FR2822494A1 - Gas spring for door flap has an adjustable pivot mounting for the piston of the spring - Google Patents

Abstract

A gas spring for a door flap has the piston rod of the spring secured into a pivot mounting with adjustment for the closing effect. The end of the piston rod is threaded into a fitting slid into a mounting sleeve which is held by the pivot mounting and with a threaded adjuster to adjust the closing force of the spring. The pivot mounting has an eccentric adjustment to finely adjust the closing action.

Description

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 The present patent relates to a cylinder support, in particular gas cylinder, with a particular device for the optimal adjustment of its position and its mounting plate.

 Gas cylinders are known for use as means for the controlled closing / opening of doors, shutters, etc., forming part of furniture, in particular for kitchen furniture.

 Said cylinders are substantially normally preloaded gas springs, which are applied by one end to an edge of the door or the shutter of the furniture and, at the other end, to a suitable area, generally close to the outer edge the opening of the furniture on which is applied the door or shutter just mentioned.

 Said cylinders have a construction and a fairly simple use; however, under circumstances that may be encountered, the existence of a particular type of inconvenience in their normal use must be noted: with reference to Figure 1, the vertical section of a compartment 1, for example of suspended type, a piece of furniture comprising a base 2, a top 3 and a vertical door 104.

 Said door is rotatable upwards, pivoting on a hinge 5 which is illustrated in a purely symbolic way, provided with a horizontal axis, so that after the complete closing the door is placed, as illustrated in Figure 2.

 In the fully open position, the door is supported by a particular mechanism of the hinge which is of no interest to discuss; during the closing phase, the weight of the door 104 is added to the action of the hand of the person pressing to close the door itself; if it does not do it skilfully, it is obvious that, in the final part of its course, the door will beat with a certain violence against the amount, with the disadvantages that one can easily imagine, especially if the use of the door is frequent.

 To avoid said drawbacks, it is known to have a cylinder for damping the movement of the door, generally consisting of a gas spring 12 comprising a piston 6 and a cylinder 7; said gas spring is applied on one side, on a pin 9 integral with the door and, on the other side, on a pin 10 integral with the furniture.

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 The action of said cylinder opposes the force described, which acts in the direction of closing the door, and a precise calibration of said force ensures that the closing stroke is actuated in a controlled manner and especially without causing the unwanted beats.

 However, it can happen that, if the pins 9 and 10 are arranged in certain particular positions, in the final phase of closing the door (compare FIG. 1 and FIG. 3), the jack is in a position almost vertical; if we decompose the vector A, which represents the force of the jack on the pin 9, into a component A1 orthogonal to the door and into a component A2 orthogonal thereto, as illustrated in FIG. 3, said component A2, which represents the force of opposition to the closure is reduced to a very low value, insufficient to oppose the effect of the weight exerted by the door and the inertia of the rotary movement thereof; the final composition being that the door, being no longer sufficiently braked, will come to beat with a certain violence, undesirable and disagreeable, against the amount.

 A similar disadvantage, even if the original mechanism is different, is with the situation illustrated in FIG. 4.

 In this case, the hinge 5 can be configured such that the trajectory performed by the pin 9 during the closing of the door is described by the curve C; if also the distance F of the pin 10 relative to the amount 11 of the door is sufficiently reduced, there is a certain angle of closure of the door for which the cylinder 12 reaches its minimum extension 12A (Figure 4).

 Continuing the closing stroke, it happens that the cylinder will extend and not act more in the sense of opposing the closing movement, but unlike this position, in addition, its action is added to the action of the weight of the door; the final consequence is that nothing stands in the way of the movement of it, making it close of itself but still beats with a certain violence, often even superior to what one has in the case previous.

 Another disadvantage is due to the fact that, in general, the gas cylinder and the related supports on the door and on the cabinet are not adjustable in their dimensions and thus their assembly, without special precautions, may have as result that, once reached the maximum open position, the door may be not in line with the furniture, but be variously inclined, with obvious aesthetic and also functional disadvantages; moreover, such a situation may also be

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 mounts types of cylinder and related fittings that must be interchangeable with other cylinders, slightly different in the total extension.

 According to what has been indicated in a preliminary manner, the object of the present invention is therefore to provide an improved support for gas cylinders with an adjustable trunnion, making it possible to eliminate or at least reduce the disadvantages described, and to allow their assembly and their use without any difficulty.

 In addition, such a support must be feasible with materials and techniques that are normally available in the art and, thus, substantially more economical and reliable.

 Said support for a jack, in particular for a gas cylinder, according to the invention comprises: - an end head provided with an internal cavity capable of housing the end of a support jack, - a coupling means, mounted rotating, at one of its ends, on a portion of the outer surface of said terminal head, - a mounting plate capable of being integrally connected to a mounting surface or base, and housing the opposite end of said means for mounting coupling also comprises: - a connecting element capable of being applied, with one of its parts, inside said terminal head and, in a connected manner, by one of its ends to said end of said support jack, - an adjusting handle adapted to mate with a portion of said connecting member on the opposite side from the end of said connecting member connected to said jack.

 Said part of said connecting element and said adjusting handle are provided with means capable of adjusting the reciprocal position, preferably by means of respective corresponding threads.

 Said threading of said connecting element is disposed outside thereof and engages with the corresponding thread, hollowed in an appropriate end of said adjustment handle.

 Said connecting element is extractable, that it is adapted to be applied inside said terminal head from the opposite end with respect to the application side of said end of said jack, and that on a delimited part of said outer surface of said connecting member, are arranged a plurality of stop means engageable with

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 respective locking means, respectively, hollowed on the inner surface of said cavity of said end head.

 Said connecting element and said jack can be detachably locked, preferably by means of respective threads, respectively.

 Said opposite end of said coupling means has an appendix having a shape at least partially in a slider, and said mounting plate is provided with a profiled hollow part having a cradle open to one side and said appendix is capable of being inserted, movably, into said recessed portion.

 In correspondence with inner edges of said recessed portions and said respective outer edges of said slid-shaped appendage of said coupling means, respective controlled sliding means are arranged which are able to move reciprocally on the value of a defined stroke and of to engage reciprocally in selectively selectable positions, while said controlled sliding means comprise respective sawtooth devices.

 Said coupling means is capable of being locked at said positions which can be predefined selectively, by means of an adjustable member, preferably a bolt, capable of acting by reaction with an opposite force between said coupling means and a suitable surface of said mounting plate.

 The mounting plate is provided with one or more journals or pins rotatably insertable into corresponding appropriate recesses of said mounting base to which said mounting plate and reciprocal axis of rotation are applied between said coupling means and said terminal head, is offset by a predetermined distance and different from zero with respect to the axis of one of said trunnions of said mounting plate.

 Said distance, predefined and different from zero, between the axis of rotation of said coupling means and the axis of said trunnion, is substantially equal to half of said defined course.

 Other features and advantages will appear in the following description of a door closure device of a piece of furniture made according to the invention given by way of non-limiting example with reference to drawing boards 4/10 to 10 / 10 on which:

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 FIG. 3A schematically represents the effect of an adjusting device according to the invention; FIGS. 5 to 7 represent respective, median sections in a support according to the invention, in different adjustment and mounting methods; corresponding to the mounting base, - Figure 8 shows a sectional view of the main components constituting the support according to the invention, - Figure 9 and Figure 10 schematically represent the geometry of two separate plates of the reciprocal arrangement of certain components of the support according to the invention.

 Referring to the figures, a support for a cylinder according to the present invention comprises: - an end head 2 having an internal cavity 3, for accommodating the end 4A of a support jack 4, - a coupling means 5 rotatably applied with its end 66 on a portion of the outer surface of said end head, - a mounting plate 7, connectable integrally to a mounting surface or base 8, which comprises an appropriate recessed portion 20 housing an opposite end 26 of said coupling means 5; according to the invention, there is provided a connecting member 15 and a setting handle 13; the latter being partially applied between said head, as shown in the figures, while the connecting element 15 is inserted inside said terminal head and connected to one of its sides at the end 4A said cylinder, and the other side being adjustably connected by means of a thread 11, to a corresponding thread 12 which is coaxial with the adjusting handle 13.

 For reasons which will be better understood below, it is preferable that the thread 11 of the connecting element is capable of being inserted into a suitable cylindrical cavity disposed in said adjusting handle. and wherein said threading 12 is deposited.

 The outer surface of said connecting member is further provided with a plurality of stop means 14, while the inner surface of the end head 2 is provided with a plurality of locking means 161; said stop means and locking means are made to correspond three-dimensionally so as to allow the axial displacement, but not the tangential displacement, of the connecting element with respect to the head;

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 in practice, the connecting element can evolve on and under in the head, but can not turn once it is inside.

 In addition, the connecting element is connected to the end 4A of the cylinder 104; to allow easier assembly, it is preferable that this connection is obtained by threads 16 and 17 corresponding respectively to the connecting element and to the end 4A of the jack 104.

 Further details are given above, as regards the connections between the terminal head, the coupling means 5 and the mounting plate 7.

 At this point, the operation of the invention will be clear to those skilled in the art; after assembling and assembling the various components described, the support according to the invention operates in the following manner: it is simply necessary to turn the handle 13, the latter tending to rotate the connection element; however, it can not rotate under the effect of the stop means 14 described and the locking means 161 corresponding, however, the rotation of the handle produces the only result of changing the axial position between the handle and the connecting element.

 Since also the handle can not penetrate inside said head, in addition to a certain point, because of these corresponding stops 101, 102 between these components, the rotation of the handle produces the final result of allowing a higher or lower penetration of the handle. connection element within the head and thus a corresponding adjustment of the maximum extension position of the cylinder 104, as demonstrated by the comparison between FIGS. 5 and 6, whereas in the first, the connecting element is inserted at most between the handle, while in the second, the connecting element is extracted to the maximum of the handle, for what is made possible by the race D; for a more complete comparison, it is recommended to also observe Figures 9 and 10.

 And yet, we get one of the desired results.

 Regarding the other problem described, that is to say the "beat" uncontrolled door on its closure, the proposed solution is that the coupling means between the mounting plate 7 and said means of coupling 5 are made in an adjustable manner and, more specifically, that the final position of said coupling means 5 with respect to the mounting plate is movable to a preferred position of said mounting plate

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 along a director having a component orthogonal to the plane of the door, when closed.

 5 and 8, said coupling means 5 are made with a cylindrical element functioning as a trunnion above an edge of which is disposed an appendage 18 which extends perpendicularly with respect to the axis S of mutual rotation between said coupling means and said terminal head 2.

 In correspondence of the outer flanks of said appendix 18, there are arranged two guides 19 which have the respective toothed rack or sawtooth engaging surface, as shown in particular in FIG. 8.

 The mounting plate 7, in turn, has a shaped recessed portion 20 having a cradle shape open on one side and provided with a pair of corresponding toothed rack or sawtooth guides 21, but reciprocated with those just coming from to be described above. The geometry and dimensioning of the mounting plates and said coupling means 5 including said appendix 18 are such that:> the lower end 26 of said coupling means 5 and the appendix 18 thereto are capable of being inserted since the outside and over the distance of a certain stroke, in said profiled hollow portion having a cradle-shaped profile (which is precisely why it must be open on one side), the two guides 19 provided on the outer flanks of the appendix 18 can be coupled with the corresponding guides 21 of the recessed portion 20 of the mounting plate 7,> said appendix can be lifted selectively over a certain height, low, from the bottom of said cradle, so that said pairs of Rack-and-pinion guides 19 and 21 engage each other in selectable positions by means of the displacement of the appendix 18, the value of said travel s said hollow portion 20, thereby making a connection and solidarity between said coupling means 5 and said plate 7, in positions that can be defined selectively.

 Advantageously, to stably lock, while being easily removable, said appendage in said recessed part 20 of said mounting plate, it suffices to make a suitable hole on the surface

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 upper of said appendix, and inserting a screw member or bolt 31 suitable for being screwed until its lower side 32 can come into contact with the inner surface 33 of said mounting plate 7; loosening said member 31 produces detachment of the appendix from the mounting plate to a sufficient extent and thereby makes possible any uplift of the appendage, a process which causes said guideways to be out of engagement rack 19 and 21 and makes possible the adjustment of said new position of the appendix 18 and, thus, also of the jack; viceversa, if one tightens said element 31, said pairs of rack guides 19 and 21 and, thus, said appendix 18 and, with it, the cylinder 104 lock in the configuration in which they are.

 The operation of the invention will now be apparent: with reference to FIG. 3A, if appendix 18 is moved together with the respective coupling means 5 from the nearest position on the door jamb to the the furthest position, the coupling means 5 are also driven and thus also the journal 10 and, finally, a displacement of identical value is obtained from the position of effective engagement of the cylinder which moves from the position G at position H.

 It is thus obvious that the vector A2, defined at the introduction of the description, is transformed into a vector A3, perpendicular to the construction on the surface of the door for construction, but with a value greater than the vector A2 (FIG. 3A).

 Since said vectors A2, A3 represent the opposition force to the closure and, thus, the force that avoids the unbraked beating of the door, it is obvious that the possibility of adjusting the journaling position allows, indirectly but effectively , the setting of the opposition force to said flap of the door.

 Further refinement can be realized from the following considerations: as just demonstrated, the adjustment of the opposing force to the flapping of the door depends on the length of the stroke of said appendix 18; however, there may be cases in which said stroke is not yet sufficient to adjust the door closure situations amply different; especially since, on the other hand, if one wishes to increase thus the excursion of the adjustment, it would be necessary to increase consequently the length of the appendage 18, that is to say by reaching a certain value, which n is neither technically optimal nor aesthetically accepted.

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 In order to eliminate said limitation with reference to Figure 6, it is observed that the mounting plate 7 is provided with a fixed pin 23 disposed on its coupling surface to the wall of the furniture and perpendicular thereto; said fixed pin 23 is housed in a suitable hole 30 provided on the wall 25 of the furniture base and is rotatable therein, causing rotation of the pin, rotation of the entire plate 7 and, with that of course, said coupling means 5 and, with it, the axis S of rotation of said coupling means; we now see Figure 9 which summarizes the geometry of the new situation; with the preceding situation, symbolized schematically in FIG. 9, the coupling means can move only one excursion whose value is represented by D, and this excursion is off-axis with respect to the axis C of the fixed journal 23 of a value E, with the new situation shown in Fig. 10, rotating the plate 7 of 1800 with respect to the mounting base 8 and, thus, to the relative surface, all the whole included, not only of the mounting base 8 but also of the coupling means 5, with the appendix 18, etc., under the effect of the rotation, can be logically set of a stroke D1 = D, but also displaced from the spacing B + E of the opposite part relative to the previous position and, since B = E, a new adjustable excursion field of the position of the axis S and, thus, of the coupling means 5 and, finally, we double the field of total excursion.

 Such an improvement, although greatly improving the previous situation, however has the marginal disadvantage that said excursion fields D and D1 are not contiguous, but have an internal field of length ED / 2 + B-D1 / 2 which can not be used as a control field since B and E are increased by D / 2, as schematically illustrated in FIG. 9.

 To avoid such a disadvantage, to make said fields of excursion contiguous with each other and, thus, to optimize the adjustment, it suffices to make the various devices so that they are arranged opposite, but with edges 40, 41 respectively contiguous and naturally coinciding with said axis C of said fixed pin 23, as schematically illustrated, but unequivocally in Figure 10, which shows Figure 9 when E = D / 2.

 Such a device achieves a very effective form for increasing the regulation field of the support; however, the presence of a single pin 23 may give rise to unwanted rotations induced by the mounting plate 7 when prompted by the cylinder 104 in a timely manner;

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 to avoid such unwanted rotations, the single pin 23 is replaced by two separate pins, not shown, each of which is housed in a suitable hole, formed in the same mounting base 8; obviously, the presence of the two trunnions instead of one does not modify in any way the substance of the aforementioned solutions, since their function is only to confer stability to the positioning of the mounting plate in the two distinct positions and tours of 1800 between them; in particular, the preceding description retains its full validity, even if it assumes for axis of reference of the position of the plate an axis passing through any point but defined by the mounting plate at the point of the axis C defined first as axis of symmetry of said journal 23.

Claims (10)

 1. Support for cylinder, in particular gas cylinder, comprising: an end head (2) having an inner cavity (3) capable of housing the end (4A) of a support cylinder (104), a coupling means (5), rotatably mounted at one of its ends (66), on a portion of the outer surface of said terminal head, a mounting plate (7) capable of being integrally connected to a surface or mounting base (8), and housing the opposite end (26) of said coupling means (5), characterized by also comprising: a connecting element (15) which can be applied, with one of its parts, within said terminal head and, connected by one of its ends to said end (4A) of said support cylinder (104), an adjusting handle (13) capable of coupling with a part of said connecting element, on the opposite side with respect to the end of said element related connection to said cylinder.  2. Support for a cylinder according to claim 1, characterized in that said portion of said connecting member and said adjusting handle (13) are provided with means capable of adjusting the reciprocal position, preferably by means of threads (11, 12 ) corresponding, respective.  3. support for cylinder according to claim 2, characterized in that said thread (11) of said connecting member is disposed outside thereof and engages with the thread (12) corresponding hollowed in one end of said adjustment handle.  4. support for cylinder according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that said connecting element (15) is extractable, that it is adapted to be applied inside said terminal head from the opposite end by relative to the application side of said end (4A) of said cylinder (104), and that on a delimited portion of said outer surface of said connecting element are arranged a plurality of stop means (14) capable of engage with corresponding respective locking means (161), dug on the inner surface of said cavity of said end head (2).  5. support for cylinder according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said connecting element (15) and <Desc / Clms Page number 12>  said cylinder can be detachably locked, preferably by means of respective threads (16, 17), respectively.  6. Support according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said opposite end (26) of said coupling means has an appendix (18) having a shape at least partially in slider, and said mounting plate (7). ) has a recessed portion (20) shaped with a cradle open to one side and that said appendix (18) is movably insertable into said recessed portion (20).  7. Support according to claim 6, characterized in that, in correspondence with the inner edges of said recessed portions (20) and said respective outer edges of said slide-shaped appendix (18) of said coupling means (5), are arranged respective controlled sliding means (21, 19), able to move relative to each other by the value of a defined travel (D) and to engage each other in positions that can be predefined selectively, while said sliding means controlled include sawtooth devices, respectively.  8. Support according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that said coupling means (5) is capable of being locked at said positions that can be predefined selectively, by means of an adjustable member (31), preferably a bolt, capable of acting by reaction with an opposing force between said coupling means and a suitable surface of said mounting plate.  9. Support according to any one or any combination of the preceding claims, characterized in that: - said mounting plate (7) is provided with one or more pins or pins (23) may be inserted rotatably in corresponding niches (24) of said mounting base (8) to which said mounting plate (7) is applied, - reciprocal axis of rotation (S) between said coupling means and said head terminal, is offset by a predetermined distance and different from zero (E) with respect to the axis (C) of one of said journals (23) of said mounting plate.  10. Support according to claim 9, characterized in that said distance, predefined and different from zero (E), between the axis of rotation (S) of said <Desc / Clms Page number 13>  coupling means (5) and the axis (C) of said journal (23) is substantially equal to half of said defined travel (D).