Abstract:
A foot operated door opener is formed as a triangular frame. The frame has an angular apex joint opposite the longer leg. The apex has an axle therethrough which is rotatably connected to a wall adjacent a sliding door. Pressure on the end of one leg of the frame causes rotation of the frame about the axle. The rotation causes another end of the frame to engage the sliding door and move it laterally to partially open the door.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to the building field and to devices that can assist people, with or without handicaps, in gaining ingress and egress from buildings. This invention is directed, particularly, toward adding a mechanical advantage and ease of operation to a person&#39;s effort in opening sliding doors. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Sliding doors are conventionally used in many applications as both interior and exterior doors. Usually these doors are referred to as pocket doors when mounted inside partitions between rooms. These doors may, indeed, slide on tracks laid on the floor or they may move on rollers in the bottom of the doors or tracks. Sometimes, they are hung from tracks mounted on the wall or ceiling connected to the top of the doors. In all applications, the sliding doors move horizontally parallel to a wall to open or close a door opening in the wall. 
     One of the more popular uses of the sliding door is in private homes and apartments as a glass exterior door, opening onto a deck or patio. The architectural and styling advantages of such doors are well known. However, either because of considerations of the doors moving in close proximity to each other or the wall or, simply, a sleeker style, the doors usually do not have any substantial handle for operation. In most cases, the doors have indentations that will accommodate the ends of the fingers. A person only has this small purchase to operate the door. 
     The operation of sliding doors is of no consequence to the young and fit with both hands free. But for those with weakened muscles, bone and joint problems, such as arthritis, such doors present a problem. Also, for everyone who tries to use a sliding door when their hands or arms are otherwise occupied with objects, the lack of a handle proves frustrating. 
     What is lacking in the prior art is a simple door opener that will operate a sliding door through use of the weight of the body, without the use of the hands, and adds mechanical advantage to the amount of force applied to the opener. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
     There are many foot operated door openers in the prior art however, the devices have not become popular consumer items. Such a situation usually results from the costs of the devices and/or the complexity of installation and reliability of use. 
     Representative of the prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,661 to Finkelstein et al, entitled, Sliding Door Foot Treadle. The disclosure is directed to opening refrigerator doors by a foot assist that moves the door in three dimensions. The treadle is an L-shaped lever mounted on the refrigerator by a bolt through the juncture of the legs of the L. One downwardly extending leg is positioned against the edge of the door and the other leg extends horizontally as the treadle. Stepping on the treadle rotates the downwardly extending leg against the edge of the door for opening the door. In this construction, the downwardly extending leg wears against the edge of the door. Further, the treadle leg and the operating leg must bear all the opening load on the unsupported ends of the legs which could lead to failure or bending of the either leg. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A foot operated door opener is formed as a triangular frame. The frame has an angular apex joint opposite the longer leg. The apex has an axle therethrough which is rotatably connected to a wall adjacent a sliding door. Pressure on the end of one leg of the frame causes rotation of the frame about the axle. The rotation causes another end of the frame to engage the sliding door and move it laterally to partially open the door. 
     Accordingly, it is an objective of the instant invention to teach a simple, easily installed foot operated door opener for applying a lateral force to a sliding door. 
     It is a further objective of the instant invention to teach a sliding door opener with a reinforced lever arms for withstanding repeated usage and large loads without failure. 
     It is yet another objective of the instant invention to teach a spring loaded door opener that automatically returns to a starting position upon release of foot pressure. 
     It is a still further objective of the invention teach the provision of a structure to convert arcuate movement to lateral movement and protect the integrity of the door. 
     Other objectives and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of this invention. The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
     FIG. 1 shows a perspective of a mounted foot operated opener of this invention in the starting position; 
     FIG. 2 shows a perspective of a mounted foot operated opener of FIG. 1 in the open position; 
     FIG. 3 shows an exploded view of the spring loaded axle; and 
     FIG. 4 shows a perspective of the actuator and strike plate. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The foot operated door opener  10  is mounted on a wall  11  adjacent an edge of a door  13 . The bottom  14  of the door slides along the floor  12 . The opener is formed as a planar triangular frame with a horizontal leg  15  and a downwardly extending leg  16  in the starting position. The horizontally and downwardly extending legs, each have one end connected to a longer leg  17 . The plane of the triangular frame is parallel to the plane of the wall, as shown in FIG.  1 . This triangular shape adds reinforcement to both the horizontal and downwardly extending legs. 
     The other ends of legs  15  and  16  are joined at an apex angle opposite the longer leg  17 . An axle  18  extends through this joint normal to the plane of the opener. The axle  18  is rotatably fixed in a bracket  19  connected to the wall by screws  20 . Other wall fasteners may be used, such as bolts, nails welding or adhesives. In some instances, the bracket  19  may be attached to the door frame adjacent to the door opening. In any event, the bracket is located a horizontal distance from the edge of the door to permit the leg  16  to extend into the door opening in the open position. 
     A pad  21  is located on leg  15  near the end which connects with the longer leg  17 . This pad may take any form, such as an enlarged horizontally oriented plate, a roughened area of the leg  15  or a rubber pedal fixed on the leg. A plate or pedal may be connected to the leg  15  by screws, bolts, rivets or welding, as a matter of choice. This pedal forms the surface upon which a person may apply pressure to rotate the triangular frame. Normally, a user would step on this pedal and use hie or her weight to move the opener, as shown in FIG.  2 . Other appendages or devices, such as canes and crutches, may be used to operate the pedal. Also, the opener  10  may be placed on the wall at locations other than the height above the floor shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Because of the length of the legs, from the edge of the door to the foot pedal, there is a lever arm which adds mechanical advantage to the pressure applied to the pedal  21 . 
     A contact arm  22  is attached near the end of the downwardly extending leg  16  that is connected to the longer leg  17 . The contact arm  22  extends generally horizontally from the triangular frame toward the edge of the door  13  in the same plane as the opener, in the starting position. The length of the contact arm corresponds to the distance between the bracket  19  and the door. When the bracket  19  is located adjacent to the door opening the contact arm may be omitted (not shown). The contact arm may be an integral portion of the triangular frame or it may be connected to the frame by screws or bolts or welding. The contact arm  22  has an actuator  24  which engages the door  13 . As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the actuator  24  is perpendicular to the axis of the contact arm. The length of the actuator corresponds to the distance the triangular frame  10  is offset from the edge of the door. 
     The axle  18 , as shown in FIG. 3, is spring loaded to return to the starting position after rotation to the open position. A coil spring  25  encircles the axle  18  with one end of the coil attached to the bracket  19  in aperture  26  and the other end connected to the triangular frame in aperture  27 . When force is applied to the pedal  21 , the opener rotates to the open position causing the spring to store torsional energy. When the force is removed the spring  25  unloads and returns the frame to the starting position. While a coil spring has been shown and described, other spring arrangements may be used, such as a cam and leaf. 
     A strike plate  23  is attached to the edge of the door  13 . As shown in FIG. 4, the strike plate is L-shaped in cross section. It has two planar flanges  28  and  30  oriented normal to each other. Flange  28  is connected to the door  13  by screws  29  though other fasteners may be used. Flange  30  forms a planar surface normal to the plane of the door. The flange  30  is frictionally connected to actuator  24 . As pressure is applied to pedal  21 , contact arm  22  moves arcuately in response to the rotation of leg  16  about axle  18 . The arcuate movement produce a lateral vector and a vertical vector in the movement of the actuator  24 . The lateral vector causes the door to move along the floor and the vertical vector causes the actuator  24  to move upwardly along flange  30 . Depending on the particular installation of the door and framing, the height of flange  30  may vary or be omitted. 
     In the open position, shown in FIG. 2, the edge of the door is spaced from the wall a sufficient distance to allow partial entry into the door opening. A user may use a hand, arm, leg or shoulder to gain purchase against the edge of the door to complete the opening of the door. 
     It is to be understood that while a certain form of the invention is illustrated, it is not to be limited to the specific form or arrangement of parts herein described and shown. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention and the invention is not to be considered limited to what is shown and described in the specification and drawings.