More specifically, the invention seeks to provide a device of the aforementioned type where it is made possible to prevent or reduce crushing injuries which may be sustained on closing the door.

In general, crushing-injury reducing hinge devices are known inter alia from Norwegian Patent 166099. Furthermore, such hinge devices are known from US Patent 2883699.

A feature that the known solutions have in common is that they require a complete replacement of the existing hinge assembly, which is costly, complicated and calls for a good deal of skilled labour.

Most crushing injuries take place in connection with the closing of internal doors.

Children are especially vulnerable, as they often play and hide behind doors. The younger the children, the greater the risk of such crushing injuries. From the age of four, children begin to show so much good sense that the risk diminishes considerably.

The risk zone of the door is thus essentially from the door sill and up to about half the height of the door.

The object of the present invention is that the rear edge of the door should be non- crushing in precisely this zone.

The present invention seeks to provide a hinge device where the hinge has essentially the same external form as one of the most common hinges, namely a snap-in hinge, a hinge of which more than 60 million have been sold by Grorud Jernvarefabrikk A/S, Norway, from the beginning of the seventies to the present day.

By means of the improvement according to the present invention, the non-crushing function is provided simply by initially mounting the hinge according to the invention or by inexpensively and quickly replacing the existing lower hinge with a hinge

according to the present invention. It is also an object of the present invention that it should entail a hinge replacement that is simple to perform in existing recesses in both frames and door leaves, so that anyone can perform this task without the assistance of a skilled craftsman.

According to the invention, the aforementioned hinge device is characterised in that in front of the free end of the snap-in catch there is an open portion, so that a piece of the hinge material on the second hinge leaf which is located between its hole and its free end forms a pivotal connection with a root portion of the snap-in catch when the second hinge leaf is turned out of the plane of the receiving part.

Owing to the fact that the hinge device according to the invention is designed in this way, the lower edge of the door will be permitted to swing out as soon as something is caught between the door leaf and the frame. The crushing force will thus be minimal, since the whole structure counteracts the weight of the door leaf at the lower hinge on the door.

These and other embodiments of the device according to the invention will be set forth in the description that follows, and also in the attached patent claims.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the attached drawings.

Figs 1 and 2 are views from the outside and the rear, respectively, of a simplified version of the receiving part according to the invention.

Figs. 3 and 4 show a minor modification of the embodiment in Figs. 1 and 2.

Figs. 5 and 6 show the receiving part in interaction with a second hinge leaf of the door hinge.

Fig. 7 shows the receiving part shown in Figs. 3,4 and 6 used in a conventional way for engagement with the second hinge leaf of the hinge.

Fig. 8 shows the hinge leaf parts with pintle, according to the invention.

Figs. 9 and 10 show the use of the receiving part in connection with the second hinge leaf for non-crushing function.

The present hinge 1 is especially designed to replace the lower hinge on a door 2, wherein the door comprises a door leaf 3 and a door frame 4, with a view to preventing the occurrence of crushing injuries, to toddlers'fingers in particular, when the door is closed.

The point of departure for the invention is that the hinge 1 is of the snap-in type, and consequently the present hinge is especially designed to replace a lower hinge of the snap-in type. This will mean that the appearance of the newly mounted hinge will be very reminiscent of the previously mounted hinge, although with the additional function that the new crush-preventing hinge is provided with two centres of rotation.

The hinge, which is of said snap-in type, has a hinge leaf receiving part 5 provided with screw holes 12 to enable the receiving part 5 to be screwed into a vertical end edge 3'of the door leaf 3. The receiving part 5 is provided with a snap-in catch 6. Furthermore, the hinge has a first hinge leaf 7 which has holes 13 to enable it to be screwed into the door frame 4. In addition, the hinge has a second hinge leaf 8 which is pivotally attached to the first hinge leaf 7 about a pintle 9. The hinge leaf 8 has a hole 10 intended for snap engagement with the snap-in catch 6. As can be seen more clearly from Fig. 8, the hole 10 has a first portion 10'which has a first width and length that are known per se, and a second portion 10"which has a smaller width and length, arranged closest to the free end edge 8'of the second hinge leaf 8. Although the first and the second portions may be of different widths, this is of course not a condition, as the width of both portions may be the same. Between the said second portion 10"and the free end edge 8'there is a piece 8"of hinge material on the second hinge leaf 8. This piece 8"of the hinge material, when snapped into the receiving part 5 with the aid of the snap-in catch 6, will form a pivotal connection with a root portion 6'of the snap-in catch 6 when the second hinge leaf 8 is turned out of the plane of the receiving part 5.

As can also be seen from Figs. 1-10, the snap-in catch 6 has an extruded top surface.

Furthermore the snap-in catch 6 points towards the insertion end 5' ; 15 of the receiving part 5,15.

The snap-in catch 6 preferably has a width which is approximately equal to the width of the second portion 10". The snap-in catch 6 has an engagement lug 6", the length of

which is smaller than the length of the hole 10, whereby the catch 6 can move at least partly through the hole 10 when the second hinge leaf 8 is moved out of the plane of the receiving part 5 ; 15.

It is also possible to allow the snap-in catch 6 to have an engagement lug 6"of a length that is smaller than that of the hole 10, optionally that the snap-in catch is of a length that is approximately equal to the length of the first portion 10'of the hole 10.

As can also be seen from Figs. 1-4, the snap-in catch 6 points towards the insertion end 5'; 15'of the receiving part 5,15.

As can be seen with somewhat more clarity from Figs. 2 and 4, the insertion end 5' ; 15' of the receiving part has a depth d which is 1.5-2 times the thickness of the second hinge leaf 8.

The snap-in catch 6 may have an extruded top surface. However, it is a great advantage if the snap-in catch 6, as previously mentioned, has a width which is approximately equal to that of the second portion, so that the said pivotal connection between the piece 8"of hinge material and the root portion 6'of the snap-in catch 6 is formed.

In front of the free end 6"'of the snap-in catch 6 there is an open portion 11, across which there is provided a leaf spring 14 in the shape of an arch or a shallow V. The leaf spring 14 spans across the portion 11 transverse to the direction of motion of the hinge leaf 8 inside the receiving part 5; 15. When the snap-in catch 6 by means of its lug 6" engages with the hole 10 in the hinge leaf 8, it is possible to make use of the fastening solution that is shown in Figs. 5-7 or the fastening solution which can be seen from Figs. 9 and 10. In the solution according to Figs. 5 and 6, the edge portions 8"'and 8"" of the hinge leaf 8 will form a non-yielding abutment with the side 14'of the leaf spring 14 which faces towards the end edge of the door leaf 3. In this solution, the receiving part has in reality the same function as in a conventional receiving part for a door hinge of the snap-in type. In the solution according to Figs. 3,4 and 6, it will be seen that the receiving part, here indicated by means of the reference numeral 15, does not have two rounded portions 5"and 5"'as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2. This means that the receiving part 15 is designed to be able to receive the hinge leaf 8 either via the insertion portion closest to the leaf spring 14, as shown in Fig. 6, or via an insertion groove 18 as shown in Fig. 6. If the use as shown in Fig. 12 is contemplated, this means that the lug 6'on

the snap-in catch 6 must be made in a slightly different way so that the hinge leaf 8 is prevented from disengaging from the snap-in catch 6.

When the device is to serve its primary purpose, namely to prevent crushing injuries, a portion 8"'of the hinge leaf 8 will be yieldingly supported by the leaf spring 14 on a side 14"thereof facing away from the door leaf 3. The piece 8"of hinge material on the hinge leaf 8 located between the hinge leaf hole 10 and its free end edge 8'will form a pivotal connection with a root portion 6'of the snap-in catch 6 when the hinge leaf 8 is turned out of the plane of the receiving part 5; 15. This can be seen clearly from Fig. 9 and with reference to Figs. 2 and 4.

It is an advantage if the leaf spring 14 is supported by its ends 14"'and 14""in pockets 16 and 17 on each side of the said portion 11.

In the solution which is shown in Figs. 1-10, it will be appreciated that the hinge serves as a non-crushing hinge when the second hinge leaf 8 is in yielding abutment with the leaf spring 14. A door leaf 3 may be equipped from the factory with a receiving part 5 or 15, or such receiving parts can replace conventional receiving parts which have previously been mounted on doors already in use, or which are to be used.

On closer examination of the hinge leaves 7 and 8, it will be seen that in reality it is only the hinge leaf 8 which departs somewhat from the prior art. The second portion 10"of the engagement hole 10 represents a possible, but not necessarily used embodiment, but which optionally will constitute a second difference in relation to the prior art. In any case, a piece 8"of hinge material that is both narrow and thin is obtained and this piece of hinge material has a width which is approximately equal to that of the portion 10".

The hinge, including hinge leaves 7,8 and the pintle 9, is in part previously known per se. It will be appreciated immediately that the hinge parts 7,8 in their modified form will also be capable of engaging with a receiving piece (not illustrated) of the snap-in type that is known per se. By providing internal doors with a hinge part consisting of the portions 7,8 and the pintle 9, it will be understood immediately that a user would only need to change the receiving part or the engagement part which is on the door leaf and replace this with the receiving part 5 or the receiving part 15. If small children move into a house where the known snap-in hinges are installed, it will be quick and simple to change the receiving parts of these hinges and replace them with the receiving part type according to the invention.

With the solutions proposed herein, a non-crushing function is obtained in an elegant and simple manner, the structure of the hinge allowing the lower portion of the door to swing out as soon as something is caught between the door leaf and the frame. The crushing force will be minimal, since the structure (including the spring) counteracts the weight of the door leaf and its momentum at the lower hinge.

Within the scope of the invention it will of course be possible to deviate from the purely design-related details as regards appearance as shown in the figures, inasmuch as what is primarily protected by the present application is set forth in the patent claims.