WO2009012538A1

WO2009012538A1 - Spring break safety device for sectional gate

Info

Publication number: WO2009012538A1
Application number: PCT/BE2007/000095
Authority: WO
Inventors: Henricus Rottinghuis; René GUIHARE
Original assignee: KINGSPAN DOOR COMPONENTS, société anonyme
Priority date: 2007-07-26
Filing date: 2007-07-26
Publication date: 2009-01-29
Also published as: EP2179120A1

Abstract

Spring break security device for a sectional gate (1), the sectional gate (1) comprising a spring system (6) for at least partially compensating the weight of the sectional gate (1), characterised in that the spring break security device can cooperate with spring systems (6) of multiple types and sizes.

Description

Spring break safety device for sectional gate.

The invention relates to a spring break safety device for sectional gates, more in particular for residential sectional gates .

Sectional gates are composed as an articulated wall, consisting of horizontally oriented panels coupled together, which are guided between two guide rails.

Such a sectional gate is usually also provided of an electric motor and a spring system which is connected with the actual gate and which facilitates opening the gate by compensating its weight.

Each guide rail comprises a straight portion to be vertically mounted on a side wall next to the gate opening, a curved portion to be mounted as a continuation of the upper free end of said vertical portion, and a straight horizontal portion to be mounted as a continuation of said curved portion, for example connected to the ceiling of a garage.

The guide rails are mounted such that both rails are positioned parallel to each other.

The spring system usually comprises a spiral spring wound around a shaft which can be mounted on the lintel beam or the wall portion above the gate opening. Such spring system usually has a length which generally equals the width of the gate opening, but can be composed of a plurality of individual springs acting upon the gate. The spring system is sometimes mounted near the motor, at a distance from the gate opening.

For residential gates in general less space is available than for industrial sectional gates, as for example between the ceiling of a garage and the desired minimum height of the entrance.

As sectional gates are required in different sizes, while the spring system should be designed in order to compensate the weight of the closed portion of the sectional gate, it is clear that also the spring systems are offered in different dimensions in accordance with the sectional gate.

In general, the amount of windings is suitably adapted to the weight of the sectional gate, but not the complete range of available sizes of residential gates can be covered by choosing the appropriate amount of the windings .

Therefore, spring wires of different diameter are used for coping with distant weight ranges, which wires are wound on a suitable corresponding shaft with suitable winding diameter.

Generally applied winding diameters are 51 mm and 67 mm. A problem that arises is that not only the wire and the winding have different diameters, but also the bearing plates of the shaft and further components provided thereon are to be provided in different sizes for the sectional gates provided of different spring system dimensions .

More in particular, a spring system of a sectional gate is in general provided of a safety device which blocks the shaft when the spring fails, for example due to a spring break.

Without such a safety device, a sectional gate would, in case the spring fails and the sectional gate is opened, fall down with the potential risk of heavy injury or worse.

Such spring break safety devices are known and are generally provided at both free extremities of the shaft.

More in particular, a rachet wheel is connected to the portions of the shaft protruding the bearings which are housed in the bearing plates .

During normal functioning, the rotation of the rachet wheels and of the shaft whereon they are mounted, is determined by the steering of the electric motor.

The bearing plates are though provided of a tiltable hook which, in a free and unforced position would cooperate with the rachet wheel and prevent it from being rotated, but which in normal operation is tilted away from the rachet wheel by the tensed spring.

The torsion spring in the form of a wire wound around a shaft is connected with its extremities, on the one hand, with the shaft, and on the other hand, with a spring cone which widely embraces the shaft and which is connected by means of two diagonally positioned bolts in a tiltable manner with the bearing plate.

The tiltable aspect is obtained in that one of both bolts has a fixed position with respect to the bearing plate, which point defines the rotation axis of the spring cone, and in that the other bolt can be moved in a groove oriented perpendicular to the connection line between both bolts.

The present invention aims to limit the amount of components in the first place to facilitate the professional installer of sectional gates and limiting the stock that he is required to maintain.

To this end the invention concerns a spring break safety device for a sectional gate, the sectional gate comprising a spring system for at least partially compensating the weight of the sectional gate, whereby the spring break security device can cooperate with spring systems of multiple types and sizes.

In order to better explain the characteristics of the present invention, the following preferred embodiment of a spring break security device for a sectional gate according to the invention is described as an example without being limitative in any way, with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:

figure 1 is a schematic and perspective view of a sectional gate according to the invention ; figure 2 is on a larger scale the part as indicated by F2 in figure 1; figure 3 is a perspective view of spring break security device according to the invention; figures 4 tot 6 represent a view of the spring break security device according to the arrow F4 in figure 3, though for different preferential positions; figure 7 represents a bearing plate according to the invention.

Figure 1 shows a sectional gate 1 comprising an articulated wall 2, consisting of horizontally oriented panels 3 coupled together.

The sectional gate 1 also comprises two guide rails 4, an electric motor 5 and a spring system 6 which is connected with the articulated wall 2 and which at least partially compensates the weight of the articulated wall 2 and facilitates the opening of the sectional gate 1.

Both guide rails 4 are parallel to each other. In figure 2, a part of the spring system 6 is represented in more detail.

The spring system 6 comprises a steel wire 7 wound around, and with one end connected to a shaft 8, which shaft 8 is mounted on the lintel beam 9 above the gate opening 10.

Thereto, two bearing plates 11 are provided, one near each extremity of the shaft 8, which are each connected to a mounting plate 12 mounted on the lintel beam 9.

Each bearing plate 11, in more detail represented in figures 3 tot 7, is further provided of a bearing 13 carrying the shaft 8.

The shaft 8 protrudes the bearing plate 11 and the bearing 13, and the protruding end 14 of the shaft 8 is provided of a rachet wheel 15.

At the side where the rachet wheel 15 is provided, each bearing plate 11 is provided of a tiltable hook 16 that can cooperate with, and block the rachet wheel 15 depending on its position.

The tiltable hook 16 is rotatably mounted on the bearing plate 11 by means of a bolt 17, and between a bronze ring 18 and a nut 19, such that it can freely be tilted around the axis of the bolt 17.

A spirally twisted wire 20 connected with one free end to the bearing plate 11, twisted around the bronze ring 18, and hooked with its other free end over the top side of the hook 16, guarantees that the hook 16 is permanently pushed towards the rachet wheel 15.

At the same side where the rachet wheel 15 is provided, each bearing plate 11 is provided of a sliding bow 21, mainly consisting of a curved metal plate 22, extending over the free protruding end 14 of the shaft 8, between the bearing plate 11 and the rachet wheel 15.

The sliding bow 21 is provided of a first free extremity 23 wherein a first extended hole 24 is provided, and a second free extremity 25 wherein a second extended hole 26 is provided.

The bearing plate 11 is provided of a first hole 27 generally in line with, but wider than the first extended hole 24 in the sliding bow 21.

The bearing plate 11 is also provided of a second hole 28 generally in line with and of generally corresponding shape with the second extended hole 26 in the sliding bow 21.

At the other side of the bearing plate 11, the side opposing the side where the rachet wheel 15 is provided, a spring cone 29 is provided whereto the other free end of the steel wire 7 of the spring system 6 is connected, which for clarity reasons has been left away in figure 3, which spring cone 29 embraces the shaft 8, providing free rotation for the shaft 8. The spring cone 29 has a slightly conical shape, and the mantel 30 is provided of ribs 31. The wider basis 32 of the spring cone 29 is provided of two diagonally positioned protrusions 33, whereof one is represented in figure 3, wherein holes 34 are provided, generally positioned in line with the holes 27 and 28 in the bearing plate 11.

Bolts and nuts 35 are provided through the holes 34, connecting the spring cone 29 with the sliding bow 21, which bolts reach trough the holes 27 and 28 in the bearing plate 11, and also through the holes 24 and 26 in the sliding bow 21.

The functioning of the spring break security device is simple and as follows.

Depending on the weight of the sectional gate 1, an appropriate spring system 6 is selected. The spiral wire

7, at one end connected with the shaft 8, at the other end connected with the spring cone 29, is pre-tensioned in order to compensate the weight of the sectional gate 1 by rotating the shaft 8 while the spring cone 29 is kept in place by its connection with the bearing plate 11 which is mounted on the lintel beam 9 via the mounting plate 12.

Thanks to the tensed spring system 6, the spring cone 29 is tilted around the bolt 35 provided through the second hole 28 in the bearing plate, of which the position is fixed by the above described geometric relations . The other bolt 35, provided through the wider hole 27 in the bearing plate 11, is thereby tilted up till its extreme position in the direction of the hook 16.

This position of the spring cone 29, determined by the force of the tensed spring system 6, and delimited by the geometric dimensions of the holes 27 and 28, also determines the position of the sliding bow 21, which is pushed up against a projection 36 provided on the hook 16.

The sliding bow 21 forces the hook 16 away from the rachet wheel 15, which liberates the rachel wheel 15 and the shaft 8 so that only the steering of the electric motor 5 will determine the position of the sectional gate 1.

In case the spring 6 would loose all its tension, for example due to a failure such as a spring break, the spring cone 29 and the sliding bow 21 will no longer be forced in the direction of the hook 16, which on the other side will be pushed towards the rachet wheel 15 by the spirally twisted wire 20, in order to cooperate with the rachet wheel 15, which cooperation will block the shaft 8 in a fixed position.

The extended holes 24 and 26 in the sliding bow 21, and also the wider first hole 27 and the extended second hole 28 in the bearing plate 11 allow to combine the described spring break security device with spring cones 29 of different size, usually required for spring systems 6 of greater dimension. The range of spring cones 29 that one wishes to combine with the spring break security device according to the invention, and more in particular the distance between the holes 34 in the protrusions 33, will determine the size of the extended holes 24 and 26 in the sliding bow 21 and of the wider hole 27 and the extended hole 28 in the bearing plate 11.

In case where one wishes to combine two types of spring cones 29 with one spring break security device according to the invention, the combined radial length of the wider hole 27 and the extended hole 28 in the bearing plate 11, will be generally equal to the difference of the distance Dl between the holes 34 in the larger spring cone 29 and the distance D2 between the holes 34 in the smaller spring cone 29.

In figure 7 it is clarified that the radial length is measured in a radial direction, i.e. generally according to the direction of the connection line between both holes 27 and 28 in the bearing plate 11 which goes through or passes close to the centreline of the shaft 8.

Similarly, the combined length of the extended holes 24 and 26 in the sliding bow 21 will be equal to said difference of distances Dl and D2.

The width of the wider hole 27 measured according to the tangential direction, i.e. generally perpendicular to the above radial direction, is generally in accordance with the required tilt of the sliding bow 21 in order to tilt the hook 16 from a first free position of the hook 16 to a second position wherein the hook 16 is engaged with the rachet wheel 15.

The above geometric requirements allow two kind of spring cones 29, which are suitably designed to cooperate with two winding diameters of the spiral wire 7 , to cooperate with one set of components as described making up a spring break security device.

It is clear that not all components must be identical to the described and represented components, as long as the holes 24 and 26 provided in the sliding bow 21, and also the holes 27 and 28 provided in the bearing plate 11, allow the tiltable cooperation of different spring cones 29 with the sliding bow 21.

The present invention ' is by no means limited to the embodiment given as an example,- on the contrary, such a spring break safety device for a sectional gate, such a bearing plate and such a sectional gate can be realized according to different variants while still remaining within the scope of the invention.

Claims

Claims .

1. Spring break security device for a sectional gate (1), the sectional gate (1) comprising a spring system (6) for at least partially compensating the weight of the sectional gate (1) , characterised in that the spring break security device can cooperate with spring systems (6) of multiple types and sizes.

2. Spring break security device according to claim 1, the spring system (6) comprising a steel wire (7) wound around, and with one end connected to a shaft (8) while with the other end connected to a spring cone (29) or the like which embraces the shaft (8) and which is connected to the environment of the sectional gate (1) such that it can take various positions, where its position is determined by the tension in the spring system (6) , the spring cone (29) or the like providing free rotation for the shaft (8), the shaft (8) being rotatably mounted in two bearing plates (11) , one near each extremity of the shaft (8) , directly or indirectly connected to the environment of the sectional gate (1), the shaft (8) being provided of a rachet wheel (15) that can cooperate with a tiltable or movable hook (16) or the like which is directly or indirectly connected to the environment of the sectional gate (1) , which hook (16) can be tilted or moved, directly or indirectly by the spring cone (29) or the like, characterised in that the means connecting the spring cone (29) or the like to the environment of the sectional gate (1), and also the means that are eventually provided to enable the spring cone (29) or the like to tilt or move the hook (16) , allow the mounting of spring cones (29) of multiple types and sizes.

3. Spring break security device according to claim 2, characterised in that the shaft (8) protrudes at least at one side a bearing (13) and the bearing plate (11) wherein it is provided, the rachet wheel (15) being provided at the protruding end (14), and the hook (16) being mounted on the bearing plate (11) at the side where the rachet wheel (15) is provided.

4. Spring break security device according to claim 2, characterised in that the spring cone (29) or the like is connected to the mounting plate (11) by means of protrusions, for example bolts (35) , which are connected to the spring cone (29) or the like and which are provided through holes (27) (28) provided in the mounting plate (11) of which at least one is wider than the thickness of the protrusion in order to allow the rotation of the spring cone (29) or the like to a certain extent, which protrusions are able to tilt or move the hook (16) along said rotation of the spring cone (29) or the like.

5. Spring break security device according to claim 4, characterised in that, at the side of the mounting plate (11) opposing the spring cone (29) or the like, between at least one of the protrusions and the hook (16), means are provided which enable to tilt or move the hook (16) along said rotation of the spring cone (29) or the like.

6. Spring break security device according to claim 5, characterised in that the means provided between at least one of the protrusions and the hook (16) enabling to tilt or move the hook (16) along said rotation of the spring cone (29) or the like, is a sliding bow (21) which mainly consists of a curved metal plate (22), extending over the free protruding end (14) of the shaft (8) , between the bearing plate (11) and the rachet wheel (15) , the sliding bow (21) being provided of a first free extremity (23) wherein a first extended hole (24) is provided, and a second free extremity (25) wherein a second extended hole (26) is provided, where the protrusions provided on the spring cone (29) or the like are provided through said extended holes (24) (26) .

7. Spring break security device according to claim 6, characterised in that the bearing plate (11) is provided of a first hole (27) generally in line with, but wider than the first extended hole (24) in the sliding bow (21), and of a second hole (28) generally in line with and of generally corresponding shape with the second extended hole (26) in the sliding bow (21) .

8. Spring break security device according to claim 7, characterised in that it is suitably adapted to be used with a first larger spring cone (29) and a second smaller spring cone (29) , more in particular by providing that the combined radial length of the wider hole (27) and the extended hole (28) in the bearing plate (11) is generally equal to the difference of the distance (Dl) between the protrusions provided on a first larger spring cone (29) and the distance (D2) between the protrusions in a second smaller spring cone (29).

9. Spring break security device according to claim 7, characterised in that it is suitably adapted to be used with a first larger spring cone (29) and a second smaller spring cone (29) , more in particular by providing that the combined length of the extended holes (24) (26) in the sliding bow (21) is generally equal to the difference of the distance (Dl) between the protrusions provided on a first larger spring cone (29) and the distance (D2) between the protrusions in a second smaller spring cone (29) .

10. Spring break security device according to claims 4 and 6 , characterised in that the width of the wider hole (27) measured according to the tangential direction is generally in accordance with the required tilt of the sliding bow (21) in order to tilt the hook (16) from a first free position of the hook (16) to a second position wherein the hook (16) is engaged with the rachet wheel (15) .