Patent Application
20180171692
Many storage containers, such as large truck trailers, portable storage containers, and garages, for example, include an overhead door constructed from panels hingedly joined together and supported by rollers that ride in a pair of door guide tracks. The weight of the door may be balanced by a counterbalance mechanism including either a torsion spring system or a pair of extension springs, for example. The counterbalance mechanism is typically mounted on a header wall above the overhead door of the trailer. The guide tracks are typically positioned on outer sidewalls of the trailer and extend vertically upward from a floor of the opening to a top of the opening, where they then extend backward in a horizontal direction slightly below a roof of the storage container. During operation, the rollers of the overhead door travel within the guide tracks and allow the door to be moved between a closed, vertical position and an opened, horizontal position.
Some embodiments of the invention provide a truck trailer comprising an overhead door assembly including a door opening having a first height and at least one door panel moveable between an open position and a closed position, a counterbalance assembly configured to aid in moving the at least one door panel between the open position and the closed position, and a header having a second height and enclosing the counterbalance assembly and including a top surface, a rear surface coupled to a rear end of the top surface, a bottom surface coupled to a bottom end of the rear surface, and at least one reinforcement member disposed rearward of the counterbalance assembly and forward of the rear surface, the second height being less than about 5% of the first height and the reinforcement member provides necessary reinforcement to the header while allowing for the second height to be minimized, thereby maximizing the first height.
Some embodiments of the invention provide a truck trailer comprising an overhead door assembly including a door opening and at least one door panel moveable between an open position and a closed position, a counterbalance assembly configured to aid in moving the at least one door panel between the open position and the closed position, the counterbalance assembly being supported by a shaft, and a header enclosing the counterbalance assembly and including a top surface, a rear surface coupled to a rear end of the top surface, a bottom surface coupled to a bottom end of the rear surface, first and second reinforcement members disposed rearward of the counterbalance assembly and forward of the rear surface, the first and second reinforcement members being substantially parallel to the rear surface and extending toward a center of the header, and first and second shaft support members coupled to and spaced inwardly from ends of the bottom surface and substantially perpendicular to the rear surface, first and second ends of the shaft being coupled to the first and second shaft support members, respectively.
Some embodiments of the invention provide a header for enclosing a counterbalance assembly for use with an overhead door assembly, the header comprising a top surface, a rear surface coupled to a rear end of the top surface, a bottom surface coupled to a bottom end of the rear surface, and at least one reinforcement member disposed rearward of the counterbalance assembly and forward of the rear surface, the at least one reinforcement member providing reinforcement to the header while allowing for a vertical height of the header to be minimized.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of embodiments of the invention:
Before any embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the following drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” or “having” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. Unless specified or limited otherwise, the terms “mounted,” “connected,” “supported,” and “coupled” and variations thereof are used broadly and encompass both direct and indirect mountings, connections, supports, and couplings. Further, “connected” and “coupled” are not restricted to physical or mechanical connections or couplings.
The following discussion is presented to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use embodiments of the invention. Various modifications to the illustrated embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles herein can be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from embodiments of the invention. Thus, embodiments of the invention are not intended to be limited to embodiments shown, but are to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein. The following detailed description is to be read with reference to the figures, in which like elements in different figures have like reference numerals. The figures, which are not necessarily to scale, depict selected embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of embodiments of the invention. Skilled artisans will recognize the examples provided herein have many useful alternatives and fall within the scope of embodiments of the invention.
For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to illustrative embodiments shown in the attached drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. While the concepts of this disclosure are described in relation to a truck trailer, it will be understood that they are equally applicable to other mobile or stationary storage enclosures or containers, as well as refrigerated and un-refrigerated trailers, storage containers, or truck bodies which include an overheard door assembly.
As used herein, directional terms including “top,” “bottom,” “side,” “horizontal,” “vertical,” and so on are used to indicate directional relationships with respect to an arbitrary reference frame (e.g., a reference frame of a particular figure or figures). These directional terms are used consistently relative to a particular embodiment. For example, a “top” feature of an embodiment is opposite a corresponding “bottom” feature, and a “horizontal” feature generally extends perpendicularly to a “vertical” feature. However, unless otherwise defined or limited, these directional terms are not intended to indicate an absolute reference frame for a particular cart assembly. For example, in some embodiments, a “horizontal” feature of a truck trailer, while generally perpendicular to a “vertical” feature of the truck trailer, may not necessarily extend in a strictly horizontal direction relative to ground.
The guide track systems 14 illustrated may be similar to the guide track system disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/113,144 entitled OVERHEAD DOOR ASSEMBLY FOR A STORAGE CONTAINER which was filed on May 23, 2011, the entirety of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein. As such, a more detailed discussion of the structure and operation of the guide track systems 14 can be found therein.
The overhead door 22 operates to close a rear door opening 24 of the trailer 10 defined by the sidewalls 16, a floor 26 of the trailer 10, and a roof 20 of the trailer 10. The overhead door 22 is movable relative to the guide track systems 14 between a vertical, fully closed position (as shown in
Referring now to
As is generally understood by one skilled in the art, overhead doors require a counterbalancing force which allows for the door to be more easily moved between the opened and closed positions. Such counterbalancing force for the overhead door assembly 12 of the present disclosure is provided by the illustrative counterbalance assembly 18.
As shown in
As shown in
Referring specifically to
The worm gear 158 includes a pin 159 disposed along a longitudinal axis thereof. The pin 159 includes a hex-shaped head 162 that may be engaged by a driver, or worm gear adjuster 166, which may be inserted through an aperture 164 formed in a bottom surface 168 of the header 98 to permit a user to rotate the worm gear 158. The pin 159 is secured within an aperture (not shown) to the adjuster body 152 via a fastener, or pin (not shown) in order to secure the worm gear 158 within the adjuster body 152. The pin 159 is additionally configured to rotate within the adjuster body 152. The pin 159 further includes a flat portion (not shown) which, in use, is aligned with a flat portion (also not shown) within the worm gear 158. Accordingly, rotation of the pin 159 operates to rotate the worm gear 158 therewith.
The pinion 150 of the adjustment mechanism 130 is anchored to the shaft 132 via a pin 133 such that the shaft 132 and the pinion 150 rotate together. One or more set screws 135 are provided on each cone 134 (shown in
The adjuster 166 includes a head 170 able to receive the hex-shaped head 162 of the pin 159 in order to rotate the hex-shaped head 162. It is within the scope of this disclosure to include other adjusters having other suitably-shaped heads configured for engaging the head 162 of the pin 159 in order to rotate the pin 159 and the worm gear 158. In use, a user may then stand generally in the rear opening 24 of the trailer 10 and insert the adjuster 166 through the bottom surface 168 of the header 98 to engage the pin 159 and head 162 associated with the worm gear 158 in order to rotate the worm gear 158 as needed. Additionally, as shown in
Rotation of the worm gear 158 allows a user to adjust the pre-load of the torsion spring 144 (shown in
In use, the overhead door assembly 12 operates to allow the door 22 to move between the fully closed, vertical position to the opened, horizontal position (and positions in between). When the door 22 is raised and moved toward the fully opened position, the torsion spring 144 of the counterbalance assembly 18 unwinds such that stored tension in the torsion spring 144 operates to help lift the door 22 by turning the shaft 132, thus turning the cable drums 138 in the counterclockwise direction shown in
During transit, the truck trailer 10 experiences significant torsional stresses when it traverses non-level terrain (e.g., pot-holes, uneven roadways, roadway debris, etc.). To prevent cracking in the corners of the truck trailer 10, a forged foot angle 194 (best illustrated in
As will be discussed below, the vertical height 171 of the header 98 is minimized by providing reinforcement members 172, within the header 98 and rearward of the counterbalance assembly 18, which provide necessary reinforcement to the header 98 allowing the header 98 to withstand the force imposed thereon by the forged foot angle 194 during transit. The reinforcement members 172 allow the counterbalance assembly 18 to be arranged in the shallowest possible vertical orientation, while still providing necessary structural rigidity and allowing access to the counterbalance assembly 18. As such, the vertical height 171 of the header 98 is only slightly larger than a diameter of the fully wound cable drum 138.
As shown in
The header 98 further includes sidewalls (not shown) at lateral ends thereof, shaft end supports 184, and the reinforcement members 172. The sidewalls are generally aligned with the sidewalls 16 of the truck trailer 10, such that a plane formed by the sidewalls is coplanar with a plane formed by the sidewalls 16. The shaft end supports 184 extend parallel to the sidewalls, inset slightly into the header 98, and include counterbalance shaft apertures 186. The counterbalance shaft apertures 186 are arranged forward of the reinforcement members 172 and are configured to receive the ends 140 of the shaft 132 of the counterbalance assembly 18. The shaft end supports 184 are additionally configured to engage the brackets 128 (shown in
Each of the reinforcement members 172 is disposed rearward of the counterbalance assembly 18 and forward of the rear surface 178. The reinforcement members 172 further extend transversely into the header 98 from corresponding sidewalls, toward a center of the header 98, generally perpendicular to the corresponding sidewalls. As such, the reinforcement members 172 are generally parallel to the rear surface 178 of the header 98. The reinforcement members 172 are additionally arranged opposite from one another, such that a plane formed by one of the reinforcement members 172 is coplanar with a plane formed by the other reinforcement member 172.
Each of the reinforcement members 172 further terminates short of the center of the header 98, such that an open space 188 remains between the reinforcement members 172. The open space 188 allows for the adjuster body 152 of the adjustment mechanism 130 to be directly mounted to the rear surface 178. Each of the reinforcement members 172 in the illustrated embodiment extend approximately 80 percent of a distance from the corresponding sidewall to the center of the header 98. In other embodiments, the reinforcement members 172 can extend farther, leaving just enough room between the two reinforcement members 172 to mount the adjustment mechanism 130 to the rear surface 178, or can extend less far to provide a larger open space 188 to allow two adjuster bodies of two independent adjustment mechanisms to be mounted to the rear surface 178, as will be described below. The reinforcement members 172 should, in any case, extend, from the corresponding sidewall, beyond an inner end 190 of a horizontal leg 192 of the forged foot angle 194 (best illustrated in
As noted above, in some embodiments, the counterbalance assembly can include two independent counterbalance mechanisms. The counterbalance assembly can then counterbalance the door 22 in a manner similar to the counterbalance assembly 18. Utilizing separate counterbalance mechanisms can allow for simple adjustment of the counterbalance forces necessary to support the door 22. An example of a counterbalance assembly with two independent counterbalance mechanisms is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/301,471 entitled HINGED BOTTOM ROLLER ASSEMBLY AND COUNTERBALANCE MECHANISM FOR OVERHEAD DOOR which was filed on Nov. 21, 2011, the entirety of which has been expressly incorporated by reference herein above. As such, a more detailed discussion of the structure and operation of such a counterbalance assembly can be found therein. However, it should be noted that such a counterbalance assembly would be situated similarly to the counterbalance assembly 18 described above, so that the vertical height 171 of the header 98 can similarly be minimized. In other illustrative embodiments, any number of counterbalance mechanisms may be utilized and/or the principles of the present disclosure may be utilized in conjunction with any suitable counterbalance mechanism.
While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the foregoing drawings and description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood that only illustrative embodiments thereof have been shown and described and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the invention are desired to be protected. Furthermore, it will be understood that the embodiments discussed above are presented as examples only, and that other embodiments are possible.
While the embodiments of the overhead door assembly 12, the counterbalance assembly 18, and the header 98 disclosed herein depict a door with a counterbalance assembly and header at a rear end of a truck trailer, the overhead door assembly, the counterbalance assembly, and/or the header 98 can be utilized on any other mobile or stationary storage enclosures and/or containers, as well as refrigerated and un-refrigerated trailers, storage containers, or truck bodies.
Thus, embodiments of the invention provide a truck trailer with an overhead door assembly which uses a counterbalance assembly to aid in opening and closing a door of the overhead door assembly. The improved truck trailer includes a reinforced header with a minimized vertical height, which may thereby allow for a height of a door opening of the overhead door assembly to be maximized.
The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein can be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/435,194, filed on Dec. 16, 2016, and entitled “Max Clearance Overhead Door Heater,” the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62435194 | Dec 2016 | US |
