Door closing apparatus

• US 4,103,392 A
• Filed: 10/26/1976
• Issued: 08/01/1978
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/1976
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Masco Corporation
• Original Assignee: Masco Corporation
• Inventors: MacDonald, Robert D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Feldbaum, Ronald
• Application Number:
  US05/735,305
• Time in Patent Office: 644 Days
• Field of Search: 16/54, 16/51, 16/56, 16/52, 16/49, 16/50, 16/74, 16/68, 16/128 R, 49/137
• US Class Current: 16/54
• CPC Class Codes: E05F 3/20 in hinges
• CPC Class Codes: E05Y 2900/132 Doors

Abstract

An apparatus for automatically closing a door with respect to a fixed support adjacent thereto which includes a torsional spring, a one-way clutch mechanism and a swash plate hydraulic damper concealably retained within a compact housing. The housing is secured to either the door or the fixed support and a first rotatable portion of the one-way clutch is coupled to the other of either of the door or fixed support so that the first rotatable portion rotates in a first direction when the door is opened in the opposite direction when the door is closed. The torsional spring is at least partially disposed about the one-way clutch mechanism and has one end anchored to the housing and the other end secured for movement with the first rotatable portion. As the door is opened, the first rotatable portion is rotated in the first direction to wind up the torsional spring. When the door is released, the torsional spring unwinds to reverse the process and close the door. As the torsional spring unwinds, the first rotatable portion is driven in the opposite direction causing the one-way clutch mechanism to drive a second rotatable portion in the opposite direction as well. The swash plate hydraulic damper includes a plurality of piston chambers formed in the second rotatable portion, a closed hydraulic circuit interconnecting the piston chambers, and a piston element slidably disposed in each of the chambers for sealing the same and having an end portion extending therefrom. The hydraulic damper includes a wedge-shaped swash plate whose upper surface operatively engages the exposed end portions of the piston elements to restrict the rotation of the second rotatable portion so as to control the rate at which the spring unwinds to close the door. The resistance encountered by the pistons can be selectively varied by adjusting the rotational position of the swash plate with respect to the bottom of the housing. In the preferred embodiment disclosed herein, the compact housing forms the central portion of an ordinary hinge having one plate secured to the door and the other plate secured to the door casing although the housing could be mounted on or within the door itself. The compact assembly of the present invention enables a door to be automatically closed with a relatively constant closing force and provides a means whereby the force may be selectively adjusted.

Claims

1. A door closing apparatus comprising a swash plate hydraulic damping apparatus for controlling the rate at which a door closes with respect to a fixed support to provide a relatively constant closing force, said damping apparatus having a swash plate with at least one sloping surface, piston means for engaging said swash plate, second rotatable means for effecting relative motion between said piston means and said swash plate such that the rotational resistance encountered as said piston means operatively engages said swash plate is proportional to the rate of rotation of said second rotatable means, spring means having a first portion anchored to one of said door and said fixed support and said spring means also having a second portion, and a first rotatable means operatively coupled between said second portion and the other of said door and said fixed support for rotating in a first direction when said door is opened to wind-up said spring means, said first rotatable means being responsive to the unwinding of said spring means when said door is released for rotating in a direction opposite to said first direction, and a one-way clutch means having an input element operatively coupled to said first rotatable means for rotation therewith and an output means responsive to the rotation of said first rotatable means in said opposite direction for controllably rotating said second rotatable means to close said door with a relatively constant closing force.

2. The door closing apparatus of claim 1 wherein said second rotatable means includes a generally cylindrical portion having a plurality of piston chambers formed therein and a closed fluid circuit restrictively interconnecting said piston chambers for receivably retaining a constant volume of hydraulic fluid therein, and wherein said piston means includes piston elements slidably disposed within each of said piston chambers, each of said piston elements having an end portion extending at least partially from said piston chamber for operatively engaging said swash plate.

3. The door closing apparatus of claim 1 further including means for housing at least a portion of said spring means, said one-way clutch means and said swash plate hydraulic damping apparatus in a compact manner.

4. The door closing apparatus of claim 3 further characterized in that said housing means is generally cylindrical and is secured with respect to said door so as to house substantially all of said spring means, said one-way clutch means and said damping apparatus.

5. The door closing apparatus of claim 3 further including a hinge mechanism having a first hinge plate adapted to be secured to said fixed support, a second hinge plate adapted to be secured to said door, and a central sleeve portion secured to one of said hinge plates for defining a hinge axis and for serving as said housing means.

6. The door closing apparatus of claim 3, further including a hinge mechanism having a first hinge plate adapted to be secured to said fixed support, a second hinge plate adapted to be secured to said door, and a central sleeve portion secured to one of said hinge plates for defining a hinge axis and serving as said housing, and wherein said second rotatable means is substantially housed within said central sleeve portion, said housing is rigidly secured to one of said hinge plates and said apparatus further includes means operatively coupled between the other of said hinge plates and said second rotatable element for rotating same as said door is opened and closed.

7. An automatic door closing apparatus comprising a hinge mechanism having first and second hinge plates, one of said plates being adapted to be secured to a door casing and the other of said plates being adapted to be secured to a door, said hinge mechanism also including a sleeve portion secured to said first hinge portion and having a longitudinal sleeve axis corresponding to the axis of said hinge, a spring assembly including a torsional spring, having one end anchored to said sleeve portion, first means operatively coupled between said second hinge plate and the opposite end of said torsional spring, said first means being responsive to the opening of said door for rotation in a first direction to wind-up said spring to store energy therein and to the unwinding of said spring when said door is released for rotating in the opposite direction to restore said door to its closed position, a hydraulic damping means for controlling the rate at which said spring unwinds to close said door, and one-way clutch means having an input element operatively coupled to said first means and an output element operatively coupled to said damping means for operating said damping means only when said first means is rotated in said opposite direction.

8. The automatic door closing apparatus of claim 7 further characterized in that said one-way clutch means includes a one-way roller clutch, said input element includes an annular collar having a plurality of roller members disposed about an inner portion of said collar, and said output element includes a shaft adapted to be disposed within said collar such that said collar may be freely rotated about said shaft in said first direction about said hinge axis but said rollers being operable to positively grip said shaft when said collar is rotated in said opposite direction, wherein said first means includes a first rotatable element adapted to positively engage the outer periphery of said collar for rotating with said collar when said door is opened and closed, and wherein said damping means includes a second rotatable element for positively engaging a portion of said shaft for rotation therewith, said first rotatable element having one end of said torsional spring anchored thereto and being secured to said second hinge plate for rotating in said first direction and winding up said torsional spring when said door is opened, said second rotatable element normally remaining stationary while said collar is rotated in said first direction but being responsive to the rotation of said collar and said shaft in said opposite direction under the force of said unwinding spring to rotate to operate said hydraulic damper so as to close said door with a relatively constant force.

9. The automatic door closing apparatus of claim 7, wherein said hydraulic damping means includes a rotatable element operatively connected to said output element, said rotatable element including a plurality of piston chambers formed therein, a closed fluid path interconnecting said piston chambers, a piston element disposed within each of said chambers, and wherein said damping means further includes a swash plate for operably engaging the protruding ends of said pistons and controlling the rate at which said rotatable element can be rotated in said opposite direction to close said door.

10. The automatic door closing apparatus of claim 9, wherein said damping means further includes means for adjustably varying the position of said swash plate for selectively controlling the resistance encountered by said pistons and hence the rate at which said spring unwinds to close said door.

11. The automatic door closer of claim 9, further characterized in that said sleeve portion includes a sloped portion on the inside bottom thereof which forms an acute angle with a plane normal to said hinge axis and said swash plate is a generally circular, disk-like member having a wedge-shaped cross-section through a diagonal thereof, said swash plate having a generally planar bottom surface adapted to be disposed on said sloped portion and a sloped upper surface adapted to engage the extended portions of said pistons, the selective rotation of said swash plate on said sloped portion presenting different upper surface slope angles to the extended portions of said pistons thereby selectively varying the resistance presented to the rotation of said rotatable element.

12. The automatic door closer of claim 11, further characterized in that said bottom surface of said swash plate includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced teeth-like serrations to engage said sloped portion of said sleeve and prevent slippage.

13. The automatic door closer of claim 11 further characterized in that the radially outer periphery of said swash plate is provided with a plurality of spaced recesss for enabling said swash plate to be selectively rotated with respect to the sloped bottom portions of said sleeve.

14. The automatic door closer of claim 7, wherein said sleeve includes an end portion having at least one externally-facing slot therein, said door closing further including a locking lever having one portion adapted for receivably engaging a portion of said second hinge plate and means for pivotally mounting said locking lever on said sleeve, such that it may be manually positioned such that an intermediate portion thereof may be disposed within said slot while said one portion engages a portion of said second hinge plate for locking said door in a predetermined opened position.

15. In a door closing apparatus having a spring means, a one-way clutch means, housing means coupled to one of a door and a fixed support for supporting housing said spring means and said one-way clutch means, a first means operably coupled between said one-way clutch means and the other of said door and said fixed support, said first means being responsive to the opening of said door for rotating in a first direction and winding up said spring means, and second means coupled to said one-way clutch means for rotating in the opposite direction only when said spring means unwinds to close said door, the improvement comprising a highly efficient, compact hydraulic damping apparatus for controlling the rate of which said spring means unwinds to close said door with a relatively constant closing force, said damping apparatus including a plurality of piston chambers formed in said second means, fluid passage means coupling the inner portion of said chambers to form a closed fluid path for retaining a fixed volume of hydraulic fluid, piston elements slidably disposed in each of said chambers and having an end portion extending therefrom, and means adapted to operatively engage the extending end portions of said pistons to restrict the rate of rotation of said second means and therefore the rate at which said spring means unwinds to close said door.

16. The improved door closing apparatus of claim 15, further characterized in that said restricting means includes a swash plate and means for selectively positioning said swash plate to control the stroke resistance experienced by said piston elements and therefore the rate at which said spring means unwinds to close said door.

17. The improved door closing apparatus of claim 15, further characterized in that substantially all of said spring means, said one-way clutch means, said second means, and said damping apparatus and a portion of said first means are operably and concealably retained in a compact manner within said housing.

18. The improved door closing apparatus of claim 16 wherein said housing forms a portion of a hinge assembly with the axis of said housing corresponding to the hinge axis of said assembly and wherein said door closing apparatus further includes a first hinge plate rigidly secured to said housing and adapted to be secured to one of said door and said fixed support and a second hinge plate operably connected to said first means and adapted to be secured to the other of said door and said fixed support such that said first means rotates in said first direction and in said opposite direction as said door is opened and closed respectively.

19. The improved door closing apparatus of claim 17, further characterized in that said housing is generally cylindrical and has a sloped portion on the inside bottom thereon and wherein said restricting means includes a generally cylindrical, wedge-shaped, disk-like plate disposed upon said sloped bottom and adapted to be rotated upon said bottom so as to selectively vary the resistance which the upper surface of said wedge-shaped plate presents to the extended end portions of said pistons.

20. The improved door closing apparatus of claim 15, wherein each of said piston chambers is disposed at an acute angle to the vertical axis of said housing so that the inner portions thereof converge so as to maximize the lateral spread of said piston elements where their end portions contact said restricting means to maximize lift and to minimize side loading and wear.

21. The improved door closing apparatus of claim 19, further characterized in that said restricting means includes adjustment means for selectively varying the resistance which the upper surface of said wedge-shaped plate presents to the exposed ends of said piston elements so as to selectively control the rate of which said spring unwinds to close said door.

22. The improved door closing apparatus of claim 19 wherein said housing further includes means for selectively locking said door in a predetermined opened position.

23. An apparatus for automatically closing a door with respect to a fixed support adjacent thereto comprising a generally cylindrical housing, means for securing said housing to one of either said door or said fixed support, a one-way clutch having a first rotatable means, a torsional spring coiled about at least a portion of said one-way clutch and having one end anchored with respect to said housing and the other end secured to said first rotating means, means for coupling said first rotating means to the other of said door or said fixed support for rotation in a first direction when said door is opened to wind-up said torsional spring and for rotation in the opposite direction when said door is released and said torsional spring unwinds to close said door, said one-way clutch further including a second rotational means responsive only to the rotation of said first rotational means in said opposite direction for rotating therewith, a hydraulic damping means including a plurality of piston chambers disposed in said second rotatable means, a closed hydraulic circuit commonly connecting each of said piston chambers, a piston element slidably disposed in each of said piston chambers for sealing same, each of said piston element having one end extending from said piston chamber, a sloped plate adapted to be operatively engaged by the exposed ends of said piston elements for restricting rotation of said second rotating means, means for concealably and supportably retaining said torsional spring, said one-way clutch, and said hydraulic damping means compactly within said housing, and means for selectively adjusting the position of said sloped plate with respect to the exposed ends of said piston elements for varying the resistance experienced thereby so as to control the rate at which the door closes to insure a relatively constant closing force.