System for closing and opening at least one leaf of an inward swinging door

Abstract

The system comprises a lever (2) that is rotatable about a point fixed to the vehicle and articulately joined to the upper edge (6) of the leaf (1); a horizontal guide (3) through which a carriage (4) slides; push-pull means (10,11) that articulately link the upper edge (6) to the carriage (4); and actuation means (12) simultaneously linked to the lever (2) and the carriage (4), which are adapted to distribute their action on the lever (2) and the carriage (4) depending on the force to overcome in order to open and close the leaf (1), such that their action is automatically distributed on the lever (2) when greater power is required to move the carriage (4), this is essentially during the initial opening operation from the end closing position, and during the closing and locking operation from an imminent closing position.

Claims

1. A system for closing and opening a leaf (1) of an inward swinging door for a passenger transport vehicle, the system comprising: a lever (2) which is rotatable on a horizontal plane about a first end (2a) on a point fixed to the vehicle, and which describes alternate angular opening and closing movements of the leaf towards and from an inside of the vehicle, respectively, a second end (2b) of the lever (2) being articulately joined to a first sector of an upper edge (6) of the leaf (1); a horizontal guide (3), located above the upper edge (6) of the leaf, through which a carriage (4) slides in a rectilinear and alternate back-and-forth movement for closing and opening the leaf, said guide (3) being integral to a longitudinal support (7) mounted in a lintel of the housing compartment for the door provided in a body of the vehicle; and push-pull means (10,11) comprising an articulated joint that links a second sector of the upper edge (6) to the carriage (4), arranged such that when the leaf (1) rotates between two end resting positions that correspond to opening and closing positions of the leaf, due to the effect of the lever (2), said push-pull means (10,11) forces said second sector of the upper edge (6) of the leaf (1) to move in a guided path during the opening and closing of the leaf, the lever (2) and push-pull means (10,11) being arranged such that when the leaf (1) is in the end opening position, a vertical plane that makes up the leaf (1) is substantially perpendicular to a vertical plane that defines the housing compartment for the door the system further comprising actuation means (12) simultaneously linked to the lever (2) and the carriage (4), which are adapted to distribute action on the lever (2) and the carriage (4) depending on a force required to open and close the leaf (1), such that the actuation means (12) are adapted to act on the carriage (4) during the opening and closing of the leaf (1), automatically distributing action on the lever (2) when additional power is required to move the carriage (4), during an initial opening operation of the leaf (1) from the end closing position, and during the closing and locking operation of the leaf (1) from an imminent closing position; and wherein the actuation means comprises an electric motor (12) coupled to said longitudinal support (7), a rotor (12a) and a stator (12b) of which are arranged to be able to rotate mutually with each other; the rotor (12a) coupled to a first transmission mechanism (13) that promotes the alternate back-and-forth movement of the carriage (4) to open and close the leaf (1) while the lever (2) is driven; and the stator (12b) coupled to a second transmission mechanism (18) that promotes rotation of the lever (2) while the carriage (4) is driven, such that the stator (12b) rotates when the rotor (12a) brakes and is not able to transmit to the carriage (4) the force required to lock or unlock the leaf (1) in the closing position.

2. The system for closing and opening, according to claim 1, wherein the motor (12) is fastened to the longitudinal support (7) in an area close to a main side edge (8) of the leaf (1) that is opposite the first end (2a) of the lever (2).

3. The system for closing and opening, according to claim 1, wherein said first mechanism (13) comprises a transmission belt (14) coupled to the carriage (4) and mounted in a closed loop around a driving pulley (15) that rotates jointly with a shaft of the rotor (12a) and a set of driven pulleys (16, 17) that are integral to said longitudinal support (7), such that the transmission belt (14) defines a rectilinear path for the movement of the carriage (4) on the horizontal guide (3) forming the alternate back-and-forth movement to open or close the leaf (1) depending on the rotation direction of the rotor (12a).

4. The system for closing and opening, according to claim 3, wherein the set of driven pulleys comprises two pulleys (16) arranged one at each of opposite ends corresponding to a start and an end of the path of the carriage (4), and at least one idler pulley (17) that, in combination with the driving pulley (15), enables the transmission belt (14) to be arranged in two substantially parallel branches, the carriage (4) being coupled to one of said two branches.

5. The system for closing and opening, according to claim 1, wherein said second transmission mechanism (18) is a crankshaft-rod mechanism comprising a rotating platform (19) that rotates jointly with the stator (12b), and a transmission connecting rod (20) articulately joined by a first end (20a) to an eccentric point of the rotating platform (19) and by a second end (20b) thereof to a first end of a thrust arm (21), said thrust arm (21) in turn being articulately joined at a second end thereof to the first end (2a) of the lever (2) that pivots about a point fixed to the vehicle, to open or close the leaf depending on the rotation direction of the stator (2b).

6. The system for closing and opening, according to claim 5, wherein in the closing position of the leaf (1), two articulation shafts at the first and second ends (20a,20b) of the connecting rod (20) are arranged diametrically opposite one another with respect to a rotation shaft of the stator (12b), such that an imaginary line (L) that joins the shafts of the first and second ends (20a,20b) of the connecting rod (20) is out of phase at a predetermined distance (d) with respect to the position of said rotation shaft of the stator (12b).

7. The system for closing and opening, according to claim 6, wherein the two articulation shafts of the connecting rod (20) are arranged diametrically opposite one another with respect to the rotation shaft of the stator (12b) with the articulation shaft of the first end (20a) of the connecting rod (20) arranged in a position that extends beyond the rotation shaft of the stator (12b).

8. The system for closing and opening, according to claim 1, wherein the motor (12) is mounted such that the rotor (12a) projects from the lower portion of the longitudinal support (7), on a surface of which there is the horizontal guide (3) of the carriage (4), and such that the stator (12b) projects from the upper portion of the longitudinal support (7).

9. The system for closing and opening, according to claim 1, wherein the first rotation end (2a) of the lever (2) is securely attached to a substantially vertical bar (5) that rotates about an axial shaft thereof and an upper end and a lower end of which are fixed to the vehicle.

10. The system for closing and opening, according to claim 1, wherein the push-pull means comprise an arm (10) securely joined by an end to the second sector of the upper edge (6) of the leaf (1), and articulately joined at the other end thereof to a vertical rod (11) integral to the carriage (4), about which it may rotate.

11. The system for closing and opening, according to claim 1, wherein the horizontal guide (3) is made up of an open transverse cross section profile defining a groove (3a), and the carriage (4) comprises at least one caster (4a) with a vertical shaft that circulates inside said groove (3a).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The attached drawings illustrate by way of non-limiting example, a preferred embodiment of the system for closing and opening at least one leaf of an inward swinging door. In said drawings:

(2) FIGS. 1 and 2 are perspective views of the system according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, seen from the inside of the vehicle, and applied to an inward swinging door with two leaves, wherein the door is in the end closing position and in an intermediate opening position, respectively;

(3) FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 respectively show elevation, lower plan and upper plan views of the system of the invention, in the end closing position of the door;

(4) FIGS. 6a, 6b and 6c show a sequence of the movement of the first pulleys and transmission belt mechanism linked to a door leaf, in the end closing position, in an intermediate position, and in the end opening position, respectively;

(5) FIGS. 7a, 7b and 7c show a sequence of the movement of the second crankshaft-rod mechanism linked to a door leaf, in the end closing position, in an intermediate position, and in the end opening position, respectively; and

(6) FIG. 8 is an expanded view of FIG. 7a, which shows that in the locking position of the door, the shaft of the first end of the connecting rod is arranged in a position that extends beyond the rotation shaft of the stator.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT

(7) FIG. 1 partially represents an inward swinging door with two leaves 1, for use in passenger transport vehicles, such as buses, coaches, trains, etc., in the end closing position. In addition, the system for closing and opening each leaf 1 is shown, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

(8) FIG. 2 shows the door in an intermediate opening position, wherein a single leaf 1 has been illustrated to improve clarity.

(9) The system for closing and opening each leaf 1 of the inward swinging door basically comprises a rotating lever 2, a horizontal guide 3 through which a carriage 4 slides, push-pull means 10,11 and actuation means 12, as shall be explained below.

(10) As shown in the preferred embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 5, two systems according to the invention are used, which are arranged symmetrically and one for each leaf 1 of the door. During the opening movement of the door, the carriages 4 slide along the respective horizontal guides 3 thereof, moving away from each other, while during the closing movement, the carriages 4 slide in the direction opposite to that of the previous direction, moving closer to each other.

(11) To improve clarity, the system of the invention shall be described hereafter by only referring to one of the leaves 1.

(12) The aforementioned lever 2 is rotational on a horizontal plane about a first end 2a on a point fixed to the vehicle, such as for example the floor of the vehicle, the inner face of the body or the inner face of the upright of the door opening. In this preferred embodiment, the first end 2a of the lever 2 is securely attached to an essentially vertical bar 5 that rotates about the axial shaft thereof and the upper and lower ends of which are points fixed to the vehicle.

(13) The lever 2, due to rotating integrally with the bar 5, describes alternate angular opening and closing movements of the door towards the inside of the vehicle and towards the outside thereof, respectively. To do so, the second end 2b of the lever 2 is articulately joined to a first sector of the upper edge 6 of the door leaf 1 and describes a curved path with the first end 2a as the centre.

(14) The aforementioned horizontal guide 3 is located above the upper edge 6 of the door leaf 1 and just below the lintel of the housing compartment for the door provided in the body of the vehicle, the horizontal guide 3 being integral to a longitudinal support 7 mounted on said lintel. The respective carriage 4 slides along the horizontal guide 3 in a rectilinear and alternate back-and-forth movement to close and open the door. In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 5, the respective horizontal guides 3 of both leaves 1 are integrated in a same longitudinal support 7.

(15) In FIGS. 1 and 6a, which show the end closing position, it can be seen that the carriage 4 is located at one end of the horizontal guide 3, close to the main side edge 8 of the leaf 1 (in doors with two leaves, that which is oriented towards the side of the other leaf); while FIGS. 2 and 6b show that the carriage 4 has moved towards an intermediate position, moving towards the opposite end of the horizontal guide 3, close to the side outer edge 9 of the leaf 1 (that which is opposite the main side edge 8) where the leaf 1 will reach the end opening position thereof (see FIG. 6c).

(16) Carriage is understood as any piece equipped with a horizontal translation movement, which can be pads, casters, rollers, bearings, slider devices, etc.

(17) In the shown embodiment, the horizontal guide 3 is made up of an open transverse cross section profile that defines a groove 3a, and the carriage 4 comprises two casters 4a with vertical shafts that move through the inside and along said groove 3a (see FIG. 4).

(18) The push-pull means link a second sector of the upper edge 6 to the carriage 4 by means of an articulated joint. According to the shown embodiment, said push-pull means are formed by an arm 10 securely joined at one end to the second sector of the upper edge 6 of the leaf 1, and articulately joined by the other end thereof to a vertical rod 11 integral to the carriage 4, about which it may rotate. In this way, when the leaf 1 rotates between two end resting positions that correspond to the opening and closing positions of the door, due to the effect of the lever 2, said push-pull means 10,11 force said second sector of the upper edge 6 of the leaf 1 to describe a guided path during the opening and closing of the door.

(19) As a result, during the opening and closing movements, the ends of the main side edge 8 of the leaf 1 describe a curved path, while the ends of the side outer edge 9 describe a rectilinear path essentially perpendicular to the lintel of the door.

(20) In addition, the lever 2 and push-pull means 10,11 are arranged such that when the door leaf 1 is in the end opening position, the vertical plane that makes up the door leaf 1 is essentially perpendicular to the vertical plane that defines the housing compartment for the door, the leaf 1 remaining inside the vehicle.

(21) As can be seen, for example, in FIGS. 3 to 5, the actuation means comprise an electric motor 12 coupled to said longitudinal support 7, the rotor 12a and stator 12b of which are arranged to be able to rotate mutually with each other. The motor 12 is simultaneously linked to the lever 2 and the carriage 4, being capable of distributing the action thereof on the lever 2 and the carriage 4 depending on the force to overcome in order to open and close the leaf 1, as shall be explained below.

(22) By default, the motor 12 acts on the carriage 4 during the opening and closing path of the leaf 1, distributing the action thereof on the lever 2 when a greater power is required to move the carriage 4, this is essentially during the initial opening operation of the leaf 1 from the end closing position, and during the closing and locking operation of the leaf 1 from an imminent closing position.

(23) As can be seen in FIG. 4, the rotor 12a is coupled to a first transmission mechanism 13 that promotes the alternate back-and-forth movement of the carriage 4 for opening and closing the leaf 1, in this case the lever 2 being driven.

(24) In this preferred embodiment (see FIGS. 4 and 6a to 6c), said first mechanism 13 comprises a transmission belt 14 coupled to the carriage 4 and mounted in a closed loop around a driving pulley 15 that rotates jointly with the shaft of the rotor 12a and a set of driven pulleys 16, 17 that are integral to said longitudinal support 7, such that the transmission belt 14 defines a rectilinear path for the movement of the carriage 4 on the horizontal guide 3 according to a linear back-and-forth movement to open or close the leaf 1 depending on the rotation direction of the rotor 12a.

(25) In this example, the set of driven pulleys comprises a pulley 16 arranged at both opposite ends corresponding to the start and end of the path of the carriage 4, and an idler pulley 17 that, in combination with the driving pulley 15, enables the transmission belt 14 to be arranged according to two essentially parallel branches, the carriage 4 being coupled to one of said branches.

(26) As can be seen in FIG. 5, the stator 12b is coupled to a second transmission mechanism 18 that promotes the rotation movement of the lever 2, in this case the carriage 4 being driven, such that the stator 12b is susceptible to rotate when the rotor 12a brakes as it is not able to transmit to the carriage 4 the force required to lock or unlock the leaf 1 in the closing position.

(27) In this preferred embodiment (see FIGS. 5 and 7a to 7c), said second mechanism 18 is a crankshaft-rod mechanism comprising a rotating platform 19 that rotates jointly with the stator 12b, and a transmission rod 20 articulately joined by a first end 20a to an eccentric point of the rotating platform 19 and by the second end 20b thereof to a first end of a thrust arm 21, said thrust arm 21 in turn being articulately joined at the other end thereof to the aforementioned first rotation end 2a of the lever 2 that pivots about a point fixed to the vehicle, in this example about a bar 5, to open or close the leaf 1 depending on the rotation direction of the stator 12b.

(28) Moreover, as can be seen in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 5, the motor 12 is fastened to the longitudinal support 7 in an area close to the main side edge 8 of the leaf 1, that is, opposite the edge where the first rotation end 2a of the lever is located. In this case, in doors with two leaves, both motors 12 are placed adjacent to each other in a central area of the longitudinal support 7.

(29) Likewise, in the shown embodiment, the motor 12 is mounted such that the rotor 12a projects from the lower portion of the longitudinal support 7, on the surface of which there is a horizontal guide 3 of the carriage 4, and such that the stator 12b projects from the upper portion of the longitudinal support 7. In this way, the two transmission mechanisms 13 and 18 are each placed on one side of the longitudinal support 7, which makes the system more compact.

(30) The sequence of movements of the first 13 and second 18 transmission mechanisms is shown in the respective FIGS. 6a and 7a (end closing position), FIGS. 6b and 7b (intermediate position), and FIGS. 6c and 7c (end opening position).

(31) In order to open the leaf 1, from the end closing position (see FIGS. 6a and 7a), it is important to note that in this situation, the rotor 12a is not capable of providing the force necessary to move the carriage 4 by means of the first pulleys and transmission belt mechanism 13, so it brakes thus forcing the stator 12b to rotate. As a result, the stator 12b acts on the first crankshaft-rod mechanism 18.

(32) The rotation of the stator 12b causes the rotation of the platform 19, which promotes the movement of the connecting rod 20 which in turn pushes the arm 21, the swivelling of which enables the rotation of the vertical bar 5, and thus the rotation of the lever 2 in the direction towards the inside of the vehicle. In this case, the lever 2 acts as a drive element, drawing from the upper edge 6 of the leaf 1, which in turn stretches the articulated arm 10 of the push-pull means, thus causing the carriage 4 to be pulled, enabling the opening of the leaf 1 to be initiated.

(33) Once the movement of the carriage 4 has been initiated, the force necessary to maintain the movement of the carriage 4 reduces as a result of inertia, whereby the rotor 12a automatically starts to rotate, acting on the carriage 4 by means of said first pulleys and transmission belt mechanism 13. In turn, the stator 12b will stop acting.

(34) The carriage 4, pulled by the transmission belt 14, moves along the horizontal guide 3 until it reaches the opposite end of the final limit switch corresponding to the end opening position of the leaf (see FIGS. 6c and 7c). In this case, the carriage 4 is the drive element, the movement of which causes the articulated arm 10 of the push-pull means to be pushed, which in turn transmits the movement to the lever 2. In this case, the lever 2 acts as a driven element, drawing the upper edge 6 of the leaf 1 until it is fully open.

(35) Then, in order to close the door, from the end opening position (see FIGS. 6c and 7c) the rotor 12a continues to act on the carriage 4 by means of a first pulleys and transmission belt mechanism 13, but by rotating in the opposite direction in order to take the carriage 4 towards the initial limit switch of the horizontal guide 3 (see FIG. 6a). As a result, the lever 2 rotates in the opposite direction in order to push the upper edge 6 of the leaf 1, thus causing the door leaf to close.

(36) In a position of the leaf 1 imminent to the closing position, the force that the rotor 12a must overcome in order to keep the carriage 4 moving increases, such that in this situation the rotor 12a is not capable of moving the carriage 4, which makes the stator 12b automatically start to rotate, acting on the first crankshaft-rod mechanism 18 causing the closing and locking of the leaf 1.

(37) As can be seen in FIGS. 7a and 8, which show the end closing position, the second crankshaft-rod mechanism 18 adopts a geometry such that the two articulation shafts of both ends 20a and 20b of the connecting rod 20 are arranged diametrically opposite one another with respect to the rotation shaft of the stator 12b. Likewise, the shaft of the first end 20a of the connecting rod 20 is arranged in a position that extends beyond the rotation shaft of the stator 12b, such that the imaginary line L that joins the shafts of both ends 20a and 20b of the connecting rod 20 is out of phase at a predetermined distance d with respect to the position of said rotation shaft of the stator 12b (see FIG. 8). This arrangement causes the locking of said second mechanism 18, and therefore the locking of the door leaf 1.

(38) Although said locking effect is in theory achieved by having both articulation shafts of the ends 20a and 20b of the connecting rod 20 aligned with the shaft of the stator 12b, it is important to note that said extended position of the first end 20a of the connecting rod 20 guarantees an optimal effectiveness in locking the system, enabling to cover possible vibrations or deformations of the system itself.