Overhead door construction

Dec. 25, 1945.

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A. V. ROWE

OVERHEAD DOOR CONSTRUCTION

2,391,845

Filed Jan. 10, 1945

Sheets-Sheet 1

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Dec. 25, 1945. a. v. rowe 2,391,845

OVERHEAD DOOR CONSTRUCTION

Filed Jan. 10, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 2

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Dec. 25, 1945. a. v. rowe 2,391,845

OVERHEAD DOOR CONSTRUCTION

Filed Jan. 10, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 3

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Dec. 25, 1945. a. v. rowe 2,391,845

OVERHEAD DOOR CONSTRUCTION

Filed Jan. 10, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 4

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Patented Dec. 25, 1945

2,391,845

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,391,845

OVERHEAD DOOR CONSTRUCTION

Alvin V. Rowe, Galesburg, Ill., assignor to Rowe Manufacturing Company, Galesburg, III., a corporation of Illinois

Application January 10,1945, Serial No. 572,127

Claims. (Cl. 160—201)

This invention relates generally to overhead door constructions and more particularly to an overhead door arrangement wherein the hingedly connected door sections are of all-metal construction.

Hingedly connected wooden door sections adapted to be shifted between closed vertical position and open overhead position have been in use for many years. All-metal shutters for fire protection have also been in common use. All-metal overhead door structures with which applicant is familiar, and he has been engaged in the manufacture of overhead doors for many years, are not competitive with conventional wooden door structures because of the intricacies involved in the manufacture of metal doors. That is to say, the expense heretofore experienced in the manufacture of certain all-metal overhead doors, particularly those produced from sheet metal stock, very materially increases the ultimate sales price to the consumer. It has been the thought of providing a sheet metal overhead door construction approximating the cost of wooden doors that prompted the present invention. In fact, it is the primary object of the present invention to produce a sheet metal overhead door structure capable of being sold at a price which is competitive with wooden doors and providing all of the advantages heretofore experienced in the use of metal doors as well as other advantages and conveniences.

More specifically, the present invention contemplates an overhead door construction in which the individual door sections slidable in guideways or tracks between vertical and horizontal positions are of novel construction, and although formed from an elongated piece of relatively thin sheet metal stock, are unusually rigid and capable of withstanding the most severe operating conditions.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a door arrangement as referred to above, wherein hingedly connected door sections are shiftable between upright and overhead positions, certain of said sections being formed from a single sheet of elongated metallic stock having a novel arrangement of upper and lower rails provided along opposite longitudinal margins.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an overhead door arrangement of the nature above referred to wherein not only the longitudinal margins of the single sheet of metallic stock are provided with rails, but also the opposite end margins of said stock are provided with a novel arrangement of end stiles.

The invention further contemplates an arrangement of hingedly connected door sections of sheet metal construction, wherein strengthening sheet metal muntins extend between the 5 novel rail structures so as to materially enhance the door section both in appearance and strength.

Generally speaking, the present invention contemplates an overhead door construction in which the door sections are of metallic construction of 10 relatively light weight yet unusually strong and fire-resistant. '

The foregoing and other objects and advantages will be more apparent from the following detailed description when considered in connec15 tion with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a door structure representing one embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an end elevational view of said door 20 structure taken substantially along the line 2—2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the intermediate sheet metal door sections as viewed from the front thereof;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view similar to Fig. 3 viewing the door section from the rear thereof;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the corner portions of adjacent door sections within the vicinity of the dot and dash circle designated by the let³⁰ ter A in Fig. 4, the two sections being separated for the purpose of illustrating the parts which form the hinge sections;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 illustrating the door sections hingedly joined, dot and dash 35 lines illustrating a section of track providing the guideway for the rollers;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 7—1 of Fig. 6, the upper door section being shown in full line closed position 40 and dotted open position;

Fig. 8 is a detailed vertical sectional view of the roller, pintle and associated hinge structure taken substantially along the line 8—8 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 8 taken 45 in the vicinity of the area enclosed within the dot and dash circle B of Fig. 4 to more clearly illustrate the manner in which a removable pin is employed as a hinge element;

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary perspective view simi50 iar to Fig. 6 illustrating the Upper portion of the • uppermost door section and the lower portion of the lowermost door section when occupying their vertical door closing position;

Fig. 11 is a view similar to Fig. 6 illustrating the manner in which an auxiliary hinge bracket

2,391,845 may be bolted in position in instances where it is necessary to have the axis of the guide rollers spaced an appreciable distance from the plane of the door sections;

Fig. 12 is an enlarged perspective view of the left extremity of the door section illustrated in Fig. 3, with portions of the sheet metal parts detached to more clearly illustrate the structural arrangement; of the. deor sections;·

Fig. 13'is a fragmentary perspective· view taken 1 substantially along the line 13—13 of Fig. 12;

Fig. 14 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to Fig. 13 disclosing the manner in which the; end stiles may be formed from the single elongated sheet by bending the stock laterally from· both 1 sides of the plane of the stock; and

Fig. 15 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to Fig. 7 disclosing the adaptation of the invention in the production of door sections having relatively narrow rails as compared' with the 2 wider rails disclosed, in the other views.

Referring now to. the drawings wherein like numerals, have been employed, to designate similar parts throughout the. various, views it. will be seen that one embodiment, of the present in- 2 vention is. incorporated in a door structure having a door designated generally by the numeral 20, Figs. 1 and 2,. The, door 23 comprises a plurality of. hingedly; connected door sections. 22, 24, 26, and 24 constructed of. sheet metal. Opposite g ends of these door sections in the vicinity of the hinged, portions, thereof carry guide rollers. 30 which, are adapted, to shift within guideways, or tracks 32., These, guideways 32. have, vertical and horizontal sections connected, by curved sections 3 so that the door may be shifted between the, vertical door closing position as. shown in Figs.. ! and 2 and an open overhead position. When the door sections 22—23 occupy the. closed positions illustrated, in Figs.. 1 and. 2 they are preferably sealed against a door jamb 34 positioned along, the opposite ends thereof and a, header 36' positioned. in the vicinity of. the uppermost door, section.

Particular attention is directed, to the structure of the. hingedly connected, door sections In Figs. 3 and ί the. door section 24. has been illustrated,, and. in Figs.. 5 anti 6 the lower, right-hand corner of the door section 24 as. viewed in Fig. 4 and. the adjacent upper right-hand corner of the door, section 26. are illustrated From these views it will· be apparent, that the main body of these door sections is formed from a single piece of elongated sheet metal stock.. The elongated margin of this sheet metal stock Is bent laterally and back upon itself to provide door rails. For purposes of identification with. each, section the uppermost rails are designated by the number corresponding with the door section coupled, with the letter a. Thus the upper rail of the door section 22 is designated hy the numeral 21—a and the lower rail of. the section 22 is designated by the numeral 22—b, Similarly the other upper arid tower rails are designated as 24—a,. 24—b, etc.

In view of the general similarity of the rail structures, only the adjacent rails 24—b and 26—a of the door, sections 24. and 26 respectively have been illustrated in detail in views 5-7 inclusive. The rail 24—b is formed from the elongated metal sheet by bending the margin laterally along the. line 38,. Figs. 5—7 inclusive, and thence back upon itself along the line 40 in substantial parallelism with the main body of the door section. The remaining marginal portion is:

then bent laterally along the line 42 so as to enable a flange portion 44 to be welded to the main body 46 of the door section. This results in the formation of a rail of box-like cross sec5 tion, or in other words of polygonal cross section.

In the disclosed embodiment the stock is also formed to provide strengthening ribs 48 and also a rib 50 to accommodate a hinge sleeve 52.

The raili 26—a, provided along the upper elon0 gated margin of the door section 26 is bent laterally along a line 54 and then slightly upwardly to provide a rib 56 which is complementary to the rih 58. Continuing from the rib 56 the marginal stock is formed into a hinge sleeve or tube 58 B· which is complementary to the sleeve 52 on the door section 24;

The stock is- bent downwardly in substantial parallelism with the main or body portion 60 along the line 62 and is then ber.t laterally along :0 the line 64 so as to bring a flange 66 into abutting relation with the body 68.. This flange 66 like the flange 44 is, preferahly welded, to the main body of the, door.. It will also be noted- that a portion of. the, sheet metal stock is formed to provide a 5 longitudinal strengthening rib 68 corresponding with, the strengthening rib 48 of the door section 24. The tubular or sleeve-like, hinge portion 58 is recessed at TO to receive, the tubular or sleevelike hingo.member 52.

Before, bringing, the tubular hinge portions- 52 and 58 into alignment, a resilient bushing T2 is inserted within the tubular section 58 so as to occupy the position shown in Fig. 8.. The. tendency for the bushing T2. to spring, outwardly establishes ,7 sufficient frictional engagement between the periphery of the bushing T2 and the inner surface of the hinge portion 58 so. as to retain the part T2 in position. The. hinge, portions 52, and 58 may now be brought into alignment so as to occupy the.po0 sitions illustrated in Bigs. 6. and 8;. A pintle, sleeve or bushing T4 is now telescopically associated so as to occupy the. position shown in. Figs. 6 and 8. A shoulder T6 limits the extent, to which the. bushing 14 may be. inserted and tabs 18 may be bent over to secure the bushing against axial displacement. The periphery of the sleeve 14 provides the pivot for the hinge portion 52, and the roller pintle 80 may now be telescopically inserted within the complementary aperture 82 of the sleeve T4.

This hinge structure is duplicated.along the opposite extremities of the door sections and hence a description of one hinge structure will suffice for all. In Fig. 7 the dotted line position of the rail 24—b shows the manner in which said rail may

- be pivoted with respect to the companion rail 28—a.

Intermediate portions of the tubular hinge structure 58: are recessed at 84 to accommodate complementary hinge sections 86, Figs. 3 and 9. j When the tubular hinge sections 58 and 86 are positioned in. alignment, a hinge pin 88 may be inserted through a. recess 98. A head on the pin 88 limits the. extent, to which it may be inserted, and a bushing 92 is preferably mounted within 5 the hinge section. 59 as clearly illustrated in Fig.

9. This bushing provides· a bearing for the entering extremity of the pin 88. It has been found convenient and practical to make these pins 88 of non-metallic materials such as wood, thereby re) ducing to a minimum the noise in operation and at the same time providing sufficient hinge strength. This detachable hinge pin construction materially facilitates the ease with which the door sections may be installed on. the job. It will be ( apparent from, the foregoing description that the

2,391,846 invention contemplates a very practical and rigid arrangement of door sections formed from a single sheet of metallic stock in which the elongated margins are bent to form upper and lower door rails. These rails being of polygonal or box-like cross section, lend considerable lateral strength to the door section and provide convenient means for supporting hinge parts. The invention also' contemplates a simple and extremely practical end stile construction which may best be understood from Figs. 12 and 13. In these figures a fragmentary perspective view of the door section 24 is shown. It has heretofore been explained how the upper and lower elongated margins of the main sheet metal stock or body 46 may be bent back upon themselves to provide upper and lower rails 24—a and 24—b, respectively. It will be noted that end stiles 24—c are provided by bending opposite end portions of the sheet metal stock 46 back upon themselves. The stock is first bent laterally alorg the line 94 and then along the line 96 in substantial parallelism with the plane of the door section and then along the line 98 laterally into association with the sheet metal stock. A flange 100 may be suitably secured as by welding to the main sheet metal body 46. To facilitate the ease with which bends may be made, the stock may be provided with spaced recesses 102. These end stiles lend considerable rigidity to the door section in the vicinity of the opposite extremities thereof. In instances where desirable an additional U-shaped plate 104 may be secured to the main body 46 as illustrated in Figs. 12 and 13. This section 104 lends additional strength to the previously described end stile section formed integral with the main body 46. The section 104 also serves in the nature of an auxiliary end stile in cooperation with the section disposed on the opposite side of the sheet metal 46. In instances where desirable the auxiliary erd stile section 104 may be dispensed with and the body portion 46 bent outwardly a sufficient amount to give the appearance of an end stile when the door is viewed from the front side thereof. The end stiles of the other door sections are indicated by the door section numeral with the letter c associated therewith. Separate pieces of sheet metal stock (06 and (08 as illustrated in Fig. 12, may be used to close the open extremities of the rails 24—a and 24—b, respectively. I prefer to weld these parts in position.

To add additional strength as well as neat appearance to the door panels, a plurality of sheet metal muntins I i 0 are provided. These members I (0 are of channel-like cross section and extend between the door rails. Flanges along opposite longitudinal margins of the muntins 110 facilitate their attachment as by welding to the main sheet metal door body 46. The upper and lower extremities of the muntins ί 10 are also provided with flanges to facilitate attachment to the rails.

The upper and lower margins of the door 20 are preferably provided with non-metallic abutment or sealing sections 112 and I (4, respectively, Fig. 10. The member i f 2 is supported along the upper margin of the uppermost door section 22 by bolts 116 which serve to clamp the member 112 between the open ended rail portions of the door section. Likewise the lower abutment or sealing member 114 is secured along the lower margin of the lowermost door section 28 by bolts i 18 which similarly serve to clamp the member 114 between the metallic rail sections of the door. In some instances it may not be necessary to employ the non-metallic members 112—

114, and in such installations the metal portion of the rail would extend completely across the door. It will be apparent that except for the optional use of the wooden pieces 112—114, the ₅ above described door is of all-metal construction.

In some installations it is essential that the roller pintle 'be positioned rearwardly of the plane of the door sections to a greater extent than 10 that disclosed in Fig. 7. To accommodate such conditions a hinge bracket (28, Fig. 11, may be employed. This bracket consists of a plate 122 adapted to be secured to the end stile of the door by any suitable fastening means or by welding. A 15 laterally extending plate portion 124 provides a tubular hinge section 126 which corresponds structurally and functionally with the hinge section 58 previously described. .

The metal door sections thus far described 2(j have been equipped with rails of substantial vertical width. There are instances where relatively narrow rails are desired, a rail of this design being illustrated in Fig. 15. It will be noted that the rail of Fig. 15 is formed by bending a smaller &lt;25 marginal portion of the sheet metal stock back upon itself. It will also be apparent that the vertical width of the door sections may be varied to suit any particular need incident to its use. There are installations which require door sec30 tions of greater vertical width than shown herein. This can be accomplished by forming the door sections from elongated sheet stock of greater width. As previously pointed out the end stiles may be formed by bending the material of the 35 sheet stock laterally in opposite directions as illustrated in Fig. 14. By employing the arrangement disclosed in Fig. 14 the use of the auxiliary plate 104 may be dispensed with. It will also be apparent that the muntins are 40 strengthened by forming them so that a portion of the muntin stock is positioned adjacent the main body of the door section and another portion spaced from the plane of said body. If required, wooden filler strips may be inserted with45 in the area defined by the metal of the rails and end stiles.

From the foregoing it is apparent that the present invention contemplates an overhead door arrangement which is of extremely simple, prac50 tical, and sturdy construction. By reason of the novel rail structure an elongated metallic sheet may be fed through forming and bending rollers. In this manner the opposite elongated margins of the sheet metal stock may be very 55 expeditiously formed into rigid door rails. Likewise the opposite end portions of the elongated stock may be bent laterally and back to provide the rigid end stiles. The rail, end stile, and muntin arrangement described herein not only may Go be formed at minimum expense but also secured together with a minimum amount of welding. The parts which enter into combination to provide a door section are relatively few in number and adapted for convenient attachment to each 55 other. The door contemplated by the present invention is made up of a plurality of hingedly connected door sections which although constructed of metal, compare favorably in weight to wooden door sections. Hence no special de70 sign in the supporting track structure or counterbalancing springs need be employed for accommodating the metal door sections of the present invention.

While for purposes of illustration certain struc75 tural embodiments have been illustrated in the

2,381,845 drawings it will be apparent that, other modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.