Wrap-around elevator door
AssigneeVertisys International, Inc.
InventorTimothy P. O'Donnell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A flexible door assembly includes an upper guide track comprising an elongate bar including at least two generally planar support surfaces. The upper guide track is mounted in the elevator cab, or outside the cab in the hoistway, above the door opening, defining a non-linear pathway. A plurality of door sections each having a door panel, and a carriage assembly including a carriage frame and at least two wheels each supported by, and in rolling contact with, one of the at least two support surfaces on the guide track, a hinge pin supported by the carriage, a door panel pivotally connected to the hinge pin, and wherein the carriage, the hinge pin, and the door panel pivot about the same vertical axis defined by the longitudinal axis of the hinge pin when a door assembly has moved through a bend in the upper guide track.
Claims7
A door assembly for an elevator cab opening wherein the elevator cab has a non-linear door pathway, the door assembly comprising:
- an elongate upper guide track including at least two generally planar upper support surfaces, wherein the planes of the upper support surfaces are each at a slight angle from the horizontal plane and at least two generally planar lower guide surfaces which are angled slightly from the vertical plane so that the upper guide track is generally diamond-shaped in cross-section;
- and
- a plurality of door sections, each of the door sections including,
- at least one carriage assembly including a carriage frame and at least two wheels each supported by, and in rolling contact with, one of the at least two support surfaces on the guide track, the carriage frame having a generally U-shaped base and a pair of wheel support arms extending upward from the base in a generally flared orientation, wherein each of the wheel support arms provides a mounting surface for at least one of the wheels, which mounting surface is generally orthogonal to the plane of the top support surfaces of the upper guide track, and wherein the wheel support arms are generally parallel, respectively, to each of the lower bearing surfaces on the upper guide track,
- a hinge pin supported by said carriage, and
- a door panel including a carriage connector having an aperture for receiving the hinge pin for pivotal connection of the door panel to the carriage assembly,
- whereby the door panel and the carriage assembly pivot about the same vertical axis defined by the longitudinal axis of the hinge pin when the door section is moved through the non-linear pathway.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.