US3499478A - Door assembly - Google Patents

Description

March 10, 1970 o A. SCHNEIDER 3,499,

DOOR ASSEMBLY Filed March 6, 196a 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 00x15? 4. Sam/510:2

March 10, 1970 o. A. SCHNEIDER DOOR ASSEMBLY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 6, 1968 Z mo M flrroemss s United States Patent 3,499,478 DOOR ASSEMBLY Oakley A. Schneider, Blockton, Iowa 50836 Filed Mar. 6, 1968, Ser. No. 710,998 Int. Cl. E05d /26, 15/04 U.S. Cl. 160-207 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLGSURE The basic door arrangement of this invention is disclosed in detail in applicants Patent No. 3,196,933 which issued July 27, 1965.

The variable cable power drum makes it possible to easily open large or small door either manually or with the aid of a power device. As the door is raised from its vertical closed position to its raised horizontal position and is moved rearwardly, the power requirements vary and furthermore the torsion spring loses its power as the door is raised and accordingly the variable cable drum compensates for these changes in power and power requirements to give smooth operation to the door opening and closing. If the motorized power unit is employed the variable power cable drum will serve to maintain a uniform load on the motor throughout its cycle of operation in opening and closing the door.

The variable cable power drum includes a first conical shaped portion adapted to receive a cable at one end and wind the cable along its length. A second drum portion is positioned closely adjacent the larger diameter end of the first drum portion and a cable hook is provided on the second drum portion extending over the smaller diameter end of the first drum portion to engage the cable upon being wound down from the larger diameter end to the smaller end. The guide hook guides the cable into cable grooves on the second drum portion at its larger diameter end as the drum is rotated. Thus the cable is wrapped initially around the larger diameter end of the first drum and moves along to its smaller diameter end whereupon it is engaged by the cable hook on the second drum portion which guides the cable onto the larger diameter end of the second drum portion and then the cable is adapted to move along the second drum portion to the smaller diameter opposite end whereby as the cable moves the length of the drum the power is initially low and gradually increase and then is suddenly reduced and then again gradually increases.

It is further contemplated that a cable will be employed to raise the door and lower it but the initial braking of the door is not easily accomplished with a cable only and thus the rack member driven by a gear is positioned rearwardly of the door and movable rearwardly thereof and in doing so pulls the bottom edge of the top section outwardly when the door is initially being opened. After the door is broken the cable then completes the lifting of the door to its horizontal position. Similarly, when the door is lowered, the rack moves forwardly towards the door and serves to return the door sections to their vertical position, a job which the cables cannot conveniently accomplish.

A further feature of this door is in the pivotal connection of the top section to the support members which include tracks in which rollers are movable carried by hangers on the top door section. When the top door section is in its vertical position a locking element is posi- 'ice tioned perpendicularly to a locking element on the track thereby preventing the top edge of the top door section to move rearwardly; however, when the top door section is pivoted upwardly the locking element on the hanger pivots around the cooperating element on the track and assumes a parallel relationship thereby releasing the top door section to move rearwardly. A guide track is provided for rollers on the lower edge of the top door section as the top door section is pivoted upwardly to its horizontal position.

In further reference to the operation of the door when it is being operated by the gear and rack, it is seen that a clutch compensating unit is provided which includes a torsion spring mounted on the shaft carrying the rack gear and power cable. drum whereby compensation is made for the difference in cable movement while the door is being actuated by the rack as compared with the cable movement when the door is being raised by the cables after the gear has walked out of engagement with the rack.

These and other features and advantages of this invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the following description when taken into consideration with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the door of this invention and the variable cable power drum;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the hanger on the top of the top door section;

FIGS. 3-6 show the door and the variable power cable drum in their corresponding positions during various stages throughout a complete cycle of operation at times when power requirements significantly change;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1 of the door but showing the addition of a door opener operated by a motorized power unit;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 8-8 in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 9-9 in FIG. 7; and

FIG. 10 is a top plan view taken along line 1010 in FIG. 9.

The door of this invention is referred to generally in FIG. 1 by the reference numeral 10 and includes a top door section 12 and a lower door section 14 pivoted together by hinges 16 (FIG. 3). A horizontally disposed header 18 is provided with oppositely disposed vertical side members 20. A pair of rearwardly extending rails Z are provided on the back side of the header 18 and are connected at their rear ends to a transversely extending support member 24.

A lift spring 26 is mounted on a shaft 28 extending in parallel relationship to the member 24 and supported by rearwardly extending sup-port members 30. A variable power cable drum 32 is provided at opposite ends of the shaft 28 and engages a cable 34 which extends forwardly over a sheave 36 at the top of the door section 12 on the vertical member 20 and thence downwardly to an anchor point 38 on the lower door section 14 as seen for example in FIG. 3.

The construction of the cable power drum 32 is shown in detail in FIGS. 3-6 and is seen to include a first conical shaped drum portion 40 which tapers down to a substantially uniform in diameter shaped smaller end portion 42 which is overlapped by a hook element 44 on the larger diameter end of a second drum portion 46 which in turn tapers downwardly to a smaller diameter end portion 48. In FIG. 3 it is seen that the door is in its vertically closed position and the power requirements at this point are comparatively small until it reaches the position of FIG. 4 where it is beginning to be raised and thus the cable as it advances moves from the larger diameter into the smaller diameter end and accordingly the power is increased as it moves along the length of the drum portion 4%. Once the roller 5% on the rear or lower end of the top door section 12 engages the track 22 as seen in FIG. 5 the top door section 112 requires little additional power and thus the cable 34 engages the hook 44 at the maximum diameter end of the second drum portion 46. The higher the lower door section 14 moves the less the power requirement is and accordingly the cable Wraps around the second drum portion to its smaller diameter end 48. It is understood that through the cycle of operation that the diameter of the drum sections 40 and 46 are designed to take into consideration the reduced power available in the lifting spring 26 as the door is raised and the stored energy in the spring is released.

In FIG. 2 the top door section 12 is seen to have a hanger bracket 54 which includes a rearwardly disposed top portion 56 having a laterally extending roller 58 movable in the track as of the member 22. A laterally extending stop element 62 is provided on the member 22 and extends over the hanger portion 56 and into engagement with a pin 64 which is perpendicularly and vertically arranged when the door section 12 is in its vertical position. It is seen however that as the top door section 12 pivots upwardly the pin 64 is disengaged from the pin 62 by pivoting downwardly and rearwardly thereof and thus the top door section 12 is permitted to move rearwardly to its position as seen in FIG. 6 after the rear roller St? has engaged the track 60. Further, it is seen that guide tracks 70 are provided on opposite sides of the door and extend from the vertical members 20 for rollers 72 carried on the bottom edge of the top door section 12 to move in while the top door section 12 is being pivoted upwardly. The guides 70 are shaped to conform to the radius of pivotal movement of the top door section 11.2 and thus guide the lower edge of the door section 12 while the top edge is held in place by the cooperating lock elements 62 and 64 until the door section 12 is completely raised to its horizontal position of FIGS. 5 and 6.

Referring now to FIGS. 7 through it is seen that the top door section is operated by a rack and gear unit 72 for braking the door from its vertically closed position. The rack and gear unit include a movable rack member 74 having a sprocket chain 76 welded on its top face for engagement with a gear sprocket 78 carried on a power shaft 80. The rack 74 is slidably movable on the rear wardly extending horizontal member 82 which is anchored at its forward end to the header 1%. The real end of the movable rack 74 is pivotally connected to an arm 84 which extends downwardly and forwardly to a pivotal connection with the lower end or edge of the top door section 12.

The power shaft 8t is driven by a door opener motor 86 seen in FIG. 7 driving a belt 88 connected to a gear box 90 which in turn drives the shaft through a belt 92. The desired gear reduction is accomplished through this power transmission arrangement. The shaft 8t) also carries a torsion spring '24 affixed at its end 96 to the shaft 8t) and having its other end 98 affixed to the side of a uniform in diameter drum 1% having an outwardly extending pin 102 oriented in parallel relationship to the axis of rotation of the drum Mitt. A collar Til-4 is mounted on the shaft 8t? and is held by set screws 1%. The collar 104 is provided with a perpendicular pin 1% in the rotational path of the pin 102. The drum M90 is freely rotatable on the shaft 8t and may thus rotate nearly one complete revolution as the pin Hi2 carried thereon moves from one side of the pin 108 to the opposite side, an angle of almost 360 degrees.

The cable 34 is wrapped around the variable cable power drum 32 on the shaft 28 and extends forwardly over the sheave 36 downwardly where it is anchored to the lower end of the door section 14 as in the case of the door shown in FIGS. 1 through 6. Additionally, however,

a second endless cable Hi9 extends around the drum 1% with one of its return portions llltti extending forwardly over a sheave 1112 and then downwardly where it is anchored to the door section 11.4 at the same place the end of the cable 34 is anchored to the same door section. The other cable portion 114 extends over another forwardly disposed sheave 1M and downwardly along the outer edge of a sheave 118 in the plane of the door thence over a sheave 124 positioned at a 45 degree angle to the sheave M8 and finally over a third sheave 122 having an axis of rotation parallel to the plane of the door. The cable end portion 114 is then anchored on the door 14 along with the other cable ends. The three pulleys 118, 120 and 122 serve to position the cable W9 out of the way of the door 15 so that it may be opened.

in operation the door opener unit 72 functions as follows. The bottom of the door section 14 initially moves very little and therefore the cable 109 extending around the drum 1% will not move while the shaft is turning in operating the rack '74 to move the door sections to the dash line position in FIG. 9. At the time the gear 78 rotates out of the rack 74 it has rotated one revolution and the pin 102 contacts the pin 168 and the drum is then turned causing the cable portion to wrap around the drum 1659 as the shaft 80 as viewed in FIG. 9 is rotated counter-clockwise and therefore the cable return portion 114 is unwrapped from the drum 1%. During this operation the pins 192 and 108 are held in engagement with each other and tension is maintained on the torsion spring 94. When the shaft 80 is rotated counter-clockwise as viewed in FIG. 9 for closing, the tension on the spring 94 holds the pins 102 and 108 together until the bottom of the bottom door section 14 reaches the bottom of its travel. At this time the cables 110 and 114 on the drum 1% must stop their movement but the shaft 8% must continue to rotate enough to move the rack '74 now engaged by the gear 78 back to the solid line position in FIG. 9. When the sprocket 78 enters the rack 74 and the bottom of the door is not moving, the pins 162 and 1% are separated and the spring 94 is tightened by the amount that the sprocket 78 in the rack 74 is turned. Thus it is seen that power is transmitted to the cables for raising the door through the spring 94 and the drum ltitl and the pins 102 and 108 whereby the rack and unit 72 is initially used to brake the door open and return it to its vertically closed position while the cables are used for the raising and lowering operation. The amount of turning of the shaft 8% in the drum 100 will vary according to the length of the rack 74 and the size of the gear 73 but it is seen that a maximum amount of nearly one revolution is possible before the cables 110 and 114 will be activated.

I claim: ll. An overhead door assembly, a foldable door having a top section and a bottom section with portions hingedly connected together, a header having a side member extending downwardly from at least one end, a stationary support means extending rearwardly of said header, said header, side member and support means defining a door support structure, means on said top section releasably pivoting the upper end of said top section to said door support structure, means for releasing said means on said top section upon said top section being pivoted upwardly to a predetermined position as said bottom section is moved upwardly, means connected to said bottom section for controlling the horizontal movement of said bottom section as said top section is pivoted upwardly and said bottom section moves upwardly, said top section upon being pivoted to said predetermined position, moving rearwardly along said support means as said bottom section is moved upwardly,

means for supporting the hinged together portions of said top and bottom sections of said door upon said top section pivoting upwardly to adjacent said predetermined position,

a rack movable along a line substantially perpendicular to said door,

an arm connected to said top door section remotely of its upper end and to said rack, and

a power driven gear engaging said rack to move said door sections into and out of a closed vertically dis posed position.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said gear is affixed to a shaft connected to and extending through a torsion spring, said torsion spring being connected at one end to said shaft and connected at its other end to a cable pulley freely rotatable on said shaft, a stop means affixed to said shaft in the path of a finger on said pulley when said pulley is rotated, a cable driven by said pulley and connected to said bottom section for raising and lowering said door, said pulley being adapted to rotate against the action of said spring for one revolution to compensate for the movement of said cable as said door is raised and lowered slightly when said door is being moved into and out of said vertical closed position by said gear and rack.

3. The structure of claim 2 wherein varying the initial raising of said door said gear and rack are operative for one revolution of said shaft by which time said gear moves out of said rack and thereafter said drum is rotated moving said cable thereby moving said door upwardly as said shaft and drum are rotated and upon said door being substantially lowered said rack returns to engagement with said gear for moving said door to its vertical closed position as said shaft makes one revolution at the time said cable has substantially stopped moving and said drum is substantially rotationally stationary.

4. The structure of claim 1 wherein said top door section includes a stationary curved guide track extending rearwardly and a roller in the lower end of said top door section movable on said guide track, a horizontally disposed track extending rearwardly of the upper end of said top door section and a hanger on said top door section adjacent said upper edge having a roller positioned in said horizontal track, and said hanger and track having cooperating perpendicularly oriented locked elements when said top door is closed in said vertical position, and said elements being oriented in substantial parallel relationship and disengaged upon said top section being pivoted to a horizontal raised position whereby said top door section may move rearwardly.

5. An overhead door assembly,

a foldable door having a top section and a bottom section with portions hingedly connected together,

a header having a side member extending downwardly from at least one end,

a stationary support means extending rearwardly of said header,

said header, side member and support means defining a door support structure, means on said top section releasably pivoting the upper end of said top section to said door support structure, means for releasing said means on said top section upon said top section being pivoted upwardly to a predetermined position as said bottom section is moved upwardly, means connected to said bottom section for controlling the horizontal movement of said bottom section as said top section is pivoted upwardly and said bottom section moves upwardly,

said top section upon being pivoted to said predetermined position, moving rearwardly along said support means as said bottom section is moved upwardly,

means for supporting the hinged together portions of said top and bottom sections of said door upon said top section pivoting upwardly to adjacent said predetermined position,

a rack movable along a line substantially perpendicular to said door,

an arm connected to said top door section remotely of its upper end and to said rack,

and a power driven gear engaging said rack to move said door sections into and out of a closed vertically disposed position,

power means including a cable connected to said door and to a drum, said drum having a first portion decreasing in diameter, said cable secured on said first portion on the larger diameter when said door is in a vertical closed position and adapted to wind on said first portion along its length to said smaller diameter as said door is broken open and starts to fold, a second portion having a decreasing diameter and peripheral cable grooves at its largest diameter,

guide means for feeding said cable into cable grooves on the larger diameter end of said second portion after a predetermined length of cable has been wound on said first portion and said door has been raised to a predetermined point where said hinged portions are in engagement with said support means, said cable adapted to be wound around said second portion along its length as said bottom section is raised to a horizontal position and said first section is moved rearwardly,

said guide means being a hook element which extends longitudinally from the outer surface of the larger diameter end of said second portion over said first portion at its smaller diameter and in the path of said cable being wound on the smaller diameter end of said first portion whereby said cable may be engaged by said hook element and guided into said peripheral cable grooves on the larger diameter end of said second portion,

and the load on said power means is substantially constant because the power requirements of said door in being moved from a vertical closed position to an open position with both said first and second sections horizontally disposed are coordinated with the power developed along the length of said first and second drum portions.

6. A variable power drum for a power cable comprising,

a first conical shaped drum portion adapted to receive a cable at one end and wind the cable along its length, said drum portion varying in its outer diameter along its length,

a second drum portion positioned closely adjacent said other end of said first drum portion,

a cable hook on said second drum portion extending over said other end of said first drum portion to engage said cable upon being wound down to said other end, said second drum portion having a substantially larger diameter at its end adjacent said hook and peripherally extending cable grooves being formed in said larger diameter end adjacent said hook, and said hook adapted to guide said cable into said cable grooves on said second drum portion as said drum is rotated,

said second drum portion being conical and being oriented similarly to said first drum portion whereby said cable is wrapped initially around said larger diameter end of said first drum and moves along to its smaller diameter end whereupon it is engaged by said hook on said second drum portion which guides said cable onto said larger diameter end of said second drum portion and then said cable is adapted to move along said second drum portion to said smaller diameter opposite end, whereby as said cable moves the length of said drum said power is initially low and 7 8 gradually increases and then is suddenly reduced and 3,196,933 7/ 1965 Schneider 160207 then again gradually increases. 3,389,740 6/1968 Buehler 160188 References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 g 1,1s3,402 5/1916 Prescott 160-193 f 1,597,028 8/1926 Feidt et a1 160-193 DENNIS A R, r y Ex mm r 1,682,772 9/1928 Cahill 160-211 X Us. CLXR 1,940,485 12/1933 Beeman et a1 49200 49 3 2; 16O 193 I 2,097,950 11/1937 Johnson "160-189 1

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