US3581437A

US3581437A - Aircraft hangar door

Info

Publication number: US3581437A
Application number: US853850A
Authority: US
Inventors: Allan E Wetter
Original assignee: BYRNE DOORS Inc
Current assignee: BYRNE DOORS Inc
Priority date: 1969-08-28
Filing date: 1969-08-28
Publication date: 1971-06-01
Anticipated expiration: 1988-06-01
Also published as: CA926699A

Abstract

An adjustable closure adapted for use with aircraft hangar doors for fitting around an aircraft fuselage projecting through the space between the doors. Each door has a horizontally movable carrier. A pair of closure elements are mounted on each carrier and have recesses shaped to fit around the fuselage. The closure elements on each carrier are adjustable toward and away from one another and are substantially free floating vertically in response to vertical movement of the fuselage.

Description

United States Patent Inventor Allan E. Wetter Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, Mich. Appl. No. 853,850 Filed Aug. 28, 1969 Patented June 1, 1971 Assignee Byrne Doors, lnc.

Terndale, Mich.

AIRCRAFT HANGAR DOOR 14 Claims, 11 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 49/118, 49/27, 49/40, 49/149, 49/362 Int. Cl E05f 15/14, E05f 17/00 Field of Search 49/27, 28,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,666,962 1/1954 Tripp 49/4OX 2,739,645 3/1956 Urquhart 49/149X 2,791,808 5/1957 Riss1er.... 49/27 3,303,303 2/1967 Miller 49/27X Primary ExaminerJ. Karl Bell Attorney-Whittemore, Hulbert & Belknap ABSTRACT: An adjustable closure adapted for use with aircraft hangar doors for fitting around an aircraft fuselage projecting through the space between the doors. Each door has a horizontally movable carrier. A pair of closure elements are mounted on each carrier and have recesses shaped to fit around the fuselage. The closure elements on each carrier are adjustable toward and away from one another and are sub stantially free floating vertically in response to vertical movement of the fuselage.

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sum 5 UF 5 INVENTOR AZZA/V 4''. W577??? AIRCRAFT IIANGAR DOOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention is an improvement on the adjustable closure disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,739,645.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One object of this invention is to provide an improved adjustable closure for fitting around an aircraft fuselage projecting through the space between the doors of an aircraft hangar.

Another object is to provide an adjustable closure comprising closure elements for closing the space between the aircraft hangar doors and the fuselage, and means mounting the clo sure elements on the doors to permit substantially free floating movement thereof in response to movement of the fuselage.

Another object is to provide an adjustable closure in which the closure elements are mounted for substantially free floating movement vertically in response to vertical movement of the fuselage.

Another object is to provide upper and lower closure elements mounted on each door, and means for moving the clo sure elements relatively toward and away from one another.

Another object is to provide moving means for the upper and lower closure elements in the form of adjustable threaded members.

Another object is to provide single counterbalancing means for the upper and lower closure elements on each door member, being connected to the upper closure element.

Another object is to provide means for moving the upper and lower closure elements comprising a flexible linear member suspending the lower closure element from the upper closure element, and means for increasing and decreasing the effective lengths of the linear members to cause the upper and lower closure elements to move relatively away from and toward each other.

Another object is to provide a horizontally movable carrier on each door member upon which the vertically movable upper and lower closure elements are mounted.

Another object is to provide pressure sensitive means for rendering inoperative the power drives forthe carrier and the closure elements in response to excessive pressure contact of a closure element with the fuselage.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds, especially when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary inside elevational view of aircraft hangar door assemblies including door members having horizontally movable carriers and vertically movable closure elements mounted on the carriers adapted to fit around an aircraft fuselage projecting through the space between the door members. The closure elements are shown open, i.e., vertically spaced apart.

FIG. 2 is-a semidiagrammatic elevational view of a door assembly as viewed from the left in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 are fragmentary sectional views respectively, taken on the lines 3-3, 44, 5-5, 66 and 7-7 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary view taken substantially on the line 8-8 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of FIG. 1, showing the means for relatively moving the closure ele ments toward and away from each other.

FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic elevational view of the door assemblies shown in FIG. 1, showing the aperture in closed position.

FIG. 11 is an elevational view of a door assembly having a modified construction.

The aircraft hanger door assemblies 9 are diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 10 where they will be seen to include a pair of door members 10 movable horizontally toward and away from each other on ground wheels 11 between closed and open positions. In the closed position illustrated in FIG. 10, the door members substantially close an opening in an aircraft hangar, and in the open position of the door members, the opening in the aircraft hangar is substantially unobstructed to permit an aircraft to be moved into or out of the hangar. Upon each door member 10 there is mounted a horizontally movable carrier 12, and upon each carrier 12 there are mounted an upper closure element 14 and a lower closure element 16. The upper and

lower closure elements

14 and 16 are movable vertically toward one another so as to fit around the fuselage F of an aircraft and close the space between the door members and the fuselage. The door assemblies 9 are mirror images of one another, and therefore similar parts have been given the same reference numbers.

Referring now more particularly to FIGS. l3, each door member 10 has a head guide 18 for guiding the horizontal movement thereof. As seen particularly in FIG. 3, the hangar structure includes the horizontal laterally spaced I-beams 20 which extend along the top of the hangar opening. The head guide for each door member 10 includes the support structure 22 carried by the door member and having a truck 24 at the upper end upon which the bearing blocks 26 are mounted. Shafts 28 carried by the bearing blocks 26 have end rollers 30 rotatable on horizontal axes and running on the bottom flanges of the l-beams 20 to support the trucks 24. Guide rollers 32 mounted on vertical stub shafts 34 depending from plate 24 engage the inner flanges 36 on the inverted channels 38 carried by the I-beams 20 to guide the door members 10 during their opening and closing movements. The hangar has a fixed frame 40 extending beneath one of the channels 38 which is provided with a seal 42 engageable with the door members 10.

Referring to FIG. 4, the door members 10 may have cushions 39 on their leading edges and additional seals 41 engaging carriers 12. Carriers 12 may also have seals 43 engaging the closure elements.

The door members are driven horizontally between open and closed positions by any suitable means such as by a drive including a motor 44 mounted on each door member 10 having a transmission consisting of chains. 46 and sprockets 48 to one of the floor-engaging wheels 11. The motor 34 is reversible to drive the wheel 11 and hence the door member in opposite directions and may be manually controlled by an operator.

Each carrier 12 is mounted on a door member 10 for horizontal movement relative to the door member. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 10, the opposed leading; edges of the carriers 12 are recessed as indicated at 13 to clear the fuselage of an aircraft when the carriers 12 are brought together. Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the carrier 12 has a plurality of guide rollers 52 along its upper edge mounted for rotation on the vertical shafts 54. The rollers 52 fit in the inverted horizontal channel guides 56 secured to and extending horizontally along the upper edges of the door members 10. An upwardly extending frame structure 57 on each carrier 12 has a seal 58 engaging a depending frame structure 59 fixed to the hangar.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 8, each door member 10 has a horizontal track 60 mounted on its inner surface consisting of an [beam 62 and a rail 64 secured to the top of the I-beam 62. Each carriers 12 has the top and

bottom rollers

66 and 68 engageable with the track 60 to support the carrier 12 during its horizontal movement. The upper rollers 66 are grooved rollers so that the annular flanges 70 thereof straddle the top flange of the rail 64. The lower rollers 68 engage the bottom flange of the I-beam 62. The

rollers

66 and 68 turn on horizontal axes and are supported by bearing

blocks

72 and 74 mounted upon the carrier 12. An electric motor 76 is mounted on each carrier 12 and has a suitable chain and sprocket transmission 78 to one of the rollers 66. The motor 76 is reversible and may be controlled manually to drive the carrier 12 horizontally in either direction.

The upper and

lower closure elements

14 and 16 for each door member 10 are supported for vertical movement on the associated carrier 12. Referring to FIGS. 1,4 and 5, each carrier 12, has a pair of laterally spaced guide channel tracks 80.

Each closure element is provided with four tilt rollers 82 and four wind rollers 84 which engage the tracks 80 to guide the vertical movement of the closure element. The tilt rollers 82 are supported by brackets 86 for free rotation on horizontal axes extending transversely of the door members and roll on the webs of the tracks 80. The wind rollers 84 are mounted on the closure elements by brackets 88 for free rotation on horizontal axes extending parallel to the direction of movement of the door members and roll on the flanges 90 of the tracks 80.

A single counterbalancing means is provided on each carrier 12 for substantially exactly counterbalancing the weight of the two associated

closure elements

14 and 16. The counterbalancing means is generally designated 92 and comprises a counterweight 94 guided for vertical movement on the carrier 12 by rollers 96 on the counterweight engaging tracks 98 on the carrier. Cables 100 extend from the counterweight 94 up over pulleys 102 on the carrier and then horizontally to pulleys 104 also on the carrier. The cables then pass downwardly under pulleys 106 carried by the upper closure element 14 and then upwardly and are secured to anchorages 108 rigid with the carrier.

The means for relatively moving the upper and lower closure elements of each door toward and away from one another and generally designated 110, is also the means by which the lower closure element 16 is suspended from and supported by the upper closure element 14. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 9, such means comprises a motor drive 112 mounted on each lower closure element 16 which may comprise a reversible electric motor 114 and a gear box 116 driven by a chain 118 from the motor. Suitable gearing 120 from the output shaft 122 of the gear box rotates a drum 124 mounted on the lower closure element 16. A pair of cables 126 wrapped on the drum 124 extend upwardly and are terminally secured to the anchorages 128 on the upper closure element 14. The motor 114 is manually controlled and it will be apparent that by operating the motor in one direction or the other, the distance between the upper and lower closure elements may be either increased or decreased.

It will be understood that the counterweight 94 on each door member substantially exactly balances the weight of the two associated

closure elements

14 and 16 and their related parts. Thus very little upward or downward force applied to either one or both ofthe

closure elements

14 and 16 will cause the two closure elements to be raised or lowered accordingly.

EAch closure element has a recessed leading edge 130 which is generally in the shape of an arc to conform to the contour of the aircraft fuselage F. A cushion 132 is provided along each recessed edge 130 which cushion may if desired be extended upwardly along the upper leading vertical edges 134 of the closure elements as indicated at 136. Referring to FIG. 1, it will be noted that when the door members are closed and the carriers 12 are brought together, the cushioned recessed leading portions of the two upper closure elements come together to form substantially a semicircle adapted to close the space above an aircraft fuselage, and the two cushioned leading recessed portions of the lower elements likewise come together in substantially a semicircle to close the space beneath the aircraft fuselage.

Preferably, pressure

sensitive switches

140 and 142 are provided in the cushions 132 to protect the aircraft fuselage from excessive pressure contact. The switches 140 are in the circuit to the associated carrier drive 76 and the switches 142 are in the circuit to the associated closure element drive 114. When any of these switches is actuated by excessive pressure, the motor drive with which it is associated is rendered inoperative or is deactuated to prevent further movement of either the carrier or the closure element in a closing direction with respect to the aircraft fuselage.

Each carrier 12 has a flexible linear member which may be a nylon cord 150 secured at its upper end at 152 to the carrier and having a weight 154 at its lower end. This nylon cord is adapted to contact the side of the aircraft fuselage when the carrier is advanced, indicating to the operator that the carrier has been advanced to the proper position. These cords are normally secured to carriers 12 in positions such that they extend along the ends 153 of the cushions 132.

ln operation and assuming an aircraft fuselage is projecting through the hangar opening between the door assemblies 9, the door members 10 are moved in a closing direction toward one another by operation of the motors 44 to a predetermined position which may be indicated by a mark on the floor, for example. The door members 10 are shown in their closed positions in FIGS. 1 and 10. Then the carriers 12 are advanced by motors 76 toward one another to the positions illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 10. The carriers will usually be advanced until the nylon cords 150 contact the sides of the aircraft fuselage.

The motor 114 is then operated to bring the upper and

lower closure elements

14 and 16 on each carrier toward one another by shortening the cables 126 connecting the two. In the event that the counterweight 94 is slightly heavy, the result will be an initial upward movement of the lower closure element 16 into contact with the lower side of the aircraft fuselage, followed by a downward movement of the upper closure element 14 into contact with the upper surface of the aircraft fuselage. If, on the other hand, the counterweight is slightly light, the upper segment will first descend into contact with the fuselage followed by an upward movement of the lower closure element. Thus when the first closure element to advance contacts the fuselage, the closing movement is transferred to the other element so that they both close upon the fuselage.

As noted, pressure switches and 142 are provided in the cushions 132 to deactuate motor 76 or motor 114 in the event that the operator should advance either the carriers 12 or the

closure elements

14 and 16 too far and subjects the aircraft fuselage to more than a predetermined limit of pressure con- I861.

The upper and lower closure are completely free floating, being substantially perfectly counterbalanced, so that if the fuselage changes its elevation, as in the event of a tire failure or when the aircraft is being loaded or unloaded for example, the closure elements will follow the fuselage and maintain a substantially closed space around the fuselage. It should be noted however that the distance separating the upper and lower closure elements will not change even though the fuselage moves up or down.

FIG 11 illustrates a modification in which corresponding parts bear the same reference characters employed in FIGS. 1- -10. The essential difference in FIG, 11 is that the upper and lower closure elements of each door member are separately counterbalanced and are moved toward and away from one another by means of a rigid threaded connection.

Thus as shown, a counterweight 200 has cables 202 extending over pulleys 204 on the carrier 12 and then down to the lower closure element 216 where they are terminally connected at 218. The counterweight 220 has a cable 222 extending up over pulleys 224 mounted on the carrier 12 and then down to the upper closure element 214 where they are terminally connected at 226. The

counterweights

200 and 220 respectively substantially perfectly balance the upper end

lower closure elements

214 and 216.

The means for moving the upper and lower closure elements toward and away from each other consists of the screws 250 and the threaded tubular members 252 into which the screws 250 thread. The threaded tubular members 252 are disposed vertically and are rigidly carried by the upper closure element 214, and the screws 250 are carried by the lower closure element 216 for rotation although prevented from moving vertically with respect to the lower closure element. A manually controlled, reversible motor drive diagrammatically illustrated at 254 is provided and through the transmissions 256 and gearing 258 operates to rotate the screws 250 in either direction depending on whether it is desired to close the closure elements upon one another or move them apart. Suitable pressure-sensitive limit switches 261 are' provided in the cushions 132 to deenergize the motor drive 254 in the event of excessive pressure contact between the cushions and the fuselage.

it is apparent that the

closure elements

214 and 216, although individually counterbalanced, will be substantially free floating and capable of moving up and down as a unit with the aircraft fuselage should the aircraft fuselage change its elevation.

it will be understood that the other door assembly not shown, will be a mirror image of the one shown in FIG. 11. It will also be understood that except for the differences specifically described and illustrated, the construcution in FIG. I1 is like that in FIGS. 1-10.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. An adjustable closure for fitting around an aircraft fuselage and adapted for use with aircraft hangar door members movable toward one another to define a space therebetween for receiving the fuselage, comprising closure elements for at least partially closing the space between the door members and the fuselage, and means mounting said closure elements on the door members and permitting substantially free floating movement of said closure elements in response to movement of the fuselage.

2. The closure defined in claim 1, wherein said mounting means includes counterbalancing means for said closure elements, and said closure elements are mounted for substantially free floating movement vertically in response to vertical movement of the fuselage.

3. The closure defined in claim 2, wherein said closure elements include upper and lower closure elements mounted on each door member, and means for moving said upper and lower closure elements toward and away from one another.

4. The closure defined in claim 3, wherein said moving means comprises adjustable threaded members.

5. The closure defined in claim 3, including pressure-actuated means for rendering said last-mentioned means inoperative in response to excessive pressure contact of a closure element with the fuselage.

6. The closure defined in claim 3, wherein a single counterbalancing means is provided for the upper and lower closure elements on each door member, being connected to the upper closure element.

7. The closure defined in claim 6, wherein said moving means comprises a flexible linear member suspending the lower element of each door member from the upper element thereof, and means for increasing and decreasing the effective lengths of said linear members to cause said upper and lower elements to move relatively away from and toward each other.

8. The closure defined in claim 1, wherein said mounting means includes a horizontally movable carrier mounted on each door member and counterbalancing means for said closure elements, said closure elements include upper and lower closure elements mounted for substantially free floating vertical movement on each carrier, and means for moving said upper and lower closure elements toward and away from each other.

9. Theclosure defined in claim 8', wherein said moving means comprises adjustable threaded members.

10. The closure defined in claim 8, wherein a single counterbalancing means is provided for the upper and lower closure elements on each carrier, being connected to the upper closure element.

11. The closure defined in claim 10, wherein said moving means comprises a flexible linear member suspending the lower element on each carrier from the upper element thereon, and means for increasing and decreasing the effective lengths of said linear members to cause said upper and lower elements to move relatively away from and toward each other.

12. The closure defined in claim 11, including pressure-actuated means associated with said closure elements for rendering said last-mentioned means inoperative in response to excessive pressure contact of a closure element with the fusela e,

ll fhe closure defined in claim 12, wherein said closure elements have leading edges provided with cushions for contacting the fuselage, and said pressure-actuated means is embedded in said cushions.

14. The closure defined in claim 8, including means for moving each of said carriers, and pressure-actuated means associated with said closure elements for rendering said lastmentioned means inoperative in response to excessive pressure contact of a closure element with the fuselage.

Claims

9. The closure defined in claim 8, wherein said moving means comprises adjustable threaded members.

12. The closure defined in claim 11, including pressure-actuated means associated with said closure elements for rendering said last-mentioned means inoperative in response to excessive pressure contact of a closure element with the fuselage.

13. The closure defined in claim 12, wherein said closure elements have leading edges provided with cushions for contacting the fuselage, and said pressure-actuated means is embedded in said cushions.

14. The closure defined in claim 8, including means for moving each of said carriers, and pressure-actuated means associated with said closure elements for rendering said last-mentioned means inoperative in response to excessive pressure contact of a closure element with the fuselage.