Sliding door device

Abstract

To provide a downward load type sliding door device, comprising an assist device, that securely prevents a door panel from jumping up when the assist device is in operation.SOLUTION: An assist device 5 comprises a drawing-in device 35 which operates a door panel 2 to move from an assist starting end to a stroke end, and a damper device 36 which damps the door panel 2 operated by the drawing-in device 35 to move. The drawing-in device 35 consists of a drawing-in unit 37 which causes the door panel 2 to move and a drawing-in trigger 38 which allows the drawing-in unit 37 to operate, and the damper device 36 consists of a damper unit 39 which applies damping force to the door panel 2 and a damper trigger 40 which makes the damper unit 39 operate. The drawing-in unit 37 is disposed at an upper part of the door panel 2, and the drawing-in trigger 38 is disposed on a wall surface W; and the damper unit 39 is disposed between a pair of door wheels 11, 11 at a lower part of the door panel 2, and the damper trigger 40 is disposed on a floor surface F.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a sliding door device including an assist device that assists the movement operation of a door panel toward an opening / closing stroke end, and particularly to a sliding door device of a downward load type.

Background Art

[0002] This type of sliding door device is disclosed, for example, in Patent Document 1 by the present applicant. The sliding door device of Patent Document 1 includes a guide rail disposed on the floor surface of an opening, a restraining structure disposed on the wall surface of the opening, a door panel guided by these guide rail and restraining structure, and a pair of assist devices (assist units) on the left and right of the upper part of the door panel, one on the closing side and the other on the opening side. The door panel is slidably guided between a closed position where the opening frame is closed and an open position where the opening is opened by a pair of door wheels disposed on the left and right of the lower part thereof traveling on the guide rail while the movement in the front-rear direction (the thickness direction of the door panel) is restricted by the restraining structure. Each assist device operates by catching a switching lever provided on the door panel at a switching part provided on the wall surface, and moves the door panel from the assist start end to the stroke end while braking the moving speed of the door panel with a damper.

[0003] A sliding door device having a similar configuration is also disclosed in Patent Document 2 (invention title: outset sliding door device). In the sliding door device of Patent Document 2, a structure for preventing the upward bounce of the door panel (sliding door) is provided during the operation of the assist device. The structure is composed of a door stop accommodation space that opens to the expected surface at the lower part of the door panel and a door stop with an upward bounce prevention function arranged on the floor surface. On the lower surface of the door panel, a groove portion is formed that communicates with the door stop accommodation space and extends along the sliding door opening and closing direction from the expected surface of the door panel. On the lower surface of the door stop accommodation space, door lower end engaging portions are formed on both sides straddling the groove portion. The door stop with an upward bounce prevention function includes a door stop body that can enter the door stop accommodation space from the expected surface side of the door panel, and a leg portion that extends downward from the lower side of this door stop body and can enter the groove portion. During the operation of the assist device, the lower end portion of the door stop body engages with the door lower end engaging portion formed in the door stop accommodation space, thereby preventing the upward bounce of the door panel.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] In the sliding door device of Patent Document 1, for example, when the door panel is closed to the left and the assist device operates before reaching the closed position, although the upper part of the door panel is decelerated by the damper, the lower part of the door panel tries to move in the direction of the closed position at the same speed due to inertia. Therefore, when the door panel is being operated at a relatively high speed immediately before the assist device operates, the door panel tends to tilt clockwise (to the right) with the switching part that has captured the switching lever as the fulcrum. At this time, since only the movement in the front-rear direction of the upper part of the door panel is restricted by the anti-sway structure, the closed side of the door panel bounces upward, and when the bounced door panel falls, noise is generated when the door wheel lands. Also, when the door panel bounces upward, there is a risk that the door wheel will derail from the guide rail. In that regard, in the sliding door device of Patent Document 2, since the dedicated structure prevents the door panel from bouncing upward, it is possible to prevent the door wheel from derailing. However, in order to enter the door stop accommodation space without contacting the door stop body, a clearance is required between the two, and it is inevitable that the door panel bounces upward by the amount of this clearance. Due to this upward bounce of the door panel, the door stop body and the lower end engagement part of the sliding door collide and generate noise, and noise is also generated when the door wheel of the bounced door panel lands.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object thereof is to surely prevent the door panel from bouncing upward when the assist device operates in a heavy-duty sliding door device provided with an assist device.

Means for Solving the Problem

[0007] The sliding door device of the present invention includes a door panel 2 that opens and closes an opening 1, an assist device 5 that assists the movement operation of the door panel 2 toward the stroke end, an assist device 5, a retraction device 35 that is installed above the door panel 2 and moves the door panel 2 from the assist start end to the stroke end, an assist device 5, a damper device 36 that is installed below the door panel 2 and brakes the door panel 2 moved by the retraction device 35, a guide rail 3 fixed to the floor surface F of the opening 1, and a pair of left and right door wheels 11·11 that are installed below the door panel 2 and have rollers 11a that are guided by the guide rail 3. The retraction device 35 includes a retraction unit 37 installed above the door panel 2 and responsible for the movement operation of the door panel 2, and a retraction trigger 38 installed on the wall surface W above the opening 1 and operating the retraction unit 37 by engaging with the retraction unit 37. The damper device 36 includes a damper unit 39 installed below the door panel 2 and applying a braking force to the door panel 2, and a damper trigger 40 installed on the floor surface F and operating the damper unit 39 by engaging with the damper unit 39. And it is characterized in that the engagement point P between the damper unit 39 and the damper trigger 40 is formed between the roller axles 11b·11b of the left and right door wheels 11·11.

[0008] Each door wheel 11 is disposed at the end of the door panel 2, and the damper unit 39 is disposed adjacent to the door wheel 11 on the rear side in the retraction direction of the door panel 2 by the retraction device 35.

[0009] The damper trigger 40 is fixed above the guide rail 3. The damper unit 39 includes a damper case 63 having a trigger opening 68 at the lower part for receiving the damper trigger 40, a damper slider 64 slidably supported in the left and right directions with respect to the damper case 63, and a linear damper 65 as a braking element. The damper slider 64 and the linear damper 65 are provided in the damper case 63. The damper unit 39 is disposed in a lower mounting portion 10 engraved on the lower surface of the door panel 2.

[0010] The linear damper 65 includes a cylinder 74 and a rod 75 provided so as to be able to move in and out with respect to the cylinder 74. Either one of the cylinder 74 and the rod 75 is fixed to the damper case 63, and the other is fixed to the damper slider 64. The damper trigger 40 that has entered the damper case 63 from the trigger opening 68 as the door panel 2 moves engages to receive and hold the damper slider 64, and retracts or extends the rod 75 with respect to the cylinder 74 to operate the damper unit 39.

[0011] On the opening end side of the door panel 2, a closing side assist device 5A(5) for assisting the movement operation toward the stroke end on the closing side of the door panel 2 is disposed, and on the closing end side of the door panel 2, an opening side assist device 5B(5) for assisting the movement operation toward the stroke end on the opening side of the door panel 2 is disposed. When the door panel 2 is viewed from the front side, the opening and closing stroke of the door panel 2 is set such that the opening end side of the projection area of the door panel 2 at the closing side stroke end and the closing end side of the projection area of the door panel 2 at the opening side stroke end overlap. A retraction trigger 38 and a damper trigger 40 are disposed in the overlapping portion of the two projection areas, and the retraction trigger 38 and the damper trigger 40 can be shared by both assist devices 5A and 5B.

[0012] An urging structure 6 for urging the door panel 2 toward the floor surface F is provided between the wall surface W and the door panel 2.

[0013] The urging structure 6 includes a contact body 79 that contacts the upper end of the door panel 2 that moves in opening and closing, an urging body 80 that is fixed to the wall surface W and presses and urges the contact body 79 against the door panel 2, and an interlocking lever 82 that is supported in a seesaw shape by a rotation shaft 81, supports the contact body 79 at one end, and has the other end connected to the urging body 80.

[0014] The contact body 79 is rotatably supported by the interlocking lever 82 and is formed in a roller shape that rotates as the door panel 2 moves.

[0015] A suppression structure 87 for suppressing sudden vertical movement of the door panel 2 is provided between the wall surface W and the door panel 2. The suppression structure 87 includes a rack body 88 that is fixed horizontally to the back surface of the door panel 2 facing the wall surface W and has tooth rows arranged in the vertical direction, a rotary damper 90 that is fixed to the wall surface W with the input shaft 89 directed in the horizontal direction, and a pinion 91 that is connected to the input shaft 89 of the rotary damper 90 and constantly meshes with the rack body 88.

[0016] A steadying structure 4 for guiding the upper part of the door panel 2 is provided between the wall surface W and the door panel 2. The steadying structure 4 includes a slide rail 12 that extends horizontally and is provided at the upper part of the door panel 2, and a guide body 13 that is provided on the wall surface W. The guide body 13 includes a steadying base 17 that is fixed to the wall surface W, a guide frame 18 that is supported by the steadying base 17, and a guide block 19 that is connected to the guide frame 18 and guides the slide rail 12. The guide frame 18 is supported by the steadying base 17 so as to be vertically movable and tiltable about the front-rear axis.

[0017] A retraction trigger 38 of the retraction device 35 is provided on the guide block 19.

Advantages of the Invention

[0018] In the sliding door device of the present invention, while the left and right door wheels 11·11 are guided to travel on the guide rail 3, the door panel 2 moves toward the stroke end. When it reaches the assist start end, the door panel 2 is moved toward the stroke end by the retraction device 35. In other words, when the door panel 2 moves toward the stroke end and the retraction unit 37 installed on the upper part of the door panel 2 engages with the retraction trigger 38 installed on the upper wall surface W, and the retraction unit 37 is activated, the door panel 2 is moved toward the stroke end by the retraction device 35. On the other hand, when the door panel 2 is moved toward the stroke end by the retraction device 35 and the damper trigger 40 installed on the floor surface F engages with the damper unit 39 installed on the lower part of the door panel 2, the damper unit 39 is activated and the door panel 2 is braked by the damper device 36. Moreover, as described above, when the damper device 36 is activated and the door panel 2 is braked, the door panel 2 tilts with the engagement point P between the damper unit 39 and the damper trigger 40 as the fulcrum, causing the upper corner part on the stroke end side to lower and the upper corner part on the side opposite to the stroke end side to rise, and it tries to bounce up.

[0019] With respect to the upward bounce of the door panel 2, in the sliding door device according to the present invention, the engagement point P is formed between the roller shafts 11b of the door wheels 11, whereby the door wheel 11 on the stroke end side is pressed against the guide rail 3, and it is possible to reliably prevent the door panel 2 from bouncing upward. More specifically, even if the door panel 2 tries to bounce upward as described above, its movement is restricted by the fact that the door wheel 11 on the stroke end side is pressed against the guide rail 3. As a result, it is possible to prevent the door panel 2 from tilting and bouncing upward during braking. Depending on the weight balance of the door panel 2, tilting in the opposite direction (tilting such that the upper corner portion on the side opposite to the stroke end side goes down while the upper corner portion on the stroke end side goes up) is also assumed. However, in the present invention, the retraction device 35 is installed at the upper part of the door panel 2, and the retraction force of the retraction device 35 acts on the stroke end side of the door panel 2. Therefore, the door panel 2 does not tilt in the reverse direction as described above, and it is possible to reliably press the door wheel 11 on the stroke end side against the guide rail 3 and prevent the door panel 2 from bouncing upward.

[0020] In addition, in the present invention, since the retraction unit 37 of the retraction device 35 is installed at the upper part of the door panel 2 and the damper unit 39 of the damper device 36 is installed at the lower part of the door panel 2, compared with a configuration in which both units 37 and 39 are installed only at the lower part of the door panel 2, it is possible to reduce the size of the mounting structure of the assist device 5 in the door panel 2. For example, when a configuration is adopted in which the lower surface of the door panel 2 is dug in and the assist device 5 is mounted therein, the volume of the dug-in portion can be reduced. Further, if the size of the mounting structure of the assist device 5 in the door panel 2 can be reduced in this way, the degree of freedom in the design around the door wheel 11 is improved, so that a more general-purpose door wheel 11 can be used, contributing to cost reduction of the sliding door device. Since the retraction unit 37 of the retraction device 35 and the damper unit 39 of the damper device 36 are independent of each other, the maintainability of the sliding door device is also improved.

[0021] Each door wheel 11 is disposed at the end of the door panel 2. When the damper unit 39 is disposed adjacent to the door wheel 11 on the rear side in the retracting direction of the door panel 2 by the retracting device 35, the engagement point P between the damper device 36 and the damper trigger 40 can be arranged closer to the rear end in the stroke direction of the door panel 2. In this way, when the engagement point P is arranged closer to the rear end in the stroke direction of the door panel 2, compared with the case where the damper unit 39 is disposed adjacent to the door wheel 11 on the front side in the retracting direction of the door panel 2 by the retracting device 35, the distance between the engagement point P and the door wheel 11 on the stroke end side can be relatively increased. Therefore, the upward bouncing movement of the door panel 2 can be reliably received by the door wheel 11 to prevent the door panel 2 from bouncing up.

[0022] The damper trigger 40 is fixed above the guide rail 3. The damper unit 39 includes a damper case 63 having a trigger opening 68 for receiving the damper trigger 40 at the lower part, a damper slider 64 supported to be relatively slidable in the left-right direction with respect to the damper case 63, and a linear damper 65 as a braking element. The damper slider 64 and the linear damper 65 are provided in the damper case 63. When the damper unit 39 is disposed in the lower mounting portion 10 engraved on the lower surface of the door panel 2, compared with the case where the damper case 63 and the damper slider 64 are provided adjacent to each other left and right, the overall length of the damper unit 39 in the left-right direction can be suppressed from increasing, and the damper unit 39 constituting the assist device 5 can be made more compact. Further, by making the damper unit 39 more compact, the volume of the dug-in portion of the door panel 2 can be made smaller.

[0023] The linear damper 65 includes a cylinder 74 and a rod 75 that is provided to be retractable with respect to the cylinder 74. Either one of the cylinder 74 and the rod 75 is fixed to the damper case 63, and the other is fixed to the damper slider 64. A damper trigger 40 that has entered the damper case 63 from the trigger opening 68 as the door panel 2 moves engages to receive and hold the damper slider 64, and is configured to retract or extend the rod 75 with respect to the cylinder 74 to operate the damper unit 39. For example, compared to a damper device in which the posture of a member for operating the damper unit is switched by the engagement of the damper trigger, the damper unit 39 can be operated with a simple structure in which the damper trigger 40 receives and holds the damper slider 64. Therefore, the damper device 36 can be made highly reliable and less likely to malfunction.

[0024] On the opening end side of the door panel 2, a closing assist device 5A(5) for assisting the movement operation toward the stroke end on the closing side of the door panel 2 is provided. On the closing end side of the door panel 2, an opening assist device 5B(5) for assisting the movement operation toward the stroke end on the opening side of the door panel 2 is provided. When the door panel 2 is viewed from the front side, the opening stroke of the door panel 2 is set such that the opening end side of the projection area of the door panel 2 at the closing stroke end overlaps with the closing end side of the projection area of the door panel 2 at the opening stroke end. A retraction trigger 38 and a damper trigger 40 are provided in the overlapping portion of the two projection areas, and the retraction trigger 38 and the damper trigger 40 can be shared by both assist devices 5A and 5B. According to such a configuration, since it is not necessary to provide a retraction trigger 38 and a damper trigger 40 corresponding to each assist device 5A and 5B, the cost of the entire sliding door device can be suppressed. In addition, since it is only necessary to assemble a set of retraction trigger 38 and damper trigger 40, the labor during the construction of the sliding door device can be saved.

[0025] When a biasing structure 6 that biases the door panel 2 toward the floor surface F is provided between the wall surface W and the door panel 2, the damper device 36 can operate to suppress and prevent the movement of the door panel 2 that tries to bounce up by the biasing structure 6. Therefore, it is possible to more reliably prevent the door panel 2 from bouncing up.

[0026] If the biasing structure 6 includes a contact body 79 that contacts the upper end of the door panel 2 that moves for opening and closing, a biasing body 80 that is fixed to the wall surface W and presses and biases the contact body 79 against the door panel 2, and an interlocking lever 82 that is supported in a seesaw shape by a rotation shaft 81, supports the contact body 79 at one end, and has the other end connected to the biasing body 80, even when the door panel 2 that is opened and closed moves up and down due to unevenness of the floor surface F, the contact body 79 can be made to follow the up and down movement of the door panel 2, and the door panel 2 can be accurately biased toward the floor surface F.

[0027] If the contact body 79 is formed in a roller shape that is rotatably supported by the interlocking lever 82 and rotates as the door panel 2 moves, the friction between the door panel 2 and the contact body 79 can be reduced, and the generation of abnormal noise due to the rubbing of the two (2 and 79) against each other can be prevented.

[0028] A suppression structure 87 for suppressing sudden vertical movement of the door panel 2 is provided between the wall surface W and the door panel 2. The suppression structure 87 is fixed horizontally on the back surface of the door panel 2 facing the wall surface W, and includes a rack body 88 with tooth rows arranged vertically, a rotary damper 90 fixed to the wall surface W with the input shaft 89 directed horizontally, and a pinion 91 connected to the input shaft 89 of the rotary damper 90 and constantly meshing with the rack body 88. According to this, when the damper device 36 operates and the door panel 2 attempts to jump up, the sudden vertical movement of the door panel 2 is braked by the resistance of the rotary damper 90 connected to the pinion 91 via the rack body 88, preventing the door panel 2 from jumping up. On the other hand, when the door panel 2 being opened and closed gently moves up and down due to unevenness of the floor surface F, the pinion 91 follows the vertical movement of the rack body 88 with hardly receiving the resistance of the rotary damper 90. Therefore, the door panel 2 can be opened and closed with the rack body 88 and the pinion 91 properly meshed, and the suppression structure 87 can function properly regardless of the position of the door panel 2 within the opening and closing stroke.

[0029] The anti-sway structure 4 includes a slide rail 12 extending horizontally provided at the upper part of the door panel 2 and a guide body 13 provided on the wall surface W. The guide body 13 includes an anti-sway base 17 fixed to the wall surface W, a guide frame 18 supported by the anti-sway base 17, and a guide block 19 connected to the guide frame 18 for guiding the slide rail 12. The guide frame 18 is supported by the anti-sway base 17 so as to be vertically movable and tiltable about the front-rear axis. According to this, even when the door panel 2 being opened and closed moves up and down or tilts due to unevenness of the floor surface F, the guide block 19 can follow the slide rail 12, and the anti-sway structure 4 can accurately guide the door panel 2.

[0030] When the guide block 19 is provided with the retraction trigger 38 of the retraction device 35, even when the opening / closing door panel 2 moves up and down or tilts due to unevenness of the floor surface F, the guide block 19 follows the slide rail 12, and the height-direction positional relationship of the retraction trigger 38 with respect to the retraction unit 37 provided on the door panel 2 can be made constant. Therefore, the retraction unit 37 can be surely operated by the retraction trigger 38.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0031]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

Figure 12

Figure 13

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0032] (First Embodiment) FIGS. 1 to 12 show a first embodiment of a sliding door device according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the front-rear, left-right, and up-down directions follow the cross arrows shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 5 and the front-rear, left-right, and up-down indications marked in the vicinity of each arrow. In FIG. 2, the sliding door device includes a door panel 2 that opens and closes an opening 1, a guide rail 3 that guides the lower part of the door panel 2 in the left-right direction for opening and closing, a swing prevention structure 4 that guides the upper part of the door panel 2 in the left-right direction for opening and closing, an assist device 5 that assists the movement operation of the door panel 2 toward the stroke end of the opening and closing stroke, a biasing structure 6 that biases the door panel 2 toward the floor surface F, and the like. This embodiment is an inset type sliding door device without engraving on the wall surface W. In FIG. 2, the reference symbol S shown by the imaginary line is a decorative frame that conceals the upper part of the door panel 2.

[0033] As shown in FIG. 3, the door panel 2 is made of a wooden panel body. An upper mounting portion 9 that opens to the upper surface and the rear surface is engraved and formed in the left-right direction at the upper part thereof, and a lower mounting portion 10 that opens to the lower surface and the left and right side surfaces is engraved and formed in the left-right direction at the lower part thereof. The guide rail 3 is buried and fixed to the floor surface F of the opening 1. Door wheels 11 are respectively fixed to each end of the lower mounting portion 10, and each door wheel 11 is provided with a roller 11a that is guided to run in the rail groove of the guide rail 3. The roller 11a is rotatably provided around a roller axis 11b that is a horizontal axis in the front-rear direction. The swing prevention structure 4 includes a slide rail 12 provided over the entire length on the upper mounting portion 9 of the door panel 2, and a guide body 13 provided on the wall surface W where the opening 1 is formed and that slidably guides the slide rail 12. The door panel 2 is configured to be able to slide between a closed position (see the upper figure in FIG. 11), which is the stroke end on the left side of the opening and closing stroke, and an open position (see the lower figure in FIG. 11), which is the stroke end on the right side, by the guide rail 3, the door wheels 11, and the swing prevention structure 4.

[0034] As shown in FIG. 5, the slide rail 12 is formed of a bar member having a U-shaped cross section that opens upward, and its bottom wall is fastened and fixed to the door panel 2 with screws (not shown). Near the upper ends of the inner surfaces of the front and rear walls of the slide rail 12, a pair of front and rear guide recesses 16·16 are recessed in the left-right direction. The guide body 13 includes a swing stopper base 17 fixed to the wall surface W, a guide frame 18 supported by the swing stopper base 17, and a guide block 19 connected to the guide frame 18 for guiding the slide rail 12. The guide frame 18 is formed in a gate shape in front view by a pair of left and right side frames 20·20 and an upper frame 21 that bridges the upper ends of the respective side frames 20 (see FIG. 8). The upper frame 21 extends forward from the front edge of the side frame 20, and two hexagonal bolts 22 fix the guide block 19 to the lower surface of the extended tip portion (see FIG. 4). The guide block 19 is formed in a rectangular block shape that is long in the left and right directions, and guide protrusions 23·23 that fit into the guide recesses 16 of the slide rail 12 are formed to protrude so as to extend in the left-right direction on the front and rear surfaces thereof. The slide rail 12 is slidably guided by the guide block 19 so as to be slidable left and right by the engagement of the guide recess 16 and the guide protrusion 23.

[0035] The guide frame 18 is supported so as to be vertically movable and tiltable about the longitudinal axis with respect to the anti-vibration base 17. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the anti-vibration base 17 is provided with a pair of left and right frame support portions 26·26. In each frame support portion 26, a vertically extending slit 27 for receiving the side frame 20 of the guide frame 18 is recessed rearward. In the middle portion in the vertical direction of each side frame 20, a long hole 28 extending in the vertical direction is formed so as to penetrate left and right. The side frame 20 inserted into each slit 27 is connected to the frame support portion 26 via a guide pin 29 inserted through the long hole 28. The guide frame 18 connected to the frame support portion 26 can move vertically with respect to the anti-vibration base 17 by the amount of the long hole 28. Further, the width dimension of each slit 27 is formed larger than the thickness dimension of the side frame 20. With one side frame 20 as a reference, when the other side frame 20 moves up and down, the guide frame 18 can tilt about the longitudinal axis with respect to the anti-vibration base 17. Note that the forward and backward movement of the guide frame 18 is restricted by the contact between the rear end surface of the side frame 20 and the bottom surface of the slit 27. In FIG. 8, reference numeral 30 is a regulating roller that restricts excessive tilting of the guide frame 18. The anti-vibration base 17 is fixed to the wall surface W by fastening fastening walls 31 that project outward to the left and right from each frame support portion 26 with screws 32.

[0036] As shown in FIG. 3, the assist device 5 includes a closing-side assist device 5A(5) that assists the movement operation toward the stroke end on the closing side (left side) of the door panel 2, and an opening-side assist device 5B(5) that assists the movement operation toward the stroke end on the opening side (right side) of the door panel 2. The closing-side assist device 5A is disposed at the opening end side (right end side) of the door panel 2, and the opening-side assist device 5B is disposed at the closing end side (left end side) of the door panel 2. Since the closing-side assist device 5A and the opening-side assist device 5B have a structure that is reversed left and right, the structure of the closing-side assist device 5A will be described, and the same members of the opening-side assist device 5B will be given the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

[0037] As shown in FIG. 1, the assist device 5 (5A) includes a drawing device 35 that moves and operates the door panel 2 from the assist start end before the closed position to the closed position (the stroke end on the closing side), and a damper device 36 that brakes the door panel 2 moved and operated by the drawing device 35. The drawing device 35 includes a drawing unit 37 that is responsible for the movement operation of the door panel 2 and a drawing trigger 38 that operates the drawing unit 37. The damper device 36 includes a damper unit 39 that applies a braking force to the door panel 2 and a damper trigger 40 that operates the damper unit 39. The drawing unit 37 is installed at the upper part on the opening end side of the door panel 2, and the damper unit 39 is installed at the lower part on the opening end side of the door panel 2 (the rear side in the drawing direction of the door panel 2 by the drawing device 35), adjacent to the left side of the door wheel 11. It should be noted that the drawing unit 37 in the assist device 5 (5B) is installed at the upper part on the closing end side of the door panel 2, and the damper unit 39 is installed at the lower part on the closing end side of the door panel 2 (the rear side in the drawing direction of the door panel 2 by the drawing device 35), adjacent to the right side of the door wheel 11. Thus, the damper unit 39 of each assist device 5 (5A·5B) is provided between the roller axles 11b·11b of the pair of left and right door wheels 11·11.

[0038] As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the retraction unit 37 includes a retraction case 43 fixed to the slide rail 12, a retraction slider 44 supported by the retraction case 43 so as to be reciprocally slidable left and right, a power storage spring 45 disposed between the retraction case 43 and the retraction slider 44, and a switching lever 46 connected to the retraction slider 44 and swingable between a standby position for holding the position of the retraction slider 44 and an operating position enabling sliding. The retraction case 43 is formed of a horizontally long hollow box having an opening in the upper wall, and the retraction slider 44 is formed of a horizontally lying L-shaped block. The retraction slider 44, the power storage spring 45, and the switching lever 46 constituting the retraction unit 37 are accommodated inside the retraction case 43. A slide seat 47 on which the upper surface of the retraction slider 44 slides is provided on the inner surface of the rear side of the retraction case 43, and a guide rib 49 engaged with a guide groove 48 formed recessed in the retraction slider 44 is provided on the inner surface of the front side of the retraction case 43. The retraction slider 44 is slidably guided in the left-right direction by the slide seat 47 and the guide groove 48 and the guide rib 49 engaging with each other with concavo-convexity.

[0039] The power storage spring 45 is a tension coil spring, the right end of which is locked to the right wall of the retraction case 43, and the left end of which is locked to the lower part of the retraction slider 44. The switching lever 46 is pivotally supported by a lever shaft 52 formed in the retraction slider 44 so as to be swingable at a substantially central portion in the left-right direction. A trigger recess 53 for engaging and disengaging the retraction trigger 38 is formed recessed downward in the upper part of the switching lever 46, and a lock claw 54 projects downward from the lower left end of the switching lever 46. A lever spring 55 formed of a compression spring is provided between the retraction slider 44 and the switching lever 46 on the right side of the lever shaft 52, and the switching lever 46 is biased counterclockwise (leftward) around the lever shaft 52 with respect to the retraction slider 44.

[0040] Near the left end of the previous slide seat 47, a locking hole 56 for engaging and disengaging the locking claw 54 is formed. When the retracting slider 44 is displaced leftward with respect to the retracting case 43 and the locking claw 54 of the switching lever 46 is positioned above the locking hole 56, the switching lever 46 rotates counterclockwise by the biasing force of the lever spring 55, and the locking claw 54 is locked in the locking hole 56. The state shown in Fig. 4 is the standby position of the switching lever 46, and the retracting device 35 is in a non-operating state. At this time, the energy storage spring 45 is fully extended and in an energy storage state. When the switching lever 46 in the standby position is rotated clockwise by the retracting trigger 38 and the locking of the locking claw 54 by the locking hole 56 is released, the switching lever 46 becomes an operating position (see Fig. 1) where the locking claw 54 can slide on the slide seat 47. As the energy storage spring 45 contracts, the retracting case 43 is displaced leftward with respect to the retracting slider 44.

[0041] The retracting case 43 is arranged at the right end of the slide rail 12 in the space below the height position of the guide block 19 of the anti-vibration structure 4. The bottom wall of the retracting case 43 is supported by two support ribs 57 protruding upward from the bottom surface of the slide rail 12, and its left and right ends are fixed to the slide rail 12 by being fastened to the support ribs 57 with screws 58. The upper part of the switching lever 46 protrudes upward from the opening of the upper wall of the retracting case 43, and a trigger recess 53 is located in the space between the lower surface of the guide block 19 and the upper surface of the retracting case 43. The retracting trigger 38 for changing the posture of the switching lever 46 is integrally formed on the lower surface of the guide block 19 and protrudes on the movement locus of the trigger recess 53 when the door panel 2 is opened and closed. The trigger recess 53 of the switching lever 46 in the standby position shown in Fig. 4 rotates counterclockwise (anticlockwise), and the groove wall on the right side of the trigger recess 53 faces the retracting trigger 38.

[0042] As shown in Fig. 7, the damper trigger 40 projects upward from the front end of the trigger base 61, and the damper trigger 40 and the trigger base 61 are integrally formed by bending a metal plate. The trigger base 61 is fixed to the floor surface F with screws 62 in a state where the damper trigger 40 is positioned on the rail groove of the guide rail 3.

[0043] As shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the damper unit 39 includes a damper case 63 formed of a horizontally long hollow box, a damper slider 64 provided in the damper case 63, and a linear damper 65 which is a braking element. A trigger opening 68 into which the damper trigger 40 intrudes as the door panel 2 moves is formed in the lower part of the damper case 63, and the trigger opening 68 is open to the lower surface and the lower half of the left side surface of the damper case 63. The damper slider 64 includes a trigger receiving groove 69 which is open on the lower surface and the left side surface to receive the damper trigger 40, a trigger receiver 70 which constitutes the right end wall of the trigger receiving groove 69, and a damper holder 71 which is formed in a U-shaped frame in plan view on the upper surface. A pair of slide ribs 72 project outward from the front and rear surfaces of the damper slider 64, and the slide ribs 72 are supported by guide slits 73 extending in the left-right direction formed in the front and rear walls of the damper case 63. The damper slider 64 is provided so as to be slidable in the left-right direction with respect to the damper case 63 by the slide ribs 72 being supported by the guide slits 73. The left and right ends of the damper unit 39 are fastened and fixed to the door panel 2 with screws 77.

[0044] The linear damper 65 includes a hollow cylindrical cylinder 74, a rod 75 provided so as to be able to advance and retract with respect to the cylinder 74, and a biasing spring 76 that applies a biasing force in the direction toward the advanced position to the rod 75. The cylinder 74 is fixed to a damper holder 71 integrally formed with the damper slider 64, and the tip of the rod 75 is fixed to the right wall of the damper case 63. The state shown in FIG. 6 is the standby position of the damper slider 64, and the damper slider 64 displaced leftward with respect to the damper case 63 is received by the left wall of the damper case 63 by the reaction force of the rod 75 advancing from the cylinder 74 by the biasing force of the biasing spring 76. When the door panel 2 is moved in the closing direction, the damper trigger 40 that has entered the damper case 63 from the left surface of the trigger opening 68 abuts against the trigger receiver 70 via the trigger receiving groove 69, and the damper slider 64 is received and held by the damper trigger 40. The contact portion between the right side surface of the damper trigger 40 and the trigger receiver 70 constitutes an engagement point P between the damper unit 39 and the damper trigger 40. From here, as the damper case 63 moves along with the movement of the door panel 2, the rod 75 retracts into the cylinder 74 of the linear damper 65, so that the damper unit 39 operates and the door panel 2 is braked.

[0045] For example, when the door wheel 11 has a vertical height adjustment structure for the door panel 2, the maximum contact dimension in the vertical direction of the engagement point P is set to be larger than the height adjustment amount of the door wheel 11. That is, the damper trigger 40 and the damper slider 64 are configured such that the engagement point P is formed whether the vertical height of the door panel 2 is at the lowest position or the highest position within the adjustment range of the door wheel 11. According to this, regardless of the vertical height of the door panel 2, the damper slider 64 is always received by the damper trigger 40, so there is no need to adjust the vertical height of the damper trigger 40. Therefore, the structure of the damper trigger 40 can be simplified because there is no need to provide a structure for height adjustment, and since there is no need to adjust the damper trigger 40 accompanying the height adjustment of the door wheel 11, the assembly work and adjustment work of the sliding door device can be facilitated.

[0046] As shown in FIG. 10(a), the biasing structure 6 is provided between the wall surface W and the door panel 2, and includes a contact body 79 that contacts the upper end of the rear wall of the slide rail 12 of the door panel 2 that moves in opening and closing (the upper end of the door panel 2), a biasing body 80 that is fixed to the wall surface W and presses and biases the contact body 79 against the door panel 2, and an interlocking lever 82 that is formed in an L shape in side view and is supported in a seesaw shape by a rotation shaft 81. The contact body 79 is formed in a roller shape and is rotatably supported by a roller shaft 83 provided at the front end of the interlocking lever 82. The biasing body 80 is a linear damper and is fixed to the wall surface W via a guide body 13. Specifically, the cylinder of the biasing body 80 is fixed to the anti-vibration base 17 between a pair of frame support portions 26, and the interlocking lever 82 has its rotation shaft 81 supported by the pair of frame support portions 26. The rod of the biasing body 80 is biased in the advancing direction and is connected to the interlocking lever 82 so as to be able to push up a plate-shaped rod receiver 84 formed at the rear end of the interlocking lever 82.

[0047] As described above, the retraction unit 37 and the damper unit 39 of the closing-side assist device 5A(5) are disposed near the right end of the door panel 2, and the retraction unit 37 and the damper unit 39 of the opening-side assist device 5B(5) are disposed near the left end of the door panel 2 (see FIG. 3). When the door panel 2 is viewed from the front side, the opening and closing stroke of the door panel 2 is set such that the right side (opening end side) of the projection area of the door panel 2 at the closed position (the stroke end on the closing side) (see the upper figure in FIG. 11) overlaps with the left side (closing end side) of the projection area of the door panel 2 at the open position (the stroke end on the opening side) (see the lower figure in FIG. 11). Moreover, a retraction trigger 38 and a damper trigger 40 are disposed in the overlapping portion of these two projection areas, and the retraction trigger 38 and the damper trigger 40 can be shared by both assist devices 5A and 5B.

[0048] Here, the operation of the anti - sway structure 4 will be described. For example, in the case of an uneven floor surface F, since the guide rail 3 embedded and fixed to the floor surface F undulates vertically, when the door wheel 11 travels on the guide rail 3, the door panel 2 is moved while being displaced vertically as a whole or slightly tilted around the front - rear axis. At this time, the movement of the slide rail 12 is synchronized with the door panel 2. However, since the guide block 19 is supported so as to be movable vertically and tiltable around the front - rear axis with respect to the anti - sway base 17, its posture is displaced following the movement of the slide rail 12. Therefore, the slide rail 12 that moves vertically or tilts in synchronization with the door panel 2 is smoothly slid - guided by the guide block 19. Also, since the relative position in the height direction of the guide block 19 and the retraction unit 37 with respect to the slide rail 12 does not change even when the door panel 2 moves vertically or tilts, the switching operation of the switching lever 46 by the retraction trigger 38 is always performed under the same conditions even if the floor surface F is uneven. Since the relative position between the retraction trigger 38 and the switching lever 46 does not change even after the switching operation, the retraction operation of the door panel 2 by the retraction device 35 functions normally.

[0049] Next, the operation of the biasing structure 6 will be described. In FIG. 10(a), since the interlocking lever 82 tends to rotate counterclockwise (left - hand rotation) by the biasing force of the biasing body 80, the abutting body 79 is pressed and biased against the slide rail 12. By this pressing and biasing force, the biasing structure 6 biases the door panel 2 toward the floor surface F. Even when the door panel 2 is displaced upward from the state of FIG. 10(a) to the state of FIG. 10(b) or displaced downward from the state of FIG. 10(b) to the state of FIG. 10(a) in the case of an uneven floor surface F, the abutting body 79 follows the vertical movement of the door panel 2 while being in contact with the slide rail 12 due to the counterclockwise - rotating interlocking lever 82. Therefore, the door panel 2 can always be biased toward the floor surface F.

[0050] Next, the assist operation of the door panel 2 by the assist device 5 will be described. When the door panel 2 is positioned at the position shown in Fig. 2, the switching levers 46 of the retraction units 37 of both assist devices 5A and 5B are switched to the standby position, and the damper slider 64 of the damper unit 39 is positioned at the standby position (see Figs. 4 and 6). From this state, when the door panel 2 is moved to the closing side (left side), and the door panel 2 is moved to the assist start end before the closed position, the retraction trigger 38 abuts against the groove wall on the right side of the trigger recess 53, and the damper trigger 40 abuts against the trigger receiver 70 (see Fig. 12(a)). At this time, in the damper device 36, the damper slider 64 is engaged and position-held with the damper trigger 40 at the engagement point P.

[0051] From the above state, when the door panel 2 is moved to the closing side (left side), in the retraction device 35, the switching lever 46 is switched from the standby position to the operating position by the retraction trigger 38, and the switching lever 46 is captured by the retraction trigger 38 due to the engagement of the retraction trigger 38 and the trigger recess 53 (see Fig. 12(b)). The switching lever 46 switched to the operating position is position-held by the retraction trigger 38 together with the retraction slider 44. With the retraction trigger 38 as a reference, the retraction case 43 is pulled to the left by the energy storage spring 45, and accordingly, the door panel 2 is moved to the closed position side (see Fig. 12(c)). On the other hand, in the damper device 36, since the damper case 63 moves to the left with respect to the damper slider 64 position-held by the damper trigger 40, the rod 75 retracts into the cylinder 74 (see Figs. 12(b) and (c)), and the door panel 2 is braked. By such an operation, when the assist device 5 (5A) operates, the door panel 2 moved to the closed position by the retraction device 35 moves slowly to the closed position while being braked by the damper device 36. When the retraction slider 44 abuts against the right wall of the retraction case 43, the operation of the assist device 5 (5A) stops, and the door panel 2 is held in the closed position.

[0052] When the door panel 2 in the closed position is moved to the open side, in the retraction device 35, based on the switching lever 46 and the retraction slider 44, the retraction case 43 moves to the right and the energy storage spring 45 is stretched and stores energy. On the other hand, in the damper device 36, while the damper case 63 moves to the right, the rod 75 extends by the biasing force of the biasing spring 76. Further, when the door panel 2 is moved to the open side (right side), in the retraction device 35, when the locking claw 54 is positioned above the locking hole 56, the switching lever 46 rotates counterclockwise by the lever spring 55 and switches from the standby position to the operating position, and the capture of the switching lever 46 by the retraction trigger 38 is released, and the retraction unit 37 is separated from the retraction trigger 38. On the other hand, in the damper device 36, when the damper slider 64 abuts against the left wall of the damper case 63, the damper slider 64 and the damper case 63 move to the right, and the damper unit 39 is separated from the damper trigger 40. Also when the door panel 2 is moved to the open side (right side) from the state of FIG. 2, the same movement as above occurs in the assist device 5B (5) on the open side only with the left - right direction being different.

[0053] For example, when the door panel 2 at the position shown in FIG. 2 is vigorously moved to the left (closed side), at the time when the damper device 36 operates (see FIG. 12(b)), the door panel 2 is greatly decelerated. Thus, when the damper device 36 operates and the door panel 2 is suddenly braked, the door panel 2 tilts with the engagement point P (the contact portion between the trigger receiver 70 and the damper trigger 40) between the damper unit 39 and the damper trigger 40 as the fulcrum, causing the upper corner portion on the left side (stroke end side) to lower and the upper corner portion on the right side (opposite side to the stroke end side) to rise, and tends to bounce up.

[0054] With respect to the upward bounce of the door panel 2, in the sliding door device according to the present embodiment, the engagement point P is formed between the roller shafts 11b of the door wheels 11, whereby the left door wheel 11 is pressed against the guide rail 3, and it is possible to reliably prevent the door panel 2 from bouncing upward. More specifically, even if the door panel 2 tries to bounce upward as described above, its movement is restricted by the left door wheel 11 being pressed against the guide rail 3. As a result, it is possible to prevent the door panel 2 from tilting and bouncing upward during braking. Depending on the weight balance of the door panel 2, tilting in the opposite direction (tilting such that the upper right corner portion goes down and the upper left corner portion goes up) is also assumed. However, in the present embodiment, the retraction device 35 is installed at the upper part of the door panel 2, and the retraction force of the retraction device 35 acts on the left side of the door panel 2. Therefore, the door panel 2 does not tilt in the opposite direction as described above, and it is possible to reliably press the left door wheel 11 against the guide rail 3 and prevent the door panel 2 from bouncing upward.

[0055] In addition, in the present embodiment, since the retraction unit 37 of the retraction device 35 is installed at the upper part of the door panel 2 and the damper unit 39 of the damper device 36 is installed at the lower part of the door panel 2, compared with the configuration in which both units 37 and 39 are installed only at the lower part of the door panel 2, it is possible to reduce the size of the mounting structure of the assist device 5 in the door panel 2. For example, when a configuration is adopted in which the lower surface of the door panel 2 is dug in and the assist device 5 is mounted therein, the volume of the dug-in portion can be reduced. Also, when the size of the mounting structure of the assist device 5 in the door panel 2 can be reduced in this way, the design freedom around the door wheel 11 is improved, so it becomes possible to use a more general-purpose door wheel 11, contributing to cost reduction of the sliding door device. Since the retraction unit 37 of the retraction device 35 and the damper unit 39 of the damper device 36 are independent of each other, the maintainability of the sliding door device is also improved.

[0056] Each door wheel 11 is disposed at the end of the door panel 2, and the damper unit 39 is disposed adjacent to the door wheel 11 on the rear side in the pulling direction of the door panel 2 by the pulling device 35. Therefore, the engagement point P between the damper device 36 and the damper trigger 40 can be arranged closer to the rear end in the stroke direction of the door panel 2. In this way, when the engagement point P is arranged closer to the rear end in the stroke direction of the door panel 2, compared with the case where the damper unit 39 is disposed adjacent to the door wheel 11 on the front side in the pulling direction of the door panel 2 by the pulling device 35, the distance between the engagement point P and the door wheel 11 on the stroke end side can be relatively increased. Thus, the movement of the door panel 2 attempting to bounce up can be reliably received by the door wheel 11, and the bounce of the door panel 2 can be prevented.

[0057] The damper trigger 40 is fixed above the guide rail 3, the damper slider 64 and the linear damper 65 constituting the damper unit 39 are provided in the damper case 63, and the damper unit 39 is disposed in the lower mounting portion 10 formed by engraving on the lower surface of the door panel 2. Therefore, compared with the case where the damper case 63 and the damper slider 64 are provided adjacent to each other left and right, the overall length of the damper unit 39 in the left-right direction can be suppressed from becoming longer, and the damper unit 39 constituting the assist device 5 can be made more compact. Also, due to the compactness of the damper unit 39, the volume of the dug-in portion of the door panel 2 can be made smaller.

[0058] The linear damper 65 is provided with a cylinder 74 and a rod 75 that can move in and out with respect to the cylinder 74. One of the cylinder 74 and the rod 75 is fixed to the damper case 63, and the other is fixed to the damper slider 64. Further, the damper trigger 40 that has entered the damper case 63 from the trigger opening 68 as the door panel 2 moves engages to receive and hold the damper slider 64, and is configured to retract the rod 75 with respect to the cylinder 74 to operate the damper unit 39. According to this, for example, compared with a damper device in which the posture of a member for operating the damper unit is switched by the engagement of the damper trigger 40, the damper unit 39 can be operated with a simple structure in which the damper trigger 40 receives and holds the damper slider 64. Therefore, the damper device 36 can be made highly reliable with less likelihood of malfunction.

[0059] On the opening end side of the door panel 2, a closing side assist device 5A(5) for assisting the movement operation toward the stroke end on the closing side of the door panel 2 is disposed. On the closing end side of the door panel 2, an opening side assist device 5B(5) for assisting the movement operation toward the stroke end on the opening side of the door panel 2 is disposed. When the door panel 2 is viewed from the front side, the opening stroke of the door panel 2 is set such that the opening end side of the projection area of the door panel 2 at the closing side stroke end and the closing end side of the projection area of the door panel 2 at the opening side stroke end overlap. Moreover, since the pull-in trigger 38 and the damper trigger 40 are disposed in the overlapping portion of the two projection areas so that the pull-in trigger 38 and the damper trigger 40 can be shared by both assist devices 5A and 5B, the cost of the entire sliding door device can be suppressed because there is no need to provide the pull-in trigger 38 and the damper trigger 40 corresponding to each of the assist devices 5A and 5B. In addition, since it is only necessary to assemble a set of the pull-in trigger 38 and the damper trigger 40, the labor during the construction of the sliding door device can be saved.

[0060] Since an urging structure 6 for urging the door panel 2 toward the floor surface F is provided between the wall surface W and the door panel 2, the movement of the door panel 2 to jump up when the damper device 36 operates can be suppressed and blocked by the urging structure 6, and the jumping up of the door panel 2 can be more reliably prevented.

[0061] The urging structure 6 includes a contact body 79 that contacts the upper end of the door panel 2 that moves in opening and closing, a biasing body 80 that is fixed to the wall surface W and presses and biases the contact body 79 against the door panel 2, and an interlocking lever 82 that is supported in a seesaw shape by a rotation shaft 81, supports the contact body 79 at one end, and the other end is connected to the biasing body 80. Therefore, even when the door panel 2 that is opened and closed moves up and down due to unevenness of the floor surface F, the contact body 79 can be made to follow the up and down movement of the door panel 2, and the door panel 2 can be accurately urged toward the floor surface F.

[0062] Since the contact body 79 is formed in a roller shape that is rotatably supported by the interlocking lever 82 and can rotate as the door panel 2 moves, the friction between the door panel 2 and the contact body 79 can be reduced, and the generation of abnormal noise due to the rubbing of the two 2·79 can be prevented.

[0063] According to the anti-vibration structure 4 that supports the guide frame 18 relative to the anti-vibration base 17 so as to be movable up and down and tiltable about the front-rear axis, even when the door panel 2 that is opened and closed moves up and down or tilts due to unevenness of the floor surface F, the guide block 19 can be made to follow the slide rail 12, and the door panel 2 can be accurately guided by the anti-vibration structure 4.

[0064] Since the retraction trigger 38 of the retraction device 35 is provided on the guide block 19, even when the door panel 2 that is opened and closed moves up and down or tilts due to unevenness of the floor surface F, the guide block 19 can be made to follow the slide rail 12, and the height-direction positional relationship of the retraction trigger 38 with respect to the retraction unit 37 provided on the door panel 2 can be made constant, and the retraction unit 37 can be surely operated by the retraction trigger 38.

[0065] In the above description, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an offset-type sliding door device has been shown. However, the present invention can also be applied to an inset-type sliding door device. In the above embodiment, the operating timings of the retracting device 35 and the damper device 36 of the assist device 5 (5A·5B) are not limited to the timings of the above embodiment. For example, the damper device 36 may operate after the retracting device 35 has operated. A form can be adopted in which the guide rail 3 is divided into two parts on the closing side and the opening side, and a damper trigger 40 is arranged between both guide rails 3. Although the biasing body 80 of the biasing structure 6 is constituted by a linear damper, the biasing body 80 can also be constituted by a compression spring. The biasing structure 6 is not an essential component and can also be omitted.

[0066] (Second Embodiment) Fig. 13 shows a second embodiment of the sliding door device according to the present invention. In this embodiment, in contrast to the biasing structure 6, a suppression structure 87 for suppressing the sudden vertical movement of the door panel 2 is provided, which is different from the previous first embodiment. The suppression structure 87 is provided between the wall surface W and the door panel 2, and includes a rack body 88 provided on the back surface of the slide rail 12 (the back surface of the door panel 2 facing the wall surface W), a rotary damper 90 fixed to the wall surface W with the input shaft 89 directed in the left-right direction, and a pinion 91 connected to the input shaft 89 of the rotary damper 90 and meshing with the rack body 88. The rack body 88 is provided over the left-right direction of the slide rail 12, and its tooth rows are arranged side by side in the vertical direction. The pinion 91 is always in mesh with the rack body 88 even when the door panel 2 is opened and closed by sliding relative to the rack body 88 in the left-right direction. When the door panel 2 moved by the unevenness of the floor surface F moves vertically, the rack body 88 moves up and down in synchronization with the vertical movement of the door panel 2, and the pinion 91 rotates with respect to the vertical movement of the rack body 88, so that the door panel 2 is opened and closed with the sliding friction reduced.

[0067] According to the suppression structure 87 as described above, when the damper device 36 operates and attempts to bounce up the door panel 2, the rapid vertical movement of the door panel 2 is braked by the resistance of the rotary damper 90 connected to the pinion 91 via the rack body 88, thereby preventing the door panel 2 from bouncing up. On the other hand, when the opening and closing door panel 2 gently moves up and down due to unevenness of the floor surface F, the pinion 91 follows the vertical movement of the rack body 88 with hardly receiving the resistance of the rotary damper 90. Therefore, the door panel 2 can be opened and closed in a state where the rack body 88 and the pinion 91 are properly meshed, and the suppression structure 87 can function properly regardless of the position of the door panel 2 within the opening and closing stroke.

[0068] In addition to the above embodiment, a damper unit can also be added to the upper part of the door panel 2. In this case, the operation timing of the damper unit at the upper part of the door panel 2 is set to be the same as or after the operation of the damper unit 39 at the lower part of the door panel 2, so that the bouncing up of the door panel 2 can be better prevented.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0069] 1 Opening 2 Door panel 3 Guide rail 4 Anti-sway structure 5 Assist device 5A Closing-side assist device 5B Opening-side assist device 6 Biasing structure 10 Lower mounting portion 11 Door wheel 11a Roller 11b Roller axis 12 Slide rail 13 Guide body 17 Anti-sway base 18 Guide frame 19 Guide block 35 Retracting device 36 Damper device 37 Retracting unit 38 Retracting trigger 39 Damper unit 40 Damper trigger 63 Damper case 64 Damper slider 65 Linear damper 68 Trigger opening 74 Cylinder 75 Rod 79 Contact body 80 Biasing body 81 Rotation axis 82 Interlocking lever 87 Suppression structure 88 Rack body 89 Input shaft 90 Rotary damper 91 Pinion F Floor surface W Wall surface P Engagement point

Claims

1. A door panel (2) for opening and closing the opening (1); An assist device (5) that assists the movement operation of the door panel (2) toward the stroke end; A retraction device (35) that constitutes the assist device (5) and is installed on the upper part of the door panel (2) and moves the door panel (2) from the assist start end to the stroke end; A damper device (36) that constitutes the assist device (5) and is installed under the door panel (2) and brakes the door panel (2) that is moved by the retraction device (35); A guide rail (3) fixed to a floor surface (F) of the opening (1); A pair of left and right door rollers (11, 11) are installed at the bottom of the door panel (2) and have rollers (11a) that are guided by a guide rail (3); Equipped with The retraction device (35) is provided with a retraction unit (37) that is installed on the upper part of the door panel (2) and is responsible for moving the door panel (2), and a retraction trigger (38) that is installed on the upper wall surface (W) of the opening (1) and engages with the retraction unit (37) to activate the retraction unit (37); The damper device (36) is provided with a damper unit (39) that is installed under the door panel (2) and applies a braking force to the door panel (2), and a damper trigger (40) that is installed on the floor surface (F) and engages with the damper unit (39) to activate the damper unit (39); A sliding door device characterized in that an engagement point (P) between a damper unit (39) and a damper trigger (40) is formed between the roller shaft centers (11b, 11b) of the left and right door rollers (11, 11).

2. Each door roller (11) is disposed at an end of the door panel (2), 2. The sliding door device according to claim 1, wherein the damper unit (39) is disposed adjacent to the door roller (11) on the rear side in the retracting direction of the door panel (2) by the retraction device (35).

3. The damper trigger (40) is fixed above the guide rail (3), The damper unit (39) includes a damper case (63) having a trigger opening (68) at its lower part for receiving a damper trigger (40), a damper slider (64) supported so as to be slidable relative to the damper case (63) in the left-right direction, and a linear damper (65) which is a braking element, the damper slider (64) and the linear damper (65) being provided within the damper case (63); 2. The sliding door device according to claim 1, wherein the damper unit (39) is disposed in a lower mounting portion (10) formed by carving into the lower surface of the door panel (2).

4. The linear damper (65) includes a cylinder (74) and a rod (75) provided so as to be capable of moving forward and backward relative to the cylinder (74), one of the cylinder (74) and the rod (75) being fixed to the damper case (63) and the other being fixed to the damper slider (64); The sliding door device according to claim 3, wherein the damper trigger (40) enters the damper case (63) through the trigger opening (68) as the door panel (2) moves, and engages with the damper slider (64) to receive and hold it, thereby moving the rod (75) forward or backward relative to the cylinder (74) to operate the damper unit (39).

5. A closing side assist device (5A(5)) is disposed on the opening end side of the door panel (2) for assisting the movement operation of the door panel (2) toward the closing side stroke end, and an opening side assist device (5B(5)) is disposed on the closing end side of the door panel (2) for assisting the movement operation of the door panel (2) toward the opening side stroke end, The opening and closing stroke of the door panel (2) is set so that, when the door panel (2) is viewed from the front side, the opening end side of the projection area of ​​the door panel (2) at the stroke end on the closing side overlaps with the closing end side of the projection area of ​​the door panel (2) at the stroke end on the opening side; A sliding door device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a retractable trigger (38) and a damper trigger (40) are arranged in the area where the two projection areas overlap, and the retractable trigger (38) and the damper trigger (40) can be shared by both the left and right assist devices (5A, 5B).

6. The sliding door device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a biasing structure (6) provided between the wall surface (W) and the door panel (2) for biasing the door panel (2) toward the floor surface (F).

7. The sliding door device according to claim 6, wherein the biasing structure (6) comprises a contact body (79) that contacts the upper end of the door panel (2) that moves to open and close, a biasing body (80) that is fixed to the wall surface (W) and biases the contact body (79) against the door panel (2), and a linking lever (82) that is supported in a seesaw shape by a pivot shaft (81), supports the contact body (79) at one end, and is connected to the biasing body (80) at the other end.

8. 8. The sliding door device according to claim 7, wherein the abutting body (79) is rotatably supported by the interlocking lever (82) and formed in a roller shape that rotates with the movement of the door panel (2).

9. Between the wall surface (W) and the door panel (2), a restraining structure (87) is provided to suppress the sudden up and down movement of the door panel (2), 5. The sliding door device according to claim 1, wherein the restraining structure (87) is fixed to the back surface of the door panel (2) facing the wall surface (W) across the left and right sides, and comprises a rack body (88) with teeth arranged in the vertical direction, a rotary damper (90) fixed to the wall surface (W) with an input shaft (89) oriented in the left and right direction, and a pinion (91) connected to the input shaft (89) of the rotary damper (90) and constantly meshing with the rack body (88).

10. Between the wall surface (W) and the door panel (2), a vibration prevention structure (4) is provided to guide the upper part of the door panel (2), The anti-sway structure (4) includes a slide rail (12) extending in the left-right direction provided on the upper portion of the door panel (2) and a guide body (13) provided on the wall surface (W). The guide body (13) includes a vibration-prevention base (17) fixed to a wall surface (W), a guide frame (18) supported by the vibration-prevention base (17), and a guide block (19) connected to the guide frame (18) to guide the slide rail (12), 5. A sliding door device according to claim 1, wherein the guide frame (18) is supported on the anti-vibration base (17) so as to be movable up and down and tiltable about a front-rear axis.

11. 11. The sliding door device according to claim 10, wherein the guide block (19) is provided with a retraction trigger (38) of the retraction device (35).

Images