WO2017061958A1

WO2017061958A1 - Sliding walls

Info

Publication number: WO2017061958A1
Application number: PCT/TH2016/000081
Authority: WO
Inventors: Vinaitan JIRATRILAK; Pattanan CHANJARASPONG
Original assignee: Jiratrilak Vinaitan; Chanjaraspong Pattanan
Priority date: 2015-10-08
Filing date: 2016-10-07
Publication date: 2017-04-13

Abstract

The sliding wall consists of a wall or cabinet that can be used as a movable partition. The wall or cabinet is mounted with wheels underneath to support the weight and to aid the movement of the wall or cabinet. This wall or cabinet has the movement and sliding controllers underneath. The movement controller is a sheet of material set up vertically on the floor and having the lower part folded perpendicularly with the middle part and attached to the floor while the upper part folded perpendicularly and mounted with a small wheel which is placed inside the rail The sliding controller is a rail mounted underneath the wall or cabinet, covering the small wheel which is placed on the upper end of the movement controller. This rail has two wings extending down vertically with a suitable gap between the two wings to allow the small wheel to be placed inside. The rail also has a short part connected perpendicularly inside each wing of the rail to control the position of the small wheel and to guide the movement of the wall or cabinet.

Description

Title of Invention Sliding walls

Technical Field

Engineering relating to sliding walls

Background Art

In a big city or so-called a metropolitan, most offices are located in skyscrapers. Each floor of these skyscrapers is usually designed to utilize space most efficiently. Normally, to divide the space into various rooms, it does not use permanent walls because it is difficult to adjust the area later. Therefore, the space is usually separated by a finished wall or partition which is appropriate for dividing a common working area but this is not an ideal for separating the area into small rooms which require privacy. Likewise, most residential buildings in large cities are high-rise buildings whose rooms are frequently sold as an unfurnished unit. Therefore, the utility area in the room is not pre-separated. This is to allow the buyer to design and decorate the room as he or she wishes as well as to be able to adjust the space without demolition. Since the wide open space of the office room or the studio-type room of residential buildings needs high power or high BTU (British thermal unit) air conditioners to cool off the room, this consumes a lot of electricity. It is for this reason that the work space needs to be divided into specific working areas and meeting room areas. By the same token, the studio room has to be divided into bedrooms and living rooms. However, there is need to connect these rooms together in order to utilise the space in the most efficient manner. Therefore, partitions or furniture such as finished walls, drawers or other office equipment must fit to confined space, be easy to move around, and have to be multi-purposes.

To separate the space in the room into specific areas may create a different negative impact depending upon techniques used to separate the space as follows: 1 . In the case of building a wall up to the ceiling, if it is a concrete wall, the space will be wasted at least by the wall thickness of about 20 centimeters or if it is a wood- frame wall, the space will be wasted by the thickness of about 15 centimeters. The weight of the wall depends on the materials used to build it.

In the case of using a high cabinet or bookcase to separate the area, normally the cabinet when containing books or other heavy materials will carry a lot of weight, hence difficult to move around.

In the case of using a sliding wall, this is normally done by installing or embedding rails into the wall or wall frame and the floor. The wheels, which are mounted at the bottom of the wall to support movement of the wall along the rails, will damage the surface of the floor.

In the case of using partitions commonly available in the market, there must be a modular-type frame to support these partitions, namely there must be a pillar with rails in the vertical direction for the purpose of attaching the partitions to the pole. The joints of the pole are often broken when detaching or bending or dismantling the partitions. In addition, the partitions often do not fit to the height of the room, causing cool-air, sound and light escaping the partitioned area.

In the case of using the retractable folding walls or partitions, there must be rails embedded in the ceiling and the floor so that the walls or partitions can fold evenly Without the rails, the walls or partitions will get stuck when folded or stretched. Normally, each section of the foldable walls has a width of at least 20 centimeters. If the width of each section of the walls is reduced to 10 centimeters to save space, it will in turn increase the length of the remaining walls when fully folded. Moreover, if the rails are not embedded into the floor, namely just placing on the floor, they will obstruct the walk way and may cause tripping over. If, however, they are embedded into the floor, they will accumulate dust and small debris and be difficult to clean. In the case of dividing the room by using a high cabinet which has wheels so that the room layout can be changed or rearranged, there are still some defects as follows: 6.1. For the cabinet which has freely rotating wheels attached to it, when it contains books or some heavy objects on some of its shelves and is pushed to the left or right, it will not move in a straight line. This defect is quite obvious when sliding many of these cabinets in the same direction at the same time, they will not align with the others, making the room looks disordered. Moreover, if the cabinet is fully loaded with books or heavy objects, it will need to be pulled and pushed back very hard in order to move it forward and backward. 6.2. For the cabinet with rails attached to it and placed on the floor, it may be moved easier and align with one another. However, if the rails are placed on the floor, it may obstruct the walk way. If the rails are embedded into the floor, it will accumulate dust and small debris, making it difficult to clean. In addition, when this high cabinet is fully loaded with books or heavy objects, it will carry heavy weight, creating high force on the rails. It will also create friction when moved and the rails may be bent. After using it for a long time, the rails will finally be twisted or deformed.

An invention which has similar features has been protected in other countries. For example, the United States patent number US20050252094 issued on 17 November 2005 is an invention relating to a sliding wall which includes several laterally movable wall elements which are guided within a support profile that is disposed above the wall elements by way of trolleys. At least one of the wall elements is embodied as a rotating wing which is actuated by a drive unit that is stationary relative to the movable wall elements. The wall elements can be individually displaced in a manual or motorized manner; the individual wall elements are provided with a bottom guiding mechanism which engages within a guide rail that is embedded in the floor.

Another invention was the United States patent number US8336973 published on 25^th December 2012. This invention aims to provide a mechanism that can solve the problem of disordering of the furniture when pulled. This invention is a flush-mounted guiding arrangement adjustably mounts furniture parts that are extractably and insertably mounted inside a furniture carcass by means of a pair of extensible guides encompassing one respective guide rail. The sliding rail is longitudinally guided on the guide rail and can be placed in the lateral edge region on the bottom face of the extractable furniture part. An adjusting fixture grips the bottom of the furniture part that is to be mounted and in the forward end area of the sliding rail. The adjusting fixture has a mechanism for adjusting the position of a sliding rail relative to the extractable furniture part in the direction of at least one axis of a Cartesian coordinate system formed by three coordinate axes that run substantially perpendicular to each other.

Although the said patent aims to solve the uneven movement of the furniture, it seems that the invention only solves the problem for some parts of furniture such as drawers or small cupboards installed in a large cabinet because they are not weighed a lot. However, this mechanism or this invention is not appropriate for a sliding wall or cabinet which contains heavy objects or books. Another work that already exists is an application for a design patent number 0902001648 in Thailand which was filed on 4¹'¹ J une 2009. It is equipment mounted between a cabinet and a wall. It features a slim flat sheet with 2 flat hangers, placed in perpendicular with a sheet plane. This equipment, however, is mounted as a static hanger and is not movable. The characteristics and the purposes of the invention in brief

The sliding walls according to this invention consist of a wall or cabinet which can be used as a wall, wheels mounted to the bottom of the wall or cabinet in order to carry weight and assist movement of the wall or cabinet, and the sliding and movement controllers. The sliding controller is in the form of rails attached to the outer side of the bottom of the wall or the cabinet in order to support the wheels hich are attached to the upper part of the movement controller. The lower part of the movement controller is attached to the floor. The small wheels are placed inside these rails. The movement controller is in the form of a sheet of material which is stationary and mounted vertically onto the floor in order to control the direction of the moving rails that are attached underneath the wall or cabinet so that the wall or cabinet will move in a straight line. The flat sheet of material that forms the movement controller has the lower end folded perpendicularly in order to be mounted onto the floor and the upper end also folded perpendicularly to support the wheels which are mounted on the top plane of the upper part of the movement controller.

The sliding wall according to this invention provides a solution to the current problems of partitioning of the room which is commonly done by placing the rail on the floor or embedded into the floor. The solution is to attach the rails underneath the wall or cabinet so that it will not create any obstacle on the walk way and will also prevent the accumulation of the dust inside the rails which is difficult to clean. This invention al so prevents deformation of the rails after long use due to the heavy weight of the wall or cabinet that presses onto the rails mounted on or into the floor as mentioned in the background art. Disclosure of Invention

Figure 1 shows a view of the bottom of the wall or cabinet according to the invention. Some parts of the bottom are cut off in order to show the bottom part (7) of the wall or cabinet (I ) which has a wheel (2), the movement controller (3), the rail (4) and a small wheel (5). Figure 2 shows a cross section of a wall or cabinet of this invention by showing the sliding controller which consists of:

A wall or cabinet (1 ) used for partitioning the room showing the bottom part (7) of the wall or cabinet ( 1 )

A wheel (2) mounted under the bottom part (7) of wall or cabinet ( 1 ) to support the load and aid the movement of the wall or cabinet (1)

The movement controller (3) in the form of a flat sheet of material sitting vertically and having the lower end folded perpendicularly and mounted on the floor (6) and having the upper end (9) folded perpendicularly and mounted with a small wheel (5) whose axis is in the vertical direction and which is placed inside the rail (4) which is in turn attached to the bottom part (7) of the wall or cabinet.

The sliding controller in the form of a rail (4) mounted on the outer plane area of the bottom part (7) of the wall or cabinet. Inside this rail is located a small wheel (5) which is in turn mounted on the upper end (9) of the movement controller (3). This rail (4) has at least two wings extending down vertically with a suitable gap between the two wings to allow the small wheel (5) to be placed inside the rail (4). The rail also has a short part connected perpendicularly inside each wing of the rail to control the position of the small wheel (5) and to guide the movement of the wall or cabinet ( 1). The cross-section of the rail (4) is in the form of inverted U shape or H shape.

Figure 3 shows a cross section of the wall or cabinet of this invention and shows another possible form of the bottom part of the wall or cabinet and another type of the small wheel which is placed at the upper end of the movement controller. This set of wall or cabinet consists of:

- The wall or cabinet ( 1 ) used for partitioning the room where the bottom part (7) of the wall or cabinet is attached with a reinforced material (71 ) which is in turn mounted with the sliding controller.

- A wheel (2) mounted under the bottom part (7) of the wall or cabinet (1) to support the load and aid the movement of the wall or cabinet (1 ). The movement controller (3) in the form of a flat sheet of material sitting vertically and having the lower end folded perpendicularly and mounted on the floor (6) and having the upper end folded perpendicularly and mounted with a small wheel (5), with cylindrical or conical shape, whose axis is in the vertical direction and which is placed inside the rail (4) which is in turn attached to the reinforced material (71 ) at the bottom part (7) of the wall or cabinet.

The sliding controller in the form of a rail (4) mounted on the outer plane area of the bottom part (7) of the wall or cabinet. Inside this rail is located a small wheel (5) which is in turn mounted on the upper end of the movement controller (3). This rail (4) has at least two wings extending down vertically with a suitable gap between the two wings to allow the small wheel (5) to be placed inside the rail (4). The rail also has a short part connected perpendicularly inside each wing of the rail to control the position of the small wheel (5) and to guide the movement of the wall or cabinet (1). The cross-section of the rail (4) is in the form of inverted U shape or H shape.

Figure 4 shows the first form of the movement controller. It features a flat sheet of material whose middle part is in the flat plane shape (8) constituting in a vertical line as the height of the movement controller The lower part of the sheet (10) is folded perpendicularly with the middle part (8) for being attached to the floor (6). The upper part of the sheet (9) is folded perpendicularly with the middle part (8) and mounted with a small cylindrical or conical shape wheel (5). The small wheel (5) acts as a stationary point for the rail to move forth and back. The cross section of this type of the movement controller is in the Z or S shape.

Figure 5 shows the second form of the movement controller. The upper part (9) and lower part ( 10) are folded perpendicularly with the middle part (8) in the same direction. The cross section of this type of the movement controller is in the C shape.

Figure 6 shows the third form of the movement controller. This type of the movement controller has a supporting sheet (1 1 ) in the form of the triangle shape; one side of which is mounted under the upper part of the movement controller and another side of which is mounted on the middle part of the movement controller. This supporting sheet acts as a stiffener for the upper part of the movement controller. Brief Description of Drawing

Figure 1 shows a view of the bottom part of the wall or cabinet, which is partially cut off to show the mechanism underneath according to this invention.

Figure 2 shows a cross section of the wall or cabinet of this invention and illustrates the sliding controller when assembled together.

Figure 3 shows a cross section of the wall or cabinet of the invention which illustrates another type of the bottom part of the wall or cabinet which has a reinforced material attached to it and another type of a small wheel which is a part of the movement controller when assembled together. Figure 4 shows the first form of the movement controller according to this invention.

Figure 5 shows the second form of the movement controller according to this invention.

Figure 6 shows the third form of the movement controller which has a supporting part attached under the upper end of the movement controller according to this invention.

Best Mode for Carrying out the Invention

As stated in the topic of Disclosure of Invention.

Claims

The sliding wall consists of:

1 . 1 A wall or cabinet or a material with thickness or a cabinet look used as a partition whose bottom part of the wall or cabinet has a wheel mounted underneath to support the weight and to aid the movement of the wall or cabinet. This sliding wall or cabinet has special mechanisms, namely the movement controller and sliding controller, mounted at the bottom.

1 .2 The movement controller in the form of a flat sheet of material sitting vertically and having the lower end folded perpendicularly and mounted on the floor and having the upper end folded perpendicularly and mounted with a small wheel, with cylindrical or conical shape, whose axis is in the vertical direction and which is placed inside the rail which is in turn attached to the bottom part of the wall or cabinet.

1 .3 The sliding controller in the form of a rail mounted on the outer plane area of the bottom part of the wall or cabinet. Inside this rail is located a small wheel which is in turn mounted on the upper end of the movement controller. This rail has at least two wings extending down vertically with a suitable gap between the two wings to allo the small wheel to be placed inside the rail . The rail also has a short part connected perpendicularly inside each wing of the rail to control the position of the small wheel and to guide the movement of the wall or cabinet. The cross-section of the rail is in the form of the inverted U shape or H shape.

The sliding wall or cabinet, according to Claim No. l , wherein the movement controller's ends are folded perpendicularly with the middle part of the movement controller but they are folded in the opposite direction to each other, forming like a Z or S shape when viewed on a cross-section.

The sliding wall or cabinet, according to Claim No. l , wherein the movement controller's ends are folded perpendicularly with the middle part of the movement controller but they are folded in the same direction, forming like a C shape when viewed on a cross-section.

The sliding wall or cabinet, according to Claim No. l , wherein the movement controller's ends are folded perpendicularly with the middle part of the movement controller whereby the upper end of the movement controller has at least one reinforced triangle sheet attached underneath it and another side of this reinforced triangle sheet is attached to the middle part of the movement controller.

The. movement controller in the form of a Hat sheet of material sitting vertically and having the lower end folded perpendicularly and mounted on the floor and having the upper end folded perpendicularly and mounted with a small wheel, with cylindrical or conical shape, whose axis is in the vertical direction and which is placed inside the rail which is in turn attached to the bottom part of the wall or cabinet or attached to the reinforced material at the bottom part of the wall or cabinet.

The sliding controller in the form of a rail mounted on the outer plane area of the bottom part of the wall or cabinet. Inside this rail is located a small wheel which is in turn mounted on the upper end of the movement controller. This rail has at least two wings extending down vertically with a suitable gap between the two wings to allow the small wheel to be placed inside the rail. The rail also has a short part connected perpendicularly inside each wing of the rail to control the position of the small wheel and to guide the movement of the wall or cabinet. The cross-section of the rail is in the form of the inverted U shape or H shape.