Infinite Position Hold Open Hinge

Abstract

A door is pivotally mounted to a vehicle by an infinite position hold open hinge including conventional male and female hinge members pivotally interconnected. The female hinge member pivotally mounts one end of a lever about an axis inboard from the hinge axis with the other end of the lever having a depending flange with a center arcuate surface generated about and facing away from the hinge axis. The male hinge member mounts a plastic brake having an arcuate surface generated about and facing the hinge axis for engagement with the arcuate surface of the lever. A spring extending between the female hinge member and the other end of the lever biases the arcuate surface of the lever into frictional engagement with the arcuate surface of the brake. The depending flange also has lead in surfaces providing a smooth transition to the center arcuate surface the female hinge member includes and a stop preventing engagement of the lever the and brake when the door is in closed position to prevent the brake from taking a permanent set. Moving the door from closed position to open position moves the arcuate surface of the lever along the arcuate surface of the brake to produce a frictional drag which wedges the surfaces apart against the action of the spring to decrease the effort of opening the door. Moving the door from open position to closed position moves the arcuate surface of the lever oppositely along the arcuate surface of the brake to produce a frictional drag which wedges the surfaces together aiding the action of the spring to increase the effort of closing the door. When the door is in an intermediate position between the open and closed positions, the engagement between the arcuate surfaces of the lever and brake prevents movement of the door toward either the open or closed positions until a predetermined force is applied to the door.

Description

This invention relates to hold open hinges and more particularly to infinite position hold open hinges.

The infinite position hold open hinge of this invention utilizes the frictional engagement between mating arcuate surfaces to hold a door in any stationary position. The arcuate surfaces are relative to each other so that a greater force is required to close the door than is required to open the same door.

In its preferred embodiment, the hinge includes conventional male and female members pivotally interconnected and mounted respectively to a vehicle body and a door. One end of the lever is pivotally mounted inboard of the hinge axis to the female hinge member and is biased away from the female hinge member by a spring. The other end of the lever has a center arcuate surface generated about and facing away from the hinge axis with a lead in surface at either end of the center arcuate surface. A mating arcuate surface is located on a brake mounted on the male hinge member. The spring biases the other end of the lever away from the female hinge member to insure engagement of the arcuate surfaces in all positions of the door but closed position where the spring moves the lever against a stop so that the lead in surface can be moved away from the arcuate surface of the brake.

The pivot of the lever is such that opening the door moves the other end of the lever along the brake causing a frictional drag between the engaging arcuate surfaces which wedges the surfaces apart against the action of the spring thereby reducing the friction therebetween and the effort required to open the door. Closing the door moves the other end of the lever oppositely along the brake causing a frictional drag between the engaging arcuate surfaces which wedges the surfaces together along with the action of the spring thereby increasing the friction therebetween and the effort required to close the door. The frictional engagement between the arcuate surfaces holds the door in any position between open and closed in which it is left to give the hinge an infinite position hold open capacity.

Therefore it is an object of this invention to provide an infinite position hold open door hinge with engaging arcuate surfaces which wedge themselves apart as the door is moved in one direction and which wedge themselves together as the door is moved in the opposite direction to decrease the force required to move the door in the one direction and increase the force required to move the door in the other direction while also frictionally maintaining the door in any stationary position. It is a further object of this invention to provide such a door hinge for a vehicle body with the door opening in the one direction and closing in the other direction. It is another object of this invention to provide such a hinge including male and female hinge members pivotally interconnected with one end of a lever pivotally mounted to one member and the other end of the lever frictionally engaging a brake mounted on the other member. It is another object of this invention to provide such a hinge wherein the brake and the other end of the lever have mating arcuate surfaces generated about the hinge axis. It is another object of this invention to provide such a hinge wherein the arcuate surface of the lever has a lead in surface and the hinge has a stop which permits the lead in surface to disengage from the arcuate surface of the brake in the door closed position.

These and further objects of this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a partially broken-away view of a vehicle body with a door mounted to the body by an infinite position hold open hinge according to this invention with the door shown in closed position;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view taken along the lines 2--2 of FIG. 1 with the door shown in closed position;

FIG. 3 is a view taken along the line 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing the door starting to move from the closed position to the open position;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing the door midway between open and closed positions;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing the door in the open position; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the hinge when the door is in the open position.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a conventional vehicle body 10 includes a conventional vehicle body door 12 swingably mounted thereon by an upper conventional hinge (not shown) and a lower infinite position hold open hinge 14, according to this invention. As is conventional, the axis of the hinges has a slight tilt relative to the vertical so that the door 12 will fall back from open to closed position.

As best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the infinite position hold open hinge 14 includes a channel-shaped male hinge member 16 bolted at 18 to the body pillar wall 20 of the vehicle body 10 and pivotally interconnected at 22 to a channel-shaped female hinge member 24 bolted at 26 to the hinge pillar wall of the door 12. The female hinge member 24 has on its upper and lower flanges a pair of opposed stops 28, shown in FIGS. 3 and 7. These stops engage the upper and lower flanges of the male hinge member 16 to halt the swinging movement of the door 12 once the open position is reached.

As best seen in FIG. 7 a generally pointed brake 30 is riveted at 32 to the upper flange of the male hinge member 16 with the point of the brake facing outboard of the vehicle. The brake 30 is made of any suitable material, such as nylon or polyurethane, which has both a high static coefficient of friction and a low sliding coefficient of friction. The brake 30 has an arcuate surface 34 that is generated about and faces the hinge axis 22.

A lever 36, as seen in FIG. 7, is pivotally mounted at 38 adjacent one end to a raised step on the upper flange of the female hinge member 24. The other end 40 of lever 36 has a depending flange 42 with a center arcuate surface 44 facing away from and generated about the hinge axis 22 with substantially the same radius of curvature as arcuate surface 34. The depending flange 42 also has a lead-in surface 46 at each end of the center arcuate surface 44 of a radius less than the radius thereof and generated about an axis between the hinge axis 22 and the center arcuate surface 44. The two lead-in surfaces 46 merge tangentially into the center arcuate surface 44 to provide a smooth transition to the center arcuate surface 44 for a purpose which will appear later.

As best seen in FIG. 7 a coil spring 48 has one end seated on an embossed upwardly extending flange 50 of female hinge member 24. The other end of the coil spring 48 seats on a laterally extending tab 52 on the other end 40 of the lever 36 on the opposite side thereof from the center arcuate surface 44. As seen in FIGS. 2 through 7, the spring 48 biases lever 36 counterclockwise about the pivot 38 and in the closed position of the door, as shown in FIG. 2, the lever 36 engages an upwardly extending tab 54 of the upper flange of the female hinge member 24 to limit its counterclockwise movement.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3 where the door 12 is in closed position, the door 12 is opened by swinging it counterclockwise about the hinge axis 22 which moves the female hinge member 24 and the lever 36 attached thereto also counterclockwise. As the door 12 swings counterclockwise, the female hinge member 24 and the lever 36 move from the position shown in FIG. 2 to the position shown in FIG. 4 which moves the end 40 of lever 36 along the brake member 30. The relative movement causes lead-in surface 46 to pick up arcuate surface 34 of the brake 30 and the engagement of the two surfaces 46 and 34 as they move compresses spring 48 and pivots lever 36 slightly clockwise about pivot 38 so that center arcuate surface 44 will slide smoothly onto arcuate surface 34 of the brake 30. The compressed spring 48 urges the center arcuate surface 44 against arcuate surface 34 for frictional engagement therebetween.

As the door 12 continues to open, the hinge 14 moves from the position shown in FIG. 4 through the position shown in FIG. 5 to the position shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 where the door 12 is in the open position. During this door opening movement, the urging of the compressed spring 48 insures the continued engagement of the surfaces 34 and 44 and causes a frictional drag therebetween which resists the movement of the door 12 and which wedges the lever 36 clockwise against the action of the spring 48 to reduce the normal force between the two surfaces 44 and 34. The reduction in the normal force between the surfaces 44 and 34 reduces the frictional drag therebetween and decreases the force needed to move the door from closed to open positions. The decrease in the normal force continues as long as the door is moving from the position of FIG. 4 adjacent the closed position to the open position of FIG. 6 where further opening movement is halted by the stops 28 engaging the male hinge member 16.

As the door 12 moves from the open position of FIGS. 6 and 7 to the closed position of FIGS. 2 and 3, the action of the hinge is reversed. The door 12 moves clockwise from the open position with the center arcuate surface 44 of the lever 36 engaging the arcuate surface 34 of the brake 30 as in FIG. 6 and through the position shown in FIG. 5 to the position shown in FIG. 4 adjacent the closed position. During this movement, the female hinge member 24 and the lever 36 move clockwise and the center arcuate surface 44 slides along arcuate surface 34. During this movement the compression spring 48 again insures the continued engagement of the surfaces 34 and 44. The engagement of the surfaces 34 and 44 causes a frictional drag therebetween which resists the movement of the door 12 and which wedges the lever 36 counterclockwise aiding the action of the compressed spring 48 and increasing the normal force between the surfaces 34 and 44. The increase in the normal force between the surfaces 34 and 44 increases the frictional drag therebetween and increases the force needed to move the door from open to closed positions. The increase in force required to close the door partially compensates for the decrease in force normally required to close the door because of the tilted hinge axis causing the door to fall back to closed position.

Continuing the closing movement from the position shown in FIG. 4 to the position shown in FIG. 2 moves the center arcuate surface 44 along arcuate surface 34 until the lead in surface 46 moves onto the arcuate surface 34. The lead-in surface 46 moves partially along surface 34 as the compressed spring 48 pivots the lever 36 slightly counterclockwise against the tab 54, as shown in FIG. 2. The tab 54 thus limits the counterclockwise movement of the lever 36 enabling the lead-in surface 46 to move away from the arcuate surface 34 as the door 12 reaches the closed position of FIG. 2. This prevents any set in the surfaces which might occur if the surfaces remained engaged for any long period in any one position such as while the door is closed.

If the movement of the female hinge portion 24 is stopped while moving in either direction between open and closed positions, the frictional engagement between surfaces 34 and 44 acting on the male and female hinge members 16 and 24 will maintain the female hinge member 24 and the door 12 in that stationary position until movement of the door is again commenced. The position in which the movement of the door 12 is stopped may be any position between open and closed thereby giving the hinge 14 an infinite position hold open capacity.

Thus, an infinite position hold open hinge, according to this invention, utilizes the frictional engagement between a brake and a pivotally mounted lever having engaging arcuate surfaces to require a greater force to close the door mounted by such a hinge than is required to open the same door and yet holds the door in any intermediate position between open and closed position.

Claims

I claim:

1. An infinite position hold open hinge comprising, a pair of pivotally interconnected hinge members movable between first and second positions, a first element mounted on one member and having an arcuate surface generated about the hinge axis, a second element pivotally mounted to the other member for movement therewith and movement relative thereto about an element axis independent of the hinge axis, the second element having an arcuate surface generated about the hinge axis and frictionally engageable with the arcuate surface of the first element during swinging movement of the members, means resiliently maintaining the second element in the path of the first element, the element axis being located circumferentially behind the arcuate surface of the second element and the frictional drag generated between the arcuate surfaces pivoting the second element into the first element to increase the friction and the force required to move the members relative to each other from the first position to the second position, the element axis being located circumferentially ahead of the arcuate surface of the second element and the frictional drag generated between the arcuate surfaces pivoting the second element away from the first element to decrease the friction and the force required to move the members relative to each other from the second position to the first position, the frictional engagement between the arcuate surfaces maintaining the hinge members in any stationary position between first and second positions.

2. An infinite position hold open hinge comprising, a pair of pivotally interconnected hinge members movable between first and second positions, a brake mounted on one member and having an arcuate surface generated about the hinge axis, a lever pivotally mounted at one end to the other member for movement about a lever axis independent of the hinge axis, the lever having an arcuate surface adjacent the other end generated about the hinge axis and frictionally engageable with the arcuate surface of the brake during swinging movement of the members, means resiliently maintaining the other end of the lever in the path of the brake, the lever axis being located circumferentially behind the arcuate surface of the lever and the frictional drag generated between the arcuate surfaces pivoting the lever about the lever axis into the brake to increase the friction and the force required to move the members relative to each other from the first position to the second position, the lever axis being located circumferentially ahead of the arcuate surface of the lever and the frictional drag generated between the arcuate surfaces pivoting the lever about the lever axis away from the brake to decrease the friction and the force required to move the members relative to each other from the second position to the first position, the frictional engagement between the arcuate surfaces maintaining the hinge members in any stationary position between first and second positions.

3. An infinite position hold open hinge as recited in claim 2 including means maintaining the arcuate surfaces out of frictional engagement when the members are in one of the positions thereof.

4. An infinite position hold open hinge comprising, a pair of pivotally interconnected hinge members movable between first and second positions, a brake mounted on one member and having an arcuate surface generated about the hinge axis, a lever pivotally mounted at one end to the other member for movement about a lever axis independent of the hinge axis, the lever having an arcuate surface adjacent the other end generated about the hinge axis and frictionally engageable with the arcuate surface of the brake, one arcuate surface having a lead in surface generated about an axis other than the hinge axis and tangentially merging with the one arcuate surface, a spring mounted between the lever and the other member for resiliently maintaining the other end of the lever in the path of the brake, the lever axis being located circumferentially behind the arcuate surface of the lever and the lead-in surface initially moving into engagement with the other arcuate surface and then moving the one arcuate surface into engagement with the other arcuate surface to generate a frictional drag between the arcuate surfaces which swings the lever about the lever axis into the brake to increase the friction and the force required to move the members relative to each other from the first position to the second position, the lever axis being located circumferentially ahead of the arcuate surface of the lever and the frictional drag generated between the arcuate surfaces pivoting the lever about the lever axis away from the brake to decrease the friction and the force required to move the members relative to each other from the second position to the first position, the frictional engagement between the arcuate surfaces maintaining the hinge members in any relative stationary position, and stop means mounted on one member and engaging the lever when the members are in one of the positions thereof to locate the lead in surface out of engagement with the brake.