EP3017132B1 - Damping device for moveable furniture parts and method for the production thereof - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a damping device for movable furniture parts with a damper housing, which comprises at least two housing sections, between which at least one sealing ring is arranged, wherein one of the two housing sections has a counter-shape for holding the sealing ring. The invention further relates to a furniture fitting with at least one damping device according to the invention and a method for producing the same.

Damping devices of the specified type are known from the prior art, for example from the Austrian patent application A 1180/2012 , known. With regard to the technical problem to be solved by the present invention, it is relevant here that the countershape for holding the sealing ring according to the prior art is optimized in terms of manufacturing-technical conditions. This manifests itself in that the counter-shape is formed in the form of a slot.

However, it has now been found that the mounting of a sealing ring on a counterform formed in this way has a number of disadvantages: First of all, the assembly does not take place in an optimal manner, since the sealing ring has a different clearance in different places compared to the counter-shape , This difference in play subsequently leads to problems with regard to the tightness between the at least two housing sections of the damper housing. In addition, wear and tear on the sealing ring can be promoted thereby.

The present invention is therefore based on the object to avoid the disadvantages described in the prior art and to provide an improved damping device that can be used eg in a furniture fitting. At the same time, a method improved compared to the prior art for producing the damping device according to the invention is to be provided.

This object is solved by the features of independent claims 1, 9 and 12.

A basic idea of the invention therefore consists in the fact that the counter-shape in cross section has an outline deviating from a circular shape with an exclusively positive curvature. This has the great advantage that the counter-mold can be adapted specifically to the shape of a sealing ring, in particular when the sealing ring has a deviating from a circular shape expansion. As a result, any play between the sealing ring and the counter-mold can be avoided, which subsequently simplifies the assembly and the tightness is improved. In addition, it does not cause wear caused by game.

It should be noted that the notion of curvature is clearly defined: The curvature of a curve indicates how much the direction of a tangent at a point on the curve changes as the point is shifted from left to right. A positive curvature occurs when the tangent rotates counterclockwise when the point is shifted from left to right. A positive curvature can also be described by the term convex. Reference system is in the present case, the sealing ring, that is, the counter-shape has seen from the sealing ring or relative to the sealing ring in cross section a deviating from a circular contour with an exclusively positive curvature.

As a constraint for a person skilled in the training of the counter-form, it is therefore intended that no change of sign in the curvature takes place. As a result, the amount of possible forms is severely limited. In principle conceivable, for example, would be essentially elliptical or oval shapes. With regard to the invention, it has been found to be particularly advantageous that the contour of the counter-shape has at least one axis of symmetry, preferably exactly two axes of symmetry. Alternatively or additionally, the contour of the counter-shape may have two convex portions with a first radius of curvature, which are connected via two convex portions with a second, deviating from the first radius of curvature radius of curvature.

Furthermore, it has proven to be advantageous with respect to the damper inner life that the contour of the counter-mold in the direction of its largest extension is 1.5 to 2.5 times, preferably in about 2 times, as large as in the direction of its smallest extension ,

It should also be noted that the advantages of the subject invention come into play in particular when it is necessary to seal a damping device which is relatively small in its outer dimensions, that is to say when the contour of the counter-shape in the direction of its greatest extent is e.g. 7.5 to 10.5 mm, preferably about 9 mm, is large.

As far as the material of the sealing ring is concerned, it has turned out to be advantageous that the sealing ring consists essentially of nitrile rubber (abbreviated to NBR). This material has a high resistance to oils, a favorable aging behavior and a low abrasion.

The countershape for holding the sealing ring, which may also be referred to as a seal seat, may be formed in a technically simple manner by having at least one groove-shaped section and / or at least one slide track.

As already stated in the introduction, the damping device according to the invention is particularly suitable to be used in a furniture fitting for damping a movement of the same. In this case, it may be in the furniture fitting, for example. to act a furniture hinge, wherein the furniture hinge in a known manner has a hinge cup, which is connected via at least one articulated lever with a hinge arm, and wherein the damping device is arranged in or on the hinge cup.

If, in addition, at least one fluid chamber with at least one piston mounted in the fluid chamber, preferably a linearly displaceable piston, is formed in the damper housing, and at the same time a drive device is provided for displacing the piston during the damping stroke - which is provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention - then it offers that an actuation element movably mounted on the hinge cup can be acted upon by the articulated lever, and that the actuation element is movably coupled to the drive device for displacing the piston.

• Bereitstellen wenigstens eines kreisförmigen Dichtungsrings,
• Dehnen des Dichtungsrings in eine von einer Kreisform abweichende Form mit einer ausschließlich positiven Krümmung mittels einer Dehnungsvorrichtung,
• Haltern des gedehnten Dichtungsrings an einer Gegenform, welche im Querschnitt einen der Dehnungsform des Dichtungsrings entsprechenden Umriss aufweist, wobei die Gegenform an einem ersten Gehäuseabschnitt eines Dämpfergehäuses angeordnet ist, und
• Zusammenfügen des ersten Gehäuseabschnitts mit einem zweiten Gehäuseabschnitt, wobei der Dichtungsring zwischen den beiden Gehäuseabschnitten angeordnet ist.

As already indicated, protection is also desired for a method for producing the damping device according to the invention, the method comprising the following method steps:

• Providing at least one circular sealing ring,
• Stretching the sealing ring in a shape deviating from a circular shape with an exclusively positive curvature by means of a stretching device,
• Holding the elongated sealing ring on a counter-mold, which has in cross-section corresponding to the elongation shape of the sealing ring outline, wherein the counter-mold is arranged on a first housing portion of a damper housing, and
• Mating the first housing portion with a second housing portion, wherein the sealing ring is disposed between the two housing portions.

The elongation shape of the sealing ring and thus the corresponding contour of the counter-mold may be e.g. be determined by means of a simulation program or simply by trial and error. Of course, it also depends on the geometry of the expansion device.

Fig. 1

in einer schematisch dargestellten perspektivischen Ansicht ein Möbelstück,

Fig. 2

in einer schematisch dargestellten perspektivischen Ansicht ein Möbelscharnier,

Fig. 3

in einer schematischen Explosionsdarstellung eine Dämpfvorrichtung gemäß einer bevorzugten Ausführungsform,

Fig. 4a und 4b

einen Querschnitt durch eine Dämpfvorrichtung in zwei Betriebsstellungen,

Fig. 5a

eine schematische Darstellung eines kreisförmigen Dichtungsringes in einer perspektivischen und einer Seitenansicht,

Fig. 5b und 5c

zwei schematisch dargestellte Betriebsstellungen einer Dehnungsvorrichtung zur Dehnung eines Dichtungsrings, jeweils in einer perspektivischen Ansicht,

Fig. 5d

einen gedehnten Dichtungsring in einer schematisch dargestellten perspektivischen sowie einer Seitenansicht,

Fig. 5e

den ersten Gehäuseabschnitt einer Dämpfvorrichtung in Kombination mit einem gedehnten Dichtungsring in einer schematisch dargestellten perspektivischen Ansicht,

Fig. 6a und 6b

eine schematisch dargestellte Seitenansicht des ersten Gehäuseabschnitts ohne und mit Dichtungsring, und

Fig. 7a und 7b

eine schematisch dargestellte Querschnittsdarstellung einer Kombination aus Dichtungsring und Gegenform, wobei Fig. 7b den Stand der Technik illustriert.

Further details and advantages of the present invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to the description of the figures with reference to the exemplary embodiments illustrated in the drawings. Showing:

Fig. 1

in a schematically illustrated perspective view of a piece of furniture,

Fig. 2

in a schematically illustrated perspective view of a furniture hinge,

Fig. 3

in a schematic exploded view of a damping device according to a preferred embodiment,

Fig. 4a and 4b

a cross section through a damping device in two operating positions,

Fig. 5a

a schematic representation of a circular sealing ring in a perspective and a side view,

Fig. 5b and 5c

two schematically illustrated operating positions of an expansion device for stretching a sealing ring, each in a perspective view,

Fig. 5d

a stretched sealing ring in a schematically illustrated perspective and a side view,

Fig. 5e

the first housing portion of a damping device in combination with a stretched sealing ring in a schematically illustrated perspective view,

Fig. 6a and 6b

a schematically illustrated side view of the first housing portion with and without sealing ring, and

Fig. 7a and 7b

a schematically illustrated cross-sectional view of a combination of sealing ring and counter-mold, wherein Fig. 7b illustrates the prior art.

Fig. 1 shows a cabinet-shaped piece of furniture 36, comprising a furniture body 37 and a movable furniture part 2 in the form of a furniture door, which is connected by means of two furniture fittings 19 in the form of furniture hinges pivotally connected to the furniture body 37.

From the Fig. 2 shows that such a furniture hinge 19 has a hinge cup 20 which is connected via a hinge lever 21 with a hinge arm 22. The hinge arm 22 is releasably, for example by means of screws, with the furniture body 37 and the hinge cup 20 by means of a hinge pot 20 arranged flange 25 and fasteners, for example in the form of screws, connectable to the furniture door 2. Laterally in the hinge cup 20, a damping device according to a preferred embodiment of the invention is arranged, in this Fig. As part of the damping device, only the front portion of a drive shaft 18 can be seen, which is coupled in motion with a movably mounted on the hinge cup 20 actuator 23, wherein the actuating element 23 can be acted upon by the hinge lever 21 during the last part of the closing movement of the furniture hinge 19.

The exact structure of the damping device 1, which is arranged on the hinge cup 20, can be Fig. 3 There is provided a damper housing which comprises two housing sections 3 and 4, between which a sealing ring 5 is arranged, the first housing section 3 having a counter-mold 6 in the form of a slide track for holding the sealing ring 5. In the damper housing, a fluid chamber 15 is formed with a piston 16 mounted linearly displaceably in the fluid chamber 15. Furthermore, a drive device for displacing the piston 16 is provided during the damping stroke, wherein the Drive device comprises a stop member 17 and a drive shaft 18, and wherein the drive device, a movement of the aforementioned actuating element 23 (see. Fig. 2 ) converts into a movement of the piston 16 in the fluid chamber 15. In this way, a damping effect is generated. By means of a return spring 28 ensures that the piston 16 is moved back to its initial position after completion of the damping stroke. Between the first housing portion 3 and the drive shaft 18, a further seal 27 is arranged. By means of a cover 26, a play of the drive shaft 18 is further suppressed in the direction of its longitudinal axis.

The Fig. 4a and 4b show two operating positions of the damping device 1 in a cross-sectional view. In the operating position according to the Fig. 4a the piston 16 is in a starting position for a damping stroke. The piston 16 is formed in two parts in the illustrated embodiment and includes an inner piston and a sleeve arranged on the inner sleeve. For urging the piston 16, a movably mounted drive member 17 is provided with a lever arm, wherein the lever arm cooperates with a housing portion of the piston 16. The drive member 17 is connected via the drive shaft 18 with the in Fig. 2 shown actuator 23 is coupled for movement, so that a rotation of the actuating element 23 causes a rotation of the drive member 17. During the damping stroke, therefore, the drive part 17 is pivoted about the axis of rotation 18, wherein the lever arm of the drive part 17 pushes the piston into the fluid chamber 15. The thereby achieved maximum position is in the Fig. 4b shown. After the damping stroke, the piston 16 can be reset by the force of the return spring 28 back into a standby position provided for the next damping stroke.

Based on the sequence of Fig. 5a to 5e Let us outline the method for producing the damping device: In a first method step, a circular sealing ring 5 is provided which consists of an elastic material, preferably of nitrile rubber. This sealing ring 5 is subsequently by means of a stretching device 24 in one of a circular shape deviating form with an exclusively positive curvature stretched (cf. Fig. 5b and 5c ), wherein the expansion device 24 may consist of two semi-cylindrical components 29 and 30, for example, in a first operating position (see Fig. 5b ) to a complete cylinder and are spaced apart in a second operating position (see Fig. 5c ). The elongation shape of the sealing ring 5 after the expansion by means of the expansion device 24 is in the Fig. 5d shown. On the details of this form is based on the Fig. 7a discussed in more detail. In a third method step, the stretched sealing ring 5 is held on a counter-mold 6, which has an outline corresponding to the elongation shape of the sealing ring 5 in cross-section, the counter-mold 6 being arranged on a first housing section 3 of a damper housing (cf. Fig. 5e ). Finally, the first housing section 3 is assembled with a second housing section in such a way that the sealing ring 5 is arranged between the two housing sections.

The Fig. 6a and 6b show the first housing portion 3 of the damper housing in a front view in the case of Fig. 6a without and in the case of Fig. 6b with sealing ring 5.

To better illustrate the arrangement of counter-mold 6 and sealing ring 5 were in the Fig. 7a compared to the Fig. 6b all other components omitted. On the basis of this type of representation is clearly visible that the counter-mold 6, on which the sealing ring 5 is supported, in cross section has a deviating from a circular contour with an exclusively positive curvature.

To illustrate the fact that, as seen in relation to the sealing ring 5 and the sealing ring 5, it is a positive curvature, a tangent 31 was drawn through a point 32 in the lower portion of the counter-mold 6. If one moves this point 32 together with the associated tangent 31 from left to right (see arrow 33), then The tangent 31 rotates counterclockwise at each point of the outline of the counter-mold 6, that is, the contour of the counter-mold 6 has only a positive curvature in cross-section.

When in the Fig. 7a shown embodiment of the counter-mold 6, the outline of the counter-mold 6 beyond two symmetry axes 7 and 8. Furthermore, the contour of the counter-mold 6 can also be subdivided into two oppositely disposed convex sections 9 and 10 having a first radius of curvature, which are connected via two convex sections 11 and 12, which have a second radius of curvature deviating from the first radius of curvature , And finally, the contour of the counter-mold 6 in the direction of its greatest extent 13 in the embodiment shown approximately twice as large as in the direction of its smallest extension 14. Although the representation is true to scale representation, in absolute terms, the outline of the counter-shape 6 in the direction of its greatest extent in reality, however, in about 9 mm in size.

Like also on the basis of Fig. 7a can be seen, the sealing ring 5 fits snugly against the counter-mold 6, that is, nowhere a game is present, which could cause the problems described above. In comparison, the shows Fig. 7b the prior art, in which the sealing ring 5 is applied to a counter-mold 34 in the form of a slot. As can be seen with reference to the enlarged section, the sealing ring 5 has a significant clearance 35 on the straight sections of the countershape 34.

Finally, it should be noted that a circular expansion ring, which is pulled apart in two opposite directions, of course, in some cases even at some point straight sections. When this limiting case is reached depends very much on the material properties of the sealing ring.

The expansion of the sealing ring in the subject invention is to settle in the intermediate region between the pure circular shape and the reached in the limit form with straight sections.

Claims (12)

1. A damping device (1) for moveable furniture parts (2) comprising a damper housing which includes at least two housing portions (3, 4), between which at least one sealing ring (5) is arranged, wherein one of the two housing portions (3) has a counterpart shape (6) for mounting the sealing ring (5), wherein the counterpart shape (6) in cross-section has a contour which differs from a circular shape, characterised in that the counterpart shape (6) has an exclusively positive curvature.
2. A damping device (1) as set forth in claim 1 characterised in that the contour of the counterpart shape (6) has at least one axis of symmetry (7, 8), preferably precisely two axes of symmetry.
3. A damping device (1) as set forth in claim 1 or claim 2 characterised in that the contour of the counterpart shape (6) has two convex portions (9, 10) with a first radius of curvature, which are connected by way of two convex portions (11, 12) with a second radius of curvature differing from the first radius of curvature.
4. A damping device (1) as set forth in one of claims 1 through 3 characterised in that in the direction of its largest extent (13) the contour of the counterpart shape (6) is between 1.5 and 2.5 times, preferably approximately twice, as large as in the direction of its smallest extent (14).
5. A damping device (1) as set forth in one of claims 1 through 4 characterised in that the contour of the counterpart shape (6) is between 7.5 and 10.5 mm in size, preferably about 9 mm, in the direction of its largest extent (13).
6. A damping device (1) as set forth in one of claims 1 through 5 characterised in that the sealing ring (5) substantially comprises nitrile rubber.
7. A damping device (1) as set forth in one of claims 1 through 6 characterised in that the counterpart shape (6) has at least one groove-shaped portion and/or at least one guide path.
8. A damping device (1) as set forth in one of claims 1 through 7 characterised in that at least one fluid chamber (15) with at least one piston (16) mounted displaceably, preferably linearly, in the fluid chamber (15) is provided in the damper housing and that there is provided a drive device (17, 18) for displacing the piston (16) during the damping stroke.
9. A furniture fitting (19) having at least one damping device (1) as set forth in one of claims 1 through 8 for damping a movement of the furniture fitting (19).
10. A furniture fitting (19) as set forth in claim 9 characterised in that the furniture fitting (19) is in the form of a furniture hinge, wherein the furniture fitting has a hinge cup (20) connected to a hinge arm (22) by way of at least one joint lever (21) and wherein the damping device (1) is arranged in or at the hinge cup (20).
11. A furniture fitting (19) as set forth in claim 10 wherein at least one fluid chamber (15) with at least one piston (16) mounted displaceably, preferably linearly, in the fluid chamber (15) is provided in the damper housing and wherein there is provided a drive device (17, 18) for displacing the piston (16) during the damping stroke, characterised in that an actuating element (23) mounted moveably to the hinge cup (20) can be acted upon by the joint lever (21) and the actuating element (23) is motionally coupled to the drive device (17, 18) for displacing the piston (16).
12. A method for the production of a damping device (1) as set forth in one of claims 1 through 8 characterised by the following method steps:

    - providing at least one circular sealing ring (5),

    - stretching the sealing ring (5) into a shape differing from a circular shape with an exclusively positive curvature by means of a stretching device (24),

    - mounting the stretched sealing ring (5) to a counterpart shape (6) which in cross-section has a contour corresponding to the stretched shape of the sealing ring (5), wherein the counterpart shape (6) is arranged on a first housing portion (3) of a damper housing, and

    - assembling the first housing portion (3) to a second housing portion (4), the sealing ring (5) being arranged between the two housing portions (3, 4).

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