1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a door operator of a rolling door, more particularly to a door operator of a fireproof door which can be shut by rolling-down of door curtain due to its own weight in the event of a fire accident.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Generally, a door operator used in a fireproof rolling door comprises either a failsafe type or a non-failsafe type door operator according to the type of operation. In power interruption condition, the failsafe type door operator releases a brake so as to close the fireproof door at once regardless of the cause of power interruption. In other words, even in the case that the power is not interrupted in the event of a fire accident, the power source can be cut off to release the brake by a fire fighting control device such as a smoke detector, a temperature sensor or the other fire monitoring device so that the door curtain is rolled down due to its own weight to close the door. The main feature of this type lies in that the door can be immediately closed in an event of a fire incident so as to block the fire and the dense smoke from spreading if the power interruption is certainly caused by fire.
In contrast to the above, the non-failsafe type door operator in power interruption condition still keeps the brake in an activated state regardless of the cause of power interruption so that the fireproof door is not shut immediately. Only in the case that the fusible link is melted by a high temperature caused by a fire, the mechanical type brake is actuated mechanically so that the door curtains fall downward due to their own weight to close the door. The main feature of this type lies in that personnel entering/leaving through the fireproof door is not interrupted if the power interruption is caused by non-fire factors.
So far, several documents concerning the failsafe type door operator of fireproof door have been proposed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,514 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,234. Basically, two electromagnets are used to maintain a brake device in a braking state under power-on condition, or to release the brake so as to close the door at once in the power interruption state. The structure of this failsafe door operator of fireproof door is very complicated and has a huge volume. On the other hand, documents concerning the non-failsafe door operator of fireproof door such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,392 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,891 are known to the public, in which either the manual operation of the door operator should be done through mode-switching or a chain is pulled to move a chain disc and at the same time the brake should be released to rotate a rotary shaft. Hence, improvement to use and structure of the conventional art is expected.
The main object of the present invention is to provide a simplified door operator of a fireproof rolling door by which a reel of the rolling door can be released to close the door in the event of a fire accident. Hence, the disadvantages of complicated structure, huge volume and inconvenient operation occurred in prior art can be improved.
In order to achieve above objects, the door operator of fireproof door according to this invention comprises: a housing enclosing an accommodation space and having an output shaft pivotally disposed at a first set position of the housing, the output shaft having an output wheel fixed at the left end thereof for rotating a reel of door curtain; an input shaft pivotally disposed at a second set position of the housing and rotated by an external force; a central shaft pivotally disposed at a third set position of the housing, the left end of the central shaft being linked with the output shaft and the right end thereof being fixed with an end disc; a sliding sleeve which is loosely fitted on the central shaft between both ends of the central shaft and slidable between a first position and a second position on the central shaft, a rotatable first gear disc being fixed at the right end of the sliding sleeve and engaged with a second gear disc fixed on the input shaft; a clutch mechanism which is arranged around the outer periphery of the left end of the sliding sleeve and holds the sliding sleeve at the second position under control so that the end disc and the first gear disc are connected with each other; a brake mechanism having a first bushing loosely fitted on the left end of the input shaft and fixed on the housing; a torsion spring arranged to encircle the outer periphery of the first bushing, one end of the torsion spring normally bearing the weight of the door curtain so that its inner diameter is shrunk to be tightly constricted on the first bushing so as to brake the input shaft; a driving mechanism comprising an input wheel fixed at the left end of the input shaft for applying an external force on the other end of the torsion spring to resist against the weight of the door curtain so that the inner diameter of the torsion spring is enlarged and the input shaft is rotated.
In this manner, when no external force is applied on the driving mechanism, the weight of the door curtain is applied on the output wheel and simultaneously the input shaft tends to twist the torsion spring so as to keep a brake in braking state; and when a fire accident happens, the clutch mechanism return the sliding sleeve to the first position under control so that the end disc is disengaged from the first gear disc. Thus, the door curtains can fall down due to their own weight to shut the door so as to block fire or the dense smoke from spreading in the event of fire accident.
According to the present invention, both ends of the torsion spring are free ends and formed with protrusion loops respectively. Each protrusion loop has a twisted direction side and a de-twisted direction side. The driving force applied from the input end is applied indirectly on the de-twisted direction side of the torsion spring so that the inner diameter of the torsion spring can be enlarged to rotate the input shaft. Alternatively, the weight of the door curtains of the output end is applied indirectly on the twisted direction side of the torsion spring so that the inner diameter of the torsion spring is shrunk so as to brake the input shaft. Activation and deactivation of the brake device upon operation or non-operation of the door operator is automatically realized by the torsion spring without an additional switching element. Therefore, the operation is convenient and probability of false is reduced. This is another object of the present invention.
According to the present invention, the mechanisms for the structure of the door operator are modulized and are arranged one above another. Further, by using the clutch mechanism with an input shaft being fitted into an output shaft, the structure of the door operator can be simplified and made compact. This is a further object of the present invention.
According to the present invention, the door operator can be configured as a failsafe type door operator of fireproof door by introduction of an electromagnetic clutch or configured as a non-failsafe type door operator of fireproof door by introduction of a mechanical clutch. The door operators of the two types are nearly made of the same common parts. Not only development cost is low but also the number of parts is less. The production is simplified, parts in stock is reduced and assembly is easy. This is still another object of the present invention.
According to the present invention, an exciting circuit for clutch is used to maintain power for the electromagnetic clutch under normal power supply condition. This circuit includes a delay circuit formed by a plurality of capacitors which charged in the normal state. The electromagnetic clutch can be energized and temporarily excited by the capacitors immediately after the abnormal power interruption caused by the fire accident so that the timing for shutting the door can be delayed for personnel evacuation. This is yet another object of the present invention.
a is a partially enlarged view of the encircled portion of
b is a partially enlarged view of the encircled portion of
c is a partially enlarged view of the input end of the door operator shown in
d is a schematic sectional view seen from the direction of line 1d-1d in
e is an exploded perspective view showing the brake mechanism and the driving mechanism of the present invention.
f is an enlarged exploded perspective view showing the brake mechanism and the driving mechanism in
g is a perspective view showing the assembled state of the brake mechanism and the driving mechanism in
h is a schematic view showing the circuit utilized in the failsafe type door operator of fireproof door of the present invention.
a is a partial perspective view showing the driving mechanism of
a is a partially enlarged view of the embodiment in
b is a partially enlarged view of the embodiment in
The technical features of the present invention will become more apparent by the descriptions of the following embodiments in conjunction with accompanying drawings. However, it is noted that the embodiments are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Further, the direction, the terms “left” and “right” shown in the context is for the convenience of description but not for restrictive purpose.
Firstly, a first embodiment of the failsafe type door operator of fireproof door of the present invention is described by referring to
a housing 10 enclosing an accommodation space and having an output shaft 11 pivotally disposed at a first set position of the housing 10, the output shaft 11 having an output wheel 111 fixed at the left end thereof for rotating a reel (not shown) of the door curtains; an input shaft 17 pivotally disposed at a second set position of the housing 10, the input shaft 17 being rotated by applying an external force to an input wheel 281 fixed to the left end of the input shaft 17;
a central shaft 13 pivotally disposed at a third set position of the housing 10, the left end of the central shaft 13 having a conventional transmission means such as gears fixed to the left end of the central shaft 13 so as to be linked with the output shaft 11, and an end disc 15 fixed to the right end thereof, a brake lining 150 being provided on the left end face of the end disc 15;
a sliding sleeve 14 loosely which is fitted on the central shaft 13 between both ends of the central shaft 13 and slidable axially on the central shaft 13; wherein a first gear disc 141 is arranged at the right end of the sliding sleeve 14 in such a manner that the first gear disc 141 is rotatable with respect to the sliding sleeve 14 and is engaged with a second gear disc 171 fixed on the input shaft 17, so that the first gear disc 141 can slide axially together with the sliding sleeve 14 and be rotated with respect to the sliding sleeve 14;
an electromagnetic clutch mechanism 23 arranged to encircle the outer periphery of the sliding sleeve 14 at the left end and fixed on a partition plate 101 of the housing 10, the electromagnetic clutch mechanism 23 generating an electromagnetic force to move the sliding sleeve 14 to the right, so that the end disc 15 is kept connected with the first gear disc 141 through the brake lining 150;
a brake mechanism 27 having a first bushing 271 loosely fitted on the left end portion of the input shaft 17 and fixed to the housing 10; a torsion spring 272 arranged to encircle the outer periphery of the first bushing 271, one end of the torsion spring 272 normally bearing the weight of the door curtains so that its inner diameter tends to shrink so as to be constricted tightly on the first bushing 271 and to make the input shaft 17 unrotatable;
a driving mechanism 28, when an external force is applied through the input wheel 281 arranged at the left side, the left end of the torsion spring 272 being capable of resisting against the tendency of shrinking the inner diameter of the torsion spring 272 by the weight of the door curtains so that the inner diameter of the torsion spring 272 is enlarged and the external force can be acted to rotate the input shaft 17.
As will be described later, the brake mechanism 27 and the driving mechanism 28 can be integrated into a compact structure (as shown in
As shown in
Further referring to
Further referring to
Referring to
As shown in
In an event of abnormal power interruption, the clutch mechanism 28 is demagnetized so that the central shaft 13 and the input shaft 17 are disconnected and the door curtains are smoothly rolled down to shut the door due to its own weight. Even if the power supply is not interrupted in the fire accident, the power supply can be cut off by a conventional sensor device such as a smoke detector, a temperature sensor or another fire detector device. According to the present invention, the circuit further comprises a delay circuit C1 formed by a plurality of capacitors which are charged in normal state. The exciting coil R1 of the electromagnet 231 can be energized and temporarily excited for, for example, 10 seconds by the capacitors immediately after the abnormal power interruption caused by the fire accident so that the timing for shutting the door can be delay for personnel evacuation.
a show the second embodiment of the failsafe type door operator of fireproof door of the present invention. The basic configuration of this embodiment is similar to that of the above embodiment, so the description thereof is omitted. However, the reference numbers of elements different from that of the first embodiment are underlined. The difference of this embodiment with the first embodiment lies in that the arrange sequence of the brake mechanism 27 and the driving mechanism 28 integrated together in this embodiment is inverse to that of the first embodiment, and hence the brake mechanism 27 is arranged at the left end portion of the input shaft 17 from the driving mechanism 28. In the second embodiment, the input wheel 281 is a bevel gear 281″ and a capstan device 282 is engaged with the bevel gear 281″. The capstan device 282 is actuated by a handle 283 to apply a force to the torsion spring 272 so that the inner diameter of the torsion spring 272 is enlarged and the input shaft 17 is rotated.
Further,
Based on foregoing, the door operator of this invention can be configured as a non-failsafe type door operator of fireproof door by introduction of a mechanical type clutch. Since most of components of the non-failsafe type door operator can be used in the abovementioned failsafe type door operator of fireproof door. Not only development cost is low but also the number of parts is less. The production is simplified, parts in stock is reduced and assembly is easy. Moreover, as the shafts are arranged one above another and the inner shaft is fitted within an outer shaft, the structure of the door operator can be simplified and made compact. Further, activation and deactivation of the brake device upon operation or non-operation of the door operator is automatically realized by the torsion spring; hence the fireproof door can be shut in the event of fire so as to ensure the safety.
While the present invention has been described and illustrated by the above embodiments and the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the scope of this invention is not limited to these embodiments. Various variations and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and the scope of this invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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100126553 A | Jul 2011 | TW | national |
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5203392 | Shea | Apr 1993 | A |
5386891 | Shea | Feb 1995 | A |
5673514 | McKeon | Oct 1997 | A |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20130025804 A1 | Jan 2013 | US |