A building door arrangement and method for installing a building door arrangement

Abstract

 The present invention discloses a building door arrangement (1), which building door arrangement (1) comprises at least one door leaf portion (2) guided by guides (3) using guide followers (4) during opening and closing of said door arrangement (1). Said guide followers (4) are engagable on opposite sides of the door leaf portion (2), wherein at least one of said guide followers (4) are adapted to move engagably with a play, which play is in relation to the door leaf portion (2) and said play has a direction at least partly perpendicular to said guide (3). Said guide follower (4) is provided with a locking device for locking the guide follower (4) relatively to the door leaf portion (2), said locking device provides a locked and unlocked condition for said play. Said door leaf portion (2) and guide followers (4), in the locked condition, are adapted for retrieving the assembling position for the guides in relation to one another, and wherein the guide followers (4), in the unlocked condition, enables smooth operation of the door arrangement (1) during normal operation. The present invention also discloses a method for installing a building door arrangement of the above mentioned kind.

Description

Field of the invention

[0001] A building door arrangement of the kind disclosed in the preamble of claim 1, which building door arrangement comprises at least one door leaf portion guided by guides using guide followers during opening and closing of said door arrangement, wherein said guide followers are engagable on opposite sides of the door leaf portion. A method for installing a building door arrangement is disclosed.

Technical background

[0002] An example of a building door arrangement of the kind disclosed usually comprises guide tracks. Rollers are usually attached to a door leaf portion, or the door leaf portion itself. The rollers are movably engaged with said guide tracks to provide a sliding movement for the door between an open position and a closed position. Initially during assembling of the door the guide tracks are positioned e.g. on each side of a doorway. When installing a sectional door it is important to achieve a good fitting. If not, there is risk for malfunction between tracks, rollers, door leaf and/or door leaf portion. These phenomenon could increase wear and cause poor opening and closing performance. Furthermore, accuracy in distance between the tracks, or guide rails, is sometimes crucial for safety devices such as cable break devices, since it is quite common to utilize some kind of mechanical catch, which needs to be positioned in an exact location in relation to part of the door arrangement.

[0003] Procedures of today, to keep the correct distance between the guide tracks, includes using a distance beam or to measure the dimensions manually. A distance beam means cost and also there is a tolerance between the distance beam and the door leaf portions to be assembled. The manual method of measuring is time consuming and uncertain since there are many facts, tolerances and measurements to consider during installation. Further one single installer could have problems to measure positions and to fix components at the same time. Another issue which is sometimes experienced could be differences in the current installation facilities from the ideal facility such as tolerances of the building where the door should be installed.

[0004] Hence, there is a need for an improved building door arrangement and an improved method for installing a building door arrangement to achieve a proper an accurate positioning of the components of the door for proper operation of such a door.

Summary of the invention

[0005] One object of the invention is to provide a building door arrangement that, in relation to prior art door arrangements, is easy to install.

[0006] Another object of the present invention is to provide a building door arrangement which has good accuracy and tolerances for proper operation.

[0007] A further object of the present invention is to provide an accurate positioning of the door in relation to a safety device.
The above-mentioned object is achieved by a door arrangement according to the introduction, wherein a building door arrangement comprises at least one door leaf portion guided by guides using guide followers during opening and closing of said door arrangement. Said guide followers are engagable on opposite sides of the door leaf portion. At least one of said guide followers are adapted to move engagably with a play in relation to the door leaf portion. The play has a direction at least partly perpendicular to said guide, further said guide follower is provided with a locked and unlocked condition for said play. Said door leaf portion and guide followers, when in the locked condition, are adapted to be used for retrieving the assembling position for the guides in relation to one another. The guide followers, when in the unlocked condition, enables smooth operation of the door arrangement during normal operation.

[0008] The rollers are engaged in the guide tracks to guide the door during normal operation. Said rollers are usually positioned one on each short side of the door leaf portion. The rollers are provided with a play, possible to lock to facilitate the installation, it is further possible to unlock the play to take tolerances during normal operation. Said play for the guide follower is possible to lock completely and the locked position is located between the end positions of the play. The direction of this play is substantially in the plane of the door and perpendicular to said guide. When the play is locked, the length of the door leaf portion will be fixed, and the door leaf portion can be used direct in the finally assembled position to find the correct installation positions for the guides.

[0009] Advantageously, said guide follower is a wheel with a shaft and the play of the guide follower is achieved by a slidable shaft in relation to an attachment bracket. The attachment bracket is preferably provided on the door leaf portion.

[0010] Advantageously is said guide follower provided with a locking device for locking the guide follower relatively to the door leaf portion. Preferably this locking device consist of a lock pin.

[0011] Further, a method for installing a building door arrangement, which comprises at least one door leaf portion guided by guides using guide followers during opening and closing of said door arrangement. Said guide followers are engagable on opposite sides of the door leaf portion, and at least one of said guide followers being adapted to move engagably with a play. This play is in relation to the door leaf portion and said play has a direction at least partly perpendicular to said guide. This method further comprises the steps of, ensuring that the play for the at least one guide follower on opposite sides of the door leaf portion is locked, using said door leaf portion and locked guide followers to retrieve the assembling position for the guides in relation to one another, unlocking the play of at least one of the guide followers to allow said play between the guide follower and the door leaf portion for enabling smooth operation of the door arrangement during normal operation.

[0012] The step to ensure that the play is locked describes either that the play is locked when the door arrangement is delivered for installation or locking of the play during the installation procedure.

[0013] The installation procedure consist of many steps, such as position and secure a first guide track in a predetermined position on one side of the doorway. By use of one or more door leaf portion, with locked play, to find the assembling position for the second guide track on the other side of the doorway. Further if it is an overhead door to be installed the procedure according to the invention could be used for installation of the guide tracks that shall be attached to the ceiling.

[0014] During the installation procedure the door leaf portions with, locked play, have a fixed length and are used as distance beam between the guide tracks on each sides of the doorway. This means that the door leaf portions are used to find the correct assembling position for the door arrangement at the same time as the door leaf portions are positioned in their final position.

[0015] Advantageously the guide follower could be attached to the door leaf portion, and in this case the guide follower further is engagable with said guide. Alternatively, the above method also further comprises the step of; attaching said guide follower on said guide. The guide follower is further engagable with said door leaf portion.

[0016] It is an object to achieve an accurate positioning of the guide rails, for example to reduce risk with positioning of interacting safety portions relatively to each other. Such safety portions can be provided on, or near, the guide rail and the door for interaction, for example emergency mechanical cable break devices or devices for pinch protection.

Brief description of drawings

[0017] By way of example, embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying figures of drawings in which:

Fig 1 is a perspective view of an overhead door according to the invention.

Fig 2 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II in fig 1.

Fig 3 is a perspective view of a guide follower according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig 4a is a perspective view illustrating an initial stage during installation of a building door arrangement.

Fig 4b is a perspective view illustrating a stage after the stage in figure 4a during installation of a door.

Fig 4c is a perspective view illustrating a later stage during installation of a door, where a plurality of door leaf portion are used.

Description of Preferred Embodiments

[0018] One embodiment of the building door arrangement 1, according to the invention, will now be described in relation to Figs 1 to 4.

[0019] Fig 1 depicts one embodiment of the building door arrangement 1 according to the invention, in which the door arrangement is an overhead door. The principle of the present invention could also be applied on other relevant designs such as for example, doors which are rolled up or doors that are transferred vertically upwards during opening.

[0020] Fig 2 discloses a section taken along line II-II of fig 1, where the guide track 3 is a profile that engages the roller 5 and prevent said roller 5 from escaping. Further the play, which allow proper and smooth operation during opening and closing, is illustrated by an arrow in fig 2. Further the guide 3 is disclosed already attached to the wall or building. This attachment could be performed with any method known in the art, preferably it is possible to adjust the position of the rail 3 after it has initially been attached.

[0021] A preferred embodiment of the invention is apparent from fig 3 in which the roller 5, in this case a wheel, is attached with a bracket 8 to the door leaf portion 2. Further the guide follower 4 has a shaft 6 which is displaceable relatively to the attachment bracket 8 and the door leaf portion 2 to get the wished play. A hole in the bracket makes it possible to lock the play with a lock pin 7. To lock or latch the play said lock pin 7 is introduced through said hole in the bracket and into a slot in the shaft 6, whereby the shaft is completely locked against movement in the axial direction.

[0022] A preferred method for installing a building door arrangement will now be described. Fig 4 shows successive assembling steps in the installation procedure of the building door arrangement. Figure 4a discloses a first guide track 3 attached to the building, for example on one side of a doorway. Further, the lowest door leaf portion 2 is engaged, in the assembling position, with said guide track 3 by means of the guide follower 4. Figure 4b illustrates how a first door leaf portion 2 is used as a measure beam to retrieve a position for installation of the second guide rail 3 on the other side of the doorway/gate. Figure 4c shows a plurality of door leaf portions 2, with locked play, which are used to find the correct assembling position for the guide tracks 3 in relation to each other. This can in practise be performed in many different ways, for example the first guide rail can be fixed in position using a spirit level and e.g. clamps, thereafter one or more door leaf portions, with locked play, are used to find the position for the second guide rail. In this mentioned procedure one or both rails can be adjusted bit by bit or after a plurality of door leaf portions have been installed. Further there can be fixing positions with, for example, oval or over sized holes in the upper part of the rail and the lower part of the rail. Other different methods or means known in the art could be used to facilitate the positioning and fixation of the guide rails during installation.

[0023] In a preferred embodiment of the invention said play for the guide followers 4 on each side of the door leaf portion 2 are both in the same range of distance for the movement. Specially the same kind of guide follower element 2 can be used on both sides.

[0024] According to the preferred method of the present invention two attachment brackets 8 are attached, on each short side of the door leaf portion, adjacent the joint between two successive door leaf portions. Further, each guide follower has a shaft, which can be moved slidably in relation to the attachment bracket 8 in a direction parallel with the long side of said door leaf portion. A lock pin 7 is used to get a latched position for the play to be used during the installation procedure. Other methods or techniques such as bayonet joint, screw or similar known by the skilled person could be used as alternative embodiments to the disclosed embodiment.

[0025] The locking devices of the present invention can be used during testing of the door arrangement e.g. during installation, with one or more guide followers in the locked condition the testing will verify the accuracy and the tolerances for the current installation.

[0026] For an overhead door it is also possible to use the principle according to this invention for installation of the guide tracks in the roof for an overhead door i.e. the guide rails to be assembled parallel to the ceiling and attached thereto. During installation of an overhead door the method according to this invention could be used comprising the following steps; to position and install the vertical guide rails by means of the door leaf portions with locked play, further the door is, still with locked play, opened to a half open position for retrieving an accurate positioning of the first attachment points for the horizontal guide rails, in a later step the door is opened completely to retrieve the position for the second assembling points of the horizontal guide rails. In this way the door arrangement achieve an accurate installation both regarding position, distances, tolerances and angles for the vertical and horizontal guide rails in relation to the building and to each other.

[0027] The installation procedure of the door arrangement according to this embodiment includes in brief the steps of, positioning a first guide track in relation to a building, attaching one or more door leaf portions 2, with locked play, by engaging the rollers 4 in said guide track 3, positioning a second guide track by means of said door leaf portions 2, with locked play, fixing at least one point of the second guide to the building, achieving a proper installation position for the guide tracks by adjusting the position of the guide tracks in relation to each other, unlocking or unlatching the guide followers 4 to provide a play for proper operation of the door arrangement.

[0028] There are recent regulations which demand emergency stopping devices for doors to prevent accidents, these emergency devices, e.g. mechanical cable break device, can be carried out in many different designs, where the installation positions can be of importance for proper operation of the safety device.

[0029] It is realized by the skilled person that these performed methods and embodiments are given as nonlimiting examples. Hence, the skilled person would be able to combine features from different embodiments in order to further adopt the invention to various building door arrangements, within the scope of protection as set out in the claims.

Claims

1. A building door arrangement (1), which building door arrangement (1) comprises at least one door leaf portion (2) guided by guides (3) using guide followers (4) during opening and closing of said door arrangement (1), wherein said guide followers (4) are engagable on opposite sides of the door leaf portion (2), wherein at least one of said guide followers (4) are adapted to move engagably with a play, which play is in relation to the door leaf portion (2) and said play has a direction at least partly perpendicular to said guide (3), characterised in that said guide follower (4) is provided with a locking device for locking the guide follower (4) relatively to the door leaf portion (2), said locking device provides a locked and unlocked condition for said play, wherein said door leaf portion (2) and guide followers (4), in the locked condition, are adapted for retrieving the assembling position for the guides in relation to one another, and wherein the guide followers (4), in the unlocked condition, enables smooth operation of the door arrangement (1) during normal operation.

2. A building door arrangement (1) according to claim 1, wherein said play of the guide follower (4) is achieved by a slidable shaft (6) in relation to an attachment bracket (8).

3. A building door arrangement (1) according to claim 2, wherein said guide follower (4) is a wheel with a shaft (6), which shaft is engaged with the attachment bracket (8) provided on the door leaf portion (2).

4. A building door arrangement (1) according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein said locking device is a lock pin (7).

5. A method for installing a building door arrangement (1), which building door arrangement comprises at least one door leaf portion (2) guided by guides (3) using guide followers (4) during opening and closing of said door arrangement (1), wherein said guide followers (4) are engagable on opposite sides of the door leaf portion (2), characterised in that at least one of said guide followers (4) being adapted to move engagably with a play, which play is in relation to the door leaf portion (2) and said play has a direction at least partly perpendicular to said guide, said method comprising the steps of:

ensuring that the play for the at least one guide follower (4) on opposite sides of the door leaf portion (2) is locked;

using said door leaf portion (2) and locked guide followers (4) to retrieve the assembling position for the guides (3) in relation to one another;

unlocking the play of at least one of the guide followers (4) to allow said play between the guide follower (4) and the door leaf portion (2) for enabling smooth operation of the door arrangement (1) during normal operation.

6. A method according to claim 5, further comprising the step of: attaching said guide follower (4) on said guide (3), wherein the guide follower (4) further is engagable with said door leaf portion.

7. A method according to claim 5, further comprising the step of: attaching said guide follower (4) to said door leaf portion (2), wherein the guide follower (4) further is engagable with said guide (3).

8. A method according to anyone of the claims 5-7, comprising an early step of: fixing a first guide (3) in a predetermined position in relation to a doorway.

9. A method according to anyone of the claims 5-8, further comprising the step of: positioning said door in relation to a safety device, particularly a mechanical cable break device.

Drawing