Sliding Door Floor Guide With Elastic Wheel Shock Absorption

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing sliding door mechanisms suffer from imprecise and difficult sliding due to vertical thrusts, noise, and assembly challenges, particularly with wooden and glass doors, leading to potential damage and increased installation costs.

Innovation Solution

A sliding door handling device featuring a shell with an elastomeric pad and fork-shaped frame supporting a wheel, equipped with elastic sheets and a polyurethane coating, which absorbs vertical thrusts and reduces noise by flexing under load, facilitating easy assembly without requiring precise alignment.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a traditional floor appendage with longitudinal slot is used for guiding the door, then the door can slide along the floor, but vertical thrusts cause imprecise and difficult sliding over time

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesliding precisionVSAvoidsliding smoothness
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent changes the guiding mechanism from a floor-based longitudinal slot to a wall-based vertical slot. This parameter change in the guiding system's location and orientation eliminates the problems caused by vertical thrusts on the floor, maintaining sliding precision and smoothness over time.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The patent creates a complementary profile section on the door that mirrors the shape of the wheels/rollers. This copying approach allows the door to be hooked onto the rollers and slide smoothly along the vertical guide, replicating the guiding function at the upper portion while eliminating lower portion issues.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

2Reliability

If a wheel mechanism with elastic sheets is used to absorb vertical thrusts, then sliding is improved, but the mechanism is subjected to violent shocks at end of stroke

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesliding stabilityVSAvoidmechanism durability
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSStrength

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the wheel mechanism from the door assembly and relocates it to a fixed carriage mounted on the wall. This separation removes the wheel mechanism from the path of violent shocks at end of stroke, while the vertical slot guide continues to provide stable sliding guidance.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent provides beforehand cushioning by using the vertical slot guide and fixed carriage arrangement to prevent violent shocks before they can affect the door mechanism. The guide structure is designed to accommodate the door weight and motion without transmitting shocks to the door-mounted components.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #11Beforehand cushioning (Prior cushioning)

3Reliability

If the wheel mechanism is mounted on the door, then vertical thrusts are absorbed, but assembly is laborious and requires precise alignment

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvethrust absorptionVSAvoidassembly simplicity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The patent uses a complementary profile section on the door that copies the wheel shape, allowing simple hooking onto the fixed carriage rollers. This eliminates the laborious assembly of mounting wheels and elastic sheets on the door, while the vertical slot guide maintains thrust absorption capability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

Solution Approach 2:

The fixed carriage with rollers serves multiple functions: it provides the wheel mechanism for thrust absorption, the vertical slot guide for precise alignment, and the mounting structure for the door. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate assembly steps and precise alignment procedures.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

4Object-affected harmful factors

If more elastic sheets are used to reduce noise from vertical thrusts, then noise is reduced, but the mechanism complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvenoise levelVSAvoidmechanism complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-affected harmful factorsVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the noise-generating wheel mechanism from the door assembly and places it in a fixed carriage on the wall. This eliminates the need for multiple elastic sheets to reduce noise, as the fixed mounting prevents the vibrations and noises that would otherwise require complex damping solutions.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

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 device effectively absorbs vertical stresses and thrusts, prevents violent shocks, reduces noise, and ensures reliable operation with minimal assembly effort, suitable for both wooden and glass doors.

Implementation Method 1

un elastomero che assorbe gli urti e i carichi verticali

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectElasticity: Elasticity

Implementation Method 2

disposte tra la forca e la ruota; dette lastre sono sollecitate in flessione

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectElasticity: Elasticity

Implementation Method 3

rivestimento in materiale polimerico, preferibilmente in gomma o in poliuretano, detto rivestimento avendo la funzione di ridurre il rumore

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectVibration damping: Damping

Data Source

PatentEP3665352B1Sliding doors floor handling device
Publication Date: 2025.11.19 TERNO SCORREVOLI
  • EP3665352B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2A
  • EP3665352B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4A
  • EP3665352B1 patent drawingFigure 5~6A

AI summary

A sliding doors floor handling device (20) for sliding wooden doors (10) or glass doors (72), placed next to a wall (16) and provided at the bottom with a guide (82) combined with a pin (14) protruding from the floor (48), comprises a containment shell (26), substantially parallelepiped in shape, pardy open along the upper base, in which a fork-shaped frame (44) is arranged. The parallel sections (64) of the frame (44) are provided with a hole (52) for inserting a pin (54) that supports a wheel (46) designed to touch the floor (48) when rolling. The fork-shaped frame (44) is provided with one or more elastic sheets (60) secured to the shell (26).