US2531119A - Automatic door - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 21, 1950 R. EVERITT AUTOMATIC DOOR Filed Sept. 25, 1946 Patented Nov. 21, 195

UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE Amer/[Arie noon Ronald Everitt, Aurora, ill.

Application semember 25, 1946, Serial No; 699,232 3 Claims; (em-m7) My invention, which pertains to doors of the type employed on garages and similar structures has as an important objective the provision of a simple and inexpensive door structure which may be swung about a horizontal axis to expose a relatively large opening such as the vehicle open ing a garage, hangar, or the like, and which may be automatically actuated by a novel vehicleoperated mechanism.

Overhead doors save space and are easier to operate than conventional doors hung to swing about a vertical axis. They are particularly advantageous where the opening i large since the weight of thedoor may be counterbalanced and the effect of wind pressure substantially reduced. But as heretofore made,. they have been quite costly since it has been necessary to form a number of transverse joints in such doors which impart suficient flexibilit to the door structure to 7 permit movement along a curved track or ide Doors for large openings such as hangar doors are oftennece'ssarily automatically actuated, employing diverse forms of mechanical and electrical apparatus to accomplish the operation but substantially all such mechanisms heretofore known have been relatively costly and require continuous maintenance to insure operation. The simplicity, strength and light weight of my door permits the employment of a simple and durable mechanical door-actuating means which will operate reliably without excessive maintenance throughout extended periods of time.

' Briefly my door comprises a rigid arcuate section of suitable material such assheet metal or wood reinforced as necessary and provided with arms extending radially inwardly to a horizontal shaft or other support adapted to permit partial rotation of the door. The arms extending from the deer may be disposed either within or without the building depending on Whether or not it is desired to swing the door upwardly over the roof, as would be the case where external arms are employed, or upwardly beneath the roof as when the arms are within the building. Suitable seals are formed on the door, the walls, and the roof of the building to prevent the entry of rain and wind; A counterweight is customarily employed to hold the door in a closed position and to close the door automatically after opening, suitable catches being provided to retain the door in either pesiti'on;

Since only simple arcuate movement is required to actuate the door, my automatic opening device comprises a system of levers or other means linking the arms extending inwardly from the door to a trackway extending outwardly beyond the door and hinged for movement about a hori-- zontal axis. The trackvvay is arranged in such manner that as the wheels-of a vehicle engage the trackway, a movement of the track'way about the horizontal axis is produced which is in turn communicated through the system of levers cansing the door to operate. As the vehicle passes through the door and the rear wheels leave, the trackway, the door is closed by the counterweight; Both the door herein described and thev door actuating mechanism are particularly ,well adapted for use on garages of the type described in my Patent No 2,282,324 dated May 12, 1942, the description of which, in so far as'consistent, is incorporated and made a part hereof by refer q U l Referring to the drawings,

Figure 1 is a partially sectioned diagrammatic elevation of my automatic doors; 1 r

Figure 2 is a top view of the device illustrated infFigurel; p h H Efi gure 3 is a section taken along the lines 3-3 of Figure 1; and p Figure l is a modification of the device illustrated in Figural. k

As shown inFigure 1, a garage, generally designated IE}, having side walls It and a roof lZ is provided with a trackway 13 extending outwardly beyond the ends of the walls 11, the opposite end of the garage being closed by an end wall M. The trackway 13 includes a horizontal web or base 16 of sufiicient width to receive the wheels of a vehicle and may be provided with one or more vertical flanges I! to guide the wheels and preyeh't their leaving the trackway. The outer ends of the trackway i3 be flared as at Hi to assist the driver of the vehicle iii placing the wheels the trackway. If desired, rollers l9 may be jiirn'alled to the outer ends of the traekway I3 to permit a sliding movement thereof amng the sin; face of the ground, or along a suitable plate of hard material. The trackway I 3"is provided with a trahsverse hinge 21 disposed between the of the trackway which may suitably compris a pin 22 extending throuh e'ars 23 formed miss: grally with the we 16'. The inner end of the trackw'ay i3 is secured to a shaft 24 whichis journalled in the side walls I I of the garage. Upwardly extending arms 26 aresecured at one" end to the outer ends of the shaft 24, which extend outwardly beyond the walls I l. k I

The side walls II and the roof 12 define a v6 hicle opening closed by a door, generally desigo: nated 21, which comprises a rigid sheet or plurality of sheets of suitable material such as wood or metal having a configuration similar to a surface section of a right cylinder. The ends of the side walls II are provided with an outwardly extending flange 28 and are curved to receive a channel 29 formed, for example, by a revers turn of the edges of the door 21. Arms 3| are secured as by welding to the outer edges of the door 21 and extend radially inwardly to a center corresponding to the axis of the cylinder of which the door 21 forms a surface segment. Center hubs 32, preferably integral with the arms 3 I, are journalled to horizontal stub shafts 33 which may be suitably secured to the walls l I or to other suitable support means. The upper end of the door 21 is provided with a downwardly extending flange 34 which, When the door is in closed position, engages a channel 36 formed in the end section of the roof thus forming a weatherproof joint which in combination with the channel 29 and flang 28 effectively seals the opening against the entrance of wind and rain. Gaskets may, of course, be employed in these joints, if desired.

Arms 31 extend outwardly from the hubs 32 and support adjustable counterweights 38 of sufficient mass to substantially overcome the weight of the door 21 and assist in raising and lowering the door. The lower edge of the door 21 is suitably notched as at 39 to receive the trackways l3 and permit the lower edge of the door 21 to engage the sill of the garage. A flexible plate 4! of a material such as rubber may be secured to the underside of the trackway l3 and to the floor of the garage ID to seal the space between the floor and the bottom of the trackway when the door 21 is closed. Alternatively, the plate 4| may comprise a section of metal hinged to the underside of the trackway I3 and disposed to an angle to the floor of the garage IQ in such manner that when trackway I3 is lowered, the edge of the plate 4| will slide along the floor, and as the trackway rises, will return by gravity to a position in. which it closes the opening between the trackway and the floor.

A link 42 is pivotally secured to the free end of arms 26 and to arms 31 between the hub 32 and the counterweight 38, the length of the link 42 being such that with the door 21 in closed position, the hinged center portion of the trackway I3 is maintained a distance above the horizontal. As the front wheels of the vehicle entering a garage engage the trackway [3, the weight of the vehicle forces the trackway downwardly moving the outer end 19 thereof outwardly and causing a partial rotation of the shaft 24. This in turn moves the arms 26 in a clockwise direction, drawing the link 42 to the right and forcing the door 21 upwardly about the shaft 32 into open position, as indicated by dotted lines in Figure 1. As long as the wheels of the vehicle engage the trackway [3, th door 21 will remain open and, if the wheel base of the vehicle is less than the overall length of the trackway l3, it is obvious that the door 21 will remain open until the rear wheels of the vehicle leave the trackway, at which time the door 21 will be free to close by the action of counterweights 38. If the wheel base of the vehicle is excessively long, it is of course obvious that suitable catches may b employed to maintain the door in an open position. As the vehicle leaves the garage, the reverse of the above described sequence of operation occurs, the rear wheels of the vehicle engaging the inner end of 4 the trackway l3 and thus forcing the door 21 into open position.

It is of course obvious that several other types of linkage may be employed to interconnect the trackway and door. A modified form of linkage is illustrated in Figure 4 wherein the operating mechanism is disposed within the walls of the garage, a shaft 32 being secured to the inner surface of the walls II and the arms 3| being suitably secured to the inner surface of the door 21. In this modification arms 43, preferably somewhat longer than the previously described arms 26, are secured to the shaft 24. A cable 44 extends from the end of arms 43 over a winch 46, having a handle 41, to arms 31. The winch 46 may be of conventional design secured to a wall ll of the garage. If desired, a winch shaft 48 may extend through the wall H of the building and the handle 41 be secured to either end thereof to permit operation ofthe winch from the inside or outside of the garage. As the wheels of a vehicle engaging the trackway I3 force the trackway downwardly, the arms 43 are moved by shaft 24 in a clockwise direction, drawing the cable 44 around the winch 46, thus pulling the arms 3| and the door 21 upwardly to open position beneath the roof l2 of the garage. Since the door 21 in open position is wholly within the garage, the roof i 2 is provided with a downwardly extending flange 49 which engages the upper edge of the door 21 in its closed position forming the weatherproof joint. If it is desired to open or close the door 21 manually, the winch 48 actuated by the handle 41 may be employed.

From the foregoing it may be seen that my door can be simply and inexpensively formed and provides a highly durable, strong closure without the necessity of weakening the structure by providing one or more horizontal joints therein. All of the advantages of mechanical types of overhead doors are preserved without the necessity of incorporating expensive, complicated and troublesome mechanism for guiding a door along 3 an irregular path. Because of its curved cross section, my door has the ability to resist extraordinary wind pressures, and because of its inherent strength can be formed of lighter materials. The simplicity of my door-actuating mechanism obviously eliminates many of the troublesome complications in mechanisms necessarily employed by the more complex devices of the prior art and will therefore operate for extended periods of time without maintenance or repair.

I am aware that in view of the foregoing disclosure those skilled in the art will be enabled to modify the herein described structures as required by local conditions and I do not therefore wish to limit myself specifically to the arrangement of parts herein described except in so far as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A door and means for opening the door on the approach of a vehicle, said door being mounted on alined horizontal pivots, one at each side of the door, for arcuate rotary movement about said pivots to open and closed positions, said means for opening the door comprising an arm rotatably mounted on one of said pivots and connected to the door to operate the door when the arm is moved, a track device outside the door and leading to the doorway and comprising two members hinged together on a horizontal axis at their meeting ends, the other end of one of said track members being fixed to a rockable horizontal shaft and the other end of the other of said track members being unrestrained, a second arm rigid with said shaft and connected by link means with the said door operating arm, whereby when the door is in closed position the hinged ends of said track members are held in raised position and whereby when a vehicle traverses said track members the hinged ends thereof will be forced downward and operate said horizontal shaft, arm members and link means to open the door.

2. A door and means for opening the door on the approach of a vehicle, said door being mounted on alined horizontal pivots, one at each side of the door, for rotary movement about said pivots to open and closed positions, said means for opening the door comprising an arm rotatably mounted on one of said pivots and connected to the door, a rockably supported horizontal shaft connected by link and lever means to said arm to move the door when the shaft is rocked, and upwardly inclined downwardly movable means rigidly connected with said shaft to rock the same, said movable means having a portion extending outside the door in position to be traversed and downwardly moved by an approaching vehicle.

3. A door and means for opening the door on the approach of a vehicle, said door being mounted for rotary movement about a horizontal axis to open and closed positions, said REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 759,188 Ott May 3, 1904 1,740,020 Johnson Dec. 17, 1929 2,143,439 Friend Jan. 10, 1939 2,225,785 Krocker Dec. 24, 1940 2,319,136 Karns May 11, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 233,109 Great Britain May 7, 1925 524,370 Great Britain Aug. 5, 1940

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