Door hinge with integral check

Claim 1

In an improved hinge assembly of the type having a body plate adapted to be secured to the body of a vehicle, a door plate pivotally connected about a vertical hinge axis to the body plate and adapted to be secured to a door of the vehicle, and a check spring mounted on one of the plates operatively engageable with a striker member carried by the other of the plates to hold the door plate in a door-open position, the improvement wherein: the check spring comprises a curved resilient spring member having an end fixed to said body plate and another, free end located at a position intermediate said body plate and said door plate and proximate the point of pivotal connection of the body plate and the door plate and having a detent portion bent over in a direction away from said striker member at said free end toward said body plate; and the striker member comprises a roller member rotatably mounted on said door plate about another vertical axis displaced from said vertical hinge axis, said roller member being operative upon movement of said door plate from a door-closed position wherein said roller is spaced from said spring member to said door-open position to engage said spring member in rolling contact to effect deflection thereof until passing over said detent portion, whereupon said roller member is moved completely free of said detent portion and out of contact with said spring member and further away from said detent portion and said spring member during all further movement toward and into said door-open position and reverse movement of said door plate is resisted by said spring member when the roller is moved in the reverse direction into engagement with the detent portion, movement into the door open position is limited by stops formed in the side of the body plate when said stops are abuttingly engaged with edges of the door plate.