US3473266A - Integrated header - Google Patents

Description

Get. 21, 1969 R. A. MILLER 7 INTEGRATED HEADER Filed Dec. 15, 196' 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. ROBERT A. MILLER ATTORNEYS Get. 21, 1969 Filed Dec. 15, 1967 2 Sheets-Shae 3,473,266 INTEGRATED HEADER Robert A. Miller, Plainville, Conn, assignor to The Stanley Works, New Britain, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed Dec. 15, 1967, Ser. No. 690,972 Int. Cl. Etiob 1/14; E056 13/02, 15/06 US. Cl. 49-504 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An integrated header assembly for sliding doors is constructed from a minimum number of extruded stock components designed and configurated so as to provide an interlocked assembly simply and quickly constructed and installed in the field and integrated with the door frame to provide a custom installation regardless of variations in the size of the door opening. The assembly includes a pivotable cover facilitating ready access to the interior of the assembly for repair thereof and is free from all visible fasteners thereby presenting a neat and pleasing external appearance.

The present invention relates to an overhead support structure for a sliding panel and more particularly is directed to a new and improved header assembly for power operated sliding doors and the like.

An object of the present invention is to provide a header assembly of the type described which utilizes extruded stock components designed for simplified, yet customized, field assembly and installation despite variations in the size of the door opening, the components being readily interlocked into an integrated, preinstallation assembly and providing a lightweight yet rugged and sturdy construction of clean, unobstructed and pleasing appearance.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved header assembly for a power operated sliding door wherein the header assembly is integrally mounted on the door frame transversely of the door opening and has a door operator housing as the principal supporting component of the assembly with the door carrying track slidably interlocked with and supported by the housing, the assembly being comprised of easily fabricated components available in stock lengths and requiring only minor drilling, cutting and/or punching operations during the assembly thereof.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved header assembly of the type described having a housing cover which facilitates ready access to the interior of the housing along its entire length without the removal of any portion of the housing, thereby facilitating easy adjustment and repair of the internal components with the assembly.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved header assembly of the type described which employs only a few standardized interlocking basic components of nonvarying design along their entire lengths enabling their use with door openings of different sizes without requiring any substantial modification or variation thereof.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of the application which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a sliding door States Patent ice assembly including the improved header construction of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view, partially broken away and partially in section, illustrating the extruded interlocking components of the header assembly of the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 33 of FIG. 1.

Referring now to the drawing in greater detail, wherein like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several figures, there is shown in FIG. 1 a power operated door package, generally designated 10, which in the embodiment illustrated includes a fixed or emergency breakout door panel 12 mounted adjacent one side frame member 14 and a sliding door panel 18 depending from the header assembly 20 for reciprocable sliding movement in a plane parallel to and adjacent panel 12 between open and closed positions. The header assemby 20 is secured to the side frame members 14 adjacent the top of the door opening and houses a door operator 22 which operates the sliding door panel 18 between its open and closed positions in response to the actuation of a suitable switching mechanism such as a mat switch located on the ingress and/or egress portions of the passageway for the door. As best shown in FIG. 3, the sliding door panel 18 is adjustably suspended from a trolley 24 at a suitable height, the trolley being linked to the door operator 22 by an operator lever 26. If desired, a nylon bumper 28 may be provided to prevent the trolley from being accidentally dislodged from its track as the result of a sudden jarring or other irregular movement of the door panel. Thus, the panel 18 is provided with smoother, more reliable reciprocable movement.

In accordance with the present invention the header assembly 20, which is mounted transversely of the door opening adjacent the top thereof, includes an elongated operator and trolley enclosure 30 or generally rectangular cross section which is of appropriate size to additionally house the auxiliary equipment necessary for the operation of the sliding door panel, such as the electrical and air lines associated with the power Operation of the door. The enclosure 30 comprises a main header housing 32 of generally C-shaped cross section and a substantially flat and smooth front cover 34 pivotally supported by the housing, the free end 36 of the cover extending slightly below the top of door panels 12, 18 to essentially curtain or conceal the operator and trolley mechanisms within the header assembly. The C-shaped housing 32 is an elongated extruded member comprising a generally flat, rectangular back portion 38 and a pair of integral top and bottom arms 40, 42, respectively, extending forwardly from the top and bottom edges of the back portion 38 at substantially right angles thereto. The free end 44 of the top arm of the housing is provided with a depending, elongated ball socket 46 extending along the entire length of the housing for cooperating with the continuous, bifurcated ball connector 48 inwardly offset from the top edge of the generally rectangular cover 34. As can be seen from FIG. 3, the elongated ball and socket type joint is constructed so as to prevent radial removal of the ball connector 48 from the socket 46 or undue play in the joint which could cause rattling of the cover while facilitating pivotal movement of the cover through an arc of at least to permit full and ready access to the interior of the housing. In this manner, the internal components of the power operated sliding door 10 can be easily serviced without the necessity of removing the cover. At the same time the smooth unobstructed and uncluttered exterior of the enclosure provides a clean, pleasing appearance free from unsightly fasteners and the like.

The longitudinally extending bottom arm 42 of the housing 32 is provided on its free end with a downwardly opening rabbeted dovetail channel 50 extending along the entire length of the housing as well as an elongated, upstanding flange 52. Supportably carried by the flange 52 is an integral, elongated boss 54 having a U-shaped central channel 56 with serrated ribs along its length, staggered to conform to the shape and pitch of screw threads. The channel 56 is tapered slightly toward the mouth of the channel with lip portions 58 extending forwardly of the flange 52 and having outwardly flaring exterior faces 60. A plurality of longitudinally extending screw-receiving beads 62 are formed as integral portions of the extruded housing 32 and, as illustrated, are preferably located at the areas of juncture between the arms 40', 42 and their abutting housing portions to give added strength and stability to the housing in view of its function as a main supporting component of the header assembly.

Supported by the housing and interlocked therewith through a pair of mortise and tenon connections disposed a tright angles to each other is an elongated, extruded track 70 on which rides the door supporting trolley 24. The track 70 includes a generally fiat, vertically disposed body portion 72 having an integral, forwardly and downwardly extending rail support 74 which carries on its upstanding rail base 68 an elongated nylon rail 76. Extending rearwardly from the bottom of body portion 72 is an elongated flange 78 having a dovetailed tenon 80 which cooperates with the rabbeted channel 50 located on the lower arm 42 of the housing to slidably interlock and support the track on the housing. A depending, vertically disposed skirt 82 is also provided on the bottom of body portion 72 and extends slightly below the top of door panels 12, 18 on the back side thereof for concealing the trolley mechanism in much the same manner as the front cover 34. An uppermost flange 84 of the track 70 having on its free end an elongated screw bead 86 similar to beads 62 on housing 32 projects rearwardly from the top of body portion 72 and supportably rests on the top exterior surface of the channeled boss 54. As will be appreciated, the weight of the door will cause the flange 84 to bear against and be supported by the flared surfaces 60 of the boss 54 while the screw bead 86 provides an additional means for securing the header assembly to the upstanding frame members 14 prior to installation within the door opening.

An intermediate flange 90 extends rearwardly of the body portion 72 along the length of the track and projects upwardly to an acute angle to body portion 72 so that it is juxtaposed the flared bottom lip 58 of the housing. Accordingly, the uppermost and intermediate flanges 84, 90 define an elongated dovetail channel or mortise for receiving the tenon-like lips 58 of boss 54. During assembly the mortise formed by flanges 84 and 90 is preferably apertured at various points along the longitudinally extending depression 92 so that a threaded fastener 94 may pass through the aligned mortise formed by flanges 84 and 90 into the slightly tapered channel 56 of the boss 54, forcing the lips 58 outwardly into intimate compressive contact with the interior sliding surfaces of the flanges thereby securely positioning the track at a fixed point on the housing and preventing relative movement within the track-housing assembly.

Aflixed at intervals along the track 70 and preferably at the ends thereof is a clip 100 of L-shaped cross section having on its vertically disposed leg 102 a rearwardly projecting tapered boss 104 complementary to the depression 92 of the track with which it mates upon assembly. The leg 102 is further provided with a notch 106 which cooperates with the mounting finger 108 projecting forwardly from the upper end of the track body 72 to properly position the clip 100 relative to the track. As shown in phantom in FIG. 3 a countersunk central aperture 110 may be cut in the leg 102 at the boss 104 to permit fastening of the clip 100 to the housing by the threaded fastener 94 passing through the track into the threaded channel 56 of the housing. The integral, horizontally disposed leg 112 of the clip 100 is provided with a terminal detent 114 and recess 100 for securely interengaging the inwardly projecting similarly contoured latch 118 located on the interior of the housing cover 34. It will, of course, be appreciated that additional clips 100 may also be positioned intermediate the ends of the header assembl if desired, so long as they do not interfere with the travel of the operator lever 26 during the opening and closing of the door panel 18.

As shown in FIG. 3 an operator base 120 for supporting the operator 22 within the housing rests on the clips 100 at each end of the housing and may, if desired, be secured thereto by the fastener 122 shown in phantom. A longitudinally extending front notch 124 is provided in the operator base 120 to permit communication between the operator 22 and the trolley 24 by the opeartor ever 26 while the remaining portion of the base 120 rests on the track throughout its length. The operator base 120 is thereby supported within the header asembly by the main supporting housing 32 through the track 70 and clip 100 and is enclosed by the cover 34 and housing 32 to give a smooth, neat and pleasing external appearance.

In accordance with the present invention and as mentioned hereinbefore, the basic structural components of the header assembly, that is, the housing, cover, track and clip are all extruded metal members, preferably formed of lightweight extruded aluminum and are produced in standard lengths as stock items which can be readily cut to size in the field to provide a custom fit for door openings of diflerent sizes. The housing 32, cover 34 and track 70 are preferably stocked in twelve foot or other convenient lengths while the clip 100 need be no longer than a few inches in length since, unlike the other components, it does not extend the full lenth of the header assembly. Advantageously, each of the components of the header assembly exhibits substantially uniform dimensions throughout its entire length and can be readily cut to size at the installation location to provide rapid, accurate and customized fabrication of the assembly.

It is an additional advantages of the present invention that the header may be preassembled and integrated with the frame members prior to installation of the entire unit within the door opening. This can be effected by longitudinally sliding the track 70 and cover 34 on the supporting housing 32 to provide the necessary interconnections therebet-ween. For example, the vertically projecting dovetail tenon of the track 70 and the horizontally opening mortise defined by track flanges 84 and will longitudinally slide along the bearing faces of the channel 50 and lips 58 of the housing to provide the desired interlocking assembly between the track 70 and housing 32. Threaded connectors 94 may then be passed through suitable apertures in the track so as to contact the threaded channel 56 of the boss 54 and compressively wedge the tenon-like lips 58 of the boss 54 into secure intimate contact with the flanges 84, 90 of the track thereby fixing the relationship between the components and preventing slidable displacement of the track relative to the housing. The cover 34 is also hingedly connected to the housing 32 by longitudinally sliding the bifurcated ball connector 48 into the socket 46 carried by the upper arm of the housing. At this stage in the assembly the frame members 14 may be fastened to the header enclosure 30 by passing selftapping screws through the frame members 14 and into the screw-receiving beads 62, 86 thereby securely fastening both the housing and the track on the frame prior to installation within the door opening. Although the clips and operator 22 may be mounted Within the header assembly before it is attached to the frame members or installed within the door opening, these members are most conveniently secured within the enclosure 30 after installation of the lightweight enclosure, track and frame assembly within the door opening.

As will be appreciated from the foregoing detailed description, the header assembly of the present invention provides for the use of stock components capable of being rapidly assembled in the field in interlocking fashion with a minor amount of drilling, cutting or punching operations. The extruded components in stock length are easily fabricated of lightweight yet rugged and sturdy material and are designed and constructed so as to provide a header assembly wherein the housing is the principal supporting component of the assembly. At the same time, the interlocking arrangement of the various components facilitates an integrated assembly of the header on the door frame and a clean, unobstructed and pleasing external appearance for the assembly.

As will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, various modifications and adaptations of the structure abovedescribed will become readily apparent Without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a header assembly for a sliding door having an enclosure mounted transversely of the door opening and an overhead track for the door supportably mounted on the enclosure, the combination wherein the enclosure and track are elongated extruded members with the enclosure having a plurality of bearing faces extending longitudinally along the length thereof and the track having complementary elongated interlocking surfaces in intimate supported contact with the bearing faces, at least one pair of said bearing faces being divergent in cross section and the pair of track surfaces complementary thereto being convergent in cross section to facilitate longitudinal assembly thereof and interference to other than longitudinal separation, said track being provided with means for compressively locking at least one of the faces of the enclosure against its complementary surface on the track for securely holding the track in a fixed position relative to the enclosure.

2. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the divergent bearing faces and complementary interlocking surfaces define a dovetail connection assuring facile aligned assembly between the enclosure and the track and the locking means includes a wedge urging a bearing face and complementary surface into compressive holding engagement.

3. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the enclosure includes a cover providing ready access to the interior of the enclosure, said cover being connected to the enclosure through a continuous pivot hinge connection extending along a substantial length thereof and a clip connector spaced from the pivot connection.

4. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the bearing faces and complementary interlocking surfaces define a pair of mortise and tenon connections angularly disposed relative to each other, each connection extending along the length of the enclosure and facilitating longitudinal telescoping assembly of the track on the enclosure.

5. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the enclosure includes a housing comprising a substantially flat back wall portion and a pair of integral side anm portions projecting outwardly from opposite ends of the back portion to give a generally C-shaped cross-sectional configuration to the housing, the lower side arm having an integral upstanding flange mounted in the free end thereof, said flange carrying at least one pair of said divergent bearing faces, the track being positioned juxtaposed said flange and having a flange-traversing leg provided with at least one of said complementary converging surfaces in intimate supported contact with a divergent bearing face.

6. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the enclosure and track are extruded stock items of substantially uniform design and cross-sectional dimensions along their entire length.

7. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the compressively locked face on the enclosure is carried by an internally serrated channel tapered slightly toward its mouth and the locking means includes a Wedge slightly larger than the channel mouth and insertable therein to part the channel and urge the face carried thereon into compressive engagement with its complementary surface.

8. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the enclosure includes a bifurcated boss defining a longitudinally extending channel, the exterior surfaces of the boss including said pair of divergent bearing faces adjacent the mouth of the channel in the form of a dovetail tennon, said convergent track surfaces being disposed in the form of a dovetail mortise intimately receiving said tennon.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,575,083 3/1926 Tracy 49-409 X 3,327,428 6/1967 Hartan et a1 49-401 X KENNETH DOWNEY, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 1687, 94, 49409

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