US2219683A - Suspension of glass doors - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 29, 1940. ERA-TH 2,219,683

SUSPENSION OF GLASS DOORS Filed May 11, 1958 2 Shee ts-Shee'c l //VVE/V TOR 65026: E'Een-rH /-7 f TOR/V5345.

- Patented Oct. 29, 1940,

susrsnsron or GLASS nooas George F. Erath, Queens Village, N. Y., assignor.

to Pittsburgh Corning Corporation, Allegheny v County, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application May 11, 1938, Serial No. 207,219

6 Claims.

suitable for use as doors in passageways of buildmgs.

The main object of the'invention is to provide a large, swinging closure suitable for use as a door in a building and comprising a single panel 'of glass, which panel is self-sustaining upon its hinges.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel method of securing the hinges to a door of the foregoing type.

These and other objects of, the invention will be apparent from consideration of the following specification and the appended claims.

Doors for dwellings have heretofore been constructed of wood, sheet steel or-similar material. In some cases panels of glass were inserted in the doors to provide for the transmission of light through the door or to obtain ornamental eflects. In such doors, the glass ,merely closed an opening in the swinging member and was supported and reinforced by the latter, and little or no localized stress from the hinges was placed upon it.

Apparently, unitary doors comprising an unsupported panel of glass which acted as the movable barrier element and which also transmitted its own weight as well as other stresses to the hinges was not contemplated. Probably such doors constructed of the same quality of glass as the glass insert panels would have been too fragile to be practicable.

vision of a door comprising a single panel of the doors constituting the subject matter of the present invention is obtained by heating ordinary sheet glass at a temperature of 1100 or 1200 degrees'F. and then suddenly cooling it by plunging it into oil or by the direct application of ablast of cold air. Glass so treated assumes a mechanical strength almost equal to cast iron and is quite springy, or resilient. It is also quite capable of withstanding severe impacts or blows and severe mechanical stresses. If for any reason the door is broken, the glass instantly shatters into small rounded'fragments which are quite harm- The present invention contemplates the proless if they should strike a person adjacent to, or passing through, the doorway.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may now be had to the accompanying drawings in which t 5 Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevational view of a building wall in which are disposed a pair of doors which are constructed in accordance with the provisions of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view through the hinges of a door embodying the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view in a plane at right angles of the door, of one of the hinge mountings. I 15 In the form of the invention illustrated in the drawings, a building wall .11, composed of masonry or any other suitable building material is provided with an opening in which are disposed the doors l2. These doors preferably ggnsist of single panels of glass, tempered to a 'strength approximately four times that of untempered glass. The panel may be of substantially any preferred thickness- However, a range of' about to 1 or 1%, inches is preferred. A satisfactory thiclmess for most purposes is about inch.

Various forms and types of hinges may be employed in mounting the doors, but in view of the, peculiar characteristics of the tempered glass panel in most instances it is necessary to provide specialized forms of securing devices for connecting the hinge to. the panel. The drawings illustrate a satisfactory form of hinge and the method of securing it to the panel. These hinges include pins projecting from the top and bottom edges of the door panel and rotating in suitable bearings in the floor and the lintel of the door. The top hinge structure l5, includes a pair of side plates 16, gripping opposite sides 40 of the glass panel and a casting ll, of a thick ness corresponding to the thickness of the glass panel and providing a spacing element between the plate l6. This casting is secured in a notch l9, formed at the upper corner of the. glass panel and having a rounded comer 20. Plates I6 andcasting I! may be' secured together by welding or by bolts and the mechanical pressure of the plates upon the sides of the glass panel may be relied upon to hol'd'the parts together. .How- 50 ever, the means for securing thev panel illustrated in the drawings comprises a bolt 2|, threaded through a sleeve 22, both of which have head's', 23. The bolt andsleeve are secured in open ings in plate 'lt'wh'ereby upon tightening'of the bolt, the plates will be caused to grip the glass. The edge of the notch l9 is'provided with a semicircular recess 24 extending from face to face of the panelto receive bolt 2| and sleeve 22, and

ment in the direction of extension of the upper edge of the plate. The bolt thus provides a key element for holding the assembly in place upon the panel.

It is important to note that the corner 20 of the recess is and notch 24 are rounded to a curvature having a radius at least equal to half the thickness of the panel; Any holes in the glass must-have radii at least equal to half the thickness of the glass panel. It is found to be impossible to provide a glass panel of tempered glass possessing satisfactory stability, if radii of lesser value are employed. Semi-circular recesses 24 may be replaced by holes fem-med in the panels at some distance from. the edge. Casting I1 is hollowed as indicated at 24 to receive a plate 21 which may be secured in position by welding, riveting or bolting to the side of the casting or in any other convenient manner and the plate at each end is provided with a downwardly-extending boss 28 which extends into a well2l formed in the casting 21.

. This-boss is bored as indicated at 30 to receive 40 boss 32 into a recess 43 in pin 3|. The lever at its opposite end is formed with a slot (not shown) to receive a grooved portion 46 of a pin 41 which is threaded through the plate 33. At its lower end, the pin is formed with a slot 48 within which the end of a screw driver may be inserted for rotating the pin to actuate the lever up or down to raise or lower the pin 3|.

At the corresponding lower corner the panel is notched as indicated at 50 to receive a casting II substantially corresponding to the casting I! already described. The lever or arm 52 is mounted in hollow 53 in this casting and is secured to the sidewalls of the hollow by welding or by other convenient methods. A square recess formed in the lever adjacent to its rear end receives the square stem 54 of a vertically disposed hinge pin or shaft 55. At its lower extremity it is connected to a suitable actuating means for rotating the shaft to swing the door back to closed position after it has been opened. Such mechanism also includes suitable dashpot mechanism for checking the rate of swing.

'These various mechanisms are concealed beneath the floor or sill 51 and since they do not constitute a portion of the present invention it is not deemed necessary to describe them in detail. Casting Si is clamped in position by means of side plates ill corresponding to plates l6 and held in place by a sleeve bolt 6| identical in design and mounting to that described in connection with the upper hinge.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that top hinge pin 3| and shaft 55 need not be disposed directly in the plane of the door panel. It is, of course, possible to provide laterally or rearwardly-extending arms upon the casting l1 and casting II and to secure suitable hinge pins in these openings. The method securing such hinges, of course, would substantially correspond to that shown in the drawings. It would involve the provision of notches at the. corners of the doors or at other suitable locationsalong the rear edge of the doors adapted to receive a specing body corresponding to thecasting I! or casting I! of sufllcientrigldity to support the hinge pin and being provided with suitable side plates corresponding ot the plates I.

It is again emphasized that indentations or notches formed in the door panel must be suitably rounded at the corners along lines of curvature having radii equal at least to half the thickness of the door panel. However, it is possible to obviate the.necessity of recesses with rounded angles by clipping away a triangular portion at the corner by a single straight out. Notches 24 may then be formed in the oblique edge. Holes or openings formed in the panel must have a diameter at least equal to the thickness of the door and must be spacedfrom the corners of the panels a distance at least equal to 6 times the thickness of the panels. If these rules are not observed spontaneous shattering of the panel is likely to occur.

' Doors comprising single panels of tempered glass are highly suitable for use in many modern architectural designs. They are perfectly clear and for that reason are quite desirable for use in stores or in the lobbies of theaters or other places where it is desirable to display the in-. terior or a portion of the interior of a building from the street. They are also very strong and will resist blows which would shatter an ordinary glass door. Furthermore, they are perfectly safe and if breakage does occur, the small rounded fragments prevent the possibility of injury to persons or damage to property. Likewise, they are resistant to fire and resistant to corrosion and weathering.

Although only certain preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous modifications may be made therein without departure from the spirit-of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A door structure comprising a monolithic plate of glass having vertical and non-vertical edges disposed in intersecting relation, the corner portion between said edges being cut away and having an arcuate recess formed in and constituting a notch in the edge where the portion is cut away, the recess extending from face to face of the plate, a hinge fitting for the door comprising means providing a pintle connection disposed in the space provided by the cut-away portion, said means having plates engaging opposite faces of the glass plate and a key element between the plates and fitting into the arcuate recess and preventing, the retraction of the fitting by force exerted in the direction of extension of said non-vertical edge, the various portions of the fitting being joined together into a unit gripping the edge of the door.

2. A door as defined in claim 1 in which the plate of glass is tempered to such degree that upon rupture of the surface thereof it will automatically shatter into small rounded fragments.

3. A door structure comprising a plate of tempered glass having two vertically aligned corners out away'to provide non-vertical edges, arcuate recesses formed in the edges, the recesses being of diameters at least equal to the thickness of the glass plates, clamping plates upon opposite sides of the glass plate and covering the portions of the glass which are cut away, metallic spacing elements disposed in said portions between the plate, and being formed to receive hinge pintles and bolts extending through the clamping plates and being disposed in the semicircular recesses.

4. A door structure as defined in claim 1 in which the plate of glass is tempered, and the recesses are of a diameter at least equal to the thickness of said plate.

5. A door construction embodying a monolithic panel of tempered glass having an arcuate indentation so formed in an edge thereof that portions of the panel project above the indentation upon both sides thereof, said indentation extending from face to face of the panel, plates covering the indentation and gripping the panel, and means secured between the plates and projecting into the indentation to lock the plates against displacement in the direction in which the edge extends.

6. A door structure comprising a monolithic plate of glass having vertical and non-vertical edges disposed in intersecting relation, but having the corner portion between said edges cut away and having an arcuate recess formed in and constituting a notch in the edge "where the portion is cut away, the recess extending from face to face of the plate, a hardware fitting for the door comprising means providing a connection for a pin constituting a connection between the door and a marginal portion of a doorway of a building, disposed in the space formed by the cut-away portion, holding plates secured upon opposite faces of the plate of glass and maintaining said means in the space, a key element between the' plates and. being disposed in the arcuate recess to prevent the retraction of the fitting by force exerted in the direction of extension of said non-vertical edge, the various portions of the fitting being joined together into a unit embracing and holding the edge of the door.

GEORGE F. ERATH.

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