US2319612A - Door operating mechanism - Google Patents

Description

May 18, 1943 F. LICHTFELDT 2,319,612

DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Filed April 5, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 5H j v I JNVENTOR. & Fa a [mar/"402"- ATTORNEY.

F. LICHTFELDT noon OPERATING MECHANISM v May 18 1943 Filed April 5, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 v flaw Dav/ 5407 INVENTOR.

M y 18 1943. F. L|H+FELDT 2,319,612

DOOR'OPERATING MECHANISM Filed April 5, 19:59 4 Sheets-Sheet s IINVENTOR. flaw [MA/772C107 E ZZW;

. TTORNEY.

May 18, 1943 lfoyn F. LICHTFELDT DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM Filed April 5, 1939 A! 1 4! FLT TOVPPIF LATCH 7'0 SPAN/VG 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented May 18, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT orrlcs 2,319,612 noon OPERATING MECHANISM Fred'Lichtfeldt, Wauwatosa, Wis.

Application April 5, 1939, Serial No. 266,042

9 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in door operating mechanism and is particularly directed to mechanism for operating garage doors.

This invention is an improvement over and a continuation in part of my Patent No. 2,156,950 of May 2, 1939, for Door operating mechanism.

In my above noted patent the invention was designedv to provide a garage door operating mechanism which was so made that the driver could open the door by hand when he was leaving and by this operation store a sufficient amount of energy in the mechanism and could thereafter drive his car from the garage and trip the mechanism by means of a pull cord or similar device allowing the mechanism to close the doors, and could subsequently drive his-car into contact with a portion of the mechanism and thereby cause the doors to open automatically and allow him to drive his car into the garage without descending from the car.

This invention has for its objects to provide improved operating mechanism for controlling the automatic actuation of the power or driving mechanism for operating the doors, and objects of this invention are to provide a construction whereby a spring or other member, preferably in the shape of a bumper, maybe positioned and carried on the outer side of a garage door and may be engaged by the bumper or front wheel or other portion of the automobile, and when so engaged will operate trip mechanism to release the automatic mechanism for opening the doors.

A further object of this invention is to provide releasing means for releasing the automatic mechanism, which releasing means may be adjusted so as to require only a slight force to cause it to operate, or which may be adjusted to require a considerable force to cause it to operate, the device being so arranged that when only a slight force is required, the extra energy required for causing tripping maybe supplied by a spring, the energy being stored in the spring previously by the opening of the garage door.

Further objects are to provide a construction in which the device may be quickly changed over from one that requires only a light pressure on the releasing bumper on the outer side of the door or one which requires a heavy pressure on the releasing :bumper.

Further objects are to provide door operating mechanism in which the releasing means for the door operating mechanism may consist of a bumper-like member or relatively heavy spring mounted on the outer side of the door, in which this spring is so made that it has a. relatively heavy arched body portion and is carried by lighter spring-like end members so that as the body portion is bent into a more nearly straight shape, the light spring end portions will yield outwardly and thereby prevent excessive strains being imposed on any of the spring structure,the

Figure l is a fragmentary inside face viewlooking at the doors of a garage with the device in place and with the doors closed. v

Figure 2 is a fragmentary detail of [the lower portion of the structure shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a side view, partly in section, of the structure shown in Figure 2. w j

Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a plan View, partly in section, showing a part of the door operating mechanism, showing in full lines the position occupied when the doors are closed and in dotted lines the positionwhen the doors are open.

Figure 6 isa sectionaldetailshowing the lock. Figure 7 is a fragmentary view witha portion of the lock removed and with parts in section.

' Figure 8 is a detail viewshowing amodified form of construction. j

Figure 9 is a detail view, partly in section, showing the upper latch, such view corresponding to a section on the line 5-9 of Figure 1.

Figure 10 is a detail, partly in section, showing the trip means for releasing the door operating mechanism for door opening movement, such View corresponding to a section on the line lB-l i) f ure l.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the door operating mechanismcomprises a pair of tracks I located in the upper portion ofthe garage, as shown most clearly in Figure 5, upon which a main carriage 2 travels-forwardly and.

backwardly and is operated by power means which may take the form of weights, allas described in greater detail in my above noted patent. r

This main carriage is connected to the door, if a single door is used, by means of a link,-or if two doors are employed, by means of a pair of links 3 as shown in Figure 5, so that when the carriage travels forwardly, the doors 4 are'moved to the dotted line position shown i-nFi gure5 and when the carriage travels rearwardly, the doors occupy the full line position. 'The main carriage 2- is normally locked in its rear position, as shown in Figure 5, and is released by means of suitable mechanism which is not shown in detail, but which is shown and describedin my copending applicationl This releasing mechanism includes a front'trip memberfi, see Figure 1,providedwith a laterally projecting pin 6 which latter is adapted to be'struck by one-arm of a bell crank-lever, see

portion of one of the doors The mechanism is so arranged that when the bell crank lever I is rocked in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 10, it moves the trip member 6, which forms a portion of the member 5, outwardly and thus releases the main carriage, allowing it to move for: wardly, as viewed in Figure 5, and open the doors.

This bell crank lever or tripping means I is operated by means of a downwardly extending rod or wire 8. The trippin member -E, see Figure 1, is supported from the tracks. The upper portion of one of the doors 4 also carries the upper latch 9, see Figures 1 and 9. The latch 9 consists of a lever which is urged into latching position by means of the spring I6 and which is operated by the downwardly extending rod or wire I I. The latch 9 normally engages a slanting cam like catch I2 carried by the upper stationary door casing I3. The construction is such that when the door is closed, the latch snaps into place and locks the door in closed position. The door which carries the latch if the double door is employed, is provided with an outer strip I 4, see Figure 5, in accordance with the usual practice.

The lower portion of the door may be provided with a lower latch as indicated at I5 in Figures 1, 2 and 3. In the form of the invention shown particularly in Figures 1, 2 and 3 a main operating lever I 5 is provided and is pivotally mounted on a bracket II secured to one of the doors 4. This lever is spring urged towards clockwise rotation by means of a spring I8 secured adjacent the lower portion of the door andthe spring is connected to the lever by means of a rod or wire I9 pivoted adjacent the upper portion of the lever I6 and having a hook like lower end that is adaptedto slidably enter the upper end of the spring undercertai-n conditions, as will hereinafter appear. The lever I6 is connected by means of a rod or wire with the wire 8 leading to the trip mechanism, see Figure 1, and also is connected to the upper rod or wire I I, as shown most clearly in Figure 7. It is to be noted that the wire 20 is connected to a lower loop formed i-nthe wire 8 and that the end of the wire 8- is provided with a hook like portion v8' which hooks into a ring or eyelet H'iormed at the lower end of the rod II.

Further it is to be noted from Figure 7 that a rod or wire 21 is also provided with a hook like upper portion 2| which hooks into the eyelet I I of the rod II'. The rod 2I extends to the lock mechanism as will hereinafter appear.

Returning to Figure 3, it will also be seen that the main operating lever I6 is connected by means of a rod or wire 22 with the lower latch I5. The wire 22 is provided with a looped lower'end 22'- which engages the looped portion of a wire or rod 23 secured to the lower latch I5, as shown most clearly in Figures 2 and 3;

It will be seen from the description thus far given that the spring I8, see Figures 2 and 3, tends to rock the operating lever It in a clockwise direction and tends to release the upper and lowerlatch. However, the spring I8 is normally prevented from exerting its force on the rod I9 and consequently on the lever I6 because the spring is held inan extended position by means of the rod or wire 24 whose lower end is provided with a hook like portion 24' that is adapted to slide into the spring under certain conditions. The upper end of the wire 24 is secured to the outer end of the lever 25 which is pivoted to the door, see particularly- Figures 1 and 2. It is obvious, therefore, that as long as the wire 24 is held in its upper position by means of the lever 25, that the operating lever it cannot be operated by means of the spring I8.

The lever 25 is latched in its upper position, as shown in full lines in Figure 2, by means of the latching spring arm 2%, see Figures 2 and 3. This latching spring arm 26 has a shouldered portion 2% which is adapted to fit beneath the lever 25 as shown in Figure 3 and to thus hold the lever in elevated position. it has a slanting portion 26" which acts like a cam when the lever 25 is pulled upwardly and thus allows the lever to ride beneath the latching spring arm 2% and to be locked in its elevated position, as shown in full lines in Figure 2. The lever 25 is pulled upwardly by means of a flexible member, such as a cord or chain 21 see Figures 1 and 2', whose upper end is attached to a portion of the casing of the door so that as the door is rocked outwardly to open position, the lever 25 is pulled up into its upper position as shown in full lines in Figure 2.

The operating lever 56 is free from any pull due to the spring I8, see Figure 3, and is yieldingly held under these conditions in its full line position shown in Figure 3 by means of the pull on the wire or rod 20, which pull is obtained from the spring It see Figure 9, acting on the upper latch 9 and transmitting its pull through such latch and through the wire 5 I to the wire 20.

It is obvious that under the conditions of the parts hereinabove described that if the lever 25 is now released by moving the latching spring arm 26 out of latching engagement with the lever 25, that the lever will be drawn downwardly by the spring I8 and the spring I3 will exert its force on the operating member E6 to rock it into the dotted line position in Figure 3. This release or unlatching action is obtained by means of a plunger 28, see Figure 3, which slidably passes through the door 4 and which is provided with an inner end which may be headed or may be provided with nuts, as shown in Figure 3. The plunger or rod 28 also includes, in addition to the enlarged end or nuts, an operating member 29 which, in the form shown in Figure 3, is clamped between the nuts on the end of the rod or plunger 28. This member '23 is in the form of an angle bracket or operating member which is adapted, in one mode of operation hereinafter described, to engage a portion of the lever It to rotate the lever when the plunger 28 is pressed inwardly of the door.

The plunger is positioned beneath an overhanging portion Eil of the latching spring arm 25 so that when the plunger 2%! is pressed inwardly, this latch is moved to releasing position and releases the lever 25, allowing the lever to move downwardly and thus allowing the spring I8 to rock the operating lever it; and withdraw the upper and lower latches I 5.

At the same time that the above described operation takes place, it will be seen that the downward motion of the wire 26, see Figures 1, 7 and 10, pulls the wire 8 downwardly and thus rocks the tripper 'I, see Figures 1 and 10, to tripping position. This tripper l, as previously described, releases the tripping mechanism 5-4, see Figure 1, and allows the main carriage 2 to move forwardly as viewed in Figure 5 to thus automatically open the door, as described in detail in my above noted patent.

The means for operating the plunger 23 may comprise the bowed, relatively heavy spring 3I which is carried at opposite ends by lighter springs 32 secured to the front of the door. When the bumper of the automobile strikes the spring 36 or a pad 33 carried thereon, the bowed spring 3| is straightened and consequently the lighter springs 32 at the ends are flexed so that no unusual or undesirable strain is imposed on any of these parts. Further, the construction insures a straight line motion for the plunger 28.

In order to store energy in the spring l8,.it is necessary to pull the lever 25, see Figure 2, from its dotted line lower position to its full line upper position. This is accomplished by means of the cord or flexible member. 27 secured to a stationary portion of the door assembly. It is obvious that when the door is opened, the lever 25 is pulled up to its full line position and the latch arm 23 latches beneath the lever 25 and holds it in this elevated position.

It is to be noted that when the operating lever It has rocked to the dotted line position, Figure 3,

that it is temporarily latched in this position by means of the spring latch 36, see Figures 2, 3 and 4. This spring latch has a bevelled upper face 34 over which the end of the lever l6 rides, see

Figure 4, and has an abrupt shoulder which locks shown in Figure 1, so that when the door is U openedoutwardlv, the latch is tripped and the lever I6 is allowed to rock back to its full line position shown in Figure 3 by the upward pull tofore described. However, if it is desired to adjust the mechanism so that a very heavy pressure is required so that a person cannot operate the mechanism by merely manually pressing against the spring 3i, all that is necessary is to pull the spring latching arm 33 to the right, as viewed in Figure 2, so that it occupies thedotted line position shown in Figure 2 and hooks behind the shoulder 33 formed on the underside of the lever 25.

When in this position the reciprocation of the plunger 23 cannot release the latch 26 as it is out of line with such bolt or with the headed end thereof. On the other hand, assume the parts are in the position shown in Figure 3 with, however, the latch 33 moved to the dotted line position shown in Figure 2, it is obvious that a considerable pressure has to be exerted on the spring 3| so as to force the plunger 23 inwardly a considerable distance and cause the member 29, which acts like a cam member, to ride along the under face of the lever i3 and rock it into its dotted line position as shown in Figure 3, thereby releasing the upper and lower door latches and also operating the tripper for the automatic door opening mechanism. In order to hold the. upper and lower latches 9 and it out of engagement with the catches until the door has swung to full open position, the spring latch 33 now comes into play, see Figures 2, 3 and 4, and temporarily locks the lever IS in its dotted line position as shown in Figure 3. However, 'afterthe door has swung fully open, the cord 35 trips the latch 34 and allows the lever Hi to move to its full line position shown in Figure 3. v

A look may be provided and is indicated generally by the reference character 31 in Figure 6 which may be opened from the inside bymeans of the knob 38 in the usual manner or which may be opened from the outside by means of a key inserted into the portion 39. The lock is so made that the key will turn a fiat shaft it!v to withdraw the bolt of the lock.

This flat shaft 40 is also shown in section in Figure '7 and it will be seen that this flat shaft passes through a disk M which at diametrically opposite points is provided with apertures through one of which the wire 2| passes and through the other of which a wire 42 passes. The wire 42 is connected to a wire 43 by means of the slip joint or interlocking loops, as shown in Figure 7, and the wire 43 extends downwardlyto the bottom latch 15 so that when the key is turned in the lock, the. wires 42 and 2| are pulled inwardly towards the lock and ithusrelease the upper and lower catches.

In the form of the invention described,.eit1f1er the lever It may be operated directly from the plunger 28, see Figure 3, or else the spring actuated trip mechanism may be operated, depending onwhether or not the arm 26, see Figure 2, is in the position shown in such figure in full lines or in the dotted line position lockedback of the notch 33 of the lever 25. When it islocked' back of the notch 36 of the lever 25, it is necessaryfor a considerable pressure to be exerted on the spring 3i so as to force the plunger 28 inwardly a considerable distance and directly actuate the operating lever It. On thefother hand, if the spring release construction is employed, the spring arm 26 is released from the notch :33 and allowed to occupy itsfiull line, position as shown in Figure 2. Under theseconditions a very light force is all that isneeded to be pp ied to the spring 3 l see Figure 3, in order to trip the mechanism. I

The invention may take a still further form as shown in Figure 8. In this form of the invention the lever I6 is omitted and the wire 20, in: stead-of extending directly to the lever 16, now extends to the lever 25 corresponding-to; the lever 25, the wire 20' corresponding to the wire 20. Also the wire 22, see Figure 3, does not'extend to the lever [6 as in Figure 3, but instead extends to the lever 25' and is indicated by the reference character 22' in Figure 8. The locking spring arm 26 .is employed as heretofore described to temporarily lock the lever 23 in its upper position, which is the position shown in Figure 8. The wire 24' of Figure 8 corresponds to the wire 24 of Figure 3 and extends to the spring not shown in Figure Sbut identical with the spring! of Figure 3.

In this form of the invention the spring actuated mechanism alone is used and the operating lever 16 is not employed. Therefore, this latter form of mechanism has only one mode of'functioning and may be tripped by a light I pressure exerted on the spring 3|, not shown in Figure 8.

for tripping the automatic door opening mechanism by means of a movable member mounted and carried on the outer side of the door so that this movable member will actuate the mechanism to unlatch the door and also to trip the power operated door opening mechanism.

Further, it will be seen that in one form of the invention a light pressure alone is needed and in the other form'of the invention either a light or a heavy pressure is needed on the externally mounted operating member so that the device may be set for either mode of operation, depending upon the choice of the user.

This invention provides means for automatical-1y locking and unlocking the door at either the top or bottom or at both the top andthe bottom, and for simultaneously tripping the power mechanism for opening the doors. Further, it provides means for storing power in the actuating spring l8 for the latch releasing and trip operating mechanism when the door is opened so that the. spring may be later released and this energy utilized to withdraw the upper and lower latches and operate the trip mechanism.

Although this invention has been described in considerable detail, it is to-be understood that such description is intended as illustrative rather than limiting, as the invention may be variously embodied and is to be interpreted as claimed.

1. In a door operating mechanism, a door, latching means for locking said door in closed position, an external operating member mounted on the outer side of said door and comprising a relatively heavy leaf spring held in spaced relation to said door by a pair of lighter straight, outwardly extending springs secured to the ends of said leaf spring and to said door, said relatively heavy leaf spring and said lighter outwardly extending springs being located on the outside of said door, whereby said leaf spring isv movable towards said door, and trip means controlling said latching means and released when said external operating means is moved towards said door.

2. In a door operating mechanism, a door, locking means for locking said door in closed position, releasing means for unlocking said locking means, biasing means for said releasing means, cable means operated by the opening movement of said door for setting said biasing means for biasing said releasing means towards door unlocking movement, and external operating means carried by said door for controlling said releasing means, said external operating means including a spring bumper and a plunger operated thereby.

3. In a. door operating mechanism, a door, locking means for locking said door in closed position, releasing means for unlocking said locking means, biasing means for said releasing means, a casing for said door, means connected to said casing, and operatively connected to. said biasing means for setting said biasing means to bias said releasing means towards door unlocking motion when said door is opened, and an externally mounted means carried by said door and controlling the operation of said releasing means, said externally mounted means including a spring bumper and a plunger operated thereby.

4. In a. door. operating mechanism, a door, looking means for locking said door in closed position, releasing means for unlocking said locking means, biasing means for said releasing means, a casing for' said door, means connected to said casing and operatively connected to said biasing means for setting said biasing means to bias. said releasing means towards door unlockin motion when said door isopened, a. plunger slidable through said door for releasing said biasing means, and an elongated externally mounted bumper connected to said plunger and movable towards said door to actuate said plunger.

5. In a door operating mechanism, a door, locking means for locking said door in closed po sition, releasing means for unlocking said locking means, biasing means for said releasing means, a casing for said door, means connected to said casing and operatively connected to said biasing means for setting said biasing means to bias said releasing means towards door unlocking motion when said door is opened, a plunger slidable through said door, a leaf spring having an intermediate portion connected to said plunger and positioned externally of said door, and a pair of lighter springs connected to the ends of said leaf spring and connected to said door on the outside of said door and extending outwardly to avoid friction when said leaf spring is pressed and to lessen the stresses imposed on said leaf spring when said leaf spring is deflected, whereby said leaf spring may be moved towards said door to impart substantially straight line motion to said plunger.

6. In a door operating mechanism, a door, locking means for locking said door in closed position, a pivoted lever carried on the inner side of said door for releasing said locking means, latching means controlling the operation of said lever, a plunger slidable through said door for releasing said latching means, and bumper means mounted externally of said door for actuating said plunger, said bumper means including a relatively heavy leaf spring and a pair of lighter springs secured to the ends of the leaf spring and extending backwardly therefrom and secured to the outside of said door.

'7. In a door operating mechanism, a door, locking means for locking said door in closed position, a pivoted lever carried on the inner side of said door for releasing said locking means, latching means controlling the operation of said lever, a plunger slidable through said door for releasing said latching means, and bumper means mounted externally of said door for actuating said plunger, said lever being mounted in the line of travel of said plunger and said latching meansbeing manually movable to inoperative position, whereby said mechanism may be set for either the actuation of said latching means by said plunger or for the direct actuation of said lever by said plunger.

8. In a door operating mechanism, a door, locking means for locking said door in closed position, a pivotally mounted lever carried on the inner side of said door for unlocking said locking means, a latch for locking said lever in lock-released position, means for tripping said latch when said door is opened, and operating means located externally of said door for rocking said lever.

9. In a door operating mechanism, a door, latch means for said door, a lever normally latching said latch means against releasing motion, a bumper fastened on the outside of said door having a heavy leaf spring with lighter springs on each end connected to said leaf spring and to the door, and a plunger connected to said bumper and having a straight line motion and operatively associated with said lever and latch means for releasing said latch means.

FRED LICHTFELDT.

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