Trolley assembly with mounting aid for attachment to a lift-and-slide element

Abstract

The present invention relates to a carriage assembly for slidably mounting a lifting-sliding element on a guide rail and for raising and lowering it. The carriage assembly comprises a carriage and a base part attachable to the lifting-sliding element, which is coupled to the carriage and has a raised position relative to the carriage as well as a lowered position relative to the carriage. The carriage assembly has a predefined position between the raised and lowered positions, wherein a fixing made of a plastic material is effective between the base part and the carriage in the predefined position, which maintains the predefined position.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a carriage assembly according to the preamble of claim 1 for a lift-and-slide element, such as a lift-and-slide door or a lift-and-slide window. Such a generic carriage assembly is essentially known from DE 10 2020 113 741 A1.

[0002] In order to properly mount such a carriage assembly on a lifting / sliding element, precise knowledge is required as to whether the carriage assembly is in its raised position, its lowered position, or possibly in an intermediate position. This is important because the position of the carriage assembly corresponds to that of the actuating lever provided on the lifting / sliding element, which is coupled via a connecting rod arrangement to the carriage assembly and, in particular, its lifting device for raising and lowering the lifting / sliding element. Therefore, if the position of the actuating lever does not match that of the carriage assembly, the lifting / sliding element may not be able to be raised and / or lowered properly.

[0003] Although the fitting arrangement described in DE 10 2020 113 741 A1 allows for a height adjustment of a lift-and-slide element within certain limits, it would generally be desirable to avoid the need for subsequent height adjustment after the carriage arrangement has been installed on a lift-and-slide element.

[0004] The invention is therefore based on the task of meeting this requirement.

[0005] This object is achieved with a carriage arrangement having the features of claim 1 and in particular in that in the predefined position of the carriage arrangement between the base part and the carriage, a fixation made of a plastic material, in particular of a polymer material, is effective, which maintains the predefined position.

[0006] Even if the fixation maintains the predefined position, the base part of the carriage assembly for raising and lowering a lifting / sliding element can, in principle, be moved between its raised and lowered positions in a conventional manner. However, the fixation according to the invention ensures that a factory-predefined position of the base element relative to the carriage cannot be adjusted during assembly of the carriage assembly on a lifting / sliding element. An installer can thus be sure that the carriage assembly will still be in its factory-predefined position after being attached to a lifting / sliding element.

[0007] For example, if the predefined position is the lowered position of the base part and thus the lowered position of the lifting / sliding element, the operating lever can be moved to a position that corresponds to the lowered position of the lifting / sliding element before a drive-rod arrangement subsequently establishes a drive-effective connection between the operating lever and the carriage assembly. Since the position of the operating lever thus corresponds correctly to the position of the carriage assembly or the lifting / sliding element from the outset, any subsequent height adjustment of the lifting / sliding element is eliminated.

[0008] Since the fixing device breaks when the carriage assembly is first moved between its raised position and its lowered position, provided that the force acting on the fixing device exceeds a predetermined force threshold, it is possible that any fragments of the fixing device become caught between the moving parts of the carriage assembly and / or fall onto the track or the adjacent floor covering.

[0009] According to the invention, it is therefore deliberately provided that the fixing is made as far as possible from a substantially elastic and relatively soft plastic material, as this ensures that actuation of the carriage arrangement cannot result in damage to its moving parts and / or to the guide rail and the adjacent floor covering, as would otherwise be the case if the fixing were made of metal. If, on the contrary, the fixing is overloaded during the initial actuation of the carriage arrangement, it can be assumed, due to the fact that it is made of a plastic material, that the fixing will break into two parts, one of which remains on the base part and the other on the carriage. This prevents an uncontrolled breakage of the fixing, in which fragments could otherwise become caught in the carriage arrangement and / or fall to the floor.Should it nevertheless occur, contrary to expectations, that despite the fixing being made of a plastic material, part of the fixing falls to the floor after the carriage assembly has been operated for the first time and / or gets caught in the carriage assembly, this will not cause damage to the carriage assembly and / or the guide rail or the adjacent floor covering, as the fixing is largely made of a substantially elastic plastic material with low hardness.

[0010] Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be discussed below. Further embodiments may also emerge from the dependent claims, the description of the figures, and the drawings themselves.

[0011] Thus, according to one embodiment, the carriage may comprise two transversely spaced-apart side walls and at least two rollers rotatably mounted on these, which, together with the base part, are located at a distance between the side walls. The fixation is effective between at least one side wall, preferably between both side walls, and the base part. In other words, the fixation connects one or both side walls to the base part to hold it in the predefined position for assembly purposes.

[0012] In order to connect a side panel to the base part by means of the fixation, a further embodiment can provide for a through-hole to be formed in one of the two side panels, which, in the predefined position, is aligned with a hole formed in the base part. In this case, the fixation can be a type of pin or tenon that extends both into the through-hole of the side panel and into the hole in the base part. The pin- or tenon-shaped fixation thus extends across the shear joint between the side panel and the base part.Therefore, if the base part is lifted from its predefined position in order to lift a connected lifting / sliding element for the first time after the carriage assembly has been installed, a shearing force is applied to the pin-like fixing. If a certain shear force threshold is exceeded, the pin-like fixing is sheared off and thus breaks in the desired manner. One sheared-off part of the fixing remains in the through-hole in the side panel, whereas the other sheared-off part of the fixing remains in the hole in the base part. The sheared-off parts cannot therefore become caught in the moving parts of the carriage assembly or even fall to the ground. And if they do, the risk of damage from the sheared-off parts is extremely low because the fixing is made of a soft, elastic plastic material.

[0013] According to a further embodiment, it can be provided that a through-hole is also formed in the other side cheek of the two side cheeks, which in the predefined position is aligned with the hole formed in the base part, wherein in this case the pin also extends into the through-hole of the other side cheek. One and the same pin therefore extends into the through-holes of the two side cheeks as well as the hole in the base part, which in this case is also designed as a through-hole. The pin therefore extends over the two shear joints between the two side cheeks and the base part. This embodiment proves to be particularly advantageous in that in this case the pin needs to be made less robust, since in this case the shear force applied to it is also halved due to the fact that the pin extends over both shear joints.Furthermore, with this design, the carriage cannot become tilted relative to the base parts and potentially jammed, as the fixation between both side walls and the base part is effective. This prevents off-center loading, which could otherwise cause the carriage to tilt.

[0014] As an alternative to the previously described embodiment in which only a single pin is used, it can be provided according to another embodiment that a through hole is also formed in the other side cheek of the two side cheeks, which in the predefined position is aligned with a blind hole formed in the base part, which receives a further pin which extends into the through hole of the other side cheek.

[0015] According to yet another embodiment, the fixation can be an adhesive, in particular a hot-melt adhesive, by means of which the base part is glued to the carriage in the predefined position. As with the previously described embodiments, the adhesive fixation can be effective only between one or alternatively also between both side cheeks and the base part. The adhesive is located in the shear joint between the respective side cheek and the base part, so that the adhesive fixation can also be sheared off when the lifting-sliding element is lifted for the first time after it has been installed in the carriage arrangement.

[0016] In the following, the invention will now be described purely by way of example with reference to the drawings in which: Fig. 1 shows a schematic side view of a carriage assembly according to the invention in its lowered position; and Fig. 2 a sectional view of the carriage arrangement of the Fig. 1 according to its section AA shows.

[0017] In the following, the basically known mode of operation of a carriage arrangement 10 according to the invention will first be briefly discussed, by means of which a lifting-sliding element (not shown) or its wing can be selectively raised and lowered.

[0018] The Fig. 1 shows a carriage assembly, designated in its entirety by the reference numeral "10," which comprises a base part 12 fixed to the leaf and a carriage 14. The carriage 14 has two transversely spaced-apart side cheeks 16, on which two carriage rollers 18 are rotatably mounted, located in the space between the two side cheeks 16. Formed in the base part 12 is an obliquely aligned slot 26 through which a pin (not visible) extends between the two side cheeks 16.

[0019] Therefore, if the carriage 14 is now moved from the position shown in the Fig. 1, the pin is guided in the obliquely aligned slot 26, causing the fixed base part 12, which is fixed to the leaf, to be pushed upward. The lifting / sliding element is thus raised from its lowered position. However, if the carriage 14 is moved back to the left, the fixed base part 12, and thus the lifting / sliding element, is lowered again.

[0020] In order to be able to move the carriage 14 in the manner described relative to the leaf-fixed base part 12, a deflection element 20 is articulated to the leaf-fixed base part 12, which is articulated on the one hand to the carriage 14 via a coupling rod 22 and on the other hand to a drive rod arrangement 24, which in turn is drive-effectively coupled to an actuating lever by means of which the drive rod arrangement 24 can be adjusted in the vertical direction. Therefore, if, for example, the drive rod arrangement 24 is pulled upwards by actuating the actuating lever, this vertical movement of the drive rod arrangement 24 is converted via the deflection element 20 into a horizontal movement of the carriage 14, which is converted in the manner described above into a vertical movement of the base part 12 through the obliquely aligned slot 26.

[0021] In order to now position the carriage assembly 10 and in particular its base part 12 for assembly purposes in the Fig. 1 shown lowered position, wherein this lowered position in the illustrated embodiment corresponds to the predefined position of the carriage arrangement, in the Fig. 2, through holes 28 are formed in both side cheeks 16, which serve to receive a pin-like pin 30 made of an elastic and soft plastic material, which extends through the respective through hole 28 into a respective blind hole 32, which is formed on both sides of the base part 12. In the lowered predefined position, the blind holes 32 of the base part 12 are aligned with the through holes 28 of the side cheeks 16, so that the respective plastic pin 30 can extend through the through holes 28 into the blind holes 32. Although in the Fig. 2, only one plastic pin 30 is visible, which is basically sufficient to fix the predefined carriage arrangement; however, two plastic pins 30 can also be used to fix the base part 12 to both side cheeks 16 for assembly purposes.

[0022] As an alternative to the Fig. 2, it can also be provided that the base part 12 is penetrated by a through hole which receives a plastic pin which extends into the through holes 28 of the two side cheeks 16.

[0023] Alternatively, in order to fix the predefined position, it may also be provided to glue the base part 12 to the two side cheeks 16 by means of an adhesive such as, for example, a hot melt adhesive.

[0024] After the carriage assembly 10 has been mounted in its predefined position on the underside of a lifting-sliding element and a drive-effective connection to the actuating lever of the lifting-sliding element has been established via the drive rod assembly 24, the fixation in the form of the plastic pin(s) 30 is sheared off when the actuating lever is actuated for the first time, so that the carriage assembly 10 is then ready for use to raise and lower the lifting-sliding element.

[0025] The sheared-off parts of the plastic pin(s) 30 remain in the through holes 18 formed in the two side cheeks 16 and the blind holes 32 of the base part 12. There is therefore no risk of the sheared-off parts of the plastic pins 30 getting caught between the moving parts of the carriage arrangement 10 and / or falling to the ground, and if they do, the risk of damage emanating from the sheared-off parts is low due to the fact that the pin(s) 30 are made of the same plastic material. List of reference symbols 10 Carriage arrangement 12 wing-fixed base part 14 carriages 16 side panels 18 carriage rollers 20 deflection element 22 coupling rod 24 connecting rod arrangement 26 slot 28 through hole 30 pin, tenon 32 blind hole drilling QUOTES CONTAINED IN THE DESCRIPTION

[0000] This list of documents submitted by the applicant was generated automatically and is included solely for the convenience of the reader. This list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA assumes no liability for any errors or omissions. Cited patent literature

[0000] DE 10 2020 113 741 A1 [0001, 0003]

Claims

[1] Carriage arrangement (10) for displaceably supporting a lifting-sliding element, for example a lifting-sliding door or a lifting-sliding window, on a guide rail and for raising and lowering the same, wherein the carriage arrangement (10) comprises a carriage (14) and a base part (12) which can be attached to the lifting-sliding element and which is coupled to the carriage (14) and has a raised position relative to the carriage (14) and a lowered position relative to the carriage (14), characterized by that the carriage arrangement (10) has a predefined position between the raised and the lowered position including the raised and the lowered position, wherein in the predefined position between the base part (12) and the carriage (14) a fixation made of a plastic material is effective, which maintains the predefined position. [2] Carriage arrangement (10) according to claim 1, characterized bythat the fixation is designed in such a way that it breaks when a stress acting on it exceeds a predetermined stress threshold. [3] Carriage arrangement (10) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by in that the carriage (14) has two side cheeks (16) spaced transversely from one another and at least two rollers rotatably mounted on these, which rollers, together with the base part (12), are located at a distance between the side cheeks (16), the fixing being effective between at least one side cheek (16) and the base part (12). [4] Carriage arrangement (10) according to claim 3, characterized by in that a through hole (28) is formed in a side cheek (16) of the two side cheeks (16), which in the predefined position is aligned with a hole formed in the base part (12), wherein the fixing is a pin (30) which is located in the through hole (28) and in the hole of the base part (12). [5] Carriage arrangement (10) according to claim 4, characterized by that a through hole (28) is also formed in the other side cheek (16) of the two side cheeks (16), which in the predefined position is aligned with the hole formed in the base part (12), wherein the pin (30) is also located in the through hole (28) of the other side cheek (16). [6] Carriage arrangement (10) according to claim 4, characterized by that a through hole (28) is also formed in the other side cheek (16) of the two side cheeks (16), which in the predefined position is aligned with a blind hole (32) formed in the base part (12) and which receives a further pin (30) extending into the through hole (28) of the other side cheek (16). [7] Carriage arrangement (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized bythat the fixing is an adhesive, in particular a hot-melt adhesive, by means of which the base part (12) is glued to the carriage (14) in the predefined position. [8] Carriage arrangement (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that the predefined position corresponds to the lowered position.

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