AU2009208119B2

AU2009208119B2 - Roller Wheel Assembly

Info

Publication number: AU2009208119B2
Application number: AU2009208119A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Renu Kumar Ramakrishnaiah
Original assignee: Anthony Innovations Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Anthony Innovations Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2008-08-15
Filing date: 2009-08-12
Publication date: 2015-11-19
Anticipated expiration: 2029-08-12
Also published as: AU2009208119A1

Abstract

The specification discloses a roller wheel assembly (10) for supporting sliding doors and windows, the roller wheel assembly including a support housing (11) to be fixed into or located within a mounting cavity of the door or window, the support housing having opposed side walls (15/19, 16/20) defining an open lower face (27), a height adjusting mechanism including a relatively movable actuator (25) with a threaded shank region (26) and a pin member (57) having opposed end regions (74, 75) engageable in aligned inclined slots (23, 24) in the opposed side walls (15/19, 16/20), the roller wheel assembly (10) further including at least one roller wheel carriage (13) having at least one rotatably mounted roller wheel (45) which in use projects at least partly through the open lower face (27) of the support housing (11) and a holder structure (12) arranged to hold the roller wheel carriage or carriages (13), the holder structure (12) being positioned between the side walls (15/19, 16/20) of the support housing (11) and includes engagement means (31) to receive the pin member 57 through a bore (61), the engagement means (31) and pin member (57) including cooperable formations (58) to hold the pin member (57) in a retained position with the opposed end regions (74, 75) engaged in the aligned inclined slots (23, 24). 575 35 36 32 43 +3 1+8 45 45 +7 48 30 2+ fig 2

Description

Pool Section 29 Regulation 3.2(2) AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT applicationn Number: Lodged: Invention Title: Roller Wheel Assembly The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: 1 ROLLER WHEEL ASSEMBLY The present invention relates to improvements in roller wheel assemblies, particularly of the type intended to support sliding panels such as doors and windows. 5 Typically, known roller wheel support structures of the aforementioned kind have a support housing and a roller wheel carriage carrying one or more roller wheels, the support housing in use being affixed to or located within a cavity in a door (or similar) edge. Often a further structure is located between the support housing and the roller wheel carriage to assist with or enable a height adjustment 10 of the roller wheels relative to the support housing and therefore relative to the door or similar sliding panel. Such height adjustment is often effected by manipulation of an adjusting screw member in a horizontal direction to effect relative movement of the roller wheel carriages to the support housing. One such known roller wheel support structure is disclosed in Australian patent specification 15 no. 779340. While mechanisms of the type shown in Australian patent specification no. 779340 work satisfactorily, they tend to be labour intensive to produce requiring a number of screw fasteners or similar to assemble the roller wheel structure ready for use. The objective of the present invention is to provide improvements in roller 20 wheel structures of the aforementioned kind, particularly but not exclusively to simplify the manual or semi-manual manufacturing steps required in the production of the structures. According to a first aspect of the present invention, a roller wheel assembly including: 25 an outer support housing having opposed side walls and an end wall, the outer support housing having an open lower face; a height adjusting mechanism including a relatively movable actuator and a pin member having opposed end regions engageable in aligned inclined slots in said side walls; 30 at least one roller wheel carriage rotationally supporting at least one roller wheel whereby the or each said roller wheel, in use, is adapted to project below the open lower face of the outer support housing; 2 a holder structure arranged to hold said roller wheel carriage or carriages, said holder structure being located between said side walls of the outer support housing, said holder structure including a pair of separate side plate members with said pin member passing through aperture means in each said separate 5 slide plate members, each said side plate member further including at least one downwardly facing and inwardly located groove; and the or each said roller wheel carriage including at least a pair of opposed upwardly directed wall edge regions, each of said wall edge regions being located in a respective one of said downwardly facing and inwardly located grooves in 10 said side plate members to thereby retain the or each said roller wheel carriage between and to said side plate members. Preferred features of the roller wheel assembly may be as described hereafter in claims 2 to 8 inclusive of the annexed claims, which claims are made part of the disclosure of this specification by this reference thereto. 15 In accordance with a second aspect, the present invention preferably provides a support housing structure for a roller wheel assembly wherein at least one roller wheel of the roller wheel assembly is height adjustable through an open lower face of the support housing structure, the support housing structure including a first outer member having a first top wall, a first end wall, and two 20 opposed first side walls, said support housing structure further including a second inner member located at least partly within said first outer member, said second inner member including at least two opposed second side walls and a second end wall, said first opposed side walls including a first pair of aligned inclined slots formed therein and said second opposed side walls having a second pair of 25 aligned inclined slots formed therein, the first pair of aligned inclined slots being oppositely inclined relative to said second pair of aligned inclined slots. In accordance with a third aspect, the present invention preferably provides a holder structure arranged in use to hold at least one roller wheel in a roller wheel assembly, the holder structure including a pin member having outer 30 ends adapted in use to engage in aligned inclined slots of the roller wheel assembly, said holder structure further including engaging means having a bore to receive said pin member pressed therethrough, said engaging means including 2a a first formation engageable with a second formation on said pin member to retain said pin member in a predetermined axial retained position in said bore. A preferred embodiment of the present invention will hereinafter be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 3 Fig 1 is an exploded perspective view of the parts of a roller wheel assembly according to a preferred embodiment; Fig 2 shows a perspective view of the parts illustrated in Fig 1 when assembled; 5 Fig 3 is an edge elevation view of a moulded fitting means useable in the holder structure shown in Fig 1; Fig 4 is a front elevation view of the moulded fitting means shown in Fig 3; Fig 5 is a section view taken along line A-A of Fig 4; Fig 6 is a top plan view of a part of the roller wheel carriage assemblies 10 shown in Fig 1; Fig 7 is a section view taken along line A-A of Fig 6; and Fig 8 is a section view taken along line B-B of Fig 6. Referring to Figs 1 and 2, the preferred roller wheel assembly 10 comprises a support housing 11, a holder structure 12, and a pair of roller wheel 15 carriages 13. The support housing 11 includes a first outer support housing part 14 with a top wall 22, a pair of opposed side walls 15, 16 and an end wall 17. The support housing part 14 may be fabricated from sheet metal as illustrated, or be moulded from a suitable plastics material. A second inner support housing part 18 is provided having a pair of opposed side walls 19, 20 and end wall 21, 20 and has a general U-shape configuration. The second support housing part 18 may also be fabricated from sheet metal as illustrated or moulded from a suitable plastics material. The second support housing part 18 is sized and configured to fit within the first outer support housing part 14 such that the inner faces of the side walls 15, 16 slidably engage with outer faces of the side walls 19, 20. The 25 side walls 15, 16 have a pair of inclined and aligned slots 23 and the side walls 19, 20 have a pair of inclined and aligned slots 24 such that the slots 23, 24 are oppositely inclined and cross one another when the walls 15, 19 and 16, 20 are operatively positioned. The side walls 19, 20 each have upper edge zones 70, 71 that in use slidably engage with an inwardly facing surface 73 on the top wall 22. 30 An actuator 25 with a shaft 26 with a screw thread region passes through an opening in the end wall 17 and engages in a threaded bore 28 in the end wall 21. As a result, rotation of the actuator 25 will cause relative motion of the second support housing part 18 within the first housing part 14 in the direction of the axis 4 of the threaded shaft 26. Moreover, the structure of the parts 14 and 18 is to provide an open lower face 27. The holder structure 12 comprises a pair of opposed side plate members 29, 30 and a fitting means 31 having a through bore 32. The side plate members 5 29, 30 also include openings 33 which in use align with the through bore 32 in the fitting means. The side plate members 29, 30 have pairs of inwardly bent tab members 34, 35 to locate and partially retain the fitting means 31. The side plate members 29, 30 also have pairs of inwardly and downwardly bent tab members 36/37, 38/39, 40/41, and 42/43, each presenting a downwardly open location 10 groove 44. Each of the carriage members 13 comprise a pair of rotatably mounted roller wheels 45 held in a mounting carriage 46 which has upwardly directed protuberances 47 formed thereon. The protuberances 47 present a part cylindrical upper surface that clips or snaps into part cylindrical recesses 49 on an 15 upper separate part 48 (Figs 7, 8). The snap in connection of the upper part 48 relative to the lower mounting carriage 46 allows part rocking motion therebetween about a transverse axis 50 parallel to the rotation axes of the roller wheels 45. Upper regions of the upper part 48 have opposed side walls 51, 52 in pairs separated by a wall 53, each of the upper edges of the side walls 51, 52 are 20 configured to engage into a respective groove 44 to locate the carriage members 13 relative to the holder structure 12. The upper parts 48 also have small extensions or ledges 55 on either side engageable with a top edge 56 of the side plate members 29, 30 between the bent tab members 36/37, 38/39, 40/41, and 42/43. In this manner, the upper parts 48 are locked in position without separate 25 fasteners when the assembly is fabricated and put together as shown in Fig 2. The assembly is completed by forcing a pin 57 with a circumferential groove 58 through the slots 23, through bore 32 and slots 24. The through bore 32 is formed in sections divided by radially extending slots 59 to provide a degree of flexibility to the finger regions 60 between the slots 59. The drawing shows four 30 of the radial slots 59 but relatively more or less such slots might be provided. The inner circumferential edge 61 of the finger regions 60 define a diameter approximating that of the groove 58 and significantly less than the outer diameter of the pin 57. In this manner the edges 61 of the finger regions 60 engage in the 5 groove 58 when the pin 57 is forced therethrough to complete the assembly. The pin therefore is retained in its operative position and further holds the assembly together without the need for separate fasteners in the assembly process. The opposed ends 74, 75 of the pin 57 are retained in the inclined slots 23, 24. 5 Variations to the preferred embodiment within the scope of the annexed claims will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, the holder structure 12 in the drawings is a multi-part assembly but may, in other configurations be moulded from a plastics material as one part or a lesser number of parts. The pin 57 may alternatively be provided with an intermediate ridge that 10 is engageable with a groove in the bore 61.

Claims

1. A roller wheel assembly including: an outer support housing having opposed side walls and an end wall, the outer support housing having an open lower face; 5 a height adjusting mechanism including a relatively movable actuator and a pin member having opposed end regions engageable in aligned inclined slots in said side walls; at least one roller wheel carriage rotationally supporting at least one roller wheel whereby the or each said roller wheel, in use, is adapted to project below 10 the open lower face of the outer support housing; a holder structure arranged to hold said roller wheel carriage or carriages, said holder structure being located between said side walls of the outer support housing, said holder structure including a pair of separate side plate members with said pin member passing through aperture means in each said separate 15 slide plate members, each said side plate member further including at least one downwardly facing and inwardly located groove; and the or each said roller wheel carriage including at least a pair of opposed upwardly directed wall edge regions, each of said wall edge regions being located in a respective one of said downwardly facing and inwardly located grooves in 20 said side plate members to thereby retain the or each said roller wheel carriage between and to said side plate members.

2. A roller wheel assembly according to claim 1 wherein the or each said roller wheel carriage includes a first upper part and a second lower part, the second lower part including a pair of aligned rotatable roller wheels, the first 25 upper part having said opposed upwardly directed wall edge regions and being connectible to said second lower part and being capable of at least limited rocking motion relative to the second lower part about a rocking axis parallel to axes of rotation of the rotatable roller wheels. 7

3. A roller wheel assembly according to claim 2 wherein the first upper part and the second lower part are separable by a separating upwards and downwards relative force.

4. A roller wheel assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 3 further 5 including a fitting member including a bore to receive said pin member extending therethrough, said fitting member, in use, being positioned between said separate side plate members with said bore aligned with said aperture means in each said separate slide plate member, said pin member and/or said bore having cooperating formations to retain said pin member in said bore at a predetermined 10 location.

5. A roller wheel assembly according to claim 4 wherein said pin member includes an intermediate recess engageable with a first said formation on said bore to retain said pin member in said predetermined location.

6. A roller wheel assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein a 15 pair of aligned said roller wheel carriages are provided.

7. A roller wheel assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the outer support housing includes a first outer member having a first top wall, a first end wall, and two opposed first side walls, and a second inner member having two opposed second side walls and a second end wall, said aligned inclined slots 20 being formed by a first pair of slots in said first side walls and a second pair of slots in said second side walls.

8. A roller wheel assembly according to claim 7 wherein the first pair of slots are inclined relative to said second pair of slots. 25 ANTHONY INNOVATIONS PTY LTD WATERMARK PATENT AND TRADE MARKS ATTORNEYS P30789AU00