Claims
- 1. A roll-up overhead door assembly which is selectively moved up and down to open and close an opening, the assembly having an open position, a closed position and a predetermined cleaning position, the assembly comprising:a drum positioned proximate the top of the opening and being rotatable between the open position, closed position and predetermined cleaning position; a flexible non-segmented unitary door panel which blocks substantially the entire opening when the door assembly is in the closed position; and, a hingeable connector for connecting the door panel to the drum, the hingeable connector being interposed between the panel and the drum, the hingeable connector having a first portion, an opposed second portion and an intermediate pivot point disposed between the first and second portions, the second portion of the hingeable connector being pivotable at the intermediate pivot point relative to the first portion of the hingeable connector, the panel being attached to the first portion of the hingeable connector and the drum being attached to the second portion of the hingeable connector, wherein when the drum is rotated toward the cleaning position the hingeable connector pivots independent of the rotation of the drum to allow the door panel to pivot away from the drum and wherein when the drum reaches the cleaning position no portion of the panel is in contact with the drum and no portion of the panel is in contact with the second portion of the hingeable connector.
- 2. The roll-up overhead door assembly of claim 1, wherein the pivotable connector is a hinge.
- 3. The roll-up overhead door assembly of claim 1 further including a drip guard partially surrounding the drum, the drip guard being positioned and sized to catch residue falling from the drum or the door panel.
- 4. The roll-up overhead door assembly of claim 3, wherein the drip guard has a first position and a second position, in the first position the drip guard extends below the drum for catching residue falling from the drum or the door panel and in the second position the drip guard is rotated away from the drum, thereby exposing the drum and the door panel for cleaning.
- 5. The roll-up overhead door assembly of claim 1, wherein the side columns comprise a backplate and a cover plate removably attached to the backplate, respectively, the backplate and cover plate cooperating to form the channel for guiding the door assembly up and down.
- 6. The roll-up overhead door assembly of claim 1 further including a bottom bar attached to a bottom portion of the door panel, the bottom bar having a breakaway mechanism connected to at least one end of the bottom bar.
- 7. The roll-up overhead door assembly of claim 1, wherein in the closed position the point at which the door panel is connected to the drum forms a first angle α with an axis, A, which is perpendicular to and extends through the opening, and in the cleaning position the point at which the door panel is connected to the drum forms a second angle β to the axis A, the second angle β being greater than the first angle α.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a continuation application of U.S. patent application No. 09/155,006 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,247,517 a §371 of International Patent Application No. PCT/US98/15389, filed Jul. 24, 1998 which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/054,149, filed Jul. 25, 1997.
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Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
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|
60/054149 |
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Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09/155006 |
|
US |
Child |
09/825595 |
|
US |