DE69200753T2 - Electromechanical drive device for tilt gate, in particular for garage tilt gate. - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to an electromechanical control device (1) for an overhead door (2), composed of a leaf balanced by lateral counterweights and connected to said leaves by means of cables or chains which are partially wound around pulleys or toothed pinions driven by transmission means co-operating with driving means of a geared-motor assembly. This electromechanical control device is characterised in that it comprises at least one driving plate (33, 33A) attached to the leaf (7) and capable of co-operating directly with the driving means (17) of the geared-motor assembly (14) in the respective initial and final opening and closing phases of the overhead door, said electromechanical control device comprising, furthermore, release means (6) actuated via the driving plate or driving plates (33, 33A) for releasing the geared-motor assembly (14) from said transmission means (18) during this respective initial and final opening and closing phase. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to an electromechanical drive device for a tilting door, in particular for a garage tilting door, which consists of a leaf balanced by lateral counterweights connected to this leaf by cables or chains which partially wrap around discs or gears driven by gear means which interact with drive means of a geared motor unit.

The invention will find application in the field of joinery, and in particular in the manufacturers of tilting doors, especially garage tilting doors.

In fact, electromechanical drive devices for tilting doors, in particular for garage tilting doors, which correspond to the following description are already known.

Such a device is described, among others, in EP-B--0.089.909.

This electromechanical drive device known from the previous document is therefore particularly applicable to garage tilting doors comprising a door frame consisting of two posts connected in their upper part by a horizontal lintel and a tilting leaf guided by guide pins or the like moving in vertical rails provided in the jambs of the door frame. This leaf is also balanced by means of lateral counterweights sliding in vertical guide rails possibly located at the level of the jambs of the door frame. In fact, these counterweights are connected to the leaf by cables or chains which partially wrap around pulleys or gears driven by the electromechanical drive device.

The latter consists in particular of an electric gearmotor unit fixed by means of supports to the lintel of the door frame. This gearmotor comprises a drive wheel which drives a guided wheel arranged at one of the ends of a mechanical delay. The latter has the function of causing a shift in the opening and/or closing phase of the leaf with respect to the unlocking and/or locking phase. In particular, by means of this mechanical delay, in the case of the opening drive of the overhead door, a shift is caused between the time during which the electric motor is in operation and the time during which the transmission means connected to the discs or gears are driven. In fact, before this opening, the unlocking of the leaf must be ensured. During closing, this displacement obviously takes place in the other direction, in that the gear means are no longer driven when the leaf is brought into contact with the door frame, while the gear motor continues to actuate the locking means.

The mechanical retarder consists in turn of a tubular part installed in parallel with the gear motor and comprising an elastic part, such as a helical spring, which in the rest position has an external diameter substantially equal to the internal diameter of said tubular part. Furthermore, one of the ends of this helical spring is integral with the guided wheel cooperating with the drive wheel of the gear motor, while the other end is integral with said tubular part in rotation by suitable means.

It should also be noted that this mechanical retarder is directly crossed by a transmission shaft on which the driven wheel is mounted so as to rotate freely, while the tubular part is in turn firmly connected to this transmission shaft. This latter forms part of the transmission means which interact with the discs or gears.

The effect of this well-known device is as follows:

Considering that the leaf is closing and is just hitting the lintel of the door frame, the leaf is immobilized and the gear motor continues to operate, which means that the tubular part of the mechanical delay is blocked, while the driven wheel is still driven and leads to the tensioning of the elastic part. In fact, this additional rotation of the gear motor results in the locking of the overhead door by suitable means driven by the said gear motor precisely during this phase.

The disadvantages encountered by this known electromechanical drive device are twofold. Firstly, this device is not able to ensure a complete locking of the leaf against the door frame, in that when the leaf encounters an obstacle that prevents it from resting completely against the door frame, the gear motor triggers the locking means without these last can really interact with the blade. Experience has shown that a slight gust of wind was able to prevent this locking process.

Furthermore, since the mechanical delay device activates a spring that the gear motor must put under tension each time the tilting leaf is closed and locked, the actual electric motor must have a power much higher than that actually required to open and close the gate, taking into account the fact that the leaf is balanced.

Now, although this excessive power is not a real disadvantage from the economic point of view of the overhead door, it is hardly particularly desirable from the point of view of safety. In fact, the less powerful the electric motor, the less dangerous the opening and closing operations are for any user who may be nearby. In addition, the current standardization leads to the reduction to a minimum of this power of the drive means for the automatic opening of an overhead door, which power is no longer compatible with the voltages occurring within the framework of the electromechanical drive device described in EP-B-0.089.909.

It should also be noted that when the actuator is used to allow manual opening or closing of the tilting gate, this actuator takes place between the electric motor part and the speed reducer part. Consequently, when the tilting gate is opened manually, maintaining the connection between the gear means connected to the leaf and the speed reducer also forces the latter to be driven. This means that the tilting leaf can only be operated very slowly and with the impression of heaviness of the latter.

The present invention therefore aimed to eliminate all the above-mentioned disadvantages and the solution obtained is at the same time simple, which is synonymous with reliability, and safe, in that the action of the electromechanical drive device loses its randomness while allowing the use of a lower-power electric motor.

In fact, the invention as characterized in the patent claims solves the problem and consists of an electromechanical drive device for tilting doors, in particular for garage tilting doors, which consists of a Leaf balanced by lateral counterweights connected to said leaf by cables or chains partially winding around pulleys or gears driven via gear means cooperating with drive means of a geared motor unit, characterized in that it comprises at least one drive shoe mounted on the leaf and suitable for cooperating directly with the drive means of the geared motor unit during the initial and final phases of opening and closing of the overhead door, which correspond to the locking and unlocking phases of the leaf, said electromechanical drive device also comprising triggering means actuated by the drive shoe(s) for triggering the geared motor unit of said transmission means during said initial and final phases of opening and closing.

According to another characteristic of this invention, the electromechanical drive device comprises means for locking the leaf against the door frame, said locking means being formed by the interaction, in the closed position of the overhead door, between the drive shoe(s) and the drive means of the gear motor unit, which comprises a power brake activated when the electric motor is not in use.

According to another characteristic of the invention, this electromechanical drive device comprises manual release and unlocking drive means acting on said release means to release the interaction, on the one hand, between the gear means and the drive means of the geared motor unit and, on the other hand, between said drive means of the latter and the drive shoe(s) associated with the blade.

The main advantages achieved by this invention are essentially that the electric motor associated with the gear motor unit only has to have the power necessary to drive the opening and closing of a balanced leaf, since it is not entrusted with any additional function. This electromechanical drive device does not in fact have any mechanical retarder, but also any specific locking means that can be operated individually, since these locking means essentially consist of the simple interaction of the drive shoes. with the gear motor unit via the drive means of the latter.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to drawings which show only one embodiment.

Show it:

- Figure 1, a schematic view of a tilting door equipped with an electromechanical drive device according to the invention,

- Figure 2, a schematic and perspective view showing in particular this electromechanical drive device,

- Figure 3, a schematic view in section according to III-III of Figure 1, showing in particular the manual release and unlocking drive means,

- Figures 4A, 4B, 5A, 5B, diagrams showing the operating principle of the electromechanical drive device,

- Figure 6 is a schematic sectional view of a tilting door equipped with an electromechanical drive device according to the invention, in the context of a specific application, the leaf being shown both in the closed position and in various positions in the opening phase.

As shown in Figure 1, the invention relates to an electromechanical drive device 1 for a tilting door 2. This device is therefore particularly suitable for a garage tilting door comprising a door frame 3 consisting of two posts 4, 5 connected in their upper part by a horizontally mounted lintel 6. This tilting door 2 is also equipped with a tilting leaf 7, which is guided by guide pins or the like which slide in vertical rails provided in the posts 4, 5 of the door frame 3. The leaf 7 is also supported by counterweights 8, 9 which slide in vertical slide rails which may be located at the level of the posts 4, 5 of the door frame.

More particularly, these counterweights are connected to the blade 7 via cables or chains 10, 11, some of which wind around disks or gears 12, 13. The latter are driven by means of the electromechanical drive device 1.

As shown in Figure 2, this electromechanical drive device 1 consists of an electric gear motor unit 14, which is firmly attached to the inner side 16 of the door lintel 6 by means of a support arm 15 and Drive means 17 which cooperate with gear means 17 connected to the discs or gears 12, 13 to drive them in rotation.

It should be emphasized that the electric motor associated with the gear motor unit 14 is equipped with a power brake which is immediately activated when the electric power supply to said motor is interrupted.

The drive means 17 with which the geared motor unit 14 is provided are in particular designed as a drive drum 19 with a horizontal axis of rotation, which is held in free rotation at its ends 20, 21 in bearings 22, 23 connected to the support arm 15. In fact, this drive drum 19 can have an electric motor connected to a reduction gear in its inner part and in a manner known to the person skilled in the art. However, this electric motor and this reduction gear can also be installed outside the drive drum 19 and still ensure the drive. In addition, the latter comprises on its outer circumference one or more friction wheel drive parts 24, 24A, such as rubber belts, at least one of which cooperates with the aforementioned transmission means 18.

The latter consist of a shaft 25 that runs parallel to the drive drum 19 and passes straight through bearings 26, 27 arranged in the same vertical planes as bearings 22, 23. Like bearings 22, 23, these bearings 26, 27 are dependent on the support arm 15.

Furthermore, beyond these bearings 26, 27 in which the shaft 25 is ultimately mounted so as to rotate freely, the latter interacts via cardan drives 28, 29 with drive shafts 30, 31 which are connected to the discs or gears 12, 13 in order to ensure their rotational drive.

It should also be noted that on the shaft 25 located below the drive drum 19, at least one guided roller is mounted, fixedly or connected in rotation, which is intended to cooperate with a friction wheel drive part 24, among other things to ensure the opening and closing of the tilting gate 2. Preferably, both the guided roller 32 and the friction wheel drive parts 24, 24A are made of a sufficiently adhesive material, e.g. rubber.

Depending on the direction of rotation of the drive drum 19, via the mentioned transmission means 18, the opening or closing of the overhead door 2. Nevertheless, the problem of locking the leaf 7 remains once closed on the door frame 3.

Therefore, according to the invention, the electromechanical drive device 1 comprises at least one drive shoe 33, 33A mounted on the upper edge 34 and on the inner face 35 of said leaf 7, which is suitable for interacting directly with the drive means 17 of the gear motor unit 14, more particularly in the initial and final phases of opening and closing of the tilting door 2. Ultimately, this initial and final phase of opening and closing correspond to the locking and unlocking phases of the leaf 7.

However, in order to enable the interaction of the drive shoes 33, 33A with the said drive means 17, the electromechanical drive device 1 is also equipped with triggering means 36 which are actuated via the said drive shoes 33, 33A, precisely in order to trigger the gear motor unit 14 of the gear means 18 during this initial or final phase of opening and closing.

According to a preferred embodiment, these release means 36 consist of elastic connection means 37 connecting the bearings 26, 27 corresponding to the shaft 25 to the bearings 22, 23 supporting the drive drum 19, only one set of bearings 22, 23 or 26, 27 being rigidly mounted on the cross member 38 corresponding to the support arm 15 and fixed to the inner face 16 of the lintel 6. In fact, by means of this relative mobility between the bearings 22, 23 of the drive drum 19 and the bearings 26, 27 of the shaft 25, it is a question of allowing the drive means 17 to be released from the transmission means 18 by engaging elastic means capable of returning the parts to their engaged position.

In the embodiment shown in the drawings and in particular in Figure 2, the case has been chosen in which the bearings 22, 23 corresponding to the drive drum 19 are firmly attached to the said cross member 38, while the bearings 26, 27 supporting the shaft 25 are made mobile by means of the elastic connecting means 37 connecting them directly to the said bearings 22, 23. It should be noted that this mobility takes place in particular in the vertical direction, so that these Shaft 25, upon engagement of the drive shoes 33, 33A or the manual actuating means 39, is capable of moving away from the drive drum 19 so that its guided roller 32 no longer sticks to the corresponding friction wheel drive part 24.

In this regard, it should be noted that two rollers 40, 40A with an outer diameter 41 that is barely smaller than the diameter 42 of the guided roller(s) 32 are also mounted freely rotating on the shaft 25. These rollers 40, 41 are arranged in correspondence with the friction wheel drive parts 24, 24A of the drive drum 19.

When the tilting door 2 is closed (see Figures 4A, 4B; 5A, 5B), the drive shoe(s) 33, 33A, which is designed as a plate 43 arranged essentially perpendicular to the plane of the leaf 7 and oriented in the direction of the door frame 3, leads between the aforementioned friction wheel drive parts 24, 24A and the rollers 40, 40A. This results in the shaft 25 being moved away from the drive drum 19 by a distance 44 from the plate 33 mentioned above via the release means 36 and in particular the elastic connection means 37. In fact, this distance is sufficient to prevent the frictional connection of the friction wheel drive part(s) 24 onto the guided roller(s) 32. This stops the drive of the gear means 18 while the gear motor unit 14 continues to operate, so that the interaction of the friction wheel drive means 24, 24A on the drive shoes mentioned above 33, 33A causes the leaf 7 to be driven immediately until it rests on the door frame. A sensor advantageously equipped with the electromechanical drive device 1 allows this closed position of the tilting door 2 to be detected.

In this regard, it should be noted that in this closed position, on the one hand, the maintenance of the interaction of the drive shoes 33, 33A with the friction drive parts 24, 24A, in particular via the pressure exerted by the rollers 40, 40A, and on the other hand, the use of a motor equipped with a power brake, gives this assembly of parts the structure of locking means. In fact, the unlocking can only be achieved under these conditions by actuating the gear motor unit 14 or by operating the manual actuation means 39, which are suitable for actuating the release means in order to move the shaft 25 even further away from the to remove the drive drum 19 and finally to cancel or reduce the frictional connection of the drive shoes 33, 33A to the friction wheel drive parts 24, 24A under the influence of the pressure of the rollers 40, 40A.

According to a preferred embodiment, the manual actuation means 39 of the release means 36 consist of an eccentric 45 arranged between the bearings 22, 23 and 26, 27, the rotation of which, secured by an actuation rod 46 and an actuation lever 47, causes the bearing 22 to move away from the bearing 26 or the bearing 23 from the bearing 27. The elastic connection means 37, for their part, consist mainly of at least one pre-tensioned spring 48 to keep the bearings 22, 23 close to the bearings 26, 27. However, suitable guide means 49 can complement these elastic connection means 37 to control the movements of the bearings 26, 27 or, as the case may be, the bearings 22, 23. Furthermore, and according to a further embodiment, these guide means 49 can be replaced by articulation means connecting the movable bearing set either to the cross member 38 or to the fixed bearing set. In fact, such articulation means here also have the task of guiding the said movable bearings in their movement.

It should be noted that the present invention offers the advantage that the gear motor unit 14 is completely separated from the gear means 18 in the case of manual triggering. This results in a considerably easier manual opening and closing drive of the tilting gate 2.

Reference is made more particularly to Figure 6.

Finally, it should be noted that the longer the plate 43 of the drive shoes 33, 33A is, i.e. the longer it protrudes from the leaf 7, the faster the direct drive of this leaf 7 is achieved via the gear motor unit 14 and the less the action of the electromechanical drive device depends on the obstacles encountered by the leaf 7 in the final phase of closing. However, by making this plate 32 even longer, it is necessary to provide an opening in the lintel 6 corresponding to the door frame 3 and perhaps in the lintel 50 in the masonry, into which the front end 51 of the said plate 43 can pass in the closed and locked position of the leaf 7. It should be noted that this front end 51 may be slightly tapered in order to limit the notching of the lintels 6 and 50.

Furthermore, the special situation in which the high edge of the lintel 6 corresponding to the door frame 3 is only a short distance from the ceiling 52 due to a low ceiling should be taken into account. In such circumstances, a long plate 43 associated with the drive shoe 33, 33A can cause an obstacle, in particular during the closing of the overhead door 2. In fact, the front end 51 of this plate 43 can strike the ceiling 52 and prevent the opening and/or closing of the leaf 7. In such a situation, the said plate 43 can be provided pivoting about a horizontal axis of rotation at the level of its rear end 53, so that during the opening of the overhead door 2 it is able to fold towards the leaf 7 under the action of a cam 54 arranged on the ceiling 52 of the structure. Finally, this cam 54 makes it possible to prevent the front end 51 of the plate 43 corresponding to the drive shoes 33, 33A from forming a stop by interacting with the cover 52 and in particular by opposing the closing of the blade 7. Such a plate 43 is also subject to elastic return means which allow it to be returned to its original position after it has left the cam 54.

Thus, despite its great simplicity, the present invention makes it possible to solve all the problems encountered in the past with the known electromechanical drive devices. This simplicity is certainly a guarantee of reliability, which in the context of the overhead doors 2 is a quality that cannot be neglected, taking into account the concept of burglary protection.

Claims (11)

1. Electromechanical drive device (1) for a tilting door (2), in particular for a garage tilting door, comprising a leaf (7) balanced by lateral counterweights (8, 9) sliding in vertical slideways and connected to said leaf (7) by cables or chains (10, 11) which are partially wound around pulleys or gears (12, 13) driven by gear means (18) cooperating with drive means (17) of a gear motor unit (14), characterized in that it comprises one or more drive shoes (33, 33A) mounted on the leaf (7) and suitable for cooperating directly with the drive means (17) of the gear motor unit in the initial and final phases of opening and closing of the tilting door (2), respectively, which correspond to the locking and unlocking phases of the leaf (7), the said electromechanical drive device (1) further comprises triggering means (36) actuated via the drive shoe(s) (33, 33A) for triggering the gear motor unit (14) of said gear means (18) during said initial and final phases of opening and closing. 2. Electromechanical drive device according to claim 1, characterized in that the drive means (17) of the gear motor unit (14) are designed as a drive drum (19) with a horizontal axis of rotation, which is held freely rotating in the area of its ends (20, 21) in bearings (22, 23) connected to a support arm 15 located on the upper lintel (6) of the door frame (3), this drive drum (19) being driven by an electric motor provided with a power brake and associated with a reduction gear, and on the outer circumference of this drive drum (19) one or more friction wheel drive parts (24, 24A), such as rubber belts, are mounted, which are intended to interact with the said gear means (18). 3. Electromechanical drive device according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the transmission means (18) consist of a shaft (25) running in the same direction as the drive drum (19), which passes straight through bearings (26, 27) in which it is mounted in rotation so that it cooperates with drive shafts (30, 31) which are connected to the discs or gears (12, 13) for the purpose of securing the rotary drive, wherein on the said shaft (25) on the one hand at least one guided roller (32), namely Rubber, fixedly mounted in rotation, intended to cooperate with a friction wheel drive part (24), and on the other hand, freely rotating, rollers (40, 40A) with an external diameter (41 slightly smaller than the diameter (42) of the guided roller(s) (32), these rollers (40, 41) being arranged in correspondence with said friction wheel drive parts (24, 24A) of the drive drum 19. 4. Electromechanical drive device according to claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the release means (36) consist of elastic connecting means (37) which connect the bearings (26, 27) corresponding to the shaft (25) of the gear means (18) with the bearings (22, 23) supporting the drive drum (19), whereby only one set of bearings (22, 23) or (26, 27) is rigidly mounted on a cross member (38) corresponding to the support arm (15) and is fastened to the inside (16) of the door lintel (6) from which the door frame (3) is partly formed. 5. Electromechanical drive device according to claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the drive shoe(s) (33, 33A) consist of plates (43) arranged substantially perpendicular to the plane of the leaf (7) and oriented in the direction of the door frame (3), these plates (43) in the final phase of closing the tilting door (2) pass between the said friction wheel drive parts (24, 24A) of the drive means (17) and the rollers (40, 40A) corresponding to the gear means (18) in order to cause the removal of the shaft (25) from the drive drum (19) via the release means (36) and to avoid the frictional connection of the driven roller(s) (32) on the friction wheel drive parts (24, 24A). 6. Electromechanical drive device according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises means for locking the leaf (7) against the door frame (3), which consist of the interaction, in the closed position of the tilting door (2), between the drive shoes (33, 33A) and the drive means (17) of the gear motor unit (14), which comprises a power brake actuated when the electric motor is not in use. 7. Electromechanical drive device according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises manual release and unlocking drive means (39) acting on said release means (36) to enable the interaction, on the one hand, between the gear means (18) and the drive means (17) and, on the other hand, between said drive means (17) and the drive shoes (33, 33A) associated with the blade (7). 8. Electromechanical drive device according to claims 2, 3 and 7, characterized in that the manual release and unlocking drive means (39) consist of an eccentric (45) which is arranged between the bearings (22, 23) and (26, 27) corresponding to the drive drum (19) and the shaft (25), the rotation of this eccentric (45) being secured via an actuating rod (46) and an actuating lever (47). 9. Electromechanical drive device according to claim 4, characterized in that the elastic connection means (37) consist of at least one prestressed spring (48) to keep the bearings (22, 23) corresponding to the drive drum (19) close to the bearings 26, 27 supporting the shaft (25), these elastic connection means (37) being supplemented either by guide means (49) or by articulation means to control the movement of the bearings (26, 27) or, as the case may be, of the bearings (22, 23). 10. Electromechanical drive device according to claim 5, characterized in that the front end (51) of the plates (43) corresponding to the drive shoes (33, 33A) leads in the closed and locked position of the tilting door (2) at least into an opening provided in the lintel (6) of the door frame (3). 11. Electromechanical drive device according to claim 5, characterized in that the plate (43) corresponding to the drive shoes (33, 33A) is, on the one hand, designed to pivot about a horizontal axis of rotation at the level of its rear end (53) so as to allow it to fold towards the leaf (7) under the action of a cam (54) arranged on the ceiling (52) of a structure housing the said overhead door (2) and, on the other hand, is subject to elastic return means allowing it to be returned to its original position after it has left the cam 54.