Self-closing concealed hinge

• US 4,177,540 A
• Filed: 02/10/1978
• Issued: 12/11/1979
• Est. Priority Date: 02/10/1978
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: AJAX Hardware Corporation
• Original Assignee: AJAX Hardware Corporation
• Inventors: Gorton, Howard B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kannan, Philip C.
• Application Number:
  US05/876,616
• Time in Patent Office: 669 Days
• Field of Search: 49/386, 49/398, 49/402, 49/399, 16/142, 16/180, 16/147, 16/191, 16/158, 16/159
• US Class Current: 16/335
• CPC Class Codes: E05D 11/1014 for maintaining the hinge in only one position, e.g. closed
• CPC Class Codes: E05D 11/1064 with a coil spring perpendicular to the pivot axis
• CPC Class Codes: E05Y 2900/20 for furniture, e.g. cabinets

Abstract

Concealed self-closing door hinge has pressure element operating in a slender box-like housing comprising parallel ears which closely juxtapose the sidewalls of the slot in which the hinge operates. This gives additional support to the door. Various means for restricting the lateral movement of the pressure element are disclosed.

Claims

1. A compact hinge assembly comprising door and frame wings mountable on said door and said frame, respectively, one of the wings having a housing including a pair of closely spaced parallel ear plates joined by a connecting bight and adapted to be concealed in a narrow elongate recess in the door, the ear plates having laterally extending securing plates, the other of the wings having a knuckle having an engageable ridge and disposed inbetween the ear plates and an arm connected to the knuckle at one end and having second securing plates at the opposite end, the arm fitting between the ear plates, a hinge pin pivotally interconnecting said knuckle and ear plates for relative swinging of said wings about a fixed axis defined by the axis of said hinge pin, a pressure element disposed in snug sliding relation between the ear plates, spring means biasing the pressure element substantially radially toward said hinge pin in all positions of said wings, and retaining means on the housing and engaging the remote side of the pressure element from the connecting bight to hold the pressure element against the connecting bight, whereby adjacent the closed position of the door the pressure element engages the ridge to urge the door to closed position.

2. A hinge assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the pressure element is a rectangular solid having at one end an axial bore extending from one end part way through the element and said spring means is a spiral spring disposed in compression between the inner end of the bore and a portion of the housing.

3. A hinge assembly as claimed in claim 2 wherein the other end of the pressure element is formed with a portion adapted to engage the knuckle and a projection adjacent the portion, the projection extending alongside and beyond the pin to provide an end surface adjacent the knuckle.

4. A hinge assembly as claimed in claim 2 wherein the other end of the pressure element has a reduced portion the end of which is adapted to engage the knuckle.

5. A hinge assembly as claimed in claim 4 wherein the retaining means comprises an elongate element bridging between the ear plates.

6. A hinge assembly as claimed in claim 4 wherein the retaining means are portions of the respective ear plates bent inward over the pressure element.

7. A hinge as claimed in claim 4 wherein the reduced portion is slotted therethrough longitudinally from its side adjacent the connecting bight to its remote side and the retaining means extends up from the connecting bight through the slot and has a terminal portion engaging said opposite side.

8. A compact hinge assembly comprising door and frame wings mountable on said door and said frame, respectively, one of the wings having a housing including a pair of closely spaced parallel ear plates joined by a connecting bight and adapted to be concealed in a narrow elongate recess in a door, the ear plates having laterally extending securing plates disposed in a plane perpendicular to the ear plates for mounting on the inside face of a door frame, the other of the wings having a knuckle disposed inbetween the ear plates and an arm connected to the knuckle at one end and having second securing plates at the opposite end, the arm fitting between the ear plates, a hinge pin pivotally interconnecting said knuckle and ear plates for relative swinging of said wings about a fixed axis defined by the axis of said hinge pin, a pressure element disposed in snug sliding relation between the ear plates, the pressure element having longitudinal grooves and the ear plates having tongue means interfitting with the grooves to guide and retain the element, the pressure element being a rectangular solid having at one end a bore extending from said one end part way through the element, and spiral spring means disposed in the bore in compression between the inner end of the bore and a portion of the housing and biasing the pressure element substantially radially toward said hinge pin in all positions of said wings, the knuckle having a ridge engageable by the pressure element to urge the door to closed disposition, the other end of the pressure element being formed with a portion adapted to engage the knuckle and having a projection adjacent the portion, the projection extending alongside and beyond the pin to provide an end surface adjacent the knuckle, the tongue means and grooves being offset from the knuckle and the grooves extending beyond the knuckle and into the projection.