Patent Application
20080127453
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an auto-door device, and more particularly to an auto-door device used for a hinged door panel as well as a sliding door panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
A door device generally includes a door shutter, a floor hinge, an axle pivotally coupled to a door panel, and an axle resilient hinge; and the door device further includes a resilient damper mechanism if slow door resumption is required. In general, the resilient damper mechanism is installed in a housing and divided into a hydraulic type and a pneumatic type. Most of the door shutters and floor hinges sold in the market are of the hydraulic type, and the door shutting speed is controlled by an oil damper. However, the oil viscosity will change with a temperature change during its use and thus different door shutting speeds will result in different seasons. As the viscosity of oil increases, the speeds of the door shutter and the floor hinge become slower which will affect the door shutting and heat preserving effects. In addition, the door shutter of an oil damper leaks and permeates oil easily and thus causes an environmental pollution.
To overcome the shortcomings of the door shutting speed of a prior-art hydraulic door shutter being affected by the external temperature easily, and solve the oil leak and permeation problems, the present invention provides an auto-door device having a reliable steady door closing speed and a safe pollution-free feature.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide an auto-door device that can adjust its door shutting speed and provides a reasonable mechanical engagement easily.
To achieve the foregoing objectives, the auto-door device of the present invention comprises an axle pivotally coupled to a door panel and an axle resilient hinge; characterized in that the axle is linked to a one-way transmission mechanism at the same time, and the output end of the one-way transmission mechanism is linked to a magnetic damper.
The present invention changes a regular resilient damper mechanism and adopts a magnetic damper mechanism to shut a door evenly, steadily and stably and the door opening speed can be controlled arbitrarily without being affected by external factors such as different seasons and different temperatures. The present invention has the advantages of leakage free, pollution free, safe, reliable, and a long life of use.
The magnetic damper mechanism is preferably a mechanism derived from the principle of passing the magnetic lines of force through the magnetic damper mechanism to produce the damping force. The most popular and general magnetic line cutting type dampers are similar to the magnetic line cutting type device used in electric engineering (particularly for direct current electric engineering). Of course, the present invention also includes a magnetic damper mechanism specially designed to be installed in a specific space or position, which utilizes the attraction and repulsion principles of magnetism. In the magnetic damper mechanism that adopts the magnetic lines of force in accordance with the present invention, the output end of the one-way magnetic damper mechanism is coupled to a rotor in a change drive mechanism and a magnetic line cutting type magnetic damper mechanism.
The present invention further installs a variable resistor serially connected to a circuit of a coil which is passed through with magnetic lines of force in the corresponding magnetic damper mechanism. The variable resistor is also known as a potentiometer for adjusting the rotary speed of the auto-door device according to the resistance of the potentiometer. The larger the resistance of the potentiometer, the smaller is the current passing through the coil in the magnetic line cutting type device; the smaller is the magnetic damping force; and the faster is the outputted rotary speed of the door shutter. On the other hand, the smaller the resistance of the potentiometer, the slower is the outputted rotary speed for implementing a stepless speed regulation.
While the invention has been described by a preferred embodiment with the accompanying drawings, but it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto.
To make it easier for our examiner to understand the objective of the invention, its structure, innovative features, and performance, we use a preferred embodiment together with the attached drawings for the detailed description of the invention.
With reference to the figures, the present invention provides two types of auto-door devices as described in the preferred embodiments, and they are the door shutters and the floor hinges. Both the door shutter and floor hinge have an axle 1 coupled to a door panel, a corresponding axle resilient hinge being coupled to a one-way transmission mechanism at the same time, and an output end of the one-way transmission mechanism is coupled with a rotor 72 through a change drive mechanism and a magnetic line cutting type magnetic damper mechanism 7.
The axle 1 of the door shutter and the door panel are coupled by means of a link rod mechanism, or directly through the pivotal connection of the door panel. The corresponding axle resilient hinge could be a torque spring or an energy storing spring 2, wherein the energy storing spring 2 is preferably an energy storing compressed spring. Therefore, it requires a sliding base with the compressed spring to be linked with the axle. For example, a rack 3 as shown in the door shutter according to the preferred embodiment is used as the sliding base with a compressed spring. The one-way transmission mechanism linked with the axle 1 could be a regular ratcheted one-way transmission mechanism or a one-way transmission mechanism having a one-way clutch mechanism. The one-way transmission mechanism adopted in the embodiment comprises a one-way wheel 5 linked to the axle 1 and a gear axle sleeve 4 disposed on the external periphery of the one-way wheel 5 corresponding to the one-way transmission. The gear axle sleeve 4 and its linked gear 41 are engaged with an input end of a gear change drive mechanism 6 to directly drive the rotor 72 in the magnetic line cutting type magnetic damper mechanism 7.
The one-way transmission mechanism adopted in this preferred embodiment is one of the more reasonable one-way frictional transmission mechanisms in the foregoing structure. In other words, the one-way wheel 5 has an aslant groove disposed on the external periphery of the one-way wheel 5 for accommodating a rolling cylinder 51 and its lateral pushing spring 52. The diameter of the rolling cylinder 51 is larger than the sum of the depth of the aslant groove at one end and the gap between the one-way wheel 5 and the gear axle sleeve 4 and smaller than the sum of the depth of the aslant groove at another end and the gap between the one-way wheel 5 and the gear axle sleeve 4. By that time, if the one-way wheel 5 linked to the axle 1 rotates in a direction, it will not drive the gear axle sleeve 4 to rotate, but it can drive the gear axle sleeve 4 to rotate in an opposite direction by the rolling cylinder 51 (which also could be a ball bearing). An aslant groove is disposed in equidistant intervals of the external periphery of the one-way wheel 5 for accommodating the rolling cylinder 51 and the lateral pushing spring, and the aslant groove is preferably an aslant curved groove to provide a better frictional transmission effect. Of course, the one-way wheel 5 and the gear axle sleeve 4 disposed on the external periphery of the one-way wheel 5 could adopt a one-way clutch mechanism to go with the one-way transmission.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a variable resistor is serially connected to the circuit of a coil 76 with magnetic lines of forces passing through it in the corresponding magnetic damper mechanism. The magnetic line cutting type magnetic damper mechanism 7 includes a housing with a front panel 73 and a rear panel 74, and a stator disposed in the housing. The resistance of a variable resistor also known as a potentiometer is regulated to adjust the rotary speed of the auto-door device. The axle 1 is coupled with a rack 3, and the rack, a one-way transmission mechanism, a change drive mechanism, a magnetic damper mechanism are installed in an auto-door device housing 9, and the axle resilient hinge is installed on a sliding track of the rack 3. The regulating end 71 of the variable resistor is installed at the corresponding exposed hole of the auto-door device housing 9 to facilitate the regulation. The axle 1 and the rack 3 are linked by a direct engagement as shown in the preferred embodiment of the auto-door device or linked to a poking mechanism such as a poke rod 8 as shown in the floor hinge of the preferred embodiment. The axle 1 and the one-way transmission mechanism are linked by the rack 3 or a cam paw, and the link could be a direct connection of a spline. Further, the application of the axle in the occasion of a horizontal shifting movement has become a transmission shaft.
In view of the description above, the auto-door device according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a door shutter and a floor hinge. In the assembly of the auto-door device, the axle gear 11 disposed on the axle 1 in the auto-door device housing 9 is engaged directly with the rack 3, and the energy storing spring 2 is installed on a lateral side inside the auto-door device housing 9. The one-way transmission mechanism linked (which is coupled by using a key) to the corresponding axle 1, the gear change drive mechanism 6 and the magnetic line cutting type magnetic damper mechanism 7 are installed on the other side of the auto-door device housing 9. In
In the assembly of the floor hinge, an eccentric wheel 112 on the axle 1, eccentric wheel boards 81, 82 and its blocking pillar 83 define a horizontal shifting movement, and the board 81, 82 and its blocking pillar 83 are linked to the poking rod 8 of the rack, and the poking rod 8 of the rack is linked to the rack 3. The rack 3 and the one-way wheel 5 in the one-way transmission mechanism are engaged. Such mechanism fits the application with a large pushing force and rotation. Further, the eccentric wheel 112 could be a two-way eccentric wheel, and the two blocking pillars 83 installed in the corresponding boards 81, 82 are disposed on both sides of the eccentric wheel to constitute a two-way push, and a board balance positioning pillar 84 is installed at the position where the corresponding boards 81, 82 and the poking rod 8 of the rack are coupled. Such arrangement fits the application for pushing a door from both sides better, and its structure is more reasonable. In
If the door panel is released, the energy storing spring 2 releases its energy, so that the rack 3 drives the axle gear 11 to rotate in an opposite direction to drive the poking rod 8 of the rack and the eccentric wheel boards 81, 82 to shift horizontally in an opposite direction. As a result, the eccentric wheel 112 on the axle 1 rotates in the reverse direction, and the speed of the reverse rotation is determined by the magnetic damper mechanism, and its process and principle are identical to those as described in the door-shutter of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
