US2893049A

US2893049A - Track suspension for sliding doors

Info

Publication number: US2893049A
Application number: US642902A
Authority: US
Inventors: Edmonds L Guerrant
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1957-02-27
Filing date: 1957-02-27
Publication date: 1959-07-07
Anticipated expiration: 1976-07-07

Description

July 7, 1959 E. L. GUERRANT TRACK SUSPENSION FOR SLIDING DOORS Filed Feb. 2'7, 1957 Mi i E OMO/VDS L. GUERRA/V T INVENTOR.

A TTOR/VEY United States Patent TRACK SUSPENSION FOR SLIDING DOORS Edmonds L. Guerrant, Fort Worth, Tex.

Application February 27, 1957, Serial No. 642,902

1 Claim. (Cl. 16-94) This invention relates to track suspension means for sliding doors and is directed to an arrangement of bolts and spacers therefor.

A common cause of binding or sticking in the opening and closing of sliding doors is bending of the door supporting track. Such bending may be due to roof loads transmitted to the track through the rough header to the finish header, or by reason of warping or improperly dried wood in the door frame. Since the lower edges of sliding doors are close to the floor surfaces, even slight longitudinal bending of the track may cause one lower corner of a door to contact the floor and bind the door against further sliding movement.

An object of the invention is to provide track suspension means so constructed and arranged that usual bending of the door supporting track is reduced or eliminated, and whereby the lower edges of the doors are maintained substantially parallel with and spaced from the floor surface.

Another object is to provide a sliding door installation wherein time and material required to block the finish header to the rough header are eliminated.

A further object is to provide a bolt and spacer combination for securing a sliding door track to a header in such a manner that ends of the track are normally and slightly curved upwardly to provide a cantilever effect for supporting the doors.

A further object is to permit the installation of preassembled sliding door units without the necessity of blocking to the rough header.

These and other objects will become apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a broken elevation showing sliding doors installed in the rough opening of a door, and which installation includes the features of the invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged view of a corner portion of Figure 1, and additionally shows a broken area of the wall surface and door trim.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a further enlarged sectional view and shows one of the bolts and its associated spacer with reference to the finish header and supported track, and

Figure 5 is a broken perspective view of a sliding door track and a spacer thereon.

In the drawing, a pair of sliding doors are supported on a track 11 within a door opening which is generally comprised of a rough header 12 having rough jambs 13 supporting the ends thereof. As in conventional practice a wall surface 14 extends to and covers the rough header 12 and j-ambs 13, and the usual trim 15 is placed therearound. In the present invention the finish header 16 is spaced from the rough header 12, and which finish header is supported at its ends by finish jarnbs 17 secured to the rough jambs 13 with the usual shims 18 therebetween. Other conventional elements shown are the studs 19 comprising a part of the wall construction and the fascia 20 on the lower forward edge of the finish header 16.

The track 11 is generally channel shaped and includes a horizontal web 21, depending flanges 22 along the sides of the web, and upwardly formed channels or rails 23 along the lower edges of the flanges. Preferably, the rails 23 are V-shaped in cross section and the peripheries of the rollers 24 operating therein are round in cross section. As shown in Figure 3, the rollers 24 are secured to and positioned above the ends of the doors 10 by means of fittings 25.

The track 11 is spaced from the finish header 16 by means of a pair of spacers 26 therebetween and the header and track secured together by means of bolts 27. As shown in Figure 1, a bolt 27 is adjacent each spacer 26, but positioned outwardly thereof with respect to the center of the rail. The combination of a spacer 26 and a bolt 27 is located approximately over the center of each door 10 when the doors are in their closed positions. In wider doors, the combination of spacer and bolt may be between the center of the closed door and the adjacent finish jamb, but spaced from the end of the track 11.

When the bolts 27 are tightened, the center portion of the rail 11 is slightly deflected downwardly, but not enough to cause the lower corner of either door to contact the floor (not shown). At the same time, the free ends of the rails are deflected upwardly, and by reason of the arrangement of bolts 27 relative to their adjacent spacers 26, which act as fulcrums, a cantilever support is effected at the ends of said rails. Since the finish header 16 is spaced from and independent of the rough header 12 roof loads cannot be transferred to the track 11. Even though the finish header 16 should bend downwardly at its center, so as it does not touch the track 11, the track will remain sufficiently straight to prevent the doors 10 from contacting the floor. The weight of the closed doors 10 bends the extending ends of the track 11 downwardly, but not enough to cause the corresponding lower corners of the doors to touch the floor. By reason of the spaced relation of the track 11 and finish header 16, and the described positions of the spacers 26 and bolts 27 inwardly of the ends of the track and header, downward bending of the latter at its center does not have the screw thread stripping effect as would occur if the bolts were located near the ends of the track and header.

The invention is not limited to the exemplary construction herein shown and described, but may be made in various ways within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

Track suspension means for sliding doors in a wall opening including a rough header, said suspension means comprising: a finish header beneath and spaced from said rough header, a bendable track spaced from and beneath said finish header, a pair of fulcrum spacers be tween said track and said finish header and located substantially over a door center when said door is positioned at either end of said track, a bolt through said track and secured in said finish header adjacent each said spacer outwardly thereof with reference to the transverse center of said track, the lengths of said tracks outwardly of said bolts being freely suspended.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 369,451 Kasson Sept. 6, 1887 623,035 Richards Apr. 11, 1899 708,060 Meyer Sept. 2, 1902 1,695,239 Norton Dec. 11, 1928 FOREIGN PATENTS 663,994 Great Britain Jan. 2, 1952 OTHER REFERENCES Track 2800 as illustrated on page 225 of American Builder, October 1955.