Hinge Faces

If you were at all inclined to think about it, you might think that highway rest stops would have long since settled on the optimal design for metal doors on toilet stalls, considering durability, cost, ease of installation, and ease of maintenance. Likewise and even more so for the hinges on metal bathroom doors, yeah? Who wants to prematurely/frequently replace hinges with moving parts, subject as they are to being mishandled by people who don’t directly pay for their replacement? Moreover, especially in the context of a public toilet, who wants to clean any extraneous edges? The benefits of standardization would seem to be high, and yet it has not happened.

Last week I came across a new-to-me hinge in a highway rest stop: as I live and breathe, it was Rosie-the-Riveter. I had left my phone in the car, so we’re settling for an indifferent sketch from an indifferent memory, but this will at least give you an idea.

It’s clearly missing the screws for the piece on the left; the piece on the left could well extend further to the right; it could well be missing a vertical piece below Rosie’s face. Was it, maybe, two identical pieces, installed in this nesting pattern? Dunno. I mean, I can *see*, but I won’t claim to see well.

Of course, having missed my chance to get a photographic record at the time, I checked hinges in every highway rest stop for the rest of the trip. Thus it was that I saw many types of hinges (not as many as shown here, but still, many, and no two the same) and thus it was that I began to wonder about the work of maintaining and cleaning them, and the apparent failure of the market to drive to an optimal solution.

Most of these hinges had no faces, but “most” is not “all”.

Just one more thing. Keep an eye out for Rosie, would you? And if you see her, let me know.