Granted Patent B2

US 12,546,375 · App. 17/570,515 · Granted Feb 10, 2026

Inventors: Timothy John Boundy (Deer Park, IL); Richard Michael Lang (Howey in the Hills, FL)

F16F9/19E05D3/02E05F5/02F16F9/30F16F9/53F16F2224/041

Abstract

Claims (30)

1 . A device for controlling the motion of a door, comprising:

a first hinge leaf that includes a chamber filled at least in part with a shear thickening fluid, the chamber further retaining a bushing and a plunger, wherein the bushing and plunger are connected to a screw, and

a second hinge leaf that includes a nut and a portion of the screw, and

wherein when the first hinge leaf is rotated, the screw rotates with respect to the nut such that the plunger moves vertically such that a piston connected to the plunger exerts pressure against the shear thickening fluid.

2 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the piston includes a piston head.

3 . The device of claim 2 , further including a shim, wherein both the shim and the piston head include one or more slots.

4 . The device of claim 3 , wherein the one or more slots of the shim have a shape and size approximately equal to the one or more slots of the of the piston head.

5 . The device of claim 4 , wherein the shim is configured to rotate with respect to the piston head thereby adjusting the amount of resistance experienced by the piston.

6 . The device of claim 5 , wherein rotation of the shim to a first position substantially aligns the one or more slots of the shim with the one or more slots of the of the piston head, and rotation of the rebound shim to a second position substantially misaligns the one or more slots of the shim with the one or more slots of the of the piston head.

7 . The device of claim 6 , further including an extension connected to the shim and when the extension is rotated, the shim is rotated with respect to the piston head.

8 . The device of claim 7 , further including a knob that is connected to the extension, wherein the knob can be rotated to rotate the extension.

9 . The device of claim 1 , further comprising a dowel pin to extend through the screw, the bushing and the plunger.

10 . The device of claim 9 , wherein the bushing includes a slot oriented with vertical movement of the lead screw, the dowel pin partially extending into the slot.

11 . The device of claim 10 , wherein the slot limits the vertical movement of the dowel pin, the screw, the bushing and the plunger during rotation of the screw.

12 . The device of claim 10 , wherein the screw, the bushing and the plunger are held in the same rotational position relative to each other during rotation of the screw.

13 . The device of claim 1 , further comprising a cap connected to the nut, the cap including a shaft to receive a portion of the screw during rotation of the screw.

14 . A device for controlling the motion of a door, comprising:

a screw nut configured to receive a screw,

a bushing connected to the screw, wherein rotation of the bushing relative to the screw nut causes the screw to move into or out from the screw nut, and

a piston connected to the bushing, wherein the piston includes a shim including one or more slots, and a piston head including one or more slots, wherein the shim is configured to rotate with respect to the piston head to adjust alignment between the one or more slots of the shim and the one or more slots of the piston head,

wherein movement of the screw causes the piston to move vertically such that the piston exerts pressure against a shear thickening fluid.

15 . The device of claim 14 , further comprising a spacer plug to secure the shim to the piston.

16 . The device of claim 15 , further comprising a knob adjuster that includes an extension configured to mate with the spacer plug, such that rotation of the knob adjuster rotates the shim relative to the piston head, thereby adjusting alignment between the one or more slots of the shim and the one or more slots of the piston head.

17 . The device of claim 14 , wherein the device is configured to be inserted into a hinge comprising a first hinge leaf and a second hinge leaf.

18 . The device of claim 17 , wherein the first hinge leaf includes a chamber filled at least in part with the shear thickening fluid, the piston arranged within the chamber.

19 . The device of claim 18 , wherein the second hinge leaf includes the screw nut, wherein when the first hinge leaf is rotated, the screw rotates such that the bushing and piston move vertically such that the piston exerts pressure against the shear thickening fluid.

20 . A device for controlling the motion of a door, comprising:

a screw nut configured to receive a screw,

a bushing connected to and receiving the screw, wherein rotation of the bushing relative to the screw nut causes the screw to move into or out from the screw nut, and

a piston connected to the bushing, wherein movement of the screw causes the piston to move vertically such that the piston exerts pressure against a shear thickening fluid.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (275)