JP7610828B2 - Runner Unit - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a runner unit that guides the opening and closing of a bottom-loaded door panel, and in particular to a runner unit equipped with a damper to reduce the impact when the door panel springs up.

A runner unit equipped with this type of damper is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1 (Name of invention: Upper guide device for sliding door). The upper guide device in Patent Document 1 comprises a sliding door fixed body fixed to the upper part of the sliding door, a connecting rod protruding upward from the sliding door fixed body, a runner body attached to the tip of the connecting rod and guiding the sliding door along the upper rail to open and close, and a built-in damper member provided on the sliding door fixed body. The built-in damper member comprises an outer tube, a rod that advances and retreats relative to the outer tube, a spring that biases the rod in the forward direction, and a runner pressure contact part provided on the upper part of the outer tube and presses against the runner body. The runner body and the connecting rod are connected to be able to slide relative to each other up and down via an axis guide hole provided in the connecting rod and a mounting shaft fixed to the runner body. The sliding door fixed body is composed of a first fixed body that is fixed with a screw into the storage groove at the upper corner of the sliding door, and a second fixed body that is removably attached to the first fixed body, and the built-in damper member is installed in a damper storage hole provided in the first fixed body.

JP 2017-193944 A

As in Patent Document 1, if a built-in damper member is disposed between the runner body and the sliding door fixed body, when the sliding door jumps up and the runner body is pressed against the ceiling surface of the upper rail, the built-in damper exerts its cushioning effect, and the built-in damper member can absorb the impact acting on each component, such as the upper rail, runner body, sliding door fixed body, or sliding door. This makes it possible to prevent a large impact force from acting on each component, effectively preventing each component from being damaged. However, since the runner body and the second fixed body are connected by a connecting rod and an attachment shaft fixed to the second fixed body so that they can slide relative to each other up and down, the structure becomes more complex and the overall cost of the support structure increases. In addition, because it is necessary to provide a damper storage hole in the first fixed body to house the built-in damper member, a rod storage space in the second fixed body to house the connecting rod, and a rod mounting hole in the runner body, it is necessary to redesign the first fixed body, second fixed body, and runner body, which inevitably results in higher overall costs than conventional runner bodies.

The object of the present invention is to minimize the structural changes that accompany adding a damper to a runner unit equipped with a damper to absorb the impact when the door panel bounces up, thereby reducing the overall cost.

The runner unit 5 of the present invention comprises a runner body 8 guided by the upper rail 2, a holder 9 embedded and fixed to the upper left and right sides of the bottom-loading door panel 4, a runner base 10 attached and fixed to the holder 9, a runner shaft 11 assembled to the runner body 8 and suspending the runner base 10, and a damper 12 provided between the runner base 10 and the runner shaft 11 for the purpose of preventing the door panel 4 from bouncing up. The damper 12 comprises a cylinder 43, a piston body 44 that moves in and out of the cylinder 43, and a buffer member disposed inside the cylinder 43. Either the cylindrical end of the cylinder 43 or the tip of the piston body 44 is received and supported by the runner base 10, and the other is connected to the runner shaft 11.
Another runner unit 5 of the present invention comprises a runner body 8 guided by an upper rail 2, a holder 9 embedded and fixed to the upper left and right sides of a bottom-loading door panel 4, a runner base 10 attached and fixed to the holder 9, a runner shaft 11 assembled to the runner body 8 to suspend the runner base 10, and a damper 12 provided between the runner base 10 and the runner shaft 11 for the purpose of preventing the door panel 4 from bouncing up. The damper 12 comprises a cylinder 43, a piston body 44 that moves in and out of the cylinder 43, a buffer member disposed inside the cylinder 43, and a damper spring 49 that applies a pushing-up force to the piston body 44, and the upper end of the rod 44b of the piston body 44, which is pushed up by the damper spring 49, is pressed against the lower surface of the runner shaft 11.

Specifically, the runner base 10 can have a shaft connection hole 30 for connecting the runner shaft 11 and a damper housing section 31 for housing the damper 12, which are arranged in a vertical direction.

When the damper 12 is provided between the runner base 10 and the runner shaft 11 as in the runner unit 5 of the present invention, when the door panel 4 bounces up and the runner body 8 is pressed against the ceiling wall of the upper rail 2, the damper 12 exerts its cushioning effect, and the damper 12 can absorb the impact acting on each component such as the upper rail 2, the runner body 8, the runner base 10, or the door panel 4. This makes it possible to prevent a large impact force from acting on each component, and effectively prevents each component from being damaged. In addition, if the damper 12 arranged between the runner base 10 and the runner shaft 11 is used to prevent the door panel 4 from bouncing up as in the present invention, the new structural changes associated with adding the damper 12 can be limited to the runner base 10, so that the structural changes can be minimized and the overall cost of the runner unit can be reduced compared to conventional runner units that required major structural changes not only to the runner base 10 but also to the runner body 8 and runner shaft 11.

The basic design change required to achieve the above configuration is to vertically connect the shaft connection hole 30 that connects the runner shaft 11 to the runner base 10 and the damper housing section 31 that houses the damper 12, minimizing structural changes compared to conventional runner units and reducing the overall cost of the runner unit.

If the damper 12 comprises a cylinder 43, a piston body 44 which moves in and out of the cylinder 43, and a buffer member arranged inside the cylinder 43, and one of the cylindrical end of the cylinder 43 or the tip of the piston body 44 is supported by the runner base 10, and the other is connected by the runner shaft 11, then with a simple configuration, the bouncing motion of the door panel 4 can be transmitted to the runner shaft 11 via the cylinder 43 and the piston body 44 without any time loss. In other words, for example, in a configuration where a gap is normally formed between the runner shaft 11 and the piston body 44, it is unavoidable that a time lag occurs between the time the door panel 4 starts to bounce up and the time the piston body 44 comes into contact with the runner shaft 11 and the damper 12 starts to perform its cushioning function. However, as in the present invention, when either the end of the cylinder 43 or the tip of the piston body 44 is supported by the runner base 10 and the other is connected by the runner shaft 11, the time lag between the time the door panel 4 starts to bounce up and the time the damper 12 starts to perform its cushioning function is suppressed, and the cushioning function can be performed more accurately.

In a configuration in which a spring is provided on the damper member to bias the rod in the forward direction as in Patent Document 1, the biasing force of the spring always acts on the runner body, so that the runner body is pushed up by the biasing force, and there is a risk that the runner body will come into contact with the ceiling surface of the upper rail. There is also a risk that the runner pressure contact portion arranged at the upper end of the damper member will come into contact with the front and rear flange walls of the upper rail. For this reason, the configuration in Patent Document 1 has the disadvantage that the runner body or the runner pressure contact portion comes into contact with the upper rail, increasing the running resistance, hindering the smooth opening and closing operation of the sliding door, or the runner body or the runner pressure contact portion comes into contact with the upper rail, increasing the running noise.
In contrast, as in the present invention, if the damper 12 is provided with a cylinder 43, a piston body 44, and a buffer member, in other words the damper 12 is not provided with a damper spring that applies a pushing force to the piston body 44, the runner body 8 is not pushed up by the piston body 44 in the normal state, and it is possible to prevent the runner body 8 from accidentally contacting the ceiling surface of the upper rail 2 during traveling. Therefore, according to the runner unit of the present invention, it is possible to prevent an increase in traveling resistance and an increase in traveling noise, and for example, when the runner unit of the present invention is applied to a sliding door, it is possible to construct a sliding door that is smooth to open and close, and is also quiet.

The damper 12 includes a cylinder 43, a piston body 44 that moves in and out of the cylinder 43, and a cushioning member disposed inside the cylinder 43, as well as a damper spring 49 that applies an upward biasing force to the piston body 44. The upper end of the rod 44b of the piston body 44, which is biased upward by the damper spring 49, can be configured to be pressed against the underside of the runner shaft 11. This can prevent a gap from being formed between the rod 44b and the runner shaft 11 without connecting them as described above, so that the time lag between when the door panel 4 starts to bounce and when the piston body 44 comes into contact with the runner shaft 11 and the damper 12 exerts its cushioning effect, which is unavoidable in a configuration in which a gap is formed between the two, can be suppressed, and the cushioning effect can be exerted more accurately.

A cross-sectional view of a runner unit according to Example 1 of the present invention (cross-sectional view taken along line BB in Figure 3). FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 2. FIG. FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway front view showing a state in which the sliding door is being assembled. FIG. 4 is an exploded cross-sectional view showing the connection structure between the runner shaft and the damper. A cross-sectional view showing a runner unit according to Example 2 of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an exploded cross-sectional view showing the connection structure between the runner shaft and the damper.

(Example 1) Figures 1 to 6 show Example 1 in which the runner unit according to the present invention is applied to a sliding door. In this example, front, rear, left, right, and up and down follow the cross arrows shown in Figures 2 and 3 and the notations of front, rear, left, right, and up and down near the arrows. As shown in Figure 2, the sliding door comprises an opening frame 1 and a door panel 4 that is guided to open and close by an upper rail 2 and a lower rail 3 fixed to the top and bottom of the frame 1. The door panel 4 is supported by a pair of hoist-type runner units 5 and 5 provided inside the upper rail 2 and a door roller 6 that is guided to move by the lower rail 3, and is configured to be slidable between a closed position and a fully open position. The upper rail 2 is made of an aluminum strip material with a C-shaped cross section that opens downward, and rail portions 2a are provided at the front and rear of the lower surface (see Figure 3), and a pair of front and rear auxiliary rails 2b (corresponding to the ceiling wall of the upper rail 2) are protruded downward on the ceiling wall facing the moving trajectory of the roller 16 described later. The lower rail 3 is made of an aluminum strip with an inverted V-shaped rail surface 3a and a regulating groove 3b formed between the rail surfaces 3a. A handle 7 is provided on the closed end side of the door panel 4. This sliding door is a bottom-loading type, and the entire load of the door panel 4 is received by the lower rail 3 via the door rollers 6. The sliding door may be one that has multiple door panels 4 that are opened and closed by sliding.

In FIG. 1, the runner unit 5 is composed of a runner body 8 that is guided by the upper rail 2, a holder 9 that is embedded and fixed to the upper left and right sides of the door panel 4, a runner base 10 that is attached and fixed to the holder 9 from the side, a runner shaft 11 that is assembled to the runner body 8 and suspends the runner base 10, and a damper 12 that prevents the door panel 4 from bouncing up. The runner body 8 is composed of a runner body 15 made of a horizontally long plastic molded product, four rollers 16 arranged in pairs on the left and right sides of the runner body 15, a roller shaft 17 that supports these rollers 16, and other components. As shown in FIG. 3, the runner body 15 is divided into front and rear parts, and the runner shaft 11 is fitted and connected to a connecting hole 15a recessed into the dividing surface so that it can rotate relatively but cannot slide vertically relative to the runner body 15. A restricting wall 18 that is received by the underside of the rail portion 2a when the door panel 4 tries to bounce up is formed on the lower part of the front and rear surfaces of the runner body 15 (see FIG. 3). As shown in FIG. 4, an assist device 19 is connected to the open end of the runner body 8.

As shown in Figure 5, the holder 9 is a die-cast product with an open top and left side, and includes a horizontal bottom wall 21, a vertical inner back wall 22, and front and rear walls 23/23 that are integral with the walls 21/22. The front and rear walls 23/23 are formed with a lock groove 24 of the lock structure described below, and a guide surface 25 that guides the lock pin 51 of the lock structure by dropping it into the lock groove 24. The holder 9 is fitted into mounting grooves 26 formed in the upper left and right corners of the door panel 4, and the bottom wall 21 and inner back wall 22 are fixed to the door panel 4 at the top and bottom with three screws 27. The holder 9 can be a conventional holder as is.

In Fig. 1 and Fig. 5, the runner stand 10 is made of a plastic molded product with an axle connection hole 30 for connecting the runner axle 11 and a damper housing section 31 for housing the damper 12 on the upper and lower right halves, and a locking structure is provided to the left of the axle connection hole 30 and the damper housing section 31 to prevent the runner stand 10 attached to the holder 9 from being separated. As shown in Fig. 1, the axle connection hole 30 and the damper housing section 31 are divided into upper and lower sections by a partition wall 32, and these two sections 30 and 31 are connected through a through hole 33 formed in the partition wall 32. The runner axle 11 is connected to the axle connection hole 30, and the damper 12 is arranged and fixed in the damper housing section. The basic structure of the runner stand 10 largely follows that of a conventional runner stand, and differs in that the damper housing section 31 is provided below the axle connection hole 30 as described above.

As shown in FIG. 6, the runner shaft 11 is made of a steel part having a round shaft body 11a and a flange 11b at the upper end of the shaft body 11a. A semicircular anti-rotation portion 11c is formed by protruding from the lower peripheral surface of the shaft body 11a. The lower part of the runner shaft 11 is formed with a rod connection hole 34 that fits onto the rod 44b of the piston body 44 and a stop ring assembly groove 35. The shaft connection hole 30 is formed in a keyhole shape with a bearing hole 36 that receives the shaft body 11a and a rotation stop groove 37 that receives the rotation stop portion 11c. The runner shaft 11 is connected to the shaft connection hole 30 with the rotation stop portion 11c engaged with the rotation stop groove 37. The lower part of the bearing hole 36 is formed with an upper assembly hole 38 that penetrates the runner base 10 from front to rear.

The lower wall of the damper housing 31 is formed with a cylinder assembly hole 41 communicating with the damper housing 31 and a lower assembly hole 42 penetrating the runner base 10 in the front-rear direction. The damper 12 is a commercially available oil damper, and includes a cylinder 43 and a piston body 44 that moves forward and backward relative to the cylinder 43. The piston body 44 includes a piston 44a that moves up and down inside the cylinder 43, and a rod 44b that is fixed to the piston 44a and protrudes from the upper surface of the cylinder 43. In this damper 12, the oil (or fluid such as gas) contained inside the cylinder 43 and an orifice that regulates the flow of the oil function as a buffer member. In the damper 12, the cylinder 43 is assembled to the damper housing 31 from the lower side of the cylinder assembly hole 41, the upper end of the cylinder 43 is received by the partition wall 32, and the lower end of the cylinder 43 is received by a plate-shaped support body 45 assembled to the lower assembly hole 42. In this state, the rod 44b enters the shaft connection hole 30 through the through hole 33. A retaining ring groove 46 is formed in the upper part of the rod 44b.

The runner shaft 11 and the rod 44b of the damper 12 are connected so that they can move together, and this connection state is explained in Figure 6. First, the damper 12 is assembled to the damper housing 31 in the manner described above, and the cylinder 43 is fixed with the support 45 assembled to the lower assembly hole 42. Next, the runner shaft 11 is attached to the shaft connecting hole 30 in the manner described above, and the runner shaft 11 is connected to the runner base 10. Note that the runner body 8 is not assembled to the runner shaft 11 in Figure 6, but the runner body 8 may be assembled to the runner shaft 11 in advance. The runner shaft 11 attached to the shaft connecting hole 30 is pushed down to engage the upper part of the rod 44b of the piston body 44 with the rod connecting hole 34, and its upper end is brought into contact with the upper wall of the retaining ring assembly groove 35. In this state, the runner shaft 11 is further pushed down so that the retaining ring assembly groove 35 faces the upper assembly hole 38, and the E-shaped retaining ring 47 is inserted along the lower wall of the retaining ring assembly groove 35 and attached to the retaining ring assembly groove 35 of the rod 44b, integrating (connecting) the rod 44b with the runner shaft 11. Finally, as shown in FIG. 1, the spring pin 48 is driven into the runner base 10 while positioned above the rotation prevention portion 11c, preventing the runner shaft 11 from coming out of the shaft connection hole 30. At this time, the spring pin 48 is perpendicular to the rotation prevention groove 37 while in contact with the peripheral surface of the runner shaft 11.

Between the holder 9 and the runner stand 10, a locking structure is provided to prevent the runner stand 10 attached to the holder 9 from being separated. The locking structure is composed of a locking groove 24 provided on the front and rear walls 23, 23 of the holder 9, a locking pin 51 attached to the pin groove 10a of the runner stand 10 and sliding along the locking groove 24, a locking spring 52 that urges the locking pin 51 toward the locking position, and a locking release lever 53 attached to the runner stand 10 to unlock the locking pin 51. The locking release lever 53 is a plastic molded product that is integrally equipped with a horizontal triangular lever body 54 that holds the runner stand 10 from the front and rear, and a finger lever 55 that covers the left side of the runner stand 10. The lever body 54 is formed with a pin groove 56 that captures the locking pin 51, and the entire lever is shaped like a bird's beak. The pin groove 56 opens at the top of the triangular lever, and captures the locking pin 51 at the back of the groove. The unlocking lever 53 is attached to the runner base 10 by a spring pin 57 to the left of the pin groove 56 of the lever body 54, and can swing back and forth around the pin 57. When the fingertip is placed on the upper end of the finger lever 55 from the state shown in FIG. 1 and pulled to the left, the unlocking lever 53 swings counterclockwise, so that the lock pin 51 engaged with the lock groove 24 can be pushed up to the unlocked position by the pin groove 56 against the biasing force of the lock spring 52. In this state, the runner base 10 can be removed from the holder 9 and separated. The locking structure is the same as the conventional locking structure.

In FIG. 4, the assist structure is composed of a casing 60 that opens upward, a cylindrical damper 61, a force storage spring 62, and a trigger body 63 that are arranged inside the casing 60, a slider 64 to which the damper rod is connected, a guide shaft 65 that slides and guides the slider 64, and a trigger switcher 66 that switches the trigger body 63 between the standby position and the operating position, and assists the closing operation of the door panel 4. End blocks 68 and 69 are fixed to both ends of the casing 60, and the left end block 68 and slider 64 in FIG. 4 support both ends of the guide shaft 65, and a force storage spring 62 made of a compression spring is arranged between the two 68 and 64. The casing 60 and the left end block 68 are connected to the runner body 15 on the closed end side with screws 71. The damper 61 is arranged between the slider 64 and the right end block 69.

The assist structure when the door panel 4 is closed operates the door panel 4 slowly from the closing end to the closed position by the elastic force of the energy storage spring 62. In detail, as shown in FIG. 4, the engaging claw portion 63a of the trigger body 63 is engaged with the engaging hole 60a of the bottom wall of the casing 60.
When the door panel 4 is closed near the closed end in a state where the trigger body 63 is engaged with the spring 70 (standby position), the right edge of the cutout at the top of the trigger body 63 is received by the trigger switching device 66, and the trigger body 63 is swung clockwise against the biasing force of the spring 70 to switch to the operating position. At the same time, the left edge of the cutout of the trigger body 63 is received by the trigger switching device 66 so as to be immovable, and the engaging claw portion 63a of the trigger body 63 is separated from the engaging hole 60a of the casing 60, and the engagement between them is released. In this way, when the trigger body 63 is switched to the operating position, the spring force of the energy storage spring 62, which had been compressed and deformed up to that point, acts on the door panel 4 via the left end block 68 and the runner unit 5. Therefore, the door panel 4 slowly moves from the closed end to the closed position while receiving the cushioning action of the damper 61.

When the door panel 4 is opened from the closed position, the runner unit 5 and the casing 60 move in the opening direction while the trigger body 63 is held by the trigger switch 66, so that the energy storage spring 62 is compressed and deformed by the end block 68 to store energy. Then, when the engagement hole 60a of the casing 60 moves directly below the engagement claw portion 63a of the trigger body 63, the trigger body 63 is swung in the counterclockwise direction by the spring force of the spring 70. As the trigger body 63 swung, the engagement claw portion 63a dropped into and engaged with the engagement hole 60a, switching to a standby position and being held in that position. The trigger body 63, which has switched to the standby position, can pass under the underside of the trigger switch 66, so thereafter the assist device 19 moves to the open position together with the door panel 4, and continues to hold the standby position until the door panel 4 is again closed near the closed end. In this embodiment, the assist device assists in the closing operation of the door panel 4, but in addition to assisting in the closing operation of the door panel 4, the assist device may also have a function to assist in the opening operation when opening the door panel 4 from the open end to the fully open position.

With the sliding door constructed as described above, when the door panel 4 is forcefully closed, it has a tendency to bounce up near the closed end. In particular, in the case of a runner unit 5 equipped with a closing assist device 19, the right edge of the notch in the trigger body 63 hits the trigger switch 66, making it easy for the door panel 4 to bounce up. When the door panel 4 begins to bounce up, the holder 9 and runner base 10 move slightly upward, but before they start to move, the roller 16 is received by the auxiliary rail 2b, and furthermore, the regulating wall 18 is received by the underside of the rail portion 2a, so the runner shaft 11 and rod 44b are held in the position where the runner body 8 is received by the upper rail 2.

Meanwhile, the cylinder 43 arranged on the runner base 10 side tries to move upward together with the holder 9 and the runner base 10. Therefore, the cylinder 43 and the piston body 44 move slightly relative to each other, but this movement is restricted and buffered by the orifice that regulates the oil flow inside the cylinder 43. As described above, according to the runner unit 5 of the first embodiment, the bouncing motion of the door panel 4 is transmitted to the runner shaft 11 by the piston body 44, and the runner body 8 is received by the upper rail 2, so that the subsequent bouncing motion is buffered and absorbed by the buffering action of the damper 12. In addition, since the door panel 4 can be prevented from bouncing up too forcefully, the door roller 6 can be prevented from coming off the lower rail 3.

As described above, in the runner unit 5 of this embodiment 1, the damper 12 is provided between the runner base 10 and the runner shaft 11, so that even if the door panel 4 bounces up, the impact acting on each component such as the upper rail 2, the runner body 8, the runner base 10, or the door panel 4 can be absorbed by the damper 12. This makes it possible to prevent a large impact force from acting on each component, so that each component can be effectively prevented from being damaged. In addition, if the damper 12 arranged between the runner base 10 and the runner shaft 11 is used to prevent the door panel 4 from bouncing up as in this embodiment, the new structural changes associated with adding the damper 12 can be limited to the runner base 10, so that the structural changes can be minimized and the overall cost of the runner unit can be reduced compared to conventional runner units that required major structural changes not only to the runner base 10 but also to the runner body 8 and runner shaft 11.

Specifically, it is sufficient to vertically connect the shaft connection hole 30 that connects the runner shaft 11 to the runner base 10 and the damper housing section 31 that houses the damper 12, so compared to conventional runner units, structural changes can be minimized and the overall cost of the runner unit can be reduced.

The damper 12 is provided with a cylinder 43, a piston body 44 that moves in and out of the cylinder 43, and a buffer member disposed inside the cylinder 43. The end of the cylinder 43 is supported by the runner base 10, and the piston body 44 is connected to the runner shaft 11. This makes it possible to transmit the jumping up motion of the door panel 4 to the runner shaft 11 through the cylinder 43 and the piston body 44 without time loss with a simple configuration. In other words, for example, in a configuration in which a gap is normally formed between the runner shaft 11 and the piston body 44, it is unavoidable that a time lag occurs between the time the door panel 4 starts to jump up and the time the piston body 44 comes into contact with the runner shaft 11 and the damper 12 exerts its buffering effect. However, when the end of the cylinder 43 is supported by the runner base 10 and the tip of the piston body 44 is connected to the runner shaft 11 as in this embodiment, the time lag between the time the door damper 12 starts to jump up and the time the damper 12 exerts its buffering effect is suppressed, and the buffering effect can be exerted more accurately.

In addition, in this embodiment, the damper 12 is provided with a cylinder 43, a piston body 44, and a buffer member. In other words, the damper 12 is not provided with a damper spring that applies a pushing force to the piston body 44. Therefore, the runner body 8 is not pushed up by the piston body 44 in the normal state, and the runner body 8 can be prevented from accidentally contacting the ceiling surface of the upper rail 2 during traveling. Therefore, according to this embodiment, it is possible to prevent an increase in traveling resistance and an increase in traveling noise, and a sliding door can be constructed that is smooth to open and close, and is also quiet.

A retaining ring groove 46 is formed on the upper part of the rod 44b of the piston body 44, a rod connection hole 34 that fits onto the rod 44b of the piston body 44 and a retaining ring assembly groove 35 are formed on the lower part of the runner shaft 11, and an upper assembly hole 38 that penetrates the runner base 10 in the front-to-rear direction is formed on the lower part of the shaft connection hole 30. The rod 44b of the piston body 44 is connected to the rod connection hole 34, the upper surface of the rod 44b is received by the upper wall of the retaining ring assembly groove 35, and the retaining ring assembly groove 35 faces the upper assembly hole 38. When the retaining ring 47 is inserted into the retaining ring groove 46 from outside the runner base 10 and engaged, the rod 44b of the piston body 44 and the runner shaft 11 are integrally connected. With this, the rod 44b and the runner shaft 11 can be integrally connected by inserting and engaging the retaining ring 47 into the retaining ring groove 46 from outside the runner base 10, so the work of connecting the two (rod 44b and runner shaft 11) can be easily performed. In addition, the two (rod 44b and runner shaft 11) can be reliably connected with a relatively simple structure.

The runner shaft 11 and the runner body 8 are connected so that they cannot slide vertically relative to each other, so that the bouncing motion of the door panel 4 is transmitted to the runner shaft 11 by the piston body 44, and at the same time, the runner body 8 can be pressed against the auxiliary rail 2b of the upper rail 2 without delay. This reduces the time lag between when the door panel 4 starts to bounce up and when the damper 12 exerts its cushioning effect, allowing the cushioning effect to be exerted more accurately.

(Example 2) Figures 7 and 8 show Example 2 of the runner unit according to the present invention. In this Example 2, the damper 12 is an air damper in which a damper spring 49, which is a compression coil spring, is housed inside the cylinder 43, and the upper end of the rod 44b of the piston body 44, which is pushed up by the damper spring 49, is always pressed against the lower surface of the runner shaft 11. Since the retaining ring 47 is not used in this example, the rod connection hole 34 and the retaining ring assembly groove 35 of the runner shaft 11 can be omitted, and the retaining ring groove 46 at the upper end of the rod 44b can also be omitted. In addition, the upper assembly hole 38 of the runner base 10 can also be omitted. Since the other components are the same as those described in Example 1, the same components are given the same reference numerals and their description is omitted. In the damper 12 of Example 2, the gas inside the cylinder 43, the orifice that regulates the flow of the gas, and the damper spring 49 function as buffer members.

As described above, in the runner unit of Example 2, the damper 12 is configured as an air damper in which the damper spring 49 is housed inside the cylinder 43, and the upper end of the rod 44b of the piston body 44, which is pushed up by the damper spring 49, is pressed against the lower surface of the runner shaft 11. This simplifies the connection structure between the rod 44b and the runner shaft 11 compared to the runner unit of Example 1, and reduces the assembly work by the amount that the stop ring 47 does not need to be assembled, thereby reducing the overall cost of the support structure. In addition, as in Example 1, it is possible to prevent a gap from being formed between the rod 44b and the runner shaft 11, which is unavoidable in a configuration in which a gap is formed between the two, and suppresses the time lag between when the door panel 4 starts to jump up and when the piston body 44 comes into contact with the runner shaft 11 and the damper 12 exerts its cushioning effect, thereby allowing the cushioning effect to be exerted more accurately.

In the above embodiment, the end of the cylinder 43 is supported by the runner base 10, and the rod 44b is connected to the runner shaft 11, but the present invention is not limited to this. The end of the cylinder 43 may be connected to the runner shaft 11, and the rod 44b may be supported by the runner base 10.

The connecting structure between the piston body 44 and the runner shaft 11 is not limited to the above embodiment, and may be, for example, a structure in which a magnet is placed at the upper end of the piston body 44 and a magnetic body is placed at the lower end of the runner shaft 11, and the piston body 44 and the runner shaft 11 are connected by the magnetic force acting between the magnet and the magnetic body. Other connecting structures may include, for example, placing the lower end of the runner shaft 11 over the upper end of the piston body 44 and deforming the lower end to fix it by crimping, passing a rivet between the upper end of the piston body 44 and the lower end of the runner shaft 11 and deforming the rivet to fix them by crimping, or fitting the lower end of the runner shaft 11 to the upper end of the piston body 44.

2 Upper rail 4 Door panel 5 Runner unit 8 Runner body 9 Holder 10 Runner base 11 Runner shaft 12 Damper 30 Shaft connection hole 31 Damper accommodating section 32 Partition wall 33 Through hole 34 Rod connection hole 35 Retaining ring assembly groove 43 Cylinder 44 Piston body 44b Rod 46 Retaining ring groove 47 Retaining ring 49 Damper spring

Claims (3)

A runner body (8) that is guided by an upper rail (2);
A holder (9) that is embedded and fixed to the upper left and right sides of a bottom-loading door panel (4);
A runner base (10) that is attached and fixed to the holder (9);
A runner shaft (11) that is attached to the runner body (8) and suspends the runner base (10);
A damper (12) is provided between the runner base (10) and the runner shaft (11) for the purpose of mitigating the impact when the door panel (4) is lifted up;
Equipped with
The damper (12) includes a cylinder (43), a piston body (44) that moves in and out of the cylinder (43), and a buffer member that is disposed inside the cylinder (43);
This runner unit is characterized in that one of the cylindrical end of the cylinder (43) and the protruding end of the piston body (44) is supported by a runner base (10), and the other is connected to a runner shaft (11) . A runner body (8) that is guided by an upper rail (2);
A holder (9) that is embedded and fixed to the upper left and right sides of a bottom-loading door panel (4);
A runner base (10) that is attached and fixed to the holder (9);
A runner shaft (11) that is attached to the runner body (8) and suspends the runner base (10);
A damper (12) is provided between the runner base (10) and the runner shaft (11) for the purpose of mitigating the impact when the door panel (4) is lifted up;
Equipped with
The damper (12) includes a cylinder (43), a piston body (44) that moves in and out of the cylinder (43), a buffer member that is disposed inside the cylinder (43), and a damper spring (49) that applies an upward biasing force to the piston body (44),
A runner unit characterized in that an upper end of a rod (44b) of a piston body (44) pushed upward by a damper spring (49) is pressed against a lower surface of a runner shaft (11) . A runner unit as described in claim 1 or 2, wherein a shaft connecting hole (30) for connecting a runner shaft (11) and a damper accommodating portion (31) for accommodating a damper (12) are arranged vertically on the runner base (10) .

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