The present invention relates to a lift or elevator door with sliding panels.

Doors with sliding panels, with central or telescopic opening, are normally provided with a lower shoe that slides in a guide obtained in the threshold of the door. This holds true both for doors with linear opening and for doors with circular opening, i. e. those whose threshold is constituted by an annulus.

The presence of the sliding shoe in the threshold is necessary for safety reasons, to prevent the panels from staving or warping and to guarantee precision in the opening and closing path of the panels themselves.

A drawback of such a solution is represented by the fact that the threshold, grooved to receive the shoes, is a receptacle for dirt and other waste (e. g. cigarette butts, candy wrappers, etc.), not easily removable, which can even hinder the normal opening and closing movements of the panels.

In the case of lifts in shopping malls or hospitals, the groove can be a hindrance for trolley wheels.

Moreover, also from an aesthetic standpoint, the threshold tends, over time, to blacken and get fouled in the groove as a result of usage.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION.

The aim of the present invention is to make available a door in which there is not need for a frequent and difficult cleaning of the threshold.

A further aim is to obtain this in an extremely simply and economical way without increasing bulk outside the threshold.

Said aims are fully achieved by the door of the present invention, which is characterised

by the content of the claims set out below and in particular in that the guide in which the shoes slide is external to the threshold of the door, i. e. the threshold is not a grooved threshold.

In the case of linear doors, the guide is a rectilinear linear guide external to the threshold, whilst in the case of doors with circular opening the guide is a guide in the form of an annulus, external to the threshold.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.

This and other features shall become more readily apparent in the following description of a preferred embodiment illustrated, purely by way of non limiting example, in the accompanying drawing table, in which: -Figures 1 and 2 schematically show a perspective view of a panel, respectively in the open and closed position of the door; - Figure 3 shows a perspective view of the application of the shoe to the panel.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION.

With reference to the figures, the number 1 schematically indicates a door for lifts or elevators, comprising one or more panels 2 with telescopic opening or with central opening.

The number 3 indicates a threshold of the door, which in the illustrated case is rectilinear but can also be in the form of an annulus in case of doors with panels having circular opening for lifts with cylindrical cabins.

Originally, the threshold 3 is smooth and free of grooves, since the panel 2 is inferiorly provided with a shoe 4 able to slide in a grooved guide 5 that is exterior relative to the threshold 3.

In particular the guide 5 is welded to the threshold, extends laterally thereto and is partially comprised underneath the threshold itself.

The shoe 4 comprises a portion 4a, in the illustrated case in the form of a rectilinear bar, which is bolted to the lower end of the panel, for instance to a slotted plate 6 that allows various mounting positions.

Figures 2 and 3 show the panel in the door-closed position, with the shoe 4 towards the end stop represented by the threshold 3, whilst Figure 1 shows the panel in the open position with the shoe that slides in the grooved guide and with the threshold that remains in view, totally full and free of grooves, with a pleasing aesthetic effect and with a considerable functional improvement since the complex periodic cleaning operations of the threshold grooves are avoided.