US2354789A - Automobile door hinge - Google Patents

Description

Patented Aug. 1, 1944 UNITE-D STATE-s PATENT OFFICE AUTOMOBILE DOOR 'HINGE Lyle C. Atwood, Rockford, Ill., assigner to The Atwood Vacuum Machine Company, Rockford, Ill., a copartnership composed of Seth B. Atwood and James T. Atwood .Application August 26, 1940,seria1'N.-354,185

` 3 ClaimsTv (o1. ifs-iss) This invention relates to a new and improved hinge of the concealed type f-or use on the doors of motor vehicles. Y I

The principal-object of my invention is to provide a hinge embodying a simple and-inexpensive although very eiective means for releasably locking the door in fully'open position against accidental closing, the means employed for this purpose being preferably of a Vform to act also to exert a frictional drag to resist movement of the door so that the full force of violent opening is not assumed by the `conventional door check, which limits the opening movement as is Well known.

- Another object .lis to provide a resilient door stop or detent in the hinge proper -for the purpose stated which consists of a'bowed leaf-spring slidably engageable by the -edge of the gooseneck hinge member, the lhinge member having -a hardened steel wear -plate mounted in a recess in the edge thereof for sliding contact with the leafspr-ing, whereby Ito minimize 4wear and vmake for long life.Y vThe leaf-spring which is carried on the-other hinge member-is preferably formed with a sharp rise on one side-ofthe hump and a gentler rise-on the vother side, the spring being fastened at that -end adjacent the sharp rise and so that the-gooseneck hinge member rides up the gentle rise in the opening of the door and up the sharp rise in the closing of the door, the-"sharp rise affording a better detent or stop for the door to hold it Aopen; The spring also has va right vangle bent end portion on its attached yend toabut vtheA edge 'portion of the hinge 'member to 4holdthe springagainst turn-ing relative to its ufastening rivet and also assume-end thrust vincident to the closing of Vthe door -so that the rivet is'relieved from shock and strain. f

The invention is illustrated-in the accompanying drawing, in rwhich-l H Y' Fig. 1 is a horizontal section through an `automobile door hinge embodying the resilient' door stop of my invention, the door being shown' closed with theA gooseneck hinge member -i-n spaced relation to the stop; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section similar to Fig: 1, but showing the door opened so as vto Aillustrate the operation'of the door stop-and Y f The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts-ini the three Views. 4

yReferring 4tothe drawing, I- designates Iaportion of-the -bo'd-y and 5 l'aportion of the doorfof an automobile hingedly mounted von-the body by two or more hinges, one of which appears in seotion at 6. The hinge shown comprises an outer lmember 1 and a-nl inner member -8 mounted on the body and door,^respectively. The outer member 'I is formed from sheet metal to a generally U-shaped cross-section so as to provide opposed substantially horizontal parallel walls 9 and ID interconnected by a vsubstantially vertical wall I I. The horizontal walls lhave embossed portions I2 forming supports for the pintle I3 received in a bearing hole I4 provided therefor in the enlarged end portion IE of the inner lhinge member 8. The walls 9 and Ill are also flanged outwardly as at I6 to provide attaching portions for bolting,'rivet ing, 0r otherwise securing the outer hinge'mem-` ber I to the body pillar, a portion'of which appears at I1. A sheet metal yface plate I8 suitably welded to the attaching portions I6, is cut away as at I9 to provide operating clearance for the inner hingeY member 8. The inner hinge member B'has an offset portion 20 next to its attaching' end portion 2| where it extends through the cut-out portion I9 of the' plate I S, whereby toprovide operating .clearances for the gooser1ecl po`r-`x tion 22 when the door closes. The gooseneck portion 22 is next to the offset portion '28, and its radius 'is long enough so that the portion 23 clears the body pillarfin the opening of the door; as

appears'in Fig. 2. The pintle end portion I5 'pro-1 vided on the other half of the goo's'ene'ck portion 22 is approximately at right angles to the attaching end portion 2|, and the door 5 is accordingly free to swing through vapproxin'l'ate'ly 90 lfr'om f closed to open position. A door check, not shown,

of any suitable form, .as for example one like that covered by Atwood Patent 2,148,674," is provided for limiting andicushioning the openingmrove'- ment of the door. The door 5 is shown in'Fig. 2 in approximately the extreme open position.

In accordance with my invention, a leaf -spring 24 .having a. bowed or generally V-shaped hump .portion 25 intermediate the ends thereof isfsecured onto .the inner side of one of the horizontal Walls 9 and loof theouter hinge member latga predeterminedradial distance from the pintlei3 for slidable engagement v"Withthe edge of the inner or gooseneck portion 22 to -be compressed as the door approaches its extreme open position, the hump being 'thereafter permitted'to expand again to normal position so `as to constitute a detent'or stopto hold the door yielding'ly in approximately its extreme 'open position and prevent accidental closing thereof. A single rivet 26 entered through registering holes in the leaf-springr and horizontal Wallof the hinge member serves to fasten V,the

L' leaf-springf-i-n place,` thespring having a rightithe inner end of the rivet, as clearly appears Fig. 3, is Well below theY horizontal plane of opera- Y tion of the lower edge of the inner hinge member 8, as indicated by the line a-b, so that the hinge member will not scrape thereon'. 'I'he line a-b serves further to indicate the extent to which the hump 25 of the leaf-spring is subjected to deflecmanner previously described. When the door is fully open, the wear plate 32 has moved past the hump 25 and may or may not have any actual contact with the side d of the hump, depending upon where the door check limits the opening movement of the door. Since the door check wont allow the door to open any farther and the door stop spring 24 holdsfthedoor against closing, it isclear that the door is held yieldingly in the fully open position. The stop spring 24 f offers suflicient resistance to closing of the door so that there is no danger of its closing accidentally, and yet the operator does not have to exert much force on the free edge portion of the tion and compression from the sliding of the edge portion of the inner hinge member 8 over the v same in the opening and closing of the door, while at the same time indicating to what extent the hump 25 projects into the plane of the hinge meme ber 8 to serve as a stop to prevent accidental closing of the door when fully opened. The hump 25 has a gentle rise on one side c and a sharp rise on the other side d thereof, as clearly appears in Fig, 3, the sharp rise being on that side toward the rivet 26. In the opening of the door the inner hinge member 8 rides up the gentle rise c, whereas in the closing of the door it rides up the sharp rise d. This arrangement has a two-fold advantage. It provides the sharp rise d as a better detent or stop for the door and enables opening of the door with minimum drag and less end thrust on the leaf-spring. than there is when the inner hinge member 8 rides up the sharp rise d in the closing of the door, the greater end thrust incident to the closing of the door being assumedboth by the rivet 26 and the bent end 21. The free end portion 30 of the leaf-spring 24 is bent into substantially parallel relation to the adjacentl Wall 9 of the outer hinge member and disposed Vin slightly spaced relation 4to said wall, as indicated at 3| in Fig. 3, so that at least to a small vextent the leaf-spring 24 is merely deflected downwardly when the edge portion of the inner hinge member 8 rides over the hump 25, the bent free end portion 3U having a sled runner action as it slides freely on the Wall 9 in the deflection of the spring. In other words, thefr ee lend portion 30 of the leaf-spring must first bottom on the wall 9 before the hump is subjected to any compression or pinching between the edge portion of the hinge member 8 and the wall 9, and in that way the opening and closing of the door vis not as much obstructed by the leaf-springl and it is not subjected to nearly as much wear and tear and will accordingly last indefinitely. A hardenedv steel Wear plate 32 is set in a depression 33 provided therefor in the lower edge of the inner hinge member 8 and isrpreferably welded in place, although it may, of course, be fastened in any other `suitable manner. This Wear plate has the bottom surface thereof in the plane f the-line afb and therefore clears the kflat headl 29 of Vthefrivet 26 in th'eswing'ingnmovement ofthe inner hinge 'meini ber'8. 1*

In operation, it will` be understood vfrom. the foregoing description that as the door 'is opened thejinner'hinge member'S brings Athawear plate 32 into sliding engagement with thesflde c of the hump portion of the leaf-spring,2itwhen-the door is 'about halfway open, and it is'during-,the

lattjer'lialf orless ofthe opening movement. ofthe v door .that `the inner hingeY member 8 rst deects door to swing it-to closed position, especially in view o'f the amount of leverage available at that point on the door 'in relation to the leaf-spring 24. The sliding action of the hinge member 8 relative to the leaf-spring 24 is substantially noiseless and not at all noticeable. The embodiment of the door stop in one or more of the hinges of the door in such a simple and inexpensive although thoroughly effective form is considered preferable to the embodiment of stop means in a door check, inasmuch as experience has shown that door stops of that type have not been genequally as satisfactory and have moreover necessitated complicating lthe construction of the door checks to suchran extent that the added cost of production ofsuch door checks was substantially greater than what is involved where the door stop is embodiedrin the hinges in the manner herein disclosed. n

Itis believed the foregoing description conl veys a good understanding of the'objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims have been drawn with a view: to covering all legitimate modifications and adaptations properly coming within the scope of my invention.

I claim: y

l. Detent means for use with a hinge comprising an outer hinge member and any inner hinge member pivotally connected together by a pintle, the outer hinge member having at least one wall in a plane in closely spaced substantially parallel relation to an edge portion of the inner hinge member, in relation to which said edge portion of said inner -hinge member is lmovable in the pivotal movement of said hinge members re1- ative to one another, said detent means comprising an elongated, longitudinally bent leaf spring secured .to and compressible on said wall toward straightened form lbetween the wall and the edge portion of the other hingemember by sliding engagement of said edge portionl thereon, said spring being disposed in radiallyspaced relation to the pintle axis and being bent so as to provide a V-shaped hump portionv intermediate the ends thereof the crown of which projects normally into the plane of kmovement of the edge portion of the other hinge member so as to be deflected thereby in the` sliding; engagement of said edge portion with said hump, a single fastener extendnig through one endportion of said leaf spring detent and throughsaid wall to fasten the detent in placeI thereon, and an intertting lug on the end of the detent and a notchin the wall in radiallyvspaced relation tQsaid-fastener for preventing turning of the detent about the fastener as a center. A

2. In combination, a hingecomprising an outer hinge member and an inner hinge member pivotallyconnected together by a pintle, theouter hinge member having atleast one wall in a plane in4 closely spaced. sllbstar.,1tallyl parallel relation. to

an edge portion of the inner hinge member, in relation to which said edge portion of said inner hinge member is movable in the pivotal movement of said hinge members relative to one an other, and a leaf spring detent fastened at one end on said wall by a single rivet and disposed in radially spaced relation to the pintle axis and having a hump portion intermediate the ends thereof the crown of which projects .normally into the plane of movement of the edge portion of the other hinge member so as to be deflected by sliding engagement of said edge portion ,lengthwise of said hump, one side of the hump having a relatively gentle rise but the other side toward the fastened end of the leaf spring having a relatively sharp rise, the latter side facing the edge portion of the other hinge member when the door is held by said hump in open position, and a, lug on the fastened end portion of said leaf spring engaging a portion of said wall in radially spaced relation to the rivet to prevent turning of the leaf spring relative to the rivet as a center and to assume end thrust independently of the rivet incident to sliding engagement of the other hinge member on the hump in a direction away from the lug.

3. In combination, a hinge comprising an outer hinge member and an inner hinge member pivotally connected together by a pintle, the outer hinge member having at least one Wall in a plane in closely spaced substantially parallel relation to an edge portion of the linner hinge member, in relation to which said edge portion of said inner hinge member is movable in the pivotal movement of said hinge members relative to one another, and a leaf spring detent on said wall in radially spaced relation to the pintle axis having a hump portion intermediate the ends thereof the crown of which projects normally intothe plane of movement of the edge portion of the other hinge member so as to be deflected thereby in the sliding engagement of said edge portion with said hump, a single fastener extending through one end portion of said leaf spring detent and through said wall to fasten the detent in place thereon, said wall having an opening provided therein in radially spaced relation to the fastener, and a lug on the end portion of said leaf spring detent adjacent the fastener projecting into said opening to prevent turning of the detent relative to the fastener as a center and to assume end thrust independently of the fastener incident to sliding engagement Aof the other hinge member on the hump portion of said leaf spring detent.

LYLE C. ATWOOD.

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