Abstract:
A damping arrangement, in particular for displaceable furniture parts, includes a damper ( 1 ) which is provided with a tappet ( 2 ) which can be impinged upon, and which can be supported by a support element ( 3 ). The support element ( 3 ) can be positioned and/or displaced in relation to the tappet ( 2 ).

Description:
This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/AT2005/000306, filed Aug 2, 2005. 
    
    
     The present invention concerns a damper, especially for movable furniture parts, with a damper with a ram which can be subjected to pressure and which is supportable on a support element. 
     There are an enormous variety of dampers known in the state of the art, for example for use in movable furniture parts. These can be designed both as linear and as rotation dampers. They normally have a path-dependent damping function. This means that the degree of damping depends on how far the ram is pushed in or pulled out. In the state of the art, the ram comes into contact with a support element at the start of the damping movement, if it is not originally already permanently connected to this. The course of the damping movement is then fixed by the characteristics of the damper per se and the geometrical arrangement of damper and support element. 
     The object of the invention is to be able further to influence the damping function of the damper arrangement of the generic type. 
     This is achieved according to the invention by the fact that the support element is displaceable or slidable in its position relative to the ram. 
     The start, the course and the end of the damping process can additionally be influenced by the displaceable or slidable support element. When dampers with a path-dependent damping function are used, this then automatically results in an effect on the instantaneous damping value as a function of the position relative to each other of those movable furniture parts on which the damper arrangement is affixed. 
     It is usually desirable in that case if the ram meets the support surface on the support element assigned to it before it reaches the furniture part, fitting element, articulated lever or suchlike. This causes the damper to take effect at an earlier stage. Moreover, the ram can also be pressed into the damper more quickly than would be possible without the support element. Normally, the support area of the support element will thus be arranged between the ram and the fitting elements, articulated levers, furniture parts or suchlike arranged behind it—at least during the active damping process. It is, however, also possible by a corresponding recessed arrangement of the support element to achieve a later activation of the damper, to reduce the stroke or suchlike. 
     In principle, there are two possible variants in this case. The first of these makes provision that the support element is movable between a first and at least one second end position by means of a movement of the damper arrangement. In this embodiment, the support element moves automatically each time in the same way while the damper arrangement is in operation, so that the damping function of the damper used is always influenced in the same way. This variant is especially advantageous when the damping function of a fabricated damper is to be modified for a special application. 
     In a second group of variant embodiments of the invention, however, provision may also be made that the damper arrangement provides an adjustment device, preferably an adjustment screw, which enables the support element to be fixed in various positions relative to the ram. The support element can be fixed in various positions by the adjustment device, as the result of which a preferably manual adaptation is possible. This can be used, for example, in hinges with a damper arrangement according to the invention, to reverse a change in the damping path of the damper caused by a joint adjustment screw and/or a depth adjustment screw, in order thereby to ensure a constant damping function. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Further features of the invention are explained with the aid of the following description of some embodiments. The figures show: 
         FIGS. 1 to 3 : a first embodiment according to the invention, 
         FIGS. 4 and 5 : a second embodiment according to the invention, 
         FIGS. 6 to 8 : a third embodiment according to the invention and 
         FIGS. 9 to 12 : a fourth embodiment according to the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The embodiment according to  FIGS. 1 to 3  shows an inventive damper arrangement which is integrated into a furniture hinge with hinge arm  5  and hinge cup  6  as fitting elements. The damper  1  in this embodiment is arranged on the hinge cup  6 . It has a ram  2  which travels in and out, preferably with a path-dependent damping function. The hinge arm  5  of the hinge  1  shown can, as known in the state of the art, be clipped onto a base plate  11  via a hook-on device  12  and a snap closure  13 . A joint adjustment screw  15  and a depth adjustment device  10  are provided as known in the art to adjust the relative position between hinge cup and hinge arm. Hinge arm  5  and hinge cup  6  are linked by articulated levers  8  and  8 ′ which are arranged on articulated axles  7 . According to the present invention, a movable support element  3  is now provided. In this embodiment, the support element  3  is rotatably mounted on the hinge arm  5 , thus on one of the two fitting elements of the hinge. In addition, a coupling lever  9  is provided which is also rotatably mounted on the hinge arm  5 . In this embodiment the coupling lever  9  is integrated into the outer articulated lever  8 ′. However, it may also be designed as a separate lever in addition to the articulated lever or levers  8 ,  8 ′. 
       FIG. 2  shows a section along the straight line AA from  FIG. 3  through the inventive arrangement, where hinge cup  6  and hinge arm  5  can be seen in the folded-out position. When moving into the position shown in  FIG. 1 , the coupling lever  9  is pivoted relative to the arm  5 . As a result, the coupling lever  9  moves the support element  3  from the position shown in  FIG. 2  to that shown in  FIG. 1 . During the closing movement, the ram  2  comes into contact with the support element  3 . By raising the support element  3 , this contact occurs earlier than if the ram  2 , as known in the state of the art, were to rest directly on the hinge arm  5 . So the ram  2  is pushed sooner and then deeper into the cylinder of the damper  1 , as the result of which, especially in dampers with path-dependent damping function, the damping value assigned to a certain angle of incidence between the fitting elements increases in each case. The coupling lever  9  in this embodiment is essentially z-shaped, but can take any other form, depending on the geometry of the damper arrangement. While in the first embodiment the coupling lever  9  is arranged such that it converts a movement of the articulated lever  8 ′ into a movement of the support element  3 , the second embodiment according to  FIGS. 4 and 5  has an inventive arrangement in which the support element  3  itself is integrated into the articulated lever  8 ′. The support element  3  can—in an embodiment not shown here—also alternatively be pivotably mounted on the hinge arm  5  and acted upon by the hinge cup  6 , without being integrated into an articulated lever  8 ,  8 ′. The form of the support element  3  and, if applicable, of the coupling lever  9  specifies in the embodiments from when, and how far, the ram  2  is pressed into the damper  1  at the respective pivoting angles between hinge cup  6  and hinge arm  5 , as the result of which, in turn, the angle-dependent damping function is influenced. 
     In the third. embodiment according to  FIGS. 6 to 8 , the housing  20  of the damper  1  is anchored on the hinge atm  5 . The support element  3  forms a cover with a cross-section in the form of a hollow profile over at least one articulated lever  8 . It is pivotably arranged on one of the articulated levers  8  with the axle  16 . In this embodiment, the second fitting element  6  is not designed as a hinge cup but, as is usual for example for glass doors, as a fitting element with planar joint faces  FIG. 6  shows this embodiment in the so-called closed position, in which the door  22  is closed.  FIG. 7  shows an intermediate position, in which the damper is just coming into contact with the supporting area  19  of the support element  3  and is thereby activated,  FIG. 8  shows the open position in which the door is open. The pivotably arranged support element  3  in this embodiment has a control contour  17 , which serves to support the support element  3 . In the variant shown here, the control contour  17  rests on a guide contour  18  formed on the fitting element  6 . Both contours  17  and  18  are at least partially convex in form. The forms of the convexities  23  and  24  are selected such that the ram  2  comes into contact with the supporting area  19  due to the pivoting of the support element  3  at the desired closing angle between door  22  and side wall  25 . Via a corresponding design of the contours  17  and  18 , there is also a guarantee that the damping characteristics of the damper  1  can be optimally exploited and the maximum possible damping stroke can be realised It is immediately obvious to the person skilled in the art that the form of the contours  17  and  18  can be adapted to the respective damper and the respective hinge, in order to achieve the optimum of the desired damping characteristics. The support element  3  has, as in the other embodiments, the advantage that to achieve the optimum damping characteristics, it is not the form of the fitting elements or articulated lever which must be modified, but the support element  3  itself can be freely designed according to the desired specifications. When opening and closing, both the contours  17  and  18  and also the ram  2  and the support element  3  slide along each other. It would, however, also be possible to provide fixed rotational connections instead of a loose fit. Obviously it would also be possible, instead of two contours  17  and  18 , also to provide only one correspondingly designed control contour  17 . This could then rest on the fitting element, articulated lever or furniture part of ordinary design. Apart from this, there is also the possibility of providing a smooth, non-convex control contour  17  via a correspondingly convex or bulging design of the guide contour  18 , since ultimately the decisive factor is the movement resulting from the interaction of the support element  3 , which can be designed in the form of an additional structural component, and the supporting area  19  respectively. 
     In order to prevent the support element executing unnecessary movements or rattling, provision may be made to spring-load the support element, e.g. by a bow spring, not shown in detail here, which is connected with the support element  3  and preferably always forces this in the direction of the fitting element  6 . 
     As is also the case in the other embodiments, it is also possible in the embodiment according to  FIGS. 6 to 8  to fix the damper to the respective other fitting element. In a variation of  FIGS. 6 to 8 , in this variant the housing  20  of the damper  1  would then be arranged on the second fitting element  6 , also executable as a hinge cup. The control contour  17  would then rest on the side of the hinge arm on a guide contour  18  which may be provided there. 
       FIGS. 9 to 12  show an embodiment in which the position of the support element  3  is manually adjustable by means of an adjustment device  4 . The support element  3  thereby remains fixed in the position once set during the relative movement between the fitting elements (hinge arm and hinge cup). The support element  3  is rotatably attached to an axle  16  and can be pivoted relative to the hinge arm  5 . The adjustment device  4  can for example be designed as a simple adjustment screw. In the embodiment shown, however, the adjustment device  4  is realised in one structural unit with the joint adjustment device  15 . To this end, the screw  4  has two areas  4 ′ and  4 ″ with different thread pitches. With the adjustment device  4  and the support element  3 , it is possible to equalise a relative position between the two fitting elements  5  and  6  which has been modified by the depth adjustment device  10  and/or the joint adjustment device  15  in such a way that the same damping function of the damper exists as before the adjustment by the depth adjustment device or the joint adjustment device. Thus it is possible to adjust the damping function at least within certain limits, independently of the relative position of hinge cup  6  to hinge arm  5 . One example of this is shown in  FIGS. 11 and 12 . By corresponding adjustments of the joint adjustment screw  4 , the upper edge of the hinge arm  5  is at an angle of 9° relative to the base plate  11  in  FIG. 11 . An angle of 3° is set between said upper edge of the hinge arm  5  and the support element  3 . If the angle between base plate  11  and upper edge of the hinge arm  5  is now reduced to 5° (see  FIG. 12 ), then the combined adjustment device  4  automatically lowers the support element  3  to an angle of 1° relative to the upper edge of the hinge. The result of this is that in both cases the ram  2 , the fitting elements being at the same angle with respect to each other, comes into contact with the support element  3  and then is immediately forced deep into the cylinder of the damper  1 . The same damping function is thus exercised in both positions. 
     As the individual embodiments show, by using a correspondingly designed support element, an optimum damping path can be achieved for dampers known in the state of the art. This is especially advantageous in arrangements or hinge types in which the articulated levers are only moved very slightly in the last 20° of the closing movement, as the result of which a sufficient damping path cannot be achieved without the inventive support element. 
     Even when inventive damper arrangements are shown in the embodiments integrated in hinges, it is still possible to design damper arrangements according to the invention detached from hinges. In the case of hinges, the damper  1  and also the support element  3  can each be arranged on both fitting elements  5  and  6 . Naturally, the inventive damper arrangement can also be combined with any other hinge, thus not only with hinges with hinge arm and hinge cup.