Patent Application
20060144529
1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to, but are not limited to, door devices, and in particular, to the field of automated door opening and/or closing devices.
2. Description of Related Art
In the current state of door opener technology several types of door opening and/or closing devices are available for automated opening and/or closing of doors that, for example, open and close laterally, vertically, or rotationally about a pivot point. Such doors may include for example, accordion-type doors, sliding doors, window shutters or blinds, room partitions, tambour doors on desks, and the like.
Typically these door-opening devices are mounted to or within the frame of the door or on or in the walls/surfaces generally surrounding the door rather than on the door itself. The driving mechanisms employed by these openers often include a number of components mounted away from the door itself, such as the periphery of the frame.
The present invention will be described by way of exemplary embodiments, but not limitations, illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like references denote similar elements, and in which:
FIGS. 6 to 8 are block diagrams of door opening systems in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention;
In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that these specific details are not required in order to practice the disclosed embodiments of the present invention. In other instances, well-known electrical structures and circuits are shown in block diagram form in order not to obscure the disclosed embodiments of the present invention.
The following description includes terms such as lateral, vertical, top, bottom, inward, outward, away, and the like, that are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as limiting. That is, these terms are terms that are relative only to a point of reference and are not meant to be interpreted as limitations but are instead, included in the following description to facilitate understanding of the various aspects of the invention.
According to various embodiments, apparatuses for opening and/or closing doors (herein “door opening apparatuses”) are provided. “Door” as used herein is to be broadly defined as any tangible item that at least partially covers an opening or cavity when in a closed position, and may include, but is not limited to accordion-type doors, window shutters, room partitions, tambour doors, sliding doors, windows, or other types of items that open and close. For the embodiments, the apparatuses may include a motor such as a gearmotor and a drive wheel that may be coupled to the motor via a drive shaft. The door opening apparatuses may be adapted to operationally couple with movable door.
In various embodiments, the door opening apparatuses may be attached to the peripheral portions of doors. For these embodiments, the drive wheel may be adapted to engage a portion of a door frame. As used herein, door frame is to be broadly construed as covering any surface encompassing part or all of the door, with which the drive mechanism may engage to assist in moving the door from the open to closed position and visa versa. Examples of door frame may include, but are not limited to a doorway frame, door trim, the wall surrounding the doorway, window trim, window casings, desk surfaces, or any other components that completely or partially surrounds a door.
In some embodiments, the portion of the door frame that a drive wheel may engage may be a door rail on an accordion-type door. For these embodiments, the drive wheel may engage and roll along the external surface of the door rail when the door opening apparatus is in operation. The drive wheel may be at least partial composed of a friction promoting material such as rubber, polymer based materials or other materials that may have characteristics that allow the drive wheel to maintain good traction and or frictional engagement with a surface.
In some embodiments, the drive wheel may be coupled to the motor via a drive shaft. A bearing block may be coupled to the drive shaft, the bearing block adapted to provide inward force to the drive shaft (which is coupled to the drive wheel) urging the drive wheel towards the surface that it is in contact with assuring sufficient contact between the drive wheel and the surface. The door opening apparatus may include various other components such as DC or an AC power source, a control unit, RF receiver, and the like.
Embodiments of the present invention may be used in new door applications. Embodiments may also be particularly useful in retrofit applications, where space around the door frame is limited or access to the interior of the door frame is restricted, for example.
The door 102, in this case, is an accordion-type of door that may be found, for example, in the elevators of private residences or commercial buildings. In other embodiments, however, the door opening apparatus 100 may be coupled to a variety of other types of doors, as previously discussed. In one embodiment, the door 102 may hang from a door track 112 with rollers, wheels or other mechanisms that may be operationally coupled to the top of the door lead rail 104, to facilitate opening and closing of the door. This interface allows the door 102 to be extended and/or contracted as needed. The door track 112 may be part of a door frame, such as the door trim or the wall that surrounds the doorway 114. In other embodiments, the door may be operationally disposed in a track or other guide mechanism to urge the door to open and close in a substantially consistent and uniform manner.
The drive wheel 106, in various embodiments, may have a circular or cylindrical shape, or may have a custom shape configured to conform to the contours of the lead rail (e.g. conical-shaped). When the door opening apparatus 100 is coupled to the door 102 (via door lead rail 104), the drive wheel 106 may be adapted to frictionally engage with the door frame, in this case, the external surface of a door track 112. In other embodiments, however, the drive wheel may be adapted to couple with other door frame components such as the wall or trim that border the doorway 114. The drive wheel 106 may be comprised of, at least externally, a friction promoting material such as rubber, vinyl, various polymers, and other elastic-type materials.
In various embodiments, the friction promoting material may have characteristics that allow the drive wheel 106 to have good traction with the external surface of the door track 112. That is, when the motor 108 is energized, the drive wheel 106 may roll or rotate along the external surface of the door track 112. By forming at least the external surface of the drive wheel 106 with an elastic material, better traction between the drive wheel 106 and the external surface of the door track 112 may be achieved. Further, by forming the drive wheel 106 with a deformable friction promoting material, irregularities such as bumps and holes that may be on the external surface of the door track 112 may be negotiated without affecting the performance.
In another embodiment of the invention, the drive wheel may be a toothed wheel such as a sprocket that may be adapted to engage with a track surface having corresponding holes in, or a chain mounted to, a rail to receive the teeth of the wheel. For such an embodiment, there may not be any need for the drive wheel to be frictionally engaged with the track surface. Instead, the traction of the wheel may depend upon the engagement of its teeth with the corresponding holes or chain slots on the track.
In various embodiments, the motor 108 may be an electric motor. For these embodiments, the electric motor may be a direct current (DC) gearmotor that may be powered by a variety of power sources. These power sources include, for example, a battery such as a 12-volt battery, an alternating current (AC) power source using, for example, an AC/DC converter and/or other power sources. In some embodiments, by controllably reversing the polarity of the motor 108, the shaft of the motor 108 (as well as the drive wheel 106) may be made to rotate either in the clockwise or counterclockwise direction as desired. As a result, the motor 108 may be used to open and/or close the door 102. In various embodiments, the shaft of the motor may have a high spin rate but with low torque. In order to slow down the rotational speed of the shaft, the motor 108 may be a gearmotor that may include gearing in order to slow the rotational speed of the shaft while increasing torque.
In some embodiments, the drive shaft 110 may be disposed through a bearing block 210, which may help assure that the drive wheel 106 maintains contact with the surface of the door track 112 for frictional engagement. In one embodiment, the bearing block 210 may include a pair of shoulder bolts 212 that are coupled to coil springs 302 (See
In other embodiments, the bearing block 210 may employ a different mechanism and/or components in order to provide the same inwardly directed force to the drive wheel 106. For example, in other embodiments, the bearing block 210, may include leaf springs, or other force asserting components for urging the drive shaft and drive wheel toward the surface for which the drive wheel is in frictional engagement. Additionally, the dimensions of the various components (e.g., drive wheel, drive shaft, motor, power source, and the like) of the door opening apparatus may vary depending upon several factors including, for example, the size and type of door.
Each of the door opening apparatuses 402 and 408 may include drive wheels 416 that are coupled to drive shafts 418. The drive shafts 418 are further coupled to motors 420. The drive shafts 418 may be further disposed within bearing blocks 422. In other embodiments, the specific structure of the door track 412 and the mechanism used for hanging and rolling the door 406 along the door track 412 may be different from the one depicted in
Coupled to the motors 420 may be one or more control units 424 that are further coupled to power sources 426. In some embodiments, the motors 420 may be DC gearmotors. The control units 424 may include on/off switches as well as circuitry to control the rotational direction of the motors 420. For example, the control units 424 may have the same type of circuitry that are included in control units for garage door openers. In some embodiments, the control units 424 may include circuitry for remotely controlling the door opening apparatuses 402 and 408. For example, the control units 424 may include RF receivers for receiving control signals from a remote control device. The control units 424 may further include the type of remote control circuitry used in, for example, automatic garage door opening systems. The bearing blocks 422, the motors 420, the control units 424 and/or the power sources 426 may be housed in enclosures 428. For these embodiments, the enclosures 428 may be provided for safety reasons.
In various embodiments, the power sources 426 may be batteries such as 12-volt batteries. For these embodiments, the door opening apparatuses 402 and 408 may further include other components such as battery chargers or solar-based charging equipment. In other embodiments, however, the door opening apparatuses 402 and 408 may not include power sources 426 but instead may be powered by alternating current (AC) sources. That is, in some embodiments, the motors 420 may be connected to one or more AC/DC converters that are further coupled to an AC power supply such as an electrical outlet that may be typically found in, for example, a private residence.
The two door opening apparatuses 402 and 408, when operated together may generate greater amount of torque than when using a single door opening apparatus. Further, such a dual combination may better assure that the drive wheels 416 of each of the door opening apparatuses 402 and 408 have superior traction with the external surface of the door track 412. In addition, these multiple door opening apparatus combinations may be particularly useful when coupled to large doors, for example, the doors of an airplane hanger.
According to other embodiments, a plurality of door opening apparatuses may be disposed on a door in a different orientation than the one depicted in
In various embodiments, the idler wheel component 502 may include an idler wheel 512, an idler shaft 514 coupled to the idler wheel 512, and a support 516 that holds in place the idler shaft 514. The idler shaft 514 may further be disposed through a bearing block 518. For safety considerations, the bearing block 518 and/or support 516 may be housed in an enclosure 520. The bearing block 518 may be similar to the bearing block of
Motor 920 may be adapted to directly drive a first and a second shaft 918 and 918′, which in turn may be coupled to drive wheels 916 and 916′. The drive shafts 918 and 918′ may be further disposed within a bearing block 922. In one embodiment, bearing block may include a tension spring 910 coupling shafts 918 and 918′ together, such that both are urged inward to help cause frictional engagement of the drive wheels 916 and 916′ with door track 912. In one embodiment, motor 920 may be coupled to shafts 918 and 918′ through a gearing mechanism 923. Gearing mechanism 923 may be adapted to translate the rotation of the motor drive shaft to each of the shafts 918 and 918′ such that they cooperatively rotate to assist in opening and closing the door 900.
Coupled to the motor 920 may be one or more control units 924 that may be further coupled to power sources 926. In some embodiments, the motor 920 may be DC gearmotors. The control units 924 may include on/off switches as well as circuitry to control the rotational direction of the motor 920. For example, the control unit 924 may have the same type of circuitry that are included in control units for garage door openers. In some embodiments, the control units 924 may include circuitry for remotely controlling the door opening apparatuses 908. For example, the control unit 924 may include RF receivers for receiving control signals from a remote control device. The bearing block 922, the motor 920, the control unit 924 and/or the power source 926 may be housed in enclosures 928.
Configurations in accordance with embodiments similar to
FIGS. 6 to 8 are block diagrams that depicts various schemes for powering and/or controlling the door opening apparatuses described above in accordance with various embodiments. In particular,
Although
The control unit 806 may contain circuitry that controls the power being directed to the two door opening apparatuses 802 and 804. For these embodiments, the power source 808 may be either a DC power source such as a battery or an AC power source. In the case where the power source is an AC power source, the power source 808 may further include an AC/DC converter.
Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that any arrangement which is calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiment shown. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the embodiments of the present invention. Therefore, it is manifestly intended that this invention be limited only by the claims.
