GB2156425A - A hinge - Google Patents

Abstract

A hinge (2) comprising a body portion (4), a slot (6) in the body portion for receiving a part of a fixed member to which the body portion is to be attached, at least a pair of support members (12, 14, 16) which project from the body portion, a pivot pin (18) which is retained in position by the support members, and at least one pivotable member (20, 22) which is positioned on the pivot pin and which is for attachment to a door in order to enable the door to pivot between the open and shut positions with respect to the fixed member. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A hinge This invention relates to a hinge.

Kitchens and bedrooms in homes are often provided with fitted furniture. There are thus many cupboards and wardrobes where doors are required to neatly and easily be fixed in position.

Similarly, offices and factories often provide lockers for employees and again the doors to the lockers are required to be easily and neatly fixed in position. The required fixing of the doors in position depends much upon the type of hinge employed and it is an aim of the present invention to provide a hinge which enables the easy and neat fitting of doors to cupboard and wardrobe carcasses, in addition to enabling other doors to be fixed to doors frames or other desired structures.

Accordingly, this invention provides a hinge comprising a body portion, a slot in the body portion for receiving a part of the fixed member to which the body portion is to be attached, at least a pair of support members which project from the body portion, a pivot pin which is retained in position by the support members, and at least one pivotable member which is positioned on the pivot pin and which is for attachment to a door in order to enable the door to pivot between open and shut positions with respect to the fixed member.

As indicated above, the fixed member may be a panel or an upright portion of a cupboard or wardrobe carcass, or it may be a door frame or similar structure.

The body portion will usually be provided with apertures for receiving fixing screws or fixing nails.

The hinge may be one in which the slot is defined by side walls and a base wall, and in which the pair of support members project outwardly from the base wall away from the slot.

In one embodiment of the invention, the side walls extend away from the base wall by an equal distance. In another embodiment of the invention, one side wall extends away from the base wall farther than the other side wall.

Where the hinge is to be fixed to a panel, the part of the fixed member to which the body portion is attached will be an edge of the panel. In this case, the side walls will push over the edge of the panel until the edge of the panel engages with the base wall.

In the case of an upright, it may be desired to bury the slot and its surrounding body portion in the upright. In this case, the fixed member may be in two parts, one part of the fixed member being a strip which fits in the slot, and the other part of the fixed member being an upright proper which is provided with a slot for receiving the strip. The strip can be screwed both to the side walls defining the slot and to the upright proper.

The pivotable member may have a first arm for attachment to the door, and second and third arms which are for attachment to the pivot pin and which extend at right angles to the first arm.

The first arm may be provided with apertures for receiving fixing screws or fixing nails.

The second and third arms may each be provided with an aperture for receiving the pivot pin.

Advantageously, the base wall is recessed to the thickness of the first arm so that a door attached to the first arm is permitted to lie flush with the fixed member.

The base wall may be of the same thickness as the first arm so that recesses in the base wall extend through the base wall and into the slot.

There may be two pivotable members.

The hinge may be one in which there are three support members, and in which the second and third arms of each pivotable member are positioned one on either side of the middle support member.

The hinge may be made from any desired material such for example as a metal or a plastics material. Brass and an aluminium alloy are presently pleferred metals.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a first hinge with one pivotable member in an open position and the other pivotable member in a closed position; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the hinge shown in Figure 1 and it shows both of the pivotable members in their open and closed positions; Figure 3 is a top plan view of the body portion of the hinge shown in Figure 1; Figure 4 is a side view of one of the pivotable members of the hinge shown in Figure 1; Figure 5 is a front view of the hinge as shown in full lines in Figure 2; Figure 6 is a perspective view of a second hinge; Figure 7 is a perspective view of the hinge shown in Figure 6 and illustrates the pivotable member in open and closed positions;; Figure 8 is a top plan view of the body portion of the hinge shown in Figure 6; Figure 9 is a side view of the body portion shown in Figure 6; Figure 10 is an end view of the hinge shown in Figure 7 with the pivotable member being in the position shown in full lines; Figure 11 shows hinges of the type illustrated in Figure 1 installed in use; Figure 12 shows hinges of the type shown in Figure 1 in another type of use; Figure 13 shows a hinge of the type shown in Figure 1 in an installed condition; Figure 14 shows a hinge of the type shown in Figure 1 in another method of installation; and Figures 15,16 and 17 show different positions of doors on a hinge when it is installed as illustrated in Figure 14.

Referring now to Figures 1 to 5, there is shown a hinge 2 comprising a body portion 4. The body portion 4 has a slot 6 for receiving a part of a fixed member to which the body portion 4 is to be attached as will be described hereinbelow. The body portion 4 has a pair of side walls 8 and a base wall 10 which define the slot 6. The side walls 8 extend as illustrated the same distance away from the base wall 10.

Three support members in the form of lugs 12,14,16 are formed as integral parts of the body portion 4 and they project outwardly from the base wall 10 as illustrated. The lugs 12,14,16 are provided with apertures so that a pivot pin 18 can be slid through all the apertures and retained in position by the lugs 12,14,16. The ends of the pivot pin 18 can be deformed to ensure that the pivot pin 18 remains fixed in position.

The pivot pin 18 pivotally supports a pair of pivotable members 20,22. The pivotable members 20,22 are each provided with three apertures 24, for receiving fixing screws.

The side walls 8 are also provided with apertures 26, also for receiving fixing screws. In Figure 2, the apertures 24,26 have been omitted for simplicity of illustration.

In Figure 1, the pivotable member 20 is shown in its open position and the pivotable member 22 is shown in its closed position. In Figure 2, the pivotable members 20,22 are shown in continuous lines in their open positions and in dotted lines in their closed positions.

In order to enable the pivotable members 20,22 to be secured to doors and for the doors to lie flush with the fixed member supporting the body portion 4, the base wall 10 has been recessed in places to accommodate the pivotable members 20,22 in their closed position. More specifically, the pivotable members 22 include a first arm 28 for attaching to a door and second and third arms 30,32 respectively which extend at right angles to the first arm 28 and which are provided with apertures (not shown) for receiving the pivot pin 18. The second and third arms 30,32 are substantially the same thickness as the thickness of the base wall 10 so that the recesses 34 formed in the base wall 10 (see Figures 2,4, and 5) extend through the base wall 10 and into the slot 6.

Referring now to Figures 6 to 10, similar parts as in Figures 1 to 5 have been given the same reference numerals and their precise construction and operation will not again be given. It will be seen in Figures 6 to 10 that there are two basic differences in the illustrated hinge over that shown in Figures 1 to 5. The hinge 2 has one arm 8 which extends further from the base wall 10 than the other arm 8.

For the avoidance of doubt, it is mentioned that the hinge 2 as illustrated in Figure 8 has been turned upside down from the position of the hinge 2 as shown in Figures 6 and 7. Also for the avoidance of doubt, it is mentioned that the apertures 24,26 have been omitted from Figures 7 to 10 for ease of drawing.

The hinge 2 of Figures 6 to 10 has only one pivotable member 20 as will be clearly seen.

Referring now to Figure 11, it will be seen that two hinges 2 are shown securely in position. The side walls 8 are secured to panels 36. The edge of the panels 36 have been inserted into the slot 6 until they touch the base walls 10. Screws 38 have been used to secure the side walls 10 to the panels 36. The pivotable members 20,22 are shown in various positions as secured by screws 40 to doors 42. It will be seen that the cupboards formed by the panels 36, the doors 42 and by other panels 44 are such that the doors 42 fit flush with the panels 36,44 and it will be apparent that the hinges 2 are very easily and simply fixed in position, it mereiy being necessary to push the side walls 8 over the edge of the panels 36, insert the screws 38, and then use the screws 40 to screw the doors 42 to the pivotable members 20,22.

Referring now to Figure 12, the hinges 2 iilustrated in Figures 11 are shown used with somewhat different constructions. It will however be appreciated that the basic construction, operation and use of the hinges 2 shown in Figure 12 is the same in so far as simplicity and ease of installation are concerned as for Figure 11.

Referring now to Figure 13, there is shown a hinge 2 of the type shown in Figure 1 in use with door stays 46.

Referring now to Figure 14, the hinge 2 shown in Figures 6 to 10 is shown such that the side walls 8 are buried in a recess in an upright 48. In this method of use of the hinge 2, the fixed member for the hinge is essentially in two parts. The first part of the fixed member is a strip 50 which is inserted into the slot 6 and which is held in position in the slot 6 by screws 52. Thereafter, the fixed strip 50 and the side walls 8 are inserted into the slot cut out of the upright 48 as illustrated in Figure 14. The upright 48 thus forms the second part of the fixed member. It will be apparent that the method of fixing illustrated in Figure 14, using screws 52 and 53 is effective to conceal the side walls 8.

Figures 15,16 and 17 show self explanatory positions of the doors 42 when the hinge 2 is installed as illustrated in Figure 14.

It is to be appreciated that the embodiments of the invention described above have been given by way of example only and that modifications may be effected. Thus, for example the shape of the pivotable members 20,22 and the shape of the body portion 4 may be different from those illustrated.

Claims (13)

1. A hinge comprising a body portion, a slot in the body portion for receiving a part of a fixed member to which the body portion is to be attached, at least a pair of support members which project from the body portion, a pivot pin which is retained in position by the support members, and at least one pivotable member which is positioned on the pivot pin and which is for attachment to a door in order to enable the door to pivot between open and shut positions with respect to the fixed member.

2. A hinge according to claim 1 in which the body portion is provided with apertures for receiving fixing screws or fixing nails.

3. A hinge according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which the slot is defined by side walls and a base wall, and in which the pair of support members project outwardly from the base wall away from the slot.

4. A hinge according to claim 3 in which the side walls extend away from the base wall by an equal distance.

5. A hinge according to claim 3 in which one side wall extends away from the base wall farther than the other side wall.

6. A hinge according to any one of the preceding claims in which the pivotable member has a first arm for attachment to the door, and second and third arms which are for attachment to the pivot pin and which extend at right angles to the first arm.

7. A hinge according to claim 6 in which the first arm is provided with apertures for receiving fixing screws or fixing nails.

8. A hinge according to claim 6 or claim 7 in which the second and third arms are each provided with an aperture for receiving the pivot pin.

9. A hinge according to claims 3 and 6 in which the base wall is recessed to the thickness of the first arm so that a door attached to the first arm is permitted to lie flush with the fixed member.

10. A hinge according to claim 9 in which the base wall is substantially the same thickness as the first arm so that recesses in the base wall extends through the base wall and into the slot.

11. A hinge according to any one of the preceding claims in which there are two pivotable members.

12. A hinge according to claim 6 in which there are three support members, and in which the second and third arms of each pivotable member are positioned one on either side of the middle support member.

13. A hinge substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.