US3426480A - Door assembly - Google Patents

Description

E. T. DZAMBA DOOR ASSEMBLY Feb. 11, 1969 Sheet riginal Filed Dec. 2, 1965 Feb. 11, 1969 s. 'r DZAMBA 3,426,480

DOOR AS SEMBLY Feb. 11., 1969 E; T. DZAMBA poon ASSEMBLY Sheet Original Filed Dec. 2. 1965 Lawn United States Patent 3,426,480 DOOR ASSEMBLY Edward T. Dzamba, New Milford, N.J., assignor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Continuation of application Ser. No. 511,158, Dec. 2, 1965. This application July 7, 1967, Ser. No. 651,947 US. Cl. 49-410 9 Claims Int. Cl. E0511 13/02; B66b 13/08 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A track for guiding rollers is formed by an elongated, elastic member having a U-shaped section. This member is snapped on the edge of a header. Lateral guiding for a reciprocating panel is provided by a roller assembly which enters an elongated box through a side slot.

This is a continuation of my application, Ser. No. 511,158, filed Dec. 2, 1965, and entitled Door Assembly, now abandoned.

This invention relates to the art of movable or slidable doors and has particular relationship to slidable doors used in elevator installations or the like. In this application, invention is described as embodied in the movable doors of elevator hatches but the principles of this invention are also applicable to the doors of elevator cars and the doors of such cars are Within the scope of this invention.

The doors of elevator hatches are supported from the building structure bounding the elevator shaft. Elevators in modern buildings are operated frequently, particularly during the daytime, and the hatch doors are frequently opened and reclosed. The noise of the opening and reclosing of the door is disturbing to the occupants of the building and it is desirable that this noise be minimized. -It is an object of this invention to provide low-cost apparatus which shall effectively suppress the noise produced by the opening and reclosing of the hatch doors of an elevator installation.

In accordance with the teachings of the prior art the moving panels of the hatch doors of an elevator are suspended on a track of a material such as steel by rollers of, or having a running surface lined with, a composition which has a tendency to snub the noise of the rollers as they move along the track, for example, of long-chain polymeric amides (nylon). While the use of hatch doors having panels so suspended has given moderate satisfaction, it has been found that in many cases the noise is not effectively snubbed by the composition rollers and tends to produce disturbances in the building in which the elevator is installed. In addition, the composition rollers wear and their replacement demands that the elevator be out of service for substantial time intervals. The composition roller suspension is also relatively costly.

It is accordingly an object of this invention to overcome the above-described disadvantages of the prior art and to provide a low-cost door assembly, including a low-cost door suspension system for the hatch of an elevator or elevator car or the like, in which the suspension of the movable panel shall effectively snub the noise of opening and reclosing of the door and shall be of relatively low-cost, readily replaceable material and construction.

Another aspect of this invention involves the lower guide of the hatch door. The hatch door is guided at its lower end by a gib. In accordance with the teachings of the prior art, the gib includes an arm below the door which slides in a groove in the fluted or ornamented approach in the floor to the door. The groove is generally parallel to the door and constitutes an opening in the 3,426,480 Patented Feb. 11, 1969 ICC floor. This prior art structure has a disadvantage that foreign matter accumulates in the groove. Partly this matter is deposited from the atmosphere of the building and is injected in the groove by or from the shoes of the people who pass over the fluted approach. At times children inject paper and chewing gum in the groove. Also passengers entering or leaving a cab may trip in the groove and fall or the heel of a womens shoe may be entrapped in the groove. The operation of the gib and the door is accordingly seriously impeded.

It is an object of this invention to overcome the abovedescribed difiiculties and to provide a slidable door assembly including a suspension system for an elevator hatch 0r elevator car or the like which shall not include a track open to the injection of foreign matter and physical hazards as described above.

In accordance with an aspect of this invention, an elevator-hatch door is provided whose movable panel is suspended by a roller from a track of composition such as a long chain polymeric amide (nylon) or the like. The material should preferably be extrudable. The track is in the form of a U-shaped strip which is disposed inverted, Without being bolted or otherwise fastened, on an upwardly projecting edge of the header from which the door is suspended. The composition strip is composed of an elastic material which may be readily snapped onto the upwardly projecting edge of the header. When the track is to be replaced the U-shaped composition strip is removed from the upwardly projecting edge and replaced by another one which may also be snapped on. The strip is resilient and in addition the material of which it is composed has the property of absorbing vibrations so that the sounds of the opening and closing of the door are effectively suppressed. The suspending rollers may be composed of steel or like low-cost material. The door is thus of relatively low cost.

In accordance with another aspect of this invention, the gib track instead of being an open groove in the ornamented approach to the elevator car is of generally boxlike structure having a lateral opening on the side facing the shaft. The gib includes rollers supported on a bracket which is bent at right angles permitting the rollers to be inserted into the lateral opening. The rollers engage and run on the internal side walls of the box. The opening in the box faces the elevator-shaft side of the door so that foreign matter is not injected. into this opening by the shoes of people approaching the car and it is inaccessible to children or mischievous people who might have an impulse to insert chewing gum or paper into the opening and also eliminates the hazards generally associated with a groove or opening in the floor over which people may fall or in which they may be caught.

For a better understanding of this invention both as to its organization and as to its method of operation, together with additional objects and adavntages thereof, reference is made to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view in perspective showing a sliding door for an elevator hatchway in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in front elevation of a hatchway door in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 3 is a view in section taken along line III-III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view in the end elevation, contracted, of the door shown in FIGURE 1 with certain parts enlarged for clarity;

FIG. 5 is a view in top elevation showing the ornamented approach to the elevator car and the gib for guiding the lower portion of the door; and

FIG. 6 is a view in front elevation of the ornamented approach to the elevator car shown in FIG. 5.

The apparatus shown in the drawings includes an entrance 11 for a hatchway in an elevator shaft 13 having an opening framed by door-jambs or bucks 15 and the floor and ceiling structures 17 and 19 respectively of the room into which the hatchway opens. The opening is closed by movable panels 21. At their upper ends the panels 21 are movable on rollers 22 on a track 23 and at the lower ends the panels are guided in a track 25 by a gib 27.

The track 23 includes an inverted U-shaped strip 31 of a resilient composition which is snapped onto the up wardly projecting edge 33 of a header 35. The header is formed of sheet steel bent into a form having the cross section of a I with a long arm bent from the top of the stem.

The header 35 is supported from the guide rails 41 of the elevator cars which are in the shaft 13. The support of the header 35 includes a bracket 43 formed of heavy, typically /8" diameter, steel rod secured to the rail 41 at one end to an angle bracket 45 secured to the header 35 at the other end.

When the strip 31 is removed from the support 33 the inner distance between its legs 51 is smaller than the thickness of the support 33. The strip 31 may be snapped into place on the support and in this position the support 33 is firmly engaged by the legs of the strip and no additional securing screws or bolts is required. When the strip 31 is to be replaced it is slipped from the support 33 and another strip is snapped on.

Each roller 22 is grooved and in its groove rides on the resilient composition track 31. Each roller 22 is rotatably supported on a right-angle bracket 61 which is secured to the top of the corresponding panel 21. Near its lower end each bracket 61 carries a second roller 63 which engages the lower part of the adjacent lower face of the support 33 and moves along this lower face as the panels 21 are moved and the roller 22 moves along the track 31. The panels 21 are actuated to open and reclose by a steel cable 71 which is typically of A; inch diameter and which engages the brackets 61 and is driven from the opening and reclosing control (not shown) in the car. This cable relates the doors to each other so that the opening or closing force may be applied only one door.

The lower ends of the panels 21 are guided by the track 25 which has the form of an elongated box open at the ends extending along the path along the entrance 11. This box 25 is joined by welding or the like to a second box 81 of like construction which is supported from a bracket 83 connected to the floor of the building adjacent the hatch. The track box 25 has a slot 91 along its length which faces inwardly towards the hatch. The boxes are covered by the ornamented floor strip 93 which constitutes the entrance to the car. Each gib 27 includes a bracket 101 secured to a panel 21. The brackets 101 are of generally rectangular form including a reentrant strip 103 which extends into the slot 91 in the track 25. This reentrant strip carries rotatably a plurality of rollers 105 and 107 which extend upwardly and engage the inner surface of the upper portion of the track 25. The rollers 105 connected to each bracket which engage one side of the track 25 are staggered with respect to the roller 107 which engages the other side.

The gib 27 consisting of the rollers 105, 107 which engage the inner surface of the track 25 effectively guide the movable panels 21 of the door. Since the slot 91 in the track enclosure does not move in a vertical direction, foreign matter does not penertate into the slot and the slot 91 presents no hazard and no difliculty is at any time involved in operating the door.

While a preferred embodiment of this invention has been disclosed herein many modifications thereof are feasible, this invention then is not to be restricted except insofar as is necessitated by the spirit of the prior art.

I claim:

1. A unit having relatively movable parts and comprising a traveling means having a roller mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis, a track assembly including a resilient track of a plastic providing a resilient running surface on which said roller travels, said track having a U-shaped cross-section with the legs of the U extending downwardly from the web forming the running surface, a supporting member having an elongated edge removably positioned between thex legs of said U-shaped cross-section, said elongated edge having a horizontal upper surface abutting said web, said legs being self-biased to engage firmly the elongated edge, whereby said track may be slipped from the supporting member and maybe snapped on the supporting member to be held firmly on the edge by the resilience of the track, said track when removed from the elongated edge having an. inner distance between said legs smaller than the thickness of the elongated edge.

2. A unit as claimed in claim 1 wherein the portion of said edge received within said track has a substantially rectangular cross-section.

3. A unit as claimed in claim 1 comprising a structure defining a door opening, said traveling means comprising door panel means slidable between open and closed positions relative to said opening and a door hanger located at the upper end of said door panel means and mounting said roller for rotation, said track extending horizontally across the upper end of the door opening to present said running surface facing upwardly for supporting the roller and for guiding the panel means between open and closed positions.

4. A door assembly as claimed in claim 3 wherein said panel means is in a vertical plane, said track assembly including a header of sheet metal having a verticallydisposed web and having a flange extending from the bottom of said web to provide said elongated edge located horizontally above the panel means and projecting upwardly in a plane parallel to and spaced from the web, and up-thrust means mounted on said traveling means below said flange for engaging said flange to limit upward movement of the traveling means.

5. A unit having relatively movable parts and comprising a traveling means having a roller mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis, a track assembly including a resilient track of a plastic providing a resilient running surface on which said roller travels, said track having a U-shaped cross-section with the legs of the U extending downwardly from the running surface, a supporting member having an elongated edge removably positioned between the legs of said U-shaped cross-section, said legs being self-biased to engage firmly the elongated edge, whereby said track may be slipped from the supporting member and may be snapped on the supporting member to be held firmly on the edge by the resilience of the track, wherein the portion of said edge received within said track has a substantially rectangular cross-section, a structure defining a door opening, said traveling means comprising door panel means slidable between open and closed positions relative to said opening and a door hanger located at the upper end of said door panel means and mounting said roller for rotation, said track extending horizontally across the upper end of the door opening to present said running surface facing upwardly for supporting the roller and for guiding the panel means between open and closed positions, wherein said panel means is in a vertical plane, said track assembly including a header of sheet metal having a verticallydisposed web and having a flange extending from the bottom of said web to provide said elongated edge located horizontally above the panel means and projecting upwardly in a plane parallel to and spaced from the web, and up-thrust means mounted on said traveling means below said flange for engaging said flange to limit upward movement of the traveling means, wherein said structure comprises a first floor section having a horizontal floor strip located beneath the panel means, a second floor section having a position wherein the floor sections are in the same plane and adjacent each other, one of said floor sections comprising a vehicle platform and the other floor section comprising part of the floor of a building, a bracket secured to said panel and extending into the space between the floor sections when such floor sections are in the same plane, roller means positioned below the plane of the surface of said first floor section and mounted on said bracket for rotation about a vertical axis, and horizontally-extending track means for limiting movement of the last-named roller means transverse to the plane of said panel means, said track means being located below the plane of the surface of said first floor section.

6. A door assembly as claimed in claim 5 wherein said last-named roller means comprises a pair of rollers each disposed for independent rotation about a vertical axis said track means including a first track engaging a first one of said rollers to limit movement of the panel means in a first direction transverse to the plane of the panel means, said track means including a second track engaging a second one of said rollers to limit movement of the panel means in a direction opposite to said first direction.

7. A sliding door assembly comprising a structure defining a door opening, a panel means slidable between open and closed positions across said opening, said structure comprising a first floor section, a horizontal floor strip located beneath the panel means and secured to the floor section, a second floor section having a position ,wlherein the floor sections are in the same plane one of said floor sections comprising a platform of a vehicle and the other floor section comprising part of the floor of a building, a bracket secured to said panel and extending into the space between the floor strip and said second floor section when such floor sections are in the same plane, roller means positioned below the plane of the surface of said floor strip and mounted on said bracket for rotation about a vertical axis, and horizontally-extending track means secured to said floor strip for limiting movement of the last-named roller means transverse to the plane of said panel means, said track means being located below the plane of the surface of said floor strip.

8. A door assembly as claimed in claim 7 wherein said roller means comprises a pair of rollers each disposed for independent rotation about a vertical axis said track means including a first track engaging a first one of said rollers to limit movement of the panel means in a first direction transverse to the plane of the panel means, said track means including a second track engaging a second one of said rollers to limit movement of the panel means in a direction opposite to said first direction, said vehicle comprising an elevator car movable in a shaft, said panel means separating the interior of the elevator car from the space outside of the car through which a prospective passenger approaches the car, said bracket being on the shaft side of said panel means.

9. A door assembly as claimed. in claim 8 wherein said track means comprises an elongated first box having one vertical side providing said first track and having a second vertical side providing said. second track, a second elongated box positioned along side the first box and secured thereto, the upper faces of said boxes abutting the lower face of the floor strip.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 243,187 6/1881 Wykofi 187-56 2,638,189 5/1953 Watkins 49412 XR 2,913,046 11/1959 Sharp et a1 49425 XR 3,105,272 10/1963 Tucker 49411 3,327,428 6/ 1967 Horton et a1. 49-409 XR 3,110,066 11/1963 Ward et a1. 52-469 KENNETH DOWNEY, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 187-56

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