Improvements in Hinges.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Sept., 1894-Accepted, 12th Jan., 1895
Improvements in Hinges.
I, JOHN B. KNITTEL, of 1318 Dillon Street, St. Louis, State of Missouri, U.S.A.,
Gentleman, 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 :-
The object of my invention is to construct a hinge which will be simple and durable
and at the same time be susceptible of such perfect and accurate adjustment that the
door to which it is secured may open and close without jar or friction, and whereby
the door can be carefully adjusted within the door frame. The construction of the
hinge too, is such, that in case any object should accidentally come between the
leaves while the door is closing, the leaves will not snap off and break or be torn.
from the door or jamb to which they are respectively secured. In detail the hinge,
may be described as follows:
In the drawings,
Figure 1. is a front view of that leaf of the hinge secured to the door jamb;
Figure 2. is an elevation of the adjusting bolt and nut;
Figure 3 is a front view of that leaf of the hinge secured to the door ;
Figure 4 is.a front view of the plate in the rear of the door hinge the purpose of,
which is to be subsequently described;
Figure 5 is a horizontal section taken through the door and jamb showing the.
hinge when closed;
Figure 6 is a vertical section taken through the hinge joint when the parts are
brought together, each leaf in the present case having a supplemental joint the
purpose of which is to be presently described; .and
Figure 7 is a similar section of a modified form designed for light doors, the.
adjusting nut being omitted.
Referring to the drawings, .1 represents the leaf secured to the jamb by means
of screws passed through the holes 2. The exposed edge of the leaf is provided
with the ears 3 & 4, the upper ear 3 being provided with a suitable depression or
socket 5 from which leads a cylindrical opening 6; the lower ear 4 is provided with
a suitable depression or socket 7. The leaf 8 which is secured to the door is
provided with an ear 9 (having a passage 13) on the upper portion of which is
formed an extension 10, which, when the leaves are placed in proper position, fits
in the socket 5 of the leaf 1. When the leaves are placed. together the screw-
threaded bolt 11 is passed through the several ears; and before insertion of the
bolt the adjusting nut 12 is placed in line, with, the openings 6, 7, and 13 of the
several ears, the said nut being adapted to support, the ear 9. interposed.. between
the latter and the ear 4.. The nut 12 is provided with a socket 14 which embraces
the projection 15 of the lower ear, 4, so that when the several parts are in their
proper relative position they will appear.as seen in section in Figure 6, the screw-
threaded bolt being always concealed from view. The nut 12 is, provided with
radial openings 16 for the insertion of a suitable operating lever .or pin. If it;.be
desired to.slightly raise or lower the door on its hinge for purposes of accurate
adjustment, the operator by seizing the roughened head 17 of the bolt can hold
the latter stationary, and by inserting a pin or lever into one of the openings:16
of the nut can turn the nut upon the screw-threaded portion of the bolt 11 in a proper
direction for either raising or. lowering the door as necessity demands, the nut 12
of course raising or lowering the ear 9 whose extension 10 plays with the socket 5,
D...631

page_text: and the extension 15 of the ear 4 playing within the socket 14 of the nut 12. As
seen from the drawings the hinge joint is thoroughly compact, only enough metal
being removed from the several aligning ears as is necessary to allow for the
variable adjustments incident to the ordinary door. The nut 12 too from its
relation to the remaining parts need not be of greater diameter than the
general diameter of the hinge joint, so that the complete joint when the hinge is
assembled will be a true cylinder. The hinge is therefore compact, and possesses
superior strength.
Within a suitable socket of the door frame and in the rear of the leaf 8 is secured
a plate 19 having a screw-threaded stem 20 the said stem projecting through an
opening in the leaf 8. The leaf 8 has a socket or depression 21 which receives a
disk or plate 22 adapted to be screwed on the stem 20, and when screwed fully
into said depression the disk will be flush with the outer surface of the leaf 8.
When the door is closed the stem 20 passes into or is received within an elongated
opening 23 in the leaf 1, the jar of the closing door being, taken up by an elastic
strip or plate 24 placed opposite said opening 23 within a suitable depression 25 in
the jamb. Of course the resilience of the spring 24 is made variable according to
circumstances by varying the position of the plate 22 on the stem 20, the plate 22
being the first to strike the surface of the leaf 1, and thus limiting the extent or
degree to which the plate 24 shall be depressed by the stem 20 in the act of closing
the door. By the above arrangement the door closes with a certain amount of
elasticity and without a jar.
To prevent the leaves from being snapped or torn off from the door or jamb in
case an object accidentally comes between the leaves, I provide each leaf on either
side of the main hinge joint with supplemental hinge joints 26 of ordinary
construction, this form of hinge being best illustrated in Figure 6. Of course
it is necessary that the leaves of the inner joint shall be comparatively narrower
than the outer leaves, as fully shown in the drawings; otherwise this form
could not subserve any practical. purpose, as the door would have a tendency to
work off its hinge.
For doors of light weight, the adjustment is accomplished without the use of an
adjusting nut as fully seen in Figure 7. In that case the middle ear of the leaf
secured to the door is interiorly screw-threaded, being further provided at each
end with depressions 30 within which the projections 31 of the upper and lower
ears of the leaf secured to the jamb are adapted to play. In this modification
the door leaf is supported on the screw-threaded bolt, and by turning the
latter in one direction or the other the necessary vertical adjustments can be
accomplished.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my inven-
tion, and in what manner the same to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is.
2
1. A hinge comprising a leaf, upper and lower terminal aligning ears for the
same, a socket in the upper ear, an opening communicating with said socket, a
socket in the lower ear, a second leaf, a central perforated ear on the same, a
projection on said ear adapted to play within the socket of the upper terminal ear
of the first leaf, a projection on the lower ear of the first leaf, a bolt having a smooth
and a screw-threaded portion passed through the several aligning ears, an adjusting
aut passed over the screw-threaded portion of the bolt below the lower edge of the
central ear of the second leaf, a socket in the lower portion of said nut, the latter
being adapted to support the second leaf, and its socket to simultaneously embrace
the projection of the lower ear of the first leaf, and means on said nut for turning
the same, substantially as set forth.
'
2. In a hinge, a leaf adapted to be secured to the door, a plate in the rear of said
leaf, a screw-threaded stem on said plate passing through the leaf, a depression on
said leaf, a disk or plate adapted to be secured on the stem and pass into said
depression, a second leaf adapted to be secured to the jamb, an opening in said leaf,
1

page_text: a suitable spring or elastic plate in the rear of said opening, the said stem adapted
to come in contact with the elastic plate, and the said disk adapted to limit the
depth to which the stem will penetrate substantially as set forth.
3. A hinge having a main hinge joint, leaves on either side thereof of com-
paratively narrow width, & a supplemental leaf of greater width hinged to each of
the main leaves, the supplemental leaves being adapted to be secured to the door
and jamb respectively whereby a yielding connection is made by the narrow leaves
between said door and jamb, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 11th day of September 1894.
For the Applicant,
W. LLOYD WISE,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Chartered Patent Agent.