AU2007202099B2 - Wheel support structure for sliding doors or panels - Google Patents

Description

Pool Section 29 Regulation 3.2(2) AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Application Number: Lodged: Invention Title: Wheel support structure for sliding doors or panels The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: 1 WHEEL SUPPORT STRUCTURE FOR SLIDING DOORS OR PANELS The present invention relates to improvements in wheel support structures for sliding doors or panels that provide a capability of vertical adjustment of the wheel or wheels carried by the structure. The present application claims 5 divisional status from Australian Patent No. 2004233485. Typically known wheel support structures of the aforementioned kind provide a support housing and a wheel carriage carrying one or more wheels, the support housing being fixed to or within a cavity of a door or the like. Often a further structure is located between the support housing and the wheel carriage to 10 assist with or enable the height adjusting capability whereby movement of the carriage in a horizontal direction relative to the support housing will cause the carriage to be adjusted upwardly or downwardly relative to the support housing. Normally some form of screw member is provided to move the carriage relative to the support housing and when the screw member is not rotated, to fix the carriage 15 in a desired vertically adjusted position relative to the support housing. Conventional wheel support structures of this general type are known to suffer from some disadvantages including that the load carrying capacity of the structure may be solely via the pins or similar member engaging in the inclined guides and is thereby limited, that the amount of vertical adjustment can be limited, and that it 20 is difficult to remove the wheel carriage for servicing and/or replacement without having to replace the entire wheel support structure. A still further difficulty is that existing structures make it difficult to reduce the overall width of the assembly to allow them to be used with thinner doors or panels. The objective of the present invention is therefore to provide a wheel 25 support structure of the aforementioned kind that will allow for relatively easy removal and replacement of the wheel carriage in such structures for servicing as may be required from time to time. According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wheel support structure including a support housing adapted for fixing to a door, 30 panel or the like, a wheel assembly having at least one wheel and a carriage member rotatably supporting the wheel or wheels, and means for adjustably moving said wheel assembly in at least a vertical direction relative to said support housing, said wheel or wheels being carried by a bogie member, said wheel 2 support structure including selectably releasable connector means normally connecting said bogie member to said carriage member, said releasable connector means permitting said bogie member to be released from connection with said carriage member independently of said means for adjustably moving 5 said wheel assembly in a vertical direction relative to said support housing. By such an arrangement, it is possible to easily replace the wheel carrying bogie member without necessarily having to replace the whole wheel support structure. The wheel carrying bogie member can then be serviced or replaced as may be required. 10 Further preferred features and aspects may be as defined in claims 2 to 15 inclusive as annexed hereto which are hereby made part of the disclosure of this specification by this reference thereto. A preferred embodiment of the present invention will hereinafter be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which : 15 FIG 1 is a top plan view of a wheel support structure according to a preferred embodiment of this invention; FIG 2 is a section view along line X-X of FIG 1; FIG 3 is a side elevation view of the structure shown in FIG 1; FIG 4 is a section view taken along line A-A of FIG 2; 20 FIG 5 is a section view taken along line XX-XX of FIG 2; FIG 6 is a left hand end view of the structure shown in FIG 2; FIG 7 is a right hand end view of the structure shown in FIG 2; FIG 8 is a section view along line H-H of FIG 3; FIG 9 is an exploded perspective view of the wheel support structure 25 shown in FIGS 1 to 3; FIG 10 is an upper perspective view of the wheel bogie member shown in FIG 9; FIG 11 is an underneath perspective view of the wheel bogie member shown in FIG 9; 30 FIG 12 is an upper perspective view of the wheel assembly carriage member shown in FIG 9; FIG 13 is an underneath perspective view of the wheel assembly carriage member shown in FIG. 9.

3 FIG 14 is an exploded view of a carriage member and associated wheel bogie illustrating another preferred embodiment; and FIG 15 is a partial section view along line Z-Z of FIG 14. Referring to the annexed drawings, the wheel support structure 10 5 includes a support housing 11 which is conveniently made in two parts 12 and 13. The two housing parts 12 and 13 may be held together by screws or similar threaded fasteners passing through apertures 14 into spigots 15. The support housing 11 includes an upper wall 16 and opposed side walls 17, 18. The upper wall 16 has an opening 19 formed by cooperating recesses 20, 21 in the upper 10 walls of the two parts 12, 13. The side walls 17, 18 of the housing 11 include centrally located inclined slots 22, 23 and inwardly facing inclined recesses or grooves 24, 25 located adjacent either end. The recesses or grooves 24, 25 and the slots 22, 23 are configured whereby at least an upper edge 26 of the slots and upper side face 27, 15 28 of the recesses or grooves 24, 25 are parallel to one another. One end 29 of the housing 11 has a longitudinally extending bore 30 proceeding into the groove 25 and is adapted to frictionally retain a nut 31 and an adjusting screw member 32 threadably engaged with the nut 31 whereby rotation of the screw member 32 allows the member to move into or out of the interior space of the housing 11. 20 The support housing 11 is adapted to fit within a recess or groove located typically in a lower edge of a door, panel or the like such that the wheels will project downwardly from that lower edge. A flange 33 with a bore 34 for a fixing screw or the like may be provided as an extension of the top wall 16. If desired, such a flange and fixing screw aperture may be provided extending from both 25 ends. Finally, to assist with fitting in the recess or groove in the door, panel or the like, a pair of spaced bars 35 are provided on the external face of side walls 17, 18 of the housing parts 12, 13. The bars 35 enable a friction fit in the groove or recess or may be removed if it is desired to fit the housing within a narrower groove or recess. 30 The wheel assembly 36 includes a carriage means formed by an upper carriage member 37 and a bogie member 38, the bogie member 38 carrying a pair of wheels 39. The wheels 39 include stub shafts recessable in a snap connection manner within downwardly directed shaft receiving recesses 40 in the 4 bogie member 38. The bogie member 38 also includes upwardly directed protuberances 41 which are adapted to snap fit and engage with cooperating recesses 42 in the underneath zone of the carriage member. Conveniently the protuberances 41 are part cylindrical and are adapted to fit into correspondingly 5 shaped part cylindrical recesses 42 such that a generally horizontal pivoting axis 70 is formed. This arrangement permits the bogie member 38 to pivot around the axis 70 relative to the carriage member 37 and thereby also relative to the housing 11 to ensure that the two wheels 39 always remain engaged, in use, with the desired guide track (not shown) and as a result the loads are shared between 10 the wheels. The bogie member 38 also includes a downwardly directed projection 43 positioned between the wheels 39 that can be gripped and pulled for example by pliers, to enable the bogie member and associated wheels to be disengaged, when desired, from the carriage member 37. The carriage member 37 has a central section 44 which is generally U 15 shaped in cross-section with an upper wall 45 and two downwardly depending side walls 46, 47. The upper wall 45 includes a portion 48 expanded upwardly configured to be able to fit into the opening 19 in the upper wall 16 of the support housing 11. This configuration permits the wheels 39 held by the bogie member 38 to move upwardly to the greatest extent possible. A pair of projections 49 20 extend outwardly from the carriage side walls 46, 47. Each of the projections 49 is non-circular and includes a flat engagement surface 50 adapted, in use, to engage with the edge 26 of the inclined slots 22, 23 in the support housing 11. The surface 50 extends the contact region between the housing 11 and the carriage member 37 thereby increasing the load carrying and load distribution 25 capacity of the assembly. The left hand end 51 of the carriage member 37 is angled downwardly and is configured to engage within the groove 24 formed in the housing 11. This end 51 has an upper engagement surface 52 which slidably engages with the surface 27 of the groove 24. The right hand end 53 of the carriage member 37 is divided into two flange portions 54, 55, each of which 30 includes an outwardly formed inclined bar element 56, 57 adapted to engage within the opposed grooves 25 in the housing 11. Each of the bar elements 56, 57 includes an engagement surface 58, 59 which is slidably engaged with the surfaces 28 of the grooves 25. The surfaces 50, 52, 58 and 59 are all generally 5 parallel to each other. Located between the flange portions 54, 55 is an abutment surface 60 which is engaged in use by the end of screw member 32. When the wheel support structure is assembled, load carrying capacity is increased and better distributed by providing the three inclined engagement 5 surfaces 52/57, 50/26 and 58, 59/28. Vertical adjustment of the wheels 39 relative to the housing 11 is achieved by rotating the screw member 32 to move the carriage member 37 horizontally which will then cause the carriage member to move upwardly or downwardly. Figures 14 and 15 illustrate another possible embodiment where the 10 protuberances 41 are removed and two inwardly directed lips 71 are provided from the inner faces of the side walls 72, 73 of the bogie member 38. The lips 71 are of a configuration that may snap fit into recesses 74 of a downwardly depending part 75 of the carriage member 37. The lips and recesses 71, 74 are generally parallel to a top edge face 76 of the side walls 72, 73 and load is carried 15 by outwardly extending flanges 77, 78 of the carriage member 37 resting on and being supported by the top edge faces 76 of the side walls 72, 73. This arrangement permits a sliding or rocking movement of the bogie member 38 relative to the carriage member 37 to enable automatic adjustment under load of the position of the wheels 39 to ensure they always remain in operable 20 engagement with the guide track (not shown) in use regardless of the instalment position of the support housing or possible movements in the overall structure after installation.

Claims (15)

1. A wheel support structure including a support housing adapted for fixing to a door, panel or the like, a wheel assembly having at least one wheel and a carriage member rotatably supporting the wheel or wheels, and means for 5 adjustably moving said wheel assembly in at least a vertical direction relative to said support housing, said wheel or wheels being carried by a bogie member, said wheel support structure including selectably releasable connector means normally connecting said bogie member to said carriage member, said releasable connector means permitting said bogie member to be released from connection 10 with said carriage member independently of said means for adjustably moving said wheel assembly in a vertical direction relative to said support housing.

2. A wheel support structure according to claim 1 wherein said means for adjustably moving said wheel assembly in at least a vertical direction includes an actuation mechanism cooperable between said carriage member and said 15 support housing actuated by rotatable means accessible externally of said support housing.

3. A wheel support structure according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said releasable connector means is a releasable snap together connector.

4. A wheel support structure according to claim 3 wherein said bogie member 20 is released from said carriage member by a disengaging force applied to said bogie member to release said connector means whereby the bogie member is moved through a face of said support housing.

5. A wheel support structure according to claim 4 wherein said bogie member includes a downwardly directed projection part adapted to be gripped when 25 releasing the bogie member from the carriage member to be moved downwardly through said face of the support housing. 7

6. A wheel support structure according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein said releasable connector means is formed by one of said carriage member and said bogie member including at least one protrusion extending therefrom, the or each said protrusion having at least a part cylindrical bearing surface extending 5 transversely of the carriage or bogie member, said at least part cylindrical bearing surface or surfaces cooperatively mating with a similarly formed second bearing surface or surfaces on the other of said carriage member or said bogie member, said cooperating bearing surfaces allowing the bogie member to pivot relative to the carriage member about a transverse axis and further allowing transmission of 10 load from said carriage member to said bogie member.

7. A wheel support structure according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the bogie member and said carriage member each include at least one bearing surface which, when the bogie member and carriage member are operatively assembled, the bogie member has at least limited rocking capability on said 15 bearing surface relative to said carriage member with load being transmitted via said bearing surfaces.

8. A wheel support structure according to claim 1 wherein said wheel assembly has at least two wheels with said bogie member rotatably supporting said wheels, means being provided for adjusting the position of said bogie 20 member relative to said support housing whereby, in use, at least two of said wheels operably engage the guide track.

9. A wheel support structure according to claim 8 wherein the bogie member is adapted for pivoting or rocking movement relative to said housing.

10. A wheel support structure according to any one of claims 1 to 9 wherein 25 said carriage member has opposed outer surfaces located closely adjacent to inner surfaces of side walls of said support housing without a further member or members located therebetween. 8

11. A wheel support structure according to claim 10 wherein the opposed outer surfaces of said upper carriage member each have a laterally extending projection adapted to be received in an inclined slot in the side walls of the support housing. 5

12. A wheel structure according to claim 11 wherein the laterally extending projections are non circular having at least one flat portion extending in the same direction as said inclined slots.

13. A wheel structure according to any one of claims 1 to 12 wherein the carriage member includes inclined support surfaces located at or adjacent each 10 longitudinal end of the carriage member, the inclined support surfaces being longitudinally spaced from or located above said bogie member and being co operable with inclined support means located on said support housing whereby upon said carriage member being moved longitudinally relative to said support housing, said carriage member also moves upwardly or downwardly relative to 15 said support housing.

14. A wheel structure according to any one of claims 1 to 13 wherein the structure has a maximum width dimension of 15 mm.

15. A wheel structure according to any one of claims 1 to 14 wherein the support housing and the carriage member are made from moulded plastics 20 material. ANTHONY BEARINGS PTY LTD WATERMARK PATENT & TRADE MARK ATTORNEYS P19394AU02