Supporting and operating mechanism for a sliding door

The invention relates to a supporting and operating mechanism for a sliding door, including an upright strut at the door's vertical edge, by way of which the supporting and operating mechanism is linked with a door,

The invention is intended for application in relation to sliding doors particularly of the type that exhibit a void space above and below the door. Such sliding doors are used e.g. in connection with passage control equipment as the traffic of access-authorized persons is monitored one at a time, e.g. in airports. In this case, the height of a sliding door is only in the order of one meter and the door is typically of glass. It is a known practice to provide the supporting and operating mechanisms of such sliding doors with large motors and lever mechanisms, which are nevertheless heavy and expensive.

On the other hand, it is commonly known in the context of sliding doors to employ operating mechanisms taking hold of the top door edges, but those cannot be used in applications which require a void space above and below the door.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved sliding door supporting and operating mechanism, which leaves void spaces above and below the door and which is structurally simple and light, and which does not require a designated space for the operating mechanism.

This object of the invention is achieved on the basis of the characterizing features presented in the appended claim 1. Preferred embodiments of the invention are presented in the dependent claims.

One working example of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which

Hg. 1 shows a sliding door supporting and operating mechanism of the invention in a frontal view.

The supporting and operating mechanism includes an upright strut 2 at the vertical edge of a door l. The door 1 can be made e.g. of glass and spaces above and below it are totally void. The upright strut 2 is made e.g. of a light metal or steel.

The upright strut 2 has its top end provided with two sets of rollers 3, 4, of which an upper roller set 3, 3 is adapted to roll along the top surface of a first horizontal track 5 and a lower roller set 4, 4 is adapted to roll along the bottom surface of the same horizontal track 5. The horizontal track 5 need not consist of a single piece, but it can also be composed of two tracks on top of each other. Preferably, the horizontal track 5 is not in an absolutely horizontal position, but is sloping slightly, e.g. 5-25°, preferably about 7-15°, typically about 10°, in the door opening direction.

The upright strut 2 has also its bottom end provided with two sets of rollers 3, 4, of which an upper roller set 3, 3 is adapted to roll along the top surface of a second horizontal track 6 and a lower roller set 4, 4 is, adapted to roll along the bottom surface of the same horizontal track 6. Also in this instance, the horizontal track 6 may consist of several segments on top of each other. Preferably, the horizontal track 6 also deviates slightly from horizontal by sloping in the door opening direction to the same extent as the horizontal track 5.

Having the horizontal tracks 5 and 6 inclined in the opening direction offers the essential benefit of providing an automatic (gravitational) or at least substantially relieved panic opening action when power has been or is discon- nected from a motor 9 included in the operating mechanism.

The rollers 3, 4 include circumferentially extending channels preferably with a U-shaped cross-section, and the horizontal tracks 5, 6 have their top and bottom edges rounded for a matching cross-section. The rollers 3, 4 and the horizontal tracks 5, 6 make up a combination which provides a sturdy sliding mechanism for operating the door 1 back and forth in the direction of its plane. A length sufficient for the tracks 5 equals the operating range required for the door l. Of course, the tracks 5 must have a length which slightly exceeds this operating range for retaining a support for the rollers 3, 4 also at the end positions of the door's 1 sliding movement.

The horizontal run of a belt or chain 10, drivable back and forth by the motor 9, includes an engagement point 13 which is attached to the upright strut 2. The belt or chain 10 forms a triangular loop, which is located between the first and second horizontal tracks 5, 6. The motor 9 and a drive pulley 9a are associated with the bottom corner of a triangle formed by the belt or chain 10.

The first and second horizontal tracks 5, 6 are fastened to upright frame posts 7, 8, to which are also attached idler pulleys 11, 12 present at the op- posite ends of the belt's or chain's 10 horizontal run, as well as the motor 9.

In a typical application, the motor 9 takes up its control from a passage control apparatus, which opens the sliding door 1 or a pair of symmetrical sliding doors as the passage control apparatus receives in its reading device an ac- ceptable code from any machine-readable code supply.