Resilient retention system for a door panel
AssigneeRite-Hite Holding Corporation
InventorsPeter S. Schulte, Perry Knutson, Rodney Kern, Bill Hoerner, Allan H. Hochstein
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A horizontally sliding door includes a resilient retention system that helps hold a door panel tightly against its seals when the door is closed, and resiliently releases the door panel when an external force displaces the panel beyond its normal path of travel. If the door panel is displaced off its normal path, the resilience of the retention system or simply opening and closing the door automatically returns the panel back to normal operation. The resilient retention system can be installed off the floor, so the system avoids creating a tripping hazard and avoids being damaged by nearby vehicles.
Claims21
A door for at least partially covering a doorway and movable relative thereto, the doorway being defined by a surrounding structure that includes a wall such that the doorway has a width, the door comprising:
- an upper track;
- a door panel suspended from the upper track and being movable horizontally relative to the doorway along a predetermined normal path;
- a lower track disposed below the upper track, wherein the lower track is attachable to the surrounding structure such that the lower track is entirely outside the width of the doorway;
- a panel retention system comprising:
- a track follower movably coupled to the lower track;
- and
- a housing mounted on the door panel along a longitudinal side of the door panel and in which a biasing element is positioned, wherein the biasing element is operatively coupled to the track follower and has a longitudinal axis that is substantially parallel to the longitudinal side of the door panel,
- wherein an interaction between the biasing element and the track follower at least partially guides the door panel along the predetermined normal path,
- wherein the biasing element limits movement of the door panel out of the predetermined normal path, wherein if the door panel moves out of the predetermined normal path, the track follower remains in contact with the lower track and the biasing element is extended.
A door movable relative a doorway defined by a wall and a floor, wherein the doorway defines a path of pedestrian and vehicle travel through the wall and wherein the door may be subjected to an impact force, the door comprising:
- an upper track;
- a door panel suspended from the upper track and being movable horizontally across the doorway along a predetermined normal path;
- a lower track disposed below the upper track, attachable to the wall, and configured to be disposed above the floor such that no portion of the lower track extends into the doorway;
- a panel retention system comprising:
- a housing mounted on a longitudinal side or face of the door panel and in which a biasing element is positioned, wherein a longitudinal axis of the housing is substantially parallel to the longitudinal side or face of the door panel;
- a track follower movably coupled to the lower track to at least partially guide the door panel along the predetermined normal path;
- and
- an elongate member having a first end coupled to the biasing element and a second end engaging the track follower, wherein an interaction between the housing, the biasing element and the elongate member at least partially extends the biasing element within the housing when the door panel moves out of the predetermined normal path.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.