Door closer - Restoration HD

Door closer Something from history : The Story of the L.C.N. Door Closer – c. 1937 The Rector Wanted it Quiet! A winter day in 1877, Boston’s splendid new Trinity Church was finished. Architect Richardson had done a noble piece of work, and so had Norcross Brothers of Worcester, who had the general contract. But there was one thing the eminent rector, Dr. Phillips Brooks, did not like. His first sermon in the new church had been punctuated, in nerve-wracking fashion, by a banging storm door out in front. He spoke to the foreman about it, a capable young fellow, L.C.Norton by name, whom the Norcross people had left behind to watch things. Mr. Norton said he’d fix the door. Carefully he took off the door stops, shaved them down and installed rubber pads all around. But Dr. Brooks was far from satisfied. That constant “thump, thump” of the door was almost as bad as the banging. Both he and the congregation were very much annoyed! A bit of the rector’s famous eloquence was turned upon the unlucky foreman. Disgusted that his efforts were not appreciated, Mr. Norton stripped off his overalls, threw them with his tools into the little closet under the stairs, and slammed the door!…That is, he meant to slam the door, but it didn’t slam. Puzzled, he tried again and again to slam it, but could not do so. The air confined in the small closet formed a cushion… Hmm! A cushion of confined air…Why couldn’t he make such a cushion to cure that storm door? L.C.Norton was not the kind to put off trying a good idea. Searching the stores, he found a small hand-operated water pump*. He removed the hose and valves from the lower end and closed it with a cap of his own make having a hinge for attachment to the door. He then secured the handle end of the piston rod to a vertical post on the door jamb, drilled a few holes in the cylinder…and there it was: the first door check ever made! L.C.Norton’s “Door Check” a Success from the Start The Sunday after Mr. Norton had installed his new invention, Dr. Brooks had no cause to complain. Although late arrivals kept the storm door opening and shutting as usual, no sound from that source annoyed the good rector or his congregation. For the converted pump did its work, quietly and effectively, opposing the old-fashioned spring just enough to silence the closing of the door. Dr. Brooks was delighted, and was one of the first to encourage Mr. Norton in the development of his invention. The first step was to combine the closing and checking actions in one device, which meant putting a powerful spring into the checking cylinder. This change, with other modifications, resulted in the original “door check and spring” shown below, patented in 1880. Mr. Norton interested a group of men in Boston and New York, who organized a company to manufacture and sell the device. One of the first customers was Trinity Church. Following his experience with the converted pump check, which had worked faithfully and well for