The invention pertains to a sliding element suspended from and guided on the top of a roller rail by support rollers or glide elements, where the roller rail is connected to a substructure by roller rail brackets, which grip the roller rail from underneath, and where a keeper device located underneath the roller rail is attached to the sliding element or to components attached to the sliding element.
In the usual case, a gap is present between the sliding element and the bottom of the roller rail; this gap is intended to make it possible to hang the sliding element, including its support rollers, as a single unit from the roller rail. During normal use of the sliding element, this gap can allow the sliding element to jump unintentionally off the rail. To prevent this, keeper devices are provided on the sliding elements or on parts attached to them. The outer contour of the keeper device which faces the roller rail is only a short distance away from the outer periphery of the roller rail, which means that the sliding element cannot be disengaged from the rail until after the keeper devices have been removed. If, however, the roller rail brackets that support the roller rail are of the type which grip the rail from underneath, difficulties can occur when keeper devices of this type travel over them.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,345 discloses a sliding element which is suspended from and guided on a guide rail by straps extending between the sliding element and the support rollers. The guide rail is supported in a U-shaped support profile, which is open at the top, and, like the support profile, is made up of several subsections. The subsections of the support profile are supported, at the points where they butt up against each other, by angle-shaped brackets, the horizontal shanks of which grip the support profile from underneath. No measures are taken to prevent the sliding element from jumping off the rail unintentionally.
In known sliding elements suspended by straps, keeper devices are provided, which are rigidly connected to the straps. Part of the outer contour of each keeper device wraps around or extends under the outer contour of the roller rail with a certain amount of play. This play is necessary to allow the keeper device to travel over the roller rail bracket, but it must also allow the device to fulfill its “keeping” function at the same time
The task of the invention is to propose a solution by means of which the keeper device extends under the roller rail and under the roller rail bracket with very little play—possibly without any play at all—but also in such a way that the sliding element is prevented from jumping off the rail as it travels along the rail and as it travels over a bracket.
The invention accomplishes the task indicated above by means of the features of Claim 1.
According to this claim, the keeper device has a locking element, which can rest elastically against the roller rail but which can also give way when it travels over a roller rail bracket. The solution according to the invention ensures that the locking element always rests against the roller rail or travels over the rail with such a small amount of play that it is impossible for the sliding element to jump off the rail. At the same time, because the locking element rests elastically against the roller rail, the locking element can give way as it travels over the roller rail bracket while still fulfilling its keeping function.
According to an especially advantageous embodiment of the invention, the keeper device has a locking element, which:
projects from the bracket of the keeper device toward the roller rail;
rests elastically against the roller rail; and
prevents the sliding element from jumping out of position, and which, when it travels over a roller rail bracket,
is pushed down into the bracket of the keeper device against the elastic force, thus releasing the locking action of the locking element. According to the above features, the locking element, which is supported, for example, in a pocket-like receptacle in the bracket of the keeper device, is supported in the bracket in such a way that the locking element is prevented from being pushed down into the bracket as long as the locking element is sliding along the roller rail, so that the keeping function remains ensured. When it travels over one of the roller rail brackets extending under the roller rail, however, the locking element is pushed far enough down into the bracket of the keeper device against the force of a spring that the keeper device can pass underneath the part of the roller rail bracket which extends under the roller rail without any loss of the keeping function. The keeper device can be in continuous contact with the roller rail and the roller rail brackets.
Additional features of the invention are characterized by the additional features of the subclaims.
The locking element is advantageously supported in a pocket in the bracket of the keeper device so that it extends at a right angle to the travel direction of the sliding element and can also pivot around an axis extending in the travel direction of the sliding element, where the pivoting path of the locking element is limited in both directions by contact surfaces on the locking element.
The pivoting path of the locking element, as it travels over the roller rail in the position in which it prevents the sliding element from jumping out of position, is limited by a locking lobe on the locking element, which is located on the side of the roller rail facing the substructure, outside the longitudinal center axis of the roller rail and adjacent to the outer periphery of the roller rail. The pivoting path of the locking element in the opposite direction which occurs when the keeper device travels over a roller rail bracket, however, is limited by the contact of the locking lobe of the locking element with the roller rail bracket, it being ensured that the pivoting path still has a sufficient amount of play.
By means of the measures indicated above, a keeper device for a sliding element of the general type described above is created which has an elastically displaceable locking element, which is prevented from being pushed down into the bracket of the keeper device as long as the device is traveling over the roller rail, but which can be pushed down when it travels over a roller rail bracket.
The locking element is elastically supported in the bracket of the keeper device preferably by providing bores in both the bracket of the keeper device and the locking element, these bores being aligned with each other so that the locking element can be rotatably supported on a pin passing through the bores.
So that the locking element can travel over the roller rail bracket without jerking and without causing noise, lead-in bevels are provided on the surface of the locking element facing the roller rail and/or the roller rail bracket. These bevels also initiate simultaneously the pivoting movement of the locking element with respect to the bracket.
The method used to attach the keeper device to the strap carrying the sliding element is basically arbitrary; an advantageous way of doing this, however, is to provide the device with a pin, which can be plugged into the strap. It would also be possible to use a dovetail joint, etc.
The invention is explained in greater detail below on the basis of a possible exemplary embodiment:
As can be seen in
When the locking element 12 travels over the roller rail bracket 7, it gives way by pivoting around its axis 17 in the direction of the arrow C in a manner to be explained below. As a result, it can pass underneath the part of the roller rail bracket 7 which extends under the roller rail 5; the locking lobe 20 now rests against the part of the roller rail bracket 7 which supports the rail from underneath. The pivoting path in the direction of the arrow C is calculated so that the locking element 12 can be pushed down into the pocket (not shown) in the bracket 13 sufficiently.
The side view of the locking element 12 according to
The diagram in
In the exemplary embodiment according to
1 glass wall
2 sliding element
3 straps
4 support rollers
5 roller rail
6 top of the roller rail
7 roller rail bracket
8 point retainer
9 cover
10 substructure
11 keeper device
12 locking element
13 bracket of the keeper device
14 spring
15 shank of the spring
16 shank of the spring
17 axis of the locking element
18 contact surface on the locking element
19 contact surface on the locking element
20 locking lobe
21 center longitudinal axis of the roller rail
22 outer periphery of the roller rail
23 bore in the bracket
24 bore in the locking element
25 surface of the locking element
26 lead-in bevels
27 plug-in pin
28 dovetail joint
29 screw connection
A directional arrow
L directional arrow
B directional arrow
C directional arrow
x distance
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
102 12 011.0 | Mar 2002 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/EP03/02796 | 3/18/2003 | WO |