US3184804A - Door - Google Patents

Description

y 25, 1965 R. DUGGER 3,184,84

DOOR

Fi led Dec. 21, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. RALPH L Due- 5 R. L. DUGGER May 25, 1965 DOOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed .Dec. 21, 1960 y 1965 R. DUGGER 3,184,804

noon

Filed Dec. 21. 1960 4 Sheetsj-Sheet 4 mmvron. R400 L. D0042):

United States Patent 0 3,184,804 DGDR Ralph L. Bugger, Box 3121, Rte. 1, Hopkins, Minn. Filed Dec. 21, 1960, Ser. No. 77,331 6 Giaims. (Cl. Zti-l?) This application is a continuation-in-part of my application, Serial No. 556,198, filed December 27, i955, now abandoned, and a continuation-impart of my application Serial No. 822,809 filed June 25, 1959, now Patent No. 3,118,189, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.

This invention relates to large doors for airplane hangars, equipment buildings, and other structures where it is desired to provide a door which can be quickly opened and closed over a large door access opening. Airplane hangars are a ready example of buildings wherein a large door is required. Other examples are buildings required for the storage of large road machinery, agricultural machinery and industrial buildings such as doors for warehouses, service garages, highway garages and the like. In many instances, no provision is made for the heating of the building and it is only desired that the door protect the equipment from sun, wind, rain and snow and provide a dry building space in which the equipment may be satisfactorily stored.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a door for large widespan door openings capable of being manufactured at relatively low cost and rigged so that it can be operated easily and quickly even by hand operation.

It is a further object to provide an improved door construction in which large sizes of doors are capable of being operated by a few easy turns of the crank by one person or utilizing only low horsepower motor equipment for actuating the door. It is another object of the invention to provide a widespan door of unitary construction including mountings and riggin'gs for elevating the door upwards and backwards into the'building to a position in which all except a minimal portion of the door is within the building structure and protected from the elements when the door is open. It is another object of the invention to provide an improved door for large widespan openings so rigged that when the door is elevated the entire span of the opening is useable, the opening being (if desired) devoid of jambs or other clearance consuming protuberances. It is a further object of the invention to provide subcombination door rigging assemblies. It is another object of the invention to provide a versatile door for widespan openings capable of being mounted and rigged so that it can be operated from the interior or ex- 0 terior of the building, as desired.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved door construction wherein several door supports are provided and are so rigged and mounted as to permit relatively uniform distribution of load to spaced loading points on the building structure, regardless of deflection of such structure.

It is another object to provide an improved mode of framing for large doors which permits prefabrication and easy field assembly and adjustment.

Other objects include the provision of rigging and framing components of large doors; improved rigging layouts; unitized operating mechanism and objects inherent in the apparatus as herein illustrated, described and claimed.

The invention is illustrated with reference to the draw ings in which corresponding numerals refer to the same parts, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a portion of a building having a door opening closed by a door fabricated according to the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along the sectional views through the door. head of the door, its overhead support, and some of the Patented May 255, 1%65 line and in the direction of arrows 2-2 of FIGURE 1 illustrating a section through the door and portion of the building when the door is in closed position and illustrating the rigging by which it is supported and manipulated.

FIGURE 3 is a horizontal sectional view entered through the building and door. This view is taken at the level of line 33 of FIGURE 2, which latter however shows a vertical section only halfway through the building. FIGURES 4, 5 and 6 are enlarged fragmentary vertical FIGURE 4 shows the ice latching details and one mode of flashing.

FIGURE 5 is another view corresponding to FIGURE 4, but illustrating another mode of flashing.

FIGURE 6 is a section at a lower level illustrating the the cable support attachment.

FIGURE 7 is a related fragmentary front elevational view taken in the direction of' arrows 7-7 of FIGURE 6. FIGURES 6 and 7 together show the mode of'ca-bleend anchorage to the door.

FIGURES 8 and 9 relate to FIGURE 2 and are some what enlarged views of the crank mechanism by which the door is operated, FIGURES 8 being a vertical elevational view in the direction of arrows 8-8 of FIGURE 2, and FIGURE 9 is a side elevational view in the direction of arrows 9-9 of FIGURE 8.

2 door and the adjacent portions of the building is illustrated in FIGURE 1 and as there shown the door consists of a unitary fiat panel having a width W and a height H for closing the door openingO. While the door may be in any building for which his adapted, it is here illustrated as applied to a multiple nested-T hangar, the novel construction of which is a feature of the invention.

As will be observed from FIGURES 2 and 3, the illustrated building has a building centerline CL extending throughout the length of the building, which is of rectangular outside wall plan. In the building there are transverse walls 1, 2, 3 and 4 and centerline walls 5 and 6, see FIGURE 3, which serve to delineate the floor plan of the individual hangar units, which when nested together form the plan of the building. The end hangar units of the building, not illustrated, are squared out. As shown in FIGURE 3 there is a hangar unit U1 partially illustrated and adjacent and nested with it is the hangar unit U2, having a hangar unit centerline transverse to the building centerline. Hangar unit U2 is shown in complete plan and is nested to a third hangar unitU3, partially illustrated. The entire building may include as many such nested hangar units as are desired, successive units facing in alternate directions. Thus, the two units, U1 and U3 face in one direction whereas the unit U2 faces in the opposite direction with reference to the centerline of the building.

As shown for hangar unit U2, each hangar unit has a tailbay of rectangular area which for unit U2 is bounded by a tailbay backwall 19, this being also one portion of the building sidewall, and by walls 2 and 3 and the building centerline. The tailbay is two modules wide, from wall 2 to wall 3, and one half the building width deep. The wingoay is four modules wide, symmetrical about the hangar unit centerline. The wingbay is bounded by cross wall 1, centerline wall 5 and thence along the building centerline to centerline wall 6 and thence along the cross wall 4 to wall 18. The wingbay space is entirely open across the front from the corner of walls 1 and 17 to the corner of walls 4 and 18. This is the hanger door opening in the sidewall of the building and which is adapted to be closed by the hanger door according to this invention.

As illustrated in FIGURE 3, the hangar units are sized dimensionally of multiples of the modular dimension, viz: MODE, MODZ, MODS and MODd, of equal dimension along the length of the building measured in the direction of the centerline of the building, and are the width of the Wingbay space. The tailbay is two modules wide. The total width of the building determines the depth of the hangar units and may be as desired. A truss is provided at 8 along the centerline of the building over each tailbay TB, and another truss 9 is provided over each hangar unit door opening. Each of the hangar units thus has a tailbay truss along the centerline and a truss spanning the door opening.

In the foregoing description, the building is a nested multiple-T hangar building, but it will be appreciated that asset the door of the present invention hereinafter described, may be utilized in other buildings such as farm buildings,

industrial buildings and the like whenever it is desired to close a large door opening.

From FIGURE 1 it will be observed that the truss 9 is covered on its front surface by a sheeting it In FIG- URE 2 the bottom cord of the door truss is shown as composed of a pair of angles 11 and-the top cord as a pair of angles 12. Other truss members are omitted but it will-be understood that vertical and diagonal members, not illustrated, are included as is customary in truss design. In: addition, the truss includes as a part of the truss structure parallel vertical members in spaced apart relation, which serve as mountings for the front end of the door supporting tracks.

The front closure 10 on the outer face of the truss is here illustrated as wood sheeting, but may be composed of any desired material. For attaching the wood sheeting there is provided a wood nailer 14 along the bottom cord of the truss, the nailer being held in place by bolts 15,

another nailer 14A being provided above the roof joists RI level with the roof decking RD. In the building illustrated, the roof is level, or substantially level and is supported by roof joists R], see FIGURE 2. These roof joists maybe of the type customarily designated bar joist. The position of the bar joist are also shown in FIGURE 3 and it will be observed that they are spaced apart from each other by one-half of the modular dimension MOD, and run at right angles to the building centerline. The bar joist BJ serve as convenient supports for the rear part of the door supporting tracks and other rigging of the door equipment. Thus it will be observed that at 16 a hangar extendsdown from the bar joists to a point 17 on the rear end of the door supporting track 68, which is suspended at two points only.

Referring to FIGURE 3, the wall 1 is connected at its outer end to the building outer wall 17 which is the back wall of the tailbay of hangar unit U1 and wall 4 is connected to the building outer wall 18 which, similarly is the back wall of the tailbay of hangar unit U3. At the opposite side of the building the wall19 forms the outer wall of the building and is the backwall of the tailbay of hangar unit U2. The Walls 1, 2, 3, 4 and 17 through 19 are composed of any suitable building material such as concrete blocks, sheeting on steel frame, wood construction or the like.

The roof here illustrated may be level or may have some pitch throughout its various portions as described below and is supported by the roof joists R]. Steel roof deck RD spans the joists. On this is laid an insulation layer RI and over this a multiple layer roof R. The roof edges are straight and opposite edges along the sides of the whole building are parallel. End wall (not shown) of the building run across the building at right angles to the building centerline. The roof edge has a flashing and gravel stop EF, which confines the roof drainage except where this flashing is interrupted.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 5 it will be noted thatthe width W of the door spans the entire door opening 0, exc'ept for a small clearance space SC at each side. It is one feature of the invention that when the door is opened the entire door opening 0 (which is the dimension W plus the clearance space SC at each end), is entirely open and is available for movement therethrough of any wide object such as the wing span of an airplane. Ifdesired, in some installations, there may be provided side, tracks along the vertical side walls of the door opening 0 and the tracks may form .door jarnbs. Such tracks and ,jambs are utilized where desired. lambs may also be used where irregularities of building construction may result in an uneven wall surface of those portions of the wall 1 and 4 next adjacent to the door, or may be utilized where extremely small clearance space SC and special flashing modes are desired.

In FIGURE 1, the door is illustrated as of a height H. A small bottom clearance BC is provided at the bottom of the door and this may be closed by a flap of flexible material if desired. At the top of the door a clearance space is provided as shown at TC in FIGURE 6. It will be noted that the front closure 10 (which covers the front portion ofthe truss) extends down slightly below the mailer 14 to the bottom edge 19A. The bottom surface of the mailer 14 forms a surface withreference to which the clearance TC is measured down to the top surface 29 of the door flashing 49. I

According to the present invention, the entire door width W and height H is one unit, by may be considered theoretically, as being composed of a plurality of panels of substantially equal width dimensions, as shown at Pll, P2, P3 and P4, such panels being set side-to-side and so composed and joined as to form a unitary door area. Thus referring to FIGURE 1, one panel may be considered as extending throughout the width P1 from one side edge 21 of the door to the dotted line 22. The next panel P2 extends from line 22 to line 23; the third panel extends from the line 23 to line 2 4, and the fourth panel extending from line 24 to the. opposite side edge 25 of the door. In the door illustrated four such panels are shown, but it will be understood that the door may be composed of any number N of such theoretical panels composed side-by-side each being independently supported and rigged as hereinafter described. Thus the width W of the door may be increased or decreased as desired by using any desired number of panels.

Each of the theoretical panels P1 through P4, or as many as may be considered as making up the door span, is constructed so as to be a self-supported unit. All such panels are designed and rigged so as to be moved simultaneously through corresponding paths of motion from closed to open position and vice versa, and since the panels are joined together so as to form a single unitary door the door hence moves as a unit. According to this invention the door itself is a large flat unitary panel and hence any suitable construction and framing and sheeting ofsuch panel may be used, one such construction being illustrated herein. Any equivalent construction of the door may be used.

According to the present invention each of the panels P1 through P4, or as many as are used, of which the unitary flat door is composed, are individually supported in an identical manner. The individual supports for panel P1 will be described and it will be understood that the supports for panels P2 through P4, or as many as are used, will be identical unless otherwise stated. Thus referring to FIGURES 1-6, the supporting structure for the door comprises a plurality of cables fastened to the outer surface of the door midway between the top and the middle thereof, and overhead tracks. Referring first to the cable structures, as previously described, each of the pairs of backbone angles, as for example, the backbone angles 2723 for panel P1 of the door, has an outwardly extending plate 59 fastened to the structure of the door so as to extend slightly beyond the front surface of that sheeting of the door. On the extending end'of member 59 there is a pivot'hole to which a cable clevis 58 is attached. This constructionand the clevis are best illustrated in FIGURES 2, 6 and 7. Thus the member 59 in the preferred embodiment is" placed after the door is raised.

First a slot S1 is cut in the sheeting in a position aligned Vertically with the space between the adjacent edges of the flanges of the purlins 36 and 37 of the door framing and in alignment laterally with the space between the adjacent flanges of the angles 28 of the door framing. The plate 59 is then driven through and the flanges of the angles 28 are clamped up firmly against the inner portion of the plate 59 and the plate is welded in at 9A. It may be mentioned parenthetically that during the framing of'the door the angles forming vertical framing of the door are placed as near as possible to their correct positions as determined by measurements from one of the walls to the center lines of each of the overhead track structures which have previously been placed in the building structure. The door sheeting S is nailed and screwed in place and the door is then raised.

An effective and economical form of cable clevis 58 is illustrated. This consists of two side plates 58A having holes drilled at the bottom and aligned so as to receive a pin 66 which goes through the aperture 59B of the plate 59. The pin 68 can be an ordinary button rivet having a hole drilled through one end thereof where receiving the cotter pin 61. The upper ends of the plates 58A are likewise drilled to receive a short piece of ordinary hotrolled steel bar stock 62 which is welded in place to each plate at 58A. Since the cable clevis is exposed to the weather it is preferably plated. A standard steel cable thimble 63, galvanized or otherwise rustproofed is spread sufficiently so as to be snapped over the bar 62, and a stranded steel cable likewise of galvanized stock 64 is then wrapped around the thimble 62 and is securely fastened in place by aircraft type squeeze fasteners 65. The cable 64 then runs directly upwardly in front of the sheeting S1 of the door parallel thereto and then passes over a pulley 65 and runs substantially directly inwardly into the building along the path 64A, see FIGURE 3.

Any other equivalent made of attachment of the cables to the front of the door at level 116l16 may be used.

The level at which the plates 59 are inserted through the door, and hence to which the cable 64 are attached, are identical for each of the panels P1 through P4 served by the cable supports. This level, which is shown by line 116 in FTGURE 1, in the illustrated form of the structure is determined by the spacing between purlins 36 and 37, and may be at any position from adjacent the lower edge of the door to closely adjacent to but below the middle of the door, halfway from the bottom to the top. This establishes the level of the cable clevis pins 66 or equivalent attachment. I prefer that this level should be from a position approximately 20% to 40% of the vertical height of the door measured from the lower edge.

Reference is now made to the track structure 68 serving the panel Pl as shown in FIGURES 2 and 4. Such track structure 68 is identical with all of the remaining track structures serving the panels P2 through P4 and hence only one need be described. The track structure 68 comprises a track 69 which is securely fastened to a structural steel member 70, which in the preferred embodiment is a structural T placed in an inverted position, with the central web extending upwardly. This structural T reinforcement is welded to the track 69 at intervals throughout the length of the assembly and after welding the track is gauged so as to provide uniform spacing along this lot in the bottom of the track 69 thereby to assure smooth running of the roller hangar 68 which supports the backbone angles 27-28 along track 69. At the front end of the track assembly there are a pair of spaced vertically extending plates 71 having a secure fastening plate 72 welded between their upper ends. The plates 71 thus extending upwardly are apertured at 73 to receive a pivot pin 74 upon which the pulley 65 is journaled. The front edge of the plate 71 namely the edge 71A is designed so as to have a slight clearance with reference to the inner surface of the sheeting 16 which covers the front of the truss space and slots are cut through such sheeting It) so as to permit an arcuate portion of the pulley 65 to extend outwardly therethrough so as to premit it to receive the upward run of cable 64. After passing onequarter of the way around the pulley 65 the cable continues along the portion 64A of its run as will be described.

Referring to FIGURE 4 particularly, it will be observed that the web 76A of the structural T 70 is cut away along the line 74)? so as to provide adequate clearance for the lower circumferential portion of the pulley 65. The plates 71 are joined together at their upper edges by the crossplate 72, welded securely in place, and the plate 72 is apertured to receive a long bolt 75 the head of which is situated below the plate 72 and the shank of the bolt extending upwardly. The structural members 1313 which are made a part of the truss, and are illustrated in FIGURE 3 have welded to them a cross bracket 76 which is likewise apertured in proper position to receive the upward shank of the bolt 75. Above the plate 76, there is a spring 77 around the bolt. The lower end of spring 77 bottoms securely upon the plate 76. A washer and nut are placed at 78 on the bolt and are screwed down as to compress the spring 77 which accordingly supports the bolt 75, and through it supports the front end of the entire track structure 68.

Movement of the track structure 68 toward and away from sheeting lfl is precluded by a pair of clips 7979 which are welded to one of the side plates 71 and spaced so as to bear, with slight clearance, against the adjacent edges of one of the vertical angles 13. Thus the front end of the track structure 68 is free to move up and down within the limits of compressibility of the spring 77 but is precluded from moving sideways by virtue of the spacing of the vertically arranged angles 13 of the structure, and is precluded from moving toward or away from the inner surface of the sheeting 10 by virtue of the clips 79 which stabilizes the front end of the structure with reference to the vertical angles 13. The rear end of the track structure 66 is supported in any suitable manner from the overhead framing of the building, here illustrated as a hanger 16 which goes through an aperture 17 in the rear end of the track structure 68 and is hooked on to the bar joist R]. It will be noted that there is a slight downward slant of the track structure 68 toward the door opening, the degree of which may be varied. In the track 69 of the track structure 68, there is positioned a roller hanger, generally designated 68, of ordinary commercial design, as is the track 69. I prefer to use extra strong roller hangers of ball or roller bearing construction. The hanger has a downwardly extending pendant 81 which is apertured at its lower end to receive a pivot pin 82 which passes through suitably placed apertures in the upper end of the backbone angles 27 and 28. In the design, the front flanges of the pairs of backbone angles 27-28 are arranged to seat against the inner edge of the inner lower angle of the truss bottom chord, which accordingly determines the forward run of the door during its closing movement.

Referring to FIGURES 1, 2, 3 and 4 particularly, it will be noted that the run 64A of the cable 64 extends substantially straight inwardly within the building with respect to the sheeting If It continues this run, designated 64A, and thence passes around pulley 83 which is disposed in a substantially horizontal plane and thence passes directly over a drum 84, which is sufficiently wide to receive the corresponding runs of the remaining pulley as will be described. The run 64A of the cable is preferably displaced slightly so as to avoid the rear hanger 16 by which the track is supported. The run 64A is normally sufficiently long so that a slight angular displacement, to allow clearance with hanger 16, for example one inch at the point 16A, see FIGURE 5, is unnoticeable and does not cause any difficulty with respect to the travel of the cable over the pulley 65.

The corresponding cables for the panel P2 through P4 are similarly attached to backbones 294%, 31-32 and 3334. These rise Vertically and after passing around a pulley corresponding to pulley 65, extend inwardly of. the building along the runs shown at SSA, 86A and 87A.

It will be understood that their mode of attachment to the backbone angles of these various panels and the track structures serving each panel, are identical with those described with reference to panel P1. cables is set to run over a pulley disposed in a horizontal plane as at 38, 89 and 96. These pulleys are displaced sidely vertically with reference to pulley 83 as follows: The pulley 90is set the lowest, the pulley 89 slightly above it so as to clear the run 87B of the cable 87. The pulley S8 is set still a little higher so as to clear the runs 868 and 87B of the cables below it, and the pulley 83 is set still a little higher so that it is disposed over the cables 86B, 87B and 85B and will cause no interference. Only a slight displacement vertically is necessary since the cables are of small diameter. pulleys 88, 89 and 90 is varied, as permitted by the building structure.

Each of these The bracketing for the I prefer to use a stub shaft extending downwardly as at 88A from a horizontal plate 858 which is slotted at 88C to receivea bolt'extending through a mounting on the building structure adjacent thereto. I prefer that the plate 88B should be at substantially a degree angle with reference to the runs 85A and 85B of the cables, since this is the natural direction of pull.

The bracketing for the pulleys 89 and 90 are similar. The

mode of attachment for these pulleys is not illustrated, as this will vary from installation to installation.

The drum 84 is carried on shaft 84A which is journalled in bearings 91-91 mounted on a heavy framework 92 that is fastened in any suitable manner to the adjacent walls 4 and 6. This frame 92 may serve as the mounting for the bracketing of pulley 83. The drum 84 is of sufficient width so as to permit the runs 64B, 85B, 86B and 87B of the several cables to pass thereover without interference and/ or undue crowding. I prefer that the cables should run approximately one-quarter to one inch apart. The cables then extend directly downwardly as shown in FIGURE 2 along the runs 64C, 85C, 86C and 37C, and are fastened to the supporting framework of the weight box generally designated 92. The construction of the weight box may be similar to that shown in my copending application aforementioned except that in this instance the several cables are each separate and are simply wrapped aroundthe main supporting bar of the weight box, and. each cable is securely airplane cable clamps.

Ineach of the runs of the four cables here illustrated, or as many as are used, there will be provided a turnbuckle, as illustrated at 64D in FIGURE 2, so as to allow for adjustment of the cable tension. if desired, a spring may also be connected in the length of the cable so as to provide some resiliency in the cable tension, such spring being illustrated at 64E for cable 64. it will be understood that similar turnbuckles and/ or springs may be provided in the runs 85A, 86A and 87A,'as shown in the drawings. I prefer to put the turnbuckles and springs where used, in the runs of the cable within the building, between the pulley 65 and the pulleys adjacent the centerline of the building, and so located as shown when the door is in closed position, since this substantially horizontal run allows adequate room without interference with other portions of the mechanism.

The reason for the use of the spring 77 for mounting a the front end of the track and the spring 64E in the cable structure, is to permit balancing of the door load sustaining forces of the several tracks and cable structures when the position of the truss deflects due to variations in loading, due to snow on the roof, temperature changes and the like. 7

Referring to FIGURES 2, 8 and 9, the drum 84 is carried by and welded to a shaft 84A which. turns in heavy bearings M, and at the outerend of the shaft there fastened by means. of

Nuts placed on these screws will hold the plate 98 in any 7 position of adjustment within the limitsof the slots 98A. The plate 3 is provided with an internal stiffener 100 and a stub shaft 101 which extends outwardly and is provided with a spacing collar at 1192. A sprocket at 103 on shaft 101 is turned by a crank handle 104, having a hand piece 195 solidly welded to the sprocket. The entire sprocket 1% and crank 104 assembly is. held in place by a collar 1% on the outer end of thestub shaft 1G1.v The chain 95 runs over the sprocket 1% and hence, as the crank 104-105 is turned, it will rotate the. drum" 84 and hence impart movement to the several. cables where they run over this drum; Although there is only one-quarter of a turn of these cables around the. drum 84, this has been found in practiceto be sufficient to provide the necessary application of force neededfor :opening the door once the door has been uniatched and for closing the door firmly and latching it.

On the inside of the door, at each end of the purlins 35 and 37, there are provided knuckle joints generally designated 1% andltl'i to which the forward ends of radius rods 114 and 115 are, respectively, attached, see FI URES 2 and 3. These radius rods extend inwardly and upwardly as shown in FIGURE 2 and at their inner ends are provided with a pivot as at 114A inFIGURE 2 which turns upon a pivot 116 set in the wall 4 and the pivot 115A which turns upon a pivot 117 set in the wall 1. It may be noted parenthetically that .the location of these pivots is such that when the door is closed it will be in vertical position and that when thedoor is opened, the upwardruns of cables such as cable -l will be likewise vertical or slanted slightly outwardly in respect to the pulleys 65. This-means, therefore, that the knuckle portion, i.e., the pivot points 111 and 111 will follow. an arcuate path from the closed to the open position and vice versa as shown in my application aforementioned.

When the door is entirely up, the entire area is open from the inner surface of wall 1 to the inner surface of wall 4, being without jarnbs or other obstructions which consume such valuable door opening space. I prefer this form of construction, but if desired the knuckles and 111 may be extended over the edge of the door and provided with rollers run in tracks suitably spaced. If this form of construction is used, as also illustrated in my application aforementioned, the vertical level at which such pivots 111 and 111 are positioned is higher than the level of line 116*116, see FIGURE 1 whichis the level of attachment of the cables to the frontof the door, i.e., the level of pivot pins 60. Thereason for this is thatthe pivot pin 60 must not be drawn inwardly to any substantial degree as the door is brought to fully open position and hence,-as the plane of the door varies from vertical to a more nearly horizontal position, dimensional allowance must be provided so as to inhibit anyinward draw of the door as it is opened beyond a position at which the cables are vertical to pulley 65. Hence this requires, when tracks are used for stabilizing the lower portioniof the door, that the rollers in the tracks shall be set somewhat higher than the level of line 116*116. The amount that it is higher is determinedby the position of the track inwardly with reference to the position of the pivot pin 60. The axis of such-rollers being as much higher than the level of line 116 as they are inward from the plane of the pivot 64] for bestresults.

In FIGURES, the weight box frame 92, the weight box and the cabling arrangement is illustrated for a position of the weight box at the right side of the hangar unit when looking upward from the hangar, but it will be readily understood that the weight box may be shifted to the left end of FIGURE 3 if desired, or elsewhere placed within or without the hangar as shown in my application aforementioned by suitable provision of guide pulleys for the cabling arrangement.

For supporting the door against deflection in an inward direction when it is in a vertical (closed) position, I provide for the bottom of the door sills S1 at each side of the hangar opening. These sills are illustrated in dotted lines in FIGURE 2 and an opening is provided between the adjacent ends of the sills and a sufiicient width so as to permit the movement of the aircraft wheels between the sills. The sill may be of any height desired. As illustrated, it is of a height sufficient so as to be engaged by the inner flanges of the lower purlin 35. However, the door may be made with greater bottom clearance BC between the lower edge of sheeting S and ground level, if desired so as to avoid interference with snow. Then by providing a flap on the lower edge of the door between the adjacent edges of the sills SI and SI complete closure can be obtained.

For holding the top or head of the door against inward deflection when in the vertical (closed) position, I provide a plurality of latching bolts which can, if desired, be constructed as shown in my Patent No. 3,103,995, granted September 17, 1963, for Door and Latching. Any equivalent form of latching may be used, but that illustrated in my aforesaid patent is preferred.

The bolts as at 121 are heavy, flat bar stock and extend downwardly and are provided at their inner face with a small piece of pipe, welded on it as at 126, see FIGURE 6. The trunnion pipe receives a pivot pin 127 which extends through similar short lengths of pipe which are slipped on the ends of the pin and welded to a main horizontal pivot pipe 128. The pipe 128 extends across from the backbone angle 2748, thence across three of the spans between adjacent backbone structures and beyond the backbone structure 33-34. The pivot pipe 123 is suitably jour' naled in any form of journal on the front surfaces of the flanges of the angles comprising each backbone structure, so as to be in the space occupied by the purlins as best illustrated in FIGURE 4. At one end the pipe 123 is provided with weld-on handle 129 which is normally pulled upwardly by a spring 139 attached to hook 131 at an upper part of the backbone structure. The handle 129 is also provided with a pull rope 132 which extends downwardly and is hooked at 133 to some convenient location at a lower portion of the backbone structure. By pulling on the rope, the pipe 128 may be rotated through approximately 120 degrees and when it is released, the spring 130 will fetch the handle 12? up and hence rotate the pipe 123 in a reverse direction. This movement is communicated to each of the bolts 121 for moving them up and down. This construction is similar to the construction of the bolts, and their mountings and controls illustrated in my application aforementioned. The upper portions of each of the bolts 121-124 is stabilized against inward movement by a small clip, as at 121A for the bolt 121. These clips may be simply a short bar of steel held on any suitable spacers welded to the top channel 40 as shown in FIGURE 6. The clips are made so as to provide a rather loose lit, as close tolerance is not required.

The upper ends of the bolts are held by latches 151-154, see FIGURE 3 of improved form, as shown in my Patent No. 3,103,995, granted September 17, 1963 for Door and Latching, to which reference is made for a more complete description of the latching arrangement.

As many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is therefore to be understood that I do not limit myself to the specific embodiments herein.

What I claim is:

1. A widespan overhead door for closing a door opening in a building comprising a unitary flat door panel which in the upright position closes the door opening except for edge clearances, tracks extending into the interior of the building, each of said tracks being located in a vertical plane normal to the door when the door is closed, and positioned in a substantially common locating plane above the door extending into the interior of the building roller hangers in each of the tracks and pivotally connected to the head of the door, a plurality of cable hitch points on the front face of the door panel said cable hitch points being located at spaced intervals across the width of the door and in a common horizontal line across the door, a plurality of cables, each cable being pivotally connected to one of the cable hitch points, each cable then extending up the front face of the door, guide pulleys mounted within the building so as each to be in substantially vertical plane above the upper edge of the door panel and so as to present at least a portion of its pulley groove outwardly in respect to the front of the door and located, one above each cable hitch point of the door for receiving and guiding said cables, pulley means within the building for guiding said cables along running paths which are substantially parallel to each other and normal to the door and thence parallel to the door when the door is closed, drum means rotatably mounted in an elevated position in the building for receiving the cables where they move along said parallel running paths, counterweight means below said drum means, said cables being run over said drum means to and attached to said counterweight means, each cable being along a path composed of successive segments, adjacent segments being normal to each other, guide means on each edge of the door at substantially the vertical level of said cable hitch points and cooperating means on the building for guiding that portion of the door at the vertical level of said' guide means along a predetermined path during door opening and closing movement, and power means for rotating said drum means for moving the cables equal amounts for each increment of door opening and closing movement.

2. A widespan overhead door system for closing a door opening in a building comprising a flat door panel which in the upright position closes the door opening except for clearance, tracks located in a common plane extending from positions over the head of the door when it is upright and thence inwardly into the building, a roller hanger in each track pivotally connected to the head of the door, the head of the door being thereby translatable directly into the building along a path of movement paralleling the plane of the tracks, counterweight means within the building and in the space behind the door as defined by vertical planes at the edges of the door and normal to the door and a drum above the counterweight and mounted on a horizontal axis at an elevation above the head of the door, a plurality of cable hitches at spaced positions across the front of the door and at a common horizontal hitch level, primary guide pulleys above the door, each primary guide pulley being in a vertical plane normal to the door and above one of the cable hitches, a plurality of secondary guide pulleys within the building and within said space behind the door, each said secondary pulley being located substantially in a horizontal plane and substantially at the elevation of the drum and with the axis of said secondary pulleys along a line substantially parallel to the door, a plurality of cables each attached to one of the cable hitches and extending upwardly in front of the door to a position above the head of the door and thence around one of said primary guide pulleys and into the building, each cable being further guided around one of the secondary guide pulleys within the building and Within said space so that the cable then runs substantially parallel to the other cables and substantially parallel to the door at said elevation above the head of the door, each cable extending to and thence around said l l drum and down to said counterweight to which the cable is connected, each cable being characterized by extending along a run composed of segments, each of which is normal to an adjacent segment, and guide means at the side of the door for guiding that part of the sides of the door at substantially the elevation of the cable hitches along a prescribed up and down path as the head of the door is translated along said tracks by movement of said roller hangers along said tracks, and power means connected to the drum and including manually operable means accessable to a person at floor level for controlling rotation of the drum for opening and closing the door.

3. The door system specified in-clairn 2 further characterized in that at least two tracks are utilized and are spaced from each other a distance less than the width of the door.

4. A door system comprising a large flat unitary over.- head door for closing a door opening in a building, rigging supporting the door in a vertical position in which it closes the building opening and for combined rotational and elevating movementto and from said open position wherein the door is in a generally horizontal position at the top of the opening with a portion of the door within the building and a portion of the door projecting outwardly from the building, said rigging including tracks above the door and extending substantially normal to the door when closed and into the building, roller hangers in the tracks and pivotally connected to the door near its upper edge, and-a plurality of cables each attached to the front of the door at a common level and each cable extending up the front of the door to and around a pulley above the door and thence normal to the plane of the door and into the building, said system being further characterized in that said cables are each then guided around another pul ley at an elevated position and Within the building'and in the space behind the door as defined by vertical planes at the edges of the door and normal to the door, said cables being then run at substantially said elevated position and-along paths spaced from and parallel to the door, a drum 'journalled'at said elevated position within the building in said space behind the door, a'counterweight below said drum, mechanical means connected to the drum and having operating means at floor level for rotating the drum, said cables being run along paths which are composed of segments which are normal to ad- 3,-1 scene said track means said hangars being connected to the upper edge of the door for supporting at least a part of the weight of the door, said rigging also including cables extending from a plurality of attachment points located on the outside of the door at a common substantially horizontal attachment point level, transversely of the door, each of said cables extending upwardly therefrom, a drum journalled above the upper edge of the door and within the building at a position spaced rearwardly from the door and Within a space defined by vertical planes at the side. jambs of the door and normal tothe door, and a counterweight below said drum, primary guide pulleys all at substantially the level of the drum, one such pulley being provided above each of the attachment points and secondary guide pulley means within the building and said space and at substantially the level of the drum, each of said cables being run from its attachment point on the front of the door'and thence'up and partially around one of said primary guide pulleys and thence-partially around said secondary guide pulley means and thence partially around the drum and down to said counterweight, each cable having a complete path defined by rectilinear lines including a portion upwardly in frontof the door from the attachment point to the primary pulley and a portion downwardly from said drumto said counterweight and also including a portion parallel to the plane of the door and a portion normal to the plane of the door all with referencev to the door when the door isin the closed position.

jacent segments and run at said elevated position parallel to the door directly to and partially around said drum and thence downwardly to said counterweight to which they are attached below the drum, said cables and drum having a sufiicient area of contact so that by operating said mechanical means net amount of pull on the cables may be increased to an amount exceeding the weight of the counterweight or decreased to an amount less than the Weight of the counterweight so as to permit respectively opening or closing movement of the door.

5. A door for a building opening, said opening being defined by structural members of the building, comprising a flat unitary widespan door in the form of a panel which in its vertical position closes the opening, rigging for supporting the door includingtrack means extending from a position adjacent the upper edge of the door and generally normal to the door and extending inwardly in respect to the building, door hangars for movement along 6.'The door constructed according to claim 5 further characterized in that said secondary guide pulley means, is mounted on a downwardly extending pulley shaft from bracketing situated above the .level of said secondary guide pulley means, so as to leave uninterrupted space below said pulleys.

References Eited by the lilxamulnerv UNITED STATES PATENTS 100,373 3/70 Capron 20-19 X 875,306 12/07 Wilson 20-19 494,142 3/93 Hendershott' 20-19 1,258,439 3/18 Ogden 16-87 X 1,663,196 3/28 Gibbons 20-19 X 1,837,152 12/31 Ellsworth 189-15 1,897,391 2/33 Kelly 160-209 X 1,925,574 9/33 Scott 160-209 X 2,023,193 12/35 Byrne 20-19 2,141,515 12/38 Casse 20-19 2,151,033 3/39 Jones 268-30 X 2,178,137 10/39 Byrne 268- X 2,188,694 1/40 Tucker. 2,201,636 5/40 Siess et a1. 20-19 2,244,405 6/41 Schilling 20-19 2,411,369 11/46 Forrest '20-19 2,552,752 5/51 Venditty 20-19 2,574,307 11/51 Whelan 189-15 2,681,468 6/54 Quinn 16-57 X 2,759,227 8/56 Ried et al. 20-16 2,937,415 5/60 Dugger 20-16 HARRISON R.- MOSELEY, Primary Examiner. JOEL REZNEK, JOSEPH D. BEIN, Examiners.

Claims (1)

1. A WIDESPAN OVERHEAD DOOR FOR CLOSING A DOOR OPENING IN A BUILDING COMPRISING A UNITARY FLAT DOOR PANEL WHICH IN THE UPRIGHT POSITION CLOSES THE DOOR OPENING EXCEPT FOR EDGE CLEARANCES, TRACKS EXTENDING INTO THE INTERIOR OF THE BUILDING, EACH OF SAID TRACKS BEING LOCATED IN A VERTICAL PLANE NORMAL TO THE DOOR WHEN THE DOOR IS CLOSED, AND POSITIONED IN A SUBSTANTIALLY COMMON LOCATING PLANE ABOVE THE DOOR EXTENDING INTO THE INTERIOR OF THE BUILDING ROLLER HANGERS IN EACH OF THE TRACKS AND PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO THE HEAD OF THE DOOR, A PLURALITY OF CABLE HITCH POINTS ON THE FRONT FACE OF THE DOOR PANEL SAID CABLE HITCH POINTS BEING LOCATED AT SPACED INTERVALS ACROSS THE WIDTH OF THE DOOR AND IN A COMMON HORIZONTAL LINE ACROSS THE DOOR, A PLURALITY OF CABLES, EACH CABLE BEING PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO ONE OF THE CABLE HITCH POINTS, EACH CABLE THEN EXTENDING UP THE FRONT FACE OF THE DOOR, GUIDE PULLEYS MOUNTED WITHIN THE BUILDING SO AS EACH TO BE IN SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL PLANE ABOVE THE UPPER EDGE OF THE DOOR PANEL AND SO AS TO PRESENT AT LEAST A PORTION OF ITS PULLEY GROOVE OUTWARDLY IN RESPECT TO THE FRONT OF THE DOOR AND LOCATED, ONE ABOVE EACH CABLE HITCH POINT O THE DOOR FOR RECEIVING AND GUIDING SAID CABLES, PULLEY MEANS WITHIN THE BUILDING FOR GUIDING SAID CABLES ALONG RUNNING PATHS WHICH ARE SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER AND NORMAL TO THE DOOR AND THENCE PARALLEL TO THE DOOR WHEN THE DOOR IS CLOSED, DRUM MEANS ROTATABLY MOUNTED IN AN ELEVATED POSITION IN THE BUILDING FOR RECEIVING THE CABLES WHERE THEY MOVE ALONG SAID PARALLEL RUNNING PATHS, COUNTERWEIGHT MEANS BELOW SAID DRUM MEANS, SAID CABLES BEING RUN OVER SAID DRUM MEANS TO AND ATTACHED TO SAID COUNTERWEIGHT MEANS, EACH CABLE BEING ALONG A PATH COMPOSED OF SUCCESSIVE SEGMENTS, ADJACENT SEGMENTS BEING NORMAL TO EACH OTHER, GUIDE MEANS ON EACH EDGE OF THE DOOR AT SUBSTANTIALY THE VERTICAL LEVEL OF SAID CABLE HITCH POINTS AND COOPERATING MEANS ON THE BUILDING FOR GUIDING THE PORTION OF THE DOOR AT THE VERTICAL LEVEL OF SAID GUIDE MEANS ALONG A PREDETERMINED PATH DURING DOOR OPENING AND CLOSING MOVEMENT, AND POWER MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID DRUM MEANS FOR MOVING THE CABLES EQUAL AMOUNTS FOR EACH INCREMENT OF DOOR OPENING AND CLOSING MOVEMENT.

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