US1711857A - Half door for automobile inclosures - Google Patents

Description

May 7, 1929- c. E. RUTTAN I HALF DOOR FOR AUTOMOBILE INCLOSIURES Filed May 26, 1924v .2 sheetssheet .Zeff/av/t [YIM fifa/very,

May 7, 1929. c. E.. RUTTAN y 1,711,857

HALF DOOR FOR AUTOMOBILE INCLOSURES inf/fa i Pza/fafa.

Patented May 7, 1929.

A UNITED STATES i 1,711,857 PATENT oifrlcr..v

CHARLES E. RUTTAN, or Los ANGELES, CALIFORNIA. y

HALE DooR'EoR AUTOMOBILE INcLosUREs.'

Application led May '26 This invention has to do generally Vwith `doors for automobile inclosures, and is more particularly concerned with doors and their mountings as used in connection with inclosures for converting automobilesof'the socalled open type7 into closed or semi-closed cars.

Certain peculiar problems present themselves in connection with the installation of these doors. For example, the available storage space for the doors is small, and yet the comparatively large rigid doors must be moved out of sight and be protected against breakage when it is desired to use an equipped automobilev in open condition. The major portion of the door is in the nature of a glass panel, thus precluding the use of joints whereby the door mightotherwise be folded into compact form and then vmoved into a comparatively small storage space.

Furthermore, to be of full efficiency, the

doors must be quickly and easily movable from a position of storage into operative position, and vice versa, without the use of tools and without exposing the door to treatment which might result in breaking the glass panels.

It is very desirable from the standpoint of economical manufacture that an inclosure door of standard design titcars of different gmakes, and this immediately brings up the matter of'hinge alinement.

Diferent makes of cars have different types of body door hinges, some of them having flush hinges, others having offset hinges, some hinges are in vertical alinement, others are angularly disposed with respectto the vertical, etc. Since the inclosure door (equipped with standardI hinges, for instance) must move pivotally on its hinges coincidently with the movement of the body door on its hinges, it will'be apparent that it is a matter of considerable difliculty to provide a hinge mounting for the inclosure doorl which will be competent to function prop- .erly irrespective of the type of body door hinge installed on a given car. Y

Therefore, it is among the objects of my invention kto provide an inclosure doorand .a mounting therefor which effectually meets the problems noted above,as Well as other problems not mentioned.` In addition, it

has been one of my purposes to provide a mounting which 1s sightly and neat, and

which does notcall for` the use of attachments of unpleasing appearance. I have provided a structure whereby, when the inclosure door is out of operative position, there is little` or no visual levidence from the exterior that the car is of a convertible nature; while, Vwhen the door is in operative position, the car has the appearance of a permanently closed or semi-closed vehicle.

Generaly' described, the invention consists of a door frame which includes a post for hingedly supporting the door, the frame bcing secured on the vehicle body in such a manner that it is movable from a concealed position clear of the body doorway into such a position that it brings its door` into vertical alinement with the body door, and its hinges are brought approximately intoaxial alinement with the body door hinges. The two doors are then tiedtogether so they swing as one. Y

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, novel means are provided whereby the hinges of the body door and inclosure door may be considerably out of axial alinement without interfering with the proper swinging of the composite door; for, during door movement, the vdoor frame is free to move relativeto the car body, so, in effect, the out of alinement arrangement of the door hinges causes relative movement between the two half-door frames, whereas, were the two frames to be rigidly connected, the disalinement of thevhinges would, in the absence of means for allowing relative movement between hinges, set up a binding action which would preventv proper door swing.

By reason of the last-mentioned feature, I am able to employ flush hinges for the inclosure door,even though the car on which the installation is made has hinges which are considerably Voffset from the face of the body door.

I will point out further features of novelty and objects of the invention in the following detailed description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure lis aside elevation of an automobile equipped with my structure;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged horizontal section on line 2,-2 of Fig. l; v

Fig. 3 is an enlarged horizontal section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1'; v i Y' Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical section on line lf-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig., 5 is an enlarged fragmentary elevahind the side curtains and panels.

tion of the door frame and its mounting as viewed from the interior of the car; and

Figures 6, 7 and 8 are diagrammatic views illustrating certain principles of operation which will be fully set forth in the body of the specification.

1n Figure 1 I have shown my invention applied to an automobile equipped with a socalled California top 10, wherein the rear compartment 11 of the car is partially inclosed by glass side panels 12 which are supported within semi-rigid side curtain 13.

f l/Vhen in storage (or out of operative position) the inclosure door structure, generally indicated at 14, is adapted to be concealed be- However, this showing of the invention in connection with a particular type of top is not to be construed as in any way limiting the invention to this specific application, for it may be applied to carsv having flexible or removable side curtains, or a fixed, partially enclosing panel may be installed on cars which come from the factory with their sides entirely open between the side of the body and their collapsible tops.

Furthermore, while I have illustrated and will describe a structure which closes off only the rear compartment of the vehicle (in other words. makes a semi-closed car out of an open car) the door structure may be duplicated for the'front compartment of the car and thereby serve to convert an open car into a fullclosed car.

I will first assign numerals to certain standard parts of the vehicle, so future reference to these parts in their association with my device may be more readily followed. Body 15 has a door 16 swung on hinges A, and, for the time being, we will assume these hinges are in vertical alinement and substantially flush with the outer face of the body and door. The upper edge 18 of body 15 is in horizontal alinement with the upper` edge 19 oi door 16 when' the latter is closed, and

.overlying and substantially paralleling edges 13 and 19 is the top rail or bow 20 which. extends lengthwise of the car and may serve as the marginal brace for top 10.

Secured to rail 20, or to any other suitable supiporting member carried by Vtop 10, is the track 21, upon which hangers 22 are adapted to slide longitudinally of the car. Suspended from hangers is the L-shaped attachment member 23 which preferably includes an upright 24V and a. horizontal rail 25.

Hinged on upright 24 at B is the door supporting frame 26 which includes posts 27 and 28 and top or cross-bar 29. Hinged at C to post 28 is the door 30 which includes a transparent panel 31. It is evident that attachment member 23, frame 26 and door 30 may be swung into a common vertical plane (which relative positions they are adapted to assume when in storage) or that the lframe and door` may be swung on their respective hinges to bring them into diiferent vertical planes.

Vhen the elements thereof are nested so as to lie ina common vertical plane, the assembly j ust described may be moved along track 21 longitudinally of the car and behind curtain 13, where they will be out of sight from the exterior of the car and will entirely clear the doorway in the car body. An angle iron guide 32, paralleling track 21, may be secured on the upper edge 18 of the car body, and serve to retain the lower edge of the inclosure door and its associated structure in a position adjacent curtain 13.

Since, when in storage, the inclosure door structure lies behind curtain 13 and hence back of the outer face of the body, and since it is desirable that the out-er face of door 30 be approximately flush, guide 32 and track 21 are disposed angularly with respect to the outer .face of body 15, the forward end of track 2l being so disposed that it brings the forward post 23 substantially flush with the outer face of the body when the nested door structure is moved to the position of Fig. 1. The structure is thereafter moved within itself, in a manner to be described, to bring door 3() flush with door 16.

First, let us assume an ideal condition wherein hinges A are in vertical alinement, and with the structure moved as above described, hinges C are in axial alinement with hinges A., or that a slight movement of frame 2G on hinges B suffices both to bring hinges A and C into axial alinement and to bring the hinged side of door 30 flush with door 16.

Then by swinging door 30 outwardly on hinges C, the two complementary half- doors 30 and 16 may be brought into flush register and by tieing them together by latches 33, or

any other suitable tie or clamp devices, the two doors cooperate to form a composite door for the rear compartment. and C are in axial alinement, the twodoors swing as one and without any relative movement between them or their hinges.

ln order to differentiate between doorslG and 30 in the appended claims, I will there refer to door 16 as body door and to door 30 as a half door.

ln certain situations the ideal conditions above noted may be brought about without the use of 'the hinged connection between door frame 26 and attachment member 23, and in such situations the separate attachment member 23 may be eliminated, and said door frame may be attached directly to hangers 22. 1 wish it to be understood that this variation lies within the scope of my broader claims, as does also a variation wherein the door frame is moved to and from operative position by swinging it through a horizontal plane about hinges B; that is, instead of sliding the frame to and from a position behind curtain 13,'at-

Since hinges A Vlill) enh tachment member 23 might be capable of little or no v sliding movement, but byl properly lmounting hinges B the door framemight be swung through compartment 11 Afrom the position to Fig. `1 to a position behind curtain 13.

Fig. 2 illustrates the position of the structure when it has been first moved out of storage, itr being assumed that hinges C exactly superpose hinges A. Figure 3 shows door 30a-s having been swung outwardly on hinges C until the forward edge of said door is approximately flush with door 16, in which posit-ion it is clamped by latches 33. y

Even though hinges A and C are not vin axial alinement when the doors are rigidly clamped together, the device, still functions effectively and without interference or door bind. To discuss this phase, letvr us assume a case where hinges A project considerably from the side of body 15, hence making it impossible to line up flush hinges C v.without swinging frame 26 on hinges B to such an extent that door 30 would project considerably beyond door 16, an undesirable condition.

In Fig. 6, hinge A is shown as considerably offset with respect to hinge C,`and yet 'doors 16 and SOare tied against relative movement. As door 16 swings outwardly about vA, hinges C move both rearwardly and outwardly. The rearward movement is accommodated by the longitudinal movement of the entire frame 26 and attachment member23, hinges B moving back'todotted lineposition. Theoutward movement is accommodated by the frame 26 swingingoutwardly about hinges B. Cf course, during door closing movements, Vframe 26 moves longitudinally and forwardly along track 21 and the frame swingsinwardly abouthinges B.

Thus, relative movement occurs between vthe frames (body 15- and frame 26) of the two `doors rather'thanrbetween their points of pivotal mounting, and therefore theztwo doors are free to swing-,as one without hinge interference and 'without either rdoor binding. ,Another condition met w1th,1s the positioning ofhmgesA so they are out of vertical alinement. This condition arises due to the bow shape of some doors,that is, the door bows inwardly at its lower edge. Consider Fig. 7, where an exaggerated example of this condition is shown to exist. The common D of hinges A inclines with respect to the vertical rand hence door 16 will swing to the dotted line position when open. However, doorBO preferably extends vertically when closed and in order that door 30 may follow door 16 during pivotal movement thereof, hinges C may be offset as shown'in this figure, so they are coaxial with hinges A. However, "with the use of my hinged door frame-itis not necessary to resort to `offset hinges C for accomplishing the desired end,

for hinges C may be flush, as previously described, andas diagrammatically indicated in i Fig. 8, without destroying the effectiveness of the device even under the body hinge condif hinges C and said frame lis made of material havlng-suiiicient resiliency to ryield somewhat and allow the Vframe to bend and `twist sufficiently to accommodate the differential movement of the upper and lowerparts of door 30 and the Vvariable inclinationof said door as it swings about hinges C. 1

It will be noted that track 21 extends clear tothe front of the car so door structure 111', or a duplicate thereof, may be moved forwardly to yenclose forward compartment Fand to bring door 30 into register with body 'door.G. As soon as structure 111 is moved forwardly a suliicient distance to clear curtain 13 and guide 32, its lower edgeis unconfined and free and therefore the kstructure may be rocked about track 21, transversely of body 15, until the two doors are locked infalinement. This featureis of value for various reasons, for instance, in some instances the back H of the front seat projects lbeneath i track 21, and therefore, in moving past this back, the door structure'may be swung outwardly l,to avoid interference.

It will be understood that while vI have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my device', the drawings and description are to be consideredV merely as illustrative of and not restrictive on the broader claims appended hereto, and therefore I do knot wish to be limited to the struct-ure shown and described except for such limitations as a fair interpretation of the appended claims may import. v Having described a preferredforniof my invention, I'claim: i

1. 1n an inclosure for the compartment of an automobile body having a hinged door opening to the compartment, a door structure slidable longitudinally along the upper edge of the body door` int-oand out" of'operative position and including a half-door which is complementary to and is movable vfhingedly with the-body door whenthe door structure is in operative position, and attachmentmeans connecting Vthe body and door structure and adapted to allow relative movementtherebeopening to the compartment, a door structure yslidable longitudinally alongthe upper edge of the body door into and out of operative position and including a half-door which is complementary to and is movable hingedly with the body door when the door structure isin .operative position, attachment means connecting the bodyjand'door structure and adaptedto' allow relative movement thcrebe Cil tween whereby the door structure is slidable into and outl of operative position without beingdetached from'the body, and means for detachably coupling the two doors when they are in complement.

3. In a movable inclosure for the compartment of an automobile havinga hinged door, a door structure that includes a frame which is slidable longitudinally along said hinged door into and out otl operative position with respect thereto, a door hinged to the frame and complementary to the body door, means for supporting the frame from the body, and means for securingthe two doors together.

4. In a movable inclosure for the compartment oi" an automobile having a hinged door, a door structure that' includes a iframe, a door hinged to the frame and complementary to the body door, means tor securing the doors together and against relative movement. and means for connecting the traine and body whereby they are capable of relative movement to allow said doors to swing upon their hinges irrespective of the relative position of said hinges. i

5. In an inclosure for the compartment of an automobile that has a top spaced above the body of the vehicle and that has a hinged door in the body, a track supported by said top and extending longitudinally oi' the automobile, a door structure that includes a hinged half-door complementary to the body door, said structure being suspended from the track and movable therealong in a manner to carry said half-door into and out of vertical alinement with said body door, said body door and said haltl door each beingy hingedly movable when in vertical alinement.

6. In an inclosure for the compartment of an automobile having a hinged door in its body, a door structure that includes a frame, and a halt-door hinged to the :trame and coml'ilemen'tary to the body door, said iframe beinn` slidableflonoitudinall along the un )er r-v 2D L edge of the body door into vand out of operative position, whereby said half-door is movable into and out of vertical alinement. with the body door without detaching said f irameiroin said body.

7. In an inclosure for the compartment of an automobile having-'a hinged door in its body, a door structure that includes a frame, a halt-door hinged. to the 'frame and complementary to the body door, said trame being slidable longitudinally along the upper edge of the body door into and out of operative position whereby said half-door is movable into and out of vertical alinement with the body door without detaching said frame from said body, and means for detachably coupling the two doors when they are in alinement. f

8. In an inclosure for the compartment of an automobile having a hinged door, a door structure that includes a frame, a door hinged tothe frame and complementary to the body door, said frame being movably mounted on the body whereby said half-door is movable into andV out of vertical alinement with the body door without detaching said framefrom f said body, and means for detaehably coupling the two doors and holding them against relative movement when they are in alinement; said body and frame being capable of relative movement after the doors are coupled.

9. In an inclosure for the compartment of Van automobile having a hinged door, a door structure that includes a frame, and a doorA hinged to the frame and complementary to the body door, said frame being movable longitudinally and pivotally on the body whereby said halt-door is movable into and out of vertical alinement with the body door without detaching said frame from said body.

- 10. In an inclosure for the compartment of an automobile having a hinged door, a door structure that includes a trame, a door khinged to the frame and complementary to the body door, said frame being movable longitudinally and pivotally on the body whereby said half-door is movable into and out of vertical alinement with the body door without detaching said frame from said body,and means for detachably coupling the two doors when in alinement, said body and frame being capable of relative longitudinal and pivotal movement when the ydoors ,are coupled.

l1. In an inclosure for the compartment of an automobile having a hinged door, a door structue that includes an attachment member longitudinally movable over the side of the compartment, a frame hinged to the attachment member and movable through a horizontal plane about its hinges, and a halfdoor hinged to said trame and complementary to the body door; the attachment member being movable to carry saidl'ial'-door into and out of alinement with the body door.

12. In an inclosure for the compartment oit an automobile having a hinged door, a door structure that includes an attachment vmember longitudinally movable over the side ot the compartment, :i frame hinged tothe attachment member and movable through a horizontal plane about its hinges, a half-door Vhinged to said frame and complementary to the body door; the attachment member being movable to carry said half-door into and out of alinement with the body door; said frame and half-door being so relatively mounted that they are Capable of simultaneous pvotal movement in opposite directions about their hinges; and means for detaehably clamping the two doors against relative movement when they are in alinement.

In Witness that I claim the foregoing I 10 have hereunto subscribed my name this 10th day ofMay, 1924.

CHARLES E. RUTTAN.

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