Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Vertical Travel Door
This invention concerns a vertical travel door that opens from the closed
position by moving downwards into an underground trench. The door moves up
and down two vertical posts located at each side, and is raised and lowered by
a vertical travel drive mechanism.
Such vertical travel doors have so far been equipped with hydraulic piston
lifting mechanisms, where the hydraulic piston mechanism is accommodated
under the floor, and lifts the door structure from below, as shown by AT-B 382
201 or US-A 4 922 655. The door structure is guided by underground posts
arranged to the side of the door panel where required. This means that when
the door is raised in the closed position it is actually not very safe or stable.
Despite the fact that the door is not particularly rigid it needs a relatively large
space underground to accommodate the vertical travel drive mechanism and
door guides, meaning that such vertical travel doors have been implemented
only where small dimensions are concerned, and have in practice proved
hardly worth installing.
This invention is therefore designed to overcome the above problem by
providing a door of the type mentioned at the beginning, featuring a more
straighfforward and space-saving construction that is both more stable and has
a multitude of applications.
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The invention solves the problem by using side-mounted guides that reach
over the entire path the door travels while opening and closing. The side-
mounted guides are linked at the top and bottom by cross braces that are
joined to the door frame. The lifting mechanism is located in the vicinity of the
top cross brace and the door is suspended on chains or spindles that run down
the vertical guide posts. The door frame ensures that the door structure is bothrigid and stable, especially in the closed position where the door panel is
supported securely. Another feature is the lifting mechanism which has been
taken out of its previous underground location, and is now located up in the
vicinity of the top cross brace, so that the door is easier to operate due to it now
being suspended, and in addition the narrower slot in the floor is quite sufficient
to accommodate the vertical travel guides, the lower cross brace (if required)
and the door panel when lowered. To install the door it is necessary only to
excavate a narrow trench in the floor, just wide enough to be able to bring in
the foundation with support frame and carry out the foundation lining work, thusenabling this design to save on both labor and space at the same time as
providing a stable, self-supporting construction which significantly widens the
range of implementation and applications of this type of vertical travel door.
This door can then be implemented not just as an outside door for workshops
and garages etc., but also as a wall element used as part of a conservatory,
pavilion or other building, that can be lowered into the ground when required.
The door panels can be made of a variety of materials to suit the application inquestion, e.g. they can comprise a framework into which different panels can
be fitted, made of glass or insulation elements etc.
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A variety of different lifting mechanisms can be implemented. A hydraulic
cylinder can be mounted on the underside of the top cross brace for example,
linked with the top edge of the door. A more practical system however is a
vertical travel drive mechanism involving a spindle drive system where the
spindles are connected to the door via anti-twist nuts so that the spindles can
be driven by a simple electric motor (or hydraulic or pneumatic unit), also
providing a self-locking door suspension system.
Another type of vertical travel drive mechanism with certain advantages is a
chain-driven system where the door is suspended from a drive shaft which runs
on bearings within the recesses of the vertical guide posts. The sprockets from
which the chain is suspended are located at the top end of the vertical guide
posts. This drive system can be set with precision and adjusted to on-site
conditions with ease. Because the same drive shaft operates the chains on
both sides of the door, uniform vertical travel is ensured.
A particularly favorable configuration is achieved by installing an additional
idler sprocket on each side of the door so that the chains - which are anchored
to the door frame at one end by an adjustable, spring-loaded restraint - run
down over the idler sprocket (that takes the weight of the door) before going upto the drive sprocket so that a pulley effect is achieved. The pulley system
enables the door to be moved with precision and with the minimum of force.
If a malfunction or damage were to occur to the door drive mechanism, the door
is fitted with a safety brake to prevent it falling, possibly causing a dangerous
situation. The door panel is fitted with at least one safety brake near its bottom
edge. The safety brake comprises a spring-loaded lever that, when activated,
applies a brake pad to the vertical guide post.
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The lever is operated by a trigger linked to the door panel suspension which
prevents the brake being applied so long a force is acting on it. Providing the
weight of the door panel is acting on the door panel suspension the trigger
holds the safety brake lever in the open position. If the door suspension no
longer has a force acting on it (e.g. because a chain has broken etc.) the
trigger is activated and the spring-loaded lever applies the brake to the vertical
guide post, braking the fall of the door panel. If the door panel is raised via the
door panel suspension the trigger acts on the brake lever again, releasing the
brake.
In order to ensure exact tracking and prevent the door from moving back and
forth within the vertical guide posts, the door panel is fitted with lateral support
elements which are adjustable and engage with the runners in the vertical
guide posts. Due to the fact that the lateral support elements are adjustable,
the door panel moves easily and yet with precision along the vertical guide postrunners. The lateral support elements can take the form of rollers or glide
blocks etc. and additional sets can be implemented at each end of the door
panel if required.
So that large surface areas of door panels or walls can be handled, two or
more door panels can be arranged side by side if a shared vertical guide post
is inserted between them. This enables a vertical travel door or wall (in the
case of greenhouses or conservatories for example) to be made up of several
segments, each of which can be operated separately if required.
For safety and accident p!evention reasons the top of the door panel isequipped with a safety bar which is fitted with pressure switches connected to
the vertical travel drive mechanism. If, when the door panel moves from the
open position and starts moving upwards towards the closed position, the
safety bar touches an object or person the pressure switches immediateiy
switch off the vertical travel drive, thereby preventing damage or injury.
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The drawings show the following views of the invention:
Fig. 1 shows a partial section through the vertical travel door viewed from the
side.
Fig. 2 shows section ll - ll from Fig. 1 enlarged.
Fig. 3 shows a partial section through a vertical travel door which has been
modified to demonstrate one possible configuration, viewed from the
slde.
Fig. 4 shows section IV - IV from Fig. 3.
Fig. 5 shows a horizontal section through another possible configuration.
With reference to Fig. 1, a vertical travel door (1 ) comprises a door frame (2)which is partially embedded in the ground (B) and partially protruding upwards,
two vertical guide posts (3), an upper cross brace (4) and a lower cross brace
(5), where required. The door panel (6) moves up and down between the two
vertical guide posts (3). Door movements between the upper closed position
and the underground open position are powered by the vertical travel drive
mechanism (7).
The configuration shown in Fig. 1 and in Fig. 2 involves vertical travel drive
mechanism (7) comprising a spindle drive (8) with a drive shaft (9) which turns
within the upper cross brace (4). Bevel gears (10) act as a transmission to the
spindles (11) which turn inside the vertical guide posts (3). Anti-twist nuts (12)
connected to the door panel (6) move up or down the spindle (11 ) depending
on which direction it is rotating. The door panel (6) is fitted with adjustable
lateral support elements (13) which steady the door against the runners (14) of
the vertical guide posts (3) and can be raised and lowered with ease by spindle
drive (8).
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The configuration shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 involves vertical travel drive
mechanism (7) comprising a chain drive (15) with a drive shaft (9) turning on
bearings within top cross brace (4) on which sprockets (16) are mounted in the
region of vertical guide posts (3) from which chains (17) are driven to move
door panel (6). Each sprocket (16) is assigned an idler sprocket (18) which is
connected to the suspension of door panel (6) and forms a pulley system (19)
with sprocket (16) and chain (17). At one end the chain (17) is attached to an
adjustable, spring-loaded restraint (20) on door panel frame (2). The chain runsfrom the restraint to idler sprocket (18), back up over sprocket (16), from which
it hangs free inside vertical guide post (3). By rotating drive shaft (9) the
sprockets (16) can be turned in one direction or the other so that the pulley
system (19) moves the idler sprocket (18) up or down, moving the door panel
(6) with it. The door panel (6) is guided by lateral support rollers (21 ) - or glide
blocks - that move up and down the guide runners (22) mounted on the vertical
guide posts in such a way that lateral support roller (23) can be adjusted to
keep the door absolutely steady.
Door panel (6) is fitted with a safety brake (24) along its lower edge. A pivoting
brake lever (25) is mounted at each end and has a brake block (26) which is
applied to vertical guide post (3). The brake lever (25) is spring-loaded towards
the braking position via spring (27). The door panel suspension point (28) -
which is idler sprocket bearing (18) in this case - is mounted on trigger (29) that
is fitted with an arm (39) that holds the brake lever (25) in the open position.Providing the weight of the door panel (6) acts on trigger (29) holding it against
the stop (31 ) on the underside of the door, arm (30) holds brake lever (25)
away from vertical guide post (3) and the brake is open. As soon as the
suspension gives, counter-spring (27) can move the brake lever (25) against
the trigger (29) so that brake pads (26) are forced against the vertical guide
posts (3) and the door panel is held fast.
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As a safety feature the door panel (6) can be equipped with a safety bar (32)
along its top edge. The safety bar is spring-loaded and is equipped with
pressure switches (33) that are connected to the vertical travel drive
mechanism '7? so that if the door is moving from the open position up to the
closed position and safety bar (32) touches a person or object obstructing the
path of the door the vertical travel drive mechanism is switched off immediately.
Instead of using a safety bar equipped with pressure switches, an electric eye
system can be fitted to switch off the vertical travel drive mechanism if a person
or object obstructs the path of the door panel.
Protection strip (34) along the vertical guide posts not only protects the guideand drive components, but also prevents the system being tampered with,
which could be dangerous.
With door framework (2) and vertical travel drive mechanism (7) being located
in the vicinity of the upper cross brace (4), this vertical travel door system
provides a stable construction which is capable of bearing heavy door panels,
and features a relatively narrow, space saving design which means that to
install such a door only a narrow trench need be excavated to accept the
foundation, the door frame construction and the lowered door panel. In addition
the vertical travel door system has many applications. Apart from being used as
a door it can also be implemented to take wall elements of a conservatory (or
similar building) where, as shown in Fig. 5, a number of door panels (6) can be
arranged next to each other when a shared vertical guide post (35) is inserted
in between. The door framework then encompasses all the door segments, and
each door panel can be configured to operate separately.
