CH634630A5 - Retractable and extendible covering device in the manner of a roller shutter - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a retractable and extendable cover device in the manner of a roller shutter, the type defined in the preamble of claim 1.

In known roller shutters for windows or doors, the bars of the shell, which are designed as hollow profiles, are connected to one another by hooks and slide in essentially vertical longitudinal guides. The drive device is arranged above the longitudinal guides and has a winding shaft connected to the armor. To open the roller shutter, the take-up shaft is driven and starts winding up the shell, pulling the shell up. To close the roller shutter, the direction of rotation of the winding shaft is reversed. The tank is gradually rolled off the take-up shaft. The dead weight of the bars lying in the longitudinal guides below the winding shaft pulls the following bars and thus the armor in the longitudinal guides downwards, on the one hand preventing the bars from jamming on the winding shaft and on the other hand allowing the unwound bars to run precisely into the mouths of the longitudinal guides.

This known roller shutter only works perfectly with longitudinal guides which are mounted essentially vertically or slightly inclined with respect to the vertical and with drive means arranged above the longitudinal guides. It is therefore only suitable for covering vertical or steeply inclined surfaces, such as windows, doors or the like, in which there is the possibility of arranging the drive device above the surface to be covered.

Now, however, there is often also the need to provide a retractable and extendable covering device also in the substantially horizontal or slightly inclined surfaces, such as swimming pools or skylights, but also the need for the drive device in the case of essentially vertically running tanks for space reasons and to arrange the tank storage to the side or below the area to be covered. In all of these applications, the known roller shutter fails completely.

The invention has for its object to provide a retractable and retractable cover device in the manner of a roller shutter of the type mentioned, which is structurally simple and thus inexpensive to manufacture, the in all the above-mentioned applications,

thus satisfactory both in the case of horizontally, vertically or obliquely oriented longitudinal guides and also in the case of a drive device to be arranged above, below or to the side of the surfaces to be covered, and also has good thermal and noise-insulating properties.

This object is achieved according to the invention in a cover device in the manner of a roller shutter of the type defined in the preamble of claim 1 by the features in the characterizing part of claim 1.

In the covering device according to the invention, the tank is inevitably driven in its two displacement directions by means of the drive device. The linear actuator engages with force and / or form fit on one or two rods and moves them successively. In each case, the bars lying in front of the drive device in the direction of displacement of the tank are pulled by the respective preceding rod, while the bars lying behind the drive device in the direction of displacement of the tank lie against one another and are each pushed by the following bar. This inevitable drive of the individual bars of the roller shutter curtain makes it possible to align the longitudinal guides as desired, that is to say horizontally, vertically or in any inclined position. At the same time, it is also possible to arrange the drive device - and also the tank - as above above the area to be covered, but also to install it in a new way below or to the side of the area to be covered. The covering device according to the invention thus opens up further fields of application beyond its previously known roller shutter function in doors and windows in buildings. For example, the covering device according to the invention can be used for the horizontal covering of swimming pools. However, the covering device can also be used as a room divider or as a garage door, in which the tank storage is arranged in a niche in the room wall or to the side of the garage opening and the longitudinal guides on the room or garage ceiling and on the floor. This type of transverse displacement of the room divider or the garage door has significant advantages. On the one hand, all safety measures that are prescribed by law in those cases in which the tank storage of similar covering devices are arranged on the ceiling of rooms or garages and the longitudinal guides are aligned vertically are not applicable. These security measures not only entail additional costs for their installation but also additional ongoing costs for their prescribed monitoring and maintenance. On the other hand, one achieves an overall more stable armor, since the rods always extend along the smallest dimension of the armor and can therefore be kept short, which gives them greater flexural rigidity. Since the room and garage height are usually standardized, it is possible for all

5

10th

15

20th

25th

30th

35

40

45

50

55

«0

65

634 630

Room dividers or garage doors only require a standard length of bars. The tank can even be easily adapted at the installation site to the length of the space to be subdivided or the width of the garage by simply attaching or removing further rods. The standardized rods enable rational series production of the covering device according to the invention and thus a reduction in production costs.

The covering device according to the invention is particularly suitable as a roller shutter for roof windows, in particular in flat roofs or roofs with a large ridge angle. But it is also ideal for covering windows or doors that are not rectangular but e.g. are trapezoidal or triangular in shape, as can often be found in roof gables. The covering device according to the invention operates smoothly and enables the individual rods to lie close together when the armor is closed.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention result from claims 2 or 5. The gearwheels or friction wheel axles, which are preferably aligned parallel to the longitudinal axis of the rod, do not cause the rods to jam in the longitudinal guides during their forced drive, but remain aligned exactly transverse to the longitudinal guides.

The embodiment of the invention according to claim 3 is particularly advantageous, in particular in connection with the embodiment according to claim 6. By driving the bars of the tank by means of two gearwheels or friction wheels, each of which acts on the longitudinal edges of the tank, preferably at a distance from one another , tilting or inclination of very long bars in the longitudinal guides is prevented and at the same time an appealing smooth running of the tank is achieved.

The embodiment of the invention according to claim 4 is also advantageous. This results in a robust and durable drive mechanism which is also less prone to failure. In addition, manufacturing simplification is achieved, in particular when the rods of the shell are made of plastic and are preferably designed as extruded plastic profiles.

A particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention results from claim 9. These measures result in a tank which is particularly advantageously adapted to the inevitable drive of the individual rods. The joint elements on the one hand provide a sufficiently rigid connection between the individual rods so that the driven rod in each case can push the rods lying behind the drive device in the direction of displacement of the armor smoothly and without tilting or setting up, and on the other hand result in sufficient articulation so that the retracted armor can be stacked in the tank. Due to the design and arrangement of the joint elements, a forced folding of the stored tank is achieved in the form of a zigzag stack.

The embodiment of the invention according to claim 10 is particularly advantageous here. The inventive design of the joint elements and the rods enables, in a structurally simple manner, joint elements to be realized with one-sided pivoting direction, which are simple and quick to assemble and result in a reliable connection between the individual rods.

The embodiment of the invention according to claim 11 is also particularly advantageous. This achieves a folding of the tank in the accumulator, which allows a relatively flat design of the tank accumulator housing. The height of the tank storage housing is only determined by the width of the bars. The required length of the tank storage case depends on the total length of the tank. The embodiment according to claim 12 is also advantageous. These measures allow a shortening of the tank storage housing with the same length of the tank, although the required height of the tank storage housing increases, namely to twice the width of a stack. By the measures specified in claims 11 and 12 overall, the dimensions of the tank storage housing can be adapted to the local conditions.

The embodiment of the invention according to claim 14 is also particularly advantageous. This gives the rods a profile which, when the armor is closed, enables the individual rods to lie close together without any free spaces. With this e.g. a window or a door hermetically covered with an air cushion in between. The roller shutter curtain is therefore highly heat and noise insulating. These measures not only enable the joint elements to be covered when the armor is closed, in which the individual rods lie close together, but also allow a predetermined distance to be set between the individual rods. It is thus possible to allow a limited passage of light and air when the armor is closed due to the openings provided in the profile back of the joint elements.

Further embodiments of the inventions with refinements and developments essential to the invention are the subject of further claims not explicitly mentioned here, to which reference is expressly made.

The invention is described in more detail below with reference to exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings. Show it:

1 shows a longitudinal section of a roof window with roller shutters arranged thereon,

2 a section along the line II-II in Fig.1,

3 shows a cross section of three successive bars of a shell of the roller shutter in FIG. 1 or 2,

4 shows the same cross-section of four successive bars with the armor folded according to FIG. 1,

5 shows a cross section of six successive rods of a tank according to a second exemplary embodiment,

6 shows the same cross section of eight successive rods of the tank in FIG. 6 in the folded state,

Fig. 7 shows a longitudinal section of a roller shutter according to a third embodiment.

Fig. 8 shows a longitudinal section of a roof window with a roller shutter arranged thereon according to a fourth embodiment, shown schematically.

The roller shutter shown in Fig. 1 -4 as an example of a retractable and extendable cover is - as shown in Fig. 1 - mounted on a skylight 10 with a flat incline. With 11 the frame of the skylight hatch, with 12 the window sash and with 13 the window glass held on the window sash is designated. The roller shutter has a shell 15, which is guided on both sides in longitudinal guides 14 and is made of hollow, transversely oriented rods 16 which are connected to one another in an articulated manner. The bars 16 are made of plastic and are designed as extruded plastic profiles. The longitudinal guides 14 are designed as rails 17, 18 with an approximately U-shaped cross section, which overlap the end faces of the rods 16 running therein. At the mouths of the two rails 17, 18 there is a tank storage housing 19, which also accommodates the drive device for longitudinally displacing the tank 15 in the longitudinal guides 14 or rails 17, 18.

4th

5

10th

15

20th

25th

30th

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

The drive device has a thrust drive 20, which engages directly on the individual rods 16 in a form-fitting manner, for actuating the displacement of the tank 15. The thrust drive 20 is designed as a gear drive and has two drivable spiked or gear wheels 21, 22, the gear wheel axes of which are aligned parallel to the armored surface or parallel to the rod longitudinal axis. In principle, it is possible to arrange the gear axles transversely to the armored surface. The two gears 21, 22 rotate synchronously with one another and are arranged for this purpose on a common drive shaft 23 which is driven manually or — as here — by an electric motor 32. The drive shaft 23 is arranged directly at the mouth-side end of the longitudinal guides 14 or rails 17, 18 and extends over the entire width of the tank 15. The gears 21, 22 are arranged on the drive shaft 23 in such a way that they essentially each have one the rails 17, 18 are aligned.

The armor 15 has two, at least rack-like, gear engagement rows 24 which extend substantially over its entire length in the longitudinal direction and which can be designed as a rack, hole or tooth row. In each case one of the gear engagement rows 24 is assigned to one of the gear wheels 21, 22, which engage the respective gear engagement row 24 in the manner of a rack and pinion coupling for actuating the displacement of the armor 15. The two gear engagement rows 24 are each arranged on the longitudinal edges of the tank 15 and run parallel to them at a distance from one another.

As can be seen from FIG. 2, in the present example the gear engagement rows 24 are each formed by a drive bar 25, 26 held on the tank 15. The drive strips 25, 26 each have on the end face of the rods 16, parallel to their longitudinal axes, projecting drive sticks 27 which are arranged at a substantially uniform distance from one another which is adapted to the tooth pitch of the gear wheels 21, 22. The drive strips 25, 26 have strip sections 28 which can be pivoted relative to one another and are each assigned to a rod 16 and which are designed as individual plastic molded pieces 29. Such a single shaped piece 29 is shown in FIG. 2 on the right in the picture, drawn off from a rod 16 in a side view and a top view. The individual shaped pieces 29 are inserted into the end faces of the hollow rods 16 and glued therein. They completely cover the open end faces of the hollow rods 16.

To engage the gear wheels 21, 22 in the drive strips 25, 26 with drive sticks 27, the U-shaped rails 17, 18 are configured at the mouth-side ends of the longitudinal guides 14 such that their upper legs 30 protrude beyond the lower legs 31 (FIG. 1 ). The teeth of the gears 21, 22 in the drive strips 25, 26 take place directly at the end of the lower legs 31.

As already mentioned, the drive shaft 23 is mounted in the tank storage housing 19. The rails 17, 18 are held on the window sash 12 at a distance from the window glass 13. At the mouth end of the longitudinal guides 14, the rails 17, 18 are fixed to a common pivot axis 33 via support arms, not shown, which preferably coincides with the shaft axis of the drive shaft 23. This makes it possible to pivot the rails 17, 18 and thus the entire tank 15, for example into the position shown in broken lines in FIG. 1. The required gap distance between the upper legs 30 of the rails 17, 18 and the housing 19 is covered by a flexible tab 34.

The rods 16 of the armor 15 are connected to one another via longitudinal joint elements 35. Each joint element acts on two successive bars 16 and

634 630

has only a single swivel direction, so that the rods 16 connected to one another via the joint element 35 can be swiveled either clockwise or counterclockwise by 180 °, so that they lie either on one another with their front sides 44 or with their rear sides 45. This makes it possible to fold the tank 15 in the manner of a zigzag stack and to place it in the tank storage housing 19 (FIG. 1). In the exemplary embodiment according to FIGS. 1-4, the articulated elements 35 are arranged alternately on successive bars 16 such that successive bars 16 can be pivoted through 180 ° in the opposite pivoting direction and, with the tanks 15 folded, lie alternately with their front sides 44 and back sides 45 (Figs. 1 and 4). This results in a zigzag stack of relatively low height, which is determined by the width of the bars 16. The tank storage housing 19 can thus be kept relatively flat, which makes it particularly predestined for installation on roof windows, where it has to be arranged above the roof window on the outside of the roof.

The cross-section of the joint elements 35 has approximately a C-profile with a profile back 36 and adjoining profile legs 37 adjoining on both sides and projecting at the front end (FIGS. 3 and 4). The rods 16 each have on their mutually facing longitudinal sides 38 a longitudinal web 39 projecting over the profile back 36 and running over the entire length of the rod 16, and also an angular web 40 running continuously over the entire length of the rod 16. The angular web 40 jumps at its free end to the longitudinal side 38 of the associated rod 16 and is encompassed here by a profile leg 37. The longitudinal webs 39 and angular webs 40 are arranged on each longitudinal side of the rods 16 to form a passage slot 41 at a distance from one another. The assignment of the longitudinal web 39 and the angular web 40 on the two longitudinal sides 38 of the rods 15 of the armor 15 to the longitudinal axis of the rod is made symmetrically, i.e. that the longitudinal webs 39 and the angular webs 40 are diagonally opposite one another. In each case one joint element 35 with a C-profile engages through the through-slots 41 through the mutually facing angular webs 40 of two successive bars, while the mutually facing longitudinal webs 39 of these bars 16 are located at a small distance on the side of the profile back 36 facing away from the interior of the C-profile extend from this. The longitudinal webs 39 projecting above the profile back prevent the bars 16 from folding over or pivoting in the direction of the profile back 36 and only enable the bars 16 to be folded over in the direction of the opening of the C-profile. The joint elements 35 thus only have a single pivoting direction. As can be seen in FIG. 3, successive joint elements 35 are each rotated by 180 ° relative to one another, so that in the case of successive rods 16 the subsequent rod can be placed alternately clockwise and counterclockwise on the preceding rod. The arrangement of four folded bars 16 is shown in FIG. 4. The joint elements 35 can be made of plastic and can preferably be designed as extruded plastic profiles. In the profile back 36, a plurality of openings 42 arranged at regular intervals are provided.

The bars 16 have an elongated, rectangular cross section. The longitudinal and angular webs 39 and 40 protrude at right angles on the longitudinal surfaces 43 of the rods 16. The angled webs 39 and one leg of the angled web 40 are aligned with the front or rear side 45 of the rods 16. The height of the from the longitudinal surfaces 43

s

10th

15

20th

25th

30th

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

634 630

6

The longitudinal webs 39 and angular webs 40 correspond approximately to half the height of the C-profile of the joint elements 35, which extends in the same direction. This makes it possible to

that those rods 16, which are pushed when moving the tank 15, lie close to one another while covering the joint elements 35. In this way, on the one hand, a smooth and smooth feed of the tank 15 is achieved without canting or snagging of individual rods in the rails 17, 18. On the other hand, the shell 15 can be closed hermetically, light-tight and essentially air-tight. The length of the free legs of the angled webs 14 are somewhat smaller than half the height of the C-profile of the joint elements 35. This enables the individual bars 16 to be turned over by 180 °.

The mode of operation of the roller shutter described above in its construction according to the exemplary embodiment according to FIGS. 1-4 is as follows:

If the closed tank 15 is to be mounted, the electric motor 32 is switched on. The drive shaft 23 is driven clockwise in FIG. 1. The gearwheels 21, 22 engaging in the drive strips 25, 26 transport the individual rods 16 step by step deeper into the tank storage housing 19. The rods 16 lying behind the drive shaft 23 in the drive direction of the tank 15 are pushed by the rod 16 which is currently being driven, while the rods 16 which are in the drive direction of the tank 15 in front of the drive shaft 23 are pulled by the rod just driven via the joint elements 35 (FIG . 1). In Fig. 3, the central rod 16 is currently in engagement with the gears 21, 22 and is displaced by them. The upper rod 16 in FIG. 3 is pushed further into the tank storage housing 19, while the lower rod in FIG. 3 is pulled in the direction of the drive shaft 23 via the joint element 35 in the rails 17, 18. Due to the mechanism of the joint elements 35 described above, the rods 16 fold behind the drive shaft 23 in the drive direction of the armor 15 and, as shown schematically in FIG. 1, are pushed together to form a zigzag stack. Such a stack is shown again in cross-section in an enlarged representation in detail in FIG. 4.

If the tank 15 is to be closed again, the electric motor 32 is to be switched on in the opposite direction of rotation. The drive shaft 23 is driven counterclockwise. The gears 21 and 22 are always in engagement with at least one rod 16. This is now pushed further into the mouth of the rails 17, 18. The rods 16 lying behind the drive shaft 23 in the drive direction of the tank 15 lie close to one another and are moved further in the rails 17, 18 by the rod which is being driven. The rods 16 lying in front of the drive shaft 23 in the drive direction of the tank 15 are pulled by the driven rod via the joint elements 35, the rods 16 being successively pulled off the zigzag stack as a result of the mechanism of the joint elements 35 described. With the roller shutter described above, it is therefore also possible to move the armor 15 even in the longitudinal guides 14 or rails 17, 18 when the longitudinal guides 14 are pivoted into the position shown in broken lines in FIG. 1 and lie horizontally or obliquely upwards are posed.

5 and 6, every second one of successive bars 16 ', 16 "is of identical design. The bars 16' are identical to the bars 16 described in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-4 likewise a rectangular cross section with longitudinal and angular webs 39 and 40 arranged thereon in an identical manner. The rods 16 "differ from the rods 16 'only in that the assignment of the opposing longitudinal and angular webs 39 and 40 to the The two longitudinal sides 38 of the rods 16 "are not - as with the rod 16 '- symmetrically but symmetrically or folding symmetrically to the rod longitudinal axis, ie that the rods 16" always have the longitudinal webs 39 with the front 44 of the rods 16' and the legs the angular webs 40 are always aligned with the rear 45 of the rods 16 "and vice versa. The longitudinal webs 39 are therefore always on the same side of the rods 16", as well the angular webs 40. Otherwise the structure of the tank 15 'is identical to the tank according to FIGS. 1-4, so that the same components are provided with the same reference numerals.

The armor 15 'thus contains two types of rods which are connected to one another alternately via the joint elements 35. In this case, a rod 16 "always follows a rod 16 'and vice versa, the rods 16' or 16" closest to one another being rotated relative to one another about their longitudinal axis by 180 °. In this way, two joint elements 35 which follow one another in the longitudinal direction of the armor have the same pivoting direction, so that when the armor 15 'is folded, two successive rods 16', 16 "and two successive rods 16 ', 16" lie alternately with their front sides 44 and their rear sides 45 (Fig. 6). This results in a zigzag stack of the tank 15 ', in which the individual rods 16' and 16 "are not stored in a row one behind the other but in two rows (FIG. 6). In this way, the tank storage housing 19 can be of the same length of the tank 15 'compared to the tank storage housing 19 in Fig. 1. However, the height of the tank storage housing 19 must be made twice as high in accordance with the bars 16', 16 "lying on top of one another. Otherwise, the operation of the roller shutter with a shell 15 'according to FIGS. 5 and 6 is the same as that described for the exemplary embodiment according to FIGS. 1-4.

7 shows a further embodiment of a roller shutter. This roller shutter differs from that described in FIGS. 1-4 only in that the tank 115 in the tank storage housing 119 is not stored in a zigzag stack but is wound up on a tank winding roller 147. Here, too, the drive shaft 123 with the gear wheels 121 and the gear wheel 122, which cannot be seen, is mounted in the tank storage housing 119. The tank 115 is driven by the drive device 120 in the same manner as described for FIGS. 1-4. The joint elements 135 of the armor 115, which are only indicated in FIG. 7, are arranged and aligned identically over the entire armor length, so that all the rods 116 can only be pivoted in one pivoting direction, namely clockwise in FIG. 7 . In order to wind up the part of the tank 115 pushed into the tank storage housing 119 by the drive shaft 123, the tank winding roller 146 is pretensioned in the winding direction of rotation by means of a spiral spring 147 in a manner similar to that of a spring roller blind, that is to say clockwise in FIG. 7. During the closing movement of the shell 115, the drive shaft 123 pulls the rods 116 successively from the shell winding roller 146 via its gear wheels 121 and 122, the latter being rotated counterclockwise while tensioning the spiral spring 146. Otherwise, the structure and mode of operation of the roller shutter according to FIG. 7 are essentially identical to the roller shutter according to 1-4, so that reference is made to the explanations given there. The same components are therefore provided with the same reference numbers, which are however enlarged by 100.

8 is a further embodiment of a rolla

10th

15

20th

25th

30th

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

7

634630

dens shown schematically. This roller shutter partially corresponds to that shown in FIGS. 1-4, so that the same components are provided with the same reference numerals, increased by the number 200. The roller shutter here also has a shell 215, which is guided on both sides in longitudinal guides 214 and is made of hollow, transversely oriented rods 216 which are connected to one another in an articulated manner. The rods 216 can in turn consist of different materials, preferably of aluminum or plastic, and are designed as extruded hollow profiles. The longitudinal guides 214 are designed as spaced rails 217 with an approximately U-shaped cross section, which overlap the end face of the rods 216 running therein. At the mouths of the two rails 217, in turn, a tank storage housing 219 is arranged, which also receives the drive device for the tank 215

The drive device here has a thrust drive 220, which acts directly on the individual rods 216 in a force-locking manner, for actuating the displacement of the tank 215. The thrust drive 220 is designed here as a friction roller or friction wheel drive and has two drivable friction rollers or friction wheels 221, the friction wheel axes of which are aligned parallel to the surface of the armor or parallel to the longitudinal axis of the bar. The friction wheels 221 bear against the individual bars 216 with system pressure, specifically here on the broad side of the bars 216 forming the rear of the armor 215. In principle, it is also possible to arrange the friction wheel axles transversely to the armor surface. In this case, the friction wheels 221 would press against the end face of the bars 216. The two friction wheels 221 rotate synchronously with one another and are likewise arranged on a common drive shaft 223, which can also be driven manually or by an electric motor. The drive shaft 223 is in turn arranged at the mouth end of the longitudinal guides 214 or the rails 217 and extends over the entire width of the tank 215 swear.

Each friction wheel 221 is assigned at least one pressure wheel which forms an abutment for the friction wheel. In the present exemplary embodiment, two pressure wheels 250, 251 are provided, which lie one behind the other in the longitudinal direction of the tank 215 and are mounted on a pressure wheel holder 252. The pressure wheel holder 252 is itself pivotally held on a carrier 253. The pivotable carrier 253 is biased towards the armor 215 by means of a pressure spring 254 designed as a tension spring. The friction wheels 221 are fixed in place. Due to the spring force of the pressure spring 254, the pressure wheels 251 are pressed onto the broad side of the bars 216 which forms the front of the armor 215 and in each case press one or two of the bars 216 against the friction wheel 221 Panzer 215 can be operated with the thrust drive 220, without this having to be changed constructively.

The rods 216 of the armor 215 can be configured as described for FIGS. 3 and 4 25 or 5 and 6. As shown in FIG. 8, the armor 215 is also folded in the manner of a zigzag stack, with the individual bars 216 lying alternately with their front and back sides.

The operation of the roller shutter according to FIG. 8 essentially corresponds to that described for the roller shutter according to FIGS. 1-4. Instead of the rack-and-pinion coupling, a frictional engagement occurs here between the driven friction wheels 221 and the bars 216 located between the friction wheels 221 35 and the pressure wheels 250, 251.

20th

4 sheets of drawings

Claims (16)

634 630 PATENT CLAIMS 1. retractable and retractable cover device in the manner of a roller shutter, with a armor guided on both sides in longitudinal guides made of articulated, transversely oriented rods and with a drive device for longitudinally displacing the armor in the longitudinal guides, characterized in that the drive device provides a direct connection to the individual Rods (16; 116; 216) engaging thrust drive (20; 120; 220) for actuating the displacement of the tank (15; 115; 215). 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the thrust drive (20; 120) is designed as a positive-locking gear drive which has at least one drivable spike or gear (21,22; 121), and preferably that the armor (15; 115) an at least rack-like gear engagement row (24; 124), in particular a rack, hole or tooth row, into which the gear wheel (21, 22; 121) engages in the manner of a rack and pinion coupling, and preferably that the gear wheel axis is transverse to the armor surface or preferably parallel to it or is aligned parallel to the longitudinal axis of the bar. 3rd 634 630 Rods (16 ', 16 ") alternately symmetrically and mirror-symmetrically to the longitudinal axis of the rod. 3. The device according to claim 2, characterized in that the gear drive (20; 120) has two synchronously rotating, preferably on a common drive shaft (23; 123) sitting, spiked or toothed wheels (21, 22; 121), each of which one of the gear engagement rows (24; 124) running parallel to one another is assigned, preferably at least one row of gear engagements (24; 124) on or near one longitudinal edge of the armor (15; 115) is arranged parallel to the latter, and another row of gear engagements (24; 124) is spaced apart therefrom, preferably at or near the other Long edge of the tank (15; 115). 4. Device according to one of claims 1-3, characterized by at least one on the armor (15; 115) held, a gear engagement row (24; 124) forming drive bar (25,26; 125) with each pivotable, each a rod (16; 116) associated strip sections (28; 128), which are preferably designed as individual shaped pieces (29) which are inserted into the end faces of the hollow rods (16; 116), preferably covering them, and held therein, preferably glued, and which are preferably parallel Drive rods (27; 127) projecting from the longitudinal axis of the rod, which are arranged at substantially uniform distances from one another which are adapted to the tooth pitch of the toothed wheel (21, 22; 121). 5. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the thrust drive is designed as a friction wheel drive (220) which has at least one friction wheel (221) which bears against the individual bars (216) with contact pressure and has a friction wheel axis oriented transversely to the surface of the tank or preferably parallel thereto and in which each friction wheel (221) is assigned at least one pressure wheel (250, 251) which forms an abutment therefor and which rests on the individual rods (216) on the side of the shell (215) remote from the friction wheel (221). 6. The device according to claim 5, characterized in that the friction wheel drive (220) has two synchronously rotating, preferably on a common drive shaft (223) seated, friction wheels (221), which preferably on or near the longitudinal edges of the tank (215) attack the broad sides of the bars (216). 7. Device according to one of claims 3-6, characterized in that the drive shaft (23; 123; 223) is arranged directly at the mouth end of the longitudinal guides (14; 114,214) and over the entire width of the Panzers (15; 115; 215) extends that the gears (21,22; 121) or friction wheels (221) are essentially aligned with one of the longitudinal guides (14; 114; 214), and preferably that the longitudinal guides (14) are pivotable about a common pivot axis (33), and preferably that the pivot axis (33) coincides with the shaft axis of the drive shaft (23), and preferably that the longitudinal guides (14; 114) are designed as rails (17, 18; 117) that at the mouth end of the longitudinal guides io (14; 114) the upper legs (30; 130) protrude in the longitudinal direction of the rails (17, 18; 117) over the lower legs (31; 131) and that the toothed engagement of the gears (21 , 22; 121) into the transmission engagement rows (24; 124) directly at the end of the lower legs (31; 131), ls 8. The device according to claim 4 or 6 or 7, characterized in that a tank storage housing (119) is provided at the mouth end of the longitudinal guides (114), in which the drive shaft (123) and a tank winding roller (146) are mounted, and that the armored winding roller (146), preferably by means of spiral springs (147), is pretensioned in the winding direction of rotation in the manner of a spring roller blind. 9. Device according to one of claims 1-8, characterized in that between the individual rods (16; 16 ', 16 ") preferably longitudinally extending joint elements (35) 25 are arranged with only one pivoting direction, each on two successive rods (16 ; 16 ', 16 ") and that successive joint elements (35) are aligned in the longitudinal direction of the tank in such a way that the tank (15; 15 ') is forcibly folded in the manner of a zigzag stack, with a predetermined number of successive bars (16; 16 ', 16 ") and an equal number of following bars (16; 16', 16") alternately with their front sides (44) and their back sides (45). 35 10. The device according to claim 9, characterized in that the joint elements (35) have in cross section approximately a C-profile with profile back (36) and adjoining it on both sides, projecting at the front end to each other (37) and that the rods (16 ; 16 ', 40 16 ") on their mutually facing longitudinal sides (38) each have a longitudinal web (39), which extends over the profile back (36) in part, preferably longitudinally, and a, preferably longitudinally running, angular web (40), which is located on its free The end projects to the longitudinal side (38) of the 45 assigned rod (16; 16 ', 16 ") to form a passage slot (41) and is encompassed by a profile leg (37). 11. The device according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the joint elements (35) on one another 50 of the following rods (16) are arranged alternately, such that successive rods (16) can be pivoted through 180 ° in the opposite pivoting direction and, with the armor folded, lie alternately with their front and rear sides (44, 45), the assignment being 55 of the longitudinal web (39) and angular web (40) on the two longitudinal sides (38) of the rods (16) in all rods (16) of the armor (15) is made symmetrically to the longitudinal axis of the rod. 12. Device according to one of claims 9-11, characterized in that of the joint elements (35) which follow one another in the longitudinal direction of the armor, two adjacent joint elements (35) each have the same pivoting direction, so that when the armor (15 ') is folded, two successive rods each (16 ', 16 ") and two subsequent ones 65 bars (16 ', 16 ") lie alternately with their front and rear sides (44, 45), the longitudinal bar (39) and angular bar (40) being assigned on the two long sides (38) of the bars (16', 16 ") for successive 13. Device according to one of claims 10-12, characterized in that in each case one joint element (35) with a C-profile facing angular webs (40) of two successive bars (16, 16 ', 16 ") through the passage slots (41) engages and that the mutually facing longitudinal webs (39) of two successive rods (16; 16 ', 16 ") extend on the side of the profile back (36) facing away from the inside of the C-profile, preferably at a short distance therefrom. 14. Device according to one of claims 10-13, characterized in that the bars (16; 16 ', 16 ") have an elongated rectangular cross section and each have a longitudinal and an angular web (39, 40) on their narrow longitudinal surfaces (43), preferably that the longitudinal web (39) and one leg of the angled web (40) is flush with the front or rear side (44, 45) of the bars (16; 16 ', 16 ") and preferably that the height of the of the longitudinal surfaces (43) of the bars (16; 16 ', 16 ") of longitudinal webs (39) or angular webs (40) projecting essentially at right angles is greater than half the height of the C-profile of the joint elements (35) extending in the same direction. 15. The device according to one of claims 10-14, characterized in that the length of the free leg of the angled web (40) is less than half the height of the C-profile of the joint elements (35) and preferably that the profile back (36) of the joint elements (35) is a plurality, preferably at uniform distances from one another arranged openings (42). 16. Device according to one of claims 1-15, characterized in that a tank storage housing (19; 219) is arranged at the mouth end of the longitudinal guides (14; 214), in which the drive shaft (23; 223) is mounted and in which the stored rods (16; 216) of the tank (15; 215) are stored in a zigzag stack.