Patent Abstract:
A hinge bracket attachable to a pocket door slide system wherein the pocket door slide system comprises components capable of achieving a full inset or partial overlay pocket door position without the hinge bracket, and wherein use of the hinge bracket enables the pocket door slide system to achieve a substantially full overlay pocket door position.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to slide and hinge suspension systems for supporting cabinet doors. More particularly, the present invention relates to a hinge bracket for use in converting common pocket door slide systems from achieving an inset or a partial overlay configuration when the door is in a closed position to achieving a full overlay configuration when the door is in a closed position.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     It has become more common for cabinets to be used as entertainment centers to house televisions or other audio and/or visual equipment. The design of such cabinets has evolved into a fairly common style of product. Entertainment centers often comprise an upright cabinet that may be camouflaged by style and finish to appear as though it were one of the existing pieces of furniture in a room.  
         [0005]     This type of cabinet typically has a pair of large doors that enclose a front opening in an upper portion of the cabinet. These doors may be opened to reveal a television set, stereo or other entertainment system that has been conveniently hidden from view until it is desired to be used. Many times, these cabinets are found in hotel rooms where they combine a series of drawers within a lower portion of the same cabinet, providing storage as well as the provisions for the entertainment center.  
         [0006]     Because it has been found to be desirable to keep the components of the entertainment center out of sight when not in use, the doors that are found on such cabinets provide an important function of concealment. As the design of this type of cabinetry evolved, it was not satisfactory to have the doors merely hinged onto the sides of the cabinet walls because they could rotate back into a semi-closed or fully closed position but would potentially obscure the entertainment center or present an obstacle in proximity of the cabinet.  
         [0007]     As a result, suspension systems for hanging the doors on such cabinets were developed to allow the doors to be hinged to an open position, and thereafter, to traverse rearward into the interior of the cabinet, into a so-called “pocket” space in parallel alignment with the cabinet side walls. The door suspension systems have typically been based upon the usage of drawer slide technology, notably precision drawer slide technology using telescoping slide members and ball or roller bearings, such as is found in office furniture applications and the like, although other more simplistic drawer slides may be used. In the case of such door applications, however, it is necessary to use a specialized slide adapted in a way that allows the door to be mounted to a portion of a sliding element, while at the same time allowing it to hinge when it reaches the fully opened position. In this manner, the functionality of the suspension system provides both a hinged opening and closing relationship relative to the door and the hinge, as well as a translational action between a forward position at a ninety degree angle to the front of the cabinet, and a rearward position within the cabinet body.  
         [0008]     Given their movement and storage position within the cabinet, doors of this type have become known as “pocket doors”. In turn, the slide suspension systems that support each pocket door in these applications have become known as “pocket door slides”.  
         [0009]     A number of pocket door slide systems have been developed in the prior art, with particular structures designed to keep the doors from sagging, racking or otherwise becoming misaligned when in position to be moved rearward into the cabinet or forward out from the cabinet. For instance, there are systems that use a rigid follower strip, anti-racking plate or bar, made for instance of wood, metal or other suitable materials or combinations thereof, and connected to the upper and lower pocket door slides and their hinge mounting assemblies, such as are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,165, to positively maintain the alignment of such components. Alternatively, there are pocket door slide systems that use a cable system to keep the door aligned by connecting the slide assemblies and their hinges, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,974,912 and 5,395,165. Further alternative alignment components for pocket door slide systems are disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication US 2004/0046488. These systems utilize rack and pinion components that offer a pair of racks and pinion gears for each slide, which are connected via an axle. While such systems may be constructed in many forms and may be used with a pair of hinges on a standard door, such rack and pinion systems may be constructed to be particularly well suited for maintaining alignment of very large pocket doors that require more than two hinges.  
         [0010]     In all of these or other prior art pocket door slide systems, the slides are typically mounted to the inner surface of the outer side walls of the cabinet. In turn, hinges commonly known as a “Euro-hinge”, manufactured for instance by Arutro Salice S.p.A., typically have either a 35 mm or 40 mm hinge mounting cup, and are mounted to the slides to achieve full inset doors, i.e., doors that when hinged to the closed position are recessed so as to have their front surface be substantially flush with, or in the same plane as, the front edges of the cabinet side walls. These hinges have numerous advantages, including their three-way adjustability and the ability to remove the hinged door easily from the cabinet.  
         [0011]     With full inset doors, a gap exists between the outer edge of each door and the respective adjacent cabinet side wall when the door is in the closed position. In applications where the piece of furniture has a cabinet above drawers and the drawers also are of the inset style, this is acceptable. However, a popular style is full overlay, where the doors and drawers fully overlay the cabinet sides which are typically ¾″ thick. It is desirable to match the pocket doors to the full overlay drawers, but to date, the systems capable of achieving a full overlay for pocket doors when in a closed door position require specialized slide components, or specific components necessary to modify the cabinet, which are unique to a full overlay application, as opposed to using commonly stocked components and cabinet structures from an inset system.  
         [0012]     An example of a system having specialized slide components is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication US 2004/0239216. However, such systems are more complicated and expensive. The need to stock specialized slides, which are a fairly costly part of a pocket door slide system, just for use in full overlay pocket door applications, is not desirable.  
         [0013]     Similarly, an example of a cabinet requiring specialized components to modify the cabinet to achieve a full overlay system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,165. This cabinet system requires specialized columnar frame members to be mounted to an inner cabinet wall to space the entire slide and hinge system from the inner wall, as well as a specific anti-rack plate to achieve the full overlay result. Once again, the specialized nature of the components and mounting is not desirable.  
         [0014]     Alternatively, some systems have attempted to use hinges mounted on a thinly milled wood follower strip to achieve partial pocket door overlay. However, due to the limitations of the wood strength and the need to fasten the hinge bases to the follower strips at the thinned sections, only modest improvement in door overlay has been achieved using these designs. As a result, these modified systems are not capable of achieving a full overlay position, and thus do not cover the entire front edge of the adjacent side wall.  
         [0015]     Therefore, it would be advantageous to be able to convert conventional pocket door slide system hardware, that utilizes relatively standard drawer slides and common Euro-hinge style components regularly stocked by cabinet manufacturers and designed to achieve an inset or partial overlay position, to a system that can alternatively achieve a full overlay position for pocket doors when in the closed position. It also would be advantageous to be able to achieve the full overlay position regardless of which pocket door slide system is used to maintain the door alignment, whether it be of the type which uses an anti-racking bar, cable system, rack and pinion, or other approach to coordinating the movement of the drawer slides.  
         [0016]     It further would be advantageous to be able to utilize a single bracket for all hinge mounting positions, whether on the left or right side of the cabinet and whether it be for use with an upper or lower slide.  
         [0017]     It also would be advantageous to be able to achieve such conversion of hardware, whether the particular application has one or two hinges associated with each slide unit.  
         [0018]     In the full overlay position, each door is positioned to fully cover the front edge of the respective adjacent cabinet side wall. To the knowledge of the inventors, prior to the development of the present invention, the common slides and Euro-hinge style hinges used for inset or partial overlay pocket doors were not able to be conveniently adapted to achieve a full overlay position for pocket doors when hinged to the closed position.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0019]     The purpose and advantages of the invention will be set forth in or otherwise apparent from the description and drawings that follow, as well as will be learned by practice of the invention.  
         [0020]     The present invention is generally embodied in a hinge bracket attachable to a pocket door slide system wherein the pocket door slide system comprises components capable of achieving a full inset or partial overlay pocket door position without the hinge bracket, and wherein use of the hinge bracket enables the pocket door slide system to achieve a substantially full overlay pocket door position.  
         [0021]     In another aspect of the invention, the hinge bracket has a first planar portion and at least one second planar portion with the first and second planar portions positioned in two spaced apart and substantially parallel planes.  
         [0022]     In a related further aspect of the invention, the hinge bracket has at least one offset portion connecting the first planar portion to a second planar portion.  
         [0023]     In another aspect of the invention, the hinge bracket has a first planar portion located in a first plane and a pair of second planar portions located in a second plane spaced apart from and substantially parallel to the first plane.  
         [0024]     In a related further aspect of the invention, the hinge bracket has a pair of offset portions, wherein each offset portion connects the first planar portion to a second planar portion.  
         [0025]     In yet another aspect of the invention, a pocket door slide system is adapted to mount a door to a cabinet having a side wall wherein when the door is in a closed position an outer edge of the door is substantially in the same plane as an outer surface of the side wall, the pocket door slide system having at least two pocket door slides, each pocket door slide having a slidable member, and a hinge bracket being connectable to the slidable member by at least one fastener at a first location on the hinge bracket and having at least one pair of holes spaced 32 mm apart and being connectable to a respective at least one hinge at a second location on the hinge bracket, wherein the hinge is further adapted to be connected to a door.  
         [0026]     In a related further aspect of the invention, the first location is located on a first planar portion of the hinge bracket and the respective second location is located on a respective second planar portion of the hinge bracket, wherein the first planar portion is in a first plane and the respective second planar portion is in a second plane spaced from and substantially parallel to the first plane.  
         [0027]     In a further related aspect of the invention, the hinge bracket comprises at least two second locations, with each second location being located on a respective second planar portion.  
         [0028]     Thus, the present invention presents an alternative to prior art specialized drawer slide and cabinet components needed to achieve a full overlay position for pocket doors. The present invention also simplifies the structure needed to achieve full overlay pocket doors by using simple hinge brackets to convert conventional pocket door slide system components that were designed for inset or partial overlay doors. With present known Euro-hinge geometry, substantially full overlay may be achieved on cabinets having a side wall thickness of up to approximately ¾″. It will be appreciated that changes in hinge geometry may yield increased or decreased side wall overlay capabilities.  
         [0029]     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and provided for purposes of explanation only, and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed. Further features and objects of the present invention will become more fully apparent in the following description of the preferred embodiments and from the appended claims. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0030]     In describing the preferred embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawing figures wherein like parts have like reference numerals, and wherein:  
         [0031]      FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of a prior art, conventional pocket door slide system for an inset door configuration, as it would be configured with a follower strip alignment system and with the slide mounted to the inner surface of an outer wall of a cabinet.  
         [0032]      FIG. 2  is a front perspective view of a first embodiment in accordance with the invention where a hinge bracket is used with the hardware of each conventional pocket door slide system of  FIG. 1  to convert to a full overlay system, wherein the system is shown in relation to a cabinet and the slide is mounted to the outer surface of an inner cabinet wall.  
         [0033]      FIG. 3  is a more isolated front perspective view of the converted pocket door slide system of  FIG. 2  with the slide mounted to the outer surface of an inner cabinet wall.  
         [0034]      FIG. 4  is a front perspective view of a second embodiment in accordance with the invention where a hinge bracket is used with the hardware of each conventional pocket door slide system that is configured with a cable alignment system to convert to a full overlay system, and wherein the slide is mounted to the outer surface of an inner cabinet wall.  
         [0035]      FIG. 5  is a front perspective view of a third embodiment in accordance with the invention where a hinge bracket capable of accepting a plurality of hinges is used with the hardware of each conventional pocket door slide system that is configured with a rack and pinion alignment system to convert to a full overlay system, and wherein the slide is mounted to the outer surface of an inner cabinet wall.  
         [0036]      FIG. 6  is a front perspective view of a further embodiment of a hinge bracket in accordance with the invention where the hinge bracket is adapted for use with the hardware of conventional pocket door slide systems and is adapted for mounting a first planar portion to the hinge mounting holes on a slide and a second planar portion is adapted to accept two hinges in a conversion to a full overlay system that uses two hinges per slide.  
         [0037]      FIG. 7  is a front perspective view of yet another embodiment of a hinge bracket in accordance with the invention where the hinge bracket is adapted for use with the hardware of conventional pocket door slide systems and is adapted for mounting a first planar portion to the hinge mounting holes on a slide and a pair of second planar portions are each adapted to accept a hinge in a conversion to a full overlay system that uses two hinges per slide.  
         [0038]      FIGS. 8A-8D  are top cross-sectioned views of an embodiment in accordance with the invention showing a pocket door in a series of positions from being moved toward its fully forward position, parallel to the cabinet outer side wall, to hinging to a closed position where it is in a full overlay position relative to the cabinet outer side wall. 
     
    
       [0039]     It should be understood that the drawings are not necessarily to scale and provide various views of assemblies that are within the spirit and scope of the invention which may be used in various configurations of pocket door slide systems. While some mechanical details of such systems, including other plan and section views of the particular components, have been omitted, such details are considered well within the comprehension of those skilled in the art in light of the present disclosure. It also should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the preferred embodiments illustrated.  
       DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0040]     Referring generally to  FIGS. 2-6D , it will be appreciated that the present invention generally may be embodied within numerous configurations within pocket door slide systems for pocket doors.  
         [0041]     In accordance with  FIG. 1 , a prior art conventional pocket door slide system  10  for an inset door configuration is shown. Pocket door slide system  10  includes a pair of complimentary upper and lower slide and hinge systems, one of which will be described in detail for clarity and ease of viewing. However, it will be appreciated by one of skill in the art that the two are complimentary and are essentially configured as a mirror image of each other.  
         [0042]     Thus, pocket door slide system  10  includes slides  12  mounted, such as by conventional screw type fasteners (not shown) to the inner surface I of a right hand outer side wall SW of a cabinet. Slides  12  are shown as having an outer track  14  and an inner slide member  16  which may include, for instance, ball bearing retainers  18  that permit inner slide member  16  to translate forward and rearward with respect to outer track  14 . Pocket door slide system  10  further includes a backing plate  20  mounted to inner slide member  16 , such as by welding at two or more spot welds, or by other suitable fastening means for connection or manufacture of an integral piece.  
         [0043]     To provide the hinge motion necessary to move a door from an open position, parallel to side wall SW, to a closed position, inset and perpendicular to SW, hinges  30  are provided. In this prior art embodiment, system  10  is equipped with Euro-hinge style hinges  30  which are well known in the art. Hinges  30  include a base  32  mounted to backing plate  20 , such as by conventional screw type fasteners  34 , a body  36  connected to base  32 , hinge arms  38  extending from body  36  and connected to a door mounting cup  40 . Door mounting cup  40  is configured to be mounted by conventional means to a recess in a door (not shown) which is conventional in the art. Also of note, the holes through hinge base  32  for mounting to a backing plate typically have a standard spacing of 32 mm apart.  
         [0044]     In order to maintain proper door alignment, system  10  also includes a follower strip  42  or anti-racking plate mounted to backing plates  20  of the upper and lower slide and hinge systems. Follower strip  42  is shown as being made of a solid material, such as wood, for ease of mounting to backing plate  20  with conventional fasteners, such as screws or the like (not shown). Follower strip  42 , which it will be appreciated may be in many different forms, serves to keep inner slide members  16  moving in unison so as to prevent racking of the pocket door.  
         [0045]     This prior art, conventional pocket door slide system  10 , as described, uses conventional slide and hinge components designed to achieve an inset door position when the pocket door is in a fully closed position. As such, when in the closed position, the outer or front surface of the pocket door will be relatively flush with or in the same plane as the front edge of side wall SW. However, as previously mentioned, the door will not match the styling of the full overlay drawers.  
         [0046]     Now turning to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , a cabinet C is shown in  FIG. 2  having a full overlay pocket door slide system  110  consistent with the present invention. Cabinet C comprises at least a top panel T, a bottom panel B, left and right outer side walls SW, left and right inner walls IW, and left and right pocket doors L and R, respectively. Left and right inner walls IW may be fastened in place within cabinet C in a conventional manner, such as by using L-shaped brackets and conventional screw type fasteners, or by other suitable means. It will be appreciated that each door has a respective system  110 , although the right inner wall effectively hides the right hand system from view. Cabinet C may take many forms, need not be part of an entertainment center, and it will be understood that it generally is representative of the upper portion of an entertainment center having pocket doors.  
         [0047]     As seen in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , pocket door slide system  110  also is constructed with upper and lower slides with hinges, one of which will be described in detail for clarity and ease of viewing. Again however, it will be appreciated by one of skill in the art that the two are complimentary and are essentially configured as a mirror image of each other to achieve a pocket door slide system  110 .  
         [0048]     With respect to left door L, system  110  is mounted to the outer surface  0  of left inner wall IW of cabinet C. More particularly, each of the slides  12  of suspension system  110  is mounted, such as by conventional screw type fasteners (not shown) to the outer surface  0  of left hand inner wall IW of cabinet C. Slides  12  may be constructed as described in relation to the prior art conventional slides in  FIG. 1 , having an outer track  14 , an inner slide member  16 , and ball bearing retainers  18 . Similarly, suspension system  110  further includes a backing plate  20  mounted to inner slide member  16 , as described in relation to  FIG. 1 .  
         [0049]     Each of the slide and hinge systems of pocket door slide system  110  also includes a hinge bracket  60  mounted to backing plate  20  by conventional fasteners. Hinge bracket  60  has first and second planar portions  62  and  64 , and an offset portion  66  connected to and between planar portions  62  and  64  so as to locate planar portions  62  and  64  in spaced apart substantially parallel respective planes. The offset preferably being in the range of 0.59 to 1.13 inches to accommodate common component thicknesses and hinge heights. First planar portion  62  preferably has a pair of mounting holes  68  by which hinge bracket  60  may be mounted to backing plate  20  by conventional fasteners. Mounting holes  68  are preferably in the same configuration as would be the mounting holes of a conventional hinge base  32 , such as with a 32 mm spacing, so that new fastening holes need not be made in backing plate  20  to accommodate the mounting of hinge bracket  60 .  
         [0050]     Pocket door slide system  110  uses the same conventional Euro-hinge style hinges  30  as used in prior art system  10 . However, hinge  30  is mounted to the inner surface of second planar portion  64 , which preferably has a pair of mounting holes  70  to mount hinge  30  by conventional fasteners. To readily accept mounting of hinge base  32 , holes  70  are preferably of the same configuration as the original mounting holes in backing plate  20 , such as 32 mm apart. In addition, respective mounting holes  68  and  70  are preferably aligned, so as to maintain the same fore and aft location of left door L with respect to the slide member, as best seen with respect to backing plate  20 . If respective mounting holes  68  and  70  are aligned and centered with respect to bracket  60 , then bracket  60  will be universally adapted for left and right doors and for both top and bottom slide assemblies. It will be appreciated that if the respective mounting holes  68  and  70  are aligned but not centered with respect to bracket  60 , each upper and lower bracket  60  would be a mirror image of one another, and therefore, it may be preferable to have a tab or other locating feature to assure proper orientation of bracket  60  to prevent improper assembly.  
         [0051]     In this configuration, left door L is then mounted to door mounting cup  40  of hinge  30  in a conventional manner. Pocket door slide system  110  also is able to use the same door alignment hardware as in the prior art system, which includes follower strip  42  mounted to backing plates  20  of the upper and lower slide and hinge systems.  
         [0052]     Thus, it will be appreciated that by using hinge bracket  60 , the mounting of conventional slide and hinge components that are designed for inset pocket door slide systems may be reconfigured to achieve the desired full overlay pocket door slide systems.  
         [0053]     Turning to  FIG. 4 , a further embodiment in accordance with the invention is shown.  FIG. 4  illustrates that hinge brackets  60  may be used with pocket door slide systems that have alternative door alignment means. For instance, the pocket door slide system  210  of  FIG. 4  represents a system that uses conventional prior art slide and hinge components of the type having a cable system  80  to synchronize the upper and lower slide and hinge systems to maintain proper door alignment.  
         [0054]     Accordingly, pocket door slide system  210  also is constructed with upper and lower slide and hinge systems, similar to those in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , and would be mounted to outer surface  0  of left inner wall IW of cabinet C. However, pocket door slide system  210  has alternative backing plates  82 , pulleys  84 , cables  86 , forward cable end mountings  88  and rearward cable end mountings (not shown), as substituted for backing plates  20  and follower strip  42 . Thus, by using hinge brackets  60 , pocket door slide system  210  may be converted from the conventional configuration, in which it would be designed to be mounted to the inner surface of an outer side wall and to achieve an inset or partial overlay pocket door position, to a new configuration in which it is mounted to an outer surface of an inner wall and can achieve a full overlay pocket door slide system.  
         [0055]     A further alternative embodiment is shown in  FIG. 5 , for use in slide and hinge suspension systems designed to support very large cabinet doors. In  FIG. 5 , pocket door slide system  310  is configured to allow a cabinet door to be mounted by four hinges, and incorporates a prior art rack and pinion door alignment system  90 , disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication US 2004/0046488, to accommodate the increased mass of a larger door, while still using conventional slide and hinge components.  
         [0056]     As with the other embodiments, pocket door slide system  310  is constructed with upper and lower slide and hinge systems, one of which will be described in detail for clarity and ease of viewing. Once again, it will be appreciated by one of skill in the art that the two are complimentary and are essentially configured as a mirror image of each other.  
         [0057]     Pocket door slide system  310  is shown for use with a left cabinet door. More particularly, each of the slides  12  of system  310  is mounted to the outer surface  0  of a left hand inner wall IW of a cabinet, by similar fastening means to that used with the other embodiments. Slides  12  again may be constructed as described in relation to the prior art conventional slides in  FIG. 1 , having an outer track  14 , an inner slide member  16 , and ball bearing retainers  18 .  
         [0058]     In this embodiment, pocket door slide system  310  further includes alternative backing plate  92  mounted to inner slide member  16 , and having an axle or synchronization shaft  94  mounted thereto by means of pillow block type shaft housings  96 . Pinion gears  98  are mounted on axle  94  and engage teeth of rack member  100  which is mounted in cooperation with slide  12  to the outer surface  0  of the left hand inner wall IW. This system also uses an alternative hinge bracket  360  in accordance with the invention to accommodate the mounting of two hinges  30  for each respective slide  12 .  
         [0059]     As shown in  FIG. 5 , hinge bracket  360  has a first planar portion  362  and a pair of second planar portions  364 , with a pair of respective offset portions  366  connecting first planar portion  362  to the respective pair of second planar portions  364 , and thereby locating first planar portion  362  and second planar portions  364  in spaced apart substantially parallel respective planes. As in the prior embodiment the offset preferably is in the range of 0.59 to 1.13 inches. First planar portion  362  preferably has two pair of mounting holes  368  by which hinge bracket  360  may be mounted to backing plate  92  by conventional fasteners. Mounting holes  368  are preferably in the same configuration as would be the mounting holes for a pair of conventional hinge bases  32 , such as the previously noted 32 mm common spacing, and so that new fastening holes need not be made in backing plate  92  to accommodate the mounting of hinge bracket  360 .  
         [0060]     Pocket door slide system  310  uses the same conventional Euro-hinge style hinges  30  as in the prior art system  10 . However, a hinge  30  is mounted to the inner surface of each of the pair of second planar portions  364 , and each preferably has a pair of mounting holes  370  spaced apart in a manner consistent with a hinge base  32  to mount a hinge  30  by conventional fasteners, such as with the previously noted 32 mm common spacing. Similarly to the other embodiments, respective mounting holes  368  and  370  are preferably aligned on bracket  360 , so as to maintain the same fore and aft location of left door L with respect to the slide member, as best seen with respect to the front edge of backing plate  92 . In this configuration, left door L is then mounted to door mounting cup  40  of each hinge  30  in a conventional manner. Pocket door slide system  310  thus uses alternative hinge brackets  360  to convert hardware designed as an inset pocket door slide system for a large door to a full overlay pocket door slide system.  
         [0061]     Turning to  FIGS. 6 and 7 , two examples of further alternative embodiments of hinge brackets in accordance with the invention are shown. These examples represent further hinge brackets of the invention adapted to convert common pocket door slide hardware from a design for use with one hinge per slide and to achieve an inset door to a design for use with two hinges per slide and to achieve a full overlay door. In  FIG. 6 , a hinge bracket  460  is somewhat like the bracket  60  of  FIGS. 2-4 , but bracket  460  is adapted to have a first planar portion  462  mounted at a pair of holes  468  to the mounting holes on a slide that would have been used to accommodate a single hinge for an inset door, and has a second planar portion  464  with two pair of hinge mounting holes  470  to accept two hinges of a conventional pocket door slide system. First planar portion  462  and second planar portion  464  are connected by offset portion  466  so as to locate planar portions  462 ,  464  in spaced apart substantially parallel respective planes.  
         [0062]     The embodiment of hinge bracket  560  shown in  FIG. 7  is somewhat like the bracket  360  of  FIG. 5 , but bracket  560  is adapted to have a first planar portion  562  mounted at a pair of holes  568  to the mounting holes on a slide that would have been used to accommodate a single hinge for an inset door, and has a pair of second planar portions  564 , each having a pair of hinge mounting holes  570  to collectively accept two hinges of a conventional pocket door slide system. A pair of respective offset portions  566  connect first planar portion  562  to the respective pair of second planar portions  564  in spaced apart substantially parallel respective planes.  
         [0063]     The embodiments shown in  FIGS. 2-7  demonstrate that the present invention may be used in various configurations to achieve a full overlay closed door position. It will be appreciated that the movement of the door relative to the cabinet will be quite similar in each of these embodiments, and such movement is illustrated generally in  FIGS. 8A-8D .  
         [0064]     For instance, in  FIG. 8A , left door L is shown from a top view with respect to inner wall IW and outer side wall SW. In this view, left door L is in a first position where the door is being moved toward its fully forward position, parallel to the cabinet outer side wall SW. In  FIG. 8B , left door L is shown in a second position where the door has been moved to its fully forward position and is being hinged toward a closed position. In  FIG. 8C , left door L is shown in a third position where the door is being hinged still closer toward a closed position. In  FIG. 8D , left door L is shown in a fourth position where door L has been hinged to a fully closed position, and is located in a full overlay position relative to cabinet outer side wall SW.  
         [0065]     It will be appreciated that the pocket door slide systems and hinge brackets disclosed in accordance with the present invention may be provided in various configurations, having any of a number of components used for the slides and to maintain door alignment, and regardless of whether the system has two or more slides and one or more hinges per slide. Also, any variety of suitable materials of construction, configurations, shapes and sizes for the components and methods of connecting the components may be utilized to meet the particular needs and requirements of an end user. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made in the design and construction of such components without departing from the scope or spirit of the present invention, and that the claims are not limited to the preferred embodiments illustrated.

Technology Classification (CPC): 4