Door coordinator

Abstract

A door coordinator for pairs of swinging doors comprising a pair of arms on a common hub pivotally mounted in a bracket on the door frame, a longer arm adapted to move vertically into and out of the path of an active door and a shorter arm provided with a cam surface supplemented or constituted by a roller so located that the inactive door engages the cam surface and/or the roller for controlling the vertical movement of the shorter arm relative to the inactive door and the simultaneous vertical movement of the longer arm into and out of the path of the active door.

What I claim is: 
     
       1. A door coordinator adapted to control the closing of a pair of swinging doors constituted by an active door and an inactive door hung to swing into and out of closed position beneath a head frame, the coordinator comprising a hub, means mounting the hub on the head frame for rotation about a horizontal axis higher than the top edges of the doors, a pair of arms of unequal length fixed to and projecting from the hub and having their axes in a plane containing the axis of the hub, means limiting the downward swinging movement of said arms, the longer arm being angled with respect to the hub to cause its free end to lie, when below horizontal, in the swinging path of the active door, the shorter arm having a downwardly facing substantially straight elongated cam surface, the cam surface terminating at a bottom edge lying substantially parallel to said plane, and a roller mounted on said shorter arm with its periphery projecting beyond said bottom edge adjacent to the point of termination of the cam surface, said cam surface, in the lower position of the arms, lying in the swinging path of the upper edge of the inactive door. 
     
     
       2. A door coordinator according to claim 1 wherein the downward swinging movement of said arms is limited to an angle of approximately 15° below the horizontal. 
     
     
       3. A door coordinator according to claim 1 wherein said straight elongated cam surface is deposed at an angle of approximately 30° to said plane containing the axis of the hub. 
     
     
       4. A door coordinator according to claim 2 wherein said straight elongated cam surface is disposed at an angle of approximately 30° to said plane containing the axis of the hub. 
     
     
       5. A door coordinator according to claim 1 wherein the shorter arm has an upwardly facing substantially straight elongated cam surface and upper edge, symmetrical with the downwardly facing cam surface and bottom edge, above and below said plane containing the axis of the hub, and which includes means for mounting a roller on said shorter arm with its periphery projecting beyond said upper edge, whereby said coordinator is reversible. .Iadd. 6. A door coordinator adapted to control the closing of a pair of swinging doors mounted to close a doorway constituted by an active door and an inactive door hung to swing into and out of closed position in said doorway, the coordinator comprising a hub portion extending between a long arm and a short arm fixed thereto, means for mounting the hub portion above the doorway for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis above the top edges of the doors between an upper inactive position and a lower operative position, the longer arm being positioned with respect to the hub to cause its free end when in an operative position to lie in the swinging path of the active door, the shorter arm positioned with respect to the hub to lie in the swinging path of the inactive door, the shorter arm having a lower camming edge which slants downwardly from an upper front portion thereof to a lower rearward portion thereof and adapted to be engaged by the inactive door upon closing to pivot said coordinator upwardly about the horizontal axis, and a roller mounted on said shorter arm with its periphery projecting below said shorter arm adjacent to said rearward portion of the camming edge, said shorter arm having a lower edge backward of said camming edge above the lower periphery of said roller extending to said hub, whereby as the inactive door closes it strikes said camming edge and pivots said arms upwardly and subsequently engages and moves under said roller and said longer arm moves to an upward position to enable closing of said active 
     
     
        door. .Iaddend. .Iadd. 7. The coordinator of claim 6 further including a plate-like member extending outwardly from the upper free edge of the inactive door said member holding said coordinator in a raised inactive position with said roller resting on said member when the inactive door is closed. .Iaddend..Iadd. 8. A door coordinator according to claim 6 wherein said arms have center lines residing in a plane with the axis of said hub, and said coordinator is limited to a downward pivotal position such that said plane is at an angle of approximately 15° below the horizontal when said coordinator is in an operative position. .Iaddend..Iadd. 9. The door coordinator of claim 6 wherein said camming surface is disposed at an angle of approximately 30° to said plane. .Iaddend..Iadd. 10. The door coordinator of claim 6 wherein said shorter arm has symmetrical upper and lower edges. .Iaddend..Iadd. 11. The door coordinator of claim 6 wherein said camming edge is substantially straight. .Iaddend..Iadd. 12. The door coordinator of claim 10 wherein said upper and lower edges are substantially straight. .Iaddend.