Adjustable hinge

Claim 1

An adjustable hinge comprising: a first arm; a pivot pin rigidly secured to said first arm to extend to at least one side thereof along an axis; a bearing element extending from the other side of said arm and having a first bearing surface lying at least partially within a cylindrical surface which is coaxially aligned with said pivot pin; a second arm having an opening therethrough which is at least partially defined by a second bearing surface generally matching said first bearing surface, said bearing element being received within said opening to mount said second arm for rotation relative to said first arm about said axis, said second arm including an arcuate toothed rack coaxially aligned with said second bearing surface; an arm retention plate fixedly mounted relative to said bearing element to overlie said second arm for retention of said second arm on said bearing element; a toothed locking pawl mounted relative to said first arm in general alignment with said arcuate rack for radial movement with respect to said axis for selectively engaging with and disengaging from said arcuate rack, said pawl having an arcuate slot therethrough which includes a first end which is closer to said pivot pin than a second end thereof; a pawl actuating device pivotally mounted on said pivot pin and including a pawl locating pin displaced a predetermined distance from and extending in a direction parallel with said axis to be commonly received within said arcuate slot of said pawl and matching, aligned slots through said first arm and said retention plate; and each of said aligned slots having an arcuate shape with an effective radius from said axis equal to said predetermined distance, said first arm and said retention plate supporting said locating pin at said aligned slots therethrough at both sides of said pawl to distribute operating forces acting along said locating pin during movement of said pawl thereby.