SUSPENSION ASSEMBLY

Abstract: The invention relates to a suspension assembly for a balcony glass enclosure or a corresponding movable element (1), said assembly comprising a guide rail (2) above the element (1) for a bearing/transfer wheel system (3) movable lengthwise of the guide rail and supporting essentially the weight of the element (1), and guide means below the element (1), including a guide rail (4), provided with a slot (5) into which is adapted to extend a spindle (6) projecting from the bottom part of the element (1), said spindle having rotatably journalled thereon at least two guiding wheels (7, 8) which provide, together with a side wall (13, 14) of the slot (5) in the guide rail (4), a support for the bottom part of the element (1) in a direction (15) transverse to the lengthwise direction of the guide rail (4), said wheels (7, 8), and surfaces (9, 10, 11, 12) of the side walls (13, 14) of the slot (5) in line with the wheels (7, 8), being dimensioned relative to each other in such a manner that each wheel (7, 8) only bears against one of the side walls (13, 14) of the slot (5), whereby at least one wheel (7, 8) is adapted to bear against each side wall (13, 14) of the slot (5). At least one of the at least two guiding wheels (7, 8), mounted on said spindle (6) projecting from the bottom part of the element (1), is designed to be flexible in the radial direction of the wheel. The wheels (7, 8) are adapted to always press at a certain minimum force against the side walls (13, 14).

Description: Suspension assembly The present invention relates to a suspension assembly for a balcony glass enclosure or a corresponding movable element, said assembly comprising a guide rail above the element for a bearing/transfer wheel system movable lengthwise of the guide rail and supporting essentially the weight of the element, and guide means below the element, including a guide rail, provided with a slot into which is adapted to extend a spindle projecting from the bottom part of the element, said spindle having rotatably journalled thereon at least two guiding wheels which provide, together with a side wall of the slot in the guide rail, a support for the bottom part of the element in a direction transverse to the lengthwise direction of the guide rail, said wheels, and surfaces of the side walls of the slot in line with the wheels, being dimensioned relative to each other in such a manner that each wheel only bears against one of the side walls of the slot, whereby at least one wheel is adapted to bear against each side wall of the slot. A guiding wheel travelling between the side walls of a guide rail slot and the side walls of the slot must normally have therebetween a certain clearance for assuring a troublefree run for the wheel and, thus, for the entire element. An excessive clearance causes noise as the element is able to move in a direction transverse to the lengthwise direction of the guide rail and, on the other hand, an insufficient clearance causes the wheel to get jammed in the slot. A suspension assembly of the above type is disclosed in Finnish patent 91310. It describes a solution which strives for as much sturdiness as possible and for clearances as small as possible. As it is always necessary in this prior known assembly to maintain a certain clearance, the assembly must be constructed in an extremely precise fashion, and despite this, thermal expansions result in the wheels getting stuck nonetheless. An object of the invention is to provide a suspension assembly, wherein the immobility of an element can be assured in a simple and economically attractive fashion in a direction transverse to the lengthwise direction of a guide rail, yet a faultless mobility for the element is maintained in the lengthwise direction of the guide rail. According to the invention, this objective is achieved in such a manner and a suspension assembly of the invention is characterized in that at least one of the at least two guiding wheels, mounted on said spindle projecting from the bottom part of the element, is designed to be flexible in the radial direction of the wheel, and that the wheels are adapted to always press at a certain mini- mum force against the side walls. The assembly of the invention makes it possible to completely eliminate a clearance transverse to the lengthwise direction of the slot between the spindle and the slot. By virtue of a wheel flexible in the radial direction, the dimensional inaccuracies of parts occurred during construction or the subsequently appeared distortions or the like do not hinder a faultless operation of the suspension. By virtue of the flexibility, the assembly can be dimensioned in such a way that the clearances are completely eliminated. The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: fig. 1 shows a suspension assembly of the invention in a schematic exemplary embodiment. Fig. 2 shows a section along a line ll-ll in fig. 1. Fig. 3 shows one exemplary embodiment for a flexible wheel used in a suspension assembly of the invention. Fig. 1 shows schematically a suspension assembly for a balcony glass enclosure or a corresponding element 1 movable along guides 2, 4 in the direction of an arrow 16. Above the element 1 is a guide rail 2 which supports substantially the entire weight of the element 1 by means of bearing/transfer wheel systems 3. Below the element 1 are guide means which include a guide rail 4, provided with a slot 5 into which is adapted to extend spindles 6 projecting from the bottom part of the element 1 , preferably from both bottom corners of the ele- ment 1. As best shown in fig. 2, the spindle 6 carries two joumalled, freely rotating wheels 7, 8. The guide rail 4 has its side walls 13, 14 provided with grooves or slots for supporting the wheels 7, 8 in vertical direction. The spindle 6 is freely movable in its axial direction with respect to the wheels 7, 8. Together with the side wall 13, 14 of a slot 5 in the guide rail 4, the wheels 7, 8 provide a support for the bottom part of the element 1 in a direction 15 transverse to the lengthwise direction of the guide rail 4. At least one of these wheels is designed to be flexible in the radial direction of the wheel. The wheels 7, 8, as well as surfaces 9, 10, 11 , 12 of the side walls 13, 14 in line with the wheels 7, 8, are dimensioned relative to each other in such a fashion that each wheel 7, 8 only bears against one of the side walls 13, 14 of the slot 5. In the example of fig. 2, the upper wheel 7 is adapted to bear against the surface 9 of the left-hand side wall 13 of the slot 5 and, respectively, the lower wheel 8 is adapted to bear against the surface 12 of the right-hand side wall 14 of the slot 5. The surface 10 of the side wall 14 in line with the upper wheel 7, directly opposite to the surface 9 of the side wall 13, is set at a distance from the wheel 7. Respectively, the surface 11 of the side wall 13 in line with the lower wheel (8), directly opposite to the surface 12 of the side wall 14, is set at a distance from the wheel 8. One 7 of the wheels carried by the spindle 6 is supported on the left-hand side wall 13 of the slot 5 of the guide rail 4 and the other 8 on the right-hand side wall 14. Since at least one of the wheels 7, 8 is designed to be flexible in the radial direction of the wheel, the assembly can be dimensioned for completely eliminating clearances in the direction of the arrow 15 having an effect on the spindle 6. Thus, the wheels 7, 8 can be adapted to always press at a certain minimum force against the side walls 13, 14, the wheel 7 against the side wall 13 and the wheel 8 against the side wall 14. Fig. 3 depicts one example of a radially flexible wheel 7, 8 fit for a suspension assembly of the invention. The wheel is constructed from a plastic disk, having a hole 17 in the middle for a spindle 6 and, between a disk rim 18 and the hole 17, a nubmer of slots 19 arranged in a mutually overlapping pattern. Of course, the radial flexibility for a wheel can be implemented in a number of ways. The wheel can be made entirely of a flexible material or the wheel can be provided with a flexible component, e.g. a bearing ring.

Claims: Claims 1. A suspension assembly for a balcony glass enclosure or a corresponding movable element (1), said assembly comprising a guide rail (2) above the element (1) for a bearing/transfer wheel system (3) movable lengthwise of the guide rail and supporting essentially the weight of the element (1), and guide means below the element (1), including a guide rail (4), provided with a slot (5) into which is adapted to extend a spindle (6) projecting from the bottom part of the element (1), said spindle having rotatably journalled thereon at least two guiding wheels (7, 8) which provide, together with a side wall (13, 14) of the slot (5) in the guide rail (4), a support for the bottom part of the element (1) in a direction (15) transverse to the lengthwise direction of the guide rail (4), said wheels (7, 8), and surfaces (9, 10, 11 , 12) of the side walls (13, 14) of the slot (5) in line with the wheels (7, 8), being dimensioned relative to each other in such a manner that each wheel (7, 8) only bears against one of the side walls (13, 14) of the slot (5), whereby at least one wheel (7, 8) is adapted to bear against each side wall (13, 14) of the slot (5), characterized in that at least one of the at least two guiding wheels (7, 8), mounted on said spindle (6) projecting from the bottom part of the element (1), is designed to be flexible in the radial direction of the wheel, and that the wheels (7, 8) are adapted to always press at a certain minimum force against the side walls (13, 14). 2. An assembly as set forth in claim 1 , characterized in that the wheel (7, 8) is constructed from a disk of a flexible material, having a hole (17) in the middle for the spindle (6) and, between a disk rim (18) and the hole (17), a number of slots (19) arranged in a mutually ovarlapping pattern. 3. An assembly as set forth in claim 1 , characterized in that the wheel (7, 8) is made entirely of a flexible material. 4. An assembly as set forth in claim 1 , characterized in that the wheel (7, 8) is provided with a flexible component, particularly a flexible bearing ring.

Inventors: AIRIKKALA PEKKA, AIRIKKALA, PEKKA
Applicants: AIRIKKALA PEKKA, ILOXI OY, AIRIKKALA, PEKKA
Application year: 1999
Main classification: E06B3
IPC codes: E05D15