Patent Description:
Roller shutters, also known as roller shutters, known and widely used for closing doors, are made up of elements, linked together by hinges, called slats or slats or sections (which we will call "sections" in the following), sliding on vertical guides arranged in correspondence with two uprights of the door, and are essentially characterized by the fact that the aforementioned sections in the opening phase of the door, or in the phase in which these sections free the door space, are recalled upwards, thanks to the winding of the sections themselves on a rotating shaft or roller or drum (which in the following we will call "shaft") with a fixed rotation axis, and they are collected substantially above a crosspiece of the door.

The rolling shutters currently available are made for civil and industrial use, and take on very different dimensions and technical characteristics, without prejudice to the operating principle described above.

If, then, the door is of considerable size, especially in height, as, for example, in the doors of industrial warehouses, the roller shutter described above is also usually equipped with electric motors, to carry out the opening and closing movements.

Again in the industrial sector, in order to limit energy losses caused by heat dispersion between internal and external environments, as well as to free up the door space in the shortest possible time to allow both pedestrian and vehicular transit, it is necessary that the opening and closing speeds are quite high: with the electric motors mentioned above, speeds of <NUM> meter per second, or slightly higher, are normally achieved, which are normally not sufficient to quickly free or close the door compartment.

Two binding factors essentially contribute to limiting the opening and closing speeds: the first factor is linked to the winding and unwinding of the sections which on the rotating shaft must be regular and with mechanical stresses of the constraints between sections of a limited extent; the second factor concerns the acceleration and braking that must be imparted to the assembly made up of the rotating shaft and the sections that progressively wrap around the rotating shaft itself: this assembly can not only take on progressively more and more significant mass and diameter, but it also requires the use of increasing powers with quadratic progression related to the speeds.

Finally, if it is necessary to ventilate the internal environment, the roller shutters of the type described above can only be partially rolled up, creating only a partial opening of the door compartment only between the floor and a lower edge of the roller shutter itself, also cease the security barrier effect against the possibility of intrusions.

A roller shutter according to the preamble of claim <NUM> is known from <CIT>. Another relevant roller shutter is known from <CIT>.

In summary: the main drawbacks presented by known types of roller shutters are the limited opening and closing speeds, as well as the impossibility of opening only the upper part of the door compartment in order to allow ventilation of the internal environments without however affecting the safety barrier function of the roller shutter itself. To these drawbacks, there is also the bulk in the upper area of the door or immediately above the door crosspiece, represented by the set of sections progressively wrapped around the rotating shaft, which, in the case of doors of considerable height, it can reach quite large dimensions and therefore require the adoption of even larger collection boxes, with the possible need to either raise the ceiling more, or even sacrifice part of the door space.

The aim of the present invention is to create a shutter or roller shutter for doors which is free from the drawbacks described above.

According to the present invention, a roller shutter for doors according to claim <NUM> is created.

So, for example, once the rotation speed of the shaft is fixed at the usual values which corresponds to a peripheral speed of <NUM> meter per second, by carrying out a translation of the shaft at one meter per second we will obtain an opening at substantially double the speed without putting more stress on the rotating section system, i.e. the rotating shaft.

According to the present invention, a roller shutter or roller shutter for doors is preferably made which also includes:.

The invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings, which illustrate an example of non-limiting implementation, in which:.

With reference to <FIG>, <NUM> indicates as a whole a rolling shutter, or rolling closure, for a door <NUM>, which is a door <NUM> of a preferably, but not necessarily, industrial type, or having considerable dimensions, especially in height, and to which the following description will make explicit reference without losing any generality.

The door <NUM> is substantially defined by an upper crosspiece <NUM>, and by two vertical lateral uprights <NUM> which, starting from a floor <NUM>, are inserted into the crosspiece <NUM>, defining between them and with the crosspiece <NUM> itself, a space <NUM> for both pedestrian and pedestrian transit, both vehicular.

In particular, the two lateral vertical guides 1a run parallel to the uprights <NUM> of the door <NUM> starting from the floor <NUM> without, however, reaching the crossbar <NUM> of the door <NUM> itself, and, in fact, define:.

In order to speed up the opening of the compartment <NUM> of the door <NUM>, even halving the opening time compared to traditional closing systems without, however, excessively stressing the rotating shaft <NUM>, the roller shutter <NUM> includes two further lateral guides <NUM> , only one of which is illustrated in <FIG>, engaged by the rotating shaft <NUM> to allow a translation of the rotating shaft <NUM> and the X axis parallel to themselves precisely along the two further lateral guides <NUM> in such a way as to impart to the plurality of closing sections 2a a second translation motion along the two vertical lateral guides 1a overlapping the first translation motion so as to move the closing sections 2a at a speed composed of the effect of the first and second translation motions.

The two further lateral guides <NUM> are engaged by respective opposite ends 10a of the rotating shaft <NUM>, and are inclined both with respect to the vertical and with respect to the guides 1a since they are arranged, in their lowest part, substantially in proximity to the compartment <NUM> of the door <NUM> , and, in their highest part, in a position further away from the space <NUM> of the door <NUM>, and substantially at the same height as the crossbar <NUM> of the door <NUM>.

The simple translation of the rotating shaft <NUM>, parallel to itself and without any rotation around its own X axis, allows the closing sections 2a to be dragged along the guides 1a, freeing the lower part <NUM> of the compartment <NUM> from the closing sections 2a themselves, and the inclination of the lateral guides <NUM> in itself already allows this operation to be carried out in less time than that required for a traditional roller shutter whose sections are movable only vertically. Combining this simple translation of the shaft <NUM> rotating parallel to itself with the rotation of the shaft <NUM> (rotating around its own X axis), the opening time, or closing time, is significantly reduced, because while the closing sections 2a wrap around the rotating shaft <NUM>, they are also simultaneously dragged along the guides <NUM> with the result that the movement of the closing sections 2a along the guides 1a is decidedly faster, up to double the known speeds current.

For the purposes of combining the first translation motion of the closing sections 2a due to their wrapping around the rotating shaft <NUM>, with the second translation motion of the closing sections 2a themselves, due to the mere translation of the X axis and shaft <NUM> rotating parallel to itself, the rolling shutter <NUM> also includes a linear rack <NUM> fixed and arranged parallel to one of the two guides <NUM>, and a toothed wheel <NUM> angularly integral with the rotating shaft <NUM> and meshed in the linear rack <NUM> to form a gear <NUM> which rotates the rotating shaft <NUM> around its own axis X during the translation of the X axis, and of the rotating shaft <NUM> itself by means of the motor M, along the further lateral guides.

As the shaft <NUM> translates along the guides <NUM> parallel to itself, and also rotates around its own X axis going up along the relevant guides <NUM>, not only does it also bring with it the 2a closing sections, but determines the wrapping on itself of the closing sections 2a themselves, thus realizing, the composition of the first movement and the second translation along the guides 1a to the advantage of a reduced, if not even halved, opening time of the door <NUM> compared to traditional systems.

In order not to overly stress the rotating shaft <NUM> during its rotation around the X axis during the consequent winding of the closing sections 2a around itself, the rolling shutter <NUM> also includes two subvertical guides <NUM> - only one of which is illustrated in <FIG> - arranged, in a fixed position, by opposite bands of the door <NUM> in a substantially contiguous and continuous manner to the two guides 1a, and slidably engaged by the plurality of closing sections 2a to guide and support the closing sections 2a.

The two subvertical guides <NUM> are located in a position above the relative guides 9a, with respect to the vertical of the door <NUM>, parallel to the rack <NUM>, and are also arranged in substantial continuity with the relative guides 9a in order to accommodate, albeit temporarily, the closing sections 2a when these, as a result of their wrapping around the rotating shaft <NUM> and their removal from the door <NUM>, disengage from the guides 9a and progressively wrap around the rotating shaft <NUM> itself, progressively abandoning the guides <NUM> themselves.

In the non-limiting example of implementation of the roller shutter <NUM> illustrated and described here, the movement of the rotating shaft <NUM> by the motor M is achieved by means of a pulley - indicated as a whole with <NUM> and also forming part of the shutter or closure <NUM>- including:.

In particular, the drum <NUM> is arranged, in a fixed position, directly above the upper crosspiece <NUM> of the door <NUM> with its Y axis parallel to the upper crosspiece <NUM> of the door <NUM> itself, and the pulley <NUM> is arranged at an upper end of the fixed linear rack <NUM>. The ropes or belts <NUM> are connected at one end to the drum <NUM>, are returned by the pulley <NUM>, and are also connected to the shaft <NUM>: the rotation of the drum <NUM>, achieved by the drive of the motor M, determines the winding, i.e. the unwinding of the ropes or belts <NUM> on it and the recall, or release, of the rotating shaft <NUM>, which, being constrained to translate with its own axis The X axis itself, thanks to the gear <NUM>, wraps, or releases, the closing sections 2a, simultaneously moving them along the guides <NUM>.

Since, as previously written, the rolling shutter <NUM> is suitable for a door <NUM> of a preferably, but not necessarily, industrial type, i.e. having considerable dimensions, especially in height, the closing sections 2a described above are not sufficient to completely cover the entire compartment <NUM> of the door <NUM>, but only its lower part <NUM>, therefore, the rolling shutter <NUM> also includes a second shaft <NUM> rotating around the Y axis of horizontal rotation, and angularly integral, also selectively, with drum <NUM>; and a second plurality of closing sections, indicated with 2b, also called slats or slats, which are arranged parallel to the Y axis, are connected in series with each other by means of respective constraints <NUM>, or elements similar to hinges, and are connected at one end of the series to the rotating shaft <NUM>. The rolling shutter <NUM> also includes two further lateral vertical guides 1b arranged, in a fixed position, on opposite sides of the door <NUM> parallel to the uprights <NUM> and in correspondence with the upper part <NUM>. The two further lateral vertical guides 1b are vertically aligned with the guides 1a vertical laterals and are slidably engaged by the respective plurality of the closing elements 2b.

In particular, the two vertical guides 1a present, in correspondence with the two further vertical guides 1b, an upper terminal part <NUM> curved towards the inside of the door <NUM> and substantially overlapped with an initial lower part <NUM> of the two further vertical guides 1b in such a way to allow the closing sections 2a and 2b to define a seamless barrier along the entire compartment <NUM>. The curved upper terminal part <NUM>, moreover, is also directed towards the subvertical guides <NUM> to guarantee both a regular transition of the closing sections closure 2a from the guides 1a to the subvertical guides <NUM>, is an overlap of a lower closure section 16b of the closure sections 2b with the closure sections 2a.

Since the second rotating shaft <NUM> is angularly integral, although also selectively, with the drum <NUM>, the rotation of this drum <NUM>, achieved by the drive of the motor M, determines not only the winding, or unwinding, on it of the ropes or belts <NUM> and the recall, or release, of the rotating shaft <NUM> along the guides <NUM>, but also the rotation around the Y axis of the rotating shaft <NUM> itself and the recall, or release, of the second plurality of closing sections 2b along the two further lateral vertical guides 1b.

In other words, starting from an operational configuration of complete closure of the door <NUM>, illustrated in <FIG>, in which the closing sections 2a are arranged along the guides 1a to completely close the lower part <NUM> of the compartment <NUM>, and the closing sections 2b are arranged along the guides 1b to completely close the upper part <NUM> of the compartment <NUM>, the activation of the motor M determines the simultaneous rotation of the shafts <NUM> and <NUM> rotating around their axes 2b in an operational configuration of partial opening of the door <NUM>, illustrated in <FIG>, where the two further lateral vertical guides 1b are still engaged by the closing sections 2b, while the vertical guides 1a are already free from the relative closing sections 2a, and where a lower closing section 15a of the closing sections 2a is arranged substantially exiting the curved upper end part <NUM> of the guides 1a.

The further, or continuous, operation of the motor M determines the further rotation of the rotating shafts <NUM> and <NUM> around their own axes 2a will slide along the guides <NUM>, simultaneously wrapping around the drive shaft <NUM>, the closing sections 2b will almost completely free the guides 1b allowing the total opening of the compartment <NUM> of the door <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>, which illustrates an operational configuration of total opening of the door <NUM> in which the lower closing section 16b of the closing sections 2b is arranged substantially in proximity to the crosspiece <NUM> of the door <NUM>, and the rotating shaft <NUM>, with the closing sections 2a wound on it, has reached the highest position of the rack <NUM> and no longer represents any obstacle to entry/exit through the compartment <NUM> of the door <NUM>.

By adopting for the upper part <NUM> of the compartment <NUM> of the door <NUM> closing sections 2b controlled by a simply rotating shaft <NUM>, i.e., essentially, a traditional roller closure, and for the lower part <NUM>, closing sections 2a controlled by a shaft <NUM> rotating around a respective X axis of horizontal rotation and translating during its rotation along the subvertical guides <NUM> it will always be possible to obtain an advantage in terms of opening and/or closing speed, to which will be added the possible independently open the two parts <NUM> and <NUM> allowing, in the case of opening only the upper part <NUM>, to obtain ventilation of the internal environments without granting pedestrian access. To open only the upper part <NUM>, while the lower part <NUM> remains closed, it is necessary to provide a transmission, known and not illustrated and connected to the drum <NUM>, such as to decouple the drum <NUM> itself from the rotating shaft <NUM>, thus making the pulley <NUM> idle to the rotation of the rotating shaft <NUM> itself.

In any case, thanks to the composition of the two motions (rotational and translational), the compartment <NUM> of the door <NUM> is freed in much shorter times than similar doors equipped with simple fixed-axis winders and also compared to similar so-called sectional doors equipped with linear motion only.

The closing sections 2a and 2b, once collected on the respective rotating shafts <NUM> and <NUM>, will take on a smaller size than the size that would exist if all the closing sections 2a and 2b necessary to completely close the compartment <NUM> were wrapped around a single rotating shaft as happens in the embodiments known to date, and, furthermore, the overall height above the crosspiece <NUM> of the door <NUM> will also be significantly reduced compared to a rolling shutter for doors with a single rotating shaft.

No restrictions are placed on the choice of materials constituting the invention.

According to a further embodiment not illustrated, but easily deduced from what has been described above, the movement of the closing sections 2a, i.e. the rotation of the rotating shaft <NUM>, can be carried out independently from the movement of the closing sections 2b, i.e. the rotation of the rotary shaft <NUM>, preferably adopting a drive motor M for each rotary shaft <NUM> and <NUM> independent of the drive motor M of the other rotary shaft <NUM> and <NUM>. Two independent motors M, one for each shaft <NUM> and <NUM> rotating, they allow not only to divide the electro-mechanical power, which is not possibly possible for a shutter or roller shutter for doors with a single rotating shaft, but they also allow not only to do without the aforementioned transmission, but also to open only the upper part <NUM> of the door <NUM> allowing ventilation and preventing pedestrian or vehicle access.

In the attached figures one of the possible geometries has been represented, simplifying the representation as much as possible, omitting components and devices belonging to the known art (such as for example weight balancing systems, safety systems, electrical and electronic accessory systems), as they it is considered not strictly necessary to report more details, this to facilitate understanding of the functioning of the invention.

In order to ensure full compliance with sector standards and CE standards, the invention in its various construction forms must obviously be subjected to testing and approval.

Claim 1:
Roller shutter (<NUM>) for doors (<NUM>), the shutter (<NUM>) comprising:
- a first shaft (<NUM>) rotating around a respective first axis (X) of horizontal rotation,
- a first plurality of closing sections (2a) connected to the first rotating shaft (<NUM>) and, in series, with each other,
- two lateral vertical guides (1a) arranged, in a fixed position, on opposite sides of the door (<NUM>) and slidably engaged by the first plurality of closing sections (2a), and
- a motor (M) for driving the first rotating shaft (<NUM>) to rotate the first rotating shaft (<NUM>) itself around its own rotation axis (X) and impart to the first plurality of closing sections (2a) a first motion of translation along the two lateral vertical guides (1a);
the roller shutter (<NUM>) for doors (<NUM>) includes two further lateral guides (<NUM>) to allow a translation of the rotating shaft (<NUM>) itself and of the first axis(X) of horizontal rotation parallel to themselves along the further lateral guides (<NUM>) themselves, characterised by the fact that said two further lateral guides (<NUM>) are engaged by the rotating shaft (<NUM>) in such a way as to impart to the first plurality of closing sections (2a), a second translation motion along the two lateral vertical guides (1a) overlapping the first translation motion so as to move the first plurality of closing sections (2a), at a speed composed of the superposition of the first and second translation motion.