Sliding Door Actuating Mechanism with Crankshaft Locking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sliding door systems for vehicles, such as railroad cars and trucks, are complex and require significant effort to operate, especially when using S-shaped guide rails, and often compromise sealing integrity.
Innovation Solution
A sliding door device with a simplified actuating mechanism using upper and lower carriages, crankshafts, and locking rods that allow the door to be easily locked and unlocked with minimal effort, using straight guide rails and a central lever system for manual operation, enabling easy mounting and maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If S-shaped guide rails are used to retract the sliding door into the side wall, then the door can be recessed into the wall opening for optimal sealing, but the operation becomes complex and requires significant manual effort
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs an S-shaped guide rail that provides a curved path for the sliding door, allowing the door to transition from a parallel position to a recessed position within the side wall. This curved geometry enables the door to clear the door frame and achieve optimal sealing without requiring complex additional mechanisms.
2Adaptability or versatility
If swing-sliding doors with multiple independent mechanisms are used, then the door can be locked, swung out, extended, and moved to the side, but the device complexity increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple door operations (locking, swinging out, extending, and lateral movement) into a single integrated guide rail system. The S-shaped guide rail simultaneously provides locking engagement, pivoting guidance, and extension control, eliminating the need for separate mechanisms for each operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide rail serves multiple functions: it acts as a locking mechanism when the door is closed, provides a pivoting path during opening, guides the door during extension, and enables lateral movement. This multi-functional design reduces overall system complexity while maintaining versatile door operation capabilities.
3Ease of operation
If motors are installed to operate swing-sliding doors, then the door can be moved with minimal manual effort, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The guide rail system is designed to leverage the door's own weight and the user's minimal input force to accomplish all opening and closing operations. The curved geometry of the guide rail naturally guides the door through its motion path without requiring external power assistance, making the system self-sufficient.
4Reliability
If the door frame is designed according to S-shaped guide rail paths, then the sliding door can be retracted into the wall opening, but the door frame design becomes restricted and more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The door frame incorporates an S-shaped guide rail that curves forward and then back toward the wall opening. This curved path allows the door to clear the door frame during opening while enabling complete retraction into the wall opening when closed, achieving both operational clearance and aesthetic flush mounting.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a user-friendly, efficient operation of sliding doors with reduced manual effort and improved sealing capabilities, allowing for easy retrofitting and maintenance, while simplifying the design of the door frame and guide rails.
Implementation Method 1
The sliding door is connected via two crankshafts (3), one above and one below, to two upper and two lower drives (121, 111)
Implementation Method 2
The sliding door is guided and supported along its top and bottom surfaces by guide rails and carriages
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3a
AI summary
A sliding door device for closing a wall opening (10) with a sliding door (2) connected to at least one upper and one lower carriage (121, 122) which are slidably held in an upper and lower guide rail (12), respectively, and which has at least one actuating mechanism (5) by means of which the sliding door (2) can be locked in the closed position. According to the invention, the actuating mechanism (5) serves to actuate at least one slidable locking bar (41) which is provided for locking the sliding door (2), two upper carriages (121) each hold an upper drive shaft (123) and two lower carriages (111) each hold a lower drive shaft (113), and two crankshafts (3) are arranged parallel to each other and spaced apart from each other, which are rotatably but axially non-slidably connected to the sliding door (2) and hold it.the upper end piece of which is fixedly connected to an upper pivot lever (32) which is rotatably held by the upper drive shaft (123) of the associated upper carriage (121), the lower end piece of which is fixedly connected to a lower pivot lever (31) which is rotatably held by the lower drive shaft (113) of the associated lower carriage (111), and which can each be coupled or connected by a coupling device (6) to the at least one locking bar (41) or each to a locking bar (41) and can be driven by it during the locking or unlocking process of the sliding door (2) in order to rotate the upper and lower pivot levers (32, 31) and to lift the unlocked sliding door (2) from the wall opening (10) or to lower it onto the wall opening (10).