GB2506968A

GB2506968A - Bi-folding door with internal hinges

Info

Publication number: GB2506968A
Application number: GB1314129.6A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Steve Counsell
Original assignee: SMART SYSTEMS Ltd
Current assignee: SMART SYSTEMS Ltd
Priority date: 2012-08-07
Filing date: 2013-08-07
Publication date: 2014-04-16
Also published as: GB201213985D0; GB201314129D0

Abstract

A folding and sliding door has door panels (2, 3, fig 1), each door panel having a door frame (12, 14), the door frames of each pair of adjacent door panels being interconnected by a respective hinged joint 1. The hinged joints comprise an alternating sequence of captive hinged joints and free hinged joints, the captive hinged joints being restricted to movement along a guide rail, the free hinged joints being free to move away from the guide rail during opening movement of the folding door. The hinge axis of each captive hinged joint A1-A1, A2-A2, is located within the profile of the respective door frames in order to reduce the offset weight which is required to be supported. The arrangement may also permit the hinges of the joints to lie within a weather seal and not to interrupt the weather seal.

Description

FOLDING/SLIDING DOOR

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

s This invention relates to a folding/sliding door.

Directional and orientational terms used in this specification, such as "top", bottom", etc., are used to describe the folding/sliding door and its components in their normal orientation of use.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Folding/sliding doors are a particular type of door for closing an opening in the wall of a building. A folding/sliding door will often be used as an alternative to a patio door for example, and is distinguished in that the door panels fold together in concertina fashion when the door is opened, rather than one door panel sliding over (and parallel to) a fixed door panel as occurs with a typical patio door.

Typically the door panels of a folding/sliding door will be of a height to span the distance between the top and bottom of the opening, so that the folding/sliding door comprises the required number of door panels arranged side by side to span the width of the opening.

Each of the door panels typically comprises a substantially rigid frame surrounding a glazed panel. Respective sets of hinges interconnect the frames of the adjacent door panels. The folding/sliding door therefore comprises a chosen number of door panels which are interconnected by respective hinged joints.

There are two types of hinged joint. The first type of hinged joint is "captive" in that the hinges are mounted upon respective carriages, the carriages being mounted upon guide rails at the top and bottom of the opening. The captive hinged joints are therefore restricted to sliding movement along the guide rails.

The captive hinged joint is often called the "sliding hinge" as it slides along the guide rails, but the term "captive hinged joint" will nevertheless be used throughout this document.

The second type of hinged joint is "free" in that the hinges interconnect adjacent door panels but are otherwise free to move. The free hinged joints can therefore move away from the guide rails during the opening movement of the folding/sliding door. The free joint is often called the "floating hinge" but the term "free hinged joint" will nevertheless be used throughout this document.

An alternating sequence of captive and free hinged joints is provided whereby the io door panels can open in a concertina fashion.

Folding/sliding doors have the particular advantage that they maximise the size of the opening which is available for ventilation or access. A patio door, for example, will typically comprise one fixed panel and one sliding panel. Since only the is sliding panel is movable a fully-opened patio door can provide slightly less than half of the opening for ventilation or access. A folding/sliding door on the other hand can usually provide almost all of the opening for ventilation or access.

Accordingly, folding/sliding doors are particularly beneficial for buildings containing private swimming pools for example, and also for restaurants having indoor and outdoor areas which can be separated when desired by closing the folding/sliding door, or combined into substantially a single area when the folding/sliding door is opened.

The adjacent door panels are typically interconnected by butt hinges which provide the required relative angular movement, i.e. each pair of adjacent doors can move from a closed position in which they are parallel and coplanar, and an open condition in which they are substantially parallel and facing one another.

The adjacent doors therefore move through an angle of approximately 18OQ relative to each other during the opening and closing movements of the folding/sliding door.

A part of a prior art captive hinged joint 1 of a folding/sliding door is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings. The captive hinged joint 1 comprises door panels 2,3 interconnected by a butt hinge 4. The butt hinge 4 is mounted upon a carriage 5. The carriage 5 is mounted upon a pair of guide rails 6.

In this embodiment there are two parallel guide rails 6, and the carriage 5 has two sets of guide rollers 7 (Fig.2), the sets of guide rollers being separated by a distance equal to the separation of the guide rails 6 so that the guide rollers 7 of each set can roll along a respective guide rail 6.

Only the bottom guide rails 6, the bottom carriage 5, and the bottom butt hinge 4 are shown in Fig.1, and it will be understood that a similar pair of guide rails, carriage and butt hinge are provided at the top of the opening whereby the hinged joint 1 is supported at the top and bottom of the opening. There will typically also is be intermediate butt hinges arranged upon the door panels 2,3, the intermediate hinges interconnecting the door panels 2,3 but being separate from the carriages.

Fig.1 shows the folding/sliding door partially open and Fig.2 is a sectional view through the captive hinged joint 1, with the folding/sliding door closed. It will be understood that in the closed condition of Fig.2 the door panels 2 and 3 are parallel and coplanar. As the folding/sliding door is opened the door panels 2,3 pivot relative to one another about the axis A-A of the hinge 4, past the condition of Fig.1, into a condition in which the door panels 2,3 are substantially parallel and face one another.

The free hinged joint between the door panel 2 and the adjacent door panel (located to the left of the view of Figs.1 and 2), and similarly the free hinged joint between the door panel 3 and the adjacent door panel (located to the right of the view of Figs.1 and 2), similarly allow the relative pivoting through approximately 18O whereby all of the door panels of the folding/sliding door can be pivoted in concertina fashion.

The butt hinges 4 of the captive hinged joint 1 lie to the outside of the opening which is spanned by the folding/sliding door. The adjacent door panels 2,3 can thereby pivot outwardly relative to the building. The butt hinges of the free hinged joints lie to the inside of the opening.

It will be understood that each door panel 2,3 in a typical folding/sliding door is around two metres in height, and around 0.5 metres in width. The door panels 2,3, are (in typical fashion) fitted with double-glazing 8 (and may in other embodiments be triple-glazed). Each door panel 2,3 is therefore very heavy, and io the carriages 5 which support the door panels, and in particular the bottom carriages 5, are required to support a considerable weight.

As shown in Fig.2, when the door panels 2,3 are in their closed condition they overlie the guide rails 6 (the guide rails 6 are not shown in Fig.2 but are aligned is with the rollers 7). In order to provide the required angular articulation it is necessary that the hinge axis A-A of the butt hinges 4 lies outside the cross-sectional area of the door frames 9 of the hinged joint 1. Since the bottom butt hinge 4 and its carriage 5 support most of the weight of the door panels 2,3, the bottom butt hinge 4 and the carriage 5 must be particularly robust in order to support the offset weight of the door panels 2,3.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a folding/sliding door having a plurality of door panels, each door panel having a door frame, the door frames of each pair of adjacent door panels being interconnected by a respective hinged joint, the hinged joints of the folding/sliding door comprising captive hinged joints and free hinged joints, the captive hinged joints being restricted to movement along respective guide rails, the free hinged joints being free to move away from the guide rails during opening movement of the folding/sliding door, the door frames being interconnected by an alternating sequence of captive and free hinged joints whereby the door panels can open in concertina fashion, the hinge axis of the captive hinged joints being located within the cross-sectional area or volume of the respective door frames.

The inventor has therefore realised that the stress upon the componentry of the s folding/sliding door can be reduced significantly by reducing the offset distance of the captive hinges, and in particular by moving the hinge axis of the captive hinge joints from outside the door frame to within the door frame.

Preferably, the hinges of the captive hinged joints are mounted upon a mounting io rod. Desirably, the mounting rod is connected at substantially the mid-line of a carriage, the carriage being mounted upon at least one guide rail. Alternatively stated, for a folding/sliding door having a pair of guide rails and a carriage with two sets of rollers, the mounting rod is located substantially midway between the sets of rollers.

In the present invention the weight of the door panels is transferred from the hinges to the mounting rod, and thereby to the bottom carriage. Locating the mounting rod at the mid-line of the bottom carriage, and in particular mid-way between the two sets of rollers, results in the weight of the door panels acting centrally upon the bottom carriage, with the weight being split equally between the sets of rollers. The weight does not therefore seek to twist the carriage relative to the guide rails. Alternatively stated, any offset weight of the door panels acts to bend the mounting rod rather than to distort the carriages, and the mounting rod can be made sufficiently robust to resist any tendency to bend under the weight of the door panels.

In one embodiment, the mounting rod spans the height of the opening for the folding/sliding door. In such an embodiment the mounting rod is desirably connected to a bottom carriage and to a top carriage, the bottom carriage being restricted to sliding movement along a bottom guide rail and the top carriage being restricted to sliding movement along a top guide rail. This arrangement allows the desired number of hinges to be mounted, as chosen positions, along the length of the mounting rod, i.e. at chosen heights upon the door frames. All of the hinges of the present invention can therefore be mounted indirectly to the carriages by way of the mounting rod. It is therefore not necessary to mount the top hinge immediately adjacent to the top guide rail, and the bottom hinge immediately adjacent to the bottom guide rail, although such locations are available if desired.

Preferably, Ihe hinges of the caplive hinged joini have wo aligned hinge axes, one hinge axis for each of the door frames to which the hinge is connected. The provision of two hinge axes enables the adjacent door panels to articulate relative io to one another through the desired angle (approx 180°) without requiring a large gap between the door frames. Minimising the gap between the adjacent door frames reduces the size of the weather seal and creates a more aesthetically pleasing appearance. The aesthetic appearance is improved by the absence of any visible hinges when the folding/sliding door is closed.

It is another particular advantage of the present invention that the hinge(s) can lie inside the weather seal. This permits the weather seal to be continuous along the length of the gap between the adjacent door frames, and avoids the disconlinuilies caused by the exposed hinges in Ihe prior designs.

The present invention also provides a security benefit in that it is known for an intending intruder to seek to open the doors by disabling the hinges. With the present invention the hinges are not visible and are therefore more difficult to attack.

It is possible to use butt hinges for the hinges along the free hinged joints, but it is preferable to use similar hinges for the free hinged joints as those described above for the captive hinged joints.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The invention will now be described in more detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, which show: Fig.1 a perspective view of part of a prior art folding/sliding door, in a partially open condition; Fig.2 a sectional view of the part of the prior art folding/sliding door of Fig.1, in a io closed condition; Fig.3 a sectional view of part of a folding/sliding door according to the present invention, in a closed condition; is Fig.4 a view as Fig.3, in the open condition; and Fig.5 a view along the line V-V of Fig.3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The prior art captive hinged joint 1 of Figs. 1 and 2 has been described above and a description of those drawings will not be repeated.

Figs.3-5 show a view of a captive hinged joint 10 according to the present invention. Fig.3 shows a view similar to that of Fig.2, but omits the glazing. Thus, whilst Figs.3 and 4 show only the vertical profile of the door frames 12, 14 of the respective door panels, it will be understood that the door frames 12, 14 are substantially rigid and surround glazing similar to that of Figs.1 and 2.

Specifically, each door frame 12, 14 comprises a vertical frame part 16, the top and bottom of which are connected to respective horizontal frame parts (not shown). The door frames 12, 14 are completed by another vertical frame part which is also not shown in these partial sectional views.

S

The significant difference between the captive hinged joint 10 and the prior art captive hinged joint 1 is that the hinge axes A1-A1 and A2-A2 are located much closer to the plane of the guide rails 6 than in the prior art arrangement, and in particular the hinge axes A1-A1 and A2-A2 are located within the cross-sectional area or volume of the door frames 12, 14. Specifically, as shown in Fig.3 the (outside) face 46 of the (closed) door frames 12, 14 lies at a distance F from the centreline of the guide rails 6. The hinge axes A1-A1 and A2-A2 both lie at a distance H from the centreline, the distance H being smaller than the distance F. Two hinge axes A1-A1 and A2-A2 are provided so that the respective door panels 12, 14 can pivot relative to one another by approximately 180g. Specifically, the door panel 12 can rotate through approximately 9OQ (anti-clockwise) from its closed position of Fig.3 to its open position of Fig.4, and the door panel 14 can is rotate through approximately 9Q2 (clockwise) from its closed position of Fig.3 to its open position of Fig.4.

Notwithstanding the l8O relative movement, however, the gap 20 between the door panels 12, 14 when the doors panels are closed is relative small. This increases the aesthetic appeal of the folding/sliding door and facilitates weather sealing. In addition, since the hinge 18 lies totally within the captive hinged joint the gap 20 is continuous along the length of the door frames 12, 14 and a continuous weather sealing strip can be provided along the gap 20. Unlike the conventional butt hinges therefore, the hinges of the captive hinged joint 10 are concealed and do not interrupt the weather seal.

The (bottom) guide rails 6 mount a bottom carriage 22, which has two sets (in this embodiment two pairs) of rollers 24. In this embodiment an optional mounting rod 26 is fixed to the carriage 22 between the sets of rollers 24. The other end of the mounting rod 26 is fixed to a top carriage at the top of the folding/sliding door, between the sets of rollers of that carriage.

In this preferred embodiment the mounting rod 26 is located mid-way between the sets of rollers 24, i.e. the offset 01 to the centreline of one set of rollers 24 is equal to the offset 02 to the centreline of the other set of rollers. The weight of the door panels 12, 14 therefore acts equally upon each set of rollers.

In this embodiment, the hinge 18 is mounted upon the mounting rod 26 rather than upon the carriage 22 directly. Nevertheless, since the hinge 18 in this embodiment is able to slide along the mounting rod 26, in order to support the weight of the door panels 12, 14, the bottom hinge 18 rests upon the carriage 22, io as shown in Fig.5.

Since the mounting rod 26 spans the distance between the top and bottom carriages the required number of hinges 18 can be located, at desired positions, along the mounting rod 26. Thus, as seen in Figs, the hinge 18 includes a sleeve is 30 which surrounds the mounting rod 26. As indicated above, the sleeve 30 is able to slide along the mounting rod 26, but in alternative embodiments is secured at a chosen position adjacent to the bottom end of the mounting rod. The sleeves of the other hinges are secured at chosen respective positions along the mounting rod 26.

In an alternative embodiment the mounting rod does not span the full distance between the top and bottom carriages. In a further alternative embodiment the mounting rod is omitted and the bottom hinge 18 is mounted directly to the carriage 22, e.g. the sleeve 30 is replaced by a post fixed directly to the carriage.

The top hinge can similarly be connected directly to the top carriage. Intermediate hinges can be mounted upon the door frames 12, 14 without engaging a mounting rod.

The hinge 18 includes a first leaf 32 which locates a first (vertical) hinge bar 34.

The first hinge bar 34 is also connected to a second leaf 36 which is fixed to the door panel 12. Accordingly, the door panel 12 can pivot relative to the first leaf 32 by way of the first hinge bar 34.

It is arranged that the door panel 12 can pivot about the first hinge bar 34 by at least 900, so as to accommodate the movement from the closed position of Fig.3 to the open position of Fig.4.

The door panel 14 can similarly pivot upon the hinge 18, which includes a third leaf 40 and a fourth leaf 42, the third and fourth leaves being mirror-images of the first and second leaves 32, 36.

The first hinge bar 34 defines the first hinge axis A1-A1, and the second hinge bar 44 defines the second hinge axis A2-A2. The hinge axes A1-A1 and A2-A2 are parallel, and are both located within the cross-sectional area of the door frames 12, 14 of the captive hinged joint 10.

In this embodiment the mounting rod 26 is of circular cross-section, and the is sleeve 30 of the hinge 18 is similarly of circular cross-section. It is not desirable, however, that the sleeve 30 rotates about the mounting rod 26, and instead it is desirable that the whole of the pivoting movement be accommodated by the respective hinge bars 34 and 44. In alternative embodiments the mounting rod and the sleeve can be acircular in order to prevent relative rotation.

An additional advantage of the use of a mounting rod 26 is that additional hinges can be added if required. Thus, if the design originally requires three hinges 18 to be mounted along the mounting rod 26, and it is ultimately determined that four hinges are required, an additional hinge can readily be added to the mounting rod (with one or more of the existing hinges perhaps being moved to a new location along the mounting rod). Because the hinges 18 are not connected directly to the carriages 22 the addition of an additional hinge requires only that the additional hinge be positioned at its chosen location upon the mounting rod and then secured to both of the door panels 12, 14 (and optionally also secured to the mounting rod).

As stated above in the embodiment of Figs. 3 and 4 the mounting rod 26 is connected to both of the top and bottom carriages, and the hinges are mounted ii upon the mounting rod. It will be understood that this is a possible arrangement only for some of the captive hinged joints, and specifically for the captive hinged joints which lie between two free hinged joints.

A set of folding/sliding doors includes two end door panels, a fixed end door panel which has a vertical edge secured permanently to the jamb of the door frame surrounding the opening. The other end door panel is a locking end door panel and has a captive joint at one of its vertical edges and locking componentry at its other vertical edge whereby it may be secured to the other jamb of the door io frame. Importantly, the locking end door panel does not have a free hinged joint.

The door panels shown in Figs. 1 and 3/4 have the captive joint as shown at one of their respective vertical edges, and a respective free joint (not shown) at their other vertical edge. When the folding sliding door is opened each of the door is panels pivots through approximately the same angle, and the centre of the hinge remains aligned with the centre of the carriage.

If, however, the left-hand door panel (2) seen in Fig.1, or the left-hand door panel (12) seen in Figs. 3 and 4, was the locking end door panel, it should be able to pivot independently of the adjacent door panel. It is typically desired to pivot the locking end door panel (2) by more than 90° relative to the carriage, and that pivoting movement is only possible if the centre of the hinge (18) can move away from the centre of the carriage (22). Considering Figs. 3 and 4 for example, it will be understood that the locking end door panel (12) can be pivoted from the closed condition of Fig.3 to the 90° position of Fig.4 without any movement of the adjacent door panel (14), and importantly without any movement of the hinge leaves (32 and 40). Further pivoting movement of the locking end door panel (12) could only be accommodated by movement of the leaves (32, 40), requiring the whole of the hinge (18) to pivot about the axis (A2-A2) and therefore to move away from the carriage (22). This can be accommodated by an alternative form of captive hinged joint in which the carriage (22) is connected directly only to the adjacent door panel (14), the hinge(s) between the door panels (12,14) being disconnected from the carriage. The hinge(s) between the door panels (12, 14) can nevertheless be mounted upon a common mounting rod similar to the mounting rod 26, but the mounting rod must be disconnected from the top and bottom carriages.

This alternative form of captive hinged joint is required only for the joint to which the locking end door panel is connected, since only the locking end door panel needs to have an opening movement of more than 90° relative to its carriage.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A folding/sliding door having a plurality of door panels, each door panel having a door frame, the door frames of each pair of adjacent door panels being interconnected by a respective hinged joint, the hinged joints of the folding/sliding door comprising captive hinged joints and free hinged joints, the captive hinged joints being restricted to movement along at least one guide rail, the free hinged joints being free to move away from the guide rail during opening movement of the folding/sliding door, the door frames being io interconnected by an alternating sequence of captive and free hinged joints, the hinge axis of each captive hinged joint being located within the respective door frames.
2. A folding/sliding door according to claim 1 in which each captive hinged joint is is provided by a plurality of discrete hinges.
3. A folding/sliding door according to claim 2 in which the hinges are mounted upon a mounting rod.
4. A folding/sliding door according to claim 3 in which each hinge has a sleeve which surrounds the mounting rod.
5. A folding/sliding door according to claim 4 in which the sleeve is secured to the mounting rod.
6. A folding/sliding door according to any one of claims 3-5 in which the mounting rod is acircular.
7. A folding/sliding door according to any one of claims 3-6 in which a carriage is mounted upon the guide rail, the mounting rod being connected to the carriage.
8. A folding/sliding door according to claim 7 in which the mounting rod is connected at substantially the mid-line of the carriage.
9. A folding/sliding door according to claim 7 or claim 8 having two parallel guide rails, each carriage having two sets of rollers, one set of rollers for each of the guide rails.
10. A folding/sliding door according to claim 9 in which each set of rollers comprises a pair of rollers, the mounting rod being mounted substantially io mid-way between the rollers in each pair.
11. A folding/sliding door according to any one of claims 7-10 having a top guide rail and a bottom guide rail and a respective top and bottom carriage, the mounting rod spanning the distance between the top and bottom carriages.
12. A folding/sliding door according to claim 11 in which the hinges are connected to the top and bottom carriages indirectly by way of the mounting rod.
13. A folding/sliding door according to any one of claims 1-12 in which each captive hinged joint has two aligned hinge axes, one hinge axis for each of the door frames which are interconnected by the hinged joint.
14. A folding/sliding door according to any one of claims 1-13 having a weather seal between the door frames which are interconnected by a captive hinged joint, and in which the hinges providing the captive hinged joint lie inside the weather seal.
15. A folding/sliding door according to claim 14 in which the weather seal is continuous throughout the height of the adjacent door frames.
16. A folding/sliding door according to any one of claims 1-15 in which the hinges providing the free hinged joints are identically formed to the hinges providing the captive hinged joints.
17. A folding/sliding door constructed and arranged substantially as described in relation to Figs. 3-5 of the accompanying drawings.