US 4,532,973 AGranted

Overhead door construction

OwnerRalph DeFalcoinventor

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Abstract

There is disclosed herein an upwardly acting overhead door which is adapted to be rolled along an L-shaped track between a substantially vertical closed position and a substantially horizontal storage position. The door includes a plurality of adjacent laterally-extending door panel sections in edge-to-edge arrangement and hinge sets for interconnecting adjacent panel sections along adjacent lateral edges. Each of the hinge sets includes a male member and a female member. The male member is secured to the lower edge of the upper adjacent door section and the female member is secured to the upper edge of the lower of said adjacent door section. The male and female members define a hinge knuckle which interconnects the male and female members, and thus hingedly interconnects the door sections along the lateral edges thereof. The members, which may be extrusions, define roller receiving sections within the hinge adjacent each side edge for removably receiving a roller-and-shaft assembly, shaft bearing sleeve, and a resilient, removable spacer member. By removing the spacer member, the sleeve bearing can be slid from or retracted from its bearing position, thereby permitting the removal of the roller-and-shaft assembly without dismantling the door.

Claims16

Dependent claims

An upwardly acting overhead door which is adapted to be rolled along an L-shaped track between a substantially vertical closed position and a substantially horizontal storage position, said door having an outer face and an inner face, and said door including:

a plurality of adjacent laterally-extending door panel sections in edge-to-edge arrangement;
and
hinge means sets for interconnecting adjacent panel sections along adjacent lateral edges thereof;
wherein the improvement comprises:
each of said hinge means sets comprising a male member and a female member positioned between the side edges of said panels and between the inner and outer faces;
one of said male and female members being secured to the lower edge of the upper of the adjacent door sections and the other of said male and female members being secured to the upper edge of the lower of said adjacent door sections;
said male and female members defining separable hinge knuckle means which interconnect so as to hingedly interconnect the door sections along the lateral edges of said door sections;
said hinge means defining a door roller assembly receiving section at each lateral edge;
said section being formed by the outboard end of the female member and an inwardly spaced terminal end of the male member;
wherein said inner door face is substantially smooth so as to minimize snagging of said door;
and
wherein there is further provided a plurality of roller assembly means, each adapted for mounting in said door roller receiving section, each of said roller assembly means including a shaft having a roller mounted thereon, said shaft being of a length less than the distance between the door's lateral edge and the inwardly spaced terminal end of said male member, a bearing sleeve constructed to fit within and be retained within said female member and being of a length substantially equal to that of the shaft and removable retainer means constructed to fit between said male member's terminal end and sleeve bearing and shaft to maintain the shaft and bearing sleeve in place during use.

9 more elements

a plurality of adjacent laterally-extending door panel sections in edge-to-edge arrangement;
and
hinge means sets for interconnecting adjacent panel sections along adjacent lateral edges thereof;
wherein the improvement comprises:
each of said hinge means sets comprising a male member and a female member positioned between the side edges of said panels;
said male member being secured to the lower edge of the upper of the adjacent door sections and the female member being secured to the upper edge of the lower of said adjacent door sections;
said male and female member defining separable hinge knuckle means which interconnect so as to hingedly interconnect the door sections along the lateral edges of said door sections;
said male member including a depending flange which terminates in a C-shaped knuckle member and said female member including an upstanding crescent-shaped knuckle-receiving member for complementarily receving said C-shaped member for pivotal hinge connection;
said hinge means defining a door roller assembly receiving section at each lateral edge thereof, said section being formed by the crescent-shaped female member, the outboard lateral edge of said female member, and the inwardly spaced terminal end of said C-shaped knuckle member;
and
wherein there is further provided a plurality of roller assembly means, each adapted for mounting in a door roller receiving section, each of said roller means including a shaft having a roller mounted thereon, said shaft being of a length less than the distance between the door's lateral edge and said C-shaped knuckle terminal end, a bearing sleeve constructed to fit within and be retained within said crescent-shaped female member and being of a length substantially equal to that of the shaft, and removable retainer means constructed to fit between said C-shaped knuckle terminal end and sleeve bearing and shaft to maintain the shaft and bearing in place during use.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.