US3001811A

US3001811A - Combined door latch and stop

Info

Publication number: US3001811A
Authority: US
Inventors: Karl H Erickson
Original assignee: Amerock Corp
Current assignee: Amerock Corp
Priority date: 1958-12-29
Filing date: 1958-12-29
Publication date: 1961-09-26
Anticipated expiration: 1978-09-26

Description

Sept. 26, 1961 K. H. ERICKSON COMBINED DOOR LATCH AND STOP Filed Dec. 29, 1958 MVQMTQQ 96cm) Q4. f/m ckgom 4, 4;, Mimi/ (A v ew: Y../"

3,001,811 Patented Sept. 26, 1961 United States Patent Qfiice 3,001,811 V COMBINED DOOR LATCH AND STOP Karl H. Erickson, Rockford, Ill.,-assignor to Amerock Corporation, Rockford, 111., a corporation of Illinois Filed Dec. 29, 1958, Ser..No. 783,385

1 Claim. (Cl. 292-275) This invention relates to a stop for cabinet doors and particularly to a stop of the type having a rod with one end pivotally connected to the door and the other end slidably supported on the cabinet frame by a guide which coacts with the rod to limit the opening movement of the door.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a door stop of the above character in which the parts not only act as a stop for the door but also serve to latch the door in the closed position.

A more detailed object is to form enlargements adjacent the opposite ends of the rod and to arrange the enlargement at the inner end to cooperate with the guide and serve as a latch for the door while the outer enlargement abuts the guide when the door is open and acts as a stop.

The invention also resides in the novel construction of the guide whereby the guide can be mounted easily in the frame for turning relative to the frame about an up right axis.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a medicine cabinet having a door stop embodying the novel features of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the cabinet showing the door in the opened and closed positions.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the rod, guide and bracket.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the manner of mounting the guide in the frame.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 66 in FIG. 5.

For purposes of illustration, the present invention is shown in connection with a wall cabinet 10, such as a medicine cabinet or the like, having a door 11 supported on a frame 12 to swing about a vertical axis. The opening and closing movements of the door 11 are controlled by a check rod 13 which is supported by the cabinet frame with one end connected to the door.

The invention is adapted for use with shallow cabinets, such as the conventional medicine cabinet, by using a curved rod 14 which extends along the rear wall 15 of the cabinet when the door is closed but has sufficient length to permit the door to be opened to a position substantially perpendicular with the frame. To enable the rod 14 to swing relative to the door 11 and thus be supported from a fixed point on the cabinet frame, the connection between the rod and the door is pivoted about a second vertical axis parallel to the axis of the door.

The pivotal connection between the rod and the door is obtained through the medium of a bracket 16 having

flanges

17 and 18 formed on each end to extend laterally from the bracket in opposite directions. The bracket 16 is fixed on the door 11 by means of a bolt 19 which passes through the bracket and is threaded into the door. The flange 17 formed on one end of the bracket 16 projects into a slot 20 formed in the door to prevent the bracket from turning about the bolt 19 while the flange 18 formed on the other end of the bracket 16 projects outwardly from the plane of the door 11 and is adapted to be connected to the rod 13. The end 21 of the rod is flattened and journaled on the bracket by a pivot pin 22 inserted through the bracket 16 and the flattened end 21 of the rod 14.

The rod is slidably supported in an opening 23 formed in a guide 24 mounted in and projecting downwardly from the top wall 25 of the cabinet frame 12. The guide 24 is journaled in the frame 12 so as to enable the guide to be turned about a fixed vertical axis by the movements of the rod upon opening or closingthe door.

Tht outward swinging of the door 11 is limited by an enlargement 33 formed on the free end of the rod to constitute an abutment which engages the guide when the door is opened. The enlargement 33 is made by flattening the end of the rod so that a straight edge 34 extends laterally outwardly from each side of the rod. To insure that the guide 24 will not slip past the abutment, notches 35 are formed in the straight edge 34 on either side of the rod to receive the guide and prevent it from sliding 7 over the enlarged end.

The present invention contemplates a novel construction of the rod 14 and the guide 24 whereby the two coact not only to limit the outward movement of the door but also to latch the door in the closed position. To this end, the guide is constructed so that the opening 23 is resiliently expandable and a second enlargement 36 is formed adjacent the inner end of the rod. Thus, as the door is closed, the enlargement 36 expands the opening 23 and slides through the latter and, when the door reaches the closed position, the opening contracts behind the enlargement and prevents the door from being accidentally opened.

To enable the opening 23 to expand and slide past the enlargement 36, the guide 24 is constructed with two downwardly projecting curved fingers 32 which substantially surround and closely engage the rod. The guide is made of a resilient material such as molded nylon which permits the fingers 32 to be spread apart to expand the opening 23 and to snap back into place when the force is removed.

As the door 11 is closed, the rod 14 slips through the fingers 32 of the guide bringing the enlarged portion 36 of the rod in contact with the fingers. Upon further movement of the door the resilient fingers yield and are cammed apart as the enlarged portion enters between them. The fingers 32 then close behind the enlargement 36 as it passes through thereby latching the door 11. Sufficient force is required upon opening the door 11 to move the fingers B2 apart so that the enlarged portion 36 of the rod can pass through, this force being great enough to prevent accidental opening of the door.

The enlargement 36 is shaped so that less force is required to close the door than is required to open it. For this purpose, the enlargement is formed with a cross section increasing gradually from the free end to the widest point and then returning abruptly to the cross section of the rod. This may be achieved by deforming the rod, as by a stamping operation, to produce a plurality of angularly spaced ears 36 which together provide the desired cross section.

Another aspect of the present invention is the simple manner of mounting the guide 24 on the frame 12 so as to facilitate its assembly on the cabinet. To this end, the guide is mounted in an opening which is in the frame, and consists of a circular hole 26 having a rectangular slot 27 contiguous therewith and formed along the diameter of the hole with the length of the slot being greater than the diameter. As the door 11 is opened and closed, the guide 24 turns about the axis of the opening on a circular boss 28 formed integrally with the guide and disposed in the circular hole 26. Formed on the upper end of the circular boss 28 is a rectangular enlargement 29 having substantially the same dimensions as the slot 27 and forming a flange 30 operable to be inserted through the slot 27 and turned so as to bear again the top of the frame to hold the guide 24 in position. Normal movements of the door and the rod 14 turn the guide 24 through a predetermined angle and the slot 27 in the cabinet frame is so positioned that, during this normal movement, the rectangular enlargement 29 does not become aligned with the slot thereby preventing disengagement of the guide from the frame.

Upward movement of the guide 24relative to the frame 12 is prevented by a circular flange 31 formed integrally with the guide beneath the circular boss 28 so as to bear against the bottom of the frame. The diameter of the flange 31 is larger than the length of the slot 27 and thus the flange completely covers the opening in the frame.

It will be seen that the arrangement described above enables both the checking and latching of a cabinet door to be accomplished through the medium of a single device which is inexpensive to manufacture and simple to assemble on the cabinet. The resilient qualifies of the guide 24, whereby it returns to its original configuration after being deformed by the enlargement 36 insures positive latching of the door by the same means used to check the outward movement of the door.

I claim as my invention:

The combination of a door adapted to swing about a predetermined axis, a frame supporting said door and having top, bottom and side walls, said top wall having a circular opening with a rectangular slot contiguous therewith extending along the diameter and having a length greater than the diameter, a curved rod pivotally connected to said door to swing relative to said door about a second and parallel axis, a guide having a circular portion to fit into said opening and a rectangular flange to project throu@ said slot and to bear against the top of the frame thereby to journal said guide in said frame to turn through a predetermined angle about a third and'parallel axis, said slot being disposed outside'of the'predeterrnined angle to prevent disengagement of the guide from the frame, two downwardly projecting fingers formed integral with said guide and stradding said rod to support the rod for endwise sliding, an enlargement formed on the free end of the rod to constitute an abutment coacting with said guide to check the outward movement of the door, and a second enlargement on said rod spaced from said door so that said guide is disposed between said door and the second enlargement and abutting the second enlargement when the door is in the closed position, said fingers being resilient to yield and pass over said second enlargement as the door is closed and to snap behind said second enlargement thereby to hold the door closed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 112,210 Bird Feb. 28, 1871 346,194 Coultaus July 27, 1886 2,669,475 Kinker Feb. 16, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 246.993 Great Britain Feb. 11, 1926