Balancing and guiding device for sliding doors

Abstract: A balancing and guiding device (16) for vertically movable doors (10). The door (10) is sliding on tracks (13) vertically extending on both sides, and it is operatively connected to a balancing device; according to an embodiment, the balancing device (16) comprises a vertically movable body member having an upper body portion (17) of constant weight, and a bottom body portion (18) of variable weight, provided by superimposable and hingeably connected plates (23). The tracks (13) for the door are provided by channel members comprising bottom and side walls defining a guide portion (40) and a protective portion (41) partially extending on both faces of the paneling (10) of the door.

Description: The present invention relates to some improvements to sliding doors which are vertically movable along guiding rails or tracks provided on both sides of an aperture or opening in a wall, to ensure a higher degree of safety and reliability, when the door is in movement. Vertically sliding doors are mainly used for closing large access openings. In general, they comprise a panelling provided on both side edges with support rolls sliding into lateral guide tracks which extend vertically upwards from the ground towards the ceiling, where they may continue in a substantially horizontal or slightly inclined arrangement so as to enable the door to be raised completely. From FR-A-2.653.485, a vertically movable door is known comprising a panelling having guide rolls sliding along vertically arranged side guides, and balancing means operatively connected to the door for balancing the weigh of the panelling during the movement along the guide tracks. Each of the tracks comprises a channel shaped guide member having bottom and side walls defining a guide portion for the rolls of the panelling of the door. In general, the tracks for a vertically movable door comprise sheet-metal sections in the form of channel shaped elements laterally arranged to a support member which longitudinally extend for the travel of the door. During the manufacture and mounting of said tracks, a number of adjustments are required for each specific use, which are difficult to perform with the presently known guide tracks, unless guide tracks suitable for each individual application are manufactured in each case. In particular, the widthwise dimensions of the tracks must be designed or provided according to the diameter of the support rolls of the door. However, in the case of sectional or sliding doors, the thickness of the door panels can vary, depending on structural requirements, for example when it is required to vary the thickness of the thermally insulating inner layer; consequently, the diameter of the support rolls as well as the dimensions of the respective guide tracks must be adapted or varied accordingly. All of this makes it necessary to provide beforehand guide tracks of different widths or to produce tracks having specific dimensions at the time when they are required by a user. Thus, the need exists to have guiding tracks for universal use, which can be easily adapted and adjusted at the time of their assembling and which at the same time allow a standardized production. An object of the present invention, is to provide a vertically movable door which makes use of guiding tracks which may be suitably protected at least over a vertical portion of the travel path so as to prevent an operator from being injured or foreign objects from entering into the guide tracks themselves, hindering or blocking the sliding movement of the door. Another object of the invention is to provide a guide track for doors and the like, which is able to satisfy the above mentioned safety requirements an easy mounting of the tracks and the door, as well as the easy removal of the same door from the tracks. These and other objects and features of the invention may be achieved by means of a guide system for a vertically movable door according to claim 1. Some preferred embodiments of the guide system balancing device according to the invention and an application thereof to sectional doors, will be now explained in detail hereinbelow with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a front view of a sectional door provided with a balancing and guiding system according to the invention; Fig. 2 is a side view of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of a guide track, along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is cross-sectional view along the line 4-4 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a second embodiment of a guide track; Fig. 6 shows a detail of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a third embodiment of a guide track; and Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a fourth embodiment of a guide track. With reference to Figures 1 to 5, we will describe a sectional door provided with a guiding and balancing device according to the invention. As shown in Fig. 1, a sectional sliding door substantially comprises a plurality of panels 10 transversely extending to the door and hingeably connected at the hinge points 11, and provided on the side edges with support rolls 12 allowing them to rotate along horizontal axes and to slide along guide tracks 13 which extend vertically upwards on both sides. In the example of Figure 1, each guide track 13 comprises a lower section 13A which extends over a height equal to the overall length of the door, and an upper section 13B which may extend horizontally in a manner per se known as shown with 13C and 13D in Fig. 2. The door is furthermore connected, by cables 14 and 15, to a weight balancing system 16 for asisting the raising and lowering of the door itself. The door is operatively connected to a balancing device 16 provided by a counterweight comprising an upper portion 17 of constant and predetermined weight, which is usually less than the maximum weight of the door to be balanced, for example one-half or more, and a lower modular portion 18 of variable weight, intended to gradually compensate the variation of the weight to be balanced during upward or downward movement of the door. As it can be seen from Fig. 1, the upper panel 10 of the door is connected to the upper portion 17 of the balancing device by means of a pair of steel cables 14, 15 which are deviated by suitable pulleys 30 and 31 mounted on plates 32 and 33 fixed to a wall. As shown in figure 3 and 4 the door panels 10 are made of galvanised and painted double sheet-metal 10A, 10B connected by a tubular frame 34; each panel 10 is furthermore provided on each vertical side with a guide roll 12 rotatably supported by means of the frame 34. The rolls 12 can be made from plastic material or can be die-cast and mounted on a steel shaft 35 fixed to the frame 34 coplanar with the panel 10, lying in its middle plane. From Fig. 1 as well as Fig. 3 to 8, it can be seen furthermore that the vertical tracks are made from cold-galvanised and press-folded steel sheet, and have, in the lower section 13A, a sufficiently large width to cover the edge portions of the panels 10 so as to protect an operator or prevent the entry of foreign material or bodies, which could block the sliding movement of the door. Therefore, the lower part 13A of the tracks 13, viewed in the cross-section of Fig. 3, comprises a guide portion 40 defining a path for the travel movement of the rolls 12, and a protective portion 41 consisting of an extension of the two side walls of the guide portion 40, which laterally extend towards and beyond the side edges on both faces of the panels 10; a gasket 42 is fitted onto the edges of the guide portion 40 to contact both faces of the panels 10 of the door. A rib 43 in the form of a "V" shaped protrusion is provided inside the two side walls of the track between the guiding portion 40 and the protective portion 41, both in order to reinforce the guide itself and prevent the wheels 12 from escaping outside. In its upper part 13B, 13C and 13D, as shown in Fig. 4, the guide track has a section of smaller width, similar to the guide portion 40 of the lower track 13A, being devoid of protective portion 41 since the upper part of the track is present at a greater height than that which can be reached by an operator. A damping device, for example consisting of a spring or a steel plate, can be provided at the end of the horizontal section 13D of the guide track in order to provide a soft-action stop at the end of the travel path of the door. The tracks 13A may be performed from a single metal sheet duly bent to perform the bottom wall and the shaped side walls to define the guide portion and the protective portion of the track; nevertheless, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the lower portion 13A of each track consists of two separate parts: more precisely, according to a first embodiment shown in Fig. 3, the track comprises a rear part 45 intended to be fixed to a wall along a side edge of an access opening, and a front part 46 removably fixed by screws 51 to the rear part 5 in an adjustable manner as explained further below. In particular, according to the example of Fig. 3, the track 13 is formed by an L-shaped rear part 45 and by an L-shaped front part 46 facing each other to provide a channel shaped track having a bottom and side walls. Therefore, the two parts 45 and 46 of the track have overlapping flat flanges 45A and 46A defining the bottom wall of the track, and side wings defining the guide portion, the intermediate V-shaped protrusion and the protective portion of the side walls. As previously stated the ribs or V-shaped protrusions 43 reinforce the track and create a barrier which prevents both any possibility of the rolls 12 from escaping laterally and the entry or forced introduction of foreing objects from the outside into the guide channel for the rolls 12 of the door. A further protection and barrier against the entry of dust and foreign objects is provided by the use of gaskets 42 on the inwardly folded edges of the protective portion 41 of each front and rear parts 45 and 46 of the track. From Fig. 3, it can also be seen that the track can be mounted on a wall in an extremely simple manner by firstly fixing the rear part 45 by means of suitable plugs and subsequently fixing the front part 46 to the rear part 16A, for example by screwing in a set of screws 51 into holes in aligned positions of the two bottom flanges 45A and 46A. From the same Fig. 3, it can also be seen that it is possible to vary the width of the guide track by simply adjusting the position of the front part of the track in respect to the rear part. This makes it possible to vary or adapt the space between the guide walls depending on the diameter of the rolls 12 and the thickness of the panels 10 of the door. A second embodiment for the track 13 is shown in Fig. 5; in the case of Fig. 5, only one part 47 of the track is provided with a rear flange 48, having an outwardly bent edge 49 to connect the same part 47 to a front part 50 of the track having a flat rear portion screwed at 51 to the bent edge 49. In this case, also, a widthwise adjustment of the tract is made possible, for example by disposing a spacer 52 between the flange 49 and the rear edge of the front part 50 as schematically shown in the detail of Figure 6. Fig. 7 relates to a third embodiment of a modified track 13 of Fig. 5, in which the protective rib 43 of the track has been omitted while maintaining the advantage of the two part construction 53, 54 of the track according to the invention. Lastly Fig. 8 relates to a fourth solution which maintains the advantage of the track of Fig. 3, providing at the same time reduction in cost, simplification in the design, preventing the rool 12 from contacting and braking against the bottom wall of the track. In Fig. 8 a construction in two parts 55, 56 of the track has been again provided, comprising a guide portion and a protective portion according to the example of Fig. 3. In the case of Fig. 8, the V-shaped projection 43 has been provided on the front part 56 only of the track, while the rear part 55 of the track is provided with a bevelled corner 57 between the side and bottom walls preventing the roll 12 to contact and wear against the same bottom of the guide track. It will be understood that it has been possible to provide a safety and adjustable guiding track for sliding doors having a new and original track structure, which can be manufactered using standardized parts, thus allowing widthwise adjustment and adaptation to various requirements of use.

Claims: A track system for a vertically movable door of the type comprising: a paneling (10) having guide rolls (12) sliding along vertically arranged side tracks (13); balancing means (16) operatively connected to the door for balancing the weight of the paneling (10) during movement along the side tracks (13); each of said tracks (13) comprising a channel shaped guide member having bottom and side walls defining a first guide portion (40) for the rolls (12) of the paneling (10), characterized in that said tracks further comprise a protective portion (41) laterally extending for a short length over both faces of the paneling (10) of the door. A track system for a vertically movable door according to claim 1 characterized in that said wheels guide rolls (12) are rotatably supported by a shaft (35) coplanary arranged to the panel (10) of the door. A track system for a vertically movable door according to claim 1 characterized in that gasket members (42) are provided on longitudinal edges of the protective portion (41) of the guide tracks (13), arranged to contact both sides of the panels (10) of the door. A track system for a vertically movable door according to anyone of the preceding claims characterized in that an inward projection (43) is longitudinally extending on at least one side wall, between the guide portion (40) and the protective portion (41) of the track (13). A track system for a vertically movable door according to claim 1 characterized in that said channel shaped guide member (13) comprises front and rear guide portions (45, 46; 47, 50; 53, 54; 55, 56) removably connected to each other, defining bottom of the guide and protective portions (40, 41) and side walls of the track (13). A track system for a vertically movable door according to the any preceding claim characterized in that means (45A, 46A; 49, 51, 52) are provided for adjusting the width between the side walls of the track (13). A track system for a vertically movable door according to claim 1 characterized in that the guide portion (40) of the track (13) is provided with a bevelled corner (57) between the bottom and a side wall of the track (13).

Inventors: RISTOLFI OSCAR, RISTOLFI, OSCAR
Applicants: RISTOLFI OSCAR, RISTOLFI, OSCAR
Application year: 1998
Main classification: E05D13
IPC codes: E05D15, E05F1, E05D13