Hinge with a safety shield plate unit

A hinge with a safety shield plate unit is designed not to cover the hinge but to be rotatably fitted to the fixed front shaft of the hinge and be resiliently urged toward the cup-shaped fixing member of the hinge by a resilient member in such a way that the safety shield plate unit is prevented from unnecessarily moving toward the cup-shaped fixing member by causing the anchoring sections of the movable link arm to abut the respective anchored sections of the safety shield plate unit. The hinge main body includes a fixing member fitted to a fixed plate and a cup-shaped fixing member fitted to a movable plate. The members are linked together by movable arms. A safety shield plate unit fitted to the fixed front shaft linking the fixing member and the movable link arm is urged downward to follow and hide the hazardous area defined by the movable arms and the cup-shaped fixing member and having a volume that increases with the opening movement of the movable plate. The anchored sections of the safety shield plate unit are held by the respective anchoring sections to prevent the safety shield plate unit from inadvertently falling into the cup-shaped space and blocking the opening movement of the hinge.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 1. Field of the Invention
 This invention relates to a hinge to be used to allow a furniture door to
 swing open and closed. More particularly, it relates to a hinge comprising
 a plurality of movable arms and a safety shield plate unit adapted to
 prevent part of the clothes or a finger of the user that is inadvertently
 put into the hazardous space with a variable volume defined by the moving
 arms of the hinge from being damaged or, in the worst case, cut by the
 moving arms.
 2. Prior Art
 There are known hinges designed to prevent part of the clothes or a finger
 of the user that is inadvertently put into the hazardous space with a
 variable volume defined by the moving arms of the hinge from being
 damaged.
 FIGS. 14 through 16 of the accompanying drawings schematically illustrate a
 known hinge of the type under consideration (Japanese Utility Model
 Publication No. 5-2287). It comprises a fixing member 1 to be rigidly
 fitted to the inside surface of an anchor plate A, which may be a lateral
 plate of the main body of a piece of furniture, a cup-shaped fixing member
 2 to be rigidly fitted to the inner surface of a movable plate B, which
 may be the door of the piece of furniture, and engaged with the fixing
 member 1 and four movable arms including a movable link arm 3, a movable
 rear arm 4, an movable intermediary arm 5 and a movable front arm 6.
 The movable link arm 3 and the movable rear arm 4 are arranged respectively
 to pivot on a fixed front shaft 1a and a fixed rear shaft 1b and the
 movable rear arm 4 pivots on an intermediary rear shaft 5b arranged at the
 (intermediary) rear end 5a of the movable intermediary arm 5.
 Additionally, said movable intermediary arm 5 pivots at the (intermediary)
 front end 5c thereof on an intermediary cup-side shaft 5d located inside
 the cup-shaped space 2a of said cup-shaped fixing member 2 and hence close
 to said fixing member 1 so that said movable link arm 3 and the movable
 intermediary arm 5 are linked together at respective middle parts thereof
 by means of an intermediary shaft 3e.
 Furthermore, linking front shaft 3b at the (linking) front end 3a of said
 movable link arm 3 and cup-side shaft 6a located near the outside in said
 cup-shaped space 2a of said cup-shaped fixing member 2 are linked together
 by the movable front shaft 6.
 With the above described arrangement, the movable plate B is fitted to the
 fixed plate A and apt to swing open by 90 to 180 degrees relative to the
 furniture main body and then closed as seen from FIGS. 14, 15 and 16.
 Thus, with a hinge having a configuration as described above, no space is
 produced by the fixed plate 1, the cup-shaped fixing member 2, the movable
 link arm 3, the movable rear arm 4, the movable intermediary arm 5 and the
 movable front arm 6 when the movable plate B is closed as shown in FIG.
 14. However, there will be produced not only space S1 defined by the
 fixing member 1, the movable rear arm 4, the movable intermediary arm 5
 and the movable link arm 3 and but also relatively large hazardous space
 S2 defined by the cup-shaped fixing member 2, the movable intermediary arm
 5, the movable link arm 3 and the Movable front arm 6 as the movable plate
 B is moved to its open position along arrow OP in FIG. 15.
 Then, as pointed out above, part of the clothes or a finger of the user can
 be inadvertently put into the space S1 and/or the hazardous space S1
 having a variable volume to become damaged. In order to avoid such an
 accident, a hinge cover C comprising a cover main body C1 and a movable
 cover member C2 fitted to the cover main body so as to pivot on pivot pin
 P is fitted typically to the movable intermediary arm 5 so that the space
 Si and the hazardous space S2 may be hidden by the cover main body C1.
 Then, as the member plate B is swung open along arrow OP from the position
 in FIG. 14 to the position in FIG. 15, the movable cover member C2 is
 driven to rotate and extend from the cover main body C1 because the front
 end of flexible link belt C3 extending from the movable cover member C2 is
 fitted at the front end thereof to the movable front arm 6. As a result,
 the growing hazardous space S2 is hidden by the movable cover member C2.
 However, since the distance by which the movable cover member C2 can extend
 from the cover main body C1 is limited by the dimensions of the latter,
 the hazardous space S2 can become exposed to a considerable extent when
 the movable plate B is moved to its open position as shown in FIG. 15.
 Additionally, when the movable plate B is opened by 90 degrees relative to
 the fixed plate A as shown in FIG. 16, the hazardous space S2 is mostly
 exposed although its size is reduced slightly.
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 With the known technology of using a hinge cover C, the cover C can hide
 space S1 satisfactorily but cannot satisfactorily cover hazardous space S2
 although the hinge cover C are dimensioned to be considerably large in an
 attempt to completely cover the hinge.
 Such a hinge cover C limits the space available for storing goods in the
 furniture and can obstruct the operation of taking out an article from and
 putting it back into the furniture, although the hinge cover C is rather
 costly.
 In view of the above identified problem of the known technology, it is a
 first object of the present invention to provide a hinge with a safety
 shield plate unit designed not to cover the hinge but to be rotatably
 fitted to the fixed front shaft of the hinge and resiliently urged toward
 the cup-shaped fixing member of the hinge by means of a resilient member
 in such a way that said safety shield plate unit is prevented from
 unnecessarily moving toward the cup-shaped fixing member by causing the
 anchoring sections of the movable link arm to abut the respective anchored
 sections of the safety shield plate unit.
 With such an arrangement, when the movable plate will be swung open from or
 closed relative to the fixed plate, the safety shield plate unit is
 reliably rotated in order to hide the hazardous space and prevent any
 unexpected accident from happening. Additionally, such a safety shield
 plate unit will not be expensive but will be sized relatively small so
 that it will not reduce the available space of the furniture to which it
 is fitted. Still additionally, the free end of the safety shield plate
 unit will be prevented from unduly entering the cup-shaped space of the
 cup-shaped fixing member to obstruct a smooth opening or closing motion of
 the movable member.
 Preferably, the above resilient member for resiliently urging said safety
 shield plate unit toward said cup-shaped fixing member is arranged between
 the resilient member receiving section of the safety shield plate unit and
 the engaging hole of the movable link arm in order to make the safety
 shield plate unit operate reliably.
 Preferably, the safety shield plate unit is prevented from moving
 unintentionally in order to make it operate reliably to cover the
 hazardous space by allowing the anchoring projections arranged at the
 opposite lateral sides of the movable link arm to freely abut the
 receiving end of the space within the safety shield plate unit so as to
 improve the relationship between the anchoring sections and the anchored
 sections.
 Preferably, the resilient member is not a coil spring but a helical spring
 held in engagement with the fixed front shaft and having its opposite ends
 held respectively to the resilient member receiving section and the fixing
 member. Alternatively, the helical spring may be held in engagement with a
 lateral shaft arranged on the fixing member at a position close to the
 fixed plate and having one end thereof held to the base section of the
 safety shield plate unit and the other end held to the fixing member.
 A second object of the present invention is to provide a hinge with a
 safety shield plate unit that is different from the above described hinge
 for achieving the first object in that the safety shield plate unit is
 prevented from moving unintentionally not by the freely abutting
 arrangement of the anchoring sections and the anchored sections but by
 making the safety shield plate unit larger in size so that it may not
 enter the cup-shaped space of the cup-shaped fixing member to make the
 hinge inoperative by the constant urging effort of the resilient member
 and additionally it may be prevented from entering the cup-shaped space by
 collision of the exposed area of the cup-shaped fixing member and the
 movable plate. Then, while the safety shield plate unit may be sized
 slightly greater than its counterpart that is designed for achieving the
 first object, it does not require the anchoring sections nor the anchored
 sections to make the unit structurally simple and provide a reliable
 effect of hiding the hazardous space.
 Preferably, the resilient member is not a coil spring but a helical spring
 held in engagement with the fixed front shaft and having its opposite ends
 held respectively to the resilient member receiving section and the fixing
 member. Alternatively, the helical spring may be held in engagement with a
 lateral shaft arranged on the fixing member at a position close to the
 fixed plate and having one end thereof held to the base section of the
 safety shield plate unit and the other end held to the fixing member.
 According to a first aspect of the invention, the above first object is
 achieved by providing a hinge with a safety shield plate unit comprising a
 fixing member to be fitted to a fixed plate of a piece of furniture, a
 cup-shaped fixing member fitted to and held in engagement with a movable
 plate of the furniture and a movable link arm and a movable rear arm
 respectively rotatably fitted to a fixed front shaft and a fixed rear
 shaft, said movable rear arm being adapted to pivot at the (intermediary)
 rear end thereof on an (intermediary) rear shaft, said movable
 intermediary arm being adapted to pivot at the (intermediary) front end
 thereof on an intermediary cup-side shaft in the inside of the cup-shaped
 space of said cup-shaped fixing member, said movable link arm and said
 movable intermediary arm being linked at middle sections thereof by an
 intermediary shaft, said linking front shaft at the linking front end of
 said movable link arm and a front cup-side shaft arranged within said
 cup-shaped space of said cup-shaped fixing member being linked by a
 movable front arm so as to allow said movable plate to be swung open and
 closed relative to said fixed plate, characterized in that said safety
 shield plate unit having its base section held to said front fixing shaft
 is so arranged as to be rotatable in the gap between said movable
 intermediary arm and said movable link arm and resiliently urged toward
 the cup-shaped fixing member by a resilient member, while the anchored
 sections of said safety shield plate unit abut the respective anchoring
 sections of said movable link arm to limit the entrance of said safety
 shield plate unit into the cup-shaped space of said cup-shaped fixing
 member so that the hazardous space defined by the movable link arm, the
 movable front arm and the intermediary arm of the cup-shaped fixing member
 and having a variable volume is hidden to make it nonhazardous when the
 movable plate is made to swing open and closed relative to the fixed
 plate.
 Preferably, said safety shield plate unit includes a pair of oppositely
 disposed shield plates projecting respectively from a pair of base
 sections and arranged in the respective gaps located at the lateral ends
 of the movable intermediary arm and the movable link arm and separated
 from each other and a resilient member receiving section formed by
 coupling said pair of shield plates at a position close to the base
 sections of said pair of shield plates entering the cup-shaped space when
 the hinge is moved to its closed position, a coil spring being arranged as
 resilient member between said resilient member receiving section and an
 engaging hole formed in the movable link arm at a position close to the
 fixed front shaft.
 Preferably, said safety shield plate unit includes a pair of oppositely
 disposed shield plates projecting respectively from a pair of base
 sections and arranged in the respective gaps located at the lateral ends
 of the movable intermediary arm and the movable link arm and separated
 from each other and the anchoring sections of the movable link arm is
 formed by anchoring projections projecting from the lateral opposite ends
 of the movable link arm, while the anchored sections of the safety shield
 plate unit are formed by receiving edges of the cavities formed in the
 shield plates to allow said anchoring projections to respectively pass
 therethrough.
 Preferably, said safety shield plate unit includes a pair of oppositely
 disposed shield plates projecting respectively from a pair of base
 sections and arranged in the respective gaps located at the lateral ends
 of the movable intermediary arm and the movable link arm and separated
 from each other and a resilient member receiving section formed by
 coupling said pair of shield plates at a position close to the base
 sections of said pair of shield plates entering the cup-shaped space when
 the hinge is moved to its closed position, a helical spring being engaged
 as resilient member with the fixed front shaft with an end thereof held to
 said resilient member receiving section and the other end thereof held to
 the fixing member.
 Preferably, said safety shield plate unit includes a pair of oppositely
 disposed shield plates projecting respectively from a pair of base
 sections and arranged in the respective gaps located at the lateral ends
 of the movable intermediary arm and the movable link arm and separated
 from each other and a resilient member receiving section formed by
 coupling said pair of shield plates at a position close to the base
 sections of said pair of shield plates entering the cup-shaped space when
 the hinge is moved to its closed position, a helical spring being engaged
 as resilient member with a pivoting shaft arranged laterally in the fixing
 member at a position close to the fixed plate with an end thereof held to
 the base sections of said safety shield plate unit and the other end
 thereof held to the fixing member.
 According to a second aspect of the invention, the above second object is
 achieved by providing a hinge with a safety shield plate unit comprising a
 fixing member to be fitted to a fixed plate of a piece of furniture, a
 cup-shaped fixing member fitted to and held in engagement with a movable
 plate of the furniture and a movable link arm and a movable rear arm
 respectively rotatably fitted to a fixed front shaft and a fixed rear
 shaft, said movable rear arm being adapted to pivot at the (intermediary)
 rear end of a movable intermediary arm on an (intermediary) rear shaft,
 said movable intermediary arm being adapted to pivot at the (intermediary)
 front end thereof on an intermediary cup-side shaft in the inside of the
 cup-shaped space of said cup-shaped fixing member, said movable link arm
 and said movable intermediary arm being linked at middle sections thereof
 by an intermediary shaft, said linking front shaft at the linking front
 end of said movable link arm and a front cup-side shaft arranged within
 said cup-shaped space of said cup-shaped fixing member being linked by a
 movable front arm so as to allow said movable plate to be swung open and
 closed relative to said fixed plate, characterized in that said safety
 shield plate unit having its base section held to said front fixing shaft
 is so arranged as to be rotatable in the gap between said movable
 intermediary arm and said movable link arm and resiliently urged toward
 the cup-shaped fixing member by a resilient member so that the hazardous
 space defined by the movable link arm, the movable front arm and the
 intermediary arm of the cup-shaped fixing member and having a variable
 volume is hidden to make it non-hazardous when the movable plate is made
 to swing open and closed relative to the fixed plate while the free end of
 the safety shield plate unit is so dimensioned as to make it prevented
 from falling into the cup-shaped space of the cup-shaped fixing member
 from the outer edge side thereof in order to restrict the movement of the
 free end entering the cup-shaped space of said cup-shaped fixing member.
 Preferably, said safety shield plate unit includes a pair of oppositely
 disposed shield plates projecting respectively from a pair of base
 sections and arranged in the respective gaps located at the lateral ends
 of the movable intermediary arm and the movable link arm and separated
 from each other and a resilient member receiving section formed by
 coupling said pair of shield plates at a position close to the base
 sections of said pair of shield plates entering the cup-shaped space when
 the hinge is moved to its closed position, a helical spring being engaged
 as resilient member with the fixed front shaft with an end thereof held to
 said resilient member receiving section and the other end thereof held to
 the fixing member.
 Preferably, said safety shield plate unit includes a pair of oppositely
 disposed shield plates projecting respectively from a pair of base
 sections and arranged in the respective gaps located at the lateral ends
 of the movable intermediary arm and the movable link arm and separated
 from each other and a resilient member receiving section formed by
 coupling said pair of shield plates at a position close to the base
 sections of said pair of shield plates entering the cup-shaped space when
 the hinge is moved to its closed position, a helical spring being engaged
 as resilient member with a pivoting shaft arranged laterally in the fixing
 member at a position close to the fixed plate with an end thereof held to
 the base sections of said safety shield plate unit and the other end
 thereof held to the fixing member.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
 Now, the present invention will be described by referring to the
 accompanying drawings that illustrate preferred embodiments of the
 invention.
 FIGS. 1 through 5 schematically illustrate preferred embodiments according
 to the first aspect of the invention. Referring to FIGS. 1 through 5,
 hinge main body H is used to link a fixed plate A and a movable plate B
 and has a configuration substantially identical with that of the known
 hinge illustrated in FIGS. 14 through 16. Therefore, the components which
 are the same as the counterparts of the known hinge are denoted
 respectively by the same reference symbols and will not be described any
 further unless some additional description is deemed to be necessary.
 The hinge comprises a fixing member 1, a cup-shaped fixing member 2, a
 movable link arm 3 for linking the fixing member 1 and the cup-shaped
 fixing member 2, a movable rear arm 4, a movable intermediary arm 5 and a
 movable front arm 6, which are rotatably linked together by means of a
 fixed front shaft 1a, a fixed rear shaft 1b, a linking front shaft 3b, an
 (intermediary) rear shaft 5b, an intermediary cup-side shaft 5d, an
 intermediary shaft 5e and a front cup-side shaft 6a.
 Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, the fixing member 1 comprises a mounting
 plate 1d to be secured to the fixed plate A by means of screws 1c and a
 fixed frame 1f to be secured to the mounting plate 1d by means of an
 anchor bolt 1e. In FIGS. 1A and 1B, reference symbol 1g denotes an
 adjuster screw for laterally adjusting the position of the movable plate
 B. In FIG. 1B, reference symbol 2b denotes screws for securing the
 cup-shaped fixing member 2 to the movable plate B and reference symbol S2
 denotes the hazardous space defined by the movable link arm 3, the movable
 front arm 6, the cup-shaped fixing member 2 and the movable intermediary
 arm 5 as described earlier.
 As seen also from FIG. 1B, the movable intermediary arm 5 is formed by
 bifurcated intermediary plate sections 5f at the side of the cup-shaped
 fixing member 2 and the movable link arm 3 and the movable front arm 6 are
 arranged at a lateral middle area thereof.
 In the hinge main body H according to the invention and having the above
 described configuration, a safety shield plate unit 10 having its base
 sections 10s rotatably fitted to the fixed front shaft 1a is rotatably
 arranged in the gaps between the intermediary lateral wall sections 5f of
 the movable intermediary arm 5 and the movable link arm 3 as shown in FIG.
 2.
 Then, there is provided a resilient member 11 that is typically a spring or
 a rubber member for resiliently and constantly urging the safety shield
 plate unit 10 toward the safety shield plate unit 2 in order to prevent
 the safety shield plate unit 10 from swinging freely and push it toward
 the movable plate B.
 What is vitally important with the hinge according to the invention is that
 said safety shield plate unit 10 cannot move freely to abuts the
 cup-shaped fixing member 2 and/or some other members if it is resiliently
 urged by the resilient member 11. To the contrary, its rotary motion is
 limited in a manner as discussed below.
 Once the anchored sections 10b of the safety shield plate unit 10 are held
 by the respective anchoring sections 3c of the movable link arm 3, any
 movement of the safety shield plate unit 10 trying to enter the cup-shaped
 space 2a of the cup-shaped fixing member 2 is limited so that, when the
 movable plate B is swung open or closed relative to the fixed plate A, the
 free end 10c of the safety shield plate unit 10 is prevented from entering
 the cup-shaped space 2a and obstructing the movement of the door to its
 closed or open position and the proper function of the hinge main body H
 is always guaranteed.
 With the above described embodiment, the hazardous space S2 that is defined
 by the movable link arm 3, the movable front arm 6, the cup-shaped fixing
 member 2 and the movable intermediary arm 5 and catch the operating finger
 or part of the clothes of the user is constantly hidden by the free end
 10c of the safety shield plate unit 10 to render the hazardous space S2
 whose volume is variable when the movable plate B is made to swing open or
 closed relative to the fixed plate A totally nonhazardous.
 FIG. 5 shows a preferably configuration of the resilient member 11 of the
 above embodiment.
 Referring to FIG. 5, the safety shield plate unit 10 includes a pair of
 oppositely disposed shield plates 10d projecting respectively from a pair
 of base sections 10a and arranged in the respective gaps g (see FIG. 1B)
 located at the lateral ends of the intermediary plate sections 5f of the
 movable intermediary arm 5 and the movable link arm 3 and separated from
 each other and a resilient member receiving section 10e is formed by
 uniting the shield plates 10d at a position close to the base sections 10a
 adapted to enter the cup-shaped space 2a when the hinge is held to its
 closed position as shown in FIG. 2.
 Then, a coil spring is arranged as resilient member 11 between said
 resilient member receiving section 10e and an engaging hole 3d formed in
 the movable link arm 3 at a position close to the fixed front shaft 1a so
 that the safety shield plate unit 10 may be resiliently urged toward the
 movable plate B.
 Preferably, the anchoring sections 3c of the movable link arm 3 is formed
 by anchoring projecting from the lateral opposite ends of the movable link
 arm 3, while the anchored sections 10b of the safety shield plate unit 10
 are formed by receiving edges of the cavities 10f formed through the
 shield plates 10d to allow said anchoring projections to respectively pass
 therethrough at the side of the intermediary shaft 5e.
 Preferably, not a coil spring but a helical spring is engaged as resilient
 member 11 with the fixed front shaft 1a as shown in FIG. 6. Then, an end
 of the helical spring is held to said resilient member receiving section
 10e for mutual abutment and the other end thereof is held to the fixing
 member 1 to make the overall configuration further simple.
 Alternatively, a helical spring is engaged as resilient member 11 with
 pivoting shaft 11a arranged laterally in the fixing member 1 at a position
 close to the fixed plate A as shown in FIGS. 10 through 13. Then, an end
 of the helical spring is held to the base sections 10a of said safety
 shield plate unit 10 and the other end thereof is held to the fixing
 member 1 to make the overall configuration also further simple.
 With a hinge having a configuration as described above, the volume of the
 hazardous space S2 is minimal when the movable member B is closed relative
 to the fixed plate A as shown in FIG. 2 so that there will be no danger of
 physical damage, although the safety shield plate unit 10 is nevertheless
 hiding the hazardous space S2. Under this condition, the safety shield
 plate unit 10 is pushed by the cup-shaped fixing member 2 so that the
 anchoring sections 3c are located in the respective cavities 10f of the
 safety shield plate unit 10 and separated from the respective anchored
 sections 10b, the resilient member 11 being compressed by the safety
 shield plate unit 10.
 As the movable plate B is moved in the direction of arrow OP to open the
 plate, the hazardous space gradually increases its volume as seen from
 FIG. 3, although the safety shield plate unit 10 that is resiliently urged
 by the resilient member 11 follows the movable plate B to hide the
 hazardous space S2 and make it nonhazardous if it is partly or entirely
 exposed. Since the anchoring sections 3c hold the respective anchored
 sections 10b under this condition, the safety shield plate unit 10 cannot
 move toward the cup-shaped fixing member 2 so that the free end 10c is
 prevented from falling into the cup-shaped space 2a and being held there
 to make the hinge unable to be opened.
 As the movable plate is swung open further to take a position as shown in
 FIG. 1A, the safety shield plate unit 10 keeps on satisfactorily hiding
 the hazardous space S2. When the movable plate B gets to the open position
 as shown in FIG. 4, the volume of the hazardous space S2 is reduced to
 make itself safe without a shield plate. Thus, although the movable plate
 B can be opened further, the hazardous space S2 will no longer be
 existent.
 At the position of FIG. 4, the anchoring sections 3c drive the respective
 cavities 10f downward and, when the movable plate B is opened to show a
 possible maximum angle relative to the fixed plate A, the cavities 10f are
 made to get to the lowest level by the respective anchoring sections 3c,
 while the resilient member 11 is compressed further as the movable plate B
 is driven to become open.
 Now, an embodiment according to the second aspect of the invention will be
 described by referring to FIGS. 6 through 9. The hinge main body of this
 embodiment has a configuration same as that of any of the above described
 embodiments according to the first aspect of the invention and the safety
 shield plate unit 10 having its base sections 10a rotatably fitted to the
 fixed front shaft 1a is made rotatable in the gaps g between the movable
 intermediary arm 5 and the movable link arm 3, while the safety shield
 plate unit 10 is resiliently urged toward the cup-shaped fixing member 2
 by means of a resilient member 11.
 Then, the hazardous space S2 is hidden by the free end 10c of the safety
 shield plate unit 10 to make it nonhazardous when the movable plate B is
 swung open or closed relative to the fixed plate A, while the free end 10c
 of the safety shield plate unit 10 is so dimensioned as to make it
 prevented from falling into the cup-shaped space 2a of the cup-shaped
 fixing member 2 from the outer edge side thereof in order to restrict the
 movement of the free end 10c entering the cup-shaped space 2a of said
 cup-shaped fixing member 2 so that consequently, the free end 10c extends
 by a length that prevents it from falling into the cup-shaped space 2a
 from the outer edge side (left side in FIGS. 6 through 9) of the
 cup-shaped fixing member 2.
 Preferably, a helical spring is engaged as resilient member 11 with the
 fixed front shaft 1a with an end thereof held to the resilient member
 receiving section 10e of the safety shield plate unit 10 and the other end
 thereof held to an anchoring pin of the fixing member 1.
 With a hinge having a configuration as described above, the safety shield
 plate unit 10 is located at a position where it hides the hazardous space
 S2, which is rather small as described above by referring to FIG. 2, when
 the movable plate B is closed relative to the fixed plate A, so that,
 although the resilient member 11 urges the cup-shaped fixing member 2, the
 movable plate B is held to is closed position and the free end 10c is
 extended from the linking front shaft 3b to a level considerably higher
 than that of FIG. 2.
 Then, as the movable plate B is driven to swing open in the direction of
 arrow OP, the hazardous space S2 is expanded as in the case of FIG. 3,
 although it is hidden by the safety shield plate unit 10 rotating under
 the effect of the resilient member 11 as shown in FIG. 7 to make the
 hazardous space S2 nonhazardous. Additionally, since the safety shield
 plate unit 10 of this embodiment is dimensioned so as not to fall into the
 cup-shaped space 2a in the course of the rotation motion of the movable
 plate B, the hinge is made to operate smoothly without making the anchored
 sections 10b to be held by the anchoring sections 3c as in the case of
 FIG. 3.
 As the movable plate B is driven to rotate further, the hazardous space S2
 is hidden and, at the same time, the safety shield plate unit 10 abuts the
 inner edge side of the cup-shaped fixing member 2 at the position close to
 the base sections 20a to prevents the free end thereof from falling into
 the cup-shaped space 2a as shown in FIG. 8. As the movable plate B is
 driven to rotate further to get to the position shown in FIG. 9, the
 volume of the hazardous space S2 is reduced to make it nonhazardous.
 Thereafter, the volume of the hazardous space S2 is reduced further as the
 movable plate B is rotated still further.
 Thus, if compared with a hinge according to the first aspect of the
 invention, a hinge according to the second aspect of the invention has a
 safety shield plate unit 10 larger than the former, although the latter
 does not require the use of anchoring sections 3c and the anchored
 sections 10b to make the overall configuration more simple. In other
 words, a hinge according to the first aspect of the invention has an
 advantage that a small safety shield plate unit 10 can be used in it to
 reduce the overall volume of the furniture main body.
 Alternatively, according to the invention, the helical spring may be
 arranged in a manner as shown in FIGS. 13 through 16 that is different
 from the above described counterpart.
 The safety shield plate unit 10 comprises a pair of oppositely disposed
 shield plates 10d that are extended from a pair of base sections 10a
 thereof and located in the respective gaps g at the lateral ends of the
 movable intermediary arm 5 and the movable link arm 3 as in the case of
 the above embodiment. Then, a helical spring is engaged as pivoting shaft
 11 with pivoting shaft 11a arranged laterally in the fixing member 1 at a
 position close to the fixed plate A.
 Then, an end of the helical spring is held to the base sections 10a of said
 safety shield plate unit 10 and the other end thereof is held to the
 fixing member 1 to make the overall configuration also further simple.
 FIG. 14 is a partly cut away schematic plan view of a known hinge of the
 type under consideration, where the door is closed and FIG. 15 is a partly
 cut away schematic plan view of the hinge of FIG. 14 in an open position,
 where the door is opened by an angle less than 90 degrees, whereas FIG. 16
 is a partly cut away schematic plan view of the hinge of FIG. 14 in an
 open position, where the door is opened by an angle of 90 degrees, said
 figures being drawn to make the above described arrangement of the
 invention easily understandable. Thus, the relationship between the
 deformation of the helical spring and the rotary position of the safety
 shield plate unit 10 may be clearly realized by referring to FIGS. 14
 through 16.
 Thus, with a hinge according to the first aspect of the invention, the
 safety shield plate unit does not significantly project from the hinge
 main body and hence occupies no extra space if compared with a comparable
 known hinge. Therefore, the capacity of the furniture main body can be
 fully utilized and the safety shield plate unit can be prepared at a cost
 lower than a hinge cover designed to entirely cover the hinge main body.
 Then, the hinge of the present invention has an appearance that can
 improve the value of the product and effectively hide the hazardous space
 more than ever. Particularly, it can effectively eliminate the risk of
 hazardous accidents such as a finger pinched by the members of the hinge.
 If the safety shield plate unit is provided with anchoring sections and
 matching anchored sections, the overall size of the safety shield plate
 unit can be reduced because the free end of the safety shield plate unit
 is effectively prevented from falling into the cup-shaped space of the
 hinge by the resilient force of the resilient member. Additionally, the
 movement of the safety shield plate unit following the hazardous space can
 be guaranteed by properly positioning the resilient member.
 When a coil spring is used for the resilient member, it can be removably
 engaged with the anchoring sections and the anchored sections. When, a
 helical spring is alternatively be used for the resilient member, it will
 be engaged with the fixed front shaft or a pivoting shaft with its
 opposite ends held by appropriate members in order to guarantee the
 advantage of present invention.
 With a hinge according to the second aspect of the invention, the safety
 shield plate unit is made dimensionally slightly greater than that of the
 hinge according to the first aspect of the invention in order to prevent
 the safety shield plate unit from accidentally falling in the cup-shaped
 space of the hinge. Then, the advantage of the first aspect of the
 invention is guaranteed without arranging anchoring sections and anchored
 sections so that the hinge can enjoy a prolonged service life.
 A coil spring or a helical spring may be used for the hinge according to
 the second aspect of the invention to achieve the above described effect.