Patent ID: 7013687

Claim:
An openable and closable sliding door arrangement for a doorway, comprising: an upright door positioned for generally horizontal and rectilinear sliding movement between opened and closed positions relative to an upright doorway defined by a stationary structure, said door defining inside and outside surfaces on opposite sides thereof; a locking mechanism supported on the door for movement between locking and unlocking positions, said locking mechanism including a locking member supported on the door for pivoting movement about a generally horizontal axis which extends transverse to the door, and a locking bolt arrangement which cooperates with and is movably displaced into a locking position in response to pivoting of the locking member from said unlocking position to said locking position, said locking bolt arrangement having an end portion which projects outwardly beyond the door when in said locking position for engagement with an adjacent retainer structure which is fixed to the stationary structure when the door is in the closed position; a manually accessible and moveable lock actuator mounted on said door adjacent said inside surface thereof and interconnected to said locking member for permitting manual pivoting thereof into the locking position; and a manually accessible inner activating handle adjacent said inside surface in the vicinity of, but independent of, said lock actuator for controlling opening and closing sliding movement of said door, said inner activating handle being movably supported on said door for movement through a small generally horizontal distance in a direction generally parallel with the opening and closing directional movement of the door, and a motion transfer mechanism connected between the inner activating handle and the locking member so that manual movement of the inner activating handle relative to the door in the door-opening direction initially causes pivoting movement of the locking member to effect release of the locking bolt arrangement with continued application of a generally horizontally oriented opening force to the inner activating handle in the door opening direction thereafter causing opening movement of the door, and wherein manual movement of the inner activating handle relative to the door in the door-closing direction is incapable of effecting movement of the locking bolt into said locking position.