This application describes a constructive disposition on elastomeric spring for closing doors. More specifically, the application comprises an elastomeric spring within a hinge mechanism and a rotating pin for engaging a door particularly useful to be installed on the floor.
The conventional hydraulic springs used with doors perform the automatic opening and closing of the door, with minimal effort, to both sides, having on both sides a function of fixed stop, where the door may be parked in a spot approximately 45 degrees.
The floor hydraulic springs of the state of the art are set aligned with the door hardware, and a box is recessed in an area of about 30 centimeters in the floow. In the box is positioned a spring or the pivot in the working position. This size of cut on the floor, besides interfering with the aesthetics of the environment, promotes the ingress of water which is accumulated underneath the box, as well as the hydraulic spring oxidation with damage to the leveling. It is noted that some technical manuals of floor hydraulic springs recommend that paraffin is applied in the inner region of the box to eliminate disturbances in the functioning of the spring, precisely due to ingress of water which affects the operation of the device.
Further, the hydraulic springs of the state of art have a high cost and complex installation, where skill is required by the installer to break the floor and proper installation of the mechanism.
Thus, one object of this present application is for an elastomeric spring for door closures that replaces the conventional hydraulic springs, providing a mechanical assembly of small size and requires a small hole on the floor for fitting.
One characteristic of the present application is a constructive provision in elastomeric spring for closing doors with reduced dimension, favoring the application indoors without interference on aesthetics.
Another characteristic of the present application is a constructive provision in elastomeric spring for closing doors, which features decrease of manufacturing costs due to a fewer number of components and assembly simplicity of the mechanism.
A further characteristic of the present application is a constructive disposition in elastomeric spring for quickly closing doors and easy installation, taking about four times less time than the hydraulic springs of the state of art, due to being necessary just a small hole in floor for installation, unlike conventional mechanisms in which it is necessary to take a cutout of about 30 centimeters.
A still further characteristic of the present application is a constructive provision in elastomeric spring for closing underweight doors, with reduction in about five times the weight of conventional mechanisms of hydraulic spring.
In order to better describe the technical characteristics of constructive disposition on elastomeric spring for closing doors, the figures presented below are listed:
The present application provides an improved floor-mounted elastomeric spring hinge for doors which features a number of advantages over previous hydraulic springs. First of all, the spring hinge is relatively compact which lends itself to smaller recesses in the floor. Furthermore, the spring hinge is contained within a closed tubular housing which also helps prevent water ingress. Finally, the spring itself is a relatively durable and elastomeric which is corrosion resistant and predictable in its performance.
With reference to
The upper surface of the cam follower 31, best seen from one side in
As mentioned, the lower end of the pin 50 comprises the protrusions 51 for coupling with the cam 40. Rotation of the pin 50 thus rotates the cam 40, which in turn causes the lower cam surface 41 to act on the cam follower 31. Rotation away from the resting position of
In a preferred embodiment the splined tube 10 is welded at its upper end to an annular disk-shaped cap 80, with the finish cover 70 fitted closely over the cap 80. The cap 80 has a central hole which receives an annular bushing 60. The pin 50 includes an upper extension 52 that projects through the bushing 60 and through both the cap 80 and finish cover 70. As seen in
The weight of the door D and upward reaction force transmitted to the tracking member 30 from the elastomeric spring 20 tends to cause engagement of the cam follower 31 and cam surface 41. When the door D is pushed open, the cavity on the lower edge of the door rotates the pin 50 via the extension 52. Because of the engagement between the protrusions 51 on the underside of the pin 50 and the upper surface of the cam 40, rotation of the door D also causes rotation of the cam. This then forces the tracking member 30 downward against the compressive force of the spring 20. Because the ridges 44 always want to return to the generally V-shaped groove 34 in the cam follower 31, the spring 20 naturally resists opening up the door and provides a return torque toward the door closed position.
In addition, in a preferred embodiment, a neutral, door open position is provided by the spring hinge H. For example, the cam follower 31 of the tracking member 30 desirably includes a flat or slightly concave apex 35 at the top of both of the upwardly rising sides, as seen in
A preferred embodiment of elastomeric spring 20 comprises a cylindrical mass made of an elastomer, such as rubber. Alternatively, the spring 20 may be is made of standard spring steel. In either case, the spring 20 has a spring constant calibrated to be sufficient to bias the corresponding door to the closed position when not in the neutral, door open position. The spring may also help maintain the door in the a neutral, door open position. The spring rate essentially depends on the weight of the door, and thus can vary.
The two camming parts, tracking member 30 and cam 40, are desirably made of sintered steel produced by powder metallurgy, molding, powder forging, gel condensation, or other similar processes. On specific material used has the following characteristics and formation parameters, though these numbers are merely exemplary:
Chemical composition (ranges): Nickel: 1.9 . . . 3.0%, Copper: 1.0 . . . 3.0%, Moly: 0.5 . . . 0.9%, Carbon: 0.6 . . . 1.0%;
Density: 6.95 g/cc minimum;
Sintering @1120 C/25 minimum;
Direct Cooling: 2.5 C/sec minimum;
Apparent Hardness: 36 HRC minimum after the tempering;
Particle Hardness: 650 HV0.1 minimum after the tempering;
Tensile Strength: 750 MPa minimum;
Yield Strength: 650 MPa minimum;
Impact Energy: 15 J minimum;
Fatigue strength: 230 MPa minimum.
FIGS. 1 and 8A-8F are partially cut-away perspective views of the spring hinge H mounted at one end of a swinging door D to show movement of the internal components at various positions of the door. In operation, the door D mounted on the pin 50 is held closed by the force of the elastomeric spring 20, as shown in
When the door is released before 90°, the force of the elastomeric spring 20 pushes up the tracking member 30, which, alongside the double helix, rotates the cam 40 and the pin 50, closing the door until it reaches the generally V-shaped groove 34 of the double helix of the cam follower 31, where the force of the elastomeric spring keeps it closed.
For installation, a worker makes a mark on the floor so that the central axis of the pin 50 is positioned in alignment with the door hardware. With the use of a drill and a hole saw bit, a hole 7 centimeters depth and 3 centimeters diameter is made, and then the tube 10 of the hinge H positioned inside the hole. Once the tube 10 is fitted into the hole, it is secured in place with screws, thus fixing the pin 50 protecting upward from the floor. After fixing on the floor, a trim piece is placed under pressure. Then, a glass or wood door is installed. This assembly is much smaller than prior hinges, and the assembly is much easier and does not require the introduction of paraffin or the like to prevent ingress of water
Closing Comments
Throughout this description, the embodiments and examples shown should be considered as exemplars, rather than limitations on the apparatus and procedures disclosed or claimed. Although many of the examples presented herein involve specific combinations of method acts or system elements, it should be understood that those acts and those elements may be combined in other ways to accomplish the same objectives. With regard to methods, additional and fewer steps may be taken, and the steps as shown may be combined or further refined to achieve the methods described herein. Acts, elements and features discussed only in connection with one embodiment are not intended to be excluded from a similar role in other embodiments.
As used herein, “plurality” means two or more. As used herein, a “set” of items may include one or more of such items. As used herein, whether in the written description or the claims, the terms “comprising”, “including”, “carrying”, “having”, “containing”, “involving”, and the like are to be understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limited to. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of” and “consisting essentially of,” respectively, are closed or semi-closed transitional phrases with respect to claims. Use of ordinal terms such as “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., in the claims to modify a claim element does not by itself connote any priority, precedence, or order of one claim element over another or the temporal order in which acts of a method are performed, but are used merely as labels to distinguish one claim element having a certain name from another element having a same name (but for use of the ordinal term) to distinguish the claim elements. As used herein, “and/or” means that the listed items are alternatives, but the alternatives also include any combination of the listed items.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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202012007468 | Apr 2012 | BR | national |
The present application is a continuation-in-part under 35 USC §§120, 363 and 365(c) of PCT Application No. PCT/BR2012/000506, filed Nov. 14, 2012, which designates the U.S. and in turn claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) to Brazilian Patent Application No. BR 20 2012 0074686 filed Apr. 2, 2012.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20140059804 A1 | Mar 2014 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/BR2012/000506 | Nov 2012 | US |
Child | 14075955 | US |