Roll-up door assembly
AssigneeFleet Engineers, Inc.
InventorAndrew Hartmann
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A lightweight roll-up door comprises multiple lightweight panels that can be transversely installed/removed with a simple hinge assembly. The panels are hinged about one edge and have outer complementary arcuate portions that fill the gap at the edges of the door as the panels rotate about the hinge. The panels are extruded from a lightweight material. Additionally, the panels are structurally capable of supporting the necessary door hardware without deformation or breakage. A latch assembly is mounted to an extruded bottom panel forming a latch recess for receiving the latch assembly and with multiple mounting supports disposed within the hollow interior and extending between the latch recess and the interior wall.
Claims29
In a roll-up door for selectively closing an opening in a trailer, the opening being defined in part by a bottom wall of the trailer, the roll-up door comprising multiple integrally formed elongated panels having opposing interior and exterior walls and an upper and lower sides connecting an upper portion of the walls and a lower portion of the walls, respectively, the panels are stacked in an upper side to lower side orientation, a hinge rotatably couples adjacent panels, and one of the panels is a bottom panel whose lower side is adapted to be positioned adjacent the trailer bottom wall when the roll-up door is mounted to the trailer and in a closed position, and a latch assembly with a part having a vertical dimension mounted to the bottom panel and adapted to be selectively coupled to the trailer to lock the roll-up door in the closed position, the improvement comprising:
- the bottom panel is extruded and has a predominately hollow interior between the exterior and interior walls, the bottom panel further includes a latch recess having a vertical dimension substantially equal to the vertical dimension of the latch assembly part in the exterior wall and multiple mounting supports disposed within the hollow interior and extending between the latch recess and the interior wall, and the latch assembly is received in the latch recess with the part seated in the latch recess;
- whereby the latch assembly is positioned in a predetermined vertical location on the bottom panel.
A roll-up door for selectively closing an opening in a truck or trailer, the opening being defined in part by a bottom wall of the trailer, the roll-up door comprising:
- multiple integrally formed elongated panels having opposing interior and exterior walls with a relatively hollow interior and an upper and a lower side connecting an upper portion of the walls and a lower portion of the walls, respectively, and open ends, the panels are stacked in an upper side to lower side orientation, one of the panels is a bottom panel whose lower side is adapted to be positioned adjacent the trailer bottom wall when the roll-up door is mounted to the trailer and in a closed position,
- a hinge rotatably couples adjacent panels together, each of the panels has at lateral sides thereof at least a pair of wheel assemblies comprising a roller that is adapted to mount into a rail at the side of the truck or trailer opening and a wear resistant axle that is received in a socket coupled to the panels,
- end caps that close the open ends of the panels, the end caps including mounting tabs that fit within open ends of the panels, and
- a latch assembly mounted to the bottom panel and adapted to be selectively coupled to the trailer to lock the roll-up door in the closed position,
- each of the sockets is formed of a wear resistant material and is connected to a mounting plate that is attached to each of the lateral sides of the panels through mechanical fasteners that extend through the interior and exterior walls of the panels and through the mounting tabs of the end caps to secure the end caps to the panels.
A light weight roll-up door for use in closing a rear opening of a truck or trailer, the roll-up door comprising:
- multiple elongated panels, each panel having a generally rectangular periphery having inner and outer opposing surfaces spaced from each other, an upper edge, a lower edge and opposite side edges, each of the panels having a uniform cross sectional configuration between the opposite side edges, and wherein the panels are stacked in upper edge to lower edge orientation;
- a hinge assembly between the upper and lower edges of the panels for relative rotation of the panels with respect to each other about a transverse axis;
- the hinge assembly comprises:
- an elongated arcuate projection formed in one of the upper and lower edges of the elongated panels at an outer portion thereof and including an elongated flange with a terminal end portion depending therefrom;
- and
- an elongated socket positioned at the other of the upper and lower edges of the panels and including an inner surface with a curvature complementary with the curvature of the arcuate projection and an elongated hook portion;
- wherein the elongated arcuate projection fits within the socket and the elongated flange terminal end portion rests on the elongated hook portion for relative rotation of the elongated panels with respect to each other about the terminal end portion and the elongated arcuate portion fills a gap at the facing edges of the panels as the panels rotate about the hinge;
- and at least one elongated groove integrally formed in the inner surfaces of the panels at the other of the upper and lower edges and having a retainer lip at the edge of the groove;
- and a hinge coupler that includes the elongated socket and has a connector with a snap fit fastener that is snap fit into the elongated groove and retained therein by the retainer lip.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.