Shower Door System with Gravity Hinge

Abstract

A shower door and hinge assembly comprising a glass shower door, a sloping sill, a sill angle adapter, upper and lower horizontal door frame rails, and upper and lower shower door hinges where the lower hinge is a gravity style hinge featuring a self-closing action, is presented. The hinges of the present invention shower door and hinge assembly attach only to horizontal edge surfaces of the glass door. The hinges do not attach to any vertical surface of the door.

Claims

1. A shower door and hinge assembly comprising: a shower door having a weight; an upper hinge, the upper hinge comprising an upper portion and a lower portion, wherein the upper portion and lower portion are pivotally connected; a lower hinge, the lower hinge having a fixed portion and a rotating portion, wherein the fixed portion and the rotating portion are pivotally connected; wherein, the fixed portion includes raised arc sectors located at 0 and 180 with respect to a longitudinal axis of the lower hinge and includes low arc sectors located at 45 and 270 with respect to the longitudinal axis of the lower hinge; wherein ramps interconnect the raised arc sectors and the low arc sectors of the fixed portion; wherein, the rotating portion includes raised arc sectors located at 90 and 270 with respect to the longitudinal axis of the lower hinge; wherein, the fixed portion and the rotating portion are engageable; wherein, engagement of the raised arc sectors of the rotating portion with the low arc sectors of the fixed portion, biases the door to a closed position; wherein outward movement of the door causes the raised arc sectors of the rotating portion to disengage from the low arc sectors of the fixed portion and travel upwardly along the ramps of the fixed portion until the raised arc sectors of the rotating portion contact the raised arc sectors of the fixed portion, whereby the door is in an open position; and wherein, inward movement of the door from the open position causes the raised arc sectors of the rotating portion to engage the ramps of the fixed portion, wherein the weight of the door causes the raised arc sectors of the rotating portion to travel down the ramps of the fixed portion and engage the low arc sectors of the fixed portion, whereby the door is biased in a closed position.

2. The shower door and hinge assembly of claim 1, wherein the lower portion of the upper hinge is concealed within an upper horizontal rail fixed to a top edge of the door.

3. The shower door and hinge assembly of claim 1, wherein the rotating portion of the lower hinge is concealed within a lower horizontal rail fixed to a lower edge of the door.

4. The shower door and hinge assembly of claim 1, wherein the fixed portion is attached to a sill, wherein the sill has an inwardly angled top surface.

5. The shower door and hinge assembly of claim 3, wherein the lower horizontal rail includes a sweep seal, the sweep seal extending downwardly from a bottom surface of the lower horizontal rail and engaging the angled top surface of the sill, wherein the sweep seal assists in preventing water release exterior to the shower enclosure.

6. The shower door and hinge assembly of claim 1, wherein the fixed portion of the lower hinge includes a water management darn, wherein the water management dam assists in preventing water release exterior to a shower enclosure.

7. A shower door and hinge assembly comprising: a shower door having a weight and an upper edge and a lower edge: an upper hinge, the upper hinge comprising an upper portion and a lower portion, wherein the upper portion and lower portion are pivotally connected; a lower hinge; the lower hinge having a fixed portion and a rotating portion, wherein the fixed portion and the rotating portion are pivotally connected; and means for biasing the door to a closed position.

8. The shower door and hinge assembly of claim 7, wherein the fixed portion is attached to a sill, wherein the sill has an inwardly angled top surface.

9. The shower door and hinge assembly of claim 7, wherein the means for biasing the shower door in a closed position comprises: a raised arc sector disposed upon the rotating portion and a raised arc sector and a low arc sector disposed upon the fixed portion, wherein a ramp interconnects the raised arc sector and the low arc sector of the fixed portion; wherein, upon engagement of the raised arc sector of the rotating portion with the low arc sector of the fixed portion, the shower door is biased in a closed position; wherein outward movement of the shower door causes the raised arc sector of the rotating portion to disengage from the low arc sector of the fixed portion and travel upwardly along the ramp of the fixed portion until the raised arc sector of the rotating portion contacts the raised arc sector of the fixed portion, whereby the shower door is in an open position; and wherein, inward movement of the shower door from the open position causes the raised arc sector of the rotating portion to engage the ramp of the fixed portion wherein upon engagement, the weight of the door causes the raised arc sector of the rotating portion to travel down the ramp of the fixed portion and engage the low arc sector in the fixed portion, whereby the door is biased to a closed position.

10. The shower door and hinge assembly of claim 7, wherein the fixed portion is attached to a sill, wherein the sill has an inwardly angled top surface.

11. The shower door and hinge assembly of claim 9, wherein the raised arc sector and the low arc sector of the fixed portion are disposed about a circular hole.

12. The shower door and hinge assembly of claim 9, wherein the raised arc sector of the rotating portion is disposed about a circular hole.

13. The shower door and hinge assembly of claim 7, wherein the lower portion of the upper hinge is concealed within an upper horizontal rail attached to the upper edge of the door.

14. The shower door and hinge assembly of claim 7, wherein the rotating portion of the lower hinge is concealed within a lower horizontal rail attached to a lower edge of the door.

15. The shower door and hinge assembly of claim 14, wherein the lower horizontal rail includes a sweep seal, the sweep seal extending downwardly from a bottom surface of the lower horizontal rail and engaging the angled top surface of the sill, wherein the sweep seal assists in preventing water release exterior to the shower enclosure.

16. The shower door and hinge assembly of claim 7, wherein the fixed portion of the lower hinge includes a water management dam, wherein the water management dam assists in preventing water release exterior to a shower enclosure.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a shower door and hinge assembly of the present invention installed in a shower enclosure.

[0015] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1, showing details of the lower hinge of the shower door and hinge assembly of the present invention.

[0016] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1, showing details of the lower horizontal rail and sweep seal assembly of the shower door and hinge assembly of the present invention.

[0017] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a fixed portion of the lower hinge of the shower door and hinge assembly of the present invention.

[0018] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a rotating portion of the lower hinge of the shower door and hinge assembly of the present invention.

[0019] FIG. 6 is a top view of the fixed portion of the lower hinge of the shower door and hinge assembly of the present invention.

[0020] FIG. 7 is a side view of the fixed portion of the lower hinge of the shower door and hinge assembly of the present invention.

[0021] FIG. 8 is an end view of the fixed portion of the lower hinge of the shower door and hinge assembly of the present invention.

[0022] FIG. 9 is a top view of the rotating portion of the lower hinge of the shower door and hinge assembly of the present invention.

[0023] FIG. 10 is a side view of the rotating portion of the lower hinge of the shower door and hinge assembly of the present invention.

[0024] FIG. 11 is an end view of the rotating portion of the lower hinge of the shower door and hinge assembly of the present invention.

[0025] FIG. 12 is a top view of a sill angle adapter of the shower door and hinge assembly of the present invention.

[0026] FIG. 13 is an end view of a sill angle adapter of the shower door and hinge assembly of the present invention.

[0027] FIG. 14 is a schematic view of the upper hinge assembly of the shower door and hinge assembly of the present invention.

[0028] FIG. 15 is a side view of an alternative embodiment of a lower hinge suitable for use with heavy shower doors.

[0029] FIG. 16 is a side view of an alternative embodiment of a lower hinge suitable for use with heavy shower doors.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0030] The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. The invention may, however, may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

[0031] With reference to FIGS. 1 through 5, the shower door and hinge assembly of the present. invention 10 typically comprises a glass shower door 12 disposed adjacent to glass walls 14 of a shower enclosure 15. The shower door and hinge assembly 10 further includes a sloping sill 16, a sill angle adapter 18, upper and lower horizontal door frame rails 20 and 22, an upper shower door hinge assembly 26 (see FIG. 14) which is a pivot style hinge and a lower shower door hinge assembly 24 (see FIGS. 241), referred to as a gravity hinge.

[0032] With reference to FIGS. 2-11, the gravity style lower hinge assembly 24 includes a fixed hinge portion 28 and a rotating hinge portion 30 where the fixed hinge portion 28 mounts to the sill 16 of the shower enclosure via the sill angle adapter 18 and the rotating hinge portion 30 mounts to the lower horizontal rail 22 attached to a lower horizontal edge of the glass door 12. The fixed portion 28 of the lower hinge 24 includes a cylindrical receptacle 32 for receipt of a pivot pin 34 extending from the glass door 12.

[0033] Arranged radially about an opening 36 of the receptacle 32 of the fixed portion 28 of the lower hinge 24 and spaced angularly from a longitudinal axis 38 of the fixed portion 28 are two pairs of mutually opposed inclined surfaces or inclined arc sectors referred to as ramps or camming ramps 40, a pair of raised surfaces or raised arc sectors 42 and two grooves or low arc sectors 44. The radial centers of the ramps 40, raised surfaces 42 and grooves 44, measured angularly from a longitudinal axis 38 of the fixed portion 28 of the lower hinge 24, are as follows: The raised surfaces 42 are located at 0 and 180. The grooves 44 are located at 90 and 270. The two pairs of mutually opposed camming ramps 40 are located at 45, 135, 225 and 315. The arc width 41 of the camming ramps 40 controls the range of motion through which the shower door 12 will be biased to a closed position, while the arc width 43 of the raised surfaces 42 controls the range of motion for which the shower door 12 will be able to travel freely.

[0034] The fixed portion 28 of the lower hinge 24 also features a water management dam 46, which assists in preventing water from escaping the shower enclosure. Also included in the fixed portion 28 are a pair of spaced apart alignment holes 48 which are configured as elongated slots. The alignment holes 48 allow for the fixed portion 28 to be attached to the sill 16 of the shower enclosure 15 via mechanical fasteners, typically screws.

[0035] With reference to FIGS. 2 and 12-13, disposed between the fixed portion 28 of the lower hinge 24 and the sill 16 is the sill angle adapter 18. The sill angle adapter 18 includes a through-hole 66 for receipt of the pivot pin 34, as well as mounting slots 68 which allow the sill adapter 18 to be attached to the sill 16, typically via mechanical fasteners such as screws.

[0036] With reference to FIGS. 2, 5 and 9-11, the rotating portion 30 of the lower hinge 24 includes a generally rectangular section 50 having rounded corners and a generally cylindrical upper section 52 formed integrally with the lower section 50. The generally cylindrical upper section 52 includes mutually opposed raised surfaces 55, low surfaces or grooves 54; and ramps or camming ramps 57. The arc width 59 of the camming ramps 57 and the arc width 61 of the raised surfaces 55, in conjunction with those of the fixed portion 28 of the lower hinge 24, controls the range of motion through which the shower door 12 will be biased to a closed position or will be able to travel freely in an open position.

[0037] The rotating portion 30 of the lower hinge 24 also includes a cylindrical opening 56 through which the pivot pin 34 (see FIG. 2) passes. Also included are attachment holes 58, which allow the rotating portion 30 to attach to the lower horizontal rail 20 (shown in FIG. 1) of the glass door 12.

[0038] With reference to FIGS. 1-2, and 4-8, the lower hinge 24 is configured such that the pivot pin 34 is rigidly attached to the lower horizontal rail 20 which itself is affixed to the glass door 12. The rotating portion 30 of the lower hinge 24 is attached to the lower horizontal rail 20 via mechanical fasteners (typically screws)(not shown) and is positioned such that the pivot pin 34 protrudes from the cylindrical opening 56 of the rotating portion 30. Likewise, the fixed portion 28 of the lower hinge 24 is attached to the sill 16 via the sill adapter 18 by means of mechanical fasteners, also, typically screws (not shown). The shower door 12 is installed in the shower enclosure by mating the fixed and rotating portions 28 and 30. The fixed and rotating portions 28 and 30 are mated by positioning the pivot pin 34, which protrudes from the cylindrical opening 56 of the rotating portion 30 of the lower hinge 24, into the cylindrical receptacle 32 of the fixed portion 28.

[0039] With reference to FIGS. 1 and 14, during installation of the shower door 12 into the shower enclosure 15, the components of the upper hinge 26 between the door and the shower enclosure would also be installed. The upper hinge 26 is shown schematically in FIG. 14. The upper hinge 26 comprises an upper hinge block or upper portion 86, a pivot pin 88 and a lower hinge block or lower portion 90. The lower hinge block 90 would typically be mounted concealed in the upper horizontal rail 20. The upper hinge block 86 would typically be mounted in a header of the shower enclosure 15.

[0040] With reference to FIGS. 1-11, the fixed portion 28 and rotating portion 30 of the lower hinge 24 are configured to be engaged when installed. At all times, the fixed portion 28 of the lower hinge 24 remains in a fixed positon, whereas the rotating portion 30 of the lower hinge 24 rotates as the shower door 12 is opened or closed. The grooves 44 in the fixed portion 28 and the grooves 54 in the rotating portion 30, define the self-centered or closed position of the door 12 when the grooves (44, 54) are engaged with the raised portions 42 of the fixed portion 28 and the raised portions 55 of the rotating portion 30.

[0041] In other words, when the shower door 12 is in the closed position, the grooves 54 of the rotating portion 30 of the lower hinge 24 located at 0 and 180 will be engaged with the raised surfaces 42 of the fixed portion 28 of the lower hinge 24 which are also located at 0 and 180. Similarly, the raised surfaces 55 of the rotating portion 30 of the lower hinge 24 located at 90 and 270 are engaged with the grooves 44 of the fixed portion 28 of the lower hinge 24 also located at 90 and 270.

[0042] With reference to FIGS. 1-11., when the shower door 12 is installed in the shower enclosure 15, the weight of the door 12 is transmitted via the raised. surfaces 55 of the rotating portion 30 of the lower hinge 24 to either the ramps 40, raised surfaces 42 or grooves 44 of the fixed portion 28 of the lower hinge 24, depending upon the position of the door 12. The upper portion 30 and lower portion 28 of the lower hinge 24, when engaged and bearing the weight of the door 12, act as follows.

[0043] When the raised portions 55 of the rotating portion 30 of the lower hinge 24 are at rest in the grooves 44 of the fixed portion 28, the shower door 12 is in the closed or self-centered position. When the shower door 12 is pushed outwardly, the raised surfaces 55 of the rotating portion 30 of lower hinge 24 ride upwardly along the camming ramps 40 of the fixed portion 28 of the lower hinge 24. When the raised surfaces 55 of the rotating portion 30 are positioned on the camming ramps 40 of the fixed portion 28, the weight of the door 12 biases the raised surfaces 55 towards the grooves 44. Thus, if the door 12 is released when the raised surfaces 55 are riding upon the camming ramps 40, the door 12 will close of its own accord.

[0044] Continued pushing of the door 12 outwardly, will cause the raised surfaces 55 of the rotating portion 30 of the lower hinge 24 to continue to ride up the camming ramps 40 of the fixed portion 28 until they reach the raised surfaces 42 of the fixed portion 28. Once the raised surfaces 55 of the rotating portion 30 of the lower hinge 24 are on the raised surfaces 42 of the fixed portion 28 of the lower hinge 24, the door 12 will then open freely, i.e. the bias due to the weight of the door is then removed and the door will not close of its own accord.

[0045] If the open door is then pushed close, once the raised surfaces 55 of the rotating portion 30 traverse the raised surfaces 42 of the fixed portion 28 and begin descending the caroming ramps 40 of the fixed portion 28, the door 12 will again be biased to the self-centered or closed position and the raised surfaces 55 of the rotating portion will again come to rest in the grooves 44 of the fixed portion 28.

[0046] Other features of the shower door and hinge assembly of the present invention 10, include the sill 16 which is configured to slope downwardly towards the drain of the shower enclosure. The downward angle of the sill 16 assists in preventing water from escaping the shower enclosure via the opening for the shower door. To allow for installation of the fixed portion 28 of the lower door hinge 24 on the sill 16, the sill adapter 18 is provided to create a level surface.

[0047] The lower and upper horizontal door frame rails 20 and 22 of shower door and hinge assembly 10, are extrusions which feature a generally u-shaped channel section 60 and a sweep seal retaining section 62 for retention of a sweep seal 64. The sweep seal 64 is provided to seal a gap between the shower door 12 and the sill 16.

[0048] The u-shaped channel sections 60 of the lower and upper horizontal frame rails 20 and 22 are configured to receive the lower and upper horizontal edges of the glass door 12, respectively. The lower and upper horizontal frame rails 20 and 22 are bonded to lower 94 and upper 92 horizontal edges of the glass door 12 via structural adhesive placed within u-shaped channels 60.

[0049] The component parts of the shower door and hinge assembly of the present invention 10 may be made from a number of materials. In the exemplary embodiment, the rotating portion 30 and fixed portion 28 of the lower hinge 24, as well as the sill angle adapter 18, are made from a structural grade thermoplastic material having excellent dimensional stability. Suitable thermoplastic materials such as polyoxymethylene (POM) materials are widely available from a number of manufacturers under the trade names Delrin, Celcon, Ramtal and Duracon, among others. In the exemplary embodiment, the lower and upper horizontal frame rails 20 and 22 are made from aluminum and will typically feature stainless steel decorative cladding. These components may also be made from other extrudable metallic materials.

[0050] With reference to FIGS. 15 and 16, a heavy door closing device 70, which may be used with the shower door and hinge assembly of the present invention, is disclosed. The heavy door closing device 70 comprises a housing 72 end cap 74, cover plate 76, a spindle/cam 80, a cam follower 78 and biasing springs 82. The spindle/cam 80 is configured with a flat surface 84 which is engagable by the cam follower 78 to establish a closed or at rest position. When the cam follower 78 is engaged with the flat surface 84 of the spindle/cam 80, the cam follower 78 is biased against the flat surface 84 by the biasing springs 82. The force provided by the biasing springs 82 tends to keep a door 12 equipped with heavy closing device 70 secured in the closed position.

[0051] The foregoing detailed description and appended drawings are intended as a description of the presently preferred embodiment of the invention and are not intended to represent the only forms in which the present invention may be constructed and/or utilized. Those skilled in the art will understand that modifications and alternative embodiments of the present invention which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the foregoing specification and drawings, and of the claims appended below are possible and practical. It is intended that the claims cover all such modifications and alternative embodiments.