subject: An Armored Doors Are Also Subject To A Very Larges [print this page] The addition of armor to an automobile or other vehicle very substantially increases its weight, thereby requiring that the vehicle frame be reinforced in critical areas to carry the added weight. The armoring of vehicle doors especially stresses the frame because the doors are cantilevered from hinges along the door edge. An armored doors are also subject to a very larges, abrupt force if it is thrown open or slammed shut. Such stresses tend to cause the door to "sag" relative to the door frame.
Steel or other armor panels are installed between the original inside and outside "skins," panels or liners of the doors; the door skins themselves are not necessarily made heavier to carry the armor. Usually armor panel mounting brackets are attached to the inside of the metal outer skin, and the armor panel is "hung" or suspended from the door structure by such brackets.
The sagging tends to occur progressively with time as the door is repeatedly opened and closed in use; a door which was properly aligned with respect to the frame at the time the vehicle left the shop, gradually becomes increasingly disaligned. At the least such sag is unsightly and undesirable; and ultimately it can prevent closing and latching. Correcting the sagging, once it has occurred, requires realignment and "shimming" (inserting thin spacers between the hinges and their mounts, to return the door to a position of alignment). Such adjustments are inconvenient, specialized, and in any event difficult because of the weight of the door.
From the foregoing it can be seen that the door can be hinged in a conventional manner, but that the armor is also connected through the door edge, directly to the hinges. Should shimming be necessary at the time of armoring, it can be added in the conventional manner, between the movable hinge leaf and the door edge. Testing to date has demonstrated that an armored door so hinged is far less susceptible to sagging in use than an otherwise similar armored door without the invention.
It is desirable to provide a flexible limit strap to prevent the door from being opened too far. While it is known to use a strap to limit the amount of door opening movement, such straps have conventionally been connected between the post and the door skin. However, if an armored doors are opened too far too quickly, tension on the strap when it stops the door is applied to the skin and may cause the skin to bend and deform. In the present invention a strap 60 is preferably connected at one end 62 to a reinforcement on the door pillar 16, rather than being connected to the skin, and extends between the inner skin or liner 21 and the door edge 46, to a point of attachment to the armor, preferably to a flange 64 welded to the armor.
