Field of application
[0001] The present invention concerns an adjustable hinge support and a method for adjusting
the position of said support.
[0002] The support in question is intended to be used advantageously for supporting rotatably
leaves of fixtures of all kinds and in particular gates or main entrance doors between
an open position and a closed position.
[0003] Obviously the support may be arranged at different heights on the upright or pillar
intended to support the leaf of the fixture or gate.
Background art
[0004] At present, as is known, numerous different adjustable hinge supports are available
commercially, these being traditionally associated with a metal support bracket fastened
to the fixed - for example masonry - pillar so as to support a gate.
[0005] In accordance with a constructional solution of the known type, this bracket is fitted
with a bearing inside which the hinge of the gate leaf is pivotably mounted so as
to allow the latter to perform a rotational closing and opening movement about a generally
vertical axis.
[0006] The bearing is advantageously connected to the bracket by means of adjustable fixing
means which allow a variation in the position of the hinge with respect to the bracket
during mounting of the gate in order to allow control over the height of the said
gate.
[0007] It is also known for example from the patent
IT PD2003A000268 in the name of the same applicant to use adjustment means to vary the position of
the hinge along the projecting portion of the bracket.
[0008] The abovementioned adjustment system, while offering certain advantages, can be used
only for the particular type of hinge support described above.
[0009] Other types of hinge supports of the known type comprise an internally threaded bush
rigidly fastened to a plate to be fixed to the pillar of the gate.
[0010] The threaded shank of the eye-piece of the leaf support hinge engages inside this
bush. By means of a nut/lock-nut mechanism it is possible to fix at different depths
the shank of the eye-piece inside the bush, allowing adjustment of the position of
the leaf support hinge.
[0011] This solution allows adjustment of the position of the hinge only along the axis
of the eye-piece and in practice has proved to be entirely insufficient for fully
satisfying the mounting requirements of gates or main entrance doors.
[0012] On some occasions, for example, the operator, when making holes in the pillar in
order to fix the support plate, comes up against stones or steel rods in the case
of reinforced concrete pillars. These circumstances mean that the operator must fix
the support plate so that it is slightly displaced laterally with respect to the desired
position.
[0013] This lateral displacement of the support plate results in imprecise closing of the
leaf and constitutes a major drawback which can only be overcome by means of very
costly and laborious measures.
[0014] Therefore, essentially, with the solutions known hitherto there does not exist an
adequate possibility for adjusting the position of the eye-piece and therefore the
position of the hinge pin supporting the leaf.
Disclosure of the invention
[0015] The main object of the present invention is therefore to eliminate the drawbacks
of the art known hitherto by providing an adjustable hinge support which allows easy
and complete adjustment of the hinge position.
[0016] Another object of the present invention is to provide a support resulting in limited
costs for installation of the leaves of a gate or the like.
[0017] A further object of the present invention is to provide a support which is constructionally
simple, low-cost and operationally entirely reliable.
[0018] Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for adjusting the
hinge support which is particularly easy to implement and is able to vary precisely
the position of the hinge.
Brief description of the drawings
[0019] The technical features of the invention, in accordance with the abovementioned objects,
may be clearly determined from the contents of the claims indicated below and the
advantages thereof will emerge more clearly from the detailed description which follows,
provided with reference to the accompanying drawings which show a purely exemplary
and non-limiting embodiment thereof in which:
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an example of embodiment of the adjustable hinge support
according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 shows an exploded view of the support according to Figure 1;
FIG. 3 shows a front view of the support according to Figure 1;
FIG. 4 shows a side view of the support according to Figure 1;
FIG. 5 shows a top plan view of the support according to Figure 1;
FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view, along the line III-III in Figure 3, of the adjustable
support according to the present invention with some parts removed so that other parts
thereof may be seen more clearly.
Detailed description of a preferred example of embodiment
[0020] With reference to the accompanying drawings 1 denotes in its entirety the adjustable
support according to the present invention.
[0021] It is conventionally intended to engage with the hinge of a leaf (not shown) of a
gate, a main entrance door or the like so as to support it rotatably on the upright
of a frame or on a masonry pillar which are fixed relative to the ground.
[0022] Obviously the adjustable hinge support according to the present invention may be
used to support leaves or movable parts of fixtures of any kind without thereby departing
from the scope of protection of the present patent.
[0023] With reference to the accompanying drawings, the hinge support 1 comprises, in a
manner conventional per se, a support plate 2 intended to be fixed to the leaf support
upright or pillar, and a bush 3 which is internally threaded and projects perpendicularly
from the plate 2 in the direction indicated by Z.
[0024] The plate 2 has a flat, for example a polygonal, form and defines a visible outer
surface 2' and an inner surface 2" intended to be fixed to the wall of the upright
or the pillar.
[0025] Preferably, the plate 2 is fixed to the pillar by means of fixing screws which can
be inserted in through-holes 20 formed in the corners of the plate 2.
[0026] The support 1 also comprises an eye-piece 4 which engages by means of screwing of
its threaded shank 5 with the threaded inner surface 3' of the bush 3 and has an enlarged
head 6 with a seat 7, in particular consisting of a through-hole, for rotatably receiving
the pin of a hinge fastened to the leaf and for allowing it to rotate about a vertical
axis indicated by Y.
[0027] A locking ring 8 is screwed onto the shank 5 of the eye-piece 4 and, coming into
contact against the free edge 9 of the bush 3, has the function of acting as a counter
lock-nut for rigidly fixing the eye-piece 4 with respect to the bush 3, preventing
the said eye-piece 4 from being freely unscrewed or screwed.
[0028] According to the idea forming the basis of the present invention the support plate
2 is provided with a through-eyelet 10 and the bush 3 is inserted inside the through-eyelet
10 as far as an end-of-travel position defined by its head 11 coming into contact
against the rear surface 2' of the plate. Furthermore, the bush 3 has a threaded outer
surface 3" on which an adjusting ring 12 can be screwably engaged, said ring being
able to be fixed at the desired height by means of removable retaining means 13.
[0029] Preferably, the removable retaining means 13 are formed by means of one or more grub
screws which can be inserted inside transverse threaded through-holes formed in the
adjusting ring 12 and able to fix or free the latter with respect to the bush 3.
[0030] In greater detail, the eyelet 10 extends along an axis X which is substantially horizontal
when the plate 2 is fixed to the leaf support upright or pillar so as to allow right-hand
or left-hand adjustment of the position of the hinge.
[0031] The eyelet 10 is arranged centred in the bottom of a depression 18 formed by means
of deep-drawing in the central portion of the plate 2, the depth of which has a height
sufficient to seat the head 11 of the bush 3, preferably consisting of a perimetrally
projecting ring.
[0032] The present invention also relates to a method for adjusting the position of the
support 1 described above, which allows variation in the position of the hinge both
along the horizontal axis X in order to perform a right-hand or left-hand adjustment
and along the axis Z in order to vary the distance of the hinge from the support upright
or pillar.
[0033] In order to perform the right-hand or left-hand adjustment the method envisages loosening
the adjusting ring 12 on the plate 2 and then performing positioning of the bush 3
inside the eyelet 10 in order to obtain the desired position thereof along the axis
X.
[0034] Then, once the position of the bush 3 has been defined, the adjustment envisages
performing tightening the adjusting ring 12 against the plate 2 so as to fasten the
bush 3 to the support plate 2 itself.
[0035] At this point the adjusting ring 12 and the bush are fastened together by means of
a locking operation involving engagement of the retaining means 13, which requires
in particular screwing of the grub screws inserted inside the threaded holes of the
adjusting ring 12 against the outer surface of the bush 3.
[0036] Adjustment of the axial position of the eye-piece 4 along its axis Z is performed
starting from the condition where the adjusting ring 12 is slack on the support plate
2 and the tightening ring 8 is slack on the free edge 9 of the bush.
[0037] At this point locking of the adjusting ring 12 on the bush 3 is performed via the
retaining means 13 and then axial adjustment of the eye-piece 4 is performed by means
of a rotation of the adjusting ring 12.
[0038] The latter has, integrally fixed to it, the bush 3 and therefore causes, with its
rotation, the eye-piece to be displaced axially inside the bush 3 by means of screwing
or unscrewing in both senses of the direction Z.
[0039] Once the position of the eye-piece along the axis Z has been determined it will be
possible to release the adjusting ring 12 from the bush 3 by means of disengagement,
from the bush 3, of the grub screws 13 inserted in the threaded holes of the ring
12.
[0040] Then it will be possible to perform tightening of the adjusting ring 12 against the
plate 2 so as to fix the bush 3 to the support plate 2 and then locking of the adjusting
ring 12 by means of engagement of the grub screws 13 against the outer surface 3"
of the bush 3.
[0041] The invention thus conceived therefore achieves the predefined objects.
[0042] Obviously it may assume in its practical embodiment also forms and configurations
different from that illustrated above without thereby departing from the present scope
of protection.
[0043] Moreover all the details may be replaced by technically equivalent elements and the
dimensions, the forms and the materials used may be of any nature according to requirements.
1. Adjustable hinge support designed to allow rotation of a leaf, in particular a gate,
comprising:
- a support plate intended to be fixed to an upright or to a pillar for supporting
said leaf;
- at least one internally threaded bush which is mechanically associated with said
plate and projects from it;
- at least one eye-piece which has a threaded shank able to engage with the threading
of said bush and a head having a seat able to receive the pin of a hinge fastened
to the leaf;
- at least one tightening ring engaged by means of screwing on the shank of said eye-piece
and able to fix the latter on said bush, coming into contact against the free edge
of said bush;
characterized in that:
- said plate has a through-eyelet;
- said bush is inserted inside eyelet as far as an end-of-travel position defined
by contact of its head against the rear surface of said plate and has a threaded outer
surface on which an adjusting ring is screwably engaged, said ring being able to be
fixed at the desired height by means of removable retaining means.
2. Adjustable support according to Claim 1, characterized in that said removable retaining means are formed by means of one or more grub screws which
can be inserted in transverse through-holes formed in said adjusting ring and able
to act on said bush so as to fix or free said adjusting ring with respect to said
bush.
3. Adjustable support according to Claim 1, characterized in that the head of said bush consists of a projecting perimetral ring.
4. Adjustable support according to Claim 1, characterized in that said plate has a depression inside which said eyelet is formed, said depression having
a depth greater than or equal to the height of the head of said bush.
5. Adjustable support according to Claim 1, characterized in that said eyelet has an extension mainly along a substantially horizontal X axis when
said plate is fixed to the leaf support upright or pillar so as to allow right-hand
or left-hand adjustment of the position of the hinge.
6. Method for adjusting the position of said support according to Claim 1,
characterized in that it comprises the following operating steps:
- positioning the bush inside the eyelet with said adjusting ring loose on the plate;
- tightening the adjusting ring against the plate so as to fix said bush to the support
plate;
- locking said adjusting ring by means of engagement of said retaining means against
the outer surface of said bush.
7. Method for adjusting the position of said support according to Claim 1,
characterized in that it comprises the following operating steps:
- locking said adjusting ring with said bush by means of said retaining means with
said adjusting ring slack on the support plate and said tightening ring loose on the
free edge of said bush;
- rotating said adjusting ring on which said bush is integrally fixed so as to displace
axially said eye-piece inside said bush;
- releasing said ring from said bush by means of disengagement of said retaining means
from said bush;
- tightening the adjusting ring against the plate so as to fix said bush to the support
plate;
- locking said adjusting ring by means of engagement of said retaining means against
the outer surface of said bush.