Shutter with articulated elements equipped with an electrical driving device

Device for electrically driving a shutter (4) for a truck having a set of articulated elements (6) and being provided to be moved along a path between a closed and an open position, and vice versa, said set comprising a lower panel element (6A) provided to contact a floor of said truck when said shutter is in said closed position and an upper panel element (6Z) connected to base plate (36), said shutter (4) further having

• i) two tails disposed along said path and provided for guiding guide rollers applied on lateral edges of said articulated elements, said rails having a first rectilinear part (8V) mounted in a first plane substantially occupied by said shutter in its closed position and a second rectilinear part (8H) mounted in a second plane substantially occupied by said shutter in its open position, said first and second rectilinear parts being connected to each other by a curved part (8C), and
• ii) a drive device comprising:
• a) two drive tracks respectively mounted in parallel along said second rectilinear part;
• b) a carriage disposed between said second rectilinear parts of said guide rails and provided for being moved between extreme positions corresponding to positions of complete closure and complete opening of said shutter, said carriage comprising:
• a rigid frame carried and guided by said second rectilinear part (8H) of said guide rails (8) for a translational movement parallel to said second rectilinear part (8H);
• a drive shaft (24) mounted able to rotate on said frame (5, 105) and equipped on each of its two ends with means provided to engage said drive tracks (10, 110);
• a motor (22) provided with a motor shaft, mounted on the fame and connectable to an energy supply source;
• a transmission (23, 28, 29, 123, 128, 129) between the motor shaft and the drive shaft (24), the motor shaft and the drive shaft (24) being situated higher than the level of said second rectilinear part (8H) of the guide rails (8);
• c) a control station capable of controlling the running and stopping of the motor (22) and therefore of controlling the opening and closing of the shutter (4);
• and
• d) a connection mechanism (30, 31, 34, 35, 131, 134, 135) comprising said base plate (36) and a connection element (37) being provided for connecting said carriage (5, 105) and the shutter elements to each other, said base plate (36) is connected to said connection element (37) by an articulation (38), said connection clement (37) being formed of two pieces (39 and 40) forming an obtuse angle between them, said connection element being further connected to an elastic element (30) extending substantially parallel to said second rectilinear part and connecting said rigid frame to said connection element, said elastic element being provided to, when the carriage (5, 105) is in its extreme position which corresponds to the position of complete closure of the shutter (4), exert a pressure strength on said connection element (37), in order to maintain the shutter element in said closed position.