Patent Publication Number: US-7707687-B2

Title: Opening/closing device for a double flap door of an item of furniture

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention refers to an opening/closing device for a double flap door (comprising a top part and a bottom part not hinged to each other) of a furniture item, adapted to cause the two parts of the door to rotate upwards, with a gradual movement, until at least the top part is caused to assume a substantially horizontal open position, and respectively to cause the two parts of the flap to rotate downwards until the two parts of the flap are caused to assume a substantially vertical closed position. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Many types of opening/closing devices for a double flap door based on the articulated quadrilateral principle are known to the art; their structural elements and operation will not be described herein because they are per se known. 
     It will merely be recalled that in opening/closing devices of the prior art, the two parts of the flap door are hinged to each other and, in the open position, fold over one another; the hinge between the two parts of the flap door forms one of the articulation points of the articulated quadrilateral, whereof one of rods is fixed to the bottom part of the door. 
     The fact that the two parts of the flap door are constrained to each other implies that:
         in the open position, the two parts of the flap door assume a (more or less) obligatory position;   since the top part of the flap door is hinged to the edge (normally horizontal) of the furniture item, the sides of the two parts of the flap door hinged to each other must be horizontal and in any case parallel to the edge of the furniture item.       

     All this imposes aesthetic and functional constraints and/or limitations on the designers and technicians who design furniture. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Object of the present invention is to produce an opening/closing device for a double flap door which allows the limits and drawbacks presented by the opening/closing devices of the prior art to be overcome and which has aesthetic and functional features which increase the quality thereof, as required by the current design and market trends. 
     This object is achieved by means of an opening/closing device for a double flap door. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention will now be described with reference to a purely exemplifying (and therefore non limiting) embodiment thereof, illustrated in the appended figures, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  shows diagrammatically a side view of an opening/closing device according to the invention, with the double flap door in the closed position; 
         FIGS. 2 and 3  show diagrammatically two side views of the opening/closing device according to the invention, during opening of the double flap door; 
         FIG. 4  shows diagrammatically a side view of the opening/closing device of  FIG. 1 , with the double flap door in the open position; 
         FIG. 5  shows diagrammatically a front view of a furniture item wherein the two parts of the double flap door have oblique adjacent sides; 
         FIGS. 6   a - 6   d  show diagrammatically, in a perspective view, some stages of opening of the double flap door of the furniture item of  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 7  shows diagrammatically, in a perspective view, the furniture item of  FIG. 6   d  rotated to show the opening/closing device according to the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     In the appended figures corresponding elements will be identified by the same reference numerals. 
     An opening/closing device for a double flap door of a furniture item (comprising a top part and a bottom part not hinged to each other) comprises means connected to the furniture item and to the top part of the flap door and adapted to cause the top part of the flap to rotate with respect to the furniture item and an articulated quadrilateral, connected to said means and adapted to cause the bottom part of the flap to rotate with respect to the top part concomitantly with the rotation of the top part of flap door with respect to the furniture item. 
     The articulated quadrilateral preferably comprises a first and second arm each having one end hinged to a body integral with the bottom part of the flap door and the other end hinged to said means, the other end of one of the arms being integral with the top part of the flap door. 
       FIG. 1  shows diagrammatically a side view of an opening/closing device  1  according to the invention, with the double flap door  2  in the closed position. 
     Visible in  FIG. 1  are the two parts ( 2 ′,  2 ″) of the double flap door  2 , the furniture item  3 , the known means  4  (seen better in  FIGS. 2-4  and consisting, in the embodiment described herein, of an articulated quadrilateral) connected to the furniture item  3  and the articulated quadrilateral  5  (seen better in  FIGS. 2-4 ) which carries the bottom part  2 ″ of the flap door  2 . 
     The two parts ( 2 ′,  2 ″) of the flap door  2  are not hinged to each other. 
     Without departing from the scope of the invention, the articulated quadrilateral  4  can be replaced by another known, functionally equivalent device. 
       FIGS. 2 and 3  show diagrammatically two side views of the opening/closing device  1  of  FIG. 1 , during opening of the double flap door  2 . 
     Visible in  FIGS. 2 and 3  are the two parts ( 2 ′,  2 ″) of the flap door  2 , the furniture item  3 , the known means  4  connected to the furniture item  3  and the articulated quadrilateral  5  which carries the bottom part  2 ″ of the flap door  2 . 
     From  FIGS. 2 and 3  it can be seen that the articulated quadrilateral  5  comprises a first and a second arm ( 5 ′,  5 ″) each having one end hinged to a body  5 ′″ integral with the bottom part  2 ″ of the flap door  2  and the other end hinged to the means  4  (in particular, in the embodiment of the means  4  described herein by way of non limiting example, the arm  5 ′ is hinged to an intermediate point of the rod  4 ′ belonging to the articulated quadrilateral  4 ). 
     In the attached figures the two parts ( 2 ′,  2 ″) of the flap door  2  are of practically the same height but, without departing from the scope of the invention, the two parts ( 2 ′,  2 ″) of the flap door  2  can be of different heights; the height of the bottom part  2 ″ of the flap door  2  must not be less than the height of the body  5 ′″, to which the first and second arm ( 5 ′,  5 ″) of the articulated quadrilateral  5  are hinged. 
       FIG. 4  shows diagrammatically a side view of the opening/closing device  1  of  FIG. 1 , with the double flap door  2  in the open position. 
     Visible in  FIG. 4  are the two parts ( 2 ′,  2 ″) of the flap door  2 , the furniture item  3 , the known means  4  connected to the furniture item  3  and the articulated quadrilateral  5  which carries the bottom part  2 ″ of the flap door  2 . 
     From  FIGS. 2-4  it can be seen that by suitably dimensioning (in an way obvious to a person skilled in the art) the means  4  and the arms  5 ′ and  5 ″, the bottom part  2 ″ of the flap remains (almost) vertical, moving (almost) parallel to itself. 
     This is (or can be) advantageous if, for example, shelves, coat-hangers or the like are applied to the bottom part  2 ″ of the flap door  2 . 
     From  FIG. 4  it can be seen that the positions assumed by the two parts ( 2 ′,  2 ″) of the flap door  2  in the open position are related to each other only by the lengths of the sides of the articulated quadrilateral  5  and can therefore be modified by a designer by modifying said lengths and/or their relationships. 
       FIG. 5  shows diagrammatically a front view of a furniture item  3  bearing a double flap door  2  wherein the two adjacent edges ( 2 ′ a ,  2 ″ a ;  FIG. 6 ) of the two parts ( 2 ′,  2 ″) of the flap door  2  are parallel to each other and oblique or in any case not parallel to the edge of the furniture item  3  to which the top part  2 ′ of the flap door  2  is hinged. 
     Without departing from the scope of the invention, the adjacent edges ( 2 ′ a ,  2 ″ a ) of the two parts ( 2 ′,  2 ″) of the flap door  2  may not be parallel to each other and may have different profiles (for example, one edge slanting upward and one slanting downward, or one edge may be straight and the other curved or undulating or both edges may be curved or undulating), provided there is no compenetration of the two parts ( 2 ′,  2 ″) of the flap door  2  in the closed position. 
       FIG. 6  shows diagrammatically, in a perspective view, some stages in opening of the double flap door  2  of the furniture item  3  of  FIG. 5 . 
     Visible in  FIG. 6  are the two parts ( 2 ′,  2 ″) of the flap  2 , their adjacent edges ( 2 ′ a  and  2 ″ a ) parallel to each other, the furniture item  3 , the known means  4  connected to the furniture item  3  and the articulated quadrilateral  5  which carries the bottom part  2 ″ of the flap door  2 . 
     From  FIG. 6  it can be seen that the device  1  of the present invention is adapted to move the two parts ( 2 ′,  2 ″) of the double flap door  2  even if their adjacent edges ( 2 ′ a ,  2 ″ a ) are oblique or in any case not parallel to the edge of the furniture item  3  to which the top part  2 ′ of the flap door  2  is hinged. 
       FIG. 7  shows diagrammatically in a perspective view, the furniture item  3  of  FIG. 6   d  rotated to show the opening/closing device  1  according to the invention. 
     Visible in  FIG. 7  are the two parts ( 2 ′,  2 ″) of the flap  2 , their adjacent edges ( 2 ′ a  and  2 ″ a ), the furniture item  3 , the known means  4  connected to the furniture item  3  and the articulated quadrilateral  5  which carries the bottom part  2 ″ of the flap door  2 . 
     Without departing from the scope of the invention, a person skilled in the art can make to the previously described opening/closing device for a double flap door all the changes and improvements suggested by normal experience and/or by the natural evolution of the art.