US3046619A - Shutter - Google Patents

Description

July 31, 1962 E. J. SHUSTROM SHUTTER Filed July 6. 1959 ATTORNEY all United States Patent 3,046,619 SHUTTER Elmer J. Shustrom, Coldwater, Mich., assignor to The Cadillac C0. Incorporated, Goldwater, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed July 6, 1959, Ser. No. 825,230 3 Claims. (Cl. 20-62) The invention relates to air or gas flow control apparatus and specifically pertains to devices of the parallel shutter type such as used with internal combustion engine radiators.

Shutters have long been used to control the flow of air or gases and have found wide usage in the ventilation art. A common use of such apparatus has been to control the quantity and direction of air flowing through the radiator of internal combustion engines and other ventilation devices on vehicles. In the past the shutter vanes have been supported by pivot shafts rotatably supported in a suitable bearing and often the bearing consists of no more than a hole formed in the shutter supporting framework. Because of the highly corrosive conditions caused by rain, salt and road chemicals, conventional vehiclemounted shutters usually corrode rapidly and because of the plurality of components involved and the infrequent seasonal operation thereof,'the vane apparatus often becomes inoperative due to the formation of rust and the like at the hinge or pivot of the vane. Although it, is sometimes possible to free corroded shutters with rust solvents and direct manipulation of the vane, the condition will become progressively worse and within a short period of time the shutters often become inoperative again.

To overcome the above disadvantages of conventional shutter construction, it is an object of the invention to provide a vane which is not supported by a pivot and bearing and which is not susceptible to becoming inoperative due to corrosion. To accomplish this objective the invention employs a vane hinge or pivot constructed of a flexible material which is relatively unaffected by water, salt and the like, yet provides a strong and accurate means for supporting the vane.

A further object of the invention is to provide a vane construction of extruded material which has a high resistance to bending and deflection.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shutter vane construction wherein sealing means may be readily assembled to the shutter and cooperation of the sealing means of the vane with the adjacent vane is positive and effective.

A further object of the invention is to provide a shutter vane construction for use with a flexible hinge wherein the vane may be hinged throughout its entire length.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shutter apparatus which is dependable in operation and may be readily manufactured and assembled.

These and other objects of the invention arising from the details of construction of an embodiment thereof will be apparent from a description of the accompany drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a three vane shutter apparatus in accord with the invention wherein a portion of the lower vane is cut away to illustrate the hinge sup- P FIG. 2 is an elevational, sectional view of the vanes shown in the closed position as taken along the line IIII of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is an elevational, sectional view of an enlarged detail of the vane construction taken along the line Ill-III of FIG. 1.

It will be appreciated that although the shutter construction of the invention was primarily intended for use with vehicle radiator cooling and ventilation systems, the

3,046,619 Patented July 31, 1962 construction is not limited to such application and may be used in most conventional shutter installations.

Referring to FIG. 1, the shutter structure may include a pair of parallel spaced angle elements 10 which, in an installation, would be affixed to the vehicle structure. The angle elements 10 may be cut and for-med to provide a plurality of ears 12 which extend at right angles from the inside legs of the elements 10. A plurality of extruded cross members 14 are interposed between elements 10 and are afiixed to the ears 12 by bolts 16 extending through holes formed in the ears and cross members. The cross members 14 constitute the support elements for the vanes 18 and the members 14 extend at right angles to the elements '16 and are spaced apart a distance proportionate to the width of the vanes as will be later apparent. It will be understood that the angle elements 10' and cross members 14, as assembled, will define a rigid structure which may be readily aflixed to the vehicle or other primary structure.

The vanes 18 are preferably formed of extruded material such as aluminum which is resistant to corrosion and will maintain an attractive appearance over long periods of time. The length of the vanes will depend on the width the elements 10 are spaced apart, which distance is determined by the size of the opening to be shuttered. It is one of the features of the construction of the invention that extremely long vanes may be employed without appreciable sacrifice of strength characteristics and that a minimum of supporting structure is required to mount long vanes for flutter-free operation.

The details of the vane construction are best illustrated in FIG. 3 wherein the general arcuate configuration is readily apparent. The outer surface of the vane 18 is designated 20 and this surface is smooth and uninterrupted as is apparent from FIG. 1. The innersurface 22 is also of an arcuate form, somewhat-similar to that of the outer surface 20-. However, formedprojections are provided on the inner surface to facilitate the attachment of the hinge and sealing lip to the vane. The inner surface 22 is formed with an approximately centrally located projection 24 that extends the length of the vane and is parallel thereto. The projection 24 has a minimum thickness at 26 and an enlarged head at 28, which' form half on an arcuate recess 30 between the projection 24 and main body of the vane. The other half of the recess 30 is defined by an arcuate depression 32 formed in the vane which also extends the length of the shutter. The recess 39 is thus of a generally cylindrical configuration and will receive the bulbous, cylindrical edge '34 of a the hinge. A projection 40, extending the length of the vane, is formed with a head 42 and defines a cylindrical recess 44 into which the cylindrical edge 46 of the lip 38 is received. After edge 46 is placed within recess 44 bending of the projection 40 toward the outer surface 20' will securely grip the lip and a sealed connection between the vane and lip is produced. It will be appreciated that the projections 24 and '40 are illustrated in FIG. 3 in the V v A deformed positions wherein the gripping of the hinge and and connects with the sealing lip as will be apparent in the description of FIG. 2.

The edge of the cross members 14, adjacent the vanes, is also formed with means for grippin the hinge 36 and takes the form of a projection 49 which defines a cylindrical recess 50 within the edge of the cross member. The hinge 36 is provided with a second bulbous cylindrical edge portion 52 which is received within recess 50 and deflection of the projection 49 toward the cross member edge 54 will solidly connect the hinge to the cross member 14. It will be noted that the enlarged end of the projections 24 and 49 is formed as to provide contact over a substantial portion of the hinge adjacent the cylindrical edges thereof. This construction prevents the projections from cutting or excessively pinching the hinge in the flexing portion of the hinge.

It will be understood that the hinge 36 consists of an elongated piece of flexible material such as neoprene, rubber, plastic, leather or the like having substantially cylindrical edge portions which are gripped by the vane and cross member structure. The hinge portion of reduced thickness between the edges 34 and 52 is highly flexible and it is preferred that the hinge material be rela tively non-elastic whereby the vanes are supported for easy pivotal action yet will not shift an objectionable degree with respect to the cross members. It will be understood that in the preferred embodiment the hinge 36 extends the entire length of the vanes. The degree of flexing of the hinge and relation of the vane to the cross member when the vane is full open is shown by the dotted lines of FIG. 3.

The structure for operating the position of the vanes may be of conventionalnature and consist of an arcuate activator arm 56 aflixed to each vane 18 by rivets or other suitable means. The free ends of each of the arms 56 is pivotally affixed to a common connecting bar 58 by a pivot pin and a control mechanism, not shown, adapted to axially translate bar 58 will thus simultaneously pivot all of the vanes 18 in the known manner. While the activator arms 56 are illustrated as aflixed adjacent the end of the vanes the arms 56 may be afiixed to the vanes at any axial position and in many cases would be centrally located between the vane ends.

The relation of the vanes 18 in the closed position is shown in FIG. 2. The cross members 14 are spaced apart a distance related to the width of the vanes such that the vane edge 48 will engage the sealing lip 38 of the vane below. It will be noted that the lip 38 is formed to curve forwardly and engagement with the edge 48 is such as to slightly bias the lip backward and a substantially air tight seal is produced. Since the metallic portions of the vanes do not engage each other, leakage due to foreign matter getting between the shutters and prevent ing the vanes from completely closing is minimized.

From the above description it will be apparent that the invention described a shutter construction that will not be subject to seizing due to corrosion and which is capable of achieving an accurate control of the air flow through the vanes. The arcuate shape of the vanes and the axially extending projections 24, 40 and 48 provide thin wall construction of relatively high strength and resistance to bending and the lengthwise support of the shutter by the flexible hinge gives additional strength to the vane and minimizes flutter. It will be noted from FIG. 2 that the hinge 36 is flexed the greatest extent when the shutters are closed and the least extent when open. Due to the tendency of the hinge to seek the unstressed condition the hinge functions as a spring to urge the vanes toward the open position and this feature provides a safety function in the event of a failure of the shutter control apparatus. Should a pivot pin or linkage become accidentally disconnected the vane will automatically assume an open position and possibly prevent overheating of the vehicle engine.

Modifications to the described embodiment may be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention and it is intended that the invention be defined only by the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a shutter construction, a supporting framework including an elongated vane supporting member, an elongated vane having a pair of parallel longitudinal edges, a hinge of flexible material having a pair of longitudinally extending edges, one of said hinge edges being mounted on said member and the other hinge edge being aflixed to said vane at a location substantially centrally located between and parallel to said vane edges, said hinge being of a length substantially equal to the length of said vane and continuously affixed throughout its length to said member and vane.

2. In a shutter construction, a supporting framework including an elongated vane supporting member, a vane of thin material having parallel longitudinal edges, 21 projection formed on said member defining an elongated support member recess, a projection formed on the vane the axial length thereof substantially centrally between and parallel to said vane longitudinal edges defining an elongated vane recess, an elongated hinge of flexible material of a length substantially equal to that of the vane and having bulbous edge portions and a flexing portion intermediate said edge portions, one of said edge porttions being received and maintained within the support member recess and the other edge portion being received and maintained within the vane recess whereby said vane is pivotally mounted throughout its length upon said support member.

3. In a shutter construction, a supporting framework including an elongated vane supporting member, a recess defined in said member extending the length thereof, an elongated vane having a pair of parallel longitudinal edges, a recess defined in said vane substantially parallel to and centrally between said edges and extending the length of said vane, an elongated hinge of flexible material having a pair of longitudinal edges and of a length substantially equal to that of said vane, one of said hinge edges being fixedly receoived throughout its length within said supporting member recess and the other hinge edge fixedly received throughout its length within said vane recess.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,507,965 Eichner May 16, 1950 2,564,152 Bush Aug. 14, 1951 2,822,587 Hallock Feb. 11, 1958 2,877,517 Graham Mar. 17, 1959 l v -"M

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