US2865045A

US2865045A - Door check and hold open

Info

Publication number: US2865045A
Application number: US585776A
Authority: US
Inventors: Calvin K Miller
Original assignee: Soss Manufacturing Co
Current assignee: Soss Manufacturing Co
Priority date: 1956-05-18
Filing date: 1956-05-18
Publication date: 1958-12-23
Anticipated expiration: 1975-12-23

Description

Dec."23, 1958 c; K. MILLER 2,355,045

DOOR CHECK AND HOLD OPEN Filed May 18, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. CALVIN K MILLER ATTORNEYS Dec. 23, 1958 c. K. MILLER 2,865,045

DOOR CHECK AND HOLD OPEN Filed May 18, 19 56 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INTOR. CALVIN K. MILLER A TTOPNEY S 2,865,045 noon enact; AND; HOLD OPEN Calvin K. Miller, Royal Oak, Mich, assignor to 8055 Manufacturing Company, Detroit, Mich., a, corporation of Maine Application May 18, 1956, Serial No. 585,776 8 Claims. (Cl. 16140) as a hold open and for checking the closing of the door combined with an inclined plane and compression spring member to coact with one end of the coiled spring clutch to first cause it to Wrap around the shaft' and thereby hold the door open in any position. sharp push or pull is initially exerted on the door, the compression spring clutch is released and thenthe clutch sleeve takes hold of the other end of the coiled spring clutch and releases the clutch.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a'small fragmentary section of an automobile body showing in particular the position of the door check and the hold open.

Fig. 2 is a cross section on line 2-2 of'Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the check and hold open when the door is in closed position.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation taken from a ninety degree angle to the view in Fig. 3.

' Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a similar view to that shown in Fig. 4 of the door held in open position. I

Fig. 7 is an elevation of a modified form.

Fig. 8 is another elevation of the modified form.

The appliance consists of the housing 1 which as viewed in Fig. 3 is a C-shaped'metal strap with a depending arm 2 which may be fastenedto the body pillar or the door pillar. However, in the drawings the housing is shown fastened to the body pillar 2a, and the'arm 4functions in the door pillar recess 5. The recess 5 comprises a slot in the door pillar, as shown in dotted linesin Fig. 3 5

and as'shown' in full lines in Fig: 2. Thefdo'or pillar has a shelf 6 which carries the'pin' 7'which functions in the slot 8 of the arm 4.

Opening of the door causes pin 7 to rotate arm 4 and its rigidly connected shaft 9 in a counter-clockwise direction as shown in Fig. 2. The torsion spring 10 fits with a light gripping relation on the shaft 9. In opening the door the end 11 of spring 10 is forced against the wall 12 of the bayonet slot 13 from which it projects. This loosens the torsion spring when shaft 9 is turned by further opening of the door and permits the shaft 9 to rotate easily. When the arm 4 is turned in closing the door, it turns the shaft 9 and that carries with it the coil spring clutch 10 and the end 11 of this spring moves from the position in Fig. 6 to the position in Fig. 4 and strikes the wall 12 of the C-shaped member 2. This But then when a 3 W ate easily.

In any position of opening the door is kept from closing because any closing movement causes pin 7 to rotate the arm 4 and shaft 9 in a clock-wise direction thereby forcing the spring end 11 to wrap more tightly around the shaft and thereby holding the door in this position of opening.

The coil or torsion spring acts as a clutch to hold the door in any different position of opening. This is the same action as takes place with the coiled spring clutches that are now used in practically all window regulators on automobiles, but so far as I am aware this has never been used with door checks and hold opens.

In closing the door force has to be used because the spring end 11 is against the incline 15 on the bayonet slot, and suflicient force has to be used to cause the spring end 11 to descend upon the incline 15 forcing the spring 10, shaft 9, and arm 4 downward, relative to housing 1, against the resistance of compression spring 16.

Compare Figs. 4 and 6. Fig. 4 shows the position of the parts when the door is in open position. Fig. 6

shows the position of the parts when the door is closing or closed. In order to start the door closing, the force exerted by the compression spring 16 has to be overcome in the movement of the spring 10, shaft 9, and arm 4 from the position shown in Fig. 4 to the position shown in Fig. 6. The door has to be given more of a push than is customary for the initial movement; but when the light resistance of the rather light spring 16 has been overcome, then the spring end 17 strikes the edge 18 of the slot 19 in the housing 1. This opens up the torsion spring or the wire spring clutch, and the door i free to be swung closed without any checking resistance. This breaks the coupling between the pin 7, arm 4, housing 1 and the coiled spring clutch.

The shaft9'has a reduced portion 20 about which the coiled spring 16 engages. The upper end of the reduced portion is threaded as at 21 to take the nut 22 Which screws on the end of the shaft and bears against the washer 24. The nut and the washer form an enlarged head on the upper end of the shaft to form a spring abutment. By turning the nut one way or the other the length of the compression spring may be altered to alter the compression force and therefore the resistance to the breaking of the coupling between the turning parts and the coiled clutch spring.

In the modified form shown in Figs. 7 and 8 the door check and hold open is incorporated in the door hinge. The C-like housing In has a shallow S-like arm 25. This is pivotally secured by the stud 26 to hinge arm 27 which in turn is secured to the door by means of screws or bolts not here shown. The spindle 20a forms the knuckle pin of the door hinge. The hinge butt 28 is secured to the body pillar by screws (not shown) passing through the openings 29. The hinge butt has an upper knuckle30 and a lower knuckle 31 and intervening is the central knuckle 32 of the hinge arm 27.

The action of the torsion spring 16a and the spring ends and the bayonet slot with the inclined notch is exactly the same as heretofore described in connection with a door check and hold open shown in Figs. 1-6 inclusive. The only difference is that the shank 20a acts not only in connection with the door check and hold open but becomes the knuckle pin for the door hinge.

So it will be seen from the above description that a coiled spring clutch such as has been used in window regulators is used as a door check and a hold open but in quite a difierent way than the clutch is used in window regulators. Between the spring clutch and the actuating members, to wit: the pin on the door, the swinging arm, the shaft, there has been interposed a breakable coupling so that the resistance of the coiled spring to the turning of the parts is nullified after an initial movement in closing the door, thereby permitting easy closing without any resistance from the door check and the hold open after the initial closing movement.

What I claim is:

1. A combined door check and hold open having in combination a housing for attachment to a pillar and provided with two openings, a shaft provided With a head at one end and arranged to turn in the housing, an arm secured on said shaft adapted to be connected to a door hinged on said pillar and displaced angularly with said shaft during opening of the door, a coiled spring clutch fitting on to the shaft in the housing and having ends projecting from the openings in the housing and thereby free to move angularly with respect to the housing for a limited distance, a resilient compression member operating between the housing and the shaft head to resist axial movement of the shaft with respect to the housing to thereby hold one end of the spring in engagement with a portion of the opening in the housing from which it projects and thereby provide a breakable coupling between the arm and housing, which coupling normally causes the housing to tend to wrap the clutch spring around the shaft and hold the door open, and means for overcoming the resistance of the compression member by forced movement of the shaft axially when a closing force exerted on the door breaks this coupling and causes abutment with a portion of the opening from which it projects of the other end of the coiled spring clutch to open it and release the shaft so that the door can easily close.

2. The combination claimed in claim 1 in which the compression member is a coiled spring surrounding one end of the shaft and having one end abutting the housing and the other end abutting the head on said end of the shaft, which head may turn and move axially to adjust the resistance of the spring.

3. The combination claimed in claim 1 in which one of the spring ends is adapted to move on an inclined wall in one of the openings in the housing to thereby force the shaft axially against the resistance of the compression member to free the spring end from contact with the inclined wall of the slot, which causes the spring clutch in the initial door opening movement to Wrap around the shaft, and then causes one wall of the other opening to abut the other end of the spring clutch and thereby open I and release the clutch.

4. A door check and hold open for a door having a pillar and hinged on a body pillar having in combination a housing securable to one of the pillars on the body and door, a shaft secured in the housing to turn therein, an

pling breaking when a closing force is applied to the door, and such breaking of the coupling causing the other end of the spring to engage the housing releasing the coiled spring from the shaft to thereby allow the door to be swung easily closed after the initial effort is made to close it.

5. The combination claimed in claim 4 in which the breakable coupling comprises an inclined surface on the housing providing a driving connection of said one spring end to said surface in the closing movement to move the shaft axially, and a spring for resisting such movement of the shaft.

6. The combination claimed in claim 5 in which the inclined surface constitutes part of the upper notch of a bayonet slot, the spring end resting in the upper bayonet notch when the door is held open and traveling down the inclined surface of the notch to cause the shaft to move axially, and a coiled spring wound around the shaft above the housing, said shaft having an enlarged head as an abutment against which the last named spring presses to push the shaft upward.

7. The combination claimed in claim 6 in which the shaft is a shank having a portion of small diameter with the small diameter portion threaded at its end with a nut and washer forming the enlarged head of the shaft to adjust the resistance of the spring.

8. A combined door check and hold open having in combination a housing for attachment to a pillar and provided with two openings, a shaft provided with a head at one end and arranged to turn in the housing, an arm secured on said shaft adapted to be connected to a door hinged on said pillar and displaced angularly with said shaft during opening of the door, a hinge arm, a hinge butt, said hinge arm and said hinge butt having knuckles secured thereon, said housing being fastened to said butt, said shaft passing through said knuckles to form the knuckle pin of the door hinge, a coiled spring clutch fitting on to the shaft in the housing and having ends projecting from the openings in the housing and thereby free to move angularly with respect to the housing for a limited distance, a resilient compression member operating between the housing and the shaft head to resist axial movement of the shaft with respect to the housing to thereby hold one end of the spring in engagement with a portion of the opening in the housing from which it projects and thereby provide a breakable coupling between the arm and housing, which coupling normally causes the housing to tend to wrap the clutch spring around the shaft and hold the door open, and means for overcoming the resistance of the compression member by forced movement of the shaft axially when a closing force exerted on the door breaks this coupling and causes abutment with a portion of the opening from which it projects of the other end of the coiled spring clutch to open it and release the shaft so that the door can easily close.

Myers Mar. 1, 1927 Mallory May 11, 1948 Re.l6,565 2,441,278