AU753561B2

AU753561B2 - Hinging

Info

Publication number: AU753561B2
Application number: AU53587/99A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Phillip Slattery
Original assignee: Crane Enfield Metals Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Aluminium Extrusion and Distribution Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1998-10-12
Filing date: 1999-10-11
Publication date: 2002-10-24
Anticipated expiration: 2019-10-11
Also published as: AU5358799A

Description

2

HINGING

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to hinging and relates particularly but not exclusively to hinging suitable for use in connection with shower screen doors. It has particular although not exclusive application in the art of bi-fold shower screen doors.

DESRIPTION OF PRIOR ART Hitherto, it has been known to provide a hinge of the type having a pair of flexible hinging straps which o. cross each other along an axis of swinging. Such hinges in their simplest form comprising one of the straps being fixed at one end to a structural support member on one side of the support member, and the other end of the strap being attached to a door or other member which is to swing thereto. Such attachment is on the opposite side face of the door or other member relative to the fixing at the one 20 end to the structural support surface. The other strap is arranged oppositely so that the straps cross each other o along an axis of swinging.

In the shower screen arts, and bi-fold door arts which may or may not be limited solely to shower screens 25 but to bi-fold doors generally, it has been a problem to provide suitable hinging which holds the doors in as close as possible hinging relationship to one another. Special attention is required to the hinging mechanism itself in order to carry the weight of the door. In some instances, it is necessary to provide special supports which connect with a head track or the like to carry the weight of the bi-fold doors to relieve the weight carried on the hinges themselves. Generally, hinges for bi-fold doors have not been entirely satisfactory.

OBJECTS AND STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION The present invention attempts to provide an \\melb-files\homeS\rale\Keep\speci\CAP.owell .PP6438.doc 13/09/99 3 improved hinge which is suitable for hinging one member relative to another member, and which has particular although not exclusive application in the art of bi-fold doors which can be suitable for use with bi-fold shower screen doors.

Therefore, in accordance with a first broad aspect of the present invention there may be provided a hinge of the type having a pair of flexible hinging straps which cross each other along an axis of swinging, said hinge being characterised in that each hinge strap is connected at each end with mounting block means which permit fixing of said hinge to structural members which are to be relatively hinged thereby, and which mounting block means at one end of said hinge straps define a right hand 15 side wing of said hinge and which mounting block means at the other end of said hinge straps define a left hand side wing of said hinge.

Preferably the mounting block means at either the right hand side wing or the left hand side wing is a single 20 mounting block means for both of said straps whilst the mounting block means at the opposite side wing are S. respective separate mounting block means for each strap, and wherein said separate mounting block means are axially alignable with one another in a direction parallel with the hinging axis when said hinge is fixed to said structural members.

Preferably the single mounting block means carries both of said straps in a manner dictated by the lengths of said straps and the positioning of the separate mounting block means is such that when the separate mounting block means are axially aligned with one another in a direction parallel with the hinging axis, the mounting block means of the right hand side wing and the mounting means of the left hand side wing are moved into as close as possible mutual relationship to each other as permitted by the lengths of the straps so that the structural members hinged thereby will be in either touching hinging relation \\melb-files\home$\Gale\Keep\speci\CAP.Dowel .pP6438.doc 13/09/99 4 to each other or almost touching hinging relation to each other.

Preferably the hinge is for hinging a door to a structural member for carrying said door, and the mounting block means at either the right or left hand side wing for fixing to said door has a thickness equal to the thickness of said door at the position of fixing, and wherein when the hinge is fixed one of the straps extends from one side of the external face surface of said door and the other strap extends from the other side of the external face surface of the door.

Preferably said separate mounting block means at the opposite side wing have aligning means for permitting alignment registration with each other during fixing of said hinge to said structural members.

Preferably said hinging axis is a moving hinging axis which moves in an arc when said hinge is fixed to said structural members and said structural members are hinged relative to one another.

20 Preferably the faces of the mounting block means which face each other from the right hand side wing and the left hand side wing are arcuate surfaces when viewing a section plane perpendicular to the hinging axis, and when said structural members hinge the respective arcuate 25 surfaces of the right hand side wing and the left hand side wing roll over each other.

Preferably keying means is provided on each mounting block means of said opposite side wing to structurally hold and locate each mounting block with respect to the respective door or structural support surface, thereby ensuring that said hinge hinges by movement of said straps relative to said mounting block means and not by movement of said mounting block means relative to said door or said structural support surface.

BRIEF DECRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order that the invention can be more clearly \\melbfiles\home$\Gale\Keep\speci\CAP.Dowell.PP6438.doc 13/09/99 5 ascertained an example of a preferred embodiment will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a top plan view of one example of a preferred hinge in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view similar to that of Figure 1 but showing the hinge in an assembled in use condition.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the hinge shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 4 is a close-up detail of hinging at the top of a bi-fold shower screen door arrangement showing how the hinge of Figures 1 through 3 can be incorporated ~therein.

Figure 5 is an exploded view in detail showing parts of the hinging and fixing arrangements shown in Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a view similar to that of Figure 4 S: but not in cross-section.

20 Figure 7 is a close-up view showing the hinge mounted on a bi-fold door at an intermediate position of o the door and showing a handle for operation of the door.

Figure 8 is a front elevational view showing a shower screen enclosure having a pair of bi-fold doors 25 incorporating hinging shown in Figures 1 through 7.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring firstly to Figure 1 there is shown a hinge 1 which is moulded from a urethane plastics material as a single moulding. The hinge may be made of any desired material which possesses the necessary structural strength and may be moulded or otherwise fabricated from several components which are assembled together. The particular hinge shown provides for an economic form of manufacture but other forms of construction are not to be excluded.

The hinge has a pair of flexible hinging straps 3 which, in use, are arranged to cross each other along an axis of \\melb-files\home$\Gale\Keep\speCi\CAPDowell.PP6438doc 13/09/99 6 swinging. Each hinge strap 3 is connected at each end with respective mounting block means 5. The mounting block means 5 permit fixing of the hinge to structural members which are to be relatively hinged thereby. The mounting block means shown in this example are circular in transverse cross-section. Other cross-sectional shapes are possible. For example, the transverse cross-section may be rectangular, square, hexagonal or of other configuration including an elliptical transverse cross-section. The straps 3 have the mounting block 5 mounted at each end so that at one end the mounting block means define a right hand side wing 7 of the hinge and at the other end a left hand wing 9. It should be appreciated that whilst one wing 7 has been shown as a right hand wing and the other end as the left hand wing 9 that these may be arranged oppositely that what is shown as right hand wing 7 may be the left hand wing 9. As shown in Figures 1 through 3 the right hand wing 7 is a single mounting block means whilst the left hand wing 9 comprises a pair of mounting block means.

Figure 2 shows that the pair of mounting block means 5 on the left hand wing 9 can be axially aligned with S. one another in a direction parallel with a hinging axis 11.

i Thus, when assembled in the condition shown in Figure 2, the straps 3 cross one another. The lengths of the straps 25 3 are such that when the separate mounting blocks 5 are axially aligned, as shown in Figure 2, the mounting block means of the right hand wing 7 and the left hand wing 9 are moved into as close as possible mutual relationship to one another as permitted by the lengths of the straps 3 so that structural members hinged by the hinge 1 will be in either touching hinging relation to each other or almost touching hinging relation to each other. In other words, the mounting block means of the right hand wing 7 and the left hand wing 9 are in either touching hinging relation to each or almost touching and juxtaposed hinging relation to each other wherein the condition shown in Figure 2. Preferably, they are in touching hinging relation as this will provide \\melb-files\home$\Gale\Keep\speci\CAP.Dowell .PP6438.doc 13/09/99 7 for greater structural support to the hinge and inhibit against sagging of the structural members carried thereby.

The diameter of the mounting block means 5 is chosen to correspond with the diameter of frame means of the structural members carried by the hinge. Whilst circular cross-sections have been shown other sections could be incorporated as discussed earlier and the sections of the frames of the structural support members carried thereby can be correspondingly shaped. Desirably however, the mating faces of the mounting block means 5 are arcuate as this will permit a rolling type motion of the left hand wing 9 and the right hand wing 7 relative to each other across their mating or juxtaposed faces. It should be noted that in this arrangement, the axis 11 will move in an arc.

It should therefore be appreciated that the diameter of the mounting block means 5 is preferably arranged to equal the thickness of a door at the position of fixing of the hinge 1. In this arrangement when the 20 hinge is fixed, one of the straps 3 extends from one side of the external face surface of the door and the other strap 3 extends from the other side of the external face surface of the door.

The hinge shown in Figures 1 through 3 has i 25 aligning means 13 in the form of keyslots. The aligning means permits aligned registration of each of the left hand wing mounting block means 5 with each other, and also permits aligned relationship of the right hand wing mounting block means 5 with the aligned left hand wing mounting block means 5. Thus, in use, the respective mounting block means 5 will be held fixed relative to the structural support surface to which they are attached and the hinging will be effected by flexible movement of the straps 3.

It should therefore be seen that the mounting block means 5 support the structural surfaces to which they are attached relative to each other, and ensure that the \\melb-files\home$\Gale\Keep\speci\CAP.Dowell .PP6438.doc 13/09/99 8 hinge hinges by movement of the straps 3 relative to the mounting block means 5 and not by movement of the mounting block means 5 relative to the structural support surfaces to which they are attached.

Referring now to Figures 4, 5 and 6 it can be seen how the hinge 1 of Figures 1 through 3 can be fitted to a bi-fold door arrangement. Here, there are a pair of bi-fold doors 15 and 17. These are typically bi-fold shower screen doors. Each of the doors 15, 17 has an outer peripheral edge frame 19 which may be extruded aluminium.

Glass panels 21 are carried by the outer peripheral frames 19. The mounting blocks 5 each have a pair of spaced flanges 22 into which the edge portion of the glass panels ~21 can be received. These flanges enhance the aesthetics of the hinges and the bi-fold door arrangement. The vertically extending parts of the frame 19 are interconnected with the horizontally extending parts of the frame 19 by a connecting block 23. The connecting block 23 may be of a plastics material or a die cast metal. It can 20 be seen that the connecting block 23 has a central body part 25 with protruding legs 27 and 29. The transverse cross-sectional shape of the legs 27 and 29 is preferably arranged to correspond to the internal transverse crosssectional shape of the frame 19. Typically, this is 25 circular to correspond to the circular shape of the mounting block means 5. The mounting block means 5 have a circular bore 31 therein and this bore has a diameter which corresponds to the external diameter of the leg 29. Thus, the connecting block 23 which connected the peripheral frame 19 also serves to connect the hinge 1 to each of the doors 15, 17.

Figure 4 shows that the legs 29 pass through the mounting block means 5 and also into the internal section of the vertical frame 19. A key (not shown) can be inserted through the aligning means 13 for alignment purposes of the mounting block means 5 as discussed previously. The key may form an integral part of the leg \\melb-files\home$\Gale\Keep\speci\CAPDowell.PP643doc 13/09/99 9 29 or may, in fact, be a separate component.

Figure 6 shows a side elevation of the arrangement. In this arrangement, the body 25 may have its external surfaces suitably contoured with a simulated mitre line 31 formed thereon. This will give the appearance to the outer peripheral frame 19 of being a continuous frame.

The external surfaces of the mounting block means 5 follow the same contours as the transverse cross sectional outer surfaces of the frame members 19 and thus, the whole assembly has an aesthetic appearance which appears to be integrated.

Figure 7 shows an arrangement for mounting of the hinge 1 at a position intermediate the top and bottom of each of the bi-fold doors 15 and 17. In this arrangement, pins (not shown) may axially pass through central axis of the bores 31 of the mounting block means 5 and into the corresponding upper and lower frames 19' and 19" above and below the mounting block means 5 in a similar manner to the way in which the leg 29 passes. A shaped hinge handle 20 33 may then be clipped over the edge of the frame 19' and 19" of one of the doors 15 or 17 as shown to provide a .means for pressing against the doors to effect swinging for :opening and closing.

Figure 8 shows a front elevational view of a i 25 typical shower screen enclosure having a bi-fold door arrangement. In this structure, there is an outer peripheral frame 35 and a right hand pair of doors 15 and 17, and a left hand pair of doors 15 and 17. The right hand doors are shown by numeral 37 and the left hand doors are shown by numeral 39. In this arrangement, the right hand bi-fold doors 37 are hinged relative to each other by the hinges 1 and also to the outer peripheral frame 35 by similar hinges 1. The left hand bi-fold doors 39 are similarly hinged.

The arrangement provides for a structurally superior door arrangement for shower enclosures than previously known. In addition, the external surfaces of \\melbf iles\home$\Gale\Keep\speci\CAP.Dowell.PP6438.doc 13/09/99 10 the hinges 1 provide an aesthetic appearance to the door arrangement in the shower screen enclosure. Further, accumulation of grime or other unwanted build-up is minimised by the hinging arrangement.

Modifications may be made to the invention as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art of fabricating hinges, in the art of producing shower screen enclosures, and in the art of producing bi-fold doors. For example, the hinge may be made from many separate pieces which are subsequently assembled together. Typically, the parts may be made from a non corrosive material such as stainless steel. The straps 3 lend themselves to fabrication from stainless steel sheet. Straps made of such material may be suitably fastened to the mounting 15 block means 5. In this case the mounting block means 5 may be of a plastics or metal or other suitable material. The colour of the mounting block means may be made either to blend with the colour of the extrusions of the peripheral frames 19 or may be of a contrasting colour such as a gold 20 or silver colour which is common in the bathroom arts.

These and other modifications may be made without departing from the ambit of the invention the nature is which is to be determined from the foregoing description.

\\melb-files\homeSV\ale\Keep\speci\CAP.Dowell. PP6438.doc 13/09/99

Claims

1. A hinge of the type having a pair of flexible hinging straps which cross each other along an axis of swinging, said hinge being characterised in that each hinge strap is connected at each end with mounting block means which permit fixing of said hinge to structural members which are to be relatively hinged thereby, and which mounting block means at one end of said hinge straps define a right hand side wing of said hinge and which mounting block means at the other end of said hinge straps define a left hand side wing of said hinge.

2. A hinge as claimed in claim 1 further characterised in that the mounting block means at either 15 the right hand side wing or the left hand side wing is a single mounting block means for both of said straps whilst the mounting block means at the opposite side wing are :respective separate mounting block means for each strap, and wherein said separate mounting block means are axially alignable with one another in a direction parallel with the hinging axis when said hinge is fixed to said structural members.

3. A hinge as claimed in claim 2 further characterised in that the single mounting block means 25 carries both of said straps, and the positioning of the separate mounting block means is such that when the o*oo separate mounting block means are axially aligned with one another in a direction parallel with the hinging axis, the mounting block means of the right hand side wing and the mounting means of the left hand side wing are moved into as close as possible mutual relationship to each other as permitted by the lengths of the straps so that the structural members hinged thereby will be in either touching hinging juxtaposed relation to each other or almost touching hinging juxtaposed relation to each other.

4. A hinge as claimed in claim 1 further characterised in that the hinge is for hinging a door to a H:\Gale\Keep\speci\CAP.Dowell.PP6438.doc 7/10/99 12 structural member for carrying said door, and the mounting block means at either the right or left hand side wing for fixing to said door has a thickness equal to the thickness of said door at the position of fixing, and wherein when the hinge is fixed, one of the straps extends from one side of the external face surface of said door and the other strap extends from the other side of the external face surface of the door. A hinge as claimed in claim 1 further characterised in that said separate mounting block means at the opposite side wing have aligning means for permitting alignment registration with each other during fixing of said hinge to said structural members.

6. A hinge as claimed in claim 1 further 15 characterised in that said hinging axis, in use, is a moving hinging axis which moves in an arc when said hinge is fixed to said structural members and said structural members are hinged relative to one another.

7. A hinge as claimed in claim 1 further 20 characterised in that faces of the mounting block means which face each other from the right hand side wing and the left hand side wing are arcuate surfaces when viewing a section plane perpendicular to the hinging axis, and when said structural members hinge the respective arcuate 25 surfaces of the right hand side wing and the left hand side wing roll over each other.

8. A hinge as claimed in claim 1 further characterised in that keying means is provided on each mounting block means of said opposite side wing to structurally hold and locate each mounting block with respect to the respective door or structural support surface, thereby ensuring that said hinge hinges by movement of said straps relative to said mounting block means and not by movement of said mounting block means relative to said door or said structural support surface. f A hinge, as claimed in claim 4 further Baracterised in that said hinge is fitted to said \\melb-files\homeS\Priyanka\Keep\speci\CAP. Dowell.PP6438.doc 20/08/02 13 structural member and said door near the top of the door, and a further such hinge is fitted to said structural member and said door near the bottom of said door. A hinge as claimed in claim 9 further characterised in that said door carries a further door at its side remote from said structural member, and said further door is hinged to said door by two still further such hinges, to provide bi-fold door, said door having the mounting block means at either the right or left hand side wing being fixed to said door at the side of said door remote from said structural member, and the opposite left or right hand side wing having its mounting block means fixed to said further door.

11. A hinge as claimed in claim 10 fitted to a shower cubicle so that the bi-fold door forms a door for said shower cubicle.

12. A hinge as claimed in claim 1 further characterised in that each said mounting blocks carries a pair of spaced flanges to receive a panel of a door therebetween. Dated this 2 0 th day of August 2002 DOWELL AUSTRALIA LIMITED By their Patent Attorneys GRIFFITH HACK 25 Fellows Institute of Patent o0.0 Attorneys of Australia \\melbfiles\home$\Priyanka\Keep\speci\CAPDowelPP6438.doc 20/08/02