OPERATING DEVICE FOR FOLDING DOORS, PARTICULARLY FOR FURNITURE

Abstract: The operating device for folding doors according to the invention comprises posts (2, 2′) sliding along, horizontal guide runners (6, 18), pairs of doors (1, 1′) articulated between themselves along their vertical adjacent edge and articulated to said posts (2, 2′) along their opposite vertical edge, elastic means (11) keeping each pair of door in closing position and means (3) causing the partial opening of each pair of doors (1, 1′) in opposition to the effect of said elastic means (11), as a consequence of the folding of the preceding pair.

Description: The invention relates to an operating device for folding doors, particularly for furniture. Well-known is furniture provided with folding doors. Such doors slide on horizontal guides applied to the frame of the furniture and are provided near the adjacent vertical edges with articulated hinges. Due to these hinges the doors can pass from a position in which they are placed coplanar and close the furniture, to a position in which, completely folded at one of the two ends of the furniture, they result parallely facing and orthogonal to their sliding plane. A drawback of such doors consists in that their opening is only possible starting from one end, purposely foreseen when they are realized or in assemblying the furniture; this creates the necessity of opening all the preceding doors in the case that one has to open a door of the furniture different from that at the free end. Also the rotation of the doors and the consequent displacement of them is felt by all the doors and that is a drawback both for the high stress necessary for such a displacement and for the formation of openings where the dust can enter the furniture. The aim of the invention is to realize a device for operating folding doors, particularly for furniture, which allows to open the doors on both sides. Another aim of the invention is to realize a device which allows opening of the doors, one pair after the other subsequently. Another aim of the invention is to realize a device which allows an easy and simple displacement of the doors. Such aims are achieved according to the invention with an operating device for folding doors, particularly for furniture, characterized in that it comprises posts sliding along horizontal guide runners, pairs of doors articulated between themselves along their vertical adjacent edge and articulated to said posts along their opposite vertical edge, elastic means keeping each pair of doors in closing position and means causing partial opening of each pair of doors, in opposition to the effect of said elastic means, as a consequence of the folding of the preceding pair. Advantageously to each post, eventually excluding the end ones, at least one elastic means can be connected, to which two flexible and substantially inextensible elements are fixed and connected to the doors articulated to that post, the connecting elements of all the pairs of doors, eventually excluding the end ones, being also connected by flexible and substantially inextensible elements, in a different place from the ends of said connecting elements. Always according to the invention the elastic means can consist of a solenoidal spring housed in a cylindrical casing orthogonally applied to the corresponding post. Always according to the invention the door of the and pairs articulated to the intermediate post can be connected to the relevant elastic means by a flexible and elastically extensible element having elastic constant higher than that of the elastic means to which said flexible element is connected. Advantageously each end post can be provided with a pushing element directed towards the adjacent intermediate post and each intermediate post can be provided with a pair of pushing elements directed towards the adjacent posts, a bracket applied to the doors articulated to the adjacent post being associated to each pushing element, the lenght of said pushing element and the form of said bracket being such that, when the post is near the adjacent post, as a consequence of the complete folding of the doors included between them, said pushing element leans against said bracket causing the partial folding of the adjacent doors. The invention is hereinafter further clarified with reference to the enclosed drawings in which: Figure 1 shows in horizontal sectional view a wardrobe with folding doors moved by a device according to the invention, Figure 2 shows it in vertical sectional view, Figures 3 to 5 show in plan view and in greater scale the particular of the doors in three consecutive folding steps, Figure 6 shows in enlarged vertical partial sectional view the particular of the ends of the intermediate posts to which the doors are articulated, Figure 7 shows the same particular in partial frontal rear view, Figures 8 and 9 show in the same view of Figures 3 and 4 the particular of the doors provided with the operating device according to the invention in a second embodiment, and Figure 10 show in frontal rear view the lower portion of a post of the device in this second embodiment. As can be seen from the drawings, the device according to the invention can be used for example in wardrobes with folding doors. In the illustrated embodiment the pair of doors are indicated by 1,1' (doors of end pairs and doors of intermediate pairs respectively) and are articulated two by two, along their vertical edges, to posts 2,2' by traditional hinges 3 realized, for example, in rigid flexible co-extruded PVC, running along the complete height of the door itself. These are formed by two elements 3' insertable in the contacting edges of the doors and/or posts and connected each to other along an area of minimum thickness, which keeps elastically the elements 3' substantially coplanar when there is no outside stress. To the upper part of the posts 2,2' a metal plate 4 is applied, supporting a horizontal axis roller 5 engaged in a guide runner 6, externally applied to the upper horizontal edge of the wardrobe 7. The plate 4 of the intermediate posts 2' is also provided with a projection 8 supporting vertical axis rollers 9 engaged in the lateral wings of the same guide runner 6. To the plate 4 of the intermediate posts 2' a horizontal axis hollow cylindrical element 10 is connected, internally housing a solenoidal spring 11 and a vertical pin 12, whose ends emerge out of the cylindrical element 10. At said ends, rings 13 are mounted to which small metal wires 14 are fixed, having the other end connected near the medium place of the adjacent doors 1,1'. A further small wire 15 connects the small wires 14 at a short distance from the place of connection to the intermediate doors 1'. The connecting small wire 14 between the post 2' and the articulated door 1 is provided with a solenoidal spring 20 having elastic constant higher than that of the spring 11. Such a spring 20 is shown only in figure 3 for clarity reasons. The length of the small wires 14 and 15 is such that, when the wardrobe is closed, that is the doors 1,1' are placed coplanar, they are kept taut by the action of the springs 11. Also each post 2' is provided at the bottom with a plate 16 supporting a vertical axis roller 17 sliding in a guide channel 18 applied near the lower edge of the wardrobe 7. In order to avoid undesired rotating phenomena of the end posts 2, which on the upper part are without the guide rollers 9, they are provided at the bottom with a pair of rollers 17. The device according to the invention operates as follows: when all the doors 1,1' are closed, they are coplanar and completely close the wardrobe 7. This position is kept stable as the elastic movement of the springs 11 prevails against the elastic reaction of the hinges 3. To open the wardrobe from the left, the corresponding handle 19 applied to the end door 1 is gripped and the rotation of this with its articulated door is caused: such movement is made easier by the elastic reaction of the hinges 3. The rotation of the two doors 1 follows by simple push in the direction indicated by the arrow 21 in figure 4. During this rotation the door 1 articulated to the post 2' exerts a traction on the small wire 14 which compresses the spring 11 and brings the pin 12 near to the post 2'. During such step the spring 20, having an elastic constant higher than that of the spring 11, does not allow the lengthening of the small wire 14. As a consequence of the compression of the spring 11, the small cables 14, 15 are no longer kept in tension and, therefore, the elastic reaction of the hinges 3 of the doors 1 which open partially prevails. The rotation of the doors 1 continuing, the pin 12 nears the posts 2' and the doors 1' reach the subsequent configuration of equilibrium allowed by the opposite action of the hinges 3 and the springs 11. When the pin 12 is completely near to the post 2' (cfr. fig. 4), the traction exerted on the small wire 14 connecting the post 2' to the articulated door 1 will cause the lengthening of the spring 20, which allows doors 1 to be placed parallely facing, leaving the position of doors 1' unchanged. The further push, always in the direction of the arrow 21 will cause rotation of the doors 1', and the repetition of the previously described movements on each subsequent pair of doors 1'. It's clear that, due to the symmetry of the system, the opening of the wardrobe can come about with the same working use starting from the pair of doors 1 foreseen at the right end of this. From the above it clearly results that the operating device according to the invention allows obtaining many advantages, and in particular: - it allows opening of furniture, indifferently starting from the right or left side doors, - it allows opening of pairs of doors one after the other subsequently, - it allows an easy and simple working movement. In another embodiment (cfr. figures 8, 9 and 10) the lower plate 21 of the end posts 2 is provided with a supporting bracket 23 of a pushing element 24, placed parallely to the doors when they are in a closed position. Furthermore, the doors articulated to the intermediate posts 2' are connected, in correspondence to their medium point, by a solenoidal spring 25 and are provided, in correspondence to their edges articulated to the posts 2', with a bracket 26 forming a ledge for the pushing element 24. The length of the pushing element is such that, when the doors are parallely facing, the end of this element 24 leans against the bracket 26, causing the partial opening of the adjacent doors. The jointing of the doors between themselves and to the relevant posts is obtained by hinges 3 similar to those previously described. The device in this embodiment operates as follows: when closed (cfr. fig. 8), all the doors are coplanar to each other; this position is kept stable as the elastic movement of the springs 25 prevails on the elastic reaction of the hinges 3. To open the wardrobe (from the left in the drawings), the corresponding handle 19 applied to the end door 1 is gripped and the rotation of this with its articulated door is caused: such movement is made easier by the elastic reaction of the hinges 3. The rotation of the doors 1 continuing, the pushing element 24 moves towards the post 2', whilst the other two doors (on the right of the drawings) remain coplanar to each other due to the elastic action of the spring 25. When the left doors 1 are substantially facing, the end of the pushing element 24 leans against the bracket 26 applied to the pair of coplanar doors and causes, for the reasons previously indicated, a rotation of these, preparing them for opening (cfr. fig. 9). The further pushing in the direction of the arrow 27 will cause the complete rotation, also of said doors. Also in this embodiment, opening of the wardrobe can come about starting from one or other end indifferently. The example described is also valid in the case of a system with three or more pairs of doors; in this case the end posts are provided with a single pushing element, whilst the intermediate posts are provided with a pair of pushing elements, directed in opposite sense. With the aim of not causing interference between element and element and between element and bracket, these work on different heights and in particular all the elements are directed in one sense and the relevant brackets are placed on the same height, which is different from the height on which the other pushing elements and brackets are placed. This second embodiment differs from the previous one in that only the partial opening of a pair of doors is caused, not at the begin of the opening run of the previous pair but at the end of this run.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. An operating device for folding doors, particularly for furniture, characterized in that it comprises posts (2,2') sliding along horizontal guide runners (6,18) applied to furniture (7), pairs of doors (1,1') articulated between themselves along their vertical adjacent edge and articulated to said posts (2,2') along their opposite vertical edge, elastic means (11) keeping each pair of doors (1,1') in closing position and means (3) causing the partial opening of each pair of doors (1,1') in opposition to the effect of said elastic means (11), as a consequence of the of the preceding pair. 2. Device according to claim 1 characterized in that to each post (2,2'), eventually excluding the end ones (2), at least one elastic means (11) is connected to which two flexible (14) and substantially inextensible elements are fixed and connected to the doors (1,1') articulated to that post, the connecting elements (14) of all the pairs of doors (1,1'), eventually excluding the end ones (1), being also connected by a flexible and substantially inextensible element, in a different place from the ends of said connecting elements (14). 3. Device according to claim 1 characterized in that the opening means (3) are of an elastic type. 4. Device according to claims 1 and 3 characterized in that the elastic closing means (11) and the elastic opening means (3) are chosen in such a way that the effect of the first is prevailing, in the absence of other stresses, against the effect of the last. 5. Device according to claims 1 and 3 characterized in that the opening means (3) are constituted by the articulation hinges of the doors (1,1') between themselves and/or to the posts (2,2'). 6. Device according to claims 1 and 5 characterized in that the hinges (3) are realized in rigid flexible co-extruded PVC and run along the complete height of the doors (1,1'). 7. Device according to claims 1 and 2 characterized in that the elastic means (11) consists of a solenoidal spring housed in a cylindrical casing (10) orthogonally applied to the corresponding post (2). 8. Device according to claims 1 and 2 characterized in that the door (1) of the end pairs articulated to the intermediate post (2') is connected to the relevant elastic means (11) by a flexible and elastically extensible element (14,20) having elastic constant higher than that of the elastic means (11) to which said flexible element (14,20) is connected. 9. Device according to claim 1 characterized in that each end post (2) is provided with a pushing element (24) directed towards the adjacent intermediate post (2') and that each intermediate post (2') is provided with a pair of pushing elements (24) directed towards the adjacent posts (2,2'), a bracket (26) applied to the doors (1,1') articulated to the adjacent post (21) being associated to each pushing element (24), the lenght of said pushlng element (24) and the form of said bracket (26) being such that, when the post (2,2') near the adjacent post, as a consequence of the complete folding of the doors (1,1') included between them, said pushing element (24) leans against said bracket (26) causing the partial folding of the adjacent doors. 10. Device according to claims 1 and 9 characterized in that the pushing elements (24) applied to adjacent posts work on different heights. 11. Device according to claim 9 characterized in that the elastic means keeping each pair of doors (1,1') in closed position consists of filiform elastic elements connecting each post (2') to its articulated doors. 12. Device according to claims 1 and 11 characterized in that the elastic means keeping each pair of doors (1,1') in closed position consists of a solenoidal metal spring (25).

Inventors: BONETTI, MASSIMO, MANENTE, GIUSEPPE, MION, ABRAMO
Applicants: KAIROS S.N.C. DI M.BONETTI, G.MANENTE E A.MION ING. & ARCH.
Application year: 1982
Main classification: E05D15
IPC codes: E05F7, E05D15, E06B3