Airport Hangar Door Link Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Overhead doors for airport hangars are complex, costly to manufacture and maintain, and require large motors or actuators, which is inefficient and expensive.
Innovation Solution
A hydraulically actuated door assembly with a door panel, an actuator-driven rod, and a link system that limits upward advancement and allows rotation, using a first pin to carry and rotate the door panel, reducing the need for large motors and simplifying installation and manufacturing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If traditional overhead doors with displaceable panels and vertical tracks are used, then the door can open and close the opening, but the door requires numerous moving parts and large motors or actuators, making it expensive to manufacture and maintain
Solution Approach 1:
The door panel is divided into multiple horizontal sections that can move independently relative to each other. This segmentation allows the door to achieve full opening functionality without requiring a single large motor to move the entire door panel, thereby reducing actuator size and simplifying the mechanical structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts and eliminates numerous moving parts from the traditional door system. By using a simplified mechanism with fewer components, the patent reduces manufacturing complexity and maintenance requirements while retaining the essential door opening and closing functionality.
2Ease of operation
If traditional overhead doors with curved tracks and rollers are used, then the door can move from closed to overhead open position, but the rollers may jam in the curved portions of the track, and the construction is costly to manufacture and maintain
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the curved track and roller components from the door system entirely. By eliminating these parts, the patent eliminates the risk of roller jamming in curved portions while simplifying the manufacturing and maintenance requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using rollers that move along a curved track to achieve door opening, the invention inverts the approach by using a link mechanism with pins that creates rotation through geometric constraints. This inverted mechanism achieves the same operational goal without the problematic curved track and roller assembly.
3Ease of operation
If traditional overhead doors with balanced counterweights or springs are used, then the door can be moved from closed to open position, but the door requires large motors or actuators, which is inefficient and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The link mechanism dynamically transforms the vertical motion of the actuator into rotational motion of the door panel through the geometric relationship between the link, pin, and door panel. This dynamic mechanism allows a small actuator to move a large door panel by leveraging mechanical advantage and motion transformation.
Solution Approach 2:
The link and pin assembly acts as an intermediary mechanism between the small actuator and the large door panel. This intermediary translates the limited motion capacity of the small actuator into effective door opening motion, eliminating the need for large motors or complex balancing systems.
Data Source
AI summary
A door assembly for providing access to an enclosed space such as an airplane hangar. The door assembly includes a door panel configured to open and close an opening is provided. The door assembly includes an actuator configured to drive a rod upwardly. A first pin is fixedly mounted to the rod and rotatably mounted to the door. A link limits the upward advancement of a top portion of the door. The door is carried upward by the first pin, and rotated about the first pin as the link limits the upward advancement of the top portion of the doors.