Patent Publication Number: US-7712185-B2

Title: Door hinge device for absorbing the closing impact of furniture door

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2007-0138226, filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Dec. 27, 2007 and registered in KIPO on Mar. 12, 2008 (Registration No. 10-0814739), the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an improved door buffering device which is installed at a path where a door for furniture is opened/closed to absorb a noise generated upon the closing impact of the furniture door, and more particularly, to a door hinge device for absorbing the closing impact of a furniture door, which is adapted to minimize a work load and the number of work processes thereof according to assembly and disassembly thereof through the modification of a retaining structure thereof. 
     2. Background of the Related Art 
     In general, a door buffering device, i.e., a door hinge device for absorbing the closing impact of a furniture door is mounted at on the inner wall or the front side of pieces of furniture such as sinks, drawers or the like so as to absorb the impact noise or contact resistance generated in the course of closing the door. Such a door hinge device is configured such that a damper adapter having a built-in fluid damper is mounted on a top surface or a side surface of a hinge for furniture. 
     For example, as shown in  FIG. 1 , a furniture hinge  10  of the door hinge device is hingeably mounted to a coupling portion between a side wall W of a piece of furniture and a furniture door D and serves as rotating means of the furniture door D. A damper adapter  20  having a built-in fluid damper  21  is mounted on a top surface of the furniture hinge  10 . 
     Also, as shown in  FIG. 2 , a door hinge device for absorbing the closing impact of a furniture door (Korean Registration No. 731335) which is a prior application invention filed by the present applicant includes: a furniture hinge  10  adapted to hingeably interconnect a side wall W of a piece of furniture and a furniture door D and having at least one tension adjustment bolt  11  and a fixing bolt  15  mounted thereon; a damper adapter  20  mounted to the furniture hinge  10  by means of fixing means thereof, the damper adapter having a fluid damper  21  built therein for absorbing the closing impact of the furniture door D and a plurality of check openings  22  formed thereon to correspond to the tension adjustment bolt  11  and the fixing bolt  15  of the furniture hinge; and a covering member  30  fixedly mounted to the damper adapter  20  by means of retaining hooks  31  and adapted to selectively close or open the check openings  22  of the damper adapter  20 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the fixing means of the damping adapter  20  includes a hook  27  formed integrally on the underside of the damping adapter  20  so as to be fittingly coupled to a retaining aperture  14  of the furniture hinge  10 , and an elastic piece  28  fixedly mounted to the underside of the damper adapter  20  by means of fastening means such as a bolt, etc., so as to be retained by a flange portion  17  of a rear end of the furniture hinge  10 . 
     Thus, in case where it is desired to fixedly mount the damper adapter  20  to the furniture hinge  10 , when the elastic piece  28  is hooked on the flange portion  17  of the furniture hinge  10  and the hook  27  is pressingly pushed into the retaining aperture  14  while abutting against the retaining aperture  14  of the furniture hinge  10 , the hook  27  of the damper adapter  20  is inserted into the retaining aperture  14  of the furniture hinge  10  and simultaneously the elastic piece  28  is retained by the flange portion  17  to cause the damper adapter  20  to be fixedly mounted to the furniture hinge  10 . 
     On the other hand, in case where it is desired to separate the damper adapter  20  from the furniture hinge  10 , the hook  27  fit into the retaining aperture  14  is lifted upwardly while the damper adapter  20  is slightly pulled forwardly with a user&#39;s hand so as to cause the hook  27  to be withdrawn from the furniture hinge  10  and the elastic piece  28  to be removed from the flange portion  17 . 
     By the way, as shown in  FIG. 3 , the furniture hinge  10  and the damper adapter  20  are constructed to be fixed by means of the hook  27  and the elastic piece  28 . Thus, when it is desired to mount the damper adapter  20  to the furniture hinge  10 , the hook  27  should be pressingly pushed into the retaining aperture  14  while forwardly pulling the damper adapter  20  in a state where the elastic piece  28  is hooked on the flange portion of the furniture hinge  10 , leading to an increase in a work load. 
     That is, since the damper adapter  20  must be pressed with a strong force of the extent of exceeding the elastic force of the elastic piece  28  and the hook  27  in a state where both side portions of the damper adapter  20  are gripped by the user&#39;s hand, it is difficult to mount the damper adapter  20  to the furniture hinge  10 . Also, in case where the user&#39;s hand is slipped from the damper adapter  20  during the exertion of a strong force to the damper adapter  20  by a user, there is a risk that the user&#39;s hand will be injured. 
     In addition, in case where it is desired to separate the damper adapter  20  mounted on the furniture hinge  10 , the hooking state of the hook  27  must be released to separate the elastic piece  28  in a state where the damper adapter  20  are pressed forwardly while being gripped by the user&#39;s hand, so that there is an increase in a work load according the separation of the damper adapter  20  and inconvenience is caused. 
     Therefore, the conventional door hinge device for absorbing the closing impact of the furniture door entails a problem in that it is difficult to horizontally and vertically apply a proper force to the damper adapter  20  in the course of the installation and separation of the damper adapter  20 , making it difficult for general persons but not experts to install and separate the damper adapter  20 . 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the present invention has been made in an effort to solve the aforementioned problems associated with the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a door hinge device for absorbing the closing impact of a furniture door, which is adapted to minimize a work load and the number of work processes thereof according to assembly and disassembly thereof through the modification of a retaining structure thereof. 
     To accomplish the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a door hinge device for absorbing the closing impact of a furniture door, the door hinge device including: a furniture hinge adapted to hingeably interconnect a side wall of a piece of furniture and a furniture door and having a retaining aperture formed thereon; a damper adapter fixedly mounted to the furniture hinge and having a fluid damper built therein for absorbing the closing impact of the furniture door, the damper adapter having a fixing hook and a pair of clearance hooks protrudingly formed downwardly from the underside thereof so as to be fittingly coupled to the retaining aperture, wherein the fixing hook and the clearance hooks are disposed abreast and a clearance space is defined between the fixing hook and each clearance hook; and a covering member mounted on the damper adapter and having one or more coupling protrusions formed on the underside thereof so as to be fit into the clearance space via a through-hole of the damper adapter, whereby the clearance hooks of the damper adapter are oriented uprightly by means of the coupling protrusions of the covering member so as to be fixedly retained by the retaining aperture. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a diagrammatical view illustrating a state in which a conventional door hinge device is installed at a piece of furniture according to the prior art; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of a door hinge device according to the prior art; 
         FIG. 3  is an assembled cross-sectional view of a door hinge device according to the prior art; 
         FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view of a door hinge device according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view showing a series of assembly processes of the door hinge device of  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded perspective view of a door hinge device according to a second embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view showing a series of assembly processes of the door hinge device of  FIG. 6 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Reference will now be made in detail to a preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the attached drawings. 
       FIG. 4  is an exploded perspective view of a door hinge device according to a first embodiment of the present invention,  FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view showing a series of assembly processes of the door hinge device of  FIG. 4 ,  FIG. 6  is an exploded perspective view of a door hinge device according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and  FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view showing a series of assembly processes of the door hinge device of  FIG. 6 . 
     A door hinge device for absorbing the closing impact of a furniture door according to the present invention includes: a furniture hinge  10  adapted to hingeably interconnect a side wall W of a piece of furniture and a furniture door D and having a retaining aperture  14  formed thereon; a damper adapter  20  fixedly mounted to the furniture hinge  10  and having a fluid damper  21  built therein for absorbing the closing impact of the furniture door D, the damper adapter having a fixing hook  100  and a pair of clearance hooks  200  protrudingly formed downwardly from the underside thereof so as to be fittingly coupled to the retaining aperture  14 , wherein the clearance hooks are disposed abreast at both sides of the fixing hook and a clearance space is defined between the fixing hook and each clearance hook; and a covering member  30  mounted on the damper adapter  20  and having one or more coupling protrusions  400  formed on the underside thereof so as to be fit into the clearance space via a through-hole  500  of the damper adapter  20 . In this case, the clearance hooks  200  of the damper adapter  20  are oriented uprightly by means of the coupling protrusions  400  of the covering member  30  so as to be fixedly retained by the retaining aperture  14 . 
     In this embodiment, the present invention includes a furniture hinge  10  adapted to interconnect the side wall W of a piece of furniture and the furniture door D so as to be used as rotating means of the furniture door D, a damper adapter  20  mounted on the top surface of the furniture hinge  10  so as to be used as buffering means of the furniture door D, and a covering member  30  mounted on the damper adapter  20  so as to be used as fixing means of the damping adapter  20 . 
     Also, the constituent elements corresponding to the prior art in the main constituent elements of this embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as those used in the prior art. 
     In this case, the furniture hinge  10  is adapted to hingeably interconnect the side wall W of a piece of furniture and the furniture door D so as to be used opening/closing means of the furniture door D. The furniture hinge  10  includes a body portion securely fixed to the side wall W of the piece of furniture by means of bolts, and a rotating portion securely fixed to the furniture door D by means of bolts in such a fashion as to be hingeably coupled to the body portion. 
     The body portion of the furniture hinge  10  has at least one tension adjustment bolt  11  and a fixing bolt  15  mounted on a top surface thereof so as to adjust a tension or a fixing force of the rotating portion. Also, the body portion has at least one retaining aperture  14  formed between the tension adjustment bolt  11  and the fixing bolt  15  on the top surface thereof. 
     Also, the damper adapter  20  is fixedly mounted to the furniture hinge  10  and serves to buffer the closing impact of the furniture door D. The damper adapter  20  includes: a body portion having a check opening  22  formed at positions thereof corresponding to the tension adjustment bolt  11  and the fixing bolt  15  of the furniture hinge  10 ; and fixing means formed integrally on the underside of the body portion thereof. 
     In addition, the fixing means of the damper adapter  20  includes a fixing hook  100  protrudingly formed downwardly from the underside of the damper adapter  20  so as to be fittingly coupled to the retaining aperture  14 , a pair of clearance hooks  200  protrudingly formed downwardly from the underside thereof in such a fashion as to be disposed abreast at both sides of the fixing hook  100  so as to be fittingly coupled to the retaining aperture  14  of the furniture hinge  10 , and a clearance space  300  having a certain distance defined between the fixing hook  100  and the clearance hooks  200 . 
     Moreover, the damper adapter  20  has a through-hole  500  formed therein in such a fashion as to communicate with the clearance space  300  so as to allow coupling protrusions  400  of a covering member  30 , which will be described later, to be induced into the clearance space  300 . 
     Also, the clearance hooks  200  may be formed at both sides or one side along a width direction of the fixing hook  100  as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , and may be formed at both sides or one side along a lengthwise direction of the fixing hook  100  as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 . 
     Further, the clearance hooks  200  are preferably formed thinner than the fixing hook  100  so that they can be bent along the clearance space  300 . 
     In addition, each of the clearance hooks  200  has at least one retaining jaw  210  integrally formed at the bottom portion thereof in such a fashion as to extend outwardly from an outer wall of the bottom portion thereof so as to be fixedly retained by a flange portion  14   a  formed an edge of the retaining aperture  14  in a state where the retaining jaw is fit into the retaining aperture  14 . 
     Also, the covering member  30  is mounted on the damper adapter  20  and serves to close or open the check opening  22  of the damper adapter  20  to adjust the fastening state of the tension adjustment bolt  11  and the fixing bolt  15  of the furniture hinge  10 . The covering member  30  includes: a body portion mounted on the top surface of the damper adapter  20 ; and fixing means integrally formed at the underside of the body portion so as to be fittingly coupled with the damper adapter  20 . 
     In this case, the fixing means of the covering member  30  includes the coupling protrusions  400  fit into the clearance space  300  via the through-hole  500  of the damper adapter  20 . 
     Preferably, the covering member  30  has a plurality of retaining hooks  31  formed on the underside thereof so as to be fittingly fixed to the top surface of the damper adapter  20 . 
     Also, preferably, the coupling protrusions  400  are formed at positions of the covering member  30  corresponding to the clearance space  300  of the damper adapter  20  to have a contour corresponding to the clearance space  300 . The coupling protrusions  400  may be formed at both sides or one side along a width direction of the covering member  30  as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , and may be formed at both sides or one side along a lengthwise direction of the covering member  30  as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 . 
     In this case, the clearance space  300  of the damper adapter  20  is preferably defined to have a width corresponding to the thickness of each of the coupling protrusions  400 . 
     Besides, the damper adapter  20  and the covering member  30  are preferably formed of a material excellent in machinability and elasticity such as plastic or rubber. 
     Now, the assembly and disassembly operation of the door hinge device according to the present invention will be described hereinafter in more detail with reference to  FIGS. 5 and 7 . 
     First, when it is desired to assemble the door hinge device of the present invention, the fixing hook  100  and the clearance hooks  200  of the damper adapter  20  are softly pressingly pushed downwardly into the retaining aperture  14  of the furniture hinge  10  while abutting against the retaining aperture  14  of the furniture hinge  10 . 
     Then, the clearance hooks  200  abutting against the flange portion on the top surface of the furniture hinge  10  are fit into the retaining aperture  14  while being bent inwardly along the clearance space  300 , and then are maintained in an upright state by means of intrinsic elasticity of the clearance hooks  200 . 
     Subsequently, when the coupling protrusions  400  of the covering member  30  are softly pressingly pushed into the through-hole  500  of the damper adapter  20  while abutting against the through-hole  500 , the covering member  30  is coupled to the top surface of the damper adapter  20 . 
     That is, when the coupling protrusions  400  of the covering member  30  are fit into the clearance space  300  of the damper adapter  20  via the through-hole  500  of the damper adapter  20 , a moving space of the clearance hooks  200  does not exist to cause the clearance hooks  200  to be maintained in an upright state. 
     Furthermore, the covering member  30  mounted on the damper adapter  20  is primarily securely fixed to the damper adapter  20  by means of the retaining hooks  31  as well as the retaining jaws  210  of the clearance hooks  200  are fixedly retained by the flange portion  14   a  of the retaining aperture  14  so as to prevent the escape of the door hinge device. 
     In the meantime, in case where it is desired to disassemble the door hinge device, when the covering member  30  is lifted slightly, the coupling protrusions  400  fit into the clearance space  300  of the damper adapter  20  is easily removed from the damper adapter  20 . 
     In this case, since the clearance hooks  200  of the damper adapter  20  are bent at a given angle along the clearance space  300 , the damper adapter  20  can be easily and readily separated from the furniture hinge  10 . 
     Thus, the tension adjustment bolt  11  and the fixing bolt  15  of the furniture hinge  10  are checked through the check openings  22  of the damper adapter  20 , and then the covering member  30  and the damper adapter  20  can be re-assembled to each other for the use of the door hinge device. 
     As described above, a door hinge device for absorbing the closing impact of a furniture door according to the present invention has the following advantageous effects. 
     First, since the assembly and disassembly of the door hinge device can be performed in a one-touch manner through the interaction between the damper adapter and the covering member, a convenience of the operation according to the assembly and disassembly of the door hinge device is improved as well as a work load is reduced. 
     Second, since the assembly and disassembly of the door hinge device is carried out in only a one-depression and pulling manner, it can be easily conducted even by a non-expert, thereby preventing a safety accident such as injury of hands and the like. 
     While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.