US3028620A - Hydraulic door closer - Google Patents

Description

April 10, 1962 B. A. QUINN HYDRAULIC DOOR CLOSER Filed March 18, 1960 Frc. 4 29 FIG.

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ATTORNEYS Unite htates Patent spasms HYDRAULIC DQUR CLOSER Bert A. Quinn, 215 E. 9th St, St. Paul, Minn. Filed Mar. 18, 1969, Ser. No. 16,052 1 (Ilaim. (Cl. 16-52) My invention relates generally to door closers, otherwise known as door checks, and more particularly to improvements in such'door checks which are spring operated and hydraulically controlled.

Heretofore, the employment of liquid as a control medium in door checks has necessitated the use of sealing means to prevent leakage of the liquid from the interior of the door check casing, particularly in the opening through which a movable portion thereof projects. l'he sealing means, in addition to being rather costly, is subject to considerable wear, and leakage of the fluid usually occurs before replacement of the sealing means is made. Further, while hydraulically controlled door checks operate to close a door smoothly and without the rebounding characteristics inherent in the pneumatic variety using an air column as a control medium, the hydraulic type has been heretofore more expensive to produce than the pneumatically controlled door checks of similar general construction.

An important object of my invention is the provision of a hydraulically controlled door check of the type involving a body and a cooperating extensible and retractable plunger for attachment to a door frame and a door hinged to the frame, said door check having a novel construction and arrangement which eliminates the necessity for sealing means for the plunger.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a hydraulically controlled door check as set forth, in which the liquid control medium is disposed remote from the plunger opening in the body, whereby the liquid is prevented from leakage through said opening.

Still another object of my invention is the provision of a door check as set forth which can be produced at low cost, which is highly efficient in operation, and which is extremely simple and rugged in construction and durable in use. The above, and still further highly important objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent from the following detailed specification, appended claim, and attached drawings.

Referring to the drawings, which illustrate the inven tion, and in which like reference characters indicate like views throughout the several parts:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view in elevation of a door and a cooperating door frame, showing my door check attached thereto;

FIG. 2 is a view partly in top plan and partly in horizontal section, taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1; I

FIG. 3 is an enlarged section taken on the line 33 of FIG. 2, some parts being broken away, and some parts removed;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged longitudinal section taken on the line rof FIG. 1, some parts being removed;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary axial section taken on the line 55 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a view corresponding to FIG. 5 but showing a diiferent position of some of the parts; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged transverse section taken substantially on the line 77 of FIG. 3.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, a conventional door frame, indicated in its entirety by the numeral 1, is shown as comprising opposed vertically extending door jambs and a horizontally disposed door head 3. A door 4 is shown as being hinged in the door frame 1, as indicated at 5, said door comprising laterally spaced stiles 6, and horizontally disposed rails 7, one of which is shown. The door check of the instant invention is primarily in- 3,028,620 Patented, Apr. 10., 1962 ice tended for relatively light duty, such, as with screen or storm doors, the door 4 being shown as a screen door, the screen thereof being indicated. at 8.

The door check: of my invention: comprises an elongated unitary body 9 which includes upper and lower tubular members 10 and 11 respectively, an outer end wall member 12 and an inner end wall member 13. The outer end wall member 12 is welded or otherwise secured to the outer end of the body 9 to provide a fluid tight connection, the inner wall member 13 being seated. within the inner end portions of the tubular members 10 and 11, the extreme inner end of the body 9 being inturned, as indicated at 14, to anchor the inner wall member 13 in place. A rubber-like sealing, element 15 is contained. in a groove 16 in the inner wall member 13, and makes sealing engagement with the inner surface of the inner end portion of the body 9. Preferably, the tubular members 10 and 11 are integrally formed, having a partition 17 therebetween, the members 10 and 11 cooperating with the outer end member 12 and the inner end wall member 13 to define upper and lower chambers 18' and 19 respectively, these chambers being connected by a longitudinally extended passage 20 through the partition 17. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the passage 20 extends from the inner end Wall member 13 for a greater portion of the length of the partition 17. Longitudinally outwardly of the passage 20, the lower chamber 19 is in the. nature of a cylinder 21, see particularly FIGS. 3, 5 and 6.

An elongated plunger rod 22 extends axially of the upper chamber 18, and is loosely slidably mounted in an opening 23 in the inner end wall member 13 for longitudinal reciprocatory extending and retracting movements with respect to the body 9. At its outer end, the plunger rod 22 is provided with a transverse opening 24 for reception of a pivot pin or the like 25, by means of which the plunger rod is pivotally attached to. a bracket or the. like 26 mounted on the door jamb 2 at the side of the door frame 1 adjacent the hinge 5. In like manner, the outer end member 12 is provided with a vertically disposed opening 27 for reception of a pivot pin 28 by means of which the same may be pivotally secured to a. bracket 29 mounted on the rail 7 of the door 4.

The inner end of the plunger rod 22', within the upper chamber 18 is rigidly secured to one endof a connector element 30 that extends through the passage 20 and which is rigidly connected at its lower end to one end of a piston rod 31, see particularly FIG. 3. The piston rod 31 extends axially of the cylinder 21, and at its opposite end is rigidly secured to a piston 32. As shown particularly in FIGS. 5 and 6, the piston 32 is of substantially smaller diameter than the cylinder 21, whereby to define therewith an annular passage 33. Intermediate its ends, the piston 32 is formed to provide a radially outwardly opening circumferential groove or channel 34 in which is mounted an annular elastic sealing member in the nature of an O-ring 35. With reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, it will be noted that the O-rin-g 35 has sealing engagement with the cylindrical wall of the cylinder 21, and that the channel 34 is of suiiicient axial width to permit limited axial movement of the piston 32 relative to the O-ring 35. The piston 32 is further formed to provide a relatively large fluid passage 36 which extends from the outer end of the piston to the channel 34, and a relatively small fluid passage 37 that extends from the inner end of the piston 32 to the channel 34, both passages 36 and 37 communicating with the channel 34 radially inwardly of the '0-ring 35. As shown in FIG. 1, the door check is intended for use in a horizontal position, and the lower chamber 19 and the cylinder portion 21 thereof is filled with suitable hydraulic fluid substantially to the level indicated in FIG. 3. Such filling is preferably done after mounting of the door check to the door and door frame,

through a filling aperture 38 that is normally closed by a removable plug or the like 39. For the purpose of imparting retracting movement to the plunger rod 22, whereby to move the door 4 in a closing direction, I provide a coil compression spring 40 which encompasses the plunger rod 22 between the inner end wall 13 and the connector element 30, and a second coil compression spring 41 that is interposed between the end wall member 13 and the connector element 30 within the lower chamber 1.9, see particularly FIG. 3.

The frictional sealing engagement of the O-ring with the interior wall surface of the cylinder 21 causes the O- ring 35 to remain stationary until the same is engaged by one side or the other of the channel 34 in the piston 32 upon axial movement thereof. The O-ring 35 opcrates as a valve to control flow of hydraulic liquid from one side or end of the piston 32 to the other side or end thereof during movements of the piston 32 in opposite directions. For example, during opening movements of the door 4, the plunger rod 22 is moved in an extending direction relative to the body 9, carrying with it the piston rod 31 and piston 32 in a direction to the right with respect to FIG. 5. During this movement of the piston rod 31 and piston 32, the O-ring engages the side of the channel 34 adjacent the large passage 36, so that fluid flows through a portion of the annular passage 33 into the channel 34 and from thence through the larger passage 36 into the space between the piston 32 and the end wall or outer end member 12; thus, when the door 4 is opened, such opening is achieved against bias of the coil compression springs 40 and 41, and against a very limited drag set up by the movement of fluid through the larger passage 36 and the frictional engagement of the O-ring 35 with the cylinder wall. When the door 4 is released from its opening movement, the springs 40 and 41 yieldingly urge the plunger rod 22 in a retracting direction to close the door, the piston 32 immediately moving in a direction from the right to the left, as indicated in FIG. 6, the initial movement causing the O-ring 35 to engage the opposite side of the channel 34 adjacent the smaller fluid passage 37. As the piston 32 continues to move to the left, fluid flows through a portion of the annular passage 33 from the space between the piston 32 and the outer end member 12, to the channel 34 and from thence to the opposite side or end of the piston 32 through the small passage 37, the passage 37 restricting the flow to a point wherein closing of the door occurs at a much slower rate than the normal opening thereof. Inasmuch as bydraulic fluids generally used in fluid pressure apparatus are substantially incompressible, closing of the door is effected smoothly and without the rebounding characteristics generally experienced with pneumatic door closers.

With reference to FIG. 3, it will be noted that the hydraulic fluid level is considerably below the level of the plunger rod opening 23 in the inner Wall member 13; With this arrangement, little, if any, hydraulic fluid reaches the lower level of the opening 23 during opening movements of the door 4. During relatively rapid opening movement of the door 4, some turbulence will occur in the liquid in the lower chamber '19 due to movement of the lower portion of the connector element 13 through the liquid. At most, only a suflicient quantity of the liquid in the lower chamber 19 will be stirred or splashed upwardly to lubricate the inner end portion of the plunger rod 22. Hence, I have found that it is not necessary to provide a fluid seal in the opening 23 for the plunger rod 22, inasmuch as no leakage of fluid occurs through the opening 23.

My hydraulic door check has been thoroughly tested and used commercially, and found completely satisfactory in the accomplishment of the objectives set forth; and, while I have shown and described a commercial embodiment of my door check, it will be understood that the same is capable of modification without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the claim.

What I claim is:

In a door closer, an elongated body member defining longitudinally extending parallel upper and lower chambers and a passage connecting said chambers, an elongated extensible and retractable plunger member mounted in an inner end wall of said upper chamber for free longitudinal sliding movements relative to said body member and having its inner end disposed in said upper chamher, the outer ends of said members being adapted to be connected one to a door frame and the other to a door hinged to the door frame, one end portion of said lower chamber defining a cylinder adapted to contain hydraulic fiuid, a piston mounted for longitudinal reciprocatory movements in said cylindrical chamber portion, a piston rod rigidly connected to said piston extending axially from said piston, a rigid connector element extending through said passage and rigidly connected at its opposite ends to said piston rod and said plunger member, said piston being of smaller diameter than said cylindrical chamber portion and cooperating therewith to define an annular passage, said piston having a radially outwardly opening circumferential channel intermediate its ends, a flexible resilient piston ring mounted in said channel in engagement with the inner cylindrical wall surface of said cylindrical chamber portion and for limited axial movements in said channel, said piston having a relatively large fluid passage extending from one of its ends to said channel radially inwardly of said piston ring and a relatively small fluid passage extending from the opposite end of said piston to said channel radially inwardly of said piston ring, said piston ring selectively engaging opposite sides of said channel responsive to axial movement of said piston in opposite directions, whereby to effect communication between said annular passage and said relatively large and relatively small passages selectively, and a pair of compression springs one each disposed in a different one of said chambers between opposite ends of said connector element and the inner end walls of said chambers and urging said piston and plunger member in one direction of axial movement thereof relative to said body member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,447,678 Alexander Aug. 24, 1948 2,460,369 Stronach Feb. 1, 1949 2,920,338 Falk Jan. 12, 1960 2,930,070 Uebelhoer Mar. 29, 1960 2,953,810 Hall Sept. 7, 1960

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