DOOR

Abstract: A door comprising a flexible panel (10) of flexible profile plate material which is guided around guide means (11) from a closing position to an opened position is especially intended for closing garages. In order to enlarge the height clearance in the opened position of the door the flexible panel (10) assumes a substantially lying position in the opened state.

Description: The invention relates to a garage door as indicated in the preamble of claim 1. Such a garage door is known from AU-A-12684/76. This known garage door comprises guide wheels mounted for free rotation about a common shaft in the corner between lying and upright guide profiles. Said guide wheels are interconnected by means of said common shaft, which reduces the available passage height of the door opening. It can be of importance that in the opened position the door leaves clear the greatest possible height, in order for example to allow passage of the highest possible vehicles or vehicles loaded up to a great height. The invention has for its object to provide a simple garage door having a considerable height clearance in the opened position, whereby it must be possible to operate the door without problem. To this end the garage door according to the invention is characterized as claimed in claim 1. The horizontal panel edge of a flexible panel could cause problems in the operating of the door because of excessive sagging. The door according to the invention is however easy to operate because the pivotable strengthening profile can be directed easily around the intermediate guide means, thereby holding the horizontal edge of the flexible plate material straight and thereby clearing the door opening up to a high level. EP-A-0210364 discloses a garage door comprising a flexible panel consisting of a plurality of panel elements interconnected by means of pivot means having a limited angle of pivot, said pivot means having a profile with a substantially circular coupling edge. Mentioned and other features of the invention will be elucidated in the description following hereinafter with reference to a drawing. In the drawing in schematic form: figure 1 shows a partly broken away perspective view of a garage with a door according to the invention; figure 2 shows on a larger scale a perspective view of fraction II of figure 1; figure 3 shows on a larger scale a section along the line III-III in figure 2; figure 4 shows on a larger scale a perspective view of detail IV of figure 1; figure 5 shows on a larger scale a perspective view of detail V in figure 1; and figure 6 is a variant of detail II. A door 1 according to the invention can be fitted as a prefabricated unit in the passage opening 3 of a garage 2. For this purpose side frames 4 are fixed in a manner not drawn to the side walls 5 of garage 2. Each side frame 4 consists of a vertical U-profile 6 and a horizontal angle profile 7 mutually joined by means of a brace 8. The side frames 4 are mutually connected by a buffer beam 9 which closes off the top of the passage opening 3 which bounds the height clearance. A door panel 10 consisting of flexible steel plate material profiled in horizontal direction and having a thickness of for instance 0.5 mm is guided in the U-profiles 6 and the angle profiles 7 and is guided behind the buffer beam 9, specifically at the location of the bend, by means of guide wheels 11 which are each mounted for rotation on a brace 8 by means of a bearing sleeve 41 and a bearing piece 42 and the periphery of which comes into contact with the path of movement of the door panel 10, while at this position the profiles 6 and 7 are recessed, whereby in each case a flange 13 has a sloping edge 15 directed towards the guide wheel 11. Also conceivable instead of a guide wheel 11 is a fixed part-circular guiding. A guide wheel 11 is greatly preferable. A horizontal panel edge 16 of the flexible plate material 17 is bent over as an angle section 18 and is clamped fixedly into an angle section 19 of a profile-like edge strip 20, the other edge of which is bent in the form of a part-cylindrical, and specifically a semi-cylindrical hinge piece 21, of which a diametric end piece 22 forms a stop for a radially directed end piece 23 of a part-cylindrical profile piece 24 which accommodates the hinge piece 21 close-fittingly and especially pivotably, and which forms a piece of a substantially S-shaped strengthening profile 25. As a result of the use of this strengthening profile 25 and the hinged attachment thereof to the horizontal edge 16 of the door panel 10, this door panel 10 allows of easy guiding out of the opened position drawn in figure 4 and easy pulling into the closing position. Especially in combination with the rotatable guide wheel 11 the door panel 10 is easy to operate without the panel having the tendency to go out of square and/or become stuck. The strengthening profile 25 has on either end a guide block 26 of plastic rounded off at its front side which co-acts for guiding with a guide block 27 arranged on the U-profile 6. The door panel 10 has on its edges guide strips 28 of plastic. The door panel 10 is preferably balanced by means of springs, for example compression or draw springs which grip onto the ends of the door panel 10, or coil springs 31 accommodated in the guide wheels 30 as in figure 6, whereby the door panel 10 then grips with shaped ridges 32 into specially adapted hollows 34 of the guide wheel 30. A guide bar 35 of plastic holds the door panel 10 in engagement with the hollows 34.

Claims: Garage door (1) comprising one single flexible panel (10) of flexible profile plate material, which is guided at both sides by means of lying guide profiles, upright guide profiles (6) and intermediate guide means (11) extending therebetween, said panel (10) being guided between an upright closed position and an extended lying opened position, said intermediate guide means (11) comprising guide wheels (11), each mounted for individual free rotation in a corner between respective lying and upright guide profiles (4, 6); the side edges of said flexible panel (10) being slidably guided in said lying and upright guide profiles (4, 6); characterized in that a strengthening profile (25) is hinged to the lower horizontal edge (16) of said flexible panel (10) , that the strengthening profile (25) is pivotable through a limited angle of pivot ( a ) in relation to the horizontal edge (16), and that each guide wheel is so individually mounted at a brace 8 interconnecting an upright guide profile (6) with a lying guide profile (7) that the door opening between said guide wheels at the level thereof is free for passing vehicles. A garage door (1) as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the side edges of the flexible panel (10) are slidably guided in said guide profiles by means of guide strips (28) of plastic material connected to said side edges. Garage door (1) as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that an edge strip (20) is fixedly attached to the horizontal panel edge (16) and is coupled for pivoting to the strengthening profile (25). Garage door (1) as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that the strengthening profile (25) has a substantially S-shaped section. Garage door (1) as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that the strengthening profile (25) has a substantially circular coupling edge (24). Garage door (1) as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that to each end of the strengthening profile (25) is attached a guide member (26) which co-acts with stationary guide means (27).

Inventors: RUITER, MARK ANDRE, Ruiter, Mark André
Applicants: POLYNORM N.V.
Application year: 1989
Main classification: E05D15
IPC codes: E06B9, E05D15, E05D1, E05F15