EP1866512B1

EP1866512B1 - Carriage

Info

Publication number: EP1866512B1
Application number: EP06728490A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Ugo Avvanzini
Original assignee: Erreti SRL
Current assignee: Erreti SRL
Priority date: 2005-03-16
Filing date: 2006-03-15
Publication date: 2009-05-20
Anticipated expiration: 2026-03-15
Also published as: ATE431891T1; WO2006097965A1; DE602006006902D1; ITRA20050015A1; EP1866512A1

Abstract

Carriage (1) for horizontally supporting a horizontally sliding closure member; the carriage including a movable fitting (2) provided with two lateral walls (4a) ; at least one wheel (3) contained between the lateral walls (4a) , coupled with an oblique ramp (6) by means of a pin (9) transverse to the ramp itself; a casing (7) supporting the fitting (2) through the interposition of the pin (9) ; an adjustment device (21) for the position of said movable fitting (2) with respect to the casing (7) , to adjust the position of each wheel (3) with respect to the casing (7) ; the casing (7) including retaining members (11, 12) shaped in a determinate way to interact horizontally with the fitting (2) to ensure stability for the positioning of the fitting (2) in said casing (7) during operations of installation, adjustment and maintenance.

Description

The present invention relates to a carriage. In particular, the present invention relates to a carriage intended to fit a movable leaf of a sliding door or window. In more detail, the present invention relates to a carriage intended to fit a movable leaf of a sliding door or window, the carriage including devices capable of facilitating assembling and disassembling the carriage on the leaf itself.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

In the field of carriages for sliding closure members, for example but without limiting effect, sliding doors or windows, the practice is known of making such carriages in two parts, in particular a fitting carrying the rotatable parts associated with the rail, such as wheels, castors, rollers or equivalent revolving bodies; and a casing containing the fitting carrying the rotating parts.
The casing is fixed to the sliding closure member, being accommodated in a suitably preformed housing, formed in the bottom of the said element.
More particularly, the fitting carrying the rotating parts is provided with ramps oblique with respect to the rail, against which the gravitational force is exerted of the sliding closure member supported by the carriage.
Screw adjustment means located between movable fitting and fixed casing allow the movable fitting to traverse horizontally with respect to the casing, thus producing, by the action of the oblique ramps, a simultaneous vertical traverse by the sliding closure member, which permits the height adjustment of the latter with respect to the rail below.
Continuous and prolonged use of the sliding closure member leads to deterioration and/or damage to the carriages so that there is a recurring need for carrying out the replacement of the damaged parts in order to restore the original functionality. In order to effect this replacement simply, rapidly, and with limited maintenance times and costs, it is the practice in the known art to carry out the replacement of only the rotating parts, leaving the casing of the carriage in situ.
An example of a carriage capable of achieving such a result - described and illustrated in document FR 2746136 - provides for the adoption of a fixed casing carrying an obliques ramp, having an open end facing the rail; a ramp within which the wheel-carrying fitting is contained with its own movable cam structure set to act against the oblique ramp. Screw means of adjustment operating between carriage and casing thrusting unidirectionally to allow the adjustment of the sliding member supported by the carriage along the vertical.
For retaining the fitting in working position on the casing, the carriage provides pins integral with the movable fitting which, in the position of mutual retention between movable fitting and casing, bear on supporting housings in the casing; and which however in case of the need to replace the movable fitting, have the possibility - after suitable horizontal traversing by the fitting - of coming within vertical guides in the casing, which are lateral and contiguous to the support housings. Since the vertical guides are open towards the bottom, the pins have free travel inside them, so that the movable fitting can be extracted from the casing with a direct movement towards the supporting rail.
Document FR 2751367 describes and illustrates a carriage in which the movable wheel-carrying fitting is retained suspended by a fixed pin in the casing which is simultaneously also engaged in housings in the movable fitting which are shaped as closed slots and which carry the adjustment ramps. The wheel-carrying fitting is retained in the casing in working position by coupling with the fixed pin of the casing with its own housing which is open upwards and which is permanently linked to the pin by riveting above this of the outer edges of the opening of the housing itself. Such a carriage certainly entails the possibility of extraction of the wheel-carrying fitting towards the rail; however, the necessity of riveting, at every maintenance, the outer edges of the open housing, entails a certain difficulty in reaching these edges since access must be obtained to them from the opposite side from that of the rail and also entails damage to the movable fitting and the probable necessity of replacing it every time it is accessed even for a simple inspection.
Another solution which specifies riveting edges of the walls of the movable fitting is set forth in document US 3670357 . In this document a carriage is illustrated and described in which the movable fitting carries oblique housings open towards the rail in which the pin is engaged on which the wheel rotates. In this case, the movable fitting is retained by a T-shaped horizontal guide operating between the top of the casing and the complementary top of the carriage. Releasing the movable fitting from the casing can only be achieved by sliding one of them horizontally with respect to the other, parallel to the rail. Regulation of the adjustment ramps of the supported element is performed using screw adjustment means, working bi-directionally, in other words by applying to the fitting, in step, both a thrust and a traction with respect to the casing. Simultaneously with the adjustment, the pin for the wheels of the carriage traverses along an inclined guide, carrying the ramp which is open towards the rail, whose outer edges must be riveted in order to interfere with the pin if this tends to come out of its housing.
A further example of a carriage of the type of interest for the present invention is described and illustrated in document US4262451 . Also in this case the carriage requires a movable fitting which is contained inside the casing and which can traverse with respect to it, using screw adjustment means of bi-directional type. The movable fitting is connectable to the casing by means of a pin which is engaged in oblique housings, shaped as closed slots in the casing. Extraction of the movable fitting towards the rail below is possible only by means of total disengagement of the screw adjustment means and horizontal sliding of the pin connecting the movable fitting. If the fitting proves to be damaged and needs to be replaced and a new fitting needs to be set up in the casing, maintenance operations can be made difficult by the necessity of reintroducing into the oblique housings the retaining pin relating to fitting and casing and by the necessity of engaging again the elements of the adjusting screw. These operations can be anything but easy because of the presence in certain cases of lateral guards to the rail, whose presence would be an obstacle to sliding out the pin, and because of the potential difficulty of re-engaging the nut and bolt of the adjustment means, without the possibility of an accurate visual check, with the result of compromising the functionality of the entire carriage. A further example of a similar carriage is known from document US-5 791 089 disclosing the features of the preamble of claim 1.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The present invention relates to a carriage. In particular, the present invention relates to a carriage intended to fit a movable leaf of a sliding door or window. In more detail, the present invention relates to a carriage intended to fit a movable leaf of a sliding door or window, the carriage including devices capable of facilitating assembling and disassembling the carriage on the leaf itself.
An object of the present invention is to create a carriage which is free from the disadvantages described above, and which will be capable of satisfying a series of requirements to which in the present state of affairs there is no answer, and therefore of representing a new and original source of economic advantage, able to alter the current market in carriages for sliding leaves.
A further object of the present invention is to create a carriage in which disassembly of the movable fitting can be performed rapidly, safely and without damage to parts even following coupling and decoupling repeatedly a number of times, maintaining unaltered the functionality of the carriage itself.
The object is realised by the features of claim 1.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The advantages of the present invention will, furthermore, become better evident from the detailed description which follows, made with reference to the attached drawings, which represent purely exemplary and not limiting forms of embodiment of the invention itself, in which:

Fig. 1 is an overall perspective view of a first carriage representing background art and which does not form part of the invention, assembled and seen from the side of the sliding closure member supported;
Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the carriage shown in the preceding figure 1;
Fig. 3 is an overall perspective view of the first carriage, represented in an assembled configuration and seen from the side of the rail;
Fig. 4 is an overall perspective view of a second carriage according to the invention, represented in an assembled configuration and seen from the side of the sliding closure member supported;
Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the carriage shown in the preceding figure 4;
Fig. 6 is an overall perspective view of the second carriage, represented in an assembled configuration and seen from the side of the rail;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

In figure 1, no. 1 comprehensively indicates a first example of a carriage for support and traverse over a horizontal rail (known and not illustrated) of a sliding closure member, known and not illustrated, such as, for example, a leaf of a piece of furniture, a leaf of a door, a leaf of a window, or any other element equivalent to them.
Carriage 1 substantially includes (figure 2) a movable fitting 2 and a casing 7 which are equipped with a positional adjustment device 21 and relative retaining members 11 and 12.
More particularly, movable fitting 2 carries a single wheel 3 and two walls 4a, bilateral to wheel 3, which are interconnected by intermediate separators 25, and are crossed by identical and parallel housings 5, formed as closed slots, each one of which includes a ramp 6, oblique with respect to the rail.
Casing 7, which is intended to be fixed to the known and not illustrated sliding closure member, supports movable fitting 2 and as guide along a predetermined adjustment direction 8, in such a way that movable fitting 2 results in being traversable with respect to casing 7 longitudinally to this direction 8.
Casing 7 furthermore supports a single pin 9 provided for allowing the mutual linkage of movable fitting 2 and casing 7 with rotatable engagement in free oscillation of the one with respect to the other and with pin 9 located crossing housings 5 and placed in direct contact with the relative ramps 6.
Adjustment device 21 includes in particular a screw 19 accommodated in a longitudinal housing 26 in casing 7 and a nut 20 accommodated in two opposed grooved, transverse, housings 27 in casing 7, to allow longitudinal movement to screw 19 with respect to casing 7 itself; nut 20 therefore results in being located frontally to one of the separators 25 transversely connecting the walls 4a of movable fitting 2.
Adjustment device 21 is capable of operating between casing 7 and movable fitting 2 unilaterally, in other words only in the direction of thrust against movable fitting 2. Adjustment device 21 is therefore capable of operating in such a way as to balance the action of the weight of the known and not illustrated sliding member supported by carriage 1 and in such a way that this weight is transferred by pin 9 to wheel 3 by means of the ramps 6 of movable fitting 2; and at the same time they allow ramps 6 to be transported parallel to the rail as necessary to adjust in height, and with respect to the rail, the upper element supported by carriage 1.
The retaining members are integrated into the same guides as those that allow movable fitting 2 to traverse with respect to casing 7. In fact, as is clearly visible from figure 2, the longitudinal walls 4a of movable fitting 2 require the presence of two parallel grooves 11 in which engage projections 12, preferably hemispherical, which are carried by the opposing walls 4b of casing 7.
The grooves 11 and the projections 12 - which are distinct and separate from housings 5 - are couplable and decouplable from each other, even many times, with a snap elastic movement aimed transversely at the grooves 11 in such a way as to allow: in normal conditions of use of carriage 1, reciprocal adjustment guiding of movable fitting 2 and casing 7; in maintenance conditions, instead, to allow the engagement and disengagement of these members when it is desired to extract movable fitting 2 from casing 7 through a respective open side 10 which is underneath and facing the rail; or, finally, when it is desired to refit wheel-carrying fitting 2 once more inside casing 7 with operations exactly contrary to the previous.
In figure 2 it may also be observed that wheel-carrying fitting 2 supports a single wheel 3 whose rotation pin 9, placed across housings 5 and linked to the relative ramps 6 constitutes also pin 9 of oscillation of movable fitting 2, with respect to fixed casing 7. The same figure 2, and even better figure 3, also shows that the casing 7 includes guide grooves 13 which are transverse to the direction 8 of adjustment and carry an end 14 open underneath and facing towards the rail. These grooves 13, retain in position oscillation pin 9 of the movable fitting when this is connected to casing 7 and retained by the engagement of grooves 11 and projections 12, while on the other hand they allow the free extraction completely of movable fitting 2 through open side 10 of casing 7 when it is desired to perform maintenance operations on carriage 1. Besides, the engagement of guide grooves 13 by pin 9 allows to the pin 9 itself, in use, a pure vertical displacement, making easier the height adjustment of closure member with respect to the rail below.
The use of carriage 1 is easily comprehensible from what is described above, and does not require further explanation.
However, it is opportune to note that in carriage 1 disassembly of fitting 2 from casing 7 can be performed rapidly, safely and without damage to parts even following repeated coupling and decoupling, maintaining unaltered the functionality of the carriage itself. From this point of view, a further advantage is provided by the coincidence between the direction 8 of adjustment and the direction of displacement of the movable fitting 8 which avoids transverse efforts on the screw 19 and gives a greater accuracy and a longer life to the adjustment device 21. Therefore, carriage 1 is capable of satisfying requirements to which in the present state of affairs there is no answer, and therefore represents a new and original source of economic advantage, able to alter the current market in carriages for sliding leaves.
In addition, it is appropriate to point out that, by virtue of what has been described above, every pair including at least one groove 11 and the respective projection 12 and every striker part 17 define respectively retention devices which allow stabilisation of the positioning of movable fitting 2 inside casing 7, according to the construction typology of a respective carriage 1 with a single wheel 3 or with two wheels 3 This proves particularly useful in the stages preceding the fitting of each carriage 1 on sliding members leaves or doors, but also during stages of adjustment or maintenance which may be performed over time to ensure the proper functionality of sliding leaves and doors, given that the probability is reduced of uncoupling movable fitting 2 from casing 7.
In figures 4 to 6, an embodiment of the invention is depicted. Given that the present description will omit to repeat what has already been said for the identical elements in the two forms of execution of carriage 1, which, besides, are given the same reference numbers, it will be noted that in the present version, movable fitting 2 carries a pair of wheels 3 which are supported one behind the other with fixed centres of rotation 15 established by support holes 28 for the rotation pins 29 for wheels 3, holes 28 which are made in longitudinal walls 4a of fitting 2, bilaterally to wheels 3. In this solution, it is the alignment itself of support holes 28 for pins 29 which, in combination with the rail supporting the known and not illustrated sliding closure member, achieves the function of guiding movable fitting 2 with respect to casing 7, parallel to the direction 8 of adjustment.
In this case, however, unlike what was said for the first embodiment of carriage 1, oscillation pin 9 besides being distinct from rotation pins 29 of wheels 3, is also connectable to housings 5 in walls 4a in movable fitting 2, which (as shown in figure 5) have an open end 16 facing towards the known and not illustrated sliding closure member supported by carriage 1 and located in a position opposite and distal to the rail.
The oscillation pin 9, also in this case fixed to casing 7, is capable of being engaged in, or disengaged from, the housing 5 through said open end 16.
As for the retaining members which operate between movable fitting 2 and casing 7, it will be observed from figure 4 that they include a striker 17 carried by casing 7 located forward of movable fitting 2, opposite to the end affected by adjusting device 21. Striker 17 is set up to block the forward movement of said fitting 2 at an end-of-stroke position along the direction of adjustment 8 for fitting 2 with respect to casing 7, intercepting this forward movement before oscillation pin 9 reaches the open end 16 of housings 5.
This characteristic is achieved for the purpose of avoiding the undesired exit of oscillation pin 9 from housings 5, when screw adjustment device 21 is used to impart excessive forward movement to movable fitting 2 towards the front of carriage 1.
In other words, striker 17 - which with respect to housings 5, or rather with respect to ramps 6 is independent and remote in combination with a portion 18 of said housings 5 - which portion is interposed to the open end 16 and to striker 17 and in which oscillation pin 9 is constrained to remain stably engaged in housings 5 materialise together as retaining members which, operating in combination with each other, prevent pin 9 from reaching the open end 16 and coming out when movable fitting 2 is moved by adjustment with respect to casing 7 only with horizontal traversing movements and therefore parallel to the rail.
Striker 17 and said portion 18 of said housings 5 however allow disengagement of pin 9 from housings 5 or re-engagement of pin 9 in housings 5, through open end 16, when however movable fitting 2 is moved with respect to casing 7 first of all with oblique displacement components with respect to the rail (in such a way that the presence of striker 17 is not felt), to then be moved once more parallel to the rail, once the oscillation pin 9,' having passed the open end 16 has reached the next intermediate portion 18 of said housings 5 in which it is engaged and not releasable.
In conclusion, striker 17 and housings 5 allow in use the operation of carriage 1 in a condition of maximum safety against accidental disengagement and, at the same time, allow the disengagement and re-engagement of movable fitting 2 over the casing 7 by means of simple, and voluntary, oblique movements with respect to the rail.
On the basis of what is described above, also this second version of carriage 1 validly allows the objects of the present invention to be achieved.

Claims

Carriage (1) for supporting and traversing a sliding member horizontally over a rail and including a movable fitting (2) provided with at least one wheel (3) and two walls (4a) bilateral to each wheel (3) in which are formed housings (5) which include an oblique ramp; a casing (7) supporting said movable fitting (2) internally and as a guide (11, 12; 28, 28) along a predetermined adjustment direction (8) with respect to said casing (7) along said ramp (6), said casing (7) supporting a single oscillation pin (9) for the mutual connection of movable fitting (2) and casing (7), said pin (9) and said ramp (6) being placed in direct mutual contact; retaining means of the movable fitting (2) and casing (7) being incorporated in said movable fitting (2) and in said casing (7); and screw adjustment means (19, 20) operating between casing (7) and movable fitting (2) unilaterally in thrust against movable fitting (2), in such a way as to balance the action of the weight of the sliding member, the action being exchanged between said oscillation pin (9) and said ramps (6) of movable fitting (2); said wheel-carrying fitting (2) being removable from, or connectable to, casing (7) through a lower side (10) of the latter; said retaining means include, for removal from or connection with casing (7) of movable fitting (2), an elastic element (17) carried by said casing (7) on the side opposite said screw (19) and facing said movable fitting (2) to supply a thrust directed constantly against said screw (19) and characterized in that said housings (5) in said walls (4a) of movable fitting (2) have an open end (16) facing, in use, towards the sliding member and distal from the rail, said oscillation pin (9) being fixed to casing (7) and correspondingly engageable in, or disengageable from, said housing (5) by passing through said open end (16).
Carriage according to claim 1 characterized in that said elastic element (17) is located in such a way as to interfere elastically with the advancing of the movable fitting (2) in an end-of-stroke position along the adjustment direction (8) of the fitting (2) with respect to the casing (7); the retaining means further including a portion (18) of said housings (5) interposed to said open end (16) and to said elastic element (17) in which pin (9) is constrained to remain stably in housings (5); said elastic element (17) and said portion (18) of said housings (5) operating in combination with each other in a manner capable of preventing said pin (9) from reaching the open end (16) when movable fitting (2) is moved with respect to casing (7) with displacements having at least one component parallel to said adjustment direction (8); said elastic element (17) and said portion (18) of said housings (5) allowing the disengagement of pin (9) from housings (5) and vice versa the re-engagement of pin (9) in housings (5) through open end (16) when movable fitting (2) is moved with respect to casing (7) with oblique displacements with respect to the rail.
Carriage according to one of claims 1 or 2 characterized by the fact of including at least one groove (11) and one projection (12) operating in combination with each other between the walls (4a) of fitting (2) and corresponding walls (4b) of casing (7) facing them.
Carriage according to claim 3 characterized by the fact that each said groove (11) is distinct from the housings (5) carried by the walls (4a) of movable fitting (2).
Carriage according to claim 3 or 4 characterized by the fact that each said groove (11) is formed in one of the said walls (4a) of the movable fitting 82), each said projection (12) being formed on one of the walls (4b) of the casing (7) facing it.
Carriage according to claim 3, 4, 5 or 6 characterized by the fact that each said groove (11) and each said projection (12) are couplable and uncouplable with each other with a snap elastic movement, said retaining means including said grooves (11) and said projections (12).
Carriage according to one of claims 1 to 6 characterized by the fact that said casing (7) includes guide grooves (13) carrying an end (14) open towards the bottom, said pin (9) of movable fitting (2) being connected both to housings (5) of wheel-carrying fitting (2) and to guide grooves (13) in casing (7).
Carriage according to one of claims 1-7 characterized by the fact that said wheel-carrying fitting (2) carries a pair of wheels (3) supported one following the other with centers of rotation (15) fixed, aligned parallel to the direction (8) of adjustment of movable fitting (2) with respect to casing (7) along said ramp (6).