Counterbalanced door assembly with reduced initial closing force
OwnerRobert Lyons, Sr.inventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A door closing mechanism, preferably mounted on a counterbalanced door assembly, which provides a mechanical advantage to close the door and overcome the forces of friction, inertia and any counterbalancing forces. A slot plate with a curved control slot is mounted to the door. A control arm, pivotally mounted at one end to the door frame, has a handle and slot engager mounted at the other end. The slot engager slides along the control slot and pulls the door closed as the handle is pulled. The control slot is preferably curved only along a first portion and straight in a second portion to provide greater mechanical advantage at the beginning of its motion.
Claims17
A counterbalanced door assembly with reduced initial closing force comprising:
- a frame;
- a door hingedly mounted to the frame at a hinge point for motion between an open and a closed position;
- a slot plate mounted to the door including a control slot extending from a first point P.sub.1 generally away from the hinge point to a second point P.sub.2, the control slot being curved relative to a reference straight line between points P.sub.1 and P.sub.2 ;
- a counterbalance mechanism connected between the door and the frame to at least partially counterbalance the door;
- a control arm having first and second ends, the first end being pivotally mounted on the frame to swing the second end of the control arm in a closing arc as the door is closed;
- a handle for closing the door connected to swing the second end of the control arm in the closing arc;
- and
- a slot engager mounted to the second end of the control arm, the slot engager engaging and moving along the curved control slot from point P.sub.1 to point P.sub.2 when the handle is pulled to close the door.
A door assembly with a handle operated closing mechanism comprising:
- a frame;
- a door hingedly mounted to the frame at a hinge point for motion between an open and a closed position, the door including a control slot lying in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the door, the control slot extending from a first point P.sub.1 generally away from the hinge point to a second point P.sub.2 ;
- a control arm having first and second ends, the first end being pivotally mounted on the frame;
- and
- a handle for closing the door connected to move the second end of the control arm in a closing arc as the door is closed, the second end of the control arm having a slot engager engaging the control slot and moving along the control slot in a control slot path from point P.sub.1 to point P.sub.2 when the handle is pulled to close the door;
- the control slot being curved to reduce the starting angle .THETA..sub.1 to a value less than .THETA..sub.2, where .THETA..sub.1 is defined by the angle between the tangent to the closing arc and the tangent to the control slot path at point P.sub.1 when the door is open, and .THETA..sub.2 is defined as the angle between the tangent to the closing arc and a reference straight line between P.sub.1 and P.sub.2 when the door is open.
A door closing mechanism comprising:
- a slot plate adapted for connection to a door including a control slot extending from a first point P.sub.1 to a second point P.sub.2, the control slot being curved relative to a straight line from P.sub.1 to P.sub.2 ;
- a control arm having first and second ends, the first end having a pivotal attachment point adapted for pivotal mounting on a door frame and the second end of the control arm having a slot engager slidingly engaging the control slot;
- and
- a handle for closing the door connected to the slot engager, the handle swinging the second end of the control arm in a closing arc about the pivotal attachment point on the second end to move the slot engager along the control slot in a control slot path from point P.sub.1 to point P.sub.2 when the handle is pulled to close the door.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.