Miscellaneous hardware (e.g. – bushing – carpet fastener – caster – Hinge – Including means to fasten leaf to member
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-18
2001-01-09
Mah, Chuck Y. (Department: 3626)
Miscellaneous hardware (e.g., bushing, carpet fastener, caster,
Hinge
Including means to fasten leaf to member
C016S236000, C016S252000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06170121
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to furniture hinges, and more particularly, to a mounting plate for mounting a hinge on a furniture article, such as a desk of cabinet, which in turn supports a door on the furniture article.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the cabinetry industry, a typical construction feature, for example, in cabinets which are provided with doors, is a face frame on which the door is supported and hinged. The face frame members are affixed, for example, to an opening in the cabinet, and a pair of concealed hinges are affixed to an edge one of the face frame members and the door. Typically, the face frame member to which the hinges are affixed is made of a relatively strong material, such as hardwood, and has a thickness in the range, for example of about one-half inch to about five-eighths inch to about three fourths inch.
A customary mounting method of affixing the concealed hinge to the face frame member utilizes a hinge mounting plate which is positioned on an edge of the face frame member and fastened to the face frame member with one or more fasteners, such as fastening screws, inserted through one or more openings in the mounting plate and into, for example, one or more corresponding pre-drilled holes in the face frame member. Alternatively, the face frame may be omitted entirely, for example, in frameless cabinets, and the hinge plate may be affixed directly to an edge of a cabinet wall member in a substantially similar way.
The customary method of affixing concealed hinges works well, for example, on cabinet components made of relatively strong materials, such as hardwood. However, serious problems are encountered when attempts are made to employ the customary method of affixing concealed hinges, for example, to less expensive materials, which are not as strong as hardwood, such as medium density fiberboard (MDF). For example, attempts to employ the customary method of affixing concealed hinges in cabinetry by the manufactured home or mobile some industry, where MDF is typically used, have been unsuccessful,
Reasons for the lack of success in the manufactured home or mobile home industry are, for example, that when fasteners, such as fastening screws, are used in an edge of an MDF cabinet component, such as a face frame member, which ranges in thickness from about one-half inch to about five-eighths inch to about three-fourths inch (but which is most typically about one-half inch), the fastener tends to cause the cabinet component to split, and the fastener tends to pull out of the cabinet component under the weight of the door supported by the hinge. Accordingly, other types of hinges, such as surface mounted hinges, are typically used for such purposes, rather than more esthetically pleasing edge mounted concealed hinges.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a feature and advantage of the present invention to provide a furniture hinge for a mounting plate which is inexpensive to make, easy to use, and which enables use, for example, of concealed, edge-mounted type hinges on relatively weak and/or relatively thin cabinet components.
To achieve the stated and other features, advantages and objects of the present invention, an embodiment of the present invention provides a mounting plate for a furniture hinge which includes a hinge plate with opposing edges and opposing ends, and which is adapted to be pivotably connected to a hinge component, such as a hinge cup, at least one pair of opposing legs depending from the opposing edges of the hinge plate, and a fastener opening formed in the hinge plate between the opposing legs. The opposing legs depend from the hinge plate parallel to one another, are spaced apart from one another by a predetermined distance, and at least one of the opposing legs extends from the hinge plate a distance which is at least as great as the predetermined distance by which the opposing legs are spaced from one another, or the opposing legs can extend from the hinge plate a distance which is equal to the predetermined distance by which the opposing legs are spaced from one another.
In an embodiment of the present invention, in order to accommodate mounting on a cabinet component of a type used in manufactured or mobile homes made, for example, of relatively thin particle board, the opposing legs are spaced from one another by a distance of about one-half inch, more or less. Further, the fastener opening is centered on the hinge plate between the opposing legs. Each of the opposing legs has a distal end portion, and the distal end portions can be flared apart from one another to facilitate mounting on the furniture component. In order to accommodate vertical adjustment of a door supported by the hinge on a cabinet component, the fastener opening can be elongated. A hinge arm extends from one of the opposing edges of the mounting plate and is pivoted to the hinge component, such as the hinge cup, which is fastened, for example, in a recess formed in the door.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the hinge plate also has a second pair of opposing legs depending from the opposing edges of the hinge plate and a second fastener opening formed in the hinge plate between the second pair of opposing from the respective pairs of opposing legs are spaced apart from one another and depend from the opposing edges adjacent the opposing ends of the hinge plate. The opposing legs of each pair depend parallel to one another, and the opposing legs of each pair are spaced apart from one another by a predetermined distance, and at least one opposing leg of each pair extends from the hinge plate a distance which is at least as great as the predetermined distance.
In an embodiment of the present invention, in order to accommodate mounting on a cabinet component of the type used in manufactured or mobile homes, the opposing legs of each pair are spaced from one another a distance of about one-half inch, more or less. Further, each of the fastener openings is centered on the hinge plate between the opposing legs of each pair of opposing legs. Each of the opposing legs has a distal end portion which can be flared apart from one another to accommodate mounting on a furniture component. Each fastener opening is elongated to allow vertical adjustment of the door relative to the furniture component, and a hinge arm extends from one of the opposing edges of the mounting plate and is pivoted to the hinge cup.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part with become more apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention.
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Grass America Inc.
Kilpatrick & Stockton LLP
Mah Chuck Y.
LandOfFree
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