US3526994A

US3526994A - Lock for one-piece garage doors

Info

Publication number: US3526994A
Application number: US722329A
Authority: US
Inventors: Charles E Delaney
Original assignee: Overhead Door Corp
Current assignee: Overhead Door Corp
Priority date: 1968-04-18
Filing date: 1968-04-18
Publication date: 1970-09-08
Anticipated expiration: 1987-09-08

Description

Sept. 8., 1970 c. E. DELANEY LOCK FOR ONE-PIECE GARAGE DOORS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 18, 1968 Sept. 8, 1970 c. E. DELANEY 3,525,994

LOCK FOR ONE-'PIECE GARAGE DOORS Filed April 18. 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 l VEN TOR. @x4/@Ms 5 f//M/fy Sept. 8, 1970 c. E. DELANEY Loox FOR ONE-PIECE GARAGE DoORs 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed April 1s, 196e v INVENTOR.

n (Hf/MS Da/wy BY M mfu United States Patent 3,526,994 LOCK FOR ONE-PIECE GARAGE DOORS Charles E. Delaney, Irving, Tex., assignor to Overhead Door Corporation, Dallas, Tex., a corporation of Indiana Filed Apr. 18, 1968, Ser. No. 722,329 Int. Cl. E051? 11/54, 15/12 U.S. Cl. 49--199 10 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A motorized operator for one-piece sliding and upwardly acting doors having means supporting same for movement between open and closed positions and a track supporting a carriage which is secured to the door and is movable with the door between its open and closed positions. A latch assembly is connected to the carriage for vlocking the door in the closed position.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates in general to a motorized operator for a relatively large door and, more particularly, to a latch assembly attached to the operator for releasably locking said door in the closed position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Known types of relatively large doors, such as onepiece ygarage doors of the overhead or sliding type, are frequently opened and closed by electromechanical operators which may be remotely controlled. In such case, it is at least desirable to provide a type of latch mechanism which locks automatically when the door moves into the closed position, but which is also unlocked when the operator is energized to open the door.

One common form of motorized operators for garage doors has a horizontal track mounted above the door and supporting a carriage movable toward and away from the door opening. The carriage is connected to the upper end of an upwardly swinging, one-piece door by a drawbar which pivotally engages the door preferably near the centerline thereof. The door is usually hung and supported near its side edges so that the lower edge of the door initially moves horizontally outwardly from its closed position. Moreover, the upper edge of the doorinitially moves horizontally inwardly from its closed position. Thus, by manually grasping the lower edge of the door and moving same outwardly, it is relatively easy to overpower the motorized mechanism, which normally drives the carriage along the track, and thereby opens the door. In other Words, the inward movement of the upper end of the door creates a horizontal force which is parallel tothe length of the track and which has previously deed the provision of a latching mechanism which locks and unlocks automatically when the door. is closed and opened, respectively, by the motorized operator.

This problem has not been encountered in the motorized operation of the conventional, upwardly acting, multiple panel door because the initial movement of such a door, hence the drawbar connected thereto, is upward when the door is opened. That is, the drawbar is moved upwardly before there is any appreciable, longitudinal movement of the carriage along the track, and upward movement of the drawbar provides an easy means for preventing an unauthorized opening of the door.

'Ihe latching of an electromechanical operator for a sliding door, to prevent an unauthorized opening thereof, has encountered problems similar to those discussed above with respect to the one-piece, upwardly acting door.

Heretofore, it hasnot been considered feasible or possible to combine the door latch or lock mechanism with the door operator for one-piece sliding or upwardly acting doors. That is, since the initial movement of these doors is normally in a horizontal, as opposed to a vertical, direction, these doors could be forced open unless a separate lock device was provided. However the need has long been apparent for a latch mechanism capable of locking these doors against unauthorized opening and adapted for mounting to and cooperative operation of the drawbar of a typical, electromechanical operator, so that complete remote control could be effected.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a latching mechanism for a door operator which is utilizable with sliding and upwardly acting one-piece type doors, and which is locked or unlocked automatically in response to movement of the door operator, even when remotely controlled.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a door latching device, as aforesaid, which can be inexpensively and easily installed on existing door operators with minimum concern for tolerances, or as an integral part of a new installation.

'Other objects and purposes of this invention will be apparent to persons acquainted with apparatus of this general type upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a motorized door operator assembly embodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is a broken, top -view of the door operating mechanism.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 3 with the latch arm moved to the unlocked position.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line V--V in FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 illustrates a sectional view similar to that appearing in FIG. 1 and disclosing the door in a different position of operation.

FIG. 8 illustrates a sectional view similar to that appearing in FIG. 7 and disclosing a different type of hardware for supporting the door.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged fragment of FIG. 8 showing the door in its closed position.

FIG. 10 is a broken, fragmentary side view of the interior of a sliding door connected to a door operator embodying the invention.

'Certain terminology will be used in the following description for convenience in reference only and will not be limiting. The words up, down, front and rear have reference to the described structure as appearing in FIG. 1, wherein front is leftwardly. The words inner and outer refer to directions toward and away from the geometric center of the device and designated parts thereof. Such terminology will include the words above specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof and words of similar import.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The objects and purposes of the invention have been met by providing a door operator including a carriage device movable along a horizontal track and having a latching mechanism connected to one end of a drawbar mounted at its other end upon a sliding or upwardly acting, one-piece door. The latch mechanism includes a lost motion device whereby the initial movement of the door operator in the door-opening direction releases the latch, but the latch cannot be overpowered by an opening movement of the door when the operator is inoperative. The latch locks the door automatically when the door closes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION An overhead door assembly (FIGS. 1 and 7) comprises a pair of spaced, parallel and horizontal tracks, one of which is shown at 11, and each track has its front end secured to the wall 18 of a building generally indicated at 19. The rear end of the track 11 (FIGS. 1 and 2) is secured to a support 16 which may be connected to the wall 18 or ceiling 17 of said building. The track could also be mounted on a truck van. Additional support for the track 11 may be provided conventionally to increase the sturdiness thereof.

A door or other closure member 20 is shown in closed position in FIG. 1 blocking access through an opening 22 in the wall 18 of the building. The closure member 20 is preferably comprised, in this embodiment, of singlepiece construction which is pivotally and swingably supported along its lateral edges upon the vertical edge portions of the wall defining the door opening 22 by conventional hardware 21 designed for this purpose. A bracket 23 is secured to the door 20 near its lateral edge and rotatably supports a conventional roller (not shown) which is received in the track 11 and is guided thereby. Another track (not shown), which may be identical to track 11, supports the other upper end edge of said door, also in a conventional manner.

A pair of channel-shaped rails 26 and 27 (FIG. 5) are supported in any convenient manner upon the walls 17 and 18 (FIG. 1). In this particular embodiment, the front ends of the

rails

26 and 27 are secured to the Wall 18 by a bracket 29, and the rear ends of the

rails

26 and 27 are secured to the wall 17 by a bracket 32. The

rails

26 and 27 are preferably positioned above the track 11 and they extend generally parallel to the track 11.

A motor 33 is secured to the

rails

26 and 27 near the rear ends thereof by a plurality of bolts 34. The output shaft 36 (FIG. 2) of the motor 33 has a pulley 37 secured thereto.

A rear shaft 38 is rotatably supported upon the

rails

26 and 27 and extends transversely thereof near, but frontwardly of, the motor 33. A pulley 39 is secured to an end of the shaft 38 and is radially aligned with the pulley 37. An endless belt 41 drivingly interconnects the pulleys 37 and 39.

A sprocket 42 is secured to the shaft 38 between the

rails

26 and 27. A front shaft 43 is mounted upon the

rails

26 and 27 near the front ends thereof. A pulley 44 is secured to the shaft 43 between

rails

26 and 27, and is radially aligned with the sprocket 42.

A carriage 46 (FIG. l) is mounted upon and between the

rails

26 and 27 for longitudinal movement therealong and comprises a pair of shoes 47 and 48 (FIG. 5) received within the

rails

26 and 27, respectively, Which open toward each other. An H-shaped frame member 49 has a pair of upper,

parallel flanges

51 and 52 interconnected by a web portion 53 and respectively attached to the shoes 47 and 48 by

nuts

54 and 56. A pair of

vertical flanges

57 and 58 project downwardly from the web portion 53, and a pair of pins or rivets 59 and 61 (FIG. 6) are secured to and extend between the

flanges

57 and 58.

An L-shaped bracket 62 (FIG. 3) is secured to the upper surface of the web portion 53 by fastening means 63, here a nut and bolt. The vertical leg 64 of the bracket 62 has an opening 65 therein for loosely receiving the shank 68 of an eye bolt 66. A spring 67 is sleeved upon the shank 68 and is held under compression between the right surface of the vertical leg 64 and a Washer 69 held against axial movement with respect to the shank I68 by a nut 71.

One end of a chain 72 is anchored upon a pin 70 which is connected between the

legs

57 and 58 of the H-shaped member 49. Said chain 72 then extends rearwardly around the sprocket 42 frontwardly to a point between the sprocket 42 and the pulley 44. A cable 73 is secured at one end to the free end of the chain 72 andextends frontwardly 4 (FIG. 1) therefrom around the pulley 44, the other end of the cable being secured to the eyelet portion of the eye bolt 66.

A channel-shaped member 74, having

flanges

76 and 77 depending from interconnecting web portion 78, is received between the

flanges

57 and 58 of the H-shaped member 49 and is relatively movable with respect theret0. The

flanges

76 and 77 have a pair of horizontally aligned and horizontally elongated slots, such as the slots 79 and 81 in flange 76 through which the

rivets

59 and 61 are slideably received. The slots 79 and 81 are arranged so that the rivets simultaneously engage the means defining the front and rear ends of said slots.

A latch arm 82 is pivotally supported upon and 'between the

flanges

76 and 77 of the U-shaped member 74 by a pin or rivet 83. The latch arm `82 is located between

thc flanges

76 and 77 and extends frontwardly beyond said flanges and over the rivet 59. The latch arm 82 has an elongated notch 84 along the lower surface (FIGS. 3 and 4) thereof, said notch having a front edge 86 at right angles to the length thereof and a sloped edge 87 at the rear end thereof. The rivet 59 is disposed in the notch `84 when the latch arm l82 is in the horizontal, latched position.

A U-shaped bar or catch 91 having

vertical legs

92 and 93, and a cross bar 94 interconnecting the lower ends of the

legs

92 and 93, is secured to the outer sides of the

rails

26 and 27 by bolts 96 and 97, respectively, which extend through said legs. The upper surface of the cross bar 94 is preferably coplanar with the upper edge of the notch 84 when the latch arm 82 is in the horizontal position, as illustrated in FIG. 3. The U-shaped member is secured to the

rails

26 and 27 near the front end thereof, but between the pulley 44 and sprocket 42.

A drawbar 98 is pivotally connected at one end to the U-shaped member 74 by a pin 99 extending between the

flanges

76 and 77 thereof. The other end of the drawbar 98 is pivotally connected to a bracket 101 which in turn is secured to the upper end of the closure member 20, preferably near the centerline thereof. In this particular embodiment, the drawbar arm is substantially coplanar with the vertical plane defined by the sprocket 42 and pulley 44.

OPERATION While the operation of the mechanism disclosed above will be evident to skilled persons from such disclosure, it will be described in further detail hereinbelow.

With the door 20 closed (FIG. 1) the latch arm 82 positively opposes opening of the door until said latch arm 82 is moved from its FIG. 3 position to its FIG. 4 position. Such movement cannot be accomplished by a force exerted on the closure member 20. In order to release the latch arm 82, the drawbar 98 must move frontwardly (which is blocked by the engagement of the door 20 with the wall 18), or the member 49 must be moved rearwardly with respect to the member 74, and this can only be effected from within the building or by energizing the operator motor 33.

Upon energization of the motor 33, the pulley 37 secured to the motor shaft 26 will cause rotation of pulley 39 and sprocket 42 in counterclockwise directions (FIG. 1), whereby the lower reach of chain 72 is moved rearwardly. As a result, the H-shaped member 49 will be instantly moved rearwardly relative to the U-shaped member 74, because the inertia of the door acting through the draw bar 98 will cause the U-shaped member 74 to remain in a stationary position while the H-shaped member 49 moves rightwardly along the

rails

26 and 27. Relative movement of the

members

74 and 49 will cause movement of the

rivets

59 and 61 along the slots 79 and 81, respectively, from the FIG. 3 position to the FIG. 4 position during which the pin 59 will engage the sloped edge 87 of the notch 84 and thereby pivot the latch arm 82 upwardly from the latched position of FIG. 3 to the released position of FIG. 4.

Promptly after the latch arm 82 has been released, the

`motor 33 will cause a rightward movement of the carriage 46v along the

rails

26 and 27 whereby the closure member 20 is moved from the closed position illustrated in PIG. 1 toward its open position as illustrated in FIG. 7.

The electrical circuitry for starting and stopping the motor 83 may be of a conventional design and may be operated by a push button or a remotely controlled switch.

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate modied jamb hardware 103 which is capable of supporting the doory 20 without the tracks 11. The door operator, including the carriage 46, latch arm 82, catch 91 and drawbar 98 may be, and preferably are, identical with the corresponding parts shown in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 10, a latch mechanism 105 embodying the invention may be used with a door operator connected by a drawbar 98A to the edge of a sliding door 106. The carriage 46A, latch arm 82A and U-shaped member or catch 91A would be constructed and perform in the same manner as discussed above with respect to the door 20.

It is recognized that the latch mechanism could also be utilized with the horizontally hinged, upwardly acting type of door. However, since the initial movement of such a door is usually vertically upward, the latch would not serve to prevent such a movement. That is, the hinged door would lbe permitted to move a small distance upwardly until the upper panel would swing inwardly, which would stop further upward movement. The distance the lower panel would move from the ground would be negligible in some instances andcould be ignored.

Although particularly preferred embodiments of the invention have been disclosed above for illustrative purposes, it will be understood that variations or modifications thereof which lie within the scope of the appended claims are fully contemplated.

` The embodiments of the invention in which are exclu- .siveI property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. In a closure assembly having a closure member and means supporting same for movement between open and closed positions, and elongated rail means extending substantially horizontally away from the closed position of said closure member, the combination comprising:

carriage means and rail-engaging means connected to v' said carriage means for movably supporting same on said rail means; n

drive means including an elongated flexible member connected to said carriage means for moving same along said lrail means;

support means'and means mounting same upon said carriage means for relative movement therebetween;

linkage means extending between and pivotally conn'ected t'o said 'closure member and said support means;

catch means on s aid rail means near the closed position of said closure member;

latch means' movably mounted upon said support means for engagement with said catch means to hold said closure member insaid closed position; and disengagement means for causing movement of said latch means relative to said support means in response to movement of said carriage means with respect to said support means for causing disengagement of said latch means from said catch means.

2. The device delined in claim 1, wherein said elongated iiexible member has one end thereof connected directly to said carriage means, and further including resilient means connected between the other end of said elongated flexible member and said carriage means for permitting relative movement' between said carriage means and said flexible member in the elongated direction of said flexible member.

3. The device dened in claim 1, wherein the means mounting the support means on the carriage means includes lost-motion means for permitting movement of said support means relative to said carriage means.

4. In a closure Aassembly having a door and means supporting same for movement between open and close positions, the combination comprising:

elongated, horizontal rail means extending away from the closed position of said door; carriage means supported by said rail means, said carriage means including a carriage member and railengaging means connected to said carriage member for movably supporting same on said rail means;

drive means connected to said carriage means for moving same along said rail means;

support means and lost-motion means mounting same -upon said carriage means for relative horizontal movement with respect thereto between two positions;

rigid means extending between and pivotally connected to said door and said support means;

catch means on said rail means near the closed position g of said door; and

latch means mounted upon said support means for engagement with said catch means to hold said door in said closed position when said support means is in one of said positions relative to said carriage means, said lost-motion means causing disengagement of said latch means from said catch means due to movement of said carriage means whereby said support means is moved relative to said carriage means into the other one of said positions.

5. The device defined in claim 4, wherein said support means is movable with respect to said carriage means lengthwise of said rail means; and

wherein said latch means comprises an elongated latch arm pivotally mounted at one end on said support means and having a hook on the other end thereof, said hook being adapted to releasably engage said catch means when said support means is in said one position with respect to said carriage means.

6. The device defined in claim 4, wherein said lost motion means includes a pair of horizontally aligned and spaced pins secured to said carriage means and extending transversely of said rail means, and said support means has la pair of elongated longitudinally aligned slots eX- tending lengthwise of said rail means, said pins being slideably and respectively disposed in said slots; and

wherein said latch means comprises an elongated latch arm pivotally mounted at one end on said support means `and having a hook on the other end thereof, said hook being adapted to releasably engage said catch means when said support means is in said one position.

7. The device defined in claim 6, wherein said elongated latch arm has a cam ram formed on one edge thereof with said cam ram adapted to bear lagainst one of said pins as said carriage means is 4moved relative to said support means from said one position for camming said latch arm upwardly to disengage said hook from said catch means.

8. The device defined in claim 4, wherein said drive means includes a pair of spaced rotatable support members positioned adjacent opposite ends of said rail means and an elongated flexible drive element extending between and around said support members and having at least one end thereof fixedly connected to said carriage means.

9. The device defined in .claim 4, further including cam means coacting between said carriage means and said latch means for causing said latch means to move relative to said catch means and relative to said carriage means to disengage said latch means from said catch means due to relative movement between said carriage means and said support means.

10. In a closure assembly having a closure member and means supporting same for movement between open and closed positions, and elongated rail means extending substantially horizontally away from the closed position of said closure member, the combination comprising:

carriage means and rail-engaging means connected to said carriage means for movably supporting same on said rail means; drive means including an elongated flexible member connected to said carriage means for moving same along said rail means; latch support means and means mounting same upon said carriage means for moving same along said rail means; linkage means extending between and pivotally connected to said closure member and said latch support means; catch means on said rail means near the closed position of said closure member; latch means mounted upon said support means for engagement with said catch means to hold said closure member in said closed position, disengagement of said latch means from said catch means being efected by movement of said carriage means with respect to said latch support means; and

means for causing disengagement of said latch means from said catch means as said carriage means is moved relative to said latch support means from said closed position, said means including cam means `fixedly secured to one of said carriage means and latch means and pin means tixedly secured to the other of said carriage means and latch means for coacting with said cam means for releasing said latch means from said catch means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,274,732 9/1966 Murakami 49-300 X 3,435,558 4/1969 Kruse 49-201 J. KARL BELL, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R.