Sliding door system for glass doors

Abstract

A sliding door system comprises a door made of a glass panel. One or more roller units are connected to the door and project from a plane of the door. A structural transom has a glass panel body with its main surfaces positioned generally vertically. The glass panel body is supported above an opening to define the structural transom for the door, with at least one slot defined in the glass panel body and having a lower edge surface and an upper edge surface. The slot is generally horizontal when the glass panel body defines the structural transom. The slot has a height for receiving a portion of the roller unit between the lower edge surface and the upper edge surface, and a length for allowing a translation of the door to open and close the opening by movement of the roller unit in the slot.

1 . A roller unit for a sliding door comprising:
 a connector assembly adapted to be secured to a structure or to a door, the connector assembly comprising a spindle; and   a wheel having a rolling-element bearing operationally mounted to the spindle of the connector assembly, and an annular wheel body mounted to the rolling-element bearing for rotation about the spindle, the annular wheel body having a pair of flanges separated by a groove on a circumferential surface of the annular wheel body, the circumferential surface defining a shape corresponding to the shape of an edge portion of the door or structure engaged in the annular wheel body, the connector assembly being connected to one of the door and the structure while the wheel receives an edge portion of the other of the door and the structure, whereby the roller unit holds the door and structure face to face while allowing sliding movement of the door with respect to the structure by rotation of the wheel about the spindle.   
     
     
         2 . The roller unit according to  claim 1 , wherein the annular wheel body comprises a first wheel ring and a second wheel ring interconnected to form the annular wheel body. 
     
     
         3 . The roller unit according to  claim 2 , wherein the first wheel ring comprises a flared surface portion and a cylindrical surface portion to define the groove and one of the flanges in the wheel, the second wheel ring comprises a flared surface portion to define the other of the flanges in the wheel. 
     
     
         4 . The roller unit according to  claim 3 , wherein the first wheel ring has an inner shoulder to define a seat for the rolling-element bearing, the rolling-element bearing being held axially captive between the first wheel ring and the second wheel ring. 
     
     
         5 . The roller unit according to  claim 2 , further comprising a spacer between the first wheel ring and the second wheel ring to define at least a portion of the groove of the annular wheel body. 
     
     
         6 . The roller unit according to  claim 5 , wherein the first wheel ring, the second wheel ring and the spacer are interconnected by countersunk-head fasteners. 
     
     
         7 . The roller unit according to  claim 2 , wherein the connector assembly comprises a pair of end caps connected through a bore in the door or structure, with the spindle projecting concentrically from one of the end caps. 
     
     
         8 . The roller unit according to  claim 7 , wherein the connector assembly further comprises a disk interconnected to the end caps, the disk being positioned between the end cap, with the disk and one of the end caps being on opposite sides of the door or structure and connected through the bore, and with the disk and the other of the end caps being on opposite sides of the wheel. 
     
     
         9 . The roller unit according to  claim 8 , wherein the disk and the end cap on the opposite side of the door or structure each have a groove or shoulder in a surface facing the door or structure, and the roller unit further comprising a ring of resilient material in each of the groove or shoulder to interface the disk and the end cap to the door or structure. 
     
     
         10 . The roller unit according to  claim 8 , wherein the disk has a throughbore, and the end caps have concentric bores, the roller unit further comprising a single threaded to interconnect the end caps with the disk. 
     
     
         11 . The roller unit according to  claim 8 , wherein the disk and the end cap on the opposite of the rolling-element bearing each have a neck facing toward the rolling-element bearing to contact the rolling-element bearing when the roller unit is assembled, to prevent axial movement of the rolling-element bearing on the spindle of the end cap. 
     
     
         12 . The roller unit according to  claim 8 , wherein the disk and the end cap on the opposite of the door or structure each have a neck facing toward the door or structure to contact one another through the door or structure when the roller unit is assembled. 
     
     
         13 . The roller unit according to  claim 1 , wherein the roller unit is secured to the door and the wheel receives an edge portion of a transom of the structure. 
     
     
         14 . The roller unit according to  claim 1 , wherein the roller unit is secured to the structure and the wheel receives an edge portion of a slot in the door. 
     
     
         15 . A sliding door system comprising:
 at least one door;   a transom adapted to be secured to a structure above a door opening in the structure, the transom comprising top and bottom edge surfaces each having a pair of longitudinal slanted edge surfaces separated by a longitudinal flat edge surface;   at least two of the roller unit of  claim 1  secured to the door with at least one said roller unit operationally contacting the top edge surface of the transom, and at least one said roller unit operationally contacting the bottom edge surface of the transom;   whereby the roller units hold the door and structure face to face while allowing sliding movement of the door with respect to the structure by rotation of the wheels about the spindle to open/close the opening in the structure.   
     
     
         16 . The sliding door system according to  claim 15 , wherein the wheel comprises a first wheel ring with flared-surface portion and a cylindrical surface portion to define the groove and one of the flared-surface flanges in the wheel, and a second wheel ring comprises a flared-surface portion to define the other of the flared-surface flanges of the wheel, with the cylindrical surface portion of the first wheel ring having a width at most equal to the width of the longitudinal flat edge surface of the transom. 
     
     
         17 . The sliding door system according to  claim 16 , further comprising a spacer between the first wheel ring and the second wheel ring to define at least a portion of the groove of the annular wheel body, with the combined width of the cylindrical surface portion of the first wheel ring and of the spacer being equal to the width of the longitudinal flat edge surface of the transom. 
     
     
         18 . The sliding door system according to  claim 15 , wherein the connector assembly comprises a pair of end caps connected through a bore in the door with the wheel being between the end caps, with the spindle projecting concentrically from one of the end caps, with the width of the longitudinal slanted edge surface of the transom adjacent the structure being at least equal to the combined width of the corresponding flared-surface flange to an end of the roller unit and of the end cap. 
     
     
         19 . The sliding door system according to  claim 18 , wherein the connector assembly further comprises a disk interconnected to the end caps, the disk being positioned between the end cap, with the disk and one of the end caps being on opposite sides of the door and connected through the bore, and with the disk and the other of the end caps being on opposite sides of the wheel. 
     
     
         20 . The sliding door system according to  claim 19 , wherein the disk has a throughbore, and the end caps have concentric bores, the roller unit further comprising a single threaded to interconnect the end caps with the disk.