US2318991A - Garage door construction - Google Patents

Description

y 1943- w. D. FERRIS 2,318,991

GARAGE DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed July 29, 1940 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 v 7 J9 INVEOR. BY: ll/alk'am/jfermb May 11, 1943. D. FERRIS 2,318,991

GARAGE DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed July 29, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 11, 1943 GARAGE DOOR CONSTRUCTION William D. Ferris, Sterling, 111., assignor to Frantz Manufacturing 00.,

poration of Illinois Sterling, 111., a cor- Application July 29, 1940, Serial No. 348,097

Claims. (01. 20+-19) This invention relates to a garage door construction of that kind in which the door is comswing back into its normal or vertical position i when closed.

Generally stated, the object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved construction and arrangement involving a pair of pivoted supporting arms for the door, combined with means on the inside or back of the door for pivotally mounting the other ends of the arms on the door, and having improved means whereby the distance between the two arms may be changed or adjusted for doors of different Widths, or for difl'erent distances between the side walls of the building on which the arms are mounted, or. for different distances between any suitable supports upon which the arms are necessarily pivoted in order to support the door in its overhead or open position.

It is also an object to provide certain novel details and specific features-of construction tending to increase the general efiiciency and desira-- bility of a garage door construction of this particular character.

To the foregoing and other useful ends, the invention consists of matters hereinafter set forth and'claimed and shown in the accompanya plane in rear of the door and its supporting 1 arms.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on line 22 in Fig. 1 of the drawings, showing one side of the building broken away for convenience of illustration.

in Fig. 1 of the'drawings. Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary detail section on line 44 in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

Fig. 5 is a perspective of one of the pivot brackets that are mounted on the back or inside of the door.

Fig. 6 is a vertical section on line B6 in Fig. 1

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail section on line 3-3 of the drawings, showing the door in its open po-,

sition.

Fig. '7 is a similar view showing the door in its closed position.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail sectional View, of

fragmentary character, on line 88 in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of one of the units for mounting the horizontal channel irons on the back or inside of the door, showing the parts thereof separated. a

As thus illustrated, the invention comprises a rigid rectangular door I arranged to have a Vertical position in the doorway, as shown in Fig. 7, when the door is in closed position.- When the door is in open position, it is substantially horizontal and overhead, as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings.

There are two pivoted supporting arms 2 and 2 at opposite sides of the doorway, which are substantially horizontal when the door'is in closed position, but which are more or less vertically disposed when the door is in open position; One end of each arm is mounted on a stationary pivot 3 at one side of the doorway, and theother'end of each arm is pivoted on a U-shaped pivot bracket 4, as shown more clearly in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings. The pivoting of these arms 2, which are preferably of channel iron, on the brackets 4, is of special importance,- and is preferably as follows: Each'U-shaped bracket lhas a pivot stud 5 permanently fastened to the outer end of the bracket by the riveted-over'inner end 6 of this stud. The latter has a shoulder '1 that bears against the outer end of the bracket. The outer end of the stud is of maximum'diamet er and'forms a head which bears against the inner surface of the'channel iron arm 2, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings. Each arm has an bearing is insured in the manufacture of the garage door set or hardware. v

On the back or inside of the door, there are two horizontal channel irons 9, which arearranged in alignment at a distance about midway between the upper and lower edges of the door. The adjacent ends of'the two channelirons 9 are clamped to the door by bracket plates I 0 which are held in place by bolts which are adjustable to release or clamp the two channel irons. Near their outer ends; the two channel irons 9 are held in place by guide brackets or bracket plates .11 that are held in place by bolts l2 that are also adjustable to clamp or release the two channel irons 9, which latter have their channels or hollow sides against the door, as shown more clearly in Fig. 8 of the drawings. Trusslike braces l3 are fastened at their upper and lower ends, to the inside of the door, as shown in the drawings, and the bent middle portions of these trusslike braces bear against the middle portions of the brackets H, as shown in Fig. 8 of the drawings. A long bolt l4 extends out of each bracket H and through the adjacent brace l3 and through the saddle piece l5 and through the sleeve bolt l6 which serves to clamp the truss brace tightly in place at this point. For convenience in bending, each truss brace, which is preferably of channel iron, may be provided with notches H in its flanges, opposite the opening l8 through which the sleeve nut l6 extends, as shown more clearly in Fig. 9 of the drawings. The two U-shaped pivot brackets 4 are forced inside of the ends of the channel irons 9 and are held in place by machine bolts l9, which latter can be applied during the installation of the door. Thus, the channel irons 9 are adjustable endwise in the guide plates l6 and II for the purpose specified.

Springs 29 are hitched to the arms 1 at one end, and tothe building at the other end, to assist in raising the door into open position, and to ease or cushion the closing movement of the door. Preferably, when the door rises into open position, the arms 2 strike the spring bumpers 2| that serve as stops to limit in a cushioning manner the opening movement of the door.

Parallel and substantially horizontal tracks 22 are provided on the building at opposite sides of the doorway, and the upper end of the door is provided with rolls or wheels 23 for engagement with said tracks, whereby the latter guide the door in its opening and closing movements and cooperate with the arms 2 to support the door in its overhead open position.

Thus a very simple, yet eifective,set of hardware for a garage door is provided for the installation of the door in the doorway of the building.

What I claim as my invention is: I

1. In a garage door construction in combination with a frame forming a door opening, a rigid door adapted when closed to occupy a substantially vertical position with respect to said opening and to shift to an overhead open position, a plurality of transverse horizontally elongated rigid supports adjustably mounted on the inside face of said door in alignment with each other, whereby the ends of said supports can project beyond the side edges of the door, guide brackets mounted on the door including means to clamp said supports in adjusted position so that the ends of said supports may project varying distances beyond the opposed edges of thedoor, whereby to accommodate doors of different widths or for differences in clearance between the side of the door and the adjoining side wall at the opposite sides of the door, a pair of arms, one disposed at each side of the door, one end of each arm being pivotally mounted on a fixed anchorage at the side and rearwardly of the door and the opposite ends of said arm being pivotally mounted to an adjacent end of one of said rigid elongated supports, spring means operative in closed position of said door tending to shift said door to an overhead open position and strut means engaging upper and lower portions of the door above and below said elongated supports and substantially at the outer edge portions of said door, means mounted on said guide brackets for releasably clamping said strut members thereto, said releasable engagement of the strut means with said guide brackets comprising means to permit said elongated supports to be adjustably shifted in a direction longitudinally of said elongated supports and relatively to the door.

2. In combination with a frame providing a door opening, a rigid door adapted in vertical position to close the same, said door being shiftable to substantially horizontal overhead open position, a pair of tracks for said frame and rollers on said door adapted to move in said tracks, a pair of stationary supports on opposite sides of the door substantiallymidway of the height of the door, an arm pivotally mounted to each of said stationary supports, spaced guide means mounted on the inside face of said door substantially midway of its height and spaced across said door, a plurality of channel-shaped members slidably and adjustably mounted in said spaced guide means with the open face of each channel facing toward the inside" face of said door, means for clamping said guide means in adjusted position, a pair of brackets nesting in the outer end of each channel-shaped member, there being means for fastening said brackets to the ends of said members, a pivotal connection between each bracket and the outer end of each of said pivotal arms, spring means normally urging said door from vertically closed position to an open overhead position. and vertically disposed strut means extending vertically of the door and carried by said guide means, the upper and lower ends of said strut means being anchored to the door and means for adjustably tightening said strut means independently of the clamping action of said guide means.

3. In combination with a frame providing a door opening, a rigid door adapted in vertical position to close the same, said door being shiftable' to substantially horizontal overhead open position, a pair of overhead tracks on said frame and rollers on said door engaging said tracks, a pair of stationary supports on opposite sides and rearwardly of the door substantially midway of the height thereof, an arm pivotally mounted on each of' said stationary supports, spaced guide means mounted on the inside face of said door substantially midway of its height and spaced across said door, a plurality of channel-shaped members slidably mounted insaid spaced guide means with the open face of said members facing toward the inside face of said door, means form'- ing a pivotal connection between the outer? end of each of said members and the outer ends' of each of said pivotal arms, spring means normally urging said door from vertically closed position to an open overhead position, strut means dis! posed on the inside face of the door and extending vertically of the door when the door isin closed position, said strut means being fastened to spaced upper and lower portions of the door when in closed position and means carried by certain of the guide means and. engaging substantially the middle portion of said strut means and releasably clamping the same with respect to said guide means, whereby to rigidify thedoor while permitting the adjustability of said members longitudinally of themselves and with-respect to the door.

4. In combination with a frame having ado'o'r opening, a rigid door therefor, track and roller means engaging the frame of the door to guide the same, a pair of arms having one end of each pivoted to stationary supports, a pair of elongated channel members, guide means on the rear face of the door forming brackets to overlie the elongated channel members, certain of said guide means being disposed substantially midway of the vertical face of the door when the latter is in closed position, said certain guide means having adjusting means for clamping the channel members in position on the door, the inner walls of which guide means are adapted to engage said channel members, said guide means forming a mounting for a threaded member extending outwardly from said guide means, an elongated strut fastened to upper and lower portions of the outer edge of the door on opposite sides of said channel members, the intermediate portions of said strut means having a lug adapted threadedly to engage the threaded member of each of said brackets whereby the central portion of each strut is clamped to the outer portion of a guide member.

5. In combination with a frame, an opening, a one-piece door therefor disposed vertically in closed position and substantially horizontal at open overhead position, track means on the frame and roller means on the door engaging said track means, rigidifying means extending when the door is in closed position horizontally across the door midway of its height, guide means for mounting said rigidifying means on the rear face of the door, whereby to permit said rigidifying means to project varying distances beyond the vertical side edges of the door when the door is in closed position, strut means mounted on the rear face of the door and on said guide means at a substantial angle to said rigidifying means and connected to remotely disposed portions of the door on opposite sides of the rigidifying means and releasable clamping means interconnecting the strut means with the guide means, whereby to provide for the longi tudinal adjustment of the rigidifying means and a pivotal connection between the outer ends of the rigidifying means and pivoted arms, the opposite ends of said arms being pivotally mounted with respect to stationary anchorages disposed on said frame about midway of the height and rearwardly of the door when the door is in closed position, and spring means tending to cause the door to assume open overhead position.

WILLIAM D. FERRIS.

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