The present invention relates to roller support assemblies or structures for supporting sliding doors, windows or the like.
Commonly rollers used in support structures have a roller body with a peripheral formed rim adapted in use to engage a linear guide track to roll there along. The rollers commonly include an axially extending shaft with suitable bearing means to allow the roller body to freely rotate about a rotation axis defined by the shaft with the shaft having short axially extending stub shaft parts extending outwardly of side walls of the roller body. The short stub shaft parts are adapted to engage and be retained in a downwardly open retainer recess in side walls of a housing part of some form, the minimum dimension of the recess being slightly less than that of the stub shaft parts such that the stub shaft parts will, when being assembled snap fit into the retainer recess and be held thereby.
Typically, the shafts including the extending stub shaft parts will be a suitable metal and the housing part may be made from molded plastics material. Such a configuration is shown, for example, in the specification of Australian Patent No. 779340. In this specification the roller support assembly comprises an outer housing part adapted to be secured in a downwardly facing recess of a door, window or similar sliding panel. The outer housing part includes an inner support carriage carried by the outer housing part and adjustable in height relative to the outer housing part. The inner support carriage itself carries a bogie member in releasable manner that carries one or more rollers fitted between side walls of the bogie member in a manner as described in the foregoing.
While such assemblies have worked satisfactorily, the downwardly open retainer recesses in the side walls of the bogie member provide a degree of weakness and therefore greater flexibility for the side walls that are made from molded plastics material, which can cause difficulties and lower service life when under reasonably heavy loads. A further practical difficulty is that in roller support assemblies as described, the peripheral formed rim of the roller (or rollers) extends below the lower edge of the door or other panel in which it has been installed. There is then a risk that the door or other panel will, during installation and before the roller is correctly engaged with the linear guide track on which it is intended to roll, will be supported on the roller peripheral rim and possibly dragged across surfaces transverse to the peripheral rim. Given that the roller body and the formed peripheral rim are commonly also made from molded plastics material, such actions during installation have a significant risk of causing damage to the peripheral rim of the roller.
The objective of the present invention is to provide a roller support assembly that will improve performance of the assembly once installed and preferably minimize or prevent damage to the roller during installation.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a roller support assembly having a housing member having spaced apart side walls defining a roller receiving zone therebetween, a roller operationally supported in said roller receiving zone, said roller including a roller body, a shaft supporting said roller body for rotation relative to said shaft, and said shaft including stub shaft parts extending laterally from opposed side wall surfaces of said roller body, each said housing side wall having a fully enclosed opening for receiving a said stub shaft part when the roller is installed in said roller receiving zone, at least one of said housing side walls or said roller body side wall surfaces having a formation cooperable with the other as a said roller is moved into said roller receiving zone to relatively splay the housing side walls apart until said stub shaft parts engage in a respective said opening, said formation or formations not interfering with rotation of the roller body once the roller is located in an installed position in said roller receiving zone.
Conveniently the formation or formations may include at least one inwardly projecting element on at least one of said housing side walls, the or each said projecting element being engageable with a side wall surface of the roller body as the roller is moved towards said installed position. Each of the openings may be an aperture extending fully through a housing side wall or it may be a blind recess that does not open onto the outer surface of the housing side wall. Conveniently, the or each said projecting element is spaced from the roller when said stub shaft parts are respectively operationally engaged in a said opening in said installed position. Preferably one or both housing side walls may include two said projecting elements spaced from one another on opposite sides of the shaft of the roller.
In a preferred arrangement each of the housing side walls has a lower most edge spaced below said opening, each said housing side wall further including a groove formed in an inwardly facing surface, said groove extending from said lower most edge to said opening. Conveniently each said housing side wall has a lower most edge spaced below said opening, said lower most edge being located at or below the lower most extremity of said roller.
In a further preferred embodiment at least one housing transverse wall extends between said housing side walls to partly define said roller receiving zone, the or each said transverse wall having a transverse wall lower most edge continuous with the lower most edges of the housing side walls, the transverse wall lower most edge having an upwardly extending recessed region relative to the lower most edges of the housing side walls. Conveniently, at least one transverse wall is provided extending between said housing side walls to partly define said roller receiving zone, the or each said housing transverse wall having a transverse wall lower most edge region spaced upwardly relative to the lower most edges of the housing side walls.
Preferably the housing member may have two said housing side walls and three said housing transverse walls, two of said housing transverse walls forming opposed end walls of the housing member and a third said housing transverse wall being located intermediate said end walls whereby two said roller receiving zones are formed, each of said roller receiving zones carrying a said roller.
It will be apparent from the foregoing that the roller support assembly provided according to this invention will have stronger and less flexible housing side walls as the side walls are not partially weakened by a rear opening into the lower edge of the housing to permit the roller to be installed therewith.
In accordance with a second aspect of this invention, there is provided a roller support assembly having a housing member having spaced apart housing side walls defining a roller receiving zone therebetween, a roller operationally supported in said roller receiving zone, said roller including a roller body, a shaft supporting said roller body for rotation relative to said shaft, and said shaft including stub shaft parts extending laterally from opposed side wall surfaces of said roller body, each said housing side wall having an opening for receiving and retaining a said stub shaft part when the roller is installed in said roller receiving zone, said housing member further including at least one transverse wall extending between said housing side walls, each of said side walls and the or each transverse wall having lower edge zones such that at least the lower edge zones of the housing side walls are arranged at or below a lower most extremity of said roller when the roller is installed in said roller receiving zone, and the lower edge zone of the or each said transverse wall being spaced upwardly from said lower edge zones of the housing side walls. In this embodiment the opening in the side walls of the housing might either be a fully enclosed opening or a recess opening onto the lower most edge of the side walls. In this second aspect, the provision of the side wall edge zones being extended to a position equal to or lower than the lower most extremity of the roller protects the roller during the installation process.
In accordance with a further aspect of this invention there is also provided a method of installing a roller in a roller support assembly having a housing member having spaced apart housing side walls defining a roller receiving zone therebetween, said roller including a roller body, a shaft supporting said roller body for rotation relative to said shaft with stub shaft parts extending laterally from opposed side wall surfaces of said roller body, each said housing side wall including a fully enclosed opening for receiving and retaining a said stub shaft part when the roller is installed in said roller receiving zone, at least one of said housing side walls or the side wall surfaces of the roller body having an inwardly projecting formation, said method including moving a said roller into said roller receiving zone whereby the formation or formations on at least one side wall surface of the roller body or the housing side walls interengage to relatively splay the housing side walls until the stub shaft parts are engaged in a said opening.
Further preferred features and aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description given in relation to the accompanying drawings.
Referring first to
Referring now to
Each side wall 31, 32 has a lower most edge zone 43 that is positioned at or below the lower most regions of the roller body 20 so that the peripheral rim 26 of the wheel bodies 20 are, at least below the shaft 21, fully within the roller receiving zones 36 or 37. It is preferred that the lower most edge zones 43 of each housing side wall 31, 32 is at the same level and in the same plane such that the roller support assembly 10 can stand on an underlying support surface without the roller rim 26 contacting same. As will be seen in
Preferably, the inwardly facing side wall surfaces 39, 40 of the side walls 31, 32, may include groove formations 45, 46 leading from the lower most edge zone 43 to the aperture 38 to guide the stub shaft parts 22 directly to the aperture 38.
As is best seen in
While the number and positioning of the projecting elements 47 as shown in the annexed drawings is preferred, it will be recognized that other arrangements could be used. The number of the projecting elements 47 could be reduced or possibly be repositioned. If, however the projecting element 47 might remain in the rotation zone of the roller body side wall surfaces 24, 25, then a rotational groove or similar to clear the projecting element 47 positioned in the surface regions 24, 25 might be required so once the roller assembly is in the installed position no interference occurs between the housing member 30 and the roller assembly 19. In a possible further alternative arrangement, the projecting elements 47 might be positioned on the roller body side surfaces 24, 25 and engage with the housing surfaces 39, 40. Again if this option were adopted, the projecting elements 47 would need to, at the installed position, drop into an annular groove in the surfaces 39, 40 so as to again avoid interference in the installed position.
It will be recognized that those skilled in the art that modifications and variations of the preferred embodiments may be made without departing from the concepts defined in the claims annexed hereto. For example, it is preferred that the housing member 30 be made by molding a suitable plastic material, however, it might also be made from casting a suitable metal such as aluminum or an aluminum alloy.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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114731 | Waitt | May 1871 | A |
205906 | Rider | Jul 1878 | A |
809695 | Keil | Jan 1906 | A |
1647610 | Crum | Nov 1927 | A |
4262451 | Dallaire | Apr 1981 | A |
5568671 | Harris et al. | Oct 1996 | A |
6434789 | Kruse | Aug 2002 | B1 |
Number | Date | Country |
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779340 | Dec 2001 | AU |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20090077766 A1 | Mar 2009 | US |