GB2321922A

GB2321922A - Sliding door top guide

Info

Publication number: GB2321922A
Application number: GB9702761A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Kenneth Jacobs
Original assignee: Stanley Works
Current assignee: Stanley Works
Priority date: 1997-02-11
Filing date: 1997-02-11
Publication date: 1998-08-12
Anticipated expiration: 2017-02-11
Also published as: FR2759407B1; GB2321922B; GB9702761D0; FR2759407A1

Abstract

A guide for a sliding door provides both ease of installation and improved resistance to unintended disengagement from the guide track 100. The guide comprises a bracket adapted for attachment to the door, an outer guide member (fig.2) slidably seated in the bracket and an inner guide (fig.4) slidably seated in the outer guide member. A first lip 85 on the outer guide member cooperates with a closely adjacent second lip 76 on the inner guide member to slidably engage the guide track 100. The two lips face in opposite directions and engage the insides edges 101,102 of the track. The second guide member is seated in the first guide member in a manner such that movement of the inner guide member outwardly of the bracket, causes the first lip 85 to move away from the second lip 76 to engage the guide track more securely.

Description

SLIDING DOOR TOP GUIDE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to door guides for sliding doors of the type that slide along a first track while being guided by a second track, and, more particularly, to such a guide having improved means of engagement with the second track.

Sliding doors of the type that slide along a track generally include roller assemblies at the lower corners of the door which support the door as it slides along a floor mounted bottom track.

Top guides at the upper corners of the door engage an upper track affixed to the ceiling or the top of the doorway to prevent the door from falling over. Less commonly, the roller assemblies are placed at the upper corners of the door, which is suspended from the upper track. In such cases, bottom guides are placed at the lower corners of the door and engage a floor mounted track to prevent the door from swinging in a direction perpendicular to the tracks.

Whether the guides are top mounted or bottom mounted, it is their function to maintain engagement with the respective track.

This function is made more difficult if the door ie installed in a doorway which ovaries in height from end to end or is not plumb.

Many sliding doors are intended for installation by the user, the so-called "do-it-yaurseLf" market. Products in this market must be simple to install, using only commonly available tools.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel door guide for a tracked sliding door which resists unintended disengagement from the track.

It is also an object to provide such a door guide which is specifically adapted for user installation.

Another object is to maximize the commonality of parts between such a door guide and a roller assembly which may be used in conjunction therewith.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It has now been found that the foregoing and related objects may be readily attained in a guide for a sliding door of the type that slides along a first track while being guided by a second or guide track, wherein the guide comprises a bracket adapted for attachment to the door, an outer guide member slideably seated in the bracket for motion along a first axis, and an inner guide member slideably seated in the outer guide member for motion along a second axis at an acute angle to the first axis.

A first lip on the outer guide member cooperates with a closely adjacent second lip on the inner guide member to slidably engage the guide track. Movement of the inner guide member outwardly of the bracket along the second axis causes the first lip to move away from the second lip to engage the guide track more securely.

Advantageously, the outer guide member and the inner guide member are molded of a synthetic resin.

Preferably, the inner guide member is biased outwardly of the bracket along the second axis by means which may comprise a pair of resilient wings formed on the inner guide member. The wings press against the outer guide member when the inner guide member is displaced inwardly of the bracket along the second axis.

One of the outer guide member and the inner guide member may be formed with a plurality of raised linear ridges, while the other is formed with an equal number of mating linear recesses.

The ridges and the recesses cooperate to direct motion of the inner guide member along the second axis.

Advantageously, detent means are provided on the bracket and the outer guide member for preventing unintended separation thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a door guide embodying the present invention attached to a door and sliding in a track; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the outer guide member of the door guide shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a front elevational view of the outer guide member of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a perspective view of the inner guide member of the door guide shown in Figure 1; Figure 5 is a perspective view of the bracket of the door guide shown in Figure 1; and Figure 6 is a sectional view along the line 5-5 of Figure 1.

DETAI DSCRIPTION OF w PREPERRED ODTMETS Turning first to Figure 1 of the attached drawings, therein illustrated is a door guide for sliding doors embodying the present invention and generally designated by the numeral 1.

Door guide 1 comprises a bracket 3, an outer guide member 5 slideably seated in the bracket 3 and an inner guide member 7 slideably seated in the outer guide member 5.

As best seen in Figure 5, the bracket 3 has a generally planar body portion 24 having an inner surface 17 upon which the outer guide member 5 is slidable. Along the sides thereof are side walls 26 each having outwardly extending flanges 39 and 40 at the ends thereof and an inwardly extending lip 28 centrally thereof. The side walls 26 and the body portion 24 define a channel in which the outer guide member 5 is seated1 and the lip 28 retains the outer guide member 5 therein.

An end wall 30 extends perpendicularly to the upper end of the body portion 24 transversely across the width thereof between the side walls 26 to close the channel at its upper end. A flange 32 extends perpendicularly to the other or lower end of the bracket body portion 24 at its other end and in a direction opposite to the sidewalls 26 and end walls 30. Along the free end of the flange 32 is a pair of holding tabs 34 which extend parallel to the plane of the body portion 24 and seat in the slots 12 in the bottom wall of the door rail 5. While illustrated as part of the bracket 3, it should be understood that the holding tabs 34 on the flange 32 may be omitted, or removed or flattened, and the flange 32 may be connected to the rail 8 by screws passing through openings 31 in the flange 32 when the rail 8 is not adapted to receive the tabs 34, such as when the frame is formed from a hardwood greater than the thickness for which its channel was intended.

The upper side flanges 38 on the bracket 3 and the lower side flanges 40 have generally planar body portions 42 and 44 extending generally parallel to the plane of the body portion 24.

The planar body portion 42 of the flange 38 is formed with a generally G-shaped tab 50 which has a free end providing an inturned snap tip 51. The tabs 50 are generally coplanar with the planar portion 42 except for the snap tip 51 which is angled towards the plane of the body portion 24. This allowe the tip 51 to pass into the slot 10 formed in the side of the door stile 6 and thereafter snap in place behind the interior surface of its side wall 13. An upwardly offset tab 52 on the flange 38 extends in a plane generally parallel to the plane of the bracket body portion 24 and is spaced above the plane of the planar portion 42. This cooperates with the G-shaped tab 50 and bears against the outer surface of the stile 6 to capture it therebetween.

Each G-shaped tab 50 is provided with weakening section 56 which permits the tab 50 to be broken off in the event that the stile 6 is cut adjacent its end so that the slot 10 is no longer present or aligned therewith. In this circumstance, the offset tab 52 is connected to the stile 6 by a screw (not shown) which extends through an aperture 54 in the tab 52. The weakening section 56 has an L-shaped slot 58 and a deformed region surrounding the slot se which allows the tab 50 to be broken off when a tool, such as a screwdriver tip, is inserted therein and moved back to flex the tab 50 until it breaks off.

Each flange 42 also includes a notch 60 which receives the upper end wall 30 therewithin. Thus, the flange 42 has a portion 62 which extends behind the end wall 30 80 as to abut the outer face of the end wall 30 and provide it with enhanced load bearing capacity. The juncture of the body portion 24 and end wall 30 may be further stiffened by providing spot welds or staking gussets 64 therealong.

The lower end flange 40 secures the lower end of the bracket 3 to the open end of the stile 6. The lower end flange 40 includes at its lower end an arm portion 65 which extends outwardly of and perpendicularly to the planar body portion 40 and provides a tab 66 which extends upwardly so as to engage the inner surface of the stile 6. At its upper end, the flange 40 has an upwardly offset, outwardly extending tab 53 which extends parallel to the body portion 24 along the outer surface of the stile 6. The tab 66 works in conjunction with the offset tab 53 to seat the wall of the stile 6 therebetween.

The outer guide member 5, as best seen in Figure 2, has an open, generally rectangular configuration including a planar back wall 81, a pair of opposed side walls 82 and a bottom wall 84.

Inwardly of the side walls 82 and parallel thereto is a pair of sort internal walls 83. Formed on the inner facing surface of the internal walls 83 are two opposed pairs of raised, inclined linear guide ridges 83b.

A first lip 85 projects from the top of the outer guide member 5 and is adapted to slideably engage an inner surface 101 of the guide track 100, as illustrated in Figure 6.

As best seen in Figure 4, the inner guide member 7 has an open, generally rectangular body 70 including a planar back wall 71, a pair of opposed side walls 72 and a bottom wall 74. A pair of resilient wings 75 project downwardly from the bottom wall 74.

Formed on the outer surfaces of the side walls 72 are two opposed pairs of inclined, linear recesses 72b which are configured to receive the raised guide ridges 83b, allowing the inner guide member 7 to slide toward or away from the outer guide member 5.

The ridges n3b and the recesses 72b are inclined at an acute angle relative to the line of motion of the outer guide 5 in bracket 3.

A second lip 76 projects from the top of the inner guide member 7 and is adapted to slideably engage an inner surface 102 of the guide track 100. The second lip 76 extends through an opening e5a in the base of the first lip 65 on the outer guide member 5. The first lip 85 and the second lip 76 project in opposite directions, perpendicular to the plane of the body portion 24. It will be appreciated by the reader that, as the inner guide member 7 is moved outwardly of the bracket 3 by sliding along guide ridges 83b, the second lip 76 moves away the first lip 85 to more securely engage the track 100. The resilient wings 75 on the inner guide member 7 press against the bottom wall 84 of the outer guide member 5, biasing the inner guide member 7 outwardly of the bracket 3. A tongue 96 formed in the body portion 24 of the bracket 3 projects into an elongated recess Sla in the outer surface of the back wall 81 of the outer guide member 5 to prevent unintended separation of the outer guide member S from the bracket 3.

In assembling the connector to the panel 2 and frame elements 6, 8, the outer guide member 5 with the inner guide member 7 mounted therein may be initially inserted into the channel of the bracket 3 until the detent 98 snaps into the recess 81a of the outer guide member 5. Thereafter, depending on whether the connector is to be used in a right or left corner of the panel, the side flanges 38 and 40 disposed along the corresponding right or left lateral side of the bracket 3 are used in the connection. In the illustrated example of Figure 1, the right corner of the door is being connected and those along the right side of the bracket 3 are used. The tab 66 is first engaged in the open end of the stile 6 and the tabs 34 of the lower end flange 32 are inserted into the slots 12. Thereafter, the bracket 3 is pivoted toward the slot 10 in the stile 6 until the G-shaped tab 50 is inserted through the slot 10 and the tip 51 snaps against the inner surface of the stile 6. Concurrently, the tabs 52, 53 seat against the outer surface of the stile 6 and the body portion 24 seats against the outer surface of the rail 8 to engage the stile 6 and rail 8 firmly with the bracket 3. The stiles and rails are conventionally fabricated from steel or aluminum to provide a rigid frame while providing some degree of flexure to grip the panel securely. The bracket is conveniently stamped from sheet metal of about 0.030-0.050 inch thickness.

The inner guide member and the outer guide member are conveniently molded from synthetic resin such as nylon, polypropylene and acetal.

Engagement of the door guide 1 with the track 100 is accomplished by simply pushing the guide against the track throat, resulting in the parting of the inner guide member 7 and the outer guide member 5 which reduces the spacing between the first lip 85 and the second lip 76 to enable entry of the lips through the track throat. Once the lips have passed through the track throat, the resilient wings 75 bias the inner guide member 7 toward the outer guide member 5 thereby increasing the spacing between the lips to engage the track 100 more securely.

To disengage the door guide 1 from the track 100 the bottom wall 74 of the inner guide member 7 is pressed toward the bottom wall 84 of the outer guide member 5 to reduce the spacing between the lips so that they may pass through the track throat.

Claims

-LAIMS Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A guide for a sliding door of the type that slides along a first track while being guided by a second track, said guide comprising: (a) a bracket adapted for attachment to the door, said bracket having a generally planar body portion; (b) an outer first guide member slideably seated in said bracket for motion along a first axis generally parallel to the plane of said body portion, the outer end of said outer guide member having a first lip adapted to slideably engage a first portion of the second track, said first lip extending generally perpendicularly to said plane of said bracket portion; and (c) an inner guide member slideably seated in said outer guide member for motion along a second axis at an acute angle to said plane and extending outwardly of said bracket, said inner guide member having a second lip at its outer end adapted to slideably engage a second portion of the second track, said second lip projecting generally perpendicularly to said plane of said bracket body portion and oppositely of said first lip, movement of said inner guide member outwardly of said bracket along said second axis moving said second lip away from said first lip to increase the spacing between the ends thereof to engage the second track more securely.

2. The door guide of Claim 1 further comprising means for biasing said inner guide member outwardly of said bracket along said second axis

3. The door guide of Claim 2 wherein said outer guide member and said inner guide member are molded of a synthetic resin.

4. The door guide of Claim 3 wherein said means for biasing said inner guide member comprises a pair of resilient wings formed thereon, said wings pressing against said outer guide member whereby said inner guide member is displaced away from said outer guide member along said second axis.

5. The door guide of Claim 1 wherein one said outer guide member and said inner guide member is formed with a plurality of raised linear ridges and the other is formed with an equal number of mating linear recesses, said ridges and said recesses cooperating to direct motion of said inner guide member along said second axis.

6. The door guide of Claim 1 further comprising detent means on said bracket and said outer guide member for preventing unintended separation thereof.