Sliding door apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10626648-B2
Application number	US-201615573796-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 12, 2016
Priority date	May 13, 2015
Publication date	Apr 21, 2020
Grant date	Apr 21, 2020

Abstract

A sliding door apparatus capable of effectively restraining sliding movement of a door body is provided. A sliding door apparatus 1 includes: a rail 20 having an inner surface 24 formed to have a concave shape, the inner surface 24 having a first support surface 24 A and a second support surface 24 B which are not parallel to each other; a hanger 30 A, 30 B having a first driving member ( 32, 37 ) in rolling contact with the first support surface 24 A, and a second driving member ( 33, 38 ) in rolling contact with the second support surface 24 B; and a door body 40 configured to be moved in a longitudinal direction of the rail 20 through the hanger 30 A, 30 B. When seen along the longitudinal direction of the rail, the first support surface 24 A and the second support surface 24 B are formed to come close to each other as they extend toward a bottom of the inner surface 24.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A sliding door apparatus comprising:
a rail having an inner surface formed to have a concave shape, the inner surface having a first support surface and a second support surface which are not parallel to each other;
a hanger having a first driving member in rolling contact with the first support surface, and a second driving member in rolling contact with the second support surface; and
a door body configured to be moved in a longitudinal direction of the rail through the hanger;
wherein
when seen along the longitudinal direction of the rail, the first support surface and the second support surface are formed to come close to each other as they extend toward a bottom of the inner surface;
the rail is located to extend along an outer circumferential edge part of an opening part that is opened and closed by the door body;
when seen along the longitudinal direction of the rail, the first support surface is located closer to the opening part than the second support surface;
the first support surface includes a flat part, and an inclined part inclined from the flat part toward the opening part;
the first driving member and the second driving member are rollers;
a rotation axis line of the first driving member is orthogonal to a rotation axis line of the second driving member at a central point of the second driving member in a direction of the rotation axis line of the second driving member, in plane of projection projected in the longitudinal direction of the rail; and
the first driving member and the second driving member are located to be overlapped with each other, in said projected plane.

2. The sliding door apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the inclined part has a first inclined area and a second inclined area, which have inclination angles different from each other.

3. The sliding door apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein:
the rail has a close-side rail part located on the side of the outer circumferential edge part of the opening part, and an open-side rail part located at a position farther from the outer circumferential edge part of the opening part than the close-side rail part;
the flat part and the inclined part are formed on each of the first support surface in the close-side rail part and the first support surface in the open-side rail part;
the hanger has a first hanger and a second hanger located side by side from the side of the close-side rail part to the side of the open-side rail part;
the first hanger has two of the first driving members and one second driving member located between the two first driving members;
the second hanger has two of the second driving members and one first driving member located between the two second driving members; and
a distance between an inclination start point of the inclined part of the open-side rail part and an end of the close-side rail part on the side adjacent to the open-side rail part is not more than a distance between the two first driving members in the first hanger.

4. The sliding door apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the first driving member and the second driving member are located to be offset from each other in the longitudinal direction of the rail.

5. The sliding door apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein
the first driving member and the second driving member are located to be partially overlapped with each other, in a projected plane wherein the first driving member and the second driving member are projected in the longitudinal direction of the rail.

6. The sliding door apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein:
when seen along the longitudinal direction of the rail, a rotation axis of the first driving member is orthogonal to a normal line of the first support surface, and a rotation axis line of the second driving member is orthogonal to a normal line of the second support surface; and
the first driving member and the second driving member are located to be offset from each other in the longitudinal direction of the rail, and are partly overlapped with each other in a projected plane wherein the first driving member and the second driving member are projected in the longitudinal direction of the rail.

7. The sliding door apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the hanger comprises one of:
two of the first driving members and one second driving member, with the second driving member being located between the two first driving members, or
two of the second driving members and one first driving member, with the first driving member being located between the two second driving members.

8. The sliding door apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
an operation assisting rod including a fixed member fixed on the door body, a rod body held by the fixed member and movable in a direction parallel to the longitudinal direction of the rail, and an elastic member located between the fixed member and the rod body;
a receiving member located on a line extended in a direction of an axis line from a distal end of the rod body, the receiving member being configured to bear against the distal end of the rod body and to elastically deform the elastic member to push the rod body toward the fixed member, during a movement of the operation assisting rod caused by a movement of the door body toward a close position;
wherein:
when the door body is moved toward the close position, the door body is moved from the flat part of the first support surface toward the inclined part;
when the first driving member of the hanger reaches an end of the flat part of the first support surface on the side of the inclined part, or reaches the inclined part of the first support surface, the distal end of the rod body and the receiving member are configured to bear against each other; and
the inclined part has a plurality of inclined areas of different inclination angles.

9. The sliding door apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein
an elastic force of the elastic member is adjusted for each of the inclined areas, such that the elastic force acting in a first inclined area is larger than the elastic force acting in a second inclined area when the first inclined area has a larger inclination angle than the second inclined area.

10. The sliding door apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein:
the elastic force of the elastic member increases in proportion to an elastic deformation volume; and
in the plurality of inclined areas, an inclination angle of an inclined area located on the side of the close position of the door body is larger than an inclination angle of an inclined area located closer to the open position of the door body.

11. The sliding door apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein
the operation assisting rod has an adjusting mechanism part configured to hold relative positions between the fixed member and the rod body at given positions, with the elastic member being elastically deformed.

12. The sliding door apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein
the elastic member includes a plurality of coil springs located on a side of an outer peripheral of the rod body, and a connection member configured to connect facing ends of the adjacent coil springs, the connection member being slidably supported on the rod body.

13. The sliding door apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein
a cylindrical body slidably supported on the rod body is located between one of the plurality of coil springs and the rod body.

14. The sliding door apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein
a ball is rotatably held on the distal end of the rod body, the ball being configured to bear against the receiving member.

Assignees

• Nabtesco Corp

Inventors

• Sakabe Daisuke

Classifications

• E05Y2201/69

  having inclined axes · CPC title

• E06B7/22

  by means of elastic edgings, e.g. elastic rubber tubes; by means of resilient edgings, e.g. felt or plush strips, resilient metal strips (E06B7/18 takes precedence) · CPC title

• E05D15/0652

  Tracks (E05D15/063 - E05D15/0647 and E05D15/0656 take precedence) · CPC title

• E05Y2900/132

  Doors · CPC title

• E06B3/469

  Arrangements at the overlapping vertical edges of the wings that engage when closing · CPC title