Patent Application
20080120923
The present invention relates to door holders and door closers and, in particular, to improvements in door holders and closers for use in screen doors, storm doors or any type of door which has the need for a device for maintaining the door in a particular orientation and/or for self-closing of the door.
Screen door and storm door closers are known in the art. Door holders, are utilized for holding side pivoted, i.e., hinged, doors open against the self-closing action of such a door closer. This self-closing action of the door closer is caused by a coil spring which is either elongated or compressed, depending on the type of mechanism, when the door is opened.
Such self-closing mechanisms usually consist of a cylinder connected at one end to the door frame, a spring loaded piston rectilinearly displaceable in the cylinder, and a piston rod fixed to the piston and extending from the second end of the cylinder. The free end of the piston rod is rotatably or pivotally connected to the door itself.
These types of self-closing mechanisms function as air enters the cylinder freely as the door is opened. The air escapes at a controlled rate through an orifice as the door is closed by the force of the spring, thus slowing the rate at which the door is closed by an air cushioning or damping action, much like a gas spring.
The more advanced of the known door closers have a mechanism for holding the door open after it has been manually swung open to a predefined position. This allows for a person carrying groceries or other objects to conveniently walk through a door without having to continuously overcome the force of the closing spring. One of the only complaints in the use of such door closers is the ease with which a person can set the door closer to stay open or conversely, the ease with which a door being held open can be released.
There is a need for a more convenient door closer and holder, which requires little effort from a person to enable the door to remain open or to close the door and which can even be retrofit to existing door closers without increasing the complexity and cost of manufacturing. The present invention is directed at further solutions to address this need, including the invention of a door-waiter for use as a door holder.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the door-waiter is used in conjunction with a spring loaded cylinder and piston rod assembly which provides the force to automatically close the door.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the door-waiter has a body including a stepped cylinder holding section which will automatically hold the spring loaded cylinder and the door in a desired open position.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, a door closer has a kick-out assembly, which facilitates an ergonomic disengagement and respective self-closing of the door-waiter when the door is being held open.
In accordance with further aspects of the present invention, the door holder has an automatic release response to prevent damage to the door or the door holder assembly.
The present invention also relates to a door closer (10) comprising a frame bracket (7) and a door bracket (4); a spring-loaded cylinder (12) and piston rod assembly (16) extendable between an open and a closed positions; a door-waiter (34) pivotably supported adjacent a first end (18) of the piston rod (16) connected to one of the frame bracket and the door bracket; and wherein the door-waiter (34) is capable of retaining the spring-loaded cylinder (12) and piston rod assembly (16) in the open position by rotating about its pivotal support adjacent the first end of the piston rod (16) and engaging a holding portion of the door-waiter (34) with an end surface of the cylinder (12).
The present invention also relates to a door closer (10) comprising a frame bracket (7) and a door bracket 4; a spring-loaded cylinder (12) and piston rod assembly (16) extending between the frame bracket and the door bracket; a cylinder housing (34) at least partially encompassing the cylinder and piston rod assembly and being pivotably supported adjacent a first end (18) of the piston rod (16).
As is known in the art, and referring to
In general, the door closer 10 is affixed to the door frame 6 at one end by a door frame bracket 7 and at the opposing end to the door 2, by a door bracket 4. During use, the door 2 is automatically returned from an open position, such as that shown in
As shown in
The door frame bracket 7 has a pair of opposing parallel, identical protruding arms 17 extending perpendicular to the mounting plate and horizontally away from the door frame 6. Each opposing arm 17 has a pin hole 21 which is aligned with a corresponding pin hole 22 through the free end 18 of the piston rod 16 when the free end of the piston rod 18 is placed in between the two opposing arms 17 of the door frame bracket 7. The free end 18 of the piston rod 16 is shaped to fit horizontally, rotatably but vertically secured between the two opposing arms 17 of the door frame bracket 7 when the free end 18 of the piston rod 16 is inserted in between the two opposing arms 17. A pin is vertically inserted through the corresponding pin holes 21, 22 to secure the piston rod 16 to the door frame bracket 7. The pin is generally maintained in positioning securing these components by gravity, where a larger head of the pin keeps the pin from falling though the pin holes 21, 22 in the door frame bracket 7 and piston rod 16.
The opposing end of the piston rod 16 is fixed to the slidable piston 24 which is slidably secured within the cylinder 12 as described above. The second end 23 of the cylinder 12, opposite from the first end 15 through which the piston rod 16 passes, has a small tab 19 extending away from the cylinder 12 generally along the central axis A of the door closer 10, although the tab 19 could be offset as well. This tab 19 is provided with a door bracket pin hole 28 through which the second end 23 of the damping cylinder 12 is rotatably affixed to the door bracket 4 by a door bracket pin substantially similar in nature to the attachment described above relative to the door frame bracket 7.
The door bracket 4 also has a pair of opposing identical horizontally protruding arms 29 extending perpendicular to and away from the door 2. These arms 29 have aligning holes 30, similar to the pin holes 21 of the door frame bracket 7, which provide horizontal pivoting support when the cylinder tab 19 is inserted between the arms 29 and a door bracket pin is passed through the corresponding aligning holes 30 and the door bracket pin hole 28 in the tab 19 on the damping cylinder 12.
The embodiment of the present invention, shown in
In the present embodiment as seen in
The first end 38 of the door-waiter 34 has two support flanges 44 having flange holes 46 defining the door-waiter rotation axis R there between. The flanges 44 are aligned with one of the passage of the pin block 50, as well as the pin hole 22 in the free end 18 of the piston rod 16 and a door-waiter pin 43 is then passed through the flanges 44 on the first end 38 of the door-waiter 34, the pin block 50 and also the pin hole 22 in the free end 18 of the piston rod 16 along the axis R to define rotation for the door-waiter 34 about the substantially horizontal door-waiter axis R.
The first passage 52 in the pin block 50 is connected to the door frame bracket 7 along the axis P defined by the pin holes 21 in the arms 17 of the door frame bracket 7. Thus, the separate door-waiter rotation axis R and the vertical axis P of the door bracket 3 connection are separate axis of rotation which allow substantially 360 degree freedom of rotation to the door closer 10 and the door-waiter 34 within a desired range.
A cross-section of the door-waiter 34, shown in
As described above, the second free end 40 of the door-waiter 34 is a two tiered step-profile formed generally in a top-most, circumferential portion of the door-waiter 34. In other words, in this embodiment the stepped profile only extends partially around the circumference of the door-waiter 34. As seen in
The stepped profile is formed generally on the top portion of the door-waiter 34 so that gravity will facilitate the functioning of the device to hold the door 2 open as follows. When the door 2 is in the closed position, the piston 24 and most of the piston rod 16 are collapsed within the damping cylinder 12 as seen in
As the door 2 is opened, the damping cylinder 12, which is of course, attached at the second end 23 to the door bracket 3, is extended away from the first end 38 of the door-waiter 34 and exposes the piston rod 16. When the door 2 is open in
While in the locked position, the second radial step 70 engages a portion of the end surface of the cylinder 12 to prevent the door 2 from closing. The end surface of the cylinder 12 remains engaged with the second step 70 by the force of the spring 26 in the cylinder 12 which maintains a tensile force between the damping cylinder 12 and the piston rod 16, thus resulting in a net compressive force between the cylinder 12 and the door-waiter 34.
If the door 2 is opened slightly farther, the first end 15 of the damping cylinder 12 is moved axially farther along the second sidewall portion 68 until reaching the first radial step 66 which permits the door-waiter 34 to fall even slightly lower relative to the cylinder 12, thus allowing the radially aligned first step 66 to engage the end wall of the first end 15 of the cylinder 12 and thus maintain the door 2 locked in an even more open position.
In order to “unlock” the door closer 10, and allow the door 2 to close, a user must simply apply an upward force on the lower-most portion of the door-waiter 34, i.e., opposite to the stepped profile in the top-most portion of the door-waiter 34. Such an upward force on the door-waiter 34 will cause the door-waiter 34 to rotate upwards about the door-waiter rotation axis R and realign the damping cylinder 12 with the interior of the door-waiter 34 and permit the spring 26 and air chamber 13 to allow the door closer 10 to return to its closed position. The force required to realign the cylinder 12 with the door-waiter 34 is equal to the friction force created by the contact of the end surface of the cylinder 12 with the stepped portion of the door-waiter 34 while considering the compressive force provided by the spring 26. Such a restoring force can be lessened by slightly opening the door 2 to lessen the friction force while realigning the inner walls of the door-waiter 34 with the damping cylinder 12.
In another embodiment of the present invention, shown in
Returning to
The release lever 82 is connected at the intermediate pivot point 88 with the pivot body 86 and the door-waiter 34. The release lever 82 is thus permitted to rotate about this intermediate pivot point 88 relative to the pivot body 66, the door-waiter 34 and the door closer 10 and unlock the door closer 10 as explained below. A push rod pivot 90 is spaced from the intermediate pivot point 88 and arranged on a second end of the release lever 82 opposite from the contact end of the release lever 82. When the release lever 82 is actuated by a user, the release lever 82 rotates about the intermediate pivot point 88 and pushes the push rod pivot 90, and hence the push rod 84 axially in the direction of the free end 40 of the door-waiter 34, i.e., towards the door bracket 4.
The push rod 84 is a rigid, flat, rod which substantially follows the inner sidewall profile of the door-waiter 34. The push rod 84 has a pivot end attached to the push rod pivot 90 and a substantially straight portion 91 extending therefrom to an angled portion 92 for engaging the first end 15 of the damping cylinder 12. As seen in
In order to accommodate the angled portion 92 of the push rod 84 the stepped profile of the door-waiter 34 is provided with a channel 94 formed in or adjacent the stepped portion of the door-waiter 34 which accepts and maintains the angled portion 92 of the push rod 84 out of contact with the damping cylinder 12 when the door 2 is in the locked position, but permits axial displacement of the angled portion 92 to force the damping cylinder 12 out of engagement with the steps 66, 70 in the second free end 40 of the door-waiter 34. When the user wishes to close the door 2, the user need only provide a slight force against the handle of the release lever 82 by arrow F as indicated in
The pivot body 86 which supports the release lever 82 is shown in
The pivot body 86 also includes a pair of tension springs 102 set in a pin slot 106 formed in the pivot body 86. The pin slot 106 is a substantially horizontal slot through the pivot body 86 which accepts a securing pin 104 for securing the pivot body 86 to the sidewalls 37 of the body and the pin slot 106. The pin slot 106 is provided with a substantially horizontal space permitting a desired horizontal freedom of movement of the securing pin therein. In other words, where the securing pin 104 is held vertically fixed by the attachment to the sidewalls 37 of the door-waiter 34, the horizontal space in the pin slot 106 permits a specified relative movement of the door-waiter 34 relative to the pivot body 86. The springs 102 in the pin slot 106 push perpendicularly on the securing pin 104 to bias the door-waiter 34 into a certain position relative to the pivot body 86 which is essentially axially fixed (although relatively rotatable) to the door bracket 3. This spring bias can be overcome by certain applied forces, as described below, which may force the door-waiter 34 to move relative to the pivot body 86. A pair of set screws 108 may be provided to connect with the springs 102 to compress or extend the springs 26 in order to regulate the spring tension on the securing pin 104.
Turning to
The secondary aspects of the kick-out assembly 80, the automatic release response occurs when an excessive force is used to close the door 2 without physically actuating the release lever 82 of the kick-out assembly 80. Where the door 2 is being held open by the door-waiter 34, as in
In this manner, the door-waiter 34 is permitted to move relative to the pivot body 86 against the bias of the springs 102, the pivot body 86 substantially maintains the push rod 84 in a static position relative to the moving door-waiter 34. As the door-waiter 34 moves axially away from engagement with the damping cylinder 12, the push rod 84, which is remaining somewhat axially immovable, forces the first end 15 of the damping cylinder 12 off the radial first step 66 and guides it down into the door-waiter 34 permitting the door 2 to close.
Since certain changes may be made in the above described improved door closer and door holder, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention herein involved, it is intended that all of the subject matter of the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted merely as examples illustrating the inventive concept herein and shall not be construed as limiting the invention.
