US3103043A - Garage door mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Sept-10, 1963 P. CONGELLIERE 3,103,043

GARAGE DOOR MECHANISM Filed March 28, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 10, 1963 P. CONGELLIERE GARAGE DOOR MECHANISM Filed March 28, 1960 United States Patent O "il .t

3,103,042; GARAGE DOQR MECHANTSM Peter Congeiliere, 3341 W. 116th St., Inglewood, Calif. Filed l'vlar. 28, 1960, Ser. No. 13,600 6 Claims. (ill. 2li- 16) This invention relates to a closure assembly for the doorway of a building, which assembly includes a counterbalanced door movable to `an overhead open position. While various features of the invention are widely applicable to door installations in general, the invention has been initially embodied in a door assembly for a homeowners garage. This embodiment has been selected for the present disclosure and will provide adequate guidance for other speciiic use-s of the basic invention.

A garage door suc-h as employed in the selected embodiment of the invention is movable upwardly and rearwardly from a forward vertical closed position to an overhead horizontal open position. For this purpose, the door is mounted by side arms or by equivalent linkages to swing about a pivot axis that is parallel with the door and is spaced substantially inward from the doorway. Counterbalancing means is required to facilitate the opening movement of such :a door, since the center of gravity of the door rises a substantial distance in the opening movement. Typically, such a counterbalancng means comprises a pair lof long springs on opposite sides of the gara-ge connected to the respective mounting arms of the door.

Since the two counterbalancing springs oppose the closing movement of the door, the stressing of the springs rises to a maximum as the door approaches its fully closed position. Consequently, no special care is required to close the door in a gentle and non-damaging manner.

On the other hand, since the counterbalancing springs urge the door to open and since the mounting arms swing to `favorable angles relative to the spring as the door moves towards its fully open position, it is di-ilicult to keep the door from reaching its limit opening position without making a heavy damaging impact against the building structure. In fact, the counterbalancing springs are commonly connected to the door closer than desirable to the pivot axis of the door to minimize the jolting impact at the end of the door-closing movement. If the impact were not objectionable, much better counterbalancing action could be achieved by shifting the points of connection of the springs to points further out from the pivot axis of the door.

The primary object of the present invention is to meet this problem by providing energy-absorbing means to de- `celerate the closing movement of the door. The provision of the energy-absorbing means not only avoids the jolting impact at the end of the door opening movement but, also, permits the counterbalancing springs to be connected to points further out from the pivot aXis of the door for improved counterbalancing action. In fact, a feature of the preferred practice of the invention is that the point of connection of the counterbalancing spring with the door is spaced so far from the pivot axis of the door that the counterbalancing springs actually bias the door towards its open position. This arrangement makes it possible to use a remotely controlled latch to hold the door at its normal closed position so that when the latch is released `by remote control, the `door is actuated automatically by the counterbalancing springs to move from its closed position to its open position.

One problem to be considered in the construction of such an energy-absorbing means is that, while it must oppose the force of the counterbalancing springs, it must not interfere to any serious degree with the counterbalancing function of the two springs. If the energy-absorberal direction of the door movement.

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ing means were designed to store all of the energy that it absorbs, the stored force would be subsequently released in opposition to the counterbalancing springs and could defeat the purpose of the counterbalancing springs. On the other hand, if the energy-absorbing means is desivned to oppose the counterbalancing springs primarily by dissipating energy, its effectiveness should be confined to the single direction of the door opening movement lest it subsequently interfere with the closing :movement of the door.

,The invention solves this problem by using spring means to store only a relatively small proportion of the energy that is to be absorbed, the stored energy being suflicient only to restore the mechanism of the energyabsorbing means to its starting position when the door is closed. The invention'further employs dashpot means in tandem or series with the energy-storing spring means to dissipate the major portion of the energy that must 4be transferred to decelerate the opening door.

In addition, the invention further meets the problem by incorporating a by-pass in the dashpot means controlled by a check valve to make the dashpot effective only in the one direction of the door opening movement. A feature of the present embodiment of the invention is the use of a piston that ilexes to serve both as a by-pass and as a check valve. Thus, the piston makes it unnecessary to provide additional structure for the by-pass and check Valve.

Another problem to be considered is to provide some simple, inexpensive but efficient arrangement for connecting the energy-absorbing means to the building structure in such manner that it operates only over a terminal portion of the door opening movement. This problem is complicated by the fact that the whole door is translated bodily over a relatively long curved path between its two limit positions.

In the present embodiment of the invention, this last problem is solved by an arrangement of cables which directly connects the energy-absorbing means to the building structure but with 'ample provision for lost motion. Two cables are used, one cable being anchored at bpth ends to the building and extending overhead in the gen- The second cable is connected at one of its ends to an energy-absorbing means carried `by the door and is connected at its other end to a ring that loosely engages the first cable. Throughout the major portion of the opening movement of the door, the ring merely slides along the first cable to provide the required lost motion for delaying the operation of the energy-absorbing means. As the door approaches its limit open position, the ring reaches a point on the rst cable where the ring is effective to pull both of the cables taut for the delayed operation of the energy-absorbing means. i A

The features and advantages of the invention may be understood 'from the following detailed description, together with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, which are to ybe regarded as merely illustrative:

FIG. 1 is `a perspective view from the interior of a garage showing a door arrangement embodying the present invention, the door being shown in its `forward lower vertical closed position;

FIG. 2 isa greatly enlarged `fragment of FIG. 1 showing how the second cable that is carried by the door is connected to a ring that slides on the first cable, this View also showing a remotely controlled latch mechanism to keep the door closed;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional View on a reduced scale of the latch mechanism, the section Ibeing taken as indicated by the line 3 3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the energy-absorbing means mounted on the door;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the door in its fully open position; and

FIG. 6` is a wiring diagram of a circuit for controlling the latch mechanism. f

FIGS. l and 5 show a building structure or garage, generally designated 10, having a doorway 12 which is normally closed by a door 14. FIG. 1 shows the door in its forward vertical closed position, and FIG. 5 shows the door in its alternate rearward upper horizontal position. The doorl 14 is mounted at its opposite sides on corresponding mounting arms 15. Eachof the mounting arms 15 comprises a pair of angular bars -16 which are xedly connected to a lsleeve or bearing member 18 on a corresponding iixed pivot 20. ln the oonstnuction shown, each fixed pivot 20 is mounted on ia base member 22 which is i'ixedly attached to the building structure. This yarrangement permits the door to swing between the two limit positions showvn in FIGS. l :and 5.

Since the center of gravity of the door 14 is elevated by a distance approximating one-half the vertical dimension of the doorway, suitable means is provided to counterbalance the weight :of the door. of relatively long conventional countenbalancing springs 24 is employed yfor this purpose. One end of each counterbalancing spring 24 is suitably connected to the building structure as indicated at 25, and the other end is connected to a tting '26 that is clamped onto one of the angular bars 16 of the corresponding mounting arm. In this instance, each of the fittings 26 is spaced further than usual trom the corresponding fixed pivot 20 not merely to improve the countenbalancing action, but to go yfurther and convert the counterbalancing springs into springs for exerting all lthe `force required to open the door. Such a desirable spacing of the fitting lfrom the door axis is permitted because the invention provides for automatic deceleration of the door at the end of its opening movement.

'Ihe door may be normally latched at its closed position by the mechanism shown in detail in FIGS. 2 and 3. As shown in FIG. 3, a latching plunger 28 is slidingly mounted in a bore 3d in a metal block 32 that is itixedly mounted on the upper edge of the door. In the construction shown, the metal block 52 has a pair of base flanges 34 for anchorage to the door by suitable screws 35. The latch plunger 28 is urged upward by a spring 36 cin the bore 30, and normally a shoulder 38' of the plunger abuts the edge of a stop plate 40 that is mounted on the metal block 32 by suitable screws V42.

For cooperation with the latch plunger 2S, a latch mechanisml generally designated M is mounted on the building structure above the door opening, and this latch mechanism is adapted tor electrical actuation under remote control. The latch mechanism is a well-known device available in commerce.

The latch mechanism M, 'which is enclosed in a housing 44, includes: an angular latch dog 45 mounted on a fixed pivot y4X6; a latch ringer 48 that lis mounted on the latch 'dog by a pivot 50 and is normally positioned against a stop pin 52' on the latch dog; a latch arm 54 mounted on a pivot 55; and a solenoid `56 positioned immediately above the latch arm 54 to raise the latch arm Ifrom its normal lower latching position to an upper release position. When the solenoid 56 Lis lde-energized with the latch arm 54 in its lower position shown in FdG. 3, the latch arm Acooperates with the latch finger 4S to prevent upward movement of the latch dog 45. Consequently, if the ldoor is in its closed position shown in FIG. 3, the latch dog 45 engages the side of the latch plunger 28 to lock the door.

If the solenoid `56 is energized, While the door is closed, the consequent swinging of the latch arm 54 to its upper release position frees the latch fdog y45 and the latch dog will yield to pressure exerted laterally by the latch plunger In this instance, a pair 28. Thus, if opening force is applied to the closed door by the counterbalancing springs while the solenoid is energized, the latch dog will yield to the pressure of the plunger l2li and swing to its release position to permit the door to open.

The door may be closed and latched without energization of the solenoid since the latch plunger 2S has an inclined cam face 158 on its upper end. When the door in its closing movement approaches the latch mechanism M while the solenoid is de-enengized, the lower edge of the latch. mechanism housing 44 cams the latch plunger 2S downward against the opposition of the spring 36. The looking latch dog 45 keeps the plunger I2S retracted until the plunger travels to the fully closed position of the door, whereupon the spring 36 shifts the plunger upward to its normal latching position shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 shows how a control circuit may be providedy ond outdoor switch y68, provided with a suitable lkey operated lock (not shown), may be connected in parallel with the switch y65 as indicated by the dotted lines 70 and, if desired, a third switch 72 inside an adjacent dwellin'g may also be connected in parallel with the switch 6-5 as indicated by the dotted lines 74.

The energy-absorbing means of the present embodiment of the invention comprises a dashpot means, generally designated 75, and an energy storing means in the rform of a coiled spring 76. The Idashpot means 75 comprises a dashpot cylinder 718 that is tixedly mounted on the door, and a piston assembly which includes a piston, fgelerally designated 180, and an upwardly extending piston ro '82.

The `dashpot cylinder 78- is mounted on the inner face of the door 14 by a pair of brackets 34 which are secured to the door by suitable screws S5. The upper end of l the dashpot cylinder '7S is closed by a screw-threaded cap 86 which is centrally lapertured to mount a suitable sealing means 28 that slidingly embraces the'piston rod 82. The cylinder cap 6 is further provided with a suitably dimensioned dashpot oriiice 90.

The piston 8) comprises a centrally apertured cupshaped member 92 of resilient rubber-like material which is clamped onto the piston rod by a pair of washers 94, y

nected to the lower end of the piston rod 52, and the 'lower end of the spring is connected to the ldoor by means of a bracket 98. The bracket 93 is a simple angular member that is mounted on the door by suitable screws lili), the bracket being equipped with a suitable fitting lit-2 for hook engagement by the spring 76.

Delayed actuation 1oi the piston rod S21-is accomplished by a iirst cable 1014 in cooperation with a second cable 105. The Airst cable 1tl4 extends in the general direction of the `arcuate movement of the upper end of the door 14. ln the construction shown, one end of the cable 104 is connected by an eye screw 186 to the building structure immediately above the doorway 1?., and the other end is connected by an eye screw 108 to the garage ceiling. When the door is closed,` the lfirst cable 104 hangs in la somewhat slack manner as indicated in FIG. l.

The second cable N5 is connected at its upper end to :a ring 110 that is slidingly mounted on the rst cable 104. The lower end of the second cable is connected to the upper end of the piston rod 82 in the manner indicated in FIG. 4.

Preferably, suitable guide means is provided on the upper end of the door 14 to "guide and route the second cable 105 rom the ring 110 to the upper end of the piston rod 82. As best shown in FIG. 2, such a means may comprise a circumferentially grooved sheave 112 mounted by means of a pivot pin 113 between the two arms of a bracket 114. In the construction shown, the bracket 114 has an angular base 115 that :is secured to the door by suitable screws 116. A cross pin 118 mounted between the two arms of the bracket 114 is positioned suiiicient-ly close to the periphery of the sheave 112 to serve as means to confine the cable 105 in engagement Iwith the sheave 112 at all times.

T-he manner in which the invention operates for its purpose may .be readily understood `from the foregoing description. At the nonmally closed position of the door, shown in FIGS. 1 through 4, the two countenbalancing springs 24 on the opposite sides of the door are stressed in tension to their maximum length. The piston 80 is retracted to the lower end of the dashpot cylinder 78 as shown in FIG. 4, and the associated energy-storing spring 76 is relaxed. The tirst cable 104 is slack `and the ring 110 that is connected to the second cable 105 is near the forward end of the cable 104. The door is llocked in its closed position by engagement of the latch plunger 28 with the latch dog 45 as shown in FIG. 3.

To open the door, the solenoid 56 is energized by any one of the three switches 65, 68 or 72, whereupon the counterbalancing springs swing the door upward towards its open position. As the two mounting arms 15 on the two sides of the door swing upward, they pass through a range of angles relative to the counterbalancing springs 24 that increase the length of the mounting aims applied by the springs and thus facilitate the upward movement of the door. With the counterbalancing springs 24 connected to the mounting arms at points more distant than usual from the pivot axis of the door, the counterbalancing springs are highly eiective to accelerate the door `for rapid opening operation. During the initial )and major portion of the opening movement of the door, the cable 105 merely drags the ring 110 along the slack cable 104.

As the door approaches its fully open position, the ring 110 reaches a position on the cable 104 to cause the two cables to be pulled taut in the manner shown in FIG. 5. Consequently, the linal opening movement of the door causes the cable 105 to pull the piston rod 82 upward against the resistance of the spring 76 and against the resistance of displacement ow of the air out of the dashpot cylinder 78 through the dashpot orifice 90. The compression of the air in the dashpot cylinder by the piston absorbs energy which is dissipated by displacement flow through the orice 90 with a desirable retarding or cushioning eiect for rapidly decelerating the door. The storage of energy in the spring 76 by the elastic elongation of the spring has a :Further deceleration effect. Consequently, the door opens with only a gentle impact against the building structure.

After the door is fully open, a residual quantity or" ai-r is trapped under pressure in the upper end of the dashpot cylinder 75 but the energy that is stored in this manner is dissipated immediately by escape of the air through the dashpot orifice 90. Thereafter only the energy absorbed by the spring 76 is stored in the fully :open position of the door.

When the door is subsequently closed by manual force, the initial closing movement of the door is boosted by the tension `of the spring 76. The primary purpose of storing energy in the spring 76, however, is to retract the piston 80 as permitted by the two cables 104 and 1015 as the door returns to its closed position. The downward retraction of the piston 80 tends to create a vacuum in the cylinder 78 above the pistou and, of course, such a vacuum retards the retraction of the piston by the spring 76. Rapid return of the piston 80 is desirable for prompt restoration of the dashpot to its starting state in the event that the door is opened immediately after it is closed.

While the preferred practice of the invention has been described in which the counterbalancing springs are connected to the doo-r at a relatively great distance from the door to provide all of the Aforce required for opening the door, it is to beunderstood that the points of connection may be closer to the door axis so that the counterbalancing springs function in the conventional manner. In such an arrangement, the door is not opening tautomatically by the countenbalancing springs in response to unlatching of the door. Improved counterbalancing action is achieved, however, by shifting the points of connection of the counterbalancing springs further than usual away from the axis of the door movement.

A feature of the invention is that the rubber-like cup shaped member 92 of the piston readily yields to the pressure differential created by :a vacuum in the cylinder 78. The cylindrical skirt of the piston yields by flexing radially inward from the surrounding wall of the `cylinder to open up a by-pass passage for the iiow of' atmospheric air into the cylinder. It is lapparent that in this manner the cup shaped mem-ber 92 not only serves as means for by-passing the dashpot oriiice for the admission of air into :the cylinder 78 but, also, serves in effect as a check valve to prevent reverse flow, ie., outward flow of air past the piston.

The energy-absorbing means maybe quickly and easily installed without requiring special skill or special tools. It is a simple matter to mount the dashpot cylinder '73 on thev door by means of the two brackets 84, and it is equally simple to mount the bracket 98 on the door for Aanchorage of the lower end of the energy-storing spring '76. It is an exceedingly simple matter to ycomplete the installation by anchoring the two ends of the cable 104 to the garage structure. After the installation is completed, the point of connection of the two counterbalancing springs 24 to the two mounting arms 15 may be shifted outward from the usual locations to improve the counterbalancing action, as heretofore explained.

My description in :specific detail of the selected ernbodiment of the invention will suggest various changes, substitutions and other departures from my disclosure within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim-z y1. A closure assembly rfor a doorway of a building structure, comprising: a door for said doorway mounted on the building structure to move between a closed position and an open position; spring means connecting said door and the structure of the building to urge the door from its closed position lto its open position; energy-afbsorbing means mounted on said door; a rst cablelike member anchored at its opposite ends to spaced points on the building structure; anda second cable-like member lconnected at one of fits ends to the :energy-absorbing means and slidingly connected at its other end to the irst cable-like member, whereby said `one end of said second cableelike member moves along said first cablelike member during an initial major portion of the door opening movement and both of the cable-like members :are pulled taut as the door approaches its: limit open position with consequent operation of said energy-absorbing means to decelerate the door.

.2. A combination as set *forth in claim 1 in which said t tion of the door opening movement and both of the cable` like members `are pulled taut as the door approaches its limit open position 'with consequent operation of said energy-absorbing means to decelerate the door.

4. A closure assembly for a doorway of a building structure, comprising: a door for said doorway mounted on the building .structure lto move between a closed position and an open position; iirst spring means connect-ing lsaid door and the structure of the building to urge the door from its closed position to its open position; -a dashpot comprising a first dashpot member iixedly mounted in upright position on the inner face of the door and :a coloperatingsecond dashpot member in sliding engagement with the irst member, one of said two members being a cylinder and the other of said two members being a piston; second spring means connecting said second dashpot member lwith the door Ito urge the second member to a position for starting the d-ashpot opera-tion; :a rst elongated ilexible member extending in the general direction of travel of the upper end of the door, said exible mem# ber being anchored at its opposite ends to the building structure; and -a second elongated flexible member having one end movably connected to said first exible member to shift along the first flexible member and having its other end connected t-o said second dashpot member for operation thereof and for stressing of said second spring means as the door approaches its limit open position.

5. A combination as set forth in claim 4 which includes guide means on the upper end of the door to fronte said second exible member to said second dashpot member.

6. A door-closing assembly for a doorway of a building structure, comprising: a door for said doorway mounted on the building structure to move between a forward vertical closed posit-ion and a rearward overhead open position; a dashpot ycylinder iixedly mounted in upright p0,- sition on the inner face of said door; 'fa piston assembly including ya piston slidably mounted in said cylinder and Ia piston rod `extending'ujgxward from :the cylinder for movement towards the upper end of the door; spring means connecting the lower end of said piston assembly to the `door to sto-re energy .to retract the piston assembly when the door is in its closed position; a iirst cable-like member connected in its opposite ends to the building structure and `extending in the ygeneral direction of the path of movement of the upper end of the door; means movably mounted on said first cable-like member; a second cable-like member having one of its ends connected to said movably mounted means `and having its other end connected to said piston rod, said first and second cable means being dimensioned to be pulled taut for actuation of said piston rod as the door approaches its limit open position.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

Claims (1)

1. A CLOSURE ASSEMBLY FOR A DOORWAY OF A BUILDING STRUCTURE, COMPRISING: A DOOR FOR SAID DOORWAY MOUNTED ON THE BUILDING STRUCTURE TO MOVE BETWEEN A CLOSED POSITION AND AN OPEN POSITION; SPRING MEANS CONNECTING SAID DOOR AND THE STRUCTURE OF THE BUILDING TO URGE THE DOOR FROM ITS CLOSED POSITION TO ITS OPEN POSITION; ENERGY-ABSORBING MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID DOOR; A FIRST CABLE-LIKE MEMBER ANCHORED AT ITS OPPOSITE ENDS TO SPACED POINTS ON THE BUILDING STRUCTURE; AND A SECOND CABLE-LIKE MEMBER CONNECTED AT ONE OF ITS ENDS TO THE ENERGY-ABSORBING MEANS AND SLIDINGLY CONNECTED AT ITS OTHER END TO THE FIRST CABLE-LIKE MEMBER, WHEREBY SAID ONE END OF SAID SECOND CABLE-LIKE MEMBER MOVES ALONG SAID FIRST CABLELIKE MEMBER DURING AN INITIAL MAJOR PORTION OF THE DOOR OPENING MOVEMENT AND BOTH OF THE CABLE-LIKE MEMBERS ARE PULLED TAUT AS THE DOOR APPROACHES ITS LIMIT OPEN POSITION WITH CONSEQUENT OPERATION OF SAID ENERGY-ABSORBING MEANS TO DECELERATE THE DOOR.

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