Patent Application
20070215293
This invention relates to overhead doors and, more particularly, to hinges for coupling overhead sectional door panels together.
There are numerous designs of overhead or retractable door assemblies which are commonly used for garage doors, truck doors, warehouse doors or the like. Typically, an overhead door is convertible between an open, overhead or generally horizontal configuration and a closed generally vertical configuration in which the door closes an opening in the building or the like. The overhead door commonly moves along a track assembly mounted proximate the opening and the track assembly usually includes a generally vertical track section, a generally horizontal track section and a curved transition track section joining the horizontal and vertical sections together.
Overhead doors of this type conventionally include a number of vertically arranged, horizontally oriented panels which can fold along the horizontal divisions between the panels to allow the door to pass along the curved transition section of the track when being opened or closed. The panels can be pivotally coupled together with hinges on the interior surface or back face of the door panels. The hinges articulate during pivotal movement of the panels. Such door panels for many years were predominantly constructed of wood. However, wood door panels are both costly to manufacture and heavy in use, resulting in difficulty when opening and closing the garage door.
Recently, sectional overhead door panels with an outer metal or thermoplastic skin have become popular and have replaced wooden door panels in many applications. Commonly, sectional overhead door panels with thin outer skins require internal reinforcing members, typically constructed of wood or metal. Vertically oriented center and end stiles are often provided within the thin sheet door panel for the required reinforcement.
However, no single overhead door panel design satisfies the needs of all applications and installations. In addition to skin thickness and strength, a wide range of other panel characteristics may be altered for the appropriate panel design for a given application. Some designs are referred to as “pan” door panels and include only the thin skin material for the front face and upper/lower edges of the panel and the required reinforcing stiles and hinge components. Other designs are partially or fully insulated and include a layer or insert of typically foam insulation inserted in the skin or pan portion of the panel. Some insulated door panel designs include a back face or skin and the insulation is sandwiched between the front and back skins.
Regardless of the particular overhead door panel configuration and design, the individual panels must be pivotally joined together for articulation between open and closed positions and movement along the associated track structure. Moreover, an overhead door manufacturer and an installer of overhead doors finds it much more efficient and economical to manufacture, sell, stock and handle a minimum variety of components. Preferably, a given component such as a hinge assembly is compatible with a variety of overhead door panel designs and configurations. This allows the installer and manufacturer to efficiently utilize a minimum number of components while accommodating each of the various door designs.
The installation process for an overhead door is greatly simplified if various components, including the hinge assembly, can be provided in a preassembled configuration for application and installation on the overhead door. However, typically components such as hinges are uniquely designed for a particular door application, particularly when the door panel configuration is designed to minimize gaps between the adjacent door panels during articulation in an effort to inhibit and reduce pinch sites and associated hazzards.
As evidenced by the above background, a need exists for a hinge design that is suited for use on a variety of overhead door panel designs and configurations while still affording the manufacturer and installer efficiencies in the manufacturing, stocking and installation processes.
The various embodiments of this invention offer these and other advantages over known overhead door, panel and hinge designs. In one embodiment, this invention includes a number of horizontally oriented panels vertically stacked one upon the other in edge-to-edge relationship. The panels are coupled to a track assembly mounted proximate the garage, warehouse, truck or other opening. The track assembly includes a generally vertical section, a generally horizontal section and a curved transition section joining the horizontal and vertical sections together. Rollers are mounted on the panels and coupled to the track assembly to guide the door between a closed generally vertical configuration with the upper and lower edges of the adjacent panels mated together and an open generally horizontal configuration extending generally parallel to the ceiling of the garage or the like.
The hinge assembly of this invention pivotally couples adjacent panels together in an overhead sectional door. Each door panel includes a front skin presenting an exterior face and may include a back skin presenting an interior face. The panels in one embodiment each have mating upper and lower edges that have generally segmented convex and concave profiles to mate with each other during the operation of the door. The panels include stiles between each lateral end of the panel to which the hinge assemblies are attached. The stiles extend generally vertically between the upper and lower edges of the panels. In some embodiments of this invention, each stile is seated within a channel section on the back face of the panel.
The hinge assembly in one embodiment includes an upper hinge leaf bolted, screwed or otherwise secured along its base plate to a stile of an upper panel. The upper hinge leaf includes a pair of spaced generally parallel flanges which project rearwardly away from the base plate and span the juncture between the upper and lower panels. Each flange terminates in a hinge arm that projects into the interior of the lower panel and toward the front face thereof. Each of the hinge arms includes a pivot axis hole near a terminal end thereof.
The hinge assembly also includes a lower hinge leaf that has a generally U-shaped profile with a pair of flanges projecting generally parallel to each other and perpendicular to its mounting base. The lower hinge leaf is bolted, screwed or otherwise mounted to one of the stiles of the lower panel and each flange includes a pivot axis hole near a terminal end thereof for alignment with one of the pivot axis holes in the hinge arms of the upper leaf. An arched flap projects upwardly and rearwardly from the upper edge of the mounting base on the lower hinge leaf.
The stile on which the lower hinge leaf is mounted in one embodiment has a generally U-shaped cross-sectional configuration. An outwardly directed bight portion of the stile is juxtaposed to the mounting base of the lower hinge leaf. The stile includes a pair of spaced, parallel sidewalls depending from the bight portion. Each sidewall of the stile includes a generally triangular-shaped notch, depression or recess adapted to have at least portions of the aligned flanges of the upper and lower hinge leaves seated therein. The recesses may be any appropriate shape such to provide a seat for the respective flanges and clearance between the sidewall of the stile and any adjacent components.
In one embodiment, the hinge does not have a single hinge pin that projects through all four pivot axis holes of the upper and lower hinge leaves. A rivet or similar mechanical device is seated within the pivot axis holes on each side of the hinge. In other words, the left side flange of the upper hinge leaf is pivotally connected to the left side flange on the lower hinge leaf by one such rivet and the right side flanges are likewise joined by another rivet.
As a result of the hinge assembly and stile design of this invention, an installer may receive and stock the hinges in an assembled configuration with the upper and lower hinge leaves pivotally coupled together. Once the door panels are aligned and seated one atop another, the assembled hinge is easily screwed, bolted or mounted to the stiles on the adjacent panels thereby avoiding timely manipulation and assembly of the hinge components. Moreover, the same hinge can be used on a wide variety of door panel designs including pan doors, sandwich doors, uninsulated doors, partially insulated doors and fully insulated doors.
The objectives and features of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
Referring to
The adjacent panels 14 are pivotally connected together by a number of hinge assemblies 20. The hinges 20 proximate the lateral side ends of each panel 14 include a roller assembly 22 for coupling the door 10 to a track assembly 24. The opening and closing of the door 10 may be assisted by a counterbalance system 26 coupled to the door 10 as is well known in the art.
Referring to
Each panel 14 according to the various embodiments in this invention includes a front skin 28 defining a front face 30 of the panel 14 and may include a back skin 32 defining, at least in part, a back face 34 of the panel 14 (
Referring once again to
As shown more clearly in
One aspect of this invention is a recess, depression or well 60 in the side wall 48 of the stile 38 as shown primarily in
Each hinge assembly 20 according to certain embodiments of this invention includes two primary components, an upper hinge leaf 70 and a lower hinge leaf 72. The upper hinge leaf 70 is mounted to a stile 38a on an upper panel 14a and, likewise, the lower hinge leaf 72 is mounted to the stile 38b on the lower panel 14b. The upper hinge leaf 70 includes a mounting base 74 which is juxtaposed to the bight portion 50 of the stile 38a on the upper panel 14a. The mounting base 74 includes two attachment holes 76 which are aligned with holes 78a in the stile 38a to receive the shank of a pair of bolts 80 inserted there through. Each bolt 80 is threadably coupled with a nut 82 on the bottom face of the bight portion 50 of the stile 38 to mount the upper hinge leaf 70 to the stile 38. A pair of washers 84 may be utilized with the bolts 80 for secure fastening. Similarly, the lower hinge leaf 72 has a generally planar mounting base 86 with a pair of mounting holes 88 which are aligned with holes 78b in stile 38b to receive bolts 80 to mount the lower hinge leaf 72 to the stile 38b. Alternatively, self-tapping screws or other mechanical fasteners may be used to mount the hinge leaves 70, 72 to the stiles 38a, 38b.
The upper hinge leaf 70 includes a pair of generally parallel flanges go which project upwardly from the mounting base 74 as mirror images of one another. Each mounting flange go extends beyond a lower edge 92 of the mounting base 74 to span the juncture between the adjacent panels 14. A hinge arm 94 is located at a distal end of each flange go and includes a pivot axis hole 96. The hinge arm 94 projects below the plane of the mounting base 74 as shown most clearly in
The lower hinge leaf 72 has a generally U-shaped cross-sectional configuration with a pair of spaced flanges 100 depending downwardly from the mounting base 86. Each flange 100 of the lower hinge leaf 72 includes a pivot axis hole 102. The width of the lower hinge leaf 72 is sized and configured to fit between the hinge arms 94 of the upper hinge leaf 70 as shown in
The lower hinge leaf according to one embodiment also includes an upper flap 106 which extends from an upper edge 108 of the base 86 rearwardly in an arcuate configuration. The shape and configuration of the flap 106 minimizes the gap between the upper and lower hinge leaves 70, 72 during articulation of the hinge 20. Alternatively, the base 86 of the lower hinge leaf 72 may be formed with a bulge or the like which does not include the leaf extending from the upper edge to reduce the gap between the hinge leaves during articulation.
The hinges 20 located along the outboard lateral ends of the panels 14 may include a roller mount 110 adapted to receive the roller assembly 22 to couple the panels 14 to the track assembly 24. In one embodiment, the roller mount 110 may be located on the upwardly projecting portions of the flanges go on the upper hinge leaf 70.
The corresponding hinge arm 94 and flange 100 on each side of the hinge assembly 20 are pivotally coupled together by a rivet 104 or similar pivotal connector device inserted though the pivot axis holes 96, 102 as shown in
The combination of the upper and lower hinge leaf 70, 72 design and the recesses 60 in the side wall 48 of the stile 38 provides numerous advantages to an overhead sectional door 10 of this invention. For example, the hinge components may be preassembled with the rivets 104 joining the associated flanges 90, 100 of the upper and lower hinge leaves 70, 72 together and supplied in the assembled configuration to an installer who can then easily and conveniently mount the assembled hinge 20 to the exposed stiles 38 on the door panels 14 without the need to take the time and effort to manipulate the hinge, assemble the hinge components and install the hinge as is required with many other known hinge designs. Additionally, the hinge assembly 20 may be utilized on a wide variety of panel designs and configurations including a sandwich or fully insulated panel such as shown in
An alternative embodiment of the stile 39 and hinge assembly 21 is shown in
As such, the stile 39 with pivot axis holes 112 in the recesses 60 can be utilized with either hinge assembly 20 (
It should be readily appreciated that although certain embodiments and configurations of the invention are shown and described herein, the invention is not so limited. From the above disclosure of the general principles of the present invention and the preceding detailed description of at least one preferred embodiment, those skilled in the art will readily comprehend the various modifications to which this invention is susceptible. Therefore, we desire to be limited only by the scope of the following claims and equivalents thereof.
