Claims
- 1. A door assembly comprising a stationary frame having at least one door mounted for translational movement in opposite directions relative to the frame, self-moving means for said door including a flexible tubular member, means for affixing one end of said tubular member to said frame, a follower secured to the other end of said tubular member for loose positioning in an active position adjacent a side of said door for urging said door in one direction of movement and follower engagement means mounted on a corner of said door for engaging said follower when in said active position and for moving said follower to an inactive position as an incident to movement of said door to a predetermined position between fully opened and fully closed positions, said follower engagement means being made of resilient material that deforms to permit passage of said corner of the door relative to said follower when said follower is moved to said inactive position.
- 2. The door assembly of claim 1 in which said door is movable between fully opened and fully closed positions, and said self-moving means moves said door toward said fully opened position.
- 3. The door assembly of claim 1 in which said door is movable between fully opened and fully closed positions, and said self-moving means move said door toward said fully closed position.
- 4. The door assembly of claim 1 in which said follower is disposed in a generally vertical position when in said active position, and including means for pivoting said follower to a generally horizontal inactive position when said door is moved to said predetermined position.
- 5. The door assembly of claim 1 in which said frame is formed with a recess for at least partially receiving said follower upon movement of said door to said predetermined position.
- 6. The door assembly of claim 1 in which said follower has a wedge-shaped configuration with a narrow end of the wedge at the lower end thereof when in an active position.
- 7. The door assembly of claim 1 in which the follower has slot means for positively receiving and retaining an end of said tubular member without auxiliary fastening means.
- 8. The door assembly of claim 7 in which said follower includes first slot means for receiving one portion of a U-shaped bend in said tubular member and second slot means for receiving another portion of said U-shaped bend in said tubular member.
- 9. The door assembly of claim 1 in which said means for affixing said tubular member to said frame includes a mounting bracket having slot means for receiving and retaining an end of said tubular member without auxiliary fastening means.
- 10. The door assembly of claim 9 in which said mounting bracket includes first slot means for receiving one portion of a U-shaped end of said tubular member and second slot means for receiving another portion of said U-shaped end of said tubular member.
- 11. The door assembly of claim 1 in which said follower engagement means is a generally V-shaped spring member having one leg positioned adjacent a vertical side of the door and a second leg positioned adjacent the top of the door, said legs normally forming an angle less than 90.degree. so that the corner of said V-shaped spring member extends a predetermined distance above the top of the door, and said spring member legs being flexed outwardly from each other as the corner of the door upon which said spring member is mounted passes the predetermined position at which said follower is moved to said inactive position so as to cause said spring member to more closely conform to the corner of the door.
- 12. The door assembly of claim 1 in which said flexible tubular member comprises a first tubular member formed of stretchable rubber latex material and a second tubular member joined thereto formed of a coil spring having greater resiliency than said first tubular member.
- 13. The door assembly of claim 1 including retaining plate means fixed to the frame through which said flexible tubular member is trained.
- 14. The door assembly of claim 13 in which said retaining plate means is formed with an aperture through which said flexible tubular member loosely passes.
- 15. The door assembly of claim 14 in which said retaining plate means is mounted at a location on said frame such that in the event of accidental release of the follower from its active position adjacent said door the follower will be drawn against the retaining plate means with said tubular member maintained in taut condition.
- 16. The door assembly of claim 15 in which said retaining plate means includes a first flat plate position for mounting on said frame and a second inclined portion depending at an acute angle from said frame and being formed with said aperture.
- 17. The door assembly of claim 2 also including self-closing means for said door including a flexible tubular member, means for affixing one end of said tubular member to said frame, and a follower secured to the other end of said tubular member for loose positioning in an active position adjacent a side of said door for urging said door toward said closed position.
- 18. The door assembly of claim 1 including follower retaining means mounted on said frame, said follower being selectively removable from said active position adjacent the side of said door and manually positionable in an inactive position in said retaining means for permitting removal of said door from said frame without disassembly of said self-closing mechanism.
- 19. The door assembly of claim 3 also including self-opening means for said door comprising a flexible tubular member, means for fixing one end of said tubular member to said frame, and a follower secured to the other end of said tubular member for loosely positioning in an active position adjacent a side of said door for urging said door toward said fully open position.
- 20. The door assembly of claim 1 in which said tubular member is made of a rubber latex material.
- 21. The door assembly of claim 1 wherein said self-moving means includes self-closing means and self-opening means and including means for moving the follower of said self-closing means from an active position to an inactive position as an incident to movement of said door to a predetermined open position so that said self-closing means no longer urges said door towards a closed position, and means for moving the follower of said self-opening means from an active position to an inactive position as an incident to movement of said door to a predetermined location away from said fully open position.
- 22. The door assembly of claim 21 in which each said follower is disposed in a generally vertically oriented position when in an active position, and said follower moving means for each said follower pivots the follower from its vertically oriented active position to a generally horizontally oriented inactive position.
- 23. The door assembly of claim 18 in which said retainer means comprises a bracket fixed to said frame above the top of said door for holding the follower with said tubular member in a stretched taut condition.
- 24. The door assembly of claim 23 in which said bracket is channel-shaped with depending legs within which said follower is positionable.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 704,395 filed Feb. 22, 1985.
The present invention relates generally to door assemblies, and more particularly to sliding door assemblies for refrigerators and freezers which are frequently opened and closed as an incident to obtaining access to the refrigerated zone.
Commercial refrigerators commonly are used in deli bars and the like for containing various food items for customer selection. The customer views the food selections through a glass window from one side of the refrigerated cabinet and sliding glass doors are provided on the opposite side of the cabinet to permit access thereto by the store clerk. During the course of the day in filling customer orders, the doors are opened and shut on numerous occasions and food frequently is dropped into the bottom of the cabinet and into the track for the sliding doors. As a result, it is customary in such deli bars to remove the doors at the end of each day to permit effective cleaning of the doors and the interior of the cabinet.
Because of the somewhat conflicting needs for energy efficiency, ease of access to the refrigerated area, and convenience in door removal and cleaning, the sliding door assemblies for such refrigerators have been a continual source of problems. For example, because the store clerk usually has his hands occupied when removing food from the refrigerated zone, it is not easy to completely close the sliding doors after use, and as a result, the doors often are left partially open. During the course of the day, this can greatly increase the heat loss to the refrigerated zone, and thus significantly increase the operating cost for the refrigerator.
While self door closure mechanisms have been available for such sliding doors which insure that the doors are closed after use, such door closure mechanisms have created other problems. Since the door tends to be constantly pulled to their closed position, it can be difficult for the store clerk to remove food, while at the same time holding the doors open. Such door closure mechanisms similarly hamper loading of the refrigerator. Conventional self door closure mechanisms have further impeded easy removal of the doors for cleaning of the refrigerator, frequently necessitating cumbersome disassembly and reassembly of the mechanism. Hence, notwithstanding energy efficiency considerations, self door closure mechanisms often have not been used in deli bars or like refrigerators which require frequent attendant or customer access.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved energy efficient sliding door assembly for refrigerators, freezers, and the like that permits easier use and maintenance.
Another object is to provide a sliding door assembly as characterized above in which the sliding doors have self-closing means, but do not require a user obtaining access to the refrigerated zone to manually hold the doors in an open position against the action of the self-closing mechanism.
A further object is to provide a sliding door assembly in which the sliding doors have self-closing means that permit easy removal of the doors from the cabinet for cleaning and maintenance. A related object is to provide such a sliding door assembly in which the doors may be removed without cumbersome handling or removal of the self-closing mechanism.
Still another object is to provide a sliding door assembly with self door opening means that assists in completely opening a door and maintains the door in such open condition during access to the refrigerated zone.
Yet another object is to provide a sliding door assembly having self door closure means that is rendered operative at a predetermined position to complete closing of the door and maintain it in a fully closed condition and self-opening means that is also rendered operative at a predetermined position to complete opening of the door and to maintain it in such open condition.
Still a further object is to provide a refrigerator or freezer sliding door assembly with a relatively inexpensive, versatile, energy efficient mounting frame. A related object is to provide such a mounting frame that is adapted for reliable mounting in cabinet walls of different thicknesses and which provides a thermal barrier between the refrigerator cabinet wall and the sliding door.
US Referenced Citations (3)
| Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
| 3584417 |
Gatton et al. |
Jun 1971 |
|
| 3978617 |
Eventoff |
Sep 1976 |
|
| 4523408 |
McConnell |
Jun 1985 |
|
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
| Parent |
704395 |
Feb 1985 |
|
Patent Grant
4656781
