Patent Application
20250230694
Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a sliding system, and more particularly, to a sliding system with improved mechanisms.
In related art motorized sliding systems, a drive mechanism (e.g., a belt, a chain, a wire, etc.) is attached to a sliding panel (e.g., a window panel, a door panel, etc.) and is utilized for moving the sliding panel along a track.
However, related art systems lack support for the drive mechanism, which may result in the sagging of the drive mechanism and misalignment between the sliding panel and the frame in which the drive mechanism is disposed. This in turn may lead to issues such as increases in force needed to move the sliding panel, damage to the sliding panel or the drive mechanism, poor weather sealing performance, and the like.
Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide a sliding system with improved mechanisms. Specifically, the sliding system of present disclosure includes devices for providing horizontal support for the drive mechanism and mitigating horizontal misalignment of components within the sliding system.
According to embodiments, the sliding system may include: a drive mechanism, a frame, a supporting device, and a connecting device. The drive mechanism is configurable to move a sliding panel along at least one track. The frame may house at least a portion of the drive mechanism. The supporting device may be detachably connected to the frame. The connecting device detachably connects the drive mechanism to the sliding panel. The sliding panel may include one of: a door panel and a window panel.
According to embodiments, the connecting device may include a first portion and a second portion. The first portion may be attached to the drive mechanism and the second portion may be attached to the sliding panel. The first portion is detachably connected to the second portion.
According to embodiments, the first portion may include at least one female connector portion and the second portion may include at least one male connector portion. Further, the first portion is movable in relation to the second portion when the connecting device is moved from a first position to a second position, and the connecting portion may have a first length at the first position and a second length at the second position. Furthermore, a portion of the first portion may be positioned between the frame and the supporting device.
According to embodiments, the frame may include a plurality of protruding portions, and the supporting device may include a receiving portion having a shape corresponding or conforming to the plurality of protruding portions of the frame. The supporting device may be detachably connected to the frame by inserting the plurality of protruding portions of the frame into the receiving portion of the supporting device.
According to embodiments, the drive mechanism may include a plurality of pulleys and a belt wrapped around the plurality of pulleys. At least one of the plurality of pulleys and at least a portion of the belt may be housed within the frame. Alternatively or additionally, at least one of the plurality of pulleys and at least a portion of the belt may be mounted on top of the frame. The first portion of the connecting device may be attached to the belt.
Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description that follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be realized by practice of the presented embodiments of the disclosure.
These and/or other aspects will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of exemplary embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
more embodiments;
Example embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the drawings. The following detailed description of example implementations refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in different drawings may identify the same or similar elements. The described embodiments are not to be construed as a limitation to the present disclosure.
In the following descriptions, some related embodiments describe a subset of all possible embodiments. However, it may be understood that the some embodiments may be the same subset or different subsets of all the possible embodiments, and may be combined with each other without conflict.
“Plurality of”, as mentioned in the specification means two or more. “And/or” describes an association relationship for describing associated objects and represents that at least three relationships may exist. For example, A/B may represent the following cases: Only A exists, both A and B exist, and only B exists. Similarly, the phrase “at least one of A and B” includes within its scope “only A”, “only B” and “A and B”. The character “/” in this specification generally indicates an “or” relationship between the associated objects unless otherwise noted or the context suggests otherwise.
The following description is added for similar description of “first/second” in this application. In the following description, the terms “first/second/third” are merely intended to distinguish between similar objects rather than describing specific orders. It may be understood that, “first/second/third” is interchangeable in proper circumstances to enable some embodiments of this application to be implemented in other orders than those illustrated or described herein.
Unless otherwise defined, meanings of all technical and scientific terms used in this specification are the same as those usually understood by a person skilled in the art to which this application belongs. Terms used in the specification of this application are merely intended to describe objectives of the specific embodiments, but are not intended to limit this application.
Example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a sliding system with improved mechanisms. Specifically, the sliding system of example embodiments may include a supporting device that provides continuous horizontal support to the drive mechanism when the drive mechanism is moving during sliding operation. Further, the sliding system of example embodiments may also include a connecting device that connects the drive mechanism to a sliding panel, and allows vertical movement between the sliding panel and the frame housing the drive mechanism. Accordingly, the sliding system allows deflection of the components (e.g., sliding panel, etc.) and mitigates any horizontal misalignment therebetween.
The drive mechanism n 110 may include one or more components communicatively/mechanically connected to a motorized system. The motorized system may include one or more electrical motors which, when rotated, provide rotational motion to the one or more components of the drive mechanism 110. The one or more components of the drive mechanism 110 may then convert the rotational motion of the motorized system into linear motion to thereby move or drive the sliding panel 140.
According to one or more embodiments, the sliding system 110 may include one or more parallel horizontal tracks (e.g., within the frame 150), and the drive mechanism 100 may be configured to provide sliding movement to move one or more sliding panels (e.g., the sliding panel 140) along the one or more tracks. Descriptions of example embodiments are provided below with reference to a two-track system, although it is contemplated that example embodiments of the present disclosure may also apply to any number of tracks (e.g., one-track, three-track, etc.), without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
According to one or more embodiments, the drive mechanism 100 may include a belt 112 and a plurality of pulleys 114. The belt 112 may wrap around the plurality of pulleys 114 and may include a timing belt, a chain, a wire, and/or any other suitable component, which may move in response to a rotational movement of at least one of the plurality of pulleys 114. Specifically, at least one of the plurality of pulleys 114 may be connected or attached to a motor shaft of the motorized system and may transfer the rotational movement of the motor to the belt 112 when the motor is activated. The pulley that is connected to the motor shaft may be referred to as a “driver pulley”, and may rotate clockwise to provide rotational movement in a first direction and may rotate in counterclockwise to provide rotational movement in a second direction.
Further, at least a portion of the drive mechanism 110 may be housed within the frame 150. For instance, in the example embodiments of
The frame 150 may include a plurality of protruding portions 152. The plurality of protruding portions 152 may form a plurality of housing portions in which the plurality of pulleys 114 is positioned. The frame 150 may include, for example, a window frame, a door frame, and the like. The frame 150 may be installed in an upper portion (e.g., header, etc.) of an opening (e.g., a door opening, a window opening, etc.) of a building structure, in a lower portion (e.g., sill, etc.) of the opening, and/or in the side portion (e.g., jamb, etc.) of the opening, such that the sliding system of example embodiments described herein may be provided at the opening accordingly.
The supporting device 120 may be a plate elongated along the frame 150 and may be detachably connected to the frame 150, to thereby provide horizontal support to the drive mechanism 110 housed in and/or mounted to the frame 150. As illustrated in
The receiving portion 124 may include an elongated channel or slot having a shape conforming or corresponding to the plurality of protruding portions 152 of the frame 150. For instance, the receiving portion 124 may interlock with the plurality of protruding portions 152 of the frame 150, when said protruding portions 152 are inserted to the receiving portion 124. Accordingly, the supporting device 120 is detachably connectable the frame 150 by inserting the plurality of protruding portions 152 of the frame 150 into the receiving portion 124 of the supporting device.
Referring back to
In the example embodiment in
At least a portion of the first portion 132 may be supported by at least a portion of the supporting device 120. For instance, a portion of the first portion 132 that is attached to the belt 114 of the drive mechanism 110 may be positioned between the frame 150 and the supporting device 120, while a portion of the first portion 132 that is connectable to the second portion 134 (e.g., the plurality of receiving portions, the plurality of male connector portions, etc.) may not be covered by the supporting device 120. A related example configuration is illustrated in
It is contemplated that, in other embodiments, the first portion 132 and the second portion 134 may have configurations different from the one illustrated in
According to one or more embodiments, the sliding system 100 may include more than one connecting device 130. For instance, more than one first portion 132 may be attached to the belt 112 of the drive mechanism 110 along the length of the track in which the belt 112 is disposed, along the length of the supporting device 120, and/or along the length of the frame 150, and more than one second portion 134 may be attached to the sliding panel 140 along the length of the sliding panel 140. Alternatively, the first portion 132 and/or the second portion 134 may have lengths less than or equal to a length of the track in which the belt 112 is disposed, a length of the supporting device 120, a length of the frame 150, and/or a length of the sliding panel 140.
In operation, the first portion 132 may be movable in relation to the second portion 134. For instance, in response to a movement of the drive mechanism 110, the connecting device 130 may be moved from a first position to a second position, and during this operation, the first portion 132 and the second portion 134 may move toward each other or may move away from each other. Accordingly, the connecting device 130 may have a first length at the first position and may have a second length at the second position, wherein the first length and the second length are different. Descriptions of related features are provided below with reference to
The sliding panel 140 may include a substructure 142 and a panel 144. The substructure 142 may detachably connect to the second portion 134 of the connecting device 130 and the panel 144. According to embodiments, the substructure 142 may also movably contact the protruding portion 126 of the supporting device 120 and the frame 150 (related example configuration is illustrated in
The components described above with reference to
As described above, the connecting device 130 may move in operation thereby allowing vertical movement between the sliding panel 140 and the frame 150. These features are further described in the following with reference to
According to embodiments, the first position may be a standard position. In this regard, “standard position” described herein may refer to a position of the connecting device 130 within the sliding system 110 in which the first portion 132 and the second portion 134 of the connecting device 130 do not move in relation to one another. In other words, in the standard position, the connecting device 130 does not have any vertical movement, indicating that there is no deflection or misalignment in the components of the sliding system 100 during the sliding operation.
According to embodiments, the second position may be a minimum position. In this regard, “minimum position” described herein may refer to a position of the connecting device 130 within the sliding system 110 in which the first portion 132 and the second portion 134 of the connecting device 130 move toward one another at its maximum availability (i.e., the connecting device 130 is in its minimum length), so as to compensate an amount of deflection or misalignment in the components of the sliding system 100 during the sliding operation.
According to embodiments, the third position may be a maximum position. In this regard, “maximum position” described herein may refer to a position of the connecting device 130 within the sliding system 110 in which the first portion 132 and the second portion 134 of the connecting device 130 move away from one another at its maximum availability (i.e., the connecting device 130 is in its maximum length), so as to compensate an amount of deflection or misalignment in the components of the sliding system 100 during the sliding operation.
It is contemplated that the descriptions provided hereinabove are merely associated with potential embodiments of the present disclosure, and should not be construed as a limitation to the present disclosure. Specifically, other possible configuration, modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made without departing from the spirit and principle of the present disclosure should be encompassed within the scope of the present disclosure.
For instance, the connecting device 130 may be in a fourth position and have a fourth length (14), and the like, in addition to those described in
In view of the above, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a sliding system with improved drive mechanism. Specifically, the sliding system of the present disclosure includes a support device which provides continuous support to the drive mechanism and a connecting device which enables vertical movement between the sliding panel and the frame, thereby compensating deflection of the components in the sliding system during the sliding operation and mitigating any horizontal misalignment between the components.
The foregoing disclosure provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the implementations to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above disclosure or may be acquired from practice of the implementations.
Even though particular combinations of features are recited in the claims and/or disclosed in the specification, these combinations are not intended to limit the disclosure of possible implementations. In fact, many of these features may be combined in ways not specifically recited in the claims and/or disclosed in the specification. Although each dependent claim listed below may directly depend on only one claim, the disclosure of possible implementations includes each dependent claim in combination with every other claim in the claim set.
