A hinge is a device permitting one part to turn on another. In builders hardware, the two parts are metal plates known as leaves. They are joined together by a pin, which passes through the knuckle joints.
When the leaves are in the form of elongated straps, the device is usually called a hinge (Fig. 11.70 and 11.71). This type is suitable for mounting on the surface of a door.
When the device is to be mounted on the edge of a door, the length of the leaves must be shortened, because they cannot exceed the thickness of the door. The leaves thus retain only the portion near the pin, or butt end, of the hinge (Figs. 11.72 to 11.74). Thus, hinges applied to the edge of a door have come to be known as butts, or butt hinges.
Butts are mortised into the edge of the door. They are the type of hinge most commonly used in present-day buildings.
Sizes of butt hinges vary from about 2 to 6 in, and sometimes to 8 in. Length of hinge is usually made the same as the width; but they can be had in other widths.
Sometimes, on account of projecting trim, special sizes, such as 41â„2 6 in, are used.
For the larger, thicker, and heavier doors receiving high-frequency service, and for doors requiring silent operation, bearing butts (Fig. 11.73) or butts with Oilite bearings or other antifriction surfaces are generally used. It is also customary to use bearing butts wherever a door closer is specified.
Plain bearings (Fig. 11.74) are recommended for residential work. The lateral thrust of the pin should bear on hardened steel.
Unusual conditions may dictate the use of extra-heavy hinges or ball bearings where normal hinges would otherwise be used. One such case occurred in a group of college dormitories where many of the doors developed an out-of-plumb condition that prevented proper closing. It was discovered that the students had been using the doors as swings. Heavier hinges with stronger fastenings eliminated the trouble.
Two-bearing and four-bearing butt hinges should be selected, as dictated by weight of doors, frequency of use, and need for maintaining continued floating, silent operation. Because most types of butt hinges may be mounted on either righthand or left-hand doors, it should be remembered that the number of bearing units actually supporting the thrust of the vertical load is only one-half the bearing units available. With a two-bearing butt, for example, only one of the bearings carries the vertical load, and with a four-bearing butt, only two carry the load. It should be noted, however, that some hinges (Fig. 11.72) are handed and must be specified for use on either a right-hand or left-hand door.
When butts are ordered for metal doors and jambs, all machine screws should be specified.
Location of Hinges. One rule for locating hinges for ordinary doors is to allow 5 in from rabbet of head jamb to top edge of top hinge and 10 in from finished floor line to bottom hinge. The third hinge should be spaced equidistant between top and bottom hinges. Another location for hinges is that of the standard steel frame and door (Fig. 11.63). The location varies a little among door manufacturers, but each is perfectly satisfactory from a functional standpoint.
Types of Hinge Pins. A very important element in the selection of hinges is the hinge pin. It may be either a loose pin or a fast pin.
Loose pins are generally used wherever practicable, because they simplify the hanging of doors. There are four basic pin types:
1. Ordinary loose pins
2. Nonrising loose pins
3. Nonremovable loose pins
4. Fast (or tight) pins
The ordinary loose pin can be pulled out of the hinge barrel so that the leaves may be separated. Thus, the leaves may be installed on the door and jamb independently, with ease and mass-production economy. However, these pins have a tendency with resulting difficulties of working upward and out of the barrel of the hinge. This climbing is caused by the constant twisting of the pin due to opening and closing the door. Present-day manufacture of hinges has tended to drift away from this type of pin, which is now found only in hinges in the lowest price scale.
The nonrising loose pin (or self-retaining pin) has all the advantages of the ordinary loose pin; but at the same time, the disadvantage of climbing is eliminated.
The method of accomplishing the nonrising features varies with the type of hinge and its manufacture.
The nonremovable loose pin is generally used in hinges on entrance doors, or doors of locked spaces, which open out and on which the barrel of the hinge is therefore on the outside of the door. If such a door were equipped with ordinary loose-pin hinges or nonrising loose-pin hinges, it would be possible to remove the pin from the barrel and lift the door out of the frame and in so doing overcome the security of the locking device on the door. In a nonremovable loose-pin hinge, however, a setscrew in the barrel fits into a groove in the pin, thereby preventing its removal. The setscrew is so placed in the barrel of the hinge that it becomes inaccessible when the door is closed. This type of hinge offers the advantage of the ordinary loose-pin type plus the feature of security on doors opening out. Some manufacturers achieve the same results using other means, such as a safety stud.
The fast (or tight) pin is permanently set in the barrel of the hinge at the time of manufacture. Such pins cannot be removed without damaging the hinge. They are regularly furnished in hospital- or asylum-type hinges. The fact that the leaves of this type of hinge cannot be separated, however, makes the installation more difficult and costly. However, the difficulty is not too great, because with this type of hinge it is only necessary to hold the door in position while the screws for the jamb leaf are being inserted.
Ends of pins are finished in different ways. Shapes include flat-bottom, ball, oval-head, modern, cone, and steeple. They can be chosen to conform with type of architecture and decoration. Flat-button tips are generally standard and are supplied unless otherwise specified.
How to Select Hinges. One hinge means one pair of leaves connected with a pin.
The number of hinges required per door depends on the size and weight of the door, and sometimes on conditions of use. A general rule recommends two butt hinges on doors up to 60 in high; three hinges on doors 60 to 90 in high; and four hinges on doors from 90 to 120 in high.
Table 11.20 gives general recommendations covering the selection of suitable hinges. Figure 11.75 indicates how hinge width is determined when it is governed by clearance.
The proper operating clearance between the hinged edge of a door and the jamb is taken care of in the manufacture of the hinges by swaging or slightly bending the leaves of the hinge near the pin. Since the amount of such bending required is determined by whether one or both leaves are to be mortised or surface-mounted, it is important in ordering hinges to specify the type of hinge needed to satisfy mounting conditions. If hinge leaves are to be mortised into both the edge of the door and the jamb, a full-mortise hinge is required (Fig. 11.76a, c, and h). If leaves are to be surface-applied to both the side of the door and the face of the jamb, a full-surface hinge is needed (Fig. 11.76d). If one leaf is to be surface-applied and the other mortised, the hinge is a half-surface hinge or a half-mortise hinge, depending on how the leaf for the door is to be applied half-surface if applied to door surface (Fig. 11.76b, e, and Æ’) and half-mortise if mortised in the door end (Fig. 11.76g).
Exterior doors should have butts of nonferrous metal. Although chromium plating does not tarnish, it is not considered to be satisfactory on steel for exterior use.
Interior doors in rooms where dampness and steam may occur should be of nonferrous metal and should also have butts of nonferrous metal. Butts for other interior work may be of ferrous metal.
Ferrous-metal butts should be of hardened cold-rolled steel. Where doors and door frames are to be painted at the job site, butts should be supplied with a primecoat finish. For doors and trim that are to be stained and varnished, butts are usually plated.
Other types of hinges include some with a spring that closes the door. They may be either single- or double-acting. The spring may be incorporated in a hinge mounted on the door in the usual manner, or it may be associated with a pivot at the bottom of the door. In the latter case, the assembly may be of the type that is mortised into the bottom of the door, or it may be entirely below the floor.
