GB2183289A

GB2183289A - Concealed hinge mounting of doors

Info

Publication number: GB2183289A
Application number: GB08627041A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Frederick Charles Frost; Edward Thomas Williams
Original assignee: Frost FC Ltd
Current assignee: Frost FC Ltd
Priority date: 1985-11-22
Filing date: 1986-11-12
Publication date: 1987-06-03
Also published as: GB2183289B; GB8528837D0; GB8627041D0

Abstract

A door 1 is hinged to a frame 2 by a pair of concealed cabinet hinges 3 which define the path followed by the door when it is opened and closed. The door 1 is also hinged to the frame 2 by a concealed flap hinge assembly 4 which is mounted between the concealed cabinet hinges 3 and comprises a pair of flaps 8, 11 which are fixed to the door 1 and the frame 2 respectively and two further flaps 9, 10, which are connected to each other and to the two fixed flaps 8, 11 by pin and socket hinges 12, 13, 14 having hinge axes which are parallel to each other and parallel to the hinge axes of the concealed cabinet hinges 3. The door mounting in accordance with the invention combines the action of conventional concealed cabinet hinges with the inherent strength and support of elongated pin and socket hinges of the piano hinge type and thus prevents the tendency of heavy doors to sag without the hinges being visible. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Concealed Hinge Mounting of Doors This invention relates to the hinged mounting of doors by concealed hinges, and is particularly concerned with such mounting of access doors to utility points, such as gas, water, and electricity meters, stopcocks, circuit breakers or fuse boxes, switch boxes, andfirefighting equipment, etc., located in compartments which are recessed in a wall.

Architects and designers often specify that the doors of such recessed utility compartments should be flush with the surface ofthewall when the door is closed, so that the door can be decoratedto match the wall to present a continuity of appearance in which the door is hardly noticeable. To complete this effect it is usual to specifythatthe door is mounted by concealed hinges, i.e. hinges which are completely hidden from view when the door is closed, and is provided with a push release catch.The hinges which are commonly used for this purpose are those which are known as concealed cabinet hinges and which are used exten sivelyfor mounting cabinet and otherfurniture doors, being characterised by not having a singleaxisabout which the door swings, but a quadrilateral linkage which is pivoted about separate axes to the doorand frame attachment portions ofthe hinge and which constrains the door to follow a predetermined path as it is opened and closed. However, these hinges have a problem inthatthey have a tendency in useto allow the door to sag, particularly if the door is fairy heavy as a result of its size or construction, orthe weight of tileswhich may be applied to theface of the doorto match the surrounding wall.A sagging door looks bad and can also jam against the surrounding frame, making it difficult to open and close the door and possibly causing damage to the decorative surface of the door and its surrounds, particularly in the case of tiled surfaces. Several forms of hinge are known which are capable of supporting a doorwithout sagging, but none may be classed as a concealed hinge since all have some portion which will be visible when the door is closed.

With the aim of overcoming, or at least substantially reducing,the problem of sag when mounting doors, particularly flush mounted access doors, with concealed hinges, according to the invention a door is hinged to a frame by a pair of concealed cabinet hinges which define the path followed by the door when it is opened and closed, and also by a concealed flap hinge assembly comprising a pair offlaps which are fixed one to the door andthe otherto the frame between the cabinet hinges, and at leasttwo further flaps which are connected to each other and to the two fixed flaps by pin and socket hinges providing the concealed flap hinge assembly with at least three hinge axes which are parallel to each other and to the hinge axes oftheconcealed cabinet hinges.

The invention combines the action of conventional concealed cabinet hinges with the inherent strength and support of pin and socket hinges to provide a strong concealed hinge door mounting which is unlikely to sag,theflap hinge assembly unfolding and folding as necessary to follow the path ofthedoor defined by the cabinet hinges when the door is opened and closed.

Preferably each pin and socket hinge of the flap hinge assemblytakes the form of a piano type hinge comprising a single pin extending through a plurality of coaxial ly interleaved sockets formed integrally with the flaps, and the assembly preferably extends over substantially the whole distance between the cabinet hinges, which are themselves preferably located near the top and bottom edges ofthe door.

The cabinet hinges may be any suitable commercially available concealed cabinet hinge which will allowthe doorto open to the required angle without fouling the frame orthesurrounding wall. There are several makesof such hinges providing a wide range of opening angles up to about 175 . If a wider opening angle of 180 is required it may be necessary for the flap hinge assembly to comprise more than two pivotally connected flaps between the two end flaps which arefixedtotheframeandthedoor.

One example of a mounting in accordance with the invention as applied to an access door is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure '1 is a perspective view from the front and one side of the mounted door with the door in its open position; Figure 2 is a sectional plan to a larger scale through the flap hinge assembly on the line Il-Il in Figure 1; Figure 3 isa sectional plan to a larger scaleon the line Ill-Ill in Figure 1 showing one of the cabinet hinges in plan view; and Figures 4 and 5 are sectional plans corresponding to Figures 2 and3 respectively, but showing the door closed.

In the example illustrated a stainless steel rectangular access door 1 is mounted in a unitary steel rectangular open-backed box frame 2 by means of a pair of commercially available 90" concealed cabinet hinges 3 anda a flap hinge assembly 4.

Thetwo cabinethinges 3 areattached, asshown,to the inner faces of the door 1 and one side wall 5 ofthe box frame 2 neartheirtop and bottom edges, and are adjusted so that the vertical side edges, and are adjusted-so that the vertical side edges of the door and the frame remain parallel when the door is opened and closed. In this exam pie, the hinges 3 draw the door 1 in to seat within the frame 2 with the front face 6 ofthe doorfl ush with the front edge 7 ofthe frame when the door is closed, and throw the door outwards in a curved path which avoids fouling the frame 2, when the door is opened to the position shown, i.e. at right angles to the frame.

The flap hinge assembly 4 comprises four elongated steel flaps 8,9, 10,11 which are pivotally connected together side by side by three parallel hinges 12,13,14 each comprising a hinge pin extending through a series of interleaved coaxial sockets extending along the length of the flaps, alternate sockets being formed integrally with the other flap.As can be seen therefore, the assembly 4 is equivalentto a pair of piano hinges 8,9, 12, and 10, 11, 14 which are positioned side by side with their adjacent longitudinal edges pivotal ly connected by a third piano type hinge 13 designed to fold in the opposite direction to the other two hinges 12 and 14. Indeed, in this example the assembly 4 is formed from three conventional piano hinges with the flaps 9 and 10 each formed from two of the flaps of the hinges welded together.

As shown in Figure 1 the hinge assembly 4 extends for mostofthedistance betweenthetwo cabinet hinges 3, and is mounted with its hinge axes parallel to the vertical edges of the door and frame, the outer flaps8 and 11 being welded or otherwise fixed respectively to the innerface ofthe door 1 and the inner face ofthe frame side wall 5. When the door is closed the flaps 8,9, 10 and 11 ofthe hinge assembly4 foldtowards each other about the hinges 12, 13, and 14 as shown in Figure 4 andwhen the door is opened they unfold to the positionshown in Figures 1 and 2 and in which it can be seen thatthetwo innerflaps 9 and 10arenotfullyextended.

When the door is closed the hinges 3 and 4 are completelyconcealedfromview, andtocompletethe neat appearance the assembly is provided with a conventional touch latch of which the co-operating members 15 and 16are mountedonthe innerfaces of the door and frame adjacent the edges opposite the hinges. The latch 15, automatically engages when the door is closed, and is released simply by pressing the door 1 lightly inwards. The latch then automatically releases and the door springs slightly open when the inward pressure on the door is removed. if required, otherforms of latch ora lock may be used in placeofthetouchjatch 15,16.

Claims

1. A doorwhich is hingedto aframe by a pair of concealed cabinet hinges, which definethe path followed by the door when it is opened and closed, and also by a concealedflap hinge assembly comprising a pair of flaps, which are fixed oneto the door and the othertothe frame between the cabinet hinges, and at leasttwo further flaps which are connected to each other and to the two fixed flaps by pin and socket hinges providingthe concealed flap hinge assembly with at leastthree hinge axeswhichareparallel to each otherandto the hinge axes of the concealed cabinet hinges.

2. A door according toClaim 1, in which each pin and socket hinge of the Rap hinge assembly is in the form of a hinge of the piano type comprising a single hinge pin extending through a multiplicity of coaxially interleaved sockets formed integral lywith the flaps.

3. A door according to Claim 2, in which theflap hinge assembly extends over substantially the whole distance between the concealed cabinet hinges.

4. A door according to anyone of the preceding Claims, in which the cabinet hinges are located near the top and bottom edges ofthe door.

5. Adooraccordingto anyoneofthe preceding Claims, in which theflap hinge assembly consists of four elongated flaps connected together by three hinges.

6. A door according to any oneofthe preceding Claims, further comprising a touch latch for holding the door closed in theframe,the touch latch comprising cooperating memberswhich are mounted the inner faces of the door and frame adjacent the edge of the door remote fromthe hinges.

7. A door according to Claim, substantially as describedwith reference tothe accompanying draw