Restraint for a hinged door

Abstract

 A door restraint 50 is connected between a door 52 and wall 54. Restraint 50 has a body 58 which contains an elongate retaining member 60. Restraint 50 also has an elongate connecting arm 64, a first end 66 of which is pivotally connected to wall 54 by bracket 68. A second end 70 of arm 64 is connected to engaging means 72 through a guide means 74, the engaging means 72 is contained within the body 58 and has an engaging notch 76. Retaining means 60 has disengaging means 80. In moving door 52 from a closed to an open position, second end 70 of arm 64 and engaging means 72 move from first end 84 of guide means 74 in direction A. When notch 76 of engaging means 72 reaches second end 82 of retaining means 60, said second end engages into notch 76 thereby preventing engaging means 72 moving in direction B. To disengage the engaging means 72 retaining means 60 is moved by pulling disengaging means 80 in direction C.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to restraints for hinged doors, and particularly, but not exclusively, to restraints for large external doors.

[0002] It is common for external doors, that is the doors which mark the boundary between the inside and outside of a building, to require holding in an open position for instance to allow easy repeated access. However, such doors may be subjected to strong winds which are inclined to shut them, to force them open beyond the point at which the hinges are designed to move or cause the door to come into contact with a wall to which the door is hinged thereby damaging the wall and/or door.

[0003] Various door restraints exist which address this problem. For example, a simple door stop in the form of a heavy object placed on the ground against the door, in its open position, provides a simple solution. However, such an article may be heavy and cumbersome to move and may also present a tripping hazard.

[0004] An example of another door restraint is shown in Figures 1 and 2. The restraint 10 has a bracket 12 attached to door 14. Door 14 is connected to door frame 16 by hinge 18. A second bracket 20 is attached to frame 16 and has slider 22 pivotally connected to it. A rod 24 is pivotally connected at one end to bracket 12 and extends through slider 22. At the other end of rod 24 are engaging means 26 and spring 28.

[0005] As the door 14 moves from the closed position, shown in side elevation in Figure 1, to the open position, shown in plan in Figure 2, the rod 24 passes through slider 22 from its starting position adjacent bracket 12 to the end where engaging means 26 is located. In order to retain the door 14 in an open position, slider 22 engages with engaging means 26. In order to adjust the tension with which engagement means 26 holds slider 22, and therefore the door, nut 30 is tightened or loosened so as to apply greater or lesser tension through spring 28. In order to release the slider 22 and allow the door 24 to move, engagement means 26 is pulled down so that it is no longer engaged with slider 22.

[0006] Such a restraint suffers from the disadvantage that rod 24, and in particular the end bearing nut 30, travels through a considerable arc of movement as the door 14 moves from its closed to open positions. If the restraint apparatus 10 is located on a low door, for example a garage door, this presents an injury risk to persons opening the door or persons nearby. The arm of this restraint must also be long, which increases the risk of injury and weakens the strength of the arm. If the arm is strengthened the other parts of the restraint must also be enlarged and reinforced producing a large, expensive and unsightly restraint.

[0007] Such an apparatus also suffers from the disadvantage that the force that must be placed on door 14 to overcome the engagement means 26 may not very large. It is possible to increase this required force however, the force required to deliberately disengage the engagement means so as to shut the door also increases thereby making the door harder to close once it has been opened to its restraint position. Thus when a particularly large door is located in an exposed position where strong winds may exert a considerable force upon it, the force required within the engaging means 26 to maintain the door in an open position is so large that the force required to intentionally disengage the engaging means 26 to release the door from its restrained position is beyond the reasonable force that can be applied by a person wishing to shut the door. Furthermore, the size of the parts which must be used in order to hold a very large door become cumbersome, expensive to manufacture and unsightly.

[0008] The above described embodiment suffers from the further disadvantage that the bracket 12 which attaches the restraint 10 to door 14 is quite small and the forces applied to the door when, for instance, extremely high winds are encountered, are distributed over a small area of the door. As a result, the bracket 12 is prone to breaking away from door 14.

[0009] Another example of a restraint, forming part of an automatic door closure mechanism, is disclosed in US patent no. 4286412. In this example a guide at one end of an arm runs within a slot in a body attached to a door. When the door reaches an open position a latch in the body engages the guide and holds the door in that open position. To close the door the latch is disengaged. However, such a restraint is not designed to hold a door open against significant forces, for example strong winds, and the latch maybe overcome by the application of force to the door.

[0010] Preferred embodiments of the present invention seek to overcome the above described disadvantages of the prior art.

[0011] According to the present invention, there is provided a restraining device for a door hinged to a wall, the device comprising:-

at least one connecting arm pivotally connected adjacent a first end to one of said door or said wall and having an engaging portion adjacent a second end;

a respective elongate body connected to the other of said door or said wall and adapted to engage the or each said engaging portion;

a respective retaining member provided in the or each said body and biased so as to engage the corresponding engaging portion such that when the door moves from a closed to at least one predetermined open position, the retaining member prevents movement of said engaging portion thereby preventing the door moving back to said closed position, and said retaining member being arranged such that an attempt to move the door towards said closed position causes the engaging portion to apply a compressive force substantially along the length of the retaining means; and

release means for at least partially displacing the or each said retaining member to allow said engaging portion to move relative to said retaining member to allow the door to move back to the closed position.

[0012] By providing a door restraint as described above, the advantage is provided that a restraint capable of handling extreme forces can be provided without the need for excessively large and cumbersome parts. The above described restraint may be produced from smaller parts without any loss of strength, the smaller restraint also being a more aesthetically pleasing article. In particular the arm of the restraint is considerably shorter than that of the restraint shown in Figures 1 and 2 since when the door is in an open position the arm need only extend from the frame to the nearest end of the body of the restraint. As a result the shortened arm has less tendency to flex and buckle. As a result this type of restraint is able to restrain a considerably larger force placed upon it than an equivalently sized article of the prior art. The reduction in size of the parts of the above described embodiment also reduces the production cost and the parts from which the restraint is formed are simple to produce and to replace. Furthermore, neither end of the connecting arm extends outside the restraint, since one end is pivotally connected to the door or wall and the other is retained adjacent the guide means. As a result the risk of injury from the connecting arm is therefore significantly reduced.

[0013] Another advantage of the above restraint is that if the retaining means is sufficiently sprung, the contact between the engaging means and the retaining means as the door moves to the second position can act as a brake, slowing the opening of the door. Furthermore, the force which maintains the restraint and door in the open position is a compressive force on the retaining member and it is not this force which must be overcome in order to release the restraint from the restraint position. The force required to intentionally release the door is only the force required to flex the retaining member which need not be a large force, ie the forces required to intentionally and accidentally release the door are not proportional to each other. Therefore, it is possible to produce a restraint in which force required to release the door from the restraint position is quite low and yet the restraint is capable on maintaining the position of the door against considerable forces being applied to the door. Because the force applied to the retaining member is a compressive force, the restraint, as mentioned above, cannot easily be accidentally overcome and in fact must be damaged to be accidentally overcome. Thus it has been possible to produce a door restraint which can be made strong enough to withstand forces applied to it to the point where the hinges of the door will fail before the restraint, and yet that restraint is sufficiently compact so as to be unobtrusive when compared to equivalent restraints of the prior art.

[0014] In a preferred embodiment said attempt to move the door towards the closed position also applies a bending force to said retaining member such that said retaining member is at least temporarily bent so that an end of said retaining member engaged with said engaging portion applies a force in a direction substantially opposite to the movement of said end during said at least partial displacement.

[0015] By causing the retaining member to flex such that the end which engages the engaging portion presses into further engagement with the engaging means preventing any accidental disengaging of the retaining member and engaging means.

[0016] In a preferred embodiment, at least one said body is connected to the door and said first end of said arm is connected to the wall.

[0017] In another preferred embodiment, at least one said body is connected to said door along the length of one of the body's long sides.

[0018] By connecting the body to the door provides the advantage of distributing the forces applied to the door over the length of the body, thereby reducing the force at any point. Also, the pivot connecting the arm to the wall (or door frame) can be smaller since a strong connection can be made by morticing the pivot into the wall.

[0019] By connecting the body of the restraint to the door along one of its long sides, the advantage is provided that the force applied to the connection between the restraint and the door is distributed over a significantly larger area thereby reducing the likelihood of the failure of this connection.

[0020] In a preferred embodiment the or each body is provided with attachment means on opposing long sides of said body.

[0021] By having connecting means, ie holes through which screws may be inserted, on each side of the body the advantage is provided that the same restraint can used on doors which either open on the left or right hand side, thus the restraint is not handed.

[0022] In a preferred embodiment at least one said body is recessed into said door.

[0023] By having the body the restraint recessed into the door, the advantage is provided that the forces applied to the joint between the body and the door are further distributed, especially when the body is formed as part of the door. The restraint is also concealed providing a more aesthetically pleasing restraint.

[0024] In another preferred embodiment, said release means comprises a respective elongate member extending outside the or each said body such that when said release means is pulled in a direction away from the corresponding said body, the corresponding retaining member is caused to disengage from the engaging portion and thereby allow movement of the arm along the guide means and as a result the movement of the door.

[0025] In another preferred embodiment, said engaging portion comprises a respective notch into which said second end of the or each said retaining member engages when said door is in said open position.

[0026] By providing a notch into which the or each said retaining member can engage, the advantage is provided that the position of the notch can be determined such that the forces applied to the retaining member can be distributed most evenly without the likelihood of the retaining member being caused to bend. It also reduces the likelihood that the retaining member can accidentally become disengaged from the engaging means, for instance by an excessive force being applied to the door.

[0027] Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only and not in any limitative sense, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a prior art door restraint with the door in a closed position;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the door restraint of Figure 1, with the door in an open position;

Figure 3 is a schematic side elevation view of a first embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 4 is a plan view of the restraint of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a plan view of the restraint of Figure 3 attached to a door and wall, showing the door in an open position;

Figure 6 is a schematic side elevation of a second embodiment of the present invention; and

Figure 7 is a plan view of the underneath of the restraint of Figure 6.

[0028] Referring to Figures 3, 4 and 5, a door restraint 50 is connected between a door 52 and wall 54. Door 52 is hinged to wall 54 by hinge 56.

[0029] Restraint 50 comprises a body 58 which contains an elongate retaining member 60. Retaining member 60 is connected to body 58 at a first end 62 and bent such that it is flexibly retained within body 58. Restraint 50 also has an elongate connecting arm 64, a first end 66 of which is pivotally connected to wall 54 by bracket 68. Bracket 68 is generally connected to wall 54 via a door frame (not shown), and reference made to wall 54 includes any door frame within that wall. A second end 70 of arm 64 is connected to engaging means 72 through a guide means 74, the engaging means 72 contained within the body 58. Engaging means 72 has an engaging notch 76 and is connected to arm 70 by bolt 78. Retaining means 60 has disengaging means 80 at a second end 82 of retaining means 60. Guide means 74 has a first end 84 and second end 86

[0030] Figures 3 and 4 show the position adopted by the retaining means 50 when door 52 is closed, Figure 5 shows door 52 in an open position. In moving from a closed to an open position, second end 70 of arm 64 and engaging means 72 move from first end 84 of guide means 74 in direction A. As engaging means 72 moves along guide means 74 in direction A, it comes into contact with retaining means 60 which if sufficiently sprung will apply a frictional force to the base of engaging means 72 and thereby potentially act as a brake to the opening of the door 52. When notch 76 of engaging means 72 reaches second end 82 of retaining means 60, said second end engages into notch 76 thereby preventing engaging means 72 moving in direction B (the opposite direction to direction A). In order for engaging means 72 to move in direction B, thereby allowing the door to close, it is necessary to disengage second end 82 of retaining means 60 from notch 76 of engaging means 72. To do this retaining means 60 is moved in direction C, and this is done by pulling disengaging means 80 in direction C. A string or chain (not shown) is generally attached to disengaging means 80. If restraint 50 is contained within door 52, a lever or sliding device connected to the disengaging means 80 is in door 52 at a convenient height for a person operating the door.

[0031] In the event that a shutting force is applied to the door 52, the engaging means 72 attempts to move in direction B. Such a force is transferred along the length of restraint means 60 at a slight angle to direction B. As a result of this slight angle, if sufficient force is applied to restraint means 60, a slight flexing in restraint means 60 may occur. This slight flexing causes the centre of restraint means 60 to move approximately in direction C and second end 82 to apply a force in a direction approximately opposite to direction C. As a result, any movement of door 52 causes the second end 82 restraint means 60 to become even more engaged making it impossible to overcome the restraint 50 without causing damage to the restraint 50 and/or the door 52.

[0032] Figures 6 and 7 show a second embodiment of the present invention in which components common to the embodiment of Figures 3 to 5 are designated with equivalent numerals which have been increased by 100. In this embodiment, connecting arm 164 extends into body 158 through a side of body 158 rather than being located above the body. In the example shown, the engaging means 172 does not contain an engaging notch into which retaining member 160 however, a notch may be included. This arrangement is also suitable for recessing into a door particularly as part of the construction process of the door.

[0033] It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the above embodiments have been described by way of example only, and not in any limitative sense, and that various alterations and modifications can be made without departure from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A restraining device for a door hinged to a wall, the device comprising:-

at least one connecting arm pivotally connected adjacent a first end to one of said door or said wall and having an engaging portion adjacent a second end;

a respective elongate body connected to the other of said door or said wall and adapted to engage the or each said engaging portion;

a respective retaining member provided in the or each said body and biased so as to engage the corresponding engaging portion such that when the door moves from a closed to at least one predetermined open position, the retaining member prevents movement of said engaging portion thereby preventing the door moving back to said closed position, and said retaining member being arranged such that an attempt to move the door towards said closed position causes the engaging portion to apply a compressive force substantially along the length of the retaining means; and

release means for at least partially displacing the or each said retaining member to allow said engaging portion to move relative to said retaining member to allow the door to move back to the closed position.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein said attempt to move the door towards the closed position also applies a bending force to said retaining member such that said retaining member is at least temporarily bent so that an end of said retaining member engaged with said engaging portion applies a force in a direction substantially opposite to the movement of said end during said at least partial displacement.

3. A restraint according to either claim 1 or 2, wherein at least one said body is connected to the door and said first end of said arm is connected to the wall.

4. A device according to claim 3, wherein at least one said body is connected to said door substantially along the length of one of the body's long sides.

5. A device according to claim 4, wherein the or each body is provided with attachment means on opposing long sides of said body.

6. A device according to claim 3, wherein at least one said body is recessed into said door.

7. A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said release means comprises a respective elongate member extending outside the or each said body such that when said release means is pulled in a direction away from the corresponding said body, the corresponding retaining member is caused to disengage from the engaging portion and thereby allow movement of the arm along the guide means and as a result the movement of the door.

8. A restraint according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said engaging portion comprises a respective notch into which said second end of the or each said retaining member engages when said door is in said open position.

9. A restraint for a hinged door substantially as herein before described with reference to Figures 3 to 7 of the accompanying drawings.

Drawing