Flexible Roller Door Leaf with Stabilization Profiles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Roller doors face challenges in minimizing space requirements while maintaining high opening and closing speeds and ensuring reliable guidance of the door leaf movement, as existing designs often require significant space and have limited speed due to rigid structures.
Innovation Solution
The use of a door leaf made from flexible material, such as transparent PVC or polycarbonate, which adapts to a spiral shape in the open position, combined with stabilization devices and joint arrangements that transmit tensile or shear forces, allowing for a compact design with high-speed operation and reliable guidance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If rigid door leaf elements with sandwich panel construction are used, then the door structure provides high strength and stability, but the space required for accommodating the door leaf in open position increases and the door leaf movement speed is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces rigid sandwich panel construction with a flexible door leaf made of reinforced plastic film or sheet. This flexible membrane can be coiled into a compact spiral shape when open, dramatically reducing the space required while maintaining sufficient strength through reinforcement elements embedded in the film.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the fundamental physical state of the door leaf from rigid to flexible, allowing it to transition between a flat closed position and a coiled open position. This parameter change enables the door to occupy minimal space when open while still providing effective building closure.
2Stability of the object's composition
If rigid door leaf elements are used, then the door provides structural stability, but the opening and closing speed is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible plastic film door leaf can be accelerated and decelerated more rapidly than rigid structures due to its lower mass and inherent flexibility. The film can quickly transition between positions while the reinforcement elements maintain structural integrity during high-speed operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from static rigid structures to a dynamic flexible system that can adapt its shape and stiffness during movement. The door leaf dynamically changes from a flat configuration during closing to a coiled configuration during opening, optimizing performance at different stages of motion.
3Volume of moving object
If flexible material is used for the door leaf, then the space requirement is reduced and high-speed operation is enabled, but reliable guidance of door leaf movement becomes more challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces guide rollers as intermediary elements that mediate between the flexible door leaf and the fixed guide track. These rollers provide reliable mechanical guidance while allowing the flexible film to maintain its adaptive properties. The hinge assembly with articulated links serves as another intermediary that transmits forces while guiding movement.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces direct mechanical guidance of a rigid structure with a guided flexible membrane system. Instead of guiding rigid edges, the system uses a flexible film that conforms to the guide track, with force transmission occurring through distributed hinge assemblies rather than concentrated mechanical joints.
4Weight of moving object
If the door leaf is made lightweight using flexible material, then high-speed operation is enabled, but the door leaf requires secure coupling to hinge assemblies to transmit tensile and compressive forces
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge assemblies serve multiple functions simultaneously: they guide door leaf movement, transmit tensile and compressive forces, provide structural support, and enable the transition between flat and coiled configurations. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate coupling mechanisms while managing the complexity of force transmission.
Solution Approach 2:
The door leaf combines flexible plastic film with embedded reinforcement elements, creating a composite structure that is both lightweight and strong enough to transmit forces through the hinge assemblies. The reinforcement provides the necessary tensile and compressive strength while the plastic film maintains flexibility for high-speed operation and compact storage.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution enables roller doors to occupy less space, achieve high opening and closing speeds, and maintain reliable movement guidance by using flexible materials and stabilization profiles to form a robust yet lightweight structure, reducing wear on the door leaf and guide track.
Implementation Method 1
The use of a door leaf made from flexible material, such as transparent PVC or polycarbonate, which adapts to a spiral shape in the open position
Implementation Method 2
The gate leaf is guided by the articulated links of the hinge assemblies, which are coupled to the stabilizing elements. This allows the tensile and compressive forces generated during gate leaf movement to be transmitted via the hinge assemblies.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
A gate, in particular a roller gate, with a gate leaf movable between an open position in which it at least partially opens a wall opening and forms a multi-layered roll above the wall opening, and a closed position in which it at least partially closes the wall opening, and with hinge assemblies attached to the gate leaf for guiding the gate leaf movement, each of which has a plurality of joint links articulated to one another with respect to joint axes extending perpendicular to the lateral edges and approximately parallel to the plane of the gate leaf, wherein the gate leaf is formed at least partially from a flexible material, such as a plastic film, which is stabilized by two, three or more stabilizing devices extending perpendicular to the lateral edges and in the plane of the gate leaf.the gate leaf is connected to the hinge arrangements via the stabilizing devices.