Patent Publication Number: US-6704966-B1

Title: Waterproof hinge structure for glass door

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a waterproof hinge structure for glass doors and particularly a hinge structure that forms a tight contact between a support member and a door clamp means of a glass door of a shower stall. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Glass doors have unique material properties, therefore the commonly used hinges for wooden doors cannot be employed. Many hinge structures have been proposed and developed in the prior art to meet this requirement. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,867,869 entitled “Pressure hinge device for glass door or panel” discloses an apparatus that includes a base plate mounted onto a wall, a glass clamp and a tram body attached to the base plate. The tram body has a main pivot roller which has two ends embedded in the glass clamp. The tram boy further has a plurality of holes each holding a spring pad and a spring which presses the spring pad to the main pivot roller for anchoring. In addition, the main pivot roller is coupled with a washer for fastening to the tram body securely. 
     Nowadays, the glass doors are widely used in shower stalls. As water tends to splash during shower, the glass doors aim at preventing the splashing water from spreading outside the shower stall. This function is especially important when the shower stall is located inside a room of a building. To satisfy this purpose, U.S. Pat. No. 6,070,294 entitled “Hinge for a shower screen door” discloses an apparatus that has glass clamping parts for holding the glass door and a circular door mounting part. As the door mounting part and the glass clamp parts form a curved surface at the contact portion, and the glass clamp parts and the door mounting part form a plane at the contact portion, the curved surface and the plane form a line contact at the adjoining location. During installation, a slight deviation of accuracy could result in a gap, and water is prone to seep or flow out through the glass door, and the surroundings outside the shower stall could become damp and smeared. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore the primary object of the invention is to resolve the aforesaid disadvantages. The invention provides a waterproof hinge structure for glass doors to prevent water from seeping outside the shower stall and smearing surroundings outside the shower stall, and to retard rusting of the hinge structure. Another object of the invention is to prevent the glass clamp means and the support member from hitting each other when the glass door is swiveled over 90° and to avoid scratches from occurring on the surface of the support member, thereby to avoid the paint coated on the surface of the support member from peeling off and to prevent rusting or damaging of the aesthetic appeal that might otherwise occurred to the support member. 
     In order to achieve the foregoing objects, the waterproof hinge structure of the invention consists of an anchor dock fixedly mounted onto a wall with a plurality of holes formed thereon; a support member fastening to the anchor dock that has a pivotal trough formed on one side thereof and anchor apertures formed on another side normal to and communicating with the pivotal trough; a pivotal axle pivotally housed in the pivotal trough having an anchor plane and anchor struts; each anchor aperture housing an anchor element and an elastic element, the anchor element having one end engaged with the hole of the anchor dock; a door clamp means which includes a holding clip with a cutaway notch formed thereon, a clamp clip and two gaskets, the notch has an upper side and a lower side with a trough formed respectively thereon corresponding to each other and a vertical side with a plurality of coupling holes formed thereon, and screw holes formed on an inner side of the holding clip, the clamp clip and two gaskets have apertures formed thereon corresponding to the screw holes for fastening the door clamp means to the glass door; the anchor strut of the pivotal axle is coupled in the trough of the holding clip to enable the glass door and the support member to form a pivotal turning relationship; and a pad element including an arched surface and a plurality of stubs located on the arched surface to engage with the coupling holes, the arched surface having two sides each extends to form a bulged rim. The hinge structure thus constructed can tightly hold the glass door by clamping the glass door securely through the support member and the door clamp means. Therefore water in the shower stall is prevented from splashing or seeping outside the shower stall, and the surroundings of the shower stall may be maintained dry and neat. 
    
    
     The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of the invention. 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the invention. 
     FIGS. 3A and 3B are enlarged fragmentary views of the invention. 
     FIGS. 4A and 4B are schematic views of the invention in various use conditions. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the waterproof hinge structure of the invention is located on a glass door  6  of a shower stall. The hinge structure includes an anchor dock  1  fixedly mounted onto a wall, a support member  2  fastening to the anchor dock  1 , a pivotal axle  3  pivotally located on one side of the support means  2 , and a door clamp means  4  for clamping the glass door  6 . 
     The anchor dock  1  is fixedly mounted onto a wall and has a plurality of holes  11  formed thereon. 
     The support member  2  is fastened to the anchor dock  1 , and has a pivotal trough  21  formed on one side thereof and anchor apertures  22  formed on another side normal to and communicating with the pivotal trough  21 . The pivotal trough  21  pivotally houses a pivotal axle  3  which has an anchor plane  31  and anchor struts  32 . Each anchor aperture  22  houses an anchor element  23  and an elastic element  24 . The anchor element  23  runs through the elastic element  24  and the anchor aperture  22  to press the pivotal axle  3 . The anchor plane  31  of the pivotal axle  3  serves anchor finction for the opening or closing of the glass door  6 . The support member  2  has another end engaged with holes  11  of the anchor dock  1 . 
     The door clamp means  4  includes a holding clip  41  with a cutaway notch  42  formed thereon and a clamp clip  43 . The notch  42  of the holding clip  41  has an upper side and a lower side with a trough  421  formed respectively thereon corresponding to each other and a vertical side with a plurality of coupling holes  422  formed thereon. The troughs  421  of the holding clip  41  may hold the anchor struts  32  of the pivotal axle  3  to enable the glass door  6  and the support member  2  to form a pivotal turning relationship. 
     The pad element  5  (referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B) has an arched surface  51  and a plurality of stubs  52  located on the arched surface to engage with the coupling holes  422  of the holding clip  41 . The arched surface  51  has two sides each extends to form a bulged rim  511 . The pad element  5  is made from an elastic material such as rubber. 
     The pivotal axle  3  further has two ends adjoining the support member  2 . Each end of the pivotal axle  3  at the adjoining portion is coupled with a plug  33  which has a cylindrical hollow shaft  331  and a retaining surface  332  extending from one end thereof. After the shaft  331  is coupled with the pivotal axle  3  and the support member  2 , the retaining surface  332  presses the flat surface of the support member  2 . 
     Refer to FIGS. 4A and 4B for the invention in various use conditions. The anchor struts  32  of the pivotal axle  3  are pivotally housed in the troughs  421  of the holding clip  41  of the door clamp means  4  to enable the glass door  6  and the support member  2  to form a pivotal turning relationship so that the glass door  6  may be opened or closed. As the pad element  5  is located on the contact surface between the support member  2  and the door clamp means  4  and is made from an elastic material, and bulged rims  511  form a closed and tight contact with a flat surface of the holding clip  41  and the clamp clip  43 , and the arched surface  51  forms a closed contact with the support member  2 , the support member  2  and the door clamp means  4  always form a contact surface therebetween. Therefore the elasticity of the pad member  5  always keeps the support member  2  and the door clamp means  4  in closed contact with each other without forming a chink even if a gap is generated during installation or assembly, or the gap increases or decrease during the glass door  6  is opened or closed. Thus water in the shower stall may be prevented from splashing or seeping outside the shower stall, and the surroundings outside the shower stall may be maintained dry and neat. 
     In addition, the retaining surfaces  332  of the plug  33  press the surfaces of the support member  2 , and can effectively prevent water from spilling to the surfaces of the pivotal axle  3  and the pivotal trough  21 , therefore rusting of the hinge structure may be retarded, and smooth turning the hinge structure may be maintained. 
     Furthermore, the pad element  5  is bridged between the support member  2  and the door clamp means  4  to provide a secured support. When the glass door  6  is swiveled exceeding 90°, the door clamp means  4  may be prevented from directly hitting the support member  2 . Hence the paint or lacquer coated on the surface of the support member  2  may be prevented from peeling off and rusting may be retarded, and damage of the aesthetic appearance of the support member  2  may be avoided.