Door closer with switch actuated thereby

• US 3,973,357 A
• Filed: 07/15/1974
• Issued: 08/10/1976
• Est. Priority Date: 07/15/1974
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: C Hager & Sons Hinge Manufacturing Company
• Original Assignee: C Hager & Sons Hinge Manufacturing Company
• Inventors: Kluempers, Thomas J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Downey, Kenneth
• Application Number:
  US05/488,656
• Time in Patent Office: 757 Days
• Field of Search: 49/13, 49/14, 49/43, 16/185 H, 16/55, 200/61.62, 200/61.7, 335/205-207
• US Class Current: 49/13
• CPC Class Codes: E05F 3/225 mounted at the bottom of wings, e.g. details related to seals, covers, connections to the wings, embedding in the floor
• CPC Class Codes: E05Y 2900/132 Doors
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/08 by opening, e.g. of door, of window, of drawer, of shutter, of curtain, of blind

Abstract

A door closer has a case set in the floor and a rotatable spindle projected from the case. The spindle supports a door and rotates with the door as the door pivots between open and closed positions. Within the case the spindle is coupled with a rotatable element which is acted upon by a return spring to bring the door to its closed position. The rotatable element carries a magnet which is located opposite to a magnetic reed switch on the case when the door is in a selected position and thereby closes a circuit to indicate the position of the door.

Claims

1. A door closer for supporting a door above a floor and for moving the door to a closed position with respect to a door opening, said door closer comprising:

a case mounted firmly on the floor;

a rotatable spindle projecting upwardly from the case and supporting the door, the spindle being nonrotatively connected to the door so that the door pivots about the axis of the spindle and rotates the spindle as the door opens and closes;

a rotatable element which rotates about a fixed axis in the case, the axis of the rotatable element being offset from the axis of the spindle;

connecting means between the spindle and the rotatable element for rotating the rotatable element in response to rotation of the spindle, and vice-versa;

spring means connected to the rotatable element for returning the rotatable element to a home position;

a bar magnet carried by the rotatable element and having at least one pole located outwardly from the axis of rotation for the rotatable element so that said one pole describes an arc as the rotatable element revolves, the longitudinal axis of the bar magnet being located at an angle with respect to the plane in which the arc lies; and

a switch mounted in a normally fixed position with respect to the case, said position being adjacent to the arc described by said one pole of the magnet, the switch being sensitive to a magnetic field, whereby when said one pole of the magnet moves adjacent to the switch, the switch will be actuated to indicate a selected position of the door.

2. The structure according to claim 1 wherein the switch is mounted on a nonferrous cover plate which is attached to the case, and wherein the spring means is a coiled torsion spring having one end anchored to the movable element and the other end anchored to the cover plate.

3. A door closer according to claim 1 wherein the spring means comprises a coiled torsion spring anchored at one end to the rotatable element and having its other end anchored in a fixed position with respect to the case, and wherein the magnet is surrounded by convolutions of the spring.

4. The structure according to claim 1 and further comprising an arm mounted on the casing in a normally fixed position but being adjustable about a pivot point which lies along the axes of rotation for the rotatable element, and wherein the switch is carried by the arm and is spaced from the pivot point a distance which is substantially the same as the radius of the arc described by said one pole of the magnet.

5. A door closer according to claim 1 and further comprising means for adjusting the position of the switch along the arc described by said one pole of the magnet.

6. A door closer according to claim 5 wherein the means for adjusting the position of the switch comprises an arm mounted on the case and rotatable about the axis of the rotatable element, the switch being on the arm, and means for securing the switch in a fixed position with respect to the case.

7. The structure according to claim 1 wherein the longitudinal axis of the bar magnet is parallel to the axis of rotation for the rotatable element.

8. The structure according to claim 7 wherein the spring means comprises a coil-type torsion spring having its one end engaged with the case and its other end engaged with the rotatable element, and wherein the bar magnet is encircled by the convolutions of the spring.

9. In a door closer for returning a door to its closed position when opened and including a casing, a nonferrous cover plate on the casing, a spindle on the casing and supporting the door such that it is coaxial with the pivot axis of the door and rotates as the door opens and closes, a movable element rotatable in the casing about an axis fixed with respect to the casing, means coupling the spindle and the movable element for rotating the movable element in unison with and in predetermined relation to the spindle, whereby the movable element assumes a home positon when the door is closed, and a coiled tension spring having one end anchored to the movable element and the other end anchored to the cover plate such that the spring acts upon the movable element and will return the movable element to its home position, whereby the door is urged to its closed position, the improvement comprising:

a magnet mounted on the movable element and being rotatable therewith, an arm rotatable relative to the cover plate about an axis coincident to the axis of rotation for the movable element, means for securing the arm in a fixed position with respect to the cover plate, a magnetic reed switch mounted on the arm and in a normally fixed position with respect to the casing, the reed switch being directly opposite the magnet when the movable element is in a selected position, whereby the magnet will actuate the switch when the movable element is in the selected position.

10. The structure according to claim 9 wherein the cover plate is rotatable relative to the casing to adjust the torsion exerted by the spring on the movable element.