US3398485A

US3398485A - Overhead door supporting hinge mechanism

Info

Publication number: US3398485A
Application number: US539694A
Authority: US
Inventors: William H Stokes
Original assignee: United States Steel Corp
Current assignee: United States Steel Corp
Priority date: 1966-04-04
Filing date: 1966-04-04
Publication date: 1968-08-27
Anticipated expiration: 1985-08-27

Description

Aug, 27, 1968 w. H. sToKEs 3,393,485

OVERHEAD DooR SUPPORTING mmm MECHANISM Filed April 4, 1966 y 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTO? WILL/AM H. STOKE'S Affom ey Aug. 27, 1968 w. H. sToKE 3,398,485

OVERHEAD DOOR SUPPORTING HINGE MECHANISM Filed April 4, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 27, 1968 w. H. STOKES OVERHEAD DOOR SUPPORTING HINGE MECHANISM 5 Sheets-Sheet Filed April 4', 196e United States Patent O 3,398,485 4 OVERHEAD DOOR SUPPORTING HINGE MECHANISM v William H. Stokes, Lakewood, Ohio, assignor to United States Steel Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Apr. 4, 1966, Ser. No. 539,694 4 Claims. (Cl. 49-202) ABSTRACT oF THE DISCLOSURE Mechanism includes a vertical track on the two opposed side edges of a rcontainer door; a roll-mounted carriage disposed for movement along each of the tracks; and two rigid links each pivotally connected by one end to one of the carriages and by its other end to an adjacent vertical member of the doorway frame. Mechanism permits uptilting of the door away from the doorway `to an overhead open position atop the container.

The present invention relates generally to enclosure doors and more specifically to an improved Ihinge mechanism for an uptilting overhead sliding door especially suitable for supporting a door in the door frame of a cargo cage container or the like.

Portable wire-mesh cubicles, commonly known as cargo cage containers, are extensively used by freight haulers for transportin-g less-than-carload or less-thantruckload shipments. The use of cargo cage containers is advantageous in that a number of such odd lot shipments can be loaded into one container which then can be handled as a single unit during subsequent loading and unloading of a carrier. This arrangement greatly facilitates and speeds up the handling of less-than-carload and less-than-truckload shipments.

It is necessary to provide cargo cage containers with doors and door openings of sufficient area to permit easy loading and unloading of articles from the containers.l Prior to my invention, two types of doors were generally used on cargo cage containers. One was the lift-olf type which completely detached from the cargo' cage when the latter was bein-g loaded or unloaded. Such complete de' tachability was undesirable in that the doors, when removed, were frequently lost or damaged.

Another door commonly used was the split swing-type. this type of door was not fully satisfactory because it required an excessive area in the vicinity of the cargo cage to permit opening of thev door and to accommodate the two sections of the door fwhich moved outwardly from the cage and remained so when the door was opened. This feature created considerable difficulty in congested loading areas. g v

It is, accordingly, the primary object of my invention to provide an improved hinge mechanism whereby an overhead door can be mounted in the door opening of an enclosure in such a manner that the door in vertical position closes the door opening but can be opened by simultaneously lifting and pivotin-g the door about the upper edge of the door opening and then sliding it along the top of the enclosure to a horizontal position out of the way of the door opening.

As a corollary to the above, it is another object of my invention to provide an improved hinge mechanism as set forth by the above object which maintains the door attached to the enclosure when the door is open.

It is a more specialized object of my invention to provide an improved hinge mechanism as set forth by the above statements of object which includes a vertical track extending along opposed sides of the door and facing the adjacent vertical edges of the door opening when the door is in vertical position closing the opening, an

ice

elongated carriage including a bar and rollers journaled on each end of the bar mounted for limited movement along each of the tracks, a rigid link ypivotally connected by one end with each of the door opening vertical members .adjacent the upper end thereof, the other end of each of the links being pivotally connected with one of the carriage bars intermediate the ends thereof, and latching means carried by the door adapted to detachably engage a horizontal member of the door opening frame to lock the door in vertical position lclosing the opening.

These and other objects 'will become more apparent after referring to the following specification and attached drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a cargo cage container having a door mounted by means of the hinge mechanism of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an end elevational view of the cargo cage of FIGURE 1 showing the door, in solid lines, in an intermediate position and, in broken lines, in fully open position;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged partial View showing the details of the hinge mechanism of the invention on the right side of the door, as viewed in FIGURE l;

- FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional View taken along the line V-V of FIGURE 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, reference character 2 designates generally a wheeled cargo cage container which is lformed with a substantially rectangular frame 4 including a bottom peripheral portion 6 of box construction, and a vertical door opening 8 formed in one side. A rigid door 10 is mounted in the door opening 8 by means of the hinge mechanism of the invention, designated generally by reference numeral 12. The walls, top and bottom of the container are made up of rigid wire-mesh 14 welded to the frame 4.

' A pair of spaced vertical tubular posts 16 of rectangular cross section extending between the top and bottom peripheral portions of the frame 4 form the sides of door opening 8. The top peripheral portion of the frame 4 forming the top of the door opening may be an angle section 18, as best shown in FIGURE 5. The sill of the door opening `t3 is formed by the bottom peripheral portion 6 extending between the posts 16.

The door 10 includes a rigid rectangular frame consisting of horizontally extending top and Ibottom

members

20 and 22, respectively, and vertical side members 24 extending

lbetween members

20 and 22 at each end thereof. Wire-mesh 26 is Welded to the frame of the Y, door and spans the area enclosed by the horizontal and vertical frame members.

The structure thus far :described is conventional with the exception of the hinge mechanism 12 of the invention which will now be described in detail.

Each of the vertical side members 24 of the frame of the door 10 is of channel `section land each is disposed with its open side directed laterally of the -door and faces a vertical post 16 of the door opening 81 when the door is in closed position, as best `shown in FIGURES 3 and 4. The channel interior of each of the vertical side members 24 forms a track 28 extending along its length in which an elongated carriage or bar 30 is mounted for axial movement by means of rollers 32 journaled in and projecting from opposite ends of the carriage.

A pivot block 34, having a pin 36 rotatable therein and projecting from one side thereof, is fixedly contained in leach of the posts 16 adjacent the upper yend thereof with its pin projecting into the door opening. A pivot member 38, having a pin 40 rotatable therein and projecting from one end thereof, is fixedly mounted on each of the carriages 30 intermediate the ends thereof with its pin projecting into the door opening. On each side of the door 10, a rigid pivot link 42 is xedly attached by one end to the pin 36 in the post 16 and at its other end to the pin 40 carried by the carriage 30. Thus, the rotatable pins 36 and 40 adapt both ends of the link for pivoting movement.

As best shown in FIGURES 1 and 5, a pair of spaced toggle-clamp latch mechanisms 44 are connnected to the top horizontal member 20 of the door frame. Each of the toggle-clamp latches includes a substantially T shape plate 46 |welded along its top to bottom surface of the horizontal member 20. An L -shape -latch arm 48 is pivotally connected as at 50 to the plate 46 adjacent the bottom thereof. An operating arm 52 formed with a clevis 54 at one end is pivotally connected by its clevis portion to the plate 46 beneath its upper surface as at 56. The operating arm is pivotally connected with the 'bottom of the latch arm 48 by means of a link 58. As shown in FIG- URE 5, each of the toggle-clamp latch mechanisms 44 secures the upper portion of the door to the frame 4 in closed position by clamping the upper horizontal member of the door frame to the horizontally extending angle section 18 at the top of the door opening.

The vertical side members 24 of the -door frame are each provided with a laterally extending stop member 60 near the bottom thereof which is adapted to engage the adjacent vertical post 16 of the frame of the door opening so as to prevent the door from swinging inwardly of the door opening. A pair of spaced anges 61 is welded to and projects downwardly from the bottom horizontal member 22 of the `door frame to engage the inside of the sill-forming portion 6 to prevent the door from swinging outwardly of the door Opening when the door is in vertical closed position.

As best shown in FIGURE 3, a bolt 62 is fitted in the upper portion of each of the vertical side members 24 of the door fra-me projecting inwardly of the track 28 to serve as a stop member to limit the downward movement of the door 10 relative to the carriages 30. Movement of the door 10 in the opposite direction relative to the carriages is limited by a closed end, as at 64, on each of the vertical side members 24 formed by the junction of horizontal member 22 therewith.

In operation, to move the door 10 from closed position, as shown in FIGURE 1, to open position, as 'shown in broken lines in FIGURE 2, the upper portion of the door is unlatched from the frame 4 by manipulation of the operating arms 52 of the latch mechanism 44, and the upper portion of the door is allowed to move a slight distance away from the angle section 18. The door is then lifted to disengage the anges 61 from the container frame portion 6 after which the doo-r is simultaneously uptilted and lifted to pivot it about :an angle section 18. This` causes the pivot links 42 to pivot upwardly toward a horizontal position and the carriages 30 to move longitudinally toward the bottom of the door, as shown by solid lines in FIGURE 2. The door is continued to be moved in this manner until-.it reaches a horizontal position on top of the container 2, as shown by broken lines in FIGURE 2. When the door is in this fully opened position, the carriages 30 are at the bottoms of `tracks 28 and the pivot links 42 have pivoted 180 from their original positions.

Although I have shown the hinge mechanism of my invention ,as utilized with a cargo cage container, it: will be noted that it can be utilized with equally beneficial results for mounting ydoors on other types of enclosures as well. Y

While I have shown but one embodiment of my invention, it will be apparent that other adaptations and modications may be made without departing from the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In an enclosure having a frame providing a door opening, said frame including a vertical member at each side of said door opening :and a horizontal member at the top thereof extending between said vertical members,

a rigid door for said opening having a door body adapted in vertical position to close said opening and adapted to swing bodily to a substantially overhead position atop said enclosure, the improvement therewith of a hinge mechanism mounting said door body in said door opening comprising a vertical track extending along opposed sides of said door body and facing the respective door opening vertical member adjacent thereto when said door body is in said vertical position :closing `said opening, an elongated carriage mounted for longitudinal movement along eachv of said tracks, and a rigid link pivotally connected by one en-d with each of said door opening vertical members :adjacent the upper end thereof, the other end of each of said links being pivotally connected withA one of said elongated carriages inter-mediate the ends thereof.

2. Apparatus as defined Iby claim 1 characterized by latching means carried by said door body adapted to detachably engage said horizontal member and lock said door body in vertical position closing said opening.

3. Apparatus as defined by claim 1 characterized by each of said carriages including a bar, and a roller journaled in each end of said bar, Isaid bars being disposed one on each -side of said door body with said rollers fitted in the tracks on said -door body for movement therealong.

4. Apparatus as dened by claim 1 characterized by stop means in each of said tracks adjacent the ends thereof adapted to limit the movement of said carriagesthere along.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,557,614 6/1951 Schafer 49-260 X FOREIGN PATENTS 534,177 9/ 1931 Germany. 642,053 8/ 1948 Great Britain. 1,257,782 2/ 1961 France.

KENNETH DOWNEY, Primary Examiner'.