AU2007291476B2

AU2007291476B2 - Furniture hinge

Info

Publication number: AU2007291476B2
Application number: AU2007291476A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Wolfgang Beckmann; Jorn Kleffmann; Ralf Muterthies; Oliver Schael; Michael Schubert; Kai-Michael Stuke
Original assignee: Hettich ONI GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: Hettich ONI GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 2006-08-31
Filing date: 2007-07-06
Publication date: 2014-04-03
Anticipated expiration: 2027-07-06
Also published as: AU2007291476A1; KR20090066280A; CN101512088B; RU2009111211A; ES2537090T3; RU2427697C2; WO2008025592A1; PL2057333T3; EP2057333A1; DE202007019637U1; TWI402409B; AU2007291476A2; CN101512088A; EP2057333B1; JP5055590B2; TW200821447A; KR101438049B1; DE202006013360U1; JP2010501755A

Abstract

A furniture hinge (1) comprises an installation plate (2) on which a side part (3) is arranged, and a hinge part (4) which is held pivotably on the side part (3) via a supporting lever (5) and a guide lever (6), wherein a damper (18, 19) is provided to damp the movement of the hinge part (4) relative to the side part (3). Furthermore, a lever (12) is mounted on the side part (3), the lever bearing against a sliding surface (24) on the damper (18, 19) and producing a coupling between the damper (18, 19), on the one hand, and the supporting lever (5), the guide lever (6) or the hinge part (4), on the other hand. As a result, the furniture hinge (1) can be fitted particularly easily.

Description

-2 A furniture hinge The present disclosure relates to a furniture hinge. 5 A furniture hinge is disclosed in EP 1555372, in which a hinge part is pivotably held on the side part. For this purpose, a support lever and a guide lever are provided which in the manner of a parallel control arm pivot the hinge part fastened to a movable furniture part such as a furniture door. For damping the 10 movement, a linear damper is provided on the side part which is coupled via a chain link with a projection on the guide lever. Damping thus occurs during the pivoting of the guide lever. The coupling is provided with a rigid configuration, so that a limited compensation for tolerances is possible, especially when 15 a furniture door is aligned and the hinge part is adjusted relative to the side part or a mounting plate. Moreover, the coupling via chain links is relatively complex and difficult to mount. 20 Summary In an aspect, there is provided a furniture hinge, comprising a mounting plate which can be fixed to a furniture carcass and on which a side part is arranged, a hinge part mounted pivotably on 25 the side part via a support lever, a guide lever with a linear damper comprising a housing and a displaceable piston rod being arranged as fluid damper or gas pressure damper and provided to dampen the movement of the hinge part relative to the side part, and a lever mounted on the side part, wherein the lever rests on 30 a sliding surface on the damper and produces a coupling between the damper and the guide lever, wherein a projection is arranged on the guide lever and wherein the projection is adapted to be mechanically coupled with the lever mounted on the side part, the lever being rotatable about an axis, wherein the damper is 35 arranged as a linear damper and is held in a pretensioned manner towards the lever by a spring, so that when the hinge part is 5142060_1 (GHMatters) P80172.AU - 3 opened the spring will press the damper or the housing of the damper to an extended position, whereby the force of the spring acting upon the damper is lower than a spring which pretensions the hinge part to the closed position. 5 The lever thus forms an intermediate member which is not coupled at opposite ends in a rigid manner with the damper via an axle connection, but can merely be applied to a sliding surface which is connected with the damper either directly or indirectly. The 10 furniture hinge can thus be mounted easily since the lever only needs to be fastened at one axis to the side part and there can further be a certain compensation for tolerances because the sliding surface does not represent a rigid connection. 15 According to a preferred embodiment, the lever is held in a freely movable way on opposite sides and only rests on the sliding or contact surfaces. The lever can then be mounted independent of the other components and the lever will only be effective when the sliding or contact surfaces will pivot the 20 lever in the desired manner. The lever rests on a projection of the support the guide lever. In this respect, the lever can comprise a curved contact surface as a curve guide on the side facing the projection, so that the 25 lever will act upon the damper in a purposeful way when the furniture hinge is pivoted, e.g. in a region shortly before the closing of the furniture hinge or a furniture door connected with the same. Preferably, the lever is arranged in such a way that the damper is effective only over less than half of the 30 maximum distance covered of the pivoting path of the hinge part, thus simplifying handling so that the position of the hinge part can be pivoted without any force. The hinge part can be pretensioned through at least one spring to the closed position, because a furniture door connected with the hinge part is 35 securely held in the closed position. 5142060 1 (GHMatters) PB0172.AU - 4 The damper is preferably arranged as a linear damper and held in a pretensioned manner relative to the lever by a spring, so that when the hinge part is opened the spring will press the damper or the housing of the damper to an extended position. The force 5 of the spring acting upon the damper is lower than a spring which pretensions the hinge part to the closed position. The side part can comprise a pivoting flap for simple mounting, to which the damper is fastened. The damper can then be fastened 10 in a simple manner to the flap by latching means or other fastening elements. The invention is now explained in closer detail by reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings, wherein: 15 Fig. 1 shows a sectional side view of a furniture hinge in accordance with an embodiment of the invention in the opened position; 20 Fig. 2 shows a view of the furniture hinge of Fig. 1 with a half-opened position of the hinge part; Fig. 3 shows a view of the furniture hinge of Fig. 1 with closed position of the hinge part, and 25 Fig. 4 shows a view of the furniture hinge of Fig. 1 during mounting. 5142060_1 (GHMatters) P80172.AU - 5 A furniture hinge 1 made of metal and/or plastic comprises a mounting plate 2 which can be fixed to a furniture carcass, on which a side part 3 is mounted in fixed or adjustable way. A pot-like hinge part 4 which can be 5 inserted into a recess of a furniture door is held in a pivotable manner on the side part 3, with a support lever 5 and a guide lever 6 being provided for a pivoting movement. The support lever 5 is connected via an axis 7 with the hinge part 4 and articulated via an axis 8 on the 10 side part 3. The guide lever 6 is connected via an axis 9 with the hinge part 4 and via an axis 10 with the side part 3. A projection 11 which faces the side part 3 is arranged on 15 the guide lever 6, which projection can be coupled mechanically with a lever 12 which is rotatable about an axis 13. The lever 12 is also held on the side part 3. Lever 12 comprises a first leg 14 which is provided on the 20 side of the projection 11, and comprises opposite a leg 15 which faces a damper. A curved guide surface 16 is provided on the leg 14, along which the projection 11 can slide in order to pivot the lever 12. 25 A linear damper is provided on the side part 3 which comprises a housing 18 and a displaceable piston rod 19. The damper can be arranged as a fluid damper or gas pressure damper. The housing 18 of the damper is held on a pivoting flap 21, on which a stop 22 is arranged. One end 30 of the piston rod 19 and one end of a spring 20 which is supported on the opposite side on housing 18 rest on the stop 22. Housing 18 is thus pretensioned in a direction towards the lever 12. N:\Melbourn\Caaea\Patent\80000-80999\P80172.AU\Specia\P80172.AU GH SPECI PIRST.doc 31/03/09 -6 Fig. 1 shows the furniture hinge 1 in an opened position, in which a component such as a furniture door which is connected with the hinge part 4 is opened. 5 In Fig. 2, the hinge part 4 was pivoted in a direction towards a closed position, with an angle a between the indicated position and a closing position being approximately 450*. In the pivoting movement of the hinge 10 part 4, the support lever 5 and the guide lever 6 were also pivoted, with the projection 11 resting on the leg 14 of lever 12 by the pivoting against a contact surface 16. When the hinge part 4 is now further pivoted to the closed 15 position, the projection 11 presses the lever 12 via the contact surface 16 against the housing 18 of the damper, which is now compressed until the position shown in Fig. 3 is reached. The hinge part 4 can be pretensioned via a spring from the closed position, with the force of the 20 spring being higher than the force of spring 20. During the pivoting of the lever 12, the projection 11 slides on the one side on contact surface 16 and a contact surface 17 is formed on the opposite side on leg 15 which 25 is guided along a sliding surface 24 on housing 18 of the piston. The housing 18 is thus moved in a merely linear manner, with respective guide means being provided on the side part, and the housing 18 is moved only linearly. 30 During the opening of the hinge part 4, the projection 11 slides over the sliding surface 16 on lever 12 again, which is then pivoted again as a result of the force of N.\Melbourn\Cb60s\Patnt\oo000-80999\P80172.AU\Specio\PB0172.AU GH SPEC PIRSTdoc 31/03/09 -7 spring 20, so that the housing 18 is moved away from piston 19 again. Fig. 4 shows the mounting position of the furniture hinge 5 1, in which the flap 21 is shown in the opened position. In this way, the damper with the housing 18, piston rod 19 and spring 20 can be fastened easily to the side part 3. Flap 21 is held on side part 3 in a pivoting manner about axis 23. Side part 3 can be held in a movable way relative 10 to the mounting plate 2 via suitable adjusting means. When flap 21 is opened, lever 12 can be mounted in an especially simple way, which is fixed via an axis 13 to side part 3. The shape of the lever 12 can be chosen in such a way that the damper is active only in a desired 15 range of the pivoting movement of the hinge part 4. Moreover, the lever 12 can enable a certain compensation for tolerances when the hinge part 4 is adjusted relative to the mounting plate 2 when a furniture door is aligned. 20 In the claims which follow and in the preceding description of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising" is used in an inclusive sense, 25 i.e. to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the invention. It is to be understood that, if any prior art publication 30 is referred to herein, such reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms a part of the common general knowledge in the art, in Australia or any other country. N:\Melboure\Caes\Patent\80000-80999\P8O172.AU\Specia\P80172.AU GH SPECI FIRST.doc 31/03/09

Claims

1. A furniture hinge, comprising a mounting plate which can be fixed to a furniture carcass and on which a 5 side part is arranged, a hinge part mounted pivotably on the side part via a support lever, a guide lever with a linear damper comprising a housing and a displaceable piston rod being arranged as fluid damper or gas pressure damper and provided to dampen 10 the movement of the hinge part relative to the side part, and a lever mounted on the side part, wherein the lever rests on a sliding surface on the damper and produces a coupling between the damper and the guide lever, wherein a projection is arranged on the 15 guide lever and wherein the projection is adapted to be mechanically coupled with the lever mounted on the side part, the lever being rotatable about an axis, wherein the damper is arranged as a linear damper and is held in a pretensioned manner towards the lever by 20 a spring, so that when the hinge part is opened the spring will press the damper or the housing of the damper to an extended position, whereby the force of the spring acting upon the damper is lower than a spring which pretensions the hinge part to the closed 25 position.

2. A furniture hinge according to claim 1, wherein the lever is held in a freely movable way on opposite sides and only rests on the sliding or contact 30 surfaces.

3. A furniture hinge according to claim 2, wherein the lever comprises a curved contact surface as a curve 5142060_1 (GHMatters) P80172.AU - 9 guide on the side facing the projection.

4. A furniture hinge according to any one of the claims 1 to 3, wherein the axis of the lever is arranged 5 adjacent and parallel to the axes of the support lever and the guide lever.

5. A furniture hinge according to any one of the claims 1 to 4, wherein the lever is arranged in such a way 10 that the damper is effective only over a part of the closing movement of the hinge part, preferably over less than half the maximum pivoting path of the hinge part. 15

6. A furniture hinge according to any one of the claims 1 to 5, wherein the hinge part is pretensioned to the closed position through at least one spring. 20

7. A furniture hinge according to any one of the claims 1 to 7, wherein the side part comprises a pivoting flap to which the damper is fixed.

8. A furniture hinge substantially as described herein 25 with reference to the accompanying drawings. 5142060_1 (GHMatters) P80172.AU