GB1582680A

GB1582680A - Door closer

Info

Publication number: GB1582680A
Application number: GB23683/78A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: T I JAMES GIBBONS Ltd
Current assignee: T I JAMES GIBBONS Ltd
Priority date: 1978-05-30
Filing date: 1978-05-30
Publication date: 1981-01-14
Also published as: FR2433272A7; ES243657Y; DE7915536U1; ES243657U

Description

(54) DOOR CLOSER (71) We, TI JAMES GIBBONS LIMITED, of Church Lane, Wolverhampton, WV2 4BX, a British Company, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:: The invention relates to door closers of the class, herein referred to as the class specified, comprising return springs and an hydraulic check, a cam carried by a pintle which in use is rotated by door opening and closing, a bridle carrying cam fol lowers so as to be moved on cam rotation on door opening both to stress the return springs and to set the hydraulic check, the return springs acting in door closure to effect the check stroke against the re straint of the hydraulic check, thereby preventing violent door closure.

Such a door closure is commonly used in association with a door which is to close automatically when released by a person passing through the door, and may be housed for example in the transom of the door frame.

It is often required that a door should not only close automatically as just des cribed but also be capable of being tem porarily held in one or more open posi tions.

This invention provides a simple form of door closer of the class specified which, at the time of installation or maintenance, permits adjustment of the closer so that the door may have one or more "hold open" positions or be of the "non-hold open" type.

According to the invention, in a door closer of the class specified-the cam has in its. profile a notch or notches extending - part way only through the cam thickness and - the bridle has at least one cam follower which is shaped so that, by being inverted in its position in the bridle, it can co-operate either with the un-notched thickness of the cam or with the notched thickness thereby to enter the notch to hold the closer in a desired "hold open" position.

According to a feature of this invention, the cam follower may be a roller having portions of stepped diameter such that in use with the larger diameter portion of the roller running on the un-notched thickness of the cam profile the roller does not enter a "hold open" notch but with the roller inverted the larger diameter portion runs on the notched thickness and enters a "hold open" notch.

By providing more than one notch and more than one such cam follower, a door closer can be set up before installation or in maintenance to give a desired number of "hold open" door settings.

One embodiment of closer of this invention is illustrated by the accompanying drawings in which : - Fig. 1 is a plan of the closer with casing parts broken away, Fig. 2 illustrates the working parts in the "door closed" position, Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 with the working parts in the "hold open" position, and Fig. 5 is an exploded end view of working parts of the closer.

The illustrated closer comprises a die cast casing 10 housing the working parts of the closer and having appropriate cover plating 11 which is shown partly broken away and which acts to support one bearing of a pintle 12 to which is secured a pivot arm 13 for attachment to the door.

The pintle 12 has formed in one with it a cam 14 whereof the profile has (as best seen in Figs. 3 and 5) arcuate notches 15 which extend only through part of the thickness of the cam 14 so as to provide a notched thickness and an un-notched thickness.

The cam 14 co-operates in use with rollers and, as will be seen from Figs. 3 cam followers 16a, 16b, 16c in the form of rollers and,- as will be seen from Figs. -3 and 5, these rollers are of stepped diameter such that, with a stepped roller positioned as roller 16a (Fig. 5), it runs on the notched thickness of cam 14 and can enter (Fig. 4) an arcuate notch 15 at an appropriate point in the rotation of the cam- 14, but with such a roller inverted as shown for roller 16b (Fig. 5) the roller will run only on the un-notched thickness of the cam profile and so will not enter a notch 15.

The rollers 16 are mounted on pins 17 extending between the limbs of a U-shaped bridle 18 the lateral edges of which are engaged by nylon side pieces 19 which act to guide the bridle 18 by sliding on the casing.

The bridle 18 is secured to a guide block 20 which slides in a bridge piece 21, which may be of nylon, the bridge piece having lateral shoulders 21a to abut corresponding shoulders 10a in the casing to locate it in position.

The guide block 20 has in it bores 22 terminating in recesses to receive the heads of bolts 23 on which are threaded return springs 24 and return spring tensioning nuts 25. The springs 24 by their eds remote from the nuts 25 bear on the bridge piece 21 and so hold the shoulders 10a, 21a in abutment.

The guide block 20 has connected to it the piston rod 26 of an hydraulic check 27 which is accommodated in the casing 10 between the return springs 24 and is adjustably secured to the casing by a screw threaded stub 27a engaged in a socket in the casing. The end of the piston rod 26 is received in a recess in the guide block 20 and locked in position by a set screw 28. A slot 29 in the bridge piece 21 gives access to the set screw.

In use the closer will normally be housed in the door transom with a pintle 12 projecting downwards.

On opening the door, the pintle 12 is rotated so that the cam 14 turns from the "door closed" position of Fig. 2 towards the "door open" position of Fig. 4.

During this movement, depending upon the direction of door opening, the cam 14 acts on one or the other of rollers 16a, 16b so urging the bridle 18 and guide block 20 to the left as viewed in Fig. 2 thereby compressing the return springs 24 and effecting the setting stroke of the hydraulic check 27.

If arrangement of the rollers 16a, 16b is as shown and the door is turned so that the roller 1 6a co-operates with the profile of the cam 14, the larger diameter part of the roller will enter the notch 15 (Fig.

4) and, provided the door is not further opened, the door will be in a "held open" position which may be for example after turning through 95" from the "doorclosed" position.

If, however, the door is opened in the opposite direction, the roller 16b will contact the un-notched thickness of the profile and thus the roller will be able to pass the notch without entering it. In other words the door will not have a "hold open" setting in that direction.

On release of the door in the latter case, or by pressing the door to disengage the roller 16a from the notch 15, the return springs 24 will expand so moving the bridle 18 and the piston of the hydraulic check 27 to effect its check stroke.

Thus the bridle 18 returns slowly to its original "door closed" position. Also the cam 14 will contact the roller 16c, which is always set to run on the un-notched thickness of the profile, so preventing the door from swinging violently to its closed position.

It will be appreciated that by initially selecting the settings of the cam follower rollers 16a 16b, and the position(s) in the cam profile of the notchh8(es) 15, it is possible to arrange for "no hold open" operation of the closer, or "hold open" operation, or for both "hold open" and "no hold open" operation according to the direction in which the door is opened.

The bridle 18 with its rollers, the return springs 24 with their assocated bolts and adjusting nuts, the guide block 20 with the bridge piece 21, the side slide pieces 19, and hydraulic check 27 can be a unit which can be inserted into a closer casing either in primary manufacture of a closer or when the closer is in situ so facilitating repair, maintenance, or replacement of the unit for example to change the door operation.

The hydraulic check 27, which conveniently is of the same construction as described in our concurrent Patent Application No. 23 682/78 (Serial No. 1 581 198), can be adjusted in position in the casing 10 simply by rotating it, so varying the extent to which the stub 27a enters its socket and the rate of travel of the piston on the check stroke.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A door closer of the class specified, wherein the cam has in its profile a notch or notches extending part way only through the cam thickness and the bridle has at least one cam follower which is shaped so that, by being inverted in its position in the bridle, it can co-operate either with the unnotched thickness of the cam or with the notched thickness thereby to enter the notch to hold the closer in a desired "hold open" position.

2. A door closer according to claim 1 wherein the cam -follower is a roller having portions of stepped diameter such that in use with the larger diameter portion of the

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **.

positioned as roller 16a (Fig. 5), it runs on the notched thickness of cam 14 and can enter (Fig. 4) an arcuate notch 15 at an appropriate point in the rotation of the cam- 14, but with such a roller inverted as shown for roller 16b (Fig. 5) the roller will run only on the un-notched thickness of the cam profile and so will not enter a notch 15.

The rollers 16 are mounted on pins 17 extending between the limbs of a U-shaped bridle 18 the lateral edges of which are engaged by nylon side pieces 19 which act to guide the bridle 18 by sliding on the casing.

The bridle 18 is secured to a guide block 20 which slides in a bridge piece 21, which may be of nylon, the bridge piece having lateral shoulders 21a to abut corresponding shoulders 10a in the casing to locate it in position.

The guide block 20 has in it bores 22 terminating in recesses to receive the heads of bolts 23 on which are threaded return springs 24 and return spring tensioning nuts 25. The springs 24 by their eds remote from the nuts 25 bear on the bridge piece 21 and so hold the shoulders 10a, 21a in abutment.

The guide block 20 has connected to it the piston rod 26 of an hydraulic check 27 which is accommodated in the casing 10 between the return springs 24 and is adjustably secured to the casing by a screw threaded stub 27a engaged in a socket in the casing. The end of the piston rod 26 is received in a recess in the guide block 20 and locked in position by a set screw 28. A slot 29 in the bridge piece 21 gives access to the set screw.

In use the closer will normally be housed in the door transom with a pintle 12 projecting downwards.

On opening the door, the pintle 12 is rotated so that the cam 14 turns from the "door closed" position of Fig. 2 towards the "door open" position of Fig. 4.

During this movement, depending upon the direction of door opening, the cam 14 acts on one or the other of rollers 16a, 16b so urging the bridle 18 and guide block 20 to the left as viewed in Fig. 2 thereby compressing the return springs 24 and effecting the setting stroke of the hydraulic check 27.

If arrangement of the rollers 16a, 16b is as shown and the door is turned so that the roller 1 6a co-operates with the profile of the cam 14, the larger diameter part of the roller will enter the notch 15 (Fig.

4) and, provided the door is not further opened, the door will be in a "held open" position which may be for example after turning through 95" from the "doorclosed" position.

If, however, the door is opened in the opposite direction, the roller 16b will contact the un-notched thickness of the profile and thus the roller will be able to pass the notch without entering it. In other words the door will not have a "hold open" setting in that direction.

On release of the door in the latter case, or by pressing the door to disengage the roller 16a from the notch 15, the return springs 24 will expand so moving the bridle 18 and the piston of the hydraulic check 27 to effect its check stroke.

Thus the bridle 18 returns slowly to its original "door closed" position. Also the cam 14 will contact the roller 16c, which is always set to run on the un-notched thickness of the profile, so preventing the door from swinging violently to its closed position.

It will be appreciated that by initially selecting the settings of the cam follower rollers 16a 16b, and the position(s) in the cam profile of the notchh8(es) 15, it is possible to arrange for "no hold open" operation of the closer, or "hold open" operation, or for both "hold open" and "no hold open" operation according to the direction in which the door is opened.

The bridle 18 with its rollers, the return springs 24 with their assocated bolts and adjusting nuts, the guide block 20 with the bridge piece 21, the side slide pieces 19, and hydraulic check 27 can be a unit which can be inserted into a closer casing either in primary manufacture of a closer or when the closer is in situ so facilitating repair, maintenance, or replacement of the unit for example to change the door operation.

The hydraulic check 27, which conveniently is of the same construction as described in our concurrent Patent Application No. 23 682/78 (Serial No. 1 581 198), can be adjusted in position in the casing 10 simply by rotating it, so varying the extent to which the stub 27a enters its socket and the rate of travel of the piston on the check stroke.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A door closer of the class specified, wherein the cam has in its profile a notch or notches extending part way only through the cam thickness and the bridle has at least one cam follower which is shaped so that, by being inverted in its position in the bridle, it can co-operate either with the unnotched thickness of the cam or with the notched thickness thereby to enter the notch to hold the closer in a desired "hold open" position.
2. A door closer according to claim 1 wherein the cam -follower is a roller having portions of stepped diameter such that in use with the larger diameter portion of the

roller running on the un-notched thickness of the cam profile the roller does not enter a "hold open" notch but with the roller inverted the larger diameter portion runs on the notched thickness and enters a "hold open" notch.
3. A door closer according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the bridle carries a pair of such cam followers to co-operate with similar profiles on opposite sides of the cam.
4. A door closer according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the bridle is secured to a guide block slidable in a bridge piece which is located in a casing by abutment of shoulders on the bridge piece and casing under the action of the return springs.
5. A door closer according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the working parts are assembled as a unit to facilitate insertion into a casing, in situ, maintenance or replacement.
6. A door closer substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
7. A door closer according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the hydraulic check is as claimed in our concurrent Application No. 23682/78~(Serial No. 1581198).