EP3508673B1

EP3508673B1 - Self-balancing sliding wheel device

Info

Publication number: EP3508673B1
Application number: EP17845293.4A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jiangde XU
Original assignee: Zhongshan Opike Hardware Product Co Ltd
Current assignee: Zhongshan Opike Hardware Product Co Ltd
Priority date: 2016-08-31
Filing date: 2017-08-23
Publication date: 2023-11-01
Anticipated expiration: 2037-08-23
Also published as: EP3508673A1; EP3508673C0; WO2018040991A1; ES2965946T3; EP3508673A4

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of a wheel device with self-balancing function.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A wheel device is widely used on sliding door leaf such as in shower rooms or in closet doors of the state of art to assist the door leaf to be opened by sliding. US1191334A discloses a hanger for barn-doors and other structures, which provide a new and efficient means for relatively adjusting the supporting member by which the door and the truck frame are connected together. JP5520628B2 discloses a sliding door hanging traveling device, which can automatically adjust a relationship between a sliding door body and a sash hanger without reference to an installed condition without undergoing complication of a structure. DE3049512A1 discloses a sliding door mechanism, comprising a main member and a relatively short guide member providing two longitudinally spaced supports for respective roller set carriers. DE4002487A1 discloses a running gear for sliding doors or windows comprising a carriage on rollers running in rails and having a carrier bolt supported in a transverse pivot. In some cases, the weight of door leaf is large. In order to prevent door leaf shaking, more than two wheels are employed to assist a door leaf to slide smoothly. While in practice, all the wheels are required to slide on the same plane. Once uneven places appear on the rail the door leaf slides, the door leaf will move unsteadily or derail, and noise is generated, and the like, so that certain hidden danger is caused.
In addition, in order to prevent the door leaf shaking, two parallel guide rails are generally adapted to carry the weight of the door leaf, and then the wheels are set on two sides of the wheel device respectively, wherein each side of the wheel side is placed to the corresponding side of the guide rail. In order to move the door leaf smoothly, both sides of the guide rail must be parallel and always maintained in the same height. However, after a long time of use, the guide rail doesn't bear the same gravity or caused deformation, resulting in the door leaf swinging or swaying when sliding. Some of the existing self-balancing wheel devices' structures are complex, and the adjustment is not convenient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to overcome the deficiencies in the prior art, the present invention intends to provide a self-balancing wheel device which is simple in structure and convenient to adjust and is automatically adjusted by a self-balancing wheel.
Another aim of the present invention is to overcome the deficiencies of the prior art and to provide a self-balancing wheel device of swing type which is simple in structure and can automatically adjust side wheels to slide the door leaf smoothly.
In order to solve the above problems, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:
A self-balancing wheel device comprises a mounting block, wherein a balancing sheet is hinged by a hinge shaft through the side face of the mounting block; the balancing sheet is provided with wheels arranged on two sides of the hinge shaft, wherein a mounting cavity is provided in the middle of the mounting block, and the mounting cavity is provided with a rotating column, the rotating shaft of the rotating column is parallel to the sliding direction of the mounting block, and the mounting block is provided with a mounting hole communicating with the mounting cavity, and the mounting block is further provided with a steering column inserted from the mounting hole into the rotating column.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the balancing sheet can be attached on two opposite side faces of the mounting block.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the self-balancing wheel device can be provided with two pieces of the balancing sheets.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the mounting block can further comprise a left arm and a right arm at both extending ends of the mounting block, and four pieces of the balancing sheet can be provided and arranged on opposite sides of the left arm and the right arm respectively.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the rotating column can be provided with a nut groove, and the nut groove can be provided with a nut for the insertion of the steering column and threaded connection with the steering column.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, two opposite side faces of the left arm can be provided with a left gasket groove respectively, and two opposite side faces of the right arm can be provided with has a right gasket groove respectively; and two side faces of the mounting block can be provided with a mounting gasket respectively, and two ends of the mounting gasket can extend into the chamber of the left gasket groove and the right gasket groove respectively, and the balancing sheet can be attached on the outer wall of the mounting gasket.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the balancing sheet can have a "π" shape.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the mounting block can be provided with a blocking portion capable of blocking the rotation of the balancing sheet.
The present invention has the beneficial effects that when the guide rail is not flat, the heights of the wheels on the two sides of the balancing sheet are different, and under the gravity of the door leaf, wheels rotate around the hinge shaft. The wheels of two sides are always kept in the guide sliding groove and sliding on a plane by automatic adjustment, ensures smooth sliding of the door leaf. The self-balancing wheel device is provided with advantages of simple structure, convenient for adjustment, and long service life benefit from wheels' adjustment. The blocking portion limits the swing amplitude of the balancing sheet to prevent the balancing sheet from swinging excessively.
The rotating shaft of the rotating column is parallel to the sliding direction of the mounting block, so that the steering column swings in the width direction of the sliding groove, adjusting the height of the wheels on two sliding grooves. Hence, the door leaf will not swing or shake due to the deformation of the two sliding grooves during sliding, guarantees the smooth sliding of the door leaf. The self-balancing wheel device is provided with benefits of simple structure, convenient for adjustment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the self-balancing wheel device according to Example 1 of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the self-balancing wheel device according to Example 1 of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the self-balancing wheel device according to Example 1 of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a partially exploded view of the self-balancing wheel device according to Example 1 of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the self-balancing wheel device in using state according to Example 1 of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the self-balancing wheel device according to Example 2 of the present invention;
FIG. 7 is an exploded view of the self-balancing wheel device according to Example 2 of the present invention;
FIG. 8 is a partially exploded view of the self-balancing wheel device according to Example 2 of the present invention;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

Example 1

In example 1, as shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 5, a self-balancing wheel device comprises a mounting block 1. A balancing sheet 2 is hinged on the side face of the mounting block 1 via a hinge shaft 10, and the balancing sheet 2 is attached on the side faces of the mounting block 1along the elongation direction of the mounting block 1. The balancing sheet 2 is provided with wheels 3 on two sides of the hinge shaft 10 respectively. The wheels 3 at both ends of the balancing sheet 2 can be rotated around the hinge shaft 10, and the mechanism is similar to the seesaw. The mounting block 1 is provided with a blocking portion 18 which can block the rotation of the balancing sheet 2. When the balancing sheet 2 swings, it is blocked by the blocking portion 18 to prevent excessive swinging. The balancing sheet 2 is provided with two pieces, the connection line of two pieces of the balancing sheet 2 is perpendicular to the sliding direction of the mounting block 1. The mounting block 1 is sandwiched by the two pieces of the balancing sheet 2, and the balancing sheet 2 is attached on two opposite side faces of the mounting block 1, and each balancing sheet 2 is provided with wheels 3. In the embodiment, two wheels 3 are arranged on the balancing sheet 2, the balancing sheet 2 has a "π" shape, and the wheels 3 on the balancing sheet 2 slide in a guide groove. When sliding inside, when the unevenness occurs in one guide rail, the two wheels 3 on the balancing sheet 2 swing around the hinge shaft 10 under the gravity of the door leaf to realize automatic balance, so that the door leaf slides smoothly.
The mounting block 1 is provided with a mounting cavity 13 in the middle of the mounting block 1. A rotating column 4 is disposed in the mounting cavity 13 in a relatively rotatable manner. The rotating column 4 is placed in the mounting cavity 13. The rotating shaft of the rotating column 4 is parallel to the sliding direction of the mounting block 1, and the mounting block 1 is provided with a mounting hole 14 communicating with the mounting cavity 13. The mounting block 1 is further provided with a steering column 15 inserted from the mounting hole 14 into the rotating column 4, and the steering column 15 is extended from the mounting hole 14 and connected to the door leaf. The size of the opening of the mounting hole 14 limits the swinging amplitude of the steering column 15, and prevents the steering column 15 from excessively swinging, so that the steering column 15 will rotate the rotating column 4 to swing in the direction of the balancing sheet 2 on both sides.
When the heights of guide rail are different, and under the gravity of the door leaf, the rotating column 4 will rotate and swing, thereby adjusting the height of the wheels 3 of the two balancing sheets 2, that is, adjusting the height of the wheels 3 in the guide rail, ensuring a smooth sliding of the door leaf. A nut groove 41 is disposed in the rotating column 4, and the nut groove 41 is provided with a nut 42 for inserting and screwing the steering column 15, and the rotating column 4 is threaded connected with the steering column 15 by the nut 42, which is simple and convenient to install.

Example 2

In example 2, as shown in FIG. 6 to FIG. 8, the difference from example 1 is that the balancing sheet 2 is provided with four pieces. The mounting block 1 is provided with a left arm 11 and a right arm 12 at both extending ends of the mounting block 1, and four pieces of the balancing sheet 2 are provided and arranged on opposite sides of the left arm 11 and the right arm 12 respectively. Each balancing sheet 2 is provided with two wheels 3, so that there are eight wheels 3, and the wheels 3 on the same side are placed in the same guide rail. Since there are many wheels 3, if four wheels 3 are placed on one balancing sheet 2, the balancing sheet 2 will be too long and the swing amplitude will be too large. Therefore, each side of the mounting block is provided with two pieces of balancing sheet 2. Two opposite side faces of the left arm 11 is provided with a left gasket groove 16 respectively, and two opposite side faces of the right arm 12 is provided with has a right gasket groove 17 respectively; and two side faces of the mounting block 1 are provided with a mounting gasket 5 respectively, and two ends of the mounting gasket 5 extend into the chamber of the left gasket groove 16 and the right gasket groove 17 respectively, and the balancing sheet 2 is attached on the outer wall of the mounting gasket 5.
Since the balancing sheet 2 on the same side are provided separately, the mounting gasket 5 is attached to the side face of the mounting block 1 for the purpose of securing the strength of the mounting block 1.

Claims

A self-balancing wheel device, comprising:
a mounting block (1);

a balancing sheet (2) hinged by a hinge shaft (10) through the side face of the mounting block (1); wherein

the balancing sheet (2) is provided with wheels (3) arranged on two sides of the hinge shaft (10);

wherein a mounting cavity (13) is provided in the middle of the mounting block (1), and the mounting cavity (13) is provided with a rotating column (4), the rotating shaft of the rotating column (4) is parallel to the sliding direction of the mounting block (1),

characterised in that the

mounting block (1) is provided with a mounting hole (14) communicating with the mounting cavity (13), and the mounting block (1) is further provided with a steering column (15) inserted from the mounting hole (14) into the rotating column (4).
A self-balancing wheel device as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the balancing sheet (2) can be i s attached on two opposite side faces of the mounting block (1).
A self-balancing wheel device as claimed in claim 2,
wherein the self-balancing wheel device is provided with two pieces of the balancing sheets (2).
A self-balancing wheel device as claimed in claim 2,
wherein the mounting block (1) further comprises:
a left arm (11) and a right arm (12) at both extending ends of the mounting block (1), and four pieces of the balancing sheet (2) are provided and arranged on opposite sides of the left arm (11) and the right arm (12) respectively.
A self-balancing wheel device as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the rotating column (4) is provided with a nut groove (41), and the nut groove (41) is provided with a nut (42) for the insertion of the steering column (15) and threaded connection with the steering column (15).
A self-balancing wheel device as claimed in claim 4,
wherein two opposite side faces of the left arm (11) are provided with a left gasket groove (16) respectively, and two opposite side faces of the right arm (12) are provided with a right gasket groove (17) respectively; and two side faces of the mounting block (1) are provided with a mounting gasket (5) respectively, and two ends of the mounting gasket (5) extend into the chamber of the left gasket groove (16) and the right gasket groove (17) respectively, and the balancing sheet (2) is attached on the outer wall of the mounting gasket (5).
A self-balancing wheel device as claimed in claim 3,
wherein the balancing sheet (2) has a "π" shape.
A self-balancing wheel device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mounting block (1) is provided with a blocking portion (18) capable of blocking the rotation of the balancing sheet (2).