GB2041052A - Improvements relating to sliding doors - Google Patents

Abstract

A sliding door assembly, which is operable to swing a sliding door 11 into and out of the plane of a second sliding door 10 to enable the doors to be slid one past the other, comprises upper and lower horizontal guide channels 12a, 12b for door 10 and 13a, 13b for door 11 and guide members movable in the channels. Door 11 is supported at or adjacent its top and bottom edges by parallel links 27 connecting the door to rollers 33 and trolleys 22. The rollers and trolleys in each channel are connected together in spaced relationship by members 24, 32. The parallel links are arranged to swivel about vertical axes of shafts 25,30 and 25,23. A handle is connected to a vertical shaft 25 for swivelling the links 27 to actuate the swinging movement. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements relating to sliding doors This invention relates to sliding doors, and is more particularly but not exclusively concerned with sliding doors for commercial motor vehicles.

According to this invention there is provided a sliding door assembly comprising parallel upper and lower guide tracks, a plurality of guide elements disposed in fixedly spaced relationship to each other in each of the tracks for guided movement along the tracks, and a door connected to each of the upper and lower guide elements by a swivellable link. all the links being parallel to each other and having their swivelling axes disposed substantially vertically, the construction and arrangement being such that the door is guided and supported by the guide elements for movement lengthwise of the racks, and a handle connected to the upper and lower linkages and operable to swing the door on said parallel linkage into either of two planes parallel to each other.

In preferred arrangements according to the invention, one of said links is secured, for its swivelling movement, on vertical shaft rotatably mounted on the door, and said handle is connected to the shaft so as to enable the shaft to be rotated manually to move the door into either of.said planes. Preferably. stop means is provided limiting the extent of rotation of the shaft to substantially less than 90 , for example 55".

In one embodiment of the invention a bracket is secured to said shaft and the handle is connected to the bracket by way of a horizontal swivel pin enabling the handle to be swung about the pin connection between a horizontal and a vertical position, means being provided for locating the end of the handle remote from the pin when the handle is in said vertical position.

Where the sliding door is intended to be capable of movement across a second sliding door, the second door is mounted for guided movement in upper and lower guide tracks which are disposed substantially in the vertical plane defined by the first said upper and lower guide tracks, and which are respectively disposed below and above the first said upper and lower tracks.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which: Figure 1 shows in sectional end view the upper portions of an assembly according to the invention, Figure 2 shows in sectional end view the lower portions of the assembly of Fig. 1, and Figure 3 is plan view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the van body of a motor vehicle or rail truck has in one side an aperture for loading and unloading purposes, and the aperture is provided with two sliding doors 10, 11 each extending across half the width of the aperture and capable of being moved to uncover either half of the aperture. Two inverted track channels 12a, 13a are fixedly mounted one directly above the other on the outside of the body just above the aperture and two further track channels 12b, 1 3b are fixedly mounted one directly above the other on the outside of the body just below the aperture.

Door 10 is suspended on brackets 1 4 from wheeled trolleys indicated diagrammatically at 15, the wheels 1 6 of which are engaged in grooves in the upper track 12a. The bottom edge of door 10 has secured to it an angle member 1 8 carrying an upright spindle 1 9 projecting into the lower channel 1 2b and carrying a guide roller 20 which rolls on the side walls of the channel. Door 10 thus carries out a simple rolling movement in its own plane along channels 12a, 12b.

Door 11 is however mounted in channels 13a, 1 3b in such a way that it can be moved outside the plane of door 10 for its sliding movement, whilst being capable of being positioned in the same plane as door 10 when the doors are to be locked. The bottom channel 1 3b carries two trolleys 22 the wheels of which run in grooves in the channel, and each trolley has secured to it a short vertical shaft 23 which extends downward through a hole in a horizontal flange of an angle member 24.

Member 24 is of the same width as but is not secured directly to the door 11 and serves to space the trolleys 22. A shaft 25 extends vertically down the interior of the door adjacent each of its side edges, and the ends of each shaft 25 project at the top and bottom edges of the door. Two parallel links 27 are secured by one end to the projecting bottom ends of the respective shafts 25 and at their other ends carry self-aligning bearings in which the lower end portions of shafts 23 are engaged. For this purpose each link carries at its ends bearings, the inner race rings of which are self-aligning, and the ends of the shafts 25 and 23 are engaged in these inner race rings.

At the top of door 1 3 the upper ends of the shafts 25 are similarly secured to respective parallel links 27, the other ends of which carry self-aligning bearings in which the lower end portions of short vertical shafts 30 are engaged. Shafts 30 are carried by a horizontal flange 31 of an angle member 32 and have rollers 33 on their upper ends which are in rolling engagement with internal walls of the track channels 13a. It will be understood that the angle member 32 and the associated pair of links 27 form a parallel motion connection at the top of the door, whilst the angle member 24 and its associated pair of links 32 form a parallel motion connection at the bottom of the door. All four of the links 27 are parallel to each other and thus enable the door 11 to be swung into and outward of the plane of door 10.In the former position the inner face of door 11 abuts the angle member 32. Also in the former position of the door the links 32, 27 are inclined outward (see Fig. 3) so that during the swinging movement of the door 11 the links swing through substantially less than 90' e.g. 55 .

Actuation of the door 11 is achieved by means of a handle secured to the vertical shaft 25 adjacent one edge of the door. The handle, which is not shown, comprises a slotted bracket which is welded to the shaft 25 and in the slot of which one end of a lever is pivotally mounted for swinging movement in a vertical plane. An angle bracket welded to the shaft 25 comes into abutment with a stop plate (not shown) in the door to limit the angle of rotation of the shaft 25 to 55 , corresponding to the maximum outward displacement of door 11. Adjacent its free end the lever has welded to it a small plate with a hole in it which when the lever is rotated into a position against the face of a recess in the door comes into register with a hole in a plate welded to the door, so that the handle lever can be padlocked.At its free end the lever has a pin fixed to it which engages in a hole in the door when the lever is swung downwards against the door.

To open door 11 the handle lever is swung outward from its position against the door to bring the bracket against the stop plate. This rotates the shafts 25 and the parallel motion links 27 through 55 to cause the door 11 to be swung outside the plane of door 1 0. The handle lever is then swung downward to engage the pin in the hole in the door, so as to connect both ends of the lever to the door.

The handle lever can now be employed to slide the door 11 in front of the door 10. To close door 11, the door is first slid, using the handle lever in its lowered position, until the door is opposite its aperture. The pin is then disengaged from the hole in the door, the handle lever is raised through 90 and rotated to rotate the parallel motion links 27 to move the door back into its aperture.

When the door 11 is in its outwardly displaced position, door 10 can be moved behind door 11 into any desired position along its path of movement.

One or both of the angle members 24, 31 are extended beyond the door 11, in the direction of its closing movement, for cooperation with a fixed stop to prevent the door from over-shooting the aperture and to indicate to the operator that the door is correctly aligned for rearward movement into the aperture.

Claims (6)

1. A sliding door assembly comprising parallel upper and lower guide tracks, a plurality of guide elements disposed in fixedly spaced relationship to each other in each of the tracks for guided movement along the tracks, and a door connected to each of the upper and lower guide elements by a swivellable link, all the links being parallel to each other and having their swivelling axes disposed substantially vertically, the construction and arrangement being such that the door is guided and supported by the guide elements for movement lengthwise of the tracks, and a handle connected to the upper and lower linkages and operable to swing the door on said parallel linkages into either of two planes parallel to each other.

2. A sliding door assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein one of said links is secured, for its swivelling movement, on vertical shaft rotatably mounted on the door, and wherein said handle is connected to the shaft so as to enable the shaft to be rotated manually to move the door into either of said planes.

3. An assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein stop means is provided limiting the extent of rotation of the shaft to substantially 55'.

4. An assembly as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3, wherein a bracket is secured to said shaft and the handle is connected to the bracket by way of a horizontal swivel pin enabling the handle to be swung about the pin connection between a horizontal and a vertical position, means being provided for locating the end of the handle remote from the pin when the handle is in said vertical position.

5. An assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein, the sliding door is intended to be capable of movement across a second sliding door, the second door is mounted for guided movement in upper and lower guide tracks which are disposed substantially in the vertical plane defined by the first said upper and lower guide tracks, and which are respectively disposed below and above the first said upper and lower tracks.

6. A sliding door assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.