Patent Abstract:
A door is secured in spaced relation to a wall panel by a support assembly which includes a tubular housing secured to the wall and an elongate guide bar secured to the door at its bottom. The door is retained, at its top, between extruded aluminum abutments which allow the door to slide with respect to the wall panel, but prevent the door from pivoting about the guide bar.

Full Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to guides for sliding-style doors. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In the furniture industry and in home construction it is commonplace to construct generally planar doors and to mount them in a manner which permits same to be moved along a horizontal axis, parallel to the plane of the door. Doors of this general type are commonly termed “sliding doors” or “sliders”, although, for smooth movement, particularly in the context of relatively massive doors, wheels or rollers can be provided, such that same are more correctly described as sliding-style doors. A typical construction includes a doorway or opening, a door of similar size, and upper and lower tracks upon which the door rides for movement between open and closed positions. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A system for use with a wall and a door forms one aspect of the invention. The wall has a longitudinal length, a height and a lateral thickness and the door has a width, a height and a thickness. The system comprises a support assembly and a support. The support assembly includes a first portion and a second portion. The first portion is secured, in use, to said wall, to define a longitudinal axis. The second portion, in use, is secured to said door and mounted to the first portion in a manner to support said door, when said door is supported otherwise than by the second portion at least as against pivotal movement about the axis, for longitudinal movement between a retracted position whereat a portion of said door is disposed laterally from the wall and an extended position whereat said portion projects longitudinally beyond and in cantilevered relation to said wall. The support operatively mounts said door to said wall in use to support said door at least against pivotal movement about the axis while permitting said longitudinal movement of the door. 
     A system for use with a planar wall and a planar door forms another aspect of the invention. The wall has a longitudinal length, a height and a lateral thickness and the door has a width, a height and a thickness. The system comprises a support assembly and a support. The support assembly includes a guide bar and a housing. One of the guide bar and the housing is secured, in use, to said wall, to define a longitudinal axis. The other of the guide bar and the housing is secured, in use, to said door. In use, the guide bar and the housing are mounted to one another to support the door, when the door is orientated parallel to said wall, for longitudinal movement between a retracted position whereat a portion of said door is disposed laterally from the wall and an extended position whereat said portion projects longitudinally beyond and in cantilevered relation to said wall. The support is rigidly secured, in use, to one of said door and said wall, above the support assembly, to support the door parallel to said wall while permitting said longitudinal movement of the door. 
     A system for selectively dividing a space into two portions forms another aspect of the invention. The system comprises a panel, a door, a support assembly and a support. The panel is positionable, in use, to define a wall dividing said space into said two portions, said two portions being communicable with one another by a doorway, and, in use, has a longitudinal length, a height and a lateral thickness. The door has a width, a height and a thickness. The support assembly and the support, in use, support the door for longitudinal movement between a retracted position whereat a portion of said door is disposed laterally from the wall and an extended portion whereat said portion projects longitudinally beyond and in cantilevered relation to said wall to occlude said doorway. The support assembly includes a guide bar and a housing. One of the guide bar and the housing is secured, in use, to said wall, to define a longitudinal axis. The other of the guide bar and the housing is secured, in use, to said door. The guide bar and the housing are mounted to one another for reciprocation. The support is rigidly secured, in use, to one of the wall and the door, above the support assembly, and is adapted to support the door against pivotal movement about the axis while permitting said longitudinal movement of the door. 
     The system provides for the mounting of a door for movement in the manner of a sliding-style door which is characterized by the absence of tracks spanning the doorway. The absence of tracks traversing the doorway improves aesthetics and functionality. Notably, this construction avoids the trip hazard associated with a lower track and the head clearance problems associated with an upper track. 
     Other advantages, features and characteristics of the present invention, as well as methods of operation and functions of the related elements of the structure, and the combination of parts and economies of manufacture, will become more apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description and the appended claims with reference to the accompanying drawings, the latter being briefly described hereinafter. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a side view of a partition according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an end view of the structure of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a partial view along section  3 - 3  of  FIG. 1 ; and 
         FIG. 4  is a view similar to  FIG. 3  of a partition according to a further exemplary embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     An exemplary system for selectively dividing a space into two portions is shown in  FIGS. 1-3  and designated with general reference numeral  20   
     The system  20  comprises a panel  22 , a door  24 , a support  69  and a support assembly  28 . 
     The panel  22  in use, has a longitudinal length B, a height H and a lateral thickness T and is positionable, as shown, to define a planar wall  30  dividing said space into said two portions  32  and  34 , said two portions  32  and  34  being communicable with one another by a doorway  36 , which in the embodiment illustrated is defined by the space between panel  22  and a secondary panel  25  which also forms part of the exemplary wall  30 . The panel  22  illustrated in  FIGS. 1-3  comprises a panel  38  of MDF or the like interleaved between longitudinally-extending extruded aluminum connectors  40  which have peripherally-grooved protuberances  42  extending horizontally therefrom and laterally-outwardly projecting channels  44  defined therein. The protuberances  42  fit in bores  46  formed in panel  38  to securely connect the panel  38  to the connectors  40  in press-fit relation. Although not illustrated, it should be understood that, in use and in this embodiment, panel  22  is suitably supported such that the wall  30  is a stable, upright element. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 1-3 , the door  24  is a planar panel of MDF or the like and has a width b, a height h and a thickness t, and the sides and top of the door  24  are capped with an extruded aluminum frame  48 . 
     The support assembly  28  includes: a first portion, in this embodiment taking the form of a housing  50 ; a second portion, in this embodiment taking the form of an elongate guide bar  52 ; a guide bar support  54  and an open sleeve rolling bearing  56 . 
     The housing  50  is an extruded elongate aluminum cylindrical tube having a longitudinal opening  58 , defining an axis X-X and secured, in use, lengthwise along and to the wall  30 , adjacent the lowermost connector  40 . Inwardly-directed lips  60  are formed on edges of said cylindrical tube which define said longitudinal opening  58 . 
     The guide bar  52  is an iron bar ground to have an outer cylindrical surface  61  and is provided with a set of radial threaded dead end holes (not shown). 
     The guide bar support  54  is a further aluminum extrusion which supports the guide bar  52  over its overall length in order to prevent inflection and, therefore, guidance inaccuracy and is provided with a tapered portion  62  which is straddled by the housing  50  and which ends in a surface which mates with the surface  61  of the guide bar  52 . The guide bar support  54  is provided with a plurality of through holes  64  which, in assembly, are aligned with the radial threaded dead end holes of guide bar  52  and through which fastening bolts (not shown) extend, to secure the guide bar  52  to the guide bar support  54 . The guide bar support  54 , in turn, is secured to the lower periphery of the door  24  by a plurality of screws  66 . So mounted, the guide bar  52  extends widthwise and across substantially the entirety of the width b of the door  24 . 
     The open sleeve rolling bearing  56  is of a type employing recirculating balls (not shown) and is disposed in the housing  50  such that the ball bearings thereof are disposed in rolling relationship between the outer cylindrical surface  61  of the guide bar  52  and an inner cylindrical surface  68  of the housing  50 , with the lips  60  preventing rotation of the open sleeve rolling bearing  56  with respect to the cylindrical tube housing  50 . The guide bar  52  is thus mounted to the housing  50  for smooth, axial reciprocation. 
     The support  69  illustrated in  FIGS. 1-3  takes the form of an aluminum extrusion and has a laterally extending leg  70  which extends into and in mechanical engagement with the channel  44  of the uppermost connector  40 , so as to be rigidly secured to the wall  30 , atop the door  24  and above the support assembly  28 . A pair of abutment portions  72  extend from leg  70  and are disposed in laterally-straddling relation to said door  24 , that is, in laterally spaced relation to one another and on opposite sides of the door  24 . The abutment portions  72  include pads  74  of self-lubricating material such as polytetrafluorethylene which capture the frame  48  therebetween in close-fitting, spaced relation. 
     The support assembly  28  and support  69 , in use, support the door  24  substantially parallel to the plane of the wall  30  for longitudinal, i.e. axial movement. In use, the support assembly  28  supports the mass of the door  24  for smooth movement via the bearing  56 . The support  69  supports the door against rotation about the axis X-X, with the pads  74  of the abutment portions  72  and the frame  48  of the door  24  engaging one another in a relatively friction-free manner so as to not to add unduly to sliding friction. 
     The door  24  is thus manually movable between a retracted position whereat substantially the entirety of the door  24  is disposed laterally from wall  30  (i.e. outside the doorway) and an extended position whereat a portion of door  24  projects longitudinally beyond said wall  30  and in cantilevered relation thereto to occlude said doorway  36 . 
     In the context of the illustrated structure, it has been found to be advantageous, to minimize binding, to provide the door  24  with a width b that is at least 1.5 times the width a of the doorway  36 , that is, the longitudinal distance by which the door  24  extends beyond the wall  30  in the extended position. Similarly, the length c of the portion of the support assembly secured to the wall, in this exemplary embodiment, the housing  50 , measured axially, will advantageously be adjusted to be equal to the difference between b and a. Generally, the width a of the doorway should be about 1 meter, to provide an adequate walking clearance, and the heights H,h of the wall  30  and door  24  should be less than 2 meters. 
     A further exemplary embodiment of the system is shown in  FIG. 4 . This system is similar to the embodiment of  FIG. 3 , and, to the extent that the systems of  FIGS. 3 and 4  are identical, they are referenced accordingly. However, whereas in the embodiment of  FIGS. 1-3  there is shown a support  69  rigidly secured to the wall  22  and which straddles the door  24  to permit sliding movement of the door therethrough, in this embodiment, a modified support  69 ′ is provided, which is rigidly secured to the wall  22  (formed integrally with the upper connector  40  thereof) and which carries a pad  100  of polytetrafluorethylene or other self-lubricating material which, in the course of movement of the door  24 , slides along a slot  102  formed in the door  24 , thereby to support door  24  against rotation about axis X-X without adding unduly to sliding friction. As well, whereas in the embodiment of  FIGS. 1-3 , the guide bar  52  is rigidly secured to the door  24  and the housing  50  is rigidly secured to the wall  22 , in the embodiment of  FIG. 4 , the guide bar  52  is secured to the wall  22  and the housing  50  is secured to and spans the width of the door  24 . 
     Whereas but two embodiments are herein shown and described by way of example, it should be understood that various modifications thereto are contemplated. 
     For example, whereas the illustrated door is disposed in a generally outboard relation to the wall/panel, it should be understood that the door could be deployed in an interior relation to the wall, i.e. in the manner of a pocket door. 
     Similarly, whereas specific constructions of the door and panel are herein shown, it will be understood that the support assemblies of the present invention could be deployed in use with doors and panels of widely varying configuration. 
     Additionally, whereas pads of polytetrafluorethylene self-lubricating material are suggested for the support, it will be evident that other plastics and materials could be utilized, and indeed, altogether different arrangements for the support could be utilized A pair of wheels, for example, could be arranged on opposites sides of the door for support against pivotal movement. Yet further, a second guide bar/housing combination could be provided for the support. 
     Further, whereas the panel  22  of  FIG. 1  defines a doorway in conjunction with a second panel  25 , it should be understood that the doorway could be defined wholly within a single panel, or could be defined by a single panel, spaced apart from and orientated perpendicular to another wall. 
     Accordingly, it should be understood that the invention is to be limited only by the claims appended hereto, purposively construed.

Technology Classification (CPC): 4