Sectional Door Guide Rail Trough Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sectional doors with large panels are unsuitable for garages with limited headroom, as they require a large radius of bent guide rails, leading to a high camber and potential gaps for ventilation, which can allow vermin and compromise security, and existing solutions require complex sensor systems to manage abrupt speed changes at kink points in guide rails.
Innovation Solution
A door design featuring guide rails with a trough-like shape for the uppermost pair of track rollers, allowing tilting without gaps and eliminating the need for precise sensors, as the speed only needs to be slowed at the initial and end points, not at kink points, and the guide rails are simpler to manufacture.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the width of individual panels is increased to reduce the number of panels, then manufacturing and assembly costs are reduced, but the radius of the bent transition region of the guide rails must be enlarged, leading to a large camber above the door opening
Solution Approach 1:
The guide rail system is segmented into multiple independent guide rails, each serving specific track rollers. The uppermost guide rail is further segmented into a horizontal portion and a downwardly directed bent portion with a kink point, allowing independent optimization of each segment's function.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide rail transitions from a purely horizontal arrangement to a three-dimensional configuration with vertical components. The bent portion directs track rollers downward, utilizing the vertical dimension to achieve panel tilting while maintaining compact horizontal space.
2Ease of manufacture
If the guide rails have a large camber to accommodate large panels, then fewer panels are needed, but ventilation gaps are created that allow vermin entry and compromise security
Solution Approach 1:
The uppermost panel is made dynamically tiltable relative to the door leaf through the bent guide rail portion. This dynamic configuration allows the panel to be positioned in a tilted orientation during ventilation operations, maintaining ground contact to prevent vermin entry while still providing air exchange capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The position and orientation of the uppermost panel are changed from a fixed horizontal position to a variable tilted position. By adjusting the panel's angular parameter, the system can switch between closed (secure) and ventilated (tilted) states, eliminating permanent gaps while maintaining security.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the guide rails have a kink point for abrupt direction change, then the uppermost panel can be tilted for ventilation, but the speed must be reduced to zero at the kink point, increasing wear on the door drive
Solution Approach 1:
The abrupt kink point in the guide rail is replaced with a curved transition portion that provides a smooth, continuous path for the track rollers. This curved geometry eliminates sudden directional changes, allowing the door drive to maintain continuous motion without speed reduction to zero, thereby reducing mechanical wear and improving reliability.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If a separate locking device is added to secure the door in ventilation position, then security against prying is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bent guide rail portion serves multiple functions: it enables the tilting motion for ventilation, provides the mechanical path for the uppermost panel, and inherently maintains ground contact through its geometry. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate locking devices, as the guide rail structure itself provides the security function.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to a door, in particular a sectional door, comprising a door leaf which includes several interconnected panels, pairs of track rollers which are connected with one of the several panels and which are designed to guide a respective panel in guide rails, wherein the door comprises an uppermost pair of track rollers, a bottommost pair of track rollers and at least one middle pair of track rollers, and the uppermost pair of track rollers, the bottommost pair of track rollers and the at least one middle pair of track rollers each run in separate guide rails, and wherein the guide rails of the uppermost pair of track rollers have a course which in one portion has a trough-like shape.