GB1580618A

GB1580618A - Patio door roller assembly

Info

Publication number: GB1580618A
Application number: GB16086/78A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Schlegel UK Ltd; Schlegel Ltd
Current assignee: Schlegel UK Ltd; Schlegel Ltd
Priority date: 1978-04-24
Filing date: 1978-04-24
Publication date: 1980-12-03

Description

(54) PATIO DOOR ROLLER ASSEMBLY (71) We, SCHLEGEL (UK) LIMITED, a British Company, of Ring Road, Seacroft, Leeds, LS14 1LY do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to a roller assembly for patio doors. Although throughout the remainder of this specification we shall refer to patio door roller assemblies, it must be appreciated that the roller assemblies could be used for other purposes, e.g. different type of sliding door, windows or other sliding panels.

Traditionally, almost all commercially available patio doors have a frame of channel section members normally of extruded aluminium and the weight of the doors is supported by roller assemblies mounted in the bottom frame member so that the door can be slid along a suitable guideway. In our patent specification No. 1545470, we disclose a patio door roller assembly which is constructed so that its width can be modified so that it can be accommodated within the bottom frame member of most of the commercially available patio doors and even of specially ordered doors.This roller assembly incorporates an adjustment mechanism for moving the roller vertically relative to its support body, the adjustment mechanism incorporating an inclined plane on the support body up which a cam member can ride, the cam member being connected to the roller and being slidable relative to the support member by the operation of suitable adjustment means.

While the adjustment mechanism dislcosed in our earlier patent specification operates very satisfactorily, the range of adjustment achieved is small and the present Invention has been conceived with a view to providing a considerable range of vertical adjustment for the roller relative to its support member, preferably without losing any of the other advantages of the roller assembly disclosed in our earlier specification.

According to the broadest aspect of the present invention, we provide a roller assembly for a patio door, the roller assembly including a carriage and a wheel rotatably supported in the carriage on an axle pin, there being at least two vertically spaced apertures on the carriage to receive the axle pin so as to provide at least two positions for the wheel.

Preferably, two horizontally spaced wheels are supported by the carriage, there being two vertically spaced apertures provided for each wheel.

Preferably, the axle pin is formed of resilient spring steel and forms a force-fit in its selected aperture.

Preferably, the carriage is of generally U-shaped cross-section so that a wall of the carriage is provided on each side of each wheel, the axle pins of the wheels spanning between the two walls and being located in apertures therein.

Preferably, the carriage is carried within a support body which locates within a bottom channel member of a patio door and means are associated with the support body to alter its effective width.

Preferably, an inclined surface is provided on said support body against which a member carried by the carriage can slide so that when the carriage is moved longitudinally relative to the support body by operation of suitable adjustment means, relative movement between the two will occur.

Preferably, the member carried by the carriage is a transversely extending pin and the inclined surface on the support body forms part of a captive slot in which the pin runs.

Preferably, the support body itself incorporates two spaced walls one located on either side of the carriage, each wall being provided with an inclined slot in which the respecitve ends of said pin run.

preferred embodiment of the invention is now described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a tandem patio door roller assembly showing its wheels in one position; FIGURE 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing the wheels in another position, and FIGURE 3 is an end elevation of the roller assembly shown in Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, the patio door roller assembly shown therein includes a support body 1 in which a carriage 3 is supported. The body 1 includes two spaced side walls one of which is shown at 5, and an end plate 7, each of the side walls 5 being provided with an inclined guide slot 9in which the respective ends of a pin 11 extending transversely of the carriage 3 slides.

The end plate 7 is provided with a threaded aperture 12 in order to accommodate a threaded stud by which the roller assembly may be firstly fixed to a patio door.

Also connected to the pin 11 is a yoke 13, the yoke forming part of an adjustment mechanism which is completed by nut and bolt arrangement 15, the nut 17 of which engages against a cross member 19 of yoke 13 and the head 21 of which bears against the end wall 7.

By adjusting the nut and bolt 15 so the yoke 13 can be moved to and fro relative to the support body 1, thereby moving the pin 11 and carriage 3 along ths slot 9 so as to adjust the carriage vertically relative to the support body 1.

The carriage 3 has a pair of horizontally spaced wheels 23, 25 mounted therein by means of horizontally extending axle pins 27.

The carriage is generally U-shaped in crosssection so as to include two spaced vertically extending walls 29 connected together by a transverse portion 31. Each of the walls 29 has a pair of vertically spaced apertures 33, 35 therein to receive with a force fit the respective ends of the axle pins for the respective wheels 23 and 25. These axle pins are preferably formed from rolled spring steel strip, the strip being rolled about an axis parallel to its long side substantially into a completely circular configuration, the resiliency being provided as a result of the material of the axle being able to deform into the small space resulting from ths circle not being fully completed.

In Figure 1 the pins 27 are shown located in the upper apertures 35 whereas in Figure 2 the axle pins 27 are shown in the lower apertures 33. When in this latter position the patio door to which the roller assembly has been fitted wil be raised higher than if the pins are in the Fugres 1 position.

In order effectively to adjust the width of the support body 1 it is provided with at least two sets of holes 37 in its side walls 5 to receive mounting pins 39 (see Figure 3). A plurality of different length mounting pins 39 are aviable and for a particular width bottom channel of the patio door the required length pins 39 are fitted into the holes 37 with a force fit.

It will be appreciated that instead of having each of the wheels 23 and 25 in their lower or upper positions, a combination of the two positions can be chosen. It will also be appreciated that the principles of this invention as defined in the claims need not be incorporated in a tandem roller assembly, i.e.

one with two wheels. Instead, a single wheel roller assembly with two vertically spaced apertures for the roller in the carriage could be provided or it is envisaged that more than two wheels for each carriage could be provided.

By providing the vertically spaced apertures for the wheel axles, a considerable change of height can be achieved and if the preferred inclined guide slots 9 associated with the transverse pins 11 are provided a considerable range of vertical adjustment is available. In the construction shown (the drawing is twice normal full size) there is an adjustment range of more than 2 cms between extreme positions.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A roller assembly for a patio door, the roller assembly including a carriage and a wheel rotatably supported in the carriage on an axle pin, there being at least two vertically spaced apertures on the carriage to receive the axle pin so as to provide at least two positions for the wheel.

2. A roller assembly according to claim 1 wherein two horizontally spaced wheels are supported by the carriage, there being two vertically spaced apertures provided for each wheel.

3. A roller assembly according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the or each axle pin is formed of resilient spring steel and forms a force-fit in its selected aperture.

4. A roller assembly according to claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the carriage is of generally U-shaped cross-section so that a wall of the carriage is provided on each side of the or each wheel, the axle pin of each wheel spanning between the two walls and being located in apertures therein.

5. A roller assembly according to any one of claims 1-4 wherein the carriage is carried within a support body which locates within a bottom channel member of a patio door.

6. A roller assembly according to claim 5 wherein means are associated with the support body to alter its effective width.

7. A roller assembly according to claim 5 or 6 wherein an inclined surface is provided on said support body against which a

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Claims

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respecitve ends of said pin run.

preferred embodiment of the invention is now described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a tandem patio door roller assembly showing its wheels in one position; FIGURE 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing the wheels in another position, and FIGURE 3 is an end elevation of the roller assembly shown in Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, the patio door roller assembly shown therein includes a support body 1 in which a carriage 3 is supported. The body 1 includes two spaced side walls one of which is shown at 5, and an end plate 7, each of the side walls 5 being provided with an inclined guide slot 9in which the respective ends of a pin 11 extending transversely of the carriage 3 slides.

The end plate 7 is provided with a threaded aperture 12 in order to accommodate a threaded stud by which the roller assembly may be firstly fixed to a patio door.

Also connected to the pin 11 is a yoke 13, the yoke forming part of an adjustment mechanism which is completed by nut and bolt arrangement 15, the nut 17 of which engages against a cross member 19 of yoke 13 and the head 21 of which bears against the end wall 7.

By adjusting the nut and bolt 15 so the yoke

13 can be moved to and fro relative to the support body 1, thereby moving the pin 11 and carriage 3 along ths slot 9 so as to adjust the carriage vertically relative to the support body 1.

The carriage 3 has a pair of horizontally spaced wheels 23, 25 mounted therein by means of horizontally extending axle pins 27.

The carriage is generally U-shaped in crosssection so as to include two spaced vertically extending walls 29 connected together by a transverse portion 31. Each of the walls 29 has a pair of vertically spaced apertures 33, 35 therein to receive with a force fit the respective ends of the axle pins for the respective wheels 23 and 25. These axle pins are preferably formed from rolled spring steel strip, the strip being rolled about an axis parallel to its long side substantially into a completely circular configuration, the resiliency being provided as a result of the material of the axle being able to deform into the small space resulting from ths circle not being fully completed.

In Figure 1 the pins 27 are shown located in the upper apertures 35 whereas in Figure 2 the axle pins 27 are shown in the lower apertures 33. When in this latter position the patio door to which the roller assembly has been fitted wil be raised higher than if the pins are in the Fugres 1 position.

In order effectively to adjust the width of the support body 1 it is provided with at least two sets of holes 37 in its side walls 5 to receive mounting pins 39 (see Figure 3). A plurality of different length mounting pins 39 are aviable and for a particular width bottom channel of the patio door the required length pins 39 are fitted into the holes 37 with a force fit.

It will be appreciated that instead of having each of the wheels 23 and 25 in their lower or upper positions, a combination of the two positions can be chosen. It will also be appreciated that the principles of this invention as defined in the claims need not be incorporated in a tandem roller assembly, i.e.

one with two wheels. Instead, a single wheel roller assembly with two vertically spaced apertures for the roller in the carriage could be provided or it is envisaged that more than two wheels for each carriage could be provided.

By providing the vertically spaced apertures for the wheel axles, a considerable change of height can be achieved and if the preferred inclined guide slots 9 associated with the transverse pins 11 are provided a considerable range of vertical adjustment is available. In the construction shown (the drawing is twice normal full size) there is an adjustment range of more than 2 cms between extreme positions.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A roller assembly for a patio door, the roller assembly including a carriage and a wheel rotatably supported in the carriage on an axle pin, there being at least two vertically spaced apertures on the carriage to receive the axle pin so as to provide at least two positions for the wheel.
2. A roller assembly according to claim 1 wherein two horizontally spaced wheels are supported by the carriage, there being two vertically spaced apertures provided for each wheel.
3. A roller assembly according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the or each axle pin is formed of resilient spring steel and forms a force-fit in its selected aperture.
4. A roller assembly according to claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the carriage is of generally U-shaped cross-section so that a wall of the carriage is provided on each side of the or each wheel, the axle pin of each wheel spanning between the two walls and being located in apertures therein.
5. A roller assembly according to any one of claims 1-4 wherein the carriage is carried within a support body which locates within a bottom channel member of a patio door.
6. A roller assembly according to claim 5 wherein means are associated with the support body to alter its effective width.
7. A roller assembly according to claim 5 or 6 wherein an inclined surface is provided on said support body against which a

member carried by the carriage can slide so that when the carriage is moved longitudinally relative to the support body by operation of suitable adjustment means, relative movement between the two will occur.
8. A roller assembly according to claim 7 wherein the member carried by the carriage is a transversely extending pin and the inclined surface on the support body forms part of a captive slot in which the pin runs.
9. A roller assembly according to claim 5, 6, 7 or 8 wherein the support body incorporates two spaced walls, one located on either side of the carriage, each wall being provided with an inclined slot in which the respective ends of said pin run.
10. A roller assembly for a patio door substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
11. A patio door incorporating at least one roller assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1-10.