US3229751A

US3229751A - Folding door structure

Info

Publication number: US3229751A
Application number: US344027A
Authority: US
Inventors: Moorer Clarence Alan
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1964-02-11
Filing date: 1964-02-11
Publication date: 1966-01-18
Anticipated expiration: 1983-01-18

Description

Jan. 18, 1966 A. MOORER FOLDING DOOR STRUCTURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 11, 1964 INVENTOR C A MOORE R BY W /Mn'm/ Fig./

ATTORNEYS Jan. 18, 1966 c. A. MOORER FOLDING DOOR STRUCTURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 11, 1964 INVENTOR c. A MOORER ATTORNEYj Ja ui. 18, 1966 c. A. MOORER 3,229,751

FOLDING DOOR S TRUCTURE Filed Feb. 11, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 5' INVENTOR C. A.MOORER BYW ATTORNEYS United States Patent M 3,229,751 FOLDING DOOR STRUCTURE Clarence Alan Moorer, 4423 Dixie Drive, Jackson, Miss. Filed Feb. 11, 1964, Ser. No. 344,027 6 Claims. (Cl. 160-185) This invention relates to a folding door, and particularly one of the type formed of vertically elongated panels folded accordion-like at one side of the door opening.

In the usual type of folding door the adjacent panels are held together in hinging relation by means of flexible hinge members secured to the longitudinal edges of'the panels. This member is difficult to secure in place and is hard to conceal and tends to mar the beauty of the door since it must be made of different material from the material of the panels.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a folding door which is primarily made of wood or other substantially rigid material and wherein the alternately arranged panels and hinge bearing rails are made of the same material, and the flexible hinge member is eliminated.

Another object of the invention is to employ novel hinge means at the ends of the panels which hold the longitudinal edges of adjacent panels in socket bearing relation to the bearing rails.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a folding door which is easy to install and easy to operate, and wherein the door is suspended from a track along the head of the door frame by means of guided ball bearing rollers.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a novel sealing means along the edges of the panels at the socket bearing joints and at the bottom and top of the door to reduce the sound transmission and prevent loss of heat and air conditioning loss where air conditioning is provided.

A still further object of this invention is toform a folding door of sturdy construction, well coordinated in movement and one that can be fabricated, if desired, from extrusions of aluminum, magesium or other metals or plastics.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become more apparent upon reference to the following specification, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of a folding door assembly embodying the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view of the door structure in its folded or open position, taken on line 33 of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of one form of trolley member used in the door structure;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged, partly sectional fragmentary view of the trolley supporting arrangement of the present invention;

FIGURE 6 is a plan view of the toggle coordinator taken on line 66 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 7 is an exploded plan view of the sturdy hinge construction employed at each end of the paneled door;

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged sectional view of the hinging socket joint along the line 8-8 of FIGURE 1, showing the preferred form of sealing means;

FIGURE 9 is a view similar to FIGURE 8, but showing a modified form of sealing means;

FIGURE 10 is an exploded view of FIGURE 9;

FIGURE 11 is a perspective view of an end of a door panel showing the sealing member applied thereto;

3,229,751 Patented Jan. 18, 1966 FIGURE 12 is a transverse section of FIGURE 11, taken on the line 1212, showing the insulating member that may be employed on the top and bottom of the panel members;

FIGURE 13 is a front view of the trolley shown in FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 14 is an enlarged sectional view of a modified hinge joint showing an opening stop.

Referring to the drawings somewhat more in detail, FIGURE 1 illustrates the folding door structure of the present invention mounted in its operative position within a doorway defined by a doorway jamb frame 14. The door strucutre includes a lead post 15 at one end thereof and a jamb post 16 at the other end thereof fixedly attached in overlying parallel relation to a portion of the door jamb structure 17. Intermediate the

posts

15 and 16 are a plurality of hingedly related panel sections including from right to left, as viewed in FIGURE 1, a half panel 18,

full panels

20, 21, 22 and 23, and a half panel 19. The door structure as illustrated in its closed condition extends across the doorway with the lead posts 15 thereof in sealing abutment with a lead post jamb 24. The lead post 15 carries a handle of any suit able type.

As shown in FIGURES l and 2 the panels 18 to 23 are mounted to have hinging relation to one another about cylindrical bearing rails 25. The longitudinal edges of the adjacent panels have concave cylindrical surfaces which receive the respective cylindrical rails in socketed hinging relation. These panels and rails are held in socketed hinged relation by means of rigid hinge elements secured at the ends of the panels and rails.

As shown in FIGURES 1 and 7, these rigid hinge elements are made up of e.g. three superposed layers of binge leaves or plates 26. Certain leaves or plates of each layer have circular extensions 27 at each end and others have concave bearing surfaces 28 at each end. The combined layers have circular extensions overlapping and superposed over the end of each rail and axially pivoted thereto. The leaves or plates are further secured to the ends of the panels wherein the panels are held in fixed position relative to the hinged leaves and are in fixed slide socket bearing relation to the respective rails.

Referring again to FIGURES 1 and 2, the lead post 15 is supported by a pair of trolleys or wheels 29 through a pair of hanger members 30. Since these trolleys are maintained in spaced parallel relation by means of the track housing 39, this panel section 15 is held against pivotal movement about its longitudinal axis during operation of the door structure. The manner in which the lead post 15 is attached to the trolley 29 is not described in detail for the reason that any suitable means may be utilized whereby this panel section is supported for nonpivotal movement during operation of the door structure.

As shown in FIGURES l, 2 and 3, 5 and 6, the diameter of thte cylindrical rails is each substantially twice the thickness of the panels. Also the full panels 20 through 23 are supported by a trolley arrangement which in each instance utilizes a hanger member 31 and trolley. The trolleys or wheels are substantially of the same diameter as the rails and are arranged for abutting relation in the fully contracted condition of the door structure, FIGURE 3. Each hanger member 31 and one of the hanger members 30 is pivotably secured to a cross link connection of a toggle 32 shown in FIGURES 1, 5 and this toggle member coordinates the movement of all the panels in unison.

The panels are designed to bring about a seal between the longitudinal edges of each panel and the cylindrical rail. The concaved edge of the panel is provided with a groove running longitudinally thereof, as shown in FIG- URE 8. Within the groove is positioned a sealing means preferably a hollow resilient tube 33 which projects slightly from the curved surface of the panel and bears against the cylindrical surface of the rails thereby sealing the joint therebetween. An alternative form .is shown in F IG- URES 9 and 10 wherein the sealing means is a grooved resilient rod 34 which is pressed outwardly by a spring 35'.

As shown in FIGURES 11 and 12, the sealing means on the ends of the door may comprise a member 35 U- shaped in cross section, which carries parallel projecting brushes 37 which tend to sound insulate the cracks above and below the door.

As shown in FIGURES 4 and 13, the front trolley may include an additional guide roller 38 which rotates on a vertical axis and contacts the opposite inwardly facing Walls of the closure 39 and guides the lead panel in a smooth undeviating path.

As previously described, the hinge leaves 26 shown in FIGURE 7, have circular extensions which overlap the end of the respective rails. These circular extensions each has the same diameter as the rails and have a central opening through which a pintle-like member 40 extends and is axially and fixedly secured to the end of the rail. The circular extensions may carry cooperating stops 41 (FIG. 14) which prevent the hinge elements from opening to a full 180 relation with each other.

It will thus be understood that it is desired to comprehend within the purview of this invention various changes in the structure of the hinge. While in the preferred embodiment three leaves are superposed as forming the hinge, it should be understood that the invention is not to be limited to these precise details since the number of superposed leaves is not critical.

While the invention has been shown and illustrated in its preferred embodiments, it will be understood that this invention is susceptible to modification in order to adapt it to diiferent usages and conditions, and accordingly, it is desired to comprehent such modifications within this invention as may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A folding door comprising a series of panels hinged- 1y fitted to each other in edge-to-edge relation by means of a rail with only a single cylindrical surface between every two adjacent panels, pintle means axially secured to the end of said rail, said rail being of the same length as the adjacent panels, said panels having concave cylindrical surfaces adjacent said rail and platelike hinge elements secured to the end faces of the panels and having their adjacent endsoverlappin-g and pivotally connected about said pintle means in alignment with the central axis of said cylindrical surface.

2. The folding door of claim 1, wherein the cylindrical surface of the rail has a diameter equal to at least twice the thickness of an adjacent panel and the latters cylindrical bearing surface fitting against the cylindrical surface of the rail with freedom for relative hinging movement.

3. The folding door of claim 1, in combination with an upright pin mounted centrally on one of the panels, a trackway above said panels and means on the upper end of the pin for suspending it'from and guiding it along the trackway.

4. The folding door of claim 1, in combination with an upright pin mounted centrally on each of a plurality of said panels, a trackway above said panels from which the pins and panels are suspended and along which they are guided, and a lazy tongs whose central pivots are coaxial with the pins.

5. The folding door of claim 2, wherein the central 'axis of the cylindrical bearing surface of the rail is offset from the medial plane of the panel sufficiently to be substantially coplanar with a face of the panel.

6. The folding door of claim 3, in combination with a half panel connecting one end of the door to a jamb post, a half panel connecting the other end of the door to a lead post, and ahanger member and trolley for suspending the lead post from the trackway and guiding it along the latter.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 543,906 8/1895 Spaulding -229 2,307,560 1/ 1943 Apel 160229 X 2,553,637 5/1951 De Camp. 2,717,0'33 9/1955 Breslow et al 160-199 X 2,867,841 1/1959 B-ald'auf 16140 X 2,959,220 11/ 1960 Latham 160199 3,033,283 5/ 1962 J orgensen 160199 X 3,073,381 1/1963 Burmeister 160-199 X 3,131,753 5/1'964 Dixon 160-199'X 3,131,754 5/1964 Merrill 160183 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,018,067 12/1952 France.

586,018 12/1958 Italy.

HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner.

REINALDO P. MACHADO, Examiner.

D. L. TAYLOR, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

1. A FOLDING DOOR COMPRISING A SERIES OF PANELS HINGEDLY FITTED TO EACH OTHER IN EDGE-TO-EDGE RELATION BY MEANS OF A RAIL WITH ONLY A SINGLE CYLINDRICAL SURFACE BETWEEN EVERY TWO ADJACENT PANELS, PINTLE MEANS AXIALLY SECURED TO THE END OF SAID RAIL, SAID RAIL BEING OF THE SAME LENGTH AS THE ADJACENT PANELS, SAID PANELS HAVING CONCAVE CYLINDRICAL SURFACES ADJACENT SAID RAIL AND PLATELIKE HINGE ELEMENTS SECURED TO THE END FACES OF THE PANELS AND HAVING THEIR ADJACENT ENDS OVERLAPPING AND PIVOTALLY CONNECTED