SLIDING-DOOR SYSTEM

Abstract

A sliding-door system includes a sliding door, a door frame, and a locking system, wherein in a locked state, a first latch engages in an engagement notch of an anchor body locking the sliding door, and a bolt engages on the anchor body in an engagement region to prevent the anchor body from rotating about a rotational axis. An actuator moves the bolt out of the engagement region to switch the locking system from the locked state into an open state by rotating the anchor body about the rotational axis. A locking system emergency opening function is actuated by applying an emergency activation force to a first door leaf to move a lock substantially perpendicular to a surface of the first door leaf such that the engagement notch is slid out of the engagement region to enable the sliding door to open.

Claims

1-14. (canceled)

15. A sliding-door system comprising: a door frame; a sliding door mounted in the door frame, the sliding door including a first door leaf and a second door leaf opposite the first door leaf, wherein a distance between the first door leaf and the second door leaf in an open state of the sliding door is smaller than a distance between the leaves in a closed state of the sliding door; a locking system including a lock fastened to the sliding door and a locking part mounted on the door frame; wherein the lock has an anchor body mounted to rotate about a rotational axis, the anchor body having an engagement notch, and the locking part having a first latch; wherein, in a locked state of the locking system, the first latch engages in the engagement notch of the anchor body thereby locking the sliding door, and a bolt engages on the anchor body in an engagement region thereby preventing the anchor body from rotating about the rotational axis, the lock having an actuator that moves the bolt out of the engagement region thereby moving the locking system from the locked state into an open state by the anchor body rotating about the rotational axis; and wherein the locking system has an emergency opening function actuated by an emergency activation force, the emergency opening function operating, by a movement of the lock brought about by the application of the emergency activation force to the sliding door, to release the locking of the sliding door, wherein a movement direction of the lock is perpendicular to a surface of the first door leaf, and the lock slides relative to the locking part such that the engagement notch slides out of the engagement region of the first latch enabling opening of the sliding door.

16. The sliding-door system according to claim 15 wherein the emergency activation force is applied directly to the first door leaf of the sliding door.

17. The sliding-door system according to claim 16 wherein the emergency activation force is applied to the first door leaf of the sliding door system perpendicular to the surface of the first door leaf.

18. The sliding-door system according to claim 15 wherein when a compressive force of a same magnitude as the emergency activation force is applied to the second door leaf, the lock and the locking part block a counter movement of the lock against the movement direction, the second door leaf pauses, and the sliding door remains locked.

19. The sliding-door system according to claim 15 wherein the anchor body is plate-shaped.

20. The sliding-door system according to claim 15 wherein the anchor body has a circular contour and an outer region of the anchor body has a sector-shaped cutout extending between two ends, one of the ends forming the engagement region and another of the ends forming the engagement notch.

21. The sliding-door system according to claim 15 wherein the anchor body is fastened to the lock and has a first stop and a second stop limiting rotation about the rotational axis, wherein the first latch keeps the sliding door closed when the anchor body is at the first stop and the anchor body passes the first latch when the anchor body is at the second stop.

22. The sliding-door system according to claim 21 wherein the anchor body is fastened to the lock by a spring that exerts a preload force on the anchor body pressing the anchor body against the first stop.

23. The sliding-door system according to claim 15 wherein the actuator is an electric drive.

24. The sliding-door system according to claim 15 wherein the locking part has a second latch opposite the first latch and the anchor body is adapted to be insertable between the first latch and the second latch.

25. The sliding-door system according to claim 15 including a guide member, on which the lock is fastened, is mounted between the first door leaf and the second door leaf.

26. The sliding-door system according to claim 25 wherein the guide member is mounted by a parallelogram guide system.

27. A method for emergency opening of a sliding-door system, the method comprising the steps of: applying an emergency activation force as a compressive force on the first door leaf of the sliding-door system according to claim 15; moving the first door leaf such that a distance between the first door leaf and the second door leaf is reduced and simultaneously guiding the lock of the locking system such that the first door leaf and the lock move in a same direction; and emergency opening the locking system by passing the first latch through the engagement notch of the anchor body.

28. The method for emergency opening of a sliding-door system according to claim 27 including a step of pressing the second latch through the lock as a result of the movement of the lock caused by the application of the emergency activation force.

29. The method for emergency opening of a sliding-door system according to claim 27 wherein, in a first phase of reducing the distance between the first door leaf and the second door leaf, before the sliding door is unlocked, the second door leaf remains substantially still.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0054] In the figures:

[0055] FIG. 1 shows a sliding-door system,

[0056] FIG. 2 is a section through a sliding-door system,

[0057] FIGS. 3a-3c show the closing of the sliding-door system,

[0058] FIGS. 4a-4c show the normal unlocking of the sliding-door system,

[0059] FIGS. 5a-5c show the emergency unlocking of the sliding-door system, and

[0060] FIG. 6 is a detail view of the anchor body.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0061] FIG. 1 shows a sliding-door system 100. The parallelogram guide system 23 is attached to a guide member 24 of the sliding door 20. The door leaves, not shown in FIG. 1, are attached to this parallelogram guide system. The sliding door 20 is mounted slidably, so that it can be slid from an open state into a closed state and back. In the closed state, the door leaves are so far from one another that the door leaves end flush with the wall in which the sliding door 20 is embedded. In the open state, the door leaves are at a smaller distance than in the closed state, such that the sliding door can be retracted into a wall. The sliding door also has a door frame 30 which is rigidly connected to the wall.

[0062] In order to be able to hold the sliding door 20 in a closed state, the sliding-door system 100 has a locking system 40 at the lower left corner of the frame 30 and shown in enlarged detail including a horizontal sectional view. The locking system 40 consists of a lock 41 which is fastened to the sliding door, and a locking part 50 which is fastened to the door frame 30.

[0063] FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the sliding-door system from FIG. 1. The sliding-door system is shown in a locked state.

[0064] In addition to FIG. 1, FIG. 2 shows the first door leaf 21 and the second door leaf 22. In this case, the first door leaf 21 is the inner door leaf, i.e., typically in the apartment or in the office, while the second door leaf 22 typically is the outer door leaf, i.e., outside, on the corridor in front of the office or the apartment.

[0065] If a person presses on the second door leaf 22 and applies a force corresponding to the emergency activation force F.sub.1, the second door leaf 22 moves only very little in the F.sub.y direction. Due to the symmetrical parallelogram guide system 23, the guide member 24 moves exactly half as far in the F.sub.x direction. This movement is stopped by the anchor body 10 abutting the locking part 50. The first latch 51 would be pressed slightly in this case. The sliding door 20 is locked, since the engagement notch 44 is securely engaged or meshed with the first latch 51. However, the door also cannot be pushed in, since the lock is securely supported in the locking part 50. In an upper region of the sliding door 20, this is supported by the guide rail. The door is thus securely protected against break-in.

[0066] FIGS. 3a-3c show the process of closing the sliding door 20. FIG. 3a shows the state before closing. A spring (not shown) presses the anchor body 10 against a pin 17 by a first stop 15. When the door is open, the anchor body 10 is thus located in the orientation shown. FIG. 3b shows a first contact between the anchor body 10 and the first latch 51. Even if large frictional forces occur at this contact, the anchor body 10 cannot rotate further, since it is already located on the first stop 15. In FIG. 3c, the first latch 51 is latched in behind the anchor body 10 again, and the sliding door 20 is securely locked.

[0067] FIGS. 4a-4c show the normal unlocking of the sliding door 20. The spring (not shown) still presses the first stop 15 of the anchor body 10 against the pin 17. In this case, the spring force is selected to be large enough that this configuration is also maintained if tensile forces act upon the guide member when the sliding door is closed. Such tensile forces can be brought about, for example, by the contact pressure of seals on the door panels. In the described configuration (FIG. 4a), there is a small gap, i.e., a clearance, between the bolt 46 and the engagement region 47. In the case of large tensile forces, this gap would be eliminated, and the bolt 46 would hold the door locked by the engagement notch 44 engaging or meshing firmly with the first latch 51. However, if no large tensile forces are applied, the bolt 46 can be removed from the engagement region 47 with very little force (FIG. 4b). The anchor body 10 can now be rotated by a tensile force, and the sliding door can be opened (FIG. 4c).

[0068] FIGS. 5a-5c show the method of the emergency opening. Typically, the emergency opening is required so that a person can flee a room, office, or apartment. However, it can also be required if, for example, the actuator is faulty, or simply just a power failure has occurred. For this purpose, the person presses the door leaf located in front of them, as soon as they reach the door. The person thus applies an emergency activation force F.sub.2 to the first door leaf 21. The parallelogram guide system 23 forwards the emergency activation force to the guide member 24. This guide member 24 is guided against the locking system 40, above, by the guide rails and, below, by a guide. The guide body is slightly resilient, so that the guide body can deform slightly and thus be slid. As a result, the second latch 52 is pushed back, and the engagement or the meshing between the first latch 51 and the engagement notch 44 is released, as is shown in FIG. 5b. Since the sliding door 20 is now no longer locked, the guide member 24, and the complete sliding door 20, can be slid along the guide rail and thus opened.

[0069] An unauthorized person who is attempting to access a private area has access only to the outer, non-private door leaf. This is typically the second door leaf 22. The sliding door 20 cannot be opened in this way. Pressing on the sliding door on the second door leaf 22 slides the guide member 24 at most until it abuts the outer edge of the engagement notch 44 next to the first latch 51. Pulling on the second door leaf 22, e.g., by means of a vacuum lifter, also only pulls the second door leaf more strongly into the door frame 30. The second door leaf 22 abuts the door frame 30 and then compresses only the seals (not shown).

[0070] FIG. 6 is an isometric view of the most important componentsin particular, the anchor body 10 together with its rotational axis 13. The first stop 15 and the second stop 16 are realized as the ends of a milled-out portion, wherein a pin 17 is fastened in the milled-out portion. In this case, the spring 18 clamps the anchor body 10 into a position in which the pin 17 rests against the first stop 15. The bolt 46 can be actuated by the actuator 28.

[0071] Finally, it should be noted that terms such as having, comprising, etc., do not preclude other elements or steps, and terms such as a or one do not preclude a plurality. Furthermore, it should be noted that features or steps which have been described with reference to one of the above embodiments may also be used in combination with other features or steps of other embodiments described above.

[0072] In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, the present invention has been described in what is considered to represent its preferred embodiment. However, it should be noted that the invention can be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described without departing from its spirit or scope.