The invention relates to a sliding door arrangement for mounting on a ship according to the preamble of claim 1.

Sliding doors are well known from practice and are commonly applied ashore. Examples are provided by for instance EP-A-0 597 208 and US2011/0314634. The known sliding door arrangement comprises at least one door panel guide rail and one or more door panels, wherein each door panel is provided with a carriage or carriages movable in said at least one guide rail wherein the door panel is suspended from said carriage or carriages. In these known constructions an electric motor is embodied as part of the carriage or carriages, wherein the weight of all moving parts is transferred via the carriage or carriages on the door panel guide rail.

W097/49885 discloses a sliding door arrangement comprising at least one door panel guide rail and one or more door panels, wherein each door panel is provided with a carriage or carriages movable in said at least one guide rail wherein the door panel is supported by said carriage or carriages, and wherein the door arrangement has multiple door panels guided along the same guide rail. In this citation each door panel has an individual electric motor for driving the door panel along the at least one guide rail.

The application of a sliding door arrangement on a moving object, in particular on a ship, imposes certain more severe (mechanical) requirements on the arrangement in comparison with the application ashore, making the known sliding doors unsuitable for seagoing applications.

It is an object of the invention to propose a sliding door arrangement which is better equipped to meet the demands imposed on the arrangement when applied on a seagoing vessel.

It is a further object of the invention to propose an alternative for existing constructions which is better maintainable and provides the user with more versatility and flexibility in use.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following disclosure.

The sliding door arrangement of the invention has the features of one or more of the appended claims.

In a first aspect of the invention the sliding door arrangement has the feature that the electric motor of each door panel is provided with a motor guide rail which is sepa- rate from the door panel guide rails. This provides the advantage that the electric motor is guarded against the forces that act on the door panel which is suspended from or supported by the door panel guide rails . The separation of the motor guide rail wherein the motor is supported and the door panel guide rails from which the door panel is suspended or by which the door panel is supported, reduces the risk of failure of the motor drive of the door panel due to the more heavy seagoing circumstances that exist when the sliding door arrangement is mounted in a seagoing vessel. The invention thus arranges that the electric motor is supported by the motor guide rail (only) and the door panel is supported by or suspended from the door panel guide rails (only) . Another advantage of the construction according to the invention is that maintenance is easier because the motor drive is no longer incorporated in a carriage that moves along a door panel guide rail.

As already mentioned the door arrangement has multiple door panels guided along the same guide rails which provides a flush outer appearance to the door arrangement. This construction not only provides the advantage of a smooth fin- ish of the door meeting the requirements of a high-class seagoing vessel; it also provides advantages regarding the degree of flexibility and versatility in handling of and using the door, whilst at the same time it is better equipped to provide it with the required sealing properties.

To promote the said sealing requirements of the sliding door arrangement of the invention, particularly with regard to the conventionally applied horizontal sealing means, it is preferred that the door panels are provided with vertical sealing means on their surfaces facing the movement direc- tion of the door panels, wherein the sealing means of engaging door panels mate with each other to seal off the door arrangement. Such vertical sealing means are very suited to absorb misalignments of adjacent sliding doors and in that connection it is preferable that the said vertical sealing means are flexible in a direction orthogonal to the movement direction of the door panels in order to promote their sealing function. The flush arrangement of the door panels and their vertical sealing means makes that the combination of these vertical sealing means with horizontal sealing means is less prone to malfunctioning so that an effective overall sealing is provided to the door of the invention.

The flexibility and versatility of the door of the invention is promoted by arranging that each door panel has an individual electric motor that is provided with a guidecar for driving the concerning door panel along the concerning guide rail or rails.

To promote an accurate positioning of the door panel along its door panel guide rails it is preferable that the mo- tor of each door panel is equipped with a wheel which is movable along the motor guide rail, wherein the wheel and the motor guide rail are arranged to operate as a rack and pinion. Since the forces acting on the door panel are isolated from the motor drive, this rack and pinion construction is prevent- ed to suffer from heavy wear and tear and requires low- maintenance. Suitably the wheel is embodied as the pinion, and the motor guide rail is provided with the rack.

In order to arrange that indeed the motor can suitably drive the door panel, the motor and the door panel are connected to each other with a connecting arm.

In another aspect of the invention the at least one door panel is sideways movable into a docking station of the door panel. In a suitable arrangement this can be achieved by providing that the at least one door panel is pivotably con- nected to first extremities of connecting arms that are each on opposite second extremities of said connecting arms pivot- ably connected to supports for said arms that are movable in one of the door panel guide rails. Suitable supports are in particular the carriages that are movable in the door panel guide rails and which are arranged to support the door panels. At the location of the docking station the door panel can thus be easily and reliably moved sideways into the docking station. The sideways moving of the door panel can be suitably arranged by providing another one of the guide rails with a deflected part for guiding the door panel into the docking station .

The invention will hereinafter be further elucidated with reference to the drawing of an exemplary embodiment of a sliding door arrangement according to the invention that is not limiting as to the appended claims.

In the drawing:

-figure 1.1 shows a first isometric view of a sliding door arrangement according to the invention;

-figure 1.2 shows a second isometric view of the sliding door arrangement according to figure 1.1;

-figure 2 shows in a top view and going from top to bottom a vertical sealing arrangement of two adjacent sliding door panels of the sliding door arrangement of figures 1.1 and 1-2, moving from a not completely engaging position (shown on the left) to a completely engaging position (shown on the right) , wherein only the middle part of the figure shows two perfectly aligned door panels, and the top and bottom part of the figure show to misaligned door panels; and

-figures 3.1 - 3.3 show a sequence of a serial movement of several door panels into their docking station.

Whenever in the figure the same reference numerals are applied these numerals refer to the same or similar parts.

With reference to figures 1.1 and 1.2 the sliding door arrangement of the invention is generally depicted with reference 1. This sliding door arrangement 1 is particularly suited for mounting on a ship and comprises a top door panel guide rail 2 ' and a bottom door panel guide rail 2''. A door panel 3 is suspended from the top door panel guide rail 2' lo- cated a little above the door panel 3 (fig. 1.2) and simultaneously supported by the door panel guide rail 2 ' ' a little below the door panel 3 (fig. 1.1). Each door panel 3 is provided with a carriage or carriages or supports 11 that is or are movable in said guide rails 2', 2 ' ' , wherein the door pan- el 3 is thus supported by or suspended from said carriages or supports 11 and by the top and bottom guide rails 2 ' , 2 ' ' in which during use the carriages 11 move.

In practice the door arrangement 1 of the invention has multiple door panels 3, wherein all these door panels are guided along the same guide rails 2', 2'' so as to provide a flush outer appearance to the door arrangement 1. This is not shown in figures 1.1 and 1.2, yet will be clear for the skilled person from the following disclosure with reference to figure 2.

Figure 2 shows that the door panels 3 are provided with vertical sealing means 10 on their surfaces facing the movement direction of the door panels 3, wherein the sealing means 10 of engaging door panels 3 mate with each other to seal off the door arrangement 1. The left part of figure 2 shows two adjacent door panels 3 just prior to being in complete engagement with each other, and wherein the sealing means 10 are at the verge of providing a complete sealing of the sliding door arrangement 1. In the right part of figure 2 the adjacent door panels 3 are in a complete engagement with each other and the sealing means 10 then provide an ensured complete sealing off of the sliding door arrangement 1. Preferably the said vertical sealing means 10 are flexible in a direction orthogonal to the movement direction of the door panels 3, which promotes their sealing function, particularly when the adjacent door panels 3 are slightly misaligned as is shown in the top and bottom part of figure 2.

Turning back now to figures 1.1 and 1.2 it is shown that the door panel 3 has an individual electric motor 4 with a guidecar 12 for driving the door panel 3 along the guide rails 2', 2'' . According to the invention it is preferred that this applies to each door panel, meaning that each door panel 3 has an individual electric motor 4 for driving the concern ^¬ ing door panel 3 along the top and bottom guide rails 2', 2' ' , wherein the electric motor 4 is provided with a motor guide rail 5 which is separate from the door panel guide rails 2' , 2' ' . Accordingly this arranges that the electric motor 4 can be supported by the motor guide rail 5 only and the door panel 3 can be supported by the door panel guide rails 2', 2'' only.

Figures 1.1 and 1.2 further show that the motor 4 is equipped with a wheel 6 which is movable along the motor guide rail 5, wherein the wheel 6 and the motor guide rail 5 are ar ^¬ ranged to operate as a rack and pinion. For that purpose preferably the wheel 6 is embodied as the pinion, and the motor guide rail 5 is provided with the rack 14.

Further figures 1.1 and 1.2 shows that the motor 4 and the door panel 3 are connected to each other with a connecting arm 7.

To accommodate docking of the door panel 3 at the end of the guide rails 2', 2'' in a docking station (see also figure 3) , the door panel 3 is sideways movable at a location of said docking station. This is suitably arranged by the feature shown in figure 1.1 wherein at its bottom the at least one door panel 3 is pivotably connected to first extremities 8 of connecting arms 9, which arms 9 are each on opposite second extremities 10 of said connecting arms 9 pivotably connected to the said carriages 11 of the door panels 3 that are movable in said bottom door panel guide rail 2'', therewith acting as supports for said arms 9 and thus as supports for the door panels 3. When the shown door panel 3 is moved sideways, this provides room for a subsequent or following door panel (as shown in the series of figures 3.1 - 3.3) to move to a position adjacent to the just before sideways moved door panel 3, which subsequent door panel can then likewise be moved sideways into the docking station. To enable the sideways movement of the door panel 3 the top guide rail 2' has a deflected part 13 for guiding the door panel 3 into the docking station whilst the connecting arms 9 at the bottom guide rail 2'' pro- vide room for said sideways movement. The functions of the top guide rail 2 ' and the bottom guide rail 2 ' ' can also be reversed, that is to say the connecting arms 9 can be provided at the top of the door panels 3 to connect to carriages or supports moving in the top guide rail 2' , and the deflected part can be provided in the bottom guide rail 2 ' ' of the door panels 3.

Although the invention has been discussed in the foregoing with reference to an exemplary embodiment of the sliding door arrangement of the invention, the invention is not restricted to this particular embodiment which can be varied in many ways without departing from the invention. The discussed exemplary embodiment shall therefore not be used to construe the appended claims strictly in accordance therewith. On the contrary the embodiment is merely intended to explain the wording of the appended claims without intent to limit the claims to this exemplary embodiment. The scope of protection of the invention shall therefore be construed in accordance with the appended claims only, wherein a possible ambiguity in the wording of the claims shall be resolved using this exemplary embodiment.