Patent GB-465477-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in and relating to vehicle actuated means for opening and/or closing doors and gates
IPC: E05F13/04
Filed: 1935-11-06
Abstract: 465,477. Door-operating mechanism. AUSTIN, W. Nov. 6, 1935, No. 30729. [Class 65 (i)] In an installation for the operation of swing- ing gates or garage doors by the movement of a vehicle, of the kind in which a part of the vehicle or an attachment thereto other than the wheels engages an actuating member projecting above the ground and movable in the direction of travel of the vehicle, the actuating member is permanently connected to an endless flexible train of motion-transmitting elements, a part of this train or a member connected therewith being guided in a quadrantal channel centred on the door hinge and being adapted to engage a member carried by the door. In the arrangement shown applied to double doors 11, two actuating members are provided, each comprising a lever 29 projecting above the ground and carrying rollers 42 which run on ramps 43 so formed that the lever 29 can be pushed down at each end of its stroke to allow the vehicle to disengage it, cushion springs then raising the lever again for engagement by the vehicle ; the lever is mounted on a pivot below the ground, and is slotted to allow it to slide up and down on its pivot. The two levers 29 are connected by a cable 34 passing over pulley 32 and by cables 27, 31 (the cable 31 passing over pulley 32<a>) attached to opposite ends of cables 16, 17 which pass round pulleys at 24 and are attached to members sliding in quadrantal channels 19 concentric with the hinges of the doors 11 ; these members are engaged by bolts 14 carried by the doors, which can thus be easily detached from the operating means. All the cables and connections are arranged underground, and adjusting turnbuckles 35, to which access is obtained through inspection openings, are provided ; the arrangement is such that the doors are opened by movement of either member 29 towards them and are closed by the reverse movement. In a modification, the cables 16, 17 are replaced by a pair of spring steel strips guided in channels to act in compression as well as in tension and connected to a sliding member to which the cables 27, 31 are attached. The apparatus may be arranged to operate simultaneously a set of doors and approach gates. The Provisional Specification describes an arrangement in which four actuating members are provided, one on each side of the doors for opening and one on each side for closing, the closing members normally lying below the ground and being respectively connected to the opposite opening members so as to be raised into operative position when the doors are opened. The opening members are adapted to yield in a direction away from the doors, and are connected to a sliding member, which operates the doors, by means acting in tension only so that the two opening members do not affect one another ; the sliding member is connected to a counter-weight tending to close the doors, and the apparatus is held in the open position during the passage of a vehicle by the connection between the opening and closing members taking up a dead-centre position. Means may be provided to hold the actuating levers out of action when the doors are disconnected from the operating means. In another arrangement, also described in the Provisional Specification, a single actuating member is attached to an endless cable which carries means for engaging a sliding member connected to the doors, the arrangement being such that the engaging means is released after opening the doors and then passes round one of the pulleys carrying the endless cable so as to re-engage the sliding member after a certain travel and move it in the opposite direction to close the doors ; the actuating member dips at the end of its travel, to clear the vehicle, and then rises again under the action of a counterweight. The cables may be replaced by a suitable rod mechanism. The slots for the actuating members and for the connections to the doors may be closed by rubber or other flexible material which is deformed by the levers or members in their passage.