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(11) | EP 0 075 364 B1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT SPECIFICATION |
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| (54) |
Supporting and running device for sliding doors, particularly for furniture Trag- und Laufvorrichtung für Schiebetür, insbesondere für Möbel Dispositif de support et de course pour portes coulissantes notamment pour des meubles |
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| Note: Within nine months from the publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent, any person may give notice to the European Patent Office of opposition to the European patent granted. Notice of opposition shall be filed in a written reasoned statement. It shall not be deemed to have been filed until the opposition fee has been paid. (Art. 99(1) European Patent Convention). |
[0001] The invention relates to a supporting and running device for sliding doors, particularly for furniture.
[0002] Well-known are supporting and running devices for sliding doors, particularly for furniture, provided with rollers applied to the upper edge of the doors and sliding along guides applied to the furniture frame.
[0003] With the aim of allowing opening of the doors and therefore their total or partial superimposition, they have to run on parallel planes: this implies, in the closed position, the formation of openings for entry of dust inside of the furniture and a not very agreeable outlook.
[0004] US-A-3 510 983 discloses flush closing sliding doors, of which a first door remains in the same plane when the doors are in the open position, that it occupies when the doors are in the closed flush position, and a second door is in the front plane when the doors are in the closed position and is moved into a rearward plane in back of the first door, when the doors are in the open position. However this doors assembly:
doesn't completely cover the furniture frame, but keeps in view the upper guide rails and the overstanding structure strip, to which they unavoidably must be connected,
has a door which is movable inwardly, thus reducing the usable volume inside the furniture,
requires the obliged position of the doors in close condition.
[0005] Aim of the invention is to realize a supporting and running device for sliding doors, which allows the doors themselves to be placed parallely facing when open and coplanarly aligned when closed, and which overcomes all the drawbacks above referred to.
[0006] According to the invention such an aim is attained with a supporting and running device for sliding doors, particularly for furniture, having a first and a second type of door which are coplanar when closed and superimposed when open, carriages connected to said doors and running on guide rails, and means allowing the resilient displacement of each second type of door out of its position copolanar with the others, characterized in that it comprises:
at least a first pair of longitudinal carriages connected to the upper part, resp. to the lower part, of each first type of door and guided by means of rollers along corresponding guide rails parallely placed out of the plane containing said door near the closure surface of the furniture,
at least a second pair of longitudinal carriages guided by means of rollers along corresponding guide rails placed out of the plane containing each second type of door, parallely to the first ones but more distant from the closure surface of the furniture, and connected to the upper part, resp. to the lower part, of said second type of door, said second longitudinal carriages comprising an overall bridge-shaped support extending over said first type of door and/or its longitudinal carriages during their mutual movements, and
at least an upper transverse carriage applied to each upper longitudinal carriage of said second type of door to allow the resilient displacement of the door outwardly of the furniture, said transverse carriage comprising at least a bracket applied to the door and transversely extending over the guide rails, at least a transverse rod cooperating with rolling supports having horizontal rotation axes located at different distances from the plane of the door to produce a moment opposing the moment due to the weight of the door, as well as at least one spring interposed between said bracket and the roller.
[0007] The invention is hereinafter further clarified with reference to the enclosed drawings in which:
Figure 1 shows in vertical section the supporting and running device for sliding doors according to the invention applied to a wardrobe with the doors coplanar (closed wardrobe),
Figure 2 shows it in the same view as Figure 1 with the doors superimposed (opened wardrobe),
Figure 3 shows it in partially sectioned view from above,
Figures 4 and 5 show it in schematic view from above and below respectively and in a smaller scale two doors during partial superimposition step,
Figures 6 to 8 show schematically in partial schematic view from above a furniture with three doors in three subsequent steps of opening of the middle door, and
Figures 9 and 10 show it in the same view in two subsequent steps of opening of a side door.
[0008] As can be seen from the figures, the device according to the invention can be used, for example, for wardrobes with sliding doors.
[0009] In the illustrated embodiment the doors are three and are indicated by the numerals 1, 2 and 3.
[0010] Both side doors 1 and 3 are provided near the horizontal edges with pairs of longitudinal carriages 4, 5.
[0011] Each upper longitudinal carriage 4 comprises a metal supporting plate 6 for a horizontal axis roller 7 sliding on a longitudinal guide 8 externally applied on the horizontal upper edge of the wardrobe 9.
[0012] Each lower longitudinal carriage 5 comprises a small supporting plate 10 of a vertical axis roller 11 sliding in a guide 12 applied near the lower edge of the wardrobe 9.
[0013] The middle door 2 is also provided, near its horizontal edges, with a pair of longitudinal carriages 13, 14. Each upper longitudinal carriage 13 comprises a supporting bracket 15 for a roller 16 sliding along a longitudinal guide 17. In particular, to allow transversal displacements of the door 2 with respect to the guide 17, the bracket 15 is provided with two horizontal axis rollers 18 and 19 and a vertical axis roller 20, which support and drive a rod 21 connected to the longitudinal carriage 13.
[0014] Between the bracket 15 and a projection 22 connected to the rod 21 a solenoidal spring 23 is placed, having the role of elastically keeping the door 2 coplanar to the doors 1 and 3, when they are in closed position.
[0015] Each lower longitudinal carriage 14 comprises a bracket 24 which at its end is provided with a pin 25 having a spring 26, to which a supporting lever 27 of a roller 28 is connected, the roller sliding on a guide 29 applied to the wardrobe and parallel to the guide 12.
[0016] Furthermore, the doors 1, 2 and 3 are provided on the upper part with a guide section 30 having rounded ends which help, as it will be better clarified, the transversal displacement of the door 2 with respect to doors 1 and 3 during their reciprocal movement.
[0017] Whereas, to the brackets 24 of the lower longitudinal carriage 14 a guide section 31 is applied, against which the vertical axis rollers 32, applied to the supporting plate 10 of the longitudinal carriages 5, leans. Analogously to the guide sections 30, the guide section 31 is also provided with rounded ends.
[0018] The operating of the device according to the invention is as follows: when in closed position, the doors 1, 2 and 3 are placed coplanar among themselves (cfr. Fig. 6) and completely close the wardrobe 9. This position is kept elastically stable by the action of the springs 23.
[0019] To open the middle area of the wardrobe, the middle door 2 is pushed from one side or the other (to the left in the embodiment, cfr. Fig. 7). Following such a push, the middle door 2 moves sideways by means of its rollers 16 sliding along the guide 17 and at the same time starts to move transversally so partially superimposing the lateral door 1.
[0020] Such superimposition is due to the fact that:
on the upper part the rounded ends of the guide sections 30 foreseen on the doors 1 and 2 and faced in the opposite direction interreact between themselves causing the elastic lengthening of the spring 23 and the consequent transversal displacement of the door 2,
on the lower part the rounded portion of the guide section 31 near the door 1, interreacts with the rollers 32 and, overcoming the reaction of the springs 26, allows the door 2 to elastically displace to the outside.
[0021] Continuing this push, the door 2 superimposes itself on the door 1 until it is parallely facing to this (cfr. Fig. 8).
[0022] To close the wardrobe, the door 2 is pushed towards the right: continuing this displacement, the elastic reaction of the springs 23 and 26, that drawing back the bracket 15 and the bracket 24 respectively, prevails, these springs bring back the door 2, which is no longer engaged to the guide sections 30 and 31, in a coplanar position with the doors 1 and 3.
[0023] In the case that one needs to open one of the side areas of the wardrobe (the left in the embodiment), the side door 1 is pushed in the direction shown by arrow 33 in Figure 9. Also in this case the reciprocal engagement between the upper guide sections 30 and between the lower guide section 31 and the roller 32 causes displacement of the middle door 2 until the side door 1 is placed parallely facing to it (cfr. Fig. 10).
at least at first pair of longitudinal carriages (4 5) connected to the upper part, resp. to the lower part, of each first type of door (1, 3) and guided by means of rollers (7, 11) along corresponding guide rails (8,12) parallely placed out of the plane containing said door (1, 3) near to the closure surface of the furniture,
at least a second pair of longitudinal carriages (13, 14) guided by means of rollers (16, 28) along corresponding guide rails (17, 29) placed out of the plane containing each second type of door (2), parallely to the first ones but more distant from the closure surface of the furniture, and connected to the upper part, resp. to the lower part, of said second type of door (2), said second longitudinal carriages (13, 14) comprising an overall bridge-shaped support extending over said first type of door (1, 3) and/or its longitudinal carriages (4, 5), during their mutual movements, and
at least an upper transverse carriage applied to each upper longitudinal carriage of said second type of door to allow the resilient displacement of the door outwardly of the furniture, said transverse carriage comprising at least a bracket (15), applied to the door (2) and transversely extending over the guide rails (8, 17), at least a transversal rod (21) cooperating with rolling supports (18,19) having horizontal rotation axes located at different distances from the plane of the door (2) to produce a moment opposing the moment due to the weight of the door (2), as well as at least one spring (23) interposed between said bracket (15) and the roller (16).
mindestens ein erstes Paar Längsschlitten (4, 5) welche mit dem oberen Teil bzw. dem unteren Teil jeder ersten Art von Tür (1, 3) verbunden sind und mittels Rollen (7, 11) entlang korrespondierender Führungsschienen (8, 12) geführt sind, welche parallel außerhalb der Ebene, welche diese Tür (1, 3) enthält, nahe der Verschlußfläche des Möbelstückens angeordnet sind,
mindestens ein zweites Paar Längsschlitten (13, 14), die mittels Rollen (16, 28) entlang korrespondierender Führungsschienen (17, 29), welche außerhalb der Ebene, welche jede zweite Art von Tür (2) enthält, parallel zu den ersten, aber in einem größeren Abstand von der Verschlußfläche des Möbelstückes, angeordnet sind, geführt sind und die mit dem oberen Teil bzw. mit dem unteren Teil von dieser zweiten Art von Tür (2) verbunden sind, wobei diese zweiten Längsschlitten (13, 14) einen insgesamt brückenförmigen Träger aufweisen, welcher sich über diese erste Art von Tür (1, 3) und/oder über ihre Längsschlitten (4, 5) während ihrer Gegeneinanderbewegung erstreckt, und
mindestens einen oberen Querschlitten, welcher an jedem Längsschlitten dieser zweiten Art von Tür (2) angebracht ist, um das erschütterungsfreie Verschieben der Tür vom Möbelstück weg zu erlauben, wobei dieser Querschlitten mindestens eine Konsole (15), die an der Tür (2) angebracht ist und sich quer über die Führungsschienen (8, 17) erstreckt, mindestens eine Querstange (21), welche mit rollenden Tragvorrichtungen (18, 19), die horizontale Rotationsachsen aufweisen und die in verschiedenen Abständen von der Ebene del Tür (2) angeordnet sind, zusammenwirkt, um ein Moment entgegensetz dem Moment, das sich aus dem Gewicht der Tür (2) ergibt, zu bewirken, sowie mindestens eine Feder (23), welche zwischen der Konsole (15) und der Rolle (16) zwischengeschaltet ist, aufweist.
au moins une première paire de chariots longitudinaux (4, 5) fixés à la partie supérieure, respectivement à la partie inférieure, de chaque premier type de porte (1, 3) et guidés au moyens de roulettes (7, 11) le long des rails de guidage correspondants (8, 12) disposés parallèlement à l'extérieur du plan contenant ladite porte (1, 3), à proximité de la surface fermant le meuble,
au moins une seconde paire de chariots longitudinaux (13, 14) guidés au moyen de roulettes (16, 28) le long de-rails de guidage correspondants (17, 29) disposés à l'extérieur du plan contenant chaque second type de porte (2), parallèlement aux premiers types mais à distance plus importante de la surface fermant le meuble, et fixés à la partie supérieure, respectivement à la partie inférieure dudit second type de porte (2), lesdits seconds chariots longitudinaux comprenant un support général en forme de pont s'étendant par dessus ledit second type de porte s'étendant par dessus ledit second type de porte (1, 3) et/ou ses chariots longitudinaux (4, 5) lors de leurs mouvements mutuels, et
au moins un chariot transversal supérieur fixé à chaque chariot longitudinal dudit second type de porte afin d'autoriser le déplacement élastique de la porte extérieurement au meuble, ledit chariot transversal comprenant au moins une console (15), fixée à la porte (2) et se prolongeant transversalement par dessus les rails de guidage (8, 17), au moins une tringle transversale (21) coopérant avec des supports roulants (18, 19) ayant des axes de rotation horizontaux disposés à différents distances du plan de la porte (2) afin de produire un moment s'opposant au moment dû au poids de la porte (2), et aussi au moins un ressort (23) disposé entre ladite console (15) et la roulette (16).