US3097401A - Reversible sliding door and window construction - Google Patents

Description

July 16, 1963 REVERSIBLE SLIDING DOOR AND WINDOW CONSTRUCTION Filed May 25,1961

2 Sheets-Sheet l A. c/tornc J INVENTOR. Akees M Z/EM'AM/W 12W July 16, 1963 H. M. RIEGELMAN 3,097,401

REVERSIBLE SLIDING DOOR AND WINDOW CONSTRUCTION Filed May 26, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 2442a r Mame-1M4 United States Patent 3,097,4 l1 REVERSIBLE SLlDlNG D9012 AND WINDOW CONSTRUCTION Harry M. Riegelman, Rolling Hills, Calif., assignor to Security Aluminum Corporation, Compton, Calif., a

corporation of California Filed May 26, 1961, Ser. No. 113,011 11 Claims. (Cl. 20-19) This invention relates generally to sliding closure members, and more particularly to a reversible sliding member construction for windows, doors, and the like.

Sliding door or window construction commonly includes an aluminum-framed glass door or window which slides open from a lock jamb in a direction towards a normally fixed glass panel, usually closely adjacent and parallel thereto. Both the movable section or vent and the fixed panel are normally mounted on the lower sill of a casing conventionally set in an opening of a wall of a building. Rollers or wheels are mounted in the lower rail member of the sash of the movable vent and engage a railing on the sill of the casing. The lock stile of the movable vent engages the lock jamb of the casing when the vent is in a closed position and, at the same time, the other stile of the movable vent interlocks with a stile of the fixed panel. Suitable Weatherstripping is usually positioned on the two interlocking stiles. The other, fixed stile of the stationary or fixed panel can be secured to a fixed jamb of the casing. The fixed panel can also be held to the casing by means of upper and lower brackets wedged into the upper and lower tracks of the casing.

The sliding glass doors, windows, etc. (often designated simply as the sliding vent) can be installed to open from left to right, or right to left, according to the necessity imposed by surrounding structures, or as desired. The sliding doors, etc. further, must be set squarely (through adjustable wheels) for proper operation in the casing. If the casing is intentionally constructed out of square in following an inclined surface and resembling a paral lelogram, for example, the sash must, of course, be made to conform. In this instance, it is clearly desirable that the sliding vent has individually adjustable wheels in order to obtain the close adjustment necessary to meet the outof-square condition. Thus, reversible sliding doors, windows, etc., having individually adjustable rollers or wheels are extremely useful and desirable. Such windows, doors, etc., are particularly desirable when they can be made readily reversible with little, if any, structural changes or modifications required thereon. The same latter condition holds true, of course, for the fixed glass panel (often designated simply as the fixed vent).

Reversibility of the sliding vent and fixed panel is highly advantageous in that if a wrong (direction) opening vent is shipped, for example, the vent can be readily installed to open in the correct direction without any reworking of the vent, or having to await shipment of mother one. Further, even after installation, a reversible and adjustable sliding vent is desirable in the event that a person subsequently decides or needs to reverse the direction of opening of the vent.

Bearing in mind the foregoing, it is a major object of this invention to provide a reversible sliding vent for windows and the like, which can be readily installed in a casing to open in one direction or another.

Another object of the invention is to provide a reversihle sliding door and the like, having adjustable rollers or wheels which can be easily adjusted to square the sliding A still further object of this invention is to provide a roller or wheel assembly which can be adjustahly mounted to a carrier means that serves to strengthen the sash members of a reversible sliding door or window.

Briefly, and in general terms, the foregoing and other objects are preferably accomplished by providing in the sash corners of a sliding vent having similar upper and lower rail members, corner strengthening brackets for mounting wheel assemblies. The Wheel assemblies are readily installed in, and pivotally engage all the corner brackets, but are normally installed only in the corner bnackets of the lower rail member. An adjustment means is provided in all of the corner brackets whereby the wheel assemblies are easily adjusted to proper height after being mounted in the corner brackets. Thus, a reversible sliding vent is obtained wherein the vent can be used for reversed sliding operation by simply moving the wheel assemblies in the corner brackets of the lower rail member to the corner brackets of the upper rail member, and rotating the door degrees on an axis perpendicular to the center of the plane of the vent before reinstalling in the door or window casing.

This invention possesses other objects and features, some of which, together with the foregoing, will be set forth in the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention. The invention will be more fully understood by reading the description with joint reference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a drawing showing a reversible sliding door construction, including fragmentary sectional views of the sash corners and difierent sections of the adjust able wheel assemblies, in accordance with this invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged sectional view, in elevation, of a sash corner illustrating the installation and attachment of a corner bracket therein;

FIGURE 3 is another sectional view, somewhat similar to FIGURE 2, showing the installation of a wheel housing and its wheel in a secured corner bracket;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view, in elevation, of the structure shown in FIGURE 3, taken along the line 44 as indicated therein;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional View, in plan, taken along the line 5-5 as indicated in FIGURE 4, showing a connection of a corner bracket to the lower rail member of the sliding door sash;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view illustrating my novel and useful corner braclcet and cooperating wheel housing rotatably mounting a wheel;

FIGURE 7 is an end view of the wheel housing shown in FIGURE 6, and taken in the direction of the arrow 7; and

FIGURE 8 is a drawing showing the installation required for obtaining a reversed operating sliding door from the arrangement shown in FIGURE 1.

A preferred embodiment of his invention is shown in FIGURE 1. A reversible sliding vent and fixed vent construction is generally depicted in \FIGURE 1. The drawing in this figune is partially broken away at certain points to reveal a preferred construction for the reversible sliding vent. Of course, my construction is not limited to windows or doors, but is applicable to all openings which utilize a laterally sliding door member. For purposes of description, however, the construction shown in the drawings depicts a window construction.

A window casing 10 is set in an opening in wall 12 in ordinary manner. The casing 10 is preferably fabricated from extruded aluminum frame members which are suitably formed to provide cooperating flanges, ridges and channels that engage and accommodate the sashes of movable window member or vent 14 and normally fixed vent or window member 16. The movable window member 14 is laterally sliding, moving on a pair of adjustable wheels 18 and 20. As can be seen in FIGURE 1, the wheels 18 and 20 are mounted respectively near the lower corners of the movable window member 14. The wheels 18 and 20 are rotatably mounted in the plane of the movable window member 14 such that the rolling surfaces of wheels 18 and 20 support the movable window member 14.

As can best be seen in FIGURE 4, the wheels 18 and 20 are concavely grooved to ride on a ridge railing 21 having a convexly rounded upper surface engaging the wheels 18 and 20. The railing 21 and other cooperating flanges, ridges and channels extend substantially fully over the length of the lower rail member of window casing 10.

The wheels 18 and 20 are rotatably mounted on respec tive wheel housings 22 and 24 in the following manner. The ends of an axle pin 20a (FIGURE 6) of a wheel 20 are press-fitted respectively into holes on opposite sides of a channel-shaped wheel housing 24 so that the housing fixedly mounts the axle pin on which the wheel rotates. The wheel 20 is made adjustable by pivotably hinging the wheel housing 24 onto a bent tab 32e on a corner bracket 32 that is installed near a lower corner of the movable window member 14.

Four corner brackets 26, 28, 30 and 32 are shown in FIGURE 1, installed respectively near the four corners of the movable window member 14. These corner brackets are preferably made of steel, and are installed in the ends of the similar upper and lower aluminum rail members 34 and 36 of the window sash, between deeply channeled sides of an extruded aluminum rail member. The steel corner brackets thus serve to reinforce the vulnerable ends of the deeply channeled upper and lower aluminum rail members 34 and 36, as well as to pivotally mount the wheel housings of wheels 18 and 20. In addition, the left and right aluminum stile members 38 and 40 are held in place and secured to the upper and lower rail members 34 and 3-6 by means of four long screws 42, 44, 46 and 48, respectively threaded into the corner brackets 26, 28, 30 and 32 as shown in FIGURE 1. It is to be noted that if only the usual corner screws are used to secure the sash members together, a weak structure results unless largely solid members are used or reinforcing structure is provided particularly at the corners.

Reference will now be made to FIGURES 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7:, in order to show clearly the detail structure and important components of the reversible sliding door. FIGURE 2 is an enlarged, partly sectional view of the installation of the corner bracket 32 in the left end of the lower rail member 36. FIGURE 3 shows the installation of wheel housing 2 4 in the corner bracket 32 and the adjustment of wheel 20 by pivoting the housing 24 on a bent hinge tab of the bracket 32. FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4--4 indicated in FIG- URE 3, and illustrates the mounted wheel 20 riding on the ridge railing 21 of the lower sill member of window casing 10. FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 55 indicated in FIGURE 4, and shows a top plan view of the supporting hook ends of bracket 32 inserted through narrow slots on the sides of the cross web 36a of the lower rail member36. FIGURE 6 is a perspective of the cornerbracket 32 and the wheel housing 24 mounting wheel 20. FIGURE 7 is an end view of the wheel housing 24 shown in FIGURE 6, and taken in the direction of the arrow 7.

The construction of corner bracket 32 is identical to the other corner brackets, and is clearly illustrated by the perspective in FIGURE 6. The bracket 32 is, as mentioned before, fabricated from steel rather than aluminum, and comprises a formed and shaped bracket Walls or sides 32a and 32b, and an endwall or end 326 joining the two sides 32a and 32]) at right angles thereto. The end 320 has an extended lower portion 32d which is bent up to be perpendiculm with the end 320 and approximately flush with the lower edges of the sides 32a and 3211. At the end of the lower portion 32d, a narrower tab 32e is again bent downwards at right angles to the flat lower portion 32d. This bent tab 32c serves as the pivot hinge and as a point of support for the wheel housing 24.

The endwall 320 is punched in at two points and tapped through to form the threaded collars 32f and 32g. A screw 59 having a slotted end is threaded into the collar 32 as shown in FIGURE 6, and the end two threads are then upset to prevent easy removal of the screw 50. The screw 54B is an adjustable stop, the position of the head of the screw 59 limiting the upward movement of the housing 24, as described later.

The side 3211 has a raised hook angle 3271 at its upper right corner and a tab 321 which is dependent at its lower left corner as shown in FIGURE 6. The tab 321' is bent at an angle so that it flares outwardly. The side 32b similarly has a raised hook angle 32 and a dependent flaring tab 32k. The hook angels 3211 and 312i, and the outwardly flared tabs 321' and 32k are used to mount and support the corner bracket 32 in the left end of the lower rail member As shown in FIGURE 2, the corner bracket 32 is placed between the deeply channeled sides 35b and 36c (FIGURE 4) of the lower rail member 36 so that hook angles 32/: and 32f are inserted into slots 36d and 362 (FIGURE 5) and then angularly raised into position. As the bracket 32 is raised, the flared tabs 321 and 32k are compressed inwardly by the lower portion of walls 36b and 36c (FIGURE 4) until the tab 32k snaps into the channel 36f, in the side 360, indicating that the bracket 32 has been moved into correct position. The tabs 321' and 32k, of course, flare out at this time and the lower edge of the tab 32k engages the lower side of the channel 36f.

A window pane 52 is fitted into a continuous glazing channel strip 54 which is carried in the glazing channel of the lower rail member 36. The upper rail member 34, and the left and right stile members 33 and 49 are similarly fitted on the top, left and right edges, respectively, of the window pane 52 through the glazing channel strip. In order to secure the left and right stile members 38 and 40 to the upper and lower rail members 34 and 36, the long screws 42, 44, 46 and 4-8 are used. In FIG- URE 2, the long screw 43 is passed through holes in the webs of the left stile member 38 and threads into the collar 32g of the corner bracket 32 and tightened. The other long screws 42, 44 and 46 similarly engage their respective corner brackets 26, 28 and 30, as shown in FIGURE 1. By threading the long screws through the corner brackets, and tightening, strength of the sash structure is greatly increased. Thus, the window pane 52 can be firmly installed and held in the sash of the movable window member 14. The window pane 53 is similarly installed in the sash of the fixed window member 16.

The wheel housing 24 mounting, for example, a steel rustproof wheel 20, as shown in FIGURE 6, is also made from steel sheet stock, for example, ;-inch thick. The housing 24 preferably has parallel sidewalls or sides 24a and 24b, and a connecting endwall or end 240 which is perpendicular to both of the sides 24a and 24b. The end 240 is an abutment plate for the head of screw 50'. The ends of axle 2&1 of the wheel 20 are press-fitted into holes located near the ends of the sides 24a and 24b. The upper part of side 2411 is cut to provide a lateral tab 24dwhich is bent at an angle to flare outwardly as shown in FIGURES 4 and 6. The other side 24b is similarly cut to provide another flaring tab 24@ (FIGURE 7). From FIGURE 7, it can be seen that the end 240 has a horizontal slot 24 and an elongated hole 24g cut therein. The hole 24g provides clearance for the end of screw 48 (FIGURE 3) as necessary. At the top of the end 240, there is provided a horizontal strip 24h connected to the end 24c. The strip 2412 is somewhat wider than the width of the end 240 and serves to help center the wheel housing 24, together with the flaring tabs 24d and 242, between the sides of the corner bracket 32.

The slot 24 is placed over the bent-down tab 32:: as shown in dotted line in FIGURE 3, and the wheel housing 24 is rotated upwards as indicated. The tab 32e acts as a pivot hinge for the wheel housing 24. As the housing 24 is rotated upwards, the outwardly flaring tabs 24d and 24a engage and are compressed by the sides of the corner bracket 32. The housing 24 is rotated upwards into position wherein the head of the adjustment screw 50' acts as a stop against the end 240 of the housing 24.

The flaring tabs 24d and 24a, compressed by the sides of the bracket 32, as shown in FIGURE 4, frictionally hold the housing 24 and its wheel 20' in place.

In order to adjust the height of the wheel 20, a screwdriver is inserted through two oversized holes 38a and 3815 (FIGURE 2) in the webs of the left, lock stile member 38 to engage the slotted end of the screw 50, to alter the stop position of the housing 24. The height of the wheel 20 (on railing 21) is, of course, changed with position of the head of screw 50. The wheel housing 22 (and its wheel 18) is similarly mounted in the corner bracket 30, and adjustment of the wheel 18 is made by setting a screw 54 (FIGURE 1) by a screwdriver inserted through oversize hole 56 in the right stile member 40. The screw 54 is, of course, similar to the screw 50. Thus, the sliding window 14 can be adjusted in height on railing 21 by two independently adjustable wheels.

The screws 50 and 54 are set so that when the upper rail member 34 of the movable window member 14- is slipped into the upper header member iltla FIGURE 1) of the casing so that the wheels 18 and 20 clear the edge 1012 (FIGURE 4) of the lower sill member 100, and then brought down on the ridge railing 21, the movable window member 14 is squarely sup-ported in the window casing 10. In FIGURE 4, a smooth nylon button 58 is affixed to the lower end of the left stile member 38. Other nylon buttons (not shown) are similarly affixed to the other three front corners of the left and right stile members 38 and '40 so that only the smooth surfaces of the nylon buttons will contact surfaces of Window casing 10. The backing of a woven pile Weatherstripping 60 is inserted in the length of channel 36g and the tufts engage the surface of flange 10b of the lower sill member of the casing 10. The top part of flange 10b is extruded with a small longitudinal channel having a circular cross-sectional hollow, and the circular, edge bead of a rubber, or flexible plastic (vinyl, for example) tapering cross-section weather seal strip 62 is inserted into the small channel from one end down the length thereof so that a flexible edge is presented against the outside surface of the channel 36 to provide an additional weather seal supplementing the Weatherstripping 60.

Thus, a sliding door or window construction having strong (steel) reinforcing corner brackets is provided. The brackets not only reinforce the corners but also provide means for mounting adjustable rolling means or wheels in the window or door. A squarely supported (relative to casing and railing) movable door, as shown in FIGURE 1, is thus obtained and can be moved by a handle 64 on the lower railing 21 of the window casing 10. This construction permits a readily reversible movable door or window. As indicated in FIGURE 8, the movable door or window member 14 is rotated 180 degrees and the wheel houings 22 and '24 with their wheels are removed from the corner brackets 30 and 32, and installed in the other corner brackets 26 and 28 in the manner previously described. The stationary or fixed window member 16, upon loosening appropriate fastening means, is moved and secured to the left side of the window casing 10, and the sliding window member 14 is then set on the railing 21, for operation in the reverse direction.

It should be noted that the stationary window member 16 can be constructed similarly to the sliding window member 14 if both left and right hand opening vents are required or desired. Another railing which is similar and parallel to lower railing 21 would be required, of course. One window member or vent may then be suitably secured in position to the window casing 10 if it is to later act as the stationary member. Both movable and fixed window members 14 and 16 can then be easily and quickly adjusted in position by adjusting the wheel housings and wheels thereof.

If the fixed window member 16 is to be rotated degrees as in the case of the slidable window member 14 to effect a reversal of position of the window members, the wheel housings and wheels thereof must be changed to the formerly upper set of corner brackets in the window member 16.

Thus, it should be apparent from the above description that the invention is obviously susceptible of modification in its form, proportions, detail construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the principles involved or sacrificing .any'of its advantages. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific features shown, but that the means and construction herein disclosed comprise a preferred form of several modes of putting the invention into effect. The invention is, therefore, claimed in any of its forms or modifications within the legitimate and valid scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a reversible sliding closure member having a sash including a normally upper rail sash member, a normally lower rail sash member similar to said upper rail sash member, a normally left stile sash member, and a normally right stile sash member, the combination comprising: four substantially identical corner brackets; means for securing said corner brackets respectively within the sash at corners thereof; and for tying the sash members together at each corner; and a pair of wheel housings each rotatably mounting a wheel, said housings being respectively mounted in the two of said corner brackets which are secured within lower corners of said sash, said pair of wheel housings being removable from said corner brackets for interchangeable mounting in said other two corner brackets when said closure member is rotated 180 degrees on an axis perpendicular thereto for reversed sliding operation of said closure member.

2. A reversible sliding door construction, comprising: a sash including a normally upper rail member, a normally lower rail member similar to said upper rail member, a normally left stile member, and a normally right stile member; four substantially identical corner brackets; means for securing said corner brackets respectively with in the corners of said sash; means engaging said corner brackets for tying said stile and rail members together and bracing said corners; a pair of wheel assemblies each including a housing and a wheel rotatably mounted therein, said housings being respectively mounted in the two of said corner brackets which are secured within lower corners of said sash, said housings being removable for interhangeable mounting in said other two corner brackets when said door is rotated 180 degrees on an axis perpendicular thereto for reversed sliding operation of said door; and means for respectively adjusting each said housing about a fixed pivot axis relative to said corner bracket mounting said housing.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said corner brackets each includes two sides and an end joining said two bracket sides, said bracket end having a pivot member thereon, and said housing including two sides for rotatably mounting said :wheel therebetween, and an end joining said two housing .sides, said housing end having means for releasably engaging said pivot member whereby said housing can'be pivoted thereon.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein said means for adjusting said housings includes an adjustable stop mounted on each of said corner brackets for engaging a corresponding housing and limiting pivotal movement thereof.

5. In a reversible sliding door construction, a corner bracket assembly for strengthening a corner of a pair of channel members and adjustably mounting a wheel housing, comprising: a wheel housing; a bracket including two side walls and an end wall joining said two side walls together, said end wall having integral pivot tab means pivotally connected to said wheel housing removably mounting said wheel housing thereon; means engaging said corner bracket for tying said channel members together and bracing said corner; and an adjustable stop member mounted on said bracket engaging said wheel housing and limiting pivotal movement thereof.

6. In a reversible sliding door construction, an adjustable wheel assembly, comprising: a bracket including two side walls and an end wall joining said bracket side walls together, said bracket end wall having an inttegral fixed pivot tab means thereon; a housing rotatably mounting a wheel and including two side walls and an end wall joining said housing side wall together, said housing end wall having means pivotally connected to said fixed pivot tab means whereby said housing can be pivoted thereon; and an adjustable stop mounted on said bracket engaging said housing and limiting pivotal movement thereof.

7. In a reversible sliding door construction, an adjust-able wheel assembly, comprising: a pair of channel members meeting to form a corner; a bracket including two bracket side walls and an end wall joining said bracket side walls together, said bracket side walls having normally upper raised hook angles for engaging one of said pair of channel members, and said bracket end wall having a normally lower pivot tab thereon; means for securing said bracket end wall to the other of said channel members; a housing rotatably mounting a wheel and including two side walls and an end wall joining said housing side walls together, said housing end wall having a slot therein for engaging said pivot tab whereby said housing is pivota-bly movable between said bracket side walls; and an adjustable stop mounted to said bracket end wall for engaging said housing end wall and limiting pivotal movement of said housing.

8. Apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein said housing side walls have respective outwardly flaring tabs for frictionally engaging said bracket side walls.

9. Apparatus as defined in claim 7, wherein one of said channel members includes a locking groove and said bracket side walls include lower outwardly flaring tab means for engaging said locking groove in said channeled member.

10. In a reversible sliding door construction, the combination comprising: a pair of channel members meeting to form a corner, one of said channel members having a pair of slots therein; a corner bracket including two side walls and an end wall joining said two side walls together, said end wall having an integral pivot tab means for removably mounting a wheel housing thereon; a pair of normally upper raised hook angles extending from said side walls of said corner bracket engaging said one of said channel members through said slots; and means securing said bracket end wall to the other of said channel members, whereby said corner bracket ties said channel members together and braces said corner.

11. In a sliding door construction, the combination comprising: a channel member having a locking groove therein; removable bracket means within said channel member, said bracket means having a pair of side Walls, and an end wall joining said side walls; an integral pivot tab means on said end wall for releasably mounting a wheel housing thereon; hook angle means extending from a side wall of said bracket means releasably engaging said channel member; and an outwardly flaring tab means projecting from a side wall of said bracket means engag ing the locking groove of said channel member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 945,605 Rhoads Jan. 4, 1910 1,063,690 Johnson et a1. June 3, 1913 2,553,459 Klein May 15, 1951 2,627,948 Farr Feb. 10, 1953 2,923,351 Zitomer Feb. 2, 1960 2,950,756 Moloney Aug. 30, 1960 2,980,947 Rust et al. Apr. 25, 1961

Claims (1)

1. 5. IN REVERSIBLE SLIDING DOOR CONSTRUCTION, A CORNER BRACKET ASSEMBLY FOR STRENGTHENING A CORNER OF A PAIR OF CHANNEL MEMBERS AND ADJUSTABLY MOUNTING A WHEEL HOUSING, COMPRISING: A WHEEL HOUSING; A BRACKET INCLUDING TWO SIDE WALLS AND END WALL JOINING SAID TWO SIDE WALLS TOGETHER, SAID END WALL HAVING INTEGRAL PIVOT TAB MEANS PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO SAID WHEEL HOUSING REMOVABLY MOUNTING SAID WHEEL HOUGING THEREON; MEANS ENGAGING SAID CORNER BRACKET FOR TYING SAID CHANNEL MEMBERS TOGETHER

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