US2738839A - Doors - Google Patents

Description

March 20, 1956 CLARK 2,738,839

DOORS Filed Aug. 11, 1952 I d E: 52- 48 I INVENTOR PAUL ASA CLARK BY g; g g;

g txrromwsys United States Patent DOORS Paul Asa Clark, Atlanta, Ga., assignor to Industrial Equipment Company, Atlanta, Ga., a corporation of Georgia Application August 11, 1952, Serial No. 303,656 3 Claims. cl. 160-229) The invention relates to doors and panels therefor, and particularly to doors of the type which are made in the form of several hinged panels and are mounted for sliding upward into parallelism with a ceiling.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a door of this type which is of simple and sturdy construction without using excessive amounts of metal.

A further object of the invention is to provide a door of this type having a front face which is absolutely flush and free of all protuberances.

More especially, the invention contemplates an arrangement of this type in which all of the hardware for mounting the door is secured thereto in such a way that the front face of the door is not marred or disturbed in any way.

A further object of the invention is to provide a panel for doors of this type which is reinforced in a novel and very efficient manner so that the door is capable of withstanding large wind stresses, and yet can be made light in weight so that it can be opened and closed easily and does not require heavy hardware for its mounting.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a door with reinforcements on the rear face thereof, the hinges which connect the various sections of the door and the rollers or other guide members being mounted on and secured to these reinforced parts.

It is still a further object of the invention to provide such a door panel in which the reinforcing members are so arranged as to allow ready access to both ends of the securing members by which the hinges and other hardware are fastened to the door, so that any necessary repairs may be made without the necessity of removing or otherwise damaging the various reinforcing members.

An additional object of the invention .is to provide a novel arrangement at the top of such a door for forming a seal between the door and the frame in which it is mounted. More particularly, this arrangement is such that it can be readily adjusted so as to fit different openings in which the door may be positioned.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a novel arrangement at the bottom of such a door for giving a seal between the door and the floor of the building, so as to prevent the access of air underneath the door.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear more fully from the following description, especially when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which form a part thereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical cross-section, substantially on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2, through a door embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal cross-section on the line 2--2 of F ig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal cross-section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the top sealing member; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of a portion of the back of the door.

The door is formed of several panels which are hinged to each other on vertical axes. Each panel consists primarily of a plate or sheet of metal having a plane section 2 which forms the front of the panel. The upper edge of this panel is bent first rearwardly at 4, then diagonally upward at 6, then again rearwardly 'at 8, then downwardly at 10 and forwardly at 12 The lower edge is bent rear-. wardly at 14, diagonally upward at 16, rearwardly at 18, upwardly at and forwardly at 22.- This forms channels at the top and bottom of the member, which serve to reinforce it, and at the same time upwardly inclined portions 6 and 16 will mate with each other as shown in Fig. 1 to prevent entry of water through the door.

In the specification and claims,- the portions 10 and 20 have sometimes been referred to as inwardly directed,

. since they are bent towards each other from the upper and lower sides of the panel.

At suitable intervals along the back of the panel are arranged reinforcing members. 'These members each consist of a main portion 24, the upper and lower ends of which overlap and are welded to the inwardly directed parts 10, 20 of the main member. One edge of the part 24 is bent forwardly at 26 and then laterally at 28, parallel to, engaging and welded to the rear face of the front section 2. The other edge of the member 24 is likewise bent forwardly as at 30.

It will be noted that the forwardly bent member 30 and the forwardly bent members 12, 22 are terminated considerably short of the rear face of the front plate 2. There is thus provided a space through which the hand or a tool can be inserted into the space back of the overlapped portions of the bracing member 24 and the inwardly directed parts 10 and 20, in the manner shown in Fig. 4.

The successive panels are connected to each other by hinges of known type. These hinges are composed of two parts 32 pivoted together at 34, and supporting rollers 36 which engage tracks to guide the door in its sliding movement. The details of these hinges and tracks form no part of the present invention. However, the hinges are secured to the panels by bolts 38 which extend through both the portions 24 of the bracing members and the inwardly directed parts 10, 20 and by bolts 40 which extend through the parts 24 of the bracing members only. It will be noted that the heads of all these bolts can be reached in the manner shown in Fig. 4, so that damaged hardware can be removed and replaced without tearing the door to pieces, and yet is mounted on the most rigid parts of the panels.

26, 28, 30 are shorter than the main part 24 of the brace.

The length of these parts is no greater than the distance between the forwardly directed parts 12, 22 of the main panel member, so that in assembly these braces can be merely laid against the main panel member and secured thereto by welding.

Fig. 3 also shows an astragal or seal for the bottom of the door. This consists of a rubber member having a strip-like section 42 which is bonded or otherwise secured to the upwardly directed part 16 of the bottom door panel, and an extension 44 which is normally circular in shape and is hollow so that it can be compressed against the floor 46 when the door is closed.

On the rearwardly directed part 4 of the upper panel is mounted the top sealing member, shown in detail in Fig.

Patented Mar. 20, 1956' snrfaee' of the paneland=having its upper and l'ower edges bent to form-firstrearwardly directed par-ts, second? downwardly and upwardly directed parts respectively, and third forwardly directed parts, the=freeedges. of said forwardly directed part-s terminating ata* substantialdistance fromthe' rear surface of saids'ection; and vertical brace mentbers each comprisingamain portion having its ends overlappingand secured to the outer faces of said second parts and having along eachedge a first port-iomand a second portion bent'to wards the rear surfaceof said section, the first portion having athi'rd portiom connected thereto bent parallel with and secured to such rear surface, the free edge of the second portion terminating at a substantial distance from such rear surface, said frrst,.second" and third portions being shorterthan said-main portion and lying within the space between the forwardly. directed parts.

2. door comprising a plurality of panels as claimed inclaim 1 hinge means connecting adjacent panels, and means securingthe' hinge means to the panels,at least some of said securing means extending through both said second parts and the overlapping parts of said main portion.

the type described, compris- 3. A panel for doors of the type described, comprising a. main sheet. having a. section forming thesfront. surface.

of the panel and having its upper and lower edges bent to form first rearwardly directed part-s, second parts directed diagonally upward, third rearwardly directed parts, fouth downwardly and upwardly directed parts respectively and fifth forwardly directed: parts, the free edges of said forwardly directed parts terminating at a substantial distance from the rear surface of said section, and vertical brace members each comprisinga main portion having its ends overlapping and. securedv to; the outer faces of said fourth parts and having along each edge a. first portion and a second portion bent towards the rear surface of said sect-ion, thefirstport'ionhavingathirdportion connected thereto bent parallell with, and secured to such rear surface, the free edge of the second portion terminating at a substantial distance from such rear surface, said first, second and third portions being shorter than said main portion and lying within the space between the forwardly directed parts.

ReferencesGitedsinthefile of this patent UNiTED STATES PATENTS"

Images