BE UNIVERSALLY APPLIED TO CIVIL AND INDUSTRIAL APERTURE CLOSING SYSTEMS OPERATED BY ROPES

TECHNICAL FIELD :

The present invention relates to an innovative mechanical safety closing and locking device, adapted to be universally applied to civil and industrial aperture closing systems operated by ropes.

PRIOR ART :

Several inventions are known from the prior art, relating to mechanical safety closing and locking devices for aperture closing systems (also referred to as "ports") in civil and industrial building structures, but the present invention forms a valid innovative and inventive solution in the field as it was conceived and designed to solve the problems, in a simple and innovative manner, related to the accidental fall of a covering of a closing system in systems operated by ropes.

An anti-fall device for locking vertically lifting doors, in particular vertically lifting doors with a single covering, is known from WO 99/31342 Al . The main disadvantage of such a device is that it does not lock the covering of the closing system immediately because the locking device can only work discontinuously along the sliding guides of the covering, also requiring, for the operation thereof - in addition to a guide - cavities at predetermined distances in the guide itself; furthermore, the parachute brake is arranged below the covering, which consists of slats removably hinged to one another, therefore, said system cannot operate with coverings consisting of slats, which are removably hinged and free with respect to one another inside the rolling-shutter box where the locking system referred to in this document is housed, in order to also solve the problem of break-ins, remained totally unsolved by the international invention.

A rope safety device is also known from EP 0 393 489 Al for controlling the traction load of a rope assembly for the controlled lifting, holding and lowering a guided closing system, such as an up-and- over door or a leaf door or a folding door or a hinged folding door. Such a device works as soon as the traction load of the cable disappears, both due to the breaking of the cable and failure of a weight compensation device or a drive, assisted by a corresponding electrical signal and by an electromechanical switching device for the electrical drive unit, thus causing the activation of a locking device or the like. The main disadvantage of such a known device is that, while being provided with a bolt device, the latter is adapted to block the fall of the rope only if the latter breaks or at least is subject to an evident loss in the pulling tension thereof, however, it does not block the fall of the single slats directly and therefore of the covering of the closing system, acting thereon only indirectly. Therefore, said disadvantage makes it usable only for closing systems sliding horizontally on guides, therefore it does not work if applied to closing systems sliding vertically on guides . The German utility model patent DE 298 08 661 Ul relates to a safety device for lifting lift gates, sectional doors, roll-up grilles, Venetian blinds or the like, by means of support cables. The main disadvantage of said utility model is that, besides being structurally complex, since it is provided with leverages which operate under the action of the rope breaking, in the event of intervention it locks the entire sliding of the device itself, therefore it cannot work in the case of heavy coverings.

The currently known technical solutions generally have problems which are relatable to the above, which do not offer maximum safety over time as regards the risk of falling of the covering of the closing system operated by ropes.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION :

Therefore, it is a main object of the present invention to overcome said drawbacks of said prior art.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a mechanical safety closing and locking device, which can easily be applied to all systems operated by ropes, without requiring modifications of the rolling- shutter box.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a mechanical safety closing and locking device, adapted to be easily installable in rolling-shutter boxes of all civil and industrial aperture closing systems operated by ropes.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a safe and rapid-acting locking system, which is also inexpensive for the end user. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a valid anti-theft locking system.

Such objects are achieved by providing a mechanical safety closing and locking device, as described below and characterized in the appended claims .

These and other objects and advantages according to the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, shown by way of a non-limiting example, provided with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

- Fig . 1 is a three-dimensional view of the mechanical safety closing and locking device 1 according to the invention, configured to be insertable into the rolling-shutter box and depicted by way of example to be applied to shutters with packaged slats and coverings operated by ropes, from which it is possible to see the main component parts thereof, i.e. a body 10 easily insertable into the shutter box 14 located in the rolling-shutter box. Inside such a body 10, a locking element 7 (depicted in figure 1 in a locking position) is free to slide - under the tensioning of an elastic means or spring 6 -, sliding on bearings 12 along a guide enclosed by the body 10 itself (the elastic means 6 and the fixing screws 9 thereof are depicted in an exploded view at the bottom) ;

- Fig . 2 is a two-dimensional view of the mechanical safety closing and locking device 1 in figure 1, in which said elastic means 6 are constrained by the fixing screws 9 thereof to the guide body 10 of the locking element 7, the latter now in a tensioning position, ready to block the fall of the shutter covering in the event of a rope breaking;

- Fig . 3 is the same two-dimensional view of the mechanical safety closing and locking device 1 in figure 2, with the difference that said locking means 7 is now depicted in a locking position of the covering;

- Fig . 4 is another three-dimensional view of the device 1 in the previous figures, in particular figure 1, where the shape of the guide body 10 of the locking element 7 can now be better understood, the latter depicted in a tensioning position;

- Fig . 5 is the same three-dimensional view of the device 1 in figure 4, where the locking element 7 is now depicted in a locking position;

- Fig . 6 is a two-dimensional view of the box 14 installed inside the rolling-shutter box 11, from which both said component parts of the mechanical safety closing and locking device 1, and the operating methods thereof, can be better understood, in particular by observing the present figure and the following two figures (in the present figure, the locking device 1 is in a tensioning position, as we can also see from the maximum pulling elongation of the elastic means or spring 6) ;

- Fig . 7 is the same two-dimensional view in figure 6, but in which the rope 15 is also depicted;

- Fig . 8 is the same two-dimensional view in the previous figures 6 and 7, in which the exact moment when the loosening of the rope 15 occurs is depicted, and therefore the immediate activation of the locking means 7 (already in progress and just visible between the slats 2 packed in the rolling-shutter box and forming the covering 3 of the packaged shutter, selected as the preferred but not limiting application) ;

- Fig . 9 is another three-dimensional view of the mechanical safety closing and locking device 1, with a view of the covering 3 of the closing system sliding in the lateral guides 13 taken from outside the rolling- shutter box 11.

Those skilled in the art can readily see from the appended figures how the present mechanical safety closing and locking device 1 is easily and universally applicable to civil and industrial aperture closing systems operated by ropes, being characterized in that it can be inserted into the rolling-shutter box 11 of any vertically sliding shutter and can safely work in good time when the pulling ropes 15 of the shutter covering 3 become loose or suddenly break.

One of the particular features of the present invention comes from the mechanical safety closing and locking device 1 being easily installable inside the rolling-shutter box 11 of the shutter covering 3 as well as easily produced industrially, consisting of:

- a rigid guide body 10, provided with:

an elastic means 6 which is configured to be kept under tension by the contrasting action of at least one pulling rope 15 of the shutter covering 3

- a locking element 7, sliding in said rigid body

10 and hooked to said elastic means 6, onto which said rope 15 applies a thrust, adapted to counter the elastic force of the elastic means 6, wherein said locking element 7 is adapted to interfere mechanically with the covering 3 of the shutter and block the fall thereof in the event of an interruption in the pulling continuity of said rope 15.

The breaking or loosening of the rope 15 thus results in the immediate disappearance of the contrasting force of the rope itself on the elastic means or spring 6, which can thus automatically free the stored potential elastic energy thereof (in traction in the preferred, but non-limiting solution, depicted in the accompanying drawings), precisely when said tensioning contrast of the rope terminates, so as to slidingly move said locking element 7 to a position of engagement with the covering 3, so as to safely prevent the fall thereof.

The device 1 can easily be installed inside rolling-shutter boxes 11 of closing systems with coverings 3 operated by ropes 15, without requiring undesired building work (figures 6, 7, 8 and 9) .

The device 1 consists of a rigid body 8, provided with a locking element 7 therein, sliding on at least one pair of bearings 12 (figures 1-3 and 6-8) and it is contrasted, like a cross-bow, on one end or tang 4 thereof by the pulling of at least one rope 15 under tension, directly or indirectly supporting the shutter covering 3. The balancing of said contrasting force is achieved in the opposite direction by the balanced pulling of the elastic means or spring 6 (figure 6) . In other words: when the rope 15 is tight, it pushes the locking element 7 sideways and holds it in such a position where the spring 6 - hooked thereto - is in a configuration of maximum stored elastic energy (in the example shown, it is a traction spring at maximum extension) , and when the rope 15 loses tension after loosening or breaking, the spring 6 is free to change to the rest position thereof, causing the immediate sliding of the locking element 7 towards the engagement position thereof, thus locking the covering 3.

The immediate anti-fall safety action of the shutter covering 3 is ensured, as previously stated, by the elastic energy stored by said elastic means 6, which, when the pulling rope 15 of the tang 4 loosens or breaks as a result of wear or another accidental event, exerts a thrust action on said locking element 7, which is pushed forward along the direction of the guide supports 5 and 8 (figure 3), blocking the fall of the covering 3 of the shutter sliding on the guides 13.

In the exemplary case of assembly of shutters with coverings 3 in rolling-shutter boxes 11 operated by ropes 15, the device 1 can be completely housed inside the rolling-shutter box 11 and protected by the latter against break-ins, without requiring modifications to the rolling-shutter box 11 itself, as stated above.

The ropes 15 can be kept under tension with the aid of a plurality of return pulleys and at least one means for pulling or winding up the ropes 15 themselves, which are technically known.

The operation of the device 1, due to either expected or unexpected causes, can allow the interruption of the electric current supplied to the shutter by means of the action of said locking element 7 on an electric switch (not shown) , thus also acting as an electric safety device.

It is also possible to provide for the action of the device 1 working if an electric motor is present, which can be remotely controlled by means of a radio control and an electronic control and command circuit, in order to obtain a convenient electronic safety closure of the shutter covering 3.

Therefore, the present invention can also serve as a valid anti-theft safety closing means for the shutter, being placeable inside the rolling-shutter box 11, thus, at the top of the shutter itself, with the option of closing the latter mechanically and automatically, said device 1 being able to act as a mechanical spring lock, both upon complete closure of the shutter covering 3 and, extremely safely, in any other position of the covering 3, especially when the operating ropes thereof accidentally break.

Advantageously, the presence of the spring 6 also serves to prevent the locking element 7 from being able to have an elastic-type rebound, thus ensuring the complete anti-fall safety of the covering 3.

The device also performs an anti-fall safety function of the covering 3, in that, if it is coupled to a pair of ropes 15 and not to a single pulling rope 15 (imagining that at least one of the pulling ropes 15 breaks or becomes loose as a result of wear or other accidental events), the elastic means 6, being kept under contrasted tension, would forcedly push the locking element 7 against the lateral sliding guides 13 of the shutter covering 3, thus preventing the shutter covering 3 from falling down.

Thus, the locking element 7 can also act as an anti-fall safety means, contrasting the sliding of the covering 3 along the shutter guides 13.

Advantageously, the locking element 7 can also serve as a valid anti-theft closing means for the shutter itself, since it can automatically work upon the complete closure of the covering 3 of the shutter, also preventing the opening thereof in the event of an attempted break-in because if the shutter is raised, pushing it from the bottom upwards, the pulling rope 15 would loosen, thus activating the operation of the locking element 7.

The reciprocal movement of the movable elements forming the device 1 has been studied to minimize friction and not represent, per se, a further cause of wear of the component parts and of those which are more susceptible to deterioration.

The ropes 15 can be kept under tension with the aid of a plurality of return pulleys and at least one means for pulling or winding up the ropes themselves.

The guide body 10 of the locking element 7, containing said pair of axial supports 5 and 8, has a free end thereof shaped so as to guide the direct contrasting anti-fall action of the shutter covering 3.

Advantageously, the invention can also be applied with coverings consisting of removably hinged slats 2, because they are free in the rolling-shutter box 11 where the locking device 1 itself is housed.

The mechanical device 1 here described, consisting of few structural elements, is easy to be provided and for this reason offers the unquestionable advantage of being extremely easy to be manufactured and assembled, with reduced production costs.

Therefore, the present invention is an innovative technical solution in the field of safety devices, acting completely automatically if the lifting ropes of the shutter covering break accidentally or in case of break-in, in the exemplary case discussed and more generally for all rope-operated systems.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention offers the further undoubted advantage of being usable not only in the field of shutters with coverings operated by ropes, described herein merely by way of example, but also in several other fields having ropes under tension, such as rope systems for elevators, goods lifts, assembly chains, sectional doors and cranes, thus representing a valid safety means .

A further advantage, certainly no less important than the previous ones, derives from the fact that the invention also usefully acts as an anti-theft safety closing means for the shutter, being placeable inside the rolling-shutter box, thus at the top of the shutter itself .

The present device has very low manufacturing costs and is simple to be assembled with further advantages in terms of transport, handling and installation costs. There are several apparent advantages resulting from the application of the present device to all systems controlled by ropes.

It is also apparent that several adaptations, modifications, integrations, variations and replacements of elements with others which are functionally equivalent can be made to the embodiment described by way of a non-limiting example, without departing from the scope of protection of the following claims .

REFERENCE NUMERALS

I. MECHANICAL SAFETY CLOSING AND LOCKING DEVICE

2. SLAT

3. COVERING

4. TANG OF 7 CONNECTED TO THE ROPE AND TO THE PULLING THEREOF

5. FIRST GUIDE SUPPORT OF 7

6. ELASTIC MEANS

7. LOCKING MEANS

8. SECOND GUIDE SUPPORT OF 7

9. ELASTIC MEANS ANCHORING SCREWS

10. BODY OF DEVICE 1

II. ROLLING-SHUTTER BOX

12. BEARINGS

13. LATERAL GUIDES OF THE ROLLER BLIND

14. GUIDE BOX OF THE SHUTTER SLATS WITH PACKABLE COVERING IN THE ROLLING-SHUTTER BOX 11

15. PULLING CABLE OR ROPE OF THE SHUTTER COVERING