US3769749A

US3769749A - Sliding door consisting of one of several separate doors

Info

Publication number: US3769749A
Application number: US00178593A
Authority: US
Inventors: L Makela
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1971-09-08
Filing date: 1971-09-08
Publication date: 1973-11-06
Anticipated expiration: 1990-11-06

Abstract

A sliding door comprising several doors supported at their upper edges in slideways which have upward and inward directed guides for pegs of the door supports so that a respective door may be lifted and laterally displaced to permit another door to be moved along the same slideway passed the displaced door.

Description

United States Patent Makela Nov. 6, 1973 [54] SLIDING DOOR CONSISTING OF ONE OF 3,571,976 3/1971 Schmid 49/130 SEVERAL SEPARATE DOORS 1,996,310 4/1935 Skoogh v 3,280,506 10/1966 Sandek et a1. 49/130 [76] Inventor: Leo Makela, Vesivehmaa, Finland [22] Filed: Sept 8, 1971 Primary Examiner-Kenneth Downey Attorney-Kurt Kelman [21] Appl. No.: 178,593

' [57] ABSTRACT [52] U.S. Cl. 49/130 A sliding door comprising several doors supported at [51 lnt. Cl E05d 15/20 their upper edges in slideways which have upward and [58] Field of Search 49/128, 130, 148 inward directed guides for pegs of the door supports so that a respective door may be lifted and laterally dis- [56] References Cited placed to permit another door to be moved along the UNITED STATES PATENTS same slideway passed the displaced door.

1,266,922 5/1918 Criswell 49/130 4 Claims, 17 Drawing Figures in A 9 I *1- 2 8 I t i I P 111 III! llll I I I I l I l l l I rl l i I l I I I I 1 l l l v r I E I I PATENTEDMW 6l975 3,769,749 SHEET 10F 5 PATENTFUNIW 6l975 3.769.749

sum 20F sl PATENTED NEW 6 I973 SHEET 3 or s I Ila-IL nul SLIDING DOOR CONSISTING OF ONE OF SEVERAL SEPARATE'DOORS This invention relates to a sliding door assembly corisisting of one or several separate doors, in which the door or doors can be moved along a slideway by means of a supporter fitted to the upper door edge. In known devices, adjacent slide doors have separate tracks, these being fitted side by side, which essentially broadens the structure or diminishes the amount of useful space. The purpose of the present invention is to overcome this drawback of prior art devices by providing a sliding door system, in which separate doors'can be moved along the same slideway, pa'ssing'by each other. It also provides another advantage in that the doors,

when closed, are situated at wall level in the supporting structure .when the doors are closed they gap tightly and form a continuous straight surface with the wall.

The present invention is implemented in that upwards and inwards directed guiding devices are set in the door gaps in the slideway for receiving pegs fitted to the door supporters which guide it sidewards away from the slideway when the door is lifted. Thus, a second door can pass by a first door along the same slide way. At least two supporters are attached to the upper edge of each'door in the ordinary manner. The supporters have an upper end which is bent backwards to form a hook to fit to the groove of the slideway. The head of the hook is provided with known slide pieces, rollers and similar elements to facilitate movement. The slideway itself it attachedwith screws, bolts and other similar fasteners to the wall of a supporting structure. Above the slide surface and parallel to it is fitted an upper barrier wall surface suitably made to form one piece with the slide groove. The slide groove and upper barrier wall surface are joined together by an upright flange. The whole structure is most simply made ofa suitable profile as desired. The barrier surface prevents the supporting hook that moves sideways in the slide groove from disengaging and moving over the slide groove. Openings are at suitable places on the barrier surface, in which the supporting hooks can go up and to the fro n sideas a result of this movement, the door moves upward and away from the slideway. The opening in the barrier surface is provided with a flange which goes upward and forward advantageously at an angle of about 45 The flange is fitted to the longitudinal outer edge of the opening. The other edge of the guiding flange is made longer and this extension is bent backwards so as to be parallel to the flange Thus, the peg of the supporter of the dooreasily goes between this chamber. The length of the extension is about the same as the upward directed breadth of the flange, but made such that the upright supporting hook with its pegs cannot fall out of the channel formed by the extension and the slide groove of the inner edge.

When the door is moved in the slidegroove to the door opening, so that the supporting hook with its horizontal and sidewards reaching pegs attached to its upper part is at the opening made to the barrier surface. The door is lifted upwards, whereat the upper part of the supporter slides along the flange rising upwards from the barrier surface until the peg of the supporter reaches the curve of the flange extension; which stops. The hoisting movement. Owing to the incline, the door also moves forward during the lifting, so that due to the suitably dimensioned parts of the flange and supporters, it has come to the door gap and at the same time 2 so much forward that the adjacent door as enough space to pass the lifted door in the slideway. When the door is in an inclined position during the lifting, the backwards bent part of the flange extension prevents the supporter or the peg of the supporting hook from releasing from the channel. The lifting can be done simply by hand lifting the door, e.g., by' hand grasping holes made for fingers. Heavier doors require a special lifting mechanism which may be simply made of shaft fitted next to the lower edge of the door. The shaft is provided with lever handles which extend to holes in the door and under the lower edge of the door. Thus by turning a crank attached to the shaft when the-door is open, the nearly horizontalhandles turn nearly to a vertical position over a dead point. Simultaneously the door moves upward and forward in the provided channel. A bar is placed advantageously for pivotal movement by the handle. The bar is more sturdy than the handle grasps lower surface of the bar may be joined by flanges to an axle or shaft portion. The shaftis advantageously fastened with hearings to the door frames. The frames are made of angular sections.

In order to illustrate the invention, references are made to the accompanying drawing, in which FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a prior art sliding door structure; O

FIG. 1A is a partial side elevational view taken along section lines IA-IA of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of a sliding door structure including supportbars;

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of a sliding door structure of the present invention;

FIG. 3A is, a partial side elevational view taken along section lines IIIA-IIIA of FIG. 3;

F IG. 4 is a partial perspective view of the sliding door structure of this invention prior to door lifting;

FIG. 4A is a partial side elevational view taken along section lines IVA-IVAjof FIG. 4; 4 FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view of the sliding door structure of this 'inventien with the door in'lifted position; 1

FIG. 5Ais a partial side sectional view of the structureof FIG. 5 taken along section. lines VAVA;'

FIG."'6 is a front elevational view of a pair of doors in association'with the sliding door structure of this invention; i

FIG. 6A is a partial side sectional view taken along section lines VIA-VlAbf FIG. 6;

FIG. 7 is a front elevational view of a lifting mecha- 'provided with the door structure of the present invention. I

In the drawings, supports 2 are attached to the upper edge of the slide door 1 by any suitable means. The.

upper ends of the supports are bent back to form a part 6 which is parallel to the support Part 6 is provided slidepieces, rollers and the like disposed for moving the support in the slide groove 4 along the surface 3'along with facilitating elements. Above the slide groove there is a barrier surface 5 which is joined by flange 8 of the slide groove to form one piece structure. In the present structure, openings 20 are made in the barrier surface to the longitudinal outer edge of which the guiding flange 9 is disposed at an angle of about 45. The other edge of the flange is extended with and extension 10, which is turned back to be roughly parallel with the flange. The supports 2 are provided with pegs 7, attached at the upper part of the fold. Pegs 7 are fitted for movement into the split between the guiding flange 9 and extension 10. The length of the opening 20 is at least as long as the total length of the support 2 and the length of the outstanding part of the peg. The lower edge 11 of the extension is bent a little away from the slideway. I

The supports '2 and opening 20 are fitted so that when the said parts are opposite each other such as illustrated in FIG. 4 the door is in the door gap of the wall. When the door 2 is pushed upwards, the upper edge of the supporter hits the guiding flange 9 and slides along it until the peg 7 stops the movement in the curve between the extension 10 and the flange 9. Because of the incline of the surface 9, the support and with it also the door move outward. In the event the door is kept in an upright position, it moves altogether away from the slideway 4, so that a second door moving in the same slideway can be transferred on its own supports 2 along the slidesurface 3 past the uplifted door. The door gap is advantageously fitted so that the door when lifted up and when coming to its end position will fill the door gap at the same time. By moving the lower end of the door downwards, the peg 7 is made to move the support again back to the slide groove 4 by guiding along extension 10.

The door can'be simply lifted manually by grasping the holes made for fingers such as splits 12. The door can be also lifted by means ofa lever mechanism which is especially useful in heavier doors. The example shaft 13, which can be turned by a crank 14, is attached with bearing to the door frams l7. Handles 15 are attached to the shaft 13, the ends of which are suitably joined with a bar 16. This part 16 fits to the lower edge of the door 1 in the groove of fram 18, so that when the crank is turned, the lower end moves in the grasp of the bar is opened. A space corresponding to the distance the door is lifted must be left between the peg 7 and the curve of the extension 10. The door may include further elements such as locks, handles and the like provided they do not interfere with normal door moving and lifting as noted previously. When the door is in position in the slideway 4, it is dependent on the supports 2. Its lower end is free but the lifting bar 16 can guide it or a projecting bump molding 21 in lateral direction. Transferable elements of the upper part are again protected by a flange 8 which hides the element 16 within the wall structure.

The invention is particurlarly suitable for use in trucks but it can of course be applied to other constructions. The invention is thus not limited to the embodiment presented. Many variations are possible within the following patent claims. Thus the lifting of the door can be done in many other ways as for example, by providing the door with a horizontal hinge. Closing is effected by fittingthe lower edge of the door so to depend on the doorsill or the like and by pressing straight the parts of the door at the hinge, which form a projecting angle, so that the supports of the upper end rise upwards in the above manner and the door will be out of the transfer way. To make sure that the door stays straight it is provided e.g., with a suitable bolt to clasp the two halves.

I claim:

1. A sliding door assembly which comprises in combination, at least two separate doors disposed slidable along an overhead slideway and disposed in a common plane when said doors are in the closed position, spaced hangers attached to each upper door edge, said spaced hangers each having a longitudinally projecting peg element, andslideway having an upper barrier surface with spaced portions thereof removed, said re- I moved portions coinciding with the spaced hangers, a

16 up and down and at the same time outward as is best illustrated in FIG. 8A. A beam is attached to the edge 19 of the platform. The upright edge 21 outside the beam protects and guides the lower edge of door moving in the slideway, at the same time as it prevents damage to the lever mechanism. In the FIGS. 7 and 8, the lever 14 is turned to its upper position and the door 1 is in normal position. In the event the lever 14 is turned to the left, the lower end 1 of the door moves and lowers from upright position to the normal position presented in FIG. 8A in broken lines. In normal position the peg 7 of the support of the upper end of the door has returned along the extension 10 downwards until part I 6 finally returns to the guiding groove 4 where the door is again movable in the slideway.

The closed door remains in the same place because the handles 15 are turned a little over their dead point,

whereat it is necessary to lift the door ,a little when it v guiding flange member and a return bent extension thereof, both disposed at an angle over the said removed portions and defining an inverted U-shaped channel, means for lifting a door from the slideway and out of the common plane with projecting peg elements being received by corresponding U-shaped channels, said means for lifting the door simultaneously displacing the door bottom and providing support for the displaced door whereby a door may be moved in said common plane along the slideway in the location where a second door. has been lifted and is in displaced position with peg elements of the second door within said U-shaped channels.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein the door lift means are finger holes provided in the door for manual displacement thereof.

3. The structure of claim 1 wherein the door lift means is a crank lever assembly disposed along the bottom edge of the door for lifting by pivotal movement and ground contact.

4. The structure of claim 1 wherein the said projecting flange is atan angle of about 45 relative the barrier

Claims

1. A sliding door assembly which comprises in combination, at least two separate doors disposed slidable along an overhead slideway and disposed in a common plane when said doors are in the closed position, spaced hangers attached to each upper door edge, said spaced hangers each having a longitudinally projecting peg element, and slideway having an upper barrier surface with spaced portions thereof removed, said removed portions coinciding with the spaced hangers, a guiding flange member and a return bent extension thereof, both disposed at an angle over the said removed portions and defining an inverted U-shaped channel, means for lifting a door from the slideway and out of the common plane with projecting peg elements being received by corresponding Ushaped channels, said means for lifting the door simultaneously displacing the door bottom and providing support for the displaced door whereby a door may be moved in said common plane along the slideway in the location where a second door has been lifted and is in displaced position with peg elements of the second door within said U-shaped channels.

4. The structure of claim 1 wherein the said projecting flange is at an angle of about 45* relative the barrier surface.