EP2558666A1

EP2558666A1 - Hinge for articles of furniture

Info

Publication number: EP2558666A1
Application number: EP11799401A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Luciano Salice
Original assignee: Arturo Salice SpA
Current assignee: Arturo Salice SpA
Priority date: 2010-12-27
Filing date: 2011-12-12
Publication date: 2013-02-20
Also published as: WO2012089489A1; BR112013003747A2; TW201231780A; CN103069092A; JP2014500421A; KR20130136456A; ITMI20102409A1

Abstract

The hinge, in particular for articles of furniture, comprises a first part (5) of hinge which is associable to a body of a fixed article of furniture and a second part (4) of hinge which is associable to an element of the mobile article of furniture and is rotatably connected to the first part (5) of hinge between an opening position and a closing position of the mobile element, and retaining means (14,15) which at the closing position assume a variable configuration between a first configuration in which they retain the second part (4) of the hinge and a second configuration in which they release the retaining of second part (4) of the hinge in order to enable the second part of the hinge to reach an open position thereof.

Description

HINGE FOR ARTICLES OF FURNITURE

DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a hinge, in particular for articles of furniture, comprising a first part of hinge which is associable to a body of a fixed article of furniture and a second part of hinge which is associable to an element of the mobile article of furniture and rotatably connected to said first part of hinge between an opening position and a closing position of the element of the mobile article of furniture.

Generally, in a hinge for articles of furniture, the first part of hinge comprises a hinge wing and the second part of hinge comprises a hinge casing operatively connected to the hinge wing by a pair of rocker arms.

The market offers hinges for articles of furniture of the push type, typically used where the doors are not provided with handles or like opening means.

Hinges of this type in particular comprise a spring acting in the direction of opening the door and thus require a ratchet device for releasably blocking the door in the closing position.

In this case, with the aim of opening the door, the user has to exert a push on the closed door in order to generate unhooking of the ratchet, thus enabling the spring of the hinge to move the door in the opening direction at least by an amount which is sufficient for the user to grip the door and completely open it. When closing the door, the user must instead push the door until the ratchet re-engages such as to retain the door in its closing position.

Conventionally the ratchet device is in the form of a separate element which is applied to the article of furniture on an opposite side to the hinge, leading to additional work operations and/or to boring holes both on the article of furniture, in order to predispose the fastening of the ratchet device, as well as on the door in order to predispose fastening of a hooking organ, said counter-ratchet, for the ratchet device, as well as supplementary mounting operations thereof.

With the aim of at least partly obviating the above drawbacks, DE202004019238U1 discloses a different solution which comprises application of a suitable ratchet device on a hinge with a spring acting in the closing direction. However the ratchet device of this solution requires greater constructional complexity, mainly due to the need to provide suitable means for applying the device on hinge elements, as in itself it is a separate device therefrom.

The technical aim of the present invention is, therefore, to realise a hinge for articles of furniture which enables the technical problems existing in the prior art to be obviated.

In the ambit of this technical aim, an object of the invention is to realise a hinge for articles of furniture which, for mounting thereof, requires the smallest possible number of work operations on the article of furniture and exhibits an adequate constructional simplicity.

The technical aim, as well as this and other aims, according to the present invention, are attained by realising a hinge, in particular for articles of furniture, comprising a first part of hinge which is associable to a body of a fixed article of furniture and a second part of hinge which is associable to an element of the mobile article of furniture and rotatably connected to said first part of hinge between an opening position and a closing position of the element of the mobile article of furniture, and elastic means acting in an opening direction, characterised in that it comprises releasable retaining means of said second part of hinge, which retaining means are conformed such as to assume selectively, at said closing position thereof, a first retaining configuration and a second release configuration of said second part of hinge following a push on the element of the mobile article of furniture in the closing direction, said second release configuration assumed by the retaining means being such as to enable said elastic means to move said second part of hinge to reach said opening position.

Said first part of hinge preferably comprises a wing of the hinge and said second part of hinge comprises a casing of the hinge.

The said retaining means can be integrated with the said hinge casing, and in this case they can be located internally or externally of the hinge casing.

Alternatively, the retaining means can be integrated with said hinge casing.

The retaining means preferably comprise a cursor.

In a preferred embodiment, the retaining means comprise said cursor, a ball that is mobile along a tract of variable depth, obtained on the internal side of the bottom of a cover applied to the external side of the bottom of the casing, the cursor being superposed on said track and exhibiting a guide in which the ball is slidably engaged in a direction which is transverse to the translation direction of the cursor on said bottom of said cover, and a spring element interposed between the bottom of the guide and the ball and suitable for pushing the ball against the bottom of the track.

In a preferred embodiment said cursor exhibits, for displacement thereof in a direction, at least a first profiled zone against which, during the movement towards said opening position, at least a first activating cam engages, present at an end of a rocker arm which connects the hinge casing to said hinge wing, and, for movement thereof in an opposite direction, at least a second profiled zone against which during the movement towards said closing position at least a second activating cam present at said end of said rocker arm engages, said casing exhibiting on a bottom thereof a window for access of said first and second activating cam to said first and second profiled zones of said cursor.

In a preferred embodiment said elastic element comprises a V-shaped folded flat spring.

In a preferred embodiment said track comprises a first section which is parallel to the translation direction of the cursor and which exhibits a bottom terminating in a first step which separates it from a second section which is transverse to the translation direction of the cursor and which in turn exhibits two flanked subsections having offset levels, in the deepest of which is a seating having a complementary shape to the ball, a third section parallel to the translation direction of the cursor and a fourth section, transverse to the translation direction of the cursor and exhibiting a bottom which terminates in a second step which separates the fourth section from the first section.

The hinge exhibits the spring means that are dependent on or independent of said retaining means.

Said cursor is mobile in contrast to and by action of elastic means present in said ratchet.

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will more fully emerge from the description of a preferred though not exclusive embodiment that follows, of the hinge, particularly for articles of furniture according to the invention, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of the retaining means, and of the hinge casing at an external side of the bottom of which the retaining means are applied; figure 2 is a lateral elevation view of the hinge, sectioned in the partially opening position of the door;

figure 3 is a plan view of the retaining means in the configuration assumed when the hinge is in the opening position of the door illustrated in figure 2;

figure 4 is a view in lateral elevation of the hinge sectioned in the closing position of the door;

figure 5 is a plan view of the retaining means in the configuration assumed when the hinge is in the closing position of the door illustrated in figure 4, before the flat spring displaces the ball towards the relative complementarily-shaped seating;

figures 6a, 6b, 6c and 6d show the subsequent positions taken on by the ball along the tract; and

figure 7 shows a plan view of the retaining means according to a second preferred embodiment of the invention, in which the cursor is mobile in contrast with and by action of the elastic means present in the ratchet.

Equivalent parts of the various preferred embodiments of the invention will be denoted using the same numerical references.

With reference to the cited figures, the hinge comprises a first part of hinge that is associable to a body of a fixed article of furniture and a second part of hinge associated to an element of a mobile article of furniture and connected to the first part of hinge rotatably between an opening position and a closing position of the element of the mobile article of furniture.

The first part of hinge comprises a hinge wing 5 and the second part of hinge comprises a hinge casing 4 connected to the hinge wing 5 by means of a first and a second rocker arm 2, 3.

In particular, the casing 4 is suitable for fixing to a door of the article of furniture while the wing 5 is suitable for fixing to a flank of the article of furniture.

The first rocker arm 2 is pivoted with a pin 7 to the casing 4 and with a pin 8 to the wing 5, while the second rocker arm 3 is pivoted with a pin 9 to the casing 4 and with a pin 10 to the wing 5. The hinge pins 7, 8, 9 and 10 exhibit parallel axes. The structure made up of the casing 4 and the wing 5 operatively connected by the rocker arms 2 and 3 by means of the pins 7, 8, 9 and 10 constitutes a four-bar linkage.

The hinge advantageously comprises retaining means which are conformed such as to selectively assume, at the closed position of the door, a first retaining configuration of the second part of hinge and a second release configuration of the retaining of the second part of hinge such as to enable the second part of hinge to assume the opening position of the door.

The retaining means in the illustrated solution are integrated with the hinge casing 4 and comprise a cursor, as will be explained in the following.

More precisely, the retaining means comprise a ball 14 that is mobile along a track 15 having a variable depth and fashioned on the internal side of the bottom 22 of a cover 20 applied to the external side of the bottom of the casing 4, the above- mentioned cursor 16 being superposed on the track 15 and exhibiting a guide 18 in which the ball 14 is engaged slidably in a transversal direction to the translation direction of the cursor 16 on the bottom 22 of the cover 20, and a spring element 19 interposed between the bottom of the guide 18 and the ball 14.

The spring element 19 comprises a flat spring bent in a V-shape of which an arm is resting on the bottom of the guide 18 and an arm is resting on the ball 14 such as to push the ball 14 against the bottom of the track 15 so that the ball 14 will follow the relative variable-depth pathway. The cover 20 comprises a first cover element 21 exhibiting the bottom 22 and a second cover element 24 housed in the first element 21 of the cover and exhibiting a base 28 provided with a window 25 in which the cursor 16 is slidably positioned, which cursor 16, on the opposite side from the side resting on the bottom 22 facing the track 15, faces on a window 26 present on the bottom of the box 4.

In order to slide in a guided way in the window 25, the cursor 16 exhibits straight flanks which engage with the straight lateral edges of the window 25, and also exhibits ribs 27 on the flanks thereof which ribs 27 interpose between the bottom 22 and the base 28.

The cursor 16 further exhibits, for displacement thereof in a direction, at least a first profiled zone 30, in particular two front lateral ramps, against which, during the movement of the hinge towards the opening position, a corresponding activating cam 31 engages, which cam 31 is present at the end of the rocker arm 3 pivoted to the pin 9, and for displacement thereof in an opposite direction at least a second profiled zone 32, in particular a frontal central bevelling, separate and distanced from the front lateral ramps, against which, during the movement of the hinge towards the closing position, an activating cam 33 engages, which cam 33 is present at the end of the rocker arm 3 pivoted to the pin 9.

The window 26 affords access of the first and second activating cam 31 and 33 to the profiled zones 30 and 32 of the cursor 16.

The cover 20 exhibits rapid attachment means to the box 4 of the hinge, comprising in particular a clip (not illustrated) having parallel stems which can engage in appropriate holes 52 and 55 of the box 4 and 53, 56 of the second cover element 24.

The parallel stems of the clip constitute the hinge pins 7 and 9 of the rocker arms 2 and 3 to the hinge casing 4.

The first cover element 21 is connected to the second cover element 24 by means of elastic snap-teeth 60 provided on the lateral surface of one, which fit into slots 61 provided on the lateral surface of the other.

The correct positioning of the second cover element 24 for the subsequent blocking of the hinge casing 4 by means of the clip is guaranteed by abutting pins 54 on the second cover element 24, insertable in corresponding holes 51 present on the hinge casing 4.

In the illustrated version, the retaining means are integrated with the hinge casing 4, and are located externally of the casing 4.

In other preferred embodiments of the invention, not illustrated, the retaining means can be located internally of the casing, or can be integrated with the hinge wing 5.

Further, the hinge illustrated in figures 2 and 4 is of a type exhibiting elastic means that are independent of the retaining means and acting such as to push the second part of hinge towards the opening position. In particular, a spring 1 1 is wound about the hinge pin 10 having a first arm 12 associated to the wing 5 and a second arm 13 associated to the rocker arm 2.

The hinge can however also be of a different type, not exhibiting elastic means independent of the retaining means, and in this case, to which the embodiment illustrated in figure 7 refers, the retaining means are in the form of a ratchet, in which the cursor 16 is mobile in contrast to and by action of elastic means present in the ratchet itself. With reference to figure 7, the elastic means take on the form of two helix springs 62 interposed between lateral projections 63 of the cursor 16 and corresponding lateral abutments 64 of the window 25. The track 15 comprises a first section 70 parallel to the translation direction of the cursor 16 and exhibiting a bottom defining a ramp which terminates with a first step 71 that separates it from a second section 72 that is transversal to the translation direction of the cursor 16 and in turn exhibits two flanked sub-sections 72' and 72" which develop on offset levels, in the deepest of which, which is adjacent to the first section 70, there is a seating 73 having a complementary shape to the ball 14.

A third section 74 of the track 15 following the second section 72 is parallel to the translation direction of the cursor 16, while a fourth section 75 of the track 15 following the third section 74 is transversal to the translation direction of the cursor 16 and exhibits a bottom defining a ramp which terminates with a second step 76 which separates it from the first section 70.

Figures from 6a to 6d illustrate the various positions of the retaining means, showing the functioning thereof.

In the position of the retaining means illustrated in figure 6a the hinge is in the opening position of the door.

When the door of the article of furniture is pushed towards the closing position, the cam 31 of the rocker arm 3 pushes against the front central bevelling of the cursor 16, activating the cursor 16 in translation from right to left in the figures.

During this sliding of the cursor 16, the ball 14 travels the first section of track 70, as it cannot travel along the fourth section of tract 75 since it is prevented by the step 76, and passes beyond the step 71 , reaching the position illustrated in figure 6b.

At this point the spring 19 pushes the ball 14 along the deepest sub-tract 72" of the second section of track 72 up to causing it to be introduced into the relative seating 30 located at a slight curvature of the section 72", where it is blocked (figure 6c). With the cursor 16 almost still, the ball 14 displaces from an end to another of the guide 18. The hinge is in the closing position of the door and the ball 14 blocks the cursor 16 which therefore maintains the hinge blocked in the closing position of the door even when the closing push on the door by the user is removed. The slight curvature of the section 72' in cooperation with the force of the spring 19 exert a blocking force on the ball 14 in the relative seating 30 which is suitable for overcoming the pushing force in opening direction of the door due to the spring 11 (in the version of the hinge in figures 2 and 4), through the direct action of the spring 1 1 on the rocker arm 3, or the springs 62 (in the version of the hinge of figure 7) through the direct action of the springs 62 on the cursor 16. The retaining means have thus taken on the first configuration thereof, corresponding to the retaining of the second part of hinge in the closed position of the door.

The opening of the door is carried out in the following way. Following a slight push of the user, again in the closing direction of the door, the ball 14 exits from the relative seating 73 and enters the least deep sub-section 72' of the second section of tract 72. At this point the spring 19 pushes the ball 14 into the position illustrated in figure 6d.

The retaining means have thus reached the second configuration thereof, corresponding to the release of the retaining of the second part of hinge in the closing position of the door.

With reference to the version of the hinge of figures 2 and 4, when the slight pushing pressure for achieving the closing exerted on the door by the user is stopped, the cams 31 of the second rocker arm 3, by effect of the expansion of the spring 11 which activates the second rocker arm 3 in rotation, engage against the corresponding front lateral ramps of the cursor 16 pushing it in translation in the opposite direction to the preceding direction (the direction travelled during the closing step).

With reference to the version of the hinge of figure 7, when the slight pushing pressure for achieving the closing exerted on the door by the user is stopped, the springs 62, which have been loaded during the preceding step of closing the door, push the cursor 16 in translation in the opposite direction to the preceding one. In both cases the ball 14, by effect of the translation of the cursor 16, travels the third section of track 74 and the fourth section of track 75 up to returning into the position of figure 6a. When it travels along the fourth section of track 75, which is transversal to the translation direction of the cursor 16, the ball 14 also displaces from an end to another of the guide 18.

In conclusion, the invention discloses a hinge for articles of furniture, in particular of a push type, which is constructionally simple and guarantees a mounting which leads to an extremely small number of operations on the article of furniture.

The invention can be subject to various modification and variants, all of which fall within the ambit of the claimed concept.

In practice, the materials used, as well as the dimensions, can be any according to requirements and the state of the art.

Claims

1. A hinge, in particular for articles of furniture, comprising a first part of hinge which is associable to a body of a fixed article of furniture and a second part of hinge which is associable to an element of the mobile article of furniture and rotatably connected to said first part of hinge between an opening position and a closing position of the element of the mobile article of furniture, and elastic means acting in an opening direction, characterised in that it comprises releasable retaining means of said second part of hinge, which retaining means are conformed such as to assume selectively, at said closing position thereof, a first retaining configuration and a second release configuration of said second part of hinge following a push on the element of the mobile article of furniture in the closing direction, said second release configuration assumed by the retaining means being such as to enable said elastic means to move the second part of hinge to reach said open position.

2. The hinge according to claim \ , characterised in that said first part of hinge comprises a wing (5) of the hinge and said second part of hinge comprises a casing (4) of the hinge.

3. The hinge according to the preceding claim, characterised in that said retaining means are integrated with said casing (4) of the hinge.

4. The hinge according to claim 3, characterised in that said retaining means are located internally of the casing (4).

5. The hinge according to claim 3, characterised in that said retaining means are located externally of the casing (4).

6. The hinge according to claim 2, characterised in that said retaining means are integrated with said wing (5) of the hinge.

The hinge according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that said retaining means comprise a cursor which is displaceable between at least two different positions.

The hinge according to claims 2, 3, 5, 7, characterised in that said retaining means comprise a ball (14) which is movable along a track (15) having a variable depth, obtained on the internal side of the bottom (22) of a cover (20) applied to the external side of the bottom of the casing (4), a cursor (16) superposed on said track (15) and exhibiting a guide (18) in which the ball

(14) is slidably engaged in a direction which is transverse to the translation direction of the cursor (16) on said bottom (22) of said cover (20), and a spring element (19) interposed between the bottom of the guide (18) and the ball (14) and suitable for pushing the ball (14) against the bottom of the track

(15) .

The hinge according to the preceding claim, characterised in that said cursor

(16) exhibits at least a first profiled zone (30) for initiating a movement in a direction, against which during the movement towards the opening position at least a first activating cam (31) engages, which first activating cam (31) is located at an end of a rocker arm (3) connecting said casing (4) of the hinge to said wing (5) of the hinge, and at least a second profiled zone (32) for initiating a movement in an opposite direction, against which second profiled zone (32) at least a second activating cam (33) engages during movement towards said closing position, the second activating cam (33) being located at said end of said rocker arm (3), said casing (4) of the hinge exhibiting, on the bottom thereof, a window (26) for access of said first and second activating cams (31, 33) to said first and second profiled zones (30, 32) of said cursor (16).

10. The hinge according to any one of claims from 7 to 9, characterised in that said spring element (19) comprises a "V"-shaped folded flat spring.

1 1. The hinge according to any one of claims from 7 to 10, characterised in that said track (15) comprises a first section (70) which is parallel to the translation direction of the cursor (16) and which exhibits a bottom terminating in a first step (71) which separates it from a second section (72) which is transverse to the translation direction of the cursor (16) and which in turn exhibits two flanked sub-sections (72', 72") having offset levels, in the deepest of which is a seating (73) having a complementary shape to the ball (14), a third section

(74) parallel to the translation direction of the cursor (16) and a fourth section

(75) , transverse to the translation direction of the cursor (16) and exhibiting a bottom which terminates in a second step (76) which separates the fourth section (75) from the first section (70).

12. The hinge according to any one of claims from 2 to 1 1 , characterised in that said elastic means are independent of said retaining means.

13. The hinge according to any one of claims from 8 to 11 , characterised in that said retaining means are in a ratchet form, wherein said cursor (16) is mobile in contrast to and by action of spring means (62) present in said ratchet.