Archibald Smith & Co's Improvements in Appliances for Swing Doors

Although this blog is primarily about the many differing door closers and floor springs I come across there are also ancillary products that are equally as important for a door to close behind you once you have passed through, with floor springs it is chiefly the top centre (normal hinges are sometimes used in conjunction with a floor spring). A top centre is the top pivot that sits inline with the pin of the floor spring below and allows the door to swing on its arc.

I would like therefore to take this opportunity to introduce you to Archibald Smith's swing door centre/top pivot/top centre. This particular top centre was introduced to overcome the "evil" of wear which leads to the drooping of doors at the top and the "annoyance" of swing doors banging together as can be read in the above (those Victorians thought of everything). The article is from around 1872 as are the top pivots below which have worn extremely well for their age.

Link to article from The Architect magazine 1872:

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=_8vSInOb4k8C&pg=PA15&dq=archibald+smith+and+co%27s+adjustable+top+centre&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwig1MfE7KPbAhUHJcAKHeSkDlwQuwUIMDAB#v=onepage&q=archibald%20smith%20and%20co's%20adjustable%20top%20centre&f=false 

The female part of the top centre sits in the top of the door and the male part is let into the header of the door frame

As usual please comment if you have enjoyed the blog post or any other for that matter.