Contactless Safety Device for Vertical Sliding Doors
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing safety devices for vertically sliding doors, such as sectional doors and roller blinds, are inefficient in detecting obstacles at non-perpendicular angles and can cause damage when encountering fragile objects due to physical contact before stopping, and existing complex solutions with infrared optical barriers are cumbersome.
Innovation Solution
A contactless safety device with parallel cursors that allow horizontal and vertical translation movements to position an optical barrier parallel to the door's lower side, using infrared emitters and receivers to detect obstacles and automatically stop the door without physical contact, utilizing a supporting element with slot cams and sliding pins for guided movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a sensitive edge or proximity sensor is used to detect obstacles, then the door can stop when encountering an obstacle, but the door causes damage or injury before stopping because it physically encounters the obstacle
Solution Approach 1:
The optical barrier is positioned in advance of the door's path, allowing obstacle detection before the door reaches the obstacle. The parallel cursors carry the optical barrier forward along the door's movement trajectory, enabling early detection and stopping action before physical contact occurs, thus preventing damage to fragile objects and injury to persons.
Solution Approach 2:
An optical barrier serves as an intermediary detection mechanism between the door and the obstacle. Instead of direct contact, the optical barrier detects obstacles through light interruption, providing indirect detection that triggers stopping action without requiring physical encounter between the door and the obstacle.
2Ease of operation
If the bottom edge of the door is not perpendicular to the obstacle, then the door can close, but existing safety sensors become inefficient in detecting obstacles
Solution Approach 1:
The optical barrier detection system is made dynamic by mounting it on parallel cursors that can move horizontally and vertically. This allows the optical barrier to maintain optimal detection positioning relative to the door's movement, adapting to different door positions and angles during closing operation, thereby maintaining detection efficiency regardless of door orientation.
Solution Approach 2:
The detection system is extended from a fixed single-point sensor to a movable optical barrier that operates in multiple dimensions. The parallel cursors enable the optical barrier to move in horizontal and vertical directions, creating a two-dimensional detection capability that covers various obstacle positions and angles, improving detection reliability across different door closing scenarios.
3Reliability
If infrared optical barriers with supporting arms are used to avoid contact, then safety is improved, but the system becomes complex and encumbering
Solution Approach 1:
The parallel cursors serve multiple functions: they guide the door's movement, position the optical barrier, and enable both horizontal and vertical translation of the detection system. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate supporting arms and complex mechanisms, simplifying the overall system while maintaining contactless detection capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The parallel cursors utilize the door's own movement and gravity to position the optical barrier automatically. The cursors move with the door during closing operation and retract when the door is open, eliminating the need for additional actuators or complex control mechanisms, thereby reducing system complexity while maintaining effective obstacle detection.
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
The solution provides a simple, efficient, and reliable safety device that can detect obstacles at any level during the door's closing travel, ensuring automatic stopping without physical contact, thus preventing damage to objects and ensuring safety across various angles and positions.
Implementation Method 1
sensor means without contact suitable to define at least an optical barrier are on board parallel cursors
Implementation Method 2
infrared emitters and receivers to detect obstacles
Implementation Method 3
supporting element with slot cams and sliding pins for guided movement
Implementation Method 4
able to place itself in a working position by means of its own gravity and to retract in a defiladed position
Data Source
Figure 1~5
Figure 2~4
Figure 6~8
AI summary
The invention concerns a safety device without contact for motorized doors movable in height, The device comprises two opposite safety units (14) attached to the internal face of the door, on its lower side, carrying means for defining at least an optical barrier positioned on the movement trajectory of the door and designed to provoke the stoppage of said door in the presence of an obstacle. The means for defining the optical barrier (23) are on board the parallel cursors (16, 26, 36)) each one belonging to one of said two safety units (14). The cursors are guided in cam slots of respective supporting elements and each one is susceptible to combined horizontal and vertical translation movements to position the optical barrier in parallel below the lower side and in the plane of the door during its opening and closing movements, and in parallel at a distance from the internal face of the door when the latter is in the lowered closed position.