Roll-up door and guide system therefor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9637972-B2
Application number	US-201214424175-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 29, 2012
Priority date	Aug 29, 2012
Publication date	May 2, 2017
Grant date	May 2, 2017

Abstract

A roll-up type industrial door including a flexible sheet or woven fabric forming a curtain for closing a door way having an upper end, a lower end and two opposite side edges. The sheet has a main area and elongate side edge sections that are thicker than the main area. A shoulder is formed where each side edge section meets the main area. A curtain winding mechanism is connected to the upper end of the curtain and is used to raise the curtain. A pair of spaced apart guide channels are also provided and the side edge sections are movable therein. Each guide has one or two elastic members which act as locking blades. The locking blades of each guide form an elongate slot that receives a side edge section of the curtain.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A door comprising:
a flexible sheet forming a curtain for closing a doorway having an upper end, a lower end, and two opposite side edges, said sheet having a relatively thin main area and elongate side edge sections that are thicker than the remainder of said sheet, a shoulder being formed where each side edge section meets said main area;
a curtain winding mechanism having said upper end attached thereto for raising said curtain; and
one or more opposing angled blades for forming guide channels in which said side edge sections are respectively movable, said edge sections having a relatively lower surface friction than said main area, wherein the one or more opposing angled blades are held by a gripping bracket so that the blade bends less easily in a first direction and more easily in a second opposing direction, and provide a one way bearing functionality such that the flexible sheet is allowed to freely travel vertically with reduced resistance, and the one or more opposing angled blades are angled toward an inner space of the guide channels, wherein the gripping bracket provides greater resistance to deflection of the blade when the blade is contacted by the shoulder moving in the first direction away from the inner space of the guide channel and less resistance to deflection of the blade when the shoulder is moving in the second direction toward the inner space of the guide channel such that the one way bearing functionality provides increased resistance to horizontal deflection of the flexible sheet, and easily allows the flexible sheet to be reinserted upon dislodging,
wherein the door is capable of retaining wind loads of up to 100 mile/hour.

2. A door according to claim 1 wherein said curtain further comprises fabric strips made of one-ply polyester monofilament to reduce friction in said side edge sections.

3. A door according to claim 2 wherein the polyester fabric strips are coated with styrene butadiene rubber on one side, said one side being bonded to the respective side edge section of the curtain.

4. A door according to claim 2 wherein each of said fabric strips is bonded to a respective one of said side edge sections, said fabric strips include at least two fabric strips bonded to the shoulders, and each of said at least two fabric strips has an inner longitudinal section that covers a narrow section of said thin, main area of said sheet and is bonded thereto.

5. A door according to claim 2 wherein each fabric strip has a thickness of about 1.0 mm. and a glossy outer side for engagement with the adjacent guide channel.

6. A door according to claim 1 wherein each fabric strip is a continuous strip extending substantially from said upper end to said lower end of said sheet.

7. A door according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more opposing angled blades comprise one or more layers of a single or multi-ply fabric.

8. A door according to claim 7 , wherein the one or more layers of a single or multi-ply fabric are coated with rubber or a polymer on one or both sides.

9. A door according to claim 1 , wherein the side edges of the curtain form windlocks.

10. A door according to claim 9 , wherein the windlocks are continuous or discontinuous along the side edges of the curtain.

11. A door comprising:
a flexible sheet forming a curtain for closing a doorway having an upper end, a lower end, and two opposite side edges, said sheet having a relatively thin main area and elongate side edge sections that are thicker than the remainder of said sheet, a shoulder being formed where each said edge section meets said main area;
a curtain winding mechanism having said upper end attached thereto for raising said curtain;
one or more opposing angled blades for forming guide channels in which said side edge sections are respectively movable, said side edge sections being engageable respectively with said guide channels, wherein the one or more opposing angled blades are held by a gripping bracket and so that the blade bends less easily in a first direction and more easily in a second opposing direction provide a one way bearing functionality such that the flexible sheet is allowed to freely travel vertically with reduced resistance, and the one or more opposing angled blades are angled toward an inner space of the guide channels, wherein the gripping bracket provides greater resistance to deflection of the blade when the blade is contacted by the shoulder moving in the first direction away from the inner space of the guide channel and less resistance to deflection of the blade when the shoulder is moving in the second direction toward the inner space of the guide channel such that the one way bearing functionality provides increased resistance to horizontal deflection of the flexible sheet, and easily allows the flexible sheet to be reinserted upon dislodging,
wherein the door is capable of retaining wind loads of up to 100 mile/hour.

12. A door according to claim 11 wherein said flexible sheet is made of vinyl or styrene butadiene rubber.

13. A door according to claim 11 wherein a rigid bottom bar is attached to said lower end of the curtain, said bottom bar is formed with a number of elongate cavities for receiving a number of weights, and weights are mounted in said cavities in order to adjust the total weight of the bottom bar to a desired weight.

14. A door according to claim 11 , wherein the one or more opposing angled blades comprise one or more layers of a single or multi-ply fabric.

15. A door according to claim 11 , wherein the side edges of the curtain form windlocks.

16. A door comprising:
a vertically movable curtain for closing a doorway, said curtain having an upper end, a lower end, and side edges, said curtain having a relatively thin main area and a thicker strip along a substantial length of each side edge with each strip forming a windlock, a shoulder being formed where each strip meets said main area;
a curtain winding mechanism having said upper end attached thereto for raising and lowering said curtain; and
a curtain guide system including one or more opposing angled blades for forming guide channels in which said side edge sections are respectively movable, said side edge sections being engageable respectively with said guide channels, wherein the one or more opposing angled blades are held by a gripping bracket so that the blade bends less easily in a first direction and more easily in a second opposing direction and provide a one way bearing functionality such that the curtain is allowed to freely travel vertically with reduced resistance, and the one or more opposing angled blades are angled toward an inner space of the guide channels, wherein the gripping bracket provides greater resistance to deflection of the blade when the blade is contacted by the shoulder moving in the first direction away from the inner space of the guide channel and less resistance to deflection of the blade when the shoulder is moving in the second direction toward the inner space of the guide channel such that the one way bearing functionality provides increased resistance to horizontal deflection of the curtain, and easily allows the curtain to be reinserted upon dislodging,
wherein the door is capable of retaining wind loads of up to 100 mile/hour.

17. A door according to claim 16 wherein at least one of said fabric strips covers each shoulder, which is formed by the elongate styrene butadiene rubber member, and other of said fabric strips are bonded to a side of said curtain which is opposite the side to which the elongate styrene butadiene ru

Assignees

• Miller Robert
• Peters Michael D
• Whealon John
• Assa Abloy Entrance Systems Ab

Inventors

• Miller Robert
• Peters Michael D
• Whealon John

Classifications

• E06B9/80

  Safety measures against dropping or unauthorised opening; Braking or immobilising devices; Devices for limiting unrolling (securing devices or arrangements for direct manual operation E06B9/78) · CPC title

• E06B2009/805

  located on or in the guides · CPC title

• E06B9/88

  for limiting unrolling · CPC title

• E06B9/58 Primary

  Guiding devices · CPC title

• E06B2009/885

  Braking mechanism activated by the bottom bar · CPC title