GB1563538A

GB1563538A - Door stay device

Info

Publication number: GB1563538A
Application number: GB1978177A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: ED Scharwachter GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: ED Scharwachter GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 1976-05-12
Filing date: 1977-05-11
Publication date: 1980-03-26
Also published as: FR2351237A1; DE2620916A1

Description

(54) IMPROVED DOOR STAY DEVICE (71) We, ED. SCHARWACHTER G.m.b.H., & Co. KG., of 5630 Remschied 1, Hohenhagener-Strasse 26-28, Germany, a body corporate organised under the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to a door stay device which has particular, although not exclusive, utility in connection with the doors of motor vehicles.

The invention has various aspects as will appear more particularly from the appended claims, and in each aspect comprises a housing for attachment to one of a door or its frame and a stay bar for attachment to the other one thereof. The stay bar extends into the housing through one end thereof and carries rotary support means which bears against a surface within the housing. A pressure member is urged against the rotary support means by a spring. Either the said surface or the pressure member is profiled so that a restraint to movement of the rotary support means is applied at predetermined positions thereof within the housing.

The advantage of a device made in accordance with the invention and as described herein in accordance with the preferred embodiments thereof is that the device may be produced very cheaply and have two or more detent positions in which a door associated with the device may be held open.

The force applied to the stay bar when the door is held open at a smaller angle is no larger than that associated with the larger opening angle.

The pressure member may take the form of an arm which is preferably hinged or pivoted to that end of the housing remote from that through which the stay bar passes.

The pivot axis of the pressure member is desirably spaced from the plane of a track which constitutes said surface and along which run the rotary support means.

Various forms of such rotary support means may be employed to ensure that the stay bar moves freely in the housing during use. Thus, within the scope of the invention, the stay bar may be provided with one or more rollers which bear against a respective track or tracks formed on or by the housing, the pressure member bearing on the or each of the rollers, or one or more (but not all) of a number of rollers.

In the preferred embodiment to be described herein, there are three rollers arranged on a common axis, the outermost ones of which bear against respective tracks and the middle roller being acted upon by the pressure member. The track (in the case of a single track) or each of a number of tracks may serve as the profiled surface, or the profiled surface may be provided on or by the pressure member. Preferably, the pivot axis is spaced from the plane of the track or tracks by a distance at least equal to the diameter of the roller (in the case of a single roller) or one or more of a number of such rollers.

In the embodiment in which a track, or each of a number of tracks, forms the profiled surface, the pressure member may have at least one flat surface and be produced from strip or bar material or be in the form of a casting, especially a die casting or injection moulding, and having a bore for receiving a pivot carried by the housing.

In the alternative arrangement, in which the pressure member serves as the profiled surface, the pressure member is preferably formed from a blank of a suitable section, for example flat material, and is deformed perpendicularly to its plane. This arrangement is advantageously employed with a housing formed by pressing a sheet of metal into a channel section to form a housing.

The pressure member may, however, possess any other suitable cross-section and in particular may be formed by casting, especially die casting or injection moulding. In either embodiment, in which two spaced tracks are provided, the stay bar may be a bar of narrow construction, the width of which is substantially less than the distance between the rollers and hence that between the tracks, and therefore be substantially narrower than the housing.

Conveniently, the spring is a torsion bar spring located adjacent the end of the housing through which the stay bar passes. The spring may have a web to which two limbs are connected. The limbs may both be arranged at the same side of and parallel to the web and be connected to opposite ends thereof, so that a generally C-shaped arrangement is achieved. Alternatively, the limbs may be arranged on opposite sides of the web and be parallel thereto, each limb being connected to a respective end of the web, so that the spring is of a straight sided S or sinous form. One of the limbs may be retained in a bore in one wall of the housing and the web may be restrained by engagement with cut-outs in one or both walls, the other limb engaging the pressure member.

Other forms of spring may be used instead. Thus, for example, a spiral compression spring may be arranged between the pressure member and a cross piece or web extending parallel to the base of the housing and joined to one or both of the side walls thereof. The cross piece or web may span all or part of the width of the housing. The spring may be prevented from escaping or becoming dislodged by locating its ends in dimples in the pressure member and the cross piece or web. Alternatively, the spring may be in the form of a hair pin spring or a torsion coil spring supported for example in, on or by the pivot of the pressure member, one limb of the spring bearing against the pressure member at a distance from the spring support and preferably in the vicinity of the end of the housing through which the stay bar passes.The other arm of the spring is restrained against displacement by the housing so that the pressure is applied to the pressure member.

It also falls within the scope of the invention for the pivot for the pressure member to be formed by the web or a limb of a torsion bar spring.

Finally, the pressure member may be in the form of a two armed lever, one arm of which co-operates with the rollers and may be shaped so as to constitute the profiled surface, whereas the other arm is acted upon by a spring bearing against the housing.

Such a spring may be a torsion bar spring, compression springs, torsion coil spring or any other spring of suitable type.

Two embodiments of the invention will now be described in greater detail but by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which; Figure 1 is a side elevation of a stay device for the door of a vehicle: Figure 2 is a section taken on the line C-D in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a section through the device taken on the line A-B in Figure 1, Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 1 but of a second embodiment of device, Figure 5 is a plan view of the device shown in Figure 4; and, Figure 6 is a section through the device shown in Figure 4 taken on the line A-B therein.

Referring to Figures 1 to 3, the stay device shown therein comprises a housing 1 produced by injection moulding and having a substantially U-shaped cross-section, having a web and side walls 26, 29 and a stay bar assembly which is retractable into the housing. In use, the housing is contained within the door of a motor vehicle, and lugs 2 at that end of the housing through which the stay bar assembly passes (referred to herein as the forward end), are secured by screws passing through holes 4 in the lugs to that end wall of the door provided with hinges.

The stay bar assembly includes a bar 7 formed by bending a strip of metal to form a loop 6 defining an eye 5 for a pin carried by the door frame. The other end of the bar is bifurcated and the arms of the fork thereby formed similarly bent to provide aligned eyes 12 which support a shaft 11. Two spaced-apart rollers 8 are carried on the shaft and engage spaced apart tracks 10 formed by the web of the housing. Within the space defined between the arms of the fork is disposed a brake roller 13 which is freely rotatably supported on the shaft. A pressure member 13 in the form of an elongate bar has its end portion 17 rolled over to form an eye through which passes a pin 16 supported in a bearing block 18 near the narrowed rear end of the housing. The pressure member 14 extends over substantially the entire length of the housing to a point near the forward end thereof.

The width of the pressure member is less than the distance between the rollers 8 so that it co-operates solely with the brake roller. As can be seen most clearly in Figure 2, each of the tracks 10 is profiled so as to have (considered from the rear end to the forward end of the housing) an inclined ramp surface 19 leading to a first detent 20 in the form of a trough or recess, which is followed by a second detent 22 of similar form, which is followed by an abutment 23 to prevent the rollers 8 leaving the housing.

The pressure member is pressed against the roller 13 by a spring 24 which, in this embodiment is in the form of a two-armed C-shaped torsion bar spring but which may take the form of any- other suitable spring.

The spring has a web portion 27 connected -to limbs 25 and 30 parallel thereto. The limb 25 is retained in a bore in one wall 26 of the housing while the web portion 27 is -lodged in cut-outs in lugs 28 projecting from -the walls 26 and 29. The arm 30 is freely -movable in a slot in the lug 28 associated with the wall 29 but because of the torsion imposed in consequence of the retention of the limb 25, the limb 30 biases the pressure member 14 against the roller 13 and thereby urges the rollers 8 into contact with their respective tracks. Co-operation of the rollers 8 with the tracks results in the opening movement of door being resisted when the rollers encounter the ramp 19 and the stay bar is being withdrawn from the housing. Cooperation of the rollers with the recess 20 or the recess 22 enables the door to be held in either of two open positions.Of course, other shapes of the tracks are possible and there may be fewer or more detent-recesses.

Since the pivot shaft 16 of the pressure member is spaced from the mean plane of the tracks by a distance at least equal to the height of the roller 13, and because the limb 30 of the spring 24 engages the pressure member at a distance from the pivot axis thereof, the rollers 8 are loaded substantially uniformly throughout their travel along their tracks.

In the embodiment shown Figures 4 to 6, the housing 41 is formed by a sheet metal blank pressed into a channel section and has fitted thereto, by welding or otherwise, an end wall 43 having an opening for the stay bar and a projecting lug 42 with bores 44 for screws for retaining the housing in place.

The construction of the stay bar assembly including the bar 7 and rollers 8 and 13, as well as the construction and arrangement of the spring 24 are identical to those described previously, but in this embodiment the rollers travel along plane tracks 49 formed by the web of the housing. The main difference between the two embodiments is that in this second embodiment it is the pressure member 54 (which bears on roller 13) which is provided with the brake surfaces and detents.

The member 54 is initially in the form of a planar blank of metal which is deformed to provide ramp surfaces 59 and 61 and detent surfaces 71 and 72. The pressure member 54 has a rolled over end portion 17 which defines an eye for a pin 16 supported in a block formed on the housing 41 substantially as previously described. The limb 30 of the spring 24 bears against the pressure member 54 in the vicinity of the end wall 43 of the housing so that the desired specific braking and holding force characteristics of the stay device are obtained.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A door stay device comprising a housing for attachment to one of a door and its frame and a stay bar for attachment to the other thereof, the stay bar extending into Xhe housing through one end thereof and being provided with a rotary support means which bears against a profiled surface within the housing, a pressure member in contact with the rotary support means throughout the length of its travel along said surface, and a spring arranged to apply pressure to the pressure member such as to press the rotary support means against the profiled surface, the profiled surface being so shaped as to co-operate with the rotary support means and at predetermined relative positions therebetween to app]y a restraint to movement of the rotary support means.

2. A door stay device comprising a housing for attachment to one of a door and its frame and a stay bar for attachment to the other thereof, the stay bar extending into the housing through one end thereof and being provided with a rotary support means which bears against a surface within the housing, a pressure member in contact with the rotary support means throughout the length of its travel along said surface, and a spring arranged to apply pressure to the pressure member such as to press the rotary support means against said surface, the pressure member being profiled and having a shape such that it co-operates with the rotary support means and, at predetermined positions of the rotary support means along said surface, applies a restraint to movement of the rotary support means.

3. A device as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the pressure member is formed from a strip or bar deformed perpendicularly to its plane to form braking ramps and detent recesses, or is formed by a suitably shaped casting.

4. A device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the spring bears on the pressure member in the vicinity of the said one end of the housing.

5. A device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the rotary support means comprises at least one rotary support roller disposed at or near an end of the stay bar and running on said surface.

6. A device as claimed in Claim 5 wherein the pressure member is formed by a rigid arm pivoted to the housing at the end thereof remote from said one end of the housing.

7. A device as claimed in Claim 6, wherein the pivot axis of the pressure member is spaced from the plane of the surface on which said roller runs by a distance equal to at least substantially the diameter of the support roller or rollers, or that of a brake roller associated with said roller or rollers but not engaging the surface.

8. A device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the rotary support means comprises two rollers which rotate about the same axis and run on trackways formed on or by the housing and constituting said surface and a further roller rotating about said axis and disposed between the two said rollers and co-operating with the pressure member.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. with the wall 29 but because of the torsion imposed in consequence of the retention of the limb 25, the limb 30 biases the pressure member 14 against the roller 13 and thereby urges the rollers 8 into contact with their respective tracks. Co-operation of the rollers 8 with the tracks results in the opening movement of door being resisted when the rollers encounter the ramp 19 and the stay bar is being withdrawn from the housing. Cooperation of the rollers with the recess 20 or the recess 22 enables the door to be held in either of two open positions. Of course, other shapes of the tracks are possible and there may be fewer or more detent-recesses. Since the pivot shaft 16 of the pressure member is spaced from the mean plane of the tracks by a distance at least equal to the height of the roller 13, and because the limb 30 of the spring 24 engages the pressure member at a distance from the pivot axis thereof, the rollers 8 are loaded substantially uniformly throughout their travel along their tracks. In the embodiment shown Figures 4 to 6, the housing 41 is formed by a sheet metal blank pressed into a channel section and has fitted thereto, by welding or otherwise, an end wall 43 having an opening for the stay bar and a projecting lug 42 with bores 44 for screws for retaining the housing in place. The construction of the stay bar assembly including the bar 7 and rollers 8 and 13, as well as the construction and arrangement of the spring 24 are identical to those described previously, but in this embodiment the rollers travel along plane tracks 49 formed by the web of the housing. The main difference between the two embodiments is that in this second embodiment it is the pressure member 54 (which bears on roller 13) which is provided with the brake surfaces and detents. The member 54 is initially in the form of a planar blank of metal which is deformed to provide ramp surfaces 59 and 61 and detent surfaces 71 and 72. The pressure member 54 has a rolled over end portion 17 which defines an eye for a pin 16 supported in a block formed on the housing 41 substantially as previously described. The limb 30 of the spring 24 bears against the pressure member 54 in the vicinity of the end wall 43 of the housing so that the desired specific braking and holding force characteristics of the stay device are obtained. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A door stay device comprising a housing for attachment to one of a door and its frame and a stay bar for attachment to the other thereof, the stay bar extending into Xhe housing through one end thereof and being provided with a rotary support means which bears against a profiled surface within the housing, a pressure member in contact with the rotary support means throughout the length of its travel along said surface, and a spring arranged to apply pressure to the pressure member such as to press the rotary support means against the profiled surface, the profiled surface being so shaped as to co-operate with the rotary support means and at predetermined relative positions therebetween to app]y a restraint to movement of the rotary support means.

9. A device as claimed in any preceding

claim, wherein the spring acting on the pressure member is a torsion bar spring supported by the housing at a position remote from the pivot axis of the pressure member.

10. A device as claimed in Claim 9, wherein the torsion bar spring has a web portion and two limbs, one of which limbs bears against the pressure member, the other limb being retained in a wall of the housing, the web of the spring bearing against the walls of the housing whereby the torsion in the web causes the first limb to apply pressure to the pressure member.

11. A device as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 8, wherein the spring is a compression spring and at a position remote from the pivot point of the pressure member bears against a lug or web projecting from one or both of the walls of the housing and extending partly or wholly across the width of the housing.

12. A device as claimed in Claim 11, wherein the compression spring is a spiral spring supported or retained in depressions in the pressure member on the one hand and in said web on the other.

13. A device as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 9, wherein the spring is constituted by at least one hairpin or torsion coil spring, preferably supported by the pivot of the pressure member, one arm of the spring engaging the pressure member at a position remote from said pivot.

14. A device as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 9, wherein the pressure member is formed by a two-armed lever, one of which arms is acted upon by the spring and the other arm engages rotary support means of the stay bar.

15. A device as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the pivot of the pressure member is disposed on a narrowed projection of the housing located beyond the end or ends of the surface against which bears the rotary support means.

16, A device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein a pivot for the pressure member is formed by a pin or shaft received in bores in the side walls of the housing and passing through an eye in the pressure member.

17. A device as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 8 or 14 or 15, wherein the pivot of the pressure member is constituted by the web or a limb of a torsion bar spring.

18. A door stay device as claimed in Claim 1 and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings.

19. A door stay device as claimed in Claim 2 and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 4 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.