US3045276A

US3045276A - Spring operated door closer

Info

Publication number: US3045276A
Application number: US55313A
Authority: US
Inventors: Charles A Schwarz
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1960-09-12
Filing date: 1960-09-12
Publication date: 1962-07-24
Anticipated expiration: 1979-07-24

Description

July 24, 1962 c. A. SCHWARZ SPRING OPERATED DOOR CLOSER Filed Sept. 12, 1960 FIG.2

INVENTOR CHARLESA.SCHWARZ United States Patent 1 Filed Sept. 12, 1960, Ser. No. 55,313

9 Claims. (CI. 16-79) This invention relates to mechanical labor saving devices for performing work and particularly to those which operate with minimum attention or preferably without requiring human effort in the accomplishment of a particular task. 7

The invention relates specifically to spring actuated door closing devices which operates to close doors powered by the tension of the springs after such springs have been subjected to tension asa result of operation of such doors.

Prior devices of this general character have been im practical and imperfect in operation as well as complicated, expensive, cumbersome and otherwise unsatisfactory.

It is an object of the invention to provide a practical, relatively simple, inexpensive, efifective and foolproof spring operated door closer, a portion of which is adapted to be attached to the door and another portion is adapted to be attached to the door frame, and in which device a coil type spring is wound and and subjected to tension by the opening of the door and by the unwinding of which the door will be closed, and in which device an over-riding clutch will retain adequate tension on the spring.

Another object of the invention is to provide a spring operated door closer having effective means by which the action of the door closer may be put out of action as well as to provide in such device a relatively compact unit and housing therefor.

A further object of the invention is to provide a spring operated door closer having a power gear connected to the spring by means of an over-riding clutch and with such power gear caused to engage a rack for effecting the closing of the door, or caused to engage a pinion with an intermediate larger gear engaging such rack, or instead of the larger gear and rack the device may have a pulley and a cable for accomplishing the same purpose.

Other objects and advantages of. the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective illustrating one application of the invention;

*FIG. 2., a perspective of the driving unit;

FIG. 3, a longitudinal section on the line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4, a transverse section on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5, a view similar to FIG. 3 of a modified construction; and

FIG. 6, a similar view of a furthermodified construction.

Briefly stated, the invention is a door closer embodying a rack and a drive gear, one of which is attached to the door and the other to a door frame and with the drive gear performing the dual function of energizing power means in the form of a tensioned spring so that when, the door is opened, such drive gear will be rotated to cause tension on a coil spring so that such spring upon unwinding upon the release of such tension will exert force to close the door. The driving gear is mounted upon a pinion which meshes with a power gear connected to a shaft to which a coil spring is fastened by a ratchet and a pawl which constitute in effect an over-riding clutch, locking means being provided for engagement with the power gear for securing the same in operative position to render the door closer inoperative. If preferred, the drive gear and rack may be replaced by a pulley and a cable, or the drive gear and pinion on which the drive gear is 3,045,276 Patented July 24, 1962 mounted may be omitted and a power gear meshed directly with the rack, but in each of such embodiments the coil spring ratchet and pawl which constitute the overriding clutch are used with the lock securing the parts in a position that they are out of action.

With continued reference to the drawing, the present invention comprises a front plate 10 and a rear plate 11 connected by a plurality of spacers 12 to form a holder or frame .13 adapted to be mounted on a sliding door 14or other structure in any desired manner for returning the same to its initial position.

A. shaft 15 is carried substantially centrally of the frame and is provided with reduced

end portions

16 and 17 located in

openings

18 and 19 in thefront and

rear plates

10 and 11 respectively.

The reduced end portion 17 of the shaft 15 has a screw driver slot 17' for rotation of the shaft by a screw driver. The shaft 15 has an enlarged hub portion 20 at one end to which a coil spring 21 is attached by a screw or other fastener 22. The opposite end of the coil spring 21 is provided with an upturned hook portion 23 adapted to engage one of the spacers 12 to anchor the end of the coil spring in fixed position.

A gear 25 is mounted rotatably on the shaft 15 and in order to provide a driving connection between the gear25 and the shaft 15, a ratchet 26 is non-rotatably mounted on the shaft 15 adjacent to the gear 25. The ratchet is fixed to the shaft in any desired manner as for example the shaft may have a flattened portion 28 which engages acooperating portion 29 in the ratchet to prevent relative rotation. A pawl 30 is pivotally mounted by a pin 31 on the gear 25 and engages the ratchet 26. The pawl is held in contact with the ratchet regardless of its position by a spring 3-2 having one end secured by a screw or other fastener 33 to the gear 25 and having its free end 34 disposed against the side of the pawl remote from the ratchet. A stop 35 is provided on the gear 25 and functions to keep the free end of the spring in contact with the pawl.

The gear 25 meshes with a pinion on a shaft 41 having reduced

end bearing portions

42 and 43 at opposite ends thereof for receipt in

openings

44 and 45 in the

plates

10 and 11 respectively. A drive gear 46 is fixed on the shaft 41 and meshes with a rack 47 attached to or carried by a door frame 48.

A cover or housing 50 for the working parts may be provided having a cutout portion or slot 51 in one side to accommodate the drive gear 46, mounted on the frame #13 in any conventional manner (not shown). A block 53 is mounted on the inside of the housing 50 opposite the slot or cutout portion 51 and such block has a vertical opening 54 substantially square in cross section for the reception of a cooperating square locking pin 55.

The square pin 55 extends through the block 53 in alignment with the gear 25 and the inner end of such pin 55 is provided with an enlarged pointed head 56. The outer end of the pin has an operating knob 57 by means of which the pointed head of the pin may be moved into or out of contact with the gear 25 to lock the gear against be applied to the coil spring 21 before the door is opened.

and the action of the spring will close the door.

In the modification illustrated in FIG. 5, the drive gear 46 is omitted from the shaft 41 and is replaced by a pulley approximately of the same size. A cord or cable 71 3 has one end connected to the door frame 48 and its opposite end attached to the pulley 70. The intermediate portion of the cord encircles the pulley 70 and the device is placed under tension as previously described.

In FIG. 6 a further modified form of the invention is illustrated wherein the drive gear 46 and pinion gear 40 have been omitted and a slightly enlarged gear 25' is substituted for the gear 25 and meshes directly with the rack 47 on the door frame 48., Front and rear plates 10' and 1 1' respectively are connected by spacers 12 to form a frame 13 which is enclosed within a housing 50' having a cutout portion 51' through which the gear 25' projects.

In the operation of the device a rack 47 is mounted on a door frame and the frame '13 is mounted on a cooperating sliding door 14 with the drive gear 46 in mesh with the rack 17. With the door in closed position, tension is applied to the coil spring 21 by rotating the shaft 15 by means of a screwdriver in the slot 17 of the shaft 15. Thereafter, the housing 50 is mounted on the frame 13 and the device is in operative condition.

When the door is opened, the drive gear 46 will be caused to rotate and in turn will rotate the shaft 41 and the pinion gear 40 mounted thereon. The pinion gear will rotate the 1 gear which will .drive the shaft 15 through the pawl and ratchet 26. Rotation of the shaft 15 increases the tension on the coil spring 21 so that when the door is released the coil spring will unwind and close the door.

if the drive gear 41 should accidentally become disengaged from the rack 47 while the door is open thereby releasing the tension on the coil spring, the spring will open until it strikes one or more of the spacers 12. When the door is closed manually the pawl 30 on the gear 25 will override the ratchet 26 and will not rotate the shaft 15. Consequently, the next time the door is opened, tension will be applied to the coil spring 21 from the moment the door begins to open.

It will be noted that the device thus illustrated and described is applicable to a door which slides open to the left as viewed in FIG. 1. A door which opens to the right may be closed by a simple reversal of the coil spring 21 and the ratchet 26 and pawl 30.

The device of FIG. 5 operatesin a similar manner. The cord 71 is attached to the door frame 48 and when the door is opened the cord will rotate the pulley 70, shaft 41, pinion gear 40, gear 25 and shaft 15 to increase tension on the coil spring 21 as previously described.

In the device illustrated in FIG. 6 the gear 25' directly engages the rack 47 and when the door is opened the gear rotates the shaft 15 through the pawl and ratchet to increase tension on the coil spring 21.

The door on which any of the devices is mounted may be held in open position by pushing the operating knob 57 upwardly to raise the head 56 into contact with the gear 25' or 25' to prevent such gear from rotating.

It will be obvious to one skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is illustrated in the specification, but only as indicated in the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for closing a door movable slidably in a door frame, said device comprising a housing, a spring unit in said housing including a frame, a shaft within said frame, a spring connecting said shaft and said frame in a manner to rotate said shaft by said spring, a power gear on said shaft, locking means selectively movable into contact with said power gear, a ratchet and pawl connecting said power gear and said shaft and forming an over-riding clutch, and an operating connection including a part parallel to the direction of sliding movement of the door and between said power gear and door so that said power gear will be operated to tension said spring when the door is opened and thereafter when the door is released said spring will operate to close said door.

2. A door closer for closing a door movable slidably in a door frame said door closer comprising a rack fixed on the door frame and extending in the direction of the slidable movement of the door and a drive gear on the door, a supporting frame mounting said drive gear so that the opening of the door will rotate said drive gear in one direction and by the reverse direction thereof the door will be closed, tension means operatively associated with said drive gear in a manner to be tensioned by the opening of the door and to close the door upon the release of the door to allow such tension means to close the door, said tension means including a pinion fixed to said drive "gear, a connecting gear engaging said pinion, a shaft mounting said connecting gear, a ratchet and pawl connecting said shaft and said connecting gear, and a coil spring, having one end fixed to said shaft and its other upper end fixed to said supporting frame. 1

3. A device for application to a door movable slidably in a door frame for closing the door, said device comprising a spring unit including -a frame, a spring attached to said frame, a shaft within said frame attached to said spring and adapted to be rotated by said spring, a power member on said shaft, an over-riding clutch for driving said power member from said shaft, and an operating connection including a part parallel to the direction of sliding movement of the door and between said power member and said door, and means for rendering said door closer inoperative to close the door whereby said power member will be operated to tension said spring when the door is opened and thereafter when the door is released said spring will operate to close said door.

4. The structure of claim 3 in which said means includes locking means selectively movable into contact with said power member for rendering the door closer inoperative to close the door.

5. The structure of claim 3 in which said power member is a gear and in which said operating connection is a pinion in engagement with said gear, a larger gear fixed to said pinion, and in which the part parallel to the direction of movement of the door is a rack in engagement with said larger gear.

6. The structure of claim 5 in which a locking member is movable between teeth of one of the gears to prevent movement of said gear in either direction.

7. The structure of claim 3 in which said power member is a gear and in which the part parallel to direction of movement of the door is a rack fixed on the door frame References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 972,631 McClure Oct. '11, 1910 1,014,266 Stutler Jan. 9, 1912 1,605,256 McAboy Nov. 2, 1926 2.658.231 Gut-tormsen Nov. 10. 1953