Up-and-over door with rear springs and ceiling guides

Abstract

 An up-and-over door with rear springs, and ceiling guides (8) secured to the upper end of fixed lateral uprights (2) for the door by a connection comprising pins (12) inserted through and movable along slots (11) to enable the guides (8) to be both swivelled and slid relative to the uprights (2), members (10,13) being provided to securely lock the guides (8) to the uprights (2) at these pins (12).

Description

[0001] The invention relates to an up-and-over door with rear springs and ceiling guides.

[0002] Many types of up-and-over doors are known, of which one widely used type comprises a fixed structure formed from two vertical uprights and a pair of guide rails which are fixed in a substantially horizontal position to the ceiling of the room on which the door is mounted.

[0003] At the top end of the door two wheels or rollers are laterally provided to slide within the guide formed by the respective horizontal rail. To each of the two lower ends of the door there is hinged one end of a rigid rod or strut rotatable about a pin provided in a substantially central position of the respective upright. On this rod or strut there acts the end of a tension spring, the other end of which is secured to a fixed point at the base of the upright, the purpose of this spring being to balance the weight of the-door and to facilitate its closure and opening.

[0004] In the known art the rigid structure formed by the uprights between which the door is already inserted together with its strut and balancing springs is normally packaged and despatched to the user separate from the overhead structure, ie the rails which are intended to support and guide the upper end of the door during its opening and closure movements. In practice, the overhead structure is normally despatched and delivered to the user simply resting on the rigid upright structure.

[0005] On the site where the door is to be applied, the rigid structure formed from the vertical guides, with the door interposed between them, is firstly mounted by bolts which, after correctly positioning the guide rails relative to the uprights, are inserted through holes provided both in the uprights and in the rails.

[0006] As will be apparent the aforedescribed procedure is laborious to carry out and involves considerable cost.

[0007] The main object of this invention is therefore to provide an up-and-over door of the aforestated type the structural parts of which are fitted and connected together in the factory to allow not only easy transport but in particular quick, easy and economical installation on the site at which the door is to be installed.

[0008] This and further objects are attained by an up-and-over door with rear springs comprising a main structure with two uprights, on each of which there is hinged a rod having one of its free ends connected by a pin to the lower ends of a door inserted between the two uprights, and also comprising a secondary structure having two guide rails for the horizontal sliding of the upper end of the door, characterised in that one end of each guide rail is secured to the upper end of a respective upright by a pin or the like movable along an elongate slot, the pin and slot being provided on the upright and in the guide rail respectively or vice versa, members being provided for locking the guide rail to the upright in a position relative thereto in which they are substantially perpendicular to each other.

[0009] Preferably the uprights are constructed of metal section bars, from the upper end of each of which there laterally projects inwards from the door a plate on which said pin for connection between the upright and the respective guide rail is positioned.

[0010] Again preferably, in the upright there is provided in correspondence with said plate an aperture into which the adjacent end of the respective guide rail can penetrate and be retained in the position which it assumes when perpendicular to the upright.

[0011] The structure and characteristics of the up-and-over door of the invention will be more apparent from the ensuing description of a preferred embodiment thereof given by way of non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawing, on which:

Figure 1 is a schematic side elevation of an up-and-over door with rear springs and ceiling guides;

Figure 2 is an enlarged side view of the upper portion of a upright at which it is coupled to a guide rail according to the invention; and

Figure 3 is a front view, taken from the inside, of the upper end of an upright to which a rail in coupled in its open utilization position.

[0012] Reference will firstly be made to Figure 1 which shows a schematic side elevation of an up-and-over door in which the actual door, indicated by the reference numeral 1 and shown only by dashed lines in various positions which it assumes, is housed between two vertical uprights 2 (parallel to each other and of which only one is visible in Figure 1) each formed from a metal section bar which extends between the floor 3 and the ceiling 4 of the room to which the door is applied. To the bottom of the door 1 there is hinged, in correspondence with the each of the two uprights, the free end of a rigid rod or strut 5 which is rotatable on a pivot 6 rigid with the upright. The free other end of the rod 5 is connected to the base of the respective upright by a tension spring 7, the purpose of which is to balance the weight of the door.

[0013] To the upper end of each upright 2 there is secured one end of a guide rail 8, the other end of which is fixed to the ceiling 4 by a support, bracket or tie 9 which maintains this rail in a substantially horizontal position.

[0014] In known manner, from each side of the door 2 in proximity to its upper end there projects a roller or wheel R housed in and movable along the guide defined by the rail 8. In this manner, when the door 5 is swung between the various positions shown by dashed lines in Figure 1, the rollers R projecting laterally from the top of the door slide along the rail 8, by which they are supported, so that the door can easily pass from a position in which it lies vertical (substantially coplanar with the two lateral uprights 2) to a substantially horizontal position coplanar with the two rails 8 and nearly adhering to the ceiling 4 of the room.

[0015] The new and characteristic part of the structure shown schematically in Figure 1 lies in the connection between the top of the vertical uprights 2 and those ends of the respective guide rails 8 which are adjacent to them.

[0016] To understand this, reference will be made to Figures 2 and 3 which, for simplicity, show only the end portions of the uprights and guide rails, which are identified by the reference numerals 2 and 8 already used in Figure 1.

[0017] Each upright 2 is formed from a metal section bar having a continuous flange or wall 2A facing towards the interior of the room where the rigid door structure is to be mounted in a vertical position, the flange extending from a wall 2B (Figure 2) forming a right angle with the wall 2A and intended to be mounted facing away from the rigid door structure. In proximity to the upper end of each upright, a portion of the wall 2A is cut out except along the joining line with the wall 2B, to form a lug 9 which is bent back so that it is coplanar with the the wall 2B, and projects beyond the wall 2A as clearly seen in Figure 2. A window or aperture 10 is hence formed in the wall 2SA (Figures 2 and 3) in correspondence with the lug 9.

[0018] In proximity to that end of the rail 8 to be secured to the upright 2 there is provided (by directly punching the metal section bar forming the rail) an elongate slot 11 (Figure 2) through which there is inserted a pin or the shank of a bolt 12 carried by the lug 9. The position of the bolt 12 and slot 11 are such that when a tightening nut 13 mounted on the bolt 12 is slackened, the rail 8, although remaining connected to the upright, can be rotated about the bolt to adhere to the adjacent surface of the upright, with obvious advantages in terms of space requirement and ease of transport.

[0019] The size of the window or aperture 10 is such that the free end of the rail 8 can exactly penetrate into it.

[0020] It is hence apparent that, starting from the despatch configuration, the rail can be rotated about the bolt 12 into an intermediate position represented by full lines in Figure 2, and from here can be further rotated to a position perpendicular to the upright 2. At this point the rail 8 can be forced towards the upright making the end of the rail penetrate into the window 10, as shown by dashed lines in Figure 2 and as can be seen in full lines in Figure 3.

[0021] Under these conditions the upper and lower edges of the rail 8 rest against the edges of the wall 2A in correspondence with the window 10, and the nut 13 can be tightened onto the bolt 12 to securely fix the rail to the upright.

[0022] Alternatively the elongate slot can be provided in the lug 9, in which case the pin or bolt would be rigid with the rail.

[0023] From the aforegoing it is apparent that the operations involved in unfolding the up-and-over door structure and installing it in its position of utilization are extremely simple and quick to carry out, it being unnecessary to insert pins or bolts through exactly superposed holes provided in the upright structure and rail structure, with considerable advantages compared with the known art.

Claims

1. An up-and-over door with rear springs comprising a main structure with two uprights, on each of which there is hinged a rod having one of its free ends connected by a pin to the lower ends of a door inserted between the two uprights, and also comprising a secondary structure having two guide rails for the horizontal sliding of the upper end of the door, characterised in that one end of each guide rail is secured to the upper end of a respective upright by a pin or the like movable along an elongate slot, the pin and slot being provided on the upright and in the guide rail respectively or vice versa, members being provided for locking the guide rail to the upright in a position relative thereto in which they are substantially perpendicular to each other.

2. An up-and-over door as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the uprights are constructed of metal section bars, from the upper end of each of which there laterally projects inwards from the door a plate on which said pin for connection between the upright and the respective guide rail is positioned.

3. An up-and-over door as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that in the upright there is provided in correspondence with said plate an aperture into which the adjacent end of the respective guide rail can penetrate and be retained in the position which it assumes when perpendicular to the upright.

Drawing