GB2331777A

GB2331777A - Roller shutter system

Info

Publication number: GB2331777A
Application number: GB9724969A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ian Colin Bell; Graham John Broom; Andrew Robert Crossley
Original assignee: RSL BRISTOL Ltd
Current assignee: RSL BRISTOL Ltd
Priority date: 1997-11-27
Filing date: 1997-11-27
Publication date: 1999-06-02
Anticipated expiration: 2017-11-27
Also published as: GB9724969D0; GB2331777B

Abstract

A roller shutter system includes a shutter (4) for closing an aperture in a building, actuator means for raising and lowering the shutter (4), and shutter guide means (26) for guiding the shutter (4) as it is raised or lowered by the actuator means (26), the guide means having a first portion with a curved surface (27) for guiding an edge portion of the shutter (4) in contact therewith from a substantially horizontal direction in which it is stored to a substantially vertical position when closing the aperture, and a second portion (29) which is substantially vertical and serves to restrain lateral movement of the shutter (4) when the shutter is raised or lowered. The second portion (29) of the shutter (4) may extend above the curved surface and taper (30) away from the edge of the shutter (4).

Description

1 - 2331777 Roller Shutter Systems This invention concerns roller shutter

systems for example security shutters for doors and windows.

Roller shutter systems have become a popular means for providing buildings with increased security. Such systems have a shutter consisting of a plurality of horizontal slats which are pivotally connected to each other to form a screen or shutter which can be rolled on to or off a horizontal shaft, rotation of' the shaft in one or other sense serving to raise or lower the shutter. The edges of the shutter are in general guided in channels which are secured to the building, the channels preferably being located within the cavity of a cavity walled building in order to provide improved security by retaining the edges of the shutter within the cavity of the building.

In order to facilitate the rolling and un-rolling of sU'Cli'.' shutters, the shafts on which the shuttets...A.re- mounted are in general provided with guide discs at either -"d''o..f the width of the shutters in order to reduce the risk that the shutters will be wound skew on the shafts.

In practice, there is often limited space in which roller shutter systems can be mounted in a building, particularly when it is remembered that such systems are often operated by an electric motor at one end of the shaft carrying the shutter and the systems almost inevitably have to be mounted in a loadbearing wall of a building. The latter has led to the introduction of roller shutter systems which are located within a door or window lintel. However, whilst it is possible in many but not all new buildings to accomodate a long lintel housing a roller shutter system, it is often difficult if not impossible to do so in an existing building. Hitherto proposed roller shutter systems therefore suffer from the disadvantage that they can require more space to mount them in a building than is readily available. The width of the door or window aperture to be protected is fixed, as to a large extent is the size of electric motor which is used, and omission of the guide discs could lead to the shutter itself going out of line and becoming jammed. Furthermore, the space problem becomes even greater with systems which have the edges of the shutter itself running in guides within a wall cavity because the shutter is then of necessity wider than the door or window opening with which it is used.

According to the present invention there is provided a roller shutter system comprising a shutter for closing an aperture in a building, actuator means for raising and lowering the shutter, and shutter guide means for guiding the shutter as it is raised or lowered by the actuator means, the guide means having a first portion with a curved surface for guiding an edge portion of the shutter in contact therewith from a substantially horizontal direction in which it is stored to a substantially vertical position when closing the aperture, and a second portion which is substantially vertical and serves to restrain lateral movement of the shutter when the shutter is raised or lowered.

An embodiment of roller shutter system in accordance with the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:- Fig. 1 is a part cut away horizontal section through a portion of a hitherto proposed roller shutter system; Fig. 2 is a simlar view to that of Fig. 1 but of a system in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 3 is a side view of a guide member of the system of Fig. 2# and Fig. 4 is a front view of the guide member of Fig. 3 with the roller shutter in its open position.

Referring to Fig. 1, the hitherto proposed system shown generally at 1 is mounted in a lintel 2. Rotatably mounted within the lintel 2 is a horizontal shaft 3 to which is attached one end of a shutter 4 which consists of a plurality of slats 5 which are pivotally connected to their immediate neighbours in known manner so that the shutter 4 can be wound on to and off the shaft 3 by rotation of the shaft 3.

A guide disc 6 and another similar disc, not shown, at the other end of the shaft 3 serve to guide the shutter 4 as it is unwound from and, more particularly, wound on to the shaft 3.

The lintel 2 is positioned above a doorway 3, so that it rests on the internal wall 7 of a cavity wall of the building and one end of the shutter 4 can pass between the internal wall 7 and the assocuated external wall 8. A guide channel 9 mounted within the cavity 10 between the internal and external walls 7 and 8 serves to guide the shutter 4 within the cavity 10. Resilient seals 11 attached to the channel 9 serve to reduce the ingress of dirt and water into the channel 9 and to provide support for the shutter 4 within the channel 9.

Fig. 2 is a similar view to that of Fig. 1 but of a roller shutter system in accordance with the present invention. Because the systems of Figs 1 and 2 have a number of similarities, similar parts in the two Figs. have been given the same reference numerals.

Unlike the system of Fig. 1, the system of Fig. 2 has neither guide disc 6, but instead has two guide members 26, only one being shown. The two guide members 26, which are mirror images of each other, are positioned immediately above the guide channel 9, and so obscure some of the latter in Fig. 2, and they serve to guide the edges of the shutter 4 from the shaft 3 and into and out of the guide channel 9. In addition, the guide members 26 help to reduce the occurrence of so-called balooning which is the'effect observed when the shutter 4 unwinds from the shaft 3 but does not fall down in the guide channel 9, thereby resulting in a length of the shutter 4 becoming stuck within the lintel 2 and possibly jamming the system.

As can be seen more clearly from Figs. 3 and 4, the illustrated guide member 26 has an arcuate portion 27 and a generally flat vertical portion 28 over which the surface of an edge portion of the shutter 4 can slide when the shutter 4 is moved up or down. In addition, the guide member 26 has a generally flat vertical wall 29 which serves to restrain the shutter 4 from lateral movement as it is moved up or down. However, the wall 29 also has an outwardly and upwardly tapering portion 30 which serves to provide an increasingly wider gap between it and the opposing guide member 26 than exists between the central portions 31 of the walls 29 of the two guide members 26. The effect of this widening gap is in general to reduce the tendency of the shutter 4 to baloon above the guide channel 9 as is is unwound from the shaft 3.

A lower end portion 32 of the wall 29 is tapered as shown at 33 to facilitate its location in the top of the associated guide channel 9 this serving to guide the shutter 4 into the channel 9. In a similar manner to the portion 30, the lower end portion - 5 32 is also outwardly tapered, but in the opposite direction so that the gap between the two opposing guides 26 increases in a downward direction.

Claims

1. A roller shutter system comprising a shutter for closing an aperture in a building, actuator means for raising and lowering the shutter, and shutter guide means for guiding the shutter as it is raised or lowered by the actuator means, the guide means having a first portion with a curved surface for guiding an edge portion of the shutter in contact therewith from a substantially horizontal direction in which it is stored to a substantially vertical position when closing the aperture, and a second portion which is substantially vertical and serves to restrain lateral movement of the shutter when the shutter is raised or lowered.

2. A system according to cl-aim 1, wherein the said second portion of the shutter. 9,,:i-;de means has a section which extends above the curved surface:,-f the said first portion of the guide means.

3. A system according to cla-i-m 2, wherein the said section of the said second portion of the guide means which extends above the curved surface of the first portion of the guide means tapers away from the edge of the shutter

4. A roller shutter system substantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 2 to 4 of the accompanying drawings.