MOTORISED SLIDING BARRIER.

DESCRIPTION

The invention relates to a motorised sliding barrier.

A type of sliding gates, particularly for outdoor use, known as motorised sliding gates, is now known and increasingly popular.

Generally, a motorised sliding gate comprises a barrier in the form of a frame, or plate, or another similar element, ground running wheels and guide means for such wheels, for example a rail and at least one support column; generally, the drive means for the barrier are defined at the column. Normally, the drive means for the barrier include an electric gear motor associated with a pinion-rack system, where the rack is fixed to a lower part of the barrier and the pinion is driven by the electric gear motor.

This type of motorised sliding gates, although popular and widespread, has some aspects that could be improved. A first drawback of known motorised sliding gates is linked to the pinion-rack system, since the rack’s translating movement determines a constant risk that the teeth of the rack may come into contact with a body, hooking it and dragging it dangerously; in addition, the pinion-rack coupling is constantly at risk from dust, dirt and various debris that may adhere to the rack and be dragged by it as far as the pinion, with consequent risk of damage.

Another drawback of such motorised sliding gates is the necessary presence of the support column, which comprises a set of upper wheels for supporting the barrier; the gear motor of the pinion-rack system is generally positioned at the base of the support column. The assembly defined by the support column and by the gear motor is typically bulky and of low visual impact; in particular, the gear motor, positioned at ground level, can create an unexpected and dangerous obstacle for a person walking near it.

Similarly, also the motorised sliding doors, e.g. in homes or workplaces, suffer from similar drawbacks.

In fact, motorised doors require the application of complex hardware, to which the door is fixed at the top; this hardware is fixed to the wall at the jamb of the passageway that the door must close and, even if it is concealed well, determines an encumbrance that cannot be overlooked by the eye. The task of the present invention is to develop a motorised sliding barrier capable of obviating the aforementioned drawbacks and limitations of the prior art.

In particular, an object of the invention is to develop a motorised sliding barrier which is less bulky than motorised sliding gates of the known type, and less bulky than motorised sliding doors of the known type.

A further object of the invention is to develop a motorised sliding barrier that is easier to install than known similar gates.

The above-mentioned task and objects are achieved by a motorised sliding barrier according to claim 1.

Further characteristics of the motorised sliding barrier according to claim 1 are described in the dependent claims.

The task and the aforesaid objects, together with the advantages that will be mentioned hereinafter, are indicated by the description of an embodiment of the invention, which is given by way of non-limiting example with reference to the attached drawings, where:

- Figure 1 represents a perspective view of a motorised sliding barrier according to the invention;

- Figure 2 is a front cut-away view of the motorised sliding barrier of Figure 1 ;

- Figure 3 represents a perspective view of the cut-away view of Figure 2;

- Figure 3A represents a plan view of the cut-away view of Figure 3;

- Figure 4 represents a perspective view of a detail of a motorised sliding barrier according to the invention;

- Figure 5 represents a cross-sectional side view of a motorised sliding barrier according to the invention;

- Figures 6 and 7 represent an embodiment of a motorised sliding barrier according to the invention.

With reference to the cited figures, a motorised sliding barrier according to the invention is indicated as a whole by number 10.

This motorised sliding barrier 10 comprises:

- a movable wall 11; in this embodiment, the movable wall 11 is a movable gate;

- one or more running wheels, e.g. two running wheels 12 and 13, pivoted to said movable wall, i.e. the movable gate 11, and projecting downwards therefrom, with respect to a normal operating arrangement;

- drive means 14 for the movable wall 11, configured to translate such movable wall 11, i.e. the movable gate, along a running direction X.

The peculiarity of the motorised sliding barrier 10 according to the invention lies in the fact that the drive means 14 comprise:

- at least one drive wheel, for example a drive wheel 15, constrained to a lower part 11a of said movable wall 11 in such a way that it projects downwards from said movable wall 11 for resting on a running surface;

- an electric motor 16 configured to drive said at least one drive wheel 15;

- a transmission unit 17 configured for transmitting power from said electric motor 16 to said drive wheel 15;

- power supply means for the electric motor 16.

Said at least one drive wheel 15, the electric motor 16 and the transmission unit 17 are positioned on board of said movable wall 11.

In particular, in the present embodiment, said at least one drive wheel 15, the electric motor 16 and the transmission unit 17 are arranged within said lower part 11 a of the movable wall 11.

More particularly, said lower part 11a of said movable wall 11 comprises a box body 25 inside which said at least one drive wheel 15, said electric motor 16 and said transmission unit 17 are positioned.

In the present embodiment of the invention, the power supply means comprise at least one battery, for example a battery 18, positioned on board of said movable wall 11 and connected to the electric motor 16.

Such a battery 18 is intended to be of a known type, rechargeable or non- rechargeable.

Power supply means are intended to be also of another type, e.g. they may be defined by a power supply system by means of a sliding contact between a conductive strip defined on the surface on which the motorised sliding gate 10 runs and a contact appendage projecting from the lower part 11a of the movable wall 11.

By way of non-limiting example of the invention, the transmission unit 17 comprises a drive gear 19, driven by said electric motor 16, and a driven gear 20, attached to and coaxial with said drive wheel 15.

The drive wheel 15 is positioned with its axis of rotation Z1 which is horizontal. In particular, the electric motor 16 is arranged with a vertical axis Y.

The transmission unit 17 also comprises a mechanism for transmitting rotation between non-parallel axes 24 configured to transmit rotation from said vertical axis Y to a horizontal axis Z2 which is rotational for said drive gear 19; said mechanism may comprise, for example, a coupling between a gear and a worm screw, to be understood as being of a known type in itself.

As mentioned above, the motorised sliding gate 10 comprises two running wheels 12 and 13, a first running wheel 12 being arranged in front of said drive wheel 15 and a second running wheel 13 being arranged behind said drive wheel 15, said running wheels 12, 13 being arranged within said lower part 11 a of the movable wall 11.

Preferably, the drive wheel 15 is positioned at the centre of gravity of the movable wall 11.

The words ‘at the centre of gravity’ are intended to mean that the drive wheel 15, as well as the wheel 115 mentioned below, is in line with the centre of gravity of the movable wall 11, i.e. the drive wheel 15 is positioned in the lower part 11a of the movable wall 11 with its axis of rotation positioned substantially orthogonal to a vertical axis passing through the centre of gravity of the movable wall 11, as is clearly visible from the figures, and in particular from Figure 6.

The presence of two running wheels 12 and 13 positioned as described above enables the movable wall 11 to support itself in a balanced manner, i.e. these two running wheels 12 and 13 prevent the movable wall 11 from tilting forwards or backwards with respect to the advancement direction X. Alternatively, the movable wall 11 may comprise two drive wheels, correspondingly motorised and spaced apart so as to support the movable wall 11 itself in a balanced manner even in the absence of running wheels.

Still alternatively, the movable wall 11 may comprise a drive wheel and a running wheel, spaced apart so as to support the movable wall 11 itself in a balanced manner.

In the embodiment of the invention described herein, which is intended to be illustrative and not limiting of the invention itself, the drive wheel 15 runs on a guide rail 28.

This guide rail 28 is to be intended to be fixed itself to the ground.

This guide rail 28 defines a running surface for the drive wheel 15.

It is of course to be understood that the drive wheel 15 of the motorised sliding gate 10 can be placed directly on the ground.

Advantageously, the guide rail 28 has a T shaped section. The outer perimeter surface of the drive wheel 15 has a cross-section that is preferably counter-shaped to the corresponding cross-section of the running surface of the guide rail 28.

In the present embodiment, the running surface is flat and the outer perimeter surface of the drive wheel 15 is cylindrical.

Advantageously, the running surface of the guide rail 28 and the outer perimeter surface of the drive wheel 15 are such that they can slide relative to each other.

For example, both the sliding surface of the guide rail 28 and the outer perimeter surface of the drive wheel 15 are made of metal and are substantially smooth.

Thanks to this expedient, in the event of an emergency, blocking the movable wall 11 with one hand causes the drive wheel 15 to slip on the guide rail 28, thus preventing an undesirable and dangerous event that could occur if the movable wall 11 continued its stroke, and at the same time safeguarding the integrity of the drive means 14.

The motorised sliding barrier 10 is intended to include also several drive wheels and several drive motors for these drive wheels.

Further, it is also intended that the drive means can be positioned in other positions in relation to the movable wall 11.

Figures 6 and 7 show a variant embodiment of a motorised sliding barrier according to the invention, indicated therein by number 110.

Similarly to the above, this motorised sliding barrier 110 includes:

- a movable wall 111; in this embodiment, the movable wall 111 consists of a movable mount, exemplified by a frame-like chassis 180;

- one or more running wheels, e.g. two running wheels 112 and 113, pivoted to said movable wall, i.e. the movable mount 111, and projecting downwards therefrom, with respect to a normal operating position;

- drive means 114 for the movable wall 111, configured to translate such movable wall 111, i.e. the movable gate, along a running direction X.

The drive means 114 comprise:

- at least one drive wheel, for example a drive wheel 115, constrained to a lower part 111a of said movable wall 111 in such a way that it projects downwards from said movable wall 111 for resting on a running surface;

- an electric motor 116 configured to drive said at least one drive wheel 115; - a transmission unit 117 configured for transmitting power from said electric motor 116 to said drive wheel 115;

- power supply means for the electric motor 116.

Said at least one drive wheel 115, the electric motor 116 and the transmission unit 117 are positioned on board of said movable wall 111.

In particular, in the present embodiment, said at least one drive wheel 115, the electric motor 116 and the transmission unit 117 are arranged within said lower part 111 a of the movable wall 111.

The box body 25 includes a bottom plate 25a.

The bottom plate 25a of the box body 25 has a window 25b configured to be crossed by a circular sector of said drive wheel 15.

Similarly, the bottom plate 25a has a window 25c for each of the running wheels 12 and 13; these windows 25b and 25c are clearly visible in Figure 4. The bottom plate 25a also includes brackets 32 for ball pressers 31, two opposing first reliefs 33 supporting a first running wheel 12, two opposing second reliefs 34 supporting a second running wheel 13, two central brackets 35 supporting the drive wheel 15 and a support body 36 configured to support the drive means 14, as can be seen in Figure 3.

The bottom plate 25a is intended to be capable of being integrated into the box body 25, or of being separated from the box body 25 and removable from it.

It is to be understood that a kit 50 for motorising a movable wall 11 for a sliding barrier, comprising a bottom plate 25a, with a drive wheel 15 on board, an electric motor 16, a transmission unit 17, and possibly the running wheels 12 and 13 and the battery 18, is also an object of the invention; such a kit 50 can be easily mounted on any movable wall, even an existing one, for example on a movable gate of a railing, in order to implement a motorised sliding gate.

The kit 50 may include a guide rail 28 as described above.

Practically, it has been established that the invention achieves the intended task and objects.

In particular, the invention has developed a motorised sliding barrier which is safer than similar motorised sliding gates of the known type.

In addition, the invention has developed a motorised sliding barrier that is less bulky than known motorised sliding gates, as it is free from the support column and from the motorisation of known type with an external electric motor and rack and pinion mechanism. Further, the invention has developed a motorised sliding barrier which is simpler to install than similar known gates, as it does not require the installation of a support column with corresponding external drive means of the rack and pinion type. The invention thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variants, all of which are within the scope of the inventive concept; moreover, all the details may be replaced by other technically equivalent elements.

In practice, the components and materials used, as well as the dimensions and shapes, as long as they are compatible with the specific use, can be any according to requirements and the state of the art.

Where the characteristics and techniques mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, such reference signs should be intended as having been added for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and, consequently, such reference signs have no limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.