US2236174A - Window or door catch - Google Patents

Description

' March 25, 1941. e. HAGSTROM 2,236,174

wmnow 0R noon anon Fileddct. 21, 1939 Patented Mar. 25, 1941 pnrreo STATES PATENT OFF'IGE WINDOW OR DOOR- CAT-OH Application October 21, 1939, Serial No. 300,563

6 Claims.

This invention relates to a catch for hinged closures such as doors or casement windows, for example, and more particularly to a device which is adapted to insure'that the door will be closed tightly against the jamb and be heldiin such position by spring action.

It sometimes occurs that a door or hinged window will be warped and will not close tightly throughout its entire height, particularly at the top. It may also occurinconnection with casement windows, for example, that when the window is brought to closedpositionby the usual window operator it is necessary or desirable to havesome means to give it an additional pull or tension to insure the tight closing of the window against the casing.

The present invention has for one of its objects the provision of a simple structure for applying spring tension to a door or window after it has been brought to approximately closed position to insure the final movement of the door or window against the jamb or casing.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a device of the character described which will be operated by spring tension, and which will be provided with a convenient and simple device for adjusting the tension of the spring, so that this tension will always be sufficiently great to insure the tight closing of the door or window.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a door catch or closing device which operates to draw the door to a fully closed position by spring tension, and is provided with means for adjusting this spring tension, and which also is so constructed that it may be economically manufactured and readily assembled, and may be applied to the door in such position that the spring may be adjusted without removal of the device from its installed position.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a device of the character described in which the tension of the operating spring is adapted to be adjusted by a member accessible at all times from the exterior of the casing when the device is installed.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view, of a hinged closure member such as a door or casement window to which the improved door catch has been applied;

Fig. 2 is a sectional-view on line 2-2 of Fig. 1 showing thedoorcatch in topplan;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view through the casing of the door catch on line 33 of Fig. 1, showing the closure member in fully closed position;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing the parts in the position occupied when the closure member is being brought to closedposition;

Fig. 5 is a rear elevational view of the device applied to the casing;

Fig. 6 is a sectional View on line 6-6-of Fig. 3

Fig. 7 is a detail'perspective view of the adjusting nut;

Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view of the springholding stirrup; and

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 4,

showing the templet used for installing the device.

To illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention, I have shown a door or window casing I0, and a closure which may be a door or casement window ll hinged to the casing at l2.

As shown, the. door catch. is applied at the upper edge of the door and consists of a hollow casing [3 which may be secured to the door casing.by screws I4. It will be understood that the casing I3 is closed at the ends and on three sides, but is left open at the rear side, as shown in Fig. 1, that is, the side facing the closure member ll.

A catch element is pivoted in the casing between the upper and lower walls of the same. This catch element comprises a pair of spaced arms [5 and i6 pivoted to the walls of the casing, as shown at I! and i8, and connected intermediate their ends by a Web l9. ,At their forward ends these arms support a roller 20, the purpose of which will be referred to hereinafter.

To the member 19 is connected one end of a tension spring 21., the other end of which is secured to the bight portion 22 of a stirrup mem-v ber, shown more particularly in Fig. 8. This stirrup member consists of this bight portion 22. and arms 23. and 2.4, one at either end of the bight portion. The arms 23 and 24 are provided with fulcrum members 25 and 216, these members being adapted to have a bearing against abutments 2'! and 2 8, which are rigid with the casing l3. As shown in Fig. 6, these abutments may be e on mic l y n o en e t fo med y displacing inwardly or indenting the metal of the. walls of the casing forming inwardly projecting ears which provide the abutments. a

. T rms Z a d 2 xt nd earwerd ri p the bearing portions 25 and 26. and are in this ill instance provided upon their upper surface with notches 29 and 39. Within these notches are received projections 3I and 32 on the ends of a bridge member or nut 33 provided with a threaded opening 34 at an intermediate portion thereof.

A screw 35 is adapted to be passed through an opening 36 in the front wall of the casing, and to have its threaded surface received in the threaded opening 34 of the nut or bridge plate 33. From an inspection of Fig. 3, it will be obvious that as the screw head 35 will not pass through the opening 36, rotation of this screw by a screw driver or similar tool at the exterior of the casing will move the plate or nut 33 toward and from the front wall of the casing and thus rock the stirrup member about its bearings 25 and 26 against the shoulders 21 and 28. As this rocking motion will pull the bight portion 22 of the stirrup away from the web member I9, it will be seen that the spring 2I will be stretched and its tension increased. It will also be obvious that the stirrup member is not secured in the casing except by the screw 35 and the Spring 2I, these members acting in opposition to each other to retain the lower and forward portions of the arms 23 and 24 against the shoulders 21 and 28 and against the front wall of the casing.

Secured to the closure member, such as the door or window II, by screws 39 is a strap 40 having a free end bent in the form of a hook 4|, and an intermediate portion folded or displaced outwardly to form a cam surface 42 adjacent the mouth of the hook. The cooperation between this hook and the roller 20 of the catch element is shown more particularly in Figs. 3 and 4. Also it will be observed that with the parts in the position of Fig. 3, which position is occupied when the door is in fully closed position, the spring 2I acts upon the lower (as shown in these figures) side of the pivot members I1 and I8, and therefore tends to rock the arms I5 and I6 in a clockwise direction about their pivots. However, when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 4, the line of action of the spring 2I is above the pivots I1 and I8, and tends to rock the arms I5 and I6 in a counter-clockwise direction, which movement is, however, limited, as shown in Fig. 4, by the free ends of these arms contacting with the wall of the casing.

A brief description of the operation of the device may now be helpful. With the closure member in open position the parts of the catch are in the positions shown in Fig. 4, with the arms I5 and I6 of the catch element projecting from the casing toward the closure member, so that the roller 20 will bev in position to be engaged by the 3am surface 42 when the door or window is closed to a sufficient extent. This is the position of parts shown in Fig. 4, and upon a further move ment of the closure member toward closed position the roller 20 is cammed into the hook M, and the catch element swung in a clockwise direction, with the roller moving toward the casing. As soon as the catch element is swung to a sufficient extent so that the line of action of the spring passes the pivots I1 and I8, the spring will act to snap the catch element into the casing in the position shown in Fig. 3. The roller, being engaged with the hook, will, when this snap action occurs, carry the hook 4I into the casing with it, and as this hook is secured to the closure member II, the latter will be drawn up tightly against the jamb or casing.

When the closure member is opened, the hook 4|, by its engagement with the roller, pulls the catch element outwardly from the casing from the position shown in Fig. 3 approximately to the position shown in Fig. 4, when the roller 20 is released by the hook element and moved in a counter-clockwise direction by the spring 2I until the free ends of the arms I5 and- I6 engage the front wall of the casing and limit further movement thereof. This is the position shown in Fig. 4 when the parts are ready for another operation.

In Fig. 9 of the drawing I have shown a templet which is useful in installing the device. It will be understood that the strap 40 must be secured to the window or door in proper relation to the casing I3 which is secured to the frame, so that the hook M will properly engage the roller 29. In order to properly locate the position of the strap 40 I employ a templet 45 which comprises an L-shaped member, as shown in Fig. 9, and which is provided at one end with a marker in the form of 9. prong 46. It will be seen that one leg of this member is adapted to be placed in the casing between the roller 20 and the end wall of the casing, as shown in Fig. 9, so that the other end extends along the open side of the casing, with the marker 46 substantially in line with the pivots I1 and I8. The casing is first secured to the door frame, and the templet slipped therein. The closure member is then closed and the prong 46 marks the position of one of the screws 39, which serves to properly locate the strap 46.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a door catch, a casing, a catch element pivoted thereto, a spring connected at one end to said element to yieldably hold it in the casing, a member to which the other end of said spring is connected, means to support said member rockably in the casing, and means to rock said member about its support to adjust the tension of the spring, said supporting means comprising an abutment rigid with the casing against which said member is held by tension of the spring.

2. In a door catch, a casing, a catch element pivoted thereto, a spring connected at one end to said element to yieldably hold it in the casing, said casing being provided with abutment means, spring-holdin means to which the other end of said spring is connected, said spring-holding means having a part bearing against said abutment means, and means to rock said spring-holding means about said abutment to adjust the tension of said spring, said rocking means comprising a screw passing through the wall of the casing and threadedly engaged with said springholding means.

3. In a door catch, a casing, a catch element pivoted thereto, a spring connected at one end to said element to yieldably hold it in the casing, said casing being provided with abutment means, spring-holding means to which the other end of said spring is connected, said spring-holding means having a part bearing against said abutment means, means to rock said spring-holding means about said abutment to adjust the tension of said spring, said spring-holding means comprisin a member having spaced arms extending away from said abutment, and a nut engaging said arms, and said rocking means being connected to said nut.

4. In a door catch, a casing, a catch element pivoted thereto, a spring connected at one end to said element to yieldably hold it in the casing, said casing being provided with spaced abutments, a stirrup member bearing upon said abutments to which member the other end of said spring is connected, said member having a part projecting away from the abutments, a screw accessible from the exterior of the casing, and means connected to said screw to eiTect rocking movement of said stirrup member about said abutments to adjust the tension of the spring.

5. In a door catch, a casing, a catch element pivoted thereto, a sprin connected at one end to said element to yieldabl hold it in the casing, said casing being provided with spaced abutments, a stirrup member bearing upon said abutments to which member the other end of said spring is connected, said stirrup member having spaced arms projecting away from said abutments, a nut spanning said arms and engaged therewith, and a screw carried by the casing and threadedly connected to the nut to eiTect rocking of said stirrup member about said abutments. 6. In a door catch, a casin a catch element pivoted thereto, a spring connected at one end to said element to yieldably hold it in the casing, said casing being provided with spaced abutments, a stirrup member bearing upon said abutments to which member the other end of said spring is connected, said member having a part projecting away from the abutments, a screw accessible from the exterior of the casing, and means connected to said screw to effect rocking movement of said stirrup member about said abutments to adjust the tension of the spring, said abutments comprising ears integral with and displaced inwardly from the walls of the casing.

' GOT'IHARD HAGSTRO-M.

Images