US2228608A - Operating means for canopy doors - Google Patents

Description

- Jan. 14,1941. D. H. MORGAN. 2,228,608

OPERATING MEANS FOR CANOPY DOORS Filed Jan. 5', 1940' 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 14,

D. MORGAN 2,228,608

OPERATING MEANS FOR CANOIY DOORS Filed Jan. 5, .1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 14, 1941.

D. I- MQRGAN OPERATING MEANS FOR CANOPY DOORS 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 5, 1940 Jan. 14, 1941. M N 2,228,608

OPERATING MEANS FOR CANOPY DOORS Filed Jan. 5, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Jan. 14, 1941 UNITED STATES OPERATING MEANS FOR CANOPY DOORS David H. Morgan, Youngstown, Ohio, assignor to Truscon Steel Company, Youngstown, Ohio, a

corporation of Michigan Application January 5, 1940, Serial No. 812,622

3 Claims.

This invention relates to doors, and has particular reference to improvements in so-called canopy doors; that is to say, doors of the type which, when open, extend horizontally, or substantially horizontally, forwardly, canopy-like,

from a doorway at or near the top thereof.

Such doors commonly are used for controlling the doorways of aircraft hangars, warehouses and the like, and usually they are quite high,

wide and heavy, often being composed of two or more independent sections disposed in side to side relationship.

Such doors, or door sections, may be composed of a single leaf or of a plurality of leaves. In the latter case they preferably comprise upper and lower leaves, the lower leaf of which is mounted on the upper leaf to slide vertically relative thereto to open and close the lower part of the doorway when the upper leaf is disposed vertically closing the upper part of the doorway, and the upper leaf of which is pivoted for swinging movement between a vertically disposed, closed position and a substantially horizontally disposed, open position in which it extends forwardly from the doorway at the top thereof and carries with it the lower leaf which is disposed therebeneath in raised or open position with respect thereto.

The present invention relates more particularly to operating means for such doors, and in that connection one principal object of the invention is to provide an operating means which is disposed to leave the space adjacent to and behind the door unobstructed for substantially the full height of the doorway to render said space avail- .35 able for storage or other purposes, and which embodies a construction and mode of operation suchthat a power shaft rotating at constant speed and under uniform power exerts a progressively increasing force upon the door to swing the same to open position, regardless of whether the door is composed of a single leaf or of upper and lower leaves.

Another special object of the present invention is to provide an operating means which, when associated with doors of the type mentioned having upper and lower leaves, is operable to raise and control lowering of the lower leaf without disturbing the vertical disposition of the upper leaf, and which, by continuous, smooth operation is elfective first to, raise the lower leaf relative to the upper leaf and then to swing the two leaves as a unit to canopy-like position to completely open the doorway.

Another special object of the present invention is to provide an operating means for doors of the type mentioned which is simple, practical, and thoroughly reliable and efilcient in operation.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will become more fully apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, the 5 same consists in the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and defined in the appended claims. .10

In the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts in related views:

Figure l is a vertical, transverse section through a door and its operating means constructed in 15 accordance with one practical embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Figure 3 is a diagrammatic perspective view of the present door operating means. 20

Figure 4 is an enlarged view similar to Fig. 1 of the upper part of the door structure showing the lower leaf of the door raised relative to the upper leaf thereof- Figure 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing the 25 upper and lower leaves swung as a unit to canopylike open position.

Figure 6 is a top plan view of the door structure and of the door operating means.

Figure 7 is an enlarged top plan view of the door structure.

Figure 8 is an enlarged rear elevation, partly in section, of the upper part of the door structure.

Figures 9 and 10 are enlarged cross sections 3 on the lines 9-9 and Hll0, respectively, of Fig.- 1.

Figure 11 is a section on the line |lH of Fig. 10. v

Figure 12 is an enlarged top plan view of part 40 of the door operating mechanism.

Figure 13 is a longitudinal section through the part of the door operating mechanism shown in Fig. 12; and

Figure 14 is a transverse section through thepart of the door operating mechanism shown in Fi 12.

Referring to the drawings in detail, A designates a part of a building structure having a doorway a and B designates, generally, canopy 50 door controlling said doorway.

In the present instance the door B is illustrated as comprising upper and lower leaves designated as l0 and I I, respectively, and within the purview of the invention these leaves may be of any suitable or desired specific construction. They accordingly have not been illustrated in detail, but have been indicated conventionally as of panel form.

The upper leaf I6 is hinged in any suitable manner, as indicated at l2, at or near its top, to the building structure A at or near the top of the doorway a, for swinging movement between a vertically disposed, closed position and a substantially horizontally disposed, open position in which it extends, canopy-like, forwardly from the building structure at the top of the doorway a. On the other hand, the lower leaf H is mounted in any suitable manner on the upper leaf In for vertical sliding movement between raised and lowered positions relative thereto. In this latter connection and as illustrated in the present instance, the upper leaf lll includes a vertically disposed I-beam l3 having welded or otherwise suitably secured to its web a pair of angle members I4 which, in conjunction with the flanges l5 at the inner side of said I-beam,-provide roller trackways. On the other hand, the lower leaf 1 l includes a pair of vertically disposed channel members 16 which are located at opposite sides of the I-beam l3 and the flanges 11 of which constitute roller trackways.

Near the bottom of the upper leaf 19 the I-beam 13 carries rollers l8 which are disposed in the trackways afforded by the flanges ll of the channel members 16, while near their tops the channel members 16 carry rollers 59 which are disposed in the trackways afforded by the angle members l4 and the aforesaid flanges 15 at the inner side of the I-beam l3. Thus, the lower leaf is mounted on the upper leaf for free sliding vertical movement relative thereto.

The'upper leaf I0 is of a height to control approximately the upper half of the doorway a, and the lower leaf II. is of a height to control the remaining or lower portion of said doorway. The lower leaf is disposed inwardly relative to the upper leaf to slide behind said upper leaf, and when said lower leaf is' lowered its top is disposed only slightly above the bottom of the upper leaf. Accordingly, the channel members 16 extend suitably above the top of the lower leaf so that when the lower leaf 'is' lowered the rollers 18 and I9 are sufficiently spaced apart to firmly support the lower leaf upon the upper leaf.

The I-beam 13 or some other suitable part of the upper leaf structure preferably carries suitable stop means to be engaged by some suitable part of the lower leaf structure to limit upward movement of the lower leaf relative to the upper leaf, the arrangement in this respect comprising, for example, stop pieces 29 fixed to the I-beam l3 near the top thereof to be engaged by the tops of the channel members It to stop upward movement of the lower leaf relative to the upper leaf when the bottom of the the lower leaf is substantially at the level of the bottom of the upper leaf.

Preferably, the channel members 16 carry at their outer sides, above the top of the lower leaf I I, rollers 2| which, when the lower leaf is raised relative to the upper leaf,are disposed to ride behind suitable fixed trackways 22 when'the two leaves subsequently are swung as a unit from vertical toward horizontal position, thereby to insure against the lower leaf sliding downwardly relative to the upper leaf during swinging movement of said leaves. The trackways 22 may be supported in any suitable manner, as for example, upon apair of plates23 securedto' and depending from' a pair 'of channel members 2-1 disposed horizontally at or near the top of the doorway a and constituting part of the building structure.

Supported in any suitable manner at a point spaced inwardly from the door B and not far below the level of the top of the doorway a is a horizontally disposed shaft 25 which extends parallel to the door and which has fixed thereon a pair of cable drums 26 and 21, the former of which preferably is cylindrical and the latter of which is of conical or tapered form so that it is larger at one end than at the other.

- Appropriately, the shaft 25 may be supported by bearings 28 carried by a suitable framework carried by the channel members 24, said frame- Work comprising, for example, plates 29 fixed to and depending from said channel members 24, angle members 30 fixed to said plates 23 and supportinga pair of the bearings 28, and channel members 3|. fixed to said angle members and carrying another angle member 32 supporting another of the bearings 28.

Also supported in any suitable manner in- Wardly of the door and adjacent thereto, near the top of the doorway a, is a power shaft 33 which ishorizontally disposed and extends parallel to thedoor. This shaft maybe supported, for example, by bearings carried by the plates 23. In any event, said power shaft hasfixed thereon a cable drum 34 and has loosely mounted thereon a sheave 35.

Fixed at one end to the drum 21 atthe larger end of the latter is a cable 36 which extends from said drum forwardly'over the sheave 35, then downwardly beneath a sheave 31 carried by the lower door leaf II and then upwardlyto the drum 34 to which it is fixed'at its other end. Other cables 38,38 are fixed at corresponding ends to opposite ends of the drum 26 and-extend from said drum upwardly and outwardly over sheaves 39, 39 carried by-the-upper 'portion of the I-beam 13 near the top thereof and thenextend downwardly and-inwardly to points adjacent to the drum -26 "where-they 'are anchored as indicated at-ML-their anchorage comprising, for ex-- amplea suitable mernber which is pivoted to one of the channel members'SI sothat it may swing as-the angularity of the cables 38 relative to said channel member varies 'during opening and 'closing of the "door, and which is adjustable'in 'length to take up any initial -or 'developedslack in the cables 38, 38.

When the door is closed with the leaves thereof disposed vertically and the lower leaf lowered relative to the upper leaf,'the cables 38" are un-" wound from; the" drum 26 and the cable 35 is wound onto the drum 21, extending from the smaller end of said drum 21 over the 'sheaves35 and 31 and then to the drum '34. Under'such conditions, when power is' applied to the shaft 33 to rotate the drum 34 in'a direction 'towind the 7 cable 36 thereon the lower door leaf will belifted and the upper door leaf will not be swung'until the lower leaf has been raised into engagement because more effort is required to swing the'leaves than is required'to raise the lower leaf relative to the upper leaf 'andjbecause' the cable 36 therefore does not unwind from the drum 21; since to do so wouldrequire'windingof the'c'ables 38'onto' on, the portion of said cable'between thesheave 35" and the drum" 21 remains unmovableuntil' lb with the stop means 20 of the'upper door'leaf,"

the lower door leaf contacts the stop means 20, but the portions of said cable between the sheave 3! and the drum 34 and the sheave 35 become foreshortened with the result that the lower door leaf is raised. Thus it is apparent that the lower door leaf may be raised and lowered to open and close the lower part .of the doorway without disturbing the vertically disposed, closed position of the upper door leaf.

When the lower door leaf is fully raised and engages the stop means 20, any continued rotation of the drum 34 to wind the cable 36 thereon obviously must result in unwinding of said cable 36 from the drum 2'! with consequent rotation not only of said drum 21, but also of the drum 26. Accordingly, if rotation of the drum 34 in a direction to wind the cable 36 thereon is continued after the lower door leaf has been fully raised, the drum 26 is rotated with the result that larger diameter end of said drum and consequently exerts increasing turning effort upon the shaft 25 and the drum 26. Therefore, progressively increased power is applied to the lever arm constituted by the upper portion of the I-beam l3 to swing the door leaves to canopy-like position as such swinging movement of said door leaves progresses. As the door begins to swing, the rollers 2| move behind the trackways 22 which are concentric with respect to the pivot l2 of the upper door leaf and thereby insure against any possibility of the lower leaf accidentally moving downwardly relative to the upper leaf during swinging of said leaves.

Preferably, but not necessarily, a second cable 41 is fixed at one end to the drum 34 and extends therefrom over a suitable sheave or sheaves 42 and at its other end is provided with a counterweight 43. The cables 36 and 4| may be attached to opposite ends of the drum 34 so that as one of said cables is wound onto said drum the other is unwound therefrom. In this way the door 010- viously may be effectively counterbalanced.

To close the door the shaft 33 simply is permitted to rotate in a direction to unwind the cable 36 from the drum 34 at any desired rate of speed, whereupon the door leaves gravitate to their closed positions.

Obviously, the operating mechanism described may be used upon single leaf doors as well as upon dual leaf doors, either in the manner illustrated and described or simply by extending the cable 36 from the drum 21 directly to the drum 34. Obviously, too, since the present operating mechanism is disposed high relative to the door, it permits use of the space behind and adjacent to the door for storage or other purposes substantially throughout the height of the door.

If desired, only a single cable such as either of the cables 38 may be employed in lieu of two such cables. Moreover, it will, of course, be

understood that as many mechanisms as de-' scribed and as desired may be used on any given door or door section, and that in the case of a door embodying two or more sections, the power shaft 33 may be common to the operating mechanisms of all of the sections.

Without further description it is thought that the features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will of course be understood that changes respectively, a lower leaf mounted on said upper leaf for vertical sliding movement between raised and lowered open and closed positions, respectively, relative thereto, stop means to limit upward movement of. said lower leaf relative to said upper leaf, a lever arm extending upwardly from the upper door leaf above the pivot thereof, a pair of unitarily rotatable drums having afixed location spaced downwardly and inwardly from the upper end portion of said lever arm when the upper door leaf is disposed vertically, one of said drums being cylindrical and the other being of increasin diameter from one end toward the other end thereof, a cable connecting said cylindrical drum with an upper end portion of said lever arm, a power shaft, a drum on said power shaft, a sheave on the lower door leaf, and a second cable wound on said drum of increasing diameter from the larger toward the smaller end thereof when the upper door leaf is disposed vertically and extending from the smaller end of said drum beneath the sheave carried by said lower door leaf and then upwardly to the drum on said power shaft, whereby continuous rotation of said power shaft under uniform power in a direction to wind said second cable onto the drum carried thereby first effects raising of said lower door leaf relative to said upper door leaf and then effects unwinding of said second cable from said drum of increasing diameter, thereby rotating the cylindrical drum to wind said first mentioned cable thereon and thus swing the two door leaves as a unit toward open position, and

ward movement of said lower leaf relative to said upper leaf, a lever arm extending upwardly from the upper door leaf above the pivot thereof, a pair of unitarily rotatable drums having a fixed location spaced downwardly and inwardly from the upper portion of said lever arm when the upper door leaf is disposed vertically, one of said drums being cylindrical and the other being of increasing diameter from one end toward'the other end thereof, a sheave carried by the upper portion of said lever arm, a cable anchored at one end adjacent to said cylindrical drum and extending from its anchorage over said sheave and then to said cylindrical drum, wherebyrota. tion of said cylindrical drum in a direction to wind said cable thereon effects swinging movement of the door leaves toward open position, a power drum and an idler sheave located adjacent to the door, a sheave carried by said lower door leaf, and a second cable wound on said drum of increasing diameter from'the larger toward the smaller end thereof when the upper door leaf is disposed vertically and extending from the smaller end of said drum over said idler'sheave, then downwardly and beneath the sheave'carried by said lower door leaf and then upwardly to saidpower drum, whereby continuousrotation of said power drum under uniform power in a direction to wind said second cable thereon first effects raising of the lower door leaf and then effects unwinding of said second cable from said drum of increasing diameter, thereby rotating the cylindrical drum to wind said first mentioned cable thereon and thus swing the two door leaves as a unit toward open position, and imposing a progressively increasing opening force on said leaves as they swing toward open position.

3. A door comprising an upper leaf pivoted for swinging movement between vertical and substantially horizontal closed and open positions, respectively, a lower leaf mounted on said upper leaf for vertical sliding movement between raised and lowered open and closed positions, respectively, relative thereto, stop means to limits upward movement of the lower leaf relative to the upper leaf, a lever arm extending upwardly from the upper leaf above the pivot thereof, a pair of unitarily rotatable drums having a fixed location spaced downwardly and inwardly from the upperportion of said lever arm when the upper door leaf is disposed vertically, a cable connecting one of said drums with an upper end portion of said lever arm, a power shaft, a drum on said power shaft, a sheave on the lower door leaf, and-a second cable wound on the other of said pair of drums when the upper door leaf is disposed vertically and extending therefrom beneath the sheave on lower door leaf and then upwardly to the drum on said power shaft,whereby continuous rotation of the power shaft in a direction to wind said second cable onto the drum carried thereby first effects raising of said lower door leaf relative to said upper door leaf and then effects unwinding of said second cable from the related drum of said pair of drums, thereby rotating the other of said pair of drums to wind said first mentioned cable thereon and thus swing the two door leaves as a unit toward open position, one of said pair of drums'being cylindrical, the other of said pair of drums being tapered and having its associated cable related thereto so as to impose a progressively increasing leverage upon and a progressively increasing rate of opening swinging movement to the door leaves as they swing toward open position under constant speed and torque of the power shaft.

DAVID H. MORGAN.

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