CA1047066A - Locking device for sliding doors - Google Patents

Abstract

SLIDING-WING DOOR FOR VEHICLES.

Abstract of the disclosure An adjustable hook and plate assembly is disclosed, to be applied to the sliding doors of vehicles in or-der to prevent the accidental displacements of the.
door panels when the door is closed. The hooks are af-fixed to the door panels whereas the stop member is fixed in space and has two diverging branches intended for cooperation with the hooks: the position of the latter is adjustable by the intermediary of bolts.
sliding in specially provided slots.

Description

The sliding-wing door for vehicles according to the copending app:Lication No. 22~.16~ of -the same Applicant has a double movement, that is, a displacement away of and into the door space provided in the vehicle body and S a lateral displacement along the outer sidewall of the vehicle body-The door is suspended to the sliding member of a telescopically elongatable ~uide which, by means of li-near ejectors~ can be displace~l together with the door away of or into the door space In the closed position the door panel is locked in correspondence with its edge naar the door post of the door space by the mechanisms which also control the ejection from the door space, whereas in correspondence with the opposite vertical edge, locking means should usually be - provided for keeping said edge stationary and thus pre~
venting the swinging of the panel as the vehicle runs.
These means should be arranged beneath the threshold of the floor in order not to hinder the free passage when the door is open. This requirement is particularly stringent in the case of doors having two~panels without a ixed central upright.
A conventional approach of a panel-loclcing device for the closed position provides for a box carrying an arresting tooth and affixed in a specially provided hollow space in the longitudinal bottom beam and/or top beam of the vehicle, saicl stop tooth being adapted to cooperate with hooks ~astened to the panels. The stop tooth can be adjusted with resl?ect to the box~ which has appropriate openings through which the hooks affixed to .s 7~66 the panels can penetrate so as to grip the stop tooth.
This structure is comparatively intricate and re-quires a number of processing steps ~or insertin~ the box in its seat in the longitudinal and, in addition, $ the necessary adjustment operation is difficult to per-form . "
~ n abject of the present invention is to provide for sliding-win~ doors, especially those having two door panels, according to the copending application No.
228.167 of the same Applicant, a locking and intercept-ing device for the panels in the closed position, which, through retaining the advantag~s and favorable features of the known approach aforementioned, does away with the drawbacks and defects thereof.
Having this object in view, the invention suggests a locking device which is characterized by a central stop member~ formed by a simpl~ plate having two diverg-ing wings and stably a~fixed in a chamber bsneath the threshold of the vehicle struc-ture, and by a hook for each panel, adjustably mounted in the neighbourhood of - the lower edge of the panel and adapted to cooperate witl the respective wing of the cen-~ral stop member when the panel is in the closure position.
To manufacture khe device according to the invention affords the advantages of an extreme simplicity, ease of assembly and adjustment and thus an improved reliability and safety in operation. No special modifications are required in the vehicle structure and the simplicity of the device also involves an improved functionalit~, no spe cial maintenance operation.s being required.

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~Q~7C~66 The device according to the invention is preferably ap-plled in a lower portion beneath the threshold, but ther0 is no reason against its possi.ble installation also in a top portion above the door space.
An exemplary embodiment of the locking device accord-ing to the invention is diagrammatically shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein :
Figure 1 show the two-panel door in its closed posi-tion, as viewed from outside the vehicle, and Figure 2 is a horizontal cross-sectional view, taken along the line II-II of Figure 1.
: It should be noted that in Figure 1, in order to give a clearer showing, the supporting structure of the vehicle has been removed, and this is indicated in dash and dot lines only.
The two pane~ 1, 2 of the door carry, each, in~corre-: ~
spondence with the central vertical edge, a rolled section, 3 and 4, respectively, of a pl~stics material or the like3 ~-through which the panels come into mutual contact in the closed position in order completely to close the door space. The horizontal dash and dot line 55 indicated in : Figure 1, shows the threshold level of the door space.
The structuré of the vehicle, beneath the threshold, shows a chamber 6, at the center of which there is afix-ed an abutment 7 fastened to a structural member 8. This ~.
fas-tening takes place by means of bolts 9 and a counter~
plate 10.
The stop member 8 is ~ormed by a planar plate which has at its ends two diverging wings, as clearly shown in Figure 2.
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In the vicinity of its lower edge, each panel 1, 2, has on its inner surface a planar projection, 11 and 12, respectively, of substantially rectangular outline, for mounting the plate 13 and 14, respectively.
'5 The plates 13 and 14 have, each two through-slots, 15, 16 and 17, 18, respectively, through which ~astening bolts 19, 20 and 21, 22, respectively, are passed, these latter being screwed into the portions 11, 12 of the pa-nels 1, 2. It is apparent that) in such a way, the posi-tion of the plates 13 and 14 can be adjusted.
Each of the plates 13 and 14 carries, integrally, therewi~h it the bottom portion, a hook, 23 and 2~a re-spectively, pointing towards the central vertical edge of each door-panel.
As ~iewed more detailedly in Figure 2, the two hooks 23, 24, adhere to the two wings of the fixed central stop member when the panels are in the closed position.
In order to achieve the accurate positioning~ as well as the correct adhesion of the hooks to the wings of the stop member, it suffices merely to adjust the po sition o-f the relative supporting plates 13 and 14, an~
operation which can be very easily performed.
The outlines of the hooks 23~ 24 as well as the slope of the two wings of the central stop member 7 are so co-ordinated as to prevent jams and creepings during the closing and opeiling movements of the panel and to ensure, on the other hand~ a r~liable :Loc~ing of the panels against flickering when in the closed position.
As can be seen from the foregoing disclosure and the drawings, the locking device according to the invention ~ 4 --.. . .

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combines the ad~antages of a great simplicity from a con*ructional standpoint, as well as from the assemblage and upkeep standpoints, with those of an utmost efficien- !
cy and reliability in operation.

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Claims (2)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A locking device for a sliding door assembly for a vehicle body, said sliding door assembly comprising two arranged for closing and uncovering a single door space in a side wall of the vehicle body, the closing of the door space by the door panels being effected by first moving the door panels horizontally towards each other along the outside of the vehicle body side wall from open positions in which they are located respectively to the front and rear of the door space to intermediate positions in which they are located outside the door space with a gap between their proximate upright edges and then moving the door panels horizontally inwardly and further towards each other into closed position in which they lie within the door space with their proximate upright edges in mutually abutting relationship and the uncovering of the door space being effected by first moving the door panels horizontally outwardly from their closed positions to their intermediate positions and then moving them horizontally apart to their open positions, wherein said locking device com-prises firstly a plate having a middle portion rigidly secured to a structural part of the vehicle, which structural part is located at a level above the top or below the bottom of the door space and is offset inwardly from the upper or lower margins respectively of the door panels when they are in their closed positions, a front end portion inclined forwardly and outwardly towards the door space and a rear end portion inclined outwardly and rear-wardly towards the door space and secondly two members adjustably secured to and projecting from the upper or lower margins of the two door panels respectively, the proximate surfaces of said two members being inclined inwardly and towards each other and being arranged, during movement of the two door panels from their inter-mediate positions to their closed positions, to engage respective inclined surfaces of the front and rear end portions of the plate with a wedging action whereby the adjoining parts of the two door panels are prevented from swinging outwardly while they are in their closed positions.

2. A sliding door assembly according to claim 1, wherein each of said two members is formed integrally with a supporting plate formed with slots and adjustably secured to the respective door panels by bolts extending through said slots.