EP2145067B1

EP2145067B1 - Sliding skid for wardrobe doors

Info

Publication number: EP2145067B1
Application number: EP08799806A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Angelo Molteni
Original assignee: System Holz SpA
Current assignee: System Holz SpA
Priority date: 2007-04-13
Filing date: 2008-04-11
Publication date: 2011-11-30
Anticipated expiration: 2028-04-11
Also published as: WO2008125973A3; ATE535671T1; EP2145067A2; ITMI20070751A1; ES2378179T3; WO2008125973A2

Abstract

The invention relates to a slider (10, 10') for sliding doors of wardrobes and the like, wherein a roller (15) engaged in a guide provided on the wardrobe base accompanies the door movements. The roller is supported by a mechanism which allows it to be tilted over with respect to an axis (Z, Z') that is either perpendicular or parallel to the door in order to be engaged into the guide, thus simplifying the door installation process.

Description

The present invention relates to a slider for wardrobe doors.
As known, sliding doors of big wardrobes, especially of those used in houses, shops and the like, are supported at the top by wheels moving along a horizontal rail, arranged in the upper part of the wardrobe.
At the bottom, the doors are accompanied during their opening and closing motion by sliders (generally two), to which the present invention relates; these sliders essentially comprise an idle roller with a vertical axis of rotation, which engages into a guide provided on the wardrobe.
Besides assisting the sliding motion of the door, the sliders are also used for preventing the door from separating from the wardrobe; for this reason, the guide in which the rollers are engaged usually has a convex or "∩" shaped cross-section, so that each roller, once entered, also acts as a catch to hold the door in its sliding plane.
The installation is carried out by lifting the doors in order to lay the wheels on the rail at the top of the wardrobe; the lower portion of the door comprising the slider is then positioned and the roller is inserted into its guide.
Several solutions may be used for this purpose; one of them employs apertures obtained in the guide sides, through which a corresponding roller is inserted when the door is brought near the wardrobe; said apertures are then closed by means of inserts, so that the roller cannot come out as the door is sliding.
An example of this kind of solution is described in French patent application No. 2 813 338 in the name of Hettich-Heinze GmbH; although this solution may appear to be conceptually simple, it is not however very easy to implement because, once the roller has been inserted in the guide and the door is in position, the inserts must be applied to the guide manually, which is not an easy task due to the door not allowing free access to the apertures of the guide.
Furthermore, it is not always easy to insert the roller into the apertures, since the doors can be heavy and a person lifting a door has not a good view of the position of the sliders relative to the guide apertures.
According to other possible solutions, spring mechanisms are used which push a swing arm on which the roller is mounted, as in the case of European patent application No. 195 880 ; in this case as well, the roller has a vertically oriented axis of rotation, so that to enter the guide it must be inserted through some side aperture, similarly to the above-described solution, or through the open ends of the guide itself, thus involving the same problems as mentioned before. Another example is disclosed in document EPO388 623A .
The technical problem underlying the present invention is therefore that of providing a slider for sliding doors of wardrobes and the like, the structural and functional characteristics of which can overcome the above-mentioned limits of known sliders.
The idea to solve this problem is that of using a slider in which the roller can move autonomously between an inoperative position, wherein it is moved away from the guide, and an operative position, wherein it is engaged in the guide.
To this end, the roller can be tilted over between said positions, with a rotary movement about an axis that may be either perpendicular or parallel to the door plane; according to a preferred embodiment, the slider comprises roller supporting means that allow the roller to tilt over autonomously, i.e. without needing a manual action by a person.
The features of the slider according to the invention will be set out more in detail in the claims appended to this description; said features and the advantaged obtained therefrom will become apparent from the embodiment described below as example with reference to the annexed drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a wardrobe with sliding doors according to the invention;
Fig. 2 is an exploded view of a slider for sliding doors according to the invention;
Fig. 3 provides perspective views that show the operation of the slider of Fig. 2, in three chronologically sequential steps;
Fig. 4 and 5 show the operating steps of the slider of Fig. 3 from respective different angles;
Fig. 6 shows the procedure for mounting a sliding door to the wardrobe of Fig. 1, in three chronologically sequential steps;
Fig. 7 shows the operating steps of a variant of the slider according to the invention;
Fig. 8 shows the installation procedure of a sliding door with the slider variant of Fig. 7.
Fig. 9 is an exploded view of the slider of Fig. 7.
Fig. 10 shows the slider of Fig. 7 from a different angle.
Fig. 11 shows the operating steps of the slider of Fig. 7 through several sectional views;
Fig. 12 shows a variant of the slider of Fig. 7 intended for the outermost sliding door of the wardrobe.

With reference to the above-listed drawings, in particular to Fig. 1, reference numeral 1 designates as a whole a wardrobe fitted with sliders according to the invention, which comprises a typical wardrobe structure 2 closed by sliding doors; for simplicity, the drawings only show one door 3, which is the innermost sliding door; hence, reference will hereafter be made to said door: the following description will nevertheless also apply to the outermost wardrobe door, not shown in the drawings.
At the top of door 3 there are two supports 5, each being provided, in a per se known way, with a wheel 6 which is movable along a rail 7 arranged on upper face 8 of the wardrobe; as shown in the illustrations relating to the example taken into consideration, next to rail 7 there is a second rail 9 intended for the wheels of the second wardrobe door, not shown in the drawings.
At the bottom of door 3 there are two sliders 10 which assist the door sliding motion, as will be explained more in detail later on.
A first example of these sliders is shown in the exploded view of Fig. 2, wherein it can be seen that it comprises a support plate 11 with three holes 12 intended for screws (not shown) to be used for fastening it to wardrobe door 3; in front of plate 11 there is an elastic holding clamp 13, a bushing 14 supporting roller 15 of the slider extending between the arms thereof.
More in particular, roller 15 is idle with respect to a pin 16 protruding transversally from a prismatic body 17, which is mounted to bushing 14 and is free to rotate about an axis Z perpendicular to the plane of door 3; furthermore, on the two opposite sides of prismatic body 17 there are respective curvilinear grooves 20 housing a corresponding pin 19 provided on the arm of holding clamp 13.
Bushing 14 and body 17 are joined together and fastened to plate 11 by a screw 22.
When slider 10 is in the operative condition, i.e. when door 3 is mounted to wardrobe structure 2, roller 15 is engaged in a guide 25 having a convex cross-section ("∩" shape) and consisting of a metal section or the like; in the illustrated example, the section also comprises another guide next to this one, arranged in a slightly lower position, for engaging the roller of the second wardrobe door, not shown in the drawings.
The various steps involved in installing door 3 and the corresponding operating steps of slider 10 are shown in Figs. 3 to 6 from different angles.
In particular, as shown by the sequence of Figs. 6 a), b), c), wherein for simplicity the door profile has been interrupted by using dashed-dotted lines, door 3 is first mounted at the top by inserting wheels 6 of supports 5 into rail 7 provided on wardrobe top face 8: the door will thus remain suspended, so that the installer will not have to bear its entire weight.
In this condition, door 3 can pivot slightly and be brought close to the bottom against the guide 25 provided on the wardrobe structure, while roller 15 is in the initial position of rest shown in Figs. 3a), 4a), 5a), 6a).
As roller 15 touches wall 26 of guide 25 (see Fig. 6b), the force applied to it, which is directed perpendicularly to the plane of door 3, is transmitted axially to prismatic body 17, thereby turning it through the effect of the relative motion between grooves 20 and pins 19 of holding clamp 13.
In practice, this relative motion is a screw-like motion of body 17 along the curvilinear extension of grooves 20, similar to a screw turning along its thread: it follows that body 17, besides turning, will also translate axially towards plate 11, as becomes apparent when comparing the initial inoperative position of Figs. 3a), 5a), 6a) with the final operative position of Figs. 3c), 5c), 6c).
In the final condition, roller 25 is arranged horizontally and is engaged in guide 25, thus accompanying the sliding door while at the same time preventing it from separating from the wardrobe.
It should be noted that, during the rotation of prismatic body 17, the arms of holding clamp 13 get stretched out slightly in an elastic manner as the (beveled) corners of the body come in contact with the arms (Figs. 3b, 4b, 5b); however, pins 19 stay inserted in body grooves 20. Since body 17 has a prismatic shape, preferably a parallelepiped shape, the arms of holding clamp 13 can be used for holding it stably in the operative or inoperative condition.
For this purpose, it is sufficient that grooves 20 begin and end on respective faces of prismatic body 17: when pins 19 match said points during the rotation, the arms of holding clamp 13 become juxtaposed to the opposite faces of body 17, thereby holding it stably in position. In practice, the elasticity of the arms of holding clamp 13 provides a snap-type catch adapted to stop the rotation of body 17.
The above description has clearly explained how slider 10 solves the problem addressed by the invention.
In fact, thanks to the possibility of moving roller 15 from the inoperative condition, wherein it is apart and released from guide 25, to the operative condition, wherein it is engaged in the guide, it is no longer necessary to provide the guide with suitable apertures (as in French patent No. 2 813 338 ) for inserting the roller, thus avoiding all those drawbacks that this implies.
At the same time, the movements of the roller between said positions require no specific intervention by the installer of the wardrobe doors, because slider 10 is pushed towards guide 25 by the weight of the door itself, thus causing the rotation of prismatic body 17.
It should also be noted that roller 15 of the slider may engage guide 25 in any point thereof, unlike in the aforementioned French patent, wherein said engagement only takes place at the apertures provided along the guide.
It is therefore apparent that these features of the invention simplify the installation of sliding doors considerably, because the installer only has to bring the lower portion of the door closer to the wardrobe structure.
It should also be underlined that, due to prismatic body 17 of slider 10 being held in the operative position by the arms of holding clamp 13, door 3 is prevented from separating from the wardrobe under any accidental strains to which the sliding-door wardrobe may be subjected when in use.
The movement of prismatic body 17 can in any case be reversed; should the door have to be dismounted, the operator will just have to move it away from guide 25 in order to turn body 17 in the reverse direction, thus disengaging the roller 15 from the guide 25.
Of course, several variants of the invention described so far may also be conceived; for example, curvilinear grooves 20 on prismatic body 17 and pins 19 of holding clamp 13 may be reversed, i.e. the pins may be provided on the body and the grooves on the holding clamp.
A particularly significant variant is shown in Figs. 7 to 11, which refer to a second example of a slider 10' in accordance with this invention.
As shown, in this case roller 15 is supported by a body 27 which can turn about a horizontal axis Z', parallel to the door; in order to rotate body 27 and move roller 15 from the inoperative position (Figs. 7a, 8a) to the operative position (Figs. 7c, 8c), protruding arms 28 are provided on body 27.
When door 3 is brought closer to wardrobe structure 2 for its installation, these arms abut against wall 29 of guide 25 (Fig. 8a) and the lever effect deriving therefrom causes body 27 to turn, so that roller 15 engages guide 25 (Figs. 8b, 8c).
Therefore, also in this variant of the invention body 27 supporting roller 15 is movable between an inoperative position and an operative position; in order for this latter position to be held, the slider is provided with snap-type coupling means, which will be described in detail below.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment, body 27 is preferably made of a plastic material, such as polyethylene, Teflon^® and the like, and is mounted to a base 30 made of the same material; for this purpose, the ends of body 27 are provided as pins 31, which are supported by respective bearing-type seats 32 provided on base 30.
The latter is fastened to support plate 33 by means of hooks 34, adapted to be coupled to matching slots 35 provided in support plate 33.
The fact that in this embodiment of the slider base 30 is mounted to plate 33 eliminates the risk of an accidental separation under stresses that may occur during the normal use of sliding-door wardrobes.
According to the invention, body 27 is held in the operative position through snap-type coupling means, which in this case consist of a cursor 100, also made of a plastic material such as polyethylene, Teflon^® and the like.
Cursor 100 (Fig. 9) is vaguely shaped like an 'H' formed by two portions 36 and 37, respectively a front and a rear portion, which are substantially parallel to each other and connected together by a third transversal portion 38.
Front portion 36 of the cursor is used as a handle, so that it can be used by an operator for removing the roller in view of any maintenance work to be carried out when slider 10' is mounted to door 3.
At the centre of the front portion of cursor 100 there is a raised head 39 having a catch 40; at the sides of the latter, two wings 37 extend which, when the slider is assembled, are positioned on base 30 against suitable rear boards 41.
Fig. 11 shows the sequential steps of the operation of the slider and of the above-described coupling cursor 100.
As shown, as body 27 turns from the inoperative position (Fig. 11A) to the operative position (Fig. 11D), a protrusion 42 provided on body 27 between two arms 28 comes in contact with catch 40, thus causing coupling cursor 100 to go back towards support plate 33. Since boards 41 prevent wings 37 from going back as well, the latter flexes archwise so that, when the rotation of body 27 is over, wings 37 will return to the respective rest position, thus causing cursor 100 to spring forwards. Consequently, catch 40 will snap into body 27, thereby preventing it from moving backwards when the wardrobe is in use.
It is therefore apparent that this embodiment of the invention provides a removable roller base: this feature allows the roller to be replaced easily in the event of a failure, without requiring the metal plate fastened to the sliding door to be replaced as well.
As aforementioned, the above-mentioned door is the innermost door of the wardrobe, but all the above also applies to the outermost door, for which only small adaptations are necessary.
To this end, Fig. 12 shows an exploded view of a variant of the previous slider, intended for the outermost door.
The only difference between this variant, for which the same reference numerals have been used as in Fig. 9, and the preceding one is that central portion 38 of cursor 100 that connects rear handle 36 to front wings 37 is longer, since in practice its length must be equal to the thickness of both doors.
On the contrary, in the example of Fig. 9 said length is substantially equal to the thickness of the innermost door.
All of these variants of the slider according to the invention, which may also be obtained by using different materials or shapes for the various parts thereof, still fall within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

Slider for sliding doors of wardrobes and the like, comprising:
a mounting plate (11, 33) for fastening it to a door (3), a rotating roller (15) associated with a plate (11, 33) and adapted to engage into a guide (25) provided on the wardrobe, wherein the roller is movably supported with respect to the mounting plate (11, 33) between an inoperative position wherein, when the door is mounted to the wardrobe, the roller (15) is free from the guide (25) and an operative position wherein, when the door is mounted to the wardrobe, it is engaged in the guide, so that the axis (Z') of the rotary motion of the roller (15) between said operative and inoperative positions is substantially parallel to the plane of the door (3)

characterized in that

it further comprises snap-type coupling means (100) for holding the body (27) supporting the

roller (15) in the operative position, wherein the snop-type coupling means comprise a cursor (100) provided with a front portion (36) to be used as a handle for removing the roller (15).
Slider according to claim 1, wherein the roller (15) is rotatably supported on a body (27) which can rotate relative to the axis (Z') parallel to the door plane, and wherein the body (27) has at least one protruding arm (28) which comes in contact with the guide (25) as the door approaches it, thereby causing a rotary movement of the body (27) and moving the roller (15) from the inoperative position to the operative position.
Slider according to claim 2, wherein said at least one arm (28) has a substantially angular shape and protrudes transversally with respect to the axis of rotation (Z') of the body (27).
Slider according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the rotary body (27) supporting the roller (15) comprises a protrusion (42) adapted to engage said coupling cursor (100) during the rotary motion of the body (27) in order to move the roller from the inoperative position to the operative position, and vice versa.
Slider according to claim 4, wherein the coupling cursor (100) comprises wings (37) adapted to flex archwise, thus causing an elastic linear movement of the cursor (100) when the latter snaps onto the protrusion (42) of the body (27).
Slider according to claim 5, wherein the cursor comprises a rear handle (36) connected to the wings (37) by an intermediate portion transversal to the latter.
Slider according to claim 6, wherein the length of the intermediate portion (38) of the cursor is substantially equal to the thickness of one or more sliding doors of the wardrobe.
Slider for sliding doors of wardrobes and the like, comprising:
a mounting plate (11, 33) for fastening it to a door (3), a rotating roller (15) associated with a plate (11, 33) and adapted to engage into a guide (25) provided on the wardrobe, wherein the roller is movably supported with respect to the mounting plate (11, 33) between an inoperative position wherein, when the door is mounted to the wardrobe, the roller (15) is free from the guide (25) and an operative position wherein, when the door is mounted to the wardrobe, it is engaged in the guide, so that the axis (Z) of the rotary motion of the roller (15) between said operative and inoperative positions is substantially perpendicular to the plane of the door (3),

characterized in that

it comprises a holding clamp (13) fastened to the plate (11), the body supporting the roller (15) being arranged between the arms thereof, wherein the body (17) is a prismatic one, and curvilinear grooves (20) provided on the faces thereof are adapted to be coupled to respective pins (19) provided on the holding clamp (13) or vice versa, thus causing a rotary and translational movement of the roller (15) from the inoperative position, and vice versa.
Slider according to claim 8, wherein the prismatic body (17) is hollow internally in order to house a bushing (14) and a screw (22) for fastening the holding clamp (13) to the plate (11).