Abstract:
A roll-up door ( 10 ) with slats ( 60 ) rolled on a reel ( 12 ) with spiral guides ( 32 ) that maintain a tangent between the reel ( 12 ) and the closure plane at the point of entry/exit so as to maintain a perpendicular entry and exit with the side guides ( 36 ) and reduce friction, increase speed, reduce noise and help keep self-aligning end caps tracking correctly. It can also eliminate hinges between slats and permit each slat to be removed independently, without disassembling the other slats.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/082,964 filed Nov. 21, 2014, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes. 
     
    
     STATEMENT CONCERNING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
       [0002]    Not applicable. 
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    This invention relates to a roll-up door with slats that are rolled up into a coil of several layers or paid out to provide the slats generally in a plane as a closure over an opening. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    Roll-up doors in which a door panel having slats can be rolled onto a reel assembly to create a drum or barrel assembly are well-known. It is important in the design of a roll-up door that the door panel at the point at which it departs from the reel maintains a perpendicular entry and exit with the side guides of the door. This movement reduces friction, increases speed, reduces noise, and helps keep the self-aligning end caps on each slat tracking correctly. It would also be advantageous in such a door to have the individual slats be removable independently from the door panel without removing the other slats. It is also desirable in such a door to reduce noise of operation and keep the slats from becoming damaged by contacting each other. Hinge points between adjacent slats also can get dirty or clogged. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    The present invention provides a design which addresses the above needs and deficiencies in the state of the art. The invention provides a roll-up door with a door panel comprising slats on a reel that can be rotated in one direction so as to roll up the slats into a coil of several layers on the reel or paid out to provide the slats generally in a plane to provide a closure in a closure plane over the opening. In the invention in one aspect, a spiral guide is provided on ends of the reel that cooperates with a cam follower to translate the axis of the reel laterally toward or away from the closure plane so as to maintain a tangent relationship between the departure position on the reel where the door panel extends from the reel and the closure plane as the diameter of the coiled slats on the reel varies. 
         [0006]    Preferably, the reel is supported on trucks that can move laterally with little friction so that as the door is either retracted or extended, the axis of the reel moves laterally either away from or toward the closure plane. 
         [0007]    In another aspect, links are connected to the ends of the slats and are hinged end to end. The links stack on top of one another when the door is rolled up and they prevent the slats from contacting each other to preserve their appearance, reduce noise and enable faster operation of the door. The links travel in the side guides when they are deployed when the door is extended into the closure plane, to guide the door and provide wear sliding surfaces. Preferably the links have cooperating structures on their inner and outer surfaces so that they guide and nest each other when they are stacked up on top of one another in the refracted state of the door. 
         [0008]    In another aspect, a cable connects the links. The links may also be hinged to one another at their ends to provide a chain. Two cables can connect the links, one cable on the inside and one cable on the outside. In this configuration, any slat can be removed without materially disrupting the other slats, for example if it is in need of replacement. With this configuration also, no hinge is necessary between the slats. 
         [0009]    Thereby, the invention provides a roll-up door that maintains a perpendicular entry and exit with the side guides and reduces friction, increases speed, reduces noise, and helps keep the self-aligning end caps tracking correctly. It also eliminates hinges between slats and permits each slat to be removed independently. 
         [0010]    The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the detailed description which follows. In the description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is a right end perspective view of a roll-up door incorporating the invention with portions shown transparent for illustrative purposes, it being understood that the left end is the same structure; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is a view like  FIG. 1  but from the front relative to  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view like  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  is an exploded respective view of the drum assembly shown in  FIGS. 1-3 ; 
           [0015]      FIG. 5  is a view like  FIG. 4  but from the front; and 
           [0016]      FIG. 6  is a view like  FIG. 5  but as viewed from further to the left. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0017]      FIGS. 1-6  illustrate a roll-up door incorporating aspects of the invention. It is understood that this roll-up door typically would be a powered door with an electric motor drive unit  17  ( FIG. 6 ) either rolling it up or rolling it down. Such mechanisms are well known and not described in detail herein. 
         [0018]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , a roll-up door  10  of the invention includes a barrel assembly  12  supported at each end by a bearing  14  that is bolted to a truck  16  with a motor mounting bracket  18  ( FIG. 6 ) also bolted to the truck  16 . The motor drive unit  17  for driving the door can be mounted to the bracket  18  and engaged with the shaft  24  which is journaled by the bearing  14 . 
         [0019]    The truck  16  has wheels  20  that roll easily back and forth on surfaces  22  of stationary mounting bracket  66  so that the axle  24  of the barrel assembly  12  can move back and forth easily relative to the mounting bracket  66  as the door panel  26  is rolled up or rolled out. This movement is driven by the cam followers  28 , affixed to stationary plate  25  affixed to mounting bracket  66 . Each cam follower may be a roller or just a head of a bolt riding in the spiral groove raceway  30  of spiral guide  32 . The spiral guide  32 , one at each end of the barrel assembly  12 , is made in two halves bolted together so as to be easily replaceable and is fixed to the axle  24  so that when the axle  24  is driven by the motor drive unit the guide  32  also turns. The spacing of the flutes of the spiral groove  30  keeps the door panel  26  in position at the point at which the panel departs from the reel assembly  34  so that it remains generally tangent to the closure plane, which is the plane between the side guides  36 , one such stationary side guide  36  on each side of the door panel. In other words, the door panel  26  is assured of entering the side guides  36  perpendicularly upon entry and exit. If the axis of the axle  24  were fixed, since the barrel diameter varies as the barrel is rotated, the angle of entry to the side guides  36  would vary as the door was opened and closed. Under those circumstances, the door panel would be at a perpendicular angle to the edge guides  36  only when the door was fully rolled up and at maximum diameter. As the door was closed, the angle of entry would become progressively higher, resulting in increased friction, noise, wear and binding. 
         [0020]    At each end, a spiral guide  32  is bolted to a flange  38  of disc  40  of the reel assembly  34 . Referring to  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the outer diameter of the disc  40  is recessed at  42  so that an end link  44  can be attached to the disc  40  with a connector link  46 . Links  48  are identical to link  44  and are connected with pivot connections end to end for the length of the chain that they make up with shoulder bolts  49 . On both sides of the chain of links  44 ,  48 , a set of cables including inner cable  50  and outer cable  52  extends and is clamped to each respective link on the outside by cable clamps  56  and on the inside by end cap inserts  58 . The end cap inserts are inserted into the ends of the slats  60  that make up the door panels and can be secured to the slats by screws, rivets, adhesive, or other appropriate fasteners. The end cap  58  and the clamp  56  each have a groove through which the respective cables  50  and  52  extend and which clamp the respective cables  50  and  52  to the respective links  44  or  48  when the screws that secure them are tightened. The cables and the end-to-end pivot connections between the links  44  and  48  obviate the need for hinges between the individual slats  60  and also enable any individual slat to be removed and replaced if the need arises without removing the other slats. The respective cables  50  and  52  are each secured to the disc  40 , with the cable  50  winding around a flange of the disc  40  as illustrated in  FIG. 6 . Bracket  66  provides a frame for mounting the platform  22 , truck  16 , and associated supporting structure of the door  10 , and may also be used to position the edge guides  36  relative to the barrel  12 . These structures are the same (or mirror images of one another) on both ends of the door assembly. 
         [0021]    The links  44  and  48  have structures that mate with each other to guide the links as they stack on one another and permit them to nest with one another. These structures are the top rib  70  of each link and the inner groove  72  of each link. 
         [0022]    A preferred embodiment of the invention has been described in considerable detail. Many modifications and variations to the preferred embodiment described will be apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, the invention should not be limited to the embodiment described.