Rollup door with rollable door leaf
A rollup door comprising a door leaf of increasing width from top to bottom and having a narrower part on the top and a wider part on the bottom, and flexibility in the rolling direction; channels for guiding the door; and two modules for rolling and unrolling the door leaf so that a number of leaf layers do not come in contact. The modules are situated on each side of the door, have the same center axes and are successive radially enlarged so that on opening and closing of the door, the narrower and wider parts of the leaf engage the smaller and larger parts respectively of the modules.
The present invention relates to a rollup industrial door that can operate at high speed and low noise level. More specifically, the invention relates to a rollup door comprising a door leaf or blade of increasing width from top to bottom and having flexibility in the rolling direction, channels for guiding the door, two modules for rolling and unrolling the door leaf so that a number of leaf layers do not come in contact, wherein the modules are situated on each side of the door, have the same center axes and are successively radially enlarged so that on opening and closing of the door, the narrower and wider parts of the leaf engage the smaller and larger parts respectively of the modules.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONSince the 1970's there has been a great need to use rapidly moving doors in buildings for industrial use. This applies to openings indoors as well as in external walls, where the door provides shielding between different activities or prevents drafts and heat losses. Presently, rolling doors with flexible door leaves are used for this purpose, but also more rigid constructions like slatted doors with polymeric or metallic lamellae are used. These doors are rolled up on an overhead drive cylinder and can be provided with additional elements like a weight balance system, tensioning system, windows or the like. For safety reasons, rolling doors can be provided with safety edge protection, failsafe devices, drop protection, etc.
As understood from the above, rollup doors are available in different styles and materials. In one traditional design the door leaf is rolled up on a shaft directly upon itself. The drawback with this construction for more rigid doors is that wear soon causes visible marks on the lamella surface, which is regarded as a negative factor. In addition the lamellae are rolled on each other without any padding, which causes noise. These doors are normally run at low opening and closing speed in order to overcome this.
A flexible door leaf with, for example, sensitive material such as PVC, can also suffer from these wear problems. U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,859 discloses that this can be overcome by applying additional flexible strips extending perpendicular to the driving shaft. When the curtain is rolled or folded in its retracted position, the separation strip rolls or folds on itself to hold the layers of the curtain apart from one another.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,007 describes a slatted door comprising two guide tracks situated on opposite sides of the door opening. The guide tracks extend vertically over approximately the height of the door opening, and then merge at the entrance of the door into an inwardly positional spiral, so that the slats of the door run essentially free of each other, thereby providing a high speed door. This design requires guiding channels approximately twice as long as the door height. The lamellae, rolls, and guiding system are in motion during the complete opening/closure operation, which causes increased wear and noise.
A related door construction is disclosed in WO 01/69032 which overcomes the above-described disadvantages by providing a chain of support bodies screwed onto the side of the lamellae. These links are thicker than the lamellae. During the roll up operation, these support bodies roll upon each other and create a distance between the lamellae. In order to create an even roll, the links are curved according to an average roll up diameter. Still, this door design has a disadvantage in that the rolled up layers are in direct contact with each other, which causes noise. Also, an increased diameter is necessitated. The support bodies are rolled upon each other on an irregular surface, which is only partly compensated by the arched geometry. This top-on-top rolling leads to the support bodies suffering from both tension and pressure, and both outer surfaces incur wear and tear.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,682,937 describes a closure comprising a deformable rolling blind or shade and a drum formed by two parallel shafts, which are situated transversely in the upper position substantially superposed to the axis of the blind or shade. The upper edge of the blind or shaft is joined to the first shaft. The second shaft is joined to the first shaft and free to rotate, when the first shaft is driven by a drive mechanism and is free to rotate, at a slightly different speed than the first shaft. This provides a winding mechanism in which successive layers or turns of the shade or blind do not come into contact to each other avoiding an erratic unwinding of the shade or blind. The patent also describes a shade or blind in which the separation of the successive layers or turns is achieved by having stepped pulleys mounted on each end of the shafts having cheeks of different diameters to selectively form bearings with the ends of the slats of the shade or blind. The separation may also be achieved by the cheeks of the two superimposed shafts forming a bearing with end pieces attached to the slats of the shade or blind and extending at different lengths from the slats. The separation of the slats of the shade or blind may be obtained by rollers of different diameter attached to the ends of the slats, co-operating in reverse with independent tracks having the same diameter borne by the ends of the superimposed shafts. The disadvantages with this winding principle are the need for multiple shafts, and a low winding speed, as the shade or blind has to pass around the several shafts.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONTo avoid the disadvantages of the closures of the art as stated herein above, the present invention provides an industrial rollup door comprising a door leaf curtain covering the door opening. The leaf is at least flexible in the rollup direction and may comprise a flexible sheet material, or substantially rigid lamellae or slats, or a combination thereof including sections for windows, etc. The leaf is guided at the edges and can be rolled up in several layers. In most door applications the door is operating vertically, but also horizontal or angled operation are possible.
In order to minimize the noise and wear and facilitate the rapid opening/closing of the door, it is important that the leaf is rolled up on specially designed pair of conical modules and thereby avoids direct contact with the other parts of the door leaf. The object of the present invention is to decrease the noise level and facilitate higher opening and closing speeds and to improve the safe operation of such types of rollup door.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A first embodiment of the rollup door according to the present invention will now be described with reference to
According to the present embodiment shown in
To minimize noise and wear and facilitate the safe and rapid opening/closing of the door shown in
In
In the embodiment of the present invention illustrated in
A second embodiment of the invention is now described with reference to
As the door is raised, each respective layer 42, 44, 46 is rolled up on the respective disks 50, 52, 54 so as to avoid direct contact with the other layers. Advantageously, the disks 50, 52, 54 are successive radially enlarged, so that on opening and closing of the door, the narrower and wider layers 42, 44, 46 respectively engage the smaller and larger disks 50, 52, 54 respectively. In this connection, the door leaf edge 58 is shaped to fit the stepped contour of the disk package.
The other elements of the present embodiment shown in
Noise reduction members or dampeners 62 are provided tangentially around the circumference of each disk. In the case where a respective disk is made thin, for example, the dampener 62 can be made wide so as to even cover both sides at the edge of the disk. This dampener 62 is mainly dampening noise coming from direct mechanical contact of the various moving parts of the door assembly.
As understood from the forgoing description, modifications to the industrial rollup door would be obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art, but would not bring the invention so modified beyond the scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A rollup door comprising:
- a door leaf of increasing width from top to bottom, having a narrower part on the top and a wider part on the bottom, the door leaf having flexibility in the rolling direction;
- channels for guiding the door;
- two modules for rolling and unrolling the door leaf so that a number of leaf layers do not come in contact;
- the modules are situated on each side of the door, have the same center axes and are successive radially enlarged so that on opening and closing of the door, the narrower and wider parts of the leaf engage the smaller and larger parts respectively of the modules.
2. A rollup door according to claim 1 wherein a rotatable shaft connects the modules.
3. A rollup door according to claim 1 wherein each module has the outer shape of a continuous conical spiral.
4. A rollup door according to claim 1 wherein each module is a package of parallel disks.
5. A rollup door according to claim 1 having a dampener on the surface of the modules or directly on the door leaf.
6. A rollup door according to claim 4 wherein the largest diameter in a disk is the same as the smallest diameter in the next larger disk.
7. A rollup door according to claim 1 wherein the modules have a solid continuous surface.
8. A rollup door according to claim 1 wherein the leaf is attached directly to the modules.
9. A rollup door according to claim 1 where the leaf is indirectly attached to the module via a hoisting belt.
10. A rollup door according to claim 9 wherein the hoisting belt is attached from top to bottom of the door leaf.
11. A rollup door according to claim 2 wherein the shaft carries the initial turn of the door leaf and the module carries subsequent turns of said leaf.
12. A rollup door according to claim 1 wherein a door leaf edge is shaped to continuously fit a spiral contour of the module.
13. A rollup door according to claim 1 wherein a door leaf edge is stepped to fit the contour of the disk package.
14. A rollup door according to claim 4 having a door leaf with one step and a package of two disks.
15. A rollup door according to claim 4 having a door leaf with two steps and a package of three disks.
16. A rollup door according to claim 4 wherein the number of door leaf steps and the number and dimensions of disks are determined based on the height of the door.
17. A rollup door according to claim 1 wherein the door leaf is a flexible sheet material.
18. A rollup door according to claim 17 wherein the material is of laminate, reinforced or film construction.
19. A rollup door according to claim 1 wherein the door leaf is a series of connected substantially rigid slats giving a flexibility in the rolling direction.
20. A rollup door according to claim 19 wherein the slats comprise metallic, polymeric or reinforced materials, or a combination thereof.
21. A rollup door according to claim 19 wherein the slats have a surface texture.
22. A rollup door according to claim 1 wherein the door leaf contains at least one section with properties other than a main part of the leaf.
23. A rollup door according to claim 22 wherein the section is a window.
24. A rollup door according to claim 1 above wherein the door leaf has edge portions which correspond to the width increase of the door from top to bottom.
25. A rollup door according to claim 19 wherein the slats have end pieces inserted therein.
26. A rollup door according to claim 25 wherein the end pieces are attached to a hoisting belt.
27. A rollup door according to claim 25 wherein the end pieces include a wind anchor.
28. A rollup door according to claim 19 wherein a sealing element is located between the slats.
29. A rollup door according to claim 28 wherein the sealing element comprises mechanical joints, or glue.
30. A rollup door according to claim 28 where the sealing element also serves as a dampener between the slats.
31. A rollup door according to claim 28 wherein the sealing element is inserted between slats from a side of the door.
32. A rollup door according to claim 28 wherein the sealing element is inserted from an inner rolling side of the door.
33. A rollup door according to claim 1 wherein damaged parts are easily replaced from an inner rolling side of the door while the door is mainly in a closed position.
34. A rollup door according to claim 19 wherein upon a crash, damaged slats are easily replaced from an inner rolling side of the door while a hoisting belt is in position.
35. A rollup door according to claim 1 and further including at least one of a safety edge, sensors, tensioning system, and weight balancing systems.
36. A method of assembling an overhead door comprising the steps of:
- providing a door leaf of increasing width from top to bottom, the door leaf having flexibility in the rolling direction;
- providing channels for guiding the door; and
- providing two conical modules for rolling and unrolling the door leaf so that a number of leaf layers do not come in contact,
- the modules are situated on each side of the door, have the same center axes and are successive radially enlarged so that on opening and closing of the door, the narrower and wider parts of the leaf engage the smaller and larger parts respectively of the modules.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 11, 2005
Publication Date: Jun 2, 2005
Inventor: Friedhelm Frede (Erwitte)
Application Number: 11/032,952