Sliding door device

Provided is a sliding door device which is capable of retracting a sliding door diagonally. Such a sliding door device 1 includes rails 7a and 7b for guiding the sliding door 2 to move in a retracting direction A from an open position to a closed position with respect to a main body 3 and guiding the sliding door 2 to move forward or backward in a front view of the sliding door 2 until reaching the closed position, a rod-shaped trigger 8 provided on one of the main body 3 and the sliding door 2, and a retracting device 9′ provided on the other of the main body 3 and the sliding door 2 and retracting the trigger 8 while sliding in an axial direction D of the trigger 8 so that the sliding door 2 can move forward or backward.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2018-168200, filed Sep. 7, 2018, entitled “Sliding Door Device”, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a sliding door device provided with a retracting device and adapted to move a sliding door to a closed position.

BACKGROUND ART

A sliding door device which is provided with a retracting device and is adapted to move a sliding door to a closed position is known (see, for example, patent document 1:JP2011-214343A). This sliding door device includes rails, a trigger and the retracting device. The rails are attached to a main body and guides that the sliding door moves in a retracting direction from an open position to the closed position. The trigger is attached to any one of the main body and the sliding door. The retracting device is attached to the other of the main body and the sliding door. The retracting device retracts the trigger, so that the sliding door moves to the closed position.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

By the way, in the sliding door, there is a sliding door which moves forward or backward in a front view of the sliding door until reaching the closed position. If this sliding door is used, for example, since the sliding door and a wall surface can be made flat in the closed position of the sliding door, the appearance can be improved. It is desirable that this sliding door also have a retracting function.

However, in the conventional sliding door device, although the sliding door can be retracted in straight in the retracting direction, the sliding door moving forward or backward cannot be retracted diagonally in the front view of the sliding door. This is because the engagement between the retracting device and the trigger are released when the sliding door moves forward or backward.

Therefore, an object of this invention is to provide a sliding door device which is capable of retracting the sliding door diagonally.

In order to solve the above problems, one embodiment of the present invention is a sliding door device comprising: rails for guiding a sliding door to move in a retracting direction from an open position to a closed position with respect to a main body, and guiding the sliding door to move forward or backward in a front view of the sliding door until reaching the closed position; a rod-shaped trigger provided on one of the main body and the sliding door; and a retracting device provided on the other of the main body and the sliding door, and retracting the trigger while sliding in an axial direction so that the sliding door can move forward or backward.

According to the present invention, since the retracting device retracts the rod-shaped trigger while sliding in an axial direction of the rod-shaped trigger, the sliding door can be retracted diagonally.

Hereinafter, the sliding door device of the embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the attached drawings. However, the sliding door device of the present invention can be embodied in various embodiments, and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. This embodiment is provided with the intention to enable a person skilled in the art to fully understand the scope of the invention by making the disclosure of the specification sufficient.

FIRST EMBODIMENT

Each ofFIGS. 1 and 2is the perspective view of the sliding door device1of the first embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the lower side.FIG. 1shows an open position of the sliding door2andFIG. 2shows a closed position of the sliding door2.2is the sliding door,3is a main body,4is an upper frame of the main body,5is an opening of the main body, and6is a wall of the main body.

The sliding door device1includes rails7aand7b, a trigger8and a retracting device9′. The rails7aand7bare attached to the main body3. The trigger8is attached to the main body3. The retracting device9′ is attached to the sliding door2. The trigger8and the retracting device9′ are arranged outside the rails7aand7b. On a lower surface of the upper frame4of the opening5of the main body3, provided is a blind plate10for hiding the rails7aand7b, the trigger8and the retracting device9′.

The rails7aand7bare attached to the lower surface of the upper frame4. The rails7aand7bguides that the sliding door2moves in a retracting direction A (seeFIG. 1) from the open position to the closed position with respect to the main body3, and guides that the sliding door2moves forward B (seeFIG. 1) in a front view of the sliding door2until reaching the closed position. Here, the front view means that the sliding door2is viewed from a front side.FIG. 1andFIG. 2show the perspective views when the sliding door2is seen from a back side.

The rails7aand7bare provided with a door tip rail7adisposed on a door tip side and a door tail rail7bdisposed on a door tail side. The door tip rail7aincludes a straight rail7a1and an inclined rail7a2which is connected to an end of the straight rail7a1and bent with respect to the straight rail7a1. The door tail rail7balso includes a straight rail7b1and an inclined rail7b2which is connected to an end of the straight rail7b1and bent with respect to the straight rail7b1. The straight rail7a1and the straight rail7b1are parallel to each other. The inclined rail7a2and the inclined rail7b2are parallel to each other.

A door roller for door tip11aruns in the door tip rail7a. A door roller for door tail11bruns in the door tail rail7b. When the door roller for door tip11aand the door roller for door tail11brun in the straight rails7a1and7b1, the sliding door2linearly moves in the retracting direction A. When the door roller for door tip11aand the door roller for door tail11brun in the inclined rails7a2and7b2, the sliding door2moves obliquely in parallel in a direction C inclined with respect to the retracting direction A and forward B. Since the inclined rail7a2and the inclined rail7b2are parallel to each other, the sliding door2moves obliquely in parallel.

FIGS. 3A-3Bshow the door roller for door tip11a.FIG. 3Ashows the perspective view when the door roller for door tip11ais seen from the lower side, andFIG. 3Bshows the side view of the door roller for door tip11a. The door roller for door tip11ais provided with a door roller main body21and a pair of left and right rollers22aand22brotatably attached to left and right side-surfaces of the door roller main body21. The door roller main body21is provided with a hanging bolt23projecting downward. The hanging bolt23projects downward from a opening24(seeFIG. 1) of the door tip rail7a. A bracket26is attached to the hanging bolt23by fastening members25aand25b. The bracket26is attached to a back surface of the sliding door2.

Since the door roller for door tail11bhas substantially the same configuration as the door roller for door tip11a, the same reference numeral is assigned and the description thereof will be omitted. As shown inFIG. 2, a bracket27is attached to the hanging bolt23of the door roller for door tail11b. A projecting length of the bracket27from the sliding door2is shorter than a projecting length of the bracket26from the sliding door2. This is because the door tail rail7bis disposed closer to the sliding door2than the door tip rail7a. Since the configurations of the door roller for door tip11aand the door roller for door tail11bare known, the further detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

FIGS. 4A-4Bshow the perspective views of the retracting device9, andFIG. 5shows the cross-section views of the retracting device9.FIG. 4AandFIG. 5Ashow a standby position of a catcher32of the retracting device9, andFIG. 4BandFIG. 5Bshow a retracted position of the catcher32. The retracting device9includes a case31, the catcher32slidably provided in the case31, and a spring33for pulling the catcher32(seeFIGS. 5A-5B).

As shown inFIGS. 4A-4B, the case31is a flat rectangular parallelepiped and extends in the retracting direction. An opening31afor exposing the catcher32is formed on an upper surface of the case31. In each of a pair of side walls31bof the case31, formed is a groove31cwhich linearly extends in a longitudinal direction of the case31and of which distal end is curved downward. As shown inFIG. 2, the retracting device9is attached to the sliding door2via a bracket30.

The catcher32is sandwiched between the pair of side walls31bof the case31and slides between the side walls31b. On each of a pair of side surfaces of the catcher32, two protrusions32aand32bengaged in the groove31care formed. The slide of the catcher32is guided by the groove31c. Further, the orientation of the catcher32is controlled by the groove31c. A U-shaped capture 32c for capturing the trigger8is formed in the catcher32.

As shown inFIG. 5, the spring33is interposed between an end31dof the case31and the catcher32. The spring33pulls the catcher32. A linear damper34is interposed between the end31dof the case31and the catcher32. The linear damper34puts a brake on the catcher32pulled by the spring33.

As shown inFIG. 4A, when the catcher32in the standby position captures the trigger8, as shown inFIG. 4B, the catcher32rotates and the protrusion32bof the catcher32comes out of the curved portion of the groove31cand the catcher32is pulled by the force of the spring33. In this embodiment, since the trigger8is attached to the main body3, the case31of the retracting device9moves in the retracting direction A (seeFIG. 1) and the sliding door2is retracted in the retracting direction A. Since the configuration of the retracting device9is known, the further detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The retracting device9ofFIGS. 4A-4Bis a retracting device9for closing which retracts the sliding door2only to the closed position. However, as shown inFIG. 2, the retracting device9′ for opening and closing which retracts the sliding door2in both the closed position and the open position can be used as the retracting device9′. In this case, as shown inFIG. 2, the case31is provided with two catchers32and36, that is, the catcher32for closing and the catcher36for opening, and the case31is provided with two springs for pulling the two catchers32and36. By attaching a trigger37(seeFIG. 2) to engage with the catcher36for opening onto the main body3side, the sliding door2can be retracted into the open position. The configuration of this retracting device9′ for opening and closing is also known, and thus the detailed description will be omitted.

FIGS. 6A-6Bare the detailed views of the trigger8.FIG. 6Ais the perspective view of the trigger8as viewed from the upper side andFIG. 6Bis the side view of the trigger8. The trigger8is in the form of an axis. Both ends of the trigger8in an axial direction are supported by the bracket41. The bracket41is U-shaped, and includes a substrate portion41battached to the upper frame4and a pair of side plate portions41awhich are bent at both ends of the substrate portion41band face to each other. The both ends of the trigger8are supported by the pair of side plate portions41a. As shown inFIG. 1, in a state that the bracket41is attached to the main body3, the trigger8extends in a horizontal direction and at a right angle with respect to the retracting direction A. By supporting the both ends of the trigger8by the brackets41, it is possible to stably support the trigger8extending in the horizontal direction.

FIGS. 7A-7Bshow the sliding door device1when the sliding door2is in the open position.FIGS. 8A-8Bshow the sliding door device1when the sliding door2is in the retraction start position.FIGS. 9A-9Bshow the sliding door device1when the sliding door2is in the closed position.FIG. 7AtoFIG. 9Ashow back views of the sliding door device1andFIG. 7BtoFIG. 9Bshows bottom views of the sliding door device1.

As shown inFIGS. 7A-7B, when the sliding door2is in the open position, the catcher36for opening of the retracting device9′ captures the trigger37. Therefore, a biasing force is exerted on the sliding door2in an opening direction by the retracting device9′, so that the sliding door2is kept in the open position.

As shown inFIGS. 8A-8B, when users move the sliding door2from the open position in the retracting direction, the engagement between the catcher36for opening and the trigger37is released, and the catcher32for closing engages with the trigger8. The position of the sliding door2shown inFIGS. 8A-8Bis a retraction start position of the sliding door2. At the retraction start position, the door roller door tip11ais located on the straight rail7a1of the door tip rail7a, and the door roller door tail11bis located on the straight rail7b1of the door tail rail7b.

When the retracting device9′ retracts the trigger8, the case31and the sliding door2of the retracting device9′ move linearly in the retracting direction A indicated by the arrows. When the sliding door2moves in the retracting direction A by the retracting device9′, the sliding door2starts to move obliquely along the inclined rails7a2and7b2.

When the sliding door2moves obliquely, the retracting device9′ retracts the trigger8while sliding in an axial direction D. This makes it possible to allow the sliding door2to move obliquely (oblique direction C) along the inclined rails7a2and7b2. At this time, the catcher32of the retracting device9′ slides in the axial direction D of the trigger8with capturing the trigger8. The case31of the retracting device9′ (seeFIGS. 4A-4B) moves obliquely (oblique direction C) along the inclined rails7a2and7b2together with the sliding door2.

A translation start position at which the sliding door2starts to move obliquely is closer to the closed position than the retraction start position. As a result, while the sliding door2linearly moves in the retracting direction A, it is possible to exert the retraction force, so that the users can easily close the sliding door2. In this regard, it is also possible to arrange the translation start position closer to the open position than the retraction start position.

As shown inFIGS. 9A-9B, the retraction of the sliding door2by the retracting device9′ continues until the sliding door2moves to the closed position. A length of the trigger8in the axial direction is longer than a distance of forward movement of the sliding door2so as to allow the sliding door2to move forward. In the closed position of the sliding door2, the biasing force in the oblique direction is exerted on the sliding door2by the retracting device9′, and the closed position of the sliding door2is maintained. In the closed position of the sliding door2, a surface2aon the front side of the sliding door2and a surface6aof the wall6of the main body3become flat.

SECOND EMBODIMENT

FIG. 10shows a perspective view of a sliding door device51of a second embodiment of the present invention as viewed from a lower side.FIG. 11Ashows a side view of the sliding door device51of the second embodiment andFIG. 11Bshows a bottom view. In these drawings, the sliding door2is in the closed position.2is the sliding door,3is a main body,4is an upper frame of the main body,5is an opening of the main body, and6is a wall of the main body.

The sliding door device51of the second embodiment also includes rails7aand7b, a trigger8and a retracting device9. Since the configurations of the rails7aand7b, the door roller for door tip11a, and the door roller for door tail11bare the same as those of the first embodiment, the same reference numerals are assigned and the descriptions thereof will be omitted. Further, since the configuration of the trigger8itself is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment, the same reference numeral is assigned and the description thereof will be omitted. The retracting device9for closing shown inFIGS. 4A-4Bis used for the retracting device.

The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the trigger8is attached to the sliding door2and the retracting device9is attached to the main body3. Even if the trigger8is attached to the sliding door2and the retracting device9is attached to the main body3, the retracting device9can retract the rod-shaped trigger8while sliding in the axial direction of the rod-shaped trigger8. For this reason, it is possible to retract the sliding door2diagonally.

The present invention is not limited to one embodied in the above-described embodiments and can be changed to various embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention.

In the above embodiment, the sliding door moves forward in the front view of the sliding door to make the sliding door and the wall surface flat. However, it is also possible to move the sliding door backward in the front view of the sliding door to make the sliding door and the wall surface flat.

Moreover, in the above embodiments, although the sliding door and the wall surface are made flat in the closed position of the sliding door, the sliding door and the wall surface may not be made flat in the closed position of the sliding door. For example, in order to improve the airtightness of the opening, the sliding door can move forward in the front view, and the sliding door can be closely attached to a packing provided in a frame of the opening.

In the above embodiments, although the sliding door and the wall surface are made flat in the closed position of the sliding door, the sliding door and the adjacent sliding door may be made flat in the closed position of the sliding door.

The configuration of the retracting device of the above-described embodiments is an example and other configurations can be adopted without departing from the scope of the present invention, such as omitting the damper.

EXPLANATION OF REFERENCE NUMERAL