US2984532A

US2984532A - Fold-back doors for pieces of furniture

Info

Publication number: US2984532A
Application number: US849083A
Authority: US
Inventors: Vincens Rene
Original assignee: SOC CIV D RECH ETUDES IND
Current assignee: CIVILE DE RECHERCHES ET D'ETUDES INDUSTRIELLES Ste; SOC CIV D RECH ETUDES IND
Priority date: 1958-10-27
Filing date: 1959-10-27
Publication date: 1961-05-16
Anticipated expiration: 1978-05-16

Description

a May 16, 1961 R. VINCENS 2,984,532 FOLDBACK DOORS FOR PIECES OF FURNITURE Filed 001;. 27, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 y 1961 R. VINCENS 2,984,532

FOLD-BACK DOORS FOR PIECES OF FURNITURE Filed Oct. 27, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent p 2 5. FoLo-BACK nouns Rjen vincen's, Martin-Eglise Pr'es Dieppe, -signor to Societe Civile de Recherches Industrielles, Neuville-les-Dieppe, France not on. tri No. 849,083

priority, application France Oct. 27, 1958 3 curs-323 et dEtudes This invention relates to improvements in fold-back doorsfor pieces of furniture, and notably in doors pivotally mounted about a horizontal axis disposed at the upperlorjlower portion ofdrawers, shelves, bins or trays of cabinets, cupboards or filing-cabinets of o ifices and thelike. ,l

Hinge means for fold-back doors ofjthis type are already known wherein these doors are adapted to slide relative to. a cross-member extending throughout their length, thiskrossQmem-br being pivoted about a horizontal axis. After opening the door by pivoting same from its vertical. positionto its horizontal position, the door can .be retracted completely or partially within the piece of furniture by sliding in said cross-member.

It is the essential object of this invention to provide on theone hand a device for hingedly mounting the cross member alone, this device being adapted to be fitted very easily in pieces of furniture made in sections adapted to bedisassembled, and on the other hand means for guiding the door relative to the cross-member for preventing any jamming therebetween.

According to this invention, the hinge means contemplated for a fold-back door for a piece of furniture adapted to be disassembled and made of vertical uprights in which apertures are formed for securing the trays or shelves, and wherein the fold-back door is adapted to slide relative to a cross-member pivotally mounted about a horizontal axis, is characterized in that it comprises, at either end of the cross-member, a bearing-forming plate rigid with said cross-member, and a support-forming plate associated with said bearing-forming plate and detachably mounted through the relevant upright, said support-forming plate being provided with a fixation member engaging an aperture in said upright, a resiliently mounted pivot pin for hingedly mounting the corresponding bearing-forming plate, and an abutment member engageable by said bearing-forming plate in the open position of said door.

In order to afford a better understanding of this invention and of the manner in which the same may be carried out in practice, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification and illustrating diagrammatically 'by way of example a typical form of embodiment of the invention. In the drawings:

Figure l is a fragmentary perspective view showing the hinge mounting of the cross-member.

Figure 2 is a perspective view, with parts broken away, showing the mounting of the support-forming plate on the upright of a piece of furniture or cabinet.

Figure 3 is a side view taken in the direction of the arrow 1 of Fig. 1.

Figure 4 is a plane view showing the door-guiding device, the body of the cross-member being removed for the sake of clarity; and

Figure 5 is a section taken upon the line VV of Fig. 4, the body of the cross-member being in position.

In Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings the fold-back door 1 consisting of a rectangular sheet-metal plate is adapted F PIECES OF France; as

2,984,532 Patented May 16, 1961 2 to slide relative to the cross-member 2 extending throughout the length of the door 1. To this end, the side edges 1a of door 1 are doubled over, as shown, in order to constitute .U-sectioned slide-bars each having its upper wing'fitted between the side edge 2a of cross-member 2 and a bearing-forming plate 3. The bearing-forming plate 3 consists of an angle-member having its horizontal wing 3a secured by a bolt 4 on the cross-member 2. The end portion 2a of cross-member 2 is shifted vertically so that the upper wing of slidebar 1a may fit in the fork consisting of thewing 3a and end portion 2a.

The vertical wing 3-b of the bearing-forming plate 3 is formed with a substantially central hole adapted to receive a pivot pin 5 carried by a support-forming plate 6.

This pivot pin 5 is maintained in the hole of the support forming plate 6 by a spring blade 7 secured at 10 on. the plate 6. The upper and lower edges of plate 6 are bent at right angles.

The vertical edges of plate 6 are formed with lug extensions bent at right angles to constitute a rear lug 6a and a front lug 6b.

From Fig. 1 it will be seen that the rear lug 6a acts as an abutment to the vertical wing 3b of the bearingforming plate 3 rigid with cross-member 2. In the abutment position this cross-member 2 and the door 1 are horizontah Of course, any other suitable member may be substituted for the rear lug 6a.

The front lug 6b serves the purpose of engaging one of the vertical apertures 8a formed in the uprights 8 of the cabinet or like piece of furniture. In Fig. 2 it is clear that, when this lug 6b is engaged in an aperture 8a, the support-forming plate 6 is rendered solid with the upright 8 due to the wedging of the lug 6b against the bottom or central portion of the upright-forming section 8.

To this end, the width e of lug 6b is advantageously selected to be close to the distance d measured between one vertical edge of an aperture 8a and the remotest edge of the section 8 in order to lock the support-forming plate 6 against lateral displacement.

In Fig. 2 there is illustrated in chain-dotted lines a tray 9 which is also secured on the upright 8 by means of a pawl 20 engaging one of the apertures 8a.

From Figures 1 to 3 it is clear that the door 1, after having been pulled out completely from the cabinet, can pivot about the pivot pins 5. The support-forming plate 6 may be positioned above or below the tray 9, as desired, according as the door 1 is to close upwards or downwards.

The figures illustrate a typical form of embodiment wherein the door 1 is closed by pivoting in the direction of the arrow f (Fig. 1), that is upwards.

If the door is to be closed through a downward rotational movement, the plate 6 is simply mounted upsidedown, that is, with the pivot pins 5 at a level higher than that of the

lugs

6a and 6b.

In Figs. 4 and 5, the cross-member 2 carries at either end, in the transverse direction, a pair of superposed pulleys designated by the

reference numerals

11, 12 and 13, 14. A guide cable 15 anchored at 15a on one of the upper corners of the rectangular door 1 passes over the pulley 14 and then over pulley 11, and is then directed towards the opposite corner of the door and secured to one end of a traction spring 16. The other end of this spring 16 is anchored on the door 1. Another cable 17 anchored at 17a on the door 1 follows a path symmetric to that of cable 15 with respect to the transverse plane of symmetry. This other cable 17 is similarly anchored to a spring 18. The

springs

16, 18 are housed in a channel 1 b formed along the rear edge of door 1.

The

cables

15, 17 serve the purpose of guiding the door 1 relative to the cross-member 2. As long as the door 1 moves in a direction parallel to this cross-member 2, the springs 16, .18 are subjected substantially only to cross-member 2, with an inherent risk of jamming the former, one of the springs would be subjected to an addi-' tiorial pull as a consequence of the elongation of the. path of the relevant cable. If, for example, it is attempted to impress a movement of rotation in the direction of the arrow f to the door 1 relative to the cross-member 2, it will be seen from Fig. 4, that the path of cable 15 is elongated and therefore the spring 15 will exert an addi-- tional pull on the cable 15 thus automatically tending to counter-balancetor compensate the pivoting movement in the direction. of the arrow f and to maintain the parallel relationship between the door 1 and cross-member 2. Of course, many modifications may be brought to the arrangement shown and described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention asset forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. Hinge means for the pivotal mounting of a foldback door in a piece of furniture adapted to be disassembled, which consists of vertical uprights having apertures formed therein for the fixation of trays or shelves and wherein the door is adapted to slide on a cross-member pivotally mounted about a horizontal axis, said hinge means comprising at either end of said crossmember a bearing forming plate rigid with said crossmember, a support-forming plate associated with said bearing-forming plate and detachably carried by the corresponding upright, said support-forming plate being a rectangular vertical plate comprising an upper edge, a lower edge and two vertical edges respectively at the rear and at the front, said upper and lower edges being doubled over, said front vertical edge being provided with a lug extension bent at right angles thereto and adapted to engage an aperture in said upright, said vertical rear edge being also provided with a lug extension bent at right angles thereto and acting as an abutment to said bearingforrning plate in the horizontal or open position of said door, and a pivot pin resiliently carried by said supportforming plate and having pivoted thereon the relevant bearing-forming plate. 1

2. Hinge device as set forth in clafun 1, whereinsaid bearing formingplate consists of an angle member having one wing rigid with said cross member, said pivot pin extending through the other wing of said angle member. v

3. Hinge device as set forth in claim 1, wherein said cross-member carries at either end a pair of superposed pulleys, said, door carrying two cables followingsymmetric paths in relation to the transverse plane of symmetry of the door and interconnecting two opposite upper corners of the rectangular door by passing in succession over one pulley in each pair, said cables being respectively anchored at one end tosaid opposite corners,

resilient means anchored to the side of said door opposite] said corners and respectively to the other end "of the cables for compensating any unequal forces applied to said opposite corners tending to cause said door to jam" when said door is sliding on said cross member and 'for tensioning said cables.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Germany July 15,