US2703728A - Means for anchoring a door in a set position - Google Patents

Description

H. G. RABER March 8, 1955 MEANS FOR ANCHORING A DOOR IN A SET POSITION Filed March 24, 1954 Harold 6. Haber INVENTOR.

V 9 BY and fiM u engaging contact with the floor,

United States Patent() MEANS FOR ANCHORING A DOOR IN A SET POSITION Harold G. Raber, Oxnard, Calif. Application March 24, 1954, Serial No. 418,400 2 Claims. (Cl. 292-288) The present invention relates to an improved structural device or means which is expressly designed and effectually usable in retaining a horizontally swingable door in a set position by anchoring the lower edge portion of the door to a conventional horizontal floor surface, whereby the door, thus held, may be handily and effectually sanded and painted by a painter, have holes bored therein by a carpenter for mounting a lock, or merely be caused to stay put and thus prevented from being accidentally closed by wind, children or the like.

It is realized, of course, that the art to which the invention relates invokes the adoption and use of all sorts of chocks, so-called door stops and checks, anchors, etc. It is also customary practice when construction work is going on and doors are being painted, to find the painters and carpenters shoving wedge blocks, chisels, screwdrivers and the like between the bottom of the door and the floor, often damagin of course, the floor surface. The obvious object of the instant invention is to structurally, functionally and otherwise improve upon similarly constructed and performing door stops and anchors and, in so doing, to provide a construction in which manufacturers, home owners, carpenters, painters and others will find their respective requirements and needs aptly taken into consideration and appropriately met.

Briefly summarized, the inventive concept has to do with the combination of a stationary horizontal floor, a vertically hinged door having a lower edge swingable in a horizontal plane above the surface of said floor, a door anchor interposed between said edge and surface and secured to said edge, said anchor embodying compressibly resilient shoes pressed into friction-retained contact with said floor surface on opposite sides of said door, and a flexibly resilient band situated between said shoes and having a portion flexed and wedged into friction-bound contact with said floor surface directly underneath of said door edge.

Novelty is also predicated on an attachment-type anchor which can be easily slipped into the limited space between a door and floor and wherein after the device is positioned, the mere turning of setscrews serves to effectively fasten the device to the door.

More specifically, novelty is predicated on an attachment for a door which is characterized by an anchor unit embodying a plate to underlie the lower edge portion of the door, said plate being provided with shoulderforming blocks which are attached to and project beyond the ends of the plate and which are provided at their outer ends with friction shoes to rest in proper friction the plate having a spur or anchor to embed itself in the door, and there being a flat spring underlying the plate and blocks, and setscrews carried by the blocks and engageable with the spring for purposes of flexing and thus bowing the spring so that it may be convexed to cause the central portion thereof to bind firmly against a cooperating floor surface.

Other objects, features and advantages will become more readily apparent from the accompanying sheet of illustrative drawings.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the views:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a door anchoring device constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention and showing the manner in which the same is constructed and adapted to be used;

Figure 2 is a view in section, with parts in elevation,

, 2,703,728 Patented Mar. 8, 1955 taken on the plane of the line 2-2 in the direction of the arrows; and

Figure'3 is a cross-section on the vertical line 33 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the drawings with the aid of reference numerals and accompanying lead lines, and with respect to Figure 2, the surface of the floor or other equivalent horizontal foundation is denoted by the numeral 4 and the door, which is conventional, is denoted by the numeral 6. The door is one which is vertically hung and swings in a horizontal plane on a vertical axis by way of the usual hinges (not shown). The lower edge of the door, which is here involved, is denoted by the numeral 8. It is in the space between the lower edge portion 8 and the floor surface 4 that the anchor device is inserted and thus installed for use. The device may be considered as one which is actually fastened to the door with portions projecting beyond the opposite side surfaces of the door and engageable with the floor. It seems simple, from a standpoint of descriptiveness, to treat the invention either in combination with the door and floor, or, as the subcombination, in the form of an attachment. In either event, the over-all structure may be said to include an anchor or an equivalent device, the unitary part of which is denoted by the numeral 10. This unit is actually made up of several components which, when assembled, may be treated in a unitary sense. By preference, there is a metal or equivalent substantially flat plate 12, and this is applied against the lower edge of the door and is actually secured to the door by way of a pointed prong 'or an equivalent headed fastener which is here denoted by the numeral 14. The ends of the plate project beyond the surfaces of the door where they are provided with outstanding duplicate components which are conveniently referred to as wooden or equivalent blocks 16-16. These have their lower surfaces flat and somewhat coplanar with the plate and their upper surfaces convex, with the inner ends spaced apart to provide stops or shoulders 1818 with the door occupying the space between the shoulders. The outer end portions of the blocks are thinned out, as at 20, and are superimposed on and riveted or otherwise secured, as at 22, to compressibly resilient flat-bottomed shoes, the latter denoted by the numerals 24-24. Actually, each shoe is a compressibly resilient rubber body or block, the upper surface of which is recessed with the recess surrounded by a marginal bead 26 and the thinned end or extension 20 is seated in the recess and secured in place by the fasteners or rivets 22.

There is, in addition to the unit or means 10, a complemental unit which is denoted, conveniently, by the numeral 28. This is a band or may be more specifically described as a flat-faced flexibly resilient leaf spring. It is of a length so that the respective end portions 3t)30 are interposed between the shoes 24-24 and terminal end portions 20 and secured in place by the same rivets or fasteners 22. This is what may be described as a bowable leaf spring. It is sufliciently loose that the central portion thereof may be flexed toward and from the plate 12. The bottom of this portion has a patch of rubber or the like 32 which is adapted to serve not only as a protector for the floor surface, but also provides the desired friction-retained contact between the spring and the floor surface.

The inherent resiliency of the leaf spring is such that the normal tendency of the spring is to straighten out and thus present itself in close proximity to the plate. Therefore, in order to bow the spring to the downwardly convexed retaining position shown in Figure 2, it is necessary to use mechanical aids. Each so-called aid takes the form of a setscrew 34 which is threaded through a bushing diagonally anchored in the intermediate portion of the block 16, in the manner shown, said bushing denoted by the numeral 36. The lower end portion of the screw, as at 38, engages the spring on one side of the center portion of the spring, and the upper end of the setscrew is provided with a finger grip 40. By turning the setscrews down and forcing the flexible spring down to bowed or convex form, not only does the rubber pad of Figure 1, looking 32 engage the floor but also, the cooperation of the setscrews and spring forces the entire unit 10 upwardly and applies sufficient force that the pointed attaching prong 14 is forced and embedded in the lower edge portion of the door. Thus, in practice, the device is fiat, and the setscrews are loose or backed out and the spring 28 is close to the unit 10. Then, the device is slipped between the door and the floor. The setscrews are now tightened in order to force the spring down to convex form and to drive the prong 14 into the door with the door seated between the respective adjacent shoulders 1818. By actually mechanically attaching the unit 10 to the door and forcing the shoes 2424 down firmly against the floor, a reliable door anchor is had. The door will stay put in order that the carpenter, painter or other person may be sure that it will be retained in a steady, nonswinging position, as may be desired. The invention is applicable for use by painters, carpenters, and other mechanics. It can be employed in the home merely to serve as a door stop or check and to keep the wind from blowing the door to a closed position.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction described and shown, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. Means for anchoring a door in a fixed position, an attachment for the stated door comprising an anchor unit embodying a plate to underlie the lower edge portion of the door, said plate provided with shoulder forming blocks and an attaching prong attachable to the lower edge portion of the stated door, said blocks being provided at their respective outer ends with friction shoes engageable with a floor surface, and a leaf spring situated between said shoes and having an intermediate portion arcuately bowed downwardly, and means for bowing and forcibly pressing said intermediate portion into non-slipping contact with said floor surface.

2. An anchor attachment for the lower edge portion of a door and which is adapted to be inserted in the space between the floor and door comprising a longitudinally elongated anchor unit emboding a centrally disposed plate to underlie the lower edge portion of the door, said plate being provided with a central prong adapted to be embedded in the door so that end portions of the plate project beyond opposite side portions of the door, a pair of elongate blocks secured at their inner ends to the end portions of the plate and providing spaced shoulders, compressibly resilient shoes fastened to the outer ends of the blocks, a longitudinally bowable leaf spring secured at its respective ends to the shoes and having its intermediate portion movable toward and from the floor surface, and setscrews carried by the respective blocks and having end portions engageable with said spring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 433,239 Harmer July 29, 1890 701,431 Watts June 22, 1902 1,664,174 Hoopes Mar. 27, 1928

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