AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF SPRING BUTT HINGE
Year: 1860

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Alfred Vincent Newton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 5th
July 1860. A communication from abroad by George Bowen Pierson,
of New York City, United States of America.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF SPRING BUTT
HINGE," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improvement in that class of hinges commonly
called the butt hinge, whereby the leaves of the hinge, and consequently the
door, shutter, or gate to which they are applied, are acted upon by a spring
that is enclosed within the eyes of the hinge, and the spring is capable of being
adjusted so as to act with greater or less force upon the leaves, either to keep
them open or to keep them closed by its recoil; the hinge is so constructed
with a view to these objects that the adjustments may be effected with the
hinge attached to a door, gate, or shutter with very little labor or loss of time,
while at the same time the parts can be made durable, and not liable to get
deranged under very hard usage. To effect these objects the eyes of the butt
hinge are made somewhat larger than for ordinary hinges, and with a sleeve
joint to keep them in their proper place. Within the eyes of the two leaves
forming the hinge, a helical spring is introduced, which is connected at the
bottom end to a cap that interlocks with the eye of one leaf, and at the top

page_text: end with a nut that forms the upper cap of the hinge. On this nut fits a
removeable ring that is provided with a V-groove to receive a tenon projecting
from that leaf, which is screwed to the swinging door, gate, or shutter. The
several parts are secured in place by a pintle that passes through the axis of
the hinge. The bottom cap is cast with a short neck and two lugs, which
latter fit into corresponding recesses cast in the edge of the adjacent eye, and
prevent the cap and consequently the spring from turning at this point. The
upper cap or nut at the other end of the hinge is intended to turn, it being
furnished only with a short neck that fits into the end of the eye adjacent to it,
for the purpose of keeping it steady and in place on the eye. This upper cap
or nut is cast with a cylindrical head that has lateral perforations, and it is
pierced through the centre to allow the pintle to pass through to the lower
cap. From the inner ends of the two caps lugs project a suitable distance
into the ends of the coiled spring, for the purpose of giving increased stiffness
to the entire spring, by preventing the ends from collapsing and distributing the
applied power over its whole length. By removing the ring pieco that
surrounds the cap or detaching it from the tenon before mentioned, the hinge
.will move freely and operate like any ordinary binge. The lateral holes in the
upper cap are to allow of the insertion of a pin for turning it round, and thus
winding up the spring. While the spring is held in this state, the ring being
dropped on the nut, and the tenon passed into its V-groove, a lock will be
formed between the spring and swinging leaf of the hinge, and the spring may
thus be made to act directly on this leaf to close the door, gate, or shutter, to
which the hinges may be applied. Then by raising the ring from the nut
portion, and reversing the movement of the cap, and then dropping the
ring in place again, the spring may be made to operate to keep the door
open.