AU2012202837B2 - Concertina Door Arrangement - Google Patents

Abstract

A pivot assembly (50, 60, 70) for a concertina door is disclosed. The pivot assembly inter-connects two arms (31, 32) which intersect to form a V-shape of variable included angle. Each of the arms has a non-circular aperture (45, 145) therethrough. A washer (47) is provided for each aperture and has a co-axial non-circular sleeve (48) which extends from one side of the washer. The sleeves (48) are non-rotatably retained in the corresponding apertures (45, 145) and an axle (57) passes through the interior of the sleeves. This permits each arm (31, 32) and its associated washer to rotate relative to the axle and the other arm without the arms bearing on each other or the axle. As a consequence, there is rotation without wear. 17 Ft218 ry 2 FiaA3

Description

AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT ORIGINAL Name of Applicant(s): ACDC MOTORIZED SOLUTIONS PTY LTD Actual Inventor(s): Allan Raymond JONES Address for Service: FRASER OLD & SOHN Patent Attorneys PO Box 560 MILSONS POINT NSW 1565 Invention Title: CONCERTINA DOOR ARRANGEMENT Details of Associated Provisional Applications: 2011 901 819 Dated 16 May 2011 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: Field of the Invention The present invention relates to concertina doors which have traditionally been made from metal and which in the past were used for the doors of elevators or lifts. 5 Background Art Metal concertina or trellis doors have been used for elevators or lifts and, in addition, have also been used in various commercial premises particularly to provide security after hours in addition to, for example, a glass door. That is to say, a business 10 premises may be provided with a swinging glass door which when shut is able to be further secured by means of a metal concertina door which slides across the front of the closed glass door. The additional security is provided so that in the event that the glass should be broken, the doorway cannot be accessed because of the grille provided by the metal bars of the concertina door. 15 As indicated in Fig. 1, the prior art arrangement is to have steel links or arms 1, 2 which are riveted together by means of a brass rivet 3. A brass washer 4 (which is partially obscured in Fig. 1) is normally provided to complete the prior art pivoting assembly. 20 As a result of the construction of the prior art illustrated in Fig. 1, the steel of the arms 1, 2 does not bear upon steel but instead bears only upon brass. The movement of the steel on the brass provides a freely swinging joint and the brass, being softer, wears first. As a consequence, if necessary after several years as a maintenance action, the 25 brass rivet and washer can be replaced. The abovementioned arrangement suffers from a number of disadvantages. In particular, the steel of the links or arms 1, 2 is very heavy and yet if a lighter weight material such as aluminium is used, then the aluminium wears instead of the brass of 30 the rivet. In addition, the brass rivet to be finished in-situ must be manually paned using a ball pane hammer which is very time consuming and therefore expensive. 2 Genesis of the Invention The genesis of the present invention is a desire to provide a concertina door arrangement in which a wide variety of materials such as aluminium, stainless steel, brass, and the like, can be used for the links or arms and in which the pivot assemblies 5 which enable the arms to pivot relative to each other can be quickly and easily constructed in a manner so as to provide for a long wearing joint. Summary of the Invention In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a pivot 10 assembly for a concertina door, said assembly comprising at least two arms intersecting to form a V-shape of variable included angle, each of said arms having an aperture therethrough, and each of said apertures having an aperture alignment means comprising a flat on an interior periphery of said aperture; a corresponding washer for each said aperture, each said washer having a co-axial hollow sleeve extending from one side 15 thereof, the sleeve of each said washer being located in the aperture of the corresponding arm and having a sleeve alignment means comprising a mating flat on an exterior of said sleeve, the sleeve alignment means being engaged with said aperture alignment means to substantially prevent rotation of said sleeves relative to said apertures, said sleeves being longitudinally axially aligned; and, an axle means passing through said aligned sleeves and said apertures 20 whereby each said arm and its associated washer is able to rotate relative to said axle means and said arms do not bear on each other or said axle means. In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a concertina door including the abovementioned pivot assembly. 25 A method of fabricating a concertina door is also disclosed. Brief Description of the Drawings A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described, with reference to the 30 accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of two links or arms of a prior art concertina or trellis door, Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the door of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the height of the door being truncated, 35 Fig. 3 is a side view of the door of Fig. 2, 3 Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the bottom rail of the door of Fig. 2 taken along the line IV-IV of Fig. 2, Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line V-V of Fig. 2 and showing the lower channel in which the door slides, 5 Fig. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing the roller arrangement at the top of the peripheral bar, Fig. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing the roller arrangement at the top of every second carrier bar, Fig. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing the glide arrangement at the 10 top of every alternate carrier bar, Fig. 9 is a transverse cross-sectional view through the channel at the top of the door along the line IX-IX of Fig. 2 and showing the roller arrangement, Fig. 10 is an exploded perspective view showing the pivot assembly with glide mounted on the carrier rod, 15 Fig. 11 is an exploded perspective view showing the pivot assembly mounted on the carrier bar, and Fig. 12 is an exploded perspective view showing the pivot assembly mounted on the peripheral bar. 20 Detailed Description Turning now to Fig. 2, a concertina or trellis door 10 is illustrated which has an upper track 11, a lower track 12 and a laterally movable peripheral bar 13 which constitutes the movable front edge of the door. There is also an immovable peripheral bar (not illustrated) which constitutes the other side of the door and is securely mounted into 25 the door opening so as to be fixed. Also slidably mounted in the tracks 11, 12 are carrier bars 15 the lower ends of which are provided with a glide 26. Every alternate carrier bar 15 at its upper end is also provided with a glide 16 and the intermediate carrier bars 15 are provided with rollers 17. The upper end of the peripheral bar 13 is also provided with a roller 17. 30 Located intermediate each pair of the carrier bars 15 is one of a number of carrier rods 20 which do not extend to the full height of the door 10 between the upper track 11 and lower track 12. 4 The door 10 is also provided with two pantograph arrangements 22 each of which is formed from pairs of links 31, 32. The links 31, 32 are pivoted together at a pivot assembly. There are four different types of pivot assembly, namely a first pivot assembly 40 which is on the peripheral bar 13, a second assembly 70 on the carrier 5 rods 20, and a third pivot assembly 50 on the carrier bars 15. In addition, there is a fourth pivot assembly 60 mounted on a glider 61 which is slidably mounted on the carrier rods 20. It will be appreciated from Fig. 2 that if the peripheral bar 13 is moved to the left as 10 seen in Fig. 2, the gliders 61 and pivot assembly 60 slide down the carrier rods 20 thereby increasing the included angle between the links 31, 32 and extending the width of the door 10. This is brought about by increasing the spacing between the adjacent carrier bars 15 and carrier rods 20. Conversely, if the peripheral bar 13 is moved to the right as seen in Fig. 2, then the gliders 61 and pivot assemblies 60 move 15 upwardly on the carrier rods 20 and the spacing between the carrier rods 20 and carrier bars 15 is reduced, thereby decreasing the included angle between the links 31, 32 and reducing the width of the door 10. The overall arrangement of the abovementioned door 10 having been described, the 20 detail of the individual components that go to make up the door will now be described, initially with respect of Figs. 4 and 5. From Figs. 4 and 5 it will be seen that the lower track 12 comprises a U-shaped channel 24 which is secured to the ground or floor and in which is retained a slide channel 25 of approximately inverted W-configuration. A generally rectangular elongate plastic guide member 26 is 25 located in the lower end of each of the carrier bars 15 (and in the peripheral bar 13) and secured in position in relation to the bar by means of a rivet 27 which is preferably a pop-rivet. Turning now Fig. 6, at the upper end of the peripheral bar 13 is located a plastic 30 moulding 33 which has an aperture 34 which receives the shaft 35 of a roller assembly 36. The shaft 35 has a blind tapped opening in its lower end which receives a bolt 37 which secures the roller assembly 36 to the plastic moulding 33. The plastic moulding 33 is secured into the peripheral bar 13 by means of a rivet or grub screw 38. 5 Similarly, as seen in Fig. 7, every second carrier bar 15 is also provided with a plastic moulding 43 which again receives a roller assembly 36 in like manner to that illustrated in Fig. 6. The arrangement for the alternative carrier bars 15 is illustrated 5 in Fig. 8 where the glide 16 having a narrow protrusion 54 is received in the upper end of the carrier bar 15 and secured therein by means of a rivet or grub screw 38. Turning now to Fig. 9, it will be seen that the upper track 11 has a specific profile formed by an aluminium extrusion and is secured to the roof or ceiling 6 by means of 10 a fastener 7. Each of the roller assemblies 36 is slid into the open upper track 11 after being secured to the plastic mouldings 33, 43 but prior to interconnection of the roller assemblies 36 to the peripheral bar 13 and carrier bars 15. Thus the grub screws 38 complete the assembly after the roller assemblies 36 are located within the upper track 11. It will be apparent from Fig. 9 that the protrusion 54 of the glide 16 is sufficiently 15 narrow to pass within the opening 71 of the upper track 11. Turning now to Fig. 10, the pivot assembly 60 with its glider 61 mounted on the carrier rods 20 is illustrated. It will be seen that the links 31, 32 have an aperture 45 at each end. Each aperture 45 has a flat 46. A plastic washer 47 has a co-axial sleeve 20 48 extending from one side and the sleeve exterior includes a flat 49 which is complementary to the flat 46. The glider 61 has a through slot 62 which retains the glider 61 on the carrier rod 20. In addition, the glider 61 has a hollow cylinder 63 with an opening 64. The opening 25 64 includes at least one circular rim 65. A pin 56 having a shank 57 and a head 58 engages with the opening 64 after being passed through the apertures 45 and sleeves 48. The shank 57 has circular lips 59 which form a frictional fit with the circular rim 65 of the cylinder 63. 30 It will be apparent to those skilled in the mechanical arts that the washers 47 have their sleeves 48 retained in the apertures 45 of the links 31, 32 and the pin 57 is then driven home into the cylinder 63 so as to provide for the pivot assembly 60 to be securely connected to the glider 61. In addition, each of the links 31, 32 is able to pivot without bearing on the other link or on the cylinder 63. Instead, the washers 47 6 bear on the cylinder 63. The washers 47 and the glider 61 are preferably made from glass reinforced nylon and therefore provide an excellent bearing surface which is long wearing and self-lubricating. In addition, these components can be moulded to very high dimensional tolerances. 5 Turning now to Fig. 11, the pivot assembly 50 of the carrier bars 15 will now be described. The links 31, 32 are provided with centrally located apertures 145 which are the same as the apertures 45 except that they are in the middle of the link rather than being at the end of the link. Again two washers 47 are provided. Also the pin 56 10 is as before. A plug 51 has a head 52 and a cylinder 163 which is the same as the cylinder 63 but slightly more elongated. The cylinder 163 passes through a pair of circular apertures 55 in the carrier bar 15. As before, the pin 56 is received in the cylinder 163 thereby ensuring that the links 31, 32 are fixed relative to the washers 47 and that the washers rotate on the cylinder 163. 15 Turning now to Fig. 12, the pivot assembly 40 of the peripheral bar 13 will now be described. The links 31, 32 with the apertures 45 are as before. So too are the washers 47 and pin 56. The cylinder 63 is as before but is connected to a flange 41 of a support body 42 which is fixed to the peripheral bar 13. Preferably the support body 20 42 extends into and through the peripheral bar 13 as indicated by broken lines in Fig. 12. The operation of the pivot assemblies 40 is essentially the same as the operation of the pivot assemblies 50. Similarly, the operation of the pivot assemblies 70 (as seen in Fig. 2) is essentially the same as the operation of the pivot assemblies 40 or 50. 25 The foregoing describes only one embodiment of the present invention and modifications, obvious to those skilled in the art, can be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention. 30 For example, the bearing 47 used in conjunction with the flat side 49 results in a maintenance free and self-lubricating pivoting system. The use of these components also provides a rust free operation. These advantages can also be extended to the glider 61, the through slot 62, and the cylinders 63 and 163. '7 5088G-AU Assembly of the pivoting system is done by press fitting the pin 56 into its female counterpart components 42, 63 and 163. Accordingly a manufacture assembly method is disclosed. 5 The term "comprising" (and its grammatical variations) as used herein is used in the inclusive sense of "including" or "having" and not in the exclusive sense of "consisting only of'. The reference in this specification to any prior publication (or information derived from it), 10 or to any matter which is known, is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgment or admission or any form of suggestion that that prior publication (or information derived from it) or known matter forms part of the common general knowledge in the field of endeavour to which this specification relates. 8

Claims (12)

1. A pivot assembly for a concertina door, said assembly comprising: at least two arms intersecting to form a V-shape of variable included angle, each of said arms having an aperture therethrough, and each of said apertures having an aperture alignment means comprising a flat on an interior periphery of said aperture; a corresponding washer for each said aperture, each said washer having a co-axial hollow sleeve extending from one side thereof, the sleeve of each said washer being located in the aperture of the corresponding arm and having a sleeve alignment means comprising a mating flat on an exterior of said sleeve, the sleeve alignment means being engaged with said aperture alignment means to substantially prevent rotation of said sleeves relative to said apertures, said sleeves being longitudinally axially aligned; and, an axle means passing through said aligned sleeves and said apertures whereby each said arm and its associated washer is able to rotate relative to said axle means and said arms do not bear on each other or said axle means.

2. The assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein said axle means comprises a cylinder having a shoulder at one end and a longitudinally extending recess at the other end, said cylinder being retained in said sleeves; and a pin having a head and a shaft with said shaft received in said recess, whereby said assembly is constrained to lie between said shoulder and said head.

3. The assembly as claimed in claim 2 wherein said shoulder comprises a glide which is slidably retained on a carrier rod.

4. The assembly as claimed in claim 2 wherein said shoulder comprises a support flange secured to a peripheral bar.

5. The assembly as claimed in claim 2 wherein said shoulder comprises a head of a plug rotatably mounted in a carrier bar. 9 H: stp\lnterwoven\NRPortbl\DCC\STP\8289208_1docx-24/08/2015

6. The assembly as claimed in claims 4 or 5 wherein said peripheral bar or said carrier bar is hollow.

7. A pivot assembly substantially as herein described with reference to any one of Figs. 10 to 12 of the drawings.

8. A concertina door including at least one pivot assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. A concertina door as claimed in claim 8 and comprising a stationary peripheral bar, a laterally movable peripheral bar, at least one sub-assembly located between said peripheral bars, each of said sub-assemblies comprising a pair of laterally movable carrier rods located one to either side of a laterally movable carrier bar slidably mounted in a top rail above said door and a bottom rail below said door, a pair of arms centrally pivotally mounted on said carrier bar, having one corresponding end each pivotally mounted one on each said carrier rods and having the other corresponding end each pivotally mounted on a glide slidably mounted on the corresponding carrier rod.

10. A concertina door substantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 2-12 of the drawings.

11. A method of fabricating a concertina door, said method being substantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 2-12 of the drawings.

12. A method of assembling a concertina door, said method being substantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 2-12 of the drawings. 10