Patent Application
20220049531
The present invention relates generally to sliding doors that are suitable for a variety of applications. More specifically, the invention relates to sliding doors that are capable of inline closures.
Sliding doors are utilized in a number of different applications for residential, commercial, and industrial structures, including both internal and external applications. One common use of sliding doors in commercial structures is in retail or grocery stores, where sliding doors may serve as the ingress or egress point for customers. Similarly, sliding doors in residential structures may be used in external applications as doors connecting the rear of a home to an outdoor patio area, or in internal applications as, for example, decorative glass paned doors for separating rooms in a home. Sliding doors are also frequently used within a home as doors to closets, particularly within bedrooms. Sliding doors can also found in a variety of furniture applications, such as in cabinets, servers, or in television stands. And sliding doors are even found in automotive applications, such as in the passenger doors for vans or minivans.
One advantage of sliding doors is that they do not require a significant amount of clearance in the direction perpendicular to the opening in which they sit. As a result, sliding doors are particularly suitable for applications where there is a limited amount of space in front of or behind an opening, such that a hinged door would not have adequate space to open properly in either or both directions. The disadvantage, however, is that existing sliding doors typically require more room in the transverse direction than hinged doors. In general, a sliding door will require a clearance space in the direction parallel to the opening it which the door sits that its at least equal to the size of the door itself. This need for clearance space imposes limitations on the use of sliding doors in certain application. For example, if an individual wishes to use a sliding door in a particular space, the user may be limited in the size of the door (and thus the size of the opening serviced by the door) in order to allow for adequate space in the transverse direction. Such limitations are particularly disadvantageous in scenarios where larger openings between spaces are desired. Existing sliding doors, such as patio doors, also typically require a fixed or inoperable panel that restricts the size of the actual opening that may be used. In addition, most sliding door systems have one or more tracks, which are difficult to maintain and often end up collecting waste and other debris which can impede the operation of the door.
In addition to having certain restrictions relating to the size of the opening, existing sliding door are also, by their nature, generally limited in the shape of the openings that they can service. In particular, existing sliding doors are generally limited to servicing openings that are straight, or substantially straight. Existing sliding doors typically cannot be used to service openings having more complex shapes, such as corners.
Another disadvantage of existing sliding doors is that they generally do not provide for adequate sealing, particularly when compared to hinged doors. For this reason, when existing sliding doors are used for external applications, they may result in energy inefficiencies and the inability to adequately protect against the elements. Even where existing sliding doors are designed to provide more substantial sealing, such as in sliding doors used in automobile applications, these doors tend to require substantial and complex track arrangements that are not suitable for building applications or are not aesthetically pleasing.
In recent years, so-called “barn door” type sliding doors have become particularly desirable in certain residential, commercial, and even industrial applications. In addition, such barn doors have become desirable features in a variety of different furniture applications, including entertainment centers, cabinets, and wardrobes. However, such barn-type sliding doors do not allow for adequate sealing, and are therefore generally limited to purely internal applications. In addition, such barn door-type sliding doors are subject to size limitations like traditional sliding doors, and often require that the barn door be larger than the opening itself. In addition, existing barn door-type doors are generally poor at isolating noise between rooms, and often times appear to amplify noises. Existing barn door-type doors also typically hang freely from an upper track and lack any sort of connection or support on the lower half of the door, which creates a risk of the door swinging away from the opening and off of the upper track. Also, when used in furniture applications, existing barn door-type sliding doors by their very nature require that a portion of the furniture always be opened.
In view of the above, it would be beneficial to have a sliding door that enjoys the particular advantages of sliding doors, but that also overcomes the various drawbacks and disadvantages of existing sliding doors. In addition, it would be beneficial for such a door to be aesthetically pleasing and avoid the need for complicated track systems.
Aspects and advantages will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reading the following detailed description, with reference where appropriate to the accompanying drawings. Further, it should be understood that the foregoing summary is merely illustrative and is not intended to limit in any manner the scope or range of equivalents to which the appended claims are lawfully entitled.
The invention is described below in connection with the following illustrative figures, wherein:
It should be noted that the figures herein are not to scale, and the sliding door apparatus herein is not limited to the scale shown in the figures.
While the present invention is capable of being embodied in various forms, for simplicity and illustrative purposes, the principles of the invention are described by referring to several embodiments thereof. It is understood, however, that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the claimed subject matter, and is not intended to limit the appended claims to the specific embodiments illustrated. It will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the invention may be practiced without limitation to these specific details. For example, although the embodiments are described in the context of interior and exterior wall applications, the invention can also be used for various furniture applications and any other applications where a door might be used. As other examples, the invention can be used as a safe door, a hidden room door (such as integrated into a bookshelf or other furnishing typically located along a wall), or as a glass shower door. Additionally, as persons of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate, in certain instances, well-known methods and structures have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure the invention.
The sliding door system 100 is capable of being placed in an open position, as shown in
As shown in
Although the embodiment shown in
The sliding door system 100 includes a guiderail assembly 200 that facilitates sliding of the door panel 130 in the longitudinal axis. The guiderail assembly 200 includes a rigid straight guiderail structure 202 along which the door panel 130 slides in the longitudinal axis through the interaction with one or more roller assemblies 140. Although the guiderail assembly shown in the
Each roller assembly 140 may further include complimentary rollers 144 adapted to engage with a lower surface of guiderail 202. Similar to the top rollers 142, the complimentary lower rollers 144 have a central grove 144a that mates with the guiderail. In this way the rollers 142 and the complimentary rollers 144 of each roller assembly 140 engage the top and bottom edges of the rigid guiderail 202, thereby increasing the stability of the coupling between the door panel 130 and the guiderail assembly 200 and helping to avoid accidental disengagement of the door panel 130 from the guiderail assembly 200. The complimentary roller 144 is attached to the lower portion of the arm 141 by means of a shoulder bolt 150, which passes through an opening 152 in the lower portion of the arm 141 and through the bearing 145 of the roller 144. Like the opening 148 for the top roller, the opening 152 for the complimentary roller is slotted in the vertical direction to allow for the vertical positioning of the complimentary roller 144 with respect to the arm 41 and to allow fine adjustments of the height of the door panel in the opening, and with respect to the guiderail assembly.
The guiderail assembly 200 also facilitates sealing of the door by forcing the door panel 130 towards and into the plane of the opening 104 when transitioning into the closed position, and similarly facilitates unsealing of the door by forcing the door panel 130 out of the plane of the opening 104 when transitioning out of the closed position and towards the open position. To provide this functionality, the guiderail 202 is coupled to the wall 102 via a plurality of double-pivot hinge assemblies 204, as shown in
As shown in detail in
As shown in
The hinges of the double-pivot hinge assemblies 204 have a full range of motion in the opened and closed position. The overall movement and operation of the hinges, which affects their pivoting range, is managed by a stop mounted on the pivoting hinge. This stop can be adjusted to managed the degree to which the door can be opened. In another embodiment, the pivot range of the first hinge is restricted to a maximum pivoting range by stops within the hinge. As shown in
The overall design and operation of the double-pivot hinge assemblies, and in particular the maximum pivoting range of the first hinges 207 and the length of the arms 206 as provided by any stops, is such that they provide sufficient movement of the door panel 130 in the inward direction Ai to allow the door panel 130 to completely clear out of the opening 104. In particular, the double-pivot hinge assemblies are designed so as to permit the guiderail 202, and thus the door panel coupled to the guiderail, to move in the inward direction a distance that is at least equal to the thickness of the trailing side jamb 112 that defines opening 104, and including up to an additional clearance distance that will range anywhere from a hundredth of an inch, to a tenth or a quarter of an inch, to one to several inches, depending on the context and use of the sliding door system.
As the first hinges 207 of each double-pivot hinge assembly 204 pivot, the second hinges 209 of the assemblies counter-pivot in such a manner as to ensure that the rigid guiderail 202, and thus the door panel 130, remain parallel to the opening 104 throughout the transition into and out of the closed position.
Guiderail assembly 200 further includes an adjustable front stop 216 that operates so as to limit the extent to which the door panel 130 can roll along the guiderail 202 in the closing longitudinal direction XC. As described below, the adjustable stop 216 also operates as a catch, or a cam, that causes additional external force in the closing longitudinal direction to be translated into a force acting on the double-pivot hinge assemblies 204 and causing the guiderail 202, and thus the door panel 130 connected to the guiderail 202, to move in an arcing motion towards the closing longitudinal direction and into the plane of the opening 104. Sliding door panel 130 is free to slide, via rolling assemblies 140, along the length of the guiderail 202 in the closing longitudinal direction XC until the arm of the lead rolling assembly 140a contacts adjustable stop 216, whereupon further displacement in the closing longitudinal direction is restricted. Because further displacement along the guiderail in the closing longitudinal direction is restricted in this manner, any additional force applied to the door panel 130 in that direction is translated via the catch 216 into the guiderail 202 and into a pivoting force acting upon the respective arms 206 of hinge assemblies 204 and causing them to pivot at first hinges 207 from alignment in the transverse direction into alignment in the closing longitudinal direction. As noted above, the second hinges 209 in the double-pivot hinge assemblies 208 counter-pivot to ensure that guiderail 202 and thus the door panel 130 remain parallel to the plane of the opening 104 throughout this transition. Stop 216 is adjustable in the longitudinal axis and can be adjusted in the closing longitudinal direction or the opening longitudinal direction to ensure that the door panel 130 is properly aligned within opening 104.
Guiderail assembly 200 further includes a rear stop 218 that operates so as to limit the extent to which door panel 130 can roll along the guiderail 202 in the opening longitudinal direction XO. Sliding door panel is free to slide, via rolling assemblies 140, along the length of the guiderail 202 in the opening longitudinal direction Xo until the arm of the trailing rolling assembly 140b contacts rear stop 218, whereupon further displacement in the opening longitudinal direction is restricted. In this way, rear stop 218 prevents rolling assemblies 140 from rolling off of the guiderail 202 and therefore ensures that a user does not accidentally disengage the door panel 130 from the guiderail assembly 200.
As shown in
A bi-directional spring element 308 biases the lever arm 302 in the opening direction Xo when the door is at the transition point, and biases the lever arm in the outward direction Ao when the door system is in the closed position. The bi-directional spring element 308 has first and second springs (318, 328) that are connected at first ends (318a, 328a) to the wall 102, or to a plate 312 fixed to the wall, via a post 320. The first and second springs (318, 328) are connected at second ends (318b, 328b), opposite the first ends, to the lever arm 302 via a post 322 on the second segment 303. Although the spring element 308 is shown as having two springs, one spring may be used; alternatively, more than two springs may be used.
A cover plate 324 (not shown) is attached to the wall 102 in order to protect portions of the spring-assisted transition support assembly from exposure during transition from the transition point into the closed position, and when in the closed position.
The lever arm 302 has a distal end 302b on the second segment 304 that has mounted thereon a cam 306. As shown in the embodiment of
When the inline sliding door is in the closed position, the transition support assembly 300 assists with transitioning the door out of the closed position and to the transition point. When the door is in the closed position, an external inward force may be applied to the door that is sufficient to overcome the bias of the spring element 308, whereupon the second segment 304 of the lever arm 302 in the transition support assembly 300 begins to pivot from the closing direction Xc towards the inward direction Ai. As the lever arm pivots in this manner, cam 306 exerts a force on the inner edge 138b of track 138 to push the door panel 130 in the inward direction Ai and out of the closed position. Once the external force has overcome the bias of the spring element 308 towards the inward direction, the force vector of the bi-directional spring element 308 switches and begins to apply a force to second segment of the lever arm causing it to pivot in the direction towards the inward Ai and opening directions Xo, thereby assisting in the transition of the door panel 130 out of the closed position and towards the transition point of the system.
In accordance with the above description of the components and assemblies, the overall operation of the inline sliding door system 100 in transition from the fully opened position, through the transition point, and into the closed position is now described. In the fully opened position, the door panel 130 is arranged such that the trailing roller assembly 140b is adjacent to rear stop 218 on guiderail 202. In addition, the arms 206 of double-pivot assemblies 204 are aligned in the inward direction such that the guiderail 202 is at its maximum distance inward, and the lever arm 302 of the transition support assembly 300 is aligned in the inward direction. From the opened position, a user imparts a force in the closing direction Xc on the door panel 130, such as through use of the attachment 136. This force causes door panel 130 to slide along the rigid guiderail 202 until the lead rolling assembly 140a contacts adjustable stop 216, and the projection 139 in the track 138 of the door panel 130 contacts the cam 306 of the transition support assembly 300, at which point the sliding door system is at the transition point. As the user continues to impart a force on the door panel 130 in the closing direction Xc, this force is translated, through the contact of the rolling assembly 140a with adjustable stop 216 on the guiderail 202, into a force acting on double-pivot assemblies 204 and causing the arms 206 thereof to pivot at the first hinges 207 toward the closing and outward directions. This force is also translated, through the contact of the projection 139 with cam 306, into a force on the lever arm 302 acting to overcome the bias of bi-directional spring element 308 and causing the distal end of the lever arm 302 to pivot toward the closing and outward directions. Once the bias of the bi-directional spring element 308 toward the opening direction has been overcome, the bi-directional spring element 308 begins to impart a force in the lever arm 302 in the closing direction and inward directions that assists the user in forcing the door into the closing position. The force applied by the bi-directional spring element 308 at this point lessens the amount of external force required by the user to cause the double-pivot assemblies to complete pivoting at the first hinges 207 until the guiderail 202 is brought into contact with the wall mount 208 and the door panel 130 is brought into contact with the stops 116, 118, 120, 122 of opening 104.
In accordance with the above description of the components and assemblies, the transition of the inline sliding door system 100 from the closed position to the fully opened position occurs in the following manner. A user imparts a force in the inward direction Ai on the door panel 130, such as through use of the attachment 136. This force is translated, through the contact of the lead hanging assembly 140a with the adjustable stop 216 of guiderail 202, into a force acting on double-pivot assemblies 204 and causing the arms 206 thereof to pivot at the first hinges 207 toward the inward and opening directions. This force is also translated, through the contact of the outer edge 138a with the cam 306, into a force on lever arm 302 acting to overcome the bias of bi-directional spring element 308 and causing the distal end of the lever arm to pivot toward the opening and inward directions. Once the bias of the bi-directional spring element 308 toward the closed position has been overcome, the bi-directional spring element 308 begins to impart a force in the lever arm 302 in the inward and opening directions that assists the user in forcing the door towards the transition point. The force then applied by the bi-directional spring element 308 lessens the mount of external force required by the user to cause the double-pivot assembles to complete pivoting at the first hinge 207 until the guiderail is at its maximum inward distance and the door system is at the transition point. After the transition point has been reached, the user imparts a force in the opening direction on the door panel 130, again as through the use of the attachment 136. This force causes door panel 130 to slide along the rigid guiderail 202 until the trailing rolling assembly 140b contacts stop 218, at which point the sliding door system is at the fully opened position.
The general components and assemblies described with respect to a single panel embodiment may be adapted for a variety of different wall and opening geometries that include the use of multiple panels.
While the invention has been described in terms of several preferred embodiments, it should be understood that there are many alterations, permutations, and equivalents that fall within the scope of this invention. It should also be noted that there are alternative ways of implementing both the process and apparatus of the present invention. For example, steps do not necessarily need to occur in the orders shown in the accompanying figures, and may be rearranged as appropriate. It is therefore intended that the appended claim includes all such alterations, permutations, and equivalents as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.
All references, including publications, patent applications, and patents, cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicated to be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entirety herein.
The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar references in the context of this disclosure (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., such as, preferred, preferably) provided herein, is intended merely to further illustrate the content of the disclosure and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the claims. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the present disclosure.
Multiple embodiments are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for practicing the claimed invention. Of these, variations of the disclosed embodiments will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing disclosure. The inventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations as appropriate (e.g., altering or combining features or embodiments), and the inventors intend for the invention to be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein. Accordingly, this invention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.
The use of individual numerical values are stated as approximations as though the values were preceded by the word “about” or “approximately.” Similarly, the numerical values in the various ranges specified in this application, unless expressly indicated otherwise, are stated as approximations as though the minimum and maximum values within the stated ranges were both preceded by the word “about” or “approximately.” In this manner, variations above and below the stated ranges can be used to achieve substantially the same results as values within the ranges. As used herein, the terms “about” and “approximately” when referring to a numerical value shall have their plain and ordinary meanings to a person of ordinary skill in the art to which the disclosed subject matter is most closely related or the art relevant to the range or element at issue. The amount of broadening from the strict numerical boundary depends upon many factors. For example, some of the factors which may be considered include the criticality of the element and/or the effect a given amount of variation will have on the performance of the claimed subject matter, as well as other considerations known to those of skill in the art. As used herein, the use of differing amounts of significant digits for different numerical values is not meant to limit how the use of the words “about” or “approximately” will serve to broaden a particular numerical value or range. Thus, as a general matter, “about” or “approximately” broaden the numerical value. Also, the disclosure of ranges is intended as a continuous range including every value between the minimum and maximum values plus the broadening of the range afforded by the use of the term “about” or “approximately.” Thus, recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein.
This application is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/297,246, filed Mar. 8, 2019 which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/640,412, filed Mar. 8, 2018, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety as if fully set forth herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62640412 | Mar 2018 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 16297246 | Mar 2019 | US |
| Child | 17390619 | US |
