Rolling door tensioner
AssigneeWayne-Dalton Corp.
InventorsMark Daus, Alvin R. Eiterman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A rolling door including an axle supported by end brackets, a plurality of drum wheels mounted on the axle, a multi-section door adapted to be selectively rolled and unrolled about the drum wheels, a gear wheel mounted on the axle proximate to one of the end brackets, a spring retainer associated with the gear wheel, a torsion spring having a first end operatively attached to the multi-section door and a second end attached to the spring retainer, a pivotally mounted pawl selectively engaging the gear wheel to maintain a selected counterbalance force setting and disengaging the gear wheel to permit adjustment of the counterbalance force setting, and a locking assembly carried on the pawl selectively engageable with the support bracket to lock the pawl in an engaged position.
Claims23
A tensioner in a rolling door system, the rolling door system having a door attached to at least one wheel supported on an axle, the axle being rotatably supported on a pair of support brackets, said support brackets each defining a bore through which the axle is received and a counterbalance assembly that generates a counterbalancing force, the counterbalance assembly having a first end attached to the door and a second end attached to the tensioner, the tensioner comprising, a sleeve that fits over an end of the axle and is rotatably supported in the bore of the support bracket spring holder and a gear wheel attached to said sleeve, wherein the second end of the counterbalance assembly attaches to said spring holder, said gear wheel having a plurality of teeth defining a plurality of notches therebetween, said teeth being undercut against the direction of the counterbalancing force, a pawl movable between a disengaged position and an engaged position, said pawl rotatably retaining said gear wheel when in said engaged position, said pawl being biased toward said engaged position, whereby said pawl automatically engages said gear wheel to retain the counterbalancing force imparted by said counterbalance assembly to balance the weight of the door.
A rolling door comprising, an axle supported by end brackets, a plurality of drum wheels mounted on said axle, a multi-section door adapted to be selectively rolled and unrolled about said drum wheels, a gear wheel mounted on said axle proximate to one of said end brackets, a spring retainer associated with said gear wheel, a torsion spring having a first end operatively attached to the multi-section door and a second end attached to said spring retainer, a pivotally mounted pawl selectively engaging said gear wheel to maintain a selected counterbalance force setting and disengaging said gear wheel to permit adjustment of the counterbalance force setting, and a locking assembly carried on said pawl selectively engageable with said support bracket to lock said pawl in an engaged position.
A rolling door comprising, an axle supported by end brackets, a plurality of drum wheels mounted on said axle, a multi-section door adapted to be selectively rolled and unrolled about said drum wheels, a sleeve rotatable on said axle, a gear wheel attached to said sleeve, a spring retainer associated with said gear wheel, a torsion spring having a first end attached to said multi-section door and a second end attached to said spring retainer, a pivotally mounted pawl selectively engaging said gear wheel to maintain a selected counterbalance force setting and disengaging said gear wheel to permit adjustment of the counterbalance force setting, and a locking assembly carried on said pawl selectively engageable with said support bracket to lock said pawl in an engaged position.
A rolling door assembly comprising an axle supported by end brackets, a plurality of drum wheels mounted on said axle, and said multi-section door adapted to be selectively rolled and unrolled about said drum wheels, a tensioner associated with said axle, a torsion spring having a first end operatively attached to said multi-section door and a second end operatively attached to said tensioner, said tensioner including a gear wheel having a plurality of teeth, said teeth having an undercut stop face, and a pivotally mounted pawl selectively engaging said stop face to maintain a selected counterbalance force setting.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.