Automatic door for boats

Abstract

Automatic door for boats comprising a support frame having a lateral guide, and at least one leaf sliding on said lateral guide, movement means for moving said at least one sliding leaf along said lateral guide; and a control unit to control said movement means.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to an automatic door for boats.

[0002] In particular, the present invention relates to an automatic door for boats of the type featuring at least one sliding door.

[0003] The automatic door, which is the subject of the present invention is used in the naval sector, but can be used in any sector, for example inside public buildings or supermarkets.

[0004] To date, automatic doors are known, which comprise one or more sliding leaves, operated by an electric motor operatively connected to rack means or worm screws, so as to guide such leaves along a special guide obtained inside a frame of the door itself.

[0005] Furthermore, such known automatic doors generally have a photocell to operate the aforementioned electric motor.

[0006] Basically, when a person is in the vicinity of such an automatic door, his or her presence is detected through the photocell generating an input to drive the electric motor in order to open the door.

[0007] Automatic doors of the known type are a good solution but are certainly not free from drawbacks.

[0008] A first drawback of known automatic doors is that they do not always provide adequate drive torque to move the door leaves.

[0009] In fact, particularly in the naval industry, since boats are often subject to oscillations around a longitudinal axis (known as rolling), or oscillations around a transverse axis (known as pitching), it often happens that the weight force of the inclined leaf does not allow the electric motor to do its job properly.

[0010] In other words, the fixed driving torque of known automatic doors is not always adequate for moving the leaves, particularly when the weight force due to the inclination of these leaves is excessive for the driving torque exerted.

[0011] Another drawback of known automatic doors is that their operation can sometimes be unintentional or unwanted, creating inconvenience for people nearby.

[0012] Another drawback of known automatic doors is that they are not always adequately secure or practical and easy to use.

[0013] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an automatic door for boats capable of solving the drawbacks of the state of the art.

[0014] Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic door for boats capable of ensuring an adequate torque regardless of the position in which the boat is located and of its oscillation.

[0015] Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic door for boats capable of ensuring reliable control of the opening / closing of the door itself, thereby avoiding any unwanted situation where the door opens or closes against the will of the people nearby.

[0016] Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic door for boats capable of ensuring simple and practical use.

[0017] Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic door for boats capable of ensuring optimized safety of use.

[0018] According to the invention, these and other objects are achieved by an automatic door for boats having the technical characteristics described in the attached claims.

[0019] The technical characteristics of the invention, according to the above objects, are clearly described in the attached claims and its advantages appear evident from the detailed description that follows.

[0020] The automatic door for boats according to the present invention, hereinafter also referred to for convenience simply as a "door", comprises a support frame.

[0021] This support frame comprises at least one lateral guide.

[0022] The door being object of the present invention comprises at least one sliding leaf on the aforementioned lateral guide.

[0023] A preferred embodiment comprises two sliding leaves suitable for sliding along said guide on opposite sides of the same direction.

[0024] The door according to the present invention comprises movement means for moving the aforementioned sliding leaves. According to the embodiment presenting two sliding leaves, the door comprises first and second movement means so as to independently move each of the aforementioned sliding leaves.

[0025] Advantageously, the movement means comprise a drive motor.

[0026] Such a drive motor is for example an electric motor. Advantageously, the movement means also comprise an encoder mounted on said drive motor.

[0027] Such encoder allows monitoring of the movement of the drive motor and the positioning of the sliding leaf with respect to the lateral guide.

[0028] In other words, such an encoder makes it possible to always know where the leaf is positioned, even when, for example, the power is turned off and on again, without the need for any reset to restart door operation.

[0029] Such an encoder, in combination with the inclinometer (described later in the discussion), makes it possible to adjust the torque of the drive motor dynamically.

[0030] By doing so, it is possible to adapt the force required to open or close the door according to the present invention based on the inclination and speed of movement and position of the door itself, ensuring smooth and safe operation.

[0031] Advantageously, the movement means comprise a toothed belt transmission, operationally connected to the drive motor so as to allow the movement of the sliding leaf. Substantially, according to the embodiment in which the door is a double leaf door, the movement means comprise, for the independent movement of each leaf, a respective drive motor, a respective encoder, and a respective toothed belt transmission.

[0032] According to an alternative embodiment, the movement means comprise a rack arranged along the lateral guide and fixed stably on each sliding leaf, and a toothed wheel operatively connected to the drive motor and suitable for engaging with the rack to allow the sliding leaf to be translated along the lateral guide. Alternatively, the movement means further comprise a worm screw.

[0033] The door according to the present invention comprises a control unit for controlling the movement means.

[0034] The door also comprises an inclinometer for detecting the inclination of the door itself.

[0035] As is known, in fact, boats are often subject to rolling and pitching.

[0036] Rolling means an oscillation of the boat around the longitudinal axis of the boat itself, while pitching means an oscillation of the boat around its own transverse axis.

[0037] Depending on how the door is positioned inside the boat (i.e. whether it opens / closes along a longitudinal direction of the boat or whether it opens / closes along a transverse direction of the boat), the rolling or pitching of the boat tends to incline the door and the sliding leaves so that the weight force of the same tends to move them in an unwanted manner.

[0038] Therefore, the inclinometer allows constant monitoring of the inclination of the boat and of the door itself.

[0039] The control unit is operationally connected to the inclinometer in order to manage the aforementioned movement means in a variable manner depending on the inclination detected.

[0040] This allows to guarantee a variable driving torque depending on the needs, both in opening and closing of each sliding leaf.

[0041] Advantageously, the inclinometer allows to detect a lateral inclination of the automatic door.

[0042] In addition or alternatively the inclinometer allows to detect a transverse inclination of the automatic door. The presence of the inclinometer also allows the door to be inhibited from opening when the inclination of the boat (and of the door itself) does not fall within certain preset safety parameters.

[0043] In other words, the control unit is configured in such a way as to inhibit the movement of the door leaves when the inclinometer detects an inclination outside the preset safety parameters.

[0044] This allows the degree of safety of the door, being the object of the present invention, to be further optimized.

[0045] The door being the object of the present invention comprises actuation means for actuating the aforementioned movement means and they are capable of controlling an automatic opening / closing of the door. According to a first embodiment, the actuation means comprise a photocell.

[0046] According to a further embodiment, the actuation means comprise an actuation pushbutton.

[0047] According to a third embodiment, the actuation means comprise an application that can be installed on an electronic device and configured to actuate the movement means.

[0048] The automatic door for boats which is the object of the present invention, solves the drawbacks of the state of the art and achieves important advantages.

[0049] A first advantage of the door being the object of the present invention, is that it ensures optimal movement of the sliding leaves regardless of the external conditions to which the boat on which it is made is subjected (e.g., rolling or pitching oscillations). This is ensured by the possibility of modulating the driving torque according to needs, thanks to the constant monitoring of the inclination of the boat and of the door itself.

[0050] Another advantage of the door being the object of the present invention is given by the fact that it guarantees optimal functioning and that its opening / closing can be adequately controlled, avoiding unwanted openings and closings.

[0051] Another advantage of the door being the object of the present invention is that it is safe and reliable.

[0052] In fact, proper handling of the sliding leaves also allows avoiding their sudden closing (due for example to the weight of the same when they are inclined) which could be dangerous for a person likely to pass therethrough at the precise moment when a sudden closing occurs.

[0053] In particular the safety of the door being the object of the present invention is moreover ensured by allowing the blocking of any movement of its leaves at the moment when the inclination parameters are outside the safety limits.

Claims

1. An automatic door for boats comprising, - a supporting frame having a lateral guide, and at least one leaf slidable on said lateral guide; - means for moving said at least one slidable leaf along said lateral guide; - a control unit for controlling said movement means; - an inclinometer for measuring an inclination of said automatic door, said control unit being operatively connected to said inclinometer in such a way as to handle said movement means in a variable manner according to said inclination measured, said movement means comprising a drive motor and an encoder mounted on said drive motor and configured to monitor the movement of said drive motor and the positioning of said sliding leaf relative to said lateral guide.

2. The door according to the previous claim, characterised in that said movement means comprise a toothed belt transmission operatively connected to said drive motor in such a way as to allow the movement of said at least one sliding leaf.

3. The door according to claim 1, characterised in that said movement means comprise a rack positioned along said lateral guide and stably fixed on said at least one sliding leaf, and a gear wheel operatively connected to said drive motor and designed to engage with said rack to allow the translation of said sliding leaf along said lateral guide.

4. The door according to any one of the previous claims, characterised in that said inclinometer is designed to detect a lateral inclination of said automatic door.

5. The door according to any one of the previous claims, characterised in that the inclinometer is designed to detect a transversal inclination of said automatic door.

6. The door according to any one of the previous claims, characterised in that it comprises means for actuating said movement means, designed to control an opening / closing of said automatic door.

7. The door according to the previous claim, characterised in that said actuation means comprise a photocell.

8. The door according to claim 6, characterised in that said actuation means comprise an actuation pushbutton.

9. The door according to claim 6, characterised in that said actuation means comprise an application that can be installed on an electronic device configured to actuate said movement means.

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