PORTAIL MULTI-SECTIONS

A SECTIONAL GATE

Abrégé français

Linvention concerne le domaine du bâtiment et notamment des dispositifs pour fermer les ouvertures dans des constructions. Le portail multi-sections comprend une toile constituée de panneaux reliés entre eux de façon articulée dont les bouts sont disposés dans des guides en « L ». Dans la partie supérieure du portail on a prévu un arbre cylindrique monté dans des supports dextrémités. Larbre est doté de tambours pour câbles, lesdits tambours étant montés à ses extrémités au moyen dadaptateurs. Les câbles sont reliés au panneau supérieur et/ou inférieur du portail. Les mécanismes de torsion dotés de ressorts de rotation sont enfiles sur les deux extrémités de larbre. En section transversale, dans sa partie médiane, larbre a une forme octogonale. A lendroit de fixation des adaptateurs de tambours, larbre dentraînement est muni dun logement de clavette. Langle de décalage du logement de clavette, prévu pour assurer la régularité de tension des câbles lors du déplacement du portail, ne dépasse pas 10° sur toute la longueur du mécanisme de torsion, et la déflexion entre nimporte quels deux points dappui de larbre est inférieure ou égale à 1/600 de la longueur du mécanisme de torsion. Linvention permet daugmenter la fiabilité dun portail multi-sections grâce à lutilisation dun mécanisme de torsion dun arbre octogonal présentant une rigidité élevée.

Abrégé anglais

The invention relates to construction, in particular to devices for closing
apertures in rooms of building
structures. The inventive sectional gate comprises a gate leaf formed by
interconnected panels the end faces of which
are accommodated in L-shaped guides. A hollow cylindrical shaft is mounted on
the top part of the gate in end supporting
brackets. The shaft is provided with rope barrels which are secured on the
ends thereof by means of adapters.
The ropes are connected to the lower and/or top panel of the gate. Torsion
mechanisms with torsional springs are put
onto the driving shaft at the ends thereof. The driving shaft is provided with
a keyslot where the barrel adapters are
attached. The cross-section of the shaft in the middle part thereof is
octagonal. The torsion angle of the keyslot making
it possible to uniformly tension the ropes while the gate motion is equal to
or less than 10° along the entire length of
the torsion mechanism, and a bending deflection between any two supporting
points of the shaft is equal to or less
than 1/600 of the torsion mechanism length. The invention makes it possible to
increase the reliability owing to the
use of the highly strength octagonal shaft in the structure.

Revendications

7
CLAIMS
1. A sectional gate comprising a curtain of pivotally connected panels, the
panels having butt ends
located in L-shaped guides, and a shaft which is parallel to the panels
planes, the shaft being mounted
in an upper section of the gate, the shaft being connected to a drive and
having rope drums attached to
its ends by means of adapters, the ropes being connected to a bottom of the
gate and/or upper panel,
and torsion mechanisms with torsion springs that are installed on the shaft at
its ends, one end of each
spring being attached to the shaft, wherein the shaft is hollow, cylindrical
and has key slots in the areas
where the adapters are attached, and the shaft has a middle part that has an
octagonal cross-section
and made of cold rolled steel, wherein deflection between any two shaft
support points does not exceed
1/600 of the length of the torsion mechanism.
2. The sectional gate per claim 1, distinctive in that in order to ensure an
even rope tension during the
gate movement the key slot torsion angle does not exceed 10° along the
entire length of the torsion
mechanism.
3. The sectional gate per claim 1, distinctive in that the shaft attachment to
the walls is done by means
of no more than two brackets with groups of bearings in order to ensure their
alignment during the shaft
rotation.
4. The sectional gate per claim 1, distinctive in that the octagonal middle
part of the shaft is made
composite along its length and has a sleeve coupling formed by two or four
sheet metal pieces joined
with each other at their flanged sections by means of threaded joints, and at
least one section of each
piece adjacent to the shaft is connected to the shaft in the zone between the
flanges by means of
threaded joints.
5. The sectional gate per claim 1, distinctive in that it is equipped with end
support brackets for the rear
position of the shaft, and each bracket has two places for attaching it to the
ceiling that are turned 90°
relative to each other to ensure distribution of acting lateral and
longitudinal loads.
6. The sectional gate per claim 5, distinctive in that the torsion mechanism
is completely installed on the
end support brackets, with safety devices attached to them, wherein each end
support bracket has
several fixed positions for shaft attachment.
7. The sectional gate per claim 1, distinctive in that it is equipped with end
support brackets for the front
position of the shaft, and in order to ensure their attachment in a place
suitable for installation the
brackets provide the possibility of free installation including their vertical
or lateral movement without
moving other gate components in the process.

8
8. The sectional gate per claim 1, distinctive in that it is equipped with end
support brackets for holding
the shaft in a low position, with each bracket having load carrying capacity
of at least 600 kg, with the
possibility of installing them in pairs for attachment to a multi-shaft
mechanism and positioning them
vertically with respect to each other while providing their attachment to each
other in the same plane
using a "dovetail"-type joint, with center-to-center spacing accurate to ~1
mm.
9. The sectional gate per claim 1, distinctive in that each torsion spring of
the torsion mechanisms has a
movable end comprised of two parts ¨ the end itself and a stop on the shaft -
which in order to reduce
internal stress and turn-to-turn friction has the capability of free movement
along the shaft without
turning, and the movable end itself is secured on the stop on the shaft by
means of slots accurate to 1/4
of a turn, to make it possible to adjust the torsion mechanism for balancing
the gate at any moment by
changing the number of turns to cock the spring, wherein additional securing
of the movable end on the
stop is achieved with set screws which, together with engagement in the slot,
precludes the possibility of
the end breaking off of the stop.

Description

CA 02729039 2010-12-22
A SECTIONAL GATE
Pertinent Art
The investment relates to the field of construction, and specifically to
devices that provide covering of
openings to premises of building structures.
Prior Art
Known is the sectional gate comprising a curtain of pivotally connected panels
the butt ends of which
are located in L-shaped guides, wherein the top panel is pivotally connected
with a lead screw attached
to a drawbar that is perpendicular to the panel plane (US No. 508094, 1992).
Such sectional gate
design requires increasing the height of the structure in which opening the
gate is installed; also, the off-
center transmission of load on the drawbar leads to increased wear of the
"lead screw - nut" pair, and
the lift speed of such gate is low.
Also known is the sectional gate design comprising pivotally connected panels,
L-shaped guides and a
drive for moving the panels, with a rope drum installed at the shaft end and
connected to a ratchet-and-
pawl mechanism (CN 1646785, 2005).
Also known is the sectional gate comprising a curtain of pivotally connected
panels the butt ends of
which are located in vertical or horizontal guides, and the drive shaft
located in the upper area of the
gate, with torsion springs placed symmetrically on it, is connected to rope
drums, wherein on the drive
side a drum has two sections - one section is used for winding the rope
branch, and the rope is
unwound from the other section (US No. 4472910, 1984).
The closest among the known gates is the sectional gate comprising a curtain
of pivotally connected
panels the butt ends of which are located in vertical or horizontal guides,
and a hollow shaft parallel to
the panels planes, located in the gate upper section, supported by brackets
and connected to the drive
comprises rope drums connected to the gate lower panel and torsion springs
installed at the drive shaft
ends and attached to half-clutches (application PCT WO 99/64706, 1999).
In known sectional gates, one of the main problems occurring during operation -
shaft deflection due to
springs weight, and sagging of the springs themselves - has not been solved.
The deformation leads to
friction, which leads to substantial increase of the force for opening or
closing the gate curtain, as well
as to heavy wear of the mechanism itself.

CA 02729039 2010-12-22
2
Disclosure of Invention
The technical objective of the proposed solution is to improve reliability of
the sectional gate by using in
the design of the torsion mechanism an octagonal shaft that has high rigidity.
The higher strength and
rigidity of an octagonal shaft compared to the traditional designs eliminates
its sagging even in wide
openings and hence eliminates the use of intermediate support brackets and of
sleeve couplings, the
need to install a steel pipe in cases of high and vertical lift with the shaft
in the low position, and
installation of a system of holding brackets in the case of low lift of the
drum in the rear; it reduces the
installation time and eliminates the need to assemble the torsion mechanism at
high elevation.
In addition, the proposed design of the torsion mechanism can be completely
assembled both in the
factory and during installation, so that torsion springs, devices for
protecting the springs from breaking
off, and drums with ropes are installed on the shaft. This considerably
improves the safety of installation,
makes it possible to accurately level the shaft with springs regardless of the
lift curvature and lintel
unevenness, eliminates tying in the torsion mechanism to the system of guides,
which makes it possible
to adjust both the torsion mechanism and guides independently of each other,
and eliminates
modification of the opening on-site in order to attach additional brackets and
springs.
The stated technical objective is achieved by the fact that the sectional gate
comprises a curtain of
pivotally connected panels the butt ends of which are located in L-shaped
guides, and also a shaft
which is parallel to the panels planes, located in the gate upper section,
supported by end support
brackets, connected to the drive and has rope drums attached to its ends by
means of adapters, the
ropes being connected to the gate bottom panel, and torsion mechanisms with
torsion springs that are
installed on the drive shaft at its ends, one end of each spring being
attached to the shaft, wherein the
drive shaft is solid [sic] and has a round cross-section and key slots in the
areas where drum adapters
are attached, and the shaft middle part has an octagonal cross-section made of
cold rolled steel. Herein,
in order to ensure uniform tension of ropes during the gate movement the key
slot torsion angle does
not exceed 10 along the entire length of the torsion mechanism, and the
deflection between any two
shaft support points does not exceed 1/600 of the length of the torsion
mechanism. In addition, the drive
shaft attachment to the walls is done by means of no more than two brackets
with groups of bearings in
order to ensure their alignment during the shaft rotation. The octagonal part
of the shaft can be made
composite along its length and have a sleeve coupling formed by two or four
sheet metal pieces joined
with each other at their flanged sections by means of threaded joints, and at
least one section of each
piece adjacent to the shaft is connected to the shaft in the zone between the
flanges by means of
threaded joints. Herein, the sectional gate is equipped with end support
brackets for the rear position of

CA 02729039 2010-12-22
3
the shaft; each bracket has two places for attaching it to the ceiling that
are turned 90 relative to each
other to ensure distribution of acting lateral and longitudinal loads. The
torsion mechanism is completely
installed on end support brackets, with safety devices attached to them,
wherein each end support
bracket has several fixed positions for shaft attachment. The sectional gate
is equipped with end
support brackets for the front position of the shaft, and in order to ensure
their attachment in a place
suitable for installation, the brackets provide the possibility of free
installation including their vertical or
lateral movement without moving other gate components in the process. In
addition, the sectional gate
can be equipped with end support brackets for the low position of the shat,
with each bracket having
load carrying capacity of at least 600 kg, with the possibility of installing
them in pairs for attachment to a
multi-shaft mechanism and positioning them vertically with respect to each
other while providing their
attachment to each other in the same plane using a "dovetail"-type joint, with
center-to-center spacing
accurate to 1 mm. Herein, each torsion spring of the torsion mechanisms has a
movable end
comprised of two parts - the end itself and a stop on the shaft which in order
to reduce internal stress
and turn-to-turn friction has the capability of free movement along the shaft
without turning, and the
movable end itself is secured on the stop on the shaft by means of slots
accurate to'/4 of a turn, to make
it possible to adjust the torsion mechanism for balancing the gate at any
moment by changing the
number of turns to cock the spring, wherein additional securing of the movable
end on the stop is
achieved with set screws which, together with engagement in the slot,
precludes the possibility of the
end breaking off of the stop.
Brief Description of Drawings
Fig. 1 shows the (shipping) schematic of preliminary assembly of the octagonal
shaft.
Fig. 2 shows a fragment of the octagonal shaft with a longitudinal key slot
along its entire length.
Fig. 3 shows a sleeve coupling for the octagonal shaft.
Fig. 4 shows the end support bracket for the front position of the shaft.
Fig. 5 shows the end support bracket for the rear position of the shaft.
Fig. 6 shows the end support bracket for the low position of the shaft.
Fig. 7 shows the movable end.
Fig. 8 shows the movable end assembled on the shaft.

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The Best Embodiment of the Invention
The sectional gate comprises a curtain of pivotally connected panels (not
shown) the butt ends of which
are located in L-shaped guides (not shown), and also shaft 2 which is parallel
to the panels planes,
located in the gate upper section, supported by end support brackets 1 and
connected to the drive.
Shaft 2 is equipped with rope drums 4 attached to its end by means of adapters
3, the ropes being
connected to the gate top and/or bottom panel. Torsion mechanisms 5 have
torsion springs installed on
drive shaft 2 at its ends, with one end of each spring attached to the shaft.
Drive shaft 2 is hollow and
cylindrical, and has key slot 6 in the areas where adapters for drums 4 are
attached. In the cross-section
of its middle part the shaft is octagonal and is made of cold rolled steel. In
order to ensure uniform
tension of ropes during the gate movement, the torsion angle of key slot 6
does not exceed 10 along
the entire length of the torsion mechanism, and deflection between any two
shaft support points does
not exceed 1/600 of the length of the torsion mechanism. The drive shaft
attachment to the walls is done
by means of no more than two brackets 1 with groups of bearings 7, in order to
ensure their alignment
during the shaft rotation. The octagonal section of the shaft can be made
composite along its length
(Fig. I) and have sleeve coupling 8 formed by two or four sheet metal pieces
joined with each other at
their flanged sections by means of threaded joints, and at least one section
of each piece adjacent to
the shaft is connected to shaft 2 in the zone between the flanges (Fig. 3) by
means of threaded joints.
Herein, the sectional gate is equipped with end supports 9 and 10 for the rear
position of the shaft; each
bracket has two places for attaching it to the ceiling that are turned 90
relative to each other to ensure
distribution of acting lateral and longitudinal loads. The torsion mechanism
is completely installed on
end support brackets, with safety devices 11 attached to them. Each end
support bracket has several
fixed positions for shaft attachment. The sectional gate is equipped with end
support brackets for the
front position of the shaft; in order to ensure their attachment in a place
suitable for installation, the
brackets provide the possibility of free installation including their vertical
or lateral movement without
moving other gate components in the process. In addition, the sectional gate
is equipped with end
support brackets for the low position of shaft 15, with each bracket having
load carrying capacity of at
least 600 kg, with the possibility of installing them in pairs for attachment
to a multi-shaft mechanism
and positioning them vertically with respect to each other while providing
their attachment to each other
in the same plane using a "dovetail"-type joint 12, with center-to-center
spacing accurate to 1 mm.
Herein, each torsion spring of the torsion mechanisms has a movable end
comprised of two parts - end
13 itself and stop 14 on the shaft which in order to reduce internal stress
and turn-to-turn friction has the
capability of free movement along the shaft without turning, and movable end
13 itself is secured on
stop 14 on the shaft by means of slots accurate to'/ of a turn, to make it
possible to adjust the torsion
mechanism for balancing the gate at any moment by changing the number of turns
to cock the spring,

CA 02729039 2010-12-22
wherein additional securing of the movable end on the stop is achieved with
set screws which, together
with engagement in the slot, precludes the possibility of the end breaking off
of the stop.
The main stages of the shaft assembly are as follows. It is necessary to place
octagonal shaft 2
horizontally, place movable spring end stops 14 and plastic rings on it, and
insert adapters 3 at ends of
shaft 2 so that the adapter plate wall is flush with the end of shaft 2. Then,
it is necessary to mark 15 -20
mm from the edge of shaft 2 to mark the place for installation of the first
line of screw components, for
instance, self-threading screws. Screw self-threading screws into shaft 2 so
that they get into plate lugs
of adapter 3. Pull the first plastic ring until it stops at the self-threading
screws. Mark 255-260 mm from
the edge of shaft 2 to mark the place for installation of the second line of
self-threading screws. Screw
self-threading screws into octagonal shaft 2 and make sure they are in the
plate of adapter 3. Move the
second plastic ring to the second line of self-threading screws.
Secure the plastic rings by means of self-threading screws 3.8x11 ff. Repeat
all steps for the second
half of octagonal shaft 2 and assemble sleeve coupling 8 onto one half of
octagonal shaft 2. The bracket
assembly has two places for attaching it to the ceiling that are turned 90
relative to each other, which
ensures distribution of lateral and longitudinal loads. Secure attachment of
the rear measuring bar is
achieved due to two attachment points, one of which is a rectangular hole. The
location of the axis of
shaft 2 with respect to the guides precludes the possibility of ropes touching
the gate curtain when
opening the gate. In the end support brackets the possibility of attaching
safety devices 11 is provided,
which eliminates additional brackets needed for installing and securing the
safety devices. Also, the
brackets make possible easy installation of the entire assembled torsion
mechanism because after the
brackets are installed the assembled torsion mechanism is installed on them.
Each bracket has several
fixed positions for attaching the shaft, which reduces the total number of end
support brackets.
End support brackets for the front position of the shaft have the capability
of free installation
independent of other components of the gate structure: a bracket can be moved
higher, shifted
sidewise, and this will not affect operation of the torsion mechanism. So it
is possible to attach a bracket
in a place suitable for installation.
Each end support bracket (Fig. 5) for the rear position of the shaft has two
places for attaching it to the
ceiling that are turned 90 relative to each other, which ensures distribution
of lateral and longitudinal
loads. Secure attachment of the rear measuring bar is also achieved due to two
attachment points, one
of which is a rectangular hole, and the location of the shaft axis with
respect to the guides precludes the
possibility of ropes touching the gate curtain when opening the gate.

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Each end support bracket (Fig. 6) for the low position of the shaft has the
load carrying capacity of at
least 600 kg, so when the brackets are installed in pairs at edges of the
opening the mass of the torsion
mechanism together with the gate can be as high as 2400 kg. Herein, the
possibility to position the
brackets vertically with respect to each other for installation of a multi-
shaft torsion mechanism is
provided - the brackets are connected with each other by means of a "dovetail"-
type joint which
precludes wrong positioning and makes it possible to hold center-to-center
distance accurate to 1 mm.
The spring movable end (Fig. 7 and 8) comprises two parts - the end itself and
the stop on the shaft.
The step is located on the shaft and can move longitudinally but cannot turn
on the shaft. This design is
used to reduce internal stress and turn-to-turn friction generated during
torsion spring operation, which
makes it possible to qualitatively improve the spring characteristic. The
movable end is reliably secured
on the stop by means of slots accurate to 1/4 of a turn, which makes it
possible at any moment to easily
change the number of turns to cock the spring and thus to fine-tune the
torsion mechanism for balancing
the gate. Additional securing of the movable end on the stop is done by set
screws which, together with
engagement in the slot, eliminates the possibility of the end breaking off of
the stop.
Industrial Utility
The proposed design is characterized by high reliability and strength, and
eliminates the need for using
intermediate support brackets in the case of wide gate openings.
In addition, the design is very safe during installation and accurate when
assembling.

Dessin représentatif