Device for the controlled sliding of a furniture door

Abstract

A device for the controlled sliding of the furniture (10) door (12) with inside shelves, typically formed by a base, a column and a door (12), for the movement of said door in opening and closing, comprising first sliding means of said door, fixed below a first shelf (14) located in the upper part of the furniture (10), at the engagement of the shelf itself with a shoulder (16) of said furniture, said device further comprising a shaped profile (20), integrated along the lower front of a second shelf (18), located lower than the first shelf (14), second sliding means being moved in said shaped profile (20).

Description

[0001]“Device for the controlled sliding of a furniture door” Description The present invention relates to a device for the controlled sliding of a furniture door. More particularly, the present invention relates to a device as above defined and invisible, particularly suitable for allowing the sliding and cushioned braking of furniture doors such as bookcases, buffets, cupboards, pantries, wardrobes, shoe cabinets, office furniture and the like. It is known that furniture of this type is generally made according to standardised typologies, both in shape and size, and generally comprises a base and a column. Their structure is typically shaped like a parallelepiped, with a width at least double that of the door sothat the latter can slide in opening along its entire length, thus makingthe storage compartment behind it fully accessible. Furniture with sliding doors is becoming increasingly popular because the doors do not take up space when they open; they are therefore appreciated both in living areas and in other rooms. EP 3 529 443 discloses a device comprising two cushioned stops, offset from each other in a direction perpendicular to the inside ofthe sliding door, and a wall support with appendages arranged toactuate a tilting slider of one of the two cushioned stops when opening and closing the sliding door. From EP 1 479 317, a guide for a furniture drawer is known, comprising a damper with guide rails and an energy storage spring; the spring is tensioned when the drawer is opened. The German Utility Model DE 20315124 discloses an automatic closing device for sliding furniture doors, comprising a damper coupled with a spring that is tensioned when a door is opened. In such furniture, however, at least part of the mechanisms that allow the doors to slide, such as the extruded sliding profiles, remain visible; from an aesthetic point of view, this is therefore an arguable solution, since it alters the linearity of the furniture. Moreover, the sliding profiles located in the lower part of the furniture can easily collect dust and impurities and require periodic cleaning in order toensure the correct moving of the doors when opening and closing.The purpose of the present invention is to obviate the above- mentioned drawbacks. More specifically, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a device for controlled sliding of the furniture doors, in which all door moving components, attached to the furniture and the doors themselves, are hidden from plain sight. A further purpose of the invention is to provide a device that ensures a high level of durability and reliability over time, and that can be easily and economically produced. These and other purposes are achieved by the invisible device for controlled sliding of the furniture doors of the present invention according to the main claim. The constructional and functional features of the invisible device of the present invention may be better understood from the detailed disclosure below, in which reference ismade to the attached drawings which represent a preferred and non-limiting embodiment thereof, and wherein: Figure 1 schematically shows a front view of a furniture comprising the device of the invention, in which a sliding door is illustrated in the fully open position; Figure 2 schematically shows a section taken along the line A-A of Figure 1 of the same furniture; Figure 3 schematically shows the furniture of Figure 1 in which the door is in the opposite or closed position; Figure 4 schematically shows an exploded view of the same furniture, to highlight a part of the components of the device of the invention and their positioning on the furniture; Figure 5 schematically shows an axonometric view of the door from the inside front, to highlight a part of the components of the device of the invention fixed thereon; Figures 6 to 10 schematically show enlargements of the components of the device according to Figures 4 and 5; Figure 11 is a schematic view from the inside front of the door provided with a part of the components of the device of the invention; Figure 12 is a schematic view of an enlarged section of the door taken along the line A-A of Figure 11; Figure 13 is a schematic view of an enlarged section of the door taken along line C-C of Figure 11; Figure 14 is a schematic axonometric view of the cushioned stop of the sliding door; Figures 15 and 16 are schematic side views of the same cushioned stop to highlight its possible dual positioning and angular orientation; Figures 17 is a schematic partially sectioned side view of the door and the furniture connected thereto and of the relative components of the device of the invention; Figures 18 and 19 are schematic partial enlarged views of Figure 17. With initial reference to Figures 1 to 3, the device of the invention is advantageously integrated into a standard furniture 10 with insideshelves and a door 12 to allow the door itself to slide without leavingeven partially visible the components intended for such sliding. Figures 4 and 5 show the components of the device of the invention and their positioning on the furniture 10 and on the door 12;specifically, first sliding means are fixed below a first shelf 14, locatedin the upper part of the furniture 10, at the engagement of said shelf with a shoulder 16 of said furniture, while along the lower front of a second shelf 18, located lower than the first shelf, a shaped profile20 is integrated in which second sliding means slide, fixed to theinside front of the door 12.Partial enlargements of Figures 6 and 7 show that said first sliding means comprise at least one carriage 22 (Figure 6), coupled to a shaped plate 24 that allows it to be fixed with generic screws below the first shelf 14, proximal to the front edge thereof. Said at least one carriage 22 is provided with opposing appendages 26 and 28 which are intended to cooperate with a cushioned stop, which will bediscussed below, though it will not be described in detail, as it is thesubject matter of the European Patent No. EP 3655607 of the sameapplicant.Figure 7 shows that the second shelf 18 is provided, on the lowerfront side and proximal to the front edge, with a milling 30 adaptedto accommodate the shaped profile 20, in which two or more carriages 32 slide, of the type with quick coupling bracket, disclosed in European Patent No. 2 390 447 of the same applicant; the carriages 32 are fixed by means of an angular bracket 34 to the inside front and to the lower part of the door 12, which is then guided insliding along this lower part (Figure 17). The carriages 32 bear at leastpart of the weight of the door 12. Said milling 30, and consequentlythe shaped profile 20, extend across the entire width of the furniture 10. The device for the controlled sliding of the furniture doors of the invention further comprises a pair of cushioned stops 36, 38, schematically shown in Figures 9, 10 and 14, adapted to brake and accompany the door 12 at stroke-end in opening and closing. Said cushioned stops 36 and 38, substantially known and claimed in the European Patent No. 3529443 of the same applicant, integrate a tilting slider 40 intended to be alternately abutted and dragged by thereciprocally offset appendages 26 and 28 of the carriage 22, during the sliding in opening or closing of the door 12 to which said cushioned stops are connected. Specifically, according to an advantageous feature of the invention, the external body of the cushioned stops, which contains the tilting slider 40, in addition to the known elastic means slowing down the sliding of the door 12, defines opposite longitudinally extended sidewalls having a different shapes from each other, as can be seen inFigures 9, 10, 14, 15 and 16; one of the walls is in fact a planar extension, parallel to the inside front of the door 12, while theopposing wall is provided with shaped prominences 42, 44, eachdefining an inclined plane from the bottom upwards. The cushioned stops 36 and 38 are constrained to a shaped profile 46, recessed and fixed in a known manner in a lowered portion 48 obtained in the upper part of the door 12 and extended straight thereon; said cushioned stops have a limited thickness, such that they can be arranged in a recess of commercially available standard thicknesspanels (minimum 25 mm).The cushioned stops 36 and 38 can therefore be advantageously fixed to the front wall 50 of the profile 46, resting on it with the planar wall or with the opposite wall provided with the inclined prominences 42and 44; in the first case, the tilting slider 40 will be oriented verticallyand parallel to the surface of the door 12 (Figures 12 and 15), in the second case it will be oriented angularly and projected outwards from the surface of the same door (Figures 13 and 16). In both cases, said slider is abutted and dragged at its stroke-end when opening or closing by one or other of the appendages 26 or 28 of the carriage 22, one of said appendages being offset from the other by a height corresponding to the two different inclinations of the cushioned stops 36 and 38. The latter are fixed to the profile 46 using movable plates 52 which allow setting their position along the profile and, consequently, varying the covering dimension of the door 12 on the side or shoulder 16 of the furniture 10. The profile 20 integrated in the milling 30 made on the lower frontand proximal to the front edge of the second shelf 18, and the profile46 recessed and constrained in the lowered portion 48 of the door 12 allow the door to be moved without any visible mechanical components. In fact, the carriage or carriages 22 are fixed using respective plates 24 below the first shelf 14, proximal to the front edge thereof; the carriages 32 with quick coupling bracket are fixed, using respective angle brackets 34, to the inside front and lower partof the door 12 and slide in the profile 20, integrated in the milling 30of the second shelf 18. Finally, the cushioned stops 36 and 38 arefixed using plates 52 to the shaped profile 46, which is recessed and constrained in the lowered portion 48 formed in the upper inside portion of the door 12. As can be seen from the above, the advantages that the invention achieves are obvious. All the various mechanical components for moving the door referred to the device of the invention are integrated in the furniture 10 or fixed to the inside front of the door 12 and are therefore hidden from view even when the door is open. The latter can protrude below the lower shelf and slide freely in front of the furniture 10, but it can also protrude from the upper shelf because the adjustments of the carriage or carriages 22 are all made within the structure of the same furniture 10. Although the invention has been described above with specific reference to one embodiment, which is given for illustrative and non- limiting purposes, numerous modifications and variations will beobvious to a person skilled in the art according to the abovedisclosure. For example, the device of the invention can be applied to furniture provided with two doors, with right / left and left / right opening. The present invention, therefore, is intended to embrace allthe modifications and variants falling within the protective scope ofthe following claims.

Claims

Claims1) A device for the controlled sliding of at least one furniture (10)door (12) with inside shelves, typically formed by a base, a column and a door (12), for the movement of said at least one door in opening and closing, characterised in that it comprises sliding means of said door(s) (12) cooperating with a pair of cushioned stops (36, 38), adapted to brake and accompany the door (12) at stroke-end in opening and closing, wherein the external body of said cushioned stops defines opposite longitudinally extended side walls having a different shapefrom each other, said cushioned stops (36, 38) being fixed to the front wall (50) of a profile (46) and resting alternately thereon with the planar side wall or with the opposite side wall provided with the inclined prominences (42, 44).2) The device for the controlled sliding according to claim 1,characterised in that first sliding means of the door(s) (12) are fixed below a first shelf (14) located in the upper part of the furniture (10), at the engagement of the shelf with a shoulder (16) of said furniture, said device further comprising a shaped profile (20), integrated along the lower front of a second shelf (18) located lower than the first shelf (14).3) The device for the controlled sliding according to claim 2,characterised in that second sliding means are moved in the shaped profile (20). 14) The device according to claim 1, characterised in that said firstsliding means of the door(s) (12) consist of at least one carriage (22) fixed by a shaped plate (24) to the lower front of said first shelf (14), said carriage (22) being provided with opposite protruding appendages (26, 28) which are reciprocally offset.5) The device according to claim 2, characterised in that theshaped profile (20) is integrated in a milling (30) formed along the lower front of the second shelf (18), located lower than the first shelf (14), said second sliding means of the door (12) being moved in said shaped profile (20), the means consisting of at least one carriage (32), fixed to the inside front and bottom of the same door using an angular bracket (34).6) The device according to claim 1, characterised in that thecushioned stops (36, 38), adapted to brake and accompany the door (12) at stroke-end in opening and closing, integrate a tilting slider (40), intended to be alternately abutted and dragged at stroke-end by the offset appendages (26, 28) of the carriage(s) (22) during the sliding in opening or closing of the door (12) to which said cushioned stops are connected.7) The device according to claim 1, characterised in that theexternal body of the cushioned stops (36, 38) defines opposite longitudinally extended side walls having a different shape from each other, one of which has a planar extension, parallel to the inside front of the door (12), and the opposite wall 2provided with shaped prominences (42, 44) which define as many planes inclined from the bottom upwards.8) The device according to claim 7, characterised in that thecushioned stops (36, 38) are constrained to a shaped profile (46), recessed and constrained in a lowered portion (48) obtained in the inside upper part of the door (12) and extended straight thereon.9) The device according to claim 8, characterised in that thecushioned stops (36, 38) are fixed to the front wall (50) of the profile (46) using movable plates (52). 3

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