Door stop

Abstract

A door check 1 attachable to a door frame, comprising a housing 2 and a base part 3, and a door check arm 11 arranged within the housing 2 and adapted to be slidably movable between a door-engaging and a door-disengaging position in an engagement guide slot 8, the door check arm 11 extending out of a window 14 in a side wall 10 of the housing 2, and wherein a locking plate 7 extends through the housing 2 orthogonally with respect to the check arm 11 and is arranged to be slidably movable along guide walls 22 formed in the base part 3, the guide walls 22 including position detents 21 engageable with detents 19 arranged on opposite edges of the locking plate 7 and serving to lock the locking plate 7 in each of two positions in the Guide wall 22 to hold a first position,in which the door stop arm is locked and prevented from moving, and a second position in which it can move freely.

Description

[0001] The invention relates generally to a door check device and, more particularly, to a door check having a movable member such that the door check can be used in one mode to prevent a door from closing and the door check can be configured by a user in a second mode to allow the door to be closed completely and unimpeded. background

[0002] The use of door stops in both homes and businesses to prevent damage to doors and adjacent walls caused by collisions between these structures is well known. Typically, a door stop is mounted on a wall adjacent to a door and is optimally positioned against the wall so that if the door is opened too wide, a doorknob or the door itself collides with the door stop and not the wall. The door stop, often constructed of a soft material such as rubber or plastic, ideally cushions the impact between the door and the wall, preventing damage to both structures.

[0003] Door stops can also be mounted on doors and function similarly to the wall-mounted door stops described above. A door-mounted door stop, constructed at least partially from a soft material, is mounted on a surface of a door facing the wall or frame, so that if the door is opened too wide, the door stop cushions the impact between the door and the wall or frame.

[0004] Door stops not only prevent damage to doors, walls, and other inanimate objects, but can also serve to prevent or reduce personal injuries resulting from the movement of a door. For example, it is well known that young children enjoy opening and closing doors, often without regard for their own well-being, the well-being of other people or pets, or the home furnishings. Children can slam a door with such force that their fingers (or those of other people) become trapped between the door and the doorframe, resulting in injury. Given this potential damage, a door stop that can prevent a door from closing meets a great need for parents and caregivers.

[0005] It is known to use elongated door checks configured to hang lengthwise over the top of a door, such that the strength of the door check resting on the top of the door acts as an obstruction preventing the door from closing. While such door checks prevent the door to which they are mounted from closing, they have the disadvantage that they cannot be easily removed or repositioned to allow the door to close. In particular, the shape of such a structure, with a strong body section resting on the top of the door, requires that the entire door check be removed to close the door.

[0006] Other prior art door stops have the same or similar disadvantages. This means that the entire door stop, or a portion of the door stop, must be removed to close the door to which it was mounted. For example, some embodiments of such prior art door stops utilize a wedge. Such wedges can easily slip and be lost or even forgotten.

[0007] There are many disadvantages and other problems associated with door check structures known in the art. The present invention, in various embodiments, aims to solve these and other problems of the prior art. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] An embodiment of the invention is described with reference to the following accompanying drawings in which: Fig. Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a first embodiment of the door check of the invention in a non-engaged position; Fig. 2 a perspective view of the first embodiment of Fig. 1 in an engaged position; Fig. 3 a perspective view of the first embodiment of Fig. 1 shows the individual components of the door stop of Fig. 1 shows; Fig. 4 a plan view of Fig. 1 shows; Fig. 4a a cross section along the line AA of Fig. 4 shows; Fig. Figure 5 shows a sectional view from above in a first position; Fig. 5a shows a sectional view from above in a second position; and Fig. 5b shows a sectional view from above in a third position. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0009] With reference to Fig. 1 and Fig. 3, a perspective view of a first embodiment of the door check 1 of the invention, which comprises a housing 2 and a base part 3.

[0010] The housing 2 is oval in shape in this embodiment and is preferably sized and shaped to support a door check arm 11 disposed inside the housing 2 along a central axis and adapted to be displaceable between a door-engaging and a door-disengaging position.

[0011] The door check arm 11 is arranged to move slidably within the housing 2 along an engaging guide slot 8, and the door check arm 11 extends from a window 14 in a side wall 10 of the housing 2. Attached to the door check arm 11 is an actuating button 5 having an ergonomically shaped surface 6 and a support leg 12 which is slidably arranged in the guide groove 8 of the housing 2. The support leg 12 has a width dimension corresponding to the guide slot 8, and its lower end engages a correspondingly sized recess 15 in the door check arm 11, so that a user can move the actuating button 5, causing a corresponding movement of the door check arm 11. The door check arm 11 includes an enlarged door check portion 4 which is larger than the window 14 and is located at the outer end of the door check arm 11 outside the housing 2.Thus, by sliding the actuating knob 5, the door check arm 11 is movable between a first, disengaged position, in which the door check portion 4 is adjacent to the housing 2, and a second, engaged position, in which the door check portion 4 is away from the housing 2 and in a position in which it acts as a stop for closing a door. Thus, the door check 1 is placed by a professional installer or a user on an edge of a door panel or frame, so that the door check portion 4 is clear of the door's path in the disengaged position and obstructs the door's path in the engaged position.

[0012] The door check section 4 includes an elastomer cushion 25 made of styrene-ethylene-butadiene-styrene (SEBS), although any suitable elastomer material may be used. This serves to cushion the impact of a rapidly closing door. The remainder of the door check 1 is made of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) or polyoxymethylene (POM), or another suitable, stiffer polymer material.

[0013] The base part 3 includes an upstanding peripheral wall 20 which is spaced inwardly from the outer edge of the base part 3 by a uniform distance corresponding to the thickness of the wall 10 of the housing 2, so that the housing 2 fits snugly between the wall 20 and the outer edge of the base part 3.

[0014] A locking plate 7 extends through the housing 2 orthogonally with respect to the locking arm 11 and is arranged to be slidably movable along guide walls 22 formed in the base part 3. The guide walls 22 include position detents 21 engageable by locking lugs 19 arranged on opposite edges of the locking plate 7 and serving to hold the locking plate 7 in each of two positions in the guide wall 22. A pair of slots 18 are arranged in the locking plate 7 adjacent to the locking lugs 19, providing the desired resilience for the two holding positions.The locking plate 7 also includes an upstanding male locking tab 17 positioned to engage the corresponding female locking groove 16 provided in the locking arm 11, such that the male tab 17 is positioned in a first locked position in the female locking groove 16 and the locking arm 11 cannot move. The locking plate 7 extends through an opening 13 in the housing 2 and includes an orthogonal lip 9 at each end engageable by the user. From the first locked position, as shown in FIG. Fig. 1 and Fig. 5, the upper orthogonal lip 9 is pushed downwards by a user, whereby the locking plate 7 is moved from its first holding position to its second holding position in which the male locking tab 17 is released from engagement with the female locking groove 16 of the locking arm 11, as shown in Fig. 5a. The locking arm 11 then moves into its extended position, being loaded by the spring 26, which is arranged in a spring housing 24 of the locking arm 11 and acts on an inner surface of the wall 10 of the housing 2, as shown in Fig. 5b. The stop arm 11 is now in a second position, in which the stop end 4 and its cushion 25 can prevent the door from closing and dampen its movement when slamming. To return the door stop 1 to its original, unlocked position, the user moves the actuating button 5 by acting on the ergonomic part 6 to move it to the position shown in Fig. 5a, and by pressing upwards on the lower of the locking lips 9 to return the locking plate 7 to the first locked position.

[0015] The base part 3 includes means for attachment to a door or a door frame surface, which may be in the form of screws or adhesive or in any other known manner.

[0016] The user mounts the door check 1 in a position where the door check will ideally cushion the impact of the door against a frame, thereby preventing the door or any other projection on the door (such as a doorknob) from striking the frame and causing undesirable damage or injury to nearby persons. While the base 3 and housing 2 of this embodiment generally have an oval shape, it is contemplated that alternative embodiments of the door check invention may have other various geometric shapes, both regular and irregular, as would be understood by those skilled in the art.

[0017] Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that in alternative embodiments of the door check, certain materials having adhesive-like properties may be used in conjunction with the support member to hold the door check attached to a door frame surface. For example, an adhesive or a material having at least one surface having adhesive-like properties (upon contact with the door surface) may be applied to the underside of the support member to hold the door check attached to a surface of a door frame. In another example, the support plate 2 could be composed at least partially of a magnet such that, when the door check is attached to a metal door frame, the magnet helps to secure the door check to the door frame while allowing the door check to be easily removed by a user.In a further example of an alternative embodiment, a hook and loop fastener type strip may be attached to the underside of the support member and a corresponding hook and loop fastener strip may be attached to the surface of a door frame to enable removable attachment of the door stop to a door frame. Components 1. Door stop 2. Housing 3. Carrier plate 4. Door locking section 5. Operating button 6. Ergonomically raised section 7. Locking plate 8. Guide slot 9. Orthogonal lips 10. Housing wall 11. Locking arm 12. Support leg 13. Opening 14. Window 15. Recess 16. Bushing groove 17. Plug-in tab 18. Slots 19. Locking lugs 20. Perimeter wall 21. Position stops 22. Guide wall 23. Not used 24. Spring housing 25. Pillow 26. Spring

Claims

[1] A door check 1 attachable to a door frame, comprising a housing 2 and a base part 3 and a door check arm 11 arranged within the housing 2 and adapted to be slidably movable between a door-engaging and a door-disengaging position in an engagement guide slot 8, the door check arm 11 extending out of a window 14 in a side wall 10 of the housing 2, and wherein a locking plate 7 extends through the housing 2 orthogonally with respect to the check arm 11 and is arranged to be slidably movable along guide walls 22 formed in the base part 3, the guide walls 22 including position detents 21 engageable with detents 19 arranged on opposite edges of the locking plate 7 and serving to lock the locking plate 7 in each of two positions in the guide wall 22, a first position,in which the door stop arm is locked and prevented from moving, and a second position in which it can move freely. [2] Door stop 1 according to claim 1, characterized by that in the locking plate 7 next to the locking lugs 19 a pair of slots 18 are arranged, which provide the desired elasticity for the two holding positions. [3] Door stop according to claim 1, characterized by that the locking plate 7 has an upstanding male locking tab 17 which is positioned to engage the corresponding female locking groove 16 arranged in the locking arm 11, so that the male tab 17 is positioned in a first locked position in the female locking groove 16 and the locking arm 11 cannot move. [4] Door stop according to claim 1, characterized bythat the locking plate 7 extends through an opening 13 in the housing 2 and includes at each end an orthogonal lip 9 which can be engaged by the user. [5] Door stop according to claim 1, characterized by that the locking arm 11 then includes a spring 26 which acts on an inner surface of the wall 10 of the housing 2 and urges the locking arm into an engaged position in which it serves to obstruct the path of a door. [6] Door stop according to claim 1, characterized by that the stop arm 11 includes an enlarged stop end 4 with an elastomer cushion 25 to prevent a door from closing and to dampen its movement when it is slammed. [7] Door stop according to claim 1, characterized by that a support foot 12 is attached to the actuating button 5 and is arranged displaceably in the guide groove 8 of the housing 2. [8] Door stop according to claim 1, characterized bythat the support foot 12 has a width dimension corresponding to the guide slot 8 and its lower end is positioned in a correspondingly dimensioned recess 15 in the door stop arm 11, so that a user can move the actuating button 5 and this causes a corresponding displacement of the door stop arm 11. [9] Door stop according to claim 1, characterized by that the door check arm 11 is movable by sliding the actuating button 5 between a first disengaged position in which the door check section 4 is adjacent to the housing 2 and a second engaged position in which the door check section 4 is away from the housing 2 and in a position in which it acts as a stop for closing a door. [10] Door stop according to claim 1, characterized bythat the base part 3 comprises an upstanding peripheral wall 20 which is spaced inwardly from the outer edge of the base part 3 by a uniform distance corresponding to the thickness of the wall 10 of the housing 2, so that the housing 2 fits exactly between the wall 20 and the outer edge of the base part 3.

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