US2987754A - Door hinge check and hold open - Google Patents

Description

June 13, 1961 I P. WIDMER 2,987,754

DOOR HINGE CHECK AND HOLD OPEN Filed May 2'7. 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 :1 Z? H E I 77 I Z5 May /Wm ATTORNEY June 13, 1961 P. WIDMER DOOR HINGE CHECK AND HOLD OPEN 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 27. 1959 IN VEN TOR. @z/Z fl'awer ATTORNEY ,connected end thereof.

United States Patent 2,987,754 DOOR HINGE CHECK AND HOLD OPEN Paul Wid er, Detroit, Mich assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Filed May 27, 1959, Ser. No. 816,238

4 Claims. (Cl. 16-142) This invention relates to door hinges and more particularly to a door hinge check and hold open.

The hinge check and hold open of this invention is intended primarily for use with vehicle body door hinges which include a pair of pivotally connected hinge members, one being secured to the vehicle door and the other being secured to the body. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the door hinge member is provided with a hardened generally U-shaped extension at the pivotally Each leg of the extension is provided with a rounded protuberance engageable with the body hinge member to provide the hinge check in the open position of the door. Each of the legs is further provided with a shoulder defined by a pair of oppositely extending angularly related cam surfaces. The body hinge member is provided with a coil torsion spring, the free ends of which are located in the path of swinging movement of the shoulders of the extension member. The free ends of the spring are normally spaced apart a distance greater than the distance between the shoulders, and, upon swinging movement of the door to open position, one of the cam surfaces of each of the shoulders engages a respective free end of the spring to cam the .ends' together and past the shoulders whereby the ends arelocated on the other of the cam surfaces to thereby bias the door to open position and hold the protuberances in engagement with the body hinge member without rattling.

Thus, this invention provides a door hinge check and hold open which is comprised of a minimum number of parts and yet provides both a positive check and a yieldable hold open for the door in the open position thereof and further prevents rattling or other objectionable noise whenthe door is in open position.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an improved door hinge check and hold open. Another object of this invention is to provide an improved door hinge check and hold open for a pair of pivotally connected hinge members which comprises an extension on one of the hinge members engageable with the other hinge member to provide a door check and which includes a pair of oppositely facing shoulders defining a fixed throat which is cammingly engageable with a pair of spring arms on the other hinge member to yieldably hold the door in open position and hold the protuberances in engagement with the other hinge member.

These and other objects of this invention will be more readily apparent from the following specification and drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a partial sectional view of a vehicle body door and pillar, partially broken away, with the door being mounted on the pillar by a door hinge embodying a hinge check and hold open according to this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a view, partially broken away, taken generally along the plane indicated by the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 and showing the door in open position;

FIGURE 4 is a View, partially broken away, taken generally along the plane indicated by line 4-4 of FIG- URE 3; and

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken generally along the plane indicated by the line 55 of FIGURE 4.

Referring now particularly to the drawings, a vehicle door includes a door outer panel 12 and an end wall 14 which are secured together by bending an edge portion 16 of panel 12 over a flange 18 of wall 14, A male hinge member 20 includes an apertured mounting plate portion 22 bolted at 24 to wall 14 and to a reinforcing plate 26 located inwardly of the wall. Hinge member 20 generally follows the contour of wall 14 and the flange 18 thereof and includes an apertured extension flange 28.

The female hinge member 30 is bolted at 32 to a plate 33 and a reinforcing channel 34 of body pillar 36 and extends outwardly through a suitably apertured wall 38 of the pillar. Hinge member 30 is pivoted to hinge member 20 by a hinge pin 40 extending through aligned apertures in the legs of hinge member 30 and the body of hinge member 20.

An extension member 42 includes a flange 44 located in face-to-face relationship with flange 28 and riveted thereto at 46 in order to rigidly mount the extension member on the hinge member 20. By making the extension member separate from the hinge member, the extension member may be hardened prior to assembly to the hinge member to as to have a long and useful life. As can be seen in FIGURES 2 and 5 of the drawings, the extension member is generally U-shaped, with each of the legs 48 thereof, being provided with a rounded protuberance 50. Legs 48 are further provided with oppositely facing spaced shoulders 52 defining a rigid throat, each shoulder being defined by a pair of lead out, lead in cam surfaces 54 and 56, respectively, surface 54 having a steeper slope that surface 56.

As best shown in FIGURE 4 of the drawings, hinge member 30 is provided with a generally heart-shaped depression 58 receiving a coil torsion spring 60. An offset cover plate 62 bolted at 64 to hinge member 3% maintains the spring 60 within the depression 58. The free arms 66 of the spring normally engage sides 68 of depression 58 so as to limit outward movement of the arms relative to each other, the spring being wound up prior to being mounted within the depression. As best shown in FIGURE 5, each of the arms 66 is provided with a free bent end 70.

When door 10 is moved from its closed position, as shown in FIGURE 1, to its open position, as shown in FIGURE 3, the hinge member 20 will swing clockwise relative to the hinge member 30 about the hinge pin 40. When door 10 reaches a nearly open position, the bent ends 70 of spring arms 66 will engage the lead in cam surfaces 56 to thereby cam the spring arms toward each other as surfaces 56 move relative to the bent ends. As soon as the bent ends move past the shoulders 52 and on to the cam surfaces 54, the spring arms 66 will tend to move the bent ends 7 0 down the surfaces 54 and away from shoulders 52 to thereby hold the protuberances 50 in engagement with the hinge member 30 as shown in FIGURE 3 and thereby provide the positive hinge check and the yieldable hold open. Since the cam surfaces 54 are of a steeper slope than the cam surfaces 56, the spring arms 66 will tightly hold the protuberances against the hinge member 30 without rattling and further will provide a yieldable hold open in order to hold the door 10 in the open position thereof.

When it is desired to close the door 10, the free edge of the door is grasped and enough force is applied to the door to move surfaces 54 and shoulders 52 past the bent ends 70 of the spring arms to position the bent ends 70 on cam surfaces 56. Thereafter, very little force need be applied to the door to move the cam surfaces 56 relative to the bent ends 70 since the bent ends tend to move down these surfaces and out of engagement therewith under the action of the spring arms 66.

Thus, this invention provides an improved door hinge check and hold open.

I claim:

1. A door hinge check and hold open comprising, a

pair of pivotally connected hinge members movable between open and closed positions with respect to each other, a generally U-shaped extension on one of said members at the pivotally connected end thereof the legs of said extension engaging the other of said members upon movement of said members to open position to provide a hinge check, said legs including a pair of oppositely facing lead in cam surfaces and a pair of oppositely facing spaced shoulders providing a fixed throat, and a pair of spaced oppositely biased spring arms on the other of said members respective to said surfaces and shoulders and located in the path of swinging movement of said extension, said cam surfaces being cammingly engageable with said spring arms upon movement of said hinge members to the open position thereof to cam said spring arms behind said shoulders and thereby provide a yieldable hold open and yieldably hold said legs in engagement with said other of said hinge members.

2. A door hinge check and hold open comprising, a pair of pivotally connected hinge members movable between open and closed positions With respect to each other, a generally U-shaped extension on one of said members at the pivotally connected end thereof, the legs of said extension engaging the other of said members upon movement of said members to open position to provide a hinge check, said extension including spaced 'pairs of oppositely extending lead in and lead out cam surfaces providing shoulders therebetween defining a fixed throat and a pair of spaced biased apart spring arms on the other of said members respective to said pairs of surfaces and located in the path of swinging movement of said extension, said lead in surfaces being cammingly engageable with said spring arms upon movement of said hinge members to the open position thereof to move said arms together and cam said arms over said shoulders into camming engagement with said lead out surfaces to thereby provide a yieldable hold open and yieldably hold said legs in engagement with said other of said hinge members.

3. A door hinge check and hold open comprising, a pair of pivotally connected hinge members movable between open and closed positions with respect to each other, a generally U-shaped extension on one of said members at the pivotally connected end thereof, the legs of said extension engaging the other of said members upon movement of said members to open position to pro- Vide a hinge check, said legs including spaced pairs of oppositely facing lead in and lead out cam surfaces defining spaced shoulders providing a fixed throat, and a coil tors ion spring on the other of said members having a pair of spaced biased apart spring arms respective to said shoulders and located in the path of swinging movement of said extension, said lead in surfaces being cammingly engageable with said spring arms upon movement of said hinge members to the open position thereof to cam said arms together and over said shoulders into camming engagement with said lead out surfaces to thereby provide a yieldable hold open and yieldably hold said legs in engagement with said other of said hinge members.

4. A 'door hinge check and hold open comprising, a pair of pivotally connected hinge members movable between open and closed positions with respect to each other, a generally U-shaped extension on one of said members at the pivotally connected end thereof, the legs of said extension engaging the other of said members upon movement of said members to open position to provide a hinge check, said legs including spaced pairs of oppositely facing lead in and lead out cam surfaces defining spaced shoulders providing a fixed throat, and a coil torsion spring on the other of said members having a pair of spaced spring arms provided with bent ends biased apart with respect to each other and respective to said shoulders, said ends being located in the path of swinging movement of said legs, said lead in surfaces being cammingly engageable with said bent ends upon movement of said hinge members to the open position thereof to cam said bent ends together and over said shoulders into camming engagement with said lead out cam surfaces to thereby provide a yieldable hold open and yieldably hold said legs in engagement with said other of said hinge members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 43,670 Colburn Aug. 2, 1864 2,133,663 Johnson et al Oct. 18, 1938 2,651,805 Laible Sept. 15, 1953 2,712,149 Harms July 5, 1955 2,893,050 Hollansworth July 7, 1959

Images