Sliding door interlocking device

Abstract

To provide a sliding door interlock device capable of suppressing an overlapping range of adjacent sliding doors to be as small as possible, and suppressing damage.SOLUTION: The sliding door interlock device is installed over protruding end faces having protruding interlock shafts D7 in a plurality of sliding doors. The interlock device comprises: an interlock device body 2 having a first frame body 5 attached to the protruding end face of a first sliding door and a pair of sliders 8 that respectively slide in opposite directions along the first frame body 5; and a receiving unit 3 having a second frame body 10 attached to the protruding end face of a second sliding door and a receiving part 11 attached to one end part in the second frame body 10 and engaged with one of the sliders 8. The second frame body 10 includes an insertion groove 53 into which the interlock shaft D7 of the second sliding door can be inserted from one end part along a longer direction. The second frame body 10 includes a shaft insertion part 54 within the insertion groove 53 into which the interlock shaft D7 is inserted, and a receiving attachment part 55 attached by the receiving part 11 being inserted in the insertion groove 53, outside the shaft insertion part 54.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a sliding door interlocking device that interlocks another sliding door with the opening / closing operation of one sliding door when the opening of a structure such as a building or furniture is opened and closed by a plurality of sliding doors.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, a plurality of sliding doors are sometimes provided at an opening in a building or the like for effective utilization of the frontage and the like. When a plurality of sliding doors are provided in this way, a sliding door interlocking device that interlocks other sliding doors with the opening / closing operation of one sliding door is sometimes installed, for the reason that it is troublesome to sequentially open and close each sliding door one by one.

[0003] For example, the sliding door interlocking device described in Patent Document 1 is installed in a top-hung sliding door including a first sliding door and a second sliding door. Each of these sliding doors includes a sliding door main body provided with concave grooves at both end portions in the door width direction at the upper end portion, and a roller unit inserted into the concave grooves. The roller unit includes a sliding door fixing body that is housed and fixed in the concave groove of the sliding door main body, a connecting shaft that protrudes upward from the sliding door fixing body and thereby protrudes from the upper end surface of the sliding door main body, and a roller body attached to the tip end portion of the connecting shaft, and is configured such that the sliding door main body can be attached to and detached from the opening by inserting and removing the sliding door fixing body into and out of the concave groove from one side in the door width direction of the sliding door main body.

[0004] Specifically, the sliding door interlocking device of Patent Document 1 includes an interlocking device main body attached to the upper end surface of the sliding door main body of the first sliding door across both longitudinal end portions, and a receiving member attached to the upper end surface of the sliding door main body of the second sliding door adjacent to the first sliding door and engaged with the interlocking device main body, and interlocks opening and closing of the first sliding door with opening and closing of the second sliding door.

[0005] The interlocking device body comprises a frame attached to both ends of the upper end surface of the sliding door body, a pair of pulleys attached to both ends of the frame in the longitudinal direction, an endless wire stretched between these pulleys, and a pair of sliders attached to the endless wire and sliding in opposite directions along the longitudinal direction of the frame. The interlocking device body is configured such that the roller unit can be attached to and detached while attached to the upper end surface of the sliding door body of the first sliding door, with grooves cut out along the longitudinal direction at both ends of the frame, and the connecting shaft of the roller unit can be inserted through these cutouts in the sliding door opening and closing direction. On the other hand, the receiving member is attached to one end of the upper end surface of the sliding door body of the second sliding door and is locked to one of the pair of sliders. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2015-178740 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0007] Incidentally, the receiving member is attached to the upper end surface of the sliding door body on the inside in the door width direction of the connecting shaft of the roller unit on the second sliding door so as not to interfere with the connecting shaft of the roller unit on the second sliding door when attaching or detaching the roller unit to the sliding door body. For this reason, if the number of sliding doors is increased and these additional sliding doors are to be opened and closed in conjunction with the conventional sliding door interlocking device, another interlocking device body must be installed further inside the receiving member on the upper surface of the second sliding door, raising concerns that the overlap area of ​​adjacent sliding doors will increase.

[0008] Furthermore, since the insertion and removal of the roller unit from the sliding door body and the engagement and disengagement of the interlocking device body and the receiving member can be performed separately and independently, if the sliding door body is removed before the locking state between the interlocking device body and the receiving member is released, the locking state between the interlocking device body and the receiving member may not be properly released, potentially causing damage to the receiving member, slider, and other parts of the interlocking device body.

[0009] This invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and aims to provide a sliding door interlocking device that can minimize the overlap area of ​​adjacent sliding doors and reliably release the locking state between the interlocking device body and the receiving member when the sliding door is removed, thereby preventing damage. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] To solve the above problems, the sliding door interlocking device according to this invention is a sliding door interlocking device installed across the protruding end faces of a plurality of sliding doors, each having a sliding door body with a unit mounting portion provided at either the upper or lower end, and a protruding shaft unit that is inserted into the unit mounting portion from one side of the sliding door body in the door width direction and has a protruding shaft that protrudes from either the upper or lower end face of the sliding door body, wherein the device is installed across the protruding end faces of a first sliding door, and a first frame body is attached to both ends in the longitudinal direction of the protruding end face of a first sliding door, and the first sliding door slides in opposite directions along the longitudinal direction of the first frame body and opens and closes in conjunction with the opening and closing of a second sliding door adjacent to the first sliding door The interlocking device comprises a main body having a pair of sliders that interlock and open and close the second sliding door, a second frame attached to the protruding end face of the second sliding door across both ends in the longitudinal direction, and a receiving unit attached to one end in the longitudinal direction of the second frame and having a receiving portion that engages with one of the pair of sliders, wherein the second frame includes a groove through which a second protruding shaft protruding from the protruding end face of the second sliding door can be inserted from the one end along the longitudinal direction, and the second frame has a shaft insertion portion through which the second protruding shaft is inserted vertically into the groove, and a receiving mounting portion on the outside of the shaft insertion portion into which the receiving portion is inserted and mounted in the groove.

[0011] According to this invention, even when a sliding door interlocking device is installed across multiple sliding doors, each having a sliding door body with a unit mounting portion and a protruding shaft unit inserted into the unit mounting portion from one end face in the door width direction of the sliding door body, it is possible to effectively utilize dead space and minimize the overlapping area of ​​the sliding doors as much as possible. Furthermore, since the protruding shaft unit including the second protruding shaft cannot be removed until the receiving portion has been removed, damage such as breakage of the sliding door interlocking device can be suppressed as much as possible.

[0012] In other words, according to this invention, since the interlocking device body is attached to the protruding end face of the first sliding door and the receiving unit is attached to the protruding end face of the second sliding door, the first sliding door can be opened and closed in conjunction with the opening and closing of the second sliding door. The second frame of this receiving unit includes a groove through which the second protruding shaft, which protrudes from the protruding end face of the second sliding door, can be inserted from one end along the longitudinal direction. Therefore, even after the second frame is attached to the sliding door body, the protruding shaft unit can be attached to the sliding door body, improving workability on site. In this case, normally, when the sliding door is installed, the opening end side of the groove becomes dead space. However, according to the present invention, the second frame has a shaft insertion portion through which the second protruding shaft is inserted vertically into the groove, and a receiving mounting portion on the outside of the shaft insertion portion to which the receiving portion is inserted and mounted in the groove. Therefore, the receiving portion can be attached to the receiving mounting portion by effectively utilizing the space in the groove outside the shaft insertion portion at one end of the second frame. Moreover, even when increasing the number of sliding doors to be interlocked, the overlapping range of the sliding doors can be suppressed as much as possible by effectively utilizing the dead space. Furthermore, the second frame has the shaft insertion portion and a receiving mounting portion on the outside of the shaft insertion portion, that is, on the opening end side of the groove relative to the shaft insertion portion, and the receiving portion is attached to this receiving mounting portion. Therefore, the protruding shaft unit including the second protruding shaft cannot be removed unless the receiving portion is removed from the receiving mounting portion and the engagement between the receiving unit and the interlocking device body is released. Therefore, it is possible to effectively suppress damage such as breakage of the sliding door interlocking device that may occur when the protruding shaft unit is removed before the engagement between the receiving unit and the interlocking device body is released.

[0013] The mounting structure of the receiving portion to the receiving mounting portion of the second frame is not particularly limited, but it is preferable that the second frame comprises a bottom wall and front and rear side walls rising from the front and rear side edges of the bottom wall, and the receiving unit further comprises a mounting shaft portion that penetrates the receiving portion, which is positioned on the receiving mounting portion of the second frame, from front to back, and whose front and rear ends are supported by the front and rear side walls.

[0014] With this configuration, the second frame comprises the bottom wall and the front and rear side walls, and the receiving unit further comprises a mounting shaft portion that penetrates the receiving portion, which is positioned at the receiving mounting portion of the second frame, from front to back, and whose front and rear ends are supported by the front and rear side walls. Thus, the mounting shaft portion, whose front and rear ends are supported by the front and rear side walls, can reinforce one end of the second frame, thereby improving the rigidity of the second frame around the groove. As a result, even if an external force acts on one end of the second frame through the receiving portion, damage such as deformation of the front and rear side walls at that end can be suppressed as much as possible.

[0015] The receiving portion does not have a particularly limited specific configuration as long as it engages with one of the pair of sliders, but it is preferable that the receiving portion comprises a receiving body inserted into the receiving mounting portion, an engaging portion positioned spaced apart from the receiving body toward the interlocking device body in the thickness direction of the sliding door and engaging with one of the sliders, and a connecting portion that spans the receiving body and the engaging portion and connects them, with at least one of the receiving body and the engaging portion having a plurality of fitting holes arranged in parallel along the thickness direction into which the connecting portion is selectively fitted.

[0016] With this configuration, the receiving portion comprises the receiving body, the engaging portion, and the connecting portion. At least one of the receiving body and the engaging portion has a plurality of fitting holes arranged in the thickness direction, into which the connecting portion is selectively fitted. By selecting the fitting hole into which the connecting portion is fitted, the distance between the receiving body and the engaging portion can be changed. This allows the distance between the receiving body and the engaging portion to be appropriately set at the construction site according to the thickness of the sliding door and the gap between adjacent sliding doors, thereby improving workability.

[0017] In this case, the engagement structure between the engaging portion and the one slider is not particularly limited. For example, the two may be screwed together, but it is preferable that the one slider has a locking groove opening in the thickness direction, and the engaging portion has a locking hook that elastically deforms in the thickness direction when pressed by the one slider and is locked in the locking groove.

[0018] With this configuration, the engaging portion has a locking hook that elastically deforms in the thickness direction when pressed by the one slider and is locked in the locking groove. Therefore, after the interlocking device main body and the receiving unit are installed on the first and second sliding doors, only by operating both sliding doors in the opening and closing direction, the one slider presses the locking hook to elastically deform the locking hook and lock it in the locking groove, which improves workability on site.

[0019] Furthermore, the first frame body and the second frame body may be separately designed frames, but it is preferable that they are configured from a common frame body.

[0020] With this configuration, since the first frame body and the second frame body are configured from a common frame body, there is no need to separately manufacture each frame body, which is advantageous in terms of cost. Effects of the Invention

[0021] According to the sliding door interlocking device of the present invention, the overlapping range of sliding doors can be minimized by effectively utilizing dead space, and damage such as breakage of the sliding door interlocking device can be suppressed as much as possible. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0022] [Figure 1] It is a perspective view showing the sliding door interlocking device of the present invention together with a part of the sliding door. [Figure 2] It is a plan view showing the same device. [Figure 3]It is an exploded perspective view showing the interlocking device main body and the wall receiving portion of the same device. [Figure 4] It is an exploded perspective view showing the receiving unit of the same device. [Figure 5] It is an enlarged perspective view showing the slider. [Figure 6] It is an exploded perspective view showing the receiving portion of the receiving unit together with the end cap. [Figure 7] It is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI in Figure 2. [Figure 8] It is an enlarged plan view showing the receiving portion and the slider in a state where the roller unit is removed. [Figure 9] It is an exploded perspective view showing the wall receiving portion. [Figure 10] It is a plan view shown in a state where the roller body is omitted for explaining the engagement operation between the catcher and the slider. [Figure 11] It is a perspective view showing a sliding door interlocking device applied to three sliding doors in a partially omitted state. [Figure 12] It is a plan view showing a sliding door interlocking device applied to three sliding doors in a partially omitted state.

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0023] Hereinafter, one embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The sliding door interlocking device of the present embodiment is applied to a hanging-type sliding door in which guide rollers are guided and supported by guide rails; however, even in the case of a non-hanging sliding door, a guide unit having a guide protrusion guided from the lower end surface of the sliding door main body to a lower guide rail is attached to at least one end portion in the door width direction of the sliding door main body, as long as it is a plurality of sliding doors each having a protruding shaft protruding from either the upper or lower end surface of the sliding door main body, the present invention can also be applied to other sliding doors.

[0024] Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the sliding door interlocking device of this embodiment installed on a sliding door, and Figure 2 is a plan view showing the same device. For convenience, in the following explanation, the +X direction may be described as the right direction, the +Y direction as the rear direction, and the +Z direction as the upward direction in each figure, but these directions are not particularly limited and simply represent the relative positional relationship in the device of this embodiment. Here, the left-right direction corresponds to the width direction (opening and closing direction) of the sliding door, the front-back direction corresponds to the thickness direction of the sliding door, and the up-down direction corresponds to the height direction of the sliding door.

[0025] In this sliding door structure, a forward-opening door pocket is installed in front of the wall W adjacent to the opening, and the opening is closed when two sliding doors D are pulled out to the left from this door pocket. These sliding doors D are positioned so that they almost completely overlap in the door pocket when fully open, and even when fully closed, their ends in the door width direction overlap. Of the two sliding doors D, the sliding door D on the wall W side is sometimes referred to as the first sliding door D1, and the sliding door D adjacent to the first sliding door D1 on the opposite side of the wall W is sometimes referred to as the second sliding door D2.

[0026] Specifically, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, the sliding door D comprises a plate-shaped sliding door body D3 and roller units (corresponding to protruding shaft units) D4 positioned at both the left and right ends of the upper end of the sliding door body D3. The sliding door body D3 has unit mounting grooves (corresponding to unit mounting sections) D5 at both the left and right ends of the upper end, with the upper and left / right outer sides open. The unit mounting grooves D5 have equally wide openings at the top and the outside, however, the upper opening may be narrower than the outer opening, provided that the connecting shaft D7 of the roller unit D4 (described later) can be inserted from the outside. A roller unit D4 is attached to each unit mounting groove D5.

[0027] The roller unit D4 comprises a sliding door fixing body D6 that is housed and fixed in a unit mounting groove D5, a connecting shaft (corresponding to the protruding shaft) D7 that protrudes upward from the sliding door fixing body D6, and a roller body D8 attached to the tip of the connecting shaft D7. The roller body D8 is supported by an upper guide rail (not shown), thereby suspending the sliding door body D3 from the upper guide rail. By attaching this roller unit D4 to the sliding door body D3, the connecting shaft D7 protrudes from the upper end surface of the sliding door body D3, so in this embodiment, the upper end surface of the sliding door body D3 corresponds to the "protruding end surface" as referred to in this invention. Alternatively, the sliding door fixing body D6 may be configured in sections, with one section pre-installed in the unit mounting groove D5 of the sliding door body D3 and the other section pre-connected to the connecting shaft D7, thereby connecting the two sections and attaching the roller unit D4 to the sliding door body D3. In this case as well, the roller unit D4 is inserted into the unit mounting groove D5 from one side in the door width direction of the sliding door body D3.

[0028] As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the sliding door interlocking device 1 of this embodiment is installed across the upper end surfaces of these sliding doors D. The sliding door interlocking device 1 comprises an interlocking device body 2 attached to the upper end surface of the first sliding door D1, a receiving unit 3 attached to the upper end surface of the second sliding door D2 and engaging with the interlocking device body 2, and a wall receiving part 4 attached to the wall W and engaging with the interlocking device body 2, so that the first sliding door D1 opens and closes in conjunction with the opening and closing of the second sliding door D2. Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the interlocking device body 2 and the wall receiving part 4 in disassembled form, and Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the receiving unit 3 in disassembled form. Note that Figure 3 is a perspective view from the front, while Figure 4 is a perspective view from the rear.

[0029] The interlocking device body 2, as its basic configuration, comprises a first frame 5 attached to both ends of the upper end surface of the first sliding door D1 in the longitudinal direction (the opening and closing direction of the sliding door D), a pair of pulleys 6 rotatably attached to both ends of the first frame 5 in the longitudinal direction, an endless body 7 circumferentially stretched between these pulleys 6, and a pair of sliders 8 fixed to the endless body 7 and sliding in opposite directions along the longitudinal direction of the first frame 5. These basic configurations 5 to 8 are unitized.

[0030] As shown in Figure 3, the first frame 5 comprises a base body 51 that extends from one end to the other on the upper end surface of the first sliding door D1 and is flattened vertically in a cross-sectional view perpendicular to the extension direction, and side caps 52 attached to both ends of the base body 51. Through grooves (corresponding to groove portions) 53 are provided at both ends, penetrating the base body 51 and the side caps 52 vertically, through which the connecting shaft D7 of the roller unit D4 can be inserted from each end. For this reason, the through grooves 53 are open on the outside in the left-right direction and extend to the location where the connecting shaft D7 is positioned when the roller unit D4 is attached to the sliding door body D3. The first frame 5 is configured to accommodate a pair of pulleys 6 and an endless body 7, and the slider 8 is guided by the first frame 5 and can slide in opposite directions along the longitudinal direction, but the specific configuration is not particularly limited. In this embodiment, the first frame 5 is composed of the same frame 5 as the second frame 10 of the receiving unit 3, which will be described later. Therefore, the first and second frame 5 and 10 are denoted by the same reference numerals. The base 51 will be described first, and then a detailed description will be given later, together with the second frame 10.

[0031] The base body 51 is a long frame body that is inverted hat-shaped in cross-section and opens upward and to the sides. Specifically, as shown in Figures 3 and 7, it comprises a bottom wall 51a extending in the left-right direction and front and rear side walls 51b rising from the front and rear side edges of the bottom wall 51a. The upper ends of these front and rear side walls 51b protrude outward in the front-rear direction, forming the front and rear side walls 51b in a hook shape in cross-section, thus serving as guide rails for the slider 8, which will be described later. Notches 51d corresponding to insertion grooves 53 are provided at both ends of the bottom wall 51a in the left-right direction, and shaft holes 51e for attaching pulleys 6 are provided on the inside of the notches 51d in the left-right direction. In addition, mounting holes 51f for attaching the first frame body 5 to the sliding door body D3 are drilled in the bottom wall 51a at equal intervals between the left and right shaft holes 51e.

[0032] Next, each of the pair of pulleys 6 is a known pulley, and in this embodiment, it is rotatably mounted on the inner end of the side cap 52, adjacent to the inside of each insertion groove 53. In this way, since each pulley 6 is positioned adjacent to each insertion groove 53, the distance between the pair of pulleys 6 is set to be as large as possible, and this allows the sliding range of the slider 8 to be set to be as large as possible.

[0033] In this embodiment, the endless body 7 is made of steel wire, but is not limited to that. It may be made of rubber, synthetic resin, chemical fiber, or various other endless belts or linear bodies, or it may be made of an endless body with an interposed component. In this embodiment, the endless body 7 is made of two equal-length wires 71, each having a bulging attachment portion 72 at both ends that bulges out larger than the wire diameter. The endless body 7 is formed by attaching each of the bulging attachment portions 72 of each wire 71 to each of the pair of sliders 8.

[0034] Each of the pair of sliders 8 is a flattened block-shaped body and is slidably mounted on the front and rear side walls 51b of the first frame 5. As shown in Figure 5, each slider 8 includes a guide groove 81 with a hook-shaped cross-section that opens downward and penetrates in the left-right direction, a locking groove 82 that opens inward in the front-rear direction above the guide groove 81, and a pair of mounting parts 83 on both the left and right sides of the locking groove 82 that communicate with the locking groove 82. Each slider 8 is slidably mounted on the front and rear side walls 51b by inserting either the front or rear side wall 51b into the guide groove 81. The locking groove 82 is used to engage the locking hook 152 of the receiving unit 3, which will be described later, thereby engaging the interlocking device body 2 and the receiving unit 3. In this embodiment, the locking groove 82 is formed as a vertical surface with its left and right inner surfaces extending in the front-rear direction, but its specific configuration is not particularly limited as long as the locking hook 152 can be engaged.

[0035] Furthermore, in a plan view, the inner surfaces 85 of the slider 8 in the front-rear direction on both the left and right sides of the locking groove 82 are configured as tapered surfaces that incline inward in the front-rear direction as they approach the locking groove 82. These tapered surfaces are configured to gradually elastically deform the locking hook 152 inward in the front-rear direction, guiding it into the locking groove 82. The mounting portion 83 is fitted with the bulging mounting portion 72 of the wire 71. As a result, as shown in Figure 2, the pair of sliders 8 are positioned point-symmetrically with respect to the center point of the first frame 5 in a plan view when assembled with respect to the first frame 5, and slide in opposite directions along the first frame 5. Note that the mounting of the slider 8 and the endless body 7 only needs to be done so that they do not move relative to each other. For example, an engaging member for engaging with the slider 8 may be fixed to the endless body 7, and the engaging member and the slider may be fixed together.

[0036] As shown in Figure 2, the receiving unit 3 engages with one of the pair of sliders 8 (the front slider 8 in the illustrated example), and the wall receiving part 4 engages with the other, thereby transmitting the opening and closing force of the second sliding door D2 to the first sliding door D1. Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the receiving unit 3 disassembled.

[0037] Specifically, the receiving unit 3 comprises, as its basic configuration, a second frame 10 attached to both ends of the upper end surface of the second sliding door D2 in the longitudinal direction (the opening and closing direction of the sliding door D2), a receiving part 11 attached to the right end of the second frame 10 in the longitudinal direction (the end of the second sliding door D2 in the closing direction), and a mounting screw part (corresponding to a mounting shaft part) 12 that extends in the front-to-back direction, penetrating the receiving part 11 from front to back, in order to attach the receiving part 11 to the second frame 10. These basic configurations 10 to 12 are unitized. By being attached to both the left and right ends of the upper end surface of the second sliding door D2, the second frame 10 provides a decorative effect by filling the gap corresponding to the first frame 5 above the sliding door body D3 of the second sliding door D2.

[0038] The second frame 10 has the same basic configuration as the first frame 5, except that it is attached to the second sliding door D2. That is, the second frame 10 comprises a base 51 extending from one end to the other on the upper end surface of the second sliding door D2, and side caps 52, with through grooves 53 provided at both ends. Referring to Figure 8, the through groove 53 has a shaft insertion portion 54 provided at the bottom and through which the connecting shaft D7 is inserted vertically, and a receiving portion 55 on the left and right outer side of the shaft insertion portion 54 into which the receiving portion 11 is inserted and attached. When the receiving portion 11 is not attached to the receiving portion 55, the shaft insertion portion 54 is open to the left and right outer side. The front and rear groove width dimensions of the through groove 53 are formed to be the same width from the shaft insertion portion 54 to the receiving portion 55, but the groove width dimensions may be changed between the shaft insertion portion 54 and the receiving portion 55. As shown in Figure 8, the shaft insertion portion 54 is inserted into the connecting shaft D7 with play in the front, back, left, and right directions in a plan view, thereby absorbing dimensional errors and allowing movement of the connecting shaft D7 in the front, back, left, and right directions.

[0039] As described above, the base 51 of the second frame 10 is constructed in the same way as the base 51 of the first frame 5, so in Figure 7, the same reference numerals are used and its explanation is omitted. As shown in Figures 3 and 4, support holes 51g are formed at both ends in the left-right direction of the front and rear side walls 51b, so that the mounting screw portion 12 can be supported, and the receiving portion 11 can be attached to either end.

[0040] As shown in Figures 6 and 8, the side cap 52 is a block body with a Y-shape in plan view that extends in the left-right direction, and is attached to both the left and right ends of the base body 51. When the side cap 52 is used as a component of the first frame body 5 (see Figure 3), a pulley 6 is attached to it, while when it is used as a component of the second frame body 10 (see Figure 4), a receiving portion 11 is attached to it. Specifically, the side cap 52 comprises a pulley mounting portion 52a provided at the inner end in the left-right direction, a cap body 52b connected to the outside of the pulley mounting portion 52a in the left-right direction, and a positioning projection 52c projecting outward in the front-rear direction from the outer end of the cap body 52b, and in this embodiment, it is integrally molded from synthetic resin.

[0041] The pulley mounting portion 52a is the part to which the pulley 6 is attached. The upper surface is set lower than the upper surface of the cap body 52b, forming a recess into which a part of the pulley 6 is housed. The pulley mounting portion 52a has a pulley boss 521 projecting upward from the middle of the left-right direction, which has an axial hole 521a into which the shaft of the pulley 6 is inserted. In a plan view, the part of the pulley boss 521 that is outside the center in the left-right direction is in communication with the cap groove 522 of the cap body 52b, which will be described later, and is surrounded by the inner end surface of the cap body 52b.

[0042] The cap body 52b is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape extending in the left-right direction. The cap body 52b has a cap groove 522 that forms the insertion groove 53, which is formed along the longitudinal direction from the outer end in the left-right direction. This cap groove 522, together with the notch 51d of the base body 51, forms the insertion groove 53 of the frame bodies 5 and 10, and extends to a position corresponding to the protruding portion of the connecting shaft D7 of the roller unit D4. In this embodiment, the cap groove 522 and the pulley mounting portion 52a are placed in close proximity by communicating the cap groove 522 with the recess of the pulley mounting portion 52a, so that the distance between the left and right pulleys 6 is set to be as large as possible. The front-rear groove width dimension of this cap groove 522 is set so that the receiving portion 11 is fitted in a tight state. In the center of the upper-lower direction of the opposing surface of the cap body 52b facing the cap groove 522, a receiving slide groove 523 is formed in a state recessed outward in the front-rear direction. The receiving slide groove 523 is through which the sliding projection 142 of the receiving portion 11, described later, is inserted, and is provided corresponding to the receiving mounting portion 55 of the frame 5. The receiving slide groove 523 restricts the vertical movement of the receiving portion 11 and positions the receiving portion 11 in the insertion groove 53. For this reason, the receiving slide groove 523 is formed to correspond to the length dimension of the receiving portion 11 from the left-right outer end of the cap body 52b, and in this embodiment, it is set to match the length dimension of the receiving portion 11. The cap body 52b has a shaft insertion groove 524 in the middle of the left-right direction through which the mounting screw portion 12 is inserted, extending from front to back across the cap groove 522. This shaft insertion groove 524 opens downward and is formed up to the height of the upper surface of the receiving slide groove 523, and the groove width dimension is formed to be larger than the outer diameter of the shaft portion 12a of the mounting screw portion 12, so as to be able to absorb dimensional errors.

[0043] The positioning projection 52c abuts against the left and right end faces of the base body 51, thereby restricting the insertion of the side cap 52 into the base body 51. In this embodiment, the positioning projection 52c not only protrudes outward in the front-rear direction from the left-right outer end of the cap body 52b, but also protrudes downward, so as to abut over the entire left and right end faces of the base body 51.

[0044] Next, the receiving portion 11 will be explained, mainly using Figures 6 and 7. The receiving portion 11 is attached to the right end of the second frame 10 (one end in the opening direction of the sliding door D) and engages with the slider 8 by engaging with the locking groove 82 of the front slider 8 of the pair of sliders 8 of the interlocking device body 2. In this embodiment, it is configured to engage with the slider 8 when the sliding door D is fully closed.

[0045] Specifically, the receiving portion 11 comprises a receiving body 14 inserted into the receiving mounting portion 55, a catcher (corresponding to an engaging portion) 15 positioned rearward from the receiving body 14 and engaging with the front slider 8, and a connecting plate (corresponding to a connecting portion) 16 that spans the receiving body 14 and the catcher 15. As shown in Figure 7, in a side view, the catcher 15 is positioned above the receiving body 14, thereby enabling engagement with the slider 8 above each frame 5, 10.

[0046] The receiving body 14 is inserted into the receiving mounting portion 55 of the second frame 10 and supported by the base 51 and side cap 52 by the mounting screw portion 12, thereby supporting the receiving portion 11 on the second frame 10, and is formed in a block shape extending in the left-right direction. Specifically, the receiving body 14 comprises a rectangular parallelepiped receiving block 141 and a pair of front and rear sliding protrusions 142 projecting outward in the front-rear direction from the vertical center of the front and rear sides of the receiving block 141. A receiving through hole 143 is provided in the longitudinal center of the receiving body 14, which penetrates the pair of sliding protrusions 142 and the receiving block 141 in the front-rear direction, so that the mounting screw portion 12 can be inserted through it.

[0047] The receiving block 141 is formed in a block shape with a front-to-back width dimension set to be the same as the groove width dimension of the cap groove 522 of the side cap 52, and a height dimension set to be the same as the height dimension of the second frame 10. The receiving block 141 has a connecting hole 141a formed in the center of the front-to-back width direction of the receiving block 141, along the left-to-right direction, into which one end of the connecting plate 16 is loosely fitted. The connecting hole 141a is provided penetrating the receiving block 141 vertically and communicates with the receiving through hole 143. In this embodiment, the connecting hole 141a is configured to widen front-to-back as it goes downwards, thereby allowing the connecting plate 16 to tilt forward and backward, and thus allowing the relative front-to-back tilt of the second sliding door D2 with respect to the first sliding door D1. Furthermore, since the connecting hole 141a is sized so that one end of the connecting plate 16 is loosely fitted, it also allows vertical movement of the connecting plate 16, and thus allows the vertical movement of the sliding door D.

[0048] Furthermore, the receiving block 141 is provided with a bottomed nut storage hole 141b that extends vertically behind the connecting hole 141a and opens upward, allowing a hexagonal nut 141c, which screws onto the mounting screw portion 12, to be stored in a state where its rotation is restricted. In other words, as shown in Figure 7, the nut storage hole 141b communicates with the receiving through hole 143, and various dimensions and shapes are set so that when the nut 141c is stored at the bottom, the screw hole of the nut 141c is aligned with the axis of the receiving through hole 143. In this embodiment, the mounting screw portion 12 penetrates the second frame 10 and the receiving portion 11 and is screwed into the nut 141c, thereby attaching the receiving body 14 to the second frame 10. However, the mounting structure is not particularly limited, and the nut 141c and nut storage hole 141b may be omitted, and a screw groove for screwing into the mounting screw portion 12 may be engraved on the inner circumferential surface of the receiving through hole 143 or on the base body 51. However, as in this embodiment, by providing the nut 141c and nut storage hole 141b on the receiving block 141, the mounting screw portion 12 can be firmly attached to the receiving block 141.

[0049] The sliding projection 142 is a projection corresponding to the length of the receiving block 141 and is inserted until its tip surface abuts against the receiving slide groove 523 of the side cap 52. In this embodiment, the sliding projection 142 is formed continuously in the longitudinal direction, but the specific configuration is not limited as long as it can position the receiving mounting portion 55 of the receiving block 141 and restrict its movement in the vertical direction, such as by dividing it along the longitudinal direction.

[0050] Next, the catcher 15 will be described. The catcher 15 engages with the upper part of the slider 8, which is positioned on the front side of the pair of sliders 8. In this embodiment, when the sliding door D is fully closed, the locking hook 152, which will be described later, is elastically deformed and locks onto the slider 8. Specifically, as shown in Figures 6 and 8, the catcher 15 comprises a connecting portion 151 to which the connecting plate 16 is connected, a locking hook 152 connected to the left end of the connecting portion 151, and a positioning contact portion 153 positioned in front of the locking hook 152 at a distance. In this embodiment, it is integrally molded from synthetic resin as a vertically flattened block-shaped body. The catcher 15 is formed in a vertically symmetrical shape with respect to a horizontal plane including a center line extending in the left-right direction, thereby making it adaptable to sliding doors that open in either the left or right direction.

[0051] The connecting portion 151 is connected by the tight fit of the other end of the connecting plate 16, and has a rectangular parallelepiped shape. The connecting portion 151 has rectangular plate storage portions 151a recessed on its upper and lower surfaces, in which the connecting plate 16 is housed. Multiple plate fitting holes 151b are arranged in a row along the front-to-back direction on the back bottom surface of the plate storage portion 151a, into which the other end of the connecting plate 16 is selectively fitted. The plate storage portion 151a houses the connecting plate 16, and more specifically, a part of the front-to-back connecting plate portion 162, which will be described later. For this reason, the plate storage portion 151a has a depth corresponding to the thickness of the front-to-back connecting plate portion 162, and is configured to allow the front-to-back connecting plate portion 162, which is open to the front and in contact with the back bottom surface of the plate storage portion 151a, to extend forward. In this embodiment, the plate storage section 151a is formed to a depth equal to the thickness of the front and rear connecting plate sections 162, so that the upper surface of the connecting section 151 and the upper surface of the connecting plate 16 are substantially flush, thereby making the vertical dimensions of the receiving section 11 compact. On the other hand, each plate fitting hole 151b is into which the catcher side plate section 163 of the connecting plate 16, which will be described later, is fitted, and is formed in a rectangular shape in plan view, extending from the left end to the right end of the plate storage section 151a. More specifically, each plate fitting hole 151b is formed in a rectangular shape corresponding to the cross-sectional shape of the connecting plate 16, and pressure contact protrusions 151c extending vertically are provided on each inner surface (the rear surface of the inner surface in this embodiment) so that the catcher side plate section 163 is fitted in a tight state. In this embodiment, three plate fitting holes 151b are arranged side by side in the front-rear direction. The spacing of each plate fitting hole 151b is set appropriately, taking into consideration the thickness of the sliding door body D3 and the gap dimensions between the sliding doors D.

[0052] The locking hook 152 is designed to engage with the locking groove 82 of the front slider 8 of the pair of sliders 8, and is formed in a hook shape in plan view, extending in the left-right direction. In this embodiment, the locking hook 152 is configured to be elastically deformed in the front-rear direction when pressed by the front slider 8, guided into the locking groove 82 of the slider 8, and then locked by elastic recovery.

[0053] Specifically, the locking hook 152 has a body portion 152a extending from the connecting portion 151 in the left-right direction, and a hook body 152b that protrudes forward at the tip of the body portion 152a (the left end in the illustrated example). The body portion 152a is formed to be longer in the left-right direction than the positioning contact portion 153, and has a curved portion 152c in the middle of the left-right direction that curves in the front-rear direction, so that it is easily elastically deformed in the front-rear direction. The hook body 152b is formed as a curved surface (or inclined surface) whose tip surface curves toward the body portion 152a as it faces the protruding direction, and the locking hook 152 is configured to elastically deform backward along this tip surface when the tip surface of the hook body 152b abuts against one of the left or right sides of the slider 8. The right end surface of the hook body 152b is formed as a vertical surface extending in the front-rear direction and is designed to lock into the inner surface of the locking groove 82 of the slider 8.

[0054] The positioning contact portion 153 contacts one side of the slider 8 (the right side in the illustrated example) while the locking hook 152 is locked in the locking groove 82, thereby performing relative positioning between the catcher 15 and the slider 8. In this embodiment, one end of the positioning contact portion 153 (the left end in the illustrated example) is formed as a vertical surface extending in the front-rear direction and is made to make surface contact with the right end surface of the slider 8.

[0055] On the other hand, the connecting plate 16 is connected at one end to the receiving body 14 and at the other end to the catcher 15, thereby connecting the receiving body 14 and the catcher 15 in a manner that straddles them, and in this embodiment it is made of a bent plate-like body. Specifically, as shown in Figure 6, the connecting plate 16 comprises a body side plate portion 161 that is loosely fitted into the connecting hole 141a of the receiving body 14, a front and rear connecting plate portion 162 that extends in the front and rear direction from the upper end of the body side plate portion 161, and a catcher side plate portion 163 that extends downward from the rear end of the front and rear connecting plate portion 162, and in this embodiment it is formed by bending a rectangular metal plate into an irregular U-shape. The body side plate portion 161 has an adjustment hole 161a in the center of the left and right direction in the lower half. The adjustment hole 161a is through which the mounting screw portion 12 is inserted, and in this inserted state, the connecting plate 16 can move relative to the receiving body 14 in the vertical direction, so that it can follow the vertical adjustment of the roller unit D4. The front and rear connecting plate portion 162 extends rearward from the upper end of the main body side plate portion 161. In this embodiment, the front and rear connecting plate portion 162 extends horizontally in the front and rear directions and is formed to be compact in the vertical direction compared to curved or inclined plates. The catcher side plate portion 163 extends downward from the rear end of the front and rear connecting plate portion 162 and is formed to be shorter vertically than the main body side plate portion 161, and is press-fitted into the plate fitting hole 151b along its entire length.

[0056] Next, the wall mounting part 4 will be described. Figure 9 is a perspective view showing the wall mounting part 4 in an disassembled state. As shown in Figure 2, this wall mounting part 4 is attached to the front of the wall W and engages with the slider 8 by engaging with the locking groove 82 of the rear slider 8 of the pair of sliders 8 of the interlocking device body 2. In this embodiment, it is configured to engage with the slider 8 when the sliding door D is fully closed.

[0057] Specifically, as shown in Figure 9, the wall support unit 4 comprises a wall base 41 attached to the wall surface of the wall W adjacent to the first sliding door D1, and a wall catcher 42 connected to the wall base 41, with the wall catcher 42 positioned at a height that allows it to be locked into the locking groove 82 of the slider 8.

[0058] The wall base 41 supports the wall catcher 42 on the wall W and is formed in the shape of a plate. Specifically, the wall base 41 comprises a wall mounting plate portion 411 that is attached in contact with the wall surface of the wall W, and a catcher mounting plate portion 412 that extends upward in a forward displacement relative to the wall mounting plate portion 411. In this embodiment, it is formed by bending a rectangular metal plate into a crank shape. The wall mounting plate portion 411 is formed in the shape of a flat plate and is attached to the wall surface by being screwed through screw holes 411a arranged vertically. The catcher mounting plate portion 412 is to which the wall catcher 42 is attached, and in this embodiment, the catcher mounting plate portion 412 is configured to be narrower than the wall mounting plate portion 411.

[0059] On the other hand, the wall catcher 42 engages with the rear slider 8 of the pair of sliders 8, and in this embodiment, when the sliding door D is fully closed, the wall locking hook 422, which will be described later, is elastically deformed and locks onto the slider 8. Specifically, as shown in Figure 3, the wall catcher 42 comprises a wall connection portion 421 connected to the catcher mounting plate portion 412 of the wall base 41, a wall locking hook 422 connected to the right end of the wall connection portion 421, and a wall positioning contact portion 423 positioned spaced rearward from the wall locking hook 422, and in this embodiment, it is integrally molded from synthetic resin as a vertically flattened block-shaped body. The rear side surface of the wall catcher 42 is formed to be flat and is configured to make surface contact with at least a part of the wall surface of the wall W when attached to the wall base 41. Furthermore, this wall catcher 42 is also formed in a vertically symmetrical shape with respect to a horizontal plane that includes a center line extending in the left-right direction, thereby making it adaptable to sliding doors that open in either the left or right direction.

[0060] The wall connection portion 421 is connected to the wall base 41 by fitting the wall mounting plate portion 411 into it, and has a rectangular parallelepiped shape. The wall connection portion 421 has a plate fitting hole 421a extending vertically through its rear end, which extends horizontally. The plate fitting hole 421a is into which the wall mounting plate portion 411 is fitted, and is formed in a rectangular shape corresponding to the cross-sectional shape of the wall mounting plate portion 411. In addition, although not shown, the plate fitting hole 421a also has vertically extending pressure contact protrusions, similar to the plate fitting hole 151b of the catcher 15, so that the wall mounting plate portion 411 is fitted in a tight state.

[0061] The wall-mounted locking hook 422 is secured to the locking groove 82 of the rear slider 8 of the pair of sliders 8, and is formed in the same way as the locking hook 152 of the catcher 15, so it is given the same reference numeral in Figure 9 and its description is omitted.

[0062] The wall positioning contact portion 423 contacts one side of the slider 8 (the left side in the illustrated example) while the wall locking hook 422 is locked in the locking groove 82, thereby positioning the wall catcher 42 and the slider 8 relative to each other. In this embodiment, the wall positioning contact portion 423 is formed in the same way as the positioning contact portion 153 of the catcher 15, so it is given the same reference numeral in Figure 9 and its description is omitted.

[0063] The sliding door interlocking device 1, configured as described above, is installed on the sliding door D, for example, as shown below.

[0064] First, the interlocking device body 2 is assembled. Specifically, as shown in Figure 3, with the locking grooves 82 facing inward in the front-rear direction, the front and rear side walls 51b of the base body 51 in the first frame 5 are inserted into the guide grooves 81 of the slider 8. In this way, each slider 8 is attached to the front and rear side walls 51b of the base body 51. At this time, the locking grooves 82 of the slider 8 are positioned above the base body 51. Then, the bulging attachment portions 72 of the wires 71 are attached to the attachment portions 83 of these sliders 8 and pulled out from the bottom of the sliders 8, thereby forming an endless body 7 via the sliders 8. Next, side caps 52 are placed at both ends of the base body 51, and each of the pulleys 6 around which the endless body 7 is wrapped is attached to the pulley attachment portion 52a of the side cap 52. To install the pulley 6, the shaft of the pulley 6 is inserted into the shaft hole 521a of the pulley mounting portion 52a and the shaft hole 51e of the base body 51, and the side cap 52 is attached to the base body 51 by the shaft of the pulley 6. This forms the main body 2 of the interlocking device, which has a pair of sliders 8 that slide in opposite directions along the longitudinal direction of the first frame body 5.

[0065] Next, the second frame 10 is assembled. Specifically, the side caps 52 are first placed on both ends of the base 51, and the mounting shaft (not shown) is inserted into the shaft hole 521a of the pulley mounting portion 52a and the shaft hole 51e of the base 51, thereby attaching the side caps 52 to the base 51 using this mounting shaft. Note that the work up to this point is carried out at a manufacturing site such as a factory.

[0066] Next, we move to the construction site and first attach the wall support part 4 to the wall W. Specifically, the wall base 41 is attached to the wall W by positioning the wall mounting plate part 411 at a predetermined height on the wall W and screwing wood screws into the screw holes 411a. Then, the wall locking hook 422 is attached to the wall base 41 by tightly fitting the plate fitting hole 421a of the wall locking hook 422 into the catcher mounting plate part 412 of the wall base 41 from above. At this time, the rear side surface of the wall locking hook 422 is in surface contact with the wall surface of the wall W, and the external force acting on the wall locking hook 422 can be distributed.

[0067] Next, the interlocking device body 2 is attached to the first sliding door D1, and the second frame 10 is attached to the second sliding door D2. Specifically, the first and second frames 5 and 10 are placed on the upper end surfaces of the corresponding sliding doors D, and wood screws 57 are screwed into the sliding door body D3 through the mounting holes 51f in the bottom wall 51a, thereby attaching the interlocking device body 2 and the second frame 10 to the upper end surfaces of the corresponding sliding doors D. At this time, the left and right ends of each frame 5 and 10 coincide with the left and right ends of the upper end surface of the sliding door D, and the insertion grooves 53 in each frame 5 and 10 overlap vertically with the unit mounting grooves D5 of each sliding door body D3, allowing the connecting shaft D7 to be inserted from the outside in the left and right direction.

[0068] Thus, the first frame 5 of the interlocking device body 2 and the second frame 10 of the receiving unit 3 include an insertion groove 53 through which the connecting shaft D7, which protrudes from the upper end surface of each sliding door D1, D2, can be inserted along the longitudinal direction from one end. Therefore, even after the first and second frames 5 and 10 are attached to the sliding door body D3, the roller unit D4 can be attached to the sliding door body D3, improving on-site workability.

[0069] Next, the receiving part 11 is assembled, taking into account the opening direction of the sliding door D. Specifically, the main body side plate portion 161, which is one end of the connecting plate 16, is loosely fitted into the connecting hole 141a of the receiving body 14, and the catcher side plate portion 163, which is the other end, is tightly fitted into one of the plate fitting holes 151b of the catcher 15. The choice of which plate fitting hole 151b to select is made appropriately, taking into account the plate thickness of the sliding door body D3 and the front-to-back gap between the sliding doors D.

[0070] As described above, the receiving part 11 of the sliding door interlocking device 1 in this embodiment comprises a receiving body 14, a catcher 15, and a connecting plate 16. The catcher 15 has a connection part 151 into which a plurality of plate fitting holes 151b are selectively fitted along the front-rear direction. By selecting the plate fitting hole 151b into which the connecting plate 16 is fitted, the front-rear distance between the receiving body 14 and the catcher 15 can be adjusted. Therefore, at the construction site, the thickness of the sliding door D on which the sliding door interlocking device 1 is installed and the gap of the sliding door D in the front-rear direction can be checked, and the front-rear distance between the receiving body 14 and the catcher 15 can be appropriately set according to these various dimensions, thereby improving workability.

[0071] Next, the first sliding door D1, to which the interlocking device body 2 is attached, is suspended from the upper guide rail, and the slider 8 of the interlocking device body 2 is engaged with the wall receiving portion 4. That is, the sliding door fixing bodies D6 of a pair of left and right roller units D4, each with its roller body D8 supported in advance on the upper guide rail, are inserted from the left and right outward into the left and right unit mounting grooves D5 of the first sliding door D1, and the sliding door fixing bodies D6 are fixed to the sliding door body D3, thereby suspending the first sliding door D1 from the upper guide rail. When inserting each roller unit D4 into the unit mounting groove D5, the connecting shaft D7 of the roller unit D4 is inserted along the insertion groove 53 of the first frame 5 and positioned in the shaft insertion portion 54 within the insertion groove 53.

[0072] Then, by slowly sliding the first sliding door D1 to the fully closed position, the wall-mounted locking hook 422 of the wall-mounted receiving part 4 engages with the locking groove 82 of the rear slider 8 on the interlocking device body 2. This locking operation is the same as the locking operation between the locking hook 152 of the catcher 15 and the front slider 8, and will be described later along with this explanation.

[0073] Next, the second sliding door D2, to which the second frame 10 is attached, is suspended from the upper guide rail, and the receiving part 11 is attached to the second frame 10 to form the receiving unit 3. The suspension of the second sliding door D2 is the same as the suspension of the first sliding door D1, and is done by attaching the sliding door fixing body D6 of the roller unit D4 to the unit mounting groove D5 of the second sliding door D2. As a result, the connecting shaft D7 of the second sliding door D2 is positioned in the shaft insertion part 54 of the second frame 10. Then, the receiving part 11 is inserted into one side (the right side in the illustrated example) of the insertion groove 53 of the second frame 10. That is, the sliding projection 142 of the receiving body 14 of the receiving part 11 corresponds to the receiving slide groove 523 of the side cap 52, and the receiving body 14 is inserted into the insertion groove 53 of the second frame 10 until the left and right ends of the sliding projection 142 abut against the left and right end surfaces of the receiving slide groove 523 and are positioned. In this positioning state, the receiving body 14 of the receiving part 11 is positioned in the receiving mounting part 55 within the insertion groove 53 of the second frame 10. Finally, the receiving part 11 is fixed to the second frame 10 by the mounting screw part 12. That is, the mounting screw part 12 is inserted from one of the support holes 51g of the base body 51, screwed into the nut 141c through the shaft insertion groove 524 of the side cap 52 and the receiving through hole 143 of the receiving body 14, and then inserted and supported in the other support hole 51g of the base body 51, thereby attaching the receiving part 11 to the second frame 10. By attaching the receiving part 11 to the second frame 10, the receiving unit 3 is formed. At this time, the mounting screw part 12 is inserted through the adjustment hole 161a of the connecting plate 16, and one end of the connecting plate 16 is connected to the receiving body 14 so as to be vertically movable.

[0074] Thus, the second frame 10 has a shaft insertion portion 54 through which the connecting shaft D7 (corresponding to the second protruding shaft) is inserted vertically within the insertion groove 53, and a receiving mounting portion 55 on the outside of the shaft insertion portion 54. Therefore, the space within the insertion groove 53 outside the shaft insertion portion 54 of the second frame 10 can be effectively utilized to attach the receiving portion 11 to the receiving mounting portion 55. Moreover, even when increasing the number of sliding doors D to be interlocked, as will be described later, the overlapping range of the sliding doors D can be suppressed as much as possible by effectively utilizing the dead space when the sliding doors are installed. Furthermore, since the receiving portion 11 is attached to the receiving mounting portion 55 of the second frame 10 by mounting screw portions 12 that penetrate the receiving portion 11 from front to back and whose front and rear ends are supported by the front and rear side walls, the right end of the second frame 10 can be reinforced by these mounting screw portions 12, and the rigidity of the second frame 10 around the insertion groove 53 can be improved. As a result, even if an external force acts on the right end of the second frame 10 via the receiving portion 11 when the second sliding door D2 is opened and closed, damage to the second frame 10, such as deformation of the front and rear side walls 51b of the base 51 in the front-rear direction or damage to the side caps 52, can be suppressed as much as possible.

[0075] Then, by slowly sliding the second sliding door D2 to the fully closed position, the locking hook 152 of the catcher 15 engages with the locking groove 82 on the front slider 8 of the interlocking device body 2 as it slides. That is, when the second sliding door D2 is moved in the closing direction, as shown in Figure 10, the locking hook 152 also moves to the left and comes into contact with the right side of the slider 8. If the second sliding door D2 is moved further in the closing direction in this state, the slider 8 cannot slide, so the hook body 152b is pressed by the slider 8, and the locking hook 152 elastically deforms backward along the tip surface of the hook body 152b, and further elastically deforms backward along the inner surface 85 of the slider 8, and when the hook body 152b reaches the locking groove 82, it elastically recovers and the hook body 152b is stored in the locking groove 82, thereby locking the locking hook 152 into the locking groove 82.

[0076] Thus, the catcher 15 has a locking hook 152 that elastically deforms in the front-rear direction when pressed by the slider 8 and elastically recovers upon reaching the locking groove 82, thereby locking into the locking groove 82. Therefore, simply by operating the second sliding door D2 in the closing direction, the locking hook 152 can be elastically deformed and locked into the locking groove 82 of the slider 8, thereby improving workability on site.

[0077] On the other hand, when removing the sliding door interlocking device 1 installed on the sliding door D for maintenance or replacement of parts, first remove the mounting screw portion 12, remove the receiving portion 11 from the second frame 10, release the engagement between the interlocking device body 2 and the receiving unit 3, and then remove the roller unit D4 from the sliding door body D3 of the second sliding door D2.

[0078] Thus, in this sliding door interlocking device 1, the second frame 10 has a shaft insertion portion 54 through which the connecting shaft D7 is inserted vertically, and a receiving mounting portion 55 on the open end side within the insertion groove 53 relative to the shaft insertion portion 54. Since the receiving portion 11 is attached to this receiving mounting portion 55, the roller unit D4 including the connecting shaft D7 cannot be physically removed until the receiving portion 11 is removed from the receiving mounting portion 55 and the engagement between the receiving unit 3 and the interlocking device body 2 is released. For this reason, damage to the sliding door interlocking device 1, such as damage to the locking hook 152, that may occur due to accidentally removing the roller unit D4 before releasing the engagement between the receiving unit 3 and the interlocking device body 2, without following the removal procedure, can be effectively suppressed.

[0079] Subsequently, the sliding door interlocking device 1 can be removed from the sliding door D by removing each component in the reverse direction of the installation procedure. Specifically, first, the mounting screw portion 12 is removed to release the fixed state between the receiving portion 11 and the second frame 10. In this released state, by moving the first and second sliding doors D1 and D2 so as to pull them apart relative to each other, the receiving body 14 of the receiving portion 11 is pulled out from the insertion groove 53 of the second frame 10, and by being removed from the insertion groove 53, the locked state between the locking hook 152 and the slider 8 can be released. In this state, the hanging state of the second sliding door D2 can be released by removing the sliding door fixing body D6 of the second sliding door D2 from the sliding door body D3. Similarly, the hanging state of the first sliding door D1 can be released by removing the sliding door fixing body D6 of the first sliding door D1 from the sliding door body D3.

[0080] As described above, with this sliding door interlocking device 1, even when the sliding door interlocking device 1 is installed across multiple sliding doors D, each having a sliding door body D3 with a unit mounting groove D5 and a roller unit D4 inserted into the unit mounting groove D5 from one end face in the door width direction of the sliding door body D3, the dead space can be effectively utilized to minimize the overlapping area of ​​the sliding doors D. Furthermore, since the roller unit D4 including the connecting shaft D7 of the second sliding door D2 cannot be removed until the receiving part 11 has been removed, damage such as breakage to the sliding door interlocking device 1 can be suppressed as much as possible.

[0081] The sliding door interlocking device 1 described above is one embodiment of the sliding door interlocking device of the present invention, and its specific configuration and other aspects can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the invention. Modifications of this embodiment will be described below.

[0082] (1) The sliding door interlocking device 1 of the above embodiment is applied to a sliding door D that opens and closes an opening with two sliding doors D1 and D2, but the number of sliding doors can be any number, and if there are many doors, an interlocking device body is provided on the upper end surface of the first and second sliding doors D1 and D2 in the above embodiment, with a receiving part provided on one end in the opening direction of the interlocking device body provided on the upper end surface of the sliding door adjacent to this sliding door in the wall W direction, and a receiving part is attached to the closing direction end of the interlocking device body provided on the upper end surface of the sliding door adjacent to this sliding door in the wall W direction, thereby making it easy to interlock all the sliding doors.

[0083] For example, Figure 11 is a perspective view showing a sliding door interlocking device different from the above embodiment applied to three sliding doors, with the roller body omitted, and Figure 12 is a plan view showing the sliding door interlocking device of Figure 11 with part of the receiving unit omitted.

[0084] This sliding door interlocking device 101 is installed on a sliding door D in which a third sliding door D13 is provided between a first sliding door D1 and a second sliding door D2 in the front-rear direction. This sliding door interlocking device 101 comprises a first interlocking device body 102 attached to the upper end surface of the first sliding door D1, a second interlocking device body 109 attached to the upper end surface of the third sliding door D13 and engaging with the first interlocking device body 102, a receiving unit 103 attached to the upper end surface of the second sliding door D2 and engaging with the second interlocking device body 109, and a wall receiving part 104 attached to the wall W and engaging with the first interlocking device body 102, and causes the third sliding door D13 and the first sliding door D1 to open and close in conjunction with the opening and closing of the second sliding door D2. This sliding door interlocking device 101 differs from the above embodiment in that a second interlocking device body 109 with a receiving portion is provided on the upper end surface of the third sliding door D13, and a first interlocking device body 102, which is provided on the upper end surface of the first sliding door D1 adjacent to the wall side of the third sliding door D13, also has a receiving portion. The sliding door interlocking device 101 will be described focusing on these differences.

[0085] Specifically, the first and second interlocking device bodies 102 and 109 have the same basic configuration 5 to 8 as in the above embodiment, and these are denoted by the same reference numerals and their description is omitted. The first interlocking device body 102 is further provided with a receiving portion 111 at one end of the first frame 5 in the sliding door closing direction (the left end in the illustrated example) that engages with the rear slider 8 of the second interlocking device body 109. This receiving portion 111 is attached to the left receiving mounting portion 55 of the first frame 5 and is configured similarly to the receiving portion 11 in the receiving unit 3 of the above embodiment, so it is denoted by the same reference numerals and its description is omitted. On the other hand, the second interlocking device body 109 is further provided with a receiving portion 211 at one end of the first frame 5 in the sliding door opening direction (the right end in the illustrated example) that engages with the front slider 8 of the first interlocking device body 102. This receiving portion 211 is also attached to the receiving mounting portion 55 on the right side of the first frame 5, and is configured in the same way as the receiving portion 11 in the receiving unit 3 of the above embodiment, so it is given the same reference numeral and its description is omitted.

[0086] As described above, the sliding door interlocking device 101 is configured such that the receiving portion 11 of the receiving unit 3 engages with the front slider 8 of the second interlocking device body 109, the receiving portion 211 of the second interlocking device body 109 engages with the front slider 8 of the first interlocking device body 102, the receiving portion 111 of the first interlocking device body 102 engages with the rear slider 8 of the second interlocking device body 109, and the wall receiving portion 4 engages with the rear slider 8 of the first interlocking device body 102, so that the third sliding door D13 and the first sliding door D1 also open and close in conjunction with the opening and closing of the second sliding door D2.

[0087] In this sliding door interlocking device 101, as in the above embodiment, the dead space can be effectively utilized to minimize the overlapping range of the sliding doors D, and since each roller unit D4, including the connecting shafts D7 of the first to third sliding doors D1, D2, D13, cannot be removed until the receiving parts 11, 111, 211 have been removed, damage such as breakage to the sliding door interlocking device 101 can be minimized. In particular, since each receiving part 111, 211 is attached to the receiving mounting part 55 on the outside of the shaft insertion part 54 in the insertion groove 53, the dead space can be effectively utilized, and therefore, compared to, for example, the case where the receiving parts are arranged on the inside in the left-right direction of each connecting shaft D7, the sliding range of the slider 8 can be set as large as possible, and the overlapping range of each sliding door D can be minimized as much as possible.

[0088] Even when increasing the number of sliding doors D to three or more, all sliding doors, including the additional doors, can be easily linked by installing the second interlocking device body 109 with a receiving part on the upper end surface of the additional sliding doors.

[0089] In this case, the relationship between the third sliding door D13 and the second sliding door D2, and the relationship between the first sliding door D1 and the third sliding door D13, correspond to the relationship between the first sliding door and the second sliding door in the present invention.

[0090] (2) In the above embodiment, the sliding door interlocking device 1 is provided on each upper end surface of each sliding door body D3, but it may also be provided on the lower end surface of the sliding door body D3. In this case, guide bosses guided by the lower rail may be provided on both the left and right ends of the lower end of the sliding door body, and these guide bosses correspond to the "protruding shaft" as referred to in the present invention. In this case, the sliding door interlocking device 1 is used upside down, and each part is designed accordingly.

[0091] (3) In the above embodiment, the receiving portion 11 positioned on the receiving mounting portion 55 of the second frame 10 is attached to the base body 51 by a mounting screw portion 12 that penetrates the receiving portion 11 in the front-rear direction. However, the mounting structure of the receiving portion 11 to the second frame 10 is not limited to this, as long as the two can be engaged and disengaged. For example, the receiving body 14 of the receiving portion 11 may be pressed against the side cap 52 by screwing a pressing screw into the front and rear side walls 51b of the base body 51. However, it is preferable to provide the above-described mounting shaft portion because supporting the mounting shaft portion on the front and rear side walls 51b of the base body 51 improves the rigidity around the insertion groove 53 of the base body 51 and effectively suppresses damage to the second frame 10.

[0092] (4) In the above embodiment, the receiving portion 11 comprises a receiving body 14, a catcher 15, and a connecting plate 16, and the catcher 15 is provided with a plate fitting hole 151b into which the other end of the connecting plate 16 is selectively fitted. However, the distance between the receiving body 14 and the catcher 15 may not be adjustable, and the fitting hole may be provided on the receiving body side when the distance between them is to be adjusted.

[0093] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, a catcher 15 having a locking hook 152 that elastically deforms in the front-rear direction is used as the engaging part. However, the engaging part may be engaged with one of the sliders 8, for example, by screwing the two together.

[0094] Furthermore, although a connecting plate 16 is used as the connecting part in the above embodiment, the connecting part does not have to be plate-shaped, and may be a bent rod-shaped body or the like.

[0095] (5) In the above embodiment, the first frame 5 of the interlocking device body 2 and the second frame 10 of the receiving unit 3 are formed from a common frame 5, but separate frames may be used for each. However, by using a common frame 5 for each frame 5 and 10, the appearance of each sliding door will not differ, and the design can be unified.

[0096] (6) In the above embodiment, frames 5 and 10 that are flattened vertically are used, but a base that is flattened front to back can also be used. In this case, it is preferable to use a pulley 6 whose axis is aligned in the front to back direction instead of one aligned in the vertical direction.

[0097] (7) In the above embodiment, the endless body 7 is rotatably suspended on a pulley 6 attached to the base 51. However, the guide body for guiding the endless body is not particularly limited in its specific configuration as long as it engages with the endless body and can smoothly guide its movement. For example, a low-friction cylindrical body that smoothly slides against the endless body may be used.

[0098] (8) In the above embodiment, the receiving portion 11 has a catcher 15 and engages with the slider 8 by the catcher 15. However, the catcher may be configured as a component of the slider, in which case the receiving portion is provided with an engaged portion into which the catcher engages. [Explanation of symbols]

[0099] 1: Sliding door interlocking device 2: Interlocking device main unit 3: Receiving unit 5: First frame 53: Through groove (corresponding to the groove portion) 54: Shaft insertion section 55: Mounting part 8: Slider 10: Second frame 11: Receiving part D: Sliding door D1: First sliding door D2: Second sliding door D3: Sliding door body D4: Roller unit (corresponding to the protruding shaft unit) D5: Unit mounting groove (corresponding to the unit mounting section) D7: Connecting shaft (corresponds to protruding shaft)

Claims

1. A sliding door interlocking device is installed across the protruding end faces from which the protruding shafts protrude in a plurality of sliding doors, each having a sliding door body with a unit mounting portion provided at either the upper or lower end, and a protruding shaft unit that is inserted into the unit mounting portion from one side of the sliding door body in the door width direction and has a protruding shaft that protrudes from either the upper or lower end face of the sliding door body, A first frame is attached to the protruding end face of the first sliding door, extending across both ends in the longitudinal direction, and an interlocking device body has a pair of sliders that slide in opposite directions along the longitudinal direction of the first frame and cause the first sliding door to open and close in conjunction with the opening and closing of the second sliding door adjacent to the first sliding door. The second sliding door comprises a second frame attached to the protruding end face of the second sliding door across both longitudinal ends, and a receiving unit attached to one longitudinal end of the second frame and having a receiving portion that engages with one of the pair of sliders. The second frame includes a groove through which a second projection shaft, which protrudes from the projection end face of the second sliding door, can be inserted from one end along the longitudinal direction. The sliding door interlocking device comprises a second frame having a shaft insertion portion through which the second protruding shaft is inserted vertically within the groove, and a receiving mounting portion on the outside of the shaft insertion portion into which the receiving portion is inserted and mounted within the groove.

2. The second frame comprises a bottom wall and front and rear side walls rising from the front and rear side edges of the bottom wall. The sliding door interlocking device according to claim 1, wherein the receiving unit further comprises a mounting shaft portion that penetrates the receiving portion, which is positioned on the receiving mounting portion of the second frame, from front to back, and whose front and rear ends are supported by the front and rear side walls.

3. The receiving portion comprises a receiving body inserted into the receiving mounting portion, an engaging portion positioned spaced apart from the receiving body toward the interlocking device body in the thickness direction of the sliding door and engaging with one of the sliders, and a connecting portion that spans the receiving body and the engaging portion. The sliding door interlocking device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the receiving body and the engaging portion has a plurality of fitting holes arranged in the thickness direction, into which the connecting portion is selectively fitted.

4. The aforementioned slider has a locking groove that opens in the thickness direction, The sliding door interlocking device according to claim 3, wherein the engaging portion has a locking hook that is elastically deformed in the thickness direction when pressed by the one slider and is locked into the locking groove.

5. The sliding door interlocking device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first frame and the second frame are composed of a common frame.

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