Ground fixing structure for the drive of a sliding gate

Abstract

 A ground fixing structure for actuating a sliding gate motor by means of a pinion being splined on the drive shaft and a driving member being fixed to the gate is described.
The structure comprises a foundation plate (6) and means (7,14) for coupling the motor (2) to the foundation plate (6), among which there are two clamping screws.
In order to facilitate the proper positioning of the motor relative to the gate and effectively counteract the torsion to which the motor is subjected around its vertical axis during the acceleration and deceleration steps of the gate and thereby reduce the forces acting on the clamping screws and the mechanical driving members of the gate, the coupling means comprise fastening means (7,14) suitable to prevent that the motor (2) may be displaced relative to the plate (6) in the perpendicular direction to the drive shaft (3).

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to automated gates and, more particularly, to a fixing structure for sliding gate motor such as defined in the preamble of claim 1.

[0002] In figure 1 there is represented an example of sliding gate 1 being actuated by a motor 2. A pinion (not seen in figure 1 because it is covered by motor 2) splined at an end of the drive shaft 3 engages with a driving member 4, which in the example from figure 1 is a rack, attached to the sliding gate 1.

[0003] The axis of the drive shaft 3 is perpendicular to the direction of movement of gate 1 such that when motor 2 is started, the coupling of the pinion and the rack will cause the gate 1 to slide.

[0004] The motor 2 is usually fixed to the ground by means of two screws joining the basement 5 thereof to a foundation plate 6 that had been previously cemented to the ground. The orientation of motor 2 relative to gate 1 is important in that the drive shaft 3 and the direction of the gate 1 are required to be substantially perpendicular to each other for the proper operation of the coupling between pinion and rack.

[0005] The known fixing structures require a certain attention upon installation because the anchorage position of the plate 6 to the ground must be accurately set, in order to obtain a proper positioning of the motor 2 relative to the gate 1.

[0006] During the acceleration and deceleration steps of gate 1, the drive shaft 3 is subjected to forces that are transversal to the direction of its axis, which tend to cause the rotation of motor 2 about its vertical axis.

[0007] Due to these forces, the clamping screws may get loose thereby causing misaligment of the pinion and rack, with consequent malfunctioning of the automatism of the gate 1.

[0008] The main object of the present invention is to propose a fixing structure for a motor that is capable of favouring a proper positioning of the motor relative to the gate and efficiently counteract the torsion to which the motor is subjected about its vertical axis such as to reduce the forces applying on the clamping screws and the mechanical actuating elements of the gate.

[0009] This object is achieved by means of the fixing structure such as generally defined and characterized in claim 1 and defined in some specific embodiments in the secondary claims.

[0010] The invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of some embodiments thereof with reference to the annexed drawings, in which

Figure 1 shows a sliding gate driven by a motor to be fixed to the ground by means of a structure according to the invention,

Figure 2 is a partial side view, and with cut-away parts for clarity of representation, of a sliding gate and a motor to be fixed to the ground by means of a structure according to the invention,

Figure 3 shows a foundation plate being part of a structure according to the invention,

Figure 4 shows a motor basement being shaped for coupling with the plate from Figure 2,

Figure 5 shows a foundation plate with a variant relative to the plate from Figure 3,

Figures 6 and 7 show another example of fixing structure according to the invention.

[0011] With reference to Figures 2, 3 and 4, where the same reference numbers as in Figure 1 indicate the same or equivalent parts, the fixing structure according to the invention comprises a foundation plate 6 and a motor basement 5. The foundation plate 6 is obtained from a metal sheet, for example by punching and bending operations, such as to have two side flaps 9 as the ground anchoring means, each having two slots 10 therein, and three foldable inner flaps 11 having a curvature 16 at the ends thereof. The plate 6 also has two holes where two innerly threaded sleeves 12 and a through aperture 13 for the power supply cables of motor 2 are fitted by riveting.

[0012] The motor 2 can be clamped to the foundation plate 6 by means of coupling means comprising two screws (not shown in the drawing) and two fastening members. In this embodiment, the fastening members are two guide elements 7, each having the shaped of a parallelepiped, being integral with the foundation plate 6, for example being obtained therefrom by drawing, and two notches 14 formed by two couples of ribs 8 protruding from the motor basement 5 and being oriented in the parallel direction to the drive shaft 3.

[0013] The guide elements 7 and the notches 14 are complementary to each other.

[0014] The motor basement 5 has two slots 15 having a longitudinal direction parallel to the drive shaft 3 for the clamping screws intended to be screwed down in the threaded sleeves 12 to pass therethrough.

[0015] For the assembly, the foundation plate 6 is rested on the cement still in liquid form such that both side flaps 9 and the three inner flaps 11, that had been previously folded downwards, are drowned in the cement and such that the guide elements 7 are substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of the gate 1. The slots 10 of the side flaps 9 and the curvature 16 of the inner flaps 11 contribute to improve the anchorage of the plate 6 to the cement.

[0016] The motor 2 is positioned on the foundation plate 6 such that the guide elements 7 meet the notches 14: it thus can slide on the plate 6 in the direction of drive shaft 3. In this way, the position of the motor 2 can be adjusted and the pinion 17 can be properly engaged with the rack 4 fixed to the gate 1. Once in their proper position, both screws passing through the slots 15 are screwed down in the threaded sleeves 12 of the cemented plate 6.

[0017] The fastening elements 7 and 14 between the plate 6 and motor 2 prevent the motor 2 from moving in the direction parallel to the gate 1 and counteract the torsional stress that tends to displace the motor (2) during the acceleration and deceleration steps.

[0018] Figure 5 shows a foundation plate differing from that in Figure 3 in that the guides, designated here with 7', consist of two couples of parallel ribs. It should be noted that on the motor basement 5 the ribs 8 defining the notches 14 have side appendixes 20 facilitating the assembly of the motor on a plate according to the variant from Figure 5. It is understood, indeed, that the side appendixes 20 prevent the guides from being improperly positioned within the notches 14.

[0019] Figures 6 and 7 show a fixing structure according to the invention to be advantageously used in the event one may require to have the motor 2 positioned on a higher level relative to the ground, for example when the driving member 4 being fixed to the gate 1 is a chain. In Figure 6 a chain, not shown in the drawing, is driver by two idler rolls 19 such as to engage with pinion 17 being splined on the drive shaft 3. To avoid that the chain may get in contact with the ground in the lowermost point thereof, it is necessary to fix it to the gate at a certain height. The pinion 17 must therefore be positioned at a higher level than that normally sufficient to engage a rack. Therefore, if one desires to use the same motor, he will have to mount it on a higher position. In order to obtain this elevation, two segments 18 of L-shaped steel section having four holes, two per each face, are used. Each segment 18 has a vertical face being fixed with two bolts to a respective side flap 9 of the plate 6 and a horizontal face being fixed to the ground with two screws. If required, the flaps 11 can be folded downwards and anchored to the cement such as described in conjunction with Figures 2 and 3.

[0020] In all the embodiments described above, variants in the shape and arrangement of the fastening elements can be provided. Particularly, whereas in the embodiments described above the fastening elements comprise guides protruding from the plate and two matched notches being provided on the motor basements, the dual version, i.e. that providing notches on the plate and guides on the motor basement, is also valid.

[0021] Furthermore, instead of two fastening elements, also only one may be provided, for example a single guide and a complementary notch.

[0022] It should also be noted that the fastening elements, when there are provided more than one, can either be aligned, such as in Figure 7 or not aligned, such as in Figure 3. In the latter case, one has the advantage of obtaining one single direction for the positioning of the motor on the plate and therefore it can no longer be wrongly (i.e. in opposite direction) mounted.

[0023] As will be easily understood, the object of the invention is fully achieved in that the fixing structures described enable to facilitate positioning the motor and reducing, in a simple and effective manner, the undesired effects that the opening and closing operations on the gate may cause to the motor and the fixing structure thereof.

Claims

1. A ground fixing structure for actuating a sliding gate motor by means of a pinion splined on the drive shaft and a driving member fixed to the gate, comprising

- a foundation plate (6) having anchoring means (9,11) to the ground and

- means (7,7',14) for coupling the motor (2) to the foundation plate (6),

   characterized in that the coupling means comprise fastening elements (7,7',14) suitable to prevent that the motor (2) may be displaced relative to the plate (6) in the direction perpendicular to the drive shaft (3).

2. The fixing structure according to claim 1, wherein the fastening elements (7,7',14) comprise at least one first guide element (7,7') integral with the plate and at least one second guide element (14), complementary to the first one, integral with the motor on a basement surface (5) thereof.

3. The fixing structure according to claim 2, wherein the first guide element (7,7') comprises at least one projection of the plate and the second guide element (14) comprises at least one notch on the basement surface of the motor (5).

4. The fixing structure according to claim 3, wherein the first guide element (7) comprises a projection substantially having the shape of a parallelepiped.

5. The fixing structure according to claim 3, wherein the first guide element (7') comprises two ribs substantially parallel to each other.

6. The fixing structure according to claim 2, wherein the first guide element comprises a notch on the plate and the second guide element comprises a projection of the motor basement surface.

7. The fixing structure according to any preceding claim 2 to 6, wherein the fastening elements (7,7',14) comprise at least two first and two second guide elements that are not aligned.

8. The fixing structure according to any preceding claim, wherein the anchoring means of the foundation plate (6) to the ground comprise a plurality of elements (9,11) protruding from the plate (6) and being integral therewith.

9. The fixing structure according to claim 8, wherein the plurality of protruding elements comprises two side flaps (9) being obtained by bending and three flaps (11) being obtained by punching and bending.

10. The fixing structure according to any preceding claim, wherein the driving member (4) fixed to the gate (1) is a rack that is integral therewith.

11. The fixing structure according to any preceding claim, wherein the driving member (4) that is fixed to the gate (1) is a chain being coupled thereto.

Drawing