US3871283A

US3871283A - Door and door mounting structure for mounting without fasteners

Info

Publication number: US3871283A
Application number: US384202A
Authority: US
Inventors: Frederick W John
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1973-07-31
Filing date: 1973-07-31
Publication date: 1975-03-18
Anticipated expiration: 1992-03-18

Abstract

A door and door mounting structure for a pair of hingedtogether, laterally alined doors for mounting the doors in a pair of conforming access openings without mounting screws or fasteners, wherein the confronting adjacent hinged edges of the doors have jaw portions defining grooves of collectively T-shaped configuration to embrace tongues of a T-shaped vertical support member between the two access openings. The tongue and groove structure at the hinge edge of one door in closed position and its free edge support in the opening supports the other companion door in open position. When both doors are in outwardly diverging open position, their jaw portions can be readily assembled about or withdrawn from the T-shaped support member.

Description

United States Patent [191- John [4 1 Mar. 18, 1975 1 DOOR AND DOOR MOUNTING STRUCTURE FOR MOUNTING WITHOUT FASTENERS [76] Inventor: Frederick W. John, 837 3rd St. Apt.

302, Pacific Palisades, Calif. 90272 22 Filed: July3l, 1973 21 App]. No.: 384,202

[52] U.S. Cl. 109/56, 109/64 [51] Int. Cl. E05g l/00 [58] Field of Search 109/56, 66, 64, 59, 65, 109/67, 68, 69

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,421,770 7/1922 Freyberg et a1 109/56 2,882,564 4/1959 Couse et a1. 160/229 R 2,912,049 11/1959 Kuyper 160/231 A 3,297,077 l/1967 Garbus 160/231 A Primary Examiner-Dennis L. Taylor Attorney, Agent, or FirmMason, Fenwick & Lawrence [57] ABSTRACT A door and door mounting structure for a pair of hinged-together, laterally alined doors for mounting the doors in a pair of conforming access openings without mounting screws or fasteners, wherein the confronting adjacent hinged edges of the doors have jaw portions defining grooves of collectively T-shaped configuration to embrace tongues of a T-shaped vertical support member between the two access openings. The tongue and groove structure at the hinge edge of one door in closed position and its free edge support in the opening supports the other companion door in open position. When both doors are in outwardly diverging open position, their jaw portions can be readily assembled about or withdrawn from the T- shaped support member.

10 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENIE MARI 8 i975 sum 2 0F [2 DOOR AND DOOR MOUNTING STRUCTURE FOR MOUNTING WITHOUT FASTENERS BACKGROUND AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION frame member between the two laterally adjacent cells without'requiring the use of mounting screws or fasteners.

tomarily arranged in safes, bank vaults and similar installations comprise a network or array of large number of vertical rows and horizontal columns of safe deposit box cells defined by vertical and horizontal frame members forming partitions between adjacent cells. The cells are of generally rectangular vertical crosssection and each receive an associated safe deposit box which may be forwardly withdrawn from and inserted into the associated cell. Ordinarily, the assembly of the many doors in such a safe deposit box installation has been a time consuming and expensive procedure, as the persons mounting the doors in such installations are ordinarily required to install several screws or similar threaded fasteners in the hinge of each door for each safe deposit box cell. Obviously the labor consumed in assembling the large number ofdoors required for each bank vault array of safe deposit boxes, which usually extends over at least one large wall of the vault, is very considerable, and contributes a significant portion to the total cost of such a safe deposit box installation.

An object of the present invention is the provision of a novel construction for a multiple safe deposit box installation wherein the doors for each of the cells may be assembled to the partition forming framework'defining the plural safe depositbox cells without requiring the use of screws or threaded fasteners.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novel construction for the front covers or doors for safe deposit box cells wherein a pair of companion, side-by-side doors are hinged together with a hinge configuration which permits assembly onto the forward edge of the vertical frame members separating a corresponding pair of cells of the safe deposit box installation by merely swinging the companion doors from an angular open position into coplanar relation forwardly closing their respective safe desposit box cells with components of their interconnecting hinge clamped on the frame members.

Other objects, advantages and capabilities of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a plurality of safe deposit box doors and fragmentary illustrations of adjacent portions of the wall members of the frame work defining some of the cells;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of a plurality of the safe deposit box doors mounted in position'on the supporting framework;

It will be appreciated that safe deposit boxes as cus- FIG. 3 is a horizontal section view of a hingedly connected pair of the safe deposit box doors, taken along the line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the hingedly connected pair of safe deposit box doors, shown in the angular position assumed preparatory to assembly onto the v.ertical wall members;

FIGQ 5 is a vertical section view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view, to enlarged scale, of a portion of one of the hinge members and adjacent sectional end portions of the associated door.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures, the present invention is concerned with mounting of doors, especially a pair of laterally adjacent doors for a pair of laterally adjacent access openings to an enclosure area, and particularly to doors for safe deposit box cells or storage compartments. In the illustrated embodiment, the door structure, indicated generally by the reference character 10, forms the front closure or door for each of the substantially rectangular storage compartments or cells 11 which house the conventional safe deposit boxes and which are formed by the framework, indicated generally by the reference character 12, made up of vertical and horizontal frame members or

wall panels

13 and 14, respectively, comprising what is termed a nest module. Usually these nest modules are about 2 feet high by about 3 feet wide and about 12 inches deep defining 12 vertical rows of eight cells or cubicles.

In accordance with the present invention, the vertical frame members 13 of the framework or nest module structure define theside walls or vertical partitions l3 separating the respective laterally alined cells from each other and the horizontal frame members 14 define the top and bottom walls of the safe deposit box cells. The alternate vertical partitions are indicated by the reference character 13a and the interventing vertical partitions between each pair of partitions 13a are indi-v cated by the reference character 13b and define the partition separating and adjacent pair of side-by-side or laterally alined cells 11. The outer edge portions of the alternate partitions 13a are provided with a front trim member 15 which is of cruciform shaped horizontal cross-section, as illustrated more clearly in FIG. 3, providing a forwardly projecting front rib or edge formation 16a defining one of the vertical frame members bounding the entrance opening to the safe deposit cell, the trim member 15 including a pair of oppositely laterally projecting llanges or ribs 16b, 16c projecting from the main body portion 16d of the trim member 15. The main body portion 16d, in the illustrated embodiment, has a rearwardly opening recess to receive and be fastened to the forward edge portion of the vertical side wall or frame member 13 with which it is associated.

The intervening vertical wall members or partition members 13b are each provided with a generally T- shaped front trim member 17 at its forward edge, having laterally projecting alined flange or tongue formations 18a defining the head or cross member of the T projecting laterally from the forward end of the body portion 18b which, like the body portion 16d, may be provided with a rearwardly opening groove or recess to receive and be fastened to the forward edge portion of the vertical wall member 13.

To avoid the necessity of fastening the hinged doors for the safe deposit box cells to hinge components by screws or conventional threaded fasteners, and similarly fastening the hinge components to the vertical frame members defining the nest module framework, the doors of the safe deposit box cells 11, in accordance with the present invention, are formed in laterally alined sets or groups of pairs of doors, indicated for example by the doors 20aand 20b hinged together by a hinge mechanism indicated generally at 21 and provided with structure enabling them to be swung from a relatively inclined angular position extending in outwardly diverging planes relative to the vertical partition on which they are to be mounted to a coplanar position alined in a common plane wherein components of the hinge formation grip opposite portions of the T-shaped trim member 17 and hold the pair of companion doors assembled on the nest module frame work. To this end, each of the safe deposit box doors 20 are formed in the preferred embodiment of a cast front plate 22 having r top and

bottom flanges

23, 24 at the upper and lower edges thereof and a end flange 25 adjacent the hinge end defining the base 26a of a dove tail slot 26 running the full height of the associated door and opening toward the plane of the partition 13b. The hinge end of the cast front 22 has an angular shoulder or ramp formation 27 defining one outwardly converging side wall 26b of the dove tail slot 26. The door also includes a rear plate 28 which butts against the rear edges of the top and

bottom flanges

23, 24 and of the end flange 25, and also includes a forwardly projecting angular shoulder or ramp formation 29 located immediately toward the plane through the hinge axis for the

companion doors

20a, 20b from the end flange 25 and defining the other outwardly converging side wall 26c of the dove tail slot 26. The rear plate 28, in the illustrated embodiment, is fastened to the front plate 22 by two or more screws, for example threaded into rearwardly opening tapped sockets opening through the rear surface of the front plate 22, thereby defining a lock housing or case for the safe deposit lock mechanism, which may be of the conventional key operated tumbler type for use with a guard key and renters key. To this end, the front plate 22 of the door is also provided, for example, with a circular opening 30 for a guard key, bounded by an annular surround and, if desired, communicating with a slightly enlarged circular recess in the rear surface of the front plate to define a journal for a conventional rotary guard key plug whose rearmost end may be journaled in an appropriate circular opening in the rear plate 28. Similarly, a circular renters key opening 31 is provided in the front plate 22 of the illustrated example, likewise communicating with an enlarged circular recess in the rear surface of the front plate to define a front journal for the renters key plug which may be journaled at its rearmost end in an opening in the rear plate 28. Suitable conventional gated tumblers operated by the guard key and the renters key may be housed in the mechanism chamber 32 formed between the front and

rear plates

22 and 28, and the renters key plug, in accordance with conventional practice, may have the usual tang or actuating projection thereon for retracting and projecting the bolt, indicated by the reference character 33, slidably supported within the housing defined by the front and rear plates. It will be observed from FIG. 3 that in the projected position, the bolt 33 has a flat front surface which is spaced rearwardly from the rear surface of the adjacent vertical edge portion of the front plate 22 a distance corresponding to the thickness of the flanges 16b, 16c of the trim member 15, whereby the bolt extends in rearwardly lapping projection to the flange 16b or in the projected position to lock the associated door in closed position.

The companion hinge components forming the hinge 21 between the companion pair of

doors

20a and 20b are, in the illustrated embodiment, casted hinge members 35 and 36 each having a dove tail base 350, 36a sized to correspond in horizontal cross-section to and interfit in the dove tail slot 26 at the hinge end of the corresponding door 200 or 20b. The dove tail base formations 35a, 36a have a height in the illustrated embodiment, equal to the distance between the confronting inner surfaces of the top and

bottom flanges

23, 24 to fit between them. The hinge members also have a web or

panel portion

35b, 36b of a length to extend to the plane of the front surface of the front door plate 22, and include annular, substantially

cylindrical knuckle formations

35c, 36c positioned to lie in vertically alined, lapping relation to each other and each having a central bore or aperture 37 which alines with the corresponding bore in the companion knuckle member to receive a hinge pin 37'. It will be apparent that the dove tail formation 35a of the hinge member 35 is interfitted in the dove tail slot 26 of the hinge door 20a, while the dove tail base 360 of the hinge member 36 is interfitted in the dove tail slot 26 of the companion door 20b, each by slidably interfitting the dove tail formations on the hinge members 35 and 36 into the dove tail slot portions defined by surfaces 26a and 26b before the rear plate 28 is assembled onto the front 22 after which the rear plate is secured on the front to hold the hinge member on the'door. The companion hinge knuckle formations 35c are located in outwardly flanking relation to the knuckle formations 360 so that the latter is held between the knuckles 350 as illustrated in FIG. 2. It will be appreciated from inspection of the drawings,

- and particularly FIGS. 1 and 4, that the rearmost end of the

web portions

35b, 36b terminate at the location of the rear boundary of the constricted entrance to the dove tail slot 26, thereby defining in combination with the projecting shoulder formation 28a extending toward the companion door member, a pair of confronting clamping jawformations having confronting grooves 38 collectively defining a T-shaped or undercut recess corresponding to the tongues 18a forming the T-shaped front end portion of the trim member 17 to receive the tongues 18a extending from the member 17 for mounting the pair of hingedly interconnected

companion doors

20a, 20b.

It will be apparent that when the hinge members 35 and 36 have been assembled on the hinge ends of their associated safe

deposit box doors

20a, 20b by inserting the dove tail bases 35a, 36a in the dove tail slot 26, and the hinge knuckle formations of the companion hinge members are coupled together by inserting the hinge pins 37 in the alined knuckle openings, the hingedly interconnected pair of

companion doors

20a and 20b can 'then be readily assembled on the nest module framework 12 without screws or similar threaded fasteners. The operator simply swings the hingedly interconnected pair of companion doors a and 20b to an open position about the hinge axis, thereby swinging the confronting portions of the hinge members 35, 36 and the confronting hinge ends of the

doors

20a, 20b away from each other to theFlG. 4 position, whereby the doors assume forwardly diverging angular relation to each other, after which the hinged endsof the doors in the open position are inserted into a pair of adjacent cells flanking one of the intervening partitions 13b to dispose the tongues 18a defined by the T-shaped head portion of the trim member 17 within the groove 38 defined by the shoulders28a and 29 and the adjacent ends of the hinge member webs 35b forming the confronting clamping jaw formations. The

doors

20a, 20b are then swung to closed position about their hinge axis to position the clamping jaw formations collectively defining the grooves 38 about the tongues 18a of the trim member 17 to thereby mount the pair of

companion doors

20a, 20b in front closing relation to the pair of safe deposit box cells between the pair of alternate vertical partitions 13a. No further mounting or fastening means needs to be provided, because at no time thereafter during normal use of the safe deposit box array will more than one of the pair of hingedly interconnected companion doors to be open at one timeQThe bottoms of the doors20a, 20b are preferably provided with pads of Teflon or similar material, to bear on the upper surfaces of the bottom walls of the cells and provide wear surfaces. For example, Teflon pads 40 in the form of buttons having constricted stem portions may be seated in holes or slots in the lower flange 24 of each door to space the bottom of the door slightly above the bottom of the associated cell.

Since the common practice and use of safe deposit box installations is to open only one safe deposit box cell at a time to withdraw the safe deposit box for use by the renter, and thus when anyone of the doors of a hingedly interconnected pair, for example the .door 20a, is swung to open position to allow access to the contents of its associated cell, the other companion door, for example the door 20b, remains in closed position and provides proper support for the opened door 200, since the bolt 33 for the closed door 20b securely holds the bolt end of the door 20b clamped to the associated locking flange 16b of the trim member 15, and the hinged end of the closed door 20b is securely clamped to the trim member 17 by the surfaces bounding its portion of the recess 38 abutting the complementary portions of the T-shaped head of trim member 17 received therein. Thus the door 20b which remains closed provides secure support for the companion door 20a which is being opened, without necessitating any other fastening connection of the hinge structure to the nest module framework 12.

It will be appreciated that other types of binge components may be employed with the companion doors or the hinge knuckle portions may be formed integral with the door front plate, and that the hinged doors may be of a type to which a complete safe deposit box lock is secured to the back of the door in the presently conventional manner, rather than incorporating the safe deposit lock mechanism in a lock chamber provided within the door structure itself. It is only necessary that the confronting surface portions of the hinged ends of the companion doors, for whatever type door construction or lock construction is employed, be provided with undercut recess formations collectively defining the T- shaped recess 38 to receive and interfit about the T- shaped front portion of the trim member 17 so as to define clamping jaw formations laterally flanking both webs defining the cross member of the T so that one of the hingedly interconnected doors remains held at both its hinged end and its bolt end to the confronting trim members when its companion door is swung to open position to provide support for the open door.

What is claimed is: Y

1. A door and door mounting construction for safe deposit box installations for mounting companion pairs of hinged doors in respective pairs of laterally alined safe deposit storage compartments flanking a vertical wardly from said divider wall, a pair of laterally spaced doors conforming substantially to the configuration of the access openings to close the same and having confronting adjacent edge portions and mutually remote free edges, a hinge structure interconnecting said adja cent edge portions of the pair of doors for swinging movement about a common hinge axis between a closed coplanar position and an open outwardly diverging angular position, the adjacent edge portions of said doors defining mounting edges having confronting groove formations facing inwardly toward said common plane and collectively conforming to the crosssectional con-figuration of said tongue formations for receiving the tongue formations therein when said doors are swung .to said closed position with said mounting edges embracing said tongue formations for coupling the doors to the support member, means at the free edges of the doors for releasably restraining each door in closed position in its access opening to coact with the groove formation of such closed door and the associated tongue formation received therein in supporting the companion door hinged thereto when such companion door is swung to open position, the mounting edges of each of said doors also having a groove of dovetail horizontal cross section substantially spanning the height of the associated door opening through the top or bottom edge of the door and opening through said mounting edges in confronting relation to the groove of the companion door, said hinge structure comprising a pair of vertically spaced hinge knuckle formations for each door projecting forwardly integrally from a vertically elongated dovetail cross section base inserted through the groove opening in the top or bottom edge and interfitted and frictionally held in the dovetail groove of the associated door, and vertical hinge pins coupling together in paired relation a knuckle formation of one door with a respective knuckle formation of the companion door forwardly of the front surfaces of the companion doors.

2. A door and door mounting assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein said vertical support member has a T- shaped horizontal cross-section and said groove formations in the mounting edges of a hinged-together pair of doors form inwardly opening channels and collectively define a T-shaped recess conforming closely to the size and shape of the T-shaped vertical support member when closed to tightly interfit the latter in said recess.

3. A door and door mounting assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein said pair of doors have hinge knuckle members projecting outwardly from the hinge edge of each door with the knuckle members of each door in vertically lapping relation to the knuckle member of the companion door of the pair and the knuckle members of one door being positioned vertically between the knuckle members of the companion door.

4. A door and door mounting assembly as defined in claim 2, wherein said pair of doors have hinge knuckle members projecting outwardly from the hinge edge of each door with the knuckle members of each door in vertically lapping relation to the knuckle member of the companion door of the pair and the knuckle members of one door being positioned vertically between the knuckle members of the companion door.

5. A door and door mounting assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein each of said doors include a rear wall member terminating at the mounting edge of the associated door in a slip projecing toward said divider wall having a forwardly facing surface forming the rearwardly bounding surface of the channel in said mounting edge, and wherein the dovetail groove in the associated door forwardly adjoins said channel and the dovetail base therein has a flat surface forming the front surface of said channel.

6. A door and door mounting assembly as defined in claim 2, wherein each of said doors include a rear wall member terminating at the mounting edge of the associated door in a lip projecting toward said divider wall having a forwardly facing surface forming the rearwardly bounding surface of the channel in said mounting edge, and wherein the dovetail groove in the associated door forwardly adjoins said channel and the dovetail base therein has a flat surface forming the front surface of said channel.

7. A door and door mounting assembly as defined in claim 3, wherein each of said doors include a rear wall member terminating at the mounting edge of the associated door in a lip projecting toward said divider wall having a forwardly facing surface forming the rearwardly bounding surface of the channel in said mounting edge, and wherein the dovetail groove in the associated door forwardly adjoins said channel and the dovetail base therein has a flat surface forming the front surface of said channel.

8. A door and door mounting assembly as defined in claim 5, wherein each door is formed of first and second castings assembled together, the first casting forming said rear wall member and said lip and having an adjoining integral ramp formation adjacent said lip pro viding one inclined side wall of said dovetail groove, and the second casting forming a front wall member of said door having a ramp formation at said mounting edge and an adjoining integral rearwardly projecting flange collectively defining the other inclined side wall and the base wall of said dovetail groove.

9. A door and door mounting assembly as defined in claim 6, wherein each door is formed of first and second castings assembled together, the first casting forming said rear wall member and said lip and having an adjoining integral ramp formation adjacent said lip providing one inclined side wall of said dovetail groove, and the second casting forming a front wall member of said door having a ramp formation at said mounting edge and an adjoining integral rearwardly projecting flange collectively defining the other inclined side wall and the base wall of said dovetail groove.

10. A door and door mounting assembly as defined in claim 7, wherein each door is formed of first and second castings assembled together, the first casting forming said rear wall member and said lip and having an adjoining integral ramp formation adjacent said lip providing one inclined side wall of said dovetail groove, and the second casting forming a front wall member of said door having a ramp formation at said mounting edge and an adjoining integral rearwardly projecting flange collectively defining the other inclined side wall groove.

and the base wall of said dovetail

Claims

1. A door and door mounting construction for safe deposit box installations for mounting companion pairs of hinged doors in respective pairs of laterally alined safe deposit storage compartments flanking a vertical divider wall between them, comprising wall means including said divider wall defining frames surrounding said compartments defining a pair of access openings to each pair of compartments, said divider wall having a pair of tongue formations projecting oppositely outwardly from said divider wall, a pair of laterally spaced doors conforming substantiaLly to the configuration of the access openings to close the same and having confronting adjacent edge portions and mutually remote free edges, a hinge structure interconnecting said adjacent edge portions of the pair of doors for swinging movement about a common hinge axis between a closed coplanar position and an open outwardly diverging angular position, the adjacent edge portions of said doors defining mounting edges having confronting groove formations facing inwardly toward said common plane and collectively conforming to the cross-sectional configuration of said tongue formations for receiving the tongue formations therein when said doors are swung to said closed position with said mounting edges embracing said tongue formations for coupling the doors to the support member, means at the free edges of the doors for releasably restraining each door in closed position in its access opening to coact with the groove formation of such closed door and the associated tongue formation received therein in supporting the companion door hinged thereto when such companion door is swung to open position, the mounting edges of each of said doors also having a groove of dovetail horizontal cross section substantially spanning the height of the associated door opening through the top or bottom edge of the door and opening through said mounting edges in confronting relation to the groove of the companion door, said hinge structure comprising a pair of vertically spaced hinge knuckle formations for each door projecting forwardly integrally from a vertically elongated dovetail cross section base inserted through the groove opening in the top or bottom edge and interfitted and frictionally held in the dovetail groove of the associated door, and vertical hinge pins coupling together in paired relation a knuckle formation of one door with a respective knuckle formation of the companion door forwardly of the front surfaces of the companion doors.

2. A door and door mounting assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein said vertical support member has a T-shaped horizontal cross-section and said groove formations in the mounting edges of a hinged-together pair of doors form inwardly opening channels and collectively define a T-shaped recess conforming closely to the size and shape of the T-shaped vertical support member when closed to tightly interfit the latter in said recess.

8. A door and door mounting assembly as defined in claim 5, wherein each door is formed of first and second castings assembled together, the first casting forming said rear wall member and said lip and having an adjoining integral ramp formation adjacent said lip providing one inclined side wall of said dovetail groove, and the second casting forming a front wall member of said door having a ramp formation at said mounting edge and an adjoining integral rearwardly projecting flange collectively defining the other inclined side wall and the base wall of said dovetail groove.

10. A door and door mounting assembly as defined in claim 7, wherein each door is formed of first and second castings assembled together, the first casting forming said rear wall member and said lip and having an adjoining integral ramp formation adjacent said lip providing one inclined side wall of said dovetail groove, and the second casting forming a front wall member of said door having a ramp formation at said mounting edge and an adjoining integral rearwardly projecting flange collectively defining the other inclined side wall and the base wall of said dovetail groove.