Abstract:
A sliding door closing device having an easy door opening function with an opening system. The closing device provides a slider with an attachment and gripper on one side of the device, and a properly shaped support of a moving roller on the other side of the device. A pusher contacts a roller support of the roller with a slider gripper and an opening spring and choke. The opening system allows for the opening of a door by pushing the door on vertical strip or on the edge.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The entire content of Polish Patent Application No. P.407002, filed on Jan. 30, 2014 in which the priority right of the present patent application is claimed is herein incorporated by reference. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The subject of the invention is a device for closing sliding doors, designed for use in the furniture industry, built-ins and interior arrangement. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Sliding door closing devices prevent the door from closing too fast and hitting against an external frame, side wall or frame. They prevent the hand from being crushed or damage to the door structure. 
     From patent description US2013167444A1, a sliding door arrangement is known, in which the force of a rapidly closing door is dampened by a gas shock absorber mounted in a guide rail. A pin is attached to the door, which, while closing, engages with a gripper attached at the end of the shock absorber. 
     From Polish utility model application W.120907, a sliding door closing device is known, which comprises three systems for shock absorbing and gripping, spring tension adjustment and an adjustable device mounting inside the guide rail. While sliding (opening) the door, the shock absorbing and gripping system is tensioned by the spring tension adjustment system, and an engagement pin is released from a driver, and the door continues sliding freely. While closing, the rapidly closing door with the engagement pin hits its driver, the shock absorbing and gripping system is released, the door is braked and energy is dissipated, and the door continues closing slowly, controlled by the spring tension adjustment system, until it closes completely. 
     Solutions known from the above descriptions are able to brake rapidly closing doors, yet they are difficult to open since, until the shock absorber is released, the resistance of the shock absorbing system has to be overcome. This is particularly difficult for doors without handles or strips intended for opening. 
     The purpose of the invention is to develop a sliding door closing device that will brake a rapidly sliding door leaf and close it to make contact with a side edge, but would allow easy and effortless opening at the same time. 
     The door closing device, according to the invention, has a body. The body, in its upper part, has longitudinal holes in the side walls, located in the vicinity of the body ends. In the lower part of the body, there is a longitudinal component located in parallel to the base, which serves as a pusher, and—in the upper part of the body—above the pusher, there is a slider with lateral holes at the ends. 
     Inside the slider, there are two chambers. In one of them, there is a spring and a choke of the closing device, and in the other chamber, the gripper of the closing device is fixed slidably, connected with the closing device choke and which remains in contact with the closing device spring. The end part of the slider, at the side of the spring and choke, is terminated with a hooked attachment. To one of the external walls of the body, the spring and—on the opposite side—the choke of the opening device is mounted. The ends of the spring and choke of the opening device are permanently attached to the body wall and—on the other side—connected with a lateral joiner placed through holes in the body and in the slider. On one of the ends, the body is fitted with the rotary and spring mounted slider gripper, which remains in contact with the pusher, and is provided with an attachment that fits to the one at the end of the slider. On the opposite side of the body, there is a permanently fixed housing in which there are two rollers arranged in parallel to the body base, whereby one roller is movable and one is stationary. The movable roller is fitted in a support that is spring-mounted to the housing, and its side surface remains in contact with the pusher end. 
     Preferably, the closing device body has the shape of a channel bar, which, in the cross section, is narrower in the lower part than in the upper part. 
     The sliding door closing device, according to the invention, features an easy door opening function with an opening system comprising a slider with an attachment and gripper on one side, properly shaped support of the moving roller on the other side, and a pusher contacting the roller support with a slider gripper, the opening device spring, and the choke. The opening system allows for opening of the door by pushing the door on a vertical strip or on the edge. Pushing on the door moves the support on the moving roller and simultaneously moves the pusher on the support wedge and releases the pusher from the gripper. In one variant of the door closing device, according to the invention, the pusher releases the slider from the gripper by a pushing movement, and in the other variant, it does so by a pulling movement. By opening the opened door, tension is placed on the closing device spring with the gripper of the closing device moving inside the slider. The stroke of the slider is determined by the length of longitudinal holes in the body. Preferably, the length of the holes is approx. 25 mm. When tension is placed on the spring, the gripper is locked, and the door moves freely on the guide rails. While closing, the closing device gripper is released by the door guide gripper, and the door is closed by placing tension on the opening spring and moving the slider in the body and locking it with the slider gripper at the same time. The closing spring pulls the door to the inner side of the cabinet. 
     The closing device, according to the invention, is provided with components with the additional function of releasing the door closing system, thanks to which, at first, the door is much easier to open, and activating the opening mechanisms requires only a slight push on the door or on a vertical profile in which the door is fixed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The sliding door closing device, according to the invention, is presented in a sample embodiment in a drawing, in which: 
         FIG. 1  presents a simplified diagram of the first variant of the device with the door closed, 
         FIG. 2  presents a simplified diagram of the second variant of the device with the door closed, 
         FIG. 3  presents a simplified diagram of the first variant of the device with the door opened, 
         FIG. 4  presents a simplified diagram of the first variant of the device with the door slid out, 
         FIG. 5  presents an exploded view of the closing device components in its first variant, and 
         FIG. 6  presents three views of the closing device mounting in the upper track. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     A sample embodiment of the first variant of the sliding door closing device according to the invention is presented in the drawing, which has a metallic body  1  in the shape of a channel bar, which, in the cross section, is narrower in the lower part than in the upper part. At the ends of the body  1 , there is a starting attachment  7  and an end attachment  9 . The starting and end attachments are profiled so as to fit to the inner side of the horizontal door profile. The body  1  has four 25 mm long holes  23   a  and  23   b  in the side walls of the upper part. In the lower part of the body  1 , there is a longitudinal component  13 , which serves as a pusher, and—in the upper, wider part of the body—above the pusher  13 , there is a slider  2  with holes  24   a  and  24   b  at the ends. The slider  2  can travel in the body at the distance of 25 mm, since it is held with pins  19  and  21  placed in the holes  24   a  and  24   b , moving in the holes  23   a  and  23   b  of the body  1 . Inside the slider  2 , there are two chambers. In one of them, there is a spring  15  and a choke  11  of the closing device, and in the other chamber, a gripper  6  of the closing device is fixed slidably, connected with the closing device choke  11  by a pin  22  and which remains in contact with the closing device spring  15 . The end part of the slider, at the side of the spring  15  and choke  11 , is terminated with a hooked attachment  25 . To one of the external walls of the body  1 , a spring  14  and—on the opposite side—a choke  12  of the opening device is mounted. The ends of the spring  14  and choke  12  of the opening device are permanently attached to the body  1  wall on one side and—on the other side—connected with the pin  21  placed through the holes  23   a  in the body and through the holes  24   a  in the slider. At the end part of the body  1 , at the end attachment  9 , there is a rotary and spring mounted slider gripper  8 , which remains in contact with the pusher  13 , which is provided with an attachment  26  that fits to the attachment  25  at the end of the slider. The gripper  8  is connected to the body with a pin  20 , and a spring  17  holds the slider gripper in the correct position. On the opposite side of the body  1 , there is a permanently fixed housing comprising of a top cover  3  and bottom cover  4 . Inside the housing, there are two rollers  10   a  and  10   b  arranged in parallel to the base of the body  1 , whereby the roller  10   a  is movable, and the roller  10   b  is stationary. The movable roller  10   a  is placed in a support  5  with a pin  18  on which it rotates. The support  5  of the roller  10   a  is held in position by a spring  16 . The side surface of the support  5  remains in contact with the end of the pusher  13 . 
     In the second variant, shown in the drawing in  FIG. 2 , the pusher  13  remains in contact with the opposite side of the support  5 , which is a mirror reflection of the support  5  of the first variant. The other end of the pusher  13  remains in contact with the slider gripper  8 , which is connected to the body with the pin  20 . Since, in this variant, the pusher  13  is pulled by the roller support  5 , its end remains in contact with the outer side of the slider gripper  8 . 
     In the initial state, the door rests against the cabinet or wall edge, the closing device spring  15  is released, and tension is created on the opening device spring  14 , i.e. it is ready to open the door. Pushing on the side edge of the door or on the profile moves the door leaf in relation to the guide rail. This causes a simultaneous movement of the roller  10   a , moves the roller support  5  and pusher  13 , whose opposite side interacts with the gripper  8 . Simultaneously, the slider gripper  8  turns in an axis perpendicular to the base of the body, thus releasing the slider  2 . The released slider  2  moves in the holes cut in the body over a distance of 25 mm thanks to the release of the opening device spring  14 . This movement is cushioned with the opening device choke  12 . Along with the slider  2  movement, the door is moved away from the framing. When continuing to open the door, the closing device slider gripper  6  is moved, allowing to reload and create tension on the closing device spring  15  at the same time. Moving along a proper trajectory within the channel in the slider  2 , thanks to guides cut (guiding channels) in the slider  2 , the closing device gripper  6 , when it creates tension on the closing device spring  15  and the choke  11 , is locked, and the door continues to open freely. While closing the door, the closing device gripper  6  is released in the slider  2  by the guide attachment  25  or  26  or end attachment  9  mounted in the door rail. The slider  2  moves back in the body  1  and creates tension on the opening device spring  14  and the choke  12 . At the same time, the locked closing device gripper  6  in the slider gripper moves inside the slider  2 , being pulled by the closing device spring  15 . This causes a pulling of the door to the framing edge. This movement is cushioned by the closing device choke  11  connected with the closing device gripper  6 . When the door is pulled, the slider  2  is locked by the slider gripper. The door is ready to open. Roller support  5  is capable of moving from the position shown in  FIG. 1  to the position in  FIG. 3  which activates the pusher  13  when the user lightly pushes the door in a perpendicular direction to the motion of the slider and the gripper  6 . 
     In the second variant of the device, the movement of the roller  10   a , while pushing, moves the support  5  which pulls the pusher  13 . The pusher, being pulled and remaining in contact with the slider gripper, simultaneously causes the gripper  8  to rotate on a perpendicular axis to the body base, but in the opposite location as compared to the first variant. The slider gripper  8  has a hooked attachment on the opposite side as compared to the first variant. Its rotary movement releases the gripper.