Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090235589 | BREAKAWAY ELEMENTS FOR A HORIZONTAL SIDE-MOVING DOOR - A horizontal side-moving door with a side-winding curtain or horizontally translating panel includes a breakaway brace that helps hold a relatively rigid leading edge of the curtain or panel in a substantially vertical orientation. Should a forklift accidentally strike the leading edge of the curtain or panel, a replaceable shear pin incorporated in the brace breaks away to release the leading edge, thus protecting the edge from damage. Although the shear pin can break into two or more pieces, the brace includes means for holding the pieces in place and preventing them from falling and hitting anything underneath the pin. Although with some limitations, the door is still operational even while the pin is broken. | 09-24-2009 |
20090236051 | BOTTOM SEALS FOR A HORIZONTAL SIDE-ROLLING DOOR CURTAIN - A sideways rollup door with a horizontal side-rolling curtain includes a replaceable bottom seal that is zippered or otherwise removably connected to the curtain at an inclined joint. The inclination of the joint ensures that the joint wraps upon the curtain's take-up roller in an approximate helical pattern so as to prevent the joint from creating a concentrated bulge on the roller. In some cases, there is extra space underneath the roller to provide roll-up room for the bottom seal, which can be relatively thick. Such extra space could be further used to accommodate a seal joint and/or other curtain seams that are not necessarily inclined. | 09-24-2009 |
20090236052 | PLIABLE SHROUDS FOR A HORIZONTAL SIDE-ROLLING DOOR - A sideways rollup door with a horizontal side-rolling curtain includes a vertical roller that is shielded by a pliable shroud. The shroud is supported by a frame that includes a breakaway feature and/or readily replaceable frame elements. To access the roller for servicing, the frame elements allow the shroud to be selectively moved (without the use of tools) between an installed position and a retracted position. In some cases, the breakaway feature enables the shroud to break away in certain directions easier than others. In some embodiments, the shroud includes a seal that engages the curtain when the shroud is in the installed position. | 09-24-2009 |
20100218429 | UPPER SEAL FOR A HORIZONTAL SIDE-MOVING DOOR - An example of a horizontal side-moving door with a side-winding or horizontally translating curtain includes an upper seal comprising an upper edge of the curtain sliding within a groove of a seal guide. To protect the door in the event of an impact, at least a portion of the curtain's upper edge can restorably pull out from within the groove. To avoid damage in certain situations, the seal guide might resiliently deflect as well. After an impact, the curtain's upper edge is automatically fed back into the groove by simply opening and closing the door. During normal operation, the curtain's upper edge advantageously deflects in response to air pressure against either side of the door. In some examples, the seal guide is of a uniform cross-section, which makes the seal guide easy to manufacture by way of a conventional plastic extrusion process. | 09-02-2010 |
20120025964 | METHODS AND APPARATUS TO DETECT AND WARN PROXIMATE ENTITIES OF INTEREST - Systems and methods to detect and warn proximate entities of interest are described herein. An example signal generation system for a vehicle capable of different modes of movement includes a detector to determine at least one property of vehicle movement and an output representative of that at least one property and a selectively variable signal generator includes an input to receive the at least one output representative of the at least one property of vehicle movement and, responsively, generates a selected signal based on the received output. In some examples, a detector on a pedestrian detects the selected signal from the signal generator and, responsively, provides an output indicative of a vehicle in proximity to the pedestrian. In some examples, a trajectory vector is generated for at least two entities of interest based on at least one characteristic of movement of each entity. Each entity's trajectory vector is expanded and each entity's expanded trajectory vector is analyzed for overlap with the other entity's expanded trajectory vector to assess the possibility of a collision between them. | 02-02-2012 |
20130112354 | POWERED SAFETY CURTAINS - Powered safety curtains are disclosed. An example barrier for an opening includes a motorized drive unit, and a curtain. The example barrier also includes a track disposed along the lateral edge of the curtain, a guide plate carried by the curtain and extending into the track and a nonferrous guide member attached to the guide plate. The example barrier also includes a first safety device comprising a first wireless portion attached to the nonferrous guide member and a first electrical portion mounted relative to the track. The first electrical portion is in the first activated state when the first wireless portion is in proximity with the first electrical portion as a result of the leading edge of the curtain being at the closed position. The first wireless portion is in the first deactivated state when the first wireless portion is remote relative to the first electrical portion. | 05-09-2013 |
20130112358 | POWERED SAFETY CURTAINS - Powered safety curtains are disclosed herein. An example safety barrier assembly to control access to equipment includes a track and a barrier including a receptacle. The barrier is to be moveable within the track between an open position and a closed position. The open position is to enable access to the equipment, the closed position to substantially prevent access to the equipment. The example safety barrier assembly also includes a sensor to identify when the safety barrier is in the closed position and a securing device comprising a portion to be received by the receptacle when the barrier is identified as being in the closed position. An interaction between the portion and the receptacle is to prevent the barrier from moving out of the closed position. | 05-09-2013 |
20140305600 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO RETAIN AND REFEED DOOR CURTAINS - Systems and methods to retain and refeed door curtains are disclosed. An example door is disclosed that includes first and second tracks. The example door includes a retainer borne by the first track and an alignment guide associated with the first track. The example door also includes a curtain extending laterally between the first and second tracks. The curtain has a leading edge selectively movable between a closed position and an open position. The example door includes a primary projection borne by the curtain that is in guiding engagement with the retainer within the first track. The primary projection is dislodged from the track when the curtain is in the breakaway state. The example door includes a secondary projection borne by the curtain and arranged to travel outside of the alignment guide when the leading edge is traveling between the open position and the closed position. | 10-16-2014 |
20140345812 | Systems and Methods to Retain and Refeed Door Curtains - Systems and methods to retain and refeed door curtains are disclosed. An example door is disclosed that includes a track and a curtain that includes a leading section. The curtain is to be in at least one of a breakaway state or a normal state, and in at least one of a folded condition or an unfolded condition while in the breakaway state such that: (a) in the normal state, a lateral section in an area proximate the leading section is in guiding engagement with the track; (b) in the breakaway state while in the folded condition, the lateral section in the area proximate the leading section is dislodged from the track and folded over onto the main section to define an enfolded space; and (c) in the breakaway state while in the unfolded condition, the lateral section in the area proximate the leading section is dislodged from the track but not folded over onto the main section. The example door also includes an unfolder to be in a position to engage the lateral section proximate the enfolded space as the leading section moves toward an open position while the curtain is in the folded condition. | 11-27-2014 |