US1167444A

US1167444A - Hinge-guard.

Info

Publication number: US1167444A
Application number: US77369113A
Authority: US
Inventors: Samuel Price Stevenson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1913-06-14
Filing date: 1913-06-14
Publication date: 1916-01-11
Anticipated expiration: 1933-01-11

Description

S. ,P. STEVENSON.

HlNGE- GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 14, 1913.

2 SHEETSSHEET l.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAEII co-. WASHINGTON, u. c.

S. P. STEVENSON.

HINGE GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 14. 1913.

1,167,444. Patented Jan. 11, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

74 '14 1- %?w zwwwf y m 0 mm SAMUEL PRICE STEVENSON, OF CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA.

HINGE-GUARD.

Lllti'lddt.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 11, 19th.

Application filed June 14, 1913. Serial No. 773,691.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, SAMUEL P. STnvnN- SON, a citizen of the United States, reslding in Chester, county of Delaware, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certa n Improvements in Hinge-Guards, of which the following is a specification.

Some of the objects of this invention are as follows: To provide an unyielding guard for a flexible or yielding hinge, which will relieve and safeguard the hinge when subjected to abnormal strains upon openingor closing the door; to perfect the sealing of the door under abnormal resistance; to overcome, within the limits of its strength, imp-edimentsto the free closing or opening of the door; to oblige operatives to remove impediments which might otherwise impair the sealing, though they, by reason of the yielding nature of the hinge, permit closing or latching of the free edges of the door,because the hinge guard is so strong that the door cannot be closed'unless the obstruction yields.

By providing means to have both hinge and hinge guard at their point of greatest eficiency close to the floor, I avoid impairing that of-the hinge by placing it above the guard or that of the guard by placing it above the, hinge. Also, when desired, the guard may be availed of to assist in supporting the weight ofthe door.

My invention is particularly adaptedfor use in connection with refrigerator, and other air tight doors, which have to be closed tightly against the door frame and is preferably used in connection with a door having a yielding gasket located between a flange on the door and the frame.

Refrigerator doors are usually made comparatively heavy with an average weight of from 175 to 400 lbs., consequently, a spring having a leaf, as illustrated in the drawings, which is flexible and wide, is'used to properly carry the door and readily flex when the door is closed.

My invention is particularly adapted for use in connection with a hingewhich is set forth and claimed in a patent grantedto me on the 17th day of April, 1900,'No. 647,586, in which a bracket having bearings 'is secured to the door frame and a spring plate or strap is secured to the door. The strap has an eye through which the pivot of the hinge extends.

In opening or closing, the door swings on the pin and when moved to the closed position sui'liciently to compress the gasket located between a flange-on the door and the frame, the strap or plate will cause the rear end of the door to be held tightly against the frame with a constant elastic force when the forward edge of the door is fastened by the usual latch.

My invention is preferably applied to the lowerhinge and is so located that it will relieve the hinge from the excessive or abnormal strains hereinbefore mentioned.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure l is a front view of a refrigerator door illustrating my invention; Fig. 2 is a front view of the lower hinge with the guard in position; Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view 011 the line aa, Fig. 2, showing the door in the closed position; Fig. i is a similar view, showing the door partly opened; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the guard; Fig. 6 is a sectional plan view on the line 71-42, Fig. 2, showing the door closed, as in Fig. '3; Fig. 7 is a sectional view on the same line as Fig. 6, showing the door partly closed and the guard acting to relieve abnormal strain on the spring plate of the hinge; Fig. 8 is a view showing the position of the parts when the door is forced to the closed position under excessivepressure, the guard taking the abnormal strain from the spring plate; and Figs. 9 and 10 are views of modifications of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is the frame.

2 is the door.

3 is the upper hinge and. hinge of the door.

The drawings illustrate a door ofa refrigerating compartment and, as above described, is comparatively heavy. I preferably arrange the hinges as near the upper and lower edges of the door as possible to minimize the strain 011 them. Each hinge has a bracket 5 having lugs and 6 is the spring plate or strap of the upper hinge having an eye. The pivot pin 7 extends through the lugs of the bracket and through the eye of the plate.

8 is the spring plate of the lower hinge having an eye through which a pin extends a is the lower and, as above remarked, the spring plates are of sufficient width to properly support the weight of the door. The plates are made of spring metal so that they can be flexed. At the outer end of the door is a latch 10 adapted to a keeper 11 on the frame. This latch can be made in any form desired.

The door 2 has a flange 12 which overlaps the frame 1, and secured to the flange is the gasket 13, made in any form desired, so that it will be compressed when the door is closed to form an air tight joint between the door and the frame. The door, during a part of its movement, swings on these hinges, in the same manner as on ordinary hinges, but when the door is tightly closed, the spring plates are flexed, causing the gaskets to form a tight joint between the door and the frame. This is fully set forth and ,claimed in the above mentioned patent.

I have found, when foreign matter prevents the door from closing, that the spring plates are liable to be strained, especially the plates of the lower hinge, which sometimes causes them to take a set or to snap. To prevent the plates from being strained beyond the usual limits, I provide a guard 14: having a body portion shaped, in the present instance, similarly to the spring plate 8 and having two projecting arms 15 which are slotted at 16 for the free passage of the pin 9. Under normal strains the hinge guard does not impinge upon the hinge pin. These two arms 15 are spaced a distance apart greater than the perforated lugs of the bearing 5, as it is not desired that the guard should take the weight of the door, but that it should act to safeguard the spring plate 8, preventing its injury from. being flexed ing opened, bind upon the floor beyond the normal or the seal from thus being made imperfect.

The slots 16 in the guard are so positioned with respect to the pivot pin, under normal conditions, that the ends of the slot do not come in contact with the pin, as clearly shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings, which illustrates the door closed and the parts in the normal position. W hen, however, there is a block of wood, or any other obstruction, be tween the door and the frame and the door is closed and pressure is applied, the spring plate 8 is flexed so that the guard It will take the strain, as it will move until one end of the slot comes in contact with the pin 9, as illustrated in Fig. 7. When pressure is continued and increased the guard receives and assumes all the increased strain. If, as sometimes happens, the obstruction is too great to be overcome by such reasonable force as may be applied, the great strength. of the hinge guard makes removal of the obstruction necessary, then the door may be properly closed and both hinge and guard preserved. Should the door, when it is beor sill, due

to disarrangement or freezing, or should any foreign object be in the path of the door in opening, the opposite ends of the slots would bear upon the pintle and the excess strain would be assumed by the hinge guard.

The hinge guard is preferably made of cast metal on account of its rigidity, low cost and the fact that it will not take such permanent bend or set as would destroy its utility. It is the purpose rather to break the inexpensive casting, than to risk inaccuracy of straightening and of subsequent adjustment and operation of a guard made of a tougher metal.

W hen the guard is applied to the hinge of a door which continues to be operative despite neglect and abuse, the valuable contents of the room are protected from the result of overstrain or of breakage until the hinges are properly refitted, or adjusted, or until the door is freed from obstructions.

A further use of this invention is that when it becomes desirable under'exceptionable conditions to employ the hinge guard to carry a portion of the weight of the door, this can be accomplished by placing a washer between the upper arm of the hinge guard and the upper lug of the bracket 5, though at some sacrifice of freedom from frictional restraint and retardation. By placing the hinge guard directly over the hinge plate, as shown, and arranging them to act upon the same pintle, I have both elements in the closest possible relation to the point of greatest resistance and at the'point of greatest efliciency.

In some instances, my improved hinge may be used at the upper edge of a door where it swings on horizontal pins and, in this case, my improved guard may be mounted on each hinge so as to resist any abnormal strains due to pressure back of the door.

When desirable, I may use the guard on both hinges of a door having vertical pivot pins, but I find, in the generality of cases, that a guard placed on the lower hinge is sufficient to meet usual conditions.

In Fig. 9, I have shown the guard with a single slotted arm arranged to engage the pin at the center of the hinge and in Fig. 10 I have shown the lugs on the bracket extended to form bearings for the guard. 7 While my invention is particularly adapted for use in connection with refrigerator doors, it will be understood that it can be applied to other doors or to windows which are mounted to swing on hinges and in which gaskets are used to form a tight joint between a door and the jam or a Window and the frame.

I claim: 7

1. The combination of a frame; a door; a hinge having a bracket secured to the frame; a spring plate secured to the door;

and a guard of rigid material, also secured to the door, and extending over the spring plate and having an arm projecting between the pintle and the frame and arranged to bear upon the pintle of the hinge when said hinge is subjected to excessive strains in closing the door.

2. The combination of a frame; a door; hinges by which the door is hung from the frame; each hinge having a rigid bracket secured to the frame and a spring plate secured to the door; a slotted guard extending over the spring plate of the hinge; and a pin connecting the two parts of the hinge and extending through the slot in the guard.

3. The combination of a frame; a door; hinges therefor; each hinge having a bracket provided with lugs and a spring plate having an eye, said plate being secured to the door; a guard extending over one of the spring plates and having slotted arms; and

body portion; and a slotted arm projecting 30 from end of the body portion, said arm being so located with respect to the hinge that the pintle of the hinge will pass through the slot of the guard.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

SAMUEL PRICE STEVENSON.

Witnesses:

CLYDE T. MoYER, WM. A. BARR.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.