Support and guide for sliding doors in wardrobes

Abstract

 A support and guide device for sliding doors in wardrobes, comprising a carriage (2, 2') slidable along tracks (6, 8) provided on the top (10) and on the base (12) of the wardrobe, characterised in that an arm (22) is pivoted to said carriage and is provided at its other end with a hinge (24) articulable through 180° and fixed to the door, and further comprising friction means (30, 28) acting elastically on the arm to maintain its configuration substantially stable about the arm pivot pin.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a support and guide device for sliding doors in wardrobes.

[0002] Wardrobes are known comprising a top and a base which retain two or more sidepieces and a rear wall, and closed by a plurality of doors movable between several positions to allow access to the wardrobe interior.

[0003] In a first known type of closure system, the doors lie coplanar when in their closed configuration, while they lie superposed on each other when in their open configuration.

[0004] A drawback of this system is that complete access cannot be gained to the wardrobe interior.

[0005] In another type of closure, the doors are hinged together in pairs and lie mutually coplanar when in their closed configuration, whereas when in their open configuration they face each other at 90° to their closed coplanar configuration.

[0006] A drawback of this system is the considerable encumbrance presented by the projecting doors when in their open configuration.

[0007] The object of the invention is to eliminate these drawbacks by providing a support and guide device for sliding doors of concertina type which present a reduced encumbrance when in the configuration which provides access to the wardrobe interior.

[0008] This object is attained according to the invention by a support and guide device for sliding doors in wardrobes as described in claim 1.

[0009] A preferred embodiment of the present invention is further clarified hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1

is a perspective view of the support and guide device of the invention;

Figure 2

is a front view thereof;

Figure 3

is a plan view thereof from below;

Figure 4

shows it applied to the doors, and

Figure 5

shows the door movement during opening and closure.

[0010] As can be seen from the figures, the device of the invention comprises a carriage 2, 2' for supporting and guiding a door 4 slidable along tracks 6, 8 present on the top 10 and on the base 12 of the wardrobe respectively.

[0011] The upper carriage 2' comprises a first L-shaped bracket 12 supporting wheels 14, 16 which engage the track 6 and a second L-shaped bracket 18 provided with a pivot pin 20 for a profiled arm 22, to the other end of which there is pivoted a 180° hinge 24 mounted on the door 4.

[0012] A coil spring 28 and a friction flange 30 are interposed coaxial with the pin 20 between the arm 22 and a portion of the bracket 18.

[0013] The hinge 24 comprises a plate 32 for fixing to the door 4 and a plate 34 with a fork 36 which embraces a pin 38 on which the arm 22 is pivoted.

[0014] The lower carriage 2' is substantially identical to the upper carriage 2 with the exception of the engagement element for the track 8, which consists of a slotted block 40.

[0015] The support and guide device of the invention operates in the following manner.

[0016] When the wardrobe is closed the doors 4, 4' lie substantially coplanar to close the wardrobe interior. When the wardrobe is to be opened, the user pushes the door which is secured to the carriage such as to cause the arm to rotate about the pin 36 and to rotate slightly about the pin 20, this latter rotation being partially hindered by the action of the spring 28 on the flange 30 against the arm.

[0017] As the carriages 2 and 2' gradually slide along the tracks, the arm 22 rotates about the pin 36 to enable the two doors to lie at an angle apart, then as the carriages continue their travel the two doors become disposed facing each other perpendicular to the wardrobe surface.

[0018] When in this configuration the arm 22 interferes with a suitable bracket 40 provided on the wardrobe so that, on overcoming the elastic reaction of the spring acting on the flange 30, the arm rotates about the pin 20 to lie with its major armpiece substantially perpendicular to the tracks. At this point the two doors lying face to face have merely to be rotated by a single operation through a further 90°, this rotation being achieved by the fact that the hinge rotates about the pin 36.

[0019] To close the wardrobe the user rotates the two doors through 90° so that they lie perpendicular to the tracks, then grips the door 4 and pulls it in the direction to close the wardrobe.

[0020] From the aforegoing it is apparent that the support and guide device for sliding doors enables total access to be gained to the wardrobe interior without the doors presenting any encumbrance.

Claims

1. A support and guide device for sliding doors in wardrobes, comprising a carriage (2, 2') slidable along tracks (6, 8) provided on the top (10) and on the base (12) of the wardrobe, characterised in that an arm (22) is pivoted to said carriage and is provided at its other end with a hinge (24) articulable through 180° and fixed to the door, and further comprising friction means (30, 28) acting elastically on the arm to maintain its configuration substantially stable about the arm pivot pin.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that said friction means are a coil spring.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the spring acts elastically on a friction flange in contact with the arm.

Drawing