US2137197A - Combined door-holding and door-checking device - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 15, 1938. R. l. scHoNrrzER COMBINED DOOR HOLDING AND DOOR CHEGKING DEVICE Filed May 28, 1934 Patented Nov. 15, 1938 f f COMBIND DOOR-HOLDING AND DOOR- CHECKING DEVICE l Rudolph I. Schonitzer, Cleveland, Ohio Application May 28, 1934, Serial No. 727,891

13 Claims.

This invention relates to a combined doorholding and door-checking device, the device being especially adapted for use with the hinged doors of automobiles and the like.

Many of the doors of present day automobiles are hingedly mounted on inclined body posts o1' pillars, with the result that said doors have a natural tendency to ,swing to closed position. The undesired closing movement of automobile doors as the result of such tendency has resulted in serious personal injury, and the provision of means for releasably holding such doors in open position whenever they are moved thereto is quite desirable if not absolutely necessary. l

The general object of the present invention, therefore, is the provision of a simple and improved device for releasably holding a hinged Adoor in open position, such holding of said door being easily and conveniently effected by the or dinary manual operation of moving the door to such position and the release of said door being easily and conveniently effected by ,the ordinary manual operation of moving the door from such position. y

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a simple and improved device which not only is capable of releasably holding a hinged door in open position whenever it is moved thereto but also, is capable of checking the opening movement thereof, thereby making unnecessary the use of a separate door check therefor.

A further object of the present invention is the` provision of a simple and improved doorholding and door-checking device which is adapted for simple securement to intermediate portions of the hinge side of a door and the hinge side of a' body post or pillar on which such door is hingedly mounted, the parts of said device being almost entirely enclosed within and hence concealed by said door and said post or pillar, even when the door is in open position.

lFurther objects of the present invention are to provide for structural simplicity, compactness, manufacturing economy, and certaintyof operation under vall predetermined. conditions.

With the foregoing and other objects in view Vwhich will appear as the description of the presentl invention proceeds,` said invention resides in lthe combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the present invention as herein disclosed can be made within-the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The invention will be readily understood from the following detailed description of one embodiment thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a portion of an automobile body'constructed in accordance with present day stream-line designs, each of the generally hollow four doors of said body (two of which are shown) having associated therewith a combined door-holding and door-checking device embodying the present invention; Fig. 2 is a horizontal, longitudinal sectional view of a portion of the hinge `side of the left front door of said body and a portion of the hinge side of the inclined and generally hollow post or pillar thereof on which 16 said door is hingedly mounted, the door being in closed position and the holding and checking device therefor being in inoperative position, the view being on the line 2-2, Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the door re- 20 leasably held in open position by saiddevice; Fig. 4 is a detail vertical, longitudinal sectional View of the holding and checking parts of said device, the view being on the line 4 4, Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a detail vertical, cross sectional view of 25 parts of said device, the view being on the line 5'5, Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a detail vertical, longitudinal sectional view of parts of said device, the view being on the line 6 6, Fig.'5; and Fig. 7 is a detail vertical, cross sectional view of the checking member of the present device and the arm or link thereof on which it is mounted, the view being on the line 1-1, Fig. 3.

In the portion of the automobile body shown in Fig. 1, I represents the generally hollow left front door and 2 the generally hollow left rear door, the front door having its front or hinge side mounted by the usual hinges 3 on the hinge side of the rearwardly inclined and generally hollow front post or pillar 4 of said body and the rear door having its rear or hinge side mounted by the usual hinges 5 on'the hinge side of the slightly forwardly inclined and generally hollow rear post or pillar 6 of such body. Because o1.' the inclination of said body posts or pillars, the tendency of both doors is to swing to closed position, the front door swinging rearwardly to such position and the rear doorswinging forwardly to such position. Inasmuch as the doors of the larger automobiles are relatively heavy, serious personal injury easily 50 may result, and in fact has resulted, from undesired closing movement of said doors as the result of such tendency.

To effectively prevent undesired closing movement of hinged doors, such as automobile doors, 5;

2 the device of the present application was provided, the chief function of which device is to releasably and automatically hold a hinged door inopen position whenever it is moved thereto.

To avoid the necessity of using a separate device and door-checking y"device includes a relatively ilat and longitudinally bent metal arm or link Ill having its rear end pivotally or otherwise suit-l ably connected to an intermediate portion of the hinged side of the hinges 3 thereof. The connection of said arm or link to said dooris preferably of the concealed type, the rear end oi?l said arm or link being pivotally connected to a bifurcated lug I2 arranged within said generally hollow door and welded or otherwise suitably secured to the front edge wall I3 thereof, said wall being provided with a suitable slot I4 through which said arm or link extends.

The front or free end portion of said arm or link lies within the generally hollow body post or pillar 4, the rear edge wall I8 of which is provided w'lth a suitable slot I9 through which said' arm or link extends. lAs clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the generally horizontal dimension of the slot or opening I9 of the edge Wall I8 oi the body post or pillar 4 is substantially less than the corresponding dimension of such edge wall, so that said body post or pillar, which is oi' generally hollow form, is not appreciably weakened by the provision of such slot or opening. The use oi' a slot or opening having its generally horizontal dimension so restricted or limited is possible because of the longitudinal bending oi' the arm or link I0, as will be readily understood from an examination of the accompanying drawing. Located within said post or pillar and welded or otherwise rigidly securedon the free end of said arm or link is asuitable retainable means of prof` jecting character, here shown as a pair oi oppo-` sitely extending wings 20 which constitute the end portions of a rigid metal bar having'its middle portion 2l -bent into substantially U'form to receive and be rigidly secured to the free-end of said arm or link.

Longitudinally arranged within the generally hollow body post or pillar 4 and welded or-otherwise suitably secured to the rear edge wall I8 thereof, over therein, is a suitable retaining means for releasabl'e holding arm or link I0, the retaining means here shown being of unit form and comprising a generally rectangular metallic base plate 25, apair of me-` tallic retaining leaf springs l 28 and a generallyl rectangular metallic cover wise suitably secured thereto. disposed offset portion 38 of said A longitudinally cover plate provides therebeneath a correspondingly disposedw door l such as between the two end' portions 48, a

Ataining .springs `and the -side wall the arm or link-receiving Vslot 'I8 engagement with the wings v2li oi' the f plate 21, the latter` overlying said base plate and having its longi" tudinal side edge portions welded at 28 or other-l effectively 11maea`bytnoseporuons of the in g which4 aredisposedin the` plane of the the two'retaining springs 28, such securement being simply and economically maintained by laterally extending spring-engaging end flanges 38 with which the base plate 25 is integrally provided. The two retaining springs '28 are thus securely maintained in spaced relation. one above he other, on opposite sides of the plane of the path of pivotal movement of the arm or link I0, as shown.

As before mentioned, the-aforesaid retaining unit is longitudinally positioned over the arm or link-receiving slot I9 of the body post or pillar edge wall I8, and to, permit said arm or link to extend through said retaining unit to eiect releasable holding engagement of its wings 20 with the springs 28 of said retaining unit, the base plate 25 and 'the cover plate 21 of said unit are each provided with a suitable slot to receive said larm or link, the two slots of said base and cover 'plates and the slot I 9l of said post or pillar edge wall' I8 being in alignment or registration, as shown.

As best shown in Fig. 4,' the two retaining springs 28 have a pair oi' outwardly flaring free pair of restricted neck portions 4I adjacent thereto and a pair of relatively abrupt retaining shoulder portions 42 adjacent said neck portions.' The retainable wings 20 of the arm or link I0 have a pair oi' end shoulder portions 44 corresponding to 'and adapted for cooperation with the retaining shoulder portions 42 of the retaining springsv ZG- and said retainable wingsalso have a pair of side wallportions`45 corresponding to and adapted for cooperation with the free end portions 40 of saidretaining springs. l

When thedoor I isin closed position, as in Figs. 1 and 2, the major portion oi the arm or link i0 of the present improved device lies Within the generally hollow Abody post or pillar 4, the intermediate portion of said arm or link lying between the two retaining springs 26, as shown. Upon opening movement of said door, the major por- .tion oi.' said armv or link is withdrawn from said body post or pillar, said arm or link moving clockwise (Figs. 2 and 3) with said door and the retainable wings 28 of said arm or link being yieldingly pulled between said retaining springs into releasable holding engagement therewith, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Due to the more or less gradual curvature voi.' theA free end portions 40 oi' said reportions 45 oi' said arm or link wings', little resistance is oered to the inward passage of said wings between and beyond said spring free end portions, but due to vthe abruptness of the shoulder portions 42 of said springs and the end shoulder portions 44 of said wings, suillcient resistance to outward movement of said wings is aflorded to vefl'ectively -holdsaid door in yfully open position, subjectto its release, of course, vwhenever desired, as the resistance to the release of said` wings is not suilcient to prevent the ordinary manual closing of the door.

In orderto limit lateral or pivotal movement of the arm or linkIII, and thus insure cooperative engagement,- for'door-holding purposes, voi the armor link-wings 2 8 and the retaining springs 28,

any suitable means cooper-able with said arm or linkjybetween its wings 20"and its pivot may be utilized..-` As here shown.19 suitable rubber bushing'35 issecured in theslots of the base and cover ,plates 25 and V2I `of the retaining unit, and vthrough such bushing the arm or. link I0 extends. Asa result, the pivotal movement-lof said arm or link is bushpath , of pivotal movement of'saidarm or link.` Inasbut is ineffective to prevent the ordinary manual closing thereof wh'en desired.

In order to enable the present improved device to. also function as a door check, to check outward or opening movement of the door with which it is associated, the arm orlink I of the device is here provided adjacent its retainable wings 20 with suitable resilient means for such door check-.-

in'g purposes. Although said checking meansv may be inthe form of one or more springs or the like, it is here shown as a solid rubber member 50 provided with a suitable slot l throughwhich said arm or link extends, said slot being of lsuch size that said member is frictionally maintained adjacent the wings 20 of said arm or link, as

shown. l

Upon opening movement of the door I, said checking member 50 moves inwardly with the free end portion of the arm or'link llir between the two retaining springs 26 and is'yieldingly compressed between the wings 20 of said arm or link andthe rubber bushing 35 of the base and cover plates 25 and 21. As a result, the final portion of the door opening movement is eilectively i checked, in the same manner as that accomplished by the ordinary door. checks now `used with automobile doors.

As best shown in Fig. 4, the depth of the checking member 50 is such with the ,inward movement of the wings 20 between and beyond the free end portions 40 of the retaining springs 26,

end portion/and thus absorb any noise which might otherwise result therefrom. The checking member 50 here shown is also provided, opposite the iin 54, with a second fin 55 for yieldable engagement with the side wall 51 of the body post or pillar 4 upon inward lateral o r pivotal movement of the free end portion of the arm or link l0 when the door I is in closed position. .Because of its reduced size, however, the fin 55 will engage the body post orpillar side wall 51 only if the bushing 35 for the arm or link I0 becomes excessively worn as the result of pivotal movement of said arm or link, as will be readily understood.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the present improved device effectively accomplishes the dual function of releasabiy holding a hinged door in .open position whenever it is moved thereto and of checking the outward or opening movement thereof; that the parts of the device are ofsimple and durable form and are readily and conveniently connected to intermediate portions ofthe hinge; sides of a door and a body post or pillar. The retaining means of the `will be readily understood.

that it does not interfere I arm or linkthe door l being held in open position with a slight loose- `devies is secured to the body post or pinar as a unitfthe securement thereof being effected. by

the use of screws,- rivets or a-welding operation.

If ,desired and as here shown,the base plate 25 of said retaining means may be provided with laterally bent side flanges 60, the purpose of which is to give said plate increased strength and rigidity. To insure permanency of location 0f the base portions 32 of the two retaining springsbetween the base and cover plates 25 and21, the offset portion $0 of said cover plate, at the sides ofthe arm or link-receiving slot therein, may be provided with integral tongues 82 engaging in' notches 63 in the inner ends of .said spring base portions, all as clearly shown in Fig. 5.

. It is to be noted lthat the present improved device may be operatively associated with a hinged door and the post, pillar or frame on which said door is mounted with the retaining means of the device arrangedeither in the door, as shown with the front door I of the automobile body of Fig. 1, or in the post, pillar or frame, as shown with the i rear door 2 of said body, alias Although the drawingof the presentapplication illustrates and the specification describes vthe use of the present improved device with automobile doors mounted on-incli`ned axes, it isV to be understood that said device is equally applicable for use with doors mounted. on vertical or noninclined axes, inasmuch as saiddoors also are subjected to undesired closing tendencies by winds, the parking of the automobiles ofwhich they are a part on inclined surfaces, etc.

`It is also to be understood that the invention here involved may be used for door-holding purposes only, either with orwithout separate doorchecking means, all within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

'1. In a devicelfor releasabiy holding a hinged door in open position, a retaining unit comprising an attaching base plate, a'pair of retaining spring portions having laterally extending spaced base parts, and a cover plate overlying the base parts of said spring portions and secured to said base plate, said base and cover plates being provided between the base parts of said spring portions with strap or link-receiving openings.

2. In a device for releasabiy holding a hinged door in open position, a retaining unit comprising an attaching base plate, a cover plate secured thereto and having portions thereof spaced therefrom to provide a pair of elongated cavitiestherebetween, a pair of retaining members each into, and end flanges carried by said base plate and engaging said retaining members for 'prevtenting theirendwise removal from such cavi ies.

3. In a device for releasabiy holding a hinged door in open position, a retaining unit comprising an attaching base plate, a cover plate secured thereto and having portions thereof spaced therefrom to provide a pair of elongated cavities therebetween, a pair of retaining members each having a laterally extending base part lying in one 'of said cavities, means for closing the inner ends oi said cavities to prevent convergingmovement of said retaining members, and end flanges carried by said base plate and engaging said retaining members for preventing of said members and to be pivotally secured to the hinge side of one oiv said members, means adapted to be secured to and enclosed within the other f said members and having a retaining portion, a retainable portion 14carried by said arm within said last mentioned member for releasable retention by the retaining portion of said means when said door member-reaches a predetermined' open position,` whereby said door member may be releasably held in such -open position, and cooperating checking POrtions, one associated with said arm and the other associated with said means and adapted to abut each other asthe door member approaches open position for checking its movement.

5. A device for releasably holdingin open position a door member having a side thereof hinged on a side of a supporting member and for checking the opening movement of said door member, said device comprising an arm adapted to be pivotally secured to the hinged side of one of said members, retaining means adapted to' be secured to and enclosed within the other of said members, a retainable head carried by said arm within said `last mentioned member for releasable retention'by said retaining means when said door member reaches a predetermined open position, whereby said door member may be releasably held in such open position, and a `yieldable checking part on said arm between said head and a part oi' said retaining means and adapted to abut such part as the door member approaches open position for yieldablyv checking its move-y ment.

-.6. In a device of the class described. in combination, a door check comprising a check arm,

a resilient checking member mounted upon the free end portion of said check arm, retainable means xed to the check arm `to hold the checking member from displacement andhaving a portion projecting outwardly beyond said checking member, and a resilient stop adapted to be mounted for cooperation with the check arm and comprising spaced spring fingers between which the checking member is adapted to be received, said lingers being provided with recesses adapted to receive the projecting'portion of the retainable means, whereby to resiliently engage the same for holding the check arm and the checking member in a predetermined relative movement of these parts.

7.l A device for releasably holding `in an: open position a door member hinged on a supporting member, said device comprising a longitudinally bent arm adapted to tainable means within said last mentioned member, retaining means adapted vto be secured `to and enclosed by said last mentioned member for cooperative engagement with the retainable means of said arm in releasably holding said door memposition 'after alamo? means of said arm in releasably holdingsaid door member in an open position, said retaining means having-retaining parts arranged in opposed re,- lation on opposite sides of the plane of the path` of pivotal movement of said arm.

9. A device for releasably holding in an open position a door member hinged on a supporting member, said device comprising a longitudinally bent arm adapted to be pivotally secured to one of said members and to extend into the other of said members, said arm being provided with retainable means within said last mentioned member, retaining means adapted to be secured to and enclosed by said last mentioned member for cooperative engagement with the retainable means of said arm in releasably holding the door member in an open position, said retaining means having retaining parts arranged in opposed relation on opposite sides of the plane of the path of pivotal movement of said arm, and means in the plane of the path of pivotal movement of said arm and cooperable its pivot and the retainable means of such arm for solimiting the pivotal movement of said arm as to insure cooperative engagement of the retainable means of Asaid arm and said retaining means when said door member approaches such open position.

10. A device for releasably holding in an open position a'generally hollow automobile door member hinged on a generally hollow body pillar mein ber or the like, said device comprising a longitudinally bent arm adapted to be pivotally secured to one of said members and to extend into the other of said members through an edge wall Aopening with which said last'mentioned memwith the retainable means of said arm for releasber in an open position, and means cooperable s with said arm between its pivot and theretainable means of such armi'or so limiting fthe pivotal movement of said jarm as to insure cooperative ensagement of the retainable means of said arm and ably holding the door member in an open position,

` said retaining means having engagement with the be pivotally secured toone i to extend into the other of said members, said arm beingv provided with reried by said arm within-said lastmentioned member and having a retainable portion, retaining means adapted to be secured to and enclosed by said last mentioned member for cooperative envcarried means also having a checking `portion for checking contact with a portion associated t with the member into which said arm extends' for checking the opening movement of said door member. Y

12. A device for checking the opening movement of a door member hinged on a supporting member and lfor releasably holding said door member in an'open position, said device comprising a longitudinally bent arm adapted to be pivotally secured to one'ofV said members and to extend into the other of said members, means carried by said arm within said last mentioned member and having a retainable portion, retaining means adapted to be secured to and enclosed byy said lastmentioned member for cooperative engagement with the retainable portion of said arm carried means in releasably holding said door member in an open position, means cooperable with said arm between its pivot and the means carried by said arm for-so limiting .the pivotal movement of Asaid varm as to insure cooperativev engagement ot the retainable portion of said arm carried means and said retaining means the retainable portion oi said'.

when said door member approaches such open position, and said arm carried means also having a checking portion-for checking contact with a portion associated with the member into which said arm extends for checking the opening movement of said door member.

13. A device for checking the opening move- 'ment of a door member hinged on a supporting member and for releasably' holding said door member in an open position, said device comprising a longitudinally bent arm adapted to be pivotally secured to one of said members and to extend into theI other of said members, said arm being provided within said last mentioned member with'retainable means and with a separate checking member, retaining means adapted to be` secured to and enclosed by said last mentioned member .for cooperative engagement with the retainable means of said arm in releasably holding said door member in an open position, and the checking member of said arm having checking contact when the door member reaches a predetermined open position with a portion associated withthe member into which said arm extends for checking further opening movement of said door member. f

RUDOLPH I. SCHONITZER.

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