Improvements in Spring-hinges for Doors.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Oct., 1889-Accepted, 30th Nov., 1839
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Spring-hinges for Doors.
JOHN SANDERS STEVENS, and CHARLES GEORGE MAJOR, Engineers, Janus Works,
Queen's Road, Battersea, in the County of Surrey do hereby declare the nature of
this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Our invention is for improvements in Spring hinges for doors by means of which
(1) the construction of the spring is much simplified; and (2) the shoes by which the
motion is transmitted to the door may be adjusted within limits, so that one and the
same shoe may be used for doors of various thicknesses.
We put our invention into practice as follows. We attach to the heel of the door A,
fig. 1, a pivot B, which has formed upon it a peculiarly shaped double arm or cam C.
The pivot B is mounted in a small metal box D fixed in the floor, arranged to contain
the whole of the spring mechanism and covered by a removeable plate E. A
hollow cylinder F open at one end and closed at the other, lies horizontally in the
box D, fitting freely against the box sides, and capable of sliding toward or from
the pivot B. The closed end of the cylinder is forced into contact with the arms C
of the pivot, by one or more spiral springs G, placed inside the cylinder, acting
under compression, and taking a bearing against the end of the containing box D.
When the door A is in the closed position, both ends of the arms or cam C upon
pivot Bare in contact with the cylinder F, the pressure on each arm tending to
turn the door in an opposite direction, with the result that the door is firmly held.
But if the door is swung in either direction, one or other of the armis forces the
sliding cylinder to recede in opposition to the thrust of the spring, increasing its
compression, while the opposite arm moves away from the cylinder. When the door
is released, the spring within the cylinder causes the latter to force back the acting
arm of pivot till both arms are again in contact as in fig. 2, and the door is brought to
rest in the central or closed position.
The outline of the pivot arms C is such that the greatest resisting power is given at
the closed position, and it continually decreases as the door opens.
We sometimes combine with the preceding a farther improvement. The sliding
cylinder F, figs. 3 & 4, is made to fit the sides of the containing box at the head only,
leaving a certain amount of clearance H along each side of the barrel. On the upper
part of the tail or open end of the cylinder a boss I is formed, through which a
horizontal screw J passes transversely, the length of the screw being equal to the
internal width of the box. This screw will then serve to guide the open end of
cylinder, and by turning the screw, the cylinder may be made to vary its alignment
rclatively to the box, and as the pivot B will always adjust itself to the head of the
cylinder F, slight errors of fixing as regards the alignment of the door may thus be
corrected. The screw is fitted with a lock nut to lock it in any desired position, and
both head and point may be fitted with thimbles K to prevent the motion along the
sides of the box from turning the screw.
A top centre or upper hinge of any of the known types may be used with this
spring.
We make the adjustable shoe, figs. 5 & 6, of three pieces, a centre L to fit upon the
pivot, and two cheeks M M for securing to the door. The cheeks are attached to the
centre by screws N on each side so that they may be set to any width of door within
the limits of the screws. This arrangement of shoe also affords facilities for adjusting
the radial position of door with relation to the spring, or for throwing the bottom of
the door bodily to either side for the purpose of correcting errors of fixing.
These devices may be used in combination with oil or air-check arrangements,

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:
1. A spring hinge has described and illustrated in figs. 1 and 2.
2. A spring hinge with cylinder adjusting device as described and illustrated in
figs. 3 and 4.
3. Adjustable shoes for spring hinges as described and illustrated in figs. 5 and 6.
Dated this 28th dow of October 1980
JOHN SANDERS STEVENS.
CHARLES GEORGE MAJOR.