EP1113137A1

EP1113137A1 - Opening and closing mechanism for door

Info

Publication number: EP1113137A1
Application number: EP99890404A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Toshiya c/o Kayaba Kogyo K.K. Miura
Original assignee: Kayaba Industry Co Ltd
Current assignee: KYB Corp
Priority date: 1999-12-30
Filing date: 1999-12-30
Publication date: 2001-07-04

Abstract

A restraining force is applied to a door 2 immediately prior to total closure of a rotating door of furniture used for storage. Thus rapid closure of the door is prevented and associated noise and vibration are suppressed. The opening and closing mechanism for a rotating door 2 which opens and closes an opened section 2 of furniture 1 used for storage is provided with a hinge 3 with a spring which supports a rotational center of the door 2 with respect to the frame 4 of the furniture 1 used for storage and which biases the door 2 in a direction of closure. Furthermore a damping device 5 is provided which comes into contact with an inner surface of the door 2 when the door 2 is near total closure and applies a restraining force to the door 2. The damping device 5 is buried in a section of the frame 4.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an opening and closing mechanism for a door of furniture for example. In particular, the invention relates to a mechanism for closing a door, which comprises a biasing mechanism for closing the door automatically, quietly by restraining a sudden motion in a direction of closure when the door is nearly totally closed.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Conventionally furniture doors or the like are biased in a direction of closure by a hinge provided with a spring. When the door closes, a large sound and vibration are produced by contact with the frame particularly if the door is released when about to close.
However when the hinge spring has a weak adjustment, door closure is inconvenient and the door is sometimes not suitably retained at a closed position.
In contrast to furniture doors, the entrance doors of houses are provided with door closure mechanisms for automatically closing the door. Such closure mechanisms contain a spring and a damper and close the door through a link. Such door closure mechanisms are relatively large and are not suitable for use in the opening and closing of furniture doors. Furthermore the damper generates a low force of resistance in a wide angular range with respect to the door and as a result the problem has arisen that the opening and closing time of the door is lengthened.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is proposed to solve the above problems.
The present invention comprises an opening and closing mechanism for a rotating door which opens and closes an open section of furniture used for storage (hereafter storage furniture). The opening and closing mechanism supports a rotational center of the door with respect to a frame of the storage furniture and is provided with a sprung hinge which biases in a direction of door closure and a damping device which comes into contact with the inner surface of the door when the door is almost closed and applies a damping force, the damping device is mounted on a section of the frame.
The damping device is buried in the inner framework and a push rod of the damping device bumps with the inner surface of the door from a perpendicular direction.
The present invention enables the damping device to apply a damping force immediately prior to total closure of the rotating door. Thus quiet closure of the door is enabled and the generation of noise and vibration are prevented. Since a force of resistance is only applied immediately prior to total door closure, the overall time for the total opening and closing of the door is not lengthened. Furthermore the opening and closing mechanism has a small size, has no effect on the aesthetic appeal of the storage furniture and does not reduce the storage capacity of the storage furniture.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view of the inner components of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In Fig. 1, a rotating door 2 mounted on an opening section of storage furniture 1 is supported at upper and lower points on one side of the door 2 on a frame 4 by a hinge 3 provided with a spring which are known in the art. In the drawings, only one door 2 is shown of the pair of right and left doors 2.
The sprung hinge 3 is provided with a spring in an inner section and biases the door 2 in a direction of closure with the force of the spring. Thus the door 2 when open is closed automatically by the force of the spring.
As shown in Fig. 2, when the door 2 is closed, the door 2 is disposed in close contact with the end face 4A of the frame 4 of the storage furniture 1. A damping device 5 is mounted on a section of the end face 4A of the frame 4 at a position oriented towards the leading edge of rotation of the upper side of the door 2.
The mounting position of the damping device 5 is preferably a position in which contact is achieved with the door 2 in a range from at least the center of the door 2 which rotates about the sprung hinge 3 to the leading edge of rotation.
The damping device 5 is fixed and stored in the mounting hole 6 provided on the end face 4A in the frame 4, as shown by the imaginary line, and when the door is open the push rod 7 of the damping device 5 projects from the end face 4A of the frame 4. The push rod 7 is pressed in a projecting direction by a spring (not shown) provided in the inner section of the damping device. When depressed by contact in a perpendicular direction by the inner surface 4A of the door 2, a piston (not shown) in the inner section of the damping device 5 is displaced. The displacement of the piston is limited by the resistance of a fluid in the damping device 5 and thus a rapid closure of the door 2 is prevented.
However it is noted that the force of resistance of the damping device 5 is set to be smaller than the pressing force of the sprung hinge 3 in the direction of closure of the door 2.
The shape of the damping device 5 is cylindrical and thus it is possible to dispose the damping device 5 simply in the mounting hole 6 by forming a hole circular in cross section by a drilling operation or the like. When the thickness of the frame 4 is lower or equal to the radius of the damping device 5, a hole is not formed and the damping device 5 may be mounted by the provision of a bracket or similar member on the lower surface of the frame 4. It is also possible to dispose the damping device 5 in the frame 4 on the lower side of the door so as to come into contact with the lower edge of the door 2.
In such a way, when the door 2 is automatically closed by the sprung hinge 3, immediately prior to the complete closure of the door 2, the push rod 7 of the damping device 5 come into contact orthogonally with the inner surface of the door 2 and applies a brake to the motion of the door 2. Thus as the door is closed slowly, noise or vibration generated when the door 2 is closed rapidly are greatly reduced.
Since the damping operation with respect to the door 2 is limited to immediately prior to total door closure, no resistance is applied to the door 2 in other operational ranges and thus the opening and closing speed of the door 2 is not reduced.
It is possible to freely regulate the angle of the door 2 at which damping is initiated by varying the mounting position of the damping device 5 with respect to the rotational radius of the door 2. Furthermore the number of sprung hinges 3 or damping devices 5 may be optimally varied in response to the size or weight of the door.
The opening and closing mechanism for a door 2 according to the present invention is smaller than a conventional door closing mechanism and in particular when the damping device 5 is buried in the frame 4, the design of the furniture is not adversely affected and the storage capacity of the furniture is not reduced.
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments and variations will occur to those skilled in the art within the scope of the inventive concepts which are stated in the following claims.

Claims

An opening and closing mechanism for a rotating door which opens and closes an opening section of storage furniture comprising:

a hinge provided with a spring which supports a rotational center of said door with respect to a frame of said storage furniture and which biases said door in a direction of closure; and

a damping device mounted on a section of said frame, the damping device comes into contact with and applies a restraining force to an inner surface of said door when said door is near total closure.
An opening and closing mechanism for a door according to Claim 1 wherein said damping device is buried in an inner section of said frame and a push rod of said damping device comes into contact with an inner surface of said door from a perpendicular direction.