US2072520A

US2072520A - Automatic closure-support

Info

Publication number: US2072520A
Application number: US39898A
Authority: US
Inventors: Flcyd M Kirkpatrick
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1935-09-10
Filing date: 1935-09-10
Publication date: 1937-03-02
Anticipated expiration: 1954-03-02

Description

March 2, 1937. F. M. KIRKPATRICK 0 55 AUTOMAT I C CLOSURE SUPPORT Filed Sept. 10, 1935 INVENTOR f? M Mrkpafridr. i 1' ,1 /I I Patented Mar. 2, 1937 EJNHTED STATES PATENT @FFHQE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to automatic closuresupports, being a variation or modification of the form of closure latching device disclosed in my application No. 14,345, filed April 2, 1935.

The main object of this invention is to obtain the same beneficialresults obtained by the above mentioned closure support by a mechanical device that is different in construction and somewhat different in operation, and thereby more broadly protect the general principles of. automatic closure supports.

Other objects and important features are pointed out or implied in the following detailed description in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one of these automatic closure supports in its useful position, viz., that of supporting a hinged lid, door or closure in its open position; this particular lid or door being such as used on storage compartments of automobiles, etc., and only enough of the door and door-frame being shown (partly in section) to facilitate an understanding of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing the lid or door raised above the supported position of Fig. 1, and the pivoted supporting disc or plate being slightly turned by the operating upward step of the lid.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, except that the disc has been turned as described in reference to Fig. 2, and except that the lid has been lowered to a nearly closed position preparatory to turning the disc back to the position shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, except that the lid is entirely closed, and except that its final lowering step thereof has turned the disc back to the position shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a sectional View along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a detail-assemblage showing a simple form of spring device or compression spring that may be used in lieu of the one shown in the other views.

Referring to this drawing in detail, wherein,

similar reference numerals refer to similar parts in the several views, the invention is described in detail as follows:

The door-frame is shown at it, and is formed with a gutter H for carrying .oif leakage through the joint between the frame Iii and the closure or lid. A plate i2 is secured to the inner wall of the gutter and depends therefrom. The lid is indicated at E3, and its hinge-members M are pivoted at l5 to the door frame. The lid or door is also provided with a downturned flange it that normally extends into the gutter ii. A pivotbearing i? is united with the lid or closure at a point spaced from the flange iii, and to this is pivoted a latch or longitudinally slotted link it Whose slot is seen at l9, and whose latch-element 5 or shoulder is seen at 29.

The plate i2 is formed with a hollow boss or bearing 2i, and also has a pivot or stud 22 and a stop or abutment 2t, and though apertures and rivets are indicated for securing it to the gutterwall, welding or other securing means may be employed.

A plate or disc 24 has an axle or pivot 25 united therewith and journaled in the bearing M of the plate l2 so as to be rotatably supported by the latter. This disc 24 has a pivot-stud 26 extending from one side, and a stud 21 extending from its opposite side, also a stud or stop lug 28 extending from said opposite side. In the form shown in Fig. 6, a bow-spring 29 has 20 loop-ends around the pivot-

studs

22 and 26, and, in tending to straighten itself, it exerts a pressure that yieldingly holds the disc 24 in its alternate positions; and here it should be noted that the alternate positions of the stud it are on 25 opposite sides of a straight line between the axle 25 and the pivot bearing 22, so that the spring turns the disc alternately in opposite directions during a cycle of opening and closing the door or closure, in a manner presently explained. 30 Where a helical compression spring is used between the

studs

22 and 26, as shown at 3|] in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4, it is housed in a tube 3| having a slotted end 32 and having its other end pivoted on the pivot-stud 26 while the stud 22 35 extends through the slotted or bifurcated end 32 and is slidable therealong as the spring 38 is compressed and permitted to expand in passing from one to the other of the alternate positions. The stud 28 (omitted in Fig. 5 for avoiding confu- 40 sion) normally rests against the upper end of the link or latch 58, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, and the stop or lug 23 serves to arrest the spring 29 or tubular casing 3! at the other alternate position of the disc 24, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, 45 and in broken lines in Fig. 6.

The stud ill extends through the slot I9 of the latch or link it and is movable from one end to the other of said slot, such movement being relative, inasmuch as it is the latch is which 50 has the greater movement as the device is put through a cycle of operation. A washer or other form of keeper 33, on the stud 2i, keyed or otherwise secured in place, serves to hold the link or latch and stud 21 in working engagement with one another. The stop-lug or stud 28 has a more important function than that mentioned in the foregoing, viz., the function of a supporting keeper which engages with the shoulder of the latch I8 and cooperates therewith in supporting the lid or closure in the open position, as shown in Fig. 1.

The operation of the device is as follows Assuming the door, lid or closure to be closed, all parts in the position shown in Fig. 4, and the user raises the closure to and a little past the position shown in Fig. 1, the spring device 29 or causes the stud 28 to snap under the shoulder 20 so as to cooperate with the latter for supporting the closure in the raised or open position. Next, assuming that it is desired to lower the closure, it is first raised a step beyond the normal supported position, and in thus raising it, the stud 21 is also raised so as to cause rotary movement of the disc, move the stud 28 out of engagement with the shoulder 20, and move the stud 26 past the line between the stud 22 and the axle or pivot 2|, whereupon, the spring device turns the disc to the position shown in Figs. 2 and 3; and now, when the lid or closure is lowered, the stud 28 being out of the path of the shoulder 20, there is no obstruction to the lowering of the closure; but when the upper end of the slot strikes the stud 21, the latter is pushed down as the lid moves to the closed position, and the disc is thereby re-set so as to reengage the shoulder 20 when the lid is again raised.

I have no intention to limit my patent protection to the precise details of construction and arrangement here shown and described, for the invention is susceptible of numerous changes within the scope of the inventive ideas as implied and claimed.

Again referring to the latch I8, it is seen that it includes a wedge lBa, and as it is raised from the closed to the open position, one edge moves or slides against the stud 21 while the opposite edge slides against the stud 28 so as to move the latter against the pressure of the

spring device

29 or 30 until the shoulder 20 passes the stud 28, whereupon the spring device causes the stud 28 to snap under the shoulder 20.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a latching device comprising an attachment for a closure and closure-frame, for holding the closure open with relation to the closureframe, the combination of a supporting member provided with means for securing it to the closure-frame, a latch provided with means to pivotally connect it to the closure and having a longitudinal slot and a shoulder, a plate mounted for rotary movements on said supporting member and provided with a stud that extends through said slot and is relatively movable along the latter, said plate having a second stud that is movable into and out of engagement with said shoulder as the plate makes rotary movements in opposite directions, and a spring device operatively connected to said plate and to said supporting member in a proper relation for yieldingly holding the said second stud alternately in and out of engagement with said shoulder.

2. The combination defined by claim 1, said latch having an element which comprises means for moving said second stud against the action of said spring-device and thereafter releasing the same stud and permitting it to snap into engagement with said shoulder under the action of said spring-device.

3. The combination defined by claim 1, said latch having a wedge which terminates in said shoulder and which slides against said second stud so as to move the latter against pressure of said spring device and thereafter release the same stud to permit it to snap into engagement with said shoulder.

FLOYD M. KIRKPATRICK.