GB2196053A - Hinge assemblies - Google Patents

Abstract

A hinge assembly 10 for mounting rear van doors on a motor vehicle, and other applications, comprises a flat assembly having a main load bearing link 16 pivotally connecting two hinge members 12, 14, and a control link 18 likewise pivotally connecting the hinge members and being longer than the main link, whereby movement of the main link of the hinge assembly through 180 degrees causes a closure member, for example a van rear door to be swung through 270 degrees so as to lie in a fore/aft position alongside the side of the vehicle for loading purposes. The main link and the control link are arranged to permit a substantially in-line position of the pivots in the closed position of the van door, whereby the hinge assembly is compact and unobtrusive. Stop means can be provided for limiting toggle action of the pivots in the closed position of the door. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Hinge assemblies This invention relates to hinge assemblies. An example of an application of the invention is to hinge assemblies for mounting rear doors on motor vehicles such as vans and ambulances. The invention is however also applicable to other closure members such as windows and doors on vehicles of all sorts, and indeed to closures and other pivotally mounted structures generally.

There is disclosed in G.B. 1471396 (Saviem) a hinge assembly comprising two hinge brackets pivotally connected by a pair of hinge links whereby-a vehicle rear door can be swung from a closed position to a fore/aft position. However, this prior art hinge is extremely bulky. It projects a substantial distance rearwards from the structure on which it is mounted and is thus completely unsuitable for applications at the side of a vehicle, and indeed even at the rear thereof is likely to be unable to meet the requirements of impending legislation. Moreover, the structure is complex and expensive to manufacture, and is of very limited application. Furthermore, a similar technical result could be achieved with a much simpler structure.For example, given that in the priorpatent one of the hinge mounting brackets projects rearwardly by a substantial distance, a simple single axis hinge mounting could be provided to permit the rear door to swing to its fore/aft position, without the complexity and expense of the multi-pivot assembly shown.

There is a need for a hinge assembly which can control the attitude of a closure member, such as a rear van door, and which has a very compact form in its closed position, and moreover, is simple and economical to manufacture.

An object of the present invention is to provide a hinge assembly offering improvements in relation to one or more of the matters discussed above, or generally.

According to the invention there is provided a hinge assembly as defined in the accompanying claims. The invention also provides a hinge assembly not limited by all features of any one particular claim hereof, but comprising any novel feature or novel combination of features disclosed herein, and the right is specifically reserved to include such a claim in this application during the prosecution thereof.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the. accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 shows a vertical section through a first embodiment of a -hinge assembly according to the invention Figure 2 shows a plan view of the hinge assembly of Fig. 1 Figure 3 shows a perspective view of a second embodiment of the invention Figure 4 shows a side elevation view of the embodiment of Fig. 3 showing its range of movement Figures 5 and 6 show the embodiment of Figs. 3 and 4 in plan view and side elevation respectively.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a hinge assembly 10 comprises first and second hinge members 12, 14 respectively. Hinge member 12 is to be secured to a closure, for example the rear door of a road vehicle such as a van.

Hinge member 14 is to be secured to the bodywork of the van.

First and second links 16 and 18 pivotally interconnect the hinge members -12, 14. The links 16, 18 have respective pivot pins 20, 22 and 24, 26 with respective pivot axes 28, 30, and 32 34, these axes being parallel.

As clearly seen in Fig. 1, the links 16, 18 are arranged so that the links can freely move past each other as the hinge assembly moves angularly to permit the closure to open and close. Moreover, the pivot pins 20, 22 and 24, 26 themselves do not prevent the assembly achieving a position in which the pivot axes are substantially in-line in the closed position of the assembly. Thus, for example, as shown in Fig. 2, the hinge member 12 in its closed position shown in Fig. 2 has the upper link 16 located above the upper end of pivot pin 20 so that the line joining the axes 24, 26 of link 18 almost passes through the axis 28 of pin 20. So far as the hinge assembly itself is concerned, it would be perfectly possible for the hinge members 12 and 14 to be mounted so that the assembly could achieve a position with the pivot axes 24, 26, 28 and 30 on a common line.In such an attitude, the assembly has a degree of freedom of movement at the closure end of the hinge which should preferably be controlled, and in the embodiment described below, means is provided for this purpose. In the present embodiment, the separation of the pivot pin axes in the closed position may be sufficient for such means to be non-essential.

In use, the assembly functions as follows.

From the closed Fig. 2 position, the closure can be opened in the direction indicated in Fig. 2 by arrow 0. As the arms are swung through an angle of 180 degrees, the geometry of the assembly and in particular the difference in length between the links 16 and 18 causes the hinge member 12 to execute an additional 90 degrees of movement whereby the angular travel of the closure member attached to the hinge member is 270 degrees and it is thereby caused to achieve a fore/aft position alongside the bodywork of the vehicle. Two or more hinge assemblies as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 are used one above the other in the usual way and these work in unison so as to control the attitude of the entire door assembly.

Figs. 3 to 6 show a further embodiment in which the hinge assembly is rendered even more compact by adoption of an in-line relationship for the axes of the pivot pins.

Fig. 3 shows the very compact hinge assembly in its closed condition.

For ease of reference, parts corresponding to those of the embodiment of Figs, 1 and 2 are given the same reference numerals as in Figs. 1 and 2, but with the addition of 100 to the numeral in question. Thus, link 16 of Figs.

1 and 2 becomes link 116 and so on.

In Fig. 3, there can be seen the upper link 118. In this embodiment, there is provided a corresponding lower link 119. Links 118 and 119 are welded to a common pivot pin 124 corresponding to pin 24, whereby links 118 and 119 move in unison. Pin 124 is freely pivoted in hinge member 112 (see Figs. 4 to 6) which is secured to the vehicle rear door.

Link 116 is welded at 136 to its pivot pin 122 which is itself freely rotatable in hinge member 114. Link 116 is likewise welded at 138 to its other hinge pin 120, which is likewise freely rotatable in hinge member 112.

A cover flap 140 is welded to pivot pin 124 for angular movement with links 118 and 119, simply to close in one end of the assembly and to form, for visual purposes, a continuation of link 116.

The in-line relationship of the axes of pivot pins 120, 122, 124 and 126 is clearly seen from Fig. 6. To control the attitude of'hinge member 112 in the closed and in-line position shown in Fig. 6 there is provided stop means constituted by edge flanges 142 and 144 on links 118, 119 respectively. Flanges 142 and 144 are positioned for abuting engagement with the upper edge surface 146 (see Fig. 6) of hinge member 112. In this way, the attitude of hinge member 112 is firmly controlled in the in-line position of the pivot axes, whereby the vehicle rear door can be firmly closed against its rubber seal of the like.

It is noteworthy that in tis embodiment, despite the use of full length pivot pins, the arrangement is such that the very compact inline position shown in Fig. 3 can be achieved without the use of cut-outs in the links and complex adaptations of that sort. The provision of the stop means for limiting toggling of the assembly in its closed position means that the hinge assembly can retain the advantages of controlled angular movement of the member to be pivoted while the hinge assembly has the compact form of a conventional hinge, and without attendant disadvantages in the pivot in-line position.

Amongst other modifications which could be made in the above embodiment while remaining within the scope of the invention are the following.

Firstly, alternatively stop means could be provided, such as suitable abutments acting between the links themselves and between one or more of the links and the vehicle body or indeed between one or more of the pivot pins and an associated part of the hinge assembly. The hinge assembly could be provided with means to limit its travel at a defined position. For example, a cam could be arranged to drop and stop further angular movement when the closure member reaches a defined position. The cam could be released manually.

Many variations of the structure and arrangement of the links could be provided. In some situations, an arrangement in which one link passes throgh an opening in the other may be desirable. Equally, it may be desired to provide a more equal loading of the links, and thus these may be formed with up to equal load bearing capacity.

Claims (14)

1. A hinge assembly for mounting a structure to be pivoted on a support therefor, the assembly comprising first and second hinge members to be secured one to said structure to be pivoted and one to said support therefor first and second links pivotally interconnecting said first and second hinge members and having parallel pivot axes said links being disposed so as to control the attitude of said structure relative to said support as the structure is pivoted relative thereto ; characterised in that said first and second links are arranged one above the other so that said links can freely move past each other and the pivots of said links themselves do not prevent a substantially in-line position with respect to at least one of said links in the closed position of said hinge assembly or of said structure, at least for said hinge member which is to be secured to said structure.

2. A hinge assembly for mounting a structure to be pivoted on a support therefor, the assembly comprising first and second hinge members to be secured one to said structure to be pivoted and one to said support therefor first and second links pivotally interconnecting said first and second hinge members and having parallel pivot axes said links being disposed so as to control the attitude of said structure relative to said support as the structure is pivoted relative thereto; characterised by means to limit pivotal movement of said hinge member to be connected to said structure to be pivoted, relative to at least one of said links.

3. A hinge assembly according to claim 1 or claim 2 characterised in that said links are of unequal length.

4. A hinge assembly according to any one of the preceding claims characterised in that the assembly is generally flat in form in its closed condition.

5. A hinge assembly according to any one of the preceding claims characterised in that said links comprise a central main load bearing link and an upper or lower control link.

6. A hinge assembly according to any one of the preceding claims characterised in that, as viewed in side elevation, said hinge assembly includes one pivot axis from each link lying between the two pivot axes of the other link.

7. A hinge assembly according to any one of the preceding claims characterised in that said hinge members each have at least one flange to receive pivot pins from said links, said links being located on opposite sides of said flange.

8. A hinge assembly according to claim 7 characterised in that each of said hinge members comprises two flanges, one of said links being pivoted between said flanges, and at least one of said links being pivoted to and located on the outer side of said flanges.

9. A hinge assembly according to claim 8 characterised by two links being pivoted to said flanges on the outer side thereof.

10. A hinge assembly according to claim 2 characterised in that said means to limit pivotal movement comprises stop means.

11. A hinge assembly according to claim 10 characterised in that said stop means comprises abutment means on at least one of said links.

12. A hinge assembly according to claim 11 characterised in that said abutment means is adapted to engage a corresponding abutment means on another of said links.

13. A hinge assembly according to claim 11 characterised in that said abutment means is adapted to engage abutment means on the hinge member which carries said structure to be pivoted.

14. A hinge assembly substantially as described herein with reference to Figs. 1 and 2 or Figs. 3 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.