WO2001033023A1

WO2001033023A1 - A hinged panel assembly

Info

Publication number: WO2001033023A1
Application number: PCT/AU1999/000943
Authority: WO
Inventors: David John Tofts
Original assignee: Kalford Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1998-05-22
Filing date: 1999-10-29
Publication date: 2001-05-10
Also published as: AU6800498A; AU717270B2

Abstract

A sectional overhead door has a number of panel members (15, 16) which have special upper and lower edge profiles and which are hinged together in a special manner to minimise the gap between the panels as the panels hinge relative to each other. The small gap prevents injury to a persons fingers when closing the hinged panel door.

Description

A HINGED PANEL ASSEMBLY

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a hinged panel assembly and particularly relates to a sectional overhead door which is formed from a hinged panel assembly.

BACKGROUND ART Sectional overhead doors are known in the art, and are most commonly used as garage doors. The doors are formed from a number of rigid panel members which are positioned one above the other and which are hinged together. A typical sectional overhead door would have four panels each formed from 0.6 mm steel reinforced with stiles, each panel being between 1 to 8 metres wide and 40 to 100 cm high.

The sectional overhead doors open by a combination of vertical sliding movement together with pivoting movement of the panel members. International patent application WO 94/17270 and U.S. patent

2,625,221 provide examples of known sectional overhead doors.

The door panels have horizontal upper and lower edges as well as opposed side edges. Low friction nylon rollers are attached to the opposed side edges, and the rollers roll within a metal track which is fastened to the vertical portion of the door surround frame, and the ceiling. The sectional overhead door is pushed upwardly with the aid of balancing springs and the panels will then pivot as they slide from a vertical position to a horizontal position where they are supported, via the rollers, in the track which is attached to the ceiling . One of the disadvantages with existing sectional overhead doors is that the hinges which hinge the two panels together are fairly large in design and extend proud of the door. These hinges also have fairly sharp edges and can be a source of injury to a person operating the door. For instance, when the ceiling height is fairly low, the proud hinges extend downwardly and can be struck by the head of a tall person. Similarly, when the door is in the closed vertical position, the hinges can be struck when walking past the door. Another disadvantage with sectional overhead doors is that the panel members must hinge through a quite large range of angles, and in order to allow the panel members to freely hinge without striking each other, fairly large gaps are created between adjacent panels as the panels hinge relative to each other. The danger with these large gaps is that a person wishing to close the door may place their fingers in the gap to pull the doors down. If the person is not careful, an upper panel member can suddenly pivot and crush the person's fingers. Statistics show that many people suffer from injury or even finger amputation each year because of careless handling of the door. To overcome this, the door panels must be able to hinge relative to each other without presenting a gap of more than say 5mm.

Another disadvantage with sectional overhead doors is in the design of the metal track and the rollers. The track has a horizontal portion spaced from the ceiling and the door panels are supported in the track via the rollers which are attached to the door panels. When the door panels are in a horizontal position against the ceiling, the geometry of the rollers causes the panels to adopt a reverse bend relative to each other. That is, the design is such that the panels are bent or bowed backwardly during the opening and closing process. As conventional sectional overhead doors make little or no allowance for the reverse bending, the forces acting on the door panels causes some of the rollers to be lifted out of the door track. This creates metal fatigue over time, inter alia, as the door panels, which have their rollers still in the track, need to accommodate greater loads to support the weight of the doors which have lifted out of the track. Many conventional door panels are twin skinned and are filled, e.g. with a settable foam, or have strong internal struts or strengthening ribs, to form a rigid unit. These panels are hinged, and the hinges can fatigue over time. For single skin door panels, the hinges are also subject to fatigue.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a hinged panel assembly which can be used as a sectional overhead door and where the hinges do not extend proud of the door. The invention is also directed to a panel assembly which can be used as a sectional overhead door and where adjacent panels present only a small gap when they hinge relative to each other into which a person's finger cannot readily be inserted thereby forcing the person to use a safer method of closing the door, typically via a attached lift handle. The invention can also include a design and geometry of the panel assembly which allows the panels to adopt a reverse angle without bending or bowing of the panel parts, or hinges, thereby making the assembly particularly suitable for single skin panel doors. The invention is also directed to a simple and reliable assembly which can achieve all the above advantages without the need for complex profiles and complex extruded sections which need to be separately attached to the door panel

In one form, this can be achieved by profiling the upper edge of the lower panel to approximate a hook when viewed in section, and to place the hinge point under the hook such that the hinge point is near the front face of the panel with the hook portion extending over the hinge point. This can allow a degree of reverse bending of the panels such that the panel rollers do not lift out of the tack, and with a suitable profiled lower edge of the upper panel, prevents fingers from passing into the gap between the panels.

It is an object of the invention to provide a hinged panel assembly which may overcome the abovementioned disadvantages or provide the public with a useful or commercial choice.

In one form, the invention resides in a hinged panel assembly comprising at least two panels which are hinged adjacent edges of the panels to allow the panels to hinge relative to each other, each panel having a major outer face and an inner face which are spaced apart, and a hinge means which is connected to each panel to hinge the panels together, the hinge means having a pivot point which is positioned between the major outer face and the inner face and more towards the outer face, and inwardly from said edge of the panel. In a more particularised form, the invention resides in a hinged panel assembly comprising at least two panels which are hinged adjacent edges of the panels to allow the panels to hinge relative to each other, each panel having a major outer face and an inner face which are spaced apart and parallel relative to each other, and which are interconnected by an upper horizontal edge region, and a hinge means which is connected to each panel to hinge the panels together, the hinge means having a pivot point which is positioned between the major outer face and the inner face on one said panel and closer to the outer face than the inner face, and inwardly from said upper edge of the panel such that a portion of the edge region extends over the pivot point.

In another form, the invention resides in a hinged door or window assembly comprising a post to which the door or window is hingedly connected via at least one hinge, the post and inner edge of the door or window being profiled to present a small gap when the door or window is opened, the hinge being located between the front and rear face of the post or door or window and inwardly from an edge of the post or door or window. The term "major inner face" is meant to include a panel which has a continuous front face and upper and lower turned in edges. The turned in edges are spaced from the front face and may be joined together to form a twin skin panel, or may be spaced apart to form a single wall panel, both of which are included in the term "inner face". The hinged panel assembly can be used as a sectional overhead door and the invention will be further described with reference to a sectional overhead door.

The assembly comprises at least two panels and typically between 2 to up to 8 or more panels thereby providing an assembly which has 2 end panels and usually at least 1 intermediate panel. Each intermediate panel is typically hinged to an upper and a lower adjacent panel while the end panels are hinged only to the immediate adjacent panel.

The panels can be formed from any suitable material but typically are formed from metal sheet with a typical sheet thickness being between 0.2 to 2mm and preferably about 0.6mm.

An advantage of the invention is that the narrow finger gap, and the reverse bending ability can be achieved by suitable profiling of the metal sheet, and without the need for separate complex extrusions which must be attached to the upper edge of the panel.

Each panel is typically of substantially rectangular shape when viewed from the front, and can be of various widths and heights to suit the opening. For instance, a typical width range is between 1.2 to 8 metres while a typical panel height range is between 0.2 to 1.5 metres.

The panels have a major outer face and an inner face which are spaced apart. By major outer face is meant the wall which faces the outside of the garage, while the inner face faces the inside of the garage (it being appreciated that the assembly can be used in places other than garages).

It is preferred that the panel, when viewed in section, is of a "C" section with the major outer face forming the outer or front wall and the inner face forming the return portions which are usually parallel to the front wall. The faces are interconnected by an upper edge region at the upper edge, and a lower edge region at the lower edge. Reinforcing stiles can extend between the inner face and the outer face to reinforce the panel assembly and the stiles can be placed at suitable distances being typically between 0.5 to 2 metres apart.

In an embodiment, the panel is formed from rolled metal sheet and has a continuous wall, which defines the major outer face, the inner face, and the interconnecting regions.

Each panel is typically rectangular in shape and has an upper horizontal edge region, a lower horizontal edge region, and opposed side edges. The upper horizontal edge region and the lower horizontal edge region of each panel is interconnected by the major outer face which is preferably substantially planar (although it may include aesthetic decorations).

The upper horizontal edge region is preferably profiled in such a manner to facilitate relative hinging of adjacent attached panels, and also to minimise any gap forming between the panels hinge thereby preventing fingers from being crushed.

In an embodiment, the upper horizontal edge region, when viewed in section, has a profile which can be seen as an inwardly extending hook profile. That is, the upper horizontal edge region when viewed in section has a longitudinal hook profile which extends inwardly relative to the assembly by which is meant that it extends towards the inner face of the panel assembly. The hook profile defines a recess portion immediately below the hook profile, and in one form of the invention, the pivot point on the hinge means is positioned within this recessed portion thereby positioning the hinge means between the outer face and the inner face while still being inwardly from the upper most horizontal edge of the panel. More particularly, the hook profile may comprise at least an upper part of the major outer face, followed by an inwardly extending substantially planar or slightly inclined land portion followed by a downwardly extending lip portion, followed by the recessed portion in which the pivot point can locate. The lower horizontal edge region of the panels is preferably concave to accommodate relative movement between it and the upper horizontal edge region of a lower panel.

In one form of the invention, the lower horizontal edge region has at least one and preferably at least two spaced apart abutments which can assist in locating one panel on top of a lower panel during installation of the panel assembly. During installation, there is an advantage in locating the panels in this manner and preventing the panels from sliding off each other until the assembly is fully installed.

Depending on the size of the panels, two or more hinge means are used to hinge the panels together. If two or more hinge means are used, it is preferred that hinges are at least adjacent the side edges of each panel, and if the panel is sufficiently wide, further hinges can be intermediate the side edges, for instance at a spacing of between 0.5 to 1.5 metres apart.

The hinge means can comprise a hinge formed from two separate parts or wings. The wings are preferably formed such that when the wings overlie each other they can be separated for instance by sliding one wing laterally with respect to the other wing, while when the wings define an angle of for instance 5° and preferably 10° or more, the wings are prevented from being separated. This arrangement allows the wings to be separated and stored in a compact manner during shipping or transportation and then assembled during installation. A sealing means can be provided between adjacent panels to prevent rain, dirt, grime or wind from passing through the assembly. The sealing means may be in the form of a weather strip. The weather strip can be supported by an elongated recess which may be formed in the lower horizontal edge of a panel. The lower most panel in the assembly (i.e. the one which will strike the floor of the garage when the assembly is closed), may be provided with a cushioning means or sealing means.

The profile of the upper horizontal edge region and lower horizontal edge region together with the positioning of the hinge is preferably such to minimise the size of the gap which is between the panels as the panels pivot relative to each other, and to allow for a degree of reverse bending between the panels.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS An embodiment of the invention would be described of reference to the following figures in which

Figure 1 is a side view of a known sectional overhead door in the closed position.

Figure 2 is a side view of Figure 1 where the panels are in the open position showing the quite substantial gap which can crush a person's fingers.

Figures 3 and 3A are side views of an upper part of one panel and a lower part of an adjacent panel interconnected by a hinge means and according to an embodiment of the invention.

Figures 4 to 9 show sequentially the pivoting of the two panels of Figure 3.

Figures 10 and 11 illustrate an embodiment of the hinge means. Figures 12 and 13 illustrate two embodiments of a lower most sealing means.

Figure 14 is a view of a hinge according to an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 15 illustrates two panels adopting a reverse bend of 20° without resulting in appreciable metal fatigue.

Figure 16 illustrates a particular type of seal used on the lowermost panel member.

BEST MODE

Referring initially to Figures 1 and 2, there is shown an existing prior art sectional overhead door panel assembly consisting of an upper and lower panel 10 and 11 which have a tongue and groove joint at 12 and where the panels are hinged together through a rather large hinge 13 which extends outwardly from the inner face of the panel and towards the inside of the garage. The panel assemblies are attached via rollers to a track (this being known in the art and illustrated, for instance, in the earlier referenced patent specifications), and when the door is opened, panels 10 and 11 are pushed upwardly and then upper panel 10 hinges relative to lower panel 11 ultimately to a substantially horizontal position against the garage ceiling. Figure 2 shows upper panel 10 hinged relative to lower panel 11 and it becomes obvious that a very large gap 14 is formed between the two panels, this gap being up to 10cm wide. When closing the door, there is a likelihood that a person will insert their fingers into gap 14 to push down onto lower panel 11 and as lower panel 11 slides downwardly, upper panel 10 will move back to the position illustrated in Figure 1 and if this happens too quickly, the person's fingers can be injured or crushed between the two panels. As well, hinge 13 projects from the panels and when the panel is against a garage ceiling, the hinges project downwardly and can be struck by a person's head, especially where there is low headroom.

Figure 3 illustrates an assembly according to an embodiment of the invention. In Figure 3, a lower portion of an upper panel 15 is illustrated as is an upper portion of a lower panel 16. Each panel is substantially "C" shaped when viewed in section and has a major outer face 17 which is planar, and an inner face 18.

Outer face 17 and inner face 18 are formed from a single sheet of roll formed metal having a thickness of approximately 0.6mm, but it should be appreciated that this is an embodiment only. The outer face and inner face are spaced apart and are reinforced by a number of internal reinforcing metal stiles (not shown) which extend vertically from the lower edge to the upper edge of the panel, and are usually spaced approximately 0.5 to 2 metres apart.

Lower panel 16 has an upper horizontal edge region 19 which has a profile, which in section, approximates a hook 20. Hook 20 extends inwardly by which is meant that the hook points towards inner face 18 thereby presenting the outer face of the panel assembly with a clean line. Edge region 19 encompasses the upper edge of the panel 16, and the tapering inner wall 19A, such that the outer face 17 and the inner face 18 are the regions which are parallel to each other.

Hook 20 defines a lower longitudinal recess 21 and the pivot point 22 of the hinge is positioned in recess 21. Recess 21 is formed to extend quite close to outer face 17 which forces the pivot point 22 to be fairly close to outer face 17 and substantially away from inner face 18. The hook 20 extends over pivot point 22, inter alia, to provide a planar land portion 24 which prevents a too large a gap from forming as the panels hinge relative to each other. This is achieved without the need for special sections or sharp projections which can be damaged easily. This arrangement facilitates the desired pivoting movement between the panels. In this arrangement, the pivot point 22 is positioned between the outer face 17 and inner face 18, but still on the outside of the panel member (that is the pivot point is not behind the panel surface) and pivot point 22 is also inwardly, or below the upper most longitudinal edge of lower panel 16.

Hook 20 is formed from a number of surfaces being an upper part 23 of major outer face 17, a slightly raised but substantially planar land portion 24, a downwardly extending curved lip portion 25, and the recess 21. Land portion 24 is broken up into two planar sub-portions which define a slight angle relative to each other.

Upper panel 15 has a lower horizontal edge region 26 which has a somewhat concave profile as illustrated in Figure 3, the profile being such to allow panels 16 and 15 to pivot relative to each other as illustrated in Figures 4 to 9 while at all times presenting a small gap of less than the width of a person's finger.

The lower edge region 26 has two spaced apart abutments 27,

28 which abut against hook 20 in such a manner that during assembly of the panels, panel 15 can be sat on top of panel 16 without sliding off panel 16 because of the abutments 27, 28, this feature being better illustrated with reference to figure 3A.

Figures 4 to 9 show the two panel members at various angles. Figure 4 shows the two panel members with a 10 degree reverse bend, while Figures 5 to 9 show the two panel members adopting progressive angles of 15 degrees relative to each other. The maximum gap is illustrated in Figure 9 and measurements show this maximum gap to be slightly over 5mm which is sufficiently small to prevent a person's fingers from passing into the gap.

The position of pivot point 22 close to outer wall 17, together with the geometry of the panels, facilitates the ability for the panels to adopt a "reverse" angle of between 2-20°, and typically up to 10° illustrated in Figure

4, or 20° illustrated in Figure 15 with minimal or no bending of the metal parts. Figures 10 and 11 illustrate a hinge 30 which is formed from two wings 31 , 32 and referring to Figures 10 and 11 it can be seen that when the wings are in an overlapping position illustrated in Figure 10, wing 32 can slide transversely out of the head portion 33 of wing 31 and can adopt a more compact storage position illustrated in Figure 11 where the two wings of the hinge closely over lie each other. When the wings adopt a substantial angle of 10 degrees or more, the two wings are locked together and cannot be inadvertently removed. Figures 12 and 13 show two versions of a seal which sits on the bottom of the lower most panel and which contacts the garage floor. In Figure 12, the seal 34 slots within a longitudinal recess 35 which is roll formed into the lower horizontal edge region of panel 15. In Figure 13, a separate metal extrusion 36 is fastened along the lower horizontal edge region of panel 15, and a suitable longitudinal U-shaped seal 37 is provided.

Referring to Figure 16, there is shown in cross-section a seal 50 which can be formed from resilient materials such as plastics, rubbers, silicones, mixtures and the like. Seal 50 comprises an elongate hollow body which extends across the length of the lowermost panel of the assembly. The seal functions to seal the door assembly against the floor or ground surface to prevent ingress of water, dirt or drafts. Water excluding seals are known and consist of a rubber or plastic tube or spline which is held by a retaining groove in the bottom edge of the panel. These seals are installed by pulling them along their retaining grooves and in the pulling process, the seals are stretched. Over time, the seal shrinks back to its original length which is then too short. In Figure 16, the seal is a hollow elongate body which can be compressed so that the internal protrusion "A" can locate in internal recess "B". Installation can be by pulling the seal along a retaining groove 51 in the lowermost panel, but can also be rolled or pushed into the groove from the outside, for instance with the aid of a roller, thereby minimising stretching of the seal.

The upper part of the seal is provided with an elongate projection 52 which has a downwardly extending resilient lip 53 which folds down flat during insertion of the projection into the recess. Recess 51 has a narrow neck portion such that when lip 53 is pushed past the neck portion, it can spring out to its original position to lock the seal within the recess.

The side portions 54 of the seal are angularly shaped to provide a more predictable method of collapsing of the seal under compression.

The lowermost portion of the seal has a pair of extending fins 55 which diverge outwardly and assist in the controlled collapse of the seal and to provide improved sealing against dirt and drafts even when distorted by being pressed against a small obstruction (for instance an irregular floor surface). Between fins 55 is a concave portion 56 which provide a longitudinal air passage that prevents air pressure from holding the bottom of the seal down (sticking) when being released from a smooth surface.

Referring to Figures 3 and 3A, the two panels 15, 16 can be sealed against wind rain dust and grime by a longitudinal sealing strip 40 which can be fed into recess 35. Hook 20 has a land portion 24 which inclines slightly upwardly as illustrated in the figures the reason for this is to allow drainage of any moisture which may find its way in this area between the two panel members.

Figure 14 illustrates a hinge. Each wing is provided with fixing holes 41 which allow the wing to be fastened directly to a supporting stile (not shown) positioned inside each panel. Strengthening ribs 42 are provided on each wing.

The hinge panel assembly by having a recessed hinge, reduces or eliminates the possibility of a person being injured by a protruding hinge. The profile of the panel members together with the hinge is such that a small gap is formed when the panels hinge relative to each other which means that a person cannot be tempted to position fingers within the gap.

It should be appreciated that various other changes or modifications may be made to the embodiment described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A hinged panel assembly comprising at least two panels which are hinged adjacent edges of the panels to allow the panels to hinge relative to each other, each panel having a major outer face and an inner face which are spaced apart , and which are interconnected by an upper horizontal edge region, and a hinge means which is connected to each panel to hinge the panels together, the hinge means having a pivot point which is positioned between the major outer face and the inner face on one said panel and closer to the outer face than the inner face, and inwardly from said upper edge of the panel such that a portion of the edge region extends over the pivot point.

2. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the assembly is a sectional overhead door.

3. The assembly of claim 2, wherein the upper horizontal edge region of one said panel is hingedly connected to a lower horizontal edge region of the other said panel.

4. The assembly of claim 3, wherein the upper horizontal edge region has an inwardly extending hook profile when viewed in section, the pivot point being within a recess portion defined by the hook profile.

5. The assembly of any one of claims 4, wherein the upper horizontal edge region comprises an upper part of the major outer face, an inwardly extending planar land portion, a downwardly extending curved lip portion, and a recess portion.

6. The assembly of claim 5, wherein the inwardly extending planar land portion defines a top portion of the hook profile, and the recess portion is defined by a lower portion of the hook profile.

7. The assembly of claim 6 wherein the lower horizontal edge region is concave to accommodate relative movement of the upper horizontal edge region.

8. The assembly of claim 7 wherein the lower horizontal edge region has two spaced apart abutments which assist in locating one panel on top of a lower panel during installation of the panel assembly.

9. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the at least two panels are hinged together by a plurality of spaced apart said hinge means.

10. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the hinge means comprises two separate wings which can be separated when the wings overlie each other, but are attached to each other when the wings define a relative angle of 5° or more.

11. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein a weather-strip is positioned between the two said panels.

12. The assembly of claim 11 , wherein the weather-strip is attached to the lower horizontal edge region.

13. The assembly of claim 3, wherein the upper and lower horizontal edge regions are spaced apart by a distance not exceeding 6mm, at any working hinge angle.

14. The assembly of claim 1 where at least one pair of adjacent panels can adopt a reverse angle relative to each other.

15. The assembly of claim 14, wherein the reverse angle is between

2 to 20°

16. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the hinged panel assembly has a lowermost panel which has a lower edge which is adjacent a ground floor when the assembly is in a closed position, and a seal is provided on the lower edge which contacts the ground floor when the assembly in the closed position.

17. The assembly of claim 16, wherein the seal comprises an elongate hollow body having an upper part and a lower part, the upper part being provided with an elongate projection which locates within an elongate recess in the lowermost panel, the lower part have a concave part which reduced sticking of the seal to the ground surface.