Separable hinge connection

Oct. 4, 1938.

E. L. HARMON

SEPARABLE HINGE CONNECTION Original Filed Oct. 18, 1935

2,131,802

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Patented Oct. 4, 1938

2,131,802

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,131,802 SEPARABLE HINGE CONNECTION Edwin L. Harmon, Groton, N. Y., assignor to L C Smith &amp; Corona Typewriters, Inc., Syracuse, N. Y., a corporation of New York

Original application October 18, 1935, Serial No.

45,530. Divided and this application February 18, 1937, Serial No. 126,372

Claims. (Cl. 16—175)

The invention relates to improvements in separable hinge connections.

A purpose of the invention is to provide a simple, sturdy, inexpensive and highly efficient hinge 5 connection between two elements which will permit ready and easy connection and disconnection of said elements and will hold said elements hinged together with said elements latched against accidental disconnection.

Another purpose of the invention is to provide an improved and efficient separable hinge connection between two elements whereby the elements may be swung to and from edgewisely abutted relation, are latched against accidental 1® disconnection in all hingedly connected relations of said elements, and the latching means preventing accidental disconnection of said elements is inaccessible for release from one face of said elements at all times and is releasable by a finger piece exposed only when said elements are swung about the axis of their hinge connection out of edgewisely abutted relation.

A further purpose of the invention is to provide an efficient separable hinge connection for the 25 base and cover sections of a portable carrying and enclosing case of the kind hereinafter described for portable typewriting machines.

It is also a purpose of the invention to obtain any and all of the advantages with respect to 30. construction and to operation inherent in the construction which is shown in the accompanying drawing and hereinafter particularly described as constituting the preferred embodiment of the invention.

in the accompanying drawing illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention:

Fig. 1 is a detail perspective view showing the left hand rear corner of a carrying case for a portable typewriting machine, with the cover sec40; tion of the case swung upward and rearward relatively to the base section into a substantially vertical position;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary rear end view of the case with the cover section swung to closed posi45 tion on the base section;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3—3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4—4 of Fig. 2, but showing the case with its cover section 50 swung fully open; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken through the case on the same line as Fig. 3 but showing the mode of connecting and disconnecting the cover and base sections of the case.

This application is a division of my cp-pending application Serial No. 45,530, filed October 18, 1935, arid only so much of the carrying case for a typewriting machine disclosed in said co-pending application as is necessary to an understanding of the subject matter of invention claimed in 5. the present application, is shown in the accompanying drawing.

This carrying case is of the fiat box-like type which comprises a base section and a cover section, the base section having a rectangular bot- ¹⁸torn wall which is provided with an upstanding rim extending around all four edges of said Wall, and the cover section having a rectangular top wall which is provided around its four edges with a depending rim adapted to abut edge to edge ¹⁵with, or seat edge to edge on, the rim of the base section when the case is closed to encase a portable typewriting machine mounted on the base section. The case is provided with a handle (not shown) attached to the front end of the cover ²⁸section, arid is also provided at its front end with a suitable spring lock means (not shown) for locking the rims of the case sections together at the front end of the case to prevent unauthorized opening of the case.

In the drawing, 10 is the bottom wall or baseboard of the base section of the case, 12 is the rear wall of the rim of the base section, 13 the side walls of the rim of the base section, IT is the rear wall of the rim of the cover section, and 18 ³⁰are the side walls of the rim of the cover section which connect the front and rear walls of the rim of the cover section. A pair of separable and identical hinges connect the rear rim walls 12 and IT of the two case sections, the two hinges ³⁸(one of which is shown in the drawing) being located closely adjacent the right and left hand sides of the case, and each hinge including a latch for preventing accidental and unauthorized separation of the hinge. Two wide notches 21 ⁴⁰(only one of which is shown) are formed in the top edge of rim wall 12 of the base section, one near each end of said rim wall, to receive and provide clearance for parts of the hinges as hereinafter more fully described. That one of the ⁴⁵two identical hinges referred to, which is shown in the drawing, will now be specifically described.

The pintle-carrying or base-section hinge leaf is formed of sheet metal arid comprises a fiat attachment portion 22 lying against the inner ⁵⁰face of rim wall 12 of the base section of the case and secured thereto by means of a pair of rivets 23, a flat pintle-carrying portion 24 bent at a right angle to said attachment portion and overlying and seated upon the bottom wall of one 55

2,131,802 of the notches 21, two lugs extending rearward from opposite ends of portion 24 and rolled upward and forward and downward to form a pair of pintle rolls 25 slightly offset rearward from 5 the outer or rear face of rim wall 12, and a pair of stop lugs 26 pendent from the inner edges of said rolled lugs and abutting the outer face of rim wall 12. A metal pintle rod 21 is fixedly held at its ends in pintle rolls 25 and extends hori10 zontally between said rolls behind rim wall 12 opposite notch 21.

The hook-carrying or cover-section hinge leaf is formed of sheet metal and comprises a flat attachment portion 28 lying against the inner face 15 of rim wall 17 and secured to the said rim wall by a pair of rivets 29, a flat hook-carrying portion 30 bent at a right angle to portion 28 and overlying and abutting the lower edge of rim wall IT, and a hook portion or half-roll portion 31 20 for separable engagement with the pintle rod 27. The hook-portion 31 extends rearwardly and downwardly and forwardly from portion 30 to form a hook located slightly to the rear and below the lower edge of rim wall 17 with the 25 open throat of the hook facing forward. The nose of the hook is reduced in width to fit between stop lugs 26 and to provide stop shoulders 32 on the hook adapted to abut lugs 26 to limit opening swinging movement of the cover, the 30 remaining portion of the hook being wide enough for its side edges to abut the inner ends of the pintle rolls 25 and prevent axial movement between the hinge leaves.

Part 28 of the hook-carrying hinge leaf has a 35 latch guiding lug 33 struck up therefrom midway its side edges and has threaded therein midway its side edges, and between said lug 33 and the lower edge of rim wall 17, a shouldered stop and guide screw 34 for the hinge latch. The lug 33 40 and screw 34 lie in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the lower edge of rim wall 17 and guide the hinge latch to slide perpendicularly to the top wall of the cover section and parallel to rim wall 17. The latch is formed of sheet metal and 45 comprises a metal strap having a relatively long guiding leg portion 35 slidable on part 28 of the hook-carrying leaf, a short throat-closing or pintle rod engaging leg portion 36 which lies parallel to the longer leg portion 35 and slidably 5θ abuts the outer face of rim wall 17 to assist in guiding and bracing the latch, and a flat thrustreceiving portion 37 connecting said leg portions. Lug 33 and screw 34 extend respectively through aligned slots 38 and 39 which are formed in, and 55 extend longitudinally of, leg 35 of the latch.

A coiled spring 40, one end of which is confined in a bore 41 which extends upward in rim wall 17 from the lower edge of said rim wall, bears at its other end on thrust-receiving portion g0 37 of the latch and normally holds the latch in its projected latching position shown in Figs. 1 and 3, movement of the latch by the spring being limited by stop screw 34, as shown in Fig. 3. When the latch is projected by its spring 40, 05 part 36 of the latch extends far enough across the open throat of hook 31 to engage over the pintle rod 27 and prevent the hook from separating from the pintle rod. The hook-carrying hinge leaf is provided with a clearance aperture 70 42 for parts 36 and 37 of the latch. By pressing against the outer face of part 37 of the latch, the latch may be slid into the release position shown in Fig. 5 wherein part 37 is within the aperture 42 and part 36 is shifted to entirely 75 uncover or leave unobstructed the open end or throat of the hook 31 to permit connection and disconnection of the hinged case sections.

Held to rim wall 12 at the outer face thereof slightly below and substantially midway the length of each of the pintle rods 27 of the case 5 hinges, and slightly below the level of lugs 26, of each hinge, is one of a pair of hemispherical metal buttons 43 which project rearward from rim wall 12 slightly farther than the pintle rolls 25 and hooks 31 of the hinges. The buttons 43 10 have tangs or prongs 45 driven into the rim wall 12.

To open the case and detach the cover section, the lock (not shown) at the front end of the case is released and the cover swung open. It is 15 then simply necessary for the operator to grasp the two lower corners of the opened cover and press rearward with the thumbs on the now exposed and accessible thrust-receiving portions 37 of the hinge latches, whereupon the cover may 20 be lowered as in Fig. 5 to disengage the hooks 31 from the pintles, and the hooks will, upon further lowering movement of the cover, be guided downward and outward from under the pintle rods by the cam or rounded surfaces of buttons 43 25 and by the stop lugs 26.

To re-connect the cover and close the case the cover is grasped in the hands in up-ended position and pulled forward with the hooks resting on the upper halves of buttons 43 and with parts 37 30 of the latches abutted against the pintle rods, thus causing the latches to be pressed into release position and the cover to rise, the buttons 43 camming the cover upward and, in connection with lugs 26, guiding the hooks closely up 35 under the pintle rods into the position shown in Fig. 5. A slight upward lift of the cover will then engage the hooks about the pintle rods and release the latches for automatic projection by their springs 40 over the pintle rods, thus lock- ₄₀ing the hinges against separation. The cover may then be swung closed, and be locked by the lock (not shown) at the front of the case.

The notches 21 afford clearance for portions 30 and 24 of the hinge leaves, and also afford ₄₅clearance for the projected ends of the latches when the case is closed so that closure of the case will not release the latches. The pressure-receiving portions 37 of the latches are only accessible when the cover is swung open.