Guidance Arrangement for Opening and Closing Panels Articulated Relative to Each Other and Relative to a Stationary Frame

This invention relates generally to an arrangement for guiding, during opening and closing, garage or closet door panels which are articulated relative to each other and relative to a stationary frame.

It is known to provide various types of doors for closets, garages and other enclosures. The awkwardness of rigid-panel doors has led to the development of more adaptable doors constituted of at least two panels, articulated relative to each other so as to be parallel to the plane of the door frame when closed, and perpendicular to that plane when open. Each door pane is formed of at least two such panels, joined to each other by a hinge and one of these panels being pivotally joined to one of the side joints of the door frame.

The panels of these doors are generally guided by pegs, which slide in channels formed in the head and the sill of the door frame. This type of door is difficult to build and adjust, and inconvenient to operate due to friction between the edges of the door panels and that channel on the one hand, and the friction of the guiding pegs within their channel on the other hand.

In his French Pat. No. 70-40839, granted Nov. 15, 1971, the applicant proposed to replace the pegs of the prior art by a roller which was rotatably mounted on a horizontal rod and run in a horizontal, laterally-opened, straight channel. The rod was connected to the outer panel of the closure assembly, that is, the panel remote from the hinging vertical frame member. This construction improved over the prior art in eliminating friction between the guiding pegs within the channels and between the edges of the door panels and that channel. One drawback found in this construction resided in that the joint was such that the guiding channel was positioned below the upper horizontal frame member and thus became visible when the closure assembly was open.

To obviate this new drawback, the applicant proposed an improvement in French patent of addition No. 71-01499 granted Aug. 7, 1972. According to this improvement, the joint of the main French Pat. No. 70-40839 was replaced by a crank with two vertical end shafts, one end shaft bearing a roller through a horizontal rod and the other end shaft being pivoted in a bracket to the outer door panel. This construction raised the roller and consequentially the laterally opened guiding channel. The guiding channel thus became at least partly invisible behind the upper horizontal frame member. This improvement presented another drawback in that the mechanical connection between the upper end shaft of the crank and the roller, through an ear and a rod, was too complicated.

In a second patent of addition No. 71-09561 granted Oct. 2, 1972, the applicant proposed a new improvement wherein the laterally opened guiding channel was replaced by a downwardly opened channel which accommodated a roller rotatably mounted directly on the upper end shaft of a crank. It was found in this construction that friction occurred between the guiding channel and the upper part of the vertical free edge of the outer panel of the closure assembly, this upper part being at an angle with the guiding channel for the main part of the movement of the closure assembly. As at the end of the closure movement, the outer panel of the closure assembly was linked to the frame only through the crank whose roller was free to slide in the channel, the vertical free edge of the outer panel could reach its final position, when outwardly offset in relation with the plane of the door. Thus the user had to push the outer panel inwardly to bring it back to this plane. If the closure assembly included two panel sets, this meant that the user had to push inwardly simultaneously the outer panels of both panel sets so as, for instance, to engage a tongue on the vertical free edge of one outer panel into a groove in the vertical free edge of the other outer panel. Additionally, the door assembly of French patent of addition No. 71-09561 must include locking means to keep each closure assembly in its closed position.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,066,730 shows a typical prior art guidance arrangement which differs from the present invention in that it does not show any second guiding roller which is adapted to engage the unobstructed vertical surface of the channel. Further, a rigid stop is employed rather than resilient so that the toggle (or over dead center) effect can not be achieved.

Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to overcome these difficulties by providing a guidance arrangement which is of simple construction, easy to install and adjust, and free of friction during opening and closing.

To this end there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a guidance arrangement for the opening and closing of panels which are articulated relative to each other and relative to a stationary frame comprising two vertical side members connected at the top by a horizontal head member to which latter there is attached a channel of inverted U-shaped crosssection. This arrangement is characterized by an articulated joint between the free vertical edge of one member of a pair of articulated panels and the omega-shaped channel, this joint comprising a support plate affixed to said panel and supporting two rollers. One of these is positioned inside the channel for guiding the panel. The other rests against the outer vertical face of the channel, parallel to the plane of displacement of the free edge of said panel, and forms a rolling bearing for the panel. It is the object of the present invention to obviate the drawbacks found in the prior art type of panel guidance arrangements. To this end, a support plate has been provided which rotatably carries the lower end part of a guide roller bearing crank. Additionally, the support plate carries a vertical shaft upon which is mounted a roller which is adapted to cooperate with the adjacent vertical surface of the channel. A resilient stop is placed within the channel to cooperate with the crank guide roller. A door equipped with a guidance arrangement according to the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein;

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of such a door with articulated panels;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing partially in cross-section, the components of the guidance arrangement associated with the guided panel of a closure composed of at least two articulated panels;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the components shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view, partially in cross-section, of the components of the guidance arrangement.

In accordance with the invention, as shown in FIG. 1, the arrangement is particularly intended to provide guidance during opening and closing of panels articulated relative to each other and to a stationary frame. The stationary frame comprises two vertical members 1 and 2, connected at their upper ends by a transverse horizontal member 3. A panel 4 is pivotally attached to the vertical members 1 and 2, and itself pivotally joined to a second panel 4a. In this embodiment, a door pane composed of two panels can occupy two distinct positions, one perpendicular to the plane defined by the stationary frame, and the other parallel to that plane.

The components of the guidance arrangement for opening and closing these panels appear in detail in FIGS. 2 to 4. The arrangement itself consists of an articulated joint designated by general reference 5. This joint is located between a guide channel 6 of inverted U-shaped cross-section and the inside free edge of panel 4a. Channel 6 is partially recessed in the transverse horizontal member 3 of the door frame, in such a manner that the outer vertical face 6a of channel 6 provides a track whose function will be described later.

Joint 5 consists of a support plate 7 attached near the upper inside edge of panel 4a. This plate supports two rollers, one 8 for guiding the panel 4a, the other 11 forming a rolling bearing for that panel. Guide roller 8 is positioned inside the inverted U-shaped channel 6. This roller is connected to plate 7 by a double-ended crank 9 pivotable relative to plate 7. In the embodiment shown, the pivot consists of a support sleeve 10, which receives the lower vertical extremity 9a of crank 9. Crank 9 can therefore pivot by at least one hundred and eighty degrees during opening and closing of panels 4 and 4a. Roller 11, which forms the rolling bearing, is connected to plate 7 by a shaft 12, attached to the end of an arm 13, which arm is formed of one piece with plate 7. Arm 13 has a bent end, which follows the contour of a notch 14, which is carved out of the width of panel 4a in such a manner that roller 11 is recessed partially within the notch, thereby reducing the spacing between the plane defined by the inside face of panel 4a and the track provided by the vertical face 6a of guide channel 6. The advantage of this construction is most apparent from FIGS. 3 and 4 which show that face 4b of panel 4a is kept out of direct contact with side 6a of the channel by means of support roller 11. This assures free movement of the door pane during opening and closing, since it eliminates the friction which constituted a serious drawback of prior arrangements. By combining guide roller 8 and roller 11, which forms a rolling bearing, silent opening and closing is assured, with ease and without jamming. A stop 14a is provided for guide channel 6 against which guide roller 8 bumps at the end of its travel. Stop 14a is preferably made of elastic material, partly to provide silent contact and partly to provide a certain amount of elasticity which contributes to immobilization of the door when it is closed.

It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiment described and shown above. Other modes and forms of embodiment could be used if desired without departing from the inventive concept.