ES2800700T3 - Double articulated quadrilateral hinge with shock absorber - Google Patents

Abstract

A cushioned pressure hinge (1, 10), comprising: - a first articulated quadrilateral (2) comprising a first plate (4) and provided with first and second levers (23, 32) and an arm (21) - a second articulated quadrilateral (3) comprising a second plate (5) and provided with first and second levers (23, 32) and an arm (31), said first (23) and second (32) levers being in common between the first (2) and second (3) articulated quadrilaterals, the hinge (1, 10) being able to move between an open configuration and a closed configuration, in which the plates (4, 5) are arranged differently with respect to each other , the hinge (1, 10) also comprising a damper (7) to damp the transition between the open configuration and the closed configuration and vice versa, said damper (7) being interposed between one of the first or second levers (23, 32) and said arm (21, 31) of one of the first (2) and second (3) quadrilaterals, said hinge further comprising at least one return spring (12, 120), characterized in that said spring (12) and said damper (7) are positioned offset with respect to a central symmetry plane (SIM) of the quadrilaterals (2, 3), said at least one return spring (12) acting between said arm (21, 31) of one of the first and second quadrilaterals (2, 3) and the respective plate (4, 5).

Description

DESCRIPTION

Double articulated quadrilateral hinge with shock absorber

Technical field

The present invention relates to the field of double hinged quadrilateral hinges, in particular, but not exclusively, to the hinges used to rotatably connect a door panel to a fixed frame.

The preferred and most advantageous application of the invention is framed in the field of interior furniture and furniture for motorhomes, caravans, boats and the like.

State of the art

Double articulated quadrilateral hinges are generally known in the state of the art.

These hinges guarantee a smooth opening movement and the possibility of stably stopping at the end of travel positions corresponding to the door open or closed conditions.

The use of a damper to prevent the door from hitting against the frame, when it reaches one of the end positions, with the consequent damage that can be caused, is also known in the state of the art.

In short, the damper slows down the movement of the door panel avoiding these drawbacks.

An example of this prior art hinge is disclosed in international patent application WO2014 / 061041 of the owner DGN.

This document teaches how to produce an articulated double quadrilateral pressure hinge with a cushioned closure, comprising first and second articulated quadrilaterals that share two levers, said hinge being provided with a damping element interposed between one of the two quadrilaterals and the relative plate. , in order to cushion the transition between the open and closed configuration.

Although this solution is useful in some way, it does have some limitations, however.

A first limitation lies in the fact that the position of the shock absorber (between a plate and the articulated quadrilateral) is not optimal in certain aspects, with respect to obstacles.

Another limitation consists in the fact that the damper is completely exposed to the outside, with the consequence that a possible loss of damping liquid (oil or grease) could easily dirty the panel or the door frame of the furniture.

This last drawback is also made worse by the fact that, when the door panel is closed, the damping element is arranged in an almost vertical position, with the stem pointing downwards: since the hinge is normally arranged in this specific configuration (the time the door panel is closed is, in fact, normally longer than the time it is open to allow access to the interior of the furniture), a possible loss of damping liquid is facilitated in certain respects, and it is recommended the use of shock absorbers without liquid.

Another limitation of this solution is related to the fact that the return spring acts on the hinge joint during the entire movement, from the open to the closed condition.

This means that, during use, the user must overcome the spring force, also for ranges of movement within which the spring force does not exert any useful influence on the functionality of the hinge; in particular, in the first stretch between the closed and open condition, the spring force does not facilitate the movement of the door panel, but, on the contrary, hinders the user's operation.

Finally, a last limitation of this solution is obtained from the fact that, in an open condition of the door panel, all its weight (and the relative torque) is supported by the spring itself, with the consequence that the latter it has a relatively high wire diameter and, with time, its mechanical characteristics deteriorate, with a general deterioration in its operation.

Document DE 202007004621 U1 discloses a cushioned pressure hinge according to the preamble of claim 1, which has a fastening element that can be fastened to a piece of furniture and which is connected to a pivot door bearing by means of a plurality of shaped levers. scissors, the door bearing being prestressed in a closed position by a spring. The hinge comprises a damper to damp the transition between the open configuration and the closed configuration and vice versa.

Objectives and summary of the invention

An object of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art.

In particular, the object of the present invention is to provide a hinge, according to the preamble of the appended first claim, which is compact and / or reduces the possibility of fluid leaks from the shock absorber and / or can be easily maneuvered.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a hinge as an alternative to known hinges. These and other objects of the present invention are achieved by means of a hinge incorporating the features of the appended claims, which form an integral part of the present disclosure.

The general idea on the basis of the present invention is to place the damping element between an arm of the articulated quadrilateral and a lever in common between the two articulated quadrilaterals that form the hinge.

This solution, in addition to being a valid alternative to known hinges, also offers a number of advantages. First of all, the damper does not interfere with the plates associated with the articulated quadrilaterals and makes it possible to obtain a hinge having more compact dimensions.

Second, when the hinge is closed, the damper is substantially horizontal, with the consequence of avoiding or reducing possible losses of fluid from its interior.

Furthermore, according to an optional and advantageous aspect, the hinge of the invention comprises a shaped slider, which slides parallel to the plate with which it is coupled, and is provided with a seat to house a shaft that is an integral part of one of the levers of one of the quadrilaterals; the seat is intended to receive under pressure (thanks to a spring acting between the slider and the plate), the lever shaft when the hinge is in the open condition.

In this way, an additional advantage is obtained, related to the fact that, when the door panel is open, at least part of the weight and the torque of the panel is discharged without subjecting the return spring to tension, allowing, as an alternative or in combination, assembling a less robust spring or extending the life of the spring. This also allows the return spring to operate only when the door panel is open, preventing its force from interfering with the opening operations carried out by the user, since the return spring only exerts its force in the vicinity of the door panel. open position and not in the closed position.

Other advantageous features are a subject of the appended claims, which should be considered as an integral part of the present description.

Brief description of the drawings

The invention is described below with reference to non-limiting examples, provided for illustrative and non-limiting purposes in the accompanying drawings. These drawings illustrate different aspects and embodiments of the invention and, where appropriate, reference numerals illustrating similar structures, components, materials, and / or elements in different figures are indicated by like reference numerals.

In the attached drawings:

Figure 1 illustrates a basic embodiment of a hinge in accordance with the present invention;

Figures 2-5 are sectional views of the hinge of Figure 1, in an open, intermediate and closed condition respectively, and along the section plane S-S of Figure 4;

Figure 6 illustrates an evolved embodiment of a hinge in accordance with the present invention;

Figures 7-10 are sectional views of the hinge of Figure 5 in an open, intermediate and closed condition respectively, and along the section plane T-T of Figure 9.

Detailed description of the invention

Considering that the invention may undergo various modifications and alternative constructions, some preferred embodiments are shown in the drawings and will be described in detail below.

It should be understood, however, that there is no intention of limiting the invention to the specific embodiment illustrated, but rather is intended to cover all modifications, alternative constructions and equivalents. falling within the scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

The use of "for example", "etc.", "or" indicates non-exclusive alternatives without limitations, unless otherwise indicated. The use of "comprises" means "comprises, but not limited to", unless otherwise indicated.

Indications such as "vertical" and "horizontal", "top" and "bottom" (in the absence of other indications) should be read with reference to the assembly (or operating) conditions and with reference to the normal terminology used in the language. everyday life, in which "vertical" indicates a direction substantially parallel to that of the force of the gravity vector "g" and "horizontal" a direction perpendicular to it.

Figures 1-5 show a basic embodiment of a hinge 1 according to the invention; Figures 6-10 show an evolved form 10 of the hinge of the invention.

As the differences between the basic embodiment 1 and the evolved embodiment 10 only relate to the return spring, the following description is valid for both embodiments, except of course for the part related to the return spring; For this purpose, in the accompanying drawings 1-10, the same reference number indicates the same parts, with the same function, and consequently a detailed description will only be provided for the basic embodiment. Referring to Figures 1-5, these illustrate the basic embodiment of the hinge 1 of the invention.

Said hinge proves to be a cushioned pressure hinge and comprises, for this purpose:

- a first articulated quadrilateral 2 comprising a first plate 4 and provided with first and second levers 23, 32 and an arm 21.

- and a second articulated quadrilateral 3 comprising a second plate 5 and provided with first and second levers 23, 32 and an arm 31.

Obviously, it should be noted that the plates themselves may be part of the respective hinged quadrilaterals (as in the figures by way of example) or variably coupled (welded, for example) with the same quadrilaterals 2, 3.

The first lever 23 and the second lever 32 are in common with the first 2 and second 3 articulated quadrilaterals, to form the hinge 1, which can move between an open (figure 2) and a closed (figure 4) configuration; generally, the plates 4, 5 are arranged differently with respect to each other, in the two configurations, in order to allow the articulation in rotation of the two elements T and P, for example (but not exclusively), a frame T and a door panel P.

The hinge 1 also comprises a damper 7 to damp the transition between the open configuration and the closed configuration and vice versa.

In general, the damper 7 is characteristically interposed between one of the first or second levers 23, 32, and the arm 21, 31 of one of the first 2 or second 3 quadrilaterals.

In the two embodiments illustrated in the present document, the basic embodiment 1 and the evolved embodiment 10, the damper 7 is coupled with the first quadrilateral 2, in particular, between the arm 21 and the articulation fulcrum X1 of the levers 23, 32 .

In some alternative embodiments (not illustrated), the damper 7 is coupled with the second quadrilateral 3, in particular, between the arm 31 and the articulation fulcrum X1 of the two levers 23, 32.

The advantage obtained from the described embodiments is immediately apparent when looking at, for the basic embodiment, Figure 4 (and correspondingly Figure 9 for the evolved embodiment): when the hinge is closed, the damper 7 is almost horizontal (it should be noted that these hinges are used in furniture in which the door panel P rotates around a horizontal axis, as in the case of furniture for motorhomes, caravans and the like); the damper 7, especially when it contains oil or grease, is therefore less subject to leakage. In the same way, the reduced overall obstacle of the hinge 1, 10 according to the invention, can be seen, which is almost completely contained within the dimensions of the plates 4, 5.

With respect to figure 1-5, the first lever 23 is hinged with the arm 21 of the first quadrilateral 2, with the second lever 32 and with the plate 5 of the second quadrilateral 3, considering that the second lever 32 is hinged with the arm 31 of the second quadrilateral 3, with the first lever 23 and with the plate 4 of the first quadrilateral 2.

Fulcrum points are generally produced with suitable pins, which will not be mentioned further in the present document, as they are well known in the state of the art.

It should be noted that at least the part of the lever 23 adjacent to the damper 7 is advantageously provided with a box-shaped cover 230 intended to conceal, at least partially, the damper 7 from view.

The pressure operation of the hinge is guaranteed, in these embodiments, by at least one return spring; in this regard, the difference between the basic embodiment in which there is a single spring 12 and the evolved embodiment 10 in which there are two adjacent springs 120 should be noted.

The springs 12, 120 operate between at least one of the quadrilaterals 2, 3 and a respective plate 4, 5, in particular, between the arm 21 or 31 and the plate 4 or 5.

Before going into the detail of springs 12, 120, it would be useful to briefly explain their function: they act on arm 21, between it and plate 4, in particular at the fulcrum point X2 between plate 4 and the lever 32 and help to keep the hinge 1, 10 stably in the end-of-travel positions (open and closed configuration). With reference to the basic embodiment 1 of the hinge, in order to advantageously avoid interference with the damper, as can be seen in section SS of figure 5, the spring 12 and the damper 7 itself are positioned offset relative to a central symmetry plane SIM of the quadrilaterals 2 and 3 of the hinge 1. In the case of the evolved embodiment 3 of the hinge, on the contrary, there are two springs 120, as can be seen in section TT of figure 10, which are placed symmetrically on one side and on the other side of the central symmetry plane SIM of quadrilaterals 2 and 3 of hinge 10: this allows an even more compact assembly, since the damper 7, even if it has significant dimensions, can be accommodated partially in the closed configuration of the hinge 10, in the space between the two springs 120.

With respect again to the characteristics in common between the basic embodiment 1 and the evolved embodiment 10, it should be noted that the arm 31 of a quadrilateral 3 optionally and advantageously comprises a shaft 35 integral therewith; the hinge 1, 10 also comprises a shaped slider 8 defining a receiving seat 81 for the shaft 35.

When the hinge 1, 10 is in an open configuration, (Figures 2 and 6), the seat 81 is occupied by the shaft 35 and the slider 8 is brought into contact with the shaft 35 to create a coupling with the latter. correspondence with entry 81.

When the hinge 1, 10 is in a closed configuration (Figures 4 and 9), the seat 81 is, on the contrary, free of engagement with the shaft 35.

The coupling between the shaft 35 and the seat 81 preferably takes place in conjunction with an opening span of the hinge greater than 50% from the closed configuration: in fact, it should be noted that in Figures 3 and 8, which show configurations in which the hinge is open approximately 45 °, that is, approximately 50% of the maximum range of movement: the shaft 35 is not yet engaged with the seat 81.

In other words, the shaft 35 occupies the seat 81 of the slider near the closed configuration of the hinge 1, 10. The slider 8 is advantageously assembled on one of the plates 5 and can move with respect to the latter in a substantially parallel plane the same.

At least one reaction spring 85 is provided between slider 8 and plate 5, intended to push slider 8, at least when hinge 1, 10 is in an open configuration, towards shaft 35, in order to create the form coupling between seat 81 and shaft 35.

As the reaction spring 85 is intended to contribute to the stable maintenance of the hinge in an open configuration, it becomes immediately apparent that, during actuation of the hinge 1, 10, the user will only have to counteract the force of the spring 85 on the final section of the travel, that is, when the shaft 35 comes into contact with the slider 8 and pushes it in the opposite direction with respect to the force of the spring 85, until the shaft 35 comes into engagement with the seat 81.

The sliding of the slider 8 with respect to the plate 5 is ensured by a sliding guide coupling between the two, which can be prepared by a person skilled in the art without further disclosure.

As in the illustrated solutions, the slider 8 is preferably associated with that plate (the plate 5 in this case) whose arm (31 in this case) is not coupled with the damper 7, in order to further reduce the obstacle. Alternatively or in combination, the slider 8 is associated with that plate (plate 5 in this case) which is not engaged with the return spring (s) 12, 120.

In the example provided, as is evident, both above situations are achieved in combination, to the benefit of the compactness of the hinge 1, 10 produced in this way.

As regards the shock absorber 7, it is preferably of the type with a stem and a sleeve telescopically coupled to each other, in which the shock absorber is obtained thanks to a fluid (normally oil or grease) acting between them.

These types of hinge buffers are generally known in the state of the art and, consequently, no further mention will be made of them.

Therefore, the objectives stated above have been achieved.

Numerous variants of what has been described so far are obviously possible.

Claims (8)

1. A cushioned pressure hinge (1, 10), comprising: - a first articulated quadrilateral (2) comprising a first plate (4) and provided with first and second levers (23, 32) and an arm (21) - a second articulated quadrilateral (3) comprising a second plate (5) and provided with first and second levers (23, 32) and an arm (31) said first (23) and second (32) levers being in common between the first (2) and second (3) articulated quadrilaterals, the hinge (1, 10) being able to move between an open configuration and a closed configuration, in which the plates (4, 5) are arranged differently with respect to each other, the hinge (1, 10) also comprising a damper (7) to cushion the transition between the open configuration and the closed configuration and vice versa, said damper (7) being interposed between one of the first or second levers (23, 32) and said arm (21, 31) of one of the first (2) and second (3) quadrilaterals, said hinge also comprising at least one return spring (12, 120), characterized in that said spring (12) and said damper (7) are positioned offset with respect to a plane of central symmetry (SIM) of the quadrilaterals (2, 3), said at least one return spring (12) acting between said arm (21, 31) of one of the first and second quadrilaterals (2, 3) and the respective plate (Four. Five). 2. The cushioned pressure hinge (10) according to the preamble of claim 1, the hinge (10) being characterized in that it comprises two return springs (120) that act between at least one of the quadrilaterals (2, 3 ) and a respective plate (4, 5), in which said springs (120) are placed symmetrically on one side and on the other side of a central symmetry plane (SIM) of the quadrilaterals (2, 3), the damper (7) partially housed in the space between the two springs (120) in a closed configuration of the hinge. The cushioned pressure hinge (1, 10) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the shock absorber (7) is interposed between said arm (21, 31) and an articulation fulcrum (X1) between the levers first (23) and second (32). The cushioned pressure hinge (1, 10) according to one of the preceding claims, in which the first lever (23) is hinged with the arm (21) of the first quadrilateral (2), with the second lever ( 32) and with the plate (5) of the second quadrilateral (3) and The second lever (32) is hinged with the arm (31) of the second quadrilateral (3), with the first lever (23) and with the plate (4) of the first quadrilateral (2). The cushioned pressure hinge (1, 10) according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the arm (31) of a quadrilateral (3) comprises a shaft (35) integral therewith, and comprising the hinge (1, 10) a shaped slider (8) defining a housing seat (81) for the shaft (35), in which - when the hinge (1, 10) is in an open configuration, the seat (81) is occupied by the shaft (35) and the slider (8) comes into contact with the shaft (35) to create, with the same , a shape coupling in correspondence with the seat (81) - when the hinge (1, 10) is in a closed configuration, the seat (81) is free from engagement with the shaft (35). The cushioned pressure hinge (1, 10) according to the preceding claim, wherein said slider (8) is assembled on one of said plates (5), movable with respect to said plate (5) in a plane substantially parallel to the plate (5) and in which at least one reaction spring (85) is provided between said slider (8) and said plate (5), intended to push said slider (8), at least when the hinge (1, 10) is in an open configuration, in order to create said shape coupling between the seat (81) and the shaft (35). The cushioned pressure hinge (1, 10) according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein a part of the lever (23) adjacent to the cushion (7) is provided with a box-shaped cover ( 230) designed to hide, at least partially, the shock absorber (7). The cushioned pressure hinge (1, 10) according to claim 2, wherein said two return springs (120) act between said plate (4, 5) and the arm (21, 31) of the respective quadrilateral articulated to said plate (4, 5).