Patent Publication Number: US-11041336-B2

Title: Hinge

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is the National Stage of PCT/EP2018/065603 filed on Jun. 13, 2018, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 of German Application No. 10 2017 114 477.3 filed on Jun. 29, 2017, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference. The international application under PCT article 21(2) was not published in English. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a hinge having a side part which can be fastened to a wall and a hinge part which can be pivoted relative to the side part and to which a door can be fixed, and having a linear damper arranged in the side part with a housing and a piston rod which is pretensioned by a spring in a direction away from the housing. 
     DE 20 2006 003 196 U discloses a furniture hinge in which a hinge part is pivotally mounted on a side part by means of a support lever and a guide lever. The guide lever is equipped with an extension arm on which a linear damper with a housing and a piston rod that is displaceable relative to the housing is pivotably mounted. Such a linear damper is well suited for damping a closing movement, but there is the problem that by pivoting the linear damper the required installation space in the side part is large. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore the object of the present invention to create a hinge which, in a particularly compact design, allows at least one closing movement to be damped. 
     This object is solved by a hinge with the features of claim  1 . 
     In the case of the hinge according to the invention, a housing of the linear damper is non-rotatably fixed in the side part and fastened to a holder, wherein the holder is fixed to at least one axis on which a lever for pivoting the hinge part is rotatably mounted. As a result, the axis can be used both to support the hinge part and to fix the linear damper. On the one hand, this leads to a reduction in the number of components, and on the other hand, it allows the linear damper to be fixed in the immediate vicinity of the lever, so that the linear damper requires comparatively little installation space. 
     The holder can be fixed on two axes or, in an alternative embodiment, the holder can be fixed in a non-rotatable manner via at least one axis and with one body edge of the holder resting against the side part. 
     The holder preferably has a U-shaped shaped part having two legs with openings in which at least one axis is inserted. Particularly preferably, the at least one axis has a polygonal area which approximately corresponds to at least one opening of a leg of the holder. As a result, the linear damper can be easily mounted by pushing the axis through. 
     The linear damper preferably comprises a pot-shaped housing, which is integrally designed with the holder. Alternatively, the housing of the linear damper can also be pot-shaped and have at least one step projecting radially outwards on the side facing away from the base so that the housing can be inserted into an opening in the holder. Irrespective of whether the housing and the holder are one or more components, the housing preferably contains a linearly displaceable piston to which the piston rod is fixed. 
     In a further embodiment, a control cam is formed on one of the levers, which compresses the linear damper during a closing movement of the hinge shortly before reaching a closing position and during an opening movement shortly before reaching the maximum opening position. As a result, the linear damper can be used for both closing and opening damping. As an option, the opening damping can also be dispensed with. The control cam is preferably formed on at least one curved web of the lever or hinge part and slides along a pin which rests against the linear damper. The pin can be guided linearly in an elongated hole of the holder, so that the pin is moved linearly via the control cam and the linear damper is pressed together accordingly or can be moved apart. It is also possible to actuate the damper directly through the cam. 
     For a particularly compact design, the stroke length of the linear damper is designed to be less than 5 mm; in particular, the stroke can be between 3 mm and 4.2 mm. The length of the linear damper is preferably less than 20 mm, in particular less than 18 mm, so that the linear damper only occupies a small construction volume in the side part. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
         FIG. 1  shows a perspective exploded view of a hinge according to the invention; 
         FIG. 2  shows a sectional side view of the hinge of  FIG. 1  in a closed position; 
         FIGS. 3 and 4  show two views of the hinge of  FIG. 2  in middle opening positions; 
         FIG. 5  shows a view of the hinge of  FIG. 2  in a maximum opening position; 
         FIG. 6  shows a diagram for illustrating the longitudinal extension of the damper in relation to the opening position of the hinge part; 
         FIG. 7  shows a partially sectional perspective view of the hinge of  FIG. 1  with mounted holder; 
         FIG. 8A  shows a top view of the hinge with section through the holder with linear damper; 
         FIG. 8B  shows a detailed view of the section from  FIG. 8A  on holder and linear damper; 
         FIG. 9  shows a perspective view of the linear damper fixed to the holder; 
         FIG. 10  shows a top view of the holder of  FIG. 9 ; 
         FIG. 11  shows a perspective view of a modified embodiment example of an integral holder with an integrally attached housing, and 
         FIG. 12  shows a perspective exploded view of the holder with the linear damper of  FIG. 11 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     A hinge  1 , in particular for furniture or household appliances, comprises a side part  2  which can be fixed to a side wall of a furniture body or to another wall. A hinge part  3  is pivotably mounted on the side part  2 , on which a door can be fixed, which can be pivoted from a closing position into an opening position via hinge  1 . Two levers  4  and  5  are provided between side part  2  and hinge part  3  for this purpose. The lever arm  4  is U-shaped, wherein the lever arm  4  has lateral webs  44 . The lever  4  has openings  47  at the webs  44 , through which an axis  6  is inserted to rotatably mount the lever  4  on the hinge part  3 . Furthermore, a spaced-apart axis  7  is integrally formed with axis  6 , which is passed through an eye  56  on the lever  5  to rotatably mount the lever  5  on the hinge part  3 . The lever  5  can also consist of several individual flat parts which are placed next to each other to form a lever  5  with corresponding holes for the axes  7  and  9 . 
     The side part  2 , which is U-shaped and has two legs  20  and a connecting web  21 , has openings  22  on the legs  20 , through which the axis  8  is passed, in order to rotatably mount the lever  4  on the side part  2 . In addition, openings  23  are formed on the legs  20 , through which an axis  9  is inserted in order to rotatably mount the lever  5  on the side part  2 . 
     To dampen a closing movement of hinge part  3 , a linear damper  10  is provided, which has a pot-shaped housing  11  and a piston rod  12  movable relative to the housing  11 . A piston  13  is fixed to the piston rod  12  to generate damping forces when the piston  13  moves relative to the housing  11 . The linear damper  10  has a compact design and the stroke movement of the piston rod  12  is preferably in a range between 2 mm and 6 mm, in particular 3 mm to 5 mm. 
     The linear damper  10  is fixed to a holder  15 , which is arranged in the side part  2 . The holder  15  is U-shaped and comprises an opening  19  at the connecting section, into which the housing  11  of the linear damper is inserted, until a radially outwardly projecting edge rests against the housing  11  at the holder  15 . Two lugs  29  are formed on the holder to limit movement of the housing  11  in the longitudinal direction of the piston rod  12 . The holder  15  has openings  17  and  18  on the two legs which are penetrated by two axes  8  and  9  which are inserted into the side part  2 . Thus the holder  15  and thus also the linear damper  10  are non-rotatably held in the side part  2 . The holder  15  also includes an elongated hole  16  for guiding a pin  14 . The pin  14  rests on one end of the piston rod  12  to compress the linear damper  10 . The pin  14  can also be firmly connected to the piston rod  12 , so that a kind of hammer head is formed on the piston rod  12  to guide the piston rod  12  in the elongated hole  16 . A spring  75  is also provided in the linear damper  10  to pretension the piston rod  12  into a protruding position. 
     Side part  2  can optionally be fixed directly to a side wall of a furniture body. In the embodiment example shown, however, a mounting plate  30  is fixed to the side wall, on which a retaining element  31  is held, on which the side part  2  is adjustably held. The retaining element  31  has a slot-shaped opening  36  for a height adjustment  50  and an opening  35  for a depth adjustment  40 . The depth adjustment  40  has an eccentric pin  41 , which is passed through a recess  24  on the side part  2  and engages in the opening  35 . The height adjustment  50  has a guide groove  51  which is inserted in the opening  36  on the retaining element  31  and a thread  52  which is engaged by means of the threaded hole  25  in the side part  2 . 
     The retaining element  31  is also latched to the mounting plate  30  via a latching element  34 , which is rotatably mounted on the retaining element  31  via an axis  32  and is also pretensioned via a spring  33 . 
     The hinge  1  also comprises a spring  60 , which is designed as a leg spring and has a first spring arm  61  supported by the lever  4 . A second opposing spring arm  62  is supported on the lever  5 , for which a receptacle  63  is formed on a web  55  on the lever  5 . Alternatively, other closing spring arrangements known from the state of the art can also be used. For example, arrangements with a leaf spring can also be used. 
       FIG. 2  shows hinge  1  in an assembled position, wherein hinge part  3  is in a closed position. If hinge part  3  is now pivoted in the opening direction as shown in  FIG. 3 , levers  4  and  5  also pivot. By pivoting the lever  4 , control cam  45  is rotated about axis  8 , causing pin  14  to slide along control cam  45 . When moving in the opening direction, the longitudinal extension of the linear damper  10  is increased and the piston rod  12  moves out of the housing  11 . 
       FIG. 4  shows a middle opening position, in an angle range between 40° and 65°, in which the linear damper experiences its maximum longitudinal extension. Pin  14  rests in a receptacle against the control cam  45  and the piston rod  12  is in the maximum protruding position. If the hinge part  3  now moves further in the opening direction, the lever  4  pivots again in the opposite direction, and the pin  14  slides back again along the control cam  45 . This slightly compresses the linear damper by retracting the piston rod  12  until it reaches the position shown in  FIG. 5 . In this position it can be recognized how the lever  4  with its webs  44  engages over the lever  5 . In the maximum opening position, the linear damper has a significantly longer longitudinal extension than in the closing position. Other control cams  45  can also be used to control the linear damper; for example, the linear damper  10  can also be more strongly retracted in the maximum opening position, especially if a stronger opening damping is to be achieved shortly before reaching the maximum opening position. The control cam can also be designed so that the piston rod is retracted in the maximum opening position, but the stroke of the piston rod over the angular range from the maximum longitudinal extension of the damper to the maximum opening position of hinge part  3  is so small or the stroke movement of the piston rod  12  so slow that almost no damping effect occurs. In any case, the linear damper will run through a maximum longitudinal extension during an opening movement of the hinge part  3 . In the closing direction, the hinge part  3  is moved from the position shown in  FIG. 5  back to the position shown in  FIG. 2 , wherein the linear damper also passes through a maximum longitudinal extension in this case and is strongly compressed before reaching the closing position, which leads to the necessary damping forces. By interposing a pin  14  between the control cam  45  and the piston rod  12 , transverse forces are avoided, since the pin  14  is guided linearly at the elongated hole  16  of the holder  15 . 
       FIG. 6  shows a diagram in which the position of the piston rod is represented by a stroke movement relative to the opening angle of hinge part  3 . It can be seen that in the closed position the piston rod  12  is in the retracted position and that during an opening movement the maximum longitudinal extension of the linear damper is in an angle range between 50 and 75°. If the hinge part  3  reaches a maximum opening position of about 105°, the linear damper is slightly compressed again, wherein lower or no damping forces can act on the hinge part  3  during the pivoting movement up to the maximum opening position. If the hinge part  3  is moved in the closing direction, the damping forces begin to act at an angle between 25 and 40° before the closing position in order to brake hinge part  3 . However, hinge part  3  is automatically moved to the closing position via spring  60 . 
     In  FIG. 7 , hinge  1  is shown once again in the mounted position, and it can be seen that the housing  11 ′ of the linear damper is accommodated in side part  2  and occupies only a small construction volume. The housing  11 ′ is arranged between the height adjustment  50  and the axes  8  and  9 , wherein the extension of the linear damper in the longitudinal direction of the piston rod  12  is preferably smaller than 20 mm, in particular smaller than 18 mm. Despite this small extension, sufficiently high damping forces can be provided. 
       FIGS. 8A and 8B  show the drive mechanism for moving the piston rod  12  and the positioning of the holder  15 ′ of the linear damper. The piston rod  12  is driven by the pin  14 , which rests against one end of the piston rod  12  and is aligned perpendicular to the piston rod  12 . The pin  14  is guided through the elongated hole  16  in the holder  15 ′ and can push the piston rod  12  into the pot-shaped housing  11 ′ to generate damping forces. 
     The spring  60  is held by the axis  8  in an intermediate space of the holder  15 ′, here in the integral construction with the housing  11 ′. For a compact design and in order to enable moving the spring arm  62  freely past the housing  11 ′, the housing  11 ′ of the damper is formed off-center on the holder  15 ′. The spring arm  62  can thus extend in a free space thereby created next to the housing  11 ′. 
       FIG. 9  shows the linear damper with the pot-shaped housing  11  and the holder  15 . The holder  15  is designed as a U-shaped shaped part, with an elongated hole  16  for guiding the pin  14  formed on each of the two legs of the holder  15 . Furthermore, the holder  15  is provided on both legs with openings  17  and  18 , which are passed through by the axes  8  and  9 , so that the holder is fixed to the side part  2  via the axes  8  and  9 , which also pass through the openings  22  and  23  on the side part  2 . The holder  15  is thus fixed rigidly to the side part  2 , and the linear damper is also non-rotatably fixed to the holder  15 , and only the piston rod  12  can move linearly relative to the holder  15 . Alternatively, it would of course be possible to fix the piston rod  12  to the holder  15  and only move the housing  11  linearly. 
     In order to fix the housing  11  in the direction of movement of the piston rod  12 , two integrally formed lugs  29  are provided on the holder  15 , which form a stop for one edge of the pot-shaped housing  11 . The housing  11  has a radially outwardly projecting step  28  at the end opposite the base, which ensures that the housing  11  can be inserted through the opening  19  in the holder  15 , but only up to step  28 . On the opposite side of the step  28 , the lugs  29  are provided, which limit or prevent movement towards the hinge part  3 . 
     In  FIGS. 9 and 10 , the housing  11  and the holder  15  are made of two different parts. In the modified embodiment example shown in  FIG. 11 , a pot-shaped housing  11 ′ is integrally formed with the holder  15 ′, for example as a molded part made of plastic by an injection molding process. The holder  15 ′ again comprises two plate-shaped legs on which openings  17  and  18  are formed for the insertion of axes  8  and  9 . In addition, an elongated hole  16  is provided on both legs to guide the pin  14 , so that the unit consisting of housing  11 ′ and holder  15 ′ can be inserted into the side part  2  of the hinge as in the previous example. In order to be able to absorb high forces in the longitudinal direction of the piston rod  12 , the pot-shaped housing  11 ′ is connected to the integrally formed holder  15 ′ via reinforcing ribs  19 ′. 
       FIG. 12  shows an exploded view of the linear damper. A disk-shaped holder  71  is formed on the piston rod  12 , which has several throttle openings  72  at the circumference, through which the flow passes when the piston rod  12  moves in the housing  11 ′. A piston ring  70  is arranged between the disk-shaped holder  71  and a fixing element  74 , in particular with little axial play, wherein the fixing element  74  is fixed to an opening of the piston rod  12  via a pin  73 . The axial play of the piston ring  70  ensures that the extension movement of the piston rod  12  can take place relatively smoothly, while pressing the piston rod  12  into the housing  11 ′ leads to high damping forces due to the small flow cross-sections. The piston and the piston rod  12  are pretensioned into the extended position by a spring  75 , wherein the spring  75  is supported on one side at the base of the housing  11 ′ and on the opposite side at the fixing element  74 . 
     A seal  76  is also held to the pot-shaped housing at step  28 , which is in contact with an outer sealing lip  78  or a sealing bead at an inner wall of step  28 . Seal  76  also has an internal opening  77  which is penetrated by the piston rod  12  so that the piston rod  12  is movable relative to seal  76 . 
     The seal  76  is held by a cover  80 , which is fixed in a clamped manner to the inner wall of step  28  by an outer ring. The cover  80  includes an inner ring  82  with an opening  81  penetrated by the piston rod  12 . The inner ring  82  is mounted in a spring-loaded manner via spring elements  83  in the axial direction of the piston rod  12  and presses the seal  76  into the housing  11 ′. If the piston rod  12  is moved into the housing  11 ′, the piston rod  12  displaces a certain volume, so that a damping fluid, for example oil, requires more volume. As a result, the seal  76  is slightly displaced in the axial direction on the housing  11 ′ against the force of the spring elements  83 , so that the volume of the piston rod  12  can be compensated. When the piston rod  12  is pushed out of the housing  11 ′ again by the spring  75 , volume compensation takes place in the opposite direction and the seal  76  is pushed back into the housing  11 ′ by the spring elements  83 . Of course, other pistons fixed to piston rods  12  can also be used as linear dampers. The linear damper with the housing  11  or  11 ′ and the piston rod  12  preferably has a length of less than 20 mm, in particular less than 18 mm, so that a particularly compact design is provided. 
     LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS 
     
         
           1  Hinge 
           2  Side part 
           3  Hinge part 
           4  Lever 
           5  Lever 
           6  Axis 
           7  Axis 
           8  Axis 
           9  Axis 
           10  Linear damper 
           11 ,  11 ′ Housing 
           12  Piston rod 
           13  Piston 
           14  Pin 
           15 ,  15 ′ Holder 
           16  Elongated hole 
           17  Opening 
           18  Opening 
           19  Opening 
           19 ′ Reinforcing rib 
           20  Leg 
           21  Connecting web 
           22  Opening 
           23  Opening 
           24  Recess 
           25  Threaded hole 
           28 ,  28 ′ Step 
           29  Lug 
           30  Mounting plate 
           31  Retaining element 
           32  Axis 
           33  Spring 
           34  Latching element 
           35  Opening 
           36  Opening 
           40  Depth adjustment 
           41  Pin 
           44  Web 
           45  Control cam 
           47  Opening 
           50  Height adjustment 
           51  Guide groove 
           52  Thread 
           55  Web 
           56  Eye 
           60  Spring 
           61  Spring arm 
           62  Spring arm 
           63  Receptacle 
           70  Piston ring 
           71  Holder 
           72  Throttle opening 
           73  Pin 
           74  Fixing element 
           75  Spring 
           76  Seal 
           77  Opening 
           78  Sealing lip 
           80  Cover 
           81  Opening 
           82  Ring 
           82  Spring element