Double pivot door for cargo vehicles

• US 4,372,603 A
• Filed: 10/21/1980
• Issued: 02/08/1983
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/1978
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Fruehauf Trailer Services, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Fruehauf Corporation
• Inventors: Stanczak, Edmund A., Ringe, Stephen J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Peters, Jr., Joseph F.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Carroll, John A.
• Application Number:
  US06/198,991
• Time in Patent Office: 840 Days
• Field of Search: 296/146, 296/181, 296/183, 49/383, 49/246, 49/208, 292/DIG. 17
• US Class Current: 296/146.12
• CPC Class Codes: B60J 5/0498 with rigid panels pivoting about a horizontal axis
• CPC Class Codes: B60P 3/20 Refrigerated goods vehicles air treatment of goods space B60H; air-conditioning means for freight cars, isothermic wagons B61D27/0027; superstructures for refrigerated goods vehicles B62D33/048
• CPC Class Codes: B61D 19/004 swinging B61D19/008 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: E05D 3/12 with two parallel pins and one arm
• CPC Class Codes: E05Y 2900/51 for railway cars or mass transit vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: E05Y 2900/516 for trucks or trailers
• CPC Class Codes: E05Y 2900/531 Doors
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 292/17 Hinge edge latches

Abstract

A double pivot or toggle action hinge action and a latching or keeping function are combined in a single entity for the purpose of hinging a door as well as serving as the mechanism to lock the door in a closed position. The combined assembly includes a shaft defining a first pivot axis and interdigitated hinge members on the shaft and on the associated door which are pivotally joined about a second axis parallel to the first axis and a handle is connected to the shaft to control the toggling action of the hinge and, finally, the door is provided with a latch or keeper which is adapted to capture and retain the handle whereby positively to hold the assembly in door-closed position.

Claims

1. In a cargo vehicle having vertical walls surrounding a cargo space, at least one of said walls having an opening to provide access to said cargo space, and a door cooperating with such opening for movement between open and closed positions relative thereto, the improvement which comprises combined hinging and locking means for securing said door in closed positions while allowing the door to be swung substantially 180°

to open position, without requiring encroachment upon said cargo space or significant reduction in door or wall thickness;

said means comprising a double pivot hinge assembly connecting one vertical side edge of said door to said one wall of one side of said opening, retainer means for capturing and holding the opposite side edge of the door when in closed position, handle means connected to said hinge assembly for swinging said one side edge away from said one wall while withdrawing the opposite side edge from said retainer means, and latch means for locking said handle means to said said door when the latter is in closed position, said one wall being recessed along that side of the opening on which said hinge assembly is mounted, said hinge assembly being nested within said recess when the door is in closed position.

2. In a cargo vehicle as defined in claim 1 wherein said hinge assembly comprises a vertical shaft and pivot means connecting said shaft to said one wall within said recess for pivotal motion about a first axis which is coincidental with the longitudinal axis of said shaft, first hinge elements fixed to said shaft and projecting therefrom substantially parallel to said one wall toward said door when the latter is in closed position, second hinge elements projecting laterally from said one side edge of the door, and pivot means connecting said first and second hinge elements for defining a second axis parallel to but spaced from said first axis.

3. In a cargo vehicle as defined in claim 2 wherein said handle is connected to said shaft.

4. In a cargo vehicle as defined in claim 3 wherein said handle is connected to said shaft about a pivot axis perpendicular to a plane containing said first and second axes.

5. In a cargo vehicle as defined in claim 4 wherein said latch means comprises a keeper on said door adapted to capture said handle behind it.

6. In a cargo vehicle as defined in claim 2 wherein said second axis is spaced from said first axis by an amount sufficient to allow positioning of said second axis outwardly of said recess.

7. In a cargo vehicle as defined in claim 6 wherein said handle is connected to said shaft.

8. In a cargo vehicle as defined in claim 7 wherein said handle is connected to said shaft about a pivot axis perpendicular to a plane containing said first and second axes.

9. In a cargo vehicle as defined in claim 8 wherein said latch means comprises a keeper on said door adapted to capture said handle behind it.

10. In a cargo vehicle having a body including vertical side walls providing a cargo space therebetween, said body having a predetermined external width dimension and said side walls having predetermined thicknesses within said width dimension, sufficient to maintain the structural integrity of said walls without unnecessary encroachment upon said cargon space, at least one of said walls having an opening therein, a door sized to fill said opening, and hinge means mounting one edge of said door to said one wall along a marginal edge of the latter at one side of the opening for allowing the door to move between a closed position and a fully opened position in which the door in swung substantially 180°

from such closed position substantially into face-to-face relation to said one wall;

said marginal edge of said one wall being of a thickness less than said predetermined thickness thereof to provide a vertically extending external recess along said one side of the opening, said hinge means being nested within said recess when the door is in closed position whereby to reside within said predetermined width dimension of the vehicle body;

said hinge means comprising a vertical shaft pivotally mounted on said one wall for rotation about the longitudinal axis of the shaft, first hinge members fixed to and projecting laterally from said shaft, second hinge members fixed to and projecting laterally from said one edge of the door, and pivot means joining said first and second hinge members about a second pivot axis parallel to but offset from said longitudinal axis of the shaft, said first hinge members being of lengths sufficient to shift said second pivot axis outwardly from said one wall during opening of said door whereby to allow the substantially 180°

movement thereof from the closed position;

keeper means on said one wall for capturing and retaining said door, at that edge thereof opposite said one edge, when the door is in closed position; and

handle/latch means connected to said shaft for retaining said door engaged with said keeper means and said hinge means in toggled, door-closing condition.

11. In a cargo vehicle as defined in claim 10 wherein said handle/latch means is in the form of a handle pivotally attached to said shaft about an axis perpendicular to a plane containing said first and second axes and means on said door for capturing and retaining a portion of said handle remote from said shaft.

12. In a refrigerated vehicle having an upstanding wall provided with a door opening, a door received in said opening in substantially flush relation with the outer surface of said wall, a compressible seal circumscribing said door and compressed between the door and that marginal edge of the wall defining said opening and hinge means mounting said door for closing and opening movements relative to said opening, the improvement wherein:

said door is provided with a lateral extension at one vertical side thereof and said wall is provided with a keeper channel receiving said extension when the door is in closed position; and

said hinge means comprises a first hinge member pivotally mounted on the outer side of said wall about a first vertical axis closely spaced from that other vertical side of the door opposite said one vertical side thereof, a second hinge member fixed to said door and projecting laterally from said other vertical side of the door, pivot means fixed to said first hinge member and pivotally connected to said second hinge member about a second vertical axis spaced from said first axis, and a handle connected to said first hinge member and forming an extension thereof for swinging said other side of the door outwardly from the opening while simultaneously translating said one side of the door to withdraw said extension from said keeper channel.

13. In a refrigerated vehicle as defined in claim 12 wherein said first hinge member is in the form of a rod having its axis coincidental with said first axis.

14. In a refrigerated vehicle having a vertical wall provided with an opening, a door received in said opening in substantially flush relation with the outer surface of said wall, a compressible seal circumscribing said door and compressed between it and the margin of the wall defining said opening, said hinge means for allowing said door to be swung to open position, the improvement wherein:

said hinge means comprises a vertical rod and means on said wall pivotally mounting said rod about its longitudinal axis, a series of first hinge members fixed to said rod and spaced longitudinally along its length, a plurality of second hinge member fixed to said door and projecting laterally from one vertical side edge thereof, pivot means pivotally connecting said first hinge members to said second hinge members about a second axis parallel to but spaced from said longitudinal axis of the rod, said longitudinal axis of the rod and said second axis lying in a plane substantially parallel to the door when the latter is in its closed position, and a handle connected to and projecting laterally from said rod for imparting torsion thereto to move the door to open position; and

keeper means for retaining the other vertical side edge of the door when the latter is in closed position.

15. In a van body having a side wall of predetermined thickness, said side wall having an outer surface and having a door opening therein, the combination of a door sized to fill the door opening and being of a thickness commensurate with that of said side wall, sealing means interposed between the periphery of said door and the margin of said side wall defining said door opening, and hinge/keeper means mounted substantially flush with respect to said side wall and said door for controlling initial opening and terminal closing motions of said door to preserve the integrity of said sealing means while permitting the door to swing substantially 180°

between its fully open and fully closed positions, said door and said hinge/keeper means being mounted in recessed relationship with respect to said outer surface of said side wall when the door is in its closed position.

16. In a van body as defined in claim 15 wherein said hinge/keeper means includes a toggle action hinge.

17. In a van body as defined in claim 16 wherein said hinge/keeper means also includes a handle directly connected to one element of the hinge to control the toggle action thereof and a keeper on said door for latching said handle thereto.

18. In a container having vertical walls surrounding a cargo space at least one of said walls having an opening to provide access to said cargo space, and a door cooperating with such opening for movement between open and closed positions relative thereto, the improvement which comprises combined hinging and locking means for securing said door in closed positions while allowing the door to be swung substantially 180°

said open position, without requiring encroachment upon said cargo space or significant reduction in door or wall thickness;

said means comprising a double pivot hinge assembly connecting one vertical side edge of said door to said one wall of one side of said opening, retainer means for capturing and holding the opposite side edge of the door when in closed position, handle means connected to said hinge assembly for swinging said one side edge away from said one wall while withdrawing the opposite side edge from said retainer means, and latch means for locking said handle means to said door when the latter is in closed position, said one wall being recessed along that side of the opening on which said hinge assembly is mounted, said hinge assembly being nested within said recess when the door is in closed position.

19. A door assembly comprising a wall having an opening therein, a hinge member secured to the wall pivotally about a first axis parallel and adjacent to a first edge of the opening, a door for closing the opening secured at an edge portion to the hinge member pivotally about a second axis parallel to and spaced apart from the first axis, the arrangement being such that when the door is in its closed position the second axis is nearer to the free edge of the door than the first axis is, retaining means that prevents the free edge of the door from moving outwards away from the plane of the wall when the door is in its closed position, and means for rotating the hinge member so that, from the closed position of the door, the hinge side of the door is caused to move outward and the free edge of the door is caused to move substantially in the plane of the opening towards the hinge edge of the opening, the arrangement being such that the free edge of the door is thereby released from the retaining means and that the whole door is then free to swing outwards about at least one of the said axes.