HINGE

Abstract: A hinge consisting of a fixed part (3), which is so arranged as to be attached to a door frame (1) and a moving part (4), which is so arranged as to support a door (5) so that it is free to swing. The hinge is designed to be fitted inside the door, so that it is concealed with the door in its closed position, and incorporates a mechanism which, as the door swings, will cause the pivoting shaft of the door to move away from the door frame, thereby providing clearance for the door to swing. The fixed part (3) and the moving part (4) are connected by means of a slide having a preferably rectilinear motion. The mechanism consists of a gear drive (7, 12-18) via which the swinging motion of the door imparts a sliding motion between the fixed and the moving part.

Description: Title of the Invention: H nge Technical Field: The present invention relates to a hinge consisting of a fixed part so arranged as to be attached to a door frame or similar, and a moving part so arranged as to support a door or similar so that it is free to swing, said hinge being designed to be fitted inside the door so as to be concealed with the door in its closed position, said hinge incorporating a mechanism which, as the door or similar swings, will cause the pivot shaft of the door or similar supported on the moving part of the hinge to move away from the door frame or. similar, thereby providing* clearance for the door to swing. So—called concealed hinges are encountered in cupboards in particular. The invention relates to a hinge of that type. Background: A hinge of t is kind is situated on the inside of the door at the same time as the door in its closed position bears against the door frame. This means that in the closed position the pivot bearing of the hinge is located inside the door frame. If the pivot bearing were to be rigidly attached this would mean that the door could not be opened because its edges which move inwards as it swings would catch on the door frame. (A door could possibly be designed with, for instance, cylindrical edges which would not catch on the door frame, although this is not envisaged here, but rather doors with square edges). The pivot bearing for such concealed hinges is thus capable of moving, so that no matter to what point the door is swung out the bearing will move outwards and will permit the edge of the door to swing past the door frame.- In the case of such hinges currently in use this is achieved by means of a system of levers in which a link is caused to fold by guide links as the door swings. Technical Problem: Such systems of levers suffer from the disadvantage that the arms occupy a relatively large space in the course of swinging, which encroaches upon the space inside the cupboard. The situation has been known to arise in which objects placed next to the lever link which is straight when the door is in its open position have subsequently been damaged by the movement of the levers as the door is closed. Solution: In the hinge in accordance with the invention the system of levers is replaced by a slide along which the pivot bearing is able to move outwards as the door swings. Advantages: The invention provides for a hinge capable of concealed mounting on the inside of the door and which, in spite of this, allows the door to swing past its frame, said hinge lacking swinging arms or similar. Description of the Drawings: The attached drawings illustrate an embodiment of the invention. Fig. 1 shows a door hung by means of a hinge of the specified type; Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 show a section along the line II — II in Fig. 1 with the hinge in two different positions. Best mode of carrying out the invention: In Fig. 1 is shown a door frame 1 having four sides of which three are visible. At two of the corners of the frame are recessed two hinges 2 , which exhibit a fixed part 3 , which is attached to the door frame and a moving part 4 , which constitutes a shaft " which supports a door 5 , which shall be capable of being swung between its closed position bearing against the door frame and the open position shown in Fig. 1. It is intended that the angle through which the door swings between the two positions should be approximately 180 . In Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 may be seen the door frame 1 and the door 5 together with the hinge 2 with its fixed part 3 attached to the door frame 1 and with its moving part 4 attached to the door 5 . The fixed part comprises a track 6 , which is accordingly attached to the door frame 1 . The track 6 has an outer face which is equipped with a rack rail 7 . The track also exhibits a pin 8 . The moving part 4 comprises an angular main element 9 , which is so arranged as to move in the track 6 between an inner position, see Fig. 2, and an outer position, see Fig. 3. Movement is restricted by the pin 8 , which engages in a groove 10 in the main element 9 . The main element 9 serves as a bearing for a shaft 11 , which is so attached to the door 5 as to exclude all rotational movement and which at the same time supports the door on the main element 9 of the moving part. The shaft likewise supports a toothed wheel 12 in such a way as to exclude all rotational movement. Also mounted on the main element 9 in such a way as to be free to rotate on shafts 13 , 14 and 15 are three toothed wheels 16 , 17 and 18 . The toothed wheel 16 engages with the toothed wheel 12 and the toothed wheel 18 engages with the rack rail 7 whilst the toothed wheel 17 is an intermediate wheel. In order to provide space for the main element 9 and the toothed wheels 12,16 a recess 19 is present in the door 5 , which does not however extend as far as the outer face 20 of the door by which the hinge device is concealed. According to the invention movement of the pivoting link of the door, being the shaft 11 , takes place along a slide, being a rectilinear motion. The slide is formed by the parts 3 and 4 which are capable of being displaced in relation to each other. When the door 5 is opened it pivots about the shaft 11 , which causes the main element 9 to move outwards, so that the pivoting " link formed by the shaft 11 will at all times be situated at- such a distance from the door frame 1 that the edge of the door 5 is able to move freely. In the typical embodiment the pin 8 is able to describe the rectilinear displacement via the gear drive shown, in which the shaft 11 causes the toothed wheel 12 to rotate as the door 5 swingswhich in turn via the toothed wheels 16 and 17 causes the toothed wheel 18 to turn, which interacts with the rack rail 7 . In this way the main element 9 and with it the moving part 4 and the door 5 which it supports are caused to be displaced outwards. As may be seen from Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 a continuous row of toothed wheels is formed by the toothed wheel 12 on the pivoting shaft 11 , the toothed wheel 18 , which engages with the rack rail 7 , and the interjacent toothed wheels 16,17 , which provide a drive arrangement between the two aforementioned toothed wheels. This row of toothed wheels is capable, because the individual toothed wheels are at least essentially identical in size and are relatively small, of being inscribed between two mutually parallel lines without any bulky 'projections'. In other words, it has been found preferable to increase the total number.of toothed wheels rather than to increase the size of any individual wheel, which could have reduced their number. The advantage of this is that the entire mechanism is contained in a long and narrow, parallelepiped component, namely the moving " part 4 , which in turn is largely enclosed inside the fixed part 6 . This means that the part which is attached to the door is easily capable of being flush— ounted even in the case of a relatively thin door or will form a component which projects by an insignificant amount from its interior surface. Similarly that part, being the fixed part 6 , which is attached to the inside of the cupboard wall is narrow and is not bulky. Thus, in the course of its design and dimensioning attention has been paid at all times to ensuring that the hinge has the smallest possible dimensions, whereby a small cross—section has been preferred to a short length.

Claims: Patent Claims: 1. A hinge consisting of a fixed part (3), which is so arranged as to be attached to a door frame (1) or similar, and a moving part (4), which is so arranged as to support a door (5) or similar so that it is free to swing, said hinge being designed to be fitted inside the door so as to be concealed with the door in its closed position, said hinge incorporating a mechanism which, as the door or similar swings, will cause the pivoting shaft (11) of the door or similar supported on the moving part of the hinge to move away from the door frame or similar, thereby providing clearance for the door to swing, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the fixed part (3) and the moving part (4) are connected by means of a slide having a preferably rectilinear motion and in that the mechanism is in the form of a gear drive (7,12—18) via which the swinging motion of the door imparts a sliding motion between the fixed and the moving part. 2. A hinge in accordance with Patent Claim 1, c h a r a c t e r ¬ i z e d in that the pivoting shaft (11) of the door (5) or similar is attached in such a way as to exclude all rotational movement to a driving gear (12), which via a transmission arrangement (16,17) causes a toothed wheel <18) to rotate, which together with the transmission arrangement is supported by the moving part (4) and which engages with a rack rail (7) in the fixed part (3), so that as the shaft is caused to rotate by the door or similar being swung said toothed wheel (18) will via ' a sliding motion cause the moving part (4) to be displaced outwards. 3. A hinge in accordance with Patent Claim 2, c h a r a c t e r ¬ i z e d in that the driving gear (12), the transmission arrangement, which consists of a number of toothed wheels (16 17), and the toothed wheel (18) form a continuous row of toothed wheels ' , said row being designed by the appropriate dimensioning of the respective diameters of the toothed wheels so as to be capable of being inscribed inside an area of essentially uniform width.

Inventors: PETERSSON STIG, PETERSSON, STIG
Applicants: NP NEW PROD NORDINVENT INVEST, N.P. - NEW PRODUCTS NORDINVENT INVESTMENT AKTIEBOL
Application year: 1982
Main classification: E05D3
IPC codes: E05D3