The present invention relates to a sliding door device for a sliding door that opens and closes by sliding from side to side, and more particularly to a sliding door device capable of arranging a front surface of a sliding door and a wall surface to be flat when the sliding door is in a closed position and arranging the sliding door in an open position on the back side or front side of the wall surface in parallel with the wall surface.
In a related art, there is a sliding door that opens and closes by sliding from side to side in a groove between a door lintel and a doorsill. Such a sliding door only slides straightly in a horizontal direction and when the sliding door is to be placed at the back side or front side of a wall surface, the front surface of the sliding door in the closed position and the wall surface cannot be flat or arranged in the same plane. This causes a problem of bad appearance.
In order to solve this problem, Japanese Patent No. 3686617 discloses a sliding door device having a curved guide rail 32 attached to a part above a sliding door 31 and rollers 33 attached to the sliding door 31 to roll in the guide rail 32, which is illustrated in FIG. 14. With this sliding door device, as the sliding door 31 moves along the curved guide rail 32, the surface of the sliding door 31 in the closed position and the wall surface can be flat and the sliding door 31 in the open position can be arranged on the back side of the wall surface.
Besides, in this sliding door device, there is no guide groove on a floor surface for guiding a lower part of the sliding door. Instead of the groove provided in the floor surface, a sliding door groove 31a is provided in the bottom surface of the sliding door 31, and in the floor surface, a pin body 34 is provided that fits into the sliding door groove 31a in the bottom surface of the sliding door 31. This is because when the guide groove is provided in the floor surface, dust will easily accumulate therein. When the sliding door in the closed position is to be opened, the pin body 34 fits into the sliding door groove 31a. The opening motion of the sliding door 31 is guided by the pin body 34. As it is not preferable that the pin body 34 juts in the opening which people pass through, the pin body 34 is arranged hidden behind the wall surface.
However, when the pin body 34 is arranged behind the wall surface, it cannot support the lower part of the sliding door 31 in the closed position. As the sliding door 31 is only suspended by the curved guide rail 32 provided above, the sliding door becomes floating when it is in the closed position. In addition, when the sliding door 31 in the closed position is to be opened, the pin body 34 is difficult to fit into the sliding door groove 31a as the lower part of the sliding door is not fixed.
Then, the present invention provides a sliding door device capable of guiding opening and closing motions of a sliding door and preventing shaking of a lower part of the sliding door when the sliding door is closed.
A description on the present invention will now be given hereunder. For easy understanding of the present invention, the reference numerals in the accompanying drawings are indicated herein with bracketed numerals which, however, are not intended to limit the present invention to the forms illustrated in the drawings.
In order to solve the problem, the first embodiment is a sliding door device capable of making a surface of a sliding door (3) in a closed position in plane with a wall surface and arranging the sliding door (3) in an open position on a back side or a front side of the wall surface and in parallel with the wall surface, the sliding door device comprising: a first pin body (16) provided at one of the sliding door (3) and a floor surface; a guide member (11) provided at an other of the sliding door (3) and the floor surface and having a guide groove (13a) in which the first pin body (16) fits when the sliding door (3) is in the closed position; and a second pin body (17) that is provided on the floor surface and can be fit in a sliding door groove (3a) formed at a bottom part of the sliding door (3), in which, when the sliding door (3) in the closed position is slid in an opening direction and toward the back side or front side of the wall surface, the guide member (11) moves relatively along the first pin body (16) while the first pin body (16) is fit in the guide groove (13a) of the guide member (11), and when the sliding door (3) is further slid in the opening direction, the second pin body (17) gets in the sliding door groove (3a) of the sliding door (3) and the sliding door (3) slides along the second pin body (17) while the second pin body (17) is fit in the sliding groove (3a) of the sliding door (3).
Here, the wall surface may be a wall surface of a fixed wall, or when two sliding doors are provided adjacent to each other, the wall surface may be a wall surface of an adjacent sliding door.
In a further embodiment, after the second pin body (17) gets in the sliding door groove (3a) of the sliding door (3), the first pin body (16) gets out of the guide groove (13a) of the guide member (11).
The next embodiment is a sliding door device capable of making a surface of a sliding door (3) in a closed position in plane with a wall surface and arranging the sliding door (3) in an open position on a back side or a front side of the wall surface and in parallel with the wall surface, the sliding door device comprising: a first pin body (16) provided at one of the sliding door (3) and a floor surface; a guide member (11) provided at an other of the sliding door (3) and the floor surface and having a guide groove (13a) in which the first pin body (16) fits when the sliding door (3) is in the closed position; and a second pin body (17) that is provided, on a bottom part of the sliding door (3) and can be fit in a floor surface side guide groove formed on the floor surface, in which, when the sliding door (3) in the closed position is slid in an opening direction and toward the back side or front side of the wall surface, the guide member (11) moves relatively along the first pin body (16) while the first pin body (16) is fit in the guide groove (13a) of the guide member (11), and when the sliding door (3) is further slid in the opening direction, the second pin body (17) gets in the floor surface side guide groove of the floor surface and the sliding door (3) slides along the floor surface side guide groove of the floor surface while the second pin body (17) is fit in the floor surface side guide groove of the floor surface.
In the next embodiment, the first pin body (16) is provided on the floor surface and the guide member (11) is provided on the sliding door (3).
In the next embodiment, the first pin body (16) does not jut in an opening (14) when seen from a front side of the sliding door (3) and at least a part of the guide member (11) protrudes in a width direction of the sliding door (3) when seen from the front side of the sliding door (3).
In the next embodiment, the guide member (11) is provided with a door stopper (12c) at the part of the guide member (11) protruding in the width direction of the sliding door (3) when seen from the front side of the sliding door (3).
The next embodiment is a sliding door device capable of making a surface of a sliding door (3) in a closed position in plane with a wall surface and arranging the sliding door (3) in an open position on a back side or a front side of the wall surface and in parallel with the wall surface, the sliding door device comprising: a first pin body (16) provided at a floor surface; and a guide member (23) provided at the sliding door (3) and having a guide groove (23a) in which the first pin body (16) fits when the sliding door (3) is in the closed position; wherein the guide member (23) moves along the first pin body (16) while the first pin body (16) is fit in the guide groove (23a) of the guide member (23) when the sliding door (3) moves from the closed position to the open position.
The next embodiment is a sliding door system comprising: the sliding door device of any one of 1 to 7a; a frame (1) having a wall surface; and a sliding door (3) accommodated in the frame (1) to be openable and closable.
In the disclosed device, as the first pin body and the second pin body are switched to guide the opening and closing motions of the sliding door, the sliding door is prevented from shaking even when it is in the closed, position and the second pin body is sure to be fit in the sliding door groove of the sliding door.
In the disclosed device, the guide groove of the guide member has required minimum length. This makes it possible to prevent bad appearance of the guide member and reduce the manufacturing cost of the guide member.
In the disclosed device, as the first pin body and the second pin body are switched to guide the opening and closing motions of the sliding door, the sliding door is prevented from shaking even when it is in the closed position and the second pin body of the sliding door is sure to be fit in the floor surface side guide groove on the floor.
In the disclosed device, there is no need to provide the guide member with the guide groove on the floor surface.
In the disclosed device, the first pin body is prevented from jutting into the opening when seen from the front side of the sliding door.
In the disclosed device, the guide member can double as the door stopper.
In the disclosed device, the opening and closing motions of the sliding door from the closed position to the open position and vice versa can be performed by the first pin body, and when the sliding door is in the closed position, the sliding door is also prevented from shaking. Besides, as the guide groove is provided on the sliding door side, not on the floor side, there is no fear of waste or dust accumulating in the guide groove.
With reference to the attached drawings, the sliding door device according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described below.
When the sliding door 3 is closed, the sliding door 3 closes the opening 14. The surface of the sliding door 3 in the closed position and the wall surface of the wall 2 are flat or arranged in the same plane. When a knob 3b is used to open the sliding door 3, the sliding door 3 slides in the opening direction (in the right direction in
A guide member 11 is attached to an end of the lower part of the sliding door 3 in the opening direction. The guide member 11 has an approximately L-shaped guide groove in the bottom surface thereof. The guide member 11 has a bracket 12 attached to the sliding door 3 and a main body 13 of which the guide groove is formed in the lower part.
In the main body 13, the guide groove 13a is formed extending into a thin L shape along the approximately L-shaped main body 13. One end 13c of the guide grove 13a passes through the main body 13. The open end 13c of the guide grove 13a extends into the tapered shape so that a pin body, described later, may be easily received therein. The other end part 13d of the guide groove 13a does not pass through the main body.
At the floor part 1a of the frame 1, there are first and second pin bodies 16 and 17 attached thereto. The first and second pin bodies 16 and 17 are provided at the back of the wall 2 seen from the front side of the sliding door 3 and spaced from the opening 14 of the frame 1. The first pin body 16 is arranged at the opening 14 side and farther from the wall 2 than the second pin body 17. Each of the first and second pin bodies 16 and 17 has a rectangular seat part 19, a metal column part 20 extending vertically from the seat part 19 and a rotating part 21 made of resin and covering the upper end part of the column part 20. The rotating part 21 is cylindrical shape having a bottom and is rotatable around the column 20.
When the sliding door 3 is in the closed position, the surface of the sliding door 3 and the surface of the wall become flat. When the sliding door in the closed position is to be opened, the sliding door 3 slides in the obliquely backward direction along the pulling-in rails 18a. Then, the sliding door 3 slides straightly along the straight rail 27 and in parallel with the wall 2. When the sliding door 3 is in the open position, the sliding door 3 is hidden behind the wall 2. When the sliding door 3 in the open position is to be closed, the sliding door 3 slides in the direction opposite to that described above. That is, the sliding door 3 first slides in parallel with the wall 2 and straightly along the straight rail 27 and then, slides in the obliquely frontward direction along the pulling-in rails 18a.
When the sliding door 3 in the closed position is slid in the obliquely backward direction, the guide member 11 moves along the first pin body 16 while the first pin body remains in the guide groove 13a of the guide member 11 (S2). At this time, the sliding door groove 3a becomes close to the second pin body 17 gradually.
When oblique sliding of the sliding door 3 is finished, the sliding door 3 starts to slide straightly in parallel with the wall 2 (S3). The first pin body 16 remains fit in the guide groove 13a but moves toward the open end side of the guide groove 13a in parallel with the wall. In concurrence with this, the sliding door groove 3a of the sliding door 3 fits on the second pin body 17. Immediately after the second ping body 17 gets fit in the sliding door groove 3a of the sliding door 3, the first pin body 16 gets out of the guide groove 13a of the guide member 11.
When the sliding door 3 is slid further in the opening direction, the sliding door 3 slides along the second pin body 17 while the second pin body 17 remains fit in the sliding door groove 3a of the sliding door 3 (S4). Finally, the sliding door 3 comes into the open position. When the sliding door 3 in the open position is to be closed, the above-described operations are performed in the reverse order, like from S4 to S1.
When seen from the front side of the sliding door 3, the first pin body 16 does not jut inside the opening and is hidden behind the wall. This is because the first pin body 16 is prevented from jutting into the opening which people pass through. The guide groove 13a of the guide member 11 protrudes in the width direction of the sliding door 3 so as to fit on the first pin body 16 jutting from the opening 14. As the guide member 11 protrudes from the sliding door 3, the guide member 11 functions as a door stopper.
According to the sliding door device of the present embodiment, when the sliding door 3 in the closed position is to be opened, the sliding door 3 is first guided by the first pin body 16 (see S1 and S2). Then, the guiding of the sliding door 3 is switched from the first pin body 16 to the second pin body 17 (S3) and after switching, the second pin body 17 guides the sliding door 3 (S4). As switching is performed between the first pin body 16 and the second pin body 17, the sliding door 3 can be guided both in the obliquely backward direction and in the straight direction. Then, as the sliding door 3 is always guided by the first pin body 16 or the second pin body 17 from the closed position to the open position and vice versa, the lower part of the sliding door 3 is not shaken when the sliding door 3 is in the closed position. When the sliding door 3 is in the closed position, the end part 3c of the vertical side of the sliding door 3 is fit in the step gap 1d of the vertical part 1b, and the end part 3c of the vertical side is also prevented from shaking.
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and may be modified into various forms without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, in sliding door device according to the first embodiment where the first and second pin bodies are switched, the first pin body may be mounted on the sliding door and the guide member may be mounted on the floor surface.
In addition, though the two guide rails are provided, these may be changed to one guide rail having a pair of pulling-in rails blanched at a midpoint. If one guide rail is provided, attention has to be paid so that the roller unit is sure to roll from the main rail to the branched rails.
Further, the sliding door may not be slid in the oblique direction when the sliding door start to be opened, and it may slid first to the back side and then in the opening direction that is 90 degrees bent therefrom,
Further, in place of combination of the wall and the sliding door, two open/close sliding doors may be provided close to each other and combined. In this case, a pair of sliding door devices is arranged symmetrically.
Furthermore, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the sliding door groove is formed in the bottom of the sliding door and the second pin body for fitting into the sliding door groove is fixed to the floor surface. However, the second pin may be fixed to the bottom of the sliding door and a floor surface side guide groove maybe provided on in the floor surface for fitting of the second pin body. The floor surface side guide groove maybe directly engraved on the floor surface or a guide member having the floor surface side guide groove formed therein may be mounted on the floor surface. In the case where the floor surface side guide groove is engraved on the floor surface, the second pin body may be movable horizontally relative to the sliding door so that the second pin body can be fit in or get out of the floor surface side guide groove.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-054738 filed on Mar. 5, 2007, and its contents are incorporated by reference herein.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2007-054738 | Mar 2007 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/JP2008/053782 | 3/3/2008 | WO | 00 | 4/22/2010 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2008/108340 | 9/12/2008 | WO | A |
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Entry |
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International Search Report—PCT/JP2008/053782—Apr. 15, 2008. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20100205865 A1 | Aug 2010 | US |