ARRANGEMENT FOR A DOOR

Abstract: The present invention relates to an arrangement for a door or other covering element which consists of a moving door leaf (3) capable of being formed to adopt the desired path of the door, which door leaf is so arranged as to be capable of being guided at its respective lateral edges by means of guide grooves (4, 5). Amongst other things, the invention permits a door arrangement to be made available which can be manufactured and assembled for the most part in a door factory, in this way simplifying the installation of the door in the desired position. The aforementioned guide grooves (5) extend in the form of a spiral along an intended mounting surface.

Description: Arrangement for a door The present invention relates to an arrangement for a door or other covering element which consists of a. moving door leaf capable of being formed to adopt the desired path of the door, which door leaf is so arranged as to be capable of being guided at its respective lateral edges by means of guide grooves. The principal object of the present invention is in the first place to make available an arrangement of the kind described above, which permits the door, etc., to be assembled as fully as possible at the place of manufacture, for example, so that the door can easily be installed in the intended door opening without the need for a large amount of labour. Further objects of the invention which may be mentioned include the provision of an arrangement in which the guide grooves can be attached to the door opening and do not require to be fitted to the ceiling of the building in which the door is intended to operate, and the provision of guide grooves which are not bulky in the longitidinal sense, that is to say which do not project out into the building to an excessive degree. Said object is achieved by means of an arrangement in accordance with the present invention, which is characterized essentially in that said guide grooves extend in the form of a spiral along an intended mounting surface. The invention is described below as a preferred illustrative embodiment in relation to a door, in conjunction with which reference is made to the drawings, in which: Fig. 1 shows a door arrangement executed as a cassette, viewed at an angle from above and from one side; Fig. 2 shows the inside of an end wall provided with grooves which forms part of the arrangement; Fig. 3 shows the outside of said end wall; Fig. 4 shows the door arrangement from its under side and from the opposite side to that shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 5 shows a transport roller; Fig. 6 shows transport rollers attached to an end wall; Figs. 7—9 show different stages in the attachment of a door arrangement to a door opening; Fig. 10 shows a perspective view of a cable drum which forms part of the arrangement; Fig. 11 shows a section through the cable drum; Figs. 12—14 show different sections through a drum, showing the door cable; Fig. 15 shows a door arrangement represented in diagrammatic form; Fig. 16 shows a door arrangement, showing the cable actuating device; and Fig. 17 shows a drawing—in device in position in a door arrangement. An arrangement 1 in accordance with the present invention is eminently suited to being used in conjunction with a door, but can also be used in conjunction with other covering elements which are so arranged as to be capable of closing an opening 2 and of being opened, which arrangement consists of a moving door leaf 3, etc., which is so arranged as to be capable of being formed to adopt the desired path of the door and of being guided at the respective lateral edges 3A and 3B of the door by means of guide grooves 4, 5 which extend along said path. The door leaf 3 appropriately consists of a number of door leaf elements 3^, 3^ ... 3 n connected to one another via articulated links 6 and arranged in a row, which door leaf eLements can be folded so as to adopt essentially the form of the extent of the guide grooves and are so arranged as to be guided along the guide grooves 4, 5 by means of guide rollers 7 interacting with them. Guide grooves 4 running essentially vertically along the door opening 2, situated on the respective Lateral edges 3A, 3S of the dcor, and attached to the end face of the deer, etc., are so arranged as to be attached in a previously disclosed fashion to guide grooves 5 formed into a folded shape. In accordance with the invention each of said guide grooves 5 is folded in such a way that it -extends in the form of a spiral essentially along its respective mounting surface 8A, 9A and preferably along a mutually identical plane. The spiral—shaped guide grooves 5 can be attached to the end surfaces 8A, 9A of two end walls 8, 9 of a door arrangement 1 executed in the form of a door cassette 10,, which end walls are held at a relative distance from one another and face one another. The aforementioned end walls 8, 9 can be connected to one another via at least upper braces 11, 12, and preferably also via lower braces 13, 14, which extend across the door leaf 3 and its desired path, and which are capable of being attached via screwed connections 15 to flanges 16 on the end walls 8, 9 executed in the form of plates. The door leaf 3 can be supported between said two end walls 8, 9, so as to form a unit which can be ready assembled at the factory where the door is manufactured, and which can be installed easily at the desired location in a door opening 2. The door cassette 10 also consists of balancing springs 20 of a previously disclosed kind for the door, extending appropriately between a central attachment 17, for example, and Lateral wall attachments 18, 19, in order to facilitate actuation of the door leaf 3 as it is opened and closed. Said balance spring arrangement 21, which previously had to be Lifted up to the intended installation position above the door opening, can now also be incorporated into said cassette unit 10, as will be appreciated from the drawings. A cable drum 23, 24 attached to a spring—rotating shaft 22 and situated at the outer end of each spring can be attached by each of its door cables 25 to the door leaf 3, appropriately to the outermost door leaf element 3^ of the large number of door leaf eLements 3^—3 n arranged in a row. The cable drums 23, 24 are thus mounted rigidly in relation to the spring—rotating shaft 22, whereas the springs 20 are ridigly attached at their ends 20A, 20B to a wall attachment 18 and 19 and to the shaft 22. The two cable drums 23, 24 can exhibit cable attachments 26 and can be provided with cable grooves 27 which extend in the form of a spiral around the periphery of said cable drum. Said cable drums 23, 24 are so adapted as to compensate for the irregular extension of the spiral guide groove, which varies due to the fact that, amongst other things, the guide groove 5 can be transformed from the groove parts 5^ , 5^, 5*, 5 1 * with essentially straight form, which can also be connected to one another by means of groove curves 5^, into a curved groove section 5^. This can be made possible by the cable drums 23, 24, which are appropriately executed in mirror image of one another, exhibiting a diameter which, over that part of the cable drum on which the cable 25 is so arranged as to Lie, varies over the width of the cable .drum, appropriately in such a way that each cable drum 23, 24 exhibits a reducing width in a direction away from its respective sides 23A, 24A and 23B, 24B, towards its central area 23C, 24C, in which central area 23C, 24C, which is situated at a distance from said sides 23A, 23B; 24A, 24B, the width cnce πiore increases. Said cable drum arrangement enables the torque to remain constant for the whole of the period during which the door leaf 3 is actuated in such a way as to open, for example. The power requirement varies, in actual fact, depending on the length and form of the guide groove 5. In this way the door is easily operated manually by moving the door leaf 3 along the guide groove 4, 5 in a previously disclosed fashion. The balancing spring arrangement 21 in this case influences the doer leaf 3 in a previously disclosed fashion, so that the power requirement also does not have to be so great. The door leaf 3 can also be made to be driven indirectly, for example in the case of door with a large height, via the spring—rotating shaft 22 by means of a door mechanism or hand winch. In this case the movement of the door leaf in both directions should be capable of being regulated, variations in the door cables 25 should be capable of being absorbed, and adjustment of their effective length should be capable cf being made. In order to achieve this, each cable 25 may be passed around guide pulleys 28, 29 before the cable 25 arrives at the appropriate cable drum 23, 24, in conjunction with which one of the guide pulleys 28, or some other suitable direction— hanging device, can be supported by a sprung arm 30, as shown in Fig. 16, for example. Shown in said Fig. 16 is a stop 31 which can also operate with a spring effect in such a way as to damp the movement of the door leaf by interacting with a shock—absorber stop 31A on the door leaf. Groove attachment sections 5A and 5B projecting from the door cassette 10 are so arranged as to be attached by means of the connecting device 32 to each of the fixed, straight grooves 4 which extend along the path of movement of the door. So-called transport rollers 33 and 34 or similar guide devices, which are capable of moving along said guide groove 4, and a transport track 35 capable of being connected to the upper end 4A of each fixed groove 4, which track is so arranged as to be connected only occasionally to the guide groove 4, a re so arranged as to be capable of being accommodated by said groove 4 and rails 54 as the door cassette 10 is raised into position in the upper part of the opening. Each transport roller 33, 34 is connected to a holder 35, 36, which can be attached by means of counter— ashers to the end walls 8, 9 via bolts 37, 38 capable of being accommodated in, for example, slot—shaped holes 39, 40 in the end walls 8, 9. Extending across each end wall 8, 9 and across the path of the door Leaf on the outside 8B, 9B of each end wall 8, 9 is a connecting groove 41, 42, which is so adapted as to be capable of accommodating a lifting shackle 44 capable of being connected to a lifting cable 43 and is free to move along each groove 41, 42. Each of said lifting cables 43 is attached to its own telpher 55, which can be attached via fastening devices 45 in a detachable fashion to Lower Lifting brackets 46 capable of being connected to the grooves 4 in the two Lower corners of the door opening for the purpose of Lifting the door casette 10 to the area of its point of installation in the upper part 2A cf the door opening. The Lifting cables 43 are passed around upper guide rollers 47, which are supported by upper Lifting brackets 48 attached in a detachable fashion to the door frame in the two upper side corners of the door opening. The door cassette 10 is appropriately lifted up synchronously by means of said two telphers 55 into its intended installation position I, as shewn in Fig. 8. A check is made beforehand to ensure that the transport rollers 33, 34 are in alignment with the lower open part 4B of each guide groove 4, so as to be accommodated by said fixed guide grooves 4 during lifting. When the cassette 10 is raised, braces 49 projecting downwards from the cassette can be attached to the cassette 10, as shewn in Fig. 17, so as to interact with said groove attachment devices 32 at the respective end walls 8, 9 of the cassette, or to some other suitable fixed attachment point. A screw device 50, which is so arranged as to act between said braces 49 and devices 32, etc., is so arranged upon actuation as to cause the deer cassette 1C and the groove 4 to move relatively towards one another, so that the grooves 4, 5 can be attached permanently to one another after the aforementioned transport tracks 35 have been removed. After the grooves have been .connected to one another, the transport rollers 33, 34- can be removed from the cassette 10. Said door cassette 10 is then attached to the door posts 51 of the door via self—tapping screws 52 introduced through appropriate openings 53 in the end walls 8, 9, whereupon the lower and upper lifting brackets 46, 48 can be removed. In order to be able to raise the cassette 10 to its maximum extent in the vicinity of the existing ceiling in the space in which the door is to be installed, the upper part of the cassette 10 can exhibit an inclined upper part 1CA, as may be appreciated clearly from Fig. 16. In view of the inclined form of the transport tracks 35, said inclined part 10A can be raised close to a ceiling and then moved away from the ceiling at the top cuter end of the cassette 10 as the cassette is drawn in by means of the screw devices 50. With the door installed, the door leaf 3 will be guided by the guide rollers 7 along the grooves 4, 5. The door leaf 3 is capable, thanks to the present invention, of being packed tightly, as shown in Fig. 15, into a form similar to that of a roll, which occupies little space over both its height and its width. The door also exhibits safety devices (not shewn here) which are intended to ensure the reliable function of the door even in the event of cable fracture, etc. The invention is not restricted to the embodiment described above and shown in the drawings, but may be modified within the scope of the Patent Claims without in so doing departing from the idea of invention.

Claims: P a t e n t C l a i m s 1. An arrangement for a door or other covering element which consists of a moving door leaf (3) capable of being formed to adopt the desired path of the door, which door leaf is so arranged as to be capable of being guided at its respective lateral edges C3A, 3B) by means of guide grooves ( 4, 5), c h a r¬ a c t e r i z ed in that said guide grooves (5) extend in the form of a spiral along an intended mounting surface (8A, 9A). 2. An arrangement in accordance with Patent Claim 1, in which the door consists of a number of door leaf elements (3', 3 d - ... 3 π ) which are pivctally connected to one another in a row, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that a deer cassette (1G) is executed with two end walls (8, 9) held at a relative distance from one another to form mounting surfaces, which end walls carry guide grooves (5) along the surfaces (8A, 9A) of their end walls which face towards one another, and with said door leaf (3) capable of being accommodated between the end plates (8, 9) as a unit. 3. An arrangement in accordance with Patent Claim 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that a balance spring arrangement (21) for the door is supported by said cassette (10) with a door cable (25) connected between the door leaf (3) and a cable drum (23, 24) attached to said balance spring arrangement (21). 4. An arrangement in accordance with Patent Claim 3, c ha r a ct e r i zed in that the cable drum (23, 24) in question, which in a previously disclosed fashion is preferably provided with cable grooves (27), exhibits a diameter which varies ever the width of the cable drum. 5. An arrangement in accordance with Patent Claim 4, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the cable drum (23, 24) exhibits reducing width in a direction from its side (23A, 23B; 24A, 24B) in order to exhibit increasing width at a certain distance from the side of the cable drum in the area of its centre (23C; 24C). 6. An arrangement in accordance with any of the Patent Claims 2—5, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that each of the guide grooves (5) extends in the form of a spiral along a common plane and is transformed preferably from grooved sections (5^—5^ of straight form connected to one another via curves 55) into a grooved section (5°) of curved form. 7. An arrangement in accordance with any of the Patent Claims 2—6, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that groove attachment sections (5A, 5B) projecting from the door cassette (10) are provided to be attached to door grooves (4) extending along the path of the door. 8. An arrangement in accordance with any of the Patent Claims 2—7, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the door cassette (10) exhibits fastening devices (39) for transport rollers (33, 34) or similar guide devices capable of moving along the guide grooves (4; 54 ) and capable cf interacting with said guide grooves. 9. An arrangement in accordance with any of the Patent Claims 2—8, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that a screw device (50) intended to connect the guide groove (5) of the door cassette to said fixed guide groove (4) is so arranged as to act between the door cassette (10) and a section of a fixed door groove (4) separate from the guide groove (5) of said cassette and extending along the path of the door, said screw device (50) being so arranged upon actuation as to cause the door cassette (10) to move relative to said fixed door groove (4). 10. An arrangement in accordance with any of the Patent Claims 2—9, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that a connecting groove (41, 42), which is so adapted as to accommodate a Lifting shackle (44) attached to a Lifting cable, extends along each of the end walls (8, 9) of the door cassette and across the intended path of the door.

Inventors: BENGTSSON FRED, BENGTSSON, FRED
Applicants: CRAWFORD DOOR PROD, CRAWFORD DOOR PRODUCTION AB
Application year: 1987
Main classification: E06B9
IPC codes: E06B9