This application concerns door check and release mechanisms, which selectively hold a door in an opened position and which can be released to allow the door to swing closed by a spring or gas cylinder.
Such mechanisms have been devised in the past, as for example described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,538,537, but these mechanisms are typically complex and not always reliable in operation.
It is an object of the present invention to provide such a door check and release mechanism which is relatively simple, with few moving parts and while being very reliable in operation.
The above recited object and other objects which will be understood by those skilled in the art are achieved by a check and release mechanism combined with a conventional hydraulic, gas or spring cylinder positioned alongside the mechanism which urges the door to close when the door is released.
The check and release mechanism includes a case with an elongated operator rod slidable therein in a lengthwise extending wide slot formed in the housing.
One end of the rod is connected to the gas spring cylinder mounted to a bracket fixed to a door frame so that the rod is reciprocated as the door opens and closes.
An elongated latching element is pivoted to one side of the rod so as to move therewith, a guide slot slidably receives the latch element guides its motion so that the door may freely be swung open.
As the door approaches a fully open position, the guide slot opens into an enlarged engagement chamber.
After the latch element is moved across the engagement chamber, its leading end engages a first fixed feature at the far end of the chamber which causes the latch element to tilt out of alignment with the operator rod to a predetermined limited degree and blocks any further movement of the operator rod and prevents any further tilting of the latch element.
Upon release of the door, the operator rod is retracted slightly as the door is urged to move to close, carrying the tilted latch element back until its trailing end engages a second fixed feature which engagement acts to further tilt the latch element in the same direction, and thereafter prevent any further tilting of the latch element (and any further closing motion of the operator rod), thereby holding the door open at that opened position.
To release the mechanism, the door is manually moved back towards its full open position, and the tilted latch element again engages the first fixed feature but with a now sideways facing lower side of the latching element, which is thereby pivoted to an opposite inclination away from the second fixed feature.
If the door is released to be moved in a closing direction, the operator rod continues to retract until the now exposed opposite side of the latch element engages the fixed second feature. This causes the latch element to be pivoted back to an inverted position on but again aligned with the guide slot, allowing the door to be closed.
The latching element may be formed with a V shaped recess on each end. The leading end V shaped recess engages the first fixed feature comprising a rounded lobe located slightly below the center of the latch element pivot, causing the latch element to be pivoted to a slightly tilted position as the latching element comes to a stop against the fixed lobe feature when an opened position of the door is reached at which it is desired to be held.
When the door is released, the latch element and operator rod move back towards the second fixed feature, preferably comprised of a corner, which is captured by the V shaped recess on the trailing end of the latch element to prevent further tilting motion of the latch element or movement of the operator rod and door to be held open at that position.
To release, the door is moved back in the opening direction towards the first lobe which now is engaged with the bottom of the top side of the latch element. This swings the latch element away from the fixed corner.
When the door is released to close and the latch element moves with the operating rod, the latch element is further pivoted by engagement of the top side of the formerly bottom side of the latch element with the fixed corner feature, to be moved to be parallel to the guide slot and this allows it to enter the guide slot along which the latch element slides as the door now is allowed to move to the closed position.
In the following detailed description, certain specific terminology will be employed for the sake of clarity and a particular embodiment described in accordance with the requirements of 35 USC 112, but it is to be understood that the same is not intended to be limiting and should not be so construed inasmuch as the invention is capable of taking many forms and variations within the scope of the appended claims.
Referring to
The separate actuator cylinder 18 also has an actuator operating rod 20 (
The check and release mechanism 16 includes a casing 26 and a check and release operator rod 32 separate from the actuator cylinder 18 and actuator operating rod 20 but extending parallel and alongside the actuator cylinder 18 and actuator operator rod 20.
One end 28 of the casing 26 is attached to the door bracket 24 with a pivot pin 30 in one of four holes as shown.
The operator rod 32 protrudes from the other end of the casing 26, which has a connector cross pin 34 extending through aligned holes in the outer end of the wall bracket 22.
A variation of the operator rod 32A (
As the door 10 moves in an opening direction, the casing 26 is moved away from the wall bracket 22, and the operating rod 32, being fixed to the wall bracket 22 (although allowed to pivot about the axis of the connector cross pin 34) is progressively withdrawn from the casing 26 as the door 10 swings open.
Referring to
The latch element 38 is pivoted to one side of the operator rod 32 as viewed in
When the door 10 reaches a predetermined extent of opening movement, i.e., 90° or some other opening point desired by an appropriate selection of one of a lengthwise extending series of holes 44 to pivotably mount the latch element 38, the latch element 38 passes into an enlarged engagement chamber 46 which is much wider than the guide slot 36 to allow pivoting of the latch element 38 as described below.
Upon continued advance of the check and release operator rod 32, there is an interengagement between the leading end of the latch element 38 and a first fixed feature 48 in the chamber 46 with continued movement of the latch element 38. This engagement causes the latch element 38 to tilt slightly out of alignment with the operator rod 32 to a predetermined slight degree and then positively prevented from tilting any further as well as stopping the operator rod 32 and door from any further advance in an opening direction.
The first fixed feature preferably comprises an off-center fixed rounded lobe 48 located with its center on one side of the operator rod 32, i.e., the lower side as seen in
The latch element 38 preferably has a V shaped recess 50A at the leading end thereof.
Upon continued relative movement of the operating rod 32 occurring as the door 10 opens, the lobe 48 is engaged with the lower side of the V shaped recess 50A, forcing the leading end of the latch element 38 to pivot down slightly as seen in
When the door 10 is released, it moves back a short distance under the influence of the actuator spring/gas cylinder 18.
A second fixed feature 52 is then engaged by the trailing end of the latch element 38 to further tilt the latch element 38 to a predetermined degree.
A V shaped recess 50B on the trailing end of the latch element 38 may advantageously be provided to accomplish this which approaches a corner 52 in the chamber 26 comprising the second fixed feature. The latch element 38 then is partially pivoted further by engagement with the corner 52, as the upper side of the V shaped recess 50B engages with the corner 52 forcing the return side of the latch element 38 to pivot further up as seen in
There is an engagement between the lower edge 54 and the lower surface 56 of the chamber 46 which engagement positively prevents any further tilting of the latch element 38 or closing movement of the check and release operator rod 32 and door 10.
Thus, the door 10 is held open in that position.
To release the latch element 38 and the door 10, the door 10 is manually moved back toward the fully opened position. The corresponding movement of the rod 32 again moves the latch element 38 towards the fixed lobe 48 which in the maximally pivoted down position of the latch element 38 now engages the lower end of the top side 40A of the latch element 38, as seen in
Continued opening movement of the door 10 and consequent relative movement of the operating rod 32 causes the top end of the tilted latch element 38 to be swung away from the fixed corner feature 52, aligning what was formerly the lower side 40B thereof with the corner feature 52 as seen in
The door 10 is then released and is moved to be closed by the force applied by the cylinder 18. The relative movement of rod 32 carries the latching element 38 back towards the corner feature 52 until the top of the bottom side 40B of the latch element engages the corner feature 52 as seen in
As seen in
It is noted that during this process, the latching element 38 is rotated 180° to be inverted when in a ready condition for another cycle, thus evening out any wear of the respective sides 40A, 40B and V shaped recesses 50A, 50B.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 62/262,516 filed on Dec. 3, 2015.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20170198506 A1 | Jul 2017 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62262516 | Dec 2015 | US |