GB2189285A - Shutters - Google Patents

Abstract

A rolling shutter comprises a plurality of panels (1) supported and connected pivotably together on a plurality of lateral rods (10), the rods passing through cylindrical bores (5) in rod-receiving tubes (4) along the upper and lower edges of the panels (1). The tubes (4) extend only partially along the edges of the panels (1) so as to be able to overlap and complement the tubes (4) on adjacent similar panels (1) and receive the same rod (10). By using transparent panels it is possible to provide a rolling shutter that is useful for display or preventing ingress of small objects. Aluminium links (15) extend between the rods (10) so that the links and rods may form a self-supporting grille. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Shutters and elementstherefor The present invention relates to shutters and in particular to rolling protective shutters.

Such shutters, hereinafter referred to as rolling shutters, are commonly manufactured as separate strips or laths which are subsequentlyjoined together along their lengths to form a protective sheet, pivotable at the lath junctions so that the shutter may be easily rolled up or unrolled. It is possible to provide "windows" in rolling shutters by the inclusion of grilles, essentially arrays of rods and interconnecting metal strips leaving voids for viewing through. Such windows while useful for display purposes leave protection incomplete since despite preventing the entray of large objects it is still possible to pass smaller objects through the grille.

The present invention provides a rolling shutter of a different structure. The protective sheet is made up of a plurality of panels supported on a plurality of laterally extending rods (It will be understood that "laterally" as used herein means only generally parallel to the axis of rolling of the shutter; the rods may of course be vertical, horizontal or at any other convenient alignment). Each panel has pivot-defining members extending lengthwise on opposite edges ofthe panel element. The pivot defining members include on both those edges, elements for receiving the rods by which the panel is supported. The rod receiving elements extend along only part of the panel length so that where for example a rod emerges from a rod receiving element on the upper edge of one panel it may engage a rod receiving element on the lower edge of another.In order to facilitate this and to allow smooth pivoting the edges of the panels are made complementary to each other along their lengths.

The rod-receiving elements may be for example bored cylinders through which a supporting rod is able to penetrate, or arcuate channels which engage the rod and extend around the rod for more than half its circumference, thereby holding it in place mechanically; in this latter case so as to allow smooth pivoting offirst and second panels about a common rod, the mouth ofthechannel should run along the side of the panel element.

Preferably each laterally extending panel edge has a plurality of rod-receiving elements spaced along the edge.

Each rod supports panels that are further supported by one of the adjacent rods. The panels may be fitted togetherto leave no gaps in the sheet so formed, generally with a plurality of panels disposed along each rod.

Such an arrangement in which the shutter elements do not support each other protects the shutter as a whole from damage to one of its parts.

Unlike a broken lath of the prior art type, a broken or worn panel would not prevent the shutterfrom functioning. The shutter panels can then be replaced as is convenient.

Afurther advantage comes from the structure of the panelswhich owing to theirsimplicity maybe moulded from plastics to provide a cheap and lightweight shutter.

An irnportantfeature of the present invention is the possibility of providing a solid window in the shutter. Panels as defined and made of transparent material such as shatterproof plastics protect e.g.

goods on display in shop fronts, prevent access even of small articles and allowclearvisibilityofthe goods. The shutter may be made wholly or partly of such transparent panels.

To prevent the rods being forced apart, elements which are strong in tension may link between the rods, e.g. metal links penetrated at each end by the respective rods, and fitting in spaces between the panels.

The invention also embraces panels having rod-receiving elements as described above so that they can be used in rolling shutters as described above, the panels optionally being of e.g.

transparent plastics material.

It is possible to connect these panelled shutters to conventional lath shutters in orderfor example that existing shutter locks may be used. This connection may be provided by a connecting element which, supported on a rod, is able to grip the lath shutter at one of its edges and the panelled shutter at the other.

Preferably the junction of the connecting element with either or both of the lath or the panelled shutter is hingeable or, alternatively, the connecting element itself has a hingeable portion.

Particular embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a face view of a panel; Figure2 is a section on the line Y-Y of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a face view of part of a shutter formed by an array ofthe panels of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a sectional view of engaging panels; FigureS is a perspective view of a tensile linking element; Figure 6is a face view of part of a rolling shutter, showing an alternative panel design; Figure 7 is a sectional view of a panel showing alternative rod-receiving elements, and Figure 8 is a sectional view of a connecting element connecting a panelled shutterto a lath shutter.

Figures 1 and 2 illustrate a single panel 1 formed as a one-piece whole from e.g. clear polycarbonate plastic and comprising a flat rectangular central sheet 2 having four rod-receiving elements 3 provided along each of its longer, laterally-extending edges. Each ofthe rod-receiving elements3 comprises a cylindrical tube 4 projecting from the edge ofthe central sheet 2 and having a cylindrical bore 5, the axes of the cylinders being parallel with the edges of the sheet 2 and aligned with the axes of the other rod-receiving elements along the respective edge. The four tubes 4 on each edge are spaced along the edge and staggered relative to the fourtubes 4 on the opposite edge, such that the panel 1 as a whole has twofold rotational symmetry about its central point.The lengths of the tubes 4 and the spaces between them are substantially but not entirely regular; in particular the central spaces 6 are ratherwiderthanthose towards the ends of the panel 1,forreasonsthatwill be explained in more detail below. The combined length oftubes 4 along each side of the panel 1 is slightly less than halfthe length of the panel. Also shown in Figure 1 is the manner in which straight rods 10 may be fitted through the bores 5 of the tu bes 4 along each laterally-extending edge ofthe panel 1.

Fig u re 3 shows pa rt of a rolling shutter made by forming an array of panels 1 in a "brickbond" pattern. The panels 1 are all arranged with their laterally-extending edges parallel, and the rod receiving tubes 4 on the edges of adjacent panels 1 overlappedsothattheir bores 5 are brought into alignmentto receive rods 10 which extend across the shutter. Each panel 1 is supported by two adjacent rods 10 of a series of parallel rods 10 spaced regularly up and down the shutter, and is able to pivotaboutthe rods 10 relative to the neighbouring series of panels above and below it in the shutter.

The manner of this pivoting can be seen in Figure4 which shows in section two engaged panels 1,1' with a rod 10 passing through their interlinked tubes 4. The panels 1 are supported bythe rod 10 and are free to pivot relatively as shown by arrows A and A'.

Also visible in Figures 2 and 4 are thickened portions 12 extending along the panel edges,forming thickened necks at the attachments of the tubes 4 and flanges along the spaces between them. The portions 12 of adjacent panels 1 can abut to prevent excessive relative rotation of the panels, while also helping to prevent ingress of e.g. rain water between them when the shutter is extended flat.

Figures 1,3 and 5 also show tensile links 1 5which in the assembled shutter extend between adjacent rods 10 along narrow spaces between laterally adjacent panels 1. The links 15 serve to supportthe array of parallel rods 10, particularly in cases where the panels 1 are made from material that is poor in tension. Each link 15 comprises a flat strip of a tensile material, such as aluminium, provided with circular holes 16, 17 at its rounded ends. The separation of the holes 16,17 corresponds substantially to the separation across the panels 1 of the rod-receiving tubes 4. However it is preferred thatthe panels 1 do not supportthe lateral rods 10, so that breakage or wear to one or a few of the panels will not effectthe integrity ofthe shutter as a whole.Therefore the diameter of the holes 16,17 in the ends of the link 5 is in this embodiment slightly smaller than the diameter of the bores 5 provided in the rod-receiving tubes 4 on the panels 1. The spaces between the panels 1 in each lateral row correspond in width to the difference between the length of the panel and the combined lengths of all its tubes 4. Thus to accommodate the tensile links 15 in the assembly this difference must be not less than the thickness of the links. In the illustrated arrangementthe end of each link 15 is accommodated, together with a shorter end-tube 4 of a laterally adjacent panel 1, in the ratherwider central space 6 between the central tubes 4 on a panel to which it is pivoted by a rod 10.

Thus in the shutter each panel 1 is pivoted at both of its edges, so that an array of the panels supported on a number of rods to form a shutter can be rolled up and unrolled with ease.

Figue 6 shows part of a shutter constructed using panels 20 having an alternative layoutforthe rod-receiving elements along their laterally-extending edges. There is an array of parallel rods 10 extending laterally and tensile connecting links 15 connecting these transversely as in the shutter described above. However each laterally-extending panel edge has only one bored tube 4for receiving a rod 10, the tube 4 extending from one end of the panel 20 for nearly half its length.

In some ways this design provides a simpler panel, although the support for each panel is not so uniform along its length.

Figure 7 shows a section through a panel 30, taken similarly to that of Figure 2 and illustrating another possibilityforthe rod-receiving elements along the panel edges. Here these comprise arcuate or C-section channels 31 extending along the panel edges, with the mouth of the C opening sideways away from the plane of the panel 30. The channel 31 arcs for more than half a circumference so that a rod may be securely retained in it; apart from this feature the panel may otherwise be the same as those described above.

It is of course not necessary that the panels be of transparent material; transparent panels need not be used at all, or may be used in isolated patches of one or more panels to provide windows in an otherwise opaque shutter.

Furthermore a panelled shutter as described above may be connected to a conventional lath shutter, such as that shown in our earlier patent GB 2 011 512. Forthis purpose a connecting element needs to be provided between the two shutter, and an example of such an element is shown in section in Figure 8.

The connecting element 32 consists of two oppositelyfacing channels 33,34 defined by two parallel flats 35,36 joined by a perpendicular central flat 37 extending between their mid portions. The element 32 is supported on a rod 10 and is preferably the same length as a panel of the shutter so thatthe rod 10 may be supported by a tensile link (15 not shown here) joined to the other rods 10 ofthe panelled shutter.

Inwardly projecting flanges 38 restrict the mouth of the channel 34 facing upwardly in the Fig u re, into which is received the cut-off bottom edge of a lowermost panel 39 of the panelled shutter. The mouth of the opposing channel 33 is constructed according to the type of lath shutter to which itis connected and in this case is the same shape as the bottom part of a lath as shown in GB 2011512.

Clearly an element connecting the bottom of the lath shutter to the top of a panelled shutter would require a shape that would mate with the bottom of the lath shutter.

Claims (13)

1. Arolling shuttercomprising apluralityof panels supported and connected pivotablytogether by a plurality of rods which extend laterally and are received in rod-receiving elements on laterally extending edges of the panels, the rod-receiving elements of each panel extending only partially along said edges whereby the rod-receiving elements of panels adjacent along said edges are mutually complementary and receive the same rod.

2. Arollingshutteraccordingtoclaim 1 wherein the rod-receiving elements have substantially cylindrical bores extending axially along said edges of the panels, the rods extending through the bores.

3. A rolling shutter according to claim 2wherein the rod-receiving elements are cylindrical tubes provided on the edges of the panels.

4. Arollingshutteraccordingtoanyoneofthe preceding claims wherein each said edge has a plurality of rod-receiving elements spaced apart from one another with corresponding elements on adjacent panels fitting between them.

5. A rolling shutter according to any one ofthe preceding claims wherein the total length of rod-receiving elements on each laterally extending panel edge is substantially halfthe length ofthat edge.

6. Arollingshutteraccordingtoanyoneofthe preceding claims wherein each panel has two-fold rotational symmetry in its own plane.

7. A rolling shutter according to any one of the preceding claims wherein at least one of the panels is transparent.

8. A rolling shutter according to any one ofthe preceding claims, wherein neighbouring rods are linked by tensile links through which the rods pass, the links fitting in spaces between laterally adjacent panels.

9. A rolling shutter according to claim 8wherein the rods are supported bythetensilelinksbutnotby the panels.

10. A rolling shutter comprising a panelled shutter according to any one ofthe preceding claims connected to a lath shutter by a connecting element supported on a lateral rod and having means for gripping an edge ofthe panelled shutter and means for gripping an edge ofthe lath shutter.

11. Arolling shutter according to claim 10 wherein the lateral rod supporting the connecting element is connected by tensile links to a laterally extending rod ofthe panelled shutter.

12. A panel capable of being used in a rolling shutter according to any one of the preceding claims.

13. A rolling shutter or panel therefor substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in the drawings.