Door And Hinge Assembly

Abstract

A door and hinge pin assembly with a frame of extruded aluminum for supporting a door panel and retractable hinge pins within the aluminum extrusions for cooperation with corresponding hinge bearings in a door frame or jamb.

Description

This invention is concerned with a door and hinge assembly particularly, but not necessarily exclusively, for lighting fixtures such as, for example, those set into suspended ceilings where the lens forms part of the door and is hinged to provide access to the light sources for their replacement or for other maintenance tasks.

Conventionally, the lens of such an assembly has been supported in a frame to which one leaf of a largely conventional leaf hinge has been secured, the other leaf being secured adjacent the marginal edges of the recess into which the lighting fixture is set or to an adjacent part of the fixture.

While this invention will be described hereinafter with particular reference to its application in the field of such lighting fixtures, it will readily be appreciated that it may well find application in other and varied situations.

It is an object of this invention to provide a door and hinge pin assembly which is built into the door as distinct from the conventional hinge mechanism which is secured to a door, in this way to provide a more compact and easily assembled unit having a pleasing appearance.

Reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which an embodiment of this invention is illustrated and, in which:

FIG. 1 is a transverse cross-section of a frame element according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section on the line 2--2 of FIG. 1 prior to the formation of a corner of the frame;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a completed frame corner according to this invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing how the door may be used in a particular application; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an alternate form of this invention.

The drawings illustrate frame members 10 which are made up into a door frame to support a lens element L or other door panel element. Reference is made to FIG. 4 which shows a door according to this invention mounted in a suspended ceiling 20 for closing a lighting fixture 21 and being made up of a single frame element 10 which is notched and folded at corners 11 and 12 to form three sides of a rectangular door panel supporting frame of which the fourth side 13 is completed by a separate extrusion mitered to the free ends of the frame element 10. The unit shown in FIG. 4 is illustrated in greater detail in FIGS. 1 through 3 and is described hereinafter.

The frame element 10 of the present invention comprises an extrusion which has a main body part 50 and a pair of laterally projecting lens or other door panel receiving flanges 51 and 52. The main body part 50 of the extrusion has a keyhole section slot 53 extending longitudinally therethrough, the slot 53 having an enlarged portion 54, a necked portion 55 and a portion 56 opening to side 57 of the main body part.

In producing the corners, a single length of the extrusion is taken and is notched at the region where the corner is to be formed and as indicated particularly in FIG. 2, the sides of the notch being defined by surfaces 60 and 61. Thereafter a hole or opening 62 is formed transversely through the walls of the main body to communicate with the enlarged portion 54 of the keyhole slot 53 and to axially register with the enlarged portion of the slot 54 when the fold is completed at the notch, i.e., when the two surfaces 60 and 61 are brought into face to face relationship to form what is in effect a mitered joint.

In one method of assembly of this unit, a set screw 70 is inserted into a threaded part of the extrusion to extend into the enlarged portion 54 of slot 53 and to block that slot. Thereafter a coil spring 71 is inserted into section 54 from the "corner" side of the extrusion and a hinge pin 72 is inserted into that section 54 so that the spring acts between the set screws and pin.

The hinge pin has a laterally extending peg 73 formed therein or secured thereto and that peg constitutes a handle by which the pin may be retracted against the influence of spring 71 into the enlarged section 54 of slot 53.

After this assembly, the extrusion is folded to bring faces 60 and 61 defining the notch in the extrusion, into face to face relationship to form a right angle, or for that matter any other angle, corner and so that the pin 72 will project through hole 62 in the wall of the extrusion. This is the structure as illustrated in FIG. 3.

Alternatively to assembling the hinge pin into the slot before folding, the peg 73 may be made detachable form pin 72 so that the pin may be inserted through opening 62 and into the slot 53 and thereafter the peg 73 secured to it.

It will readily be appreciated that a single extrusion may, for some applications of this invention, be used to form all the sides of the frame for supporting the door panel or the folded extrusion may form only one and at least a part of two other sides of the frame, the other side or side and side parts being made up of separable frame elements of similar sections to the extrusion illustrated in the drawings. As a further alternative, the hinge pin assembly described hereinabove may be formed at each corner of the frame so that the door may be optionally hinged about either of two opposed edges.

An alternate form of this invention is illustrated in FIG. 5. This embodiment is one especially useful for mounting the door to the outside of a jamb and is one in which the pins are disposed at any point along the length of a frame element as distinct from being located at the corners.

The frame element is the same extrusion section as that in FIG. 1 and like parts are identified by like reference numerals. The hinge pin and its handle are the same as in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 through 4 but in this arrangement a transverse slot 100 is cut into the extrusion to expose the hinge pin. To secure the door to a jamb the jamb 101 is provided with a lug 102 which has a hinge pin opening 103 into which the pin is inserted. During assembly of course the hinge pin is withdrawn, by handle 73 and against spring 71, from the slot 100.

It is to be appreciated that this invention is subject to various changes to accommodate different types of door panels and door panels of different shapes to the generally rectangular one illustrated herein without deviation from the scope of the invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A door and hinge pin assembly comprising a lens element and an extruded frame element connected with said frame element and notched and folded at at least one point along its length to form at least a part of each of two adjacent sides of a panel supporting frame, said extrusion including a keyhole section slot extending longitudinally thereof and opening to one side of said extrusion, a transverse opening in one of said sides registering with the through-hole of the adjacent side, a hinge pin located in the enlarged part of said keyhole slot and projecting through said registering opening, stop means inserted into said slot from said one side of said extrusion, a coil spring inserted into the enlarged part of said keyhole slot between said stop means and said hinge pin, said spring acting between said pin and said stop means to bias said pin to its projected position, and handle means connected to said pin for retracting the pin against the action of said coil spring, said handle means comprising a peg projecting laterally from the pin and through the narrow portion of the slot to said one side of the extrusion, said peg registering with the corresponding slot of an adjacent side of the frame to be turned to lie within said corresponding slot in the projected position of the pin.

2. An assembly comprising: A lens element and a panel supporting frame connected with said lens element and including one element formed as an extrusion and having a longitudinally extending, keyhole section, through-hole opening to one side of the extrusion element, a pivot pin located in the hole, a handle secured to the pin and projecting laterally therefrom to said one side of the extrusion element, a coil spring disposed within said hole and to one side of said pivot pin and stop means disposed within said opening and to one side of said coil spring opposite said pivot pin, said coil spring acting to bias said pivot pin in a direction away from said spring, a transverse slot in said extrusion element exposing said pin whereby a lug of a jamb element having a hinge pin opening insertable into said slot to register said pin and opening thus releasably to pivot the door to the jamb.