HINGE

Abstract: A hinge comprises a hinge member including a socket (2) for attachment to a door, a hinge body (3) coupled rotatably to the socket by arms (5,6), a plate member (4) detachably connected to the hinge member and for attachment to an attaching member of the door, latches (16,17) provided at least at the front and rear portions of either the hinge member or the plate member, and a locking member (20) formed with latch pieces (27a, 27b, 28a, 28b) for detachably latching the latches, the locking member being longitudinally slidable and urged forward by a spring (30) in such a manner that the latch pieces engage the latches, which are formed with oblique surfaces inclining downwards in the forwards direction of the locking member. Thus, the hinge member and the plate member can be easily and positively coupled from any of a wide range of directions relative to the hinge, can also be detached in a simple manner, and also a single such hinge can be attached and detached on its own.

Description: This invention relates to a hinge for pivotally mounting a door to furniture or the like. A known hinge for this purpose is the so-called one-touch hinge, comprising a socket which is attached to the door and a hinge body associated with a movable plate assembly for adjustably attaching to a door mounting structure: the socket and hinge body are coupled together rotatably by one or more arms. Typical hinges of this type are disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 500601/1987, Japanese Utility Model Laid-open No. 154175/1987, and Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 121288/1987. The detachability of the above-mentioned hinges, i.e., the detachability of the hinge member from the plate assembly, is carried out in two main ways. One way is shown in Figures 8(A) and 8(B) of the accompanying drawings: a hinge member a and a plate assembly b are engaged at the front end c or the rear end d, pivotally rotated around this end, and then both ends are locked. The other way is shown in Figure 9: a hinge member a is slid parallel to a plate assembly b (or the hinge member a is inserted into the plate assembly b, or the plate assembly b is inserted into the hinge member a). In the hinge constructed as described above, an engaging mechanism e and a detaching mechanism f are respectively provided at the front ends c or the rear ends d of the hinge member a and the plate assembly member b. In the conventional hinge as constructed above, if the front ends of a plurality of hinge members a attached to a door are not simultaneously latched to the plate assemblies b (in Figure 8) or are not simultaneously slid to be attached (Figure 9), an unreasonable force is applied to the hinge itself when attaching it, thereby damaging it, or the other hinge or hinges cannot be attached at all. In other words, in the hinge which is slid to lock as shown in Figure 9, a plurality of hinge members a,.., attached to a door g must always be attached simultaneously to a plurality of plate assemblies b,.., attached to the mounting structure h for the door g, as shown in Figures 10 to 12. In this case, as illustrated in Figure 10, if the pitch p between the hinge members a and the plate assemblies b is large, the hinges can be forcibly attached, but if the pitch p between the members a and b is small, as illustrated in Figure 11, they cannot be attached until they are simultaneously inserted. Thus, a plurality of the hinge members a .. and plate assemblies b .. must be simultaneously attached. In the case of a large door or a door with a number of hinges, there are drawbacks in that the initial attachment of the hinges to the door is not only extremely complicated, but the attachment takes a long time and involves heavy labour. These drawbacks are more or less also found in a hinge of the turn-to-lock type shown in Figures 8(A) and 8(B). Thus, as shown in Figure 12, in the case of a door with three hinges, when the two upper hinges are attached, the door g is thereby fixed to some extent. Thus, the last hinge is hardly attached, or, as further shown in Figure 13, the engaging mechanism e of the hinge member a is obstructed by the upper protrusion i of the engaging mechanism e of the plate assembly b and is impossible to attach. Accordingly, even in this case, the engaging mechanisms e, e of both the members a and b must be latched in advance. Even when any one of the plurality of hinges of the door is damaged and must be replaced with a new one, the engaged section or sliding section is not disengaged even though only one hinge is intended to be removed. Thus, the one hinge cannot be removed, and all the hinges must be simultaneously detached. DE-A-35 25 279 corresponding to the preamble of claim 1 discloses a hinge comprising a socket for attachment to a door, a hinge body coupled rotatably to the socket by arms, a first member attached to the hinge body, and a second member for attaching to a mounting structure for the door. The front end of the first member hooks over the front end of the second member, and is then rotated until its rear end engages a spring-loaded locking member slidably mounted to the second member. The attachment procedure corresponds generally to that shown in Figure 8(A). In accordance with this invention there is provided a hinge comprising a socket for attachment to a door, a hinge body coupled rotatably to the socket by arms, a first elongate member attached to the hinge body and a second elongate member for attaching to a mounting structure for the door, one of the first and second elongate members being received between opposite side walls of the other elongate member, latching pins extending between opposite side walls of said other elongate member adjacent its opposite ends, a U-section locking member disposed between opposite side walls of said one elongate member and slidable longitudinally thereof against the biasing force of a spring, aligned pairs of latching recesses formed in the opposite side walls of the locking member for receiving the latching pins and oblique surfaces adjacent said recesses are arranged so that when the latching pins abut these surfaces the locking member will be displaced against the biasing force of the spring so that the latching pins will enter the latching recesses. In the hinge according to the present invention, the hinge member attached to the door is moved towards the elongate member attached to the door mounting structure, the two latch pins abut the oblique surfaces of the locking member, and the locking member is displaced against the force of the spring, and the two latch pins engage within the latching recesses, whereafter the locking member is slid forwardly by the spring to latch the latch pins within the latching recesses, thus detachably locking the hinge member to the elongate member on the door mounting structure. When the locking member is slid rearwardly against the force of the spring, the latch pins are released, and the hinge member can be removed from the elongate member which is on the door mounting structure. The above and other related objects and features of the invention will be apparent from a reading of the following description of the disclosure found in the accompanying drawings and the novelty thereof pointed out in the appended claims. Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of hinge according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view partly cut away showing the hinge when assembled; Figure 3 is a cross-sectional plan view showing the hinge when in use; Figures 4 and 6 are plan views showing the detachability of a plate assembly and a hinge member of the embodiment; Figures 5(A) and 5(B) are plan views showing the locked and unlocked condition of the plate assembly of the embodiment; Figures 7(A) and 7(B) are lateral cross-sectional plan views showing the locked condition and the unlocked condition of another embodiment of hinge according to the present invention; Figures 8(A) and 8(B) and 9 are plan views schematically showing the detachability of a conventional one-touch hinge; and Figures 10, 11, 12 and 13 are explanatory front views showing the attachment of conventional one-touch hinges. As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the hinge comprises a hinge assembly 1 which includes a socket 2, a hinge body 3, and an elongate member 4. The socket 2 and the front end of the hinge body 3 are pivotally connected by two bent arms 5 and 6 via pins 7, 7 and 8, 8 and the socket 2 and the hinge body 3 are urged in the opening or closing direction by an over-centre acting spring (not shown) mounted on a shaft 9 of the hinge body 3. Further, the hinge body 3 and the member 4 are formed in a substantially U-shape cross-section and are engaged together. A screw 12 is inserted through an elongate hole 10 formed longitudinally in the rear end of the top wall 3a of the hinge body 3, and into a threaded hole 11 in the member 4, to secure hinge body 3 and member 4 together, with facility for longitudinal adjustment. An adjusting screw 14 is threaded through a hole 13 in the top wall 3a and has a reduced-thickness neck 14a slidably engaged within an elongate groove 15 in the member 4 at its forward end. By adjusting the screw 14, the hinge body 3 can be adjusted in a lateral direction (lateral direction of the door) with respect to the member 4. Two latch pins 16, 17 are provided adjacent the front and rear of the member 4 and extend between the opposite sidewalls 4b, 4b of member 4. A mounting assembly 18 comprises an elongate member 19 and a locking member 20. The member 19 is formed substantially in a box shape and is to be attached within the member 4, formations 21 and 22 being provided near the front and rear ends of the opposite sidewalls 19b, 19b and partly cut out of the top wall 19a of the member 19, for detachable engagement with the latch pins 16, 17. The formation 21 at the front end comprises an L-shaped cutout, and is formed to be freely engaged by the latch pin 16 when approached at any angle within a range of approximately 90° to the forward direction, while the formation 22 at the rear end comprises a U-shaped recess, formed for engagement by the latch pin 17 approaching in the lateral direction of the door. The locking member 20 is U-shaped in cross-section and is disposed within the member 19 and is slidable in the longitudinal direction. The locking member 20 is provided with elongate holes 23, 23 and 24, 24 extending longitudinally of member 20 and disposed near the front and rear of the opposite sidewalls 20a, 20a. Pins 25 and 26 extend between the sidewalls 19b, 19b of the member 19 near its front and rear ends and pass through the holes 23, 23 and 24, 24. Thus, the locking member 20 is slidable longitudinally relative to the member 19 in a range limited by the lengths of the holes 23, 23 and 24, 24. Recesses 27 and 28 are formed near the front and rear of the sidewalls 20a, 20b of the locking member 20, and detachably latch the pins 16, 17. The recesses 27 at the front end are open to the front and are formed by cutouts in the front ends of the sidewalls 20a, 20a, and the receptacles 28 at the rear end are open obliquely to the front and are formed by cutouts extending obliquely into the sidewalls 20a, 20a from their top edges. The recesses 27, 28 define latch pieces 27a, 28a which extend obliquely from the sidewalls 20a, 20a and can engage the latch pins 16, 17. The ends of the latch pieces 27a, 28a are formed with oblique end faces 27b, 28b which, when abutted by the latch pins 16, 17 cause the locking member 20 to be displaced rearwardly relative to the member 19. Oblique faces 28c, which rise toward the front of the locking member 20, are formed at the front edges of the rear recesses 28, so that when the locking member 20 is slid rearwardly, the latch pin 17 is raised by the oblique faces 28c to enable the hinge assembly 1 to be removed easily from the assembly 18. A lever 29 is pivotally mounted within the locking member 20 and on the pin 26 at the rear end of the latter. The lever 29 is engaged by one end of a spring 30 which is also attached to pin 26 and has its other end engaged to the member 19: the spring 30 urges the lever 29 in the clockwise direction as seen in Figure 3. Latch pieces 29a and actuating pieces 29b extend radially from the lever 29, the latch pieces 29a being engaged (as shown in Figures 2 and 3) with holes 20d formed in the bottom wall 20c of the locking member 20, so that the locking member 20 is urged forwardly by the spring 30. The locking member 20 may be moved rearwardly by pressing on the actuating pieces 29b to turn the lever 29 against the force of the spring 30. The hinge assembly 1 is attached to the door by engaging the socket 2 within a recess 31a formed in the inner surface of the door 31, and clamping the socket 2 in position with a clamping screw. The assembly 18 is attached to a mounting structure 32 for the door, by clamping the member plate 19 (using screws) to the inner surface of a side panel 32 of the door mounting structure. The hinge assembly 1 is detachably connected to the assembly 18 to attach the door 31 to the door mounting structure. Figure 4 shows an example of attaching the hinge assembly 1 to the assembly 18. In this case, the hinge assembly 1 can be moved towards the assembly 18 from any of a range of directions as shown in Figures 4(A), 4(B) and 4(C). The hinge assembly 1 can also be attached in a manner similar to the conventional manner shown in Figure 8(A) and described above. Figures 5(A) and 5(B) show the locked condition and the unlocked condition of the assembly 18 of the hinge, respectively. The locking member 20 is urged forwards by the force of the spring 30, i.e. into the locked condition. In this condition, Figure 5(A), when the two latch pins 16, 17 are approached from a direction as shown in Figure 4 toward the formations 21, 22 and the recesses 27, 28, the latch pins 16, 17 first abut the oblique faces 27b, 28b, and the locking member 20 is moved rearwardly against the force of the spring 30. Thus, the latch pins 16, 17 engage with the formations 21, 22 whereafter the locking member 20 moves forwardly again under the force of the spring 30 and the latch pins 16, 17 are latched by the latch pieces 27a, 28a, thereby locking the hinge assembly 1 to the assembly 18. In order to remove the hinge assembly 1, the lever 29 is rotated in a direction opposite to arrow K in Figure 5 to move the locking member 20 rearwardly thereby unlocking the latch pins 16, 17. Of course, the locking member may be slid rearwardly against the force of the spring 30 using a screwdriver or pliers, instead of using the lever 29. Figure 6 shows an example of detaching the hinge assembly 1 from the assembly 18, thereby solely attaching or detaching the hinge. Figures 7(A) and 7(B) show another embodiment of hinge according to the present invention. In the embodiment described above, the locking member 20 is slidably associated with the assembly 18. On the other hand, in this embodiment, the locking member 20 is slidably associated with the member 4 of the hinge assembly 1. As compared with the embodiment described above, the locking member 20 is inverted upside down, and the arrangement and the operation of this embodiment is substantially the same as those in the previous embodiment, except that the dispositions of the spring 30 and the latch pins 16, 17 are different. In Figures 7(A) and 7(B), reference numeral 33 designates a pin attached to the locking member 20, numeral 34 denotes a pin attached to the member 4 similarly to the pin 25. These pins 25, 34 are movably engaged within elongate holes 23, 23 and 24, 24 in the locking member 20, and the spring 30 is connected between the pins 23 and 34. According to the hinge constructed as described above, at least two latch pins attached to either the assembly 18 or the hinge member can be simultaneously attached to or detached from the corresponding latches of the locking member (which is attached to the other of the assembly 18 and hinge member). Therefore, the hinge assembly 1 is, for example, attached to or detached from the assembly 18 as shown in Figure 6. Thus, the hinges of the upper and lower positions are detachably attached as shown in Figure 4 using a number of hinges, and the hinge disposed therebetween can be attached detachably by rotation as shown in Figure 6. Consequently, in the particular case of a large door using a number of hinges, the task of attaching the hinges can be remarkably accelerated as compared with the conventional example. In case of detaching the hinges, the desired hinge to be repaired or replaced can be solely removed.

Claims: A hinge comprising a socket (2) for attachment to a door (31), a hinge body (3) coupled rotatably to the socket by arms (5, 6), a first elongate member (4) attached to the hinge body (3) and a second elongate member (19) for attaching to a mounting structure (32) for the door, one of the first and second elongate members (e.g. member 19) being received between opposite side walls of the other elongate member (e.g. member 4), characterized in that latching pins (16, 17) are extending between opposite side walls of said other elongate member (e.g. member 4) adjacent its opposite ends, a U-section locking member (20) is disposed between opposite side walls of said one elongate member (e.g. member 19) and slidable longitudinally thereof against the biasing force of a spring (30), aligned pairs of latching recesses (27, 28) are formed in the opposite side walls of the locking member (20) receiving the latching pins (16, 17) and oblique surfaces (27b, 28b) adjacent said recesses are arranged so that when the latching pins (16, 17) abut these surfaces the locking member (20) will be displaced against the biasing force of the spring (30) so that the latching pins (16, 17) will enter the latching recesses (27, 28).

Inventors: GOTO, KATSUMI/SUGATSUNE INDUSTRIAL CO.,LTD, KOSHIKAWA, SHINICHIRO/SUGATSUNE INDUSTRIAL CO.,LTD
Applicants: SUGATSUNE INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.
Application year: 1988
Main classification: E05D5
IPC codes: E05D3, E05D7, E05D5