GB2134593A

GB2134593A - Door closing devices

Info

Publication number: GB2134593A
Application number: GB08323168A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Takaharu Watabe
Original assignee: Santo Industries Co Ltd
Current assignee: Santo Industries Co Ltd
Priority date: 1983-01-27
Filing date: 1983-08-30
Publication date: 1984-08-15
Also published as: CA1199349A; GB2134593B; GB8323168D0; AU560558B2; FR2540172A1; IT8348985A0; IT1197712B; DE3328992A1; AU1769883A

Abstract

A device for automatically closing a door pivoted at one side end thereof to an entrance-exit opening portion of a building, the device comprising a main body 7 adapted to engage with said one side end of the door horizontally slidably, a horizontal resilient member 12 provided within the main body 7, and a cam member 20 having at one end thereof a cam face 18 for receiving the biasing force of the resilient member 12 and pivoted at said one end to one end of the main body by a vertical pin 17, the cam member 20 being adapted to be attached to the wall of the building adjacent to said one side end of the door, the cam face 18 including a planar portion 18a (Fig. 2) for receiving a predetermined minimum biasing force of the resilient member 12 when the door is closed, a curved portion 18b (Fig. 2) continuous with the planar portion for receiving the biasing force of the resilient member 12 which gradually increases as the door is progressively opened and a terminal portion 18c (Fig. 2) continuous with the curved portion for receiving the biasing force of the resilient member 12 which is increased to the greatest extent when the door is opened through a specified angle or a larger angle. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Device for automatically closing door The present invention relates to a device for automatically closing a door pivoted at one side end thereof to an entrance-exit opening portion of a building.

Conventional door closers of this type are largesized and cumbersome to install. Moreover, tc render the door holdable in its opened position, there is a need to incorporate a complex door locking mechanism in the door closer or to provide a door locking mechanism independently of the door closer.

Accordingly an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic door closing device which is small-sized, simple in construction and easy to install and which nevertheless is capable of holding a door in its opened position by a simple mechanism incorporated in the device.

To fulfill this object, the present invention provides a device for automatically closing a door pivoted at one side end thereof to an entrance-exit opening portion of a building, the device comprising a main body adapted to engage with said one side end of the door horizontally slidably, a horizontal resilient member provided within the main body, and a cam member having at one end thereof a cam face for receiving the biasing force of the resilient member and pivoted at said one end to one end of the main body by a vertical pin, the cam member being adapted to be attached to the wall of the building adjacent to said one side end of the door, the cam face including a planar portion for receiving a predetermined minimum biasing force of the resilient member when the door is closed, a curved portion continuous with the planar portion for receiving the biasing force of the resilient member which gradually increases as the door is progressively opened and a terminal portion continuous with the curved portion for receiving the biasing force of the resilient member which is increased to the greatest extent when the door is opened through a specified angle or a larger angle.

Various features and advantages of the present invention will be readily understood from the following description of embodiments given with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a door equipped with an automatic door closing device embodying the present invention; Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view on an enlarged scale showing the device; Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the device as assembled; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged view of Fig. 1; Figs. 5 and 6 are a sectional view and a view partly in section, respectively, for illustrating the principle of operation of the device; and Figs. 7 and 8 are a sectional view and a view partly in section, respectively, for illustrating the principle of operation of a modified automatic door closing device.

Fig. 1 shows a door 1 attached at one side end thereof to an entrance-exit opening portion 2 of a building by two hinges 3, 3 and thereby made rotatable about a vertical axis, and an automatic closing device 4 provided at the top portion of the side end of the door 1.

With reference to Figs. 2 to 4, the automatic closing device 1 comprises a guide member 6 fitted over the top of the side end of the door 1 from above and fastened to the door 1 with screws 5; a main body 7 horizontally slidable along the guide member 6; a horizontal coiled compression spring 1 2 provided within the main body 7 and having one end supported by a first spring seat 8 and the other end supported by a pair of divided second spring seats 11, 11 , the second spring seats 11, 11 being horizontally movable along guide slots 9a and 1 0a which are respectively formed in the top plate 9 and bottom plate 10 of the main body 7; a bearing plate 13 in contact with the outer surfaces of the second spring seats 11, 1 1; a fixedly positioned insertion plate 14 and an engaging member 1 5 interposed between one end of the main body 7 and the first spring seat 8; a spring force adjusting screw 6 extending through the above-mentioned one end of the main body 7, then through the center of the insertion plate 14 in screw-thread engagement therewith and further through the center of the engaging member 1 5 to bear against the first spring seat 8; and a cam member 20 pivoted at one end thereof to the other end of the main body 7 by a vertical pin 17, having at its one end a cam face 18 in contact with the bearing plate 13 for receiving the force of the coiled spring 12 and fastened by screws 1 9 to the wall 2a of the opening portion 2 adjacent to said one side end of the door 1.The second spring seats 11, 11 have engaging projections 1 a, 1 a slidably engaged in the guide slots 9a, 1 Oa. The engaging member 1 5 slightly projects from the main body 7 toward the guide member 6 and has a circular arc face at the projecting portion. The lower end of this portion is integral with an engaging pin 1 spa of circular cross section extending beyond the bottom plate 10 of the main body 7 and engaging in a horizontal guide groove 6a which is formed in the guide member 6.The cam face 1 8 includes a planar portion 1 8a in face-to-face contact with the bearing plate 13 while the door 1 is held closed, a curved portion 1 8b continuous with the planar portion 1 8a and extending gradually away from the vertical pin to press the coiled spring 12 with a progressively increasing force through the bearing plate 1 3 and the second spring seats 11,11 when the door 1 is opened from its closed position, and a terminal portion 1 8c in the form of a circular arc face centered about the vertical pin 1 7 and continuous with the curved portion 1 8b to freely stop the door 1 at an opened position in the range of from a predetermined opening angle, e.g. 70 degrees, to a maximum opening angle, e.g.

100 degrees.

To install the automatic closing device 4 of the above construction on the door 1, the guide member 6 is first attached to the top of the hinged side end of the door 1, with the guide groove portion 6a positioned on the side of the door 1 toward which the door is opened. Subsequently, with the engaging pin 1 5a of the engaging member 1 5 engaged in the guide groove 6a, the cam member 20 is fastened to the wall 2a of the opening portion 2, whereby the device 4 is completely installed in place.

The main body 7 is slidably and turnably connected to the guide member 6, i.e., the door 1, by the engagement of the pin 1 5a in the guide groove 6a, so that the pivot of the device 4, namely, the vertical pin 17, need not be accurately in alignment with the axis of the rotation of the door 1 given by the hinges 3, 3. The device is therefore easy to install.

The operation of the automatic closing device 4 will now be described with reference to Figs. 5 and 6. Fig. 5 shows the device when the door 1 is in its closed position. In this state, the smallest biasing force of the coiled spring 1 2 predetermined by the adjusting screw 1 6 is acting on the planar portion 1 8a of the cam face 18 through the second spring seats 11, 11 and the bearing plate 13. When the closed door 1 is gradually opened, the bearing plate 1 3 moves along the curved portion 1 8b of the cam face 18, causing the spring 12 to exert a progressively increasing force.The force of the spring 12 increases to a maximum when the bearing plate 1 3 comes into contact with the boundary 1 8b' between the curved portion 1 8b and the terminal portion 1 sic of the cam face 1 8 with further opening of the door 1 , for example, when the opening angle of the door is 70 degrees.

The force of the spring 12 remains unchanged when the door 1 is further opened because the terminal portion 1 sic of the cam face 18 is in the form of a circular arc face entered about the pin 17, with the result that the door 1 can be stopped at a desired position beyond the opening angle of 70 degrees, e.g., at the position of 100 degrees.

To close the door 1, the door 1 is returned to the position of opening angle of 70 degrees by hand where the bearing plate 13 almost comes into contact with the curved portion 1 8b of the cam face 18, whereupon the door is automatically closed by the resilient restoring force of the coiled spring 12. When the opening angle of the door 1 is smaller than 70 degrees, the door closes automatically if released from the hand.

Figs. 7 and 8 show a modified automatic closing device 4, which primarily has the same construction as the device of Figs. 1 to 6 with the exception of the following feature. The vertical pin 1 7 is slidably fitted in an elongated bore 21 formed in one end of the cam member 20. A second vertical pin 22 is provided at one end of the main body 7.The second vertical pin 22 is slidably fitted in a cam bore 23 formed in one end of the cam member 20 and so shaped as to position the first vertical pin 1 7 at one end of the elongated bore 21 when the door 1 is in its closed position, to gradually move the first vertical pin 1 7 toward the other end of the elongated bore 21 until the bearing plate 1 3 comes into contact with the curved portion 1 8b of the cam face 18 with the opening of the door 1, and to position the first vertical pin 1 7 at the other end of the elongated bore 21 after the bearing plate 1 3 has reached the the curved portion 1 8b of the cam face 18 with the opening of the door 1.

When the door 1 is in its closed position, the first vertical pin 1 7 of the modified device 4 is positioned at one end of the elongated bore 21 where the pin 1 7 is proximate to the planar portion 1 spa of the cam face 18. As the bearing plate 1 3 approaches the curved portion 1 8b of the cam face 1 8 with the opening of the door 1, the first vertical pin 1 7 gradually moves toward the other end of the elongated bore 21 to decrease the distance of the pin 1 7 from the curved portion.

This serves to mitigate the force required for starting to open the door 1, i.e., the force of the.

coiled spring 12 then exerted. After the bearing plate 13 has reached the curved portion 1 8b of the cam face 18 with the opening of the door 1, that is, after the first vertical pin 17 has reached the other end of the elongated bore 21, the device 4 operates on exactly the same principle as the one shown in Figs. 1 to 6.

Although the automatic closing device 4 is illustrated as being attached to the top of the hinged side end of the door 1, the device can alternatively be attached to the bottom portion of the hinged side end of the door 1. Furthermore, the terminal portion 1 Sc of the cam face 1 8 may be in the form of a plane instead of the circular arc face so that the door 1 can be stopped only at a position of predetermined opening angle.

Claims

1. A device for automatically closing a door pivoted at one side end thereof to an entrance-exit opening portion of a building, the device comprising a main body adapted to engage with said one side end of the door horizontally slidably, a horizontal resilient member provided within the main body, and a cam member having at one end thereof a cam face for receiving the biasing force of the resilient member and pivoted at said one end to one end of the main body be a vertical pin, the cam member being adapted to be attached to the wall of the building adjacent to said one side end of the door, the cam face including a planar portion for receiving a predetermined minimum biasing force of the resilient member when the door is closed, a curved portion continuous with the planar portion for receiving the biasing force of the resilient member which gradually increases as the door is progressively opened and a terminal portion continuous with the curved portion for receiving the biasing force of the resilient member which is increased to the greatest extent when the door is opened through a specified angle or a larger angle.

2. A device is defined in claim 1 wherein the terminal portion of the cam face is in the form of a circular arc face centered about the vertical pin.

3. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein the main body is adapted to slidably engage with a guide member removably attachable to the door.

4. A device as defined in claim 3 wherein an engaging member having a downwardly projecting engaging pin is disposed between the other end of the main body and the resilient member, and the engaging pin of the engaging member is adapted to slidably engage in a guide groove extending horizontally and formed in the guide member.

5. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein the biasing force of the resilient member is adjustable by adjusting means provided at the other end of the main body.

6. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein the resilient member is a coiled compression spring.

7. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein the resilient member has one end bearing against a first seat member provided at the other end of the main body and the other end bearing against second seat means slidably provided close to said one end of the main body.

8. A device as defined in claim 7 wherein the second seat means has at least one pair of engaging projections, and the engaging projections are slidably engaged in corresponding guide slots formed in the main body.

9. A device as defined in claim 7 wherein the second seat means comprises two divided seat members.

10. A device as defined in claim 7 wherein a bearing plate is interposed between the second seat means and the cam member.

1 A device as defined in claim 1 wherein the vertical pin is slidably fitted in an elongated bore formed in said one end of the cam member, and a second vertical pin is provided at said one end of the main body, the second vertical pin being slidably fitted in a cam bore formed in said one end of the cam member and so shaped as to position the first vertical pin at one end of the elongated bore when the door is in its closed position, to gradually move the first vertical pin toward the other end of the elongated bore until the door is opened through the specified angle and to position the first vertical pin at the other end of the elongated bore after the door has been opened through the specified angle.

1 2. A device for automatically closing a door pivoted at one side thereof substantially as described herein with reference to, and as iilustrated in Figures 1 to 6, or Figures 1 to 6 as modified by Figures 7 and 8 of the accompanying drawings.