EP2663723B1

EP2663723B1 - Door system for an escape route

Info

Publication number: EP2663723B1
Application number: EP12703606.9A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Eduardus Joannes KAANDORP
Original assignee: VLUCHTDEUR BV
Current assignee: VLUCHTDEUR BV
Priority date: 2011-01-12
Filing date: 2012-01-11
Publication date: 2015-08-19
Anticipated expiration: 2032-01-11
Also published as: WO2012096575A1; NL2005993C2; EP2663723A1

Description

The present invention relates to a door system for an escape route, comprising a set of door jambs, which form a vertically extending, rectangular frame, and a door which is mounted in said frame, wherein the door is movable between a closed position, in which the passage through the frame is blocked, and an open position, in which the passage through the frame is open, and wherein the door system further comprises a door locking system by means of which the door can be locked in the closed position thereof.
Such door systems are generally known. The known escape doors hinge in the direction of the intended escape route, so that persons trying to escape can push the door away to the open position after having unlocked it. A drawback of such doors is the fact that they are sometimes difficult or impossible to open, for example because one or more heavy objects which block the door are present behind the door, or because the person trying to escape does not have enough force to open the door. This can lead to very hazardous situations, for example in case of fire. If there is a great deal of smoke development in the space, for example, persons trying to escape must stay close to the floor in order to be able to keep breathing, in which position they cannot reach the door lock and in which position they are unable to exert sufficient force for opening the door.
It is an object of the invention to provide a door system for an escape route which does not exhibit the above drawbacks, and which can be opened in a quick and/or reliable manner.
In order to accomplish that object, the door can move in vertical direction in the frame between the closed position and the open position, wherein the door system is so designed that the door is moved from the closed position to the open position by the force of gravity upon being unlocked.
US-A-2007/0068084 shows a door which can move in vertical direction between the closed position and the open position, but the door described therein is not an escape door. The door is provided with counterweights and is moved up and down either manually or by means of a motor. The door is thus not designed so that the door is moved from the closed position to the open position by the force of gravity upon being unlocked.
The door is preferably moved downwards by the gravity of its own mass. The door is also preferably moved substantially with the gravitational acceleration. This is achieved by minimizing the frictional forces or other forces to which the door is subjected while moving, such that the door will open very quickly (substantially with the gravitational acceleration). For a door having a height of about 2 m, this means that the door can be open in about 0.64 sec.
The door is preferably solid, or it is hollow and provided with internal weights. As a result, the force of gravity is relatively large and frictional forces or other forces being exerted on the door during the downward movement thereof are of minor importance.
The door jambs on either side of the door preferably comprise guide rails for guiding the door. Preferably, the material and the shape of the side of the door and the guide rails are selected to minimize the frictional forces that are exerted on the door.
The door locking system can preferably be operated by foot for unlocking the door. This makes it possible to provide a simple, reliable locking mechanism present on the floor in the centre of the door width. Other systems, such as a manually operated locking system, are also possible, however.
In a first embodiment, the frame extends both above a floor and below the floor over substantially the same vertical distance. The door may be a non-articulated door, which slides into the lower part of the frame in its entirety, such that the upper side of the door is level with the floor.
In a second preferred embodiment, the door is an articulated door which occupies an extended position in the closed position thereof, and which extends in a compact form in the lower part of the frame in the open position. As a result, the frame need not extend as deep below the floor as in the first preferred embodiment. In further preferred embodiments, the articulated door can occupy a folded position in the lower part of the frame in the open position, or the articulated the door can occupy a telescoped position in the lower part of the frame in the open position.
At the bottom side of the frame, at least one shock absorber is preferably provided for stopping the downwardly moving door. Said shock absorbers may be pneumatic shock absorbers, for example, or elastic shock absorbers such as rubber studs.
Near the centre of the frame, at floor height, there is preferably provided a rebound protection mechanism, which is designed so that the rebound protection mechanism will automatically move to the locking position once the upper side of the door has passed, such that the door cannot move up.
At the upper side, the frame is preferably provided with hoisting means comprising at least one pulley and a wire wound on the pulley, wherein the end of the wire is attached to the upper side of the door, and wherein the pulley is provided with engagement means for hoisting the door from the open position to the closed position. In the closed position, the door is locked again.
The door system is preferably provided with alerting means designed to deliver a signal upon movement of the door from the closed position to the open position. In this way the manager of the building, persons in the surrounding area and/or an alarm service can be warned that the escape door is open. The alerting means preferably comprise a dynamo which is driven by the moving door, so that the door system does not depend on being connected to a power supply. The dynamo is in that case preferably present in or on the pulley, with the rotating pulley functioning as the rotor of the dynamo.
The invention will now be explained in more detail by means of embodiments illustrated in the figures, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first preferred embodiment of a door system for an escape route according to the invention is, in which the door is shown in the closed position;
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the door system of figure 1, in which the door is shown in the open position;
Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view according to the arrow III in figure 1 of a locking arrangement for the door system;
Figure 4 is a perspective view of a hoisting device of the door system;
Figure 5 is a schematic front view of an alerting system of the door system;
Figure 6 is a schematic, longitudinal sectional view according to the arrow VI in figure 2 of a rebound protection mechanism for the door system;
Figure 7A is a schematic perspective view of a first variant of a second preferred embodiment of a door system for an escape route according to the invention, in which the door is shown in the closed position;
Figure 7B is a schematic perspective view of the door system of figure 7A, in which the door is shown in the open position;
Figure 8A is a schematic perspective view of a second variant of the second preferred embodiment of a door system for an escape route according to the invention, in which the door is shown in the closed position; and
Figure 8B is a schematic perspective view of the door system of figure 8A, in which the door is shown in the open position.

According to figures 1 and 2, a door system for an escape route comprises a rectangular frame comprising two vertical door jambs 1 mounted in a wall 2 of a building. The door jambs 1 extend above the floor 3 of the building as well as below the floor 3 of the building. Present between the two door jambs 1, from the top to the bottom, is a space in which a door 4 can move in vertical direction in guide rails 13 which are fixed to the door jambs 1 on either side. In the upper position of the door 4, the passage between the door jambs 1 above the floor 3 is closed, in the lower position of the door the passage between the door jambs 1 above the floor 3 is open. In that position, the upper side of the door is located at the level of the floor 3.
Provided in the floor, beside the groove in which the door moves, is a floor frame 5, in which, as is shown in figure 3, a locking mechanism 6 is mounted, which locking mechanism keeps the door in the closed position. The locking mechanism 6 comprises a pivot pin 7, on which a foot pedal 8 is mounted, which foot panel acts as a lever. At the end facing the door 4, the foot pedal 8 is provided with a catch 9, which engages a door hook 10 attached to the bottom side of the door 4. When the end of the foot pedal 8 remote from the door 4 is pushed down, the foot pedal 8 will pivot about the pivot pin 7 and the catch 9 will become detached from the door hook 10, causing the door 4 to move downward under the influence of the gravity of its own mass from the closed position shown in figure 1 to the open position shown in figure 2.
At the bottom of the frame, to shock absorbers 11 are provided, on which the bottom edge of the door 4 lands in the open position. The shock absorbers 11 may be pneumatic shock absorbers, for example, or elastic bumpers, for example made of rubber. In order to prevent the door from shooting up again after landing, a rebound protection mechanism 12 is provided on either side of the door, as is shown in figure 6. The rebound protection mechanism 12 comprises a pivotable cam which is biased by a torsion spring (not shown), which cam is mounted to a respective door jamb 1 at floor level at a location where the guide rail 13 is interrupted, and which can pivot under the influence of said torsion spring from a downward position (illustrated in dotted lines in the figure), in which it pushes against the side of the door 4 under the influence of the torsion spring, to a horizontal position, in which the cam extends above a stop surface 40 at the upper side of the door 4. The rebound protection mechanism is further provided with a handle (not shown), by means of which the cams can be manually pivoted to the downward position, so that the door 4 can be moved from the open position to the closed position.
In order to move the door back to the closed position after a calamity, when the door 4 is in the open position, two pulleys 14 are provided, as shown in figure 4, which pulleys are mounted on the shaft of a pulley holder 15 at the upper side of the frame above the door 4. Respective cables 24 are wound on the pulleys 14, which cables are passed over respective guide wheels 16 mounted to the sides of the door jambs 1, the ends of which cables are connected to respective eyes 17 attached to the upper edge of the door 4. The pulleys 14 can rotate freely, so that hardly any, if any, upward force is exerted on the door 4 when the door 4 moved downwards and the cables 24 unwind from the pulleys 14. The pulleys are interconnected; one of the pulleys is centrally provided with a square hole 18, into which a crank having a correspondingly shaped square edge can be inserted for hoisting up the door.
According to figure 5, the door system is further provided with an alerting system, which detects that the door 4 has opened. In this embodiment, the alerting system comprises a dynamo 18, consisting of a stator in the shaft of the pulleys and a rotor incorporated in one or both pulleys. The current that is generated by the dynamo 18 upon downward movement thereof is carried to a signalling device 20 via a cable 19, which signalling device, using the generated current, can generate an alarm signal. This may be an audio signal, for example, and/or an optical signal, which can alert the surrounding area in general or an incident room in particular to the fact that the,door 4 has opened.
As is shown in figure 4, the upper edge of the door 4 is provided with an anti-skid edge 21, which is further provided with fluorescent or phosphorescent patterns, so that the edge can be identified as an escape route in the open position of the door.
Figures 7A and 7B schematically show an alternative embodiment of the door system, in which the door 4 consists of pivotally interconnected panels 41, 42, 43, 44, 45 extending one above another. The lowermost panel 45 is provided with guide pins 22 extending laterally from the sides of the panel 45, which guide pins 22 extend into guide rails 23. The guide rails 23 guide the lower side of the panel 45 upon oblique downward movement thereof toward a location located half a panel height from the vertical plane of the door 4 in the closed position thereof. As a result, the panels 41, 42, 43, 44, 45 will alternately hinge upon further downward movement of the door 4, with the panels 41, 42, 43, 44, 45 folding flat onto themselves, so that the frame of the door system need not extend as deep below the floor as in the embodiment shown in figures 1-6.
Figures 8A and 8B schematically show an alternative embodiment of the door system, in which the door 4 consists of hollow panels 46, 47, 48 extending above each other, which panels have increasingly smaller cross-sectional dimensions, seen from the bottom to the top, so that the panels 46, 47, 48 can be telescoped into each other upon downward movement of the door, so that the frame of the door system need not extend as deep below the floor as in the embodiment shown in figures 1-6. The uppermost panel 46 may be a solid panel or be provided with weights.
Although the invention has been described herein by means of embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various aspects may be different from said embodiments without falling outside the scope of the invention, which scope is defined inter alia in the appended claims.

Claims

A door system for an escape route, comprising a set of door jambs, which form a vertically extending, rectangular frame, and a door which is mounted in said frame, wherein the door is movable between a closed position, in which the passage through the frame is blocked, and an open position, in which the passage through the frame is open, wherein the door can move in vertical direction in the frame between the closed position and the open position, characterized in that the door system further comprises a door locking system by means of which the door can be locked in the closed position thereof, and the door system is so designed that the door is moved from the closed position to the open position by the force of gravity upon being unlocked by said door locking system.
A door system according to claim 1, wherein the door is moved downwards by the gravity of its own mass.
A door system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the door is moved substantially with the gravitational acceleration.
A door system according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the door is solid, or the door is hollow and provided with internal weights.
A door system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the door jambs on either side of the door comprise guide rails for guiding the door.
A door system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the door locking system can be operated by foot for unlocking the door.
A door system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the frame extends both above a floor and below the floor over substantially the same vertical distance.
A door system according to any one of the preceding claims 1-6, wherein the door is an articulated door which occupies an extended position in the closed position thereof, and which extends in a compact form in the lower part of the frame in the open position.
A door system according to claim 8, wherein the articulated door occupies a folded position in the lower part of the frame in the open position.
A door system according to claim 8, wherein or the articulated the door occupies a telescoped position in the lower part of the frame in the open position.
A door system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one shock absorber is provided near the bottom side of the frame for stopping the downwardly moving door.
A door system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a rebound protection mechanism is provided near the centre of the frame, at floor height, which rebound protection mechanism is designed so that the rebound protection mechanism will automatically move to the locking position once the upper side of the door has passed, such that the door cannot move up.
A door system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the frame is provided with hoisting means comprising at least one pulley and a wire wound on the pulley, wherein the end of the wire is attached to the upper side of the door, and wherein the pulley is provided with engagement means for hoisting the door from the open position to the closed position.
A door system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the door system is provided with alerting means designed to deliver a signal upon movement of the door from the closed position to the open position.
A door system according to claim 14, wherein the alerting means comprise a dynamo which is driven by the moving door.
A door system according to claims 13 and 15, wherein the dynamo is present in or on the pulley.