Patent Publication Number: US-6336253-B1

Title: Fastening plate for the fastening of a fitting, e.g. a hinge arm, to a supporting wall

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a fastening plate for the fastening of a fitting, e.g. a hinge arm, to a supporting wall. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     In a fastening plate known from DE 86 20 441 comprising a bottom plate and a top plate covering it at least partially, the bottom plate is provided on its bottom side with integral dowels whose boreholes align with the boreholes of the bottom plate. This aspect is advantageous, in particular in the case where the fastening plate is supplied already pre-mounted to the hinge arm connected to the door, as the door can then already be hung on the supporting wall by inserting the dowels into the pre-drilled fastening holes before the fastening screws are fully screwed in and before the dowels are thereby spread. If such fastening plates are intended to be mounted to opposite sides of a supporting wall in a twin fixture, their mounting is only possible if the supporting wall is so thick that the fastening screws or the dowels can be inserted in the aligned boreholes of the supporting wall in such a way that they do not impede one another. However, such a connection is usually unsatisfactory. 
     In a fastening plate known from DE 297 13 595 U, the boreholes or dowels of the bottom plate and the oblong holes, which are penetrated by fastening screws, of the top plate are disposed opposite each other at equal distances to the transverse axis of the top plate running through the wing-like projections so that two fastening plates provided with corresponding boreholes disposed in pairs next to each other for the fastening screws can be mounted in a twin fixture on opposite sides of a supporting wall. However, this aspect requires a special and complex preparation of the supporting wall which does not correspond to the standardised borehole distribution in the supporting wall. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide fastening plates of the type first described which can initially provisionally be pre-mounted and then fastened in a superposable twin fixture on opposite sides of a thin supporting wall without having to make any special preparations therefor. 
     This object is solved in accordance with the invention on the basis of a fastening plate in which, on the one hand, a spreading dowel is integrally formed in a homogeneous material to the borehole of the bottom plate, said dowel having a shorter length than usual, and, on the other hand, possesses a borehole partially encompassed by base-like elevations and having a pre-mounted screw which is also shorter, but which has a larger diameter so that it cuts directly into the walls of the boreholes pre-drilled into the supporting wall after mounting. 
     The fastening plate in accordance with the invention can be pre-mounted superposably in a twin fixture on opposite sides of a supporting wall because the dowels can be inserted into the pre-drilled fastening holes with a low driving fit. If then only those fastening screws aligned therewith are fully screwed in, the spread of the dowels is not yet sufficient to ensure a good fastening as the length of both the dowels and the spreading screws are too small in size. In the fastening plate in accordance with the invention, however, the second fastening screw is designed in a comparatively larger diameter so that it can also ensure a better retaining force even in limited length. Such screws can, for example, be designed as “Euro screws”, i.e. as screws possessing a thread diameter of 6.4 mm. 
     Accordingly, both boreholes of the bottom plate can be encompassed in a known manner by the base-like elevations which serve as guidance in the adjustment of the top plate with respect to the bottom plates. For the better retention and alignment of the screws with a larger diameter, the top plate can be provided with short tongues bent down at the side at the edges of the oblong hole. In this way, both plates can be properly pre-mounted on top of each other as the threads cut partially both into the tongues and the base-like elevations. 
     As already known from DE 297 13 595 U, in accordance with another advantageous aspect, an elevation designed as a tenon can be disposed in the end region of the bottom plate provided with the dowel, which elevation engages an oblong hole of the top plate parallel to the oblong holes penetrated by the fastening screws for guidance and centration. 
     The fastening plates in accordance with the invention can also be mountable in the provided boreholes of the supporting wall after being turned through 180° so that they are suitable for both left and right fixtures. 
     A further solution to the object defined above is given by a fastening plate in which, in a region of the bottom plate which lies below the elongated part of the top plate in the mounted state, at least one dowel-like extension or two bent tongue-like extensions are formed. With this design, it is possible to provide pre-mounted screws with a comparatively larger diameter (“Euro screws” with thread diameters of 6.4 mm) in both screw holes. 
     According to further aspects of this solution two dowels can be formed at a distance to one another on the bottom plate. Furthermore, on the bottom plates—in the region of the edges of the fastening boreholes—tongues pointing downwards can be formed on integrally which serve the centration and correct alignment of the fastening plate. When the screws are being screwed in, these tongues are deformed by the screws. If bent, tongue-like extensions are provided, their edges may have a slightly slanting course with respect to their symmetric line. In this way, these bent tongues, which replace the dowels alternatively provided, ensure a provisional retention in the boreholes of the furniture panel. In addition, the boreholes in the bottom plate for the pre-mounted fastening screws can be designed hexagonally. By cutting at six points, a better centration or alignment of the fastening screws can be ensured. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Further details and advantages of the invention are described in more detail by means of an embodiment presented in the drawing in which: 
     FIG.  1 : shows a section through the fastening plate mounted to a supporting wall in a twin fixture in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG.  2 : shows a top view of the fastening plate of FIG. 1; 
     FIG.  3 : shows a section through the mounting plate of FIG. 2 along the line III—III; 
     FIG.  4 : shows a top view of the bottom plate of the fastening plate; 
     FIG.  5 : shows a section through the bottom plate along the line V—V in FIG. 4; 
     FIG.  6 : shows a section through the fastening plate in accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG.  7 : shows a top view of the fastening plate of FIG. 6; 
     FIG.  8 : shows a top view of an embodiment of a bottom plate of the fastening plate of FIG. 6; 
     FIG.  9 : shows a section through the bottom plate along line IX—IX in FIG. 8; 
     FIG.  10 : shows a top view of an alternative embodiment of a bottom plate to the fastening plate of FIG. 6; 
     FIG.  11 : shows a section through the bottom plate along line XI—XI in FIG. 10; 
     FIG.  12 : shows a top view of another alternative embodiment of a bottom plate to the fastening plate of FIG. 6; 
     FIG.  13 : shows a section through the bottom plate along the line XIII—XIII in FIG. 12; and 
     FIG.  14 : shows a top view of a further alternative embodiment of a bottom plate to the fastening plate of FIG.  6 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description. 
     The mounting plates  12  mountable superposably in a twin fixture to a supporting wall  10  consist of a bottom plate  14  and a top plate  16 . 
     The bottom plate  14  possesses an essentially rectangular circumferential shape with rounded corners. It consists of a centre piece  18  of lower thickness to which thickened end regions  20 ,  22  connect via a step-shaped shoulder. In the end region  22  (see FIG.  4 ), a rectangular base-like elevation  24  and a tenon-like elevation  27  are disposed. On the opposite end  20 , two base-like elevations  26  are designed. On both sides and at a small distance from the base-like elevation  26 , recesses  56  forming guides are formed (FIG.  3 ). 
     The base-like elevations possess through-holes  28 ,  29  for fastening screws  50 ,  52 . Below the bottom plate  14 , the through-hole  28  opens into a dowel-like extension  30  which is designed to be comparatively short. 
     The bottom plate  14  is formed symmetrically to its transverse centre line. It is manufactured integrally from an injection moulded plastic part. 
     The top plate  16  consists of an essentially rectangular centre piece  32  provided with a U-shaped profiled elevation  34  which bears in its centre a base-like elevation  36  provided with a taphole. The elevation  34  is designed in such a way that it can be overlapped by a U-shaped profiled hinge arm of a furniture hinge which can be fixed in place on the centre piece  32  by a fastening screw  38 . Wing-like protrusions  40 ,  42  are formed onto the centre piece  32  symmetrically to the transverse centre line. Oblong holes  44 ,  48  are disposed on the transverse centre line in said wing-like protrusions  40 ,  42 . The centre lines of said oblong holes  44 ,  48  are therefore in alignment with the transverse centre line of the wing-like protrusions  40 ,  42 . The oblong holes  44 ,  48  are rectangular and possess a width corresponding to the width of the base-like elevations  24 ,  26 . The oblong hole  46  possesses a width corresponding to the tenon-like elevation  27 . 
     The top plate  16  consists of a stamped metal sheet and is provided with bent edges which run over the edges of the wing-like protrusions  40 ,  42  and the connecting long sides of the centre piece  32 . In addition, in the region of the oblong hole  48 , a tongue  54  is formed on each side laterally bent downward at the edges of said oblong hole  48  which tongue  54  serves the better retention and alignment of the screw  52 . 
     The end regions  20 ,  22  of the bottom plate  14  are covered by the wing-like extensions  40 ,  42  of the top plate  16 . Here, the bottom plate  14  is shorter than the distance between the outer bent edges of the wing-like protrusions  40 ,  42  so that the top plate  16  can be pushed over the length of the oblong holes  44 ,  46 ,  48  for adjustment on the bottom plate  14 . 
     The base-like elevations  24 ,  26  are so much lower than the thickness of the top plate  16  that the top plate  16  can be tensioned by tightening the fastening screws of the bottom plate  14  or the supporting wall  10 . 
     The screw holes  58  in the supporting wall are provided as exit boreholes for twin mounting. 
     In FIG. 1, a fastening plate  12  provisionally pre-mounted on the supporting wall can be seen on the right as it is supplied with the usually pre-mounted hinge arm (not shown). On the left, the fastening plate can be seen after the fastening screws have been fully screwed in and the dowels spread. In the pre-mounting such as can be seen on the right hand side of FIG. 1, the fastening plate is first held by the dowel-like extension which is inserted with a low driving fit into the pre-drilled fastening hole  58 . Then the fastening screw  50  is screwed into the dowel-like extension so that this is spread. The dowel-like extension is, however, designed to be so short—in order to allow the twin assembly in the comparatively thin supporting wall—so that a sufficient retention is not yet ensured. This is achieved by turning in the comparatively thicker screws  52  whose thread pitches turn into the borehole  58 . This thicker screw  52  is a Euro screw with a thread diameter of 6.4 mm. 
     Further embodiments of the invention are shown in FIGS. 6 to  11 . In these embodiments, boreholes  29  are provided on both sides of the bottom plate  114  (see FIGS. 8,  9 ) or  124  (see FIGS. 10,  11 ) encompassed partially by base-like elevations  26  having pre-mounted screws  52  possessing a larger diameter. 
     A dowel  130  serving the pre-mounting is shaped on one side on the part  110  of the bottom plate  114 , as it is shown in FIG. 8, which lies below the elongated centre-piece  32  of the top plate  16  in the mounted state. The dowel  130  shown here is—as is shown in FIG.  9 —provided with a tooth-like profile. Said dowel is formed resiliently due to a central slot. 
     In accordance with FIGS. 10 and 11, dowels  130  serving the pre-mounting can also be shaped on both sides in each case on the part  110  of the bottom plate  124  lying under the elongated centre piece  32  of the top plate  16  in the pre-mounted state. The dowel shown in section in FIG. 11 has a smooth circumference  131 . The dowels are sized so that they can be inserted manually into the pre-drilled borehole of the furniture panel. 
     Appropriately, the dowels  130  possess, if corresponding embodiments are provided in accordance with FIG. 11, the same standardised distance, for example 32 mm, as the fastening boreholes  29 . 
     In the embodiment of FIGS. 6 to  11 , it is provided that tongues  100  pointing downwards are formed integrally on the edges of the fastening boreholes  29 , which tongues make the centration and correct alignment of the fastening plate easier. The disposition of the tongues  100  can be seen from FIGS. 6 to  11 . These tongues are deformed by the screws  52  when these are screwed in. 
     In FIGS. 12,  13  and  14 , further embodiments of the invention are shown. In these embodiments, bottom plates  214 ,  215  are shown. Bottom plate  214  is made integrally from steel. In their shaping, these bottom plates  214 ,  215  are similar to the bottom plate  124  of FIGS. 10 and 11. Instead of a dowel, however, two bent tongue-like extensions  140 ,  142  are formed here at the side in each case which ensure a provisional retention in the boreholes of the furniture panel. The edges of these tongues  140 ,  142  are slightly slanted downwards with respect to their symmetric axis  148  as can be seen from the course of the edges  144 ,  146  in FIG.  13 . The screw holes  150  in these embodiments are formed hexagonally. When the fastening screws are turned in, these cut in at six points and thus allow a better centration or alignment. The tongues  140  and  142  are shown in plane form in FIGS. 12 and 13. However, they can also have a curved surface (not shown here). 
     The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be recognized by one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.