IE20110219A1 - Hinge - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT An adjustable hinge 2 includes mechanism 20, 22 and 24 for vertical, compression and lateral adjustments when the hinge 2 is mounted between a door and a door frame, the lateral adjustment mechanism 24 cooperating with the compression adjustment mechanism 22 to compensate for arcuate pivoting movements of the hinge 2 which normally occur with lateral adjustment such that the resultant lateral adjustment movements of the hinge 2 are substantially linear.

Description

This invention relates to an adjustable hinge, which is more particularly but not exclusively for conventional type wooden or composite interior and exterior doors ‘typically having a ‘slab’ door construction.

A typical adjustable hinge incorporates a female leaf for mounting the hinge, as by screws, in a routing in the door frame and interconnected by a hinge pin to a male leaf, for securing the hinge, as by screws, in a routing in the oppositely facing edge of the door. The adjustments may be in two dimensions, i.e. vertical and horizontal (lateral), as described in the specification of US Patent No. 5,799,370 to Davidian et . alto enable the door to be level and fit well within a door frame and in EP 1,094,183 A2 to Simonswerke. Adjustment in one, vertical, dimension is described in WO 01184261 A1 to Karlsson. And in WC 03/029589 to Frip, the hinge is adjustable in three dimensions namely vertical, lateral and compression (closure). The compression adjustment moves the closing surface of the door away from and towards a rebate in the frame to enable the door to fit more snugly in the frame and effect a better seal between the closing surface of the frame and the door. This is particularly important for external doors where an effective weather seal is paramount.

Nowadays, for speed of assembly in new buildings, three dimensional (3D) hinges are supplied to a new building with one of their leaves already screwed to a door ready for mounting the door within a door frame and the doors may be fitted to the door frame at a convenient stage of the building construction, for example only few days or even hours before the customer takes possession. The door frame has already been fixed and aligned within. the building surround opening both vertically and laterally and any gaps between the building surround and the door frame are titled with a suitable sealant. The door is then fitted into the door rebate and the other leaves of the hinges are screwed into the door frame. Then, vertical adjustment is made between the door and the door frame, compression adjustment is made between the door closing surface and the door frame rebate and lateral adjustment is made to ensure that there is a sealing gap all the way around between the outer edge of the door and the frame. However, lateral adjustments between the male and female leafs typically involve arcuate pivoting movements that can corrupt the already-made vertical and compression adjustments. 80 further finer adjustments builder who is in a hurry to finish, resulting in ill-fitting doors causing draughts and . heat loss. Moreover, external timber doors are heavy as compared to inner, lighter doors and need to be robust and resilient to climate changes.

As all hinges carry a manufacturer's guarantee, it is essential that the adjustments once made to external doors in particular will be permanent and the hinge will not require further adjustments despite the effect of the weather on the door. Otherwise the builder will be called out to make further adjustments and cost will be borne by the manufacturer whose profit will be reduced. Therefore, the mantra currently prevailing in the building industry is »“Fit and Forget".

Moreover, some conventional hinges are one handed only, i.e. right or left handed, necessitating separate hinges for the different hands.

Thus, there is a need for an adjustable hinge that is non-handed (capable of being used in both right and left hands), more readily adjustable in three dimensions, more easily fitted to the door and the frame with a minimum of alterations and adjustments in the fitting and be compact and builder-friendly, all of which reduce the scope for errors, and disadvantageous ill-fitting doors.

From one aspect, the present invention resides in an adjustable hinge which, when mounted between a door and a door frame, is capable of vertical, compression and lateral adjustments, characterised in that any lateral adjustment of the hinge does not corrupt compression and vertical adjustments of the hinge which already have been made.

By means of the invention, the need for further compression adjustments following the lateral adjustments to fine tune the door adjustments and therefore the risk of a builder leaving doors which have not been adequately adjusted are at least substantially eliminated.

Since arcuate movements are already used to effect the lateral adjustment albeit with the problems mentioned above, the applicants have devised a way of enabling the lateral adjustment mechanism to compensate for arcuate pivoting adjusting movements within the hinge such that the resultant lateral adjustment of the hinge is substantially linear. lE1’l0219 One way of achieving this compensation is for the lateral adjustment mechanism to cooperate with compression adjustment mechanism in a manner which can be simply and easily attained without sacrificing compactness of the hinge.

In order to enable the hinge to be readily mounted on the door and facilitate the various adjustments, the hinge preferably includes two leafs which are mountable to the door and door frame respectively, one of said leafs being a female leaf and the other being a male leaf, and in that the male leaf is constituted by a housing and the female leaf includes a tongue which is received in the housing to mount the female leaf to, and remove the female leaf from, the male leaf and which is arcuately moveable with respect to the housing to effect the lateral adjusting movements.

For ease of entry and removal of the tongue, the housing is conveniently provided with a flared slot though which the tongue is received into, and removed from, the housing.

The pivoting arcuate movement is assisted by the tongue having upwardly curved and upwardly and downwardly projecting free ends that engage with upwardly and downwardly facing inner surfaces of the housing.

Advantageously, the housing is provided with guides for constraining the movement of the tongue to linear movements into and out of, and arcuate pivoting movement in, the housing and the lateral adjusting mechanism acts on the tongue to effect the lateral adjusting movements of the hinge.

In order to compensate for the arcuate pivoting movements and result in substantially linear lateral adjusting movements and to effect the compression adjusting movements, the compression adjustment mechanism also, ideally, acts on the tongue A particularly preferred construction is for the compression adjustment mechanism to include an eccentric peg which engages in an L—shaped slot in the tongue, in the base of the L of which slot the eccentric peg engages when the tongue is received in, and removed from, the housing.

And the eccentric peg may be double-bevelled with its two circular upper and lower bevel faces locating in upper and lower curved portions of the leg of the L-shaped iE11o219 slot as the eccentric peg is turned and the tongue moves relatively to the housing up and down the eccentric peg bevels to effect the said compensation during the lateral adjusting movements, without corrupting the vertical and compression adjustments of the hinge.

In one embodiment, the lateral adjusting mechanism may include a controller in the form of a grub screw passing though, and engaging with, a complementary screw thread in the tongue with its lower end engaging with the upwardly facing inner surface of the housing.

The grub screw may be visible through, and can be turned with respect to, an elongate slot in the housing, the grub screw retaining the tongue in the housing and the slot delimiting the lateral adjusting movements of the hinge.

So that that the vertical adjusting mechanism may enable the hinge to operate in left- hand and right-hand modes it includes two cams which are mounted in the housing with only the lower of the cams being operative in either hand, and the lower one of each of the cams cooperating with the edges of a respective aperture in a bottom portion of the housing.

Compactness of the adjustable hinge is an advantage and to this end the housing may be of generally rectangular configuration and in two parts, a cover part and a base part, with the compression adjustment mechanism and the vertical adjustment mechanism being supported from the cover part, and with the base part preferably being slidable with respect to the cover part when the vertical adjustment mechanism is operated.

To facilitate adjustment, the vertical adjustment mechanism includes two visible turnable adjustment controllers supported by the cover part at opposite end regions thereof and having respective dials with adjustment markings thereon and the compression adjustment mechanism includes a visible turnable adjustment controller supported by the cover part in a substantially central position of the housing between the two vertical adjustment controllers and having a dial marker thereon.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood, an embodiment in accordance therewith will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- lE‘l10219 Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of an adjustable hinge constructed in accordance with the invention, in an open position, and capable of adjustment in three dimensions; Fig. 1a is a rear perspective view of the adjustable hinge of Fig.1 ; Fig.1b is a plan view from one end of the adjustable hinge of Fig.1; Fig. 2 is a front perspective view of the adjustable hinge of Fig.1, in a closed position; Fig. 2a is a rear perspective view of the adjustable hinge of Fig.2; Fig. 2b is side view from one side of the adjustable hinge of Fig.2; Fig. 2c is side view from the other side of the adjustable hinge of Fig.2; Fig. 2d is plan view from the opposite end to that of Fig. 1b of the adjustable hinge of Fig.2; Figs. 3 and 3a are front plan and side views respectively of a mock-up of a part of a door which has been adapted so as to enable the adjustable hinge of Fig. 1 to be fitted thereto; Fig. 3b is a diagrammatic part-perspective view from the front and one side of the adjustable hinge mounted in position on a door and door frame and illustrating the directions of the three dimensions of adjustment; Fig. 4 is a front perspective view from one side of the adjustable hinge of Fig. 1 but with a cover plate forming part of the hinge removed from a male leaf forming part of the hinge to reveal controls for vertical, compression and lateral adjusting mechanism, carried by the male leaf; Fig. 5 is a front View to an enlarged scale of the adjustable hinge of Fig. 4; Fig, 6 is an expioded front perspective view of the adjustable hinge of Fig 1; Fig. 6a is an exploded view from one side of some of the parts of the adjustable hinge shown in Fig. 6; Fig. 6b is an exploded view from the other side of the parts of the adjustable hinge shown in Fig. 6a; Fig. 6c is an exploded end view of the parts of the adjustable hinge shown in Fig. 6a; Fig. 6d is an underneath plan view of some of the parts of the hinge shown in Fig. 6; Fig. 7 is a front view of the male and female leaves, of theladjustable hinge, in a released (separated) mode; Fig. 8 is a rear view of the male and female leaves, of the adjustable hinge, in the released (separated), with the male leaf being partly cut-away; Figs. 9 and 10 are front and rear views respectively of the adjustable hinge in a middle or zero adjustment position with vertical, horizontal and compression adjustment controllers being set to zero, and with the male leaf being partly cut-away in the rear view; Figs. 11 and 12 are front and rear views of the adjustable hinge in which the male leaf has been vertically adjusted relative to the female leaf to a minimum height position and with the male leaf being partly cut-away in the rear view; Figs. 13 and 14 are front and rear views of the adjustable hinge in which the male leaf has been vertically adjusted relative to the female leaf to a maximum height position, with the male leaf being partly cut-away in the rear view; Figs. 15 and 16 are front and rear views of the adjustable hinge in which the male leaf has been fully compression adjusted relative to the female leaf to an outermost closure position, and which also shows the maximum amount of lateral adjustment between the female and male leaf, with the male leaf beingpartly cut-away in the rear view; lE11o219 Figs. 17 and 18 are front and rear views of the adjustable hinge in which the male- leaf has been fully compression adjusted relative to the female leaf to an innermost closure position, with the male leaf being partly cut-away in the rear view; Fig. 19 is a cross-section of the adjustable hinge in which the female leaf has been laterally adjusted relative to the male ieaf to a nominal lateral position; Fig. 20 is a cross-section of the adjustable hinge similar to that of Fig. 19 in which the femaie leaf has been laterally adjusted relative to the male leaf to an outermost lateral position; and Fig. 21 is a cross-section of the adjustable hinge similar to that of Fig. 19 in which the female leaf has been laterally adjusted relative to the male leaf to an innermost lateral position.

Referring to Figs. 1_ to 8, there is shown an adjustable hinge 2 incorporating a female leaf 4 and a male leaf 6 which are joined by a hinge pin assembly which is generally indicated at 3. Three such hinges 2 are mounted on a door 9, part only of which is shown in Figs. 3. 3a and 3b respectively, as by screws (not shown) passing though holes 7 in the male leaf 6 and to the rebate 9d in a door frame 9e as by screws (not shown) passing through countersunk screw holes 5 in the female leaf 4.

Advantageously, for convenience of manufacture and strength, both the female and mate leaves 4 and 6 respectively are metal pressings. The hinge pin assembly 3 includes outer hinge pin knuckles 8 which are integral with the female leaf 4, a separate central hinge pin knuckle 10 disposed between the knuckles 8, a hinge pin 12 (Fig. 6) passing through the knuckles 8 and 10 with suitable bearings, such as washers or ball bearings,16 being disposed between the central knuckle 10 and outer knuckles 8 and with the hinge pin 12 being covered at each end by a respective end cap 18. Projecting laterally from, and integral with, the central knuckle 10 is a tongue-like leaf or tongue 14 (Figs. 4 to 8) for mounting the female leaf 4 to the male leaf 6, which is upwardly curved (Fig. 6c) and is involved in both horizontal and compression adjustment in a manner to be described.

The adjustment mechanism is carried by the male leaf 6, and includes adjustment controllers 20, 22 and 24 for vertical, compression and lateral adjustment respectively (Figs.4 and 5) which are accessible by removing a snap-fit cover plate 26 (Figs. 1, 1a, 1b. 2, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 6, 6a, 6b and 6c having a top covering wall 26a E 110219 an outer wall 26b, extending perpendicularly to the top wall 26a, and spaced apart inner wall portions 260. The outer wall 26b of the cover plate 26 is provided inwardly projecting detents 26d which engage in apertures 26e in a U-shaped in cross-section base part 28 (to be described) of the male leaf 6.- The male leaf 6 is constituted by a hollow housing 27 of generally rectangular configuration and having a length of about 6.9mm, a width of about 3.2mm and a thickness of about 6mm which emphasises and illustrates the compactness, not only of the male leaf 6, but also of the hinge 2. This is in contrast to the hinge disclosed in the specification of WO 03/029589 to Frip in which door/door frame has to be adapted to accommodate various parts of the adjustment mechanism with all the work that that entails.

As will be seen from Figs. 4, 5 and 6, 6a, 6b, 6c and 6d, the male leaf housing 27 is formed of two parts, advantageously metal pressings, namely the base part 28 which is generally U-shaped, in cross-section, and a top cover part 30 carried by, and fitted securely to the base part 28. The mounting screw holes 7 referred to above are formed in the base part 28 and lie opposite and below two elongate. countersunk, screw mounting hoies 7a in the cover part 30. The unshown mounting screws pass through the elongate holes 7a in the cover part 30, through the holes 7 in the base part 28 and into the guide holes 9b in a conventional routing 9a in the door 9 and are turned to secure the male leaf 6 to the door 9 though the housing 27 by the engagement of the screws with the countersink of the elongate holes 7a. The cover part 30 fits snugly within the base part 28 and yet the base part 28 can slide longitudinally with respect thereto when the male leaf 4 is screwed in the routing 9a of the door 9 by the screws passing though the holes 7a and 7 and into guide screw holes 9b in the routing 9a. The male leaf 6 fits in the routing 9a with the cover plate top surface 26a substantially flush with the inner edge 90 of the door 9a adjacent the routing.

On its outer side and forming one arm of the U, the base part 28 has an integral pressed-up portion forming a continuous outer wall 32 to the housing 27 in which the detent-engaging apertures 26e are located near its upper and lower ends 34 to effect the snap-fit fastening of the cover plate 26 to the housing 27. A shallow central recess 36 is provided in the upper edge of the outer wall 32 of the housing 27 and cooperates with a side-ways extending outer projection 38 of the cover part 30 during vertical adjustments of the hinge 2 with the opposite ends 40 of the recess 36 ;E1lo219 delimiting the vertical adjustment hinge, during which the base part 28 is moved with respect to the cover part 30, by the engagement of the opposite ends 42 respectively of the projection 38 with the adjacent ends 40 of the recess 36.

On its other side the base part 28 has two pressed-up end lugs 44, forming together, as it were, the other arm of the U. The pressed-up end lugs 44 have inner end portions 46 engaging with two pressed-down lugs 48 from the cover part 30 to constrain the cover part 30 with respect to the base part 28 and within the housing 27 for vertical sliding movement of the base part 28 when the lower of the two vertical adjustment controls 22 is turned depending on whether the hinge 2 is mounted to be right-hand or left-hand as the case may be. The oppositely facing edges 49 of the pressed—down lugs 48, together with an upwardly curved lip 50 and oppositely facing bottom surface 52 of the base part 30 define a flared slot 54 through which the tongue 14 is inserted, and removed from, the housing 27 in the direction of arrow heads 56 and 58 respectively shown in Figs. 7, 8, 9 and 10. The upwardly curved lip of the flared slot 54 on the cover part 30 and the upwardly curved tongue 14 (see ' Fig. 6c) mounted on the female part 4 facilitates the entry into, and release (removal) of the tongue 14 from, the housing 27. In order to constrain the movement of the tongue 14 to longitudinal movement in and out of the housing 27, and prevent vertical movement of the tongue 14 with respect to the cover part 30. The slot edges 49 and cut-out pressed down-lugs 51 from the top part 30 together form a guide channel and the free outer ends of the tongue 14 have upwardly and downwardly split bent ends 53 Figs. 6, 6a, 6b and 6c) which engage with the upwardly and downwardly facing surfaces 52 and 55 (Figs. 6c and 6d) of the base part 28 and cover part 30 respectively.

At its opposite ends respectively, the cover part 30 has pressed-down end portions 60 spaced inwardly from the adjacent base part ends 62 which engage with the upwardly facing surface 52 of the base part 28 and leave gaps 63 in the cover part between the end portions 60 and outer wall 32 of the base part 28. Cams 76 (to be described) of the vertical adjustment controllers 20 are visible through the gaps 63. The distances between the end portions 60 of the cover part 30 and the adjacent base part ends 62 of the base part corresponds at least substantially to the distances between the opposite the opposite ends 40 of the recess 36 and between the opposite curved ends of the countersunk elongate holes 7a though which the mounting screws pass. it will be seen that the inner wall portions 26c of the cover part 26 cover over the inner side of the housing 27 on opposite sides respectively of the tongue slot 14, leaving the slot 54 clear for the passage of the tongue 14 into and out of the housing 27. it will be appreciated from Figs. 3, 3a and 3b, that other than forming the routing 9a and the guide holes 9b in the door 9 no other work need to be done on the door 9, which is ready for fitting in the door frame rebate 9d by screwing the female leaf 4 in a conventional routing (not visible) formed in the door frame 9e and to make the appropriate vertical, compression and lateral adjustments in a manner to be described.

Referring now to the ‘vertical adjustment mechanism, the two vertical adjustment controllers 20 which are of identical construction and operation will be now be described. Each of the vertical adjustment controllers 20 has a dial 66 on its front face and a circular rim 68 defining a peripheral groove 70 (see particularly Fig. 6b).

Each dial 68 has markings which when turned indicate the number of mm of vertical movement travelled from a middle or zero position in which a marker 67 lies opposite a stationary marker 67a. The peripheral groove 70 engages in an aperture 71 which is cut out of the cover part 30 and which has a circular-inner-ended portion 72 which receives the groove 70 to be supported on the cover part 30 by the rim 68. The aperture 71 and has a lateral opening 73 which enables the controller 20 to be fitted on the cover part 30 and be supported thereby, yet be turned in the aperture 71 with respect to the cover part 30 by an Allen key (not shown) inserted in the dial socket 74. In this middle or zero position, the upwardly facing surface 52 of the base part 28 extends by the same amount beyond the cover part 30 and is visible as can be seen from Fig. 9.

Depending downwardly from each controller 20 and into the interior hollow space of the housing 27 is an eccentric comma-shaped (scroll-like) cam 76 which have free ends and whose turning movement is accommodated by a respective one of two cut- out apertures 78in the rearwardly facing bottom portion 80 of the base part 28. The two cams 76 are visible through their respective cut-out apertures 78 and through the gaps 63 in the opposite ends of the cover part 30. Each cam 76 has a respective groove 82 in its outer curved part which is engageabie by a, conveniently “pinched- in”, respective nose 84 of the base part bottom portion 80, which projects into the path of movement of the cam 76 to be engaged in the respective groove 82 during .lE110219_ turning. And each nose 84 also delimits the rotational travel of the cam 76 by the abutment of the inner end edge portion 86 of the cam 76 with a side edge portion 88 of the nose 84 which is in the middle or zero mode shown in Figs.9 and 10 (front and rear middle or zero position), in which both the dials 66 are set to zero with the zero marker 67 thereon opposite the stationary marker 67a on the base portion.

Whilst the male leaf door mounting screws would, if shown, pass through the screw holes 7 and 7a in the base and cover parts 28 and 30 respectively, the position of the screw holes 7 with respect to the elongate screw holes 7a shows where the base part has moved relative to the cover part. Thus, in Fig. 9, the screw holes 7 occupy a middle position, in Fig 11 , a lowermost position and in Fig. 13 an uppermost position.

Of course, the mounting screws would be loosened in the screw holes 7 and 7a to enable the adjusting movements to be made.

As mentioned previously, the provision of the two vertical adjustment controllers 20 enables the hinge 2 to be used for right-hand and left—hand doors: with the door 9 mounted in the frame, and with always the lower one of the two vertical adjustment controllers 20 being turned to effect the vertical adjustments. It is essential that the dial 66 of the upper adjustment controller 20 is turned to zero and always stays in the zero position before turning of the lower controller 20 dial, as indicated by writing 21 shown on the cover part 30 in Figures 4 and 5. On opposite hand applications, the upper and lower adjustment controllers 20 become swapped, as it were, due to the hinge 2 being inverted but it is still the dial 66 of the lower adjustment controller that is turned and the dial 66 of the upper adjustment controller 20 that stays in the zero position. When the weight of the door 9 is supported from the cam 76, the vertical adjusting movements of the hinge 2 and thus of the housing base part 28 with respect to the housing cover part 30, as indicated by the arrows 75 in Figs 4 and 5, are caused by turning the dial 66 of the lower adjustment controller 20 by means of an Allen key in the dial socket 74.

It should be appreciated that turning the lower dial 66 will not effect the vertical adjustments unless the door 9 is mounted in the door frame by the hinge 2 so that the weight of the door 9 is in the downward direction and onto the lower cam 76, as indicated in Figs. 11 and 12 by the arrows 77. Thus, it should be envisaged for the purposes of this description that in Figs. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14, the door 9 is mounted by the hinge 2 on the door frame 9e.

|E11go219 The vertical positions of the male leaf 6 with respect to the female leaf 4 which are effected by the two adjustment controllers 20 and of the base part 28 relative to the coverpart 30 are shown in Figs. 9 and 10 (front and rear middle or zero position), Figs. 11 and 12 (front and rear minimum height position) and Figs. 13 and 14 (front and rear maximum height position).

Referring now to Figs. 11 and 12, these show that the base part 28 has moved downwardly to extend below the hinge assembly 3 and in Fig. 12 that the upwardly facing surface 52 of the base part is visible only below the lower end of the cover part . In Fig. 12, the new positions of the upper and lower cams 76 can be seen in the apertures 78 with free end 77 of the lower cam abutting the upper edge 79 of aperture 78 the free end 77 of the upper cam having being raised compared to its position shown in Fig. 10. The screw holes 7 have moved from the middle position shown in Fig. 9, to the lowermost position shown in Fig 11. And an elongate vertical aperture 106 of the tongue 14, into which a double bevelled eccentric peg 104 forming part of the compression adjustment controller 22 projects, enables movement of the tongue 14 with the base part 28 during vertical adjustments between uppermost and lowermost positions of the eccentric peg 104, as can be seen in Figs, 10, 12 and 14. in Figs. 13 and 14. the door 9 has been jacked up by the lower cam 76 by turning the dial 66 of the lower adjustment controller in the direction of the arrow 93 to occupy — the position shown in Fig. 14 for maximum height adjustment. The upper end portion of the base part 28 extends beyond and above the cover part 30, where the upwardly facing surface 52 of the base part is visible, the screw holes 7 occupy their uppermost position relative to the elongate screw holes 7a, the lower cam 76 has been turned in the direction of the arrow 95 by the cam groove 82 being engaged by the nose 84 which engages the cam free end 77, the free end 77 of the upper cam 76 abuts against the lower edge of the aperture 78, and the eccentric peg 104 occupies the uppermost position in the tongue aperture 106.

By virtue of the two vertical adjustment controllers 20, the hinge 2 is non-handed which means it can be mounted in right-handed and left-handed modes.

This is because the two cams 76 work in opposite directions. Left-hand installations will require the use of the one cam (the other being adjusted completely off) and visa versa for right-hand installations. Gravity will tend to drive the door 9 downwards lE11o219 against the relevant cam when lowering the door. Because of handing it is always the lower cam on the installation that is adjusted and the upper cam left adjusted completely off.

The compression adjustment controller 22 is also supported from the cover part 30 of the housing 27 of the male leaf 6 and will now be described with particular reference to Figs. 9 and 10. Unlike the vertical adjustment controller 20, the front face of the compression adjustment controller 22 does not have a dial like the dial 66 but instead has a dial marker 90 on its front face cooperating with a crescent-shaped adjustment marker 91 which is fitted on the cover part 30. As with the vertical adjustment controller 20, the compression adjustment controller 22 has a circular rim 92 defining a peripheral groove 94 (see particularly Fig. 6b). but it occupies a vertical central position (just-off centre) on the cover part 30. However, the peripheral groove 94 engages in a circular-ended smaller aperture 96 with a lead-in portion 98 from a larger-diameter circular aperture 100 through which the adjustment controller 22 can be inserted and pushed downwards into the smaller aperture 96 with its peripheral groove 94 engaging with the edge of the smaller aperture 96 to be supported by rim 92 on the housing cover part 30. The apertures 96 and 100 and the lead-in portion 98 are cut out of the cover part 30, conveniently during the pressing operation, and enable the compression adjustment controller 22 to be fitted on the cover part 30 and be supported thereby yet be turned in the aperture 100 with respect to the cover part by an Allen key (not shown) inserted in the dial socket 102. The crescent-shaped element 91 serves a double purpose by additionally covering over that part of the larger circular aperture 100 which would ordinarily be visible when snap-fitted into the aperture 100. As will be appreciated in particular from Figs. 4, 5 and 6, the crescent- shaped element 91 also has arrows 103 thereon to indicate the respective directions of turning movement of the compression adjustment controller 22.

Depending from. and integral with, the rim 92 of the adjustment controller 22 is an eccentric double bevelled peg 104 whose bottom end is flat and spaced from the upwardly facing surface 55 of the base part 28. The double-bevel of the eccentric peg 104 is disposed between its bottom end and the lower part of the rim 92 and is formed by upper narrower and lower wider inclined circular faces 101 and 105 respectively which meet at an intermediate circularjunction 104a of largest diameter, with the upper inclined face 101 merging into the rim 92 via a neck 104b Figs. 6a, 6b and 6c). The eccentric peg 104 fits into, and cooperates with, an elongate vertical aperture 106 in, and extending transversely of, the tongue 14 and having a curved lE11o219 upper end 107 and a curved lower end portion 108 which curves into a horizontal lead-in tongue aperture portion 109. The elongate aperture 106 and lead-in tongue aperture portion 109 together form an L-shaped slot 106, 109. And the lead-in aperture portion 109 allows the eccentric peg 104 to enter the elongate tongue aperture 106 during entry of the tongue 14 into, and removal (release) of the tongue 14 from, the housing 27.through the lead-in tongue aperture portion 109 in the direction of the arrow heads 56 and 58 respectively shown in Figures 7, 8, 9 and 10.

The length of the vertical aperture 106 is the same as that of the countersunk mounting screw apertures 7a and enables the eccentric double bevel 101, 105 of the eccentric peg 104 to be turned up down the elongate vertical aperture 106 when the adjustment controller 22 is turned to effect compression linear adjustment of the hinge in a manner to be described.

Compression linear adjustment of the hinge 2, is effected by means of the eccentric double-bevelled peg 104 acting on the tongue 14 through the vertical edges of the vertical elongate aperture 106 when the adjustment controller 22 is turned to move the housing 27 of the male leaf 6 in the direction of either of the arrows 103 on the marker 91 by means of an Allen key engaging in the socket 102.

As will be apparent from Figs. 9 and 10, the male leaf 4 occupies a mid or zero position with regard to compression adjustment, with the eccentric peg 104 being located in the elongate aperture 106 with its double-bevel 101, 105 in contact with the curved lower end portion 108 and with a gap 109 between the male and female leafs 6 and 4.

In Figures 15 and 16, the male leaf 6 has been moved in the direction of the arrows 110 into front and rear outermost closure positions by turning the compression adjustment controller 22 in the direction of the arrow 112 (Fig.15) in which the stationary marker 90 lies opposite the far left-hand, as illustrated, marking on the crescent shaped adjustment marker 91. The arrow 114 in Fig. 16, shows the direction of rotation of the eccentric double-bevelled peg 104 and its position up the aperture 106 with its double-bevel 101, 105 in engagement with the vertica! edge and curved edge 107 of the aperture 106. As canbe seen, the gap 116 between the male and female leafs 6 and 4 is the greatest permitted by the compression adjustment controller 22. lE11o219 Figures 17 and 18 show the relative front and rear innermost closure positions of the male and female leafs 6 and 4. As can be seen in Fig. 17 the compression adjustment controller 22 has been turned in the opposite direction indicated by the arrow 118 so that the marker 90 lies opposite the far right-hand marking on the crescent shaped adjustment marker 91. This compression adjustment leaves a minimum gap 120 between the male and female leafs 6 and 4. In Fig. 18, the eccentric peg 104 is shown up the aperture 106 in engagement with the aperture edges with the direction of rotation of the bevelled eccentric peg in the aperture being shown by the arrow 122. The arrows 124 show the direction of the compression adjusting movement of the male leaf 6 relative to the female leaf 4.

Whilst the innermost mid or zero to minimum and to outermost maximum compression adjustments have been shown, other compression adjustments between the minimum and maximum adjustments may of course be made to suit the particular adjustment required.

Summarising, the compression (or closure) adjustment is used to provide uniform closure of the door 9 against the rebate 9d closure edge of the frame 9e. Too close and the door 9may bind andlor squeak when it is closed and maybe not latch easily, too loose and it can allow draughts through (worst still on an exterior door the seal may not close enough to keep wind and rain out). Tapering gaps at the hinge edge can prevent the door 9 closing fully, thus preventing the door!) from latching on the opposite ‘lock’ edge. Compression adjustment is achieved by merit of the eccentric peg 104 which engages in the L-shaped slot 106, 109 in the tongue 14. Fractionally turning the eccentric peg 104 will displace the peg 104 and in-turn the tongue, complete with the hinge knuckle, 10 towards or away from the closure face of the door 9 thus achieving the desired adjustment.

The eccentric peg 104 has a addition purpose of allowing the hinge tongue 14 to be completely disengaged from the male leaf housing 27. This is done by further rotation of the peg 104 to disengage from the L-shaped slot 106, 109 as it leaves the vertical leg aperture 106 of the L into the horizontal leg lead-in aperture 109 of the L. Re- engagement is a simple reversal of this action.

The lateral adjustment controller 24 is in the form of a grub set screw 24a having an external screw thread which is threadedly mounted in a threaded bore 24b in the tongue 14. At its outer end the screw has a socket 24c to be turned by an Allen key lE11o219 and its inner end is smoothly bevelled as indicated at 24d to engage with, and turn with respect to the upwardly facing surface 52 of the base part 28. An elongate access and sight slot 24e in the cover part 30 overlies the adjustment controller 22.

Arrows 125 on the cover part 30 indicate the opposite directions in which the adjustment controller 24 can be turned to make the adjustment.

Figures 19, 20 and 21 show how the lateral adjustment is effected by turning the grub screw 24a in the directions of either of arrows 125 in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, by the engagement of an Allen key in the socket 24c, to move the from the nominal lateral position shown in Fig. 19, to an outermost lateral position in the direction of the arrow 126 shown in Fig. 20 and to an innermost position lateral position in the direction of the arrow 128 shown in Fig. 21.

The grub screw raises or lowers the tongue 14 as the case may be by means of its spilt ends 53 pivoting on the upwardly facing surface 52 of the base part 28 and downwardly facing surface 55 of the cover part 30. The innermost and outermost lateral closure positions are not affected by these adjustments by merit of the cooperating double bevelled shape of the peg 104 and the mating elongate aperture 106 in the tongue 14. Thus, despite the pivoting movements of the tongue 14 which due to its upward curvature are arcuate, as indicated by the arrows 127, these arcuate movements are compensated for by the cooperation between the double bevelled eccentric peg 104 and the elongate aperture 106 so that the resultant lateral adjustments in the direction of the arrows 126 and 128 are at least substantially linear and do not corrupt any vertical or compression adjusting movements that have already been made. Moreover, the upwardly curved lip 50 also accommodates the upward pivoting movement of the upwardly curved tongue 14 as will be appreciated from Fig. 20.

Summarising, lateral adjustment is achieved by tilting the tongue 14 by merit of the integral grub~screw 25a passing perpendicularly through the tongue 14 and an effective sliding pivot on the far end of the tongue 17 within the male leaf housing 27.

This has the effect to displace the hinge knuckle 10 laterally left and right as when viewing the door face-on. This displacement is used to position the door laterally within in the frame to achieve a uniform gap at the left-hand and right-hand edges of the door 9 within the frame 9a. The tongue 14 is retained in the housing 27 by the eccentric peg 104 locating in the L-shaped slot 106,109 in the tongue 14. The eccentric peg 104 has specially shaped circular, upper and lower bevel faces 1 15110219 and 105 which locate in the similarly specially curved shaped faces 10? and 108 within the ‘L’ shaped slot 106,109. The benefit of these special shapes is to provide a compensation for the natural arcuate movement of the tongue 14 (when adjusted by the grub-screw 26a) as it moves relatively up and down the eccentric peg bevel faces 101 and 105 to provide a near linear lateral movement and adjustment of the hinge knuckle 10 without appreciably affecting any of the other (vertical and compression) adjustments of the hinge 10.

In addition to the advantages already discussed, the two-part male leaf construction of the hinge 2 described enables it to be assembled quickly and easily. The vertical adjustment controllers are fitted onto the cover part 30 by pushing them sideways in the direction of the arrows 73 by engaging their peripheral groves 70 in the respective apertures 71 until they engage with the curved inner ends 71, with their rims 68 supporting the vertical adjustment controllers 20 turnably on the cover part , the compression adjustment controller 22 is inserted into the large aperture 100 in the central portion of the cover part 30 and pushed into the smaller aperture 96 so that the peripheral groove 94 engages in the smaller aperture 96 to be supported turnabiy on the cover part 30 by its rim 92, and then the cover part 30 is fitted to the base part 28 to form the hollow housing 27 of the male leaf 6. The grub screw 24a of the lateral controller 24 is then screwed into the threaded aperture 24b in/the tongue 14 which is inserted into the hollow housing 27 through the slot 54 to engage its aperture 106 with the eccentric peg 104, whereby the hinge 2 is ready for mounting by screwing the male leaf 6 to the door.

In order to install doors 9 in door frames 9e using the hinges 2 described above, the female leafs 6 are screwed to the door 9 with the flared opening 54 towards the door frame (closing direction) with two screws for each housing 27, ensuring that the hinge housings 27 are central within the edge of the door 9 and with the screws not fully tightened such that the hinge housing 27 is located but can still slide within itself, the upper and lower dial 66 of the vertical adjustment controllers 22 are set to zero (Fig.7), the compression adjuster controllers 22 of all the hinges is set to R (Fig. 7), the door is offered edge-on to the frame 9e such to engage the hinge male leaf tongues 14 into the flared openings 54 in the housings 27, the tongues are firmly pushed home in the direction of the arrows 56 (Fig. 7) so as to support the door (Fig. 9), starting with the top hinge, turn the compression adjustment controller 22 clockwise to the first adjustment marking and repeat this for the bottom hinge then IE 110219 any other, adjust all the compression adjustment controllers. 22 clockwise to the furthest adjustment marking (Fig.17).

Vertical Adjustment Using a crow-bar or other lever beneath it, raise the door 9 approximately to the correct height in the hinge edge of the frame 9e and while holding or wedging the door 9 at this height turn all of the hinge lower dials 66 until they start to take the weight of the door 9. Adjust all the lower dials 66 in order to approximately share the weight of the door, whereupon the crow-bar or other lever or wedge can be removed, Never adjust the upper dial on any of the hinges, always leave it set to zero. (the unused upper dial 66 on a right-hand hinge installation becomes the ‘lower’ adjustment dial 66 on a left-hand hinge installation when, after inversion, it becomes the ‘lower’ adjustment dial 66 (and visa-versa), attempt to close the door 9 in the frame 9e; if it catches on the frame do not force it. Note where it is catching. If it closes fully, the gap around the periphery of the door may not be uniform. Note where the gaps are smaller and where they are larger so you can plan how the door 9 needs to be adjusted, Although some adjustment has been done already, it may need further fine adjustment as follows in which all lower dials are adjusted equally or as necessary to try to make each hinge take an approximate share of the door weight, if the door needs to be raised, turn the lower dials on all the hinges clockwise equally one step at a time, or if lowered, turn the lower dials on all the hinges anti- clockwise equally one step at a time.

Compression (Closure) Adjustment.

When the door is fully closed it may not be touching the frame rebate 9d/closure edge equally around the door 9 so this adjustment is necessary to correct this and enable the door latch to engage easily. The compression adjustment controller 22 is adjusted on all the hinges equally. If there are three hinges 2 each hinge is adjusted one step at a time. If the closure gap is too large (at this stage the hinges are set for the maximum gap) it may be reduced by turning the controllers centre dials anti- clockwise equally. After initial adjustment, if the closure gap is too small and is rubbing when the door 9 is closed, it may be increased, similar to ‘20’ above, by turning the centre dials clockwise by a small amount equally, similar to before.

Lateral Adjustment lE 110,219 The hinges 2 should be supplied with the grub screw 26a set at the mid position so it should be able to be turned about 11/5 turns in either direction from minimum (Fig. 15) to maximum (Fig.1?) adjustment from the central adjustment position (Fig. 9 and can be viewed through the slot 24e as to where the male hinge leaf tongue 14 is in the flared opening 54 of the housing 27. If the gap at the hinge edge of the door 9 is smaller than at the lock edge of the door, turn all the ‘grub’ set-screws 26a (Fig 17), clockwise equally a little at a time.

It should be appreciated that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. For example, the male and female leafs may be made from suitable materials other than metal. For example, the angles of inclination of the double bevel faces may be varied.

Moreover, in certain instances, the male leaf 6 could be mounted on the door frame and the female leaf be mounted on the door.

Claims (18)

Claims

1. An adjustable hinge which, when mounted between a door and a door frame, is capable of vertical, compression and lateral adjustments, characterised in that lateral adjustment of the hinge does not corrupt any compression and vertical adjustments of the hinge which already have been made.

2. A hinge as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that arcuate pivoting adjusting movements normally occurring with lateral adjustment are compensated for such that the resultant lateral adjustment movements of the hinge are substantially linear.

3. A hinge as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that mechanism is provided for vertical, compression and lateral adjustments and in that the lateral adjustment mechanism cooperates with compression adjustment mechanism to compensate for the said arcuate pivoting movement.

4. A hinge as claimed in claim 3, characterised in that the hinge includes two leafs which are mountable to the door and door frame respectively, one of said leafs being a female leaf and the other being a male leaf, and in that the male leaf is constituted by a housing and the female leaf includes a tongue which is received in the housing to mount the female leaf to, and remove the female leaf from, the male leaf and which is arcuately moveable with respect to the housing to effect the lateral adjusting movements.

5. A hinge as claimed in claim 4, characterised in that the housing is provided with a flared slot though which the tongue is received in, and removed from, the housing.

6. A hinge as claimed in claim 4 or 5, characterised in that the tongue is upwardly curved and has upwardly and downwardly projecting free ends that engage with upwardly and downwardly facing inner surfaces of the housing.

7. A hinge as claimed in any of claims 4 to 6, characterised in that the housing is provided with guides for constraining the movement of the tongue to linear movements into and out of, and arcuate pivoting movement in, the housing.

8. A hinge as claimed in any of claims 4 to 7, characterised in that the lateral adjusting mechanism acts on the tongue to effect the lateral adjusting movements of the hinge.

9. A hinge as claimed in claim 8, characterised in that the compression adjustment mechanism acts on the tongue to compensate for the arcuate pivoting movements and result in substantially linear lateral adjusting movements and to effect the compression adjusting movements.

10. A hinge as claimed in any of claims 4 to 9, characterised in that the compression adjustment mechanism includes an eccentric peg which engages in an L-shaped slot in the tongue, in the base of the L of which slot the eccentric peg engages when the tongue is received in, and removed from, the housing.

11. A hinge as claimed in claim 10, characterised in that the eccentric peg is double- bevelled with its two circular upper and lower bevel faces locating in upper and lower curved portions of the leg of the L-shaped slot as the eccentric peg is turned and the tongue moves relatively to the housing up and down the eccentric peg bevels to effect the said compensation during the lateral adjusting movements, without corrupting the vertical and compression adjustments of the hinge.

12. A hinge as claimed in any of claims 4 to 11, characterised in that the lateral adjusting mechanism includes a controller in the form of a grub screw passing though and engaging with a complementary screw thread in the tongue with its lower end engaging with the upwardly facing inner surface of the housing.

13. A hinge as claimed in claim 12, characterised in that the grub screw is visible through, and can be turned with respect to, an elongate slot in the housing, the grub screw retaining the tongue in the housing and the slot delimiting the lateral adjusting movements of the hinge.

14. A hinge as claimed in claimed in any of claims 4 to 13, characterised in that the vertical adjusting mechanism includes two cams which are mounted in the housing to enable the hinge to operate in left-hand and right-hand modes with only the lower of the cams being operative in either hand, and the lower one of each of the cams cooperating with the edges of a respective aperture in a bottom portion of the housing.

15. A hinge as claimed in any of claims 44 to 14, characterised in that the housing is of generally rectangular configuration and in two parts, a cover part and a base part which moves slidably with respect to the cover part when the vertical adjustment mechanism is operated.

16. A hinge as claimed in claim 15, characterised in that the vertical adjustment mechanism includes two visible turnable adjustment controllers supported by the cover part at opposite end regions thereof and having respective dials with adjustment markings thereon and in that the compression adjustment mechanism includes a visible turnable adjustment controller supported by the cover part in a substantially central position of the housing between the two vertical adjustment controllers and having a dial marker thereon.

17. A hinge as claimed in any of claims 4 to 14, characterised in that the housing is of generally rectangular configuration and in two parts, a cover part and a base part, and in that the compression adjustment mechanism and the vertical adjustment mechanism are supported from the cover part.

18. A hinge substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to