MOVEMENT SYSTEM FOR A MOBILE ROOF

Abstract

System for moving a retractable roof consisting of aligned movable trusses that move on two parallel guide rails by means of runners arranged on the side posts of the said trusses, and where the trusses are joined together by a tarpaulin, where the retraction system has the particularity that each runner consists of two side walls facing each other, and between these walls there are rows of grooved wheels fixed at two different heights; each guide rail comprises an upper curved surface on its upper side, and a lower curved surface on its lower side; where the runner runs along and is kept in contact with the guide rail by the wheels of the upper row being in contact with the upper curved surface of the guide rail, and by the wheels of the lower row being in contact with the lower curved surface of the guide rail.

Claims

1. A system for moving a retractable roof, where the roof has a number of aligned retractable trusses, having side posts and cross-sections, which move along two parallel guide rails by means of runners attached to the side posts of the said trusses, wherein: the trusses are joined together by a tarpaulin; the guide rails are mounted on support pillars; each runner includes two side walls facing each other, wherein the post of the truss is fastened to the inner wall, and between these walls there is an upper row with grooved wheels, and a lower row with grooved wheels fixed at two heights, wherein the wheels are fixed between the side walls by means of a shaft; each guide rail includes an upper curved surface on its upper side and a lower curved surface on its lower side; and the runner runs along and is attached to a guide rail by the wheels of the upper row being in contact with the upper curved surface of the guide rail, and by the wheels of the lower row being in contact with the lower curved surface of the guide rail.

2. The system for moving a retractable roof according to claim 1, wherein the shaft that fixes the wheels between the side walls has the form of a bolt bearing.

3. The system for moving a retractable roof according to claim 1, wherein the outer wall of the runner comprises a central opening.

4. The system for moving a retractable roof according to claim 1, wherein the upper row comprises at least two grooved wheels.

5. The system for moving a retractable roof according to claim 1, wherein the lower row comprises at least two grooved wheels.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0024] In order to complete the description and help with a better understanding of the characteristics of the invention, several figures are included, illustratively and unlimitedly depicting the following:

[0025] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the displacement system of this invention, namely how a runner is coupled to and runs along a guide rail. In this case, it is a runner comprising two wheels in the upper row and two wheels in the lower row, where the wheels are in contact with the upper and lower curved surfaces of the guide rail. This figure also shows how the truss post is fixed to the inner wall of the runner.

[0026] FIG. 2 shows a front elevation view of a retractable roof over a padel court, the retractable roof comprising the runner-and-rail system that is the subject of this invention.

[0027] FIG. 3 shows an enlarged view of the previous figure with the system that is the subject of this invention.

[0028] FIG. 4 shows a side elevation view of the retractable roof according to FIG. 2, where it can be seen that the roof comprises a number of trusses that move by means of the system of this invention, where each truss has runners that move along the guide rails.

[0029] FIG. 5 shows an enlarged view of the previous figure with a runner comprising a top and bottom row, each with three wheels

[0030] FIG. 6 shows an enlarged view of FIG. 4 with a runner comprising a top and bottom row, each with two wheels.

[0031] FIG. 7 shows an aerial view of the retractable roof according to FIG. 2, illustrating how the retractable roof can protect the entire surface of a padel court.

[0032] FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of the retractable roof comprising the runner-and-rail system subject of this invention in deployed position.

[0033] FIG. 9 shows a perspective view of the retractable roof in the retracted position.

DESCRIPTION OF ONE EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

[0034] As previously mentioned, and as can be seen in the figures for an embodiment in which the installation to be covered with the retractable roof is a padel court (P), the displacement system is designed to improve the movement of the trusses (1) that support the tarpaulins (2) or roof, and which, when joined together, form a retractable roof.

[0035] As can be seen in the figures, the roof is composed of a variable number of aligned mobile trusses (1), which move on two parallel rails (3), and the trusses are joined together by a canvas (2), deployed by the inertia of the first truss and set in motion by a motor (14) operated by a remote control or a pushbutton. This moves the chains attached to at least one of the trusses to allow them to move, so that the roof can be kept unfolded as all the trusses are pulled by the first drive truss and where the last truss, which always remains fixed in position, is generally immobilised. In this sense, each truss (1) is made up of lateral posts (11) and transverse sections (12) that hold up the tarpaulin (2).

[0036] The particularity of the invention is that each side post (11) of a truss has a runner (4) attached with a number of grooved wheels, where each runner (4) is fitted to a guide rail (3) such that the runner can move along the guide rail.

[0037] For this purpose, as can be seen in the view of FIG. 1, a runner (4) is made up of two side walls facing each other, where the truss is fixed on the inner wall (5) to the post (11), and between these walls there are at least two grooved wheels fixed at two heights. The wheels are fixed between the side walls by means of a shaft in the form of a bolt bearing (6). Therefore, there is an upper row (7) of grooved wheels and a lower row (8) of grooved wheels. In addition, the upper side of the guide rail (3) comprises an upper curved surface (9) and the lower side has a lower curved surface (10) with which the grooved wheels of the runner make contact and along which they run. In other words, the wheels of the upper row (7) make contact with the upper curved surface (9) of the rail, while the wheels of the lower row (8) make contact with the lower curved surface (10) of the rail. In this way, the runner runs along, fits tightly to and cannot come out of the rail, as the runner (4) actually wraps completely around the guide rail (3). FIGS. 5 and 6 show that within the same system, there can be runners where the top and bottom row of the grooved wheels can each have two and three wheels. It is recommended that in the initial and final trusses, which are more exposed to stress forces, the runners have more than two wheels, as this improves the stability of the assembly and the displacement of the set of trusses joined together by the tarpaulin.

[0038] As previously indicated, once each runner (4) has been inserted into the guide rail (3), the truss can remain vertical; the movement is smooth; the durability of the tarpaulin is improved; the movement is safe with no runner coming out of the rail as the rail is enclosed between the two wheel heights and the side walls of the runner; and there is an improvement in the weight distribution of each truss and the tarpaulin in relation to the guide rail, preventing the movement from jamming.

[0039] In addition, as shown in the figure and in the example in which the system is used to cover a padel court, the guide rails (3) are mounted on self-supporting pillars (13), which are distributed at the same height along the entire side of the padel court, such that the guide rails are not only aligned and parallel, but also level, and the runners move correctly so that the tarpaulin (2) can fold and unfold as necessary, therefore covering the padel court as shown in FIG. 8 or leaving it in the open air, as shown in FIG. 9.

[0040] In one possible embodiment of the invention (see FIG. 3), the outer wall of the runner comprises a central opening (15) to improve how the runners (4) slide along the guide rail (3), preventing jamming or problems with the connection between the guide rail (3) and the support pillars (13).