US2564197A - Flexible rolling closure for cabinets - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 14, 1951 w, D' BKN 2,564,197

' FLEXIBLE ROLLING CLOSURE FOR CABINETS Filed April 14, 1945 Z-Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEY W. J. DOBKIN FLEXIBLE ROLLING CLOSURE FOR CABINETS Aug. 14, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 14, 1945 6 6 fi 7 2 7 Z 7 l w a 2 l 7 GU T- Patented Aug. 14, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT QF'FICE FLEXIBLE ROLLING onosurm on CABINETS William J. Dobkin, Jackson Heights, N. Y. A lication Aoriiii. 1945, Serial. No. seesaw 3 Claims. (01. 312-297 The present invention relates to. cabinet 010- sures, and more particularly to the door-structure. of, cabinets of the general type, such. as those which are employed in kitchens, laboratories and the like, and. which are usually installed be-. tween thev ceiling. and the sink or. working. counter.

In order to open. or close. the ordinary hinged door on a wall cabinet, closet or cupboard, it is, necessary for a person to step. bacl; sulilciently to. clear the swinging, door. This may be inconvenient, especially where. the space. in front oi the. cabinet. is restricted, as in the case of, small; pantries. Also, these doors are very often throughtlessly left aj art, and are thereby a, source of facial or head accidents. Moreover, when a hinged cabinet door is opened, the full height of the interior of. the cabinet is exposed, evenv though access to the lower shelves alone is re.- quired, so that. the wholev interior is unnecessarily'exposed to dust, fumes, etc. The articles more frequently handled are usually stored in the lower shelves. of the cabinet, so that it israrely necessary to gain access to the. upper shelves of said. cabinet. I

one object. of. the present invent is to p o: vide a new and improved closure for a. cabinet of the general typereierred to.

Another object is to provide a flexible cabinet closure structure of the rolling type, which elirne inates. the disadvantage of. a hinged door strod tore, which can. be easily and conveniently inariipulated, which. can be. operated so. that only selected portions of the cabinet from. the bottom up are exposed, which canv be, easily mounted in. av cabinet frame or dismounted. therefrom, as. a unit, which maintains the door against drift,- ing movement, which occupies av minimum of spacev in the interior of. the cabinet, and which lends itself effectively to ornamental design Various other objects, features and advantages of the. invention will be. apparent from the following particular description, and from an. inspection of the accompanyin drawin s. in which:

Fig, 1. is a partial front elevation of a cabinet.

which has. a'flexible door structure embodying the present invention, and which is shown with parts of the front. Wall broken away to reveal part of the reel mechanism behind said wall;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section. of the cabinet taken along the lines 2. 2 oi'Fig, I;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view showing details of the reel mechanism for the flexible door;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the reel device taken along the lines 44 of Fig. l, but shown on a larger scale;

Fig. 5 is a detailed section ofthe stop mechanism for predeterminingthe limiting open and closed nositions. of the i legible door;

Fig. 6. is. a face elevation with parts broken away showing a clutch. mechanism by which the flexible door is automatically maintained in any selected open. position without the necessity of applying manual holding force;

Fig, '1 is a. radial section through the clutch mechanism.

Referring to. the drawings, the present invention is shown for the purpose of illustration applied to. a cabinet, closet or cupboard, IU of the general type, such as that which is. supported n the w lls f a kitchen or laboratory above the. floor. Such a cabinet, for example, would be supported. above a kitchen. a wall table or a laboratory counter. and would, be of. such height. that the interior of said cabinetwould'. be accessible to a. person standing up without. the necessity of bending down. This cabinet. HT

is shown comprising a rear wall II, and av front wall L2 provided with one or more rectangular door openings. it, two of these being shown. disposed alongside of each. other: It must be understood, however, that any num er of these door openings l3 disposed side by side may be provided according to the size of the cabinet.

Each. of the door'openingg I3 is framed on its sides by stiles or upright front. Wall frame pieces I [4,, along the top by a cross, front wall frame piece 15,, and along the bottom by a, cross. front wall frame piece or. sill. It. The am p I15 conjioint fy form. a continuous, comparatively wide panel across, the top of the, cabinet to, and the frame pieces or sills t6 conjointl'y form a Continuous, comparatively narrow panel acrossthe bottom. of the cabinet.

The cabinet [0' is show rovided w t h usual vertically spaced horizontal shelves IT supported therein in any well-known manner, and dividing said cabinet into a series of superposed storage compartments. 7

As a feature of the present invention, each of the door openings t3 is closedby a flexible rolling door or closure 21] having its upper end secured to a reel device 2;! on which it can be wound for opening movement, or from which it can be unwound for closing movement.

The flexible rolling door 20 may be of the type such as that commonly used in roll-top desks,

canvas backing 22 may be eliminated, and the strips or slats 23 may be linked together.

The reel device 2| on which the upper end of the flexible door 2|! is secured and wound, is mounted on a bracket 25, shown in the form of a U, and having a pair of side arms 21 interconnected by a cross member 28 removably supported on the inner'face of the upper door frame l5. For removably supporting the bracket 26 in potening means visible from the outside of the upper door frame piece I5, there is secured to the inner face of said door frame piece a plurality of fingers or hooks 32, and the cross-piece 28 of the bracket 25 is provided with a corresponding plurality of holes 33. Each of the hooks 32 is shown with a shank 34 affixed to the inner face of the door frame piece 15 by any suitable means, as for example, by welding, and with afinger 35 extending obliquely upwardly from said shank. The bracket 25 with the reel assembly 2| supported thereon is removably hung on the hooks 32, as shown in Fig. 4, with their fingers 35 extending through respective bracket holes 33, and will be firmly retained in this mounted position until it is desired to dismount the bracket and the reel assemblyifrom'the cabinet wall.

The reel device 2| includes an axle 3'! which is supported for rotation onthe side bracket arms 27 through a trunnion andbearing arrangement to be described, and which has rigidly secured thereto a pair of reel discs 38. The sides of the upper end of the flexible door 28 are secured to these two reel discs 38 respectively.

j In order to wind the flexible door 20 neatly about the reel discs 33 without any radial oifsets orbulges in the wound section of said door, each of these reel discs has a spiral periphery 4E and the end of said flexible door is secured to said periphery near the base section of its radially offset section 4|. The door 25 is secured to the reel discs 38 near this reel disc section by any suitable means, as for example, by means of fastening pins 42 pass'ingthrough the end door slats 23, and through the peripheral flanges of said reel discs.

The flexible door 20 is held along its sides close to the inner edges of the stiles I4 by means of guides 45. These guides '45 may be in the form of angle irons secured to the inner stiles |4 near their edges by anysuitable means, as for example, by welding, and forming with said inner faces guide channels into and along which the sides of said door are adapted to travel in their vertical movement. The upper ends 45 of these guides 45 are desirably flared to facilitate threading of the door 25 therein. These guides 45 serve not only as runways for the sides of the door 29, as'said'door is moved up and down over the door opening i3, but also serve to maintain said door against the inner face of the stiles l4, so that the sides of said opening are substantially sealed by said door against the entry of dust or fumes. I

e As another feature of the present invention, the door 20 is manipulated into open or closed position through the o'peration of a rotatable member 50 desirably in the form of a hand-knob, mounted on one of thestiles |4 framing one side of the opening 13, and disposed in the lower end thereof, so that said knob is easily accessible for manipulation. The reel device 2| is operated from the knob 50 to wind or unwind the flexible door 23 by means of a transmission between said door-knob. c andsaicL reeLdevice; 21.... In. the.

faces of the sition without the use of bolts, nuts or other fas-. lo

specific form shown, this transmission includes a sheave or pulley 5| on the inner side of the stile I4, having a drive connection with the knob 50 through a clutch to be described, a sheave or pulley 52 fixed to one end of the reel axle 31, a pair of idler pulleys 53 mounted for rotation on a stud shaft 54affixed to one of theside bracket arms 21, and an endless chain or belt 55 passing over the two pulleys 5| and 52, and having one side run passing over one of the idlers 53, and its other side run passing over the other idler pulley 53, In this arrangement, the idler pulleys 53 serve not only to locate the two side runs of the belt 55, but also serve as slack adjustment for said belt. The size ratio between pulleys 5| and 52 is such that one or two turns of the operating knob will completely open or completely close the cabinet door 20.

Easy operation of the door 2|} through manipulation of the knob 50 is assured by means of a compensating spring in the form of a coil spring loosely encircling one end of the axle 37 between a bracket side arm 21- and an adjoining disc wheel 38, and havingits ends secured to said side arm and said reel disc respectively. This spring 55 serves to counterbalance the weight of the door 2|) when said door is in partly closed position.

To prevent the door 20 from drifting up or down due to any slight variance between the weight of the door and the tension of the compensating spring 56, there is provided between the operating knob 50 andthe pulley 5| a clutch or reel locking device 51, shown in detail in Fig. 6. This device 51 comprises an outer clutch ring aflixed to the inner face of the cabinet stile l4, and an inner clutch'disc 6| secured to the pulley 5|, and defining with the outer ring a recess 59. The inner disc 6| has an outer circular periphery 62 concentric with an inner circular periphery 63 on the outer ring 60, and has a flatter section 64 on which rest two spherical balls 55 and 66. A coil spring 61 disposed in the recess 59 between the two balls 65 and 65 normally urges these balls apart. The radial distance between the circular peripheries 62 and 63 of the two members 6| and Gil is slightly smaller than the diameter of the balls 55 and 55, while the radial distances between the flatter section 64 of the disc BI and the inner circular periphery 63 of the outer ring 6|] is slightly larger than the diameter of these balls. As a result of the spreading action of the spring 6'! on the two balls 55 and 56, these balls are normally wedged between the ring 50 and the disc 6| in the position shown in Fig. 6, thus locking said disc against rotation. Since the disc 6| is fast to the pulley 5|,

said pulley is also looked against rotation, $01

that the reel 2|, through the medium of the belt 55, is held against rotation. The door 20 is thereby retained in any selected position against drifting movement.

In order to release the reel locking device so that the reel 2| is permitted to turn, there is provided a floating disc 10' having a web. secured to the shaft 12 of the operating knob 50, and a circular axial flange 13 extending into the recess 59 between the peripheries 62 and 63 'of the members SI and 60. This flange 13 has a section thereof cut away to receive the ball and spring assembly 65, 56 and 61 between the ends thereof.

cular slot 15 in the web H of said floating disc.

While the hand-knob 50 is free frommanipulae, I

tion, the pin 14 extends substantially centrally of the slot 75, as shown in Fig. 6.

With the reel locking device 51 as described, when, for example, it is desired to raise the door 20, the knob 50 is rotated clockwise, as shown in Fig. 6, to rotate the, floating disc in a corresponding direction. The initial clockwise move: ment of the floating disc 10 will cause one end of its flange 13 to engage the wedge ball 65. and thereby move said ball towards. the wider sec.- tion of the recess 59 between the members 6]! and 6|,- thus freeing the disc 6| to which the pulley 5| is afiixed for clockwise rotation. This initial movement of the floating disc: H1 is not transmitted to the disc 6|, because of thelost. motion connection between the elongated slot and the pin 14. A further clockwise rotation.

of the knob 50 will cause the pin Ill to be engaged by the end of the elongated slot 15, so that the clutch disc 6| is driven clockwise. This vclock wise movement of the clutch disc 6| is transmit?- ted to the pulley 5|, andin turn to the reel de: vice. through the belt 55, as already described- When it is desired to lower the door 2.0, the knob 50 is rotated in a counterclockwise direc: tion (Fig. 6), and this Will in turn first release the ball 65 from wedging position in the recess 59 between the two members 6!}. and El, and then will establish a drive connection between the disc 6| and the operating knob 50 through-the pin and slot arrangement 1.4 and 1.5, so that further counterclockwise rotation of said knob will cause said door to be lowered.

As. another feature of the present invention, means are provided for limiting the opening and closing movement of the door 20, so that said door will come to adead stop, when it is come pletely closed or when it. is completely open, re. gardless of any manipulation of the turning knob. 59. This limiting device, shown in Figs. 3 andfi, comprises a feed screw 80 passing through one of. the side bracket arms 21, and having threads ed thereon a nut 8| which is rigidly attached to the inner face of said side bracket arm by any suitable means, and which serves as. one of the.

limit stops for the door 20. This teed screw 80 is adjustably held in: position against axial and rotational movement by means of a lock nut 82 threaded .on said screw, and engaging the outer.

face of the side bracket arm 2]. Integral or otherwise rigid with the inner end of the screw 80 is a head 83, serving as the other limit stop for the door 20..

The reel axle 31 is hollow, and the two stops 8| and 83 on the screw 80 extend into one end of said axle with a snug rotative fit, and thereby conjointly serve as a trunnion to rotatably support said axle at said end. The other end section of the axle 31 is journalled in one of the side bracket arms 2! in any suitable manner.

As the turning knob 5|) is rotated, the axle 3'! is rotated in a corresponding direction. In order to bring the axle v31 to a dead stop when the door reaches the limit of its open or closed position, there is threaded on the feed screw 8|! a sleeve 35. This sleeve .85. has a lug. 86 extending longitudinally thereof and projecting therefrom through an elongated slot 81 along the axle 31, so that a connection is established between the sleeve 85-and the axle 31, oausing 'said sleeve to rotate with said axle while permitting it to slide axially therealong. In order that the axle 31 6. come to a dead stop at the end of the movement of the sleeve 85, the ends of said sleeve .are provided with helical clutch conformations 88 and 89, each defining a clutch tooth, and the two fixed stops 8| and B3 are provided with corresponding helical clutch conformations 9|! and 9| adapted to interlock through interengaging clutch teeth with the conformations 88 and 89 respectively, when the sleeve reaches the ends of its slide movement. The pitch of the helical conformations 88, 89, and 9| corresponds to that of the feed screw Bi], and the position of the sleeve 8.5 is so adjusted with respect to the stops 8| and 83 as to cause, the conformations 88 and 9a) and the conformations 89 and 9| to come to full conforming interlocking engagement as shown in Fig. 5 when the sleeve 85 reaches the end of; its slide movement.

With the door stop limiting mechanism de= scribed, as the reel 2| is rotated in one direca tion, its axle 37 is correspondingly rotated, so

that the sleeve 85 through the lug and slot con-:-

nection 86 and .81 is rotated around the feed screw .89. This causes the sleeve 85 to be fed axially along the feed screw 80 until it reachesv so that the sleeve 85. is locked against further.

rotation. This in turn locks the reel axle 31. against rotation, so that the door 28 remains in itscompleteiy open or completely closed position. When the reel 2| is rotated in an, opposite direc.-. tion through proper manipulation of the knob .59, then the reel axle 3'! will be rotated in a diI'GG': tion to release the sleeve v8.5 from lookin engage= ment with one of the stops 8| or .83, and cause it to move towards locking engagement with the other stop.

loosening the lock nut 82 and adjusting the a-x-ialv position of the feed screw 80 with respect to the fixed stop. Bil, the position .of the other stop 83 with respect to said step: 8| is corre.-. spendinglyadjusted, andv the limiting travel of the door 253 is accordingly varied.

By meansof the construction of the present invention, the door 2.0 can be raised by Simple manipulation .of the turning knob 5a, so as to progressively expose the interior of the cabinet m from the bottom up. No backstepping of the person manipulating the turning knob 5a? is necessary, nor is there. any possibility of head accidents from the door 26, as in the case of the ordinary hinged cabinet door. Furthermore, the opening .of the door 29 progressively from the bottom up permits exposure of only the bottom shelves where the articles. more frequently handled are stored, while the upper shelves, where the articles less frequently handled. are stored, remain protectively covered by the par tially closed door-.20..

Moreover, a flexible rolling door 26, such as that of the present invention, lends itself effec= tively to ornamental design. For example, the door 26' may be .constructed and designed to match the Venetian blinds of a kitchen or other room where the cabinet I0 is mounted, and the door slats '23 may be colored or otherwise orna mented to conform with any desired decorative pattern.

When it is desired, for example, to clean the interior of the cabinet H3, or to repair the flexible door structure, the whole structure may be removed as a unit from the cabinet, by the mere operation of lifting the mounting bracket 26 off the supporting books 32.

Although only one flexible door structure is shown, it must be understood that each of these structures would be repeated for each door opening l3.

As many changes can be made in the above device, and many apparently widely difierent embodiments of this invention can be made without departing from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. In a cabinet having a door opening, a flexible rolling door for said opening, a winding reel for one end of said door supported on an axle and rotatable therewith, and stop means for blocking rotation of said reel when said door reaches either one of its limiting positions, and. comprising a member extending into said axle from one end thereof, and serving as a trunnion for said axle.

2. In a cabinet having a door opening, a flexible rolling door for said opening, a winding reel for one end of said door rigidly supported on an axle having a slot extending lengthwise thereof, and stop means for blocking rotation of said reel when said door reaches either one of two limiting positions, and comprising a feed screw extending lengthwise into said axle and supported against rotation, a sleeve threaded on said screw in said axle, and having a member projecting therefrom into said slot, whereby said sleeve rotates with said axle but is slidable therealong, and stop members adapted to be engaged by said sleeve when said door reaches either one of said limiting positions, said sleeve and said stop members having complemental clutch teeth conformations adapted to interlock when said sleeve reaches said stop members, whereby further rotation of said sleeve, and in turn said reel, is blocked, said stop members being adjustable with respect to said sleeve to alter the limiting positions of said door.

.3. In a cabinet having a door opening, a flexible rolling door for said opening, a winding reel for one end of said door, manual control means for turning said reel a pair of stop members for blocking rotation of said reel when said door reaches either one of two preselected limiting positions independently of said control means, means for adjusting either of said stop members to adjustably vary selectively either one of said door limiting positions, and means for operatively supporting said winding reel in any adjusted positions of said stop members.

4. In a cabinet having a door opening, a flexible rolling door for said opening, a winding reel for one end of said door, manual control means for turning said reel, and clutch means holding said door in any selected position against drifting movement.

5. In a cabinet having a door opening, a flexible rolling door for said opening, a winding reel for one end of said door, clutch means holding said door in any selected position against drifting movement, and a control member for releasing said clutch and turning said reel.

6. In a cabinet having a door opening, a flexible rolling door for said opening, a winding reel for. one end of said door, a manually rotatable control member,: and a drive transmission be..-..:-

tween saidcontrol member and said reel for ro,-. tating said .reelupon rotation of said control member, and including a clutch member having a fixed element, arotatable element constituting a drive part of said transmission, a coupling between said rotatable .element, and said control member, means for normallycoupling said ro.-.

tatable clutch element to said fixed element to hold said .door in any selected position against.

drifting movement, and means for releasing the coupling engagement between when said control member is turned to cause rotary movement of said reel through said control.

member.

. 7.. In a cabinet having adoor opening, a flexi-' ble. rolling door for said opening, a windingreel, for one end of said door, manual control means. for turning said. reel, stop means forblockingz further. rotation of, said reel when said doorreaches a limiting position, and comprising a feed screw, means supporting said feed screwfor. axial adjusting movement, a sleeve threadedon. said screw and rotatable with said reel over said. feed screw, a stop member adapted to be engaged by said sleeve when said door reaches said limiting position, said stop-member being rigid with.

said feed screw, whereby the limiting position of said door can be adjusted by adjusting the axial.

position of said feed screw, and means for supporting said winding reel in any axially adjusted position of said feed screw.

8. In a cabinet having a door opening, a 1101;; low axle, a flexible rolling door for said opening,

a winding reel for one end of said door supported on said axle and rotatable therewith, stop means for blocking rotation of said reel when said door.

reaches substantially either completely closed or. completely opened, position, and comprising a. feed screwextending lengthwise into said axle... a sleeve threaded on said screw in said axle,= and having a connection with said axle whereby" said sleeve rotates around said feed screw with 3. said axle but is slidable therealong, stop members along the path of sliding movement of said sleeve adapted to be engaged by said sleeve when said door reaches substantially either completely closed or completely opened position, one of said. a stop members being rigid with said screw, means supporting said screw for axial adjusting move-- ment in said axle to permit adjustments in the relative position of said stop members, and means for supporting said winding reel in any axially adjusted position of said screw.

WILLIAM J. DOBKIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 537,351 Neuenschwander Apr. 9, 1895 698,475 Ebner Apr. 29, 1902 929,742 Wilson Aug. 3, 1909 983,663 White Feb. 7, 1911 987,155 McCloud Mar. 21, 1911 1,187,077 MacCune June 13, 1916 1,392,918 Cornell Oct. 11, 1921 2,032,951 Pixley Mar. 3, 1936 2,187,004 Wolf Jan. 16, 1940 2,341,123 Schweller Feb. 8, 1944 said elements,

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