Self-closing Door Hinges

Abstract

The hinge comprises a flange attachable to a door jamb and a strap attachable to a door. A cam is fixed to the flange and a follower for said cam has a polygonal rod fixed thereto and protruding therefrom.The rod is insertable into a complementary through hole in the strap from either end of the hole so that the strap can be reversed 180.degree. with respect to the flange. The cam is symmetrical about a transverse diametric plane passing through the axis of the cam. The follower matches the cam. The strap can thus be attached to either a right hand or left hand door. Upon turning the door from closed to open position, the door rises due to coaction of cam and follower, and the door is self closing by gravity.

Description

This invention relates to door hinge hardware.

An object of this invention is to provide highly improved door hinge hardware of the character described which is reversible for use with right hand or left hand doors and is self-closing for either right or left hand doors.

Another object of this invention is to provide door hinge hardware of the character described so constructed as to ensure that the door is shut tight in closed position of the door.

Still another object of this invention is to provide door hinge hardware of the character described comprising a flange attachable to a door jamb and carrying a cam formed with a bore, and a strap having a through hole of non-circular cross-section, and a follower rotatably and slidably received in said bore and having a cam surface matching the cam surface of the cam, and a rod non-rotatably and slidably insertable into said through opening from either end, whereby said strap is reversible 180.degree. in its own plane for use with left hand or right hand doors.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide self-closing door hinge hardware in which the cam surfaces on said cam and on said follower are similar and symmetrical about a plane passing through the axis of said cam and follower, and said cam surfaces being such that said door will rise upon opening the door and will self-close the drop down by gravity when the door is tapped from open position toward closing position, and will remain in fully opened position when the door is fully opened, and will remain in closed position when the door closes.

A further object of this invention is to provide door hinge hardware of the character described provided with a cap to close either side of the through hole in the strap when the non-circular rod is inserted into the opposite end of said through hole.

A still further object of this invention is to provide door hinge hardware of the character described which permits the straps to be made in various lengths and either of the offset or flush types.

Yet a further object of this invention is to provide improved door hinge hardware of the surface type or edgemount type.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide edge-mount door hinge hardware of the character described, in which the strap is attached to an edge of the door, and is provided with means to permit adjustment of the position of the door relative to the door jamb to compensate for wear in the door gaskets.

Yet a further object of this invention is to provide in edgemount door hinge hardware of the character described, a strap having an opening to permit insertion of a screw driver to turn the screws for attaching the strap to the door edge in adjusted position, and a removable plug or plate to close said opening.

One other object of this invention is to provide a strong, rugged and durable door hinge construction of the character described which shall be relatively inexpensive to manufacture, easy to set up and adjust, which shall be smooth and positive in action, which shall be easy to manipulate, and which shall yet be practical and efficient to a high degree in use.

Other objects of this invention will in part be obvious and in part hereinafter pointed out.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described, and of which the scope of the invention will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawing, in which are shown various illustrative embodiments of this invention,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a surface mount, offset type door hinge construction on a left hand opening door, in closed position, and embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial view like FIG. 2 and showing the position of the strap in open door position;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 4--4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of the door hinge of FIG. 1 in a right hand opening door condition;

FIG. 6 is an exploded, perspective view of the parts of the hinge of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is an exploded view of the cam and follower of the hinge construction of FIG. 1 with part of the cam broken away and in cross-section;

8 is a perspective view of a surface mount, flush type hinge embodying the invention;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1 but showing a shorter strap arm;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 8 but showing a shorter strap arm;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of an edgemount hinge embodying the invention;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 12--12 of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a top view of the hinge of FIG. 11 showing a door jamb and door to which the flange and strap are attached, respectively, in cross-section;

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 14--14 of FIG. 12;

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 15--15 of FIG. 12; and

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 16--16 of FIG. 12.

Referring now in detail to the drawing and particularly to FIGS. 1-7, thereof, numeral 10 designates hinge hardware embodying the invention and comprises a flange 11 attached to a door jamb and a strap 13 attached to a door and cooperating with said flange. This hinge is a surface mount hinge and the strap is an offset type strap.

The flange 11, comprises a metal part 16 having a flat back plate portion 17 from which there extends forwardly, an integral socket part 18 formed with an upwardly opening socket 19. Plate 17 many extend above and also below, and to the sides of socket part 18. Said socket 19 comprises an upper cylindrical bore 19a from which there extends, downwardly a part cylindrical portion 19b, forming an upper shelf 19c, a bottom surface 19d and a vertical surface 19e parallel to back wall 17 and closer somewhat to rear of bore 19a than to the front of said bore. Thus the angular extent of part cylindrical surface 19b is greater than 180.degree.. Surface 19e may have a plurality of vertical spaced ridges 19f, if desired. The bottom wall 20 of socket portion 18 may have a hole 21 at the axis of bore 19a for the purpose hereinafter explained. The back of plate 17 and socket portion 18 may be formed with cavities 22 to reduce weight. Plate 17 may have screw holes 17a to attach the flange to a door jamb by screw 17b.

Fitted into socket 19 and fixed therein, is a cam 23 which may be made of rigid nylon or the like hard plastic having a low coefficient of friction. Cam 23 has an upper cylindrical part 24 received in bore 19a and a lower part-cylindrical part 25 received in the lower part 19b of the socket 19. Part 25 of the cam 23 has a vertical surface 26 contacting surface 19e of the socket 19, a bottom wall 27 resting on wall 20, and a horizontal wall 28 resting on shoulder 19c. The cam 23 is hollow having an upwardly opening axial bore 29. The lower end of bore 29 is formed with a cam surface 30 which is symmetrical about a vertical plane through the axis of the cam and perpendicular to back wall 17. Cam surface 30 has a bottom dwell 31 furthermost forwardly of the back wall 17, a pair of upwardly and rearwardly sloping cam surfaces 32 extending from said dwell portion 31, and a top dwell portion 33 closest to the back wall 17. Vertical planes at all radial angles, through the axis of the cam, cut the cam surface 30 along horizontal lines. The cam surface 30 is above the bottom surface of walls 27,28 and above surface 26 of the cam. Said cam may be grooved at its surface 26 to receive the ridges 19f of the surface 19e of the socket part 18. The upper end of cam 23 is flush with the upper end of socket part 18. Said cam 23 may be force fitted into socket 19 or fixed therein in any suitable manner.

The bottom wall of cam 23 has a central or axial opening 27a registering with opening 21 but smaller than said opening, to permit said cam to be knocked out of socket 19.

The strap 13 comprises an arm or strap portion 40 having an inner surface 41 contacting the outside or front surface of the door 14, and is attached to the door by means of screws passing through screw holes 42 in said strap portion. At one end of said strap portion 40 is an integral tangent annular hub portion 45 countersunk as at 46, at opposite ends to receive a cap 47 at either one end or the other. Said annular portion 45 is formed with an axial through opening 48 of non-circular shape, here shown for purpose of illustration, as being of transverse hexagonal shape. Slidably inserted into hole 48 (from either end) is a rod 50 protruding downwardly therefrom when its upper end is flush with the upper countersunk 46. Said rod is here shown as also being of hexagonal cross-sectional shape to slidably fit in opening 48. Near the upper end of rod 50 is an annular groove 51 to receive an O-ring 52 to keep the rod from accidentally sliding out of the hole 48.

The lower end of rod 50 is force fitted into a hexagonal socket or blind opening 54 of a cam follower 55. Said follower is also made of hard nylon or other rigid plastic material of low coefficient of friction. Said follower has an outer cylindrical surface 56 and a bottom cam surface 57 which matches the cam surface 30 of the cam 23.

Said socket or opening 54 terminates above said cam surface 57. The bottom wall of follower 55 is formed with an axial opening 60 to permit rod 50 to be knocked out of the follower.

FIG. 1 shows an offset type strap in which strap portion or arm 40 is forwardly offset with respect to the axis of annular portion 45. The strap is shown in FIG. 1 mounted for a left hand opening door.

The inner surface 41 of strap portion 40 slopes rearwardly and to the right a few degrees so that the door closes on the door jamb slightly before the follower cam surface 57 is at the very bottom of the cam surface 30 of the cam 23 to thereby insure full closure of the door.

When inserting the rod 50 in hole or through opening 48, care should be taken to make sure that the low part of cam surface 57 will register with the low part of cam 30 when the strap 40 is in fully door closing position.

The cam surface 57 is symmetrical about a vertical plane perpendicular to back wall 17 if the rod 50 is inserted in hole 48 at the correct angular position relative to said hole.

The door will dwell in its closed, lower position. As the door is opened, the door will rise due to interaction of cam surfaces 30, 57. Of course two or more hinges are used for each door but since all the hinges are the same, only one is shown and described.

As the door is opened by moving the door 180.degree. to the left, coaction of cam surfaces 30, 57 will cause the door to be raised until the door is fully open, and the swell at the top of the cam surface 30 and at the bottom of cam surface 57 will allow the door to remain in open position. However, when the door is tapped toward closing position, gravity and the cam surfaces will allow the door to self close and drop at the same time.

To use the strap 13 for a right hand door, said strap is lifted up off the flange, and the follower is pulled down to pull the rod 50 out of hole 48. The strap 13 is then rotated 180.degree. in its own plane so that strap portion or arm 40 extends to the left as shown in FIG. 5 instead of to the right as shown in FIG. 1. The cap 47 is taken off one end of the annular portion 45 and mounted on the other end thereof. The rod 50 is then inserted in the opposite end of hole 48, from the bottom upwardly and the follower 55 slid down into the cam 23. Again care must be taken to ensure that rod 50 is inserted at such radial angle that cam surface 57 will contact cam surface 30 fully.

In FIG. 8 there is shown a surface mount flush type hinge 10a comprising a flange 11 (the flange of hinge 10), and a strap 13a like the strap 13 of hinge 10, except that the strap is of the flush type and having an arm 40a similar to arm 40 except that it is in the plane of back wall 17. The back wall is attached to a door jamb in the plane of a door to which arm 40a is attached.

In FIG. 9, there is shown a hinge 10b like hinge 10 except that the strap has an arm 40b of less length than arm 40. This hinge is also a surface mount offset type hinge.

In FIG. 10 there is shown a hinge 10c which is like hinge 10a except that the arm 40c of its strap is shorter than arm 40a of hinge 10a. This hinge is also a surface mount flush type hinge.

In FIGS. 11 to 16 there is shown an edgemount type hinge 10d comprising flange 60 and a strap 61 cooperating therewith . Flange 60 is attached to an edge of a door jamb 62 while the strap 61 is attached to an edge of a door 63. Flange 60 comprises a casting 66 having a back wall 67 from the lower end of which a socket portion 68 extends forwardly. The casting 66 is narrower than member 11 so as to fit an edge of the door jamb. Its socket portion 68 is constructed like socket portion 18 of said member 11, although narrower in dimension. The socket portion 68 has an upwardly opening socket 69 similar to socket 19. A cam member 70 similar to cam member 23 fits into the socket 69 and has a socket 70a similar to socket 29 of cam 23.

Flange 61 is also narrow to fit an edge of a door. It has side wall 71, and upper and lower symmetrical portions 72 formed with aligned hexagonal through openings 73 and a hollow chamber or cavity 74 therebetween bounded at the side by said sidewalls 71 and at the rear by a back wall 75 formed with three parallel vertically aligned horizontal through slots 76 for screws 77. The screws have heads 77a and shanks 77b. The shanks pass through the slots 76 and screw into an edge of the door 63. The inner side of wall 75 is formed with vertical serrations or teeth 78. Placed against the inner serrated side 78 of wall 75 is an adjusting plate 80 having round holes 81 through which shanks 77b of the screws 77 pass. The heads 77a of the screws contact the plate. The side of plate 80 which is against the serrated side 78 of wall 65 is similarly vertically serrated as at 82.

Plate 80 is narrower than the inner side of wall 75. Thus the casting 66 can be adjusted sideways relative to plate 80 to adjust the position of the strap 61 relative to the door.

Slidably mounted in cam member 70 is a follower 90 similar to follower 55. The cam member 70 is formed at the lower end of its socket 70a with a cam surface similar to cam surface 30. The follower 90 has at its lower end a complementary cam surface similar to cam surface 57 of follower 55. Said cam follower 90 has an axial hexagonal socket 91 receiveing the lower end of a hexagonal rod 92 fixed thereto and which projects up and is slidably inserted into the hexagonal through hole 73 of the lower portion 72 of casting 66. The upper and lower end of casting 66 have a countersunk depression 94 receiving a cap 95 at either end. Cap 96 has bifurcated fingers 95a projecting down into the upper hexagonal hole 73. The lower end of rod 92 is fixed in socket 91. It has a groove at its upper end carrying an O-ring 98.

To change the hinge from a right hand door hinge to a left hand door hinge, the cap 95 is removed, the screws 77 are removed; member 66 is pulled up off rod 92 and rotated 180.degree. in its plane to bring its upper end down and its lower end up. The now lower end is then fitted on rod 92 and the screws reapplied.

The open side of socket 74 may be closed by a plate or plug 100. Said plate 100 may have fingers 101 to frictionally engage the inner surfaces of side wall 71 to hold the plate in place. When the plate 100 is removed a screw driver can be inserted, to turn the screws 77.

It will thus be seen that there is provided an article in which the several objects of this invention are achieved, and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiments above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings, is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Claims

I claim:

1. A hinge comprising one part formed with an upwardly facing cam surface and a second part having a portion formed with a through opening, and a third part comprising a follower rotatably and slidably mounted on said one part and having a downwardly facing cam surface complementary to the cam surface of said first part and a rod fixed to said follower and projecting thereabove and slidably and non-rotatably engageable in said through opening from either end of said opening, said third part having means to move said second part axially upwardly upon rotating said second and third parts together from a predetermined angular position of said second and third parts relative to said first part.

2. The combination of claim 1, said hinge constituting a door hinge, said one part having means for attachment to a door jamb, said another part having means for attachment to a door.

3. The combination of claim 1, said cam surfaces being symmetrical about a plane passing through the axis of said follower.

4. The combination of claim 1, said one part constituting a hinge flange, said second part constituting a hinge strap.

5. The combination of claim 1, said one part comprising a socket part and cam member fixed therein and formed with said bore, said cam member and said follower being made of rigid plastic material.

6. The combination of claim 1, said one part comprising a flange having a back wall formed with a back surface to contact a surface of a door jamb, means to attach said flange to said door jamb, said second part comprising a strap provided with a strap arm having a surface to contact a door, means to attach said said strap arm to said door, said surface of said arm being inclined to said back surface of said flange and toward said back surface in a direction away from the axis of said bore and follower, when said cam surfaces are fully in contact and said door is in closed position.

7. The combination of claim 6, said cam surfaces being symmetrical about a plane passing through the axis of said one part and follower and perpendicular to said back surface of said back wall.

8. The combination of claim 1, and cap means to close the end of said through opening opposite the end thereof into which said rod is inserted, and said second part having means on opposite ends of said through opening to receive said cap.

9. The combination of claim 1, said one part having a back wall, and means extending from the lower end of said back wall and formed with a bore to receive said follower said portion of said second part being located above said extending means of said one part.

10. The combination of claim 1, said second part having a wall formed with transverse slots and with serrations parallel to the axis of said follower, a plate having serrations on one side complementary to the serrations of said wall, said plate being formed with screw holes registering with said slots for screws to be screwed into a door, whereby a mount said second part on said door in various adjusted positions relative to said door.

11. The combination of claim 10, said second part having a chamber disposed between the ends of said through opening, and means to removably close said chamber.

12. The combination of claim 1, said rod being provided with O-ring means engaging the inner surface of said through opening.

13. The combination of claim 1, said parts comprising parts of an edgemount hinge.

14. The combination of claim 1, said second part comprising a surface mount offset door strap.

15. The combination of claim 1, said second part comprising a surface mount flush door strap.

16. The combination of claim 1, said through opening and rod being polygonal in cross-section.

17. The combination of claim 1, said cam surfaces having dwells in the fully open and fully closed positions of said hinge.

18. The combination of claim 1, said one part, follower and rod being coaxial.

19. A door hinge comprising a flange part having a back wall and a forward extension formed with an upwardly opening socket, a cam member fixed in said socket, said cam member having an upwardly opening socket formed with a cam surface at the lower end of its socket, a follower rotatably and slidably mounted in said socket of said cam member, and formed with a cam surface at its lower end complementary to the first mentioned cam surface, a non-circular rod fixed to said follower and projecting above said follower, and a strap part having a non-circular through hole, said rod being slidably and non rotatably receivable in said through hole from either end thereof, said follower and rod being movable together axially, upon rotation of said strap part from a predetermined angular position and means to move said strap part as said follower are rod more axially.

20. The combination of claim 19, said surface of the other of said elements being inclined to said surface of said one element when said cams are in full contact.

21. A door hinge comprising a flange part having a back wall and a forward extension formed with an upwardly opening socket a cam member fixed in said socket, said cam member having an upwardly opening socket formed with a cam surface at the lower end of its socket, a follower rotatably and slidably mounted in said socket of said cam member, and formed with a cam surface at its lower end complementary to the first mentioned cam surface, said follower having a non-circular rod fixed to said follower and projecting above said follower, and a strap part having a non-circular through hole, said rod being slidably and non rotatably receivable in said through hole from either end thereof.

22. A hinge comprising a pair of hinge parts, means to attach one part to a surface of a door jamb, means to attach the other part to a surface of a door, one part having a socket formed with end cam means coaxial with said socket, a follower rotatably and slidably received in said socket coaxially thereof, and having end cam means complementary to the cam means of said socket, an axial non-circular rod extending up from said follower, said other part having means at both ends to slidably and non-rotatably receive said rod, said cam means of said socket and follower, being symmetrical about a plane passing through the axis of said socket and follower and perpendicular to one of said surfaces, whereby said other part can be slid off the rod, in a first position of said other part and reversed 180.degree. in its own plane and then slidably remounted on said rod in a second position thereof, and said other part will rise on one part of the socket cam means when said other part is turned 180.degree. in one direction from said first position and will rise on another part of said socket cam means when turned 180.degree. in an opposite direction from said second position; whereby said other part may be used with a left hand door or with a right hand door.

23. The combination of claim 22, said cam means of said socket and cam means of said follower, having full contact in the dropped position of said other part, and dwell means to hold said other part on raised position when said other part is turned 180.degree. from either the first or second positions, and said other part will drop by gravity to self-close the door to which it is attached when said other part is moved past said dwell, in directions back toward either first or second position.