US3897651A

US3897651A - Revolving door speed control and hanger mechanism

Info

Publication number: US3897651A
Application number: US407845A
Authority: US
Inventors: Amuel E Sheckells
Original assignee: International Steel Co
Current assignee: International Steel Co
Priority date: 1973-10-19
Filing date: 1973-10-19
Publication date: 1975-08-05
Anticipated expiration: 1992-08-05

Abstract

A revolving door installation wherein the speed control and hanger mechanism are mounted in the ceiling and floor of the entranceway.

Description

United States Patent H 1 [111 3,897,651

Sheckells 1 Aug. 5, I975 [54} REVOLVING DOOR SPEED CONTROL AND 2,906,l43 9/1959 M6556: 74/640 HANGER MECHANISM 3,128.64l 4/l964 Musser 74/640 1736.701 6/1973 Rush 8121i. 49/44 n r: m l h k ll n ll Ind 3,766,686 10/1973 Sheckells 49/43 [73] Assignee: International Steel Company,

Evansvllle Primary E.\aminerKenneth Downey [22] Filed: Oct. 19, 1973 Arrorney, Agent, or Firm-Brady, OBoyle & Gates [21] Appl. No; 407,845

[52] US. Cl 49/43; 49/44 [57] ABSTRACT [5|] lnt. Cl. E05D 15/02 [58] Field of Search 49/42, 43. 46, 44; 74/640 A revolving door installation wherein the speed control and hanger mechanism are mounted in the ceiling [56} References Cited and floor of the entranceway UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,030547 2/l936 Shields et a] .i 49/44 10 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures l5 5 LU 2o ,20 A 1 281: am 31 2| 3- 1 I0 33 254/ so 28b 31 H 24 Te, 3i 2x a I I;

I? i l2 4 '14 4/4" am H44 -4si 1 3s Al I i i N E I 9 58 J E 35? REVOLVING DOOR SPEED CONTROL AND HANGER MECHANISM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The speed control and hanger mechanism employed in the revolving door installation of the present invention are similar to the speed control and hanger mechanism disclosed in my US. Pat. No. 3,766,686 dated Oct. 23, I973; however, the revolving door installation of the present invention differs from the installation of the above-mentioned patent in that the speed control and hanger mechanism of the instant invention are mounted in the ceiling and floor of the revolving door installation; whereas, in the above-mentioned patent, the speed control is mounted within the center shaft and the hanger mechanism for each wing of the revolving door is connected to the center shaft.

By the construction and arrangement of the revolving door installation of the present invention, the center shaft for the revolving door is eliminated, and the speed control and hanger mechanism for each wing of the revolving door are mounted in the ceiling and floor of the entranceway, thereby maintaining the low-profile characteristics of the revolving door installation in accordance with todays architectural designs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the revolving door installation of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view of the revolving door mechanism taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but illustrating a modification of the assembly shown in FIG, 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, the revolving door installation of the present invention comprises four wings I extending between the ceiling 2 and floor 3 of an entranceway, each wing including a glass pane 1a having a metal peripheral frame lb, the upper and lower horizontal portions of the wing frame having shafts 4 and 5 splined thereto and extending vertically into the ceiling and floor, respectively, of the door installation. Each of the door wing shafts 4 and S is connected to a respective hanger mechanism designated generally by 6 and 7 disposed in the ceiling and floor, to be described more fully hereinafter.

The speed control is also mounted in the ceiling and consists of a speed reducer substantially of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,906,143 to Musser dated Sept. 29, 1959, the speed control comprising a shaft 8 having an elliptical bearing 9 mounted on one end thereof. The outer race of the elliptical bearing is received within the bore of a thin-walled normally cylindrical cup 10 having a plurality of spline teeth II on the exterior thereof around the open end of the cup.

A rotatable internally toothed ring gear 12 surrounds the open end portion of the cup 10 and intermittently engages at two opposing positions with the teeth of the deflectable cup 11 to thereby rotate the elliptical hearing 9. The ring gear 12 is secured to the lower end of a sleeve 13 by screws 14, the upper end of the sleeve being rotatably mounted on a fixed base 15 by an antifriction bearing 16. The screws 14 are also employed for securing a cover plate 17 to the ring gear 12, the cover plate also supporting an anti-friction bearing 18 in which the lower end of shaft 8 is mounted. The upper end of the shaft 8 is similarly mounted in the base I5 by anti-friction bearing I9, and the closed end of the cup 10 is secured to the base by screws 20.

The upper end of each door wing is connected to the rotatable ring gear I2 and associated sleeve 13 by the hanger assembly 6; thus, as the door wing is pushed to revolve the door, the ring gear I2 will rotate relative to the cup 10. During this rotation. the wall of the cup [0 is deflected in and out causing the elliptical bearing 9 to rotate to thereby rotate shaft 8.

In order to limit the speed of rotation of the revolving door, a centrifugal brake assembly is connected to shaft 8 and comprises a pair of oppositely extending, semicircular shoes 21 having friction linings 22, the shoes being contained inside a depending cup'like drum 23 whose bottom wall is fixedly secured by the screws 20 to the base I5 and the cup 10. The brake shoes 2I are connected to shaft 8 by transverse pins 24 extending through the shaft, the shoes being slidably mounted on the pins through radial guide openings 25 provided in the shoes. During rotation of the shaft 8, centrifugal force causes the brake shoes to slide radially outwardly along the guide pins until the linings 22 engage the wall of the drum 23, the outward sliding movement of the brake shoes being resisted by springs 26 mounted on bolts 27 threaded into the shaft 8.

Each hanger assembly 6, through which the upper end of each door wing is connected to the speed control mechanism, comprises a collar 28 rotatably mounted on the sleeve 13 (FIG. 3). In order to prevent relative rotation between the collar 28 and sleeve 13 during the normal operation of the revolving door, a detent assembly is provided which comprises a roller 29 positioned in a recess formed in the wall of the sleeve 13 and biased therein by a stack of Bellville springs 30 mounted in a chamber 280 formed in an arm 28b integrally connected to the collar and extending outwardly therefrom. The end of the arm 28b is closed by a set screw 31 whereby the biasing force of the Bellville springs 30 against the roller 21 can be adjusted.

Another chamber 280 is provided in the arm 28 for receiving Bellville springs 31 biasing a detent roller 32 against a recess formed in the door wing shaft 4, the biasing force of the Bellville springs being adjustable by a set screw 33 threaded into the end of chamber 28c.

As will be seen in FIG. 2, the lower end of the revolving door is supported in the floor by a stub shaft 34 having its lower end mounted in a pair of anti-friction bearings 35 positioned in a recess in the floor; the upper end of the stub shaft is similarly mounted in a bearing assembly 36 mounted on a cover plate 37. The lower end of each door wing is connected to the stub shaft 34 by a collar 38 rotatably mounted on the stub shaft but held against rotation relative to the shaft by a detent roller 39 biased into engagement with a recess provided in the stub shaft by a stack of Bellville springs 40 mounted in a chamber 38a formed in an arm 38b integrally connected to the collar and extending radially therefrom. The Bellville springs also bias a roller 41 radially outwardly into engagement with a recess provided in the door wing shaft 5.

In the construction and arrangement of the upper and lower hanger mechanisms 6 and 7, respectively, the upper hanger mechanism includes the four hanger collars 28 mounted in stacked concentric relation for the four wings of the door, the lower hanger mechanism also having the four hanger collars 38 each of which corresponds to a respective upper collar, whereby each door wing is supported by a respective pair of

collars

28 and 38. Furthermore. each

collar

28 and 38 has the

respective arms

28b and 38b projecting therefrom, the arms 28b of collars 28 and the corresponding arms 38b of collars 38 are spaced 90 circumferentially from the arms of the collars immediately above and below, whereby the proper circumferential spacing of the door wings is established.

In the normal operation of the revolving door. a person desiring to pass through the cntranceway, within which the revolving door is mounted, enters the door enclosure in the usual manner and by pushing on the door wing causes the wings and associated ring gear 12 to rotate relative to the cup I0. The meshing of certain teeth of the ring gear with corresponding teeth on the cup causes the elliptical bearing 9 to rotate which in turn causes the shaft 8 to rotate. When the revolving of the door causes the shaft 8 to rotate above a predetermined RPM, the centrifugal brake assembly is actuated to limit the speed of rotation of the shaft 8 and conse quently the door wings.

Under normal operating conditions, the spring biased

detent rollers

29 and 32 maintain a rigid connection between the door wings and the rotating ring gear 12 and associated sleeve I3, and the

detent rollers

39 and 41 maintain a rigid connection between the door wings and the stub shaft 34. However, under panic conditions or when it is desired to fold the wings to the collapsed position. a sufficient torque is applied to each wing causing release of detent rollers 29 thereby allowing the collars 28 to rotate relative to the ring I2 and sleeve l3, while simultaneously causing release of detent rollers 39 thereby allowing the collars 38 to rotate relative to the stub shaft 34.

Detent rollers

32 and 41 also release the shafts 4 and 5, whereby the door wings pivot relative to the

arms

28b and 38b. By this construction and arrangement, the four wings are allowed to yield under torque loading and collapse into compact parallelism.

In order to insure the synchronous rotation of shaft 34 with shaft 8, and to insure that an equal torque is ap plied to the top and bottom of each door wing during the folding thereof, particularly in large entranceways requiring relatively long door wings, it is desirable to provide a relatively long thin center shaft 42 (FIG. 7) connected between the speed control shaft 8 in the ceiling and the stub shaft 34 in the floor. The speed control mechanism and hanger assemblies for the revolving door installation shown in FIG. 7 are identical to those shown in FIGS. l to 6.

While the speed control mechanism employed in the revolving door installation of the present invention has been described for use with manually actuated revolving doors, the installation lends itself equally well to assemblies wherein the door wings are driven by a motor connected to the speed control mechanism through a flexible shaft and a suitable clutch assembly of the type shown and described in my U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,349,876 and 3,766,686. In the instant installation, the motor,

flexible shaft and clutch assembly would be mounted within the ceiling with the speed control mechanism.

The terms and expressions which have been employed herein are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof but it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

I claim:

1. A revolving door installation comprising a plurality of door wings positioned between the floor and ceiling of an cntranceway, each door wing including a peripheral frame having vertical and horizontal portions, a first stub shaft means rotatably mounted within a recess provided in the ceiling, a second stub shaft means rotatably mounted within a recess provided in the floor, upper ring means rotatably mounted on said first stub shaft means above the ceiling and lower ring means rotatably mounted on said second stub shaft means below the floor in coaxial relationship therewith comprising a respective upper and lower ring for supporting each door wing on said first and second stub shaft means, first detent means connected between said upper ring and said first stub shaft means and between said lower ring and said second stub shaft means whereby under normal operating conditions said upper and lower rings rotate with said first and second stub shaft means, a first wing shaft having one end fixedly connected to the horizontal top portion of said peripheral frame and the other end extending upwardly and rotatably connected in said upper ring, a second wing shaft having one end fixedly connected to the horizontal bottom portion of said peripheral frame and the other end extending downwardly and rotatably connected in said lower ring, second detent means connected between said upper ring and said first wing shaft and between said lower ring and said second wing shaft whereby under normal operating conditions said door wings are held in operative radiating position and rotate with said upper and lower rings, the combination of said first and second detent means and the door wing operative under normal operating condition to prevent rotation of said first stub shaft means relative to said second stub shaft means, and said first and second detent means being releasable when a predetermined torque is applied to the door wings allowing the upper and lower ring means to rotate relative to the first and second stub shaft means and the door wings to pivot relative to the upper and lower ring means whereby the door wings are collapsed into compact parallelism.

2. A revolving door installation as set forth in claim 1 including a speed control mechanism mounted within one of said first or second stub shaft means.

3. A revolving door installation as set forth in claim 1 in which said first stub shaft means comprises a speed control mechanism rotatably mounted with a recess in the ceiling.

4. A revolving door installation as set forth in claim 3 in which said speed control mechanism and said second stub shaft means are disposed parallel to said first and second wing shafts, and a center shaft connected between the bottom of said speed control mechanism and said second stub shaft means and being disposed parallel to the vertically extending edge portion of the door wing.

5. A revolving door installation as set forth in claim 1 including a radial knuckle provided on each of said upper and lower rings, an aperture in said radial knuckle rotatably receiving the respective wing shaft, and said second detent means connected in the plane of said ring and normally bridging the aperture between said wing shaft and ring to releasably lock said door wings in operative radiating position relative to said rings.

6. A revolving door installation according to claim 3, wherein the speed control mechanism comprises a rotatable gear connected to the upper ring means. a fixed coacting deflectable gear mounted within the ceiling recess and positioned to engage the first-named gear, eccentric coupling means connected to said deflectable gear whereby upon rotation of said first-named gear by said door wings a traveling deflection wave is created around the deflectable gear to thereby cause rotation of said eccentric coupling means, and a centrifugal brake assembly connected to said eccentric coupling means.

7. A revolving door installation according to claim 6, wherein said first-named gear comprises an internally toothed ring gear, said deflectable gear being a thinwalled cup-like gear disposed inside of said ring gear and having external teeth adapted to mesh with the ring gear teeth, and said centrifugal brake assembly including radially expansible brake shoes and a brake drum arranged inside of said cup-like deflectable gear.

8. A revolving door installation according to claim 7, wherein the eccentric coupling means comprises an elliptical element positioned inside said cup-like gear, and a shaft connected between said elliptical element and said brake shoes.

9. A revolving door installation according to claim 3, wherein the first detent means comprises, a roller positioned in said upper ring and engaging the speed control mechanism and a roller positioned in said lower ring and engaging said second stub shaft. and spring means mounted within said upper and lower rings biasing said rollers against said speed control mechanism and second stub shaft respectively. said second detent means comprising second rollers engaging said first and second wing shafts and second spring means contained within said upper and lower rings biasing said second rollers against said wing shafts.

10. A revolving door installation according to claim 1, wherein said first detent means comprises a roller positioned in each of said upper and lower rings and engaging said first and second stub shaft means; said sec- 0nd detent means comprising a second roller contained within each of said upper and lower rings and engaging the first and second wing shafts, and spring means mounted within said upper and lower rings for biasing said first and second rollers against the stub shaft means and wing shafts respectively.

Claims

1. A revolving door installation comprising a plurality of door wings positioned between the floor and ceiling of an entranceway, each door wing including a peripheral frame having vertical and horizontal portions, a first stub shaft means rotatably mounted within a recess provided in the ceiling, a second stub shaft means rotatably mounted within a recess provided in the floor, upper ring means rotatably mounted on said firsT stub shaft means above the ceiling and lower ring means rotatably mounted on said second stub shaft means below the floor in coaxial relationship therewith comprising a respective upper and lower ring for supporting each door wing on said first and second stub shaft means, first detent means connected between said upper ring and said first stub shaft means and between said lower ring and said second stub shaft means whereby under normal operating conditions said upper and lower rings rotate with said first and second stub shaft means, a first wing shaft having one end fixedly connected to the horizontal top portion of said peripheral frame and the other end extending upwardly and rotatably connected in said upper ring, a second wing shaft having one end fixedly connected to the horizontal bottom portion of said peripheral frame and the other end extending downwardly and rotatably connected in said lower ring, second detent means connected between said upper ring and said first wing shaft and between said lower ring and said second wing shaft whereby under normal operating conditions said door wings are held in operative radiating position and rotate with said upper and lower rings, the combination of said first and second detent means and the door wing operative under normal operating condition to prevent rotation of said first stub shaft means relative to said second stub shaft means, and said first and second detent means being releasable when a predetermined torque is applied to the door wings allowing the upper and lower ring means to rotate relative to the first and second stub shaft means and the door wings to pivot relative to the upper and lower ring means whereby the door wings are collapsed into compact parallelism.

6. A revolving door installation according to claim 3, wherein the speed control mechanism comprises a rotatable gear connected to the upper ring means, a fixed coacting deflectable gear mounted within the ceiling recess and positioned to engage the first-named gear, eccentric coupling means connected to said deflectable gear whereby upon rotation of said first-named gear by said door wings a traveling deflection wave is created around the deflectable gear to thereby cause rotation of said eccentric coupling means, and a centrifugal brake assembly connected to said eccentric coupling means.

7. A revolving door installation according to claim 6, wherein said first-named gear comprises an internally toothed ring gear, said deflectable gear being a thin-walled cup-like gear disposed inside of said ring gear and having external teeth adapted to mesh with the ring gear teeth, and said centrifugal brake assembly including radially expansible brake shoes and a brake drum arranged inside of said cup-like deflectable gear.

9. A revolving door installation according to claim 3, wherein the first detent means comprises, a roller positioned in said upper ring and engaging the speed control mechanism and a roller positioned in said lower ring and engaging said second stub shaft, and spring means mounted within said upper and lower rings biasing said rollers against said speed control mechanism and second stub shaft respectively, said second detent means comprising second rollers engaging said first and second wing shafts and second spring means contained within said upper and lower rings biasing said second rollers against said wing shafts.

10. A revolving door installation according to claim 1, wherein said first detent means comprises a roller positioned in each of said upper and lower rings and engaging said first and second stub shaft means; said second detent means comprising a second roller contained within each of said upper and lower rings and engaging the first and second wing shafts, and spring means mounted within said upper and lower rings for biasing said first and second rollers against the stub shaft means and wing shafts respectively.