Miscellaneous hardware (e.g. – bushing – carpet fastener – caster – Hinge – Resiliently biased hinge
Patent
1994-01-28
1996-12-17
Rachuba, M.
Miscellaneous hardware (e.g., bushing, carpet fastener, caster,
Hinge
Resiliently biased hinge
16300, 16299, E05F 108
Patent
active
055841007
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to a hinge and in particular, a hinge which is biased into either an open or a closed position.
Hinges of the above type are used in many applications. Self closing hinges are often required by law to be employed in safety pool fences to form part of a self closing mechanism for the pool gate. Applications for self opening hinges include access doorways and doors in public toilets.
A typical self closing hinge comprises first and second hinge members formed from pressed metal. A hinge pin interconnects the first and second members and the members are pivotal about the hinge pin such that they are movable between an open and closed position. A helical spring is located around the hinge pin and is connected directly to the first and second hinge members. This helical spring acts as a torsion spring to bias the members into either the open or closed positions.
The problem with the above type of hinge is that adjustment of the torsion acting on the members is often not possible without replacing the spring. In some cases very limited adjustment is possible through tightening of a grub screw located in one of the housings, but in the past this type of adjustment has been found to be ineffective. Furthermore, as the parts of the hinge are made from metal, the performance characteristics of the hinge in the long term can diminish as the parts are susceptible to corrosion.
The aim of the present invention is to provide a hinge which, in at least a preferred embodiment, ameliorates many of the problems of the prior art and provides a hinge which is economic to manufacture yet has improved performance characteristics.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a hinge comprising first and second hinge members coupled together by coupling means to be pivotably movable between an open and a closed position, and a torsion spring having a first end connected to the first hinge member and a second end connected to the coupling means, the coupling means being further arranged to translate torque from the torsion spring to the second hinge member such that the torsion spring biases said hinge members into either the open or the closed position.
By connecting one end of the torsion spring directly to the coupling means, which in turn translates the torsion to the second hinge member, the applicant has found that it enables much greater freedom in the design of the hinge. With this arrangement the coupling member can be arranged to be movable relative to the hinge member to enable adjustment of the torsion acting on the hinge member without the need to replace the spring. Furthermore, it enables the hinge member and the coupling means to be made from plastics material such as a glass reinforced nylon. With this arrangement, all the bearing surfaces within the hinge can be made from the plastics material. This has the benefit that bearings are generally stronger than the bearings formed from the pressed metal members and are less likely to deform out of shape and as such the performance characteristics of the hinge will not diminish in the long term.
In a preferred embodiment, the coupling means includes a coupling element to which the second end of the torsion spring is connected, the coupling element being rotatable relative to the hinge members between a plurality of first positions, wherein rotation of the coupling element between the first positions varies the torque from the torsion spring acting on the coupling element such that there is a predetermined torque level corresponding to each first position and wherein in each first position, the coupling element translates its corresponding torque from the torsion spring to the second hinge member.
Preferably the coupling element is movable to a second position wherein it is free to rotate relative to the hinge members. In this second position the coupling element is able to move between the first positions.
In a preferred embodiment the torsion spring is in the form of a helical spring and the coupling element is biased into the first position by t
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patent: 3825973 (1974-07-01), Gwozdz
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patent: 4073038 (1978-02-01), Curry et al.
patent: 4583262 (1986-04-01), Werner
patent: 4751765 (1988-06-01), Wu
patent: 4817242 (1989-04-01), Rapp
Cumming Mark
Doyle David
Dunne Neil
Gurley Donald M.
Rachuba M.
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