A sliding door assembly

Abstract

 A vertical sliding cantilever extending door assembly (10) comprises a door element (16) movable between an extended and a retracted condition with respect to fixed guides (26,28); an upper and a lower pulley (24, 25) carried on the door element; and elongate flexible means (30), generally steel band, having an upper end fastened to the inner end of the upper guide and wound around an upper and a front portion of the upper pulley; said band being extended from one to the other pulley, wound on an inner and lower portion of the lower pulley, and having the other end fastened to the exterior end of the lower guide; a vertical median plane through the band and pulleys is coincident with a vertical plane through the center of gravity of the door; so that the pulleys, the guides and the band operate to guide, support and retain the door.

Description

[0001] This application relates to the field of furnishings.

[0002] Sliding door assemblies are known closets or the like, which assemblies comprise one or more fixed guides and at least one panel or door sliding on these guides. Particularly for equipped walls forming closets, so-called "disappearing" or "hidden" door assemblies are also known, comprising sliding guides concealed within a double vertical wall and door elements sliding in these guides; each door element comprises a standard or upright having a panel hinged thereto, which panel is the actual closure door or wing; the door element is slidable between a retracted position, in which the panel is arranged coplanar with the standard or upright and both are retracted within the vertical wall, and an extended position, in which at least the panel projects fran the vertical wall, so as to be able to pivot on hinges and to be moved into a position, e.g. a closure position for a space. Generally, at extended position, the door element is cantilever supported, that is supported only on the guides within the vertical wall.

[0003] These door assemblies involve some problems; they have to be guided during horizontal sliding, in order to avoid jamnings; the door has to keep a vertical attitude during the sliding motion, that is to say, the upright, or a vertical side of the door element, has to be kept parallel to itself during the movement; the weight of the door element has to be supported; the door element, at extended position, has to be retained so that it cannot exit completely from its seat in the vertical wall.

[0004] The known door assemblies are of some constructive complexity and involve relevant high costs; the hitherto adopted solutions for assuring an easy and smooth movement thereof and for cantilever support generally comprise rack devices hidden within the vertical double wall.

[0005] DE-A-2847578 discloses a guide device for a sliding door, in which an elongate flexible member has its two ends fixed on a means integral with the door and coils up onto two or more pulleys arranged in a plane parallel to the plane wherein a guide body moves. The weight of the door is supported on further pulleys disposed in a further vertical plane which is side by side to the plane of the first mentioned pulleys and to the door plane, while further vertical axis roll means, engaged in suitable guides, work as guidance means. It is evident that an embodiment according to the teachings of said disclosure is too bulky when seen transversely to the movement direction of the door, and further too complicated and expensive, in that it involves the assembly of many parts.

[0006] Furthermore, due to the fact that the members which support the door, which retain the same and keep the same in vertical condition (this latter member is the flexible member) are in an offset position with respect to a vertical plane through a center of gravity of the door, a couple is generated which tends to rotate the door about a horizontal axis; accordingly it is necessary to provide suitable guides, as mentioned above, sturdy enough to withstand such a tendency. Furthermore said couple, in the long run, causes a permanent deformation (a bend or deflection) of the door, which deformation is unaesthetic and may cause jammings.

[0007] DE 1143415 discloses a sliding door for furnishings, to which door the ends are fastened of a cable wound around stationary pulleys, which are fixed on a stationary framework of the furnishing, on one side of the door; also in this case there is the shortcoming of an excessively large overall dimensions.

[0008] FR-A-1214990 discloses a furniture door comprising two opposed guiding cables wound around pairs of pulleys which are arranged sidewise on a crossbar; also this arrangement involves to a large overall dimensions.

[0009] It is an object of this application to provide a door assembly which is of reduced cost, but which is able to work very well.

[0010] The above object has been achieved by a sliding door assembly of a type comprising: a movable wing or door element, including a sliding panel or door, and a fixed element comprising one or more guides for guiding the panel in an extension movement fran the guides and in a retraction movement within these guides, engagement means carried on at least one of these elements; an elongate flexible means having the ends clamped to the other of said two elements and arranged about said engagement means, so as to form a restraint between said fixed and movable elements. Said guides and elongate flexible means define a vertical plane and the movable element is arranged vertically; the ends of the elongate means are fixed to said guides and the engagement means are arranged cn the movable element. According to further features the said engagement means comprises rollers or pulleys, and the said elongate flexible means comprises a steel strip. A median vertical plane through said idle pulleys and said elongate flexible means is substantially coincident with a vertical plane passing through the center of gravity of the movable element when this latter is in the retracted condition. Generally, the steel strip is restrained to the inner end of an upper guide, is wound round the upper and front portions of an upper pulley, extended between the upper pulley and a lower pulley, wound around the inner and lower portions of the lower pulley, and restrained to the outer end portion of a lower guide. Preferably, means are provided for adjusting the length of the elongate means.

[0011] If required, a further steel strip could be provided and arranged opposite to the first steel strip in order to prevent any longitudinal osciallation of the door. According to modified embodiments, the or each steel strip could be replaced by a metal cable, a chain or a belt, etc., or a plastic material strip.

[0012] The new assembly advantageously can be readily manufactured at reduced costs. Moreover, the sliding door of the new assembly is positively supported at any sliding position thereof and has an easy and smooth movement.

[0013] By way only of unrestrictive illustration, some exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective part broken away view of a "disappeaning" type door assembly according to the invention, shown with the movable element at extracted position;

Fig. 1a is a cut away view of the lower pulley and lower guide (in section), on an enlarged scale relative to Fig. 1;

Fig. 2 is a lateral part sectional view of the assembly of Fig. 1; the movable element is shown by continuous line at extended condition and by dashed lines at retracted condition;

Fig. 3 is a lateral part sectional view of a modified embodiment of the assembly; and

Fig. 3a is a view similar to Fig. 1a of the assembly of Fig. 3.

[0014] In the example shown in Fig. 1, a "disappearing" type sliding door assembly 10 comprises a vertical double wall 12 providing a recessor of gap 14, for accommodating a movable door element 16. The latter comprises a vertical standard or upright 18 having a generally V shaped cross-section, and carrying through vertical axis hinges 20, a panel or door (wing) 22. The vertical standard or upright 18 has a generally U-shaped horizontal cross-section and carries engagement means in the form of a first idle upper roller or pulley 24, pivoted adjacent to the upper end thereof, and a second idle lower roller or pulley 25, pivoted adjacent to the lower end. Two fixed guides are arranged within the gap 14, namely an upper guide 26 and a lower guide 28. A steel strip or band 30 has an upper end secured at 31 to the upper guide, or to a fixed portion within the gap 14; then the strip 30 extends along said guide 26, is wound or coiled around an upper portion and a front portion (external portion) of the circumference of said pulley 24, extends between pulleys 24 and 25 is wound around a rear (internal) portion and a lower portion of pulley 25, extends along said guide 28 and has the other end secured at 32 to the outer end of the lower guide, or to other fixed location at similar position. Preferably, at least the fastening at 32 is provided by already known devices (not shown) allowing an length adjustment for the strip. The length adjustment for the strip could be also provided by already known tie for the strip could be also provided by already known tie rod devices (not shown) placed at intermediate position in the strip.

[0015] The movable element 16 is may be shifted between an extended position, in which at least the door 22 projects completely out from the gap 14, and a retracted position, in which the door 22 is accommodated within the gap 14. At extended position, said door 22 may be rotated on the hinges, for example, to close a space.

[0016] Each pulley 24 or 25 (Fig. 1a) has a seat or engaging surface for receiving said strip 30 and the lower pulley bears with said seat on the strip 30 and accordingly on said guide 28.

[0017] It will be seen that at the extended position of the door, shown in Fig. 1, said strip 30 has a long upper run and a short lower run. By pushing said door from an extended position to a retracted position within said gap 14 (said retracted position being drawn by dash dot lines in Fig. 2), the lower run of the strip is increasingly elongated and the upper run is increasingly shortened, the full extension of the strip remaining obviously unaltered. On the other hand, by removing or extracting the movable element, an elongation of the upper run and corresponding shortening of the lower run would occur. At the extracted position of the door, the strip subjected to traction will effectively retain the upper portion of the movable element, so that the latter can be carried in a cantilever arrangement, in which it bears only on the lower guide, while said door 22 is free of contact locations with the ground or floor.

[0018] The mutual engagement of the pulley, the band and the guide operates simultaneously to support the weight of the door element 16, to guide the element when this latter moves horizontally out or into its gap, to guide the door element so that the vertical upright will always move through parallel positions, i.e. generally keeping an attitude at right angles to the ground; and to retain element 16, when the door is in an extended position.

[0019] The overall cross dimension of the door element is thus extremely reduced, and does not exceed the cross dimension of the door alone.

[0020] Of course, many changes could be made to the described example; the pulleys could be directly secured to the door, so that the latter would be slidable and not rotatable and cantilever carried; the steel strip could be replaced by a plastic material strip or any other flexible elongate element, such as belt, metal cable, or chain; however, in these latter cases, preferably the pulley will have a bearing area distinct from the seat for the cable or chain. The pulley could be replaced by a rotating roller, or even by a not rotating horizontal bar, or finally by any seat, possibly coated with antifriction material.

[0021] A further modified embodiment comprises an assembly 10a shown in Figs. 3 and 3a. The parts of the assembly 10a identical to those of the assembly 10 bear the same reference numerals and will not be described in detail. For an improved restraint of the movable element, the assembly 10a comprises a pair of dual seat rollers 24a and 25a; the strip 30 is accommodated in one of said seats, whereas the strip 30a is accommodated in the other of the two seats, in an opposite arrangement to strip 30, that is adjustably secured adjacent to the outer end of the upper guide 26, wrapped on the inner upper portion of the pulley 24a, extended between the pulleys 24a and 25a, and secured on the inner portion of the guide 28a.

[0022] Thus, said standard or upright 18 is firmly retained in said gap 14 both at its upper end and at its lower end.

[0023] Of course, although the embodiments herein shown are those at present preferred, the arrangement of the pulleys and steel strip could also be different from that shown, without departing from the field of the present invention. For example, two or more pulleys could be provided secured to the guides, and a strip or the like could be provided, having the ends fixed to the door element and variously wound arround the pulleys.

Claims

1. A sliding door assembly comprising a movable door element (16) having a sliding panel or door (22); a fixed element with at least one fixed guide (26, 28) for this movable element (16) to guide the latter in an extension movement from the guides and a retraction movement within said guides; engagement means (24, 25) carried on at least one of said elements; a flexible elongate means (30) having the ends thereof clamped to the other of said two elements and arranged about said engagement means to form a restraint between said two elements; said guides and said elongate flexible means defining a vertical plane, and said movable element being arranged vertically, characterized in that the ends of said elongate means (30) are fixed to said guides (26, 28) and that the engagement means (24, 25) are carried on the movable element (16).

2. An assembly according to Claim 1, wherein the engagement means comprise idle rollers or pulleys (24, 25).

3. An assembly according to Claim 2, characterized in that a median vertical plane through said idle pulleys (24, 25) and said flexible elongate means (30) is generally coincident with a vertical plane through the center of gravity of the movable element (16), when this latter is in a retracted condition.

4. An assembly according to Claim 1, wherein said flexible elongate means is a steel strip or a plastic material strip.

5. An assembly according to claim 4, said guides comprising an upper guide (26) and a lower guide (28), said engaging means comprising an upper pulley (24) for engaging said upper guide (26) and a lower pulley (25) for engaging said lower guide (28); characterized in that at least said lower pulley (25) has a circumferential engagement surface and said lower guide has a longitudinal engagement surface which cooperates with said engagement surface of the pulley to bear the weight of the movable element, said band or strip being interposed between the said engagement surfaces of the pulley and the guide.

6. An assembly according to claim 5, characterized in that said elongate flexible means (30) is fastened with a part thereof on the upper guide (25), then winds around a portion of the upper and outer periphery of the upper pulley (24), then extends from the upper to the lower pulley (25), winds around an inner and a lower portion of the lower pulley and is anchored to the lower guide (28) close to an external end thereof.

7. An assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that said elongate flexible means (30) comprises two strips or bands (30, 30a) one of which is fastened close to the outer end of the upper guide (26), wound around an upper inner side of the upper pulley (24a), extended from the upper to the lower pulley (25a), wound around an exterior and a lower part of the lower pulley, and fastened close to the inner end of the lower guide (28), further characterized in that said engagement means comprises double race pulleys (24a, 25a) and said guides (26a, 28a) comprise a double longitudinal projection, said bands being received between the pulleys and the guides.

8. An assembly according to claim 5, wherein said pulley bears onto said steel band and through the same is carried onto at least one said guide.

9. An assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that said engagement means are carried directly on the door of the movable or slidable element.

10. An assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that said movable element comprises an upright (18) having a substantially U-shaped cross-section and a door (22) hinged to the upright, and the engaging means are carried within the U-shape of the upright.

Drawing