. L. POST June 13, 1939'.

DOOR

Filed Feb. 24, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 C. L. POST June 13,y 1939.

DOOR

4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 24, 1957 i w I C. L. POST DOOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 24, 1957 l Claude 7705 June 13, .1939.

Patented June 13, 1939 PATENT OFFICE DOOR Claude L. Post, Chicago, Ill.y

Application February 24, 1937, Serial No. 127,430

9v Claims.

The invention relates to folding doors and is particularly adapted to be embodied in garage doors and the like.

A primary object of the invention isto provide a door of the kind described which is easy to oper--V ate and which is of relatively simple construction.

One form of the invention is embodied in a door which comprises upper and lower sections slidably and pvotally mounted in vertical` trackways, the construction being such that when the lower section is lifted, the upper section will swing into a substantially horizontal position and the lower section will assume a position substantially parallel thereto. In, the preferred construction, the upper end of the lower section is not hinged directly to the lower end of the upper section but mechanism spaced fromthese ends insuresv that the doors will fold and unfold, readily, when-the lower section is raised and lowered, respectively.

Other obects and. advantages will become apparent as the following detailed description progresses, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, whereinf Fig. 1 is an elevation of a door which embodies the invention, the view being taken looking at the inner side of the door.

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 2-2of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view taken on substantially the same line as Fig. 2 but showing the door in its open position. 1

Fig. 4 is an enlargedfragmentary section taken on line 4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on line 5 of Fig. 3. 'l

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 7 is a vertical section taken ysubstantially on the same lineas Fig. 2 but showing the door in an intermediate position and showing the upper section of the door partly in elevation.

Figs. 8 and 9 are enlarged fragmentary sections taken substantially on lines 8-8 of Fig. 5, certain parts in the two Views being shown in changed positions.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged fragmentary View taken on line IU-IU of Fig. 1. Y

Fig. 11 is a Asection takeny on line I l-II of Fig. 10. I

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken on line l2-I2 of Fig. 2, and y Fig. 13 is a fragmentary Yhorizontal section` taken on line I3-I3 of Fig; 2..

Referring to the drawings wherein a garage door which embodies a preferred form of the invention is illustrated, the reference character 25 designates generally a wall of the garage provided with a door opening 26 in which opening a door designated generally by the reference character 21 is mounted. The door 2l comprises upper and lower sections 28. and 29, respectively, which, in their closed positions, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, close the doorway 26. The

sections

28 and 29 have their lower ends slidably mounted in vertical trackways 30 at the sides of the doorway 2B. For this purpose, means is provided for mounting rollers 33 at the lower corners of the upper section 28 and means` is also provided for mounting rollers 34 at the lower corners of the lower section 29,` the

rollers

33 and 34 being adapted to ride in the trackways 30.

The rollers 33 are mounted on pins 35 projecting from brackets 36 fixed to the upper section 28 (Fig. l2). The two lower corners of the upper section 28 are notched as at 40 to receive portions of the brackets` 36 (Fig. 1). The brackets 36 are provided with bosses 4I1 in which are pivotally journalled the upper bent ends 43 of rods 44. The lower ends of the rods 44 are bent as at 45 and are journalled in bosses 46 formed integral with brackets 41 fixed to the inner side of the lower section 29.

Secured in the upper ends of the trackways 30 are blocks 49 in which the upper bent ends 50 of rods 5| are pivoted (Figs. 3, 4 and 7). The lower ends of the rods 5I are bent as at 53 and are pivoted in brackets 54 secured to the upper section 28;

Secured to the upper ends of the rods 44 are hook members 55 (Figs. 2, 5, 7, 8 and 9). The hook members 55 co-operate with leaf springs 56 mounted in the upper ends of the trackways 30. As bestillustrated in Figs. 3, '7, 8 and 9, the construction is such that when the

door sections

28 and 29 are displaced from the positions wherein they are shown in Fig. 'I to the position wherein they are shown in Fig. 3, so that the door is opened, the hook members 55 travel upwardly and engage the leaf springs 56 as illustrated in Fig. 8 near the final movement of opening the door. As the door is brought more and more into its fully opened position, the hook members 55 travel upwardly on the leaf springs 56 until the free ends of the hook members 55 slip over the free ends of the leaf springs 56 and are engaged thereby in the manner illustrated in Fig. 9. The door is then in its fully opened position as illustrated in Fig. 3.

Therollers 34 at the lower corners of the lower section 29 are mounted upon pins 60 projecting from bosses 6| formed integral with brackets 65 f which are secured to the lower corners of the door section 29. Interposed between the brackets 65 and the inner surface of the door section 29 are reenforcing metallic plates 66 (Figs. 2 and 11) Counterweights 10 suspended from cables 1| are provided preferably to counterbalance the weight of the

door sections

28 and 29. The cables 1l are trained over sheaves 12 journalled in brackets 'i3 which are secured to the inner side of the wall 25 (Figs. 1 and 2). The other ends of the cables 1| are secured to levers 15 (Figs. l, 2, l() and ll). I'he levers 15 are pivoted upon bolts 15 mounted in the brackets 41. It will be noted that the levers 15 are provided with rosettes 88 which co-operate with rosettes 8| formed v in the brackets 41, the construction being such that the bolts 16 may be loosened to permit relative adjustment between the levers 15 and the brackets 4l and then tightened to secure the levers 15 in their adjusted positions. The levers 'i5 are preferably provided between their free ends and the bolt 16 with tapering slots 85. It will be noted that the ends of the cables 1| are inserted first into the slots 85 through the narrow ends thereof and then doubled back as illustrated in Fig. l() so that when the levers 15 are subjected to tension, the greater the tension, the more the ends of the cables will wedge in the slots 85 to secure the cables to the levers 15. The function of the levers 15 and the co-operating parts of the brackets 41 is to permit the cables 1| to exert a leverage on the lower section 29 to urge it in a clockwise direction (Fig. 2) around the rollers 34 so that the lower section 29 will move easily into the position wherein it is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 when the door 21 is lowered to that position.

As best illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 6, bars 90 are secured to the trackways 30 and are engageable by the rods 4 when the door 21 is in its closed position. The stops 90 prevent one from pushing the upper end of the lower section 29 inwardly by exerting pressure on the outer side thereof. If an attempt is made to push the upper end of the section 29 inwardly, the rods 44 will engage the bars 90 and prevent such displacement of the lower section 29.

The lower section 29 is provided preferably with a handle 92 on the inner side thereof.

As best shown in Figs. 1 and 2, means is provided for locking the door 21 in its closed position. This means preferably comprises a lock 95 projecting through the upper section 28 and provided upon its inner side with a lever 96 which may be actuated manually at any time to unlock Or unlatch the door. A pin 91 projecting from the lever 96 rides in a slot 99 formed in a link |08 which is pivoted to the lower end of a rod lill slidably mounted between the inner side of the door section 28 and a metallic plate |03 fixed to the inner side of the upper section 28. The upper end of the rod is engageable with a detent |05, as best shown in Fig. 2, to lock the door in its closed position. A spring |01 yield- 7, ingly urges the rod |0| into its latching position.

The spring |01 has one end secured to the rod |0| and has its other end secured to the door section 28.

When the door 21 is in its closed position, the upper end of the door section 28 has its outer surface abutting against a jamb member ||0 secured to the wall 25. A jamb member is provided at the lower end of the door opening 26 and is engageable by the outer surface of the lower end of the door section 29,. The jamb member is not shown in Fig. 3` but isi illustrated in Figs. 2 and 7.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 7, it will be noted that a hook I I5 depends from the ceiling (not shown) of the garage and that Whenthe door 21 is opened, the hook ||5 will engage an aperture ||6 provided in the metallic plate |03.

The operation of the above described door is substantially as follows: If it is assumed that the door is locked in its closed position as illustrated in Figs. l and 2, it will be readily understood that the lever 96 may be manipulated from v the inner side of the door or that the lock 95 may be manipulated from the outer side of the door to Withdraw the rod |0| from engagement with the detent |05. The lower section 29 may then be lifted and as it is being lifted, it lifts the upper section 28, such upper section being tilted slightly toward the left in Fig. 2 as may be necessary by pressure applied manually thereto through the lever 96 or otherwise, such tilting of the section serving to swing the rods 5| out of centered position with respect to the plane of the door. However,-as the upper section 28 is pushed upwardly, the action of the rods 5| pivoting around their bent ends 50 causes the door section 28 to swing in a counter-clockwise direction (Figs. 2, 3 and '7) around the axes of the rollers 33 which are travelling upwardly in the trackways 30. The upper section 28 is pushed upwardly by the door section 29 until it assumes the position wherein it is shown in Fig. 3. The hook l5 is then in engagementwith the aperture ||6 of the plate |03 and supports the free end of the door section 28. When the door section 28- passes from the position wherein it is shown in Fig. 7 to the position wherein it is shown in Fig. 3, the action of the rods 44 causes theupper end of the door section 29 to swing in a counter-clockwise direction (Fig. 7) around the axes of the rollers 34 which are travelling upwardly in the trackways 30. The door section 29 finally assumes the position wherein it is shown in Fig. 3 and during its nal movement into this position, the hooks 55 engage the free ends 0f the leaf springs 56 as illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9. The door will then remain in the folded position wherein it is shown in Fig. 3 until one pulls downwardly upon the handle 92. The hooks 55 then prevent the bottom end of the door section 28 from immediately following the door section 29 so that .the door section 29 will go through its initial opening movement before the hooks 55 are disengaged from the leaf springs 56. The

rods

44 and 5| then function in such manner that the upper section 28 follows the lower section 29 as the lower section 29 is pulled downwardly and the door 21 finally assumes the position wherein it is shown in Fig. 2.

While I have shown and described certain embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that it is capable of many modifications. Changes, therefore, in the construction and arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed in the appended claims, in which it is my intention to claim all novelty inherent in my invention as broadly as permissible, in view of the prior art. I claim:

l. A collapsible door of the kind described comprising a plurality of door sections arranged one above the other when the door is in its closed position, trackways on both sides of the door, a pair of alignedvrollers on each door section riding in said trackways, a rod pivoted to one of said door sections when said door is in its open position, said rods cooperating with said rollers to collapse said door when one of said door sections is raised to open said door.

2. A collapsible door of the kind described comprising a plurality of door sections arranged one above the other when the door is in its closedY position, trackways on both sides of the door, a pair of aligned rollers on each door section riding in said trackways, a rod pivoted to one oi said door sections, means iixed with respect to the trackways for pivoting the other end of said rod,

a second rod having one of its ends pivoted to one of said door lsections and having the other of its ends pivoted to another of said door sections, a

hook secured to one of said rods, means engagev able by said hook when the door is in its open position to support one end of one of said door sections when said door is in its open position, and means engageable with the other end of the last-mentioned door section when it is brought into its open position for supporting it.

3. A collapsible door of the kind described comprising two door sections disposed one, above the other when the door is in its closed position, means for guiding said door sections into their open positions in planes extending at an angle to the plane of the door when it is in its closed position, and means for counterbalancing said door sections including a sheave, a cable trained over said sheave and having one of its ends secured to a counterweight, a lever adjustably mounted on the lower section, the other end oi said cable being fixed to the free end of said lever and co-operating therewith to urge the lower section into registry with the upper section when the two sections are in their closed positions.

4. The combination with an enclosure having an opening therein of a collapsible door of the kind described for said opening comprising two door sections disposed one above the other when the door is in its closed position and disposed side by side in substantially horizontal position when the door is in its open position, the lower ends of said door sections being disposed in close proximity to each other when they are in their o-pen positions, means including means connected to said door sections for guiding them from their closed positions to their open positions when upward pressure is applied to the lower section and arranged so that the upward movement of the lower section causes the upper section to move upwardly and to swing into substantially horizontal position ahead of the lower section, a sheave mounted in a ixed position with respect to said enclosure, a cable trained over said sheave, a counterweight attached to one end of said cable, and means fixed to the lower door section and attached to the other end of said cable, said cable and said counterweight cooperating to urge the lower door section into registry with the upper door section when the two door sections are in their closed positions.

5. A collapsible door of the kind described comprising two door sections disposed adjacent each other and one above the other when the door is in its closed position, trackways on both sides oi said door, means secured to thelower end of the upperA door section and riding in said trackways to pivot said upper door section, means secured to the lower end of the lower door section and riding in said trackways to pivot said lower door section, a rod having one of its ends pivoted to the lower end ofthe upper door section and having the other of its ends pivoted to the lower door section at a point approximately midway between the upper and lower ends of said lower door section, means comprising a latch device mounted on said rod closely adjacent to the lower end of said upper door section for holding said upper section releasably in raised position, a second rod having one end pivoted to said upper door section, and means for pivoting the other end of said second rod at a point fixed with respect to said trackways, said rods co-operating with said means riding in said trackways to guide the upper and lower sections into open positions at an angle to their closed positions and with their lower ends adjacent each other.

6. A collapsible door of the kind described comprising two door sections disposed adjacent each other and one above the other when the door is in its closed position, trackways on both sides of said door, means secured to the lower end of the upper door section and riding in said trackways to pivot said upper door section, means secured to the lower end of the lower door section and riding in said trackways to pivot said lower door section, a rod having one of its ends pivoted to the lower end of the upper door section and having the other of its ends pivoted to the lower door section at a point approximately midway between the upper and lower ends of said lower door section, a second rod having one end pivoted to said upper door section, means for pivoting the other end of said second rod at a point xed with respect to said trackways, said rods co-operating with said means riding in said trackways to guide said upper and lower sections into open positions at an angle to their closed positions and with their lower ends adjacent each other, spring means fixed with respect to said trackways, and means co-operating with said spring means to support one end of one of said door sections when said door is in its open position.

7. A collapsible door of the kind described comprising two door sections disposed adjacent each other and one above the other when the door is in its closed position, trackways on both sides of said door, means secured to the lower end of the upper door section and riding in said trackways to pivot said upper door section, means secured to the lower end of the lower door section and riding in said trackways to pivot said lower door section, a rod having one of its ends pivoted to the lower end of the upper door section and having the other of its ends pivoted to the lower door section at a point approximately midway between the upper and lower ends of said lower door section, a second rod having one end pivoted to said upper door section, means for pivoting the other end of said second rod at a point fixed with respect to said trackways, said rods co-operating with said means riding in said trackways to guide said upper and lower sections into open positions at an angle to their closed positions and with their lower ends adjacent each other, spring means iixed with respect to said trackways, and means l carried by one of said rods and co-operating with saidl spring means to support one end of one of said door sections when said door is in its open position.

8. A collapsible door of the kind described comprising two door sections disposed adjacent each other and one above the other when the door is in its closed position, trackways on both sides of said door, means secured to the lower end of the upper door section and riding in said trackways to pivot said upper door section, means secured to the lower end of the lower door section and riding in said trackways to pivotA said lower door section, a rod having one of its ends pivoted to the lower end of the upper door section and hav ing the other of its ends pivoted to the lower door section at a point approximately midway between the upper and lower ends of said lower door section, a second rod having one end pivoted to said upper door section, means for pivoting the other end of said second rod at a point Xed with respect to said trackways, said rods co-operating with said means riding in said trackways to guide the upper and lower sections into open positions at an angle tol their closed positions and with their lower ends adjacent each other when upward pressure is applied to the lower section and arranged so that the upward movement of the lower section causes the upper section to move upwardly and to swing into its angular open position ahead of the lower section, and means for counter-balancing said door sections including a sheave, a cable trained over said sheave and having one of its ends secured to a counterweight, a lever mounted on said lower section, the other end of said cable being fixed to the free end of said lever and co-operating therewith to urge the lower section into registry with the upper section when the two sections are in their closed positions.

9. A collapsible door of the kind described comprising two door sections disposed adjacent each other and one above the other when the door is in its closed position, trackways on both sides of said door, means secured to the lower end of the upper door section and riding in said trackways to pivot said upper door section, means secured to the lower end of the lower door section and riding in said trackways to pivot said lower door section, a rod having one of its ends pivoted to the lower end of the upper door section and having the other of its ends pivoted to the lower door section at a point approximately midway between the upper and lower ends of said lower door section, a second rod having one end pivoted to said upper door section, means for pivoting the other end of said second rod at a point fixed with respect to said trackways, said rods co-operating with said means riding in said trackways to guide the upper and lower sections into open positions at an angle to their closed positions and with their lower ends adjacent each other, and means for counter-balancing said door sections including a sheave, a cable trained over said sheave and having one of its ends. secured to a counterweight, and a lever adjustably mounted on said lower section, the other end of said cable being Xed to the free end of said lever and co-operating therewith to urge the lower section into reg istry with the upper section when the two sections are in their closed positions.

CLAUDE L. POST.