Miscellaneous hardware (e.g. – bushing – carpet fastener – caster – Checks and closers
Patent
1989-08-15
1991-05-07
Rowan, Kurt
Miscellaneous hardware (e.g., bushing, carpet fastener, caster,
Checks and closers
16 54, 16 57, 16 58, 16 82, 16DIG9, E05F 300
Patent
active
050125516
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a furniture hinge having hinge components which can be affixed to the body of the furniture and to a door or cover and also having at least one lever which is articulately connected with these hinge components.
Most furniture hinges of this type are equipped with a spring mechanism which automatically closes the door, the cover or the like. The closing motion due to the spring force frequently leads to disturbing slamming sounds.
In many cases, externally acting forces, e.g., resulting from manual manipulation of the door panel, are superimposed on the closing force due to the spring mechanism. This can intensify the closing sounds of the door or the like.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to design a furniture hinge of the above type so that disturbing closing sounds are eliminated and externally applied closing or opening forces are damped.
According to the invention, this object is achieved in that a damping device provided with an incompressible hydraulic medium is arranged between the lever and a hinge component and includes a piston rod which is articulated to the lever, a piston secured to the piston rod and a cylinder affixed to the hinge component and receiving the piston. The cylinder is provided with an end cap which has a central through opening for the piston rod and defines two chambers with the piston and the cylinder. Transfer openings or channels for the hydraulic medium are provided in the region of the piston.
In the furniture hinge of the invention, the damping device is disposed between functional components of the furniture hinge without the need to change the dimensions and/or the structure of the hinge components to be affixed to the body of the furniture and to the door or cover.
Since furniture hinges are mass produced articles having limited allowable cost, the damping device must likewise be economical to manufacture and mount.
The damping device in accordance with the invention must be able to withstand the normal loading situation in which the door, the cover or the like is closed by the relatively small force of the closing spring of the furniture hinge as well as the exceptional situation in which the door or the like is activated by external influences such as manual pushing of the door to the closed position or manual opening of the door.
In an advantageous embodiment of the furniture hinge of the invention, the end cap anchored to the cylinder is constructed as an elastically deformable bellows having a through channel for the piston rod, and the end cap is fixed to the piston rod in a fluidtight fashion in the region of this through channel. The through channel can have an inwardly projecting annular bead which extends into an annular groove of the piston rod.
Due to the elasticity of the bellows-shaped end cap and the inwardly projecting annular bead, a lock with respect to both force and shape is developed between the covering cap and the piston rod in the region of the through channel. As a result of this connection, sliding friction between the piston rod and the covering cap is avoided during operation of the damping device. Furthermore, the covering cap is deformed in a direction towards the cylinder during the closing motion of the hinge.
Prior to initiation of the opening motion of the door or the furniture hinge, the damping fluid is to be found in the chamber bounded by the bellows-shaped end cap and the piston. If the opening motion is performed very rapidly by hand, the covering cap is elastically deformed so that the piston rod can follow the rapid opening motion. A subatmospheric pressure is then developed in the second cylinder chamber thereby causing a vapor bubble to form and forcing the hydraulic fluid to flow out of the first chamber into the second at increased speed so that the elastic deformation of the covering cap is reversed and the opening motion can be carried out virtually undamped.
If, during the closing motion of the hinge which is checked by the damping device,
REFERENCES:
patent: 1159697 (1915-11-01), Miles et al.
patent: 2161101 (1939-06-01), Simms
patent: 2437192 (1948-03-01), Glanz
patent: 2953810 (1960-09-01), Hall
patent: 3259937 (1966-07-01), Kotikov
patent: 4196924 (1980-04-01), Iseki
patent: 4431030 (1984-02-01), Nachazel
patent: 4669147 (1987-06-01), Suchanek
Beneke Ulrich
Gross Jurgen
Oepping Wilfried
Schnelle Manfred
Sundermeier Gunter
Brown Edward A.
Kontler Peter K.
Paul Hettich GmbH & Co.
Rowan Kurt
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