US2203264A - Door construction - Google Patents

Description

June 4, 1940. w HQRSTMAN I 2,203,264

DOOR CONSTRUCTION I Filed Sept. 28,1936 m 45 44 46 1 197/?& 40 5B m/mm Patented June 4, 1940 UNITED STATES Fries l I 6 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved door construction and particularly that type of door comprising a series of hinged'door sections hinged to the top edge of the door frame in such a manner that the sections maybe lifted or elevated to folded overlapping positions adjacent to the upper surface of the door frame in which the door is mounted.

I am aware that a number of doors have been constructed of sections adapted to fold in the manner above described. However, most or all of these doors, insofar as I am aware, are provided with vertically arranged channels or guide devices'mounted on the sides of the door frame to co-operate with rollers or other suitable guid ing means carried by the doorsections, so as to cause the door sections to be folded in a predetermined manner. These guide devices are objectionable on the grounds that the door frames sometimes sag and .get out of alignment causing a certain amount of binding between the the door sections and the guides, resulting in difficulty in causing the'sections to fold properly. Furthermore, this'adds' considerably to the eX- pense of the door construction. It is, therefore,

one of the objects of my invention to provide a simple, durable and inexpensive door construction formed preferably of two hinged sections and so constructed and arranged that the above mentioned guide devices may be entirelyv eliminated.

A further object of my invention is to provide in a door construction of the type above described, improved means formoving the door sections from their closed vertical positions to their open and horizontal folded positions, and for controlling the oscillation of the door sections as they are moved to said folded position, without the use of expensive guides or tracks.

A further object of my invention is toprovide in a folded door construction of the type above described in which the guides and tracks are eliminated, improved means for sealing the vertical joints between the side edges of the door and the adjacent door frames when the door sections are closed.

A further object is to provide improved means for locking or holding the door in its folded and open position to steady the same against oscillation due to heavy winds.

A further object is to provide in a door construction of the typeabove described, improved means to assist in moving the door sections to their closed positions and for locking them in said closed positions.

(or. zo-sm My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is an inside view of a building, such'as a garage, illustrating the manner in which my improved door construction is mounted therein, the door being supported in its open position.

Figure 2 is a detail vertical sectional view of the same taken on the line 2-4 of Figure l, with the doors in their closed positions, the doors also being shown in dotted lines in their open positions, and in dotted lines in partially open positions.

Figure 3 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2. v

Figure e is an enlarged detail view illustrating the stop and guide rollers used in connection with the opening and closing operations of the door.

In the drawing I have used the reference numeral iii toindicate a building frame, suclras a garage, having in one end a door frame I 9 comprising side members l2 and a top member l3. Hinged beneath the inner edge of the frame member It is a door section M, by means of suitable hinges l5, and hinged to the lower edge of the door section M is a door section it, by means of hinges ii, the hinges ill being mounted on the outer faces of the said door sections, as clearly illustrated in Figure 2. The upper door section Id is substantially one third the height of the door section it, so that the door sections may be swung to closed positions, as illustrated in dotted lines in Figure 2, with two-thirds of the lower edge of the door section it extending outwardly and laterally from the-front face of the building iii, with the upper end of the door section it and the door section it projecting inwardly, the weight of the inwardly extending sections being substantially equal to the weight of the outwardly extending section, the side edges of the door sections It and it being adapted to move freely between the frame members it as they are moved from a closed position to any open position, and vice versa.

For counter-balancing the weight of the doors as they are moved to said closed positions, I have provided on the top surface of the members it, pulleys l8, 99, iii and 2t, and through the frame member 53, openings 22, one of the openings 22 being adapted to receive a flexible cable 25 passing over the pulleys it and 29 and having one end connected to the door member [6 by means of a suitable staple 24. A similar cable 23 is mounted through the other opening 22 and'connected to another staple 24 in the door I6, said cable 23 extending over pulleys l9 and 2|, said cables 23 and 25 having their opposite ends connected to a bar 26, which in turn is connected to a box 27, having its sides and bottom closed and its top open to receive suitable ballast 28, such as stones or sand, a sufficient amount of the ballast being applied to give the desired counter-balancing effect.

The staples 24 are located in the outer face of the door section l6 substantially one-third-of the distance from its upper edge to its lower edge, said cables extending upwardly along the outer face of the door sections, as clearly indicated in Figure 2.

Due to the fact that the hinge members are connected with the inner faces of the door section l4 and the hinge members I! are mounted on the outer faces of the door sections, strains applied to the cables 23 and 25 in an upwardly direction tend slightly to move the door sections to the dotted line position A, as illustrated in Figure 2.

To further assist in accomplishing this initial opening movement I have provided springs 29 having their upper ends connected to brackets 30 carried by the member l3, and the lower ends connected to pivots 3| carried by the inner face of the lower edge of the door section I 4, the upper ends of the brackets 30 being a considerable distance above the pivots of the hinges I5, so as to maintain a constant pressure between the door section [4 and the inwardly extending stop 32 when the door sections are in their open positions, thereby providing a certain amount of stabilizing effect to prevent free oscillation of the door sections by wind currents, the stop 32 being secured to the upper face of the member l3.

For locking the outer end of the door section IS in its folded position I have provided a bar 33 pivoted to said door section by means of a bracket 34, said bar being adapted to swing downwardly against the inner face of the door section when the door is in its closed position, and to be moved to an inwardly inclined position with its free end in a notch 35 in the door frame, as illustrated in dotted lines in Figure 2. It will readily be seen that as the door is moved to its closed position the member 33 will maintain a vertical position, as illustrated in dotted lines B, Figure 2, thus providing a handle which may be easily grasped by the operator so as to force the door to its closed position, if necessary.

The side edges of the inner face of the door section l4 are provided with weather strips 36 designed to overlap the frame members l2 when the door sections are in their closed position. The upper half of the door section I6 is also provided with similar weather strips 31, having at the lower ends brackets 38 for supporting a rod 39, the outer ends of which are provided with rollers 40 designed to travel adjacent to the inner edge of the door frames I2 to prevent outwardly swinging movement of the door sections as they are moved from the dotted line position A to their folded position.

The inner edges of the frame members l2 are provided with weather strips 4|, adapted to overlap the inner face of the lower end of the door section I6. These members: 4| are permanently fixed in position and serve as stops to limit the inward movement of the lower end of the door sections. The upper end of each of the strips 4| is provided with a bracket 42 on which a roller. 43 is mounted, the rollers 43 serving as fulcrum. devices as the door sections are moved to their closed position after they have reached the dotted line position A. The doors may then be forced to a closed position by applying the operators foot to the lower edge of the door section l6, and then forcing the lower edge of said door inwardly to the solid line position, as illustrated in Figure 2. The door may then be locked by means of a latch comprising a pair of brackets 44 and a rod 45, said rod having an outwardly bent portion 46 to form a handle for raising and lowering the rod member into and out of a socket 41 formed in the floor of the building or the door frame. This portion 46 serves as a handle to assist in opening the door after it has been unlocked.

Thus it will be seen I have provided a door of simple, durable and inexpensive construction having improved means for counter-balancing the weight of the door in which both of the cables 24 and 25 are connected to the oppositeside edges of the door and to a single bar 26 supporting a common weight 21. By this arrangement the same elevating power will be applied to both edges of the door sections. In case the operator should grasp one edge of the door section after it has been partially opened, to assist in the opening movement of the door, then it will be seen that additional lifting force from the box 21 will be applied to the opposite side of the door section in anamount equal to the lifting force applied by the operator, so that at all times an equal lifting force is applied to both sides of the door sections so as to overcome any binding tendency that would be encountered if separate counter-balancing weights were applied to each side of the door sections, in which latter case no additional lifting effect would be produced by the weights on the opposite side of the door from which the operator was applying the lifting force.

By the use of the rollers 40 I have provided means for preventing any excessive oscillations of the doorv sections due to air currents at the time the door sections are being moved to and y from their closed positions, and for this reason it will be seen I have provided a door of very simple construction in which a very limited number of hinges are necessary and in which all ver tical guide channels or similar track devices are eliminated, and which is particularlyadapted to be used in connection with garage door openin s.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination of a door frame, upper and lower door sections within said frame, means hinging the upper section to said framev and the lower section to the upper section, said sections being adapted to swing from a vertical position to horizontal overlapping positions, a single counter balancing means, means operatively connecting said counter-balancing means to each end of as stops to limit the free oscillation of the door,

sections in one direction as the sections are moved to their folded positions.

2. The combination of a door frame, upper and lower door sections within said frame, means hinging the upper section to said frame and the lower section to the upper section, said sections being adapted to swing from a vertical position to horizontal overlapping positions, counter-balancing means tending to fold said door sections, simultaneously, means carried by the central portions of the side edges of the door sections to travel adjacent to the side members of the door frame to act as fulcrum devices in the preliminary opening movement of the door sections, and a second fulcrum device carried by the door frame supported immediately below the first fulcrum device when the doors are in closed position.

3.. The combination of a door frame, upper and lower door sections within said frame, means hinging the upper section to said frame and the lower section to the upper section, the upper section being substantially one-third of the height of the lower section, said sections being adapted to swing freely between the upright members of said door frame from a vertical position to horizontally overlapping positions, counter-balancing means tending to fold said door sections, including flexible cables and sheaves, said cables having one set of corresponding ends attached to a weight and each of the other ends attached to opposite sides of the lower door section and intermediate its upper and lower edges whereby the weight will tend to counter-balance the weight of the door sections as they are moved to open and closed positions, and whereby the inner and outer ends of the door sections, when in a folded position, will be substantially balanced about the points of attachment of the door sections with said cables, for the purpose stated.

4. The combination of a door frame, upper and lower door sections Within said frame, means hinging the upper section to the upper side of the frame and the lower section to the upper section to swing freely between the vertical members of said frame, fixed fulcrum devices carried by the door frame to be engaged by the lower door section as the door sections are moved to nearly closed positions, and counter-balancing means tending to move the door sections to overlapping and horizontal positions whereby the door I sections may be moved freely to open and closed positions without frictionally engaging guide devices or the door frame.

5. The combination of a door frame, upper and lower door sections within said frame, means hinging the upper section to said frame and the lower section to the upper section, the upper section being substantially one-third of the height of the lower section, said sections being adapted to swing freely between the upright members of said door frame and from a vertical position to horizontally overlapping positions, counter-balancing means tending to fold said door sections, including flexible cables attached to opposite sides of the lowerv door section and intermediate its upper and lower edges whereby the weight M will tend to counter-balance the weight of the door sections as they are moved to open and closed positions, and whereby theinner and outer ends of the door sections, when in a folded position, will be substantially balanced about the points of attachment of the door sections with.

said cables for the purpose stated.

6. The combination of a door frame, upper and lower door sections within said frame, means hinging the upper section to said frame and the lower section to the upper section to swing freely between the vertical members of the door frame, said sections being adapted to swing from a vertical position to horizontal overlapping positions,

counter-balancing means tending to fold said door sections simultaneously, and means carried by the central portions of the side edges of the lower section to travel adjacent to one edge of the side members of the door frame to prevent outward swinging-movement of the door sections as they are moved to their closed position.

WALTER G. HORSTMAN.

Images