US 6,017,105 AGranted

Horizontal sliding door guidance method

AssigneeSTERIS Inc.

InventorsJeffrey A. Goughnour, Gary L. Anderson

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Abstract

A guidance assembly (28) guides a door (22) to a cabinet (10) while it is moved between an open position, in which access to an interior chamber is provided through an opening (16) in the cabinet, and a closed position, in which the door covers the opening. The guidance system includes four pairs of rollers (32, 34) which are mounted to upper and lower horizontal sides of the door. The rollers roll along upper and lower horizontal tracks (38, 42) which are mounted to an exterior wall (18) of the cabinet, adjacent upper and lower ends of the opening. Leading and trailing recesses (56, 62) are defined in the tracks to receive the rollers when the door is in the closed position. Leading pairs (32) of the rollers have shorter shafts (52) than corresponding trailing pairs (34) of the rollers. The trailing recesses (62) are further from the door than the leading recesses (56), leaving a narrow strip of land (64) between the trailing recesses and the door. The leading rollers engage these strips of land while the door is moving between open and closed positions. This maintains a space between the door and the cabinet during opening and closing the door which prevents damage to the door and the exterior wall of the cabinet and to a sealing member (46) disposed between the door and the cabinet. Flanges (78,80,82,84) on four sides of the door engage retaining members (38,42,91,94) when the seal is activated to limit outward movement of the door. The upper and lower tracks provide the retaining members for the upper and lower horizontal sides of the door. As the door moves outward, inner rollers of each pair of rollers enter the corresponding recesses, thereby avoiding stress on the rollers.

Claims22

Dependent claims

A sterilization or disinfection apparatus comprising:

a housing which defines an interior chamber and an opening;
a door having an interior face sized to seal the opening, an outer face, a leading edge, a trailing edge, and a pair of opposite sides;
a guidance assembly for guiding the door between an open position, in which items to be sterilized or disinfected are capable of being loaded into the chamber, and a closed position, in which the door covers the opening, the guidance assembly including:
two leading sets of rollers rotatably mounted by shaft portions of each of the rollers adjacent the leading edge of the door, a first set of the leading sets of rollers mounted to a first side of the door and a second set of the leading sets of rollers mounted to a second side of the door, each of the leading sets of rollers including a leading outer roller and a leading inner roller;
two trailing sets of rollers rotatably mounted by shaft portions of each of the rollers adjacent the trailing edge of the door, a first set of the trailing sets of rollers mounted to the first side of the door and a second set of the trailing sets of rollers mounted to the second side of the door, each of the trailing sets of rollers including a trailing outer roller and a trailing inner roller, the shaft portion of one of the first set trailing outer roller and the first set leading outer roller being longer than the other, the shaft portion of one of the second set trailing outer roller and the second set leading outer roller being longer than the other;
a first track mounted adjacent the first side of the door, the first track including an outer surface, the outer leading and trailing rollers mounted to the first side of the door engaging the outer surface of the first track;
a second track mounted adjacent the second side of the door, the second track including an outer surface, the outer leading and trailing rollers mounted to the second side of the door engaging the outer surface of the second track;
a first leading recess defined in the outer surface of the first track for receiving the leading outer roller mounted to the first side of the door when the door is in the closed position;
a first trailing recess defined in the outer surface of the first track for receiving the trailing outer roller mounted to the first side of the door when the door is in the closed position;
a second leading recess defined in the outer vertical surface of the second track for receiving the leading outer roller mounted to the second surface of the door when the door is in the closed position;
and,
a second trailing recess defined in the outer vertical surface of the second track for receiving the trailing outer roller mounted to the second surface of the door when the door is in the closed position.

9 more elements

A system which guides a door horizontally between an open position and a closed position, in which a chamber opening is sealed, the system comprising:

two leading rollers rotatably mounted to the door by shaft portions of each of the leading rollers adjacent a leading edge of the door, an upper leading roller of the two leading rollers mounted to an upper surface of the door and a lower leading roller of the two leading rollers mounted to a lower surface of the door;
two trailing rollers rotatably mounted to the door by shaft portions of each of the trailing rollers adjacent a trailing edge of the door, an upper trailing roller of the two rollers mounted to an upper surface of the door and a lower trailing roller of the two rollers mounted to a lower surface of the door, the shaft portion of a first one of the upper trailing roller and the upper leading roller being longer than the shaft portion of a second one of the upper trailing roller and the upper leading roller, and the shaft portion of a first one of the lower trailing roller and the lower leading roller being longer than the shaft portion of a second one of the lower trailing roller and the lower leading roller;
an upper track mounted adjacent an upper peripheral edge of the opening, the leading and trailing upper rollers engaging the upper track;
a lower track mounted adjacent a lower peripheral edge of the opening, the leading and trailing lower rollers engaging the lower track;
an upper leading recess defined in the upper track for receiving the upper leading roller when the door is in closed position;
an upper trailing recess defined in the upper track for receiving the upper trailing roller when the door is in a the closed position, the upper trailing recess being vertically positioned such that the upper leading roller does not enter the upper trailing recess as the door is moved between the open position and the closed position;
a lower leading recess defined in the lower track for receiving the lower leading roller when the door is in the closed position;
and,
a lower trailing recess defined in the lower track for receiving the lower trailing roller when the door is in the closed position, the lower trailing recess being vertically positioned such that the lower leading roller does not enter the lower trailing recess as the door is moved between the open position and the closed position.

6 more elements

A method of guiding a sliding door between an open position, in which access is provided to the interior of a steam cabinet through an opening defined in the cabinet, and a closed position, in which the opening is covered by the door, the method comprising the steps of:

rolling a first upper leading roller which is rotatably connected to the door adjacent to an upper leading end of the door and a first upper trailing roller which is rotatably connected to the door adjacent to an upper trailing end of the door, along an outer surface of a horizontal upper track until the first upper leading roller engages a leading recess defined in the outer surface of the upper track and the first upper trailing roller engages a trailing recess defined in the outer surface of the upper track, the step of rolling the first upper leading and trailing rollers including:
rolling the first upper leading roller across a strip of land defined by the outer surface of the upper track extending across the trailing recess in a direction of travel, the strip of land engaging a portion of the first upper leading roller so that the first upper leading roller is not received by the trailing recess;
simultaneously rolling a first lower leading roller which is rotatably connected to the door adjacent to an lower leading end of the door and a first lower trailing roller which is rotatably connected to the door adjacent to an lower trailing end of the door, along an outer surface of a lower track until the first lower leading roller engages a leading recess defined in the outer surface of the lower track and the first lower trailing roller engages a trailing recess defined in the lower track, the step of rolling the first lower leading and trailing rollers including:
rolling the first lower leading roller across a strip of land defined by the outer surface of the lower track extending across the trailing recess in a direction of travel, the land engaging a portion of the first lower leading roller so that the lower leading roller is not received by the trailing recess.

1 more element

A method of sealing a chamber opening comprising the steps of:

guiding a door from an open position, in which access to the opening is provided, to a closed position, in which the door covers the opening including:
rolling a first upper leading roller which is rotatably connected to the door adjacent to an upper leading end of the door and a first upper trailing roller which is rotatably connected to the door adjacent to an upper trailing end of the door, along an outer surface of a horizontal upper track until the first upper leading roller engages a leading recess defined in the outer surface of the upper track and the first upper trailing roller engages a trailing recess defined in the outer surface of the upper track, the step of rolling the first upper leading and trailing rollers including:
rolling the first upper leading roller across a strip of land defined by the outer surface of the upper track adjacent the trailing recess, the strip of land engaging a portion of the first upper leading roller so that the first upper leading roller is not received by the trailing recess;
simultaneously rolling a first lower leading roller which is rotatably connected to the door adjacent to an lower leading end of the door and a first lower trailing roller which is rotatably connected to the door adjacent to an lower trailing end of the door, along an outer surface of a horizontal lower track until the first lower leading roller engages a leading recess defined in the outer surface of the lower track and the first lower trailing roller engages a trailing recess defined in the lower track, the step of rolling the first lower leading and trailing rollers including:
rolling the first lower leading roller across a strip of land defined by the outer surface of the lower track adjacent the trailing recess, the land engaging a portion of the first lower leading roller so that the lower leading roller is not received by the trailing recess;
engaging a first flange on an upper surface of the door with an inner surface of the upper track;
engaging a second flange on a lower surface of the door with a rear surface of the lower track;
and,
activating a seal to seal the door to the periphery of the opening.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.