Abstract:
A hinge used to mount a door to an overhead storage cabinet is disclosed. The hinge provides a combination linear and articulated motion to provide the clearance between the door of the cabinet and the upper, outer corner of the cabinet. Further, the hinge provides a user assist on the opening of the cabinet door and a self-dampening motion on the closing of the cabinet door without the use of pneumatic cylinders.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    This invention relates to a hinge for mounting a door to the frame of a cabinet of the type used as an over-head storage container. In particular, this is a concealed hinge of the type that provides an articulated motion and has self-dampening characteristics during the opening and closing of the cabinet doors.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    This invention relates to a hinge of the type that would commonly be found in an overhead storage cabinet for a modular office system or cubicle. These types of storage cabinets hang on the wall panel at approximately eye height and are normally opened by swinging the door upward and backward, such that the door is supported on top of the unit. Typically, the doors on these types of cabinets are attached to the frame of the cabinet via a special kind of hinge using a pneumatic cylinder or a rack and pinion type mechanism.  
           [0003]    With respect to this invention, the type of cabinet being referred to would be an overhead storage bin having door which is vertical when in the closed position. To open the door the user pulls the door horizontally away from the frame of the cabinet and upwardly. The desired effect is to have the door suspended at an angle between horizontal and vertical above the cabinet when in the open position. It is therefore an objective of this invention to provide a hinge that allows a combination linear/articulated motion as the door is being opened to allow clearance for the door around the upper, outer corner of the cabinet frame.  
           [0004]    It is also desirable that the hinge be self-dampening to provide a quality feedback to the user when the door is opened or closed and to hold the door in an extended upright position when opened. Many prior art hinges provide a dampened type of motion during opening and closing using a pneumatic cylinder. In these cases the pneumatic cylinder also serves to hold the door in the upright position when opened. However, one drawback with pneumatic cylinders is that they are bulky and expensive. It is therefore on objective of this invention to provide a hinge which first, provides the user with a mechanical assist in the opening of the door, second, is able to hold the door in the upright, opened position, and third, provides a dampened closing motion to prevent slamming of the door as the door is closed. Preferably, these objectives should be met without the use of a pneumatic cylinder.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    The hinge disclosed herein meets all of the objectives noted above and addresses the deficiencies in the prior art. First, the hinge provides a non-centered pivoting motion. That is, the door of the cabinet does not rotate about a single axis throughout the entire range of travel from the closed to open positions or from the open to closed positions. Instead, the door first moves radially outward from the cabinet frame, then articulates in an upward arc around the upper, outer corner of the cabinet frame, coming to rest in the opened position above the cabinet frame and at an angle between horizontal and vertical, thus providing clearance for the door around the upper, outer corner. Additionally, the hinge provides the required dampened motion without the use of pneumatic cylinders. As the user pulls the door outwardly and upwardly away from the cabinet frame, a certain point is reached after which the hinge will assist the user and pull the door the remaining distance to a full upright and opened position. The dampening force is provided by one or more springs connected to several structural members of the hinge. The springs also serve to hold the door in the upright position while opened. Lastly, the motion of the hinge is dampened, using the same springs, upon closing, to prevent slamming of the door. Thus, the desirable qualities of a hinge using a pneumatic cylinder are realized through the use of less expensive, more space-efficient springs. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0006]    [0006]FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the hinge showing all the parts thereof.  
         [0007]    [0007]FIG. 2 a  is a side elevational view of the fully assembled hinge in the closed position.  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 2 b  is a side elevational view of the fully assembled hinge in the completely opened position.  
         [0009]    [0009]FIGS. 3 a - 3   d  illustrate the hinge in various stages between the closed position and the opened position demonstrating the travel of the portion of the hinge connected to the cabinet door.  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the hinge showing the path of travel of the hinge. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0011]    The construction of the novel hinge disclosed herein is best shown in the exploded view of FIG. 1. The hinge consists of four structural members  10 ,  20 ,  30  and  40  and spring assembly  50  as shown in FIG. 1. Stationary member  10  connects to the interior, side wall of the cabinet via screws or other fasteners attached through holes  18 . First pivoting member  20  is connected at one end to stationary member  10  through a mating connection of post  14  and bore  22 . Thus, first pivoting member  20  can freely rotate about post  14 , as shown by arrow  106  in FIG. 4. Second pivoting member  40  is attached to stationary member  10  via rivet  44  which extends through bore  42 , defined in second pivoting member  40 , and into a bore defined in standoff  16  located on stationary member  10 . Thus, second pivoting member  40  is able to freely rotate about standoff  16 , as shown by arrow  108  in FIG. 4. Moving member  30  is connected to the interior portion of the cabinet door via standoffs  32 . In addition, moving member  30  has connections to both first and second pivoting members  20  and  40  respectively. Moving member  30  connects to first pivoting member  20  via rivet  24  through hole  26  defined in first pivoting member  20  and hole  34 , defined in moving member  30 , and pivots about point  113  following arrow  112  in FIG. 4. First pivoting member  20  is connected to side  30   a  of moving member  30 , which is the side closest to stationary member  10 . Second pivoting member  40  is connected to the opposite side  30   b  of moving member  30  via rivet  56 , which extends through hole  46  in second pivoting member  40  and hole  36  in moving member  30 , thereby allowing moving member  30  to pivot about point  115  following arrow  114  in FIG. 4.  
         [0012]    Preferably members  10 ,  20 ,  30  and  40  of the hinge are made of twelve gauge steel. However, in alternative embodiments, the hinge may be constructed of light weight aluminum or synthetic materials. The selection of the material and the thickness thereof is dictated by the desired carrying capacity of the hinge. Additionally, the hinge shown in all of the drawings is a hinge for the left-hand side of the cabinet, as should be obvious to anyone of skill in the art. The hinge for the right-hand side of the cabinet will be the mirror image of the hinge shown in the drawings.  
         [0013]    Spring assembly  50  comprises one or more coil-type springs  52  attached on either end to attachment members  54   a  and  54   b . Note that in the event only one spring is used, attachment members  54   a  and  54   b  would not be necessary. In the preferred embodiment, four springs  52  are used, each having a spring constant of approximately twelve pounds per inch. However, the number of springs and the size thereof may vary depending upon the weight of the door that is being raised by the hinge. One advantage of using a plurality of smaller springs as opposed to a single or lesser number of larger springs is in the lateral size (thickness) of the overall hinge, which is minimized by the use of multiple smaller springs. Spring assembly  50  is connected on one end to second pivoting member  40  at post  60  via attachment member  54   a  and on the opposite end to stationary member  10  at post  58  via attachment member  54   b . Push nuts  58  hold attachment members  54   a  and  54   b  to posts  60  and  58  respectively.  
         [0014]    Post  12  on stationary member  10  acts as a motion stop which limits the upward travel of the door to which the hinge is connected. Second pivoting member  40  will abut against post  12  when the hinge is at its limit of travel in the upward direction. This is shown in FIG. 2 b.    
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 2 a  shows the hinge in its fully closed position. In operation, to raise the cabinet door, a user will first pull the bottom edge of the cabinet door outwardly away from the cabinet frame in the direction of arrow  100  as shown in FIG. 2 a . This will cause moving member  30  to move approximately horizontally in the direction of arrow  100 . At this stage, leading edge  33  of moving member  30  is in an approximately vertical orientation. As moving member  30  moves horizontally, first and second pivoting members  20  and  40  simultaneously pivot about post  14  and standoff  16  respectively. Pivot points  113  on first pivoting member  20  and  115  on second pivoting member  40  follow paths  102  and  104  respectively, as shown in FIG. 4. Note that paths  102  and  104  cross at point  116 . Prior to where the paths cross at point  116 , path  104  is outside of path  102 . However, after point  116  in the travel of the hinge has been reached path  104  moves inside of path  102 , thereby causing moving member  30  to rotate toward stationary member  10 , resulting in the movement of edge  33  of moving member  30  to a more horizontal position.  
         [0016]    Because of the relative positioning of standoff  16  and post  58 , to which spring assembly  50  is connected, during the first portion of the travel of the hinge, springs  52  are held at an almost constant extension. At some point during the travel of the hinge between the fully closed and the fully opened position, approximately as pivot point  115  reaches point  116 , springs  52  will begin to retract to their un-extended position. When this happens, the spring assist of the hinge engages and the hinge is pulled to the fully opened position by the retraction of springs  52 . Thus, the user need only pull the door in the direction of arrow  100  a portion of the way until the spring assist engages. Also, at some point, the motion of the cabinet door will be more vertical, approximately in the direction of arrow  110 , than horizontal, and moving member will rotate, causing the hinge to end up in a position as shown in FIG. 3 d . FIGS. 3 a - 3   d  show the motion of the hinge in sequence from the fully closed position in FIG. 3 a  to the fully open position of FIG. 3 d . When closing the door, springs  52  are extended to their greatest point of extension, placing tension of pivoting members  20  and  40  to dampen the motions thereof. This prevents slamming of the door upon closure.  
         [0017]    The preferred embodiment of the hinge and the preferred shapes of the structural members  10 ,  20 ,  30  and  40  are shown in FIG. 1. However, the actual shapes of these members may vary from what is shown without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is only important that the relationship of the pivot points of the structural members on either ends thereof be retained, as well as their relationship to the connection points of the spring assembly  50 . Additionally, standoffs  32 , which connect the hinge to the cabinet door are not part of the invention. Any suitable means of connecting moving member  30  to the cabinet door may be utilized.