Vertically Moveable Flexible Door With Releasable Bottom Bar

This application is related to U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,445,209 and 5,482,104, each entitled Guide System For Vertically Moveable Flexible Door, issued on Aug. 29, 1995, and Jan. 9, 1996, respectively, to the same inventor as the present application and assigned to the same assignee, each of which are incorporated by reference herein.

This application is also related to U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,131,450, 5,163,495, and 5,351,742 also to the same inventor and assigned to the same assignee as the present application.

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to a damage minimizing closure door that is moveable vertically between open and closed positions, wherein the closure door is a continuous, flexible curtain. A guide structure or assembly is mounted adjacent the sides of a door opening for receiving and guiding the side edges of the flexible curtain during vertical movement. The side edges of the curtain may separate from the guide assembly upon being impacted by an externally applied force, such as by a vehicle, without damaging the curtain or guide assembly and also enabling the side edges of the curtain to be easily reinserted into the guide assembly. The flexible curtain includes a rigid bottom bar that is releasably connected with the guide assembly, preferably through a roller that rides within a roller guideway of the guide assembly, so that the lateral or transverse structural strength of the bottom bar extends into the roller guideway while also enabling the rigid bottom bar, and curtain, to break away if impacted by external forces.

2. Description of Related Art

Vertically disposed doors which move between open and closed positions are well-known. Such doors or curtains are constructed of flexible material with guides along the side edges of the door opening to receive, retain, and guide the side edges of the curtain. Commonly-owned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,445,209 and 5,482,104 disclose vertically movable closure doors comprising a flexible curtain which is moveable vertically between a closed position to close off a door opening and an open position. The curtain includes side edges having windstrips along portions of the side edges. Mounted adjacent each side of the door opening, via a mounting bracket, are the curtain guides, each of which include a releasable windbar that co-acts with the windstrips to restrain the side edges of the curtain from escaping from the curtain guide under normal wind load and differential pressure conditions across the door opening. When an excessive impact force is placed upon the flexible curtain such as the curtain being accidentally struck by a vehicle, a lateral displacement of the curtain causes the windstrips to engage the windbar and to cause the windbar to be displaced by separation from the curtain guide thereby enabling the side edges of the curtain to be released from the curtain guide. This prevents damage to the flexible curtain yet enables the curtain to be easily reinserted back into the curtain guide with the windbar snapped back into the guide. Damage to the curtain and the windbar are thus negligible. Such doors, as are disclosed in the above patents, include a bottom bar that adds some weight and lateral stability to the curtain, but the bottom bar is not tied into, or associated with, the side guide structure mounted adjacent the side of the door opening. Thus the bottom bar does not appreciably reduce the tendency of the curtain to move in transverse directions, i.e. into and away from the plane of the door opening, under relatively high wind loads or differential pressure conditions that may normally arise. Further, because the horizontal dimension of the bottom bar is less than the horizontal dimension of the curtain, a small area between each side end of the bottom bar and the guides remains and is able to flex under excessive wind loads or differential pressure conditions that may normally arise. As a result, the curtain is able to cause excessive resistance against the guide, possibly causing the curtain to hang up in its downward travel while closing.

Under such relatively high, yet normal, windload and differential pressure conditions, there is a tendency for flexible curtain doors as described in the above-mentioned patents to billow or move outward or inward depending upon the differential pressure conditions and thus result in frictional engagement between faces of the curtain adjacent the side edges and the guide which reduces the ease of upward and downward movement of the curtain in the guide. Friction may also result from the engagement between the windbar and windstrips. The bottom bar, since it is not tied into the guide structure, does little to prevent the curtain from moving inwardly and outwardly.

Bottom bars other than those disclosed in the above-mentioned patents also have been utilized by the assignee of the present invention, as is described in a brochure entitled "The Low Maintenance Environmental Doors" depicting the Series 520 and 620 doors where the bottom bar incorporates a spring loaded retainer that bears against the guide during normal upward and downward movement. However, this break-away bottom bar system itself results in friction during upward and downward movement and does not adequately extend the lateral structural strength of the bottom bar into the guide structure to sufficiently reduce transverse movement of the curtain and thus does not solve the problem of reducing friction during upward and downward movement of the door.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,478,268 to Palmer (which was reexamined, resulting in issuance of Reexamination Certificate No. B1 4,478,268) discloses a damage minimizing flexible door with a rigid bottom bar. The rigid bottom bar itself separates from the curtain upon a predetermined impact force. A roller appears to be associated with the flexible curtain but appears to remain connected to the curtain during release of the curtain from a guide.

In applicant's co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/671,236, filed on Jun. 27, 1996, entitled "Overhead Door With Releasable Breakaway Panel", an overhead door formed from a plurality of rigid rectangular panels is disclosed, which includes breakaway bottom sub-panels. This door is not a continuous flexible curtain. A releasable roller assembly is connected to the bottom of the releasable panel.

The present invention relates to a releasable bottom bar assembly for a closure door comprising a continuous flexible curtain that is moveable vertically between open and closed positions. In a preferred embodiment, the flexible curtain includes windstrips on at least portions of the curtain side edges. Adjacent each side of the door is a guide within which the side edges of the curtain are retained. The guides are mounted preferably to the wall adjacent the door opening by a mounting bracket. Detachably connected to the guide is a windbar that coacts with the curtain windstrips. Upon an excessive impact force on the curtain, the windbar releases by separation from the guide when the windstrips coact therewith. This windbar is then re-attachable to the guide. These features of the present invention are substantially identical to corresponding elements described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,209, incorporated by reference herein. Although the releasable bottom bar assembly of the present invention is particularly advantageous with a flexible curtain having windstrips that coact with windbars, it is not required that such windstrips and windbars be utilized under all circumstances. The releasable bottom bar will have applicability with flexible curtains that lack such windstrips and windbars, such as small doors or doors utilized in light duty environments.

In the present invention, the mounting bracket and the curtain guide defines a roller guideway to receive a roller that rolls within the guideway during upward and downward movement of the curtain. Once face of the guideway is defined by the curtain guide. The other opposing face of the guideway is defined by a surface of the mounting bracket or a surface of the wall adjacent the door opening. The roller includes a roller shaft that is journalled to the roller to enable the roller to rotate about the shaft. The roller shaft is releasably connected to a retainer that is in turn fixedly connected to a rigid bottom bar attached to the lowermost edge of the curtain. The shaft is releasable from the retainer when a predetermined impact force is provided to the bottom bar, such as when the bottom bar is struck by a vehicle. The retainer includes a retaining clip that releasably captures a cylindrical retaining tube, into which the roller shaft is received. When a predetermined impact force is applied to the bottom bar, the retaining clip and cylindrical retaining tube separate with respect to each other thus enabling the roller to be disengaged from the bottom bar and enabling the rigid bottom bar to move in directions into and away from the doorway opening. The bottom bar releases prior to disengagement of the windbar from the guides. The releasable rigid bottom bar is thus tied into the roller guideway, via the retaining member and roller shaft to provide lateral and transverse structural rigidity to at least the bottom region of the curtain and to thus reduce the tendency of that region of the curtain to move inwardly and outwardly during normal vertical movement of the curtain, thus minimizing friction between the curtain and the guide and minimizing friction between the windbar and windstrips.

The curtain, at its upper end, is secured to a cylindrical roller shaft which is driven either manually or by a motor, as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,209, incorporated by reference herein, to cause the curtain to move upward and downward. The rigidity of the roller provides additional lateral and transverse stability of the curtain and thus also serves to minimize friction between the curtain and the guide during normal up and down movement.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a vertically movable continuous flexible curtain that moves into and out of registry with a door opening wherein the side edges of the curtain are guided by side-mounted guide structures. It is an object of the invention to provide for increased lateral and transverse structural stability to the curtain, at least at the bottommost region of the curtain, to reduce the effect of friction between the curtain, curtain guide, windbar and windstrip (if utilized) and to enable easier upward and downward movement of the curtain. It is further an object of the present invention to provide a releasable bottom bar that is fixed to the curtain yet is releasable from the guide structures mounted on opposite sides of the door opening so that when the bottom bar is struck by a vehicle, damage to the guide structure and the curtain is significantly minimized.

Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vertically movable flexible curtain-type door having a rigid bottom bar which is tied into the side channels of the curtain to provide weight to the bottom of the curtain and to reduce the effect of friction between the curtain and the guide, and between the windstrip and windbar, during normal vertical movement of the curtain under various wind load and pressure conditions acting on the curtain. It is further an object of the present invention to enable the rigid bottom bar to be releasable from the side-mounted guide structures.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent when reference is made to the foregoing detailed description and the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a roll up type vertically moveable flexible curtain-type door viewed from the inside with a lowermost corner cutaway.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a corner of the flexible curtain door and depicting the guide, the curtain, and the mounting bracket assembly along with portions of the bottom bar, retainer, roller and roller shaft arrangements.

FIG. 3 is a top view along line 3--3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a frontal view along line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention represents an improvement over the vertically moveable flexible door arrangements as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,445,209 and 5,482,104 incorporated by reference herein. The improvement resides in the structure of the bottom bar and its interconnection with the side-mounted guide structures in a manner to be described hereinbelow. All of the other components of the vertically moveable flexible door may be the same as is disclosed in the above-mentioned patents, it being understood that the use of windstrips and windbars may not be required in certain environments.

The closure door of the present invention generally designated by reference numeral 10 includes a flexible door or curtain 12 having sufficient length and width characteristics to form a closure for a doorway or opening 14 in a wall 16 of a building structure. The "inside" and "outside" of the doorway is designated in the drawings but it should be appreciated that these are arbitrary designations, particularly when the doorway is an internal doorway within a building. The door 10 includes a roll up drum generally designated by reference numeral 18 oriented at the top of the door opening 14. Alternatively, the door may be a full or partial vertical lift door, wherein the curtain does not roll-up on a roller but instead moves vertically, or at slight angles, above the top of the door opening. A guide structure generally designated by reference numeral 20 is disposed along each side of the opening 14 and receives and guides the side edges of the curtain 12. The bottom of the curtain 12 is provided with a bottom bar generally designated by reference numeral 22.

The guide structure 20 includes an elongated rigid mounting member or bracket 24 in the form of an L-shaped angle having a flange 26 secured to the wall 16 by any suitable fastening structures, such as a bolt, only one of which is schematically illustrated by numeral 28. The mounting bracket 24 also includes an outwardly extending flange 30 perpendicular to the flange 26 which supports a continuous inwardly facing guide or guide member 32 with the guide member opening facing the doorway opening 14. The guide 32 includes an inner flange 34 and an outer flange 36 generally parallel to each other with the flanges connected at one end by portion 38 which is secured to flange 30 by a plurality of fasteners 40 in the form of bolts or the like which extend through openings in the flange 30 and into the portion 38. The flanges 34 and 36 are spaced apart to provide a groove or channel which receives a side edge of the curtain 12.

As an alternative mounting arrangement, the flange 26 may extend in the opposite direction from that shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, i.e. in a direction away from the door opening. This may be particularly desirable for walls having wood or masonry jambs, as opposed to steel jambs. In such instances, the guide flange 34 will be in facing relationship to a substantially planar wall surface, which defines the roller guideway to be discussed below.

The side edge of the curtain 12 is provided with a strip or strips 46 bonded to one surface of the curtain side edge. The side edge of the curtain 12 and the strip 46 serves as a wind lock when associated with the guide 32. The strip 46 is preferably not continuous along the entire side edge of the curtain but, rather, is discontinuous along the side edge. The strip 46 may take up approximately 50% of the overall side edge length of the curtain.

The end edge of the flange 36 has an elongated retaining strip or that is snap-mounted thereon with the windbar 48 preferably being constructed of plastic material. A recessed area of the windbar 48 that faces the end edge of the flange 36 provides for a snap mounting engagement with the flange 36. This mounting may be as described in the incorporated U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,209. The wind bar 48 includes a projection 49 that faces a projection 51 on the wind strips 46 to thus retain the side edge portion of the curtain 12 within the guide 32. When the curtain 12 is impacted with an excessive force, such as when a vehicle strikes the curtain, the lateral outward force exerted on the curtain 12 is resisted by the strip 46 engaging the windbar 48 until the lateral force overcomes the resilient snap mounting engagement and the windbar 48 will separate from the flange 36. Thus, the side edge of the curtain can separate from the guide 32 with little or no damage to the curtain 12 or the guide 32. This enables the side edge of the curtain to be reinserted into the guide 32 and the resilient plastic windbar 48 may be reattached to the flange 36 by merely pressing the windbar 48 back into place. Although the drawings illustrate a single windbar and wind strip, a double windbar and windstrip arrangement can be used as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,104, also incorporated by reference herein.

Under normal wind load and differential pressure conditions, which may include relatively "high" winds to tend to cause a billowing of the curtain 12, the curtain 12 is retained within the guide 32 by the interaction between the wind strips 46 and windbar 48. This may result in frictional contact between the wind strips 46 and windbar 48. This tendency for frictional contact is reduced by the bottom bar arrangement discussed below.

The upper edge of the curtain is secured to the roller drum 18 which is rotatable to enable the curtain 12 to move upwardly and downwardly, i.e. vertically, into and out of the door opening. This movement may take place manually or through use of a motor 70 as is schematically shown in FIG. 1. The roller is supported or affixed to an extension of the guide structure or may be affixed to the wall 16 to provide a rigid upper support for the curtain 12 as it hangs down along the door opening.

As is best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the guide 32 and the mounting bracket 24 defines a roller guideway 80 in which a roller 82 is positioned. The roller 82 includes a roller shaft 84 which is journalled to the roller 82 so that the roller 82 may rotate about the shaft 84. The diameter of the roller 82 is slightly less than the transverse space between the flange 34 of the guide 32 and the flange 26 of the mounting bracket 24. Slight differential pressure across the curtain, which normally occurs, will result in the roller bearing against either the guide flange 34 or the flange 26 to enable rolling of the roller 82 in the roller guideway 80. The spacing between the roller 82 and the confines of the guideway 80 is relatively slight to minimize transverse movement in directions into and away from the plane of the door opening 14.

Rigidly and fixedly secured to the bottom edge of the curtain 12 is a rigid bottom bar 22 including bottom bar portions 23 and 25 that are on opposite faces of the curtain 12 and secured to each other through fastening bolts only one of which is shown as numeral 27. These bolts 27 retain the bottom bar portions 23 and 25 affixed to each other and to opposite faces of the flexible curtain 12. The bottom bar portions 23 and 25 are rigid and are not bendable or flexible in a plane substantially perpendicular to the bottom bar portions. The bottom bar 22 is relatively heavy to provide sufficient weight to the curtain so that the curtain hangs generally vertically and in a relatively taut condition. The bottom bar portion 25 which is on the "outside" facing portion of the curtain 12 includes an angular region 26 into which a notch or recess portion 28 is provided and in which is affixed a retainer 86. The retainer is defined by an elongated retaining clip 88. The clip 88 is disposed so that its longitudinal axis is substantially parallel with the bottom edge of the curtain. The length of the retaining clip 88 preferably may be between one and six inches. The retaining clip 88 includes a base web 90 which is fastened to the bottom bar portion 25, within the notch 28, by fastening elements not shown. Such fastening could take place by welding if the bottom bar is of steel or other weldable material. The retaining clip 88 includes a pair of retaining clip arms 92, 94 in facing relationship to each other which are flexible, biased, and made of a material which has a memory so that when pressed apart in opposite directions they spring back into the position as best shown in FIG. 2. Intermediate along each of the clip arms is a profiled portion 96 that is arcuate to accommodate a cylindrical retaining tube 98 also formed of rigid material such as steel. The length of the retaining tube 98 is approximately the length of the retaining clip or may be slightly longer as is shown in FIG. 2. The retaining tube 98 has an inner diameter sized to receive the roller shaft 84. The roller shaft is slightly smaller in diameter than the tube so that there is some limited play between the roller shaft 84 and the retaining tube 98.

The retainer 86 is designed so that when an excessive impact force is provided to the releasable curtain 12, typically imposed upon the lower horizontal bottom bar 22, in either direction, the impact force will result in the bottom bar 22 releasing or breaking away from the roller and roller shaft 82, 84 to enable movement of the bottom bar 22 and curtain 12 in directions into or away from the plane of the door opening depending upon the direction of the impact force. Such force acting on the bottom bar 22 typically takes place when the door is not fully rolled up i.e., is below the top of the door opening and when a toll vehicle passes through the door opening and accidentally hits the bottom part of the curtain 12.

When the bottom bar 22 is struck by a vehicle, or some other excessive force is applied to the bottom bar, the clip arms 92, 94 spring outward with respect to the cylindrical retaining tube 98 and the tube 98 and clip arms 92, 94 separate from each other. The roller and roller shaft 82, 84 will thus freely fall downward and the bottom edge portion of the curtain 12 is released and free to move without being caught up in the guide structure 20, thus reducing damage to the bottom bar and curtain. The bottom bar is intended to release in advance of the releasing or pulling out of the side edges of the curtain 12. That is, the bottom bar is designed to release prior to the breaking away of the windbar 48 from the channel 32 when impacted by the windstrip 46.

Although only a single retainer 86 is depicted, it is understood that each side portion of the bottom bar will include the retainer member and each of the guide structures will include a roller and roller shaft that interconnects with the retainer member in the manner as described above.

It should be noted that the horizontal length of the bottom bar 22 is less than the full horizontal width of the curtain 12. The horizontal length of the bottom bar is such that it lies between the guides 32 that are mounted on either side of the door opening.

It is thus seen that the rigid bottom bar 22 is not only releasably attached to the side guide structures 20 but performs an important function during routine vertical movements of the curtain under normal windload and pressure conditions. By tying in the structural rigidity of the bottom bar 22 to the side guide channel members 20, frictional forces acting between the curtain and the guide flanges 34, 36, and between the windbar 48 and windstrips 46 may be reduced, thus permitting vertical movement to be performed smoothly and without binding. That is, because the roller 82 is captured within the roller guideway 80, relatively high wind forces or pressure differentials on the curtain, albeit "normal", tend to reduce the transverse movement or billowing of the curtain in directions into and away from the plane of the door opening. The rigid roll up drum structure 18 mounted at the top of the doorway also assists in providing structural transverse rigidity at the upper part of the curtain to prevent this transverse billowing tendency of the curtain. By providing structural rigidity tied into the side guide structures 20, the side edge portions of the curtain, at least in the regions of the bottom portion of the curtain and at the top of the curtain where it adjoins with the roll up drum 18 does not billow in inward and outward directions and thus the frictional inter-engagement between the side faces of the curtain and the edge of the guide flanges and between the windbar and windstrip when they engage each other under relatively high wind load conditions, will be reduced.

It is contemplated that other structures intermediate the bottom bar and the roll up drum may be utilized to provide further transverse and lateral stability to the curtain but these arrangements are not preferred and will not be utilized in many usages.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described and, accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.