US2670197A - Hinge assembly for furnace doors - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 23, 1954 B, MQRSE 2,670,197

HINGE ASSEMBLY FOR FURNACE DOORS Filed Oct. 19, 1949 Yaanl.

Patented Feb. 23, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 7 3,670,113.! u Ge-AssEMeLY FO U r s Gl nn B. Morse, Grand Rapids; Mich... Applica ion Oct ber 19, 4 Se a No, 12 ,300

' 2 Claims.

The present invention prov-ides a door-closing mechanism primarily for the doors of furnaces. When the usual coal furnace is converted for the use of gas, it is preferable to provide the door with some sort of a biasing device in order to assure that the door is not inadvertently left open so that the flow of air in the combustion chamber is altered, and also to assure that the door does not remain open after an explosion within the furnace. It is the general practice to meet these requirements by replacing the conventional hinge pins with a continuous pin spanning both upper and lower hinges, and to mount upon this continuous hinge pin a helical spring having extended ends. One of these ends is disposed to bear upon the furnace door, and the other to bear against the front of the furnace. When the spring is assembled in this position, a twist is applied to assure that enough initial torsion is generated to assure the proper function of the assembly. When the assembly discussed above (which is well known) is incorporated in a furnace, situations will inevitably arise when it is desired to l ave the door in an pen, position temporar r he s rvice or nspection oi th interior of the. furnace. It is decid dly inconvenient for a servicemen to be forced to carry with him a series of locks or other steps t be pla ed be: tween he door and th fu na e in, order to hold the door open. or be required to, resort to. the attachment of a wire or rope to some convenient post tor this purpose.

It may be noted that an undesirable characteristic of the elementary hinge assembly previously discussed is the extreme diflicultyof applying the required initial twist to the spring asthe Spring and hinge rod are assembled in position. It is necessary to properly support the door in position for the hinge pin to cooperate with the hinge fittings, and at the same time to Place the spring in position on the rod and apply the required torque. While holding the the. ends of the spring without injury to the finsets. ob iously. th s r u e requires either a high degree a: dexterity and consummate skill, or the service o at ea t o Th s ac lu the act tha the opera ion. c nnot b reduced to routin due o diiicrences in ontour or various iumasss results a rather high an di ation cost for this type of equipment.

The present invention provides an added component to the hinge assembled discussed above having a double purpose. The principal purpose of this component is to provide a locking action securing the ends of the spring in a predeter mined relationship comparable to the position these ends would assume when the door is in the extreme open position. Locked in this angular relationship, it follows that the biasingaction normally present against the furnace door is completely removed. The door can then be left in whatever position desired for service or inspection of the interior of the furnace, When such work has been completed, the restraining action of this added component is removed from the spring and the biasing action restored to the door. Since thistype of component'makes it possible to secure the spring in the open position it follows that the component may be assembled to the spring at the factory so that the mechanic may assemble the components oi; the hinge without the necessity of applying a torque to the spring. It is merely necessary to slip. the spring onto the hinge rod, and then bring the r d, n i s na ly ssembled positi n. Wh this operation has been performed, the door can be s ng o a position s i htly b yond the ino mally open. thus applying a torque, to the prin nd permitt ng th release of the restraining component. The fu biasin action of he pring is then applied directly to the door, and the inter: totin co pon nt o stop s l ft n a inactive position until it is again desired to leave th door open 501 an extended period.

Essentially, the structure of the stop includes an engaging section disposed to cooperate with each of the ends of the helical spring, and a torque=transfer section connecting these en-' gaging points. Since the twist at one end will of course exactly balance the twist at the other, the ends of the spring will be securely locked in a. predetermined angular relationship as soon as the engaging means are brought to bear upon their respective ends of the spring. To facilitate the attachment of this component to the assemb y, it is re a le :for e end of t e s rin to be engageable with the step through a slot arranged generally parallel to the axis of the hin b y. A th opp site p ie abl the w r en or thi component a n tch s provided h h is ssessable ith the relate one at he ica sl des The stop member he slid in a. vertical direction enough to permit the en-' gagement of the notch at the lower end with the spring, and it will be seen that the dimensions of the stop member itself will be determined entirely by the axial length of the helical spring.

Since the reaction at the notch and also at the elongated slot are in a generally tangential direction, it follows that means must be provided on the stop member for converting these forces into torque which can be transferred to the opposite end of the stop member. For this purpose, a formed section is preferably provided partially surrounding the outer diameter of the helical spring and arranged to oppose the linear forces generated at the point of engagement of the spring ends with the engaging means. A variety of e uivalent arrangements can be used to perform this function, such as the provision of suitable apertured bent ears at opposite ends of the stop device disposed to cooperate with the hinge shaft. Any such arrangement having the general function of maintaining the axial alignment of the stop member with respect to the spring will be adeouate, but the svstem described above and illustrated in the drawings is preferable due to the simplicity of manufacture and assembly associated therewith.

The particular features of the present invention will be discussed in detail by analysis of the embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In these drawings,

Figure 1 is a view'in elevation of a conventional furnace door provided with a hinge assembly embodyin the present invention.

Figure 2 is a view taken in elevation of the mechanism sho n in Figure l. with the stop com onent in the locked position and showing the furnace door free from the biasing action of the spring. With the components in the position shown in Figure 2. the as emblv including the helical spring and the stop is free to slide axially along the rod, but is shown in the position indicated for clarity. 1

Fi ure 3 is a section taken on the plane 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a section taken on the plane 4-4 of Figure 1.

Referring to Figure 1, the furnace door generally designated as H) is hinged upon the axis H by the cooperatin action of the hinge members, i2. i3, i4, and i5, and also the hinge rod IS. The helical spring I! is provided with the tangentially extending arms i8 and IS. The arm [8 bears against the edge of the furnace door It, and the arm l9 bears against the front of the furnace 20.

The stop member 2! is provided with an elongated slot 22 adapted to cooperate with the end 18 of the spring. As will be noted in Figures 3 and 4, the slot 22 is disposed in a tangential portion 23 of the stop member, and the notch 24 at the opposite end of the stop member 2| is disposed in a tangential portion 25. To obtain the desired angular relationship, it will be noted that (in the device illustrated in these drawings) an approximately 30 degree angle exists between the planes of these two portions of metal.

To oppose the tangential forces generated at the slot 22 and at the hook 24, formed sections 26 and 21 are provided. It will be noted that the formed section 26 reaches around approximately 90 degrees of the outer periphery of the helical spring with respect to the tangential portion 23, and that the formed ssqiiop. 21 has a similar relationship with the tangential portion 25. The interaction of the engaging points and the formed portions result in a generation of torque at each end of the spring which is in direct opposition to the torque generated at the opposite end. If it were not for the formed sections 25 and 21, or their equivalent, the stop member would simply tend to rotate in a counterclockwise direction as shown in Figure l as soon as the engaging ends are brought to bear upon the spring. As noted above, a great variety of equivalent means are readily available for the prevention of such displacement of the stop member with respect to the axis of the spring.

With the illustrated device, the spring and the stop member can be placed in a position shown in Figure 2 and the article supplied for installation in that condition. With the angular relationship of the spring ends it and I9 thus determined, it is obvious that these components can be simply slipped onto the hinge rod 16 after passing the rod through either the upper or lower hinge members, since the assembly of the spring and the stop permit easy axial movement along the rod. The biasing action can be applied to the door by simply urging the door in the open direction far enough to permit the notch 24 to pass over and disengage the end of the spring l9. This movement will of course involve some axial displacement ofthe stop member, and this is accommodated by the slot 22 while still maintaining the stop member in assembled relationship with the other components. Such a stop member may be addedto an already existing assembly involving a helical spring by the rotating of the spring end l8 far enough to permit the engagement of the stop member at the elongated slot. After the stop member has been shoved into the position shown in Figure l, the spring end can be released to again bear upon the furnace door.

The appended claims are intended to be comprehensive of all modifications of the invention coming within their scope.

I claim: I

1. In combination with a helical spring having tangentially projecting ends, a lock for establishing relatively angular relationship of the ends of said spring comprising: first and second engaging means adapted to cooperate respectively with the ends of said spring, said engaging means each including a stop disposed to bear against the'respeotive end of said spring, and also including an opposite aligning member, said aligning member being disposed to cooperate with the side of said spring in abutting relationship at points thereon where a radius to the axis of said spring is substantially parallel to the direction of the force applied to said stop by the end of said spring, and torque-transfer means fixing the relative position of said first and second engaging means so as to maintain an angular relationship of the ends of the said springs substantially less than degrees against a biasing action of said spring tending to increase said angular relationship.

2. In combination with a helical spring having tangentially projecting ends, a lock for establishing relatively angular relationship between'the ends of said spring, comprising: a plate having slots on opposite sides separating each of said sides into at least two portions, one of said p01 tions on each side having a stop disposed to bear against the respective end of said spring-{the opposite portion therefrom on the other side of said plate being disposed to cooperate with the side of said spring in abutting relationship at points thereon where a radius to the axis of said spring is substantially parallel to the direction 5 of force applied to said stop by the end of said spring.

GLENN B. MORSE.

me Date Number Na olvis Jan. 3, 1950 Number FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Denmark Oct. 23, 1913 Great Britain Feb. 5, 1914 Great Britain Feb. 20, 1935

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