Sliding Shower Door Rail Geometry for Floor-Free Sealing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing shower partition designs with sliding doors are complex and prone to failure, particularly in floor-free constructions where a permanent seal is difficult to maintain.
Innovation Solution
The shower partition features rollers or sliders arranged on the upper edge of the door leaf that engage with guide rails with specific courses and fittings, allowing for the door leaf to be raised and lowered during opening and closing, ensuring a permanent seal in floor-free designs by using guide rails with horizontal and sloping sections to facilitate smooth operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional sliding door constructions are used, then the structure is simple, but the seal is insufficient in floor-free shower partitions
Solution Approach 1:
The guide rail is designed with dynamic geometry including rising ramps and depressions that allow the door leaf to change its vertical position during opening and closing. The rail profile varies along its length to provide different support heights, enabling the door to tilt and seal properly against the shower enclosure while maintaining a floor-free design.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide rail parameters (height, slope, curvature) are specifically changed along its length to control the door leaf's position and angle. The rail transitions from horizontal sections to sloped sections to vertical sections, changing the door's orientation dynamically to ensure proper sealing at different positions without requiring a threshold.
2Reliability
If the door leaf is kept at constant height, then the structure is simple, but the seal cannot be maintained in floor-free constructions
Solution Approach 1:
The door leaf automatically adjusts its own position through the guide rail mechanism. As the door opens or closes, the guide rail's profile automatically raises or lowers the door leaf without requiring external actuators, motors, or complex control systems. The geometry of the rail itself provides the displacement function.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide rail acts as an intermediary element between the fixed shower enclosure and the movable door leaf. It mediates the door's motion by providing a controlled path that includes vertical displacement, allowing the door to seal properly against the enclosure while moving along the rail's predetermined geometry.
3Reliability
If the door leaf is raised and lowered during operation, then the seal is improved, but the operation becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The door leaf automatically adjusts its own position through the guide rail mechanism. As the door opens or closes, the guide rail's profile automatically raises or lowers the door leaf without requiring external actuators, motors, or complex control systems. The geometry of the rail itself provides the displacement function.
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
This design provides a stable and efficient seal in floor-free shower partitions by allowing the door leaf to be easily raised and lowered, maintaining a horizontal position and ensuring a tight seal without the need for a threshold area.
Implementation Method 1
rollers or slides which are arranged at a distance from one another on the upper edge of the door leaf and which engage in guide rails
Implementation Method 2
rollers or sliders having fittings connected to the door leaf
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
The invention relates to a sliding door with at least one door leaf, which may be moved by means of rollers or slides arranged at a separation from each other on the upper edge of the door leaf which may be engaged in a guide rail of an upper frame profile, said rollers or slides being fixed to the door leaf by means of fittings and at least one guide rail (8, 9) has rising projections b and falling recesses c in addition to a straight horizontal run a, wherein the rollers or sliders (4, 5) and hence the door leaf (2) on the guide run may be raised or lowered on an opening or closing process.