KR20080078532A - Furniture hinge - Google Patents

Abstract

Furniture hinge with damping and/or braking device in alternative to those already existing and capable of guaranteeing an improved efficiency during the closing or opening operation of the doors, or other furniture parts, thanks to an improvement of the characteristics of rigidity and, simultaneously, elasticity of the means for transmitting motion from one of the rockers to the damping elements. The improved efficiency of this hinge is also obtained by increasing the friction surfaces with a viscous medium present in suitable areas of the hinge and by allowing regulation of the trend of the angular velocity of a circular shaped element, for example a disc, which acts as braking element in contact with the viscous medium.

Description

Furniture Hinge {Furniture hinge}

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to furniture hinges, in particular to hinges suitable for operation for furniture parts, provided with a hinge with a spring for the door or a damping device which acts during the opening and / or closing of the door as a whole.

Furniture provided with a door or wing that closes the compartment and opens by pivoting about a horizontal or vertical axis utilizes various types of hinges. The most widely used type today is that the hinges supporting the doors in the closed position are not visible from the outside of the piece of furniture when the door is closed.

These types of hinges are commonly used in the furniture industry today because they have a series of advantages, and the widespread use of such hinges in the market has been determined by the above advantages. Some embodiments of known hinges are provided with various types of springs that generate a return force during closing of the door in which the hinges are installed and a pushing force during opening of the door. This allows for very precise closing or opening of the doors.

Nevertheless, damping and / or brake devices of the door movement caused by the spring's elastic action are desired in the hinges. The purpose of these devices is, among other things, to avoid the noise generated during closing operations by the doors closing with audible sound to the body of the piece of furniture.

There are currently a variety of known damping and brake devices integrated into the furniture hinges. However, these devices have some disadvantages.

In particular, in some hinges the hinge movement is transmitted by one of the rockers to the damping elements of the damping device using a substantially rectangular slider. This slider must harmonize two opposing properties: on the one hand the slider must have good rigidity such that the lower surface of the slider engages as much as possible without deformation in the grooves of the damping elements, and on the other hand the damping The bending during the restoring motion must have sufficient elasticity to cross the grooves without allowing the elements to rotate. If the operating and engagement tolerances of the components are not precise enough, this can lead to poor operation of the damping device due to possible idle movement or irregular behavior in the slider.

Therefore, there is a need to manufacture a hinge provided with a damping device that can overcome the above mentioned disadvantages.

The main object of the present invention is to manufacture furniture hinges with damping and brake arrangements as an alternative to the already existing hinges, the robustness and elasticity of the means for transferring motion from one of the rockers to the damping elements. Simultaneously improving the properties of the ensures improved efficiency during the closing and / or opening action of the doors or other furniture parts.

Another object of the invention is to simplify the device without changing the overall dimensions of the standard hinges.

The present invention therefore proposes to solve the problem as described above by manufacturing a furniture hinge with a damping device, which furniture hinge, according to claim 1, comprises a first member for fixing to an element of a piece of furniture. And a second member for securing to the door of the element of the piece of furniture, the box having a box, the first member being suitable for movement by relative pivotal movement about a first articulating pin in the box, A connecting means for connecting said first member to a damping means for damping said pivotal movement, and having a damping element immersed in a viscous medium for generating a damping force, said connecting means comprising: said first means; A hook element suitable for pivoting about a second articulation pin with an axis parallel to the articulation pin and suitable for applying a pushing force to the hook element By providing the elastic means, the elastic means exerts pressure on the damping element and converts the pivotal movement of the first member about the first pivot pin into a rotational movement around the center of the damping element in response to the rotation of the hinge. In order to achieve this, the hook element is characterized in that it is suitable for engaging with one of the plurality of curved grooves present on the first face of the damping element.

Advantageously, the hinge of the present invention has a simpler damping device without a square slider. An element that transfers motion between the rockers in the case of a four-deformation hinge, or between the stationary arms in the case of a single pin hinge, advantageously centers around a pin housed on a cam connection element fixed to the rocker or stationary arm. It is formed in the hook to be pivoted.

The configuration of the presence of elastic elements such as pivot hooks and torsion springs optimally meets the individual requirements of robustness and elasticity, while the sliders of known damping devices are not always able to meet such robustness and elasticity.

The improved efficiency of the hinge according to the invention is achieved by increasing the frictional surface with the viscous medium present in the proper area of the hinge and allowing the direction of the angular velocity of the disc to act as a brake element in contact with the viscous medium.

The damping device of the hinge according to the present invention forms a separate element, which is further advantaged by the fact that the separating element can be pre-assembled, simply to be mounted on a box element of the standard type, or very easily on the base of the box element. Has In fact, in the hinge of the present invention, since the box element is separated from the damping device, the box element does not contribute to the damping action, and can be manufactured as a standard material, for example simply by stamping, and is particularly suitable for damping. Does not require the use of expensive materials. From a manufacturing point of view, all of the above means that a hinge of a standard type in the first manufacturing line, while assembling the damping device in the hinges, if necessary, is carried out separately on a second independent manufacturing line. You can continue to make them. As a result, there is no need to provide an integrated damping device for the lines dedicated to the manufacture of the hinge as a whole.

Moreover, the assembly of the hinges according to the existing technology provides for the subsequent mounting of the parts to the box element to form one damping device at a time, but in the hinge of the present invention the previously separated assembled damping device has a simple and quick action. It is mounted on the base of the hinge box. The box element therefore does not act as a support element during the mounting of the damping device elements.

In an advantageous embodiment, securing the device to the box uses two identical pins that form the joints of the hinge rocker with the box in the case of articulated quadrangular hinges, thereby providing the box and the fixed arm in the case of a single pin hinge. This is done by using a single pin to form the joints of.

The standard box element is advantageously provided with an opening on its base, the standard box element having a shape suitable for quick assembly with the damping device. Furthermore, in order to manufacture the hinges provided with the damping device, one of the two rockers or the fixed arm is directly driven together with a connecting element which can interact with the brake disk of the damping device through an opening on the base of the box element. It is sufficient to be provided on one production line. Such a connecting element may be formed, for example, by one end of the same rocker, or by the same fixing arm, or by a separating element, but connected to the rocker or connected to, or inserted into, the individual Is pivoted around the pin.

Finally, as another advantage, the damping device is included inside the thickness of the furniture door because it is intensive and mounted on the base of the box element, thus making it invisible when the door is opened, improving the aesthetics of the appearance.

The dependent claims describe preferred embodiments of the invention.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent in light of the detailed description of the preferred but non-exclusive embodiment of the furniture hinge with damping device shown as a non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1A shows a cross-sectional view of the hinge of the present invention in a half open position.

1b shows a cross-sectional view of a different embodiment of the hinge according to the invention in a half open position.

2 is an exploded perspective view of the components of the hinge of FIG.

3 and 5 show a detailed cross section of the hinge of FIG. 1 in two different positions, respectively.

4 and 6 show an inner plan view of the hinge detail corresponding to the two positions in FIGS. 3 and 5, respectively.

7 shows a perspective view of a second assembly component of the hinge shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the second component shown in FIG. 7.

Referring to FIG. 1A, the hinge is shown generally designated by reference numeral 18, which has a fixing element or hinge arm 1, which hinge arm can be fixed on the base or plate and the base plate is flanked. It is fixed integrally to any suitable element of the bearing wall of the panel or the piece of furniture. The hinge is provided with two rockers 2, 3, with the respective first ends of the rockers pivoting about two individual pins 4, 5 housed in the holes in the side wall of the arm 1. do. The arm 1 is connected to a box element 6 fixed to a cavity formed in the inner wall of the wing or door of the piece of furniture or any other suitable pivot element of the piece of furniture. Two separate second ends of the rockers 2, 3 house the other two separate pins 7, 8 in rotation, the axis of the pins being parallel to the two first pins 4, 5. The four pins 4, 5, 7, 8 form four articulated deformations.

Around the articulation pin 5, an elastic element or spring 9 is provided to connect the rocker 3 to the arm 1. One of the arms 10 of the elastic element rests on the hinge arm 1, while the other arm 11 acts on the rocker 2.

The closure of the arms 10, 11 of the elastic element 9 is such that the elastic element 9 exerts a pushing force on the rocker 2 to the position shown in FIG. 1. After the opening angle of the door, which is approximately 15 to 20 °, the elastic element 9 is compressed with a negligible application arm, so that the rest of the pivot movement of the door occurs freely without being affected by the presence of the elastic force.

On the other hand, in the closing phase of the door, the elastic element generates a restoring force in the closing direction, which allows an accurate and natural closing of the door in the final angular space, with an amplitude of approximately 15 to 20 degrees.

The bushing 12 can be suitably arranged between the elastic element 9 and the pin 5. As an alternative, the element 9 may be separated from the pin 5 and attached to the hinge arm 1 in a known manner.

On the base of the box element 6 is advantageously mounted a damping and / or braking device 13 suitable for reducing the release occurring during the opening and / or closing phases of the doors, thus reducing the noise and Make it easy and smooth.

This device 13 has a housing formed of a casing 14 and a bottom or base 26 suitably shaped to allow fastening to the box element 6, as shown in FIG. 2. In the housing a brake disc 23 is inserted which has a substantially flat shape and is contained in a highly viscous medium such as grease. Advantageously, the assembly of the damping device 13 and the box element 6 can be made by the same pins 7, 8, with the second ends of the rockers 2, 3 pivoting around the pins, respectively. The pins pass through corresponding holes 70, 71 of the casing 14, holes 90, 91 of the bottom 26, and holes 80, 81 of the box element 6.

The base of the casing 14 is provided with a hole or opening 15, which is substantially rectangular or square, pivoting about the pin 8 to articulate with the box element or to the integral part of the rocker 3. The cam connection element 16 fixed to the lower end of the forming rocker 3 makes it possible to engage as a hook 27 in the corresponding spiral grooves 30 formed on the surface of the brake disc 23. Advantageously, the hook 27 is pivoted about another pin 19 housed in the same cam element 16.

In a preferred embodiment of the hinge according to the invention, the cam connection element 16, which is well shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, is mounted on the rocker 3 by means of articulation pins 8 and the lateral projections 22 are supported. The lateral protrusion defines a central cavity 18 and has a through hole 17.

In the central cavity 18, a pivot hook 27 and a torsion spring 20 are housed around the pin 19 passing through the through hole 17, wherein the stem of the torsion spring is on the one hand a cam connection element ( Seated against 16 and on the other hand against the hook 27.

The torsion spring 20 stresses the hook 27 so that the hook rests with its abutment portion 28 abutting against the back of the rocker 3. In a position diametrically opposite to the abutment portion 28 relative to the pin 19, the hook 27 is provided with side teeth 29 at its ends, the side teeth of which once the hinges and associated damping devices are provided. Once assembled, they are engaged as tappet elements in the helical grooves 30 of the disk 23 as shown in FIG.

Advantageously, with the configuration of the elements described above, it is possible to use properties which were previously ineffectively combined as a single element, which are separated from one another and preferably made of metal or plastic or other suitable material. The rigidity through the presence of and the elasticity through the presence of the torsion spring 20 can be used for each.

During the closing movement of the hinge, the rocker 3 is pivoted in the direction of the arrow 33 as shown in FIG. 3, and at the end of the movement is seated as abutting portion 28 behind the rocker 3. The teeth 29 of the hook 27 engage the one of the helical grooves 30 of the disk 23 and push the vertical edge 31.

FIG. 4 shows a plan view of the disk 23, in which the positions of the hooks 27 and associated side teeth 29, corresponding to FIG. 3, are indicated by lines. Continuing the closing movement of the hinge, the hooks 27 and teeth 29 move to positions 27 'and 29', respectively, indicated by the dotted lines, thereby sliding the vertical spiral edge 31 and moving to the dotted lines 40 and 41. The disc 23 is rotated counterclockwise at an angle corresponding to the sector shown. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the angle corresponds to 40 ° and the disk 23 is provided with nine spiral grooves 30. The planar shape of the grooves can have a geometrically different shape from the spiral, so that the direction of the grooves can be converted into a rotational or pivotal movement about the center of the disc 23, which is a component of the hook motion. do.

Instead, during the opening movement of the hinge, the rocker 3 is pivoted in the direction of the arrow 34, as shown in FIG. 5, and the rear portion of the tooth 29 of the hook 27 is of the spiral groove 30. Seated against the edge 32, the edge 32 is inclined to cause a pivoting action of the hook 27 against the force of the spring 20. This pivoting action can disengage the hook 27 from the groove 30 without causing the disk 23 to rotate.

FIG. 6 shows a top view of the disk 23, in which the positions of the hooks 27 and associated side teeth 29, corresponding to FIG. 5, are indicated by solid lines. It can be observed that with the tooth 29 disengaged, the vertical edge 31 ′ of the groove next is at a position corresponding to the position of the vertical edge 31 in FIG. 4. In this way, the next groove can receive the teeth 29 in the next closing motion of the door and create a new deceleration rotation of the disk 23.

In addition to the holes 90, 91 already provided for the passage of the pins 7, 8, it is advantageous to provide slots or holes 50 in the side wall of the bottom 26. The holes 50 are suitable for connecting corresponding projections, not shown, provided on the box element 6, in order to facilitate the premounting of the damping device preassembled on the hinge.

A second embodiment of the present invention is to apply the same damping device 13 to the hinge 18 'with one single articulated pin 8' as shown in FIG. 1b.

Unlike the articulated four variant hinge 18 as described previously, hinges with one single pin are provided with a fixed arm 1 ', which is substantially L-shaped, hinged in a single block. It is equipped with a rocker 3 and an arm 1 of (18) and is suitable to be pivoted about the articulating pin 8 'with the box element 6'. As is known, rockers 2, 3 and other articulating pins 4, 7, 5 are not provided. FIG. 1B shows a torsion spring 103, which is wrapped around another transverse pin 104 and provided with an arm 100, the arm acting as a cam to supply a closing thrust to the hinge. It rests on the edge of the element 16 '. More suitably, a pair of specular proximity springs 103 may be provided, the central arms 100 of which are in the bent portion 102 of the fixing arm 1 'of the hinge 18'. It passes through the central cavity (101) located.

Considering the second embodiment of this hinge, in Figures 3 and 5, the element indicated by reference number 3 represents the end or part of the L-shape of the fixed arm 1 '.

In this second embodiment, the cam connection element 16 ', which is fixed to the end or bent portion 102 of the fixed arm 1' or is an integral part of the end, is contained in a highly viscous medium. Engagement by the side teeth 29 'of the hook 27' in a corresponding groove 30 'formed in the surface of the brake disc 23'. The hook 27 ′ is housed on the cam connection element 16 ′ in a manner as described for the first embodiment and has the same configuration as the hook 27. Also in this embodiment, a torsion spring 20 'is advantageously provided, wherein the spring is housed in the central cavity of the cam connection element 16' and the stem of the spring 20 'is on one side of the cam connection element. It rests against 16 'and rests against hook 27' on the other side. The torsion spring 20 'stresses the hook 27' such that the hooking portion 28 'is seated against the rear portion of the bent portion 102 of the fixing arm 1'. In the same manner as shown in FIG. 2, in the second embodiment, the casing 14 ′, the bottom 26, for the passage of the pins 8 ′, which ensures rapid fastening of the damping device 13 to the box element. In addition to the holes provided on ') and the box element 6', respectively, slots or holes may be provided in the side walls of the bottom 26 '.

Thus, with both embodiments of the hinge of the present invention, the presence of an elastic element, which is advantageous to be a torsion spring, and the construction of the pivot hook, are individual requirements of elasticity and rigidity that sliders of known damping devices cannot meet. Optimally satisfy them.

Advantageously, in this case a viscous medium is provided between the brake disc and the facing surfaces of the bottom or base, and in both embodiments a series of complementary annular concentric grooves 40 ', 40. And ribs 41, 41 ', which may be combined as indicated in FIGS. 1A and 1B. Furthermore, the flat portion at the top of the ribs and the base of the grooves can be formed with a rough finish, for example to promote viscous medium, which is a highly viscous grease, to bond with it. Advantageously, in this embodiment the grease becomes more difficult to move in the radial direction, thereby eliminating the need for the use of a gasket between the box element and the bottom of the hinge.

Apart from eliminating any possible disadvantages in the operation of the damping device, another advantage of the hinge of the present invention is that the braking force is more effective because it ensures no noise in the device 13 and the friction surfaces associated with the viscous medium are increased. It will be. In fact, the same braking effect obtained with known devices can be obtained with a smaller amount of grease, or alternatively, an improved braking effect can be obtained with the same amount of grease.

Advantageously, in the implementations of both hinges, the box element is provided with:

Openings 60 on the base or lower surface allowing the interaction of the connecting elements 16, 16 'and the brake discs 23, 23' by means of the teeth 29, 29 'of the hooks 27, 27'. ; And

On the side surface, which is provided on the upper surface and forms a space suitable for housing the corresponding protrusions 63 of the casings 14, 14 ′ together with the shelf portion 62 having the shape of a substantially circular crown portion. Notch or indent 61; is provided.

The hinge of the present invention allows for effective operation without changing the overall dimensions of the standard hinges.

Advantageously, the manufacturing costs of the hinge of the present invention are quite low; Indeed, the hinge described here has a great advantage from a structural point of view, ie it has a damping device that forms a separate fuselage and thus can be assembled in a separate state in advance and mounted on the box element.

The box element may be of the type normally used for producing standard hinges manufactured by simply stamping, for example, and in some cases does not interfere with the normal use of the hinge without any damping and / or brake arrangement. A reference protrusion is provided. This pre-assembled device can be combined with the box element selected in the final assembly phase of the hinge, in which only the pins 7, 8 or only the pins 8 ′ are advantageously essential elements used for its fixation. Thus, it is possible to manufacture the hinge according to the present invention provided with a damping device without the need to provide a specific action with respect to the assembly of standard hinges. In fact, only a single fixing action is necessary to hold the box element of the hinge and the damping device together. Moreover, the damping device has the advantage that the whole disappears into the thickness of the door so that it is not visible from the outside.

The specific manufacturing methods described herein do not limit the content of the present application, which covers all embodiments of the invention described in the claims.

The present invention can be used as a hinge for furniture.

Claims (10)

A first member for fastening to an element of the piece of furniture, and a second member for fastening to a door of the element of the piece of furniture, and having boxes 6 and 6 ', the first member having the box ( 6,6 ') suitable for movement by relative pivoting movement about the first articulating pin 8,8', and for connecting said first member to damping means 13 for damping said pivoting movement. A furniture hinge having connecting means 16, 16 'and having damping elements 23, 23' contained in a viscous medium for generating a damping force, The connecting means 16, 16 ′ comprise hook elements 27, 27 ′ suitable for pivoting about a second articulation pin 19 with an axis parallel to the first articulation pin 8, 8 ′ and By having elastic means 20, 20 'suitable for applying a pushing force to the hook elements 27, 27', the elastic means exert pressure on the damping elements 23, 23 ', The hook element 27, 27 ′, in order to convert the pivotal movement of the first member about the first pivot pin into a rotational movement around its own center of the damping element 23, 23 ′ in response to the rotation of the hinge. ) Is characterized in that it is suitable for engaging with one of the plurality of curved grooves (30, 30 ') present on the first face of the damping element (23, 23'). The method of claim 1, The damping element 23, 23 ′ has a substantially flat shape. The method of claim 2, The hook element (27, 27 ') is provided with a tappet element (29, 29') suitable for following the inner form of the groove during at least a portion of the pivoting motion of the first member. The method of claim 3, wherein The furniture hinge which the curve of the groove has the shape of the spiral. The method of claim 3, wherein The furniture hinge which the curve of the groove has the shape of the arc. The method of one of the preceding terms, The damping means has a housing separate from the boxes 6, 6 ′, the housing having a bottom and a casing surrounding the disc, and the damping means being provided with a quick connection means such that the damping means is provided with a single A furniture hinge suitable for assembling the disk with the housing in such a way that a mounting action forms a single element suitable for fixing to one end of the box. The method according to claim 1, wherein The damping means are provided in the box (6, 6 '). The method of claim 1, wherein The first member has two elements, the first of the two elements being a fixing arm 1 for being fixed to the element of the piece of furniture, the second of the two elements being, A first rocker (3) adapted to pivot with the box (6) about a first articulation pin (8) and to pivot with the stationary arm (1) about a second articulation pin (5); A second rocker 2 suitable for pivoting with the box 6 around the first articulating pin 7 and pivoting with the stationary arm 1 around the respective second articulating pin 4 is provided. , Hinged furniture. The method of claim 8, The quick connect means are joint pins 7, 8 suitable for engaging the first holes 70, 71, 90, 91 of the housings 14, 26 and the second holes 80, 81 of the box 6. And an optional slot 50 for pre-mounting action. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 9, The bottoms 26, 26 ′ have ribs 41 and grooves 40 complementary to the corresponding grooves 40 ′ and ribs 41 ′ provided on the second face of the disc 23, 23 ′. Are provided, furniture hinges.

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