This invention relates generally to a sliding door assembly for a cabinet and particularly to an assembly which can be used for glass fronted display cabinets for beverages, food products and the like.
In the prior art and, for example, in a patent owned by the assignee of the present application, namely, U.S. Pat. No. 3,328,106 Self-Closing Cabinet Doors are known. This particular patent, utilizes an offset counterweight system having a double bent guide tube which directs the sash-line through two 90° turns.
As pointed out in U.S. Pat. No. 3,328,106 the use of pulleys had not proved successful because the sash-line tends to slip off the pulleys, which was a problem solved by the use of a double bent guide tube. On the other hand, the guide tube does not have the relatively frictionless free motion of a pulley system such as a ball bearing pulley system.
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the known prior art systems.
The present sliding door system overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art sliding door systems by providing a free motion pulley arrangement, which uses an effective guidance system to essentially eliminate sash-line slip off the pulleys.
The self-closing sliding door assembly is intended primarily, but not exclusively, for use in conjunction with an open front cabinet and includes at least one door slidably mounted for movement in a plane between an open and closed position. The system includes a counterweight offset from the plane of the door to overcome resistance to motion. A first pulley mounted for rotation in a horizontal plane and a second pulley mounted for rotation in a vertical plane. A sash-line is provided having opposed ends one of which is attached to the door and the other of which is attached to the counterweight. Guide means are provided for guiding and retaining the sash-line on the pulleys during movement of the door and counterweight.
It is an aspect of this invention to provide that each pulley is mounted to a bracket and the bracket provides the guiding and retaining means.
It is another aspect of this invention that the door can be used for double door closure purposes.
This self-closing, sliding door assembly is relatively simple to manufacture and install and is very effective for it intended purpose.
Referring now by reference numerals to the drawings and first to
Mounted on the cabinet floor wall 14 is an elongate double-channel guide track 24 which extends substantially between the end sidewalls 16 and 18. Each of the side-by-side channels 26 and 28 of the lower track 24 receives sliding doors 20 or 22, respectively, in movable relation. A similar elongate double channel track 30, having side-by-side channels 32 and 34, is mounted to the ceiling wall 12 in vertically aligned relation to the double channel of the floor wall 14 to receive and stabilize the sliding doors. In effect, the lower track 24 guides the bottom of the doors in sliding relation as by rollers. The upper track 30 guides the top of the doors by overlapping of the doors, as shown in
As shown in
The pulley systems 100a and 100b are provided with an arrangement of parts such that the sash-line 60 is guided over the pulleys and effectively retained on the associated pulleys by virtue of a guard arrangement, as will now be described.
The pulley bracket assembly 100 is best shown by reference to
The bracket 102 is apertured to receive a stud 112, which is coined or otherwise attached to the bracket 102. The stud 112 receives the pulley 104 which includes a split pair of inner races 114, an outer pulley race 116 and the assembly includes a plurality of balls 120, eleven in number in the embodiment shown, received between the inner and outer races. As shown in
As shown in
It is thought that the functional advantages of this self-closing sliding door assembly have become fully apparent from the foregoing detailed description of parts, but for completeness of disclosure, the installation and operation will be briefly described.
The self-closing, sliding door assembly 10 is comprised essentially of a door riding in a track for movement between open and closed limits, the door 20, 22 being opened against the action of the counterweight 70 attached to the door by a sash-line, and the sash-line being guided and supported by a means that enables the counterweight to be suspended and located along the side of the door rather than at its end.
As is generally indicated in
Referring to door 20 and its counterweight assembly, the gravitational pull exerted by the counterweight 70 causes a constant force to be exerted on the door 20 tending to move the door toward the closed limit in which the end of the door 20 engages the cabinet side wall 18, as is shown in
The pulley bracket assemblies 100a and 100b are stationary because they are attached by screws or other suitable means to the cabinet.
Interference of the counterweight 70 with goods stored in the cabinet is prevented by the elongate enclosure 72.
The procedure and mode of operation described above applies also to door 22 when, as indicated in the present embodiment, double doors are provided.
Although the invention has been described by making detailed reference to a single preferred embodiment, such detail is to be understood in an instructive, rather than in any restrictive sense many variations being possible within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.
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Number | Date | Country |
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3343774 | Jun 1985 | DE |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20080007148 A1 | Jan 2008 | US |