WO2016063195A1

WO2016063195A1 - Guide device for a pair of slidable doors of a container, particularly of a wardrobe

Info

Publication number: WO2016063195A1
Application number: PCT/IB2015/058027
Authority: WO
Inventors: Lorenzo Negrello; Mattia SINIGAGLIA
Original assignee: S.I. S.R.L.
Priority date: 2014-10-20
Filing date: 2015-10-19
Publication date: 2016-04-28
Also published as: EP3209840B1; ES2768755T3; PL3209840T3; EP3209840A1

Abstract

A guide device for a pair of slidable doors of a container, particularly of a wardrobe, in which said doors (4, 4') are contained between a top (6) and a bottom (8) of the container, characterised by comprising: - a pair of guides (10, 12) to be applied to the lower surface of said top (6) and to the upper surface of said bottom (8), each guide comprising a track with a rectilinear portion (1 8) and with two end portions (20, 20') inclined forwards with respect to said rectilinear portion (18), and a two way double changeover switch element (22) inserted into the centre of said rectilinear portion (18) and comprising a rectilinear branch (24), creating continuity with the rectilinear portion (18) of the track of said guide (10, 12), a pair of deviated branches (26, 26') inclined forwards in the opposite direction to said rectilinear branch (24), and a pair of tongues (30, 30') associated with elastic means to maintain them independently in the deviated position and each provided with an appendix (34) interfering with the respective deviated branch (26, 26') when the tongue (30, 30') is in the deviated position and not interfering with said deviated portion when the tongue is in the non- deviated position, - a first pair of carriages (14, 14') applied in proximity to the ends of the upper edge of each door (4, 4') and each provided with a pin (38, 38') engagable in the track of said upper guide (10), - a second pair of carriages (16, 16') applied in proximity to the ends of the lower edge of each door (4, 4') and each provided with a pin (40, 40') engagable in the track of said lower guide (12), and with a wheel (42) to rest on and slIdable on said lower guide.

Description

GU I DE DEVI CE FOR A PAI R O F SLI DABLE DOORS OF A CONTAI N E R, PARTICULARLY OF A WARDROBE

The present invention relates to a guide device for a pair of slidable doors of a container, particularly of a wardrobe.

Wardrobes are known provided with a pair of slidable doors which are coplanar when the wardrobe is closed, whereas they are superimposed when the wardrobe is open. Wardrobes of th is type are divided into two basic categories: those in which the door moved to open the wardrobe is positioned in front of the door which has not been moved, and those in which the door moved to open the wardrobe is positioned behind the door which has not been moved.

Generally, the first category enables the doors to cover the front edge of the top an d botto m of th e wa rd robe , whereas the second category maintains the front edge of the top and bottom always visible.

The present i nvent ion re l ates to a g u i de devi ce app l icab le to wardrobes of this second category which, compared with those applicable to wardrobes of the first category, are sim pler as they do not have to support stresses related to the need to have both doors projecting.

A sl idable door gu ide device of the type the object of the present invention is known from US 81 1 3607. In it, the front edge of the top and bottom of the wardrobe structure consist of a guide in which two tracks are provided; these are engaged by slidable pairs of pins applied in proxim ity to the upper edge and lower edge of each of the two slidable doors.

The two tracks of each gu ide have d ifferent widths and different depths and, correspondingly, the pins applied to one door have a different height and width from those of the pins applied to the other door, and are both shaped such that each door to be moved is able to slide and be positioned behind the other door, which is not to be moved. The two doors are coplanar when the wardrobe is closed whereas when the wardrobe is to be opened they are able to be moved in the same plane, which is positioned behind the closure plane.

A drawback of this known solution is the fact that the door guides are appl ied to the front edge of the top and bottom of the wardrobe and are therefore visible from the outside.

Another drawback of this known solution is that the doors move by the fact of their pins and/or their front edge sliding on the lower guide, this making the movement difficult and putting limits on the weight of the doors.

Another drawback is that the pins applied to one door are different from the pins applied to the other door, causing manufacturing standardization problems.

An object of the invention is to provide a guide device for a pair of slidable doors of a container, particularly a wardrobe, which eliminates all the aforesaid drawbacks.

A particular object of the invention is to provide a guide device for slidable doors which enables the doors to be moved smoothly and easily in passing from the wardrobe closed state to the wardrobe open state and vice versa.

Another object of the invention is to provide a guide device for slidable doors which enables the front edge of the top and bottom of the wardrobe to be maintained visible Another object of the invention is to provide a guide device for slidable doors which involves the use of only a small number of pieces.

Another object of the invention is to provide a guide device for slidable doors, in which the horizontality of the doors can be adjusted very simply and quickly.

Another object of the invention is to provide a guide device for slidable doors, which can also be applied to wardrobes with more than two doors.

Another object of the invention is to provide a guide device for slidable doors, in which door impact against the wardrobe structure on reaching end- of-travel is prevented.

Another object of the invention is to provide a guide device for slidable doors, in which the position of the doors when the wardrobe is in its closed configuration is maintained stable.

These objects and others which wi ll be apparent from the ensuing description are attained, according to the invention, by a guide device for a pair of slidable doors, particularly for a wardrobe, as defined in claim 1 .

The present invention is further clarified hereinafter in terms of some preferred embodiments thereof, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a wardrobe in the closed configuration, Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of a part of the wardrobe of Figure

1 ,

Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view showing in detai l the double changeover switch of the device according to the invention,

Figure 4 shows the same detail in plan view, Figure 5 shows in rear view a door to which the carriages of the device according to the invention are applied,

Figure 6 shows in rear perspective view a part of the wardrobe, with the slidable doors provided with the guide device according to the invention,

Figure 7 is a schematic plan view showing a portion of a door in a position close to closure,

Figure 8 shows the door in the same view as Figure 7 but in the closed position,

Figure 9 is a horizontal schematic section through a three door wardrobe in the closed configuration,

Figure 10 is an enlarged detailed schematic plan view of the changeover switch for the third door of Figure 9,

Figure 1 1 is a horizontal schematic section through a three door wardrobe with the central door being opened, and

Figure 12 is an enlarged detailed schematic plan view of the changeover switch for the third door in the condition shown in Figure 1 1 .

As can be seen from the figures, the device according to the invention, applicable to a wardrobe structure 2 comprising two doors 4, 4', slidable within the space bounded by a top 6 and a bottom 8 comprises two guides, an upper gu ide 1 0 to be incorporated into the top 6, and a lower gu ide 1 2 to be incorporated into the bottom 8, both at a short distance from the front edge of the top and bottom . The device also comprises two pairs of carriages for each door 4, 4' and more precisely an outer upper carriage 14, an inner upper carriage 14', an outer lower carriage 16, and an inner lower carriage 16'. Each gu ide 1 0, 1 2 is provided with a s ing le recti l inear track 1 8 extending parallel to the guide and also to the front edge of the panel (top 6 or bottom 8) to which it is applied, and terminating with a forwardly inclined portion 20, 20'.

In the central part of the rectilinear track portion 1 8 a type of double changeover switch 22 is applied, consisting of a block 23 formed in two parts to be vertically coupled together. It comprises internally a short rectilinear branch 24 creating continuity with the track rectilinear portion 1 8, and two deviating branches 26, 26', which extend symmetrically from the rectilinear branch 24 and have an inclination preferably greater than the inclination of the inclined portions 20, 20' of the two guides 10, 12.

Advantageously each gu ide 1 0, 1 2 com prises, in add ition to the double changeover switch 22, a profile portion in which the rectilinear portion 18 is formed, and two endpieces 28, 28', in each of which the inclined portion 20, 20' is form ed . I n this manner the length of the guide 10, 12 can be adapted to the length of the wardrobe, by using a profile piece which is cut to s ize and to wh i ch the two e nd p i eces 28 , 28' an d the centra l dou b le changeover switch 22 are applied.

In whichever way the two guides 10, 12 are formed, in each branch of the double changeover switch 22 a type of tongue 30, 30' is provided in the manner of railway switches, which is hinged to the block 23 of the double changeover switch 22 and is associated with a spring 32, 32' which tends to maintain the tongue in a deviated position in the absence of external stresses.

The tong ue 30 , 30' is also provided at the oppos ite end to the deviating portion with an appendix 34, 34', which overruns the end portion of the deviated branch 26, 26' of the switch when the tongue 30, 30' is in the deviated position, whereas it leaves the deviated branch 26, 26' free when the tongue 30, 30' is in the non-deviated position.

Other elements of the device according to the invention include, as stated, carriages 14, 14', 16, 16', which are mounted on each door 4, 4'. As stated, these comprise two lower carriages 16, 16' mounted close to the two lower corners of each of the two doors 4, 4' , and two carriages 1 4, 1 4' mounted close to the two upper corners of said doors.

The carriages 14, 14', 16, 16' are substantially identical and comprise a body 36 for fixing to the door 4, 4' , and a pin 38, 38' and 40, 40' , which engages the upper guide 10 and the lower guide 12 respectively.

Hence in contrast to the upper carriages 14, 14', each lower carriage 16, 16' is also provided with a wheel 42, preferably rubber coated, which has its axis perpendicular to the plane of the door 4, 4' and rests on the lower guide 12.

Advantageously, both the upper pin 38, 38' and the lower wheel 42 can be adjusted vertically relative to the carriage body 36, for the reasons which will be apparent hereinafter, but for production standardization reasons it is advantageous for the body 36 of al l carriages 1 4, 1 4' , 1 6, 1 6' to be provided with a slide 44 provided with a vertical pin, with which a threaded adjustment knob 46 is associated.

The relative upper pin 38, 38' is fixed to the slide 44 of each upper carriage 14, 14', while the relative upper pin 40, 40' and a wheel 42 are fixed to the slide 44 of each lower carriage 16, 16'. In order to damp the travel of each closing door 4, 4' while at the same time ensuring stabil ity of the door when in the closed position, it can be advantageous to insert a magnet 48 (Figures 7, 8) into each endpiece 28, 28' of each guide 1 0, 12, and to embed a magnet 50 into the upper horizontal edge and into lower horizontal edge of each door 4, 4'. The position of the magnets 48, 50 is such that when the door 4, 4' is closed the magnets 50 embedded into them are slightly closer to the outer sides of the wardrobe than the magnets 48 inserted into the endpieces 28, 28'; moreover the polarity of corresponding magnets is equal, meaning that the magnets are antagonistic and tend to repel each other.

To better understand the operation of the guide device according to the invention , it is convenient to make reference to the closed wardrobe condition shown in Figure 1 . When in this configuration the two doors 4, 4' are mutually coplanar, with each having the outer carriages 14, 16 positioned in proxim ity to the wardrobe outer edges and the inner carriages 1 4' , 1 6' positioned in proximity to the wardrobe central transverse plane.

Moreover, the outer upper carriage 14 of the left door 4 engages via its pin 38 the end of the left inclined portion 20 of the upper guide 10, whereas the inner upper carriage 14' of the said door 4 engages via its pin 38' the left deviated branch 26 of the upper double changeover switch 22.

Likewise the outer upper carriage 14 of the right door 4' engages via its pin 38 the end of the right inclined portion 20' of the guide 1 0, whereas the inner upper carriage 14' of the said door 4' engages via its pin 38' the right deviated branch 26' of the upper double changeover switch 22. The same also takes place for the lower carriages 16, 16' which, in a sim ilar manner, engage via their pin 40 the inclined portions 20, 20' of the lower guide 12 and engage via their pin 40' the deviated branch 26, 26' of the lower double changeover switch 22.

When in this configuration the pins 38', 40' which engage the deviated branches 26, 26' of the two upper and lower double changeover switches act on the appendices 34, 34' of the two tongues 30, 30' and m aintain said tongues in the non-deviated position, against the reaction of the respective springs 32, 32'.

To open the wardrobe, for example by sliding the left door 4 towards the right, the user pushes the door tangentially towards the right by acting on a handle applied to it. This handle is not shown on the drawings for simplicity, but can be of traditional recessed type and be applied close to the outer vertical edge of said door, or be of projecting type and be applied along the edge itself.

The tangential push against the door 4 causes it to move towards the right with a smooth movement, due to the resting of the door on the lower guide 1 2 via the two wheels 42 , which because of the low rol ling friction enables doors even of large d imensions and considerable weight to be formed.

As soon as the pin 38', 40' of the upper inner carriage 14' and lower inner carriage 1 6' begins to move along the deviated branch 26 of the two switches 22, it disengages the appendix 34 of the respective tongue 30 and enables the spring 32 associated with it to bring it into the deviated position, arranging it for the next closure step of the door 4 and always ensuring a substantial continuity of the support surface for the corresponding wheel 42, which although subjected to a movement with a com ponent parallel to its rotation axis nevertheless ensures that it rotates on its resting surface.

The in itial part of the slid ing of the door 4 involves its movement towards the right and, by virtue of the presence of the inclined portion 20 and the inclined branches 26 of the two changeover switches 22, and the greater inclination of each inclined branch 26 than the corresponding inclined portion 20, also involves a roto-translation of the door itself, which becomes set in a plane inward of and parallel to the plane of this door, to then slide along the rectilinear portion 18 of the guide 10, 12 behind the door 4'.

In order to prevent any interference between the inner vertical corner of the door 4 and the inner vertical corner of the door 4', it is advantageous to adequately bevel or otherwise taper both the inner vertical corners.

A stop applied to the fixed structure of the wardrobe 2 but not shown in the drawings halts the travel of the door 4 an instant before the pins 38, 40 and 38', 40' of its upper carriages 14, 1 4', and lower carriages 16, 16' enter the inclined portions 20', 26', as this would cause an outward displacement of the door 4, hindered however by presence of the door 4'.

The dimensions of the parts are such that when the door 4 is at the end of its opening travel, the pins 38, 40 of its upper outer carriage 1 4 and lower outer carriage 1 6 have not reached the tongue 30 of the changeover switches 22, this meaning that when the door is to be returned to its closed position, i.e. when the user effects the opposite manoeuvre to the preceding by moving the door towards the left, the pins 38', 40' of the inner carriages 14', 16' do not enter the deviated branch 26 of the changeover switches 22, given the arrangement of the respective tongues 30.

When the door 4 is about to reach the wardrobe closed position, the corresponding magnets 48, 50 tend to repel each other to determine a braking effect on the door travel; however when the door has overcome the repelling force between the magnets 48, 50 by inertia, i.e. when the magnets 50 have passed to the opposite side of the magnets 48, the repelling force exerted thereby tends to maintain the door 4 in the closed position until it is voluntarily pushed by the operator in the direction which causes the wardrobe to open.

The aforedescribed device is much more advantageous than traditional devices, and in particular:

- it e n a b l es th e d oo rs to u n d e rg o a s m ooth m ove m e nt , eve n if of considerable weight,

- the gu ides are com pletely h idden from view by the front edge of the wardrobe top and bottom,

- it uses a small number of pieces, which in practice are reduced to two guides to be incorporated into the wardrobe top and bottom, and to four carriages to be applied to each door,

- it enables the horizontality of each door to be adjusted with maximum precision, and hence a dividing gap between the two doors to be created which is of minimum and constant width,

- it enables the doors to be easily mounted on the wardrobe because of the vertical adjustability of the amount of projection of the pins 38, 38', 40, 40' and of the wheels 42. As stated, the aforedescribed device is applicable to wardrobes with two doors 4, 4'; however the market also requires three-door wardrobes, for wh ich the present invention a lso com prises a usefu l accessory wh ich integrates the aforedescribed device and makes it usable in a three-door wardrobe, in which the third door 4" involves certain problems not present in a two door wardrobe. In this respect, the presence of the third door 4", which is a terminal door, makes it necessary to prevent it from being able to be moved when the central door 4 is open, in that if said third door 4" could be opened, it could hinder closure of the central door 4.

In the situation shown in Figures 9-12, in which this third door 4" is positioned on the same side as the door 4 and this latter forms the central door of a three door wardrobe, according to the invention the endpiece 28 of the guides 1 0, 1 2, used for the door 4, is replaced by a carriage 62 which presents a deviated branch 64 similar to the inclined portion 20 of the guides themselves, plus a non-deviated branch 66 which, after a very short rectilinear part which prolongs the track portion 18, bends forwards. The two guides 1 0, 12 then proceed beyond the changeover switch 62 by a rectilinear part 68, which extends the portion 1 8, but with interruption, and term inates at the guide end with an inclined portion 20" totally sim ilar to the inclined portion 20 of the preceding version of the two-door wardrobe.

The changeover switch 62 comprises a tongue 30" which presents, sim ilarly to the tongues 30, 30', an appendix 34", which overruns the terminal portion of the deviated branch 64 when the tongue is in the deviated position, whereas it leaves it free when in the non-deviated position. The tongue 30" also comprises an appendix 70 which engages in an inclined slot 72 provided at the end of a latch 74 movable parallel to the rectilinear portion 1 8 of the guide track. This engagem ent means that when the tongue 30" is in the deviated position, the latch 74 partly overruns the curved end of the non- deviated branch 66 of the changeover switch 62 , wh i le when in the non- deviated position it leaves the non-deviated branch completely free.

This embodiment of the device operates as follows: if the user wishes to open the central doors 4, the user acts as in the already described case. However in this case the initial part of the movement of the central door 4 brings the tongue 30" into the deviated position and consequently causes the latch 74 to overrun the non-deviated branch 66 of the changeover switch 62 and to block the pin 40" of the door 4", which in this manner becomes locked in the closed position until the central door 4 returns to the closed position.

If instead the user wishes to open the door 4" rather than the door 4, the operation can be carried out without any obstacle, as the branch 66 of the changeover switch 62 is free; then when the door 4" has been brought into the open position, it is its own presence which prevents any attempt to open the central door 4.

Besides offering all the already described advantages of the preceding embodiments, this embodiment also offers the further advantage of enabling wardrobes with three slidable doors to be produced.

Claims

C L A I M S

1 . A guide device for a pair of slidable doors of a container, particularly of a wardrobe, in which said doors (4, 4') are contained between a top (6) and a bottom (8) of the container, characterised by comprising:

- a pair of guides (1 0, 12) to be applied to the lower surface of said top (6) and to the upper surface of said bottom (8), each guide comprising a track with a rectilinear portion (1 8) and with two end portions (20, 20') inclined forwards with respect to said rectilinear portion (18), and a two way double changeover switch element (22) inserted into the centre of said rectilinear portion (18) and comprising a rectilinear branch (24), creating continuity with the rectilinear portion (1 8) of the track of said guide (10, 12), a pair of deviated branches (26, 26') inclined forwards in the opposite direction to said rectilinear branch (24), and a pair of tongues (30, 30') associated with elastic means to maintain them independently in the deviated position and each provided with an appendix (34) interfering with the respective deviated branch (26, 26') when the tongue (30, 30') is in the deviated position and not interfering with said deviated portion when the tongue is in the non- deviated position,

- a first pair of carriages ( 1 4, 1 4') appl ied in proxim ity to the ends of the upper edge of each door (4, 4') and each provided with a pin (38, 38') engagable in the track of said upper guide (10),

- a second pair of carriages (16, 16') applied in proxim ity to the ends of the lower edge of each door (4, 4') and each provided with a pin (40, 40') engagable in the track of said lower guide (1 2), and with a wheel (42) to rest on and slidable on said lower guide.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 , characterised in that each of said guides (10, 12) comprises:

- a profile portion in which said rectilinear portion (18) is formed,

- two endpieces (28, 28'), in each of which one of said end portions (20, 20') is provided,

- a double changeover switch element (22) applied in the centre part of said profile.

3. A device as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that said deviated branches (26,26') of said double changeover switch element (22) present a forward inclination greater than the inclination of said end portions (20, 20') of said track.

4. A device as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that each carriage (14, 14', 16, 16') comprises a body (36) by which the carriage is applied to a door (4, 4'), said pin (38, 38') of said first pair of carriages (14, 14') being adjustable vertically relative to said body (36).

5. A device as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that each carriage (14, 14', 16, 16') comprises a body (36) by which the carriage is applied to a door (4, 4'), said wheel (42) of said second pair of carriages (16, 16') being adjustable vertically relative to said body (36).

6. A device as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterised by comprising first magnetic means (50) positioned on the upper and/or lower edge of each door (4, 4'), and second magnetic means (48) positioned in each end portion (20, 20') of said wheel, said first magnetic means (50) being faced by the same polarity of said second magnetic means (48) and being positioned on the upper and/or lower edge of each door (4, 4') such that when this latter is closed, they are closer to the sides of said container than the second magnetic means (48).

7. A device as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterised in that the inner vertical corners of said doors (4, 4') are bevelled and/or tapered.

8. A device as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterised by comprising a pair of further guides (68) to be applied to the lower surface of said top (6) and of said bottom (8) on the prolongation of said guides (10, 12) and intended for the movement of a lateral third door (4"), two pairs of carriages (14", 16") to be applied to said lateral third door (4") and means applied to at least one of said further guides (68) to maintain it locked in the closed position when the central door (4) is moved from its closed position.

9. A device as claimed in claim 8, characterised in that each further guide (68) comprises:

- a changeover switch (62) with a non-deviated branch (66) which firstly prolongs the rectilinear portion (18) of the guide (10, 12) and is then inclined in accordance with the deviated branch (26) of said double changeover switch (22) and with a deviated branch (64) extending parallel to the inclined portion (20),

- a rectilinear portion positioned on the prolongation of the rectilinear portion (18) of the guide (10, 12) and detached from the non-deviated branch (66) of the changeover switch (62) and having the end portion inclined forwards parallel to the deviated branch (64) of the changeover switch (62), - a tongue (30") pertaining to said changeover switch (62) and having a first appendix (34), which interferes with said deviated branch (64) when the tongue (30") is in the deviated position, but does not interfere with said first branch (64) when the tongue (30") is in the non-deviated position, and also having, at least for the changeover switch (62) applied to one of the two further guides (68), a second appendix (70) which engages with an element (74) movable between a position of interference with the inclined end of the non-deviated branch (66) of the changeover switch (62), when said tongue (30") is in the deviated position, and a position of non-interference with said inclined end of the non-deviated branch (66), when said tongue is in the non-deviated position.

10. A d ev i ce as cl a i m ed i n o n e o r m o re of th e p reced i n g cl a i m s , characterised in that the pins (38', 40') which engage the deviated branches (26, 26') of said double changeover switch element (22) act on the appendices (34, 34') of the respective tongue (30, 30') such as to bring and maintain said tongue in said non-deviated position, against the reaction of said elastic means.