Vehicle door check

Details Vehicle door check Vehicle door check

2000-05-22

2002-02-26

Knight, Anthony (Department: 3626)

Miscellaneous hardware (e.g., bushing, carpet fastener, caster,

Closure checks

C016S085000, C016S337000, C292S275000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06349448

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to holding devices for doors and more particularly to holding devices for the doors of vehicles and most particularly for automobile and truck doors and the like. Door holding devices of the kind provided by this invention are often referred to as infinite-position holding devices or infinite position door checks because they act to hold the door in any open position to which it is moved and left standing, but still permit the door to be readily moved to any other desired position.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A door check mechanism is usually present on each vehicle door on all automobiles, recreational vehicles, vans, trucks, and virtually all other vehicles. In many designs, the door check mechanism provides two open detented positions, one at which the door is partially open and the other at which the door is fully open. In some cases, the door check mechanism for a vehicle door provides only one open retention position.
Door check mechanisms of the fixed detent type are quite common and have been used for many years. However, they are far from uniform in construction or in application. In many vehicles, the manufacturer provides a check mechanism that is separate from the door hinges and it is typically mounted at a location midway between the two hinges. In other instances, one of the hinges incorporates a check mechanism in the hinge structure itself.
Attempts have been made to incorporate an infinite door check mechanism into a vehicle and a number of patents have been issued covering such devices (discussed below). None has yet achieved commercial success due to the cost and complexity and well as the short service lives of these prior art mechanisms.
Door check mechanisms have in general exhibited some substantial difficulties over the years including: (i) the need in some designs for frequent lubrication without which they tend to make undesirable noises; (ii) inadequate operating life; (iii) corrosion; (iv) the inability to endure vehicle body processing temperatures associated with the curing of external finishes (400° F.); (v) the inability to be easily separated from the vehicle after painting to permit the door to be separately trimmed and then reassembled to the body; (vi) the occurrence of unacceptable stress and wear on the door hinges caused by loading from the door check; and (vii) the requirement for frequent post installation adjustment during the vehicle life. Each of these problems has been addressed in one or more of the prior art fixed detent door checks but there is no infinite door check that has solved all of these problems.
The tendency for an automobile door to swing open or closed when not desired is frequently caused by factors such as the transverse curvature or crown of a pavement or road, by the slope of a hill, or by a gust of wind. Such a tendency, when in the closing direction, causes the door to strike the legs or other parts of a person entering or leaving the automobile. When in the opening direction, it can cause the door to impact into other people or objects inflicting harm or damage thereto. A particularly costly problem, as reported by automobile insurance companies, happens in parking lots where the opening door of one vehicle bangs into an adjacent vehicle causing damage to the finish that can lead to an insurance claim. This increases the cost of insurance to all automobile owners.
To partially solve this problem, vehicle doors are frequently provided with an inclined hinge axis incident to body design that biases the door to close. This is a desirable feature since it aids in the closing of the door especially by older or physically impaired people and should not be defeated as is done by some infinite position door checks which maintain a friction drag on the vehicle door at all times.
As discussed below, this tendency of a vehicle door to swing in an unwanted manner is prevented or minimized by the infinite door check means of the present invention which is effective to hold the door in any open position in which it is left standing, while permitting a relatively free manual movement of the door to any other desired position and a free self closing action when that is desired. This invention also provides an infinite position door checking mechanism that solves all of the problems of prior art infinite position door checks listed above in a simple and cost effective design. In the context of automobile manufacturing, for example, most of the design implementations of this invention permit the door to be easily removed from the vehicle for trimming and then reassembled entailing only the removal and replacement of a single pin.
The infinite position door check mechanism for regulating pivotal movement of a vehicle door between a closed position and any open position, which mechanism is sometimes incorporated in a hinge, includes an elongated strip member having a flat or curved surface; a cam, or other locking member, which engages one of the strip surfaces with varying amounts of pressure contact depending on whether the door is in the freely opening or closing mode, checked against movement in one direction or checked against movement in both directions. Either the cam or the strip member typically has a resilient plastic, brake material or other non-metallic surface, the other surface generally being metal. The engaging portions of the cam and strip member surfaces are thus preferably dissimilar materials, usually a metal and a non-metal.
Pertinent prior art includes the following:
U.S. Pat. No. 406,840 to Jones describes a door check for doors of buildings and like structures and includes a check-rod and a sliding sleeve containing two springs between which the check-rod is fitted. The springs bear or press constantly on opposite sides of the check-rod, and when they ride over inclined surface of the rod at a point of its greater diameter, they are compressed and serve to retard rapid movement of the door.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,232,986 to Westrope describes a door check device having a check arm provided with spaced abutments providing a recess therebetween. The check device includes a retainer through which the arm extends and a pair of bearings in the retainer for engaging opposite sides of the arm and having socket-engaging portions. The bearing members are movable away from each other so that one of the abutments may pass therebetween. The socket-engaging portions engage that abutment when the bearing members are positioned in the recess. Yieldable means are provided to hold the bearing members in engagement with opposite sides of the arm.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,268,976 to Westrope describes a door check for a vehicle including an arm pivoted to either the door or the vehicle supporting structure. The arm has a projection and a cushion thereon. The projection is adapted to engage a tiltable cam mounted upon the other structure and supported upon a resilient member. When the door is opened, the projection engages the cam and pushes it downward as the projection slips over the cam. Thereafter, the cushion on the arm engages the housing of the cam and cushions the halting motion of the door. After the projection on the arm has slipped over the cam, the cam acts as a yielding abutment to hold the door open.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,268,977 to Westrope describes a door check for a vehicle including a housing attached to the body of the vehicle and a strap or link attached to the door or vice versa. The housing contains a tiltable cam engageable with a projection on the strap or link and having a spring member for maintaining this engagement. Optional means are provided for adjusting the tension of the spring member.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,882,548 to Roethel is one of the early patents on door checks. The checking is done by friction drag that is increased at two checking positions. The effectiveness of this system is degraded when the coefficient of friction changes, and the system has a limited life.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,992,451 to Schonitzer et. al. describes a desig

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