US3059358A

US3059358A - Nogic

Info

Publication number: US3059358A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1962-10-23
Anticipated expiration: 1979-10-23

Description

L. NOGIC Oct. 23, 1962 GATE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 10, 1960 INVENTOR. won

32 46 44 {\nnf United States 3,059,358 GATE Leon Nogic, 1911 Sampson, Butte, Mont. Filed Aug. 10, 1960, Ser. No. 48,596 9 Claims. (Cl. 39-31) This invention relates to a gate assembly of the selfclosing type. It is a primary object of this invention to provide a simple gate mounting arrangement which may be attached to any gate post for mounting thereon any type of gate in such a manner as to enable the opening of the gate by the application of a predetermined opening force on the gate in either direction, said gate subsequently returning to its closed position under the force of gravity.

It is therefore a further object of this invention to provide a mounting attachment for gates which enables older children and adults to open the gate which subsequently closes by itself, While toddlers unable to exert the requisite opening force will be prevented from opening the gate which is especially useful since there is no chance that the gate will be left in open position because of forgetfulness on the part of older children or adults overburdened with packages.

The novel gate mounting arrangement for accomplishing the above stated objects involves hingedly mounting any type of gate on a hinge post which in turn is pivotally mounted at its upper end on a gate post which may also be of any type. Accordingly, the hinge post on which the gate is pivotally mounted will be pivotally displaeeable relative to the gate post in both directions about its upper pivot mounting on the gate post. A clamp member is therefore secured to the gate post adjacent its lower end through which the hinge post extends so that the clamp member will limit pivotal displacement of the hinge post relative to the gate post. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that when the gate is pushed toward open position in either direction it will cause pivotal displacement of the hinge post within the confines of the clamp member. In order to enforce pivotal movement of the gate relative to its hinge post mounting when pushed toward an open position, a cam element is attached to the gate post by means of the clamp member, said cam element being engageable on both sides thereof by projections attached to the gate frame so that when the hinge post is pivotally displaced the gate in moving relative to the stationary cam element will be cammed thereby to cause it to pivot about its hinge mounting on the hinge post. It will therefore also be apparent, that when the gate is in its closed position, the cam element is eflective to stabilize the gate since it tends to resist movement of the gate. In the closed position, the gate may be yieldably latched so that a predetermined opening force must be applied thereto in order to overcome the latch holding force and stabilizing effect of the cam element.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view illustrating a typical gate mounted between a pair of gate posts in accordance with this invention.

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view of the gate assembly in its closed position.

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of the gate assembly in its open position.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken through a plane indicated by section line 44 in FIGURE 2.

Patented Get. 23, 1952 ice FIGURE 5 is a sectional view similar to that of FIG URE 4 but showing the gate in a partially open position.

FiGURE 6 is a perspective view of the gate mounting attachment parts of this invention.

Referring to the drawings in detail, FIGURES 1 and 2 illustrate the gate assembly generally indicated by reference numeral 141 in its closed position. The gate assembly includes a generally rectangular gate 12 which is mounted between a pair of

gate posts

14 and 15. The gate 12 is mounted on the gate post 14- by means of the gate frame 16 at one vertical side thereof while the other vertical side of the gate frame 16 has attached thereto a yieldable latch element 18 for cooperation with a catch member 2% mounted on the gate post 15.

In order to hingedly mount the gate on the post 14, a hinge post member 22 is provided, said hinge post member 22 being pivotally mounted on the gate post 14 by means of a pivot screw member 24 which has a threaded inner end 25 by means of which it is attached to the gate post 14 as more clearly seen in FIGURE 6. The hinge post 22 is thereby pivotally mounted at its upper end on the gate post 14 and is spaced therefrom by means of spacing washer 28. Fastened to the hinge post 22 between the upper and lower ends thereof are a pair of vertically spaced upper and

lower hinge members

30 and 32 to which a pair of axially aligned

hinge pins

34 and 36 are fixedly attached. Accordingly, a pair of

hinge members

38 and 40 are secured to one side of the gate frame 16 as for example by being clamped thereto, said hinge

members

38 and 40 cooperating with the

hinge pins

34 and 36 respectively in order to hingedly mount the gate 12 on the hinge post 22.

Attached to the bottom portion of the gate post member 14 is a clamp bracket member 42 which has a pair of

side portions

44 and 46 for attaching the bracket member 42 to the sides of the post member 14 by means of a plurality of threaded screw fasteners 48 as more clearly seen in FIGURE 6. The bracket member 42 also has a connecting portion 50 which is spaced from the inner side 52 of the gate post 14 when the bracket member 42 is mounted thereon as more clearly seen in FIGURES 1 and 4. Accordingly, it will be apparent that the hinge post member 22 will be limited in its pivotal movement by engagement of the lower end of the hinge post member 22 with the

side portions

44 and 46 of the bracket member 42 as will also be more clearly seen in FIG- URE 4.

Secured to the connecting portion 50 of the bracket member 42 is a cam element 54 which projects inwardly therefrom towards the gate frame 16 of the gate 12, when the bracket member 42 is mounted on the gate post as illustrated in FIGURE 1 for example. Cooperating with the cam element 54 are a pair of

projection members

56 and 58 which are attached on either side of the gate frame 16 adjacent the bottom thereof by means of fasteners 60, said projecting

members

56 and 58 when so mounted on the gate frame extend toward the bracket member 42 and engage the cam element 54 on both sides thereof as more clearly seen in FIGURE 4.

When the gate assembly 10 is in its closed position as illustrated in FIGURES l, 2 and 4 the gate 12 will he held in closed position by means of the latch member 18 cooperating with the catch 20 on one side of the gate 12 while the cam element 54 by being engaged with the projecting

members

56 and 58 attached to the other side of the gate 12 will stabilize the gate in its closed position since otherwise the gate 12 may be subject to pivotal dis- I 2 U the latch member 18 as well as the resistance to movement of the gate 12 relative to the post 14 offered by the stationary cam element 54. When an opening force is applied to the gate of sufi'icient magnitude as to overcome the aforementioned resistance to movement, the gate will swing open because of the opening force applied to the gate. Therefore, since the gate is moved relative to the gate post 14 by virtue of the pivotal displacement of the hinge post member 2, the stationary cam element 54 will react for example with the projecting member 58 as shown in FIGURE 5, to thereby cause pivotal movement of the gate 12 relative to the hinge post member 22 as the post member itself is being pivotally displaced toward the position illustrated in FIGURE 3. As seen in FIGURE 3, the gate 12 has been pivotally moved as a result of the gate opening displacing force applied thereto reacting against the stationary cam element 54, to its open position while the hinge post member 22 has been pivotally displaced to its limit position against the side portion 46 of the bracket member 42. It will be observed that in the FIGURE 3 position of the gate assembly, the gate assembly will be in an unstable position so that the force of gravity will tend to cause clockwise pivotal movement of the hinge post member 22 and the gate 12 mounted thereon in order to restore the hinge post member 22 to its central position. Accordingly, as the hinge post member 22 is pivotally moved from its displaced position illustrated in FIGURE 3 toward its central position it will carry the gate 12 therewith so that the projecting member 58 once again coacts with the stationary cam element 54 to cause the gate 12 to pivot relative to the hinge post 22 toward its closed position as illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 4. 1

From the foregoing description of the mounting structure and its operation, it will be apparent that the gate is rendered self-closing in a more positive manner by means of the stationary cam element located at the bottom of the gate post and cooperating with extensions on the bottom of the gate frame. It will also be appreciated that the same cam element is effective to stabilize the gate in its closed position as will be required by virtue of the pivotal mounting of the hinge post on which the gate is hingedly mounted. As a result of this arrangement, not only is a definite predetermined gate opening force required to open the gate assembly which is of use in preventing opening of the gate by toddlers but also a positive closing action is made possible which is of equal importance with regard to the same problem since it more reliably effects closing of the gate subsequent to the opening thereof by forgetful youngsters and busy adults; It

-will also be appreciated, that all of the above useful objects and purposesare accomplished by a mounting attachment of unusual simplicity rendering the mounting attachment more widely useful and economically feasible.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. An automatically closing gate'assembly comprising, mounting means for vertically spaced upper and lower gate hanging hinges pivotally mounted at an upper end only on a hinging post for a gate, limit means mounted on said hinging post and confining and engageable with the free lower end portion of said hinge mounting means to limit its pivotal displacement, gate hanging hinges mounted on said hinge mounting means intermediate the upper and bottom ends of said mounting means, gate frame means having a frame member connected to said hinges, and cam means fixed to said hinging post and engageable with said gate frame means to pivot said gate 1 a: frame means in response to pivotal displacement of said hinge mounting means and the gate frame means when urged toward an open position.

2, The assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein said cam means is effective to pivotally open said gate frame in both directions relative to said post and thereby operative to stabilize said gate frame means in its closed position.

3. The assembly as defined in claim 2, wherein said cam means is fixed on said limit means.

4. The assembly as defined in claim 3, wherein said hinges pivotally mount said gate frame means on said hinge mounting means in spaced relation thereto and said cam means projects toward said gate frame means and is engageable on both sides thereof by spaced parallel fingers fixed to said gate frame means.

5. The assembly as defined in claim 4, including yieldable latch means for holding the gate frame means in closed position.

6. The assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein said hinges pivotally mount said gate frame means on said hinge mounting means in spaced relation and said cam means projects toward said gate frame means and is en gageable on both sides thereof by a pair of spaced parallel outstanding fingers fixed to a lower swingable horizontal member of said gate frame means.

7. A self-closing gate assembly comprising, a pair of parallel vertical gate posts, a clamp member fastened to one gate post adjacent a bottom portion of said post, a hinge and gate supporting member pivotally mounted at an upper end on saidtone gate post adjacent a top end thereof, a lower end portion of said hinge and gate sup porting member extending between sides of said clamp member to limit pivotaldisplacement of the member in both directions, a plurality of hinges mounted on said member intermediate its top and bottom ends and pivotally mounting a gate frame on said member in spaced relation to said member, a stabilizing cam element fixed to said clamp memberand projecting inwardly toward said gate frame, a pair of projections fixed to said gate frame and engageable with both sides of said cam element, and a yieldable latch mounted on said gate frame engageable with a catch mounted on the other gate post.

8. For use in a fenceconstruction between a fixed vertical gate supporting and hinging post and a fixed vertical opposed latch post having a self-acting latch operatively mounted thereon; an improvement comprising a gate swingable in a horizontal plane in the space between said posts and having a frame with a vertical frame member opposed to said hinging post, an elongated link providing a hinge and gate supporting arm and interposed between said post and said frame member, means pivotally joining the upper end of said arm to an upper end portion of said hinging post, a U-shaped limit clamp having limbs straddling and fixed to a lower portion of said hinging post and a bight portion spaced from an adjacent side of said post, the lower end of said arm being free but confined in the space between said limbs and bight portion and swingable in a limited manner from right to left in respect to said limbs, and upper and lower pairs of hinges connected to the arm and frame member respectively.

9. The structure defined in claim 8 and wherein said bight portion is provided with a fixed cam interposed between the =bight portion and a lower portion of the frame member, said frame having a horizontal lower frame member provided with a pair of fixed coplanar spaced parallel fingers, said fingers having free end portions normally disposed against opposite sides of said cam and functioning to maintain the frame thereof in alignment with said arm when the gate is closed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 396,558 Godfrey J an. 22, 1889 vii.