Sliding safety hinge assembly for lid of box

The Sliding Safety Hinge Assembly (SSHA) minimizes the degree of personal injury or discomfort that could result from accidental closure of the lid of a box, i.e. “toy box”, by pinching a finger between the lid and box, particularly as the obstruction approaches the side or rear of the box near the hinge. A traditional hinge attached to the lid and rear of box carcass provides a fixed pivot point such that a severe pinch point exists due to the leverage of the lid. The SSHA reduces this potential by a sliding design such that the hinge element normally fastened to the rear of the box is rather installed on a slide assembly allowing free sliding motion in the vertical plane at the rear of the box. The SSHA assembly would include a slide, pivot and counter weight device to reduce the weight of the lid.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to improvements in a hinge. More particularly, the present invention is an enhancement to conventionally produced and applications of a hinge, such as the hinge (s) providing the pivot point between a box and lid. The “enhancement” is the actual idea and the intended improvement in application is to minimize the potential bodily harm that can result from an extremity being pinched between the compressive and/or shearing action of the box and lid upon closure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Most toy box use a standard hinge that pivots through an axis located on one end of the box. If a child places a finger on the outmost end of the toy box away of the hinge side there is minimal load that can crush a finger. If a child places a finger closer to the hinge side mechanical advantage of the moment arm of the lid make crushing or severing a finger easier. Normally the selection of lighter weight material and mechanisms for counter balancing the weight of the lid can be considered and incorporated into the design and fabrication of the box, thus minimizing the likelihood and/or force of the lid accidentally compressing one's extremity (finger/hand). Unfortunately, the force that can be produced between the lid and the box upon closing can be significant when being forcefully closed by an individual and in particular as the pinched extremity approaches the physical plane of the hinges pivot point, as the leverage resulting from this “scissors” action can be tremendous, i.e. magnitudes higher than the weight and/or force being applied to the lid. As a consequence, the victim of this accident can experience bodily injury. Some custom hinge patents have been issued that allow for a sliding end of a hinge. In all these cases the inventor creates a unique hinge while the pending application operates with a standard hinge. Exemplary examples of issue custom hinges are provided herein.

U.S. Pat. No. 523,304 issued on Jul. 17, 1894 to R. F. Collins discloses a furniture hinge. The furniture hinge provides for both an extension and a hinging action for furniture. More specifically the extension allows the hinge to work with a sofa bed where the extension allows the padding on the bed surface to be accommodated. While this patent allows for a sliding hinge that could be used in other applications the hinge is a custom configuration and is not useful with a standard hinge.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,243,919 issued Jun. 12, 2001 to Ove Hetland discloses a hinge for doors and windows. The hinge is custom fabricated and includes a spring that pushes an arm of the hinge into the pivoting hilt of the hinge. This patent is used with vertical surfaces that are maintained in a various positions from open to close. While this patent reduces the potential for injury on a door or window it uses custom hinge pieces and is not intended for use with toy box lids that swing vertically open.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,836,934 issued Jan. 4, 2005 to San Miguel De Juana et al., discloses a safety hinge. The safety hinge mounts on the ends of a door frame. If an object is in the pinch area of the doorjamb springs in the safety hinge allow the safety hinge to move the pivotal axis of the safety hinge. While the safety hinge opens the pinch location the patented safety hinge in entirely custom and is not compatible with standard hinges and or door hardware.

What is needed is a sliding hinge mechanism that operates with a standard hinge to lift the lid of a box to prevent a finger or hand from being crushed. The proposed sliding safety hinge provides this solution with a sliding mechanism that operates with a standard hinge to lift the hinge side of a box to prevent the injury.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the sliding safety hinge assembly to operate with standard hinges. One side of a standard hinge mounted to the lid of a toy box or similar enclosure and the other side of the standard hinge mounted to the sliding mechanism that allows the hinge to slide or lift when an object in encountered in the pinch area of the lid.

It is an object of the sliding safety hinge assembly to minimize the resultant force otherwise caused by the fixed nature of the hinges pivot point. The mechanism does not minimize the weight of the lid or weight imposed by the force causing the lid to close, however it does eliminate the compounding of the force and the scissors effect of the hinges pivot point. The concept is rather straightforward, the pivot point, which is traditionally fixed to the rear top surface of the box, is no longer “fixed”.

It is an object of the safety hinge to manufacture the hinge in a cost effective product priced by consolidating the functions into a single assembly and the installation made simpler, saving install time & complexity, as compared to the traditional individual hardware.

It is still another object of the sliding safety hinge to be useful in numerous applications wherever a box and hinged lid assembly would be found and the desirability would be to minimize the potential severity of the traditional pinch point resulting from a “fixed” hinge. The intent would be to produce as an easy/failsafe unit assembly further reducing the craftsman or installers potential for installation error and general ease of application.

It is still another object of the sliding safety hinge assembly to use a means of offsetting the weight of the lid by means of an adjustable mechanism, such that the actual weight of the lid appears near zero resulting from gravity.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1shows an isometric view of the safety hinge in an exploded view on a chest. The chest21includes but is not limited to a toy box, hope chest, cedar chest, window seat or storage box. The overall device capable of including the hinge's pivotal functionality, as well as a counterbalance60to offset the weight of the lid. The major components include two pieces of metal forming a slide, a pivot mechanism such as a hinge30and if desirable a counter weighting mechanism60to offset the weight of the lid20for ease of opening. The hinge30is a traditional hinge formed from pined, pivotal or elastomeric hinge having two linked leafs. The slide would consist of a channel section that would inherently form the female member of the assembly that would retain the male sliding element. The female portion or slot55would be fastened or formed to the interior wall of the “box”21and the male portion40would include the fastened hinge30and counter weight60. In this figure a wide dado or slot55is routed into the interior upper portion of the rear panel of a toy box21. Holes are placed around the female portion55perimeter for fastening of a cover50, forming an enclosed slot with a rectangular top opening. This “slot”55is used to house a rectangular solid (wood) of slightly smaller dimension, such that the rectangular solid is provided freedom of sliding movement. A cover plate50covers the female portion55cut into the side of the box21.

The cover plate50has a series of holes52for securing the cover plate50to the inside of the box21using screws or the like. A slot51is cut into the cover plate50to allow the counter weight60to be connected to the male portion40. In the preferred embodiment the counter weight60is a spring or gas strut and may be adjustable to alter the lift force. The slot51is cut into the cover, such that the lid counter weighting device60is allowed freedom of movement in the up/down vertical plane. The counterweight60is fastened between the lid20and male element40of the slide assembly.

The safety hinge would be routinely used during the assembly of a box21, such as a child's wooden toy box, hope chest, “cedar chest” and/or basically any form of box or cabinet that employs a lid, particularly a lid mounted to the top of the box that pivots on one of its edges. The safety hinge could be limited to a slide assembly only, with separate addition of a hinge30and counter weight60or rather than the intended “slide” it could be any mechanism that offers unrestrained movement in the up/down vertical plane, i.e. a dado could be routed into the box carcass and the hinge could be mounted on a bar that was free to move up and down the dado groove.

FIG. 2shows a cross sectional view of the safety hinge on a chest.FIG. 3shows the two unique components that create the sliding safety hinge fromFIG. 2. The parts are shown in a slightly exaggerated and exploded view for clarity. The male element40of the slide (rectangular solid wood) is fastened to the rear edge of the lid20by using a traditional hinge30of leaf/pin design. The back wall of the box21shows the female slot55or recess55. Holes43on the top41of the male element40are for securing the male element40with the hinge30using screws or the like. The counter weight mechanism60is fastened to the male element40of the slide and underside of lid20.

The counterweight mechanism in the preferred embodiment offsets the weight from gravity on the lid20to reduce the amount of force that is required to raise the lid20by expanding64. In the preferred embodiment two or more of the same male slide elements40are used and include hinges30and counter weight60symmetrically located. The counter weight lift mechanisms60have couplings61and62located on each end with pivotal connections63that connect to the lid20and the back wall of the box21. The lid is shown in its completed form, as no further fastening to the box is required via screws or fasteners. The actual final fastening for the lid to box is solely by sliding each of the male elements into the previously described female slots51as shown inFIG. 1. The cover plate50has a series of holes52for securing the cover plate50to the inside of the box21using screws or the like. A slot51is cut into the cover plate50to allow the counter weight60to be connected to the male portion40. The slot51is cut into the cover, such that the lid counter weighting device60is allowed freedom of movement in the up/down vertical plane.

FIG. 4shows an alternate embodiment cross sectional view of the safety hinge on a chest.FIG. 5shows the two unique components that create the sliding safety hinge fromFIG. 4. The parts are shown in a slightly exaggerated and exploded view for clarity. The major difference with this embodiment is that the cover plate inFIGS. 2 and 3is replaced with a slotted “C” channel80that is secured to the back of the chest21without modification to the back wall of the chest21. The “C” channel has bent ears83for securing the male element in a guided slide. The male element40now has a bent top41. The male element40of the slide (shown as a reversed “7”) is fastened to the rear edge of the lid20by using a traditional hinge30of leaf/pin design. Holes43on the top41of the male element40are for securing the male element40with the hinge30using screws or the like. The counter weight mechanism60is fastened to the male element40using the mounting holes42. It is also contemplated that the engagement of the male element40and the “C” channel80is a mating dovetail interface.

The counterweight mechanism in the preferred embodiment offsets the weight from gravity on the lid20to reduce the amount of force that is required to raise the lid20by expanding64. In the preferred embodiment two or more of the same male slide elements40are used and include hinges30and counter weight60symmetrically located. The counter weight lift mechanisms60have couplings61and62located on each end with pivotal connections63that connect to the lid20and the back wall of the box21. The lid is shown in its completed form, as no further fastening to the box is required via screws or fasteners. The actual final fastening for the lid to box is solely by sliding each of the male elements into the previously described “C” channel slot80. The “C” channel slot allows the male element40to slide within the slot and further provides clearance for the arm of the counterweight60. The “C” channel80has a series of holes82for securing the “C” channel to the inside of the box21using screws or the like. The slot in “C” channel80is formed such that the lid counter weighting device60is allowed freedom of movement in the up/down vertical plane.

FIG. 6shows a side view of a hand in the pinch location of a chest as the lid is being closed.FIG. 7shows the safety lid20rising to protect the hand shown inFIG. 6. In these figures a hand between the side upper edges of the box21and began closing11the lid20as the lid20pivots on hinge30. The fingers70are pinched, however further closing11of the lid20results in the male element41began sliding and lifts upward12as shown inFIG. 7. The closing of the lid20is continued until the front edge of the lid20is in contact with the front edge of the box.

Thus, specific embodiments of a sliding safety hinge have been disclosed. It should be apparent, however, to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The inventive subject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims.