Compact door coordinator

Abstract
The present invention is a compact door coordinator which includes a relatively narrow housing having mounted therein and extending therefrom a lead control lever and a longer trailing control lever. Both control levers are spring biased to extend from the housing when the doors are open. A relatively simple linkage extends from the lead control lever to the trailing control lever for retaining the ladder in its extended position until the lead door contacts the lead control lever. At that point, the lead control lever is pushed into the housing and rotated against the force of a torsion spring, causing the linkage to move and thereby rotating a cam which then releases the trailing control lever allowing the trailing door to push the trailing control lever into the housing to complete the closing process. When the doors are reopened, the force of the torsion springs causes the lead and trailing levers to once again extend from the housing while resetting the cam to retain the trailing lever in its extended position until it is released.
Description




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to coordinators for controlling the sequential closing of a pair of oppositely hinged swinging doors in which one door is the lead door and the other is the trailing door.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




Closing off large doorways often requires using a pair of doors, and the latching mechanisms used with such doors often dictate the sequence in which the doors must close to engage the latches. For example, one door may carry the latch mechanism while the remaining door must carry the receiver or striker mechanism. In a single-door doorway, the striker mechanism is mounted to the door frame and engages the latch mechanism when the door is closed. In the foregoing example, the door carrying the receiver or striker mechanism will be called the “lead door” meaning that this door must be closed first in order to correctly engage the latching mechanism. The remaining door carrying the latching mechanism will be called the “trailing door.” Other door arrangements include an overlapping strip or astragal intended to close off any gap that may exist between the doors when they are in the fully closed position. The astragal must be mounted to the trailing door to allow the doors to close.




Door closing coordinators are well known in the art and serve the function of controlling the sequence in which the lead and trailing doors close. Door closing coordinators are commonly used in conjunction with doors that have some type of automatic door closing mechanism that will move a door from an open to a closed position after the door has been released. Carrying the foregoing example a bit further both the lead and trailing doors have automatic door closing mechanisms which will move the doors to a closed position and it is the coordinator's task to ensure that the lead door reaches a fully closed position before the trailing door regardless of the relative positions the doors are in when they are released, the speed with which each door closes, or other variables.




U.S. Pat. No. 4,429,492 (Imhoff) teaches and describes a door coordinator for a pair of oppositely hinged doors which controls the sequence in which the doors close by placing a stop proximate the hinge edge of the trailing door which props the door open sufficiently to allow the lead door to clear it and close. A release mechanism is contacted by the lead door which then allows the trailing door to close. Such door coordinators are preferably installed in the overhead portion of the door frame or are attached to the overhead portion of the door frame.




U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,234 (Simon et al) teaches and claims a door coordinator having a door stop which contacts the trailing door proximate the hinge edge of the door and a release mechanism which is contacted by the lead door intermediate the hinge edge and free edge of the lead door.




U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,505 (Cohrs) teaches and describes a door coordinator having a door stop which contacts the trailing door intermediate the hinge and free edges of the door and a release which, when contacted by the trailing door, releases the door stop. This patent uses a sliding carriage mechanism which extends between the door stop and the door release.




U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,216 (Tillmann) teaches and describes a door closer for a two-panel door with a closing sequence controlling mechanism having a door stop and door release, both of which are mounted to contact the doors proximate the hinge edges of the doors.




U.S. Pat. No. 5,582,472 (Lyons) teaches and describes a solvent storage cabinet having a door sequence control mechanism which allows the cabinet to close and latch in the event of a fire.




A product manufactured by the Triangle Brass Manufacturing Company of Los Angeles, Calif. designated as its 3092 Retracting Door Coordinator has a pair of arms of unequal length extending from an elongated housing. The longer of the two arms contacts the trailing door and holds it in an open position until the lead door contacts the shorter of the two arms, allowing the doors to close. The mechanism used with the Model 3092 Retracting Door Coordinator requires that the housing have a protuberance extending therefrom to enclose the timing mechanism.




The present invention relates to door coordinators of the general type illustrated by the Model 3092 coordinator that provide new, improved and more compact construction by enclosing the operating mechanism in a housing which is uniform in cross sectional area throughout and which is sufficiently compact to allow ease of installation while at the same time providing a narrow profile and attractive appearance.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The present invention includes a relatively narrow housing consisting of an aluminum tube with a rectangular cross-sectional configuration from which extend a lead control lever and a trailing control lever with the trailing control lever being longer than the lead control lever. Both control levers are spring biased to extend from the housing when the doors are open. A relatively simple linkage extending from the lead control lever to the trailing control lever retains the trailing control lever in its extended position until the lead door contacts the lead control lever, at which point the lead control lever is pushed into the housing and rotated against the force of the torsion spring, causing the linkage to move and thereby rotating a cam which then releases the trailing control lever allowing the trailing door to push the trailing control lever into the housing to complete the closing process.




When the doors are reopened, the force of the torsion springs causes the lead and trailing levers to once again extend from the housing, while resetting the cam to retain trailing lever in its extended position until it is released.




The mechanism is designed to have a pre-set release force at which point the trailing control lever will disengage and allow the trailing door to close even though the lead door has not yet closed. This feature is intended to prevent damage to the trailing door.




In yet another version of the present invention, means are provided to adjust the release force of the trailing control lever.




BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




These and further aspects of the present invention may better be understood by referring to the accompanying drawings in which:





FIG. 1

is a sectional view of a prior art door coordinator taken from U.S. Pat. No. 4,429,492;





FIG. 2

is a top plan view of the present invention showing the control levers extended therefrom;





FIG. 3

is a bottom sectional view of the embodiment shown in

FIG. 2

taken halfway through the thickness thereof.





FIG. 4

is an enlarged view of the cam mechanism shown in

FIG. 2

;





FIG. 5

is a front plan view of the cam;





FIG. 6

is a bottom plan view of the cam;





FIG. 7

is a sectional view of the present invention similar to

FIG. 3

showing the levers retracted;





FIG. 8

is an enlarged section view of a second embodiment of the present invention taken similarly to

FIG. 3

of the first embodiment showing the release force adjusting mechanism;





FIG. 9

is a top plan view of the Model 3092 door closer with portions of the case removed to reveal the operating mechanism;





FIG. 10

is an enlarged view of the door closer shown in FIG.


9


.




It is an object of the present invention to provide door coordinator mechanisms which are compact in shape and which operate by contacting the lead and trailing doors at a point distal from the hinge edge of the doors to reduce the force that must be maintained to hold each of the doors in an open position.




It is a further object of the present invention to provide such door coordinators and forms where the release force exerted by the lead control lever is adjustable.




While the following describes a preferred embodiment or embodiments of the present invention, it is to be understood that this description is made by way of example only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. It is expected that alterations and further modifications, as well as other and further applications of the principles of the present invention will occur to others skilled in the art to which the invention relates and, while differing from the foregoing, remain within the spirit and scope of the invention as herein described and claimed.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




Referring now to

FIG. 1

, the numeral


10


identifies generally a doorway of the type requiring two doors to close off the door opening. The view of

FIG. 1

taken in an overhead sectional view has a first wall


12


and a second wall


14


defining the left and right vertical segments of the door opening defined generally as


16


. The remaining portions defining the door opening are the floor (not shown) which may or may not have a door jamb attached to it within opening


16


and the upper frame


18


.




A lead door


20


is shown hinged to first wall


12


at hinge


22


. For purposes of convenience, throughout the present description, lead door


20


will be described as having a hinge edge


24


, which is the vertical edge of door


20


to which hinges


22


are attached, and a free edge


26


which is the vertically extending edge of the door opposite hinge edge


24


and a top edge


28


.





FIG. 1

also illustrates a trailing door


30


attached to second wall


14


by hinges


32


and having a hinge edge


34


, a free edge


36


and a top edge


38


corresponding to the features described in connection with lead door


20


. In the illustration, trailing door


30


has a lip


40


which, when doors


20


and


30


are closed, overlaps door


20


, fitting into recess


42


formed along the outer portion of door


20


.




In

FIG. 1

, the door coordinator shown therein has a door stop


44


and a release


46


with the door stop


44


being positioned to contact trailing door


30


proximate hinge edge


34


. Holding trailing door


30


open thus requires an appreciable amount of force depending upon the weight of door


30


and the distance from door stop


44


to the distance point at which the door stop


44


contacts door


30


to free edge


36


. The longer this distance, the greater force is applied to door stop


44


.




Referring now to

FIG. 2

, the numeral


48


indicates generally a door closing coordinator constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention. An elongated cylindrical housing


50


having a generally rectangular cross-sectional configuration has a front wall


52


, a rear wall


54


, a top


56


, and a bottom


58


.




A lead lever


60


having a roller


62


rotatably attached at the end thereof by pin


64


extends from housing


50


through lead lever slot


66


.




A trailing lever


68


having a roller


70


rotatably attached to the end thereof by pin


72


extends from housing


53


through trailing lever slot


74


.




As seen in

FIG. 3

, lead lever


60


and trailing lever


68


are spring-biased to remain in their extended positions. Lead lever


60


is formed in a generally L-shape with a lead lever base


76


integrally formed with a lead lever flange


78


with base and flange meeting at approximately a 90° angle. A lead torsion spring


80


has a first leg


82


, a second leg


84


, each integrally joined to a coiled center


86


. Lead lever


60


is pivotally attached within housing


50


at mounting peg


88


. As seen in

FIG. 3

, lead torsion spring


80


is also mounted to peg


88


at coiled center


86


thereof with first leg


82


resting against flange


78


and second curled portion surrounding pin


84




a


when torsion spring


80


is in its unstressed or non-compressed position. As can be seen, torsion spring


80


is compressed when lever


60


is rotated in a clockwise direction around peg


88


and thus is constantly urging lever


60


to its fully extended position. The outward travel of lever


60


is limited by the contact of flange


78


with the innermost edge


90


of slot


64


.




In like fashion, trailing lever


68


is formed with a generally L-shaped cross section with a base


92


and a flange


94


meeting base


92


at approximately a 90° angle. A trailing torsion spring


96


has a first leg


98


, a second leg


100


and a coiled center


102


, corresponding to spring


80


. Lever


68


is pivotally mounted within housing


50


on peg


104


as is torsion spring


96


, with first leg


98


contacting flange


94


and second leg


100


contacting the inner surface of rear wall


54


. Counterclockwise rotation of trailing lever


68


is thus opposed by torsion spring


96


and torsion spring


96


which urges lever


68


to its outermost protruding position. The outermost rotation of lever


68


is limited by edge


106


of slot


74


.




As seen in

FIGS. 3 and 4

, a linkage


108


has a link


110


which extends from trailing lever


68


to a stop cam assembly


112


. Stop cam assembly


112


is designed to hold lead lever


76


is an extended position and resist rotation of lead lever


76


around peg


88


until stop cam assembly is moved by the movement of link arm


110


in response to the movement of trailing lever


68


. This mechanical operation will be described in more detail hereinafter.




As seen in greater detail in

FIGS. 4 and 5

, stop cam assembly


112


has a stop cam


114


formed in a generally P-shape with a nose


116


and a stem


118


terminating in a sloped or pitched stem bottom


120


. As seen in

FIG. 6

, stem


122


has a slot


124


milled therethrough forming a pair of stem legs


126


and


128


. A pair of apertures


130


,


132


are formed through legs


126


and


128


, respectively and are coaxially aligned with one another. A central aperture


134


is formed through the P-shaped portion of cam


112


as seen in FIG.


6


.




As seen in

FIG. 5

, the lowermost surfaces


136


,


138


of legs


126


and


128


are angled or pitched. As seen in

FIG. 4

, in its at rest position, cam


114


has end


140


of nose


116


rest against flange


78


of lever


60


while leg bottoms


136


and


138


rest flat against the rear wall


54


of housing


50


. In this position, cam


114


prevents lever


60


from rotating about pin


88


.




Referring now to

FIG. 8

, it can be seen that link


110


has a first oval shape link aperture


142


formed at one end and a second link aperture


144


formed at the other end. One end of link


110


is slidably attached to lever


68


by pin


146


, inserted through aperture


142


. Oval aperture


142


provides a lost motion portion for the movement of link


110


that allows the trailing arm


60


to move upwardly without pulling the trailing arm


68


downward. The trailing arm is allowed to stay fully extended and is biased in position by spring


132




a


mounted around pin


132


at one end of link


110


.




As seen in

FIG. 4

, the remaining end of link


110


is pivotally attached to cam


114


by aligning aperture


148


with cam apertures


130


and


132


and passing pin


148


through aligned apertures


130


,


144


and


132


. As also seen in

FIG. 4

, cam


114


is rotatably mounted to housing


50


by housing pin


150


which passes through top


56


and bottom


58


of housing


50


. In

FIG. 5

, it can be seen that rotating cam


114


in a clockwise direction will move nose end


140


past the end of flange


78


to position A shown in phantom in

FIG. 4

, thus releasing lever


60


to rotate about pin


88


.




As seen in

FIG. 7

, rotation of cam


114


occurs when lever


68


is itself rotated in a counterclockwise direction to move link


110


which, in turn, pushes against pin


148


. Thus, in operation, when trailing door


20


contacts roller


70


, lever


68


is rotated in a counterclockwise direction against the force of torsion spring


96


which, in turn, rotates cam


114


in a clockwise direction releasing lever


60


and allowing lever


60


to rotate in a clockwise direction when contacted by trailing door


30


. When doors


20


,


30


are opened, coordinator


48


is reset as torsion spring


80


and


96


rotate levers


60


and


68


to their extended or outward position while, at the same time, moving link


110


to rotate cam


114


in a counterclockwise position to again secure lever


68


against any movement until lever


60


is itself rotated.




Referring now to

FIG. 8

, the numeral


152


indicates generally an override release adjusting mechanism which consists of a bracket


154


extending between housing top


56


and housing bottom


58


, and sized to leave a gap or passageway


156


between bracket


154


and rear wall


54


. Bracket


154


has a threaded aperture


158


through which an adjusting screw


160


is threaded. Surrounding the shank


162


of screw


160


is a coil spring


164


, one end of which abuts against washer


166


which, in turn, abuts bracket


154


, and the other end of which is held in place by screw head washer


168


. Thus, as adjusting screw


160


is threaded into aperture


158


, spring


164


is compressed.




An adjusting slide


170


preferably formed as a flat metal segment with a rectangular cross-sectional configuration is inserted into housing


50


through passageway


156


. A cam mounting bracket


172


is mounted to slide


170


at the end distal from bracket


154


and has a cam mounting aperture


174


through which mounting pin


176


is used to pivotally mount cam


178


. Cam


178


is in its shape, function and operating characteristics substantially the same as cam


114


described above. In

FIG. 8

, link


110


is attached to cam


178


in the same fashion as described above and serves to rotate cam


178


when arm


68


is pushed in as described above.




Operation of the release mechanism may now be described. When a sufficiently large force is applied to lead lever


60


, the force applied to cam


178


will be sufficient to overcome the force exerted by spring


164


and slide


170


will move leftward (as depicted in

FIG. 8

) releasing lever


60


from cam


178


and allowing lever


60


to be pushed into housing


50


. The force required to release arm


60


may be adjusted by turning adjusting screw


160


to either compress or release spring


164


. For more specific applications, springs


164


of different stiffnesses and rates may





FIGS. 9 and 10

illustrate the Model 3092 door coordinator described above. As can be seen in both

FIGS. 9 and 10

, the 3092 coordinator


180


has a housing


182


from which a pair of arms


184


,


186


extend in much the same manner as described hereinabove. As best seen in

FIG. 10

, the timing mechanism


188


used in coordinator


180


requires that the housing be enlarged to accommodate the internal mechanism, resulting in a housing protuberance


190


.




The present invention offers advantages over coordinator


180


in that no protuberance is required and the timing mechanism may be wholly contained within a relatively inexpensive aluminum tube which is rectangular in cross-sectional configuration.




Use of the present invention may now be described. Coordinator


48


is held in position along an uppermost surface of door opening


16


while doors


20


and


30


are moved toward a closing position in order to determine where lead lever


60


and trailing lever


68


may best be positioned. When this position is determined, coordinator


48


is secured to upper door frame


18


by the use of conventional threaded fasteners driven thorough mounting holes formed in housing


50


and in a position where doors


20


and


30


may be fully closed as though no coordinator is being used.




When doors


20


and


30


are opened and then released, trailing door


30


will be held by lever


68


until lead door


20


closes to contact lead lever


60


. As door


20


continues to move to a fully closed position, lead lever


60


is pushed into housing


50


thereby moving link


110


to rotate cam


114


and release trailing lever


68


which, in turn, allows trailing door


30


to move to a fully closed position.




Applying a predetermined override force to trailing door


30


while it is being propped open by trailing lever


68


will release trailing lever


68


and allow trailing door


30


to close even before lead door


20


has fully closed. Although this means that the doors will close out of sequence, this feature is intended to prevent damage to trailing door


30


in the event that door


30


is struck or hit.




The override force at which trailing lever


30


will release is adjusted by rotating adjusting screw


158


and applying test force to the door to determine the appropriate force setting to use.




While two embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that improvements and modifications may be made within the scope of the invention. Therefore, it is the intent of the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications which fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.



Claims
  • 1. A door closing coordinator used to control a sequence in which first and second doors are closed, said coordinator comprising:a housing, said housing formed as a tube having a uniform cross section along its length, said tube having a front face, a rear wall, a top panel, a bottom panel, a left end and a right end, first and second arms mounted within and extendable from said housing, each said arm having first and second ends, each said arm pivotally attached to said housing proximate said first arm end, said first arm being shorter in length than said second arm; means for extending said arms outward from said housing to a ready position; means to retain said second arm in said ready position until said first arm is contacted by said first of said doors and retracted into said housing, said retaining means including a timing cam member engaging said second arm proximate said first end, a link having first and second ends, said first link end pivotally attached to said cam and said second link end pivotally attached to said first arm proximate said first arm and whereby retraction of said first arm into said housing causes said link to rotate said cam to disengage said first end of said second arm allowing said second arm to retract into said housing when contacted by said second door.
  • 2. The apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein said housing is of sufficient length to allow said first and second arms to retract fully within said housing.
  • 3. The apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein portions of said front face and portions of said left and right ends are removed to allow said first and second arms to align parallel to an axis extending along the length of said housing to allow a portion of either or both of said retaining arms to extend from said housing when said arms are in said retracted position.
  • 4. The apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein said cam has a nose portion which contacts said second arm proximate said first end.
  • 5. The apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein said arm extension means is a spring mounted coaxially with said pivot point of each said arm,each said spring being generally L-shaped and having first and second legs with one said leg contacting one said arm and the remaining said leg contacting one of the interior wall of said housing and a pivot pin.
  • 6. The apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein said cam is spring-biased to engage said second arm.
  • 7. The apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein said cam is mounted to said housing by a pivot pin extending through said housing from said top panel to said bottom panel.
  • 8. The apparatus as recited in claim 1 where each said arm is pivotally mounted to said housing by a pivot pin passing through said housing from said top panel to said bottom panel.
  • 9. The apparatus as recited in claim 1 including means to adjust the amount of force required to disengage said second arm when said second arm is engaged with said cam,said adjusting means including a sliding plate having a bracket mounted thereon, said cam pivotally mounted to said bracket; and means to adjust the force necessary to move said plate and thereby said cam.
  • 10. The apparatus as recited in claim 9 wherein said adjusting means comprises a mounting plate mounted within said housing and having a capped hole formed therethrough,an adjusting screw threadedly inserted through said hole, a coil spring positioned concentrically through said screw, a washer positioned between said coil spring and said mounting plate, said sliding plate contacting said washer whereby adjusting the distance to which said screw is turned into or out of said bracket adjusts the force with said screw, spring and washer combination resists the movement of said plate.
  • 11. The apparatus as recited in claim 1 said second link end includes means for providing lost motion between said second link end and said first arm allowing said second arm to move from a retracted to an extended position without pulling said first arm downward.
  • 12. The apparatus as recited in claim 11 wherein said means for providing lost motion is an oval aperture at said second link end.
  • 13. The apparatus as recited in claim 12 wherein said link is biased at one end of said oval aperture against said lead arm.
Parent Case Info

This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Ser. No. 60/148,931 filed Aug. 12, 1999.

US Referenced Citations (6)
Number Name Date Kind
3895461 Maynard et al. Jul 1975
4429492 Imhoff Feb 1984
4949505 Cohrs Aug 1990
5033234 Simon Jul 1991
5582472 Lyons Dec 1996
5651216 Tillman Jul 1997
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number Date Country
630811 Nov 1961 CA
Provisional Applications (1)
Number Date Country
60/148931 Aug 1999 US