IMPROVEMENTS IN SPRING HINGES AND DOOR SPRINGS
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis Robert Baker, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Mechanical Engineer, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SPRING HINGES AND DOOR SPRINGS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Robert Baker at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th November 1881.
FRANCIS ROBERT BAKER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Mechanical
Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN SPRING HINGES AND DOOR SPRINGS."
My Invention consists, first, of the following improvements in spring hinges:-
This part of my Invention is especially applicable to spring hinges for doors, the
said hinges being, made from sheet iron, but my Invention may also be applied to
hinges made of other strong metal or alloy.
I make the flaps and knuckles of the hinge in the ordinary way, but at the
middle of that flap of the hinge which is to be affixed to the door 1 make a spring
tongue. This spring tongue is made by preference in one piece with the flap, and
is situated at the back of the flap, and is bent forward so as to project beyond the
knuckles of the hinge.
In the middle and at the back of the other flap of the hinge which is affixed to
the door frame is an arm made from the metal of the flap. This arm is bent back
or towards the unjointed edge of the flap, and its free end carries an anti-friction
roller. The free end of the spring tongue on one of the flaps of the hinge bears
upon the anti-friction roller on the arm of the other flap. The wood of the door
and door frame is cut away to receive the said spring tongue and arm.
When the door is opened the free end of the spring tongue carried by the flap
fixed to the door travels upon the stationary arm of the flap fixed to the door
frame, and the said spring tongue is put into a state of tension, the pressure of the
said spring tongue in returning to its normal state closing the door. The spring
tongue of the hinge and the arm upon which the tongue bears may be made
separate from the flaps and rivetted thereto. The flap carrying the spring tongue
may be attached either to the door frame or door.

page_text: My Invention consists, secondly, in constructing door springs in the following
manner―
I hinge together two plates which are fixed respectively to the door and door
frame. On the outside of the hinged plate fixed to the door frame I make a
turned back arm with an anti-friction roller on its free end, as herein before
described, with respect to a spring hinge, and I rivet on the outside of the other
hinged plate fixed to the door a strong spring tongue, the free end of which
projects over the other plate and bears upon the antifriction roller on the arm
described carried by the last named plate.
I make the spring tongue from a strip of steel, and in order to give the said
tongue the required range of action I make in it at about its middle a double fold
or double corrugation. When the door is opened the free end of the spring tongue
travels upon the arm on the door frame and is brought into a state of tension, the
pressure of the said tongue tending to close the door, the action of the parts being
in all essential respects the same as that of the corresponding parts of the spring
hinge herein first described.
Instead of hinging together the two plates of the door spring, as described, two
unhinged plates may be used carrying respectively the spring tongue and arm.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Francis Robert Baker in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
2nd May 1882.
FRANCIS ROBERT BAKER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Mechanical
Engineer. " IMPROVEMENTS IN SPRING HINGES AND DOOR SPRINGS."
My Invention consists, first, of the following improvements in spring hinges:-
This part of my Invention is especially applicable to spring hinges for doors, the
said hinges being made from sheet iron, but my Invention may also be applied to
hinges made of other strong metal or alloy.
I make the flaps and knuckles of the hinge in the ordinary way, but at the
middle of that flap of the hinge which is to be affixed to the door I make a spring
tongue. This spring tongue is made by preference in one piece with the flap, and
is situated at the back of the flap, and is bent forward so as to project beyond the
knuckles of the hinge.
In the middle and at the back of the other flap of the hinge, which is affixed to
the door frame, is an arm made from the metal of the flap, this arm is bent back
or towards the unjointed edge of the flap, and its free end carries an anti-friction
roller. The free end of the spring tongue on one of the flaps of the hinge bears
upon the anti-friction roller on the arm of the other flap. The wood of the door
and door frame is cut away to receive the said spring tongue and arm.
When the door is opened the free end of the spring tongue carried by the flap
fixed to the door travels upon the stationary arm of the flap fixed to the door
frame, and the said spring tongue is put into a state of tension, the pressure of the
said spring tongue in returning to its normal state closing the door.
The spring tongue of the hinge and the arm upon which the tongue bears may
be made separate from the flaps and rivetted thereto. The flap carrying the
spring tongue may be attached either to the door frame or door.
My Invention consists, secondly, in constructing door springs in the following
manner :-
I hinge together two plates which are fixed respectively to the door and door
frame. On the outside of the hinged plate fixed to the door frame I make a
turned back arm with an anti-friction roller on its free end, as herein before
described with respect to a spring hinge, and I rivet on the outside of the other
hinged plate fixed to the door a strong spring tongue, the free end of which
projects over the other plate and bears upon the anti-friction roller on the arm
described carried by the last named plate.
I make the spring tongue from a strip of steel, and in order to give the said
tongue the required range of action I make in it at about its middle a double fold
or double corrugation.
When the door is opened the free end of the spring tongue travels upon the arm
on the door frame and is brought into a state of tension, the pressure of the said
tongue tending to close the door, the action of the parts being in all essential
respect the same as that of the corresponding parts of the spring hinge herein first
described.
Instead of hinging together the two plates of the door spring, as described, two
unhinged plates may be used carrying respectively the spring tongue and arm.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings
the manner in which my Invention is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in front elevation, and Figure 2 in back elevation a spring.
hinge constructed according to my Invention; Figures 3 and 4 represent horizontal

page_text: sections applied to a door and door frame, Figure 3 representing the door opened,
and Figure 4 the door closed; Figure 5 is an end elevation of the door hinge;
Figure 6 represents a front elevation of the flap of the hinge carrying the spring
tongue; and Figure 7 represents a front elevation, and Figure 8 a back elevation
of the other flap of the hinge.
Figure 9 represents the two flaps in section.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, and 9.
a, b, are the two flaps of the hinge jointed together by the usual knuckles and
joint pin, the flap a being secured to the door c, and the other flap b to the door
frame d. At the middle of the flap a is a spring tongue e made in one pieco with
the said flap a.
This spring tongue has the form best seen in the sections Figures 3
and 4, that is, it is situated at the back of the flap a, and its free end projects
beyond the knuckles of the hinge.
In the middle and at the back of the other flap b is an arm f. This arm is made
from the metal of the flap b, and is bent back or curved in the manner shown in
the Drawing. On the free end of the arm fis an anti-friction roller g upon which
the free end of the spring tongue e on the flap a bears. When the door c is in its
closed position the parts of the hinge occupy the positions represented in Figure 4.
On opening the door c the free end of the spring tongue e carried by the flap a
affixed to the said door travels upon the stationary arm f of the flap b affixed to
the door frame d, as illustrated in Figure 3, and the said spring tongue is put into
a state of tension, so that when the door is loosed the pressure of the said spring
tongue in returning to its normal state closes the door.
-Although-I-prefer to make the spring tongue e and the arm fin one piece with
their respective flaps, as represented in the Drawing, yet the said spring tongue
and arm may be made separate from the flaps and rivetted thereto, and the
position of the two flaps on the door and door frame may be reversed, that is, the
flap a may be fixed to the door frame, and the flap b to the door.
Figure 10 represents in front elevation, and Figure 11 in side elevation a door
spring constructed according to my Invention. h, i, are the two plates of the door
spring hinged together, the plate h being fixed to the door, and the plate i to the
door frame. On the outside of the plate i fixed to the door frame is a turned back
arm made in one piece with the plate i, the free end of the said arm k carrying
the anti-friction roller l. Rivetted on the outside of the other plate h fixed to the
door is a strong spring tongue m made of steel, and having at about its middle a
double fold or double corrugation n, n, for giving to the said spring tongue the
required range of action. The free end of the spring tongue m bears upon the
anti-friction roller on the arm k of the plate i.
The spring tongue m may be made in one piece with the plate /.
When the door to which the door spring is applied is opened, the free end of the
spring tongue m travels upon the antifriction roller of the arm on the door
frame, and the said spring tongue is brought into a state of tension, so that on
loosing the door the pressure of the said spring tongue closes the door.
Instead of making the arm carrying the antifriction roller in one piece with the
hinged plate i, as illustrated in Figures 10 and 11, the said arm may be made
separately and rivetted to the said plate, as illustrated in front elevation in
Figure 12, side elevation in Figure 13, and end elevation in Figure 14, where the
separate rivetted arm is marked, the other parts being marked with the same
letters of reference as corresponding parts in Figures 10 and 11.
The plates h, i, need not be hinged together, as two unhinged plates may be
employed, which plates are fixed respectively to the door and door frame.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my
Invention,
1
First. The improvements in door hinges herein before described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, making on one of the flaps of the

page_text: hinge a spring tongue, and on the other flap of the hinge a turned back arm
carrying by preference an anti-friction roller, the free end of the spring tongue on
one flap bearing upon the arm or upon the anti friction roller on the arm of the
other flap, for the purpose and substantially as described and illustrated, whether
the said spring tongue and arm be made in one piece with their respective flaps, or
be made separately and rivetted thereto.
Secondly. The improvements in door springs herein before described and illus-
trated in Figures 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 of the accompanying Drawings, that is to
Bay, rivetting to or making in one piece with a plate fixed to the door a spring
tongue, and making in one piece with or rivetting to a second plate fixed to the
door frame an arm carrying by preference an antifriction roller upon which the
free end of the spring tongue bears, for the purpose and substantially as
described and illustrated, the two plates described being either hinged together
or unhinged.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Robert Baker, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty two.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
FRANCIS ROBERT BAKER. (L.S.)