The following article inadvertently omitted several references and footnotes to Austin R. Baer's invention of the ROTON® continuous geared hinge, which is now owned and manufactured exclusively by The Hager Companies of St. Louis, Missouri. In 1990, the ROTON Corporation was sold to The Hager Companies which has since that time marketed the entire ROTON® Hinge line and has owned the federally registered ROTON trademark as well as all rights to hinge-related patents filed by Mr. Baer prior to that date. These facts were accidentally omitted from the published article. We regret any confusion that may have resulted from these omissions.
Continuous geared hinges have been around for a long time. What many of us don’t know is that Austin R. Baer, the inventor of the landmark ROTON Hinge, relied on the maintenance professionals who repaired existing openings to prove that using a continuous geared hinge is the best way to keep a door operating properly and to extend the life of all its other hardware – including locksets, exit devices and closers.
The new R2 VARYX Continuous Hinge is Baer’s latest contribution to the door and hardware industry. Because it is fully adjustable vertically and laterally AFTER the door is secured to the frame, VARYX installs in a fraction of the time required with any other repair hinge – without thrubolts.
His patented, centrally-located twist-resistant bearing system and a continuous double interlock boost product strength and performance. In today’s economy, where we’re all looking for ways to demonstrate value to our customers and do more with less in our own businesses, R2’s VARYX is the no-compromise choice for the installer who wants to get the job done quickly – and correctly - with the assurance he needs that he’s solved the customer’s problem once and for all.
The hardware industry, asked to solve ever-increasing problems of high traffic, better security and energy conservation, has come to recognize that continuous geared hinges are a cost-effective way to hang a door. Lots of them are in use all over the world… Baer’s ROTON Corporation put them in our embassies, hospitals, schools, office buildings and even the White House.
What many people don’t realize is that it was the locksmith profession, joined by building and maintenance managers - the people who have to repair these openings and keep doors swinging – that made it all happen. The overwhelming response from the “repair/retrofit” side of the industry convinced architects to specify these products for new construction.
Recently, Baer joined forces with his daughter, Kerry B. Sprick, to found R2 HINGE. Their flagship product is the all-new VARYX Continuous Hinge for door repair, a heavy duty, full-surface model that can be used on standard hollow metal or narrow-faced frames and with doors of any material. VARYX stands for “VARiable position in the Y or X axis”…remember your high school geometry?
Here’s what’s new and different with R2’s VARYX:
One man can hang a door in under 20 minutes after the old hardware is stripped…and get the clearances right on the first try. Because the door is never fully removed from the opening, it’s a lot safer and easier to re-hang. Instead of hinges that require the door to be measured, shimmed, measured, marked, prepped and drilled for thrubolts - all the while never really knowing whether it will fit back into its often beat-up frame after all those preparations are done – VARYX is applied immediately.
A VARYX installation starts by attaching the frame leaf to the face of the frame while the door is resting on its threshold, with no measurements required. The door leaf is folded onto the door face and attached, using a prescribed sequence of specially-designed fasteners in their pre-punched vertical and horizontal slotted holes to position and align the door. You simply adjust the lockset, header and threshold clearances after the door is safely attached. The door can even be angled a bit to allow some extra clearance at the top to allow for any sag in weakened old frames. Misaligned strikes, rubbing lockside top corners and doors that drag are fixed in minutes. R2 supplies custom hex-head self-drilling screws to be used throughout, simplifying the tools needed to get the job done quickly. For extra security on very heavy doors or thin-skinned doors with unknown fillers, apply an optional thrubolt or two – after the fit is checked with a few trial swings. When you’re satisfied that all the hardware - including lockset and closer - is operating properly, pop on the security moldings and you’re done.
R2’s FOCUS Bearing System adds HD/PLUS performance to every hinge. There’s no need to worry about which model to order, or whether the hinge may have been underspecified by someone else. Its 37 bearings are centered at the mid-height of every VARYX hinge where they can best handle the weight of the heaviest doors while delivering much more metal where it is needed – at the ends – to spread the lateral forces on the door harmlessly to these solid portions of the hinge.
A major cause of bearing wear in conventional geared hinges is twist. Because R2’s FOCUS bearings are centered and keyed to the cover and interlocked to each other in a spline-like assembly to prevent twist, VARYX leaves more than twice as much of its joint length free of cutouts, adding heavy load capacity and high frequency performance to every hinge.
Moving the bearings inward makes onsite trimming a breeze…no need to worry about cutting through a bearing slot or losing precious set screws in the process. This system also permits well over two feet at each end to slip (imperceptibly) endwise to accommodate those warped or bent frames or doors we often deal with in the retrofit industry.
Every R2 VARYX features a continuous interlock that seals out rain and wind and adds an extra level of vandal protection and impact resistance to the opening. R2 has designed its contours for a much neater appearance. The snap-on moldings practically seal the joint, so you can easily paint the hinge - after it’s installed – to match any finish.
There are plenty of continuous hinges out there, but R2 HINGE has eliminated many of their problems using Baer’s “old family recipe” of sound engineering, thoroughly embedded into these startlingly new products. For those of us who’ve hung thousands of doors the old-fashioned way, having the flexibility to adjust clearances after the door is hung just makes it easier to get it right the first time. VARYX also makes it easier to train a novice and send him out to the job without expensive oversight.
VARYX is available in either clear or dark bronze anodized finish in 83”, 95” and 119” lengths within 48 hours. Visit www.r2hinge.com for more technical details. R2 has been supporting local and regional locksmith associations, conducts VARYX installation clinics around the country and offers special sales programs and advertising assistance to the trade.
