Miscellaneous hardware (e.g. – bushing – carpet fastener – caster – Hinge – Resiliently biased hinge
Reexamination Certificate
2002-02-12
2004-05-11
Estremsky, Gary (Department: 3676)
Miscellaneous hardware (e.g., bushing, carpet fastener, caster,
Hinge
Resiliently biased hinge
C016S301000, C016S273000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06732408
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spring hinge structure, and more particularly to a spring hinge structure, wherein the noise produced during the rotation process may be reduced, and the lifetime of the spring hinge structure may be increased.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional spring hinge structure in accordance with the prior art shown in
FIGS. 1-4
comprises a first hinge plate
2
, a second hinge plate
3
, and a restoring control device
4
. The first hinge plate
2
is made of metallic material, and is fixed on a door frame (not shown). The first hinge plate
2
has a first side provided with a blade
21
, and a second side provided with an upper shaft tube
22
and a lower shaft tube
23
spaced from each other. The blade
21
of the first hinge plate
2
is formed with multiple joint holes
211
, so that the blade
21
of the first hinge plate
2
may be locked on the door frame. The upper shaft tube
22
is formed with an arcuate slot
221
for passage of an insertion pin
413
. The second hinge plate
3
is made of metallic material, and is fixed on a door plate (not shown). The second hinge plate
3
has a first side provided with a blade
31
, and a second side provided with an elongated shaft tube
32
mounted between the upper shaft tube
22
and the lower shaft tube
23
. The blade
31
of the second hinge plate
3
is formed with multiple joint holes
311
, so that the blade
31
of the second hinge plate
3
may be locked on the door plate. The elongated shaft tube
32
of the second hinge plate
3
has a lower portion formed with a positioning hole
321
for passage of a positioning pin
423
. Two washers
33
made of plastic material are mounted between the elongated shaft tube
32
of the second hinge plate
3
and the upper shaft tube
22
and the lower shaft tube
23
.
The restoring control device
4
includes an upper spindle
41
mounted in the upper shaft tube
22
of the first hinge plate
2
, a lower spindle
42
mounted in the lower shaft tube
23
of the first hinge plate
2
, and a spring
43
mounted in the elongated shaft tube
32
of the second hinge plate
3
. The upper spindle
41
has a first end provided with a fixing seat
411
secured in a first end of the spring
4
, and the lower spindle
42
has a first end provided with a fixing seat
421
secured in a second end of the spring
4
. The fixing seat
411
of the upper spindle
41
is formed with a positioning slit
4111
for securing the spring leg
431
formed on the first end of the spring
4
, and the fixing seat
421
of the lower spindle
42
is formed with a positioning slit
4211
for securing the spring leg
431
formed on the second end of the spring
4
. The upper spindle
41
has a second end formed with multiple adjusting holes
412
for insertion of the insertion pin
413
. The lower spindle
42
is formed with a positioning hole
422
located adjacent to the fixing seat
421
of the lower spindle
42
for insertion of the positioning pin
423
.
As shown in
FIG. 2
, an adjusting bar
5
may be inserted through the arcuate slot
221
into one of the adjusting holes
412
to rotate the upper spindle
41
which twists the spring
43
to have a determined restoring torque. Then, the insertion pin
413
may be inserted through the arcuate slot
221
into one of the adjusting holes
412
. Thus, the door has an automatic restoring function.
However, it needs to drill the adjusting holes
412
and the positioning hole
422
in the upper spindles
41
and
42
made of metal, and it needs to form the positioning slit
4111
and
4211
in the fixing seat
411
and
421
, thereby increasing the cost of fabrication. In addition, the insertion pin
413
is easily detached from the arcuate slot
221
. Further, the weight of the door plate exerted on the elongated shaft tube
32
of the second hinge plate
3
and the upper shaft tube
22
and the lower shaft tube
23
of the first hinge plate
2
is applied on the washers
33
, so that the washers are easily worn out during long-term utilization, thereby increasing the noise produced during the rotation process. Further, the upper and lower spindles
41
and
42
and the upper and lower shaft tubes
22
and
23
are made of metal, so that the noise is easily produced during the rotation process.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the disadvantage of the conventional spring hinge structure.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a spring hinge structure, wherein the noise produced during the rotation process may be reduced, and the lifetime of the spring hinge structure may be increased.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a spring hinge structure, comprising a first hinge plate, a second hinge plate, and a restoring control device, wherein:
the first hinge plate is provided with an upper shaft tube and a lower shaft tube spaced from each other, the second hinge plate is provided with an elongated shaft tube mounted between the upper shaft tube and the lower shaft tube, the restoring control device includes an upper spindle mounted in the upper shaft tube of the first hinge plate, a lower spindle mounted in the lower shaft tube of the first hinge plate, and a spring mounted in the elongated shaft tube of the second hinge plate, the upper spindle has a first end provided with a fixing seat secured in a first end of the spring, the lower spindle has a first end provided with a fixing seat secured in a second end of the spring, a pair of juxtaposed T-shaped mounting rings are mounted between the upper shaft tube of the first hinge plate and the elongated shaft tube of the second hinge plate, and are mounted between the lower shaft tube of the first hinge plate and the elongated shaft tube of the second hinge plate respectively, each of the T-shaped mounting rings includes an annular contact ring, the contact rings of the T-shaped mounting rings are juxtaposed with each other, the contact rings of the T-shaped mounting rings are clamped between the upper shaft tube of the first hinge plate and the elongated shaft tube of the second hinge plate, and are clamped between the lower shaft tube of the first hinge plate and the elongated shaft tube of the second hinge plate.
Further benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after a careful reading of the detailed description with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3921225 (1975-11-01), Suska
patent: 3965533 (1976-06-01), Frohlich
patent: 4419788 (1983-12-01), Prout
patent: 4583262 (1986-04-01), Werner
patent: 4756051 (1988-07-01), Shy
patent: 5048155 (1991-09-01), Hwang
patent: 5075928 (1991-12-01), Bobrowski
patent: 5463795 (1995-11-01), Carlson et al.
patent: 6460220 (2002-10-01), Jackson
patent: 2166796 (1984-11-01), None
Estremsky Gary
Williams Mark
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