What is a door closer, a door closer is... Pt 2

Following on from my previous blog post (please read in conjunction with this post) when giving it some thought what is it that defines a door closer and why should it be so? I believe a door closer is any device fixed to a door for the purpose of closing it in a controlled manner once it has been opened.

Door closers have had many names over the years, work in many different ways, are fixed in many places, granted some control the closing and opening speed better than others but they all appear to use the same energy as was used to open the door to close it (so this must be a contributing factor in its description/definition). If it opens the door using a motor this is I believe is the exception and is rightly defined as a door opener, not a door closer.

Even if you consider the modern view of a door closer being surface mounted, is only single action and has an arm, why should that only that be thought of as a door closer? A floor spring for instance has an 'arm' (shoe/strap), can be single action (some are double action) are obviously mounted to a door and you can argue to the surface of the door if you take into account a single action shoe and how if fixes to the surface of the door.

A door closer can be simply called a overhead door spring

or a door spring and check

or a door check and spring using hydraulics in their design.

The spring and check can be combined or not

utilising a helical torsion spring or a compression spring and pneumatics.

They can be mounted in the floor and called a door spring

or be called a floor spring and have no damping.

They can use leaf springs and be called a spring hinge

or use compression springs and be called a floor door spring.

They can have many springs and no check or have a single compression spring and hydraulic check mechanism but only called a door spring.

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Be single action or double action

and look far more like a hinge than anything you would associate the word spring with.

And just when you thought you knew what a door closer was you come across one set in the floor that has levers and weights

or one that clearly closes doors but looks more like a bar than a spring, so it takes you right back to where you began, with the question what is a door closer?

Does it have a spring? One spring, two springs or more springs or in fact just be a spring? Must it be regulated by air, gas, oil, or just rely on friction to dampen its closing speed? Where does it mount, in the floor, above the door, middle of the door, on the surface, in the door, in the hinges? Does it make a difference if the device is closing a door or a gate?

I know what I consider to be a door closer and who should be credited (or not) as the case maybe with their name at the top of a google search for the question - Who invented the door spring, the door check or the door closer?

I hope you have enjoyed this post and as usual please feel free to leave a comment.