US3136538A

US3136538A - Automatic entrance with sliding doors

Info

Publication number: US3136538A
Application number: US238478A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert E Dimmitt; Kessner Charles
Original assignee: DOR WEST Inc
Current assignee: DOR WEST Inc
Priority date: 1962-11-19
Filing date: 1962-11-19
Publication date: 1964-06-09
Anticipated expiration: 1981-06-09
Also published as: GB1009389A; DK109588C

Abstract

1,009,389. Door operating appliances; sliding doors; hangers; hinges. DOR-WEST Inc. Oct. 17, 1963 [Nov. 19, 1962], No. 41006/63. Headings E1J, E2F and E2M. An entrance is closed by a sliding door or doors supported by carriages running on an overhead track and automatically power operated when a person enters or leaves a traffic area including the entrance, and each door comprises a frame to which is hinged a wicket door arranged to swing outwardly to form an emergency exit. A door assembly 26 supported by carriages 31 running on a track 30 in a head recess 27 extending over the doorway and pockets 25 is moved into and out of the pockets 25 by an arm 34 and link 35 driven by an hydraulic motor 33 accommodated within the pocket 25. The door comprises an L-shaped frame with a header 47 and a joint part 48. A door having top and bottom rails 54-55, and stiles 52-53 with a glass panel 50 is hinged to the joint part 48 by a hinge, Fig. 7, comprising two sets of leaves 56, 56<SP>1</SP> pivoted together at 57. One end of each set is pivoted to a butt block 58, 59 on the door stile or from joint 48 respectively, and the other end of each set has pins 62, 63 sliding in slots in the butt blocks. The header part 47 of the sliding frame has a tongue 66 and groove, Fig. 2, co-operating with a tongue 65 and groove on the top rail 54 of the wicket door to carry its weight when the door is held in closed position by a bullet catch 67. In a modification, Fig. 9, one of a pair of doors is operated by an hydraulic motor, and the other door is operated by cables 140 extending from carriages 132, 133, 134, 135 round pulleys 137, 138 in the head recess 27. In this embodiment the carriages have single wheels running on a rib type rail, Fig. 10, not shown, and carry non-rise rollers. The hydraulic motor or motors are set in motion by electrical switches operated by the depression of carpets 41-42 on either side of the doorway, which set in motion a motor driving a pump in a closed hydraulic circuit with a reservoir and the operating motor.

Description

June 9, 1964 R. E. DIMMITT ETAL 3,136,538

AUTOMATIC ENTRANCE WITH SLIDING DOORS Filed Nov. 19, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS ROBERT E. own/r7 Clue/.55 KESSA/EK BY June 9, 1964 R. E. DlMMlTT ETAL Filed Nov. 19, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 n z 1,, M 5714M} 42 Am xwkx 4- INVENTORS ROBE/PT 5. DIMM 77'' CHARLES KESSA/EK June 9, 1964 R. E. DlMMlTT ETAL 3,136,538

AUTOMATIC ENTRANCE WITH SLIDING DOORS Filed Nov. 19, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 V REL PUMP L-xssmkm 7 N0. M0. 1 40 r 4 1 T I J INVENTORSS KOBEET E D/MM/TT' CHHKLES KESSNEK BY M?% June 9, 1964 R. E. DlMMlTT ETAL 3,136,538

AUTOMATIC ENTRANCE WITH SLIDING DOORS Filed Nov. 19, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR5= ROBERT E- o/MM/ T7 cH/mL E5 KESS/VER ATTIS June 9, 1964 R. E. DlMMlTT ETAL 3,136,533

AUTOMATIC ENTRANCE WITH SLIDING-DOORS Filed Nov. 19, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Ill mo I Z INVENTORS EOBER 7" E D/N/V/TT' 2 f-h-rysa.

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United States Patent 3,136,538 AUTOMATIC ENTRANCE WITH SLIDING DOORS Robert E. Dimmitt and Charles Kessner, Seattle, Wash,

assignors to Dot-West, Inc., Seattle, Wash, a corporation of Washington Filed Nov. 19, 1962, Ser. No. 238,478 15 Claims. (Cl. 268-39) This invention relates to an automatic entrance, and namely an entrance closed by a door which opens and closes automatically to accommodate individuals using the entrance. The general object of the preesnt invention is to perfect an automatic entrance of the type in which a sliding door closes the entrance opening and one, more especially, in which the slide-mounted door also admits of being swung manually from a closed to an open position so as to meet building and fire codes which require that an automatic entrance serve as an emergency exit in case of a power failure.

A particular object of the present invention is to provide an automatic entrance of the above character in which the door is comprised of two normally co-planar sections one of which receives a slide mounting in the doorway and the other of which is hinged to the slidably mounted section for swing motion independently of the latter and slide motion in concert therewith.

Another object ancillary to the above is to provide an automatic entrance of the character described in which the slidably mounted section has an inverted-L configuration with the vertical leg of said L bordering the back edge and the horizontal leg of said L bordering the top edge of the swing section, and wherein said horizontal leg interfits with the swing section and sustains the swing section when the two sections occupy their normal coplanar position.

The above andother objects and advantages looking to the provision 'of an automatic entrance which can be economically manufactured, which insures smooth, quiet, and trouble-free performance with low maintenance costs, and which provides an unrestricted hazard-free opening for traffic moving in either direction through the entrance,

.will appear and be understood in the course of the followinvention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view drawn to an enlarged scale on line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a similarly enlarged fragmentary horizontal sectional view on line 3-3of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view on line 4-4 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical sectional view drawn to an enlarged scale on the line 5-5 of FIG. 3 to detail the hinge structure which we prefer to employ.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view on line 66 of FIG. 5. 7

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view on line 77 of FIG. 5 and indicating the hinge elements in the positions occupied when the door is swung into an open position at right angles to its jamb.

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic view showing the electric and hydraulic circuits used in the present invention.

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view drawn to an enlarged scale on line 1010 of FIG. 9;

' and FIG. 11 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view on line 1111 of FIG. 9, employing the same scale as that border frames for each of the two jambs 20 and the lintel 21 which define these passageways. The border frames are or may be fabricated from aluminum extrusions and are designated by 22 in the instance of the jamb frames and by 23 in the instance of the lintel frames.

The space between said passageways serves as the doorway proper, and will be hereinafter so termed. Such doorway communicates at one or both of its sides with a wall pocket 25 into and from which the door assembly 26 is arranged to be slidably moved.

More particularly, the invention employs either a single traverse-mounted door assembly extending the full width of the entrance opening, in which event only one such pocket is provided, or a pair of in-line door assemblies are employed with each such assembly having a width approximating one half the width of the entrance opening, in which event a pocket is provided at each of the two sides of the entrance. The latter arrangement is illustrated in the drawings. While FIG. 4 shows one of the two doors closed and the other open, this is only for illustration purposes as the two work in concert.

Both the doorway and the wall pockets 25 are prolonged upwardly to produce a head recess 27. An overhead track 30 is supported in such recess, occupying a position on the longitudinal median line and extending substantially the full length thereof, and riding on this track are wheeled 'carriages 31 from which the door assemblies 26 are suspended. Respective sets of rollers 28 journaled to turn about vertical axes are housed in the pockets and bear coupled doors illustrated in FIGS. 9 through 11.

Each hydraulic motor imparts reciprocal swing motion to a crank arm 34, and a connecting rod 35 links the free end of such crank arm to a fitting 36 boltably secured to the back edge of the related door assembly. A positivedisplacement pump 38 operates the hydraulic motor or motors and, with the motor, is contained in a closed hydraulic circuit including a reservoir 40. Such pump with associated electric devices are located by preference in a covered well 37 which underlies the doorway and the passageways. The cover for the well includes

electric carpets

41 and 42 extending in both directions from a central threshold 39. The referred-to electric devices comprise normally open switches. 43 and 44 closed in response to a depressive movement of the carpets and connected with normally closed micro-switches 45 in a DC. electric circuit controlling the energizing of an electric motor 46 which drives the pump 38. a

The modified construction shown in FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 has the wheels of its carriages tracking on a ribtype rail 131 which is boltably attached both to the end walls and to a side wall of the recess 27. Two of said carriages, as 132-133 and 134-135, surmount each of the door assemblies, being spaced apart longitudinally thereof, and in addition to the wheels 130 each carriage supports a non-rise roller 136. At each of the two ends of the recess a respective pulley, as 137 and 138, is journaled for rotation about a transverse horizontal axis, and trained about these pulleys is a cable 140. Carriage 133 presents a laterally projecting upper bracket 141, and carriage 134 presents a laterally projecting lower bracket 142. The upper run of the cable. is anchored to bracket 141, and the lower run of the cable is anchored to bracket 142.

The door assemblies are comprised of a door proper and a mounting frame for the door. The mounting frame has an inverted-L configuration. One leg 47 of the two legs which are thereby provided overlies the top edge of the door section and will be hereinafter termed a header. The other leg 48 overlies the back edge of the door section and will be hereinafter termed a jamb. The wheeled carriages are bolted, as at 49, to the header. The fitting 36 for the connecting rod 35 is bolted or otherwise rigidly secured to the back face of the jamb. The door section is comprised of a glass panel 50 fixed by glazing beads 51 in a frame composed of front and back stiles 52-53 and top and bottom rails 5455. Both the door section and the mounting section are fabricated, by preference, from aluminum extrusions.

The back stile 52 is connected to the jamb 48 by concealed hinges which permit the door section to swing in an outward direction, doorway considered. Illustrated and described in US. Patent'No. 3,001,224, issued September 26, 1961, the hinge which we prefer to employ is a product of H. Soss & Co., Los Angeles, Calif, and is characterized in that each of two sets of leaves 56 and 56' connect by a vertical pivot pin 57 at a point intermediate their lengths, have one end of each rooted to a respective one of two butt-blocks 58 and 59 by vertical pivot pins 60 and 61, and have their other ends slidably attached to the other butt-block by

vertical pins

62 and 63 working in longitudinal grooves 64 cut in the blocks. The hinge leaves are wholly contained within recesses cutin the blocks.

The top rail 54 of the door section, and the header 47 .of the mounting frame, each interfit by means of a tonguethan the depths of the grooves so as, when interfitted, to

permit a co-planar relationship between the door section and its mounting section. A bullet catch positioned adjacent the free edge of the door localizes the two sections .in this co-planar relationship, the ball component 67 of the catch being carried by the head rail 54 and lodging in a registering hole piercing the tongue 66 of the header 47. The diameter of the ball slightly exceeds the width of the groove, and is urged upwardly by a moderately strong spring 68. Other than for a bevel 70 adjacent the respective free edge, both the lower face of the tongue 65 and the upper face of the tongue 66 occupy a horizontal plane. When interfitted the tongue 65 rests upon the tongue 66 so as to be supported thereby. To all intents and purposes the carriages thus directly support the swing sections of the doors when such swing sections occupy their normal positions co-planar with the mounting frames.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that We have provided a door which opens and closes automatically,

with the movement being a sliding action in a plane at substantial right angles to the general path travelled by a person moving through the doorway. The doors slide smoothly and quietly into the wall pockets and provide an unrestricted opening for traffic moving in either direction. The hazards of swinging doors are completely eliminated, as are the guard rails, barrier ropes, etc., which have been required with swinging doors in order to separate and out traffic. There is also no need for a duplication of power equipment which separately operated doors necessarily require. Should there be a power failure the sliding doors of the present invention can be swung open 4, upon their hinges by exertion of sufficient pressure to disengage the bullet catch. The system meets building codes which require entrance doors to serve as emergency exits.

It is believed that the invention will have been clearly understoodfrom the foregoing detailed description of our now-preferred illustrated embodiments. Changes in the details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention and it is accordingly our intention that no limitations be implied and that the hereto annexed claims be given the broadest interpretation to which. the employed language fairly admits.

What we claim-is:

1. In an automatic entrance, an overhead horizontal track extending transversely of the entrance opening, a traverse frame formed generally to an inverted L configuration to provide a horizontal bar at the top and a vertical bar rigidly fixed with the horizontal bar and depending from one end of the latter, a carriage riding on the track and having the horizontal bar of the frame suspended therefrom so that said horizontal bar underlies the track and the frame slides into and out of the en trance opening asthe carriage moves reciprocally along the track between two prescribed limits of travel, a door for the entrance opening hinged to the frame for swing movement into and out of a normal position co-planar with the frame about an axis which is fixedly related to the frame in a position proximal to and parallel with the vertical bar of the frame, and power means having operative interconnection with the frame operated automatically. by the act of a person entering and leaving an established traflic zone including said entrance opening for respectively sliding the frame and door out of and into a position closing said opening. 7

2. Structure according to claim 1 in which the door and the horizontal bar of the frame each provides a respective one of two interacting means producing a releasable couple which holds the door in said normal position co-planar with the frame and characterized in that the couple is established automatically as the door reaches a condition co-planar with the frame in course of swinging the door from an open to a closed position.

3. Structure according to claim 1 having a pair of guide rollers journaled for rotation about fixed vertical axes in positions such that when the door is slid into closed position one of said rollers bears against one face and the other roller against the opposite face of the vertical bar of the frame on a level elevated a moderate distance above the bottom end of said bar, the door and said vertical bar of the frame having a corresponding width, measured on the level which is occupied by the rollers, so that the rollers will also bear upon the door as the latter slides out of and into the entrance opening.

4. In an automatic entrance, an overhead track extending transversely of the entrance opening, a carriage riding on said track, a traverse frame carried by the carriage for slide movement in a vertical slide plane into and out of said opening, said frame providing a header and also providing a jamb rigidly fixed with and depending from one end of the header, a door for the entrance opening hinged to the jamb so as to slide with the frame and yet permit the door, by pressure of a person pushing against the same when it occupies said entrance opening, to be swung about a vertical axis out of a normal position co-planar with the frame and thereby provide for emergency passage through said entrance opening, and power means having operative interconnection with the frame operated automatically by the act of a person en-. tering and leaving an established traffic zone including said entrance opening for respectively sliding the frame anddoor out of and into a position closing said opening, means being provided normally holding the door in said co-planar position andreleasable automatically by said pressure of a person pushing against the door, the hinging of the door being such that the door is held against vertical movement relative to the frame While said doorholding means is being released.

5. Structure according to claim 4, said door-holding means comprising a bullet catch having its components carried by the door and by the header.

6. An automatic entrance according to claim 4 in which the frame and door have a corresponding width so as to lie flush one with the other when in their co-planar relationship, said frame and door in their slide movement out of the entrance opening occupying a wall pocket which is provided at one side of said opening and connects therewith by a slot only moderately wider than said width of the frame and door, the track being concealed within an overhead recess communicating with both the entrance opening and the wall pocket.

7. The automatic entrance of claim 4 in which the hinges for the door are concealed and provide a substantially unbroken flush relationship as between the door and the jamb upon both faces thereof.

8. The automatic entrance of claim 4, interfitting hori- Zontal means being provided by the door and by the header made to connect automatically when the door swings about its hinge axis from said emergency open position into said normal position co-planar with the frame and by such connection suspending the weight of the door directly from the header.

9. The automatic entrance of claim 8, said interfitting means being tongue-and-groove.

10. The automatic entrance of claim 8, said connecting means comprising grooves, one provided by the header and one by the door, which are in facing relation and vertically offset, one groove from the other groove, so that the lower wall of the headers groove becomes a tongue registering and having a mating interfit with the groove of the door while the upper wall of the doors groove likewise becomes a tongue registering and having a mating interfit with the groove of the header, the mating interfit of said tongues and grooves providing a Weather seal, said interfitting tongues and grooves extending the full length of the door when the door occupies its normal position co-planar with the frame.

11. In an automatic entrance, an overhead track extending transversely of the entrance opening, a pair of carriages riding on said track, a respective traverse frame carried by each of said carriages, said frame being formed to an inverted L configuration to have the horizontal leg lie at the top to serve as a header and the vertical leg depend therefrom to serve as a jamb, the header underlying the track and being rigidly connected with the related carriage, the jamb being rigidly fixed with the concerned header and lying at the end thereof distal to the other header, a pair of doors for the entrance opening each hinged to a. respective one of the two jambs for emergency swing movement of the doors, when the doors occupy the entrance opening, about vertical axes out of normal positions -co-planar with the frames, means normally holding the doors in said co-planar positions and releasable automatically by pressure of a person pushing against the doors, power means operatively interconnected with one of said frames operated automatically as a person enters and leaves the entrance for sliding said frame and its co-planar door out of and into the opening, respectively, and interconnecting means between the other frame and said frame to which the power means is connected causing the two frames with their co-planar doors to move oppositely out of and into the opening in concert, the hinging of the door being such that the door is held against vertical movement relative to the frame while said door-holding means is being released.

12. The automatic entrance of claim 11 having guide I rollers journalled for rotation about fixed vertical axes in positions adjacent the floor level of the entrance opening and such that said rollers bear against opposite faces of the jambs when the doors occupy their closed position, the doors being flush with the jambs so that the rollers also bear against the doors as the latter slide out of and into the entrance opening.

13. Structure according to claim 11, said interconnecting means between the frames comprising an endless cable trained about two pulleys one located at one end limit and the other at the other end limit of the track and having one run of the cable anchored within its length to the carriage which carries one of the frames and having the other run of the cable anchored within its length to the carriage which carries the other frame.

14. In an automatic entrance, an overhead track extending transversely of the entrance opening, a carriage riding on said track, a traverse frame hung from said carriage, said frame including a header which generally parallels the transverse vertical plane occupied by the track and said frame including a vertical depending jamb which is rigidly fixed to said header, a door for the entrance openinghinged to the frame for swing movement outwardly about a vertical axis between a normal position in which the door is co-planar with the header and an emergency position approximately normal thereto, interfitting means provided by the header and the door caused to be engaged and disengaged automatically by the act of swinging the door into and out of said co-planar position, respectively, and by said engagement supporting the door directly, from the header at all times when the door occupies said co-planar position and by said support relieving the hinges of the weight of the door, and power means having operative interconnection with said frame operated automatically by the act of a person entering and leaving an established trafiic zone including said entrance opening for respectively sliding the frame and door out of and into a position closing said opening, said interfitting means being characterized in that the component thereof which is provided by the door is disengaged from the component thereof which is provided by the frame automatically in response to force exerted by a person pressing against the door in a direction to swing the same outwardly about its hinge axis, means being provided normally holding the door in said co-planar position and releasable automatically by said pressure of a person pushing against the door, the hinging of the door being such that the door is held against vertical movement relative to the frame while said door-holding means is being released.

15. The automatic entrance of claim 14 in which the interfitting means comprises a tongue and a mating groove.

1 References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Bopp et al Apr. 10,

Claims

1. IN AN AUTOMATIC ENTRANCE, AN OVERHEAD HORIZONTAL TRACK EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF THE ENTRANCE OPENING, A TRAVERSE FRAME FORMED GENERALLY TO AN INVERTED L CONFIGURATION TO PROVIDE A HORIZONTAL BAR AT THE TOP AND A VERTICAL BAR RIGIDLY FIXED WITH THE HORIZONTAL BAR AND DEPENDING FROM ONE END OF THE LATTER, A CARRIAGE RIDING ON THE TRACK AND HAVING THE HORIZONTAL BAR OF THE FRAME SUSPENDED THEREFROM SO THAT SAID HORIZONTAL BAR UNDERLIES THE TRACK AND THE FRAME SLIDES INTO AND OUT OF THE ENTRANCE OPENING AS THE CARRIAGE MOVES RECIPROCALLY ALONG THE TRACK BETWEEN TWO PRESCRIBED LIMITS OF TRAVEL, A DOOR FOR THE ENTRANCE OPENING HINGED TO THE FRAME FOR SWING MOVEMENT INTO AND OUT OF A NORMAL POSITION CO-PLANAR WITH THE FRAME ABOUT AN AXIS WHICH IS FIXEDLY RELATED TO THE FRAME IN A POSITION PROXIMAL TO AND PARALLEL WITH THE VERTICAL BAR OF THE FRAME, AND POWER MEANS HAVING OPERATIVE INTERCONNECTION WITH THE FRAME OPERATED AUTOMATICALLY BY THE ACT OF A PERSON ENTERING AND LEAVING AN ESTABLISHED TRAFFIC ZONE INCLUDING SAID ENTRANCE OPENING FOR RESPECTIVELY SLIDING THE FRAME AND DOOR OUT OF AND INTO A POSITION CLOSING SAID OPENING.