Butt hinge

Abstract

Several problems may be encountered when hanging a door with a butt hinge. Small margins of error in the alignment of the butt hinge may lead to the door being incorrectly hung. The present invention provides a butt hinge 100 comprising receiving apertures 140 configured to selectively receive first inserts 160 or second inserts 170. The first inserts 160 comprise concentric apertures 165 and the second inserts 170 comprise eccentric apertures 175. Selection and arrangement of the inserts 160, 170 in each of the receiving apertures 140 permits adjustable positioning of attachment means therein, thereby enabling adjustable attachment of the butt hinge 100 to a surface. This makes the process of hanging the door quicker, more straightforward and less susceptible to user error.

Claims

1. A butt hinge comprising: a first leaf for attachment to a door; a second leaf pivotally attached to the first leaf, the second leaf for attachment to a surface, the second leaf comprising at least three receiving apertures therein; a plurality of first inserts comprising a first outer circumference and a first inner aperture therein, the first inner aperture configured to be concentric with the first outer circumference; and a plurality of second inserts comprising a second outer circumference and a second inner aperture therein, the second inner aperture configured to be eccentric with the second outer circumference; wherein each one of the receiving apertures is configured to selectively receive a first insert or a second insert, and each of the second inserts is configured to be rotatable relative to the second leaf; whereby arrangement of the respective insert in each of the receiving apertures permits adjustable positioning of attachment means therein, thereby enabling adjustable attachment of the butt hinge to the surface.

2. The butt hinge of claim 1, wherein each of the at least three receiving apertures has a tapered and/or stepped profile along an axis parallel to the thickness of the second leaf.

3. The butt hinge of claim 1, wherein the first inserts and the second inserts have a tapered and/or stepped cross-sectional profile.

4. The butt hinge of claim 1, wherein the second leaf is at least 50% thicker than the first leaf.

5. The butt hinge of claim 1, wherein the first leaf is between 22 and 24 mm wide, and between 80 and 82 mm long.

6. The butt hinge of claim 1, wherein the second leaf is between 22 and 24 mm wide, and between 80 and 82 mm long.

7. The butt hinge of claim 1, wherein the first inner aperture and the second aperture are countersunk.

8. The butt hinge of claim 1, wherein the first leaf comprises at least three receiving apertures therein, configured in the same way as the receiving apertures in the second leaf.

9. A method of attaching a butt hinge to a surface, the method comprising the steps of: providing the butt hinge of claim 1; aligning the second leaf on a surface; selecting and arranging either one of the plurality of first inserts or one of the plurality of second inserts in each of the receiving apertures; inserting attachment means through the first and/or second inner apertures; and attaching the second leaf to the surface.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The above and other characteristics, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention. This description is given for the sake of example only, without limiting the scope of the invention. The reference figures quoted below refer to the attached drawings.

(2) FIG. 1 is a frontal view of a butt hinge with inserts.

(3) FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the butt hinge and inserts of FIG. 1, shown with the inserts out of the receiving apertures.

(4) FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a first insert and a second insert.

DETAILED DESCRIPTI ON

(5) The present invention will be described with respect to certain drawings but the invention is not limited thereto but only by the claims. The drawings described are only schematic and are non-limiting. Each drawing may not include all of the features of the invention and therefore should not necessarily be considered to be an embodiment of the invention. In the drawings, the size of some of the elements may be exaggerated and not drawn to scale for illustrative purposes. The dimensions and the relative dimensions do not correspond to actual reductions to practice of the invention.

(6) Furthermore, the terms first, second, third and the like in the description and in the claims, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking or in any other manner. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances and that operation is capable in other sequences than described or illustrated herein. Likewise, method steps described or claimed in a particular sequence may be understood to operate in a different sequence.

(7) Moreover, the terms top, bottom, over, under and the like in the description and the claims are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing relative positions. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances and that operation is capable in other orientations than described or illustrated herein.

(8) It is to be noticed that the term “comprising”, used in the claims, should not be interpreted as being restricted to the means listed thereafter; it does not exclude other elements or steps. It is thus to be interpreted as specifying the presence of the stated features, integers, steps or components as referred to, but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps or components, or groups thereof. Thus, the scope of the expression “a device comprising means A and B” should not be limited to devices consisting only of components A and B. It means that with respect to the present invention, the only relevant components of the device are A and B.

(9) Reference throughout this specification to “an embodiment” or “an aspect” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or aspect is included in at least one embodiment or aspect of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment”, “in an embodiment”, or “in an aspect” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment or aspect, but may refer to different embodiments or aspects. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics of any one embodiment or aspect of the invention may be combined in any suitable manner with any other particular feature, structure or characteristic of another embodiment or aspect of the invention, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from this disclosure, in one or more embodiments or aspects.

(10) Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the description various features of the invention are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive aspects. This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed invention requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Moreover, the description of any individual drawing or aspect should not necessarily be considered to be an embodiment of the invention. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in fewer than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims following the detailed description are hereby expressly incorporated into this detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of this invention.

(11) Furthermore, while some embodiments described herein include some features included in other embodiments, combinations of features of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope of the invention, and form yet further embodiments, as will be understood by those skilled in the art. For example, in the following claims, any of the claimed embodiments can be used in any combination.

(12) In the description provided herein, numerous specific details are set forth. However, it is understood that embodiments of the invention may be practised without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description.

(13) In the discussion of the invention, unless stated to the contrary, the disclosure of alternative values for the upper or lower limit of the permitted range of a parameter, coupled with an indication that one of said values is more highly preferred than the other, is to be construed as an implied statement that each intermediate value of said parameter, lying between the more preferred and the less preferred of said alternatives, is itself preferred to said less preferred value and also to each value lying between said less preferred value and said intermediate value.

(14) The use of the term “at least one” may mean only one in certain circumstances. The use of the term “any” may mean “all” and/or “each” in certain circumstances.

(15) The principles of the invention will now be described by a detailed description of at least one drawing relating to exemplary features. It is clear that other arrangements can be configured according to the knowledge of persons skilled in the art without departing from the underlying concept or technical teaching, the invention being limited only by the terms of the appended claims.

(16) FIG. 1 shows a butt hinge 100 with a first leaf 110 and second leaf 120. The first 110 and second 120 leaves are rectangular in shape, and are longer in the vertical axis than they are along the horizontal axis. The first 110 and second 120 leaves are connected together by a pivotal mechanism 130 in between, which runs the entire vertical length of the butt hinge 100 and comprises approximately 15% of its horizontal width. The pivotal mechanism 130 is a conventional pin and barrel pivot, with five interlocking members surrounding the pin 135; however, other numbers of interlocking members, such as three, four, six or seven are also envisaged.

(17) The first leaf 110 comprises three apertures 140, circular in shape and positioned in the horizontal centre of the first leaf 110 and spaced evenly along the vertical length of the first leaf 110. Each of the apertures 140 is countersunk to facilitate the arrangement of screws therein. The second leaf 120 comprises three receiving apertures 150A, 150B, 150C, positioned in the horizontal centre of the second leaf 120 and spaced evenly along the vertical length of the first leaf 110. The middle receiving aperture 150B is shown with an inserted first insert 160, which comprises a concentric countersunk inner aperture 165. The top 150A and bottom 150C receiving apertures are shown with inserted second inserts 170, which each comprise an eccentric countersunk inner aperture 175.

(18) Each of the receiving apertures 150A, 150B, 150C and each of the inserts 160, 170 has a stepped thickness profile interjected by a shoulder 180. The shoulder 180 is shown in broken lines to indicate it being out of view, being obscured by the top surface of the inserts 160, 170. The stepped profile facilitates easy insertion of the inserts 160, 170 into the receiving apertures 150A, 150B, 150C. A large portion of the thickness of the inserts 160, 170 is coincident with the diameter of the receiving apertures 150A, 150B, 150C. A small portion of the thickness of the inserts 160, 170 is recessed into the corresponding smaller diameter of the receiving apertures 150A, 150B, 150C.

(19) FIG. 2 shows a cross sectional view taken through the centre of the butt hinge 100 in FIG. 1, along the central plane 200, without any inserts in the second leaf 120. The countersunk aperture 140 is positioned in the horizontal middle of the first leaf 110. The second leaf 120 is twice the thickness of the first leaf 110. The pivotal mechanism 130 has a circular profile, which protrudes above the flat surfaces of the first 110 and second 120 leaves. The pin 135 is a circular member in the centre of the mechanism 130.

(20) The central receiving aperture 150B is positioned in the centre of the second leaf 120, and is shown without an insert. The receiving aperture 150B has a stepped profile interjected by a shoulder 180 approximately halfway along its thickness. Accordingly, the lateral size of the receiving aperture 150B at the top surface of the second leaf 120 is larger than the lateral size of the receiving aperture 150B at the bottom surface of the second leaf 120.

(21) The first insert 160 and second insert 170 are shown separate from the second leaf 120, each in cross-section. The first 160 and second 170 insert have a stepped profile interjected by a shoulder 180 that corresponds to the receiving aperture 150B, allowing them to fit snugly within the receiving aperture 150B when inserted. Both the first insert 160 and the second insert 170 have a countersunk inner aperture therein. The inner aperture 165 in the first insert 160 is concentric, and accordingly is shown left of centre of the first insert 160. The inner aperture 175 in the second insert 170 is eccentric, and accordingly is shown in the centre of the second insert 170.

(22) FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the first insert 160 and the second insert 170. The concentric inner aperture 165 is in the centre of the first insert 160. The eccentric inner aperture 175 in the second insert 170 is on the right-hand side of the second insert 170. Both inner apertures 165, 175 are countersunk. The stepped profile interjected by a shoulder 180 in both of the inserts 160, 170 is shown by the smaller portion of the insert thickness protruding from the bottom of each insert, smaller in lateral extent than the larger portion of the top of the insert above it.