US2133307A - Hinge - Google Patents

Description

E. PRESTAGE HINGE Oct. 18, 1938.

Filed April 1, 1957 2 sheets-sheet 1 I VENTOQ. Eda/1h Pres faye.

AT TO R N E\ Oct. 18, 1938. E PRESTAGE I 2,133,307

HINGE Filed April 1', 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lNvENTOE. Edw/h Presfaye ATTORN EY Patented Oct. 18, 1938 PATENT OFFICE HINGE Edwin Prestage, London, England Application April 1, 1937, Serial No. 134,199 In Great Britain April 2, 1936 12 Claims.

This invention relates to hinges particularly for laminated assemblies such as heat interchangers and filter presses.

The invention is concerned primarily with the mounting of plates forming together a heat interchanger such for example as is commonly employed in the pasteurization of milk or the manufacture of beer. In this form of heat interchanger the plates defining the passages through which the milk or beer passes have to be taken apart at frequent intervals for cleaning purposes, and it is important, therefore, that this operation should be conducted in a manner which is as expeditious as possible.

It is the object of the present invention to provide an improved form and construction of hinge which enables a large number of comparatively thin plates to be separately pivoted within a confined space and to be carried with suflicient freedom of movement, so that the hinges do not interfere with the closing pressure exerted by the usual end clamping plates.

The invention accordingly provides a hinge mounting for the plates of a laminated assembly in which there is interposed between the plate and the pivot of the hinge, a member which is capable of flexing to allow the plate to be clamped fiat upon or between the remaining plates. Thus, the invention is particularly useful in cases where the hinge axis is displaced to one side of the plate, that element of the hinge carrying the plate being secured to the latter by a flexible strip arranged to bend and allow the plate to be clamped flat upon or between the remaining plates.

As a further feature the invention provides a hinge mounting for the plates of a laminated assembly arranged with clamping means for pressing the plates together so that they are disposed in parallel vertical planes, said mounting comprising for each plate one or more strips arranged with their edges facing upwards and downwards, which strips serve to attach the plate to one or more vertical hinge pivots and are sufficiently resistant to vertical bending to support the Weight of the plate in a rigid manner but are flexible enough in a horizontal plane to allow the plate to be freely clamped flat upon or between the remaining plates. The flexible supporting member may be of tapering shape its wider end being disposed adjacent the plate, while a plurality of plates may conveniently be pivotally mounted about a common vertical axis by using the improved form of binge.

The invention further provides a heat interchange unit embodying the improved hinge mounting, said unit conveniently comprising thick plates and thin plates arranged alternately, one thick plate and the next adjacent thin plate being carried pivotally about a common vertical axis. The usual end clamping plates which are normally rather heavy can conveniently be carried upon double knuckle joints. An improved heat interchange unit according to the invention may comprise a plurality of vertical plates arranged with clamping means serving to hold them together in a compact pack, said plates being mounted to open apart by pivotal movement about vertical axes at one side of the assembly and being supported each by a plurality of fiexible members which are interposed between the plate and the corresponding hinges so as to permit the plate to lie flat upon or between the remaining plates when the assembly is clamped in its closed condition. In cases where each plate is supported by a hinge at its upper part and another hinge at its lower part, a single hinge pin can advantageously carry the lower parts of a plurality of plates and another hinge pin carry pivotally the upper parts of the same plates.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of one of the thin plates of a heat interchange unit having the improved flexible mounting;

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the mounting of a thick plate;

Figure 3 is an elevation to an enlarged scale showing the construction of the hinge mounting of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a plan corresponding to Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary front elevation to an enlarged scale showing the hinge mounting of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a plan corresponding to Figure 5;

Figure '7 is a fragmentary plan View of a heat interchange unit showing the pivotal mounting of the plates, the section being taken on the line l-l of Figure 8;

Figure 8 is a front elevation of the hinge mount- 45 ing at the bottom of a pair of plates taken partly in section on the line 8-8 of Figure 7; and

Figure 9 is a sectional plan showing a modified form of hinge mounting.

In Figure 1 one of the thin plates of a heat 5 interchange unit is shown at 10, and is carried pivotally about an axis I l at one side of the plate by means of a pair of hinge elements l2 and I3 which are connected to the plate II] by means of flexible intermediate members l4 and 15. The 55 construction of these parts is shown more clearly in Figures 3 and 4 from which it will be seen that the plate I0 is riveted at [6 to the intermediate member l5, which latter consists of a strip of relatively springy material such as tempered steel or the usual corrosion-resisting metal used normally for the construction of the heat interchange plates. At its outer part the intermediate flexible member I5 is secured to the hinge element [3 by means of rivets l1, while the member I3 is formed with a vertical bore I 8 for the reception of any suitable hinge pin.

In the preferred construction of mounting as adapted for the relatively heavy thick plates I9 of a heat interchange unit intermediate flexible members 20 of trapezoidal shape are secured between the plates !9 and hinge members 2|, lugs 22 being formed on each of the plates IQ for the attachment of the flexible members 20.

It will be appreciated that the flexible members l5 and 20 which have their edges 23 and 24 directed upwardly and downwardly respectively are very resistant to bending in a vertical plane, and are thus easily capable of supporting the plates in and I9 in a firm manner. They are, however, flexible horizontally, and when a series of vertical plates are clamped together to form a pack the improved hinge mounting enables each plate to take up its own position and lie flat upon or between the remaining plates. Moreover, the position of the plates is dependent principally upon the prevailing thickness of the usual rubber packing washers accommodated in grooves 25 in the thick plates, and the flexibility of the members l5 and 20 permits a large variation in this respect.

This is shown more clearly in Figures 7 and 8, which illustrate a constructional form of the improved hinge mounting as used in a heat interchange unit for supporting the bottom parts of the plates. A similar fitting is, of course, employed for carrying the upper portion of the plate assembly.

A massive bracket 26 which is attached to any suitable support 21 by means of nuts 28 is substantially E-shaped in section, as will be seen in Figure 8, on account of two horizontal grooves 29 and 30. These are used for supporting the hinge members l3 and 2| which are arranged in pairs and are pivotally carried upon vertical pivot pins 3 i. It will be noted that each pivot pin 3| shown in Figure 7 forms the anchorage for the bottom part of one thick plate I 9 and also the bottom part of the next adjacent thin plate I0.

In the particular form of heat interchange unit shown in Figures 7 and 8 the plates Ill and 19 are divided into two groups A and B by means of a partition member 32, the lower part of which is carried by a link 33 pivoted at 34 to the partition and at 35 to the bracket 26, thus forming a double knuckle hinge. Links 36 and 3'! are similarly employed for supporting the end plates 38 and 39 respectively. The group of plates A is in Figure '7 shown in its opened condition, while the group B is fully clamped together. It will be seen that the intermediate members l5 and 20 of the hinges allow of considerable variation in the total thickness of the assembly, and this adequately compensates for changes which may from time to time take place in the thickness of the packing washers within the grooves 25.

It will be realized that the improved hinge mounting according to the invention may be obtained by employing various constructions, and if desired the details may be Varied to suit requirements. Thus it may be desirable in some cases to laminate the spring plates or strips by which the interchanger or filter plates are carried, while any number of spaced spring strips may be used for supporting each of the plates, and if desired the hinge lugs may be formed integrally with the spring plates by a suitable bending or forming process. This general construction is shown in Figure 9 where the flexible intermediate member I5 is bent into a loop 40, and is secured by a set of rivets 4| so as to form the hinge member for engagement with the pivot pin 3!. It is not, of course, essential that the plate [5 shall be of uniform thickness, and it may be graduated in thickness, if desired, as indicated by the broken line at 42.

The invention thus provides an extremely simple but effectual form of hinge which enables a comparatively large number of plates to be mounted in a compact manner, and yet enables them to be widely spaced for cleaning purposes.

What I claim is:

1. In a laminated heat interchange unit having a plurality of plates pivoted one relative to another, a hinge mounting comprising a fixed support, a pivot carried thereby, and a thin flexible member connecting one of the plates with the pivot whereby the resilience of the flexible member enables the plate to align itself against the next adjacent plate and to be clamped. into firm uniform marginal contact therewith.

2. In a laminated heat interchange unit having a plurality of plates pivoted one relative to another, a hinge mounting comprising a fixed support, a pivot carried thereby, and a thin flexible strip connecting one of the plates with the pivot whereby the resilience of the strip in a direction at right angles to the pivot enables the plate to align itself against the next adjacent plate and be clamped into uniform marginal contact therewith.

3. In a laminated heat interchange unit having a plurality of plates pivoted one relative to another, a hinge mounting comprising a fixed support, a vertical pivot carried thereby, and

a thin flexible strip arranged in a vertical plane with its edges directed upwardly and downwardly, connecting one of the plates with the pivot whereby the resilience of the strip in a horizontal direction enables the plate to align itself a against the next adjacent plate and be clamped in uniform marginal contact therewith.

4. In a laminated heat interchange unit having a plurality of plates pivoted one relative to another, a hinge mounting comprising a fixed support, a pivot carried thereby and a flexible strip which is thin and flat but is. tapered in width, said strip serving to connect one of the plates with the pivot whereby the resilience of the strip in a direction at right angles to the pivot enables the plate to align itself against the next adjacent plate and be clamped in firm uniform marginal contact therewith, while the weight of the plate is taken by the strip in a direction across its width.

5. In a laminated heat interchange unit having a plurality of plates pivoted one relative to another, a hinge mounting for a pair of adjacent plates comprising a fixed support, a pivot pin carried thereby, a pair of flat flexible strips each pivoted at one end to the pin and joined at their other ends to the corresponding plates, the general plane of each strip being parallel with that of the corresponding plate sothat the resilience of the strips enables the plates to be clamped in uniform marginal contact with one another and with the adjoining plates of the unit.

6. In a laminated heat interchange unit a hinge mounting in accordance with claim 5, in which each of the said pair of adjacent plates is carried by two flexible strips secured at the upper and lower parts of one edge of said plate, and in which one pivot pin is common to the upper parts of the said plates and another pivot pin is common to the lower parts of the same pair of plates.

7. In a laminated heat interchange unit having a plurality of plates pivoted one relative to another, a hinge mounting comprising a fixed support, a pivot pin carried thereby, a member pivotally mounted on said pin, and a thin flexible strip joining the pivoted member to the heat interchange plate, the resilience of the flexible member enabling the plate to align itself against the next adjacent plate and to be clamped into firm uniform marginal contact therewith.

8. In a laminated heat interchange unit having a plurality of plates pivoted one relative to another, a hinge mounting comprising a fixed support, a pivot pin carried thereby, and a thin flexible strip which is bent at one end to form an eye swinging upon the pivot pin, and which is attached at its other end to the heat interchange plate whereby the latter is enabled to align itself against the next adjacent plate and to be clamped in uniform marginal contact therewith.

9. In a laminated heat interchange unit having a fixed support carrying a plurality of pivotally mounted plates and means for clamping said plates together, a hinge mounting at the top part i of said plates and another hinge mounting at the bottom thereof, each of said hinge mountings comprising horizontal flanges carried one above another upon the fixed support, a plurality of pivot pins extending vertically through the flanges, and flexible strip members pivotally engaging the pivot pins between adjacent flanges, the other ends of said flexible strips being secured to the heat interchange plates, thus enabling said plates to be clamped into uniform marginal contact with one another.

10. In a laminated heat interchange unit having a fixed support carrying a plurality of pivotally mounted plates, and means for clamping said plates together, a hinge mounting at the top part of said plates and another hinge mounting at the bottom, each of said hinge mountings comprising three horizontal flanges carried one above an-- other upon the fixed support, a plurality of pivot pins each extending vertically through the three flanges, and flexible strip members pivotally engaging the pivot pins between adjacent flanges, the other ends of those flexible strips between the upper pair of flanges being connected with alternate heat interchange plates and those strips between the lower pair of flanges being connected with the intervening alternate plates, so that the whole of said plates are held flexibly and, when being clamped together, are capable of accommodating themselves to variations in the thickness of the heat interchange plates. 7

11. A heat interchange unit comprising a plurality of separate heat exchange members relatively of different thicknesses, and clamping means for said members, said members being mounted to open apart by pivotal movement about vertical axes, said members comprising hinges for connection with said axes, said hinges providing substantially flexible elements to enable fiat assembly of said members when said clamping means are moved into closed position.

12. A heat interchange unit comprising a plurality of separate heat exchange members relatively of different thicknesses, and clamping means for said members, said members being mounted to open apart by pivotal movement about vertical axes, said members comprising hinges for connection with said axes, said hinges comprising flexible intermediate elements fixedly secured to said members to enable a flat assembly of said members when said clamping means are moved into closed position.

EDWIN PRESTAGE.

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