Adjustable curved door assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9549643-B2
Application number	US-201514674648-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 31, 2015
Priority date	Mar 31, 2015
Publication date	Jan 24, 2017
Grant date	Jan 24, 2017

Abstract

A door assembly compensates for any deflection of the track which may occur with a heavy door material and/or a curved door support track. In particular, the present disclosure provides track mounting assemblies which can be tilted in order to “fine tune” the orientation of the door with respect to the surrounding support structure, e.g., the bathtub or shower base threshold. If the curved track deflects from the weight of one or more sliding doors, the track can be tilted to ensure that the door remains level and functions as intended.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A sliding door assembly comprising:
a door;
a support track slideably supporting the door, the support track having axial ends with a longitudinal extent therebetween, and a cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the longitudinal extent, the cross-sectional shape defining a first pivot area and an adjuster engagement area spaced from the first pivot area, the cross-sectional shape having a first substantially parallel wall and a second substantially parallel wall;
a pair of rollers each rotatably coupled to a top portion of the door and rollingly received on the support track, each of the pair of rollers is received on an upper surface of the support track; and
a track mounting assembly fixable to an adjacent support surface, the track mounting assembly comprising:
a support body including a track slot sized to receive the support track, the track slot defining a second pivot area adapted to pivotably engage with the first pivot area, the track slot having a first linear wall and a second linear wall; and
a tilt adjuster engaging the adjuster engagement area of the support track to selectively adjust a tilt of the support track and hold the support track at a desired tilt angle within the track slot, wherein the desired tilt angle is defined by one of the first linear wall and the second linear wall of the track slot and one of the first substantially parallel wall or the second substantially parallel wall of the support track.

2. The sliding door assembly of claim 1 , wherein the track slot is tapered to define a narrow section and a wide section, the narrow section including the second pivot area and the wide section engaging the tilt adjuster.

3. The sliding door assembly of claim 2 , wherein the taper of the track mounting assembly is defined between opposed first and second inner walls of the track slot, the opposed first and second inner walls defining an angle of between 0.5 degrees and 3.5 degrees.

4. The sliding door assembly of claim 1 , wherein:
the door comprises a curved door with a convex outer surface and a concave inner surface; and
the support track comprises a curved support track disposed along the concave inner surface of the door.

5. The sliding door assembly of claim 1 , wherein the door comprises a first door, the support track comprises a first support track, and the support body and the tilt adjuster of the track mounting assembly comprise a first support body and a first tilt adjuster respectively, the assembly further comprising:
a second door slideable with respect to the first door;
a second support track slideably supporting the second door; and
the track mounting assembly further comprising:
a second support body including a second track slot sized to pivotably receive the second support track; and
a second tilt adjuster engaging the second support track to selectively adjust a tilt of the second support track within the second track slot.

6. The sliding door assembly of claim 5 , wherein the track mounting assembly further comprises a support anchor coupled to the first support body and the second support body, the support anchor adapted to be fixed to the adjacent support surface and thereby secure the first support body and the second support body relative to the adjacent support surface.

7. The sliding door assembly of claim 6 , wherein the first support body and the second support body are each pivotably mounted to the support anchor, whereby the respective track slots can be mounted in a non-perpendicular configuration with respect to the adjacent support surface.

8. The sliding door assembly of claim 7 , wherein the first support body is laterally offset with respect to the second support body with respect to a longitudinal axis of the support anchor, such that the first door and the second door are laterally offset with respect to one another when supported by the first and second support tracks respectively.

9. The sliding door assembly of claim 1 , wherein-each of the pair of rollers forms a part of a roller assembly, the roller assembly further including a retainer roller rollingly received on a lower surface of the support track.

10. The sliding door assembly of claim 1 , wherein the adjuster engagement area of the support track comprises a threaded aperture and the tilt adjuster comprises a flange bolt, the flange bolt received through an aperture formed in the support body and threadably coupled to the threaded aperture with the flange bolt bearing on an outer surface of the support body, such that rotation of the flange bolt effects selective adjustment of the tilt of the support track within the track slot.

11. A sliding door adjustment mechanism comprising:
a support body having a tapered track slot having a cross-section defining a vertical extent and a horizontal extent perpendicular to the vertical extent, the cross-section including a narrow portion defining a pivot area at one vertical end of the tapered track slot and a wide portion defining an adjuster area at an opposing vertical end of the tapered track slot;
a support track of a sliding door having a first end pivotably received within the tapered track slot along the longitudinal axis of the tapered track slot, wherein a first portion of the support track is pivotable about a pivot point in the pivot area of the support body and a second portion of the track is moveable within the adjuster area of the support body, the support track having:
a first angular configuration wherein the support track defines a first angle with respect to an inner wall of the tapered track slot;
a second angular configuration wherein the support track defines a second angle with respect to the inner wall of the tapered track slot, the first angle different from the second angle whereby the support track is angularly adjustable about the pivot point in the tapered track slot; and

a support anchor coupled to the support body and adapted to be fixed to an adjacent support surface.

12. The mechanism of claim 11 , wherein the support body is removably mounted to the support anchor.

13. The mechanism of claim 12 , wherein the support body is pivotably mounted to the support anchor, whereby the tapered track slot can be mounted in a non-perpendicular configuration with respect to the adjacent support surface.

14. The mechanism of claim 11 , further comprising a tilt range limiter disposed at a top portion of the support body and operable to selectively axially protrude into the tapered track slot, such that the tilt range limiter is sized and positioned to fix the support track at a desired tilt angle.

15. The mechanism of claim 11 , wherein the support body comprises a first support body, the mechanism further comprising:
a second support body coupled to the support anchor, the second support body including a second tapered slot sized to receive a second support track,
the second support body laterally offset from the first support body.

16. The mechanism of claim 11 , further comprising a door slideably coupled to the support track.

17. The mechanism of claim 11 , wherein the support body comprises a first support body, the support track having a second end opposite the first end, the mechanism further comprising:
a second support body having a second tapered track slot having a cross-section defining a vertical extent and a horizontal extent perpendicular to the vertical extent, the cross-section of the second support body including a narrow portion defining a pivot area at one vertical end of the tapered track slot and a wide portion defining an adjuste

Assignees

• Delta Faucet Corp
• Delta Faucet Co

Inventors

• Hayes Gerald
• Ferris Jeff

Classifications

• E05D15/0652

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

• A47K3/34 Primary

  Slidable screens (A47K3/36 takes precedence) · CPC title

• E05D15/02

  for revolving wings · CPC title

• E06B3/903

  consisting of arcuate wings revolving around a parallel axis situated outside the wing, e.g. a cylindrical wing revolving around its axis (E06B3/906 takes precedence) · CPC title

• E05D15/0621

  Details, e.g. suspension or supporting guides (E05D15/0604, E05D15/08 - E05D15/14 take precedence) · CPC title