GB2031511A

GB2031511A - Spring door closers

Info

Publication number: GB2031511A
Application number: GB7910272A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1978-10-11
Filing date: 1979-03-23
Publication date: 1980-04-23
Also published as: FR2438729B2; IT7925186A0; ES483157A1; DE2927921A1; FR2438729A2; IT1123540B

Abstract

A door closer with damping includes a closing spring housed in a damping piston and cylinder assembly 9 which is pivotally mounted to the opening panel of the door 3 at one end 2 and to one end of a lever at the other 19, the lever in turn being pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on an attachment clamp 16 fixed to said panel and fixed at its other end to an arm 20, the free end of which is pivotally attached at 20 to a forearm 23 pivotally mounted on the door frame at 24. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A door closer with brake This invention relates to a door closer with brake. It is standard practice to fit doors which must normally be kept shut with a door closer fitted with brake. The purpose of the door closer with brake is to ensure closure of the door after any action has ceased to be exerted on it, whilst creating a certain damping, in order to allow smooth and quiet closing of the door, whatever the conditions outside, such as draughts.

There are two large types of door closers with brakes, namely door closers with slide and door closers with an arm hinged in the form of a V.

Standard door closers consist of a casing mounted on the opening panel containing a cylinder containing a slideably mounted piston which divides the cylinder into two interconnected chambers in the cylinder. A spring is provided in the cylinder which, under normal conditions, holds the piston in a specific position corresponding to the closed position of the door.

In the case of a standard door closer with slide system, the means of actuation consist of a control arm, one end of which is connected to the door-frame and carries a runner fitted in a slide attached to the control arm, the other end of which is fitted with a toothed wheel, which, engaging with a rack made in the casing is integral in movement with the piston. When the door is opened, the toothed wheel moves on the rack and causes the movement of the piston against the action of the spring.

When any action ceases to be exerted on the door, the piston returns to its starting position under the returning effect of the spring.

In this case, the movement of the piston is proportional to the angle of opening of the door, so that the effects of the door closer are the same whatever the position of the opening panel relative to the door-frame, which poses problems at the end of closing when the resistances are greater, particularly by virtue of the resistance asserted by the bolt of the lock which must be locked, and by draughts.

There are also door closers with brakes which have hinged arms in the form of a V, one of the ends of the V being hinged to the door-frame and the other end of the V being connected to the rod of the door-closer which, in this case too, entrains a toothed wheel actuating a rack.

These hinged arms make it possible to have a reducing piston stroke when the door is opened, and an increasing piston stroke when the door is closed with a more powerful action of the spring and brake at the end of the closing action.

According to the present invention there is provided a door closer with brake including fluid filled piston and cylinder assembly, the piston of which separates the cylinder into two chambers interconnected by passage means through the piston and a spring biassing the piston in one direction, the assembly being pivotally mounted at one of its ends on an attachment clamp fixable to the opening panel of the door and at its other end to one end of a lever which in turn is pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on another attachment clamp fixable to said opening panel, the other end of the lever being connected rigidly to one end of an arm of the other end of which is pivotally mounted a forearm pivotally mountable on the door frame; the pivotal axes of all the said pivotal mountings being mutually parallel to the hinge axis of the opening panel.

The main arm in the form of a V does not therefore cause turning of the door closer rod as is the case normally, but through the intermediary of the lever hinged to the other attachment clamp, it actuates either the piston rod or the cylinder unit in a longitudinal movement, which causes, directly and without the rotation of a shaft, the movement of the piston and compression of the spring.

This arrangement is of special interest as it combines the advantages of a door closer with a V arm and those of the door closer with a slide.

As an example, the stroke of the piston in a conventional closer is 9 mm for an opening angle between 0" and 15 , 16 mm for an angle between 15 and 45 and 11 mm for an angle between 45 and 90 . In the case of a door closer with hinged V arm, with identical characteristics, the stroke of the piston is 6.5 mm for an opening angle from 0" to 16 8.5 mm for an opening angle from 15 to 45 , and 8 mm for an opening angle from 45 to 90 .

Preferably the pivotal attachment of the lever to said piston and cylinder assembly is located, when the door is in the closed position, between the pivot axis of the lever on said other attachment clamp and the pivot axis of the forearm on the door-frame.

An additional and important advantage is obtained by removably attaching the lever to the V arm so that it is possible, by orientating the lever on the symmetrically opposed side and by then re-attaching the arm to the lever, to obtain a unit operating in the opposite direction, that is to say for a left hand door (the door opening on the left by pushing) if the unit was set up in the first instance for a right hand door. The door closer of the invention is therefore universal.

A mask stamped from steel or brass of cast from grey iron, or a synthetic material and attached to the attachment clamps the opening panel make it possible to mask the piston and cylinder assembly.

Depending on the relative positions of the pivot axis it is possible to obtain a whole range of openings with very varied resistances and closures with stages and more or less gradual brake applications.

The modifications required are achieved easily either by modifying the length of the forearm which may be adjustable, or by moving the attachment of the forearm on the door-frame laterally.

Another advantage of this device is that of keeping the door in the opened position at an angle of 90, 110 or 120 , as required.

Stoppage of the door is brought about when the pivot axis of the lever on the assembly, the pivot axis of the lever on said other attachment clamp and the pivot axis of the cylinder of said one attachment clamp are aligned. If the position corresponding to this straight line is exceeded, then the spring acts in the direction of a more complete opening of the door, which is stopped by the lever butting against the attachment clamp.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a plan view in three positions of a door and a closer therefor; Figure 2 is a side view partly in the form of a longitudinal section.

A door closer has a first attachment clamp 2 attached to opening panel 3 of a door hinged around an axis 4. On this attachment clamp 2 the end of a rod 6 of a piston 7, connected to a trunnion 8 is mounted so that it is hinged around a rod 5. Piston 7 is mounted in a cylinder 9 which it divides into two chambers, respectively 10 and 12, filled with a fluid such as oil, this fluid being capable of passing from one chamber to the other through a passage 13, with the possibility of adjusting the flow rate.

Chamber 1 2 contains a spring 14, which tends to pull piston 7 away from joint 1 5 blanking off the cylinder on the side located next to rod 5.

Attachment clamp 1 6 is also attached to opening panel 3, to which is hinged, around a rod 1 7 parallel to door hinge axis 4, a lever 18.

One end of this lever 1 8 is connected through a rod 1 9 parallel to rod 1 7 to the end of cylinder 9 opposite to the end located on the side of rod 5. When the door is closed, rod 19 is located between rods 5 and 17.

At the other end of lever 1 8 the end of an arm 20 is fitted, so that it is rigid and removable on the other end of which the end of a forearm 23 is hinged at 22, the other end of arm 23 being hinged at 24 to doorframe 25.

From a practical point of view, when the door is opened, rod 1 9 will pivot around rod 1 7 of the lever, bringing about a movement of the piston inside the cylinder in the direction of compression of spring 14. When any such stressing ceases to be exerted on the door, the spring returns, ensuring the braked closure of the door.

Fig. 1 of the drawing shows that the movement of the piston in the cylinder is not proportional to the opening angle of the door.

The fact is that the movement of the piston will be larger for narrow angles than for wider angles.

When the opening panel reaches an opening angle of around 110", rods 5, 17 and 19 are aligned so that the spring cannot return to bring the opening panel back into the closed position.

When this position is exceeded, as shown in Fig. 1, the spring tends, on the contrary, to increase the opening angle of the door, by returning to its original position.

As is clear from the foregoing, the invention contributes a substantial improvement to the existing technique by providing a door closer with brake in which the piston stroke is substantial for narrow angles of opening, that is to say where a maximum of spring action is achieved and at the same time a maximum of braking in the 15 or 20 preceding complete closure of the door.

As is obvious, the invention is not limited to the sole embodiment of this closer described above as an example. On the contrary it covers any production variants.

In particular the positions of the free end of the piston rod and the other end of the cylinder could in fact be reversed without going outside the scope of this invention.

Claims

1. A door closer with brake including a fluid filled piston and cylinder assembly, the piston of which separates the cylinder into two chambers interconnected by passage means through the piston and a spring biassing the piston in one direction, the assembly being pivotally mounted at one of its ends on an attachment clamp fixable to the opening panel of the door and at its other end to one end of a lever which in turn is pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on another attachment clamp fixable to said opening panel, the other end of the lever being connected rigidly to one end of an arm on the other end of which is pivotally mounted a forearm pivotally mountable on the door frame: the pivotal axes of all the said pivotal mounting being mutually parallel and parallel to the hinge axis of the opening panel.

2. A door closer with brake as claimed in claim 1, in which the pivotal attachment of the lever to said piston and cylinder assembly is located, when the door is in the closed position, between the pivot axis of the lever on said other attachment clamp and the pivot axis of the forearm on the door-frame.

3. A door closer substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

4. Any novel subject matter or combination including novel subject matter herein disclosed whether or not with the scope of or relating to the same invention as any of the preceding claims.