Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
This invention relates to pivots for mounting the
lower ends of jambs of doors or windows in a door or window
opening and is particularly though not e~clusively useful
for mounting the jambs of bifold doors.
Such doors are commonly mounted by means of pivots
in the top and bottom edges of the door adjacent the jamb.
In order to obtain proper hanging of the door, some degree
of initial adjustment of the lateral and vertical position
of the lower pivotal mounting relative to the doorway is of-
ten required. Once the correct adjustment is obtained furtheralteration should desirably be unnecessary, even if the doors
are inadvertently lifted from their pivots or removed for
painting or the like. The pivot assembly of the present in-
vention is intended to facilitate the initial adjustment of
a door to which it is applied, whilst allowing the adjustment
to be maintained even if the door should subsequently be tem-
porarily removed or accidentally lifted or dislodged.
According to the invention, a lower pivot assembly
for a door comprises upper and lower pivot members, the upper
pivot member being adapted for engagement with a door and with
the lower pivot member so as to permit pivotal movement of the
door relative to the lower pivot member and lifting of the
upper pivot member out of engagement with the lower pivot mem-
ber, and a pivot base, the lower pivot member including a
depending portion entering a slot in the pivot base, the said
portion being shorter than the slot, wherein the pivot base
includes parallel walls defining sides of the slot, at least
one of the pivot base and the lower pivot member being of
resilient material and the said depending portion of the lower
pivot member being a press fit between the slot walls whereby
the former is resiliently gripped within the latter when
pressed thereinto, the pivot base and the lower ..............
-1- ~
`'-
;114
pivot member having complementary interlocking means inter-
engageable when said portion of the lower pivot member is
pressed into the slot in any of plurality of positions dis-
tributed along said slot.
Preferably the interlocking means are toothed racks,
and are formed on top o~ the wall and beneath the lower pivot
- member to either side of the depending portion, which may in-
clude laterally extending flanges to hold it captive in the
slot and which is preferably of wedge-shaped cross-section so
as only to grip the slot when fully seated therein.
The invention is described further with reference
to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective exploded view of a prefer-
red embodiment of an assembly in accordance with the invention,
and
Figures 2 and 3 are lateral cross-sections through
the assem~ly, showing it in normal use and during adjustment.
The assembly shown comprises three main portions, a
pivot base 2, a lower pivot member 4 and an upper pivot mem-
ber 6~
The pivot base 2 is a sheet metal stamping having a
; base portion, with downturned edges 8, 10 and parallel longi-
tudinal upturned walls 12 flanking a central slot 14, and an
end flange 16, both the end flange and base portion having
holes lB for screws by which the base may be secured to the
jamb and threshold of the door frame.
The lower pivot member 4 is molded from a tough
resilient synthetic plastic such as nylon, and has a rectan-
gular top flange 20 and a wedge-shaped depending portion 22
with thin readily flexible Elanges 24 extending laterally
llGP~
from its lower end. These flanges 24 serve merely to keep
the depending portion captive within the slot 14 of the base
2. They should not extend so far downwardly or have so much
resilience that they have any tendency to force the portion
4 upwardly relative to the base portion. Two racks formed
of teeth 26 are formed beneath the flange 20 on each side of
the portion 22, the racks being complementary to further racks
formed by teeth 28 on the upper edges of the wall 12. These
racks enable the lower pivot member to be locked against move-
ment relative to the slot 14 when the portion 22 is pushed intothe latter so that the racks interengage with the lower pivot
member and the base in any oE a number of different relative
positions. The lower pivot member, or at least its depending
poxtion,~is of course much shorter than the slot so as to pro-
vide a desired range of adjustment. The cross-section of the
wedge shaped portion 22 is dimensioned so that its upper por-
tion is a press fit between the walls 12. Since the member 4
is of resilient material, this means that it is resiliently
gripped by the base member 2 when pushed down 50 that the racks
interengage. Consequently, a desired relative positioning of
the parts is maintained even when the load applied to the por-
tion 4 by the upper pivot member is removed due to lifting or
removal of the door, although it can be altered deliberately
by pulling up the member 4 so the walls 12 release the wedge
shaped portion 22, and repositioning it longitudinally in the
slot 14.
A socket is formed in the upper surface of the flange
20, comprising a shallow recess 30, a short cylindrical bore
32, and a short lower rectangular bore 34~ The upper pivot
member 6 includes a pivot pin 36, having a rectangular lower
11~tj114
end por ~i~n 3~, a Elange 40 ~nd a threaded portion 42 received
in a threaded plastic sleeve 44 adapted to be received in a
drilling 48 in the bo~tom of a door 46. vertical adjustment
o~ the pivot may be achieved by screwing the threaded portion
42 in or out of the sleeve 44 by means of a wrench applied to
the rectangular end portion 28 and inserted between the flanges
20 and 40 aEter the door to which the upper pivot member is
applied is lifted slightly.so that the bottom end of the por-
tion 38 is lifted out of the bore 34. Normally~ the portion
38 and the bore 34 interengage to prevent relative rotation
of the pin 36 and the pivot member 4, thus maintaining a
desired vertical adjustment, Pivoting action is provided by
rotation of the pin 36 in the sleeve 44. It will of course
be understood that the same effect may be achieved with other
non-cylindrical configurations of the bottom end of the pin
38 and complementary configurations of the bore 34 such as
to prevent relative rotation~
In use, initial adjustments of the pivot position
are readily made by rotating the pin 36 and moving the member
4 in the slot 14 as already described. once these adjustments
are made, the walls 12 grip the portion 22 so as to maintain
the member 4 in position, even if the door is removed for
paincing or subjected to lifting forces relieving the load on
the pivot assembly.
Although in the embodiment described, the grip of
the wall 12 on the portion 22 depends on the use of resilient
material for the member 4, it will be understood that the same
effect may be achieved if the member 2 is of resilient material
instead of or as well as the member 4. Moreover, the inter-
engaging racks could be diffexently positioned. For example,
_4_
if the base portion had a bottom wall beneath the slot 14,a rack could be formed on this wall, and a complementary
rac7c on the bottom o:E the depending portion 22.
_5_
