Patent ID: 6311757
Filing Date: 2001-11-06
Classification: E06B

Abstract:
A door opening and closing apparatus comprising:a door frame having lateral door cross beams;a plurality of substantially rectangular plate-shaped closing elements disposed horizontally and substantially parallel relative to one another, each closing element having longitudinal edges and lateral side edges, and said closing elements guided in a region of said lateral door cross beams and movable relative to one other from an upper position in which said closing elements lie next to each other roughly edgewise along said longitudinal edges in a stack with said lateral side edges substantially aligned, to a lowered position, into which said closing elements are traveled with decreasing overlapping length until only upper and lower edge sections of adjacent closing elements overlap;a first flexible tension element for connecting an upper region of a first closing element to a lower region of a second closing element, said first tension element fixed at a first end to said door frame;a drive mechanism for moving said first closing element at a first rate relative to said frame while said second closing element, connected to said first closing element, is moved at a second rate relative to said first closing element, said second rate being faster than said first rate such that, when being raised, said first and second closing elements reach said upper position substantially simultaneously.