Priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) is claimed to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/483,262, filed May 6, 2011, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth fully herein.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to structures and systems that are designed to selectively shelter or cover a surface or a space. Without limitation, such a system or structure may be embodied as a roof, a partition, a wall panel, façade, shade or awning. The invention is particularly suitable for large outdoor sheltering or covering systems.
2. Description of the Related Technology
The concept of a structure or system for selectively covering a surface or a space has been known since time immemorial, and is embodied in structures as varied as household window shades and awnings to retractable covers for stadiums and manufacturing facilities. A covering system may be designed for indoor use or for outdoor use, and may include a solid sheltering surface, a flexible sheltering surface such as a fabric material or a combination of such elements.
A covering system that utilizes a flexible sheltering surface such as a fabric material tends to possess advantages over a system that has a solid sheltering surface, such as reduced fabrication costs, reduced weight and the ability to require less space when it is not being deployed. However, a number of technical problems have made it difficult to deploy large, outdoor covering systems that utilize a flexible sheltering surface such as a fabric material. For purposes of this document, a large outdoor covering system is a system that has a sheltering surface that is at least substantially 500 ft.2. Such large covering systems present technical and engineering design challenges that do not exist in smaller covering systems. Accordingly, engineering solutions that have been successfully applied to smaller systems are not necessarily transferable to large covering systems.
For example, strong winds can cause an outdoor fabric covering system to become unstable, particularly if the fabric material is not adequately tensioned. Heavy snow can also cause the fabric material to sag or tear if the fabric material is not adequately supported and tensioned. While motorized systems for deploying a fabric covering system exist, the force requirements for adequately tensioning a large fabric covering system would have required a drive mechanism so robust and bulky that the system would have been uneconomical and unwieldy. Moreover, the typical motorized deployment system for a fabric covering system is not capable of tensioning the fabric cover in more than one direction.
A need exists for a large outdoor flexible covering system that is economical to construct and deploy, that provides superior weather resistance and that is capable of tensioning the flexible sheltering surface in more than one direction.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a large outdoor flexible covering system that is economical to construct and deploy, that provides superior weather resistance and that is capable of tensioning the flexible sheltering surface in more than one direction.
In order to achieve the above and other objects of the invention, a covering system according to a first aspect of the invention includes a flexible, web-like membrane that has first and second portions, a first cross support that is connected to the first portion of the membrane and a second cross support that is connected to the second portion of the membrane. The system further includes a drive mechanism for moving the second cross support relative to the first cross support so that the membrane is movable between a first, retracted position and a second, deployed position. The drive mechanism includes a force multiplication mechanism for facilitating a stress application to the membrane when it is in the second, deployed position.
A covering system according to a second aspect of the invention includes a flexible, web-like membrane having first and second portions, a first cross support that is connected to the first portion of the membrane and a second cross support that is connected to the second portion of the membrane. The system further includes a drive mechanism for moving the second cross support relative to the first cross support so that the membrane is movable in a first direction having a longitudinal component between a first, retracted position and a second, deployed position in which the membrane is tensioned in the first direction. Moreover, the system includes a transverse tensioning mechanism that is constructed and arranged to create a tension in the web-like membrane that is substantially transverse to the first direction.
These and various other advantages and features of novelty that characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed hereto and forming a part hereof. However, for a better understanding of the invention, its advantages, and the objects obtained by its use, reference should be made to the drawings which form a further part hereof, and to the accompanying descriptive matter, in which there is illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of the invention.
Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding structure throughout the views, and referring in particular to
Referring briefly to
The covering system 10 further preferably includes a first cross support 18 that is connected to the first portion 14 of the web-like membrane 12. A second cross support 20 is connected to the second portion 16 of the web-like membrane 12. The first and second cross supports 18, 20 in the preferred embodiment are substantially linear and fabricated from a lightweight metallic material such as aluminum. Preferably, the first and second cross supports 18, 20 are constructed so as to be resistant to bending stresses. As may be seen in
Alternatively, the first and second cross supports 18, 20 could have a shape other than a substantially linear shape, such as a curved shape.
Covering system 10 further includes a drive mechanism for moving the second cross support 20 relative to the first cross support 18 so that the flexible, web-like membrane 12 is movable between a first, retracted position that is depicted in
In the preferred embodiment, covering system 10 further includes a third cross support member 26, a fourth cross support member 28 and a fifth cross support member 30. The cross support members 18, 20, 26, 28 and 30 are preferably substantially linear in shape and substantially parallel to each other.
The second and first drive mechanisms 24, 22 respectively are provided with an electric motor 32, 34. Each of the first and second drive mechanisms 24, 22 preferably includes a an elongated drive beam 38 that is substantially linear and oriented parallel to a longitudinal axis 74, shown in
Alternatively, the first and second drive mechanisms 24, 22 could be constructed so that they have a nonlinear shape, for example a curved shape. Cross supports 18, 20, 26, 28 and 30 could also be constructed so that their axis is not completely perpendicular to axis 74, nor are they required to be completely parallel with each other.
The force multiplication mechanism 36 is best shown in
The force multiplication mechanism 36 preferably utilizes a flexible drive member 46, which in the preferred embodiment is a toothed belt 48 that is engaged with and driven by the first pulley 42. As
The force multiplication mechanism 36 further includes a second idler pulley 54 that is rotatably mounted to a trolley member 64, as is best shown in
Each of the additional cross supports 26, 28, 30 is preferably provided with a friction reducing bearing for reducing the relative friction between the cross support and the elongated drive beam 38 when being deployed in retracted. In the preferred embodiment, the friction reducing bearing is respectively constructed as an integral upper bearing plate 68, 70, 72 that is constructed to bear against the underside of the outer casing 39 of the elongated drive beam 38. The bearing plate 68, 70, 72 is preferably constructed out of a friction reducing material such as polytetrafluoroethylene PTFE).
Accordingly, the covering system 10 is moved from the open position that is shown in
As is best shown in
The system 10 is also preferably configured to include a transverse tensioning mechanism that is constructed and arranged to create a transverse tension in the membrane 12 when the membrane 12 is in the deployed position. In the preferred embodiment, the transverse tensioning mechanism 78 is configured to create the transverse tension in response to a longitudinally oriented tension in the membrane 12 that is created as a result of force that is applied to the membrane 12 by the first and second drive mechanisms 22, 24 and their respective force multiplication mechanisms 36.
More specifically, the transverse tensioning mechanism 78 includes a plurality of catenary linkages that are positioned near the distal ends of the cross supports 18, 20, 26, 28, 30. For example, as may be seen in
When the membrane 12 is longitudinally tensioned during its final positioning into the second, closed, deployed position, the catenary cables are pulled from their slack, untensioned positions to a relatively taut, tensioned position in which their radius of curvature is increased and they assume a straighter position. This has the effect of pulling the outermost edges 90 of the membrane 12 outwardly and away from each other, thereby creating a transverse tension within the membrane 12.
The covering system 10 further includes a control system 93, which is schematically depicted in
The control system 93 is advantageously constructed and arranged to instruct the drive mechanisms 22, 24 to implement prestressing of the membrane 12 during the final phase of positioning of the membrane 12 in the second, closed, deployed position that is shown in
It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20120279140 A1 | Nov 2012 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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61483262 | May 2011 | US |