PROFILE OF SLIDING DOOR ROLLER ASSEMBLING

PROFIL D'ASSEMBLAGE DE GALET DE PORTE COULISSANTE

English Abstract

The present invention provides a new sliding assembly for a sliding closure.
The present invention is constructed of two metal profiles mounted on each
side wall of sliding closure and guiding bars for sliding on said rail. The
profiles design includes a rail which length, is adjusted to the sliding
closure height. The lower sliding bar is attached to a roller, which slides
along the lower track of the closure. The second sliding bar is attached to
the guiding bar for sliding along the upper track of the closure. An elastic
stretching means connects between the lower sliding bar and the profile.

French Abstract

L'invention concerne un nouvel ensemble coulissant pour élément de fermeture coulissant. L'invention se compose de deux profilés métalliques montés sur chaque paroi latérale de l'élément de fermeture coulissant, et de barres de guidage glissant sur un rail formé par les profilés, la longueur du rail étant réglée selon la hauteur de l'élément de fermeture coulissant. La barre coulissante inférieure est fixée à un galet qui glisse le long de la glissière inférieure de l'élément de fermeture. La seconde barre coulissante est fixée à la barre de guidage de manière à coulisser le long de la glissière supérieure de l'élément de fermeture. Des moyens de tension élastique relient la barre coulissante inférieure au profilé.

Claims

1. A sliding assembly for enabling:
installing said sliding assembly onto a sliding door of a closet comprising an
upper
and a lower track for receiving said sliding door; and
for enabling installing said door into said tracks,
said sliding assembly comprising:
- two metal profiles mounted on each side wall of said closet, each said
profile
includes at least one rail ;
- at least one guiding roller installed in each said profile for rolling along
the
lower track of said closet;
- at least one first sliding bar installed in each said profile, each said
first sliding
bar is attached to the roller for sliding along a lower part of the rail;
- at least one second sliding bar installed in each profile, each said second
sliding
bar is attached to a guiding bar for sliding along the upper part of the rail;
- at least one barrier with an adjustment bolt, said barrier enables sliding
within
the rail of the profile, wherein said bolt enables fastening said barrier to
the rail
of the profile where it is situated, to enable constraining the movement of
said
first sliding bar within the rail;
- an adjustment mechanism adjustably installed in each profile rail enabling
to
be fastened to at least one sliding bar; and
- elastic means for connecting each sliding bar to the profile, wherein said
elastic
means enable maintaining tension between said profile and said first sliding
bar,
by connecting to the profile's edge at one end and to the sliding bar at the
other
end,
wherein the elements: the roller, sliding bar, guiding bars, elastic means,
adjustment
mechanism and barrier that are installed at each side of the sliding door are
situated
within the rail of the profile, wherein each profile encapsulates said
elements
therein.
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2. The sliding assembly of claim 1 wherein the elastic means comprises hooking
means at one end enabling to connect to the adjustment mechanism connected to
the sliding bar, wherein the other end of said elastic means is connected to
the edge
of the profile rail.
3. The sliding assembly of claim 1 wherein the elastic means are connected to
the
first sliding bar and to the profile using fastening means.
4. The sliding assembly of claim 1 wherein the elastic means is connected to
the first
sliding bar using fastening means at one edge and to the profile by hooking
means
at the opposite edge.
5. The sliding assembly of claim 1 wherein the elastic means includes a coiled
spring.
6. The sliding assembly of claim 1 wherein the guiding bar of the upper edge
is
designed to fit the upper track enabling to attach the guiding bar to the
track by
applying pressure at vertical position and disconnecting the guiding bar when
turned by 45 degrees with respect to the track.
7. The sliding assembly of claim 1 wherein the guiding roller includes a pin
at the
lower part, said pin designated for mounting a rolling disc thereupon.
8. The sliding assembly of claim 7 wherein the guiding roller further includes
a
rubber strip positioned above the rolling disc, said strip designated for
cleaning in
rolling disc groove.
9. The sliding assembly of claim 8 wherein the guiding roller rolling disc
further
includes an inner groove.
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10. The sliding assembly of claim 1 wherein the guiding bar includes small
pins at the
upper part of the bar side, said pins designated for keeping the bar at the
upper part
of the rail during the assembly process.
11. The sliding assembly of claim 1 wherein the guiding roller further
includes
adjustment means at the top.
12. The sliding assembly of claim 1, wherein each said adjustment mechanism is
an
adjustment bolt positioned at the top of the first sliding bar, wherein said
bolt
enables fine adjusting of the positioning where the bolt of the adjustment
mechanism meets the barrier.

Description

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Prof le of Svding Door Roller Assembling
BACKGROUND
The present invention relates to sliding doors that utilize roller assemblies
to
move back and forth within tracks. Such assemblies are well known in the prior
art
and have undergone various modifications in order to allow the doors to roll
progressively more freely and efficiently.
Some of the problems encountered in the past with sliding door mechanisms
include imperfections or other obstacles in the tracks, which cause the
rolling doors to
get stuck, become difficult to move or to be derailed from the track. A well-
known
solution to this problem is to construct spring based roller mechanisms, which
allow
the wheels to skip over obstacles or slight variations and guide the door
freely through
the track.
Another factor that affects the level of functionality of sliding door roller
assemblies is the level of adjustability and ease of assembly. US patent no.
5845363
describes a mechanism that is easy and inexpensive to construct, and includes
an
adjustment gear that is readily accessible to the user. US patent no.
4,253,278
describes a similar device. The height of the mechanism can be adjusted
according to
the track after it has been installed.
Another roller assembly is described in US patent no. 3,959,849, which
discloses an assembly that can be installed without the help of special tools
or a
skilled worker. This assembly features tabs that are fixed on the sides of the
roller
housing in order to stabilize door movement.
The disadvantage of the assemblies as described above is that the installation
of
the rollers is complex and requires adjustment of the roller assembly to each
sliding
door type.. The present invention offers a simple and affordable solution to
this
SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26)

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problem by incorporating an extra adjustable feature in order to enable the
simple
assembly of the roller device to any type of sliding door. This contributes to
the ease
of building constructions using sliding door mechanisms or replacing old parts
when
needed.
Further more, prior art sliding structures which are constructed as exterior
part
of the sliding door are fragile and may be unstable.
It is thus the prime object of the invention to avoid the limitations of the
prior art
and to provide a simple and stable sliding mechanism.
SUMMARY
The present invention provides a new sliding assembly for a sliding door
closure comprised of: two metal profiles mounted on each side wall of sliding
closure,
said profiles design includes a rail wherein the rail length is adjusted to
the sliding
closure height, a guiding roller for rolling along the lower closure track, a
guiding bar
for sliding along the upper track wherein the guiding bar is attached to the
track by
pressure means, a first sliding bar attached to the roller for sliding along
lower part of
rail, a second sliding bar attached to the guiding bar for sliding along the
upper part of
rail; elastic stretching means for connecting between at least one sliding bar
and the
profile, and adjustable fastening means installed on the profile in a position
which
maintains said elastic means under compression so as to limit the optimum
outward
position of at least one sliding bar.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and further features and advantages of the invention will become more
clearly understood in light of the ensuing description of a preferred
embodiment

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thereof, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying
drawings,
wherein-
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged frontal view of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a detailed cross section of the present invention;
FIG. 4a is an enlarged front view of the lower sliding bar as implemented
within the
metal profile;
FIG. 4b is an enlarged perspective view of the lower sliding bar components;
FIG. 4c is an enlarged perspective view of the upper sliding bar;
FIG. 4d is an enlarged perspective view of the barrier not including the
fastening bolt;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged top view of the metal profile;
FIG. 6a is a diagram showing the process of connecting the upper sliding bar
to the
upper track;
FIG. 6b and 6c are diagrams illustrating the process of removing the upper
sliding bar
from the upper track;
FIG. 7a is an enlarged front view of the upper sliding bar;
FIG. 7b is an enlarged side view of the upper sliding bar;
FIG. 7c is an enlarged top view of the upper sliding bar;
FIG. 8a is an enlarged front view of the lower sliding bar;
FIG. 8b is an enlarged top view of the lower sliding bar;
FIG. 8c is an enlarged side view of the lower sliding bar;
FIG. 9a is an enlarged front view of the barrier;
FIG. 9b is an enlarged top view of the barrier;
FIG. 9c is an enlarged top cross-section of the barrier;

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FIG. 9d is an enlarged side view of the barrier;
FIG. 10 is an alternative structure of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFFERED EMBODIIVVIENTS
The present invention provides a novel roller assembly for the track of a
sliding
door. The assembly has a unique structure that enables simple adjustment of
its
components to correspond to variable sizes of sliding doors and respective
built-in
tracks of closets, cupboards, or any other structure incorporating a sliding
door.
The roller assembly's , main components can be seen in figure 1 and are
described below.
The assembly includes two identical metal profiles (103), a unique component
of the present invention, designed to be mounted on each side of the sliding
door
( 100).
Prior art sliding mechanism are exterior parts which are mounted at the bottom
of the
sliding door, according to the present invention the sliding mechanism is
mounted in
the profiles, thus providing stable sliding structure.
These profiles allow for easy installation of the apparatus and further
stabilize
and strengthen the door to which they are mounted. Part of each metal profile
forms a
rail (112) along the side. Two sliding bars (102 and 108) are designed to
slide along
the rail (112). The lower sliding bar (108) is positioned on the lower part of
the sliding
door side and is attached to the roller (110), which guides the door through
the lower
track (111). The upper sliding bar (102) is positioned on the top part of the
door's side
and is designed to guide the metal profile and attached door along the
specific upper
track (101) described in the present invention.
Upon assembly, the upper sliding bar is easily clicked into place along the
track

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using pressure. However, to prevent unwanted derailing, the sliding bar is
designed to
be removed only when turned 45 degrees away from the track, which is
impossible
while it is connected to the door. The processes of installing and removing
the sliding
bar are shown in figures 6a and 6b respectively. This bar also contains a
small pin that
5 holds it in place along the metal profile before assembly.
The lower sliding bar involves several components that contribute to the
adjustability of the present invention and to the ease of movement of the
door. These
components can be seen assembled and disassembled in figures 8a and 8b
respectively. The roller (110), positioned at the bottom of the sliding bar
(108), guides
the bar through the lower track (111). This roller is attached to the
respective pin
(805) on the bar using pressure during assembly process of the invention.
There is a
groove running throughout the center of the roller, which rolls along the one
side of
the lower track to prevent derailing. Along the center of this groove runs a
smaller,
deeper groove for minimizing friction.
Optionally, on the sliding bar above the roller is mounted a pin holding a
strip of
plastic (801)(se Fig. 4a and 4b). This pin is attached to the sliding bar by
inserting it
into the corresponding positioned hole (802) in the bar. The strip is designed
to fit
within the outer groove of the roller and wipe away dust and other small
obstacles
during the movement of the door.
An adjustment mechanism (106) is positioned at the top of the lower sliding
bar
(108). This mechanism is designed for balancing the lower sliding bar height
to fit the
specific door track structure. It contains a bolt (803) of the top and a small
rod (804)
running through its center.
The lower sliding bar also contains a coil spring (107), which is attached
from
one side by a hook to the rod (804) and connects on the other side to the
bottom of the

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metal profile (103), also using a hook on its other end. The spring provides
flexibility
for the sliding bar and allows the door to slide freely despite any
obstructions within
the lower track ( 111 ).
Above the lower sliding bar (108), a barrier (104) is positioned within the
track
of the metal profile (103) and is fastened to it with a bolt (105) to
constrain the
movement of the sliding bar (108).
The metal profile of the assembly can be distributed as long rod. The
carpenter
who installs the roller assembly can cut the rod at any size, adjusting the
metal profile
rail length to the sliding door height. The fastening member can be positioned
at any
point along the sliding door side and adjusted to the size of the specific
track used in
the structure. The invention can then be easily adjusted to the height of the
sliding
door by turning the bolt that controls the adjustment mechanism.
The present invention can be constructed according to a different design as
illustrated in Fig. 10.
According to an alternative design the assembly includes two metal profiles
(10.01) mounted on each side wall (10.00) of the sliding door. Part of this
metal
profile forms a rail along the side wall (10.02). Two sliding bars are
designed to slide
along the trail (10.02). The first bar (10.4) positioned on the lower part of
the sliding
door side wall and is attached to the roller (10.06), which guides the door
through the
lower track (10.03). The second sliding bar (10.05) is positioned on the top
part of the
door wall and is attached to the guiding bar (10.07) above the door, which
slides along
the upper track (10.08).
Above the lower sliding bar (10.04) is an adjustment mechanism (10.09),
controlled by the adjustment bolt (10.10), placed in a groove within the metal
profile
(10.01). This mechanism is designed to enable the balance the two sliding bars
(10.04

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and 10.05).
Two coil springs ( 10.11 and 10.12) connect each of the sliding bars to the
metal
profile. This provides flexibility, which allows the door to slide freely
despite any
obstructions within the track (10.03). A fastening member (10.13) is
positioned as
barrier constraining the movement of the sliding bars (10.04,10.05).
The metal profile (10.02) of the assembly can be distributed as long rod. The
carpenter who installs the roller assembly can cut the rod at any size,
adjusting the
metal profile rail length to the sliding door height. The fastening member
(10.13) can
be positioned at any point along the sliding door side wall (10.00) and
adjusted to the
size of the specific track (10.03) used in the structure. The invention can
then be
easily adjusted to the height of the sliding door by turning the bolt (10.10)
that
controls the adjustment mechanism (10.09).
While the above description contains many specifities, these should not be
construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but rather as
exemplifications
of the preferred embodiments. Those skilled in the art will envision other
possible
variations that are within its scope. Accordingly, the scope of the invention
should be
determined not by the embodiment illustrated, but by the appended claims and
their
legal equivalents.

Representative Drawing