GB2316126A

GB2316126A - Door closer:holding door open

Info

Publication number: GB2316126A
Application number: GB9623898A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Gerhard Schroeder; Peter Kubelka
Original assignee: Gretsch Unitas GmbH
Current assignee: Gretsch Unitas GmbH
Priority date: 1996-08-07
Filing date: 1996-11-18
Publication date: 1998-02-18
Anticipated expiration: 2016-11-18
Also published as: DE29613623U1; FR2752261B1; GB9623898D0; DE19719324A1; GB2316126B; FR2752261A1; DE19719324C2

Abstract

Pivotal member 4 is biased by spring 8 into a track in which runs a roller at the end of a pivotal door-closer arm, and thus prevents roller return (to the right) and door closing. Spring biasing force is adjusted by rotation of cam disc 21 moving balls 20 in track 19. Cam disc 21 has ball-shaped recesses in its periphery at increasing distance from the disc centre, and is rotatable by a tool. The ball transmission may be replaced by rollers, a ball chain, a push-pull cable or a bellcrank lever, all capable of changing the direction of spring-compressing force. The location of disc 21 provides for easy spring adjustment, e.g. in an overhead door closer.

Description

The invention concerns a locking arrangement for a door in particular with a door closer, preferably a top-mounted door closer, comprising a slide arm whose end at the fixed frame side carries a slide roller, a slide shoe or the like displaceable in a guide rail, and the locking arrangement has a pivotal member which is loaded by the force of at least one spring and which projects into the slide track and against which, after passing thereover, the slide roller or the like bears in the position to be arrested, and the force of the spring is adjustable by way of an adjusting device.

A locking arrangement having those features is known fran EP 384 141 Al. That locking arrangement can be used to hold a door which closes automatically by means of a door closer open in a predetermined open position. In order to be able to adjust the holding force of the locking arrangement to different paraneters, for example different closes forces of the door closer and the like, the locking arrangement is provided with an adjusting device with which the prestressing of the spring can be altered.

That adjusting device is formed by a simple screw with which a pressure portion can be displaced towards the spring to a greater or lesser degree, with the screw being oriented parallel to the axial direction of the slide track. If now the holding force of the locking arrangement is to be altered, a suitable tool is used to intervene axially in the guide rail and the screw is turned therein. Another option involves removing the locking arrangement from the guide rail and turning the adjusting screw in the dismantled condition. Both kinds of adjustment are not only time-consuming but also complicated and under some circumstances are not possible without a suitable tool.

Therefore the object of the present invention is to provide a locking arrangement in which the force of the spring can be adjusted quickly and in a simple and trouble-free manner.

In accordance with the invention that object is attained in that in a locking arrangement of the kind set forth in the opening part of this specification the adjusting device is in the form of a direction-changing drive.

The direction-changing drive according to the invention affords the possibility that actuation of the adjusting device no longer has to be effected in a direction parallel to the guide track, but the adjusting device is actuable in particular at a right angle to the axis of the guide rail. Accordingly it is no longer necessary to intervene axially in the guide rail, for which purpose a very long tool is generally required, but it is possible to intervene laterally in the guide rail thereby to engage the adjusting device for actuation thereof. The locking arrangement according to the invention can also be used in relation to doors without a door closer.

A development provides that the drive element is mounted and actuable in a plane in the locking arrangement which corresponds to the plane of movement of an arresting device for the pivotal member or the plane of a fixing device for the locking arrangment. As is already known from EP 384 141 A1 the pivotal member can be arrested in an inoperative position in which it does not project into the slide track of the slide roller. The slide arm is not locked in-that position of the pivotal member and the door is therefore not held in an open position. It is also known that the locking arrangement can be fixed at any positions within the guide rail by means of a fixing device, whereby the arrestable angle of opening of the door is adjustable. If now the drive element is disposed in the plane of the arresting device for the pivotal member and/or in the plane of the fixing device, it can be actuated by way of the slot in the guide rail, by way of which the arresting device or the fixing device is actuated and engages the locking arrangement. Therefore the. guide rail does not have to have any addition opening as the slots or openings which are already present can be used for engaging and actuating the drive element, for example by means of a tool.

Preferably the drive element is in the form of a rotary drive or a thrust drive. A rotary drive has the advantage that it can be actuated for example by means of a screwdriver, a key for use in a hexagonal recess, or the like. A thrust drive has the advantage that it is manually actuable without a tool, by for example pushing a thrust element which projects outwardly beyond the guide rail.

A development provides that the drive element permits stepwise adjustment of the spring force, in particular in seven steps. That stepwise adjustment makes it possible to achieve reproducible and precisely predeterminable prestressing of the spring force. In addition exact instructions can be given to the user, insofar as specific adjustment steps of the locking arrangement according to the invention are associated with given door closers involving different closing forces. In addition the adjustment positions of the locking arrangement are self-holding so that on the one hand the drive element can be mounted to be very easy to move, while on the other hand no positional securing means is required.

An embodiment provides that the direction-changing drive has a direction-changing means which is arranged between the drive element and the spring and which transmits thrust forces. That direction-changing means affords the possibility of the location of the drive element being substantially independent of the location of the spring to be prestressed. In that way the drive elementcan be so positioned that on the one hand it is readily accessible while on the other hand it is possibly actuable even without a tool.

A development provides that the direction-changing means is in the form of a row of balls, a ball chain or the like guided in a travel track, or a Bowden cable, bell crank lever and the like. By means of a direction-changing arrangement of that kind, thrust forces can be readily transmitted from the drive element to the spring to be prestressed, even in a line which differs from a straight line. That purpose is served by the guide track in which balls or pulling means are arranged. Besides a change in the direction of application of the force, in addition it is also possible to provide a step-up transmission effect as for example in the case of a bell crank lever so that the adjusting forces at the drive element can be relatively low.

Preferably the drive element has at least one setting abutment. The range of adjustment is limited by way of the setting abutment to limit positions so that further displacement in that direction is not possible and that therefore excludes possible damage to the drive element or the entire locking arrangement.

Preferably the reaction force of the spring acts orthogonally on a mounting of the drive element and is borne thereby. When the drive element is in the form of a rotary drive the reaction force of the spring acts orthogonally on the rotary bearing so that the spring is supported against the bearing shells by way of the direction-changing means and the bearing trunnion of the drive element.

Advantageously the direction-changing drive is arranged in a separate housing which can possibly be non-losably secured to the housing of the locking arrangement. The arrangement according to the invention can also be used in relation to locking arrangements in which the thrust member is held by magnetic force. In that way the housing of the locking arrangement can be fitted as desired with the direction-changing drive according to the invention or with a conventional adjusting device. In addition locking arrangements which have already been produced can be subsequently fitted with the direction-changing drive according to the invention.

An embodiment provides that the drive element is in the form of a setting disc, the radius increasing from the one limit position to the other. A setting member which bears against the periphery of the setting disc can be displaced by way of the setting disc, by rotation thereof, by virtue of the radius changing in the course of the rotary movement. In that case the setting disc has at the radially varying periphery detentlike recesses which are each at different spacings relative to the axis of rotation of the setting disc. The direction-changing means, for example balls, cylinders or the like, bear against those recesses. For actuation of the setting disc, it preferably has a respective hexagonal recess at each of the two ends of its rotary spindle. It is also possible for other means to be provided at those locations for a tool to engage into or on to same.

The invention further concerns an arrangement for holding a door open, preferably with a door closer with a locking arrangement, which has one or more of the above-described X x Further advantages, features and details of the invention will be apparent from the following description in which a particularly preferred embodiment is described in detail with reference to the drawing. In this respect the features which are shown in the drawing and which are referred to in the claims and in the description are each essential to the invention individually in themselves or in any combination. In the drawing: Figure 1 is a view in longitudinal section through a preferred embodiment of the locking arrangement according to the invention with the pivotal member in the operative position, Figure 2 is a view on an enlarged scale of a setting disc identified by II in Figure 1, and Figure 3 is a view on an enlarged scale of a housing half, as identified by III in Figure 1, for the direction-changing drive.

Figure 1 is a view in longitudinal section of a locking arrangement which is generally identified by reference numeral 1 and which has a main housing 2 and a direction-changing housing 3. The main housing 2 with the components arranged therein corresponds to the locking arrangement in accordance with EP 384 141 A1, for which reason reference is made to the entire content of that publication. In particular the arrangement has a pivotal member 4 which is mounted pivotably about an axis 5, a thrust member 6 which is mounted in the main housing 2 displaceably in the longitudinal direction of a guide rail (not shown) and which co-operates with a projection 7 of the pivotal member 4 and which is subjected to the force of a spring 8, an arresting device 9 with a retaining member 10 and a retaining projection 11 provided on the pivotal member 4, and a screwthreaded sleeve for a fixing device 12. The thrust member 6 is biased by way of the spring 8 towards the projection 7 of the pivotal member 4 and seeks to hold the pivotal member 4 in the extended position as shown in Figure 1. The spring 8 is supported against the bottom 13 of a blind hole 14 in the thrust member 6 and by its other end against a shoulder 15 of a spring yoke 16. The spring yoke 16 also has a guide pin 17 which engages into the spring 8 over a portion thereof and which guides the part of the spring 8, which projects beyond the blind hole 14.

The part of the spring yoke 16 which is disposed opposite the guide pin 17 is in the form of a pressure portion 18 and is guided in a guide track 19 provided in the direction-changing housing 3. As the directionchanging housing 3 is formed by two half-shell portions, the corresponding half of the guide track 19 is provided in each half-shell portion. Disposed in the guide track 19 adjoining the pressure portion 18 are a total of three balls 20 which in turn are supported by a setting disc 21. The guide track 19 has a 90 -bend in which the balls 20 are guided and, starting from the setting disc 21, can experience a change in direction towards the pressure portion 18. Instead of balls 20, it is also possible to envisage using cylindrical rollers or the like.

The setting disc 21 has bearing trunnions 22 which project orthogonally with respect to the plane of the drawing and which are mounted in bearing bushes 23 of the direction-changing housing 3. It is pointed out that the portion of the guide track 19, which is vertical in the drawing, extends in a radial direction with respect to the bearing bush 23. The two bearing trunnions 22 (of which only one is shown in the drawing) are provided with a hexagonal recess 24 so that the setting disc 21 can be engaged and actuated by a key for fitting into a hexagonal recess. It can be clearly seen from Figure 2 which illustrates a view of the setting disc 21 on an enlarged scale that the outside periphery of the setting disc 21 is of a stepped contour in an angular range 25. That stepped contour is formed by detent-like recesses 26 of which there are provided a total of seven. The recesses 26 have a part-circular bottom which is disposed in the radial direction and are each arranged at different respective spacings with respect to the axis of rotation 27 of the bearing trunnion 22. The first recess is therefore followed by a second recess involving a slightly greater spacing, which in turn is followed by a recess with a still larger spacing, and so forth. The balls 20 rest in the recesses 26. In that respect the curvature of the recess 26 corresponds to the curvature of the ball 20 bearing thereagainst or the cylindrical roller bearing thereagainst. In that way the setting disc 21 is held in a stable condition in its instantaneous position.

It can also be seen from Figure 2 that in the region 28 which is free of recesses 26, the setting disc is provided with a projection 29 which projects axially at both sides. When the setting disc 21 is fitted into the direction-changing housing 3, the projection 29 engages into a substantially semicircular groove 30 (Figure 3). That projection-andgroove connection 29,30 provides limit abutments 31 and 32 for the setting range (angle 25) of the setting disc 21. In that connection the limit abutment 31 forms the position for minimum prestressing of the spring 8 and the limit abutment 32 forms the position for maximum prestressing thereof.

It can also be clearly seen from Figure 1 that the axis of rotation 27 and the hexagonal recess 24 are disposed at a height which corresponds to the position of the fixing device 12 and the retaining member 10. Both the fixing device 12 and the actuating element for the retaining member 10 are disposed opposite a slot in the guide rail (not shown) so that the locking arrangement 1 can be fixed to a desired position in the rail by means of a clamping element which is screwed into the fixing device 12.

In addition the actuating device for the retaining member 10 engages through that slot and can be displaced along the slot. Thus, the setting disc 21 can also be engaged and actuated by way of the slot in the guide rail, by using a suitable tool, for example a key for engaging the hexagonal recess, as the hexagonal recess 24 is accessible through the slot.-n that way the locking arrangement 1 can be easily adjusted from below and only a normal commercially available tool is required.

As the main housing 2 of the locking arrangement 1 does not require any modifications upon installation of the adjusting device according to the invention, conventional locking arrangements can be converted or subsequently fitted with the direction-changing housing 3 according to the invention and the adjusting device according to the invention. In that situation the direction-changing housing 3 is merely riveted into the main housing 2 and the free end of the spring 8 is provided with the spring yoke 16.

Claims

1. A locking arrangement (1) for a door in particular with a door closer, preferably a top-mounted door closer, comprising a slide arm whose end at the fixed frame side carries a slide roller, a slide shoe or the like displaceable in a guide rail, and the locking arrangement (1) has a pivotal member (6) which is loaded by the force of at least one spring (8) and which projects into the slide track and which, after passing thereover, retains the slide roller or the like in the position to be arrested, and the force of the spring (8) is adjustable by way of an adjusting device, characterised in that the adjusting device is in the form of a direction-changing drive having a drive element (21).

2. A locking arrangement according to one of the preceding claims characterised in that the drive element (2) is mounted and actuable in a plane in a locking arrangement (1) which corresponds to the plane of movement of an arresting device (9) for the pivotal member (6) and/or which corresponds to the plane of a fixing device (12) for the locking arrangement

3. A locking arrangement according to one of the preceding claims characterised in that the drive element (21) is in the form of a rotary drive or a thrust drive.

4. A locking arrangement according to one of the preceding claims characterised in that the drive element (21) permits stepwise adjustment of the spring force, in particular in seven steps.

5. A locking arrangement according to one of the preceding claims characterised in that the direction-changing drive has a directionchanging means which is arranged between the drive dément (21) and the spring (8) and which transmits thrust forces.

6. A locking arrangement according to claim 5 characterised in that the direction-changing means are in the form of cylindrical rollers, a row of balls (20) or a ball chain guided in a guide track (19) or in the form of a Bowden cable, a bell crank lever or the like.

7. A locking arrangement according to claim 5 or claim 6 characterised in that the direction-changing means represent a step-up transmission means.

8. A locking arrangement according to one of the preceding claims characterised in that the drive element (21) has at least one setting abutment (31,32).

9. A locking arrangement according to one of the preceding claims characterised in that the reaction force of the spring (8) acts orthogonally on s mounting (22,23) of the drive element (21) and is supported by sane.

10. A locking arrangement according to one of the preceding claims characterised in that the direction-changing drive is arranged in a separate housing (3) which can possibly be in particular non-losably secured to the main housing (2) of the locking arrangement (1).

11. A locking arrangement according to one of the preceding claims characterised in that the drive element is in the form of a setting disc (21), wherein the radius increases from the one limit position (31) to the other limit position (32).

12. A locking arrangement according to claim 11 characterised in that the setting disc (21) has at the radially varying periphery detentlike recesses (26) which are each at respectively different spacings with respect to the axis of rotation (27) of the setting disc (21).

13. A locking arrangement according to claim 11 or claim 12 characterised in that the setting disc (21) has a respective hexagonal recess (24) at each of the two ends of its rotary spindle (27).

14. A door closer having a locking arrangement according to one of the preceding claims.

15. A locking arrangement substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.