The Bilco Company

Other

Robert J Lyons, Sr

A hold open arm assembly for a non-vertically hinged door prevents a door for a roof or floor opening from closing unexpectedly and allows one-handed operation. The assembly includes an elongated arm that bears directly against a stop aligned with the axis of the arm when a closing force, such as a wind load, is applied directly to the door. The arm has a guide that engages a guide slot in a bracket attached to the door. The guide slot is tapered and widens near the stop. When a closing force is applied to a handle connected to the arm, the guide moves parallel to the guide slot and the arm clears the stop, allowing the door to close. When the closing force is applied to the door, and not the handle, the guide moves perpendicular to the guide slot so that the arm engages the stop. The guide is provided with a low friction roller bearing for smooth operation.

Hold open arm assembly

A roofing device is described for attaching a roofing membrane to a roof having a curb or a parapet wall comprising a cap flashing, a top flange connected to the cap flashing and extending outward therefrom, a wall flange extending downward from the top flange. The wall flange and the top flange defining a filler channel with the curb when the cap flashing is attached to the curb. A drip edge flange extends outward from the wall flange. The roofing membrane is wrapped over an elongated resilient filler piece which is snugly inserted into the filler channel. A plurality of tabs integral with the wall flange and co-terminus with the drip edge flange, are bent towards the curb securing the filler piece and roofing membrane in the filler channel. The tabs have a tab flange which extend outward at an angle away from the curb allowing for ease of unbending the tabs to remove the filler piece when repairing or replacing the roofing membrane. Also described is a pre-manufactured roofing device including a curb piece for mounting along the perimeter of a roof or roof opening; and a pre-manufactured roofing device of suitable size and shape to be positioned on a curb, and may be manufactured in combination with a fire vent, a hatchway cover hinged to the sealing system to form a complete hatchway, or other roofing product ready for installation.

Roofing mechanism

A counterbalancing assembly and a non-vertically hinged door assembly incorporating the same include a first pair of torque rods directly connected between the door and a frame which produce a partial counterbalancing torque. A second pair of torque rods acting through cams produce an augmenting counterbalancing torque such that the sum of the partial and augmenting torques fully counterbalance the door throughout its arc of motion.

Door assembly with augmented counterbalancing

A counterbalanced door assembly particularly suited for heavy-duty load bearing applications such as sidewalk access doors, and for precasting into concrete slabs, comprises a door, a frame surrounding the door, a hinge connecting the door to the frame for rotation about a first axis, a torque rod arm mounted to rotate about a second axis displaced from the first axis, and one or more torque rods. One end of the torque rod arm is connected to the torque rod to twist the torque rod as the torque rod arm rotates about the second axis thereby generating a counterbalance force. A force control mechanism, which may be a cam with a properly shaped cam surface or a link hinged at either end, receives the counterbalance force from the torque rod arm and applies it in a controlled direction over a controlled effective moment arm relative to the first axis to generate the desired counterbalance torque.

Door assembly with multiple torque rod counterbalancing

A door closing mechanism, preferably mounted on a counterbalanced door assembly, which provides a mechanical advantage to close the door and overcome the forces of friction, inertia and any counterbalancing forces. A slot plate with a curved control slot is mounted to the door. A control arm, pivotally mounted at one end to the door frame, has a handle and slot engager mounted at the other end. The slot engager slides along the control slot and pulls the door closed as the handle is pulled. The control slot is preferably curved only along a first portion and straight in a second portion to provide greater mechanical advantage at the beginning of its motion.

Counterbalanced door assembly with reduced initial closing force

Torque rod counterbalanced door assembly

A torque rod operated counterbalancing hinge comprising first and second hinge members connected together at a hinge point, the second hinge member being curved with a cam surface to the first hinge member, and the other end rotatable relative to a pivot point located at a position displaced from the location of the hinge point. A lever arm has one end rotatably mounted at the pivot point and the other end has a bearing surface for contacting the cam surface. The rotating end of the torque rod is fixed relative to the lever arm whereby rotational hinge motion of the first hinge member relative to the second hinge member causes the cam surface to press upon the bearing surface through a moving contact point which rotates the lever arm to produce a counterbalancing twisting of the torque rod. The invention also includes a door assembly employing the counterbalancing hinges.

Torque rod operated counterbalancing hinge and door assembly

A safety post assembly for assisting entry to or exit from the upper portion of a wall having mounted thereon a series of rungs forming a ladder, the assembly comprising a tubular support sleeve; adjustable mounting means for securing the sleeve to the rungs in an upstanding position; an elongated extension rod having a tapered lower end portion for sliding insertion into the tubular sleeve and an opposite upper end portion adapted to extend above the upper portion of the structure and provide grasping means during the entry and exit; a projection extending outwardly from the extension rod, and adapted to rest against the upper end of the sleeve for limiting insertion of the rod lower end portion into the sleeve to a predetermined distance sufficient to support the weight of a person grasping the rod upper end portion during the entry and exit; and a step member extending transversely on opposite sides of the extension rod between the upper and lower end portions and positioned to provide a foothold in the vicinity of the upper portion of the structure during the entry and the exit, the transverse member including a flange on either side of the extension rod and bolt means passing through the extension rods and the flanges to secure the member to the rod. The extension rod is entirely directly removable from the sleeve by grasping the rod and urging the rod in an upward direction. The assembly further includes means to counterbalance the weight of the extension rod when the lower end of the rod is inserted in the support sleeve, the counterbalance means comprising a spring disposed within the sleeve, the spring having a first end portion secured to the sleeve and a second end portion biased into a wound coil, the spring second end portion being engagable by the rod lower end portion to unwind the coil as the rod is inserted to the predetermined distance, the spring offsetting a substantial portion of the weight of the extension rod when the rod is inserted into the sleeve.

Portable safety post

An extendable railing for use in stairwells, hallways and the like. The railing comprises an elongated moveable member nonrotatably but slidably mounted inside an elongated fixed, hollow member. The moveable member is supported on at least one friction reducing spacing means for movement from a first retracted to a second extended position with counterbalance means. The railing further comprises means for stopping said movement and for locking said moveable member in the extended position.

Extendable railing

A safety extension is adapted to be mounted by various adjustable means to the upper rungs of a ladder or the inside of a manhole. The safety extension comprises a rod which is moveable in a sleeve between extended and retracted positions. A counterbalance means mounted in a particular manner is optionally provided to facilitate moving the rod to the extended position with maximum ease and safety. Adjustable mounting means are provided to accommodate ladders of differing rung spacing and rung diameter.

Safety extension for a fixed ladder with an adjustable mount

A cup-shaped support member for a lift-cylinder in a horizontal door structure, such as a hatchway, in which the lift-cylinder counter-balances the weight of the door. The base of the lift-cylinder is pressed against the bottom of the cup by its spring in the usual manner, and tilts about a flange on the foot as the door is swung open or closed. One or more clean-out holes are provided in the cup bottom, and an inturned lip is formed on the edge of the cup so that it overlaps the flange on the foot of the lift-cylinder. Foreign matter, such as dirt or ice, which heretofore has built-up under the foot of the lift-cylinder until the foot of the cylinder is lifted out of the cup, is forced through the clean-out holes in the support cup by engagement of the lip with the flange on the cylinder foot, preventing it from being lifted off the bottom of the cup while still allowing the cylinder to tilt freely.

Support member for hatch-cover lift cylinders

A metal stairway stringer with horizontal slots at each tread level, into which the treads are inserted laterally for supporting them at one end, the other ends of the treads being similarly supported in like manner by a second stringer. The slots for the treads each taper from adjacent the open end at the edge of the stringer toward the back, so that the treads must be wedged into position and are therefore held rigidly by the stringer.

Stairway stringers

Mounting means for a door-check for a hatchway door hinged to swing between an elevated open position and a closed position and having torsion bars which serve not only as springs for counterbalancing the weight of the door, but also as the hinge pins for the door. Each torsion bar has a terminal portion which is bent backwardly into parallel relation with a straight portion, the terminal portion extending through the hinge and forming the hinge pin. The straight portion is secured at its other end to the hatchway frame and is twisted about the terminal portion by the hinge as the door is closed. The door-check member is mounted on the hatchway frame and is connected to a bracket mounted across the crook formed in the torsion bar where the terminal portion bends backward. The bracket therefore pivots about the hinge pin with the main portion of the torsion bar when the door is closed and provides a crank arm for actuating the door-check.

Growing community of inventors

Hamden, CT, United States of America

Robert J Lyons, Sr