US2640534A - Collapsible supporting frame - Google Patents

Description

June 2, 1953 F. w. COFFING COLLAPSIBLE SUPPORTING FRAME 4 Sheet s-Sheet 1 Filed May 12, 1949 INVENTOR. flip/wax 14f (WW/v6.

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June 1953 F. w. COFFING 2,540,534

COLLAPSIBLE SUPPORTING FRAME Filed May 12, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Qa a El: 3 hg I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I l I I I I I I I J INVENTOR.

June 2, 1953 F. w. COFFING COLLAPSIBLE SUPPORTING FRAME 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 12 INVENTOR. FPcDR/c/r l4. ('off/msr June 2, 1953 F. w. COFFING COLLAPSIBLE SUPPORTING FRAME 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 12, 1949 Patented June 2, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE coLLAPsIBLE. SUPPORTING FRAME Fredrick W.,C.0'ffing,-D,anville;.1fl.

Application May 12, 1949, Serial No. 92.;844-

3-Claimsi I This invention relates to a collapsible framesupport applicable to various uses as in a. col1apsible shed and mooring device for boats,-a collaps ible awning for windows and doors, collapsible garage doors and like structures wherein it is desired to cause the frame of the structure to jackknife on itself from an extended position to an upright collapsed position. v

It is the, object of the invention to provide such a frame support and structure which may be readily moved between its collapsed and extended positions through pull of an actuating cablejand assisted by biasing means such as. tension springs or gravity weights.

The above is accomplished, and a feature of the invention resides in a series of articulated frame members and associated braces pivotally mounted on a suitable support and provided with intere'ngaging pulley mounted cables and biasing means, all as hereinafter more fully set forth and described.

The full nature of the invention will be understood. from the accompanying drawings and the following. description and claims:

view of a portion of a wharf o-r pier towhich the base portion of the mooring device is secured and upon which the moving structure is supported, the latter-being of the covered type. and having a tide accommodating arrangement associated witha boat, the latter also being shown in elevation.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational-view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. 1 showing a garage door embodiment of the invention and the door portions proper being shown in section.

Fig. 4 is a View similar to Figs. 1 and 3 and of a canopy-or awning embodiment of the invention, the cover portion of the awning being shown in section.

In Figs. 1, 3: and 4, dotted lines? indicate the jack-kni'fed or collapsed positions of the frame support embodying the invention.

Fig. 5-i'sa front elevational view of the framed opening shown in Fig. 4' with the cable system applied thereto and'the-other awning partsomittd.

In Figs; 1 and 2 of the drawings, indicates generally a portion of a dock or pier to which is suitably secured as at H a pair of parallel uprights or standards l2. Rotatably supported by one of them is the shaft (3 which mounts a drum M" to which one end or dual cable I is secured.

' The handle. I 6; is arranged. for shaft and drum rotation. A ratchet IT is fastened to the handle" 2 it. A pawl i8,- ivoted upon that standard-t2 adjacent theratchet; is. arranged toprevent retrograde ratchet movement, in other words, cabie' ay out.

Th'eother cable 1551 passes: upwardly over pulley 9-, see Figs. and 2. and thence across to. corre= spending pulley 9 on the other standard l2 and thence downwardly to a pulley 8,v see Fig. 2', that is at the-eievdtioaot drum M. I

Abovothedrum and: below top of the standard there pivotahy supported at la upon eaoh standard a'iigid" brace-member 20; Near the top of eaoh standard and upon it there is=pivota11y su ported at 2W anarm or frame member 2|. A econd arm: oi 'f-i ai'ne member 22 as one end relatively tree and the other end is pivoted at 24' t the adjacent end of the 21-. The other end of the brace member 20 ispivoted at 25 to the Herein a spring 26 has one end" secured at 2.1 to bra-Ce member zuadgiaoefit it"s pivotal support m; The other end of the spring 26 is secured atzs beyond pivots" 24 s e z'suhohthe arm 22. A pulley 29" isdinoiintd coincident with the hinge In the drawings: Fig 1 is an end elevational. 24; and the cable I5, or [5 some casemay'be,

passes over pulley and thence downwardly as at 30 and operative connection at 3| toth brace member 20;

$ince this" embodim nt of the invention ifieludes a tide accommodatingfeature, the operative ooimeotionsl is shown as a puney and the cable 3-0 is extended as at-BZ and passes around pulley 33 moui'ite adjacent the pivotalconned tionibetweenarm 2 2 and'brace 20, I

cable thehhasa portion '34 extended gem orally in the direction of the brace member 20 to pass over pulley 3 5 and thence back to pulley to immediately ntiguous to pulley 33' and thence downwardly as at 31- for connection eat-3a to t he boat 39.

Pulley is in effect a floating pulley because one end of. a spring 40-, to accommodate th rise and; fall of tide where a mooring device is used, is, connected to said pulle 35' at one end and its accommodate this movement, extending as the boat 39 lowers with the tide and contracting as the boat rises with the tide. In all instances, however, the tension of the cable I5 passing over the pulley 24 will maintain the parts in their extended position against the bias of the spring 26.

Fig. 2 shows the two standards I2 and the duplicate structures previously described. It will be apparent that when it is desired to protect the boat from the sun or from the rain, light metal or canvas 42 and 43 may be applied to a portion of the arms 22 and the two braces 20, the covering 43, see Fig. 1, on the brace members, however, being slotted as at 44 to permit the run 30 of the cable to pass to and from the pulley 3|.

When the apparatus is not in use as a boat anchorage or mooring, the end of the line 31 may be secured to the brace member 20 in any suitable manner, just so the securing is fixed, and under these circumstances by unwinding the cable I 5 from drum 40 to relieve the cable tension at the pivotal connection at 24, the spring 26 will draw the frame member 22 downwardly and inwardly causing it to collapse and force the pivotal connection upwardly to the position shown in dotted lines, swinging the frame member 2| upwardly with it.

Reference will now be had to Fig. 3 wherein the invention is illustrated as embodied in a socalled overhead door for garages and the like, the dotted lines, as stated, indicating the jack-knifed, collapsed overhead position of the parts.

In Fig. 3, 45 indicates the side of a door opening of a garage, etc., 46 indicates an overhead support member, 41 indicates a tube that may be provided if desired to receive and house a weight 48 connected to one end of a cable 49. This cable passes over pulleys 50 and 5|, each of which is supported by the overhead member 46. The other end of the cable 49 is connected as at 52 to a frame of the lower door section member 53 near the bottom thereof as shown. This frame member and one at the other side of the opening supports a lower panel portion 54 of the door.

Pivotally supported at 55 on the overhead member 46 is another frame member 51 of the upper door section and the longitudinally alignable members 53 and 51 are hingedly connected together as at 58 and are adapted to break outwardly so that these portions of the door can be collapsed or jack-knifed into an overhead position. The upper panel portion 59 of the door is carried at opposite ends by the two frame members 51. A rigid brace member 59 is pivotally supported at 60 upon the overhead support 46 and at its otherend is pivotally connected at 6I to the frame member 53.

Associated with the hinge 58 is a pulley 62 and a cable 63 passes over the same and the run 64 thereof is secured to the brace member 59 as at 65. This cable branches at 66 into lines 61 and 68. The branch 6! passes upwardly and over a depending pulley 69 and terminates in a hand grip I0. The branch 68 passes upwardly and about pulley H to the pulley I2 and thence downwardly and terminates in the hand grip I3 out-' side the opening to be closed.

If desired or required, the frame member 53 may have mounted thereon a door lock I4 of any suitable description that is suitably associated with a catch portion provided in or upon the door opening defining frame member 45 for the purpose of latching the door shut.

Herein, as before, there is illustrated a brace and a frame member, 59 and 51, each pivotally supported in spaced relation to each other at their remote ends. Associated therewith is the frame member 53 that has pivotal connection with the other end of the brace member 59 and pivotal connection at one end with the adjacent end of the frame member 51.

The biasing means 4849, herein primarily a weight, is connected to the frame member 53 remote from both pivotal connections 58 and 6|. The manually operable cable 6'I6863 is associated with a pulley 62 substantially coincident with the hinge connection 58 and is in this instance fixedly terminated at 65 upon the brace member 59 as shown. When the handle I0 is pulled down by one inside of the garage or the handle 13 is pulled down by a person outside of the garage the door is closed. Normally the door will remain closed after having been pulled closed by the operation of the handle or hand loops I0 or iii due to the fact that the pivot point 58 is slightly past dead center. If now a slight push is given to the right, looking at Fig. 3, to move this pivot point past dead center the bias of the weight 48 acting through the cable 49 on the lowerpanel of the door will rock the lower panel of the door on the pivot point 6| outwardly causing the parts to jacknife or double upon themselves and eventually assume the position illustrated by dotted lines in Fig. 3.

The basic structural elements of this embodiment of the invention so far described are substantially the same as those previously describedv for the davit embodiment of the invention. Herein, however, as the lower panel 54 of the door moves up, since it swings inwardly in a clockwise direction, the free end of the door bottom would tend to strike the automobile bumper, etc., and in door lowering would tend to strike the trunk, etc. Therefore, the lower end of the door is articulated. As the door breaks to open, the lowest end folds outwardly and reversely, and in final lowering this door extension straightens out.

To each frame member 53, at its free end, is pivoted a bar IM and these bars are connected to and support a bottom door section I02. Between pivots 58 and BI is a pulley I03 carried by frame member 53. A cable I04 has one end anchored at I05 to brace member 59* and passes over pulley I03 and then extends as at I06 to the bar IOI. Here it engages ofiset I0! and then is anchored to said bar IOI at 108. Another cable I09 is connected at opposite ends to brace member 59 at I05 and bar IOI at I05 A stop I09 carried by the free end of frame member 53 is adapted to be engaged by stop I I0 carried by the adjacent end of the bar IOI.

Now as the two upper door sections break outwardly at the pivot 53, the brace 59 moves upwardly and pulley I03 moves away from anchor I05 causing bar I0! to move outwardly and swing counter-clockwise until it lies adjacent frame members 5354 when in overhead position. The

cable I04, I06 passing over pulley I03 jackknifes the bar "II to the position shown in dotted lines of Fig. 3 when the frame members are collapsed upwardly to the position shown by said dotted lines. When the door is unfolded to its closing position as shown in full lines, the cable I09 swings the bar IOI into its downwardly aligned position through its fixed connection at I05 and until the stop H0 engages stop I09. This action results from a downward swinging movement of the brace member 59 from its upward collapsed dotted position to its downward full line position. The result is: more car-door clearance which is required: by" reason ofth'is reverse: hinging. The: action described: facilitates the initial. breaking: action indoor opening andfinall alignment of door sections in; door closing.

' Reference will now behad to Figs. 4 and 51 wherein: one of the simplest: forms of the: invention is illustrated and hereirr'the utilitarian embodiment is of the canopy or awning type. In this form the extension feature is again utilized for the awning may be over a trailer door and thus clearance is. effected relative: to. trailer. door opening, etc.,.when .theawning isup.

In Figs. 4 and 5, indicates a building structure having a Window or door frame '16. 'Bivotally supportedat each side by the upper-portion of said frame at H. are thearms or frame memhers-'18. Also pivotally supported therebeneath, at E9, is one end ofthe bracemembers 80." These two-pairs of pivotal supports are spaced apart, see Figs. 4 and 5.

. Each arm or frame members 81 is pivotally connected at one end as at 82 to the adjacent end of the arm 18. The other end of the cooperating brace member 80 is pivotally connected at 83 to the arm 8|. An elongated spring 84 is connected at 85 to the brace member adjacent the pivot 19. The other end of said spring is connected at 85 to the arm 8! remote from the pivotal connections 82 and 83 aforesaid. A cable 81 passes over a pulley 88 substantially coincident with the pivotal axis 82 and the downwardly directed run 89 thereof is connected at 90 to the brace member 8!) remote from the ends of said member and at such a distance from the ivotal axis 83 that the run 89 is approximately vertical. The cable 87 passes over a pulley 9| carried by the frame 16 and may be anchored as at 92.

It will be recalled in Figs. 1 and 2 a common cable system is utilized. In Fig. 5 cable 81 includes a branch 8'! that passes upwardly to pulley 95, then over the same to pulley 96 and downwardly to pulley 9W disposed oppositely relative to pulley 9|. This cable then is extended upwardly, etc., all as previously described for cable 31 except it is at the opposite side of the framed opening.

Preferably when the awning serves as a door shade the pulleys 95 and 96 are disposed at an elevation to permit door clearance if the door opens outwardly. Also to insure clearance for such door opening the free end of the awning may be arranged to fold back in substantially the same manner and by the same means as the bar [iii of the bottom section of the door, see Fig. 3, is folded when disposed in elevated position.

The action of the structure illustrated in Fig. 4 is substantially the same as the action of the parts illustrated in Fig. 1 when the mooring line 31 is disconnected from the boat and fixedly attached to the arm 20.

In other words so long as the cable 81 is secured as at 92, the cable will hold the arms 93 and 94 against buckling under the bias of the spring 84. As soon, however, as the cable 81 is released this anchorage will be released and with the spring exerting a pulling effect on the end of the arm 9 1 this arm will be caused to rock at the pivot point 83, breaking at the pivot point 82 and the parts will jackknife into the position illustrated in the dotted lines.

Also as shown in Fig. 4 the awning is provided with an extension comprised of a pair of bars or frameimemberslll:withbridging.cover2t2. "This extension is; pivoted at 2l3; upon. the outer: ends of: bars: 81..

Bar 211 adjacent the. pivot includes: lug 214 adapted; to: engage: stop 2.15 carried-bybar 81 near its end. This limits clockwise movement of bar 2H1 Bar 8.! at 21 6 mounts pulley 211. A cable 218, is: anchored at 2 l.9 :to: brace member 80,. passes over-pulley 2 t1: and thence over offsetportion 22c. and-is anchored at 221 on bar 21 l. Another cable ZZZ-is anchored at oppositeends to frame member as and bar 2H at 219 and 223' respectively.

Operation of this extension: is identical tothat.

shown in- 3 and is provided for clearance as suggested hereinbefore.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in great detail inthe drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character.

The several modifications described herein as Well as others which will readily suggest themselves to persons skilled in this art, all are considered to be within the broad scope of the invention, reference being had to the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:

1. In combination, a pair of collapsible frame members hingedly connected together at adjacent ends for substantial longitudinal alignment or jaclrknifing collapsed disposition, a support for said members, one of said members having its other end pivoted to said support in a fixed position, the other said member having a free end, a rigid brace having one end pivoted on said support at a second fixed position in spaced relation to the first mentioned fixed position and its other end pivoted to the said other member between the ends thereof, a, control cable having one end connected to said brace and movably supported at the pivot between adjacent ends of said frame members, said cable being directed therefrom toward the second mentioned fixed position, and biasing means connecting the said other frame member between its ends with said brace and tending to urge the outer end portion of said other frame member toward said brace and said second fixed position.

2. A pair of collapsible frame members hingedly connected together at adjacent ends for substantial longitudinal alignment or jackknifing into collapsed disposition, a support for said members, one of said members having its other end pivoted to said support in a fixed position, the other said member having its opposite end pivotally connected to an extension bar, a rigid brace having one end pivoted on said support at a second fixed position in spaced relation to the first fixed position and its other end pivoted to the said other member between the ends thereof, a cable mounting pulley secured to the hinged connection between said frame members, a second pulley mounted on said support adjacent said second fixed position of said brace, a control cable passing over said pulleys having one end connected to said brace adjacent its pivotal connection with the said other member and its other end positioned for manual operation, and biasing means connecting the said other frame member between its ends with said brace and tending to urge it toward collapsed position about its pivoted connection therewith.

3. A pair of collapsible frame members hingedly connected together at adjacent ends for substantial longitudinal alignment or jackknifing into collapsed disposition, a support for said members, one of said members having its other end pivoted to said support in a fixed position, the other said member having its opposite end pivotally connected to an extension bar, a rigid brace having one end pivoted on said support at a second fixed position in spaced relation to the first fixed position and its other end pivoted to the said other member between the ends thereof, a cable mounting pulley secured to the hinged connection between said frame members, a second pulley mounted on said support adjacent said second fixed position of said brace, a control cable passing over said pulleys having one end connected to said brace adjacent its pivotal connection with the said other member and its other end positioned for manual operation, biasing means connecting the said other frame member between its ends with said brace and tending to urge the outer end portion of said other frame member toward said brace and said second fixed position, a third pulley on said other frame member, a cable connected to said brace adjacent said other frame member extending over said third pulley and having its other end connected to said extension bar, and a third cable similarly connected to said brace and having direct connection with said extension bar.

FREDRICK W. COFFING.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,937,730 Triller Dec. 5, 1933 2,121,395 a Cooper June 21, 1938 2,259,903 McCarthy Oct. 21, 1941 2,334,749 Burr Nov. 23, 1943 2,440,972 Peltier May 4, 1948 2,523,929 Taylor Sept. 26, 1950 2,550,913 Cofiing May 1, 1951

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