Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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A RAISABLE-CURTAIN GOODS-HANDLING DOOR WITH IMPROVED :
LATERAL SEALING
The present invention relates to a raisable-curtain
door with improved lateral sealing, for the purpose of
reducing flow of air past the door, for limiting heat
exchange, and/or for limiting penetration of dust o~
microorganisms into premises.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION ~ `:
Such do~rs generally comprise two lateral uprights
provided with respective slideways in which the lateral
portions of the curtain slide. European patent No. 0 194
194 describes means for avoiding a flow of air between
the slideways and the lateral portions of the curtain.
According to that patent, the lateral uprights are
channel section members having a web wall that is
substantially perpendicular to the curtain, and two
flange walls that extend from the web, parallel to the
curtain, and towards the curtain. The lateral edges of
the curtain are extended by a strip of flexible material
that rubs against the web of the channel section.
In such a solution, to obtain excellent sealing
between the lateral edges of the curtain and the
slideways, it is necessary to accept a large amount of
friction between said strip of flexible material and the `~
slideways. This gives rise to a large amount of energy
being lost when the curtain is moved. This drawback is
particularly troublesome in "goods-handling" doors which
are required to open and close quickly a large number of
times a day, on each occasion that a goods-handling
30 vehicle passes through. ;
Document EP 0 033 199 describes a raisable-curtain
door having a flexible curtain made of rubber and
provided with thick lateral edges that slide in
slideways. The slideways have a constriction disposed
between the thick edge of the curtain and the door-bay to
be closed. That type of door is particularly intended to
provide substantially sealed closure between lengths of a- -
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mine that are maintained at a determined pressure. Thethick edges of the curtain are deformable so as to pass
through the constriction of the slideway in the event of
the curtain being subjected to a violent shock. However,
under such circumstances, the thick edge of the curtain
may jam in the constriction of the slideway, thereby
subsequently preventing the curtain being raised and ~ -
locking the door in the closed position.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to remedy the
above drawback.
The present invention provides a raisable flexible
curtain door for closing a door-bay, the door including ~ -
two lateral uprights each having a slideway that forms a ~ -
constriction, the curtain substantially forming a plane
and having lateral edges that slide in respective ones of
said constrictions and that are provided with relief
projecting out from the plane of the curtain, said relief
being disposed substantially continuously along the
lateral edges of the curtain and being adapted to bear in
substantially sealed manner against the constrictions of
the slideways at least while the curtain is being
sub;ected to a traction force directed towards the inside
of the door-bay, said relief being sufficiently flexible
to be able to pass through said constrictions when said
traction force exceeds a determined value, wherein said
relief is constituted by a resilient flexible material in
sheet form secured to the lateral edges of the curtain,
and said sheet material extends outwardly from each
lateral edge of the curtain on either side of the plane
of the curtain. In this way, the lateral edges of the
curtain can be deformed so as to present very small
thickness, thereby ensuring that they do not jam in the
constrictions of the slideways when they are partially
extracted from the slideways, thus making it certain that
the curtain can be raised unde- all circumstances.
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The sheet material may include two lateral sheets
each secured to one of said lateral edges of the curtain,
and each extending to one side of the plane of the
curtain, diverging away from the lateral edge of the
curtain, or else it may comprise a single sheet in the
form of a loop constituting a hollow bead secured to the
lateral edge of the curtain. Advantageously, said sheet
material may extend continuously along each lateral edge
of the curtain. In a variant, said sheet material may
~0 include horizontal cutouts to facilitate deformation of -
the curtain out of its own plane, e.g. on being wound
around an axis while the curtain is being raised.
In an advantageous embodiment, said constriction of
the slideway of each upright includes ribs directed
towards said sheet material and extending continuously
parallel to the lateral edge of the curtain, which ribs
are adapted to bear with substantially sealing contact
against said sheet material, at least while the curtain -
is being subjected to traction force directed towards the
inside of the door-bay. In any event, regardless of
whether the constriction includes ribs or not, it is
possible for said sheet material to include ribs directed
towards the constriction of the slideway of an uprigh-t,
said ribs extending substantially continuously parallel
to the lateral edge of the curtain and being adapted to
bear in sealing contact against said constriction, at
least when the curtain is subjected to a traction force
directed towards the inside of the door-bay.
In another embodiment of the invention, the sheet
material on each lateral edge of the curtain includes
relief facing the constriction of the slideway in the
upright, and said constriction includes relief against
which said relief of the sheet material comes into
abutment when the curtain is subjected to a traction
force directed towards the inside of the door-bay.
In another embodiment of the in~ention, said
constriction of the slideway in each upright includes
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skids or rolling means disposed at a certain distance
from each side of the plane of the curtain, facing the
sheet material.
In yet another embodiment of the invention, said
sheet material includes skids or rolling means disposed
at a certain distance from each side of the plane of the
curtain, facing the constriction of the slideway in each ~
of the side uprights. -
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other characteristics and advantages of the
invention appear from the following description of
several embodiments of the invention given as non-
limiting examples and described with reference to the
accompanying drawings, thus making it clear how the
15 invention can be performed. ;
In the drawings: -
Figure 1 is an overall perspective view of an
example of a door of the invention;
Figures 2 and 3 are diagrams showing two possible
ways in which the curtain can be raised;
Figure 4 shows one embodiment of a lateral edge of
the curtain;
Figure 5 shows another embodiment of a lateral edge
of the curtain;
Figure 6 shows how the curtain of Figures 4 and 5
can be wound about an axis;
Figure 7 shows the lateral edge of the curtain of
Figure 5 or of Figure 6, in cross-section and prior to
being installed in the slideway;
Figure 8 shows a variant of the Figure 7 lateral
edge; -
Figure 9 is a section view showing the position of
the lateral edge of Figure 7 in a slideway of the door
while the curtain is not being subjected to a traction
force directed towards the inside o~ the door-bay;
Figure 10 is a view similar to Figure 9 for when the
curtain is being subjected to a wind force;
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Figure 11 is another view similar to Figure 9, for -
when the curtain is subjected to a violent shock;
Figure 12 is a section view through a variant of the
Figure 7 lateral edge;
Figure 13 is a perspective view of a particular
embodiment of the lateral edge of a curtain of the
invention;
Figure 14 is a detail view of Figure 13;
Figures 15 and 16 show two particular embodiments of -
the lateral edge of a curtain of the invention;
Figures 17 and 18 show two particular embodiments of
the slideway of the invention;
Figure 19 shows a particular embodiment of the
lateral edge of the curtain of the invention, in place in
its slideway;
Figure 20 is a v-iew similar to Figure 19, when a
traction force is applied to the curtain; and -~
Figure 21 is a view similar to Figure 19, in which
the lateral edge of the curtain is analogous to that of
Figure 17 but the slideway is provided with internal
wheels.
In the drawings, the same references designate parts
that are identical or similar.
MORE DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In the following description, adjectives such as -
"vertical" or "horizontal" are sometimes used. It should
nevertheless be observed that such ad~ectives are used
merely for linguistic convenience and that they are not
limiting in any way. Thus, the adjective "vertical"
3b should be understood as meaning "parallel to the lateral
edges of the curtain", and the adjective "horizontal"
should be understood as meaning "perpendicular to the -
lateral edges of the curtain".
With reference to Figure 1, the door of the
35 invention has two lateral uprights 1 and 2 on either side
of a door-bay 5 that is open in a wall 9 of a building.
Each of the lateral uprights 1 and 2 includes a slideway
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that forms a constriction 7 in the vicinity of the door- -
bay 5, with the constriction 7 delimiting a vertical slot
8. In the particular example shown in Fiyure 1, the
vertical lateral uprights are channel-section members, - -
e.g. made of metal. Thus, in this example, the
constriction of the slideway is constituted by a web wall
7 having two flange walls 10 extending away from the
door-bay 5, bu~ providing they have constrictions 7, the
uprights 1 and 2 could be of any other configuration
without going beyond the scope of the present invention.
The door of Figure 1 also has a raisable curtain 4
which includes lateral edges 4a that slide in the slot 8
of the respective lateral upright. The curtain 4 is
flexible, such that when a force is applied to it
perpendicularly to its plane, said force gives rise to
traction on the lateral edges 4a of said curtain, thereby --
tending to extract said lateral edges 4a from the slots
8. In the particular example shown in Figure 1, the ;~
curtain 4 further includes horizontal reinforcing bars 6.
It i9 essential for these bars to be sufficiently
flexible to enable the edges 4a to escape from their
slots 8 when sufficient force is applied to the curtain 4 ~-~
perpendicularly to its plane, e.g. in the event of a -"-
shock from a goods-handling vehicle colliding with the
25 curtain 4. ;
In the particular example shown in Figure 1, the
door further includes a cross-member 3 which inter-
connects the top ends of the lateral uprights 1 and 2. ~
Such a cross-member 3 could optionally be omitted without ~ ~;
thereby going beyond the scope of the present invention.
! ' The curtain of the door of the present invention may
be raisable in several different ways. For example, as -
shown in Figure 2, the curtain 4 may be raisable by being ~
wound about a horizontal axis 11 situated at the top of ~ ~ ;
the door. In a variant, as shown in Figure 3, the
lateral uprights 1 and 2 of the door may be extended
upwardly by slideways 15 and 16 in which the lateral - -
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2()97991.
edges 4a of the curtain 4 can slide. Under suchcircumstances, the curtain 4 is raised without being
wound, merely by sliding along the slideways 15 and 16.
The curtain 4 may be actuated by mechanical or
electromechanical means that are well known in the art.
As shown in Figure 4, each lateral edge 4a of the
curtain 4 of the door of the present invention may
include two sheets of resilient material 20 and 21 which
extend continuously up the entire height of the lateral
edge 4a, on respective sides of the plane of the curtain.
Each of the sheets 20 and 21 is secured to the lateral
edge 4a of the curtain and extends from said lateral edge
4a in a direction that is not parallel to the plane of
the curtain 4. The lateral edge 4a of the curtain thus
has a Y-shaped or T-shaped section.
As shown in Figure 7, the flexible sheets 20 and 21
may each include a respective portion 20a or 21a that is
parallel to the plane of the curtain, and a respective
portion 20b or 21b that is bent out from the plane of the
curtain. In the example shown in Figure 7, each portion
20a, 21a parallel to the plane of the curtain is at an
angle of substantially 90 to the c~orresponding
outwardly-directed portion 20b, 21b. However, the angle
may be other than 90 providing it is not as much as
180. Each portion 20a, 21a parallel to the plane of the
curtain is fixed to the curtain by any conventional
means, e.g. by sewing, welding, gluing, hot pressing,
etc.
In a variant, as shown in Figure 8, the sheets 20
and 21 may be secured to each other in the vicinity of
the junction 22 between their portions parallel to the
curtain and their outwardly-directed portions.
Optionally, the sheets 20 and 21 may thus be formed as a
single piece.
As shown in Figure 5, the outwardly-directed
portions 20b and 21b of each flexible sheet 20 and 21 may
include horizontal slits 23 spaced apart up the height of
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the lateral edge 4a of the curtain. This makes it easier
to deform the curtain 4 out from its own plane, e.g. when
the curtain 4 is being wound up because it is being
raised. As shown in Figure 6, the curtain 4 is then
wound on a rotary roller 24 about an axis 11. It may be
advantageous for the axial extent of the roller 24 to be
equal to or slightly less than the width of the curtain 4
itself, such that the outwardly-directed portions 20b and
21b of the flexible sheets 20 and 21 wind up beyond the
axial ends 25 of said roller 24. This prevents the
outwardly-directed portions 20b and 21b giving rise to
local excess thickness while the curtain is being wound
up.
Figure 9 shows the disposition of the lateral edge
15 4a of Figure 7 when it is inserted in a slideway ~;
constituted by a constriction 7 of a lateral upright 1. -
So long as the curtain 4 is not being subjected to any
force perpendicularly to its own plane, its lateral edge
4a is not subjected to any traction force towards the
20 inside of the door-bay 5. In the example shown in Figure ~ ;
9, the outwardly-directed portions 20b and 21b of the
flexible sheets 20 and 21 are deformed a little away from
the door-bay 5 so that their respective free edges 20c
and 21c are in resilient contact with the constriction 7
of the upright. In this way, said sheets 20 and 21
provide sealed contact between the curtain 4 and the
lateral uprights 1 and 2 without the friction between the
constriction 7 and said sheets 20 or 21 becoming large.
While the curtain 4 is being raised, said sheets 20 and
21 rub against the constriction 7 via their free ends 20c
and 21c only, such that the friction area is limited.
It would optionally be possible to provide for the - -~
flexible sheets 20 and 21 to be completely out of touch
with the constriction 7 providing the curtain 4 is not
35 being sub~ected to any force. As shown in Figure 10, as -
soon as an air pressure difference comes into existence
between the two faces of the curtain 4, e.g. because of
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the wind, or because premises are being kept under raised
pressure or under reduced pressure, the curtain 4 is
subjected to a traction force directed to-~ards the inside
of the door-bay 5. As a result, the flexible sheets 20
and 21 are pulled by the curtain 4 into the door-bay 5
such that their outwardly~directed portions 20b and 21b
bear in sealed manner against the constriction 7 of each
upright 1, 2. The door of the invention thus ensures
that practically no significant flow of air can take
10 place through the door-bay 5 when the curtain 4 is down. -
When an air pressure difference exists between the
two faces of the curtain 4, the flexible sheets 20 and 21
bear against the constriction 7 with considerable
resilient force, and the contact area between the
flexible sheets and the constriction 7 may well be
increased. As a result, friction between said flexible
sheets 20, 21 and the constriction 7 also increases.
However, it will be observed that when the curtain is
raised, the pressure between the two faces tends to
equalize because of the air that can escape beneath the
curtain. The curtain therefore tends to return to the
shape shown in Figure 9 in which friction between the
constriction 7 and the flexible sheets 20, 21 is reduced
or even eliminated. This ensures that the energy
consumed while moving the curtain 4 is limited.
8ecause of the flexibility of the sheets 20 and 21,
in the event of the curtain 4 receiving a shock of
sufficient strength, the outwardly-directed portions 20b
and 21b of said sheets tend to line up with the curtain
4, as shown in Figure 11, thereby enabling the lateral
edge 4a of the curtain to escape from the constriction 7.
This prevents the curtain itself being damaged.
In addition, if a portion of a lateral edge 4a of
the curtain 4 is not fully extracted from the slot 8
delimited by the constriction 7, said lateral edge 4a
does not remain jammed in the slot 8. The total
thickness of the flexible sheets 20, 21 is-less than the
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width of the slot 8. Thus, if a portion of a lateral
edge 4a of the curtain 4 remains in the slot 8, that does
not prevent the curtain 4 from being raised. It is
therefore certain that the door will not be jammed in its
closed position after a shock, which would be extremely
inconvenient in running an industrial installation.
As shown in Figure 16, the outwardly-directed
portions 20b and 21b of the flexible sheets 20 and 21 may
include ribs 27 extending parallel to the lateral edge 4a --
of the curtain. These ribs 27 are directed towards the
constriction 7 of the lateral upright and are suitable
for bearing resiliently in sealed manner against said
constriction 7. Thus, the ribs 27 put a limit on the
contact area between the constriction 7 and the flexible
sheets 20 and 21, thereby putting a limit on the friction
between the constriction 7 and said flexible sheets 20
and 21 while the curtain 4 is sliding. ;~
As shown in Figure 17, the constriction 7 of each
upright 1, 2 may optionally include ribs 28 extending
parallel to the lateral edge 4a of said curtain and
extending towards the sheets 20 and 21 of said lateral
edge 4a, on either side of the plane of the curtain 4. ;
These ribs 28 also have the effect of limiting friction
between the constriction 7 and said sheets 20 and 21
while the curtain 4 is sliding. In addition, it is
advantageously possible to provide said ribs 28 on the
constriction 7 and said ribs 27 on the flexible sheets 20
and 21. This increases the traction force that needs to
be applied to the curtain 4 in order to extract the
lateral edges 4a o~ said curtain from the constrictions
7. The ribs 28 of the constriction 7 may be integrally
formed with said constriction 7, as shown in Figure 17,
or else, as shown in Figure 18, the ribs 28 may be
gaskets made of elastomer or of some other flexible
material and applied to the constriction 7.
As shown in Figure 19, it may be advantageous for
the outwardly-directed portions 20b and 21b to include- -
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wheels in the vicinity of their respective free edges 20cand 21c and adapted to run vertically along the
constriction 7, while keeping a gap between the
constriction 7 and said outwardly-directed portions 20b
and 21b so long as no traction force is being applied to
the curtain 4. In such a configuration, there is no
sealing contact between the constriction 7 of each
lateral upright of the door and the flexible sheets 20
and 21. The wheels 29 serve to eliminate substantially
all friction between the constriction 7 of each lateral
upright of the door and the flexible shee-ts 20 and 21,
thereby achieving considerable energy saving. As shown
in Figure 20, as soon as an ambient pressure difference
occurs between the two faces of the curtain, such as
could entrain a flow of air round the sides of said
curtain, said pressure difference causes the curtain to
deform, thereby applying a traction force on the curtain
4 towards the inside of the door-bay 5. As a result, the
flexible sheets 20 and 21 are displaced towards the
inside of the door-bay 5 such that the outwardly-directed
portions 20b and 21b of said flexible sheets 20 and 21
come into sealing contact with the constriction 7 along
the edges of the slot 8. Air therefore never flows
between the lateral edges of the curtain 4 and the
uprights 1, 2.
As shown in Figure 21, in a variant, wheels 29'
could be disposed on the constriction 7 instead of being
disposed on the outwardly-directed portions 20b and 21b
of said flexible sheets 20 and 21.
In another variant, as shown in Figure 15, the
wheels 29'can be replaced by skids 30 which may be
disposed on the outwardly-directed portions 20b and 21b
of the flexible sheets 20 and 21 in the vicinity of their
respective free ends 20c and 21c. In a variant, the
skids 30 may be disposed on the constriction 7, like the
wheels of Figure 21.
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As shown in Figure 12, instead of including two ;~
resilient flexible sheets 20 and 21 disposed on either
side of the plane of the curtain 4, the lateral edge 4a
of the curtain may be fixed to a single resilient
flexible sheet 26 looped in the form of a bead that
extends longitudinally up the lateral edge 4a of the
curtain. The flexible sheet 26 has two ends 26a and 26b ~ ~
which are fixed to the lateral edge 4a of the curtain, by -
any conventional means. In the vicinity of the edge of
the curtain 4, the flexible sheet 26 moves out from the
plane of the curtain 4 to opposite sides of said plane so
that the lateral edge 4a of the curtain locally presents ;~ ;
a Y-shaped section, as described above. The curtain 4 ~ ~ ;
shown in Figure 12 thus behaves in exactly the same
manner as the curtain described before, and may have the
same variants applied thereto. -
As shown in Figures 13 and 14, when the curtain 4
includes horizontal reinforcing bars 6 that slide in the
lateral uprights 1 and 2, said bars are generally engaged
in sheaths formed in the curtain 4. As a result, it may
be difficult to fix the resilient flexible sheets as
described above to the lateral edge of the curtain 4 in
the vicinit~ of the bars 6. For example; if the fixing -
is done by sewing or by hot-pressing, then it runs the
risk o locally obstructing the sheaths for receiving the
bars 6. To avoid this drawback, it is possible to use
the solution shown in Figure 13. The lateral edge 4a of
the curtain includes a single flexible sheet 26 that is
looped and has both edges 26a fixed to the edges of the
curtain 4. The sheet 26 extends along the entire height
of the lateral edge 4a of the curtain, but it is -
interrupted level with each horizontal bar 6. In order
to avoid loosing sealing at the end of each horizontal
bar 6, each end 6a of each bar 6 is engaged in a sealing
member 31, one of which can be seen in Figure 14. Each
sealing member 31 has a front portion 32 adapted to be
engaged on the end 6a of the bar 6, and a rear portion 33
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which may include two resilient flexible sheets 34 and 35
that extend from the front portion 32 outwardly from the
curtain 4, and diverging on either side of the plane of
the curtain 4. The rear portion 33 is adapted to bear in
sealed manner against the constriction 7 of the slideway
in which the lateral edge 4a of the curtain slides.
Instead of including two flexible sheets 34 and 35, the
rear portion 33 could include a single flexible sheet
that is looped back and has both ends fixed to the front
portion 32. In the example shown in Figure 14, the front
portion 32 of the sealing member 31 includes two
resilient sheets 35 and 36 that are connected together at
a rear end 37 and that are adapted to engage on the
horizontal bars 6 of the curtain 4 starting from the
lateral edge 4a of the curtain, clamping resiliently onto
said bars 6 and onto said curtain 4.
