AU2018300555A1

AU2018300555A1 - Automatic door, more particularly automatic lift door

Info

Publication number: AU2018300555A1
Application number: AU2018300555A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Alexander Möstel
Original assignee: Franz Xaver Meiller Fahrzeug und Maschinenfabbrik GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: Franz Xaver Meiller Fahrzeug und Maschinenfabbrik GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 2017-07-10
Filing date: 2018-06-07
Publication date: 2019-12-05
Anticipated expiration: 2038-06-07
Also published as: DE102017211754A1; EP3652100B1; WO2019011541A1; EP3652100A1; ES2880410T3; AU2018300555B2

Abstract

The invention relates to an automatic door, more particularly an automatic lift door, having - at least one door leaf arrangement (3, 5), which is movably mounted and can be driven by an electric motor between a door closed position and a door open position, - a drive device (7) that is accommodated at least partially in a housing (26) and has a controllable electric motor (27) as driving means for the door leaf arrangement (3, 5) and - a control device (25) for controlling the electric motor (27), - wherein the electric motor (27) can be actuated by the control device (25) to exert a closing-holding force on the door leaf arrangement (3, 5) when said door leaf arrangement is in its closed position, comprising at least one temperature sensor (50, 52) for detecting a temperature at a reference point in the region and/or in the surroundings of the automatic door and for providing its temperature measurement information to the control device (25), wherein the control device (25) is configured to control the electric power to be provided to generate the closing-holding force of the electric motor (27) as a function of the prevailing temperature information from the temperature sensor (50) in such a way that the electric power of the electric motor (27) increases as the measured temperature of the temperature sensor (50, 52) falls, at least if the measured temperature falls below a defined temperature - and the electric power of the electric motor (27) then falls as the measured temperature increases again.

Description

The invention relates to an automatic door, in particular an automatic lift door, comprising

- at least one door leaf arrangement, which is mounted such that it can move between a closed position and an open position of the door and can be driven by means of an electric motor,

- a drive device, which is housed in a housing at least in part, and comprises a controllable electric motor as the drive means for the door leaf arrangement, and

- a control device for controlling the electric motor, it being possible for the electric motor to be actuated by means of the control device in order to exert a closing holding force on the door leaf arrangement when said door leaf arrangement is in its closed position.

Several variations of the automatic doors of the type in consideration here are known. These are doors whose door leaves can be moved between their closed position and their open position of the door by means of controlled motor-driven drives. They can in particular be formed as automatic sliding doors, revolving doors, lifting doors or louvre doors. They can be completely different in terms of their size and environment. For example, they can be industrial doors, hangar doors, garage doors, etc. On the other hand, they can also be small automatic doors, such as doors for passenger lifts, etc.

Automatic outside doors can be exposed to occasional or even constant low temperatures in their use environment, which are well below the freezing point of 0 °C. At such low temperatures, the door drive device may become stiff, for example due to hardening effects of bearing lubrication, transmission lubricants or due to the thermal distortion of guides, rollers, bearings, etc., which can cause the automatic operation of the door to become faulty. In order to prevent such faults, suggestions have already been made to provide electrically operable heating tapes in the regions of the door that are particularly sensitive to temperature. Such a region can be in particular a door header together with components of the door drive apparatus that are housed therein. These are crossbars, which extend along the upper edge of the door opening and comprise cavity regions in which components of the door drive device including the electric motor and transmission elements are often housed.

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In particular, in automatic sliding doors, the door header often comprises guides of the door leaf arrangement that extend transversely above the door opening.

The object of the present invention is to provide an automatic door of the type mentioned at the outset, which also allows for reliable operation, even at low temperatures, without requiring separate heating means, such as heating tapes or the like.

In order to solve this problem, it is proposed that the automatic door having the features mentioned at the outset comprises at least one temperature sensor for recording the temperature at a reference point in the region of and/or in the area around the automatic door, and for outputting the measured temperature information thereof to the control device, the control device being designed to control the electrical power that is to be provided in order to generate the closing holding force of the electric motor on the basis of the particular temperature information from the temperature sensor such that the electrical power of the electric motor increases as the temperature measured by the temperature sensor decreases, at least once the measured temperature has fallen below a specific measured temperature, and the electrical power of the electric motor decreases again when the measured temperature increases again.

The concept of the present invention is to heat the area around the motor by generating heat dissipation from the electric motor when generating the closing holding force, specifically on the basis of the temperature measured by the temperature sensor. The lower this measured temperature is, the greater the amount of heat loss generated, at least within certain boundaries. If the measured temperature increases again after a particular cooling of the temperature sensor, the control device can also reduce the electrical power of the electric motor once again in order to operate the electric motor as economically as possible.

Temperature-sensitive elements of the drive device should be sufficiently thermally coupled to the electric motor in order to be able to profit from the waste heat thereof. The electric motor and additional components of the drive device are preferably housed in at least one cavity in the housing, for example in a door header that forms the housing. The housing should be thermally insulated such that the waste heat provided by the electric motor is accumulated inside the housing region as efficiently as possible in order to heat temperature-sensitive components of the drive device arranged in said housing region and to therefore keep them at favourable operating temperatures.

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According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the control device is designed to vary the closing holding current that is to be provided in order to generate the closing holding force of the electric motor in order to control the electrical power of the electric motor on the basis of the particular temperature information from the temperature sensor such that the closing holding current of the electric motor increases as the temperature measured by the temperature sensor decreases, at least once the measured temperature has fallen below a specific measured temperature, and the closing holding current of the electric motor decreases again when the measured temperature increases again. The electric motor can be a low-volt DC motor, for example, which operates with an operating voltage in the range of from 12 to 50 V, for example 24 V. The currents used here to generate heat that is lost from the electric motor can be controlled at these low voltages.

However, AC motors and three-phase motors having an adapted effective voltage can also be considered for the invention as the electric motors in addition to DC motors.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the electrical power to be provided in order to generate the closing holding force of the electric motor can vary in a range of between 40 W and 120 W.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the closing holding current that is to be provided in order to generate the closing holding force of the electric motor can vary in a range of between 1.5 A and 10 A.

The control device is preferably designed to keep the closing holding current of the electric motor at a substantially constant value when the temperature measured by the temperature sensor exceeds a specific threshold value. This makes it possible to operate the electric motor in an energy-saving manner, together with a small amount of heat loss, when the drive device is at uncritical temperature.

The at least one temperature sensor is preferably arranged on the electric motor and housed inside a door header together with said motor. In such a case, the temperature of the electric motor can be continuously monitored and, within the context of the present invention, be adjusted to a favourable threshold value or to a favourable range of threshold values.

In other embodiments of the invention, the temperature sensor can, however, also be provided at a different point, for example outside the automatic door, in order to record the

63613P WO/TImtu ambient temperature, for example, such that the supply of current to the electric motor is controlled on the basis of the outside temperature.

It is also possible for both a temperature sensor provided on the electric motor and at least one additional temperature sensor, for example an outside temperature sensor, to be provided and to be connected to the control device in order to transfer data, and therefore the control device takes the measured values from both temperature sensors into consideration when controlling the electric motor.

A car door of a lift shall be mentioned as a preferred embodiment of the invention.

One embodiment of the invention will be explained in more detail in the following, with reference to the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1a is a highly simplified front view of an automatic sliding door according to the invention in the closed state, wherein part of the doorframe has been removed in the region of the door header in order to illustrate the drive device.

Fig. 1 b is a sectional view of the sliding door in Fig. 1 a according to the sectional plane b-b in Fig. 1a.

Fig. 2a is a front view according to Fig. 1a of the sliding door in Fig. 1a and 1b in the almost completely open state.

Fig. 2b is a sectional view of the sliding door in Fig. 2a according to the sectional plane b-b in Fig. 2a.

The automatic sliding door shown in the drawings is a telescopic sliding door comprising a frame and a door leaf arrangement, which consists of two door leaves 3, 5, which, when the telescopic sliding door is opened and closed, move in parallel with one another and horizontally to one another along guide rails in two parallel planes of movement E3, E5 that are arranged one behind the other.

A drive device 7 is used to open or close the telescopic sliding door when correspondingly requested, for example at the push of a button, the door leaf that is positioned on the righthand side of Fig. 1a and is positioned in the plane of movement E3 that is slightly further back according to Fig. 1b moving more quickly than the door leaf 5that is positioned in the

63613P WO/TImtu plane of movement E5, which is slightly further forward. In such telescopic sliding doors, the door leaf that is at the back in the direction of the opening movement and at the front in the direction of the closing movement (door leaf 3 in the example) is usually moved at approximately twice the speed of the other door leaf.

The two door leaves 3,5 are at a small spacing from one another orthogonally to the planes of movement E3, E5 such that they can be moved along the planes of movement E3, E5 into the closed position according to Fig. 1a and into the open position 2a, without touching one another.

The automatic operation of the door is controlled by an electronic control device 25, which is housed in a cavity 24 in the door header 26 together with the drive device 7.

The control device 25 generates control and switching commands for an electric motor 27 in order to supply it with electrical drive energy in a controlled manner and to set the particular direction of rotation of the motor. Depending on the direction of rotation of the electric motor 27, the door leaves 3, 5 move in either the direction of the opening movement or in the direction of the closing movement. The door drive device 7 shown largely simplified in the drawings is a cable drive, in which the electric motor 27 drives an idler pulley 31 to the right above the door opening 4 by means of a transmission belt 29 or the like, whereby the idler pulley 31 comprises two cylindrical idler pulley portions 33, 35 that are arranged next to one another concentrically with the idler pulley axis, the idler pulley portion 33 of which has a larger diameter than the idler pulley portion 35. A particular continuous cable 37, 39 is wrapped around each of the two idler pulley portions 33, 35, which are used to drive and deflect said cable. A second idler pulley 41 is arranged on the left above the door opening 4 and likewise comprises two cylindrical idler pulley portions 43, 45 that are arranged concentrically with one another with respect to their idler pulley axis and correspondingly have different diameters, around which idler pulley portions the continuous cables 37, 39 are wrapped and which are used to deflect said cables. The faster moving door leaf 3 is connected by means of a driving element 47to the lower side 36 of the continuous cable 37, which cable runs around the idler pulley portions 33, 43 that have the larger diameter, whereas the other door leaf 5 is connected by means of a driving element 49to the lower side 38 of the continuous cable 39 that runs around the idler pulley portions 35, 45. If the electric motor 27 is actuated such that it drives the idler pulley 31 to rotate clockwise (with reference to Fig. 1a), the driving elements 47, 49 move to the left together with the lower sides 36, 38 in Fig. 1a such that the door leaves 3, 5 are likewise moved to the left in the direction of the opening movement of the door. If the electric motor 27 is actuated such that

63613P WO/TImtu it drives the idler pulley 31 to rotate anticlockwise (with reference to Fig. 2a), the door leaves 3, 5 are moved to the right together with the lower sides 36, 38, in the direction of the closing movement out of their open position according to Fig. 2a.

Since the cable 37 runs around the idler pulley portions 33, 43 that have the larger diameters, it has a faster rotational speed than the other cable 39, which runs around the idler pulley portions 35, 45 that have the smaller diameters. Accordingly, the door leaf that is also moved with the cable 37 is also moved in the direction of the closing movement and in the direction of the opening movement of the door more quickly than the door leaf 5 that is also moved with the cable 39. Depending on whether the control device 25 actuates the electric motor 27 to rotate clockwise or anticlockwise, the door leaves 3, 5 are moved in either the direction of the closing movement or in the direction of the opening movement of the door.

In the closed position of the door, the door leaf 3 rests against a closing stop.

When the door is closed, i.e. when the door leaf arrangement 3, 5 is in the closed position of the door, electrical energy is supplied to the electric motor 27 under the control of the control device 25 such that said motor generates a closing holding force that is transmitted to the door leaves 3, 5 by means of the drive device 2. When the door is closed, the door leaves 3, 5 are therefore pretensioned in the closed position of the door.

A temperature sensor 50 for recording the temperature of the electric motor 27 is arranged directly on the electric motor 27 in the cavity 24 in the door header 26. The temperature sensor 50 passes its measured temperature information to the control device 25 via a corresponding data-transmission connection.

If the door is closed and the measured temperature value (measured temperature) from the sensor 50 is below a specific temperature value in this case, for example 5 °C, the control device 25 provides a larger electrical operating current for the electric motor 27 at a constant voltage of 24 VDC, for example, whereby said control device correspondingly varies an output current limit on the particular current source.

Increasing the current causes the electric motor 27 and the area around it to heat up. The more the temperature measured by the sensor 50 decreases, the higher the current provided is, within specific limits, such that more heat is accordingly also given off by the

63613P WO/TImtu electric motor 27 to the area around it in the door header 26 and the components of the drive device 2 are protected against critically cooling.

If the temperature measured by the temperature sensor 50 increases above a specific value again when the door is closed, the control device 25 ensures that the electrical current supplied to the electric motor 27 is reduced such that less heat is accordingly given off by the electric motor 27 and a further increase in the temperature is prevented as much as possible.

denotes yet another temperature sensor, which is arranged outside the door header 26 and can provide information relating to the temperature outside the automatic door, which, if necessary, may likewise also be taken into consideration by the control device 25 when it controls the motor.

The door header 26 is lined with a thermal insulation material 54 in order to minimise the exchange of heat between the drive device 2 and the area around the door.

It should be emphasised at this point that the cable drive device 7 mentioned above was merely presented as an example of a suitable drive device for an automatic door according to the invention. Other drive devices, such as spindle drives, linear motor drives, tooth belt drives, etc. can also be used as door drives.

Claims

Claims

1. Automatic door, in particular an automatic lift door, comprising

- at least one door leaf arrangement (3, 5), which is mounted such that it can move between a closed position and an open position of the door and can be driven by means of an electric motor,

- a drive device (7), which is housed in a housing (26) at least in part, and comprises a controllable electric motor (27) as the drive means for the door leaf arrangement (3, 5), and

- a control device (25) for controlling the electric motor (27),

- it being possible for the electric motor (27) to be actuated by means of the control device (25) in order to exert a closing holding force on the door leaf arrangement (3, 5) when said door leaf arrangement is in its closed position, characterised by at least one temperature sensor (50, 52) for recording the temperature at a reference point in the region of and/or in the area around the automatic door and for outputting the measured temperature information thereof to the control device (25), the control device (25) being designed to control the electrical power that is to be provided in order to generate the closing holding force of the electric motor (27) on the basis of the particular temperature information from the temperature sensor (50) such that the electrical power of the electric motor (27) increases as the temperature measured by the temperature sensor (50, 52) decreases, at least once the measured temperature has fallen below a specific measured temperature, and the electrical power of the electric motor (27) decreases again when the measured temperature increases again.
2. Automatic door according to claim 1, characterised in that the control device (25) is designed to vary the closing holding current that is to be provided in order to generate the closing holding force of the electric motor (27) in order to control the electrical power of the electric motor (27) on the basis of the particular temperature information from the temperature sensor (50, 52) such that the closing holding current of the electric motor (27) increases as the temperature measured by the temperature sensor (50) decreases, at least once the measured temperature has fallen below a specific measured temperature, and the closing holding current of the electric motor (27) decreases again when the measured temperature increases again.

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3. Automatic door according to either claim 1 or claim 2, characterised in that the electrical power to be provided in order to generate the closing holding force of the electric motor (27) can vary in a range of between at least 40 W to 120 W.
4. Automatic door according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the closing holding current that is to be provided in order to generate the closing holding force of the electric motor (27) can vary in a range of between at least 1.5 A and 10 A.
5. Automatic door according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the control device (25) is designed to keep the closing holding current of the electric motor (27) substantially constant when the temperature measured by the temperature sensor (50, 52) exceeds a specific threshold value.
6. Automatic door according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that said door comprises a door header (26) that forms the housing, and in that the at least one temperature sensor (50, 52) is arranged on the electric motor (27) and is housed inside the door header (26) together with said motor.
7. Automatic door according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the drive device (7) comprises a transmission that is connected to the electric motor (27) and is likewise housed in the housing (26).
8. Automatic door according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that the housing (26) is thermally insulated at least in a chamber region of the housing (26) that contains components of the drive device, including the electric motor (27).
9. Automatic door, characterised in that said door is a sliding door, in particular a sliding door for a lift car.