A vehicle door hinge

Abstract: A hinge having a first hinge leaf (21) hingedly connected to a second hinge leaf (22) for movement about a hinge axis, the hinge leaves being inter-engaged to prevent axial separation along the hinge axis, and at least one hinge pin (40) extending along the hinge axis, the hinge pin having a terminal axial face (52) located internally of one of the hinge leafs to prevent access thereto.

Description: The present invention relates to a hinge, in particular, a vehicle door hinge. Security vehicles as used for example for transporting money to/from banks need to be adapted such that forced entry into the vehicle is difficult. Hinges, particularly hinges having hinge pins located on the outside of a vehicle can provide a relatively easy access route for forced entry by unauthorised removal of the hinge pin(s). Security hinges for use in domestic applications are known; US 4116514 being an example. US 4116514 discloses first and second hinge leaves having journal arms interleafed with one another to prevent separation of the hinge leaves in the direction of the hinge axis. One hinge leaf has a pair of outer journal arms between which the journal arms of the other leaf are located. A pair of hinge pins are located in bores extending through all journal arms, a first of the hinge pins having an enlarged head received in the bore of one outer journal arm and a second of the hinge pins having a head received in the bore of the other outer journal arm. Each hinge pin is prevented from moving axially inwardly of the hinge by virtue of its head abutting against a bearing seated in a journal arm on the other hinge leaf. End caps are provided for closing off the outer ends of the bores in the outer journal arms. A general aim of the present invention is to provide a hinge which is difficult to dismantle by removal of the hinge pin. According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a vehicle door hinge resistive to unauthorised tampering as defined in Claim 1. Various aspects of the present invention are hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:- Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of the rear of a vehicle fitted with hinges according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a side view of a hinge according to one embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 is a sectional view along line III-III in Figure 2; and Figure 4 is a plan view of the hinge shown in Figure 2; Referring initially to Figure 1, there is shown a vehicle 10 having a pair of rear doors 11. Each door 11 is hingedly connected to the vehicle body 12 via a pair of hinges 20 according to the present invention. As seen in Figure 1, the hinges 20 are located externally of the vehicle door 11 and body 12 and so are exposed to tampering by a potential intruder for unauthorised entry into the vehicle. In accordance with the general aim of the present invention, each hinge 20 is adapted to deter tampering for unauthorised entry. As seen more clearly in Figures 2 to 4, the hinge 20 includes a pair of hinge leaves 21, 22 hingedly connected to another. In the illustrated embodiment, hinge leaf 21 is intended to be secured to the vehicle door 11 and hinge leaf 22 is intended to be secured to the vehicle body 12. Hinge leaf 22 is provided with bolts 18 for securance to the body 12 and hinge leaf 21 is provided with an anchor plate 19 for securance to a door 11. Hinge leaf 22 includes a pair of spaced journal arms 24, 25 between which is received a journal arm 26 formed on leaf 21. A bore 28 is provided in arm 26 which extends throughout the entire axial length of arm 26. Journal arms 24, 25 are provided with axially aligned bores 30, 31 respectively which extend the entire axial length of each respective arm 24, 25. Each bore 30, 31 is stepped to define a wider portion 33, 34 located at the outer end of each respective bore and also to define an internal shoulder 35, 36 respectively. A pair of hinge pins 40, 41 are provided, hinge pin 40 being located in bore 30 and extending partly into bore 28 from an upper end thereof and hinge pin 41 being located in bore 31 and extending partly into bore 28 from a lower end thereof. Each hinge pin 40, 41 is provided with an enlarged head 44, 45 respectively, each of which, in use, abuts against respective internal shoulders 35, 36. The axial length of each head 44, 45 is preferably chosen to be equal to or more preferably shorter than the axial length of the wider bore portion such that when in abutment with respective shoulders 35, 36 the head 44, 45 is completely housed within respective bore portion 33, 34. Accordingly, in use, only axial end faces 46, 47 of respective pin heads 44, 45 are accessible to a potential intruder. At least the heads 44, 45 are adapted, for example by suitable choice of metal or surface treatment, to be resistive to drilling. For example, the pins 40, 41 may be made of mild steel which is case hardened. The length of pins 40, 41 are chosen such that their respective inner axial faces 52 are spaced from one another by a distance d when fully inserted. This ensures that each pin 40, 41 may be fully inserted to engage their respective shoulders 35, 36. Preferably each hinge pin 40, 41 is secured within respective bore 30, 31 so as to be non rotatably received therein and also resistive to axial withdrawal. Preferably such securance is achieved by providing the circumferential faces of beads 44, 45 with a roughened surface which grips the internal wall of respective bore portions 33, 34 after insertion of the pins. The roughened surface may be defined for example by flutes 50 which preferably bite into the material of the hinges leaves during insertion. It will be appreciated that the hinge pins 40, 41 are inserted into the hinge 20 in opposed axial directions, viz. as shown in Figure 3 hinge pin 40 is inserted downwardly and hinge pin 41 is inserted upwardly. Accordingly one hinge pin acts to block access to the inner axial face 52 of the other hinge pin and thereby prevent potential intruders from extracting either pin by pushing an implement against inner axial face 52. Preferably as shown, bore 28 is lined with a pair of self lubricating bushes 55, 56 each of which includes a flange 57 for providing a sliding bearing face between opposed faces on arms 24, 25 and 26. In the example described above, interleafing between hinge leaves 21 and 22 is achieved by a single journal arm on leaf 21 and a pair of spaced journal arms on leaf 22. It will be appreciated that interleafing may be achieved by adopting a plurality of journal arms on leaf 21, each of which is interleafed with a pair of axially spaced journal arms on leaf 22. In such a case, the outermost journal arms on leaf 22 would be provided with the stepped bores.

Claims: A vehicle door hinge resistive to unauthorised tampering, the hinge having a first hinge leaf (21) hingedly connected to a second hinge leaf (22) for movement about a hinge axis, the hinge leaves being interengaged to prevent axial separation along the hinge axis, the first hinge leaf (21) including a first journal arm (26) and the second hinge leaf including a pair of second journal arms (24, 25) spaced apart along the hinge axis, said first journal arm (26) being located between said pair of second journal arms (24, 25) in order to prevent axial separation between the first and second hinge leaves, the first and second journal arms having bores (28, 30, 31) aligned along the hinge axis; the bore (30, 31) extending through and being stepped within each of said second journal arms to define a wide bore portion (33, 34) and a shoulder (35, 36), the wide bore portion of each of said bores being of a predetermined axial length defined between said shoulder and the external mouth of the bore; a first hinge pin (40) having an enlarged head portion (44) and a shank portion located within the bore of one of said second journal arms, and a second hinge pin (41) having an enlarged head portion (45) and a shank portion located within the bore of the other of said second journal arms; the enlarged head portions (44,45) of the first and second hinge pins being formed either from a metal, or a metal having a surface treatment, which is resistive to drilling and being located within the wide bore portions (33, 34) of the bores of the respective second journal arms and co-operating with the respective shoulders (35, 36) to prevent axial displacement of the hinge pin in the hinge pin insertion direction; and each shank portion of the respective hinge pins extending partially into the bore of the first journal arm so that the terminal axial end face (52) of each hinge pin is located internally of the first journal arm (26). A hinge according to Claim 1 wherein the enlarged head portion (44, 45) of each hinge pin has an axial length less than or equal to said predetermined length of the wide bore portion (33, 34). A hinge according to Claims 1 or 2 wherein each enlarged head portion (44, 45) has a circumferential face (50) having a roughened surface by means of which it grips the internal wall of the wide bore portion.

Inventors: BRADLEY SCOTT, BRADLEY, SCOTT, Bradley, Scott, c/o UPF (UK) Limited
Applicants: MULTIMATIC ADVANCED TECHNOLOGI, MULTIMATIC ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES INC.
Application year: 1998
Main classification: E05D5
IPC codes: E05D5, E05D11