Rotatable wheel box service panel door and equalizer
View Patent ↗Systems, devices, apparatus, and methods of locking and unlocking a door that is slidable by articulating wheels in tracks, over an entry port to a storm water structure. Locking the door can be accomplished by rotating bolts that are attached to cams. Rotating the bolts causes the cams to press the door against the tracks. Sealing strips can be compressed between door edges and the track to prevent water from passing around the door. A vacuum truck can remove water and debris from the vault/structure. Other versions allow doors to move downward to allow water to overflow the door. The door can slide upward so water can flow underneath. A door in door version has a secondary door slide up and down in tracks in a main door.
1. A method of locking and unlocking slidable doors in a storm water vault structure in order to service the vault structure, comprising the steps of:
providing a door having wheels on sides of the door;
sliding the wheels within tracks against an inlet wall of a storm water structure;
providing at least one of the sides of the door with a rotatable vertical bar member mounted only to the door;
providing a plurality of spaced apart cams along the rotatable bar member;
locking the door in the tracks by rotating the rotatable vertical bar member with cams in a horizontal direction so that the cams push one side of the door against a portion of the tracks; and
unlocking the door by rotating the rotatable cams in a counter horizontal direction so that the door sits loosely in the tracks.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
providing elongated gasket members along side edges of the door; and
scaling the door against the tracks by the locking of the door which compresses the elongated gasket members.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:
removing storm water in the vault structure after the door is sealed in place with a vacuum truck before physically servicing an interior of the vault structure.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:
selectively locking the door in a lower position wherein water flows over the door.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:
selectively locking the door in an upper position wherein water flows under the door.
6. The method of claim 2 , further comprising the step of:
articulating the wheels to bend at an angle when uncompressing the elongated gasket members which allows the door to be removed with reduced friction.
7. A method of locking and unlocking a slidable door in a storm water treatment structure, comprising the steps of:
providing a door with wheels along side edges of the door;
sliding the wheels within tracks against a wall of a storm water structure;
mounting a rotatable vertical bar member only to the door adjacent to at least one of the side edges of the door;
providing a plurality of spaced apart cams along the rotatable bar member;
locking the door in the tracks by rotating the rotatable vertical bar member with the cams in a horizontal direction so that the cams push one side of the door against a portion of the tracks; and
unlocking the door by rotating the rotatable cams in a counter horizontal direction so that the door sits loosely in the tracks.
8. A method of locking and unlocking a sliding door in a storm water treatment structure, comprising the steps of:
providing a door with wheels along sides of the door;
sliding the wheels within channels against a wall of a storm water structure;
mounting at least one rotatable vertical bar member only to the door adjacent to at least one of the sides of the door;
providing a plurality of spaced apart cams along the rotatable bar member;
locking the door in the channel by rotating the rotatable vertical bar member with the cams in a horizontal direction so that the cams push one side of the door against a portion of the channels; and
unlocking the door by rotating the rotatable cams in a counter horizontal direction so that the door sits loosely in the channels.