EP3379898A1

EP3379898A1 - Mirror furniture door

Info

Publication number: EP3379898A1
Application number: EP17460013.0A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Adam Stobba
Original assignee: Prestige Glass Adam Stobba
Current assignee: Prestige Glass Adam Stobba
Priority date: 2017-03-20
Filing date: 2017-03-20
Publication date: 2018-09-26

Abstract

A mirror furniture door comprises two mirrors (1,2) connected by bonding by means of a connecting layer (4) the back surfaces of the two mirrors (1,2) dusted with a layer of metal and covered by protective varnish (3). Each door leaf on both sides comprises the mirrors (1,2). Between at least one of the mirrors (1,2) and the connecting layer (4) a heating film (5) layer is arranged, where cables (6,7) of the heating film (5) layer are routed from between the connected mirrors (1,2) and are connected to power leads (11,12). The cables (6,7) routed from the heating film (5) layer are connected to a pair of means for fixing (8) door hinges (9,10) to the door leaf. However, the power leads (11,12) are connected to the hinges (9,10) cooperating with said pair of the means for fixing (8).

Description

The invention relates to a mirror furniture door, especially used in bathroom furniture. The use of this type of single or multi-leaf furniture doors makes that furniture, in particular cabinets provided with such doors, gain new functions. Apart from a storage function inside the furnishings, this type of furniture triggers the effect of the optical enlargement of usually small rooms, and, in addition, can also be practically used as mirrors.
The term mirror furniture door is understood in this patent specification as front, visible parts of openable furniture components in the form of doors. The solution, according to the invention, relates in particular to furniture doors, but it can also be used for the manufacture of other furniture fronts, especially for bathroom furniture. The term mirror doors should be understood in this patent specification as furniture doors or fronts made of mirrors which are bonded together with varnished surfaces. A layer of silver or other metal on the back side of a mirror is covered with a layer of protective varnish.
There are a number of known solutions of mirror furniture doors, in most cases intended for equipping bathroom furniture.
A known solution of a mirror furniture door is disclosed in Chinese patent specification No. CN 203290812 , where the structure of a bathroom mirror door cabinet is presented. The bathroom cabinet mirror door, according to this known solution, is attached to a cabinet body containing an internal light source. Mirrors are arranged on the front side and the back side of both cabinet door leaves. The bathroom cabinet door is characterised in that it comprises an illuminating lamp composed of two light emitting diode (LED) strips disposed on the cabinet door. The door, according to this known solution, comprises an electric heating metal film arranged between the two cabinet mirrors. Compared with the conventional bathroom cabinet mirror door, the bathroom cabinet has the following beneficial effects: illuminating light is produced in the middle of the cabinet door resulting in the absence of light reflection. The electric heating metal film is arranged between the two mirrors comprising the front surface and the back surface of the door. In the cabinet's power supply system a contact switch is used to automatically control the illuminating light and provide power supply to the electric heating metal film. Automatic power supply is cut off when the cabinet door is opened. A contact is arranged on the cabinet body. In the embodiment, two contacts are arranged in the upper portion of the cabinet and the same upper corner of the mirror door comprises two buttons cooperating with the contacts. When the door is closed in this solution, the circuit is connected and power appears in the heating lines of said heating film.
In another solution known from patent specification No. US 4,359,803 a hinge for furniture mirror doors, especially those of bathroom cabinets. The hinge is divided into an outer mounting plate which can be fastened in the recess of the door and also comprises at the end adjacent the open door edge a separate link holder which can be inserted into the mounting plate. The holder contains the supporting arm fastenable to a supporting wall of the cabinet, wherein the arm is pivotingly articulated. A cap mounting projection extends from the inside of the door, to which the projection is not removably fastened and comprises a moulded member with a flat extending along a contact surface provided on the supporting arm, and the mounting projection is resiliently compressible along the surface of contact with a spring. The link holder engages with lateral projections in grooves on the mounting plate. The grooves extend in the inserting direction and are open in the open end of the mounting plate. Fastening elements for fixing the holder secure the hinge against withdrawal from the mounting plate.
Another known solution of a mirror door is disclosed in American patent specification No. US4396249 . The invention relates to mounting supports for mirrors performing the function of mirror doors. According to this known solution, in the upper cabinet body tilting side mirrors are attached to the cabinet door. The side mirrors cover the cabinet door and the mirrors are mounted in frames formed as stampings from sheet material. The frames are fixed to the door so as to permit the side mirrors to be adjustably pivotally tilted from positions in the same plane with the central cabinet door. Therefore, the user can tilt at least one mirror in such a way as to adjust it to the required angle.
Mirror elements used in the manufacturing processes of mirror doors are usually laminated elements. Bonded layers comprising a mirror door may include or not some graphic images applied during the manufacturing process of the door. This type of a known solution is disclosed in Polish patent specification No. P.408398 . It provides a method of manufacturing laminated mirrors with graphic images, used for the manufacture of bathroom mirrors and for other living spaces where high aesthetic properties of mirrors are required. The method is characterised in that a mirror layer and a protective layer are removed from a glass pane in the area where graphic images are to be applied. Then, graphic images are applied on primer and permanently laminated with the inner surface of the glass pane using EVA film. A laminated mirror panel is obtained where an upper layer is the glass pane comprising the mirror layer and further the protective layer containing EVA film thereon. A layer of graphic images can be applied on a layer of connecting EVA film on the primer which is the last layer of the laminated mirror.
Another known solution of a method of manufacturing a mirror door, especially for bathroom furniture is disclosed in patent application specification No. P.408409 . According to this known solution, a method of manufacturing a bathroom mirror door involves cutting mirror panels to a required dimension, and then cleaning the panels and checking them in terms of quality. Then, the edges of the panels are chamfered and parts of the panels are sandblasted using fused alumina with a grain size of 80-120 µm. Then, on the back coated surfaces of the panels a double-sided tape with a thickness of 0.18mm-0.23mm is applied to bond the two panels together. Then, when the two panels are bonded together, holes for door handles are drilled. Afterwards the edges are subjected to straight line or irregular grinding and the bonded door is cleaned. Cleaning is performed in a solution of osmotic water at a temperature of 30°C, and at the same time hinge mounting plates to be connected with the prepared mirror panels are prepared. The preparation of the hinges involves roughing adhering surfaces to obtain roughness, and then pressing the hinges against the front surface of the mirror. Then, the arranged door units are heated at a temperature of up to 50°C, and then the door units are annealed at a temperature of 50°C and afterwards annealed at a temperature of 90°C, and then the annealing temperature is increased to 180°C. Afterwards the annealing process is stopped and the annealed units are gradually cooled to the ambient temperature, and then the door units are packed into bulk packs. According to this known solution, a three-layer mirror door is obtained, where between two mirror panels a layer of an adhesive film is arranged.
When using mirror doors, especially in bathroom cabinets, where mirror doors are primarily used, there is a problem of water vapour settlement on the mirror surface. This phenomenon is facilitated by high humidity in bathrooms. A known solution to this problem is to arrange a heating film in the production stage of the doors between both mirrors before being bonded together with their back walls. Heating films applied to the back surface of a typical stationary bathroom mirror are also known.
However, while in the case of a stationary mirror power connection is not a problem, in the case of mirror doors which are naturally opened and closed by users, providing power supply is more difficult. Power with network parameters cannot be used here due to the safety of users, so a transformer must be used, with a 12V output voltage transformer being usually used. Power consumption for this kind of a furniture door usually ranges from 15W to 50W. In the state-of-the-art solutions, in the power supply system of the mirror furniture door, a contactor is used which switches off power when the door is opened. The contactor switches the power on again when the door is closed and the contactor contacts are connected. However, in this solution, when the door is opened, the heating film feeder circuit is disconnected from the power supply, so the heating film in this period does not fulfil its function. The invention solves this problem, according to claim 1 and the subsequent claims.
According to the invention, a mirror furniture door leaf comprises two mirrors connected by bonding the back surfaces of the two mirrors together. The back surfaces of the two mirrors are in a known manner dusted with a layer of metal and covered by protective varnish by means of a connecting layer. A single furniture door leaf on both sides comprises the mirrors, wherein both said mirrors are bonded together by means of said connecting layer separating them from each other. Between at least one of the mirrors and the connecting layer a heating film layer is arranged, where power cables of the heating film layer are routed from between the connected mirrors and are connected to power leads.
According to the invention, the power cables routed from the heating film layer are connected to a pair of means for fixing door hinges to the door leaf, and the power leads are connected to the door hinges cooperating with said pair of the means for fixing.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention in the door leaf each of the mirrors bonded together can comprise light-permeable zones lacking a protective varnish and dusted metal layer. Said light-permeable zones in the two bonded mirrors coincide with each other, so that in the mirrors bonded together light can permeate through the light-permeable zones. In this solution, the heating film is arranged between the two mirrors, as in the embodiment above, but in the area between the light-permeable zones.
In the solution according to the invention, the means for fixing the door hinges to the door leaf can be plates adhered to the door leaf. To the two plates, upper and bottom, adhered to the inner side of the cabinet, the upper hinge and the bottom hinge are attached to the door leaf.
In the solution according to the invention, in the door leaf the connecting layer can be a layer of EVA ethylene- vinyl acetate film.
In another solution, the connecting layer can be a layer of a double-sided tape.
In the solution of the door with light-permeable zones, at least one light-permeable zone lacking the protective varnish and dusted metal layer of at least one mirror comprises an additional EVA ethylene-vinyl acetate film sheet.
An initial thickness of the additional EVA ethylene-vinyl acetate film sheet in the light-permeable zone lacking the protective varnish and dusted metal layer is from 0.2mm to 0.76mm.
The door leaf in the option with light-permeable zones, EVA ethylene-vinyl acetate film, which is the connecting layer and the sheet, is an opaque film.
The door leaf in the option with light-permeable zones, EVA ethylene-vinyl acetate film, which is the connecting layer and the sheet, is a transparent film.
The nature of the invention in both options of the door, in the first option of the door lacking light-permeable zones and in the second option with light-permeable zones, is a solution to the connection of power supply to the heating track of the heating film inserted between the two mirrors of the mirror door. According to the invention, the connection of each of the two power leads to the plates fixed to the mirror door is proposed. To the two plates the hinges are further attached which are fixed from the other side to the bathroom cabinet wall. Thus, the terminals of both power leads of the heating track are fixed in this solution to the two plates attached to the door leaf and designed for fixing the hinges. However, the two power cables from the transformer, in the solution according to the invention, are connected to the hinges fixed to the cabinet and cooperating with said plates to which the lead-ins of the heating film are connected.
The object of the invention is shown in the embodiments in the accompanying drawings in which the figures show:

Fig. 1 -: a view of the mirror 1 with the heating film applied and with the power supply system.
Fig. 2 -: an exploded view of the door leaf.
Fig. 3 -: a view, according to Fig. 2, with the front mirror shown as transparent to show the arrangement of layers.
Fig. 4 -: a view, according to Fig. 2, with transparent zones.
Fig. 5 -: a detail from Fig. 4.

The mirror furniture door leaf comprises two mirrors 1,2 connected by bonding the back surfaces of the mirrors 1,2 together. The back surfaces of the two mirrors 1,2 are in a known manner dusted with a layer of metal and covered by protective varnish 3. The two mirrors 1,2 are bonded together by means of a connecting layer 4. In this embodiment, the connecting layer 4 is EVA ethylene- vinyl acetate film.
Therefore, a single furniture door leaf, according to the invention, on both sides comprises the bonded mirrors 1,2. This is shown as an example in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3. In the embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, between one of the mirrors 2 and the connecting layer 4 a heating film 5 layer is arranged. In this embodiment, the heating film is 0.19 mm thick and has an output of 30W. The heating film 5 is supplied with power cables 6,7 which are routed from between the connected mirrors 1,2 and are connected to power leads from the outside. This is shown in more detail in Fig. 1, Fig. 2 and Fig. 3. Fig. 1 and Fig. 3 show a transparent view of the door, as it would look like after having removed the dusted metal and protective varnish 3 layer from the mirror 2.
Fig. 1, Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 also show the power supply system of the heating film 5. The power cables 6,7 routed from the heating film 5 layer are connected to a pair of means for fixing 8 door hinges 9,10 to the door leaf 2. In this embodiment, the means for fixing 8 are plates adhered to the door leaf. The power leads 11,12 are connected to the door hinges 9,10 cooperating with said pair of the means for fixing 8. The fact was used here that the heating film 5 is supplied with two cables, where each furniture door leaf is also usually hung on two hinges 9,10. Each of the two hinges 9,10 fixing the door leaf to the cabinet was used as a member connecting the cables of the heating film 5 power supply system. The proposed solution involving the connection of the cables 6,7 to the plates which are the means for fixing 8, and the power leads 11,12 to the hinges 9,10 fixed to the plates makes it possible to unhinge the door, if needed, without removing the power supply system, for example, if the door leaf needs to be replaced.
Fig. 1, Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 show an example of the power supply system, where power supply from the system with line voltage is provided to a transformer 13, where the line voltage is converted into a safe voltage, for example 12V. Power supply with such parameters is provided by the hinges 9,10 to the means for fixing 8 in the form of plates, and further to the cables 6,7 of the heating film 5, adjusted in this embodiment to such power supply parameters. In these embodiments, the power consumption of the heating film 5 used in one door leaf is 30W.
Fig.4 and Fig. 5 show another embodiment of the mirror door of the invention. In this embodiment, in the door leaf each of the mirrors 1,2 bonded together can comprise light-permeable zones 14 lacking the protective varnish 3 and dusted metal layer. The accompanying drawings do not show a layer of dusted metal, for example silver, which is a known mirror layer covered by the protective varnish 3 layer referred to in this specification. Said light-permeable zones 14 in the two bonded mirrors 1,2 coincide with each other, so that in the mirrors 1,2 bonded together light can permeate through the light-permeable zones 14. In this embodiment, the heating film 5 is arranged between the two mirrors 1,2, but covers the door area between the light-permeable zones 14.
Also in this embodiment, the hinges 9,10 are fixed to the door leaf by means of the means for fixing 8 in the form of plates adhered to the door leaf. To the two plates, upper and bottom, adhered to the inner side of the cabinet, the upper hinge 9 and the bottom hinge 10 are attached to the door leaf, as shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 2 and Fig. 3. The same solution also applies to the heating film 5 power supply system, not shown in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5, the connecting layer 4 is a layer of EVA ethylene- vinyl acetate film.
In another embodiment, the connecting layer 4 can be a layer of a double-sided tape.
In the solution of the door with light-permeable zones 14, at least one light-permeable zone 14 lacking the protective varnish 3 and dusted metal layer of at least one mirror 1,2, comprises an additional EVA ethylene-vinyl acetate film sheet 15.
An initial thickness of the additional EVA ethylene-vinyl acetate film sheet 15 in the light-permeable zone 14 lacking the protective varnish 3 and dusted metal layer is from 0.2mm to 0.76mm.
Fig. 4, in an exploded view, shows that the mirror 1, in the zone 14 with the protective varnish 3 and the dusted metal layer removed, for example by sandblasting the zone 14, comprises the additional EVA ethylene-vinyl acetate film sheet 15. In this embodiment, the mirror 1 comprises two zones 14, upper and bottom. The mirror 2 comprises the same opaque or transparent zones 14. The zones 14, when the two mirrors 1,2 are put with their back surfaces together, in the two mirrors 1,2 coincide with each other. When the two mirrors 1,2 are put together, in this embodiment, between the surfaces of their point of contact the EVA film layer 4 is arranged. However, in this embodiment, the two zones 14 of the mirror 1 contain the additional EVA film sheets 15. This is more precisely shown in Fig. 5, where a detail from Fig. 4 is shown. The figure shows the upper light-permeable zone 14, which in this embodiment is strip-shaped, obtained by sandblasting the zone 14. In this way, the protective varnish was removed from the zones 14. During the installation of the door leaf, before lamination, in the two zones 14 of the mirror 1, the additional strip-shaped EVA film sheet 15 is arranged. In other embodiments, the shapes of the zones 14 can be different and then the shape of the additional EVA film sheet 15 will be different. Fig. 4 shows that the film sheets 15 are arranged only in the zones 14 of one mirror 1. The same EVA film sheets 15 are not arranged in the corresponding light-permeable zones 14 of the second mirror 2. In this embodiment, the thickness of the EVA film sheet 15 arranged in the opaque or transparent zone 14 of the mirror 1 before the lamination of the whole pre-assembled door is 0.38mm. The term initial thickness should be understood as the thickness of the EVA film used to cut the sheet 15.
In the door leaf in the option with the light-permeable zones 14, the EVA ethylene-vinyl acetate film which is the connecting layer 4 and the sheet 15 are an opaque film. In another embodiment, the same portions of the film can be made of a transparent film.

List of designations in the figures

1.: Mirror.
2.: Mirror.
3.: Protective varnish.
4.: Connecting layer.
5.: Heating film.
6.: Cable.
7.: Cable.
8.: Means for fixing.
9.: Hinge.
10.: Hinge.
11.: Power lead.
12.: Power lead.
13.: Transformer.
14.: Light-permeable zone.
15.: EVA film sheet.

Claims

A mirror furniture door comprises two mirrors (1,2) connected by bonding by means of a connecting layer (4) the back surfaces of the two mirrors (1,2) dusted with a layer of metal and covered by protective varnish (3), so that the door leaf on both sides comprises the mirrors (1,2), wherein between at least one of the mirrors (1,2) and the connecting layer (4) a heating film (5) layer is arranged, where cables (6,7) of the heating film (5) layer are routed from between the connected mirrors (1,2) and are connected to power leads (11,12), characterised in that the cables (6,7) routed from the heating film (5) layer are connected to a pair of means for fixing (8) door hinges (9,10) to the door leaf, and the power leads (11,12) are connected to the hinges (9,10) cooperating with said pair of the means for fixing (8).
The mirror furniture door, according to claim 1, characterised in that each of the bonded mirrors (1,2) comprises light-permeable zones (14) lacking a protective varnish (3) and dusted metal layer, where the light-permeable zones (14) coincide with each other, so that in the mirrors (1,2) bonded together light can permeate through the light-permeable zones (14), and the heating film (5) is arranged in the area between the light-permeable zones (14).
The mirror furniture door, according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the means for fixing (8) the hinges (9,10) to the door leaf comprise plates adhered to the door leaf.
The mirror furniture door, according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the connecting layer (4) is a layer of EVA ethylene- vinyl acetate film.
The mirror furniture door, according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the connecting layer (4) is a layer of a double-sided tape.
The mirror furniture door, according to claim 2, characterised in that at least one light-permeable zone (14) lacking the protective varnish (3) and dusted metal layer of at least one mirror (1,2), comprises an additional EVA ethylene-vinyl acetate film sheet (15).
The mirror furniture door, according to claim 6, characterised in that an initial thickness of the additional EVA ethylene-vinyl acetate film sheet (15) in the light-permeable zone (14) lacking the protective varnish (3) and dusted metal layer is from 0.2mm to 0.76mm.
The mirror furniture door, according to one of the claims from 1 to 7, characterised in that the EVA ethylene-vinyl acetate film, which is the connecting layer (4) and the sheet (15), is an opaque film.
The mirror furniture door, according to one of the claims from 1 to 7, characterised in that the EVA ethylene-vinyl acetate film, which is the connecting layer (4) and the sheet (15), is a transparent film.