Abstract:
A running carriage ( 1 ) includes a support piece ( 27 ) connected to the roller carrier ( 25 ) in an articulated manner. The support piece ( 27 ) is preferably injection molded as a single piece. Using an adjusting and displacing bolt ( 41 ) screwed into the support piece ( 27 ), the mutual angular position of the support piece ( 27 ) and the roller carrier ( 25 ) can be adjusted and displaced.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a running carriage for a sliding door, including a pair of carrying rollers arranged on a shaft or a pair of sliding shoes intended for engagement in a running rail arranged above the sliding door and having internal running surfaces, a roller carrier by which the shaft or the pair of sliding shoes is carried, a support piece for connecting the running carriage with the sliding door, and a device for adjusting the height of the sliding door relative to the running rail. The roller carrier and the support piece are connected together by a joint, and their mutual angular position can be adjusted and displaced by an adjusting and displacing screw. 
     Running carriages for sliding doors are known in many different designs. They function for the purpose of hanging the sliding door on a running rail and making it laterally slideable with as little resistance as possible. The running carriages can be provided with rollers which roll along in a running rail on a cabinet, on a ceiling or as grating in a window opening, or they can be provided with sliding shoes, which slide in the running rail. Modem running carriages must be able to be attached to the sliding door and introduced into the running rail with a small time expenditure. In addition, height adjustability should be available, in order to compensate for dimensional tolerances on the sliding door and/or on the cabinet. 
     From U.S. Pat. No. 3,619,947 a single-piece running carriage for a grating is known, which can be installed in the corner region of the frame of the grating. The running carriage carries the weight of the grating or a sliding door on a rail lying below. For assembly of the sliding door, measures must be taken which allow the sliding door to be lifted up within the door opening, in order to be able to introduce the rollers on the lower part of the frame into the corresponding rails. 
     When a sliding door made in this way is improperly operated, the door can jump out of the rail by the momentum which occurs at the end during impact. An assembly of the known running carriage in a closed rail is not possible, i.e. in a rail that receives the rollers of the running carriage internally and thus prevents the rollers from jumping out of the rails. 
     A similar embodiment is disclosed with the running carriage in U.S. Pat. No. 3,526,995, in which the running roller can be pivoted in for inserting the sliding door into the rails lying below the sliding door. Here also, there is always the danger that the door jumps out of the rail when improperly handled. Introducing the known running carriage into a closed rail system is not possible. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to create a running carriage of the above-described type, which allows the sliding door to be guided on a closed rail arranged above the sliding door. 
     This object is achieved by a running carriage for a sliding door, which includes a pair of carrying rollers arranged on a shaft or a pair of sliding shoes adapted for engagement in a running rail arranged above the sliding door and having internal running surfaces, a roller carrier by which the shaft or the pair of sliding shoes is carried, a support piece for connecting the running carriage with the sliding door, and devices for adjusting the height of the sliding door relative to the running rail, wherein the roller carrier and the support piece are connected together by a joint and their mutual angular position can be adjusted and displaced by an adjusting and displacing screw, wherein the support piece includes a cutout above its base, the cutout having a height which is the same as the thickness of a stay on the horizontal frame piece, and wherein means are constructed on the support piece for tool-free locking of the running carriage on the vertical frame piece. 
     The running carriage according to the invention has a very simple design. The height adjustment can be done at any time after installation. In other words, it can even be done after installation of the doors in the cabinet or a wall opening whose height can be adjusted relative to the running rail. The running carriage—in contrast to the two known running carriages of the prior art—is first of all introduced into the running rail and held there on all sides. The connection to the sliding door occurs only after the latter has been inserted into the provided opening, in which the running carriage or the two running carriages, which are necessary for a sliding door, are pushed into the end face of the frame of the sliding door. Even improper operation of the sliding door or an object disposed within the driving region of the sliding door, which exerts a force on the sliding door, cannot lift the latter out of the rail, since the rollers of the running carriage are guided within the closed rail and cannot lift out of it. The rollers and the rail cannot be contaminated. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of the invention, will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown in the drawings embodiment(s) which are presently preferred. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown. In the drawings: 
     FIG. 1 is an end view of a running carriage according to a first embodiment of the invention installed in a cabinet (the cabinet and sliding door being depicted in dashed lines); 
     FIG. 2 is a longitudinal side view of the running carriage; 
     FIG. 3 is plan view of the running carriage; and 
     FIG. 4 is a longitudinal side view of a second embodiment of the running carriage having a joint formed by a bolt and a sliding shoe instead of a roller. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     As shown in FIGS. 1-3, the ceiling of a room, cabinet, or an upper border of window opening is indicated with reference numeral  1 , in which a running rail  5  having internal running surfaces  15  is installed in a groove  3 . Reference numeral  7  indicates a sliding door, which is connected by a running carriage  9  to the running rail  5  or ceiling  1 . The running rail  5  has a C-shaped design and is constructed for receiving a roller pair  11 , which rolls along on the running surfaces  15  arranged laterally to a slit  13  lying below in the running rail  5 . The roller pair  11  is connected together by a shaft  17  and sits on the two ends of the shaft. In the embodiment shown, the sliding door  7  is enclosed by a profile frame  19 , of which only the upper horizontally lying frame piece  21  and an end face frame piece  23  are visible in FIGS. 1,  2  and  4 . Together the two connected frame pieces  21  and  23  form one of the two upper comers of the sliding door  7 . 
     The running carriage  9  includes a roller carrier  25  and a support piece  27 . These two parts are pivotably connected to each other. In the first embodiment according to FIG. 1, the roller carrier  25  and the support piece  27  are manufactured as a single piece of plastic and connected together in an articulated or elastic manner by a stay or a joint or thinned portion  26 —generated by a cutout that divides the running carriage  1  into the roller carrier  25  and the support piece  27 . Alternatively, the joint portion  26  can result from a hinge-type connection of the roller carrier  25  to the support piece  27  (see FIG.  4 ). A bolt  29  holds the two parts together. The bolt  29  can be a separately manufactured part or it can be injected molded onto one of the parts to be connected and engage into a corresponding complementary bore hole in the other part. A preferably circular-shaped opening  31  is provided in the roller carrier  25 , having a diameter that is larger than the diameter of the rollers  11 . This opening or cutout  31  makes it possible to introduce the roller pair  11  connected by the shaft  17  axially into the roller carrier  25  and to arrest it in a radially outward running slot  33 . The assembly of the roller pair  11  into the roller carrier  25  is, as a result, tool-free. 
     The support piece  27  includes a base  35 , which can be shoved into a correspondingly constructed cutout in the sliding door  7  or the frame piece  23  and can be caught by elastic catch mechanisms  37  in the inserted position. The upper part of the support piece  27  is penetrated by a bore hole  39 , into which an adjusting and displacing bolt  41  is screwed. If the adjusting and displacing bolt  41  has a self-tapping thread, the bore hole  39  can be made without threads. The front end  43  of the adjusting and displacing bolt  41  projects beyond the bore hole  39  and rests against the end face of the roller carrier  25  in the cutout  28 . 
     The lower section of the support piece  27  includes above the base  35  a cutout  42 , having a height “h” equal to or slightly smaller than the thickness “s” of the stay  44  on the frame piece  21 . On the lower edge of the base  35 , a wedge-shaped shoulder  45  is additionally constructed, and above it a rib  47  is made on both sides and guides the running carriage  9  laterally in the frame  19  (see FIG.  4 ). The wedge-shaped shoulder  45  ends at a distance from the rear end of the support piece  27  as a catch edge  51 . The rear-side end of the base  35  is limited by a downwardly-projecting nose  49 . This nose lies at a distance “d” from the catch edge  51 , which distance is larger than the thickness of the plate which forms the frame piece  23 . 
     As an alternative to the roller pair  11 , sliding shoes  53  can be molded onto or inserted laterally on the roller carrier  25  (FIG. 4) and slide on the two running surfaces  15 . 
     Of course, in a running carriage  9  having sliding shoes  53 , an elastic joint connection  26  as depicted in FIG. 1 can also be provided, and also in an embodiment with a bolt  29  as the joint  26 , a running roller  11  can replace a sliding shoe  53 . As a result, all combinations of joint portions and running rollers  11  or sliding shoes  53  are possible. 
     The assembly of the running roller pair  11  and the adjusting and displacing bolt  41  on the roller carrier  25  or on the support piece  27  can be done manually or with a simple mounting device in a cost-effective manner. The installation of the running carriage  9  in a sliding door  7  is also possible without tools, by corresponding preparation of a punched-out receiving cutout  55  for the support piece  27  on the end face in the frame piece  23 . The running carriage  9  is introduced in the end face through the receiving cutout  55  in the frame piece  23  and is guided so that it is held fixed with the cutout  42  on the front end of the stay  44 . As soon as the base  35  is completely introduced, the wedge  45  also catches on the frame piece  23  and is held immovably fixed by it. In addition, the weight of the sliding door  7  exerts a force on the running carriage  9 , which presses the support piece  27  onto the lower edge  59  of the receiving cutout  55  in the frame piece  23 . The adjustment of the sliding door  7  relative to the running rail  5  and the underside of the ceiling  1  can be done at any time with the help of a screwdriver, on the end face of the sliding door. 
     It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes could be made to the embodiment(s) described above without departing from the broad inventive concept thereof It is understood, therefore, that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiment(s) disclosed, but it is intended to cover modifications within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.