CANTILEVERED SLIDING GATE

Abstract: The present invention relates to a cantilevered sliding gate (1) comprising a frame (2), which at least comprises an upper (5) and a lower guide beam (6) and in which the lower guide beam (6) shows a practically U-shaped cross section, whereby two sets of guide wheels (4) and one set of pulleys (9) with an accompanying drive motor (10) are integrated in the lower guide beam (6), in which the set of pulleys (9) with the accompanying motor (10) is installed through a vertical support (13) on a horizontal support plate (14) outside the lower guide beam (6), whereby this support plate (14) is hinged at one side in relation to a fixed horizontal bottom plate (16) and is provided at the opposite side with pressure elements (17), working together with the bottom plate, to keep the pulleys (9) permanently in contact with the upper flange of the guide beam (6).

Description: CANTILEVERED SLIDING GATE The present invention relates to a cantilevered sliding gate comprising a frame, which at least comprises an upper and a lower guide beam and in which the lower guide beam shows a practically U-shaped cross section, whereby two sets of guide wheels and one set of pulleys with drive motor are integrated in the lower guide beam. Such a cantilevered sliding guide is substantially known from the German Gbm. 89.06344.9. A large advantage of this type of sliding gate is that the guide wheels, the pulleys and the drive motor are completely housed in the almost completely closed, lower guide beam of the gate. A sliding gate according to the German Gbm. 89.06344.9 amongst others allows to provide each of the guide wheels, placed at a distance of one another, with a toothed wheel that is fixedly connected to the guide wheels, and with a drive chain that works with both toothed wheels so as to allow to open and close the gate. In this case, the drive function and the support or guide function of the gate coincide with each other or in other words, the pulleys and the guide or support wheels of the gate coincide. When the gate is completely opened or closed, it will make a swivelling movement in its own plane around the guide wheels that are installed at a distance of one another. This means that, when the gate is completely closed, the first set of guide wheels touches the upper flange of the guide beam and that the second set of guide wheels touches the lower flange of the guide beam; whereas when the gate is completely opened, the first set of guide wheels touches the lower flange of the guide beam and the second set of guide wheels touches the upper flange of the guide beam. This makes that just before, during and after the swivelling movement, the contact of the guide wheels with the flanges of the lower guide beam is minimal or practically nill. If the drive function and support function of the cantilevered sliding gate coincide, this may, in certain gate positions, result in serious difficulties to move the gate from a standstill, as the contact of the guide wheels or pulleys with the guide beam flanges may be insufficient to exercise the necessary friction force or grip force of the pulleys on the flanges, as explained above. According to the German Gbm. 89.06344.9 it is also possible to separate the drive function from the support function of a cantilevered sliding gate. It is known to put a separate drive with a friction wheel between the guide wheels that are put at a distance of one another, whereby the friction wheel or the pulley works together with a flange of the lower guide beam. It has now been found that the surface of the pulley that is used largely is subject to wear and that the axle of the pulley that is used is subject to enormous forces. As a result of the wear of the pulley surface, the pulley looses the necessary friction force or grip function on the lower guide beam to move the gate from a standstill. It is therefore necessary to provide the pulley surface with a very strong wear-resistant upper layer, that also has sufficient frictional resistance to obtain a good grip function between the pulley and the flanges of the guide beam. This requires an additional and expensive treatment for the manufacturing of the pulleys. Moreover, the operational reliability of such specially treated pulleys is still insufficient as the slightest wear of a pulley already results in a loss of the necessary grip function between the pulley and the guide beam. It is an object of the invention to eliminate the aforementioned disadvantages. For a cantilevered sliding gate such as mentioned above, the invention therefore proposes to install the set of pulleys with the motor through a vertical support on a horizontal support plate outside the lower guide beam, whereby this support plate is hinged at one side in relation to a fixed horizontal bottom plate and is provided at the opposite side with pressure elements, working together with the bottom plate, to keep the pulleys permanently in contact with the upper flange of the guide beam. Preferably, these pressure elements consist of compression springs, installed between the support plate and the bottom plate. The invention further proposes to provide a cantilevered sliding gate of the aforementioned type, in which the drive mechanism according to the invention, is successfully applied to block the gate in its closed position, so that the undesired opening of the closed gate is impossible, even when the locking mechanism and/or the locking devices of the gate are opened or broken. This additional purpose is obtained by placing the set of pulleys with the motor through a vertical support on a swivel plate, whereby the swivel plate is, practically in the middle of it, provided with a swivel axle put on the support plate and whereby the swivel plate and at least one bottom flange of the lower guide beam are provided with clamping means, that work together, so that, when the gate is opened from a completely closed position with a self-braking motor, through the clamping function of the blocked pulleys with the upper flange of the guide beam, the swivel plate turns around its swivel axle and the clamping means clamp together. Preferably, the clamping devices, that work together, consist of a pin mounted on the swivel plate and an accompanying longitudinal groove in the bottom flange of the guide beam. The invention will now be described into more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein : Figure 1 shows a frontal view of a cantilevered sliding gate according to the invention ; Figure 2 shows a frontal view of a part of the cantilevered sliding gate according to the invention, in which two sets of guide wheels and one set of pulleys with accompanying drive motor are incorporated in the bottom U-shaped guide beam of the gate ; Figure 3 shows, in cross section according to line III - III' in figure 2, the U-shaped guide beam with a set of guide wheels with the accompanying vertical support and horizontal bottom plate ; Figure 4 shows, on a larger scale, the set of pulleys with accompanying motor, represented in figure 2, in which the bottom guide beam and the other elements are omitted to make the figure clearer ; Figure 5 shows, analogously to figure 4, a preferential version of the drive mechanism according to the invention ; Figure 6 shows, in cross section according to line VI - VI' in figure 2, the U-shaped guide beam with a set of pulleys with bottom plate with the compression springs and the support plate with compression springs ; Figure 7 shows a longitudinal cross section according to line VII - VII' in figure 6, in which the sliding gate is put in a completely closed position. Figure 1 shows the frontal view of the cantilevered sliding gate 1 according to the invention. The sliding gate 1 consists of a frame 2 in which bars 3 are put at regular distances of one another and also comprising the necessary drive and guide wheels 4. The frame 2 at least consists of one upper 5 and one lower guide beam 6 and two upright posts 7. The lower guide beam 6 shows a practically U-shaped cross section or in other words the bottom guide beam 6 has a longitudinal groove 8 at the bottom. In the following figures the same reference numbers are used to indicate the same parts of gate 1. Figure 2 shows in detail the two sets of guide wheels 4, installed at a distance of one another, and a separated set of pulleys 9 with accompanying drive motor 10. The two sets of guide wheels 4 in the bottom guide beam 6, as well as the support wheels, working together with the upper guide beam 5, thus guarantee the support function of the cantilevered gate 1 ; whereas the set of pulleys 9 with the accompaying motor 10 guarantee the drive function of the gate 1. The drive function and the support function of the sliding gate 1 according to the invention are separated from one another. Figure 3 shows a cross section according to line lll-IH' in figure 2 of a set of guide wheels 4 in the bottom guide beam 6 with longitudinal groove 8. A set of guide wheels 4 consists of two wheels 4, put at a distance of one another, that are installed at both sides of the longi- tudinal groove 8 between the upper and the lower flange of the guide beam. The set of guide wheels 4 is mounted on a vertical support 11 , that rests on a horizontal bottom plate 12. Figure 4 shows, on a larger scale, the set of pulleys 9 with accompanying motor 10, represented in figure 2, in which the bottom guide beam 6 and other elements are omitted to make the figure clearer. The set of pulleys 9 with accompanying motor 10 is mounted on a vertical support 13, that rests on a horizontal support plate 14. It is recommended to install a reductor between the axle of the pulleys 9 and the axle of the drive motor 10. According to the invention, the support plate 14 is at one side provided with hinges 15 or hinged in relation to a fixed horizontal bottom plate 16 and is equipped at the opposite side with pressure elements 17, working together with the bottom plate 16. Preferably, the pressure elements 17 consist of compression springs, installed between the support plate 14 and the bottom plate 16. The compres- sion spings 17 that are put under strain guarantee that the pulleys 9 are pressed against the upper flange of the bottom guide beam 6. The strained springs 17, installed between the support plate 14 and the accompanying bottom plate 16, can also be replaced by a rubber or plastic block presenting the necessary resilience. The strained rubber or plastic block thus functions as pressure element 17 to permanently keep the pulleys 9 in contact with the upper flange of the guide beam 6. The presence of the pressure elements 17 between the support plate 14 and the accompanying bottom plate 16 guarantees the grip function of the pulleys 9 on the upper flange of the guide beam 6. This is the case in all possible positions of the cantilevered sliding gate according to the invention. Analogously to figure 4, figure 5 shows a prefered embodiment of the drive mechanism of the gate 1 according to the invention. The set of pulleys 9 with the accompanying motor 10 is now mounted through the vertical support 13 on a practically horizontal plate 18, in which event the plate 18 is, practically in the middle of it, provided with a swivel axle 19 put on the support plate 14, so that the plate 18 (swivel plate 18) can swivel in relation to the support plate 14. Furthermore, the swivel plate 18 is provided with a pin 20 at the upper side and with pressure elements 21 , that are installed between the swivel plate 18 and the support plate 14. Here again, the pressure elements 21 preferably consist of strained compression springs, like the pressure elements 17 between the support plate 14 and the bottom plate 16. Figure 5 also shows that, between the support plate 14 and the swivel plate 18, a stop element 22 has been installed on the support plate 14 opposite to the pressure elements 21. The function of the pin 20, the pressure elements 21 and the stop element 22 will be explained in detail, with reference to figure 7. Figure 6 shows the cross section according to line VI -VI' in figure 2 of the U-shaped guide beam 6 with the set of pulleys 9 with the accompanying motor 10. The set of pulleys 9 consists of two pulleys 9, placed at a distance of one another, which are placed at both sides of the longitudinal groove 8 against the upper flange of the guide beam 6. The bottom flange of the guide beam 6 has a longitudinal groove 23 above the pin 20. The function of the groove 23 will be discussed in detail with reference to figure 7. Furthermore, figure 6 shows all the elements of the prefered embodiment, represented in figure 5, according to the invention. Figure 7 shows a longitudinal cross section according to line VII - VII' in figure 6, in which the gate 1 is put in a completely closed position. The function of the pin 20, the pressure elements or springs 21, the stop element 22 and the longitudinal groove 23 are described hereafter. When the gate 1 is completely closed and the locking mechanism and/or locking devices of the gate 1 are opened or broken, the blocked pulleys 9 will clamp against the upper flange of the guide beam 6 when the gate 1 with self-braking motor 10 is opened, as a result of which the swivel plate 18 will swivel around the swivel axle 19 (see arrows F) and as a result of which the pin 20 will clamp in the longitudinal groove 23. It is now impossible to further open the gate 1 , as the clamping devices 20 and 23 firmly clamp into one another. When the gate 1 is released, the compression springs 21 push the swivel plate 18 back upwards, thus removing the pin 20 out of the longitudinal groove 23. The stop element 22 guarantees that the swivel plate 18 is put back in its practically horizontal position.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. Cantilevered sliding gate (1) comprising of a frame (2), which at least comprises of an upper (5) and a lower guide beam (6) and in which the lower guide beam (6) shows a practically U-shaped cross section, whereby two sets of guide wheels (4) and one set of pulleys (9) with a drive motor (10) are integrated in the lower guide beam (6), characterised in that the set of pulleys (9) with the accompanying motor (10) is installed through a vertical support (13) on a horizontal support plate (14) outside the lower guide beam (6), whereby this support plate (14) is hinged at one side in relation to a fixed horizontal bottom plate (16) and is provided at the opposite side with pressure elements (17), working together with the bottom plate, to keep the pulleys (9) permanently in contact with the upper flange of the guide beam (6). 2. Cantilevered sliding gate according to claim 1 , characterised in that the pressure elements (17) consist of compression springs (17), installed between the support plate (14) and the bottom plate (16). 3. Cantilevered sliding gate according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterised in that the pulleys (9) with the accompanying motor (10) swivel in relation to the support plate (14). 4. Cantilevered sliding gate according to claim 3, characterised in that the set of pulleys (9) with the accompanying motor (10) is installed through a vertical support (13) on a swivel plate (18), whereby the swivel plate (18) is, practically in the middle of it, provided with a swivel axle (19) applied on the support plate (18). Cantilevered sliding gate according to claim 4, characterised in that the swivel plate (18) and at least one bottom flange of the lower guide beam (6) are provided with clamping means (20, 23), that work together, so that, when the gate (1) is opened from a completely closed position with a self-braking motor (10), through the clamping function of the blocked pulleys (9) with the upper flange of the guide beam (6), the swivel plate (18) turns around its swivel axle (19) and the clamping means (20, 23) clamp together. 6. Cantilevered sliding gate according to claim 5, characterised in that the clamping means (20, 23) that work together, consist of a pin (20) mounted on the swivel plate (18) and an accompanying longitudinal groove (23) in the bottom flange of the guide beam (6). 7. Cantilevered sliding gate according to one of the foregoing claims 4 - 6, characterised in that pressure elements (21) are applied between the swivel plate (18) and the support plate (14). 8. Cantilevered sliding gate according to claim 7, characterised in that the pressure elements (21) are compression springs. 9. Cantilevered sliding gate according to one or more of the foregoing claims 4 - 8, characterised in that a stop element (22) is mounted between the swivel plate (18) and the support plate (14) on the support plate (14) opposite of the pressure elements (21).

Inventors: COURTENS WILLY, DEFOOR TONY, COURTENS, WILLY, DEFOOR, TONY
Applicants: BEKAERT SA NV, COURTENS WILLY, DEFOOR TONY, COURTENS, WILLY, DEFOOR, TONY, N.V. BEKAERT S.A.
Application year: 2001
Main classification: E05F15
IPC codes: E05D15, E05F15