AN IMPROVEMENT IN SPRING DOOR HINGES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Cornelius Joseph Rooney and David Renshaw, of
New York, in the County and State of New York, in the United States
of America, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN SPRING DOOR
HINGES."
Sealed the 1st June 1860, and dated the 28th December 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Cornelius Joseph Rooney
and David Renshaw at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 28th December 1859.
We, CORNELIUS JOSEPH ROONEY and DAVID RENSHAW, of New York, in the
County and State of New York, in the United States of America, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN SPRING
DOOR HINGES," to be as follows:-
Our Invention has for its object the combination of the spring and the parts:
of the hinge in such a manner as to admit of the adjustment of the elastic
force of the spring in relation to the hinge, and to facilitate the removal and
replacement of the spring when required, without interfering with the connection
of the parts of the hinge.

page_text: And this object is accomplished by the following mode of constructing and
combining the parts:-The hinge is composed of two leaves or wings connected
by a spindle or axis, as usual, but the upper part of both these is cut away, so
as to form a space around the spindle for the insertion of the spring, one end
of which is fitted into a groove in an enlarged portion of the spindle, and
the other end is fixed to one of the leaves or wings, while a portion of the
spindle is formed square in the cross section and fits into a correspondingly
shaped socket in the other leaf or wing. By this arrangement one leaf or wing
of the hinge is fixed on the spindle to which one end of the spring is con-
nected, and the other leaf or wing to which the other end of the spring is fixed
is capable of turning loosely on the spindle. The elastic force capable of
being exerted by the spring on the hingo is adjusted by raising the square part
of the spindle out of its socket, and turning the spindle into the required
position, and then inserting the end of the spring in the groove therein. And
the spring is casily removed by unscrewing the one end of it from the leaf or
wing and withdrawing its other end from the groove in the spindle, when it
may be taken out of the recess formed in the two leaves or wings. Also a
fresh spring may be inserted in the recess, and connected at its two ends to
the spindle and leaf or wing respectively.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Cornelius Joseph Rooney and David Renshaw in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 27th June 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, CORNELIUS
JOSEPH ROONEY and DAVID RENSHAW, of New York, in the County of
New York, and State of New York, in the United States of America, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of December, A.D. One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said Cornelius
Joseph Rooney and David Renshaw, Her special license that we, the said
Cornelius Joseph Rooney and David Renshaw, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Cornelius Joseph Rooney and
David Renshaw, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-

page_text: after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SPRING DOOR HINGES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
we, the said Cornelius Joseph Rooney and David Renshaw, by an instrument
in writing under our hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent..
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Cornelius Joseph Rooney and David
Renshaw, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, that is to say:-
Our said Invention consists in the manner herein-after described of com-
bining and arranging the spring and the different parts of the hinge, by which
the adjustment of the parts is rendered more convenient, and the removal of a
broken spring and the attachment of a new one in its place very much
facilitated.
The accompanying Drawings illustrate our Invention as follows:-Figure 1
is a perspective view of our improved hinge closed; Figure 2 is a side eleva-
tion of it; Figure 3 is a plan; Figure 4 is an elevation of the spindle which
forms the axis of the hinge; Figure 5 is a similar elevation of the same thing,
only that the side which in Figure 4 is presented towards the observer is placed
at the right hand in Figure 5; Figure 6 is a horizontal section of the hinge,
showing the parts below the line X, X, as drawn across Figures 1, 2, 4, and
5; Figure 7 is a plan or top view of the spindle or shaft of the hinge;
Figure 8 is a plan, showing another arrangement for attaching the spring to
other parts of the hinge.
A and B are the sides or wings of the hinge; C is the spindle or axis by
which they are connected. The upper part of the sides is cut away around
the axis, as shown, to receive the spring E, the inner end of which is hooked
upon a hook g attached to the upper part of the spindle, or it may be turned
abruptly at the end and be secured by entering a narrow slit f, which may be
sawn in the side of this upper portion of the spindle for that purpose, as shown
in Figure 8. The manner of connecting it by. the hook g is the same as that
ordinarily used in connecting the springs of clocks and watches. The other or
outer end of this spring is fastened to the wing A either by the hook h upon

page_text: the back side of the leaf or wing A, in a manner similar to that in which it is
secured to the shaft, or it may be secured upon the inner side of the wing by
means of screws e, e, as indicated by dotted lines in Figure 8.
We prefer the mode of construction which is represented in the first 7
Figures. The spindle C, where it fits into the upper remaining section of the
joint, is made square, as shown at i, and a square socket or hole is made in
this upper section (which forms a part of the wing B), and by means of this
connection the parts of the hinge are so combined with the spring that the
latter is made to furnish the necessary resistance to the act of opening a door:
The shaft C is so fitted that it can be raised up and turned so as to give
greater or less tension to the spring, as may be desired; and by the exercise of
care this may be done without the removal of the binge from the door, or the
jamb, or casing. This is a matter of some importance, as the same tension of
spring upon a door for the purpose of shutting it is not generally required in
the summer that is necessary in the winter. The arrangement of parts also
furnishes the means of removing a broken spring without the disruption of the
parts of the hinge, or the necessity of any injury to it in any respect, nor even
the necessity of removing it from the door, it only being necessary in the case
of the construction represented in the first seven Figures that the wood should
be cut away sufficiently under the outer end of the spring to allow it to be
slipped over the end of the hook h, and this, if skilfully performed, will not
disfigure the door or any part of the work. The inner end is easily unhooked
from the shaft. In the case of the construction represented in Figure 8, the
withdrawal of the screws e, e, releases the outer end of the spring, when it may
be raised up without difficulty and removed. The new spring is then coiled
up sufficiently close to allow it to be conveniently introduced, and the ends
being brought into position it is secured and adjusted in the manner before
intimated. Should the adjustment not be found satisfactory, the shaft C may
be raised up and so turned as to give the proper tension to the spring, the
shaft in the construction shown in the first seven Figures being made square
at the top to allow a wrench to be used for that purpose.
We are aware that a spring has been combined with a door hinge before,
and this we do not claim as our Iuvention; but in all cases of such combi-
nation with which we are acquainted the parts are not, so combined as to
furnish or even allow the facilities of removal and adjustment which it is the
purpose and result of our Invention to give.
The particular improvement which we claim as constituting our said Inven-
tion is the arrangement of the coiled spring E, shaft C, and wings A and B in

page_text: combination with each other, as described, for the purposes stated, when the
parts are constructed substantially as herein set forth or in manner equivalent
thereto.
In witness whereof, we, the said Cornelius Joseph Rooney and David
Renshaw, have heretofore set our hands and seals, this Eighth day of
June, A.D. One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
CORNELIUS JOSEPH ROONEY. (L.S.)
DAVID RENSHAW.
(L.S.)
Subscribed and sworn to
before me this Eighth
day of June 1860.
ABM. PIERCE,
Notary Public. (L.S.)