WO2015166142A1

WO2015166142A1 - Door arrangement

Info

Publication number: WO2015166142A1
Application number: PCT/FI2015/050290
Authority: WO
Inventors: Emil JÄRVINEN
Original assignee: LEANPARK Oy
Current assignee: LEANPARK Oy
Priority date: 2014-04-30
Filing date: 2015-04-28
Publication date: 2015-11-05
Anticipated expiration: 2016-10-30

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a door arrangement. The door arrangement includes a frame (511) having a first cavity (520), and an elongated member (518) comprising a thread (518a), positioned inside the first cavity. The arrangement also includes a follower (521) movably engaged to the thread at its first periphery and secured to the shutter (500) at its second periphery. The follower is adapted to move along the axial direction with the rotational motion of the thread, thereby causing the movement of the shutter.

Description

DOOR ARRANGEMENT

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a door arrangement. In particular, the present disclosure relates to mechanical structure to move a door between an open position and a closed position.

BACKGROUND Doors, such as garage doors may be very heavy, and manual opening and closing of such doors could be tiresome to a user. Systems for mechanical opening and closing of these doors, sometimes also commonly referred to as door operators, are known for many years. These commercially available operators generally consist of a motor, a support rail, a drive arrangement such as a drive screw and a traveler. Herein, the drive screw is disposed in and supported by the rail, and the traveler is attached to the door and mounted on the rail to engage the drive screw. The motor operates the drive screw to reciprocate the traveler along the rail to selectively move the door from a vertical position to a horizontal position or vice versa. Such operators require many coupling mechanisms including screws, spring pins and holders which are subject to large torsional forces and wear and tear during operation. Moreover, these mechanisms may be unreliable. Further, such conventional operators, when assembled, have to traverse about eight or nine feet in order to accommodate the usual length garage door plus the 90-degree angle through which the door turns. Since these operators are required to be installed either on the ceiling or along some wall of the garage, this may take up huge amount of space which could have been better utilized for some other purposes. Therefore, there exists a need of a door arrangement that overcomes the above-described limitations of existing systems.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of various invention embodiments. The summary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is neither intended to identify key or critical elements of the invention nor to delineate the scope of the invention. The following summary merely presents some concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description of exemplifying and non-limiting embodiments of the invention.

In accordance with the invention, there is provided a door arrangement comprising a shutter, a frame comprising a first cavity, the frame configured to support the shutter, and a drive arrangement configured to move the shutter between open position and closed position. The drive arrangement comprises an elongated member comprising a thread, the elongated member being positioned in the first cavity, and a follower engaged to the thread at a first periphery of the follower and to the shutter at a second periphery of the follower wherein the follower is adapted to move along an axial direction with a rotational movement of the tread, thereby causing movement of the shutter.

In accordance with the invention, there is provided also a construct comprising a door arrangement according to any of claims 1-8.

In accordance with the invention, there is provided also a vehicle comprising door arrangement according to any of claims 1-8. In accordance with the invention, there is provided also a trailer comprising door arrangement according to any of claims 1-8.

Further objects of the present invention are described in the accompanying dependent claims.

Exemplifying and non-limiting embodiments of the invention, both as to constructions and to methods of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, are best understood from the following description of specific exemplifying embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

The verbs "to comprise" and "to include" are used in this document as open limitations that neither exclude nor require the existence of un-recited features. The features recited in the accompanied depending claims are mutually freely combinable unless otherwise explicitly stated. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the use of "a" or "an", i.e. a singular form, throughout this document does not exclude a plurality. Additional aspects, advantages, features and objects of the present disclosure would be made apparent from the drawings and the detailed description of the illustrative embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a construct comprising a garage equipped with an exemplary door arrangement according to the present disclosure; FIG. 2 illustrates a front planar view of door arrangement according to an exemplifying and non- limiting embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of door arrangement according to an exemplifying and non- limiting embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of a frame of a door arrangement according to an exemplifying and non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5a illustrates a partial perspective view of a door arrangement according to an exemplifying and non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5b illustrates a partial top planar view of a door arrangement according to an exemplifying and non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic view of a door arrangement according to an exemplifying and non- limiting embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic sectional view of the door arrangement of FIG. 7 along an AA axis, according to an exemplifying and non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, and

FIG 8. illustrates a schematic view of a door arrangement according to an exemplifying and non- limiting embodiment of the present disclosure.

DESCRIPTION

Aspects, advantages and/or other features of exemplary embodiments of the disclosure will become apparent in view of the following detailed description, which discloses various non- limiting embodiments of the invention. In describing exemplary embodiments, specific terminology is employed for the sake of clarity. However, the embodiments are not intended to be limited to this specific terminology. It is to be understood that each specific portion includes all technical equivalents that operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose.

In the description, the exemplary embodiments are related to a garage door of a household. However, it is obvious for a skilled person, that the door arrangement of the present disclosure is suitable for use in any construct, such as building, garage, storage, and container. In addition, the door arrangement of the present invention is suitable for use as a vehicle door arrangement, in particular for vans, trucks and lorries and their trailers.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary front side of a typical household 100. To this front of the household 100, there is generally located a roadway 102 upon which a vehicle 104 may be driven. A typical household 100 also includes a garage 106, sometimes commonly referred to as a parking facility, a parking place or the like. The garage 106 may be located towards the end of the roadway 102 in order to drive the vehicle 104 in and out of the household 100. The garage 106 may include one or more entrances 108 generally based on the number of the vehicles 104 required to be parked inside. For example, the garage 106 may include one entrance 108 per vehicle 104. Alternatively the garage 106 may include one entrance 108 per two vehicles 104, where the two vehicles 104 would line up when parked inside the garage 106, and so on. In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the garage 106 is shown to include two entrances 108. The entrance 108, for the garage 106, may be engaged by means of a door arrangement 110. The door arrangement 110 may be installed in support with the walls 112 of the entrance 108. As illustrated in FIG. 1, each of the two entrances 108 includes at least one door arrangement 110 with one being shown in an open position and other shown in a closed position. Each of the door arrangements 110 may be configured to be operated mechanically for the purpose of the opening and closing of the door arrangement 110.

The present disclosure further provides a control system 114 to operate the opening and closing of the one or more door arrangements 110. The control system 114 may include an interface 116 which may be accessible to a user for issuing instructions associated with opening and closing of the door arrangement 110. The interface 116 may include, but is not limited to, a push-button, a key-switch, a touch panel or the like. This interface 116 may be installed e.g. near the entrance 108 of the garage 106 for easy accessibility of the user. In an embodiment, the control system 114 may also be configured to receive diagnostic information from the interface 116 regarding the operation of the door arrangement 110, and further be configured to run algorithms to resolve some problems.

Alternatively, the control system 114 may be automated for convenience of the user such that when the vehicle 104 approaches the garage 106, the door arrangement 110 may automatically operate to either an open position or a close position depending on whether the vehicle 104 is being approached from outside or inside the garage 106. Further, the door arrangement 100 may be operated by a mobile terminal, such as a mobile phone, by wireless communication standards like Bluetooth, Infrared, Internet Protocols, and the like. These automated garage door operators are widely known and therefore are not discussed in detail for the brevity of this disclosure. FIG. 2 illustrates a view of the door arrangement 210 comprising a shutter 200. In an embodiment, the shutter 200 may be formed of several horizontal slats or bars, hereinafter referred to as segments 202. These segments 202, in the shutter 200, may be hinged together to be pivotally movable with respect to each other. The hinged segments 202 allows for the shutter 200 to traverse e.g. along the ceiling of the garage, or to be bend/folded or wound upon a drum (not shown), when raised to the open position i.e. to y-direction of the coordinate system 299. This exemplary mechanism will be discussed in more detail with reference to FIG. 3 and later FIG. 7 in the disclosure. It should be understood that a term shutter means a movable structure that wings or slides open and shut. It does not need to include e.g. segments as shown e.g. in FIG 2. According to an exemplary embodiment, the shutter comprises a single structure. Exemplary suitable materials for the single structure are wood and aluminum.

The door arrangement 210 includes one or two frames 211. According to one embodiment, when the door arrangement is for a garage, the frames 211 may be secured to the sidewalls 212 of the entrance of the garage. The frame 211 may be secured to the wall by any suitable joining means known in the art, such as, but not limited to, rivets, nuts and bolts, welding, etc. The frame 211 may extend along the length of the wall 212. The frame 211 may be made of aluminum or any other suitable material. The frame 211 may be designed in a manner to provide support to the shutter 200 in the door arrangement 210. It should be understood that the shutter 200 may be adapted to move along the length of the frame 211 so that the door arrangement 210 traverses between its open and closed positions.

FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of an exemplary door arrangement according to the present disclosure. The figure further shows exemplary directions along which the shutter 300 could be moved for the opening and closing of door arrangement 310. It may be contemplated by a person of ordinary skill in the art that the door arrangement 310 can be opened in a way such that when the shutter 300 is raised to the open position, the segments of the shutter tilt and moves along a direction A, that is, e.g. towards inside in respect to the front of the garage. Otherwise, the shutter 300 may move towards a direction C, that is, towards outside in respect to the front of the garage. Alternatively, the shutter 300 may be adapted to move directly up, that is towards shown direction B in FIG. 3. The directions are also shown by the coordinate system 399. It may be appreciated that the exemplary directions may not be limiting, and in other embodiments the shutter 300 may be adapted to either fold or wound on to a drum when raised to the open position.

FIG. 4 illustrates a detailed structure of the frame 411 in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The frame 411 may be adapted to support the segments 402 of the shutter along a first side 413, opposite to a second side 414 along which the frame 411. The lowermost segment is denoted with the reference number 402a. In an embodiment, the frame 411 includes a first cavity 420 extending cylindrically along the length of the frame 411. In the illustrated embodiment, the first cavity 420 is shown disposed substantially towards the center of the frame. However it may be contemplated that this position of the first cavity 420 may not be construed limiting to the disclosure. The frame 411 further includes a second cavity 430 disposed towards the first side 413. The second cavity 430 may also extend axially along the length of the frame 411. The frame 411 may further include a slit 432 formed in the first side 413 and extending partially along a longitudinal direction to the second cavity 430. The second cavity 430 and the slit 432 collectively form a rail 440 in the frame 411. Location of the ceiling is denoted with reference number 412.

Further, in an embodiment, the frame 411 may further include a profile 416. The profile 416 may be adapted to have a light panel (not shown) for indicating the operational state of the door arrangement. The light panel can be, for example, an array of LED's indicating that the door is opening, by showing green light, or indicating that the door is closing, by showing red light. For this purpose, the light panel may be connected to the control system of the door arrangement.

Moving on, FIGS. 5a,b illustrate partial representations of the door arrangement of the present disclosure. The figures also partially illustrate the components of a drive arrangement 517 of the present disclosure. The drive arrangement 517 includes an elongated member 518 comprising a thread 518a, such as a screw positioned vertically inside the first cavity 520 and extending along the length thereof. The thread 518a includes an upper end 519a and a lower end 519b spanning preferably there between the entire length of elongated member 518 along the axial direction. The drive arrangement 517 of the present disclosure further includes a follower 521. The follower 521 may be movably engaged with the elongated member 518 from a first periphery 521a of the follower. The follower is preferably coupled to the thread of the elongated member in such a manner that the follower moves in upwards and downwards direction with the rotation of the elongated member screw. Upwards refers to y-direction of coordinate system 599. According to a preferable embodiment, the drive arrangement 517 further includes one or more power supplying means for mechanically rotating the elongated member 518, as will be explained later in detail.

In one configuration, the follower 521 is adapted to move up when the elongated member 518 is rotated clockwise and down when the elongated member is rotated counter-clockwise. In alternate configuration, the follower 521 is adapted to move up when the elongated member is rotated counter-clockwise and down when the elongated member is rotated clockwise. It may further be understood that the travel extent of follower 521 is limited between the upper end 519a, where it reaches a highest level, and the lower end 519b where it reaches a lowest level. According to another exemplary embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 5b, the follower 521 is securely fastened with the shutter 500 at the second periphery 510b. Specifically, only a single segment 502 of the shutter 500 is fastened with the follower 521. More specifically, the lowermost segment 502a of the shutter 500 is fastened with the follower 521. For this purpose a fastening device 522 is employed which may include, but not limited to, a nut and bolt, a cotter pin, or the like. This fastening of the shutter 500 with the follower 521 configures the shutter 500 to move parallels in upward or downward direction along with the follower. This in turn enables the opening and closing of the shutter in the door arrangement. It may be appreciated in view of FIG. 5b that the follower is basically acting as a connector between the shutter 500 and elongated member 518. Further, it may be contemplated by a person having ordinary skill in the art that coupling the lowermost segment 502a with the follower 521 allows for the whole of the shutter 500 to be raised up when the follower reaches to its highest level.

In an embodiment, the fastening device 522 may also be adapted to be loosened easily for detaching the shutter 500 from the follower 521. This may be required as a safety measure when the door is needed to be opened and closed manually, e.g. by using a crank handle, for example during a power black-out when the motors of the drive arrangement 517 could not be employed.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a pitch of the thread 518a may be varied with the purpose of controlling the measure of the axial movement of the follower 521 with each rotation of the elongated member 518. It may be contemplated by a person skilled in the art that with a constant rpm motor, this mechanism in turn may be employed to regulate the speed of the movement of the follower, and therefore regulate the speed of the operation involving the opening and closing of the door arrangement. In one alternate embodiment of the present disclosure, the first cavity 520 may include internal threads (not shown) corresponding to threads of the elongated member. It may be understood by a person skilled in the art that with such an arrangement, the rotational movement of the elongated member 518 will be translated into the linear movement of follower, and ultimately the opening and closing of the door arrangement. As illustrated in FIG. 5b, the drive arrangement 517 may further include one or more guiding wheels 531 fixed to one of more, preferably all segments 502 of the shutter 500. These guiding wheels 531 may be adapted to traverse in the extruded rail, i.e. the second cavity 530 in the frame 510 and thus aid to move the shutter 500 in an easier manner. Further, one guiding wheel 531a is shown which forms a part of the lowermost segment 502a. As could be seen in FIG. 5b, the guiding wheel 531a may be connected to the follower 521 at one end and to the fastening device 522 at the other end. It may be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that the guiding wheel 510a may aid in movement of the follower, and ultimately the shutter 500, by reducing the friction as the follower 521 moves laterally along the frame 511. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 5b, the drive arrangement 517 may include secondary guiding wheels 540, located in the first cavity. These secondary wheels 540 may aid to keep the follower 521 in contact with the frame 511 and further help reduce friction as the follower moves along the length of the frame. FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic representation of another exemplary door arrangement 610 of the present disclosure comprising a drive arrangement including a power generating means 650, such as two motors for the elongated members 618. The motors are preferably synchronous motors when two motors are employed. In an embodiment, the motor 650 is located inside the frame. The motor 650 may be configured to provide the rotational motion to the elongated member 618. The motor 650 may be coupled to the elongated member 618 either at the upper end or at the lower end. In an embodiment, the motor 650 is an electrically driven motor. In an embodiment, the motor 650 of the present disclosure is selectively operated by a controller 660. It may be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that the controller may form a part of the control system, described earlier. According to another exemplary embodiment the door arrangement includes a single motor for one elongated member, and the another elongated member is engaged to the same motor by using a shaft and a bevel gear.

The control system may include electric switches (not shown) which may be configured to reverse the direction of rotation of the motor. This may be required for the purpose of the present disclosure, for example, the door arrangement is required to move back from a fully open position to a fully closed position, or vice versa. The control system may further be configured to regulate the speed of the motor in order to control the speed of axial movement of the elongated member, and therefore the opening and closing of the door arrangement. In an embodiment, the control system may be configured for opening the circuit to the motor at any time so that the door arrangement may be stopped in any position intermediate the fully open and fully closed positions.

Although an electric power driven motor is described, a fluid pressure operated motor may also be used with fluid flow control valves in place of electric switches. The fluid pressure control may come with the benefit that a fluid pressure motor or transmission may be readily built to operate at low speed required for the operation of the door arrangement.

FIG. 7 provides a schematic representation of the movement of the segments 702 during the half- open and fully-open stages of the opening of the door arrangement 710. It could be seen that as the shutter 700 moves in the upward direction, i.e. to y-direction of the coordinate system 799, the segments 702 starts to bend near the upward end of the door arrangement 710. These segments 702 further traverse in a horizontal direction, for example along the ceiling of a garage. This way when the door is fully raised to the open position, the shutter 700 may be positioned along with the ceiling of the garage. FIG. 8 provides a schematic representation of the movement of the segments 802 during the half- open and fully-closed stages of the opening of the door arrangement 810 according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. According to this embodiment, the shutter 800 moves horizontally i.e. in x-direction of the coordinate system 899. According to this embodiment, the elongated member 818 comprising a thread 818b is located above the shutter.

The disclosure relates to improvements in door operators, and particularly to a novel drive arrangement including a follower connected to a screw as an elongated member and configured to translate the rotational motion of a motor into its linear motion, which opens and closes the door arrangement to which it is attached. The objects of the improvement further includes a novel mounting structure for engaging the drive arrangement to the door which make installation much simpler and convenient as compared to the existing door operators, since there are no mounting pieces to be secured to the ceiling of the garage for support. Further the present drive arrangement may be packaged into smaller space for shipment from factory, and in addition takes less space after installation. Additionally/alternatively the frame can be aligned horizontally above the entrance to the garage. In this embodiments the segments would be "hanging" from the frame downwards. In the operation the elongated member comprising a thread is rotated with a motor. The rotation causes the door to open/close to left or right. Further embodiments are disclosed in the following numbered clauses.

1. A garage door comprising:

a shutter;

a frame having a first cavity;

a screw positioned inside the first cavity;

a motor drivably coupled to the screw and configured to provide a rotational motion to the screw about an axial direction; and

a follower movably engaged to the screw at a first periphery and secured to the shutter at a second periphery;

wherein the follower is adapted to move along the axial direction with the rotational motion of the screw, thereby causing the movement of the door.

2. A garage door according to clause 1 further comprising guide wheels disposed along an edge of the shutter. 3. A garage door according to clause 2, wherein the frame comprises a guide rail adapted to receive the guide wheels in order to support the shutter with the frame.

4. A garage door according to clause 1, wherein the follower is secured to the shutter by means of a fastening device. 5. A garage door according to clause 4, wherein the fastening device is configurable to be loosened in order to release the follower from the shutter.

While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative of and not restrictive on the broad present disclosure, and that this present disclosure is not limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, since various other modifications and / or adaptations may occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. It is to be understood that individual features shown or described for one embodiment may be combined with individual features shown or described for another embodiment.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A door arrangement (110, 210, 310, 410, 510, 610, 710), comprising

- a shutter (200, 300, 500, 600, 800),

- a frame (411, 511) comprising a first cavity (420, 520, 620, 720), the frame configured to support the shutter, and

- a drive arrangement (517) configured to move the shutter between open position and closed position, characterized in that the drive arrangement comprises

- an elongated member (518) comprising a thread (518a), the elongated member being positioned in the first cavity and

- a follower (521, 621, 721, 821) engaged to the thread at a first periphery of the follower (521a), and to the shutter at a second periphery of the follower (521b), wherein the follower is configured to move along an axial direction with a rotational movement of the elongated member, thereby causing movement of the shutter.

2. The door arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the drive arrangement further comprises power generating means (650, 750, 850) engaged to the elongated member, and configured to provide the rotational movement of the elongated member.

3. The door arrangement according to claim 2, wherein the power generating means is a motor.

4. The door arrangement according to any of claims 1-3, wherein the shutter comprises plurality of segments (202, 402, 502, 602, 702), and the follower is engaged to lowermost segment (202a, 402a, 502a, 602a, 702a).

5. The door arrangement according to any of claims 1-3, wherein the shutter comprises a single structure.

6. The door arrangement according to any of claims 1-5, wherein the frame comprises a second cavity (430, 530), and the follower comprises a guiding wheel (531) positioned in the second cavity, and wherein the guiding wheel is configured to assist movement of the follower.

7. The door arrangement according to any of claims 1-6, wherein the follower further comprises a secondary guiding wheel (540), positioned in the first cavity, the secondary guiding wheel configured to keep the follower in contact with the frame.

8. The door arrangement according to any of claims 1-7, wherein the follower is engaged to the shutter by means of a fastening device (522, 622, 722) configured to be loosened so that the follower is released from the shutter.

9. A construct comprising a door arrangement according to any of claims 1-8.

10. The construct according to claim 9, wherein the construct is selected from a group consisting of building, garage, storage, and container.

11. The construct according to claim 10, wherein the construct is a garage.

12. A vehicle comprising a door arrangement according to any of claims 1-8.

13. A trailer comprising a door arrangement according to any of claims 1-8.