Overhead Door Installation with Pre-tensioned Spring Packet
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for installing overhead doors require multiple persons to lift heavy door panels, posing safety risks and ergonomic challenges due to the weight and potential for accidents when lifting such panels.
Innovation Solution
The method utilizes a pretensioned spring packet to provide a lifting force by coupling door panels with ropes and pulleys, allowing for safer and more controlled lifting with fewer personnel by balancing forces at a removable locking element, thus reducing the need for excessive manpower.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If door panels are lifted using multiple persons, then the lifting operation can be performed, but the risk of accidents and ergonomic violations increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs spring packets as counterweights that are pre-tensioned to provide upward lifting force on the door panels. The springs are attached to the door panels and profiles, creating a counterbalancing force that reduces the net weight to be lifted by installers, thereby improving safety and reducing ergonomic risks
Solution Approach 2:
The spring packets are pre-tensioned before the door panels are installed and lifted into position. This preliminary action stores elastic potential energy in the springs, which is then released to assist with the lifting operation, reducing the manual effort required and improving safety
2Ease of operation
If fewer staff are used for lifting, then ergonomic regulations are met, but the control and safety of the lifting operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The pre-tensioned spring packets provide a controlled counterbalancing force that assists lifting with fewer personnel. The springs are engineered to provide appropriate force within the profile system, enabling safe operation with reduced manpower while maintaining control
Solution Approach 2:
The spring packets act as intermediaries between the door panels and the lifting operation. They mediate the force transmission, providing controlled assistance that enables fewer staff to safely manage the lifting while maintaining operational control
3Force
If door panels are lifted with excessive manpower, then the lifting force is sufficient, but the risk of panels getting stuck, warping or falling increases
Solution Approach 1:
The spring packets provide a controlled counterbalancing force that reduces the net lifting force required. This controlled force application prevents excessive force that could cause panels to get stuck, warp, or fall, while still providing sufficient lifting assistance
Solution Approach 2:
The spring packets are pre-tensioned to specific parameters that optimize the lifting force. By carefully selecting the spring tension parameters, the system provides sufficient lifting force while maintaining control and preventing damage to the panels
4Ease of operation
If spring packet force is used for lifting, then fewer staff are required, but the coupling operation becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The spring packets are integrated into the profile system that already exists for supporting and guiding the door panels. The same profile structure serves multiple functions: structural support, guide for panel movement, and mounting for the spring packets, thereby reducing overall system complexity despite the added lifting function
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 approach reduces the risk of accidents and ensures compliance with ergonomic regulations by distributing the weight more evenly, enabling a single person to manage the installation while minimizing the risk of warping or dropping panels, thus ensuring safer and more controlled lifting operations.
Implementation Method 1
the spring packet subjected to a tensile stress and the interconnected door panels are coupled by removing said locking element
Implementation Method 2
the spring packet is coupled, in unstressed state, to the door panels by means of ropes and pulleys present in the profile
Implementation Method 3
the weight of overhead doors frequently exceeds 100 kilogram
Data Source
Figure 1a~1c
Figure 2a
Figure 2b~3
AI summary
A description is given of a method of installing an overhead door by securing profiles at least provided with a spring packet around a doorway. Movable door panels which are pivotally attached to each other are situated between said profiles, after which the spring packet already subjected to a tensile stress is coupled to the door panels which are subsequently moved upwards by means of the slackening spring packet, after which the overhead door is adjusted.