US1448845A - Disappearing door - Google Patents

Description

Mar. 20, 1923.

H. A. JOHNSON ET AL.

DISAPPEARING DOOR.

2 SHEETSSHEET L FILED IIIAY 6| 1921.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD A. JOHNSON AND CHARLES MAISEY, OF NORFOLK, VIRGINIA.

DISAPPEARING DOOR.

Application filed May 6, 1921. Serial No. 467,491.

To all whom. it may concern: which preferably have each a pair of wheels Be it known that we, HOWARD A. JOHN 4, 4, wheels 4 running on suitable tracks SON and CHARLES MAIsEY, citizens of the as hereinafter described. In the form of United States, and residents of Norfolk, apparatus illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5, we pre- 7 Virginia, have invented certain new and use fer that one of the casters 3 be fixed to them ful Improvements in Disappearing Doors, door at the bottom on the vertical central of which the following is a disclosure. line of the door and that the other be fixed Our invention relates to doors mounted to the door at or near the lower corner to slide and at the same time adapted to which is at the rear of the closet when the be turned throii'gh an anglein moving from door is fully open. The wheels of the caster 65 closed to open position and thereverse. 3 at the lower corner of the door run on a The principal object of our invention is track extending at right angles to the rear to provide a door mechanism oi the type wall 1 of the closet and having spaced paralmentioned which shall be simple in corn lel track members 5. 5, preferably set flush struction and economical in IDZLDUfZICtLIIE. with the surface of the floor of the closet 70' A second object of our inventionis to proon which the wheels of the caster run. The vide a door arrangement capable of tur wheels of the caster 3 on the central line ing through a full 90 degree angle and which of the door run on a track at right angles shall be readily installed. to the track members 5, 5, the latter track The novel featuresof our invention are comprising track members 6, 6, the. two 7 pointed out with particularity in the aptracks being connected bv a frog member 7 pended'claims. The inventio itself, howillustrated in detail in Fig. 4*. The caster ever, with further objects and advantages, cooperating withtraek members 5. 5 is prowill best be understood from the following 'vided with a guide shoe 8 which travels in description taken in connection with the apa groove 9 between members 5. 5. The caster pended drawings in whi h cooperating with track members 6, 6 is pro- Fi 1 i ti l ti th h a vided with guide prongs 10. 10 on each side closet equipped with a. d r ha i m e of its vertical axis which project into the cording to our invention. the door being groove 11 between the members 6. 6. The

0 shown open. groove 11 is deeper than required for the Fig. 2 1s a detail sectio n th ling 2-2 shoe 8 and the extension 9 of the groove 9 of Fig. 1. parts being broken awav. m the frog member 7 is onlv deep enough Fig. 3 is a horizontal section illustratin to a commodate the shoe 8.. 'lhepron s two adjacent closets. both equipped with 10 project downwardly to a level below that 35 door mechanism similar to that shown in of the fl' 3 11 011% Fig, 1, and illustrating the path of the door corresponding depth, there being a shoulin opening and closing. der 12 in the frog member 7 at the point Fig. 4 is a detail section on a large scale that the groove .11 turns away from the of a portion of Fig. 3. groove 9. Assuming the door to be in the 40 i Fig. 4 is a detail illustrating a portion position illustrated in Fig. 1, both the bot of the track arrangement as used in the ma tom casters are resting on the track mour rangement of 1 to 4, inclusive. bers 5. hen the door is pulled forward F g. 5 IS a detail View in vertical section in C108! the m the {Hild l 1 taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4. of the central caster upon striking theshoul- 45 Figs. 6 nd 7 re Tetil views f forms der 12 are turned so that the wheels o fthis of agt r nd amid be d i {h caster turn through an angle of 90 degrees apparatusillustrated in Figs. 1 to 5, inon to illeh'ilfk 1119111119136, Quid? elusive. shoe being at a level above the shoulder In "the dl'awin 1 iiidicatesthe rear wall 12 is not affected thereby and this shoe. is

50 of'the closet designed to hold clothing or f Seflirient h rizontal length in the rear of for other purposes, and2is a door adapted the caster that the front end the shoeis to be'inoved into "a position parallel to the guided intothe extension grhove 9' ofgroove wall 1, but illustrated in Fig. 1 as at right 9 in frog member 7. When the doors angles tofsaid Wall. Door 2, according to being moved from closed to opeh position.

SB EinrYn'ifefitiGn, 'is' 'iiiouiited on casters 3, 3, the casters run in the reverse in anneflthere "1 being no tendency for the wheels to take the wrong direction, however, when the door is being opened.

The casters 3, 3, 'n'e'terably comprise a supporting plate 13 designed to lie parallel with one face oi. the door and to be attached thereto by screws or other suitable means. On one side, the plate 13 has fixed thereto a pair of guide lugs 14, 14, which are aperturcd to receive the stem 15, at the lower end of which the wheels are mounted. Casters 3, 3, preferably comprise a spring 16 surrounding the stem 15 and compressed between the upper one of the lugs 1% and a washer 17, the springs 16 thus supporting the weight of the door and serving to equal.- ize any inequalities in the track. By arranging the tracks so that the guiding grooves coincide as far as possible in the portion of the lengths at right angles to the rear wall 1, we can set the axes of the casters 3, 3, in the. same vertical plane and can thus insert the casters into the recesses out into the door. The entire caster mechanism can thus be contained within the original outline of the door. thus utilizing the space in the closet to best advantage. Evidently the track portion 5, 5 may extend toward the rear of the closet as far as de sired, so that no portion of the door need project at the front when the door is open.

Preferably, we provide the caster mechanism with corresponding tracks 19 and, 20 at the top of door 2 similar to that at. the bottom. However, the casters 3, 3 at the top of the door, being free from the weight of the door, their springs are relatively Erec from distortion and can be readily compressed to permit the doors being installed in or removed from their tracks.

The door mechanism illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5. inclusive. may be operated with ease by a single motion of the hand.

While we have disclosed the preferred our bodiment of our invention, we do not wish to be limited to details of our disclosure herein except as such details may be essential to the novelty of the appended claims. In particular, we wish it understood that wherever we have mentioned a closet that we intend to include a garage or other enclosure, our invention being peculiarly well suited to large doors and to situations where the door when open. must not project bevond the position of the door when closed. We ind also that wheels are not essential on the upper edge of the doors according to our iii-- rention.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. The combination of a door, wheeled casters bearing the weight of said door,

means for holding said door vertical, connected tracks for said casters set at an angle, a branch track fornilng a. continuation of one of said tracks. means forming iiicd guide grooves adjacent said tracks, a projection on one 0? said casters co-opcrat in with the said grooves for turning said door, and means for directing a second caster onto said branch track in a turning movement of the door.

2.. The combination oi a. door, wheeled casters bearing the weight of said door. means for holding said d tical, (01h net-ted tracks for said casters set at an angle, a branch track forming a continuation of one of said tracks, means forming fixed guide grooves adjacent said tracks, the groove adjacent said branch track being relatively shallow, projections on said casters cooperating with said grooves for turning said door, and means whereby the projec tion on one of said casters is guided into said shallow groove and the projection on the other of said casters is guided into the groove associated with one of said. firstmentioned tracks in turning the door when the door is moving in a given direction.

3. The combination of a door, wheeled casters bearing the weight of said door, means for holding said door vertical, connected tracks tor said casters set at an angle, a branch track forming a continuation of one. of said tracks, means forming guide grooves adjacent said tracks and branch, and projections on said casters co-opcrating with said grooves for turning said door, said projections comprising two spaced prongs on opposite sides of the vertical axis of one of said casters and a shoe on the other of said casters.

4. The combination with a door of wheeled casters bearing the weight of said. door, tracks tor said casters set at an angle and connected by a. curve, a branch track connected with and forming an extension of one of said tracks, means for holding said door vertical, means forming fixed guide grooves adjacent all said tracks, said tracks and grooves coinciding for a portion of their lengths and then branching, the groove of one oi. said branches being relatively shallow, and projections on said castare co-opcrating with said grooves for turning said door, said projections comprising a trailing shoe on one caster adapted to run in said shallow groove and two prongs on the other caster projecting to a greater depth than. said shallow groove and being arranged on opposite sides of the vertical axis of the caster on which they are mounted.

5. A door mechanism for disappearing doors comprising a door mounted on a pair of wheeled casters fixed to its lower edge, guide means for said casters whereby the casters turn the door thru an angle in moving from open to closed position, guide means at the top of the door whereby the door is maintained vertical during its opening and closing movements, said casters being placed one on the vertical centre line of the door and the other on the lower corner which lies nearer the rear of the enclosure with which the door is used when the door is open, said guide means including means forming straight grooves running in directions forming an angle, a frog having a curved groove connecting said straight grooves and having a straight groove portion forming an extension of one of said straight grooves and of less depth than said curved groove and said straight grooves at their points of connection with said curved groove, whereby a shoulder is formed at the point Where said curved groove turns off from said extension, and uides on said casters cooperating with said grooves, the one of said guides on said central caster being adapted to run around said curved groove and the other of said ides being adapted to overrun said shou der and to pass into said extension.

HOWARD A. JOHNSON. CHARLES MAISEY.

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