US3828476A

US3828476A - Hinge assembly

Info

Publication number: US3828476A
Application number: US00267699A
Authority: US
Inventors: P Tenenbaum; H Yurgevich
Original assignee: Strick Corp
Current assignee: Strick Corp
Priority date: 1972-06-29
Filing date: 1972-06-29
Publication date: 1974-08-13
Anticipated expiration: 1991-08-13

Abstract

A hinge assembly for doors and the like in which the door frame forms an integral part of the hinge assembly. The door frame is provided with a cutout of a predetermined shape wherein two inwardly spaced edges of the cutout act as mounting surfaces for the hinge butts and collectively cooperate with the hinge butts to secure the hinge pin. The remaining cutout portion, positioned between the aforementioned spaced cutout portions and extending inwardly therefrom provides clearance for the hinge strap. The protruding edge of the door frame containing the cutouts further provides protection against damage for the edge of the door carrying the hinge straps. The transverse edges of the spaced cutout portions further serves as the means for retaining the upper and lower ends of the hinge pin. The employment of the special cutout eliminates the need for additional mechanical means such as welding, cotter pins or threaded hinge pins and cooperating trapped nuts normally employed in conventional systems to mount the hinge pin to the hinge butts.

Description

United States Patent [1 1 Tenenbaum et a1.

[451 Aug. 13, 1974 HINGE ASSEMBLY [75] Inventors: Paul Tenenbaum, Glenside; Howard Yurgevich, Levittown, both of Pa.

[73] Assignee: Strick Corporation, Fairless Hills,

[22] Filed: June 29, 1972 [21] App]. No.: 267,699

[56] References Cited 1 UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1936 Wanders 16/128 1 H1969 l-lull 9/1970 Kellems 16/128 Primary ExarrtinerBemard A. Gelak Attorney, Agent, or FirmOstrolenk, Faber, Gerb & Soffen 1 ABSIRACT A hinge assembly for doors and the like in which the door frame forms an integral part of the hinge assembly. The door frame is provided with a cutout of a predetermined shape wherein two inwardly spaced edges of the cutout act as mounting surfaces for the hinge butts and collectively cooperate with the hinge butts to secure the hinge pin. The remaining cutout portion, positioned between the aforementioned spaced cutout portions and extending inwardly therefrom provides clearance for the hinge strap. The protruding edge of the door frame containing the cutouts further provides protection against damage for the edge of the door carrying the hinge straps. The transverse edges of the spaced cutout portions further serves as the means for retaining the upper and lower ends of the hinge pin.

The employment of the special cutout eliminates the need for additional mechanical means such as welding, cotter pins or threaded hinge pins and cooperating trapped nuts normally employed in conventional systems to mount the hinge pin to the hinge butts.

9 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PAIENTEnms 31924 I 3,828476 sum 1 or 3 PAIENIEDwmmu 3,828,476

sum 2 or 3 1 HINGE ASSEMBLY The present invention relates to door assemblies and more particularly to a novel hinge assembly for doors and the like in which the door frame functions as an in- .tegral part of the hinge assembly to thereby simplify the.

hinge assembly and reduce the number of components.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION I-linge assemblies typically employed for mounting doors to their associateddoor frames are usually comprised;of hinge butts which receive a hinge pin normally retained in place by welding the hinge pin, providing a cotter pin or threading the hinge pin and providing a bolt or other fastening member to secure the hinge pin to the hinge butts.

In hinge assemblies especially of the type employed to mount doors for portable containers or trucktrailers it is important to provide a hinge assembly which is rugged and reliable even after continued use and rough handling, which is of a design to prevent removal of the hinge assembly andwhich is capable of protecting the door edge carrying the hinge structure from being damaged. In addition thereto, it is highly desirable to provide a hinge assembly which is simple in design, comprises a minimum number of components and which is lower in cost than conventional hinge assemblies from the viewpoint of both production and assembly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION AND OBJECTS riencing any linear movement along the longitudinal axis of the hinge pin by the pair of spaced hinge butts. The hinge butts are preferably secured to the projecting portion of the housing by rivets or huck bolts which make it extremely difficult to gain access to the housing by removal of the hinge assemblieswhen the doors are in the closed position the projecting portions of the housing are positioned immediately adjacent the edge of the doors upon which the hinge straps are mounted so as to protect the doors from being damaged.

The special cutouts provided in the projecting portions of the housing also significantly reduce the profile of the hinge assembly such that the hinge assembly projects only slightly beyond the projecting edge of the housing to reduce the possibility of damage or breakage of the hinge assemblies.

The hinge assembly is simple in design and is comprised of a minimum of components and further eliminates the need for additional means to retain the hinge pin in the assembly so as to reduce the cost of both manufacture and assembly of the hinge structures.

It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide a novel hinge assembly for use in mounting doors to frames in which the frame that carries the hinge assembly forms an integral part thereof.

' Still another. object of the present invention is to provide a novel hinge assembly for mounting doors to frames in which the frame is provided with a projecting portion having a special cutout for receiving the components of the hinge structure whereby the special cutout reduces the number of components of the hinge structure and simplifies the hinge structure design The present invention is characterized by providing a novel hinge assembly in which the door frame upon which the hinge assembly is mounted serves the dual function of forming an integral part of the hinge assembly as well as protecting the edge of the door upon which the hinge assembly is mounted from being damaged.

The present invention is especially advantageous for use in truck bodies and truck trailers as well as in portable structures such as intermodal containers carried by trailer chassis, ship orrail.

The housing. upon which the hinge assemblies are mounted is provided with an outwardly extending projection which serves as the frame which defines the door opening and also as a protective member for preventing damage to the edge of the door upon which the hinge assemblies are mounted.

A special cutout is provided along the outwardly extending projection at each location adapted to receive a hinge assembly. The cutout portion is comprised of S a pair of spaced edges positioned inwardly fromthe free edge of the projection which serve as the means for mounting a pair of hinge butts and which cooperate with the hinge butts to completely encircle a hinge pin mounted therein. Shoulders adjacent each of the spaced cutout edges further serve as the means for prewhile at the same time providing a hinge structure having a low profile and wherein the projection protects the edge of the door upon which the hinge assembly is mounted from being damaged.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES The above as well as other objects of the present invention will become apparent when reading the accompanying description and drawings in which:

. FIG. ,1 is a sectional view showing a conventional hinge assembly.

FIG. 1a is an elevational view of the conventional structure of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 is a perspective exploded view of the sembly of the present invention.

FIG. 2a is a perspective. view of the hinge assembly of FIG. 2 showing the installed hinge.

- FIGS. 2b and 2c illustrate alternative arrangements of hinge butts for the hinge assembly.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the .manner in which the hinge assembly hinge butt is mounted to the rear post corner of a trailer.

FIG. 4 shows a view of the hinge assembly of FIG. 2a looking in the direction of arrows 4-4.

FIG. 5 shows a sectional view of the installed hinge assembly of FIG. 2a showing the notched relationship relative to the hinge pin and hinge butt.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES FIGS. 1 and 1a show a conventional hinge assembly 10 mounted to the-rear post comer ll of a truck trailer, for example, which rear post comer is secured to the hinge astrailer body bu suitable fastening means such as, for example, the bolt 12 and fastening nut 13. Whereas additional fastening assemblies are normally employed,

they have been eliminated from FIG, 1 for purposes of simplicity.

The hinge assembly is comprised of a hinge butt 14 I having a pair of mounting arms 14a and 14b arranged at right angles to one another to embrace the outermost corner of the post rear corner 11. The fastening assemblies l5 secure the arms 14a and 14b to the post rear corner 11. The hinge butt is provided with a pair of projecting

portions

14c and 14d for receiving a hinge pin 16. The spaced

portions

14c and 14d embrace a hinge strap therebetween as shown best in FIG. 1a. The hinge pin 16, shown best in FIG. la, is headed at its upper end and 15a threaded at its lower end 15b, to threadedly engage fastening nut 17, respectively. The door (not shown for purposes of simplicity) is secured to hinge strap 18 through the use of fastening members (not shown) which extend through openings 18a provided in the free end of hinge strap 18 and which normally I threadedly engage the surface of the door. It can be seen from FIGS. 1 and la that the hinge butt extends well beyond the edge of the rear post corner and requires a separate fastening member (nut 17) to secure the hinge pin in place.

FIGS. 2-5 show the novel hinge assembly 20 of the present invention in which the housing frame of the container upon which the doors are mounted forms an integral part of the hinge structure. While not shown for purposes of simplicity such door assemblies are normally comprised of a pair of doors which open at the center rear of the trailer body with the hinge assemblies being mounted at both rear corners of the trailer body. Typically, a plurality of hinge assemblies are employed along each rear corner of the trailer body. As shown best, for example, in FIGS. 2 and 2a, the housing may be a truck body having a rear corner post 21 provided with an outwardly extending projecting portion 21a. Projection 21a is provided with a cutout 22 having a pair of spaced

edges

22a and 22b embracing a spaced edge 22c positioned between

edges

22a and 22b and extending a greater distance inwardly from the outermost edge of projection 21a. Whereas it is obvious to provide a plurality of cutouts for each associated hinge assembly, only one of said cutouts will be described herein for purposes of simplicity.

Projecting portion 210 is further provided with openings 23 for receiving suitable fastening members to mount the hinge butts of the hinge assembly in a manner to be more fully described.

The hinge assembly is further comprised of a pair of hinge butts 24 and 25 each having a circular shaped

portion

24a and 25a defining a substantially circular shaped opening 24b and 25b, respectively. The openings 24b and 25b are not completely continuous and, in fact, define a narrow neck portion 24c and 256 which defines a gap between a pair of mounting legs 24d-24e and 25d-25e, respectively. Each of the pairs of legs '24d-24e and 25d-25e are provided with openings 26, with the openings of the pairs of legs being in alignment with one another.

The substantially circular-shaped openings 24b and 25b are adapted to conform to the shape of an elongated cylindrical shaped hinge pin 27 so as to receive the upper and lower ends of hinge pin 27, respectively, wtihin the openings 24b and 25b.

A hinge strap 28 comprised of a substantially flat portion 280 has an enlarged circular shaped portion 28b integrally joined thereto. Enlarged portion 28b is provided with an opening 28c for receiving hinge pin 27 while flat .portion 28a is provided with openings 29 for receiving fastening members to secure the trailer door to the hinge strap.

FIG. 2a shows best the manner in which the hinge assembly is installed to the corner post projection 21a with the assembly steps being as follows:

The special cutout 22 is formed in projection 21a and the openings 23 are also formed in the projection.

The hinge pin is mounted within the hinge strap in the manner shown best in FIG. 2. The open section hinge butts, each of which have two legs adapted to fit over the projection 210, are slipped over opposite ends of hinge pin 27 so as to occupy the relative positions shown best in FIG. 2a.

The assembly is then mounted to the corner post projection 21a and is oriented so that the pairs of legs of each hinge butt straddle the corner post projection 21a in the region of

edges

22a and 22b. Each

edge

22a and 22b cooperates with its associated hinge butt to completely encircle the end of the hinge pin mounted therein. For example, FIG. 3 shows edge 22a cooperating with the opening 24b in hinge butt 24 to substantially completely encircle the upper end of binge pin 27. The lower hinge butt 25 cooperates with edge 22 in a similar fashion.

With the hinge butts in position, suitable fastening means 33 such as, for example, rivets or huck bolts are mounted through openings 26 in the legs of hinge butts 24 and 25 as well as the openings 23 provided in the corner post projection 21a so as to secure the hinge butts thereto.

The edges 22f and 22g which respectively join edge 22c to

edges

22a and 22b serve as the means for restraining hinge strap 28 from experiencing any linear movement in the direction of the longitudinal axis 27a of hinge pin 27.

One distinct advantage of the hinge assembly is that it permits use of different length hinge pins and different width hinge straps. For example, to accommodate a hinge strap of a greater width W (see FIG. 2) the length of edge 220 may be accordingly increased by a commensurate amount. A larger hinge pin may be employed to span the increased distance between top and

bottom edges

22d and 22e.

If desired a hinge strap of reduced length may be employed by reducing the length of edge 22c. Also, the hinge pin upper and lower ends may extend respectively beyond the top of butt 24 and the bottom of butt 25 while the pin is nevertheless restrained from move ment along its longitudinal axis simply by increasing the distnace between upper and

lower edges

22d and 22e.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show best the manner in which the extreme upper and

lower edges

22d and 22e function to extend over the top and bottom ends of hinge pin 27 and thereby prevent the hinge pin from experiencing any linear movement along its longitudinal axis 27a.

FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 show best the manner in which the hinge butts are secured to rear post comer 21 wherein it can be seen that the cutout portion 22 of the corner post projection 21a cooperates with the hinge assembly so as to provide an assembly having an extremely low profile. This low profile can be compared with the profile of the conventional hinge assembly of FIGS. 1 and 1a which can be seen to project beyond the outermost edge of the post rear assembly to a much greater distance than the assembly of the present invention.

It should further be noted that the special cutout eliminates the need for the additional fastening member 17 shown in FIG. la which is required to secure the hinge pin 16 to the hinge butt assembly.

In addition thereto it can best be seen from a consideration of FIG. 3 that the projecting portion 21a of post rear corner 21 serves as a protective edge for preventing the ege 31a of door 31 from being damaged. It can be seen that the corner post projection 21a extends over the entire length of the vertical mounting edge of the door to provide this protective feature. As shown best in FIG. 3, the door 31 may be fitted with a gasket 32 for sealing the region between the post rear corner 21 and the door to provide a good seal between the vertical edge of the door and the rearward portion of the post rear corner when the door is in the closed position.

As shown in FIG. 2a, the hinge butts 24 and 25 may be formed of a single hinge butt unit by the intergral strap portion S, if desired. The strap portion may alternatively be provided to join either only the outer legs of the hinge butts, as shown in FIG. 2a, or the inner legs of the hinge butts, as shown in FIG. 2b, or both, as shown in FIG. 2c. In any of these three alternative arrangements, it should be noted that the manner of installation is basically of the same with the exception that the hinge strap should first be positioned between the hinge butts and the hinge pin is then dropped through the hingebutt opening and the hinge strap opening whereupon this assembly is then positioned within the special cutout arrangement provided in projection 2la in the same manner as has been previously described and whereby all the advantageous features of the embodiments previously described are retained.

It can be seen from the foregoing description that the present invention provides a novel hinge assembly for use in mounting doors todoor frames in which the door frame is provided with a special cutout which forms an integral part of the hinge assembly to simplify the design of the hinge apparatus and reduce the components employed as well as providing portection for the edge of the door which is secured to the hinge strap while further providing a protective edge to prevent the door from being damaged. The invention is extremely advantageous for use in portable assemblies employed in transportation industries such as trailer mounted containers and trailers. The employment of fastening members such as rivets further prevents the doors from being opened by removal of the hinge assemblies thereby providing further protection of the trailer contents from being stolen.

Although there has been described a preferred embodiment of this nvoel invention, many variations and modifications will n0w. be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore this invention is to be limited, not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appending claims. I

What is claimed is:

l. A hinge assembly for mounting a door to a door frame, said frame-comprising a vertical post having an outwardly extending elongated projection extending outwardly to a free end;

said projection having a cutout portion for receiving the hinge assembly and forming an integral part of said hinge assembly;

said cutout portion having first and second substantially straight edges spaced from one another along the length of said projection and spaced inwardly from the free end of said projection, and a third edge extending between and spaced inwardly from said first and second edges;

the outer ends of said first and second edges being respectively joined to the free end of said elongated projection by first and second shoulders;

the inner ends of said first and second edges being respectively joined to said third edge by third and fourth shoulders;

first and second U-shaped hinge butts each comprised of a curved central portion integrally joined to a pair of spaced parallel legs;

said curved portion having a central opening;

the side of said opening adjacent said legs having a gap extending lengthwise along the length of said spacing;

a hinge strap comprising a flat elongated portion adapted to be secured to a door;

one end of said flat portion being enlarged in thickness and having an opening therethrough;

an elongated hinge pin extending through the openings in said hinge butts and said hinge strap for pivotally mounting said hinge strap to said hinge butts;

said hinge strap enlarged portion being positioned between said hinge butts;

the legs of said hinge butts being arranged to straddle said elongated projection with the gaps therein each receiving an associated one of said first and second edges;

fastening means for securing said hinge butts to said elongated projection;

said first and second shoulders being respectively positioned adjacent the upper and lower ends of said hinge pin to restrain the hinge pin from experiencing any movement along its central axis.

2. The hinge assembly of claim 1 wherein said third and fourth shoulders are respectively positioned adjacent the upper and lower edges of the hinge strap enlarged portion to prevent said hinge strap from experiencing any linear movement in the direction of said hinge pin longitudinal axis.

3. The hinge assembly of claim 1 wherein said third edge is spaced inwardly from said first and second edges by an amount sufficient to receive the portion of the hinge strap adjacent said enlarged end to provide sufficient clearance for the hinge strap to open and close said door and to permit said door to move to the fully closed position without interference.

4. The hinge assembly of claim 1 wherein the outer legs of said hinge butts are integrally joined together by a strap to form a unitary hinge butt assembly.

5. The hinge assembly of claim 1 wherein the inner legs of said hinge butts are integrally joined together by a strap to form a unitary hinge butt assembly.

6. The hinge assembly of claim 1 wherein the inner and outer legs of said hinge butts are integrally joined together by a strap to form a unitary hinge butt assembly.

7. The hinge assembly of claim 1 wherein said elonfrom being easily'removed from said door frame.

Claims

1. A hinge assembly for mounting a door to a door frame, said frame comprising a vertical post having an outwardly extending elongated projection extending outwardly to a free end; said projection having a cutout portion for receiving the hinge assembly and forming an integral part of said hinge assembly; said cutout portion having first and second substantially straight edges spaced from one another along the length of said projection and spaced inwardly from the free end of said projection, and a third edge extending between and spaced inwardly from said first and second edges; the outer ends of said first and second edges being respectively joined to the free end of said elongated projection by first and second shoulders; the inner ends of said first and second edges being respectively joined to said third edge by third and fourth shoulders; first and second U-shaped hinge butts each comprised of a curved central portion integrally joined to a pair of spaced parallel legs; said curved portion having a central opening; the side of said opening adjacent said legs having a gap extending lengthwise along the length of said spacing; a hinge strap comprising a flat elongated portion adapted to be secured to a door; one end of said flat portion being enlarged in thickness and having an opening therethrough; an elongated hinge pin extending through the openings in said hinge butts and said hinge strap for pivotally mounting said hinge strap to said hinge butts; said hinge strap enlarged portion being positioned between said hinge butts; the legs of said hinge butts being arranged to straddle said elongated projection witH the gaps therein each receiving an associated one of said first and second edges; fastening means for securing said hinge butts to said elongated projection; said first and second shoulders being respectively positioned adjacent the upper and lower ends of said hinge pin to restrain the hinge pin from experiencing any movement along its central axis.

7. The hinge assembly of claim 1 wherein said elongated projection extends substantially the entire length of the edge of the door receiving said hinge assembly and is positioned outside of said door edge to protect the said door edge from being damaged.

8. The hinge assembly of claim 1 wherein said fastening means are rivets to prevent said hinge assembly from being easily removed from said door frame.

9. The hinge assembly of claim 1 wherein said fastening means are huckbolts to prevent said hinge assembly from being easily removed from said door frame.