Abstract:
The invention relates to a hinge, particularly for movable furniture parts ( 1 ), comprising: at least seven rotational pins; at least two stop parts ( 2, 3 ) for fastening to furniture parts ( 1 ) or the like, and; a linear damping device for damping an opening and/or closing movement of the hinge. This hinge is designed in such a manner that all components ( 8, 9 ) of the linear damping device ( 7 ) execute a motion relative to both stop parts ( 2, 3 ) during the opening and/or closing movement of the hinge.

Description:
This application is a continuation application of International Application PCT/AT2005/000462, filed Nov. 16, 2005. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a hinge, in particular for movable furniture parts. The hinge has at least seven rotatable axes and at least two fastening parts for securing the hinge to furniture parts or the like, and has a linear damper to dampen an opening and/or a closing movement of the hinge. 
     With the linear dampers used in the state of the art to dampen the movement of furniture parts, the maximum stroke is limited. On the other hand, though, it must still be possible to accomplish a certain minimum stroke, in order to achieve the desired smooth damping of the movement. The realization of these requirements is constantly restricted in practice by the hinge geometry. Consequently, it is often difficult to incorporate a linear damper into the hinge in such a way that, on the one hand, the damping starts to work at the desired angle and, on the other hand, there is also sufficient stroke available for the damping not to be too abrupt. 
     It is an object of the invention to further develop a generic hinge in such a way that these problems are at least largely eliminated. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This is accomplished according to the invention by designing the hinge in such a way that all components of the linear damper perform a relative movement to both fastening parts during the opening and/or closing movement of the hinge. 
     A basic idea of the invention is therefore to attach a linear damper to at least one fastening part of the hinge in such a way that the linear damper moves relative to both the furniture body and also relative to the furniture doors once the hinge has been assembled. In this way, both the stroke of the linear damper and the moment or opening angle, respectively, at which the linear damper starts to operate are relatively freely set through the choice of geometry for the individual hinge parts. It is favorably provided in this case that the linear damper is, preferably exclusively, supported by or mounted onto intermediate pieces and/or articulated levers that are movable relative to the fastening parts. 
    
    
     
       BREIF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Further features and details of the present invention emerge from the following description of the figures. In the figures: 
         FIGS. 1-3  show a first exemplary embodiment of the invention, 
         FIGS. 4-6  show a second embodiment according to the invention, and 
         FIGS. 7-11  show a third embodiment according to the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     All three embodiments show so-called wide-angle hinges, in which it is particularly favorable for the linear damper to be arranged according to the invention. All hinges have at least seven rotatable axes (pins)  12 , which can be seen in  FIGS. 2 ,  5  and  11 , for instance. The axes  12  in the hinge pot  2 , which are actually concealed where necessary in these illustrations, are depicted using a dotted line. In all variants shown here, so-called linear dampers are used. When it comes to choosing a linear damper, there is a wide range of different state-of-the-art models available. 
     The hinges shown have—as known per se—a hinge arm  3  and a hinge pot  2 . These two fastening parts are each secured to or in different furniture parts. The hinge arm  3  is secured on a base plate fixed to the furniture part  1  in a clip-on manner and therefore indirectly fastened to the furniture part. However, the hinge arm  3  can also be fixed directly to the furniture part  1 . The two fastening parts  2  and  3  are connected to one another via two articulated levers  4  and  5 , wherein the first articulated lever  4  is fixed here in one piece to an intermediate piece  10  and the second articulated lever  5  has two limbs  6   a  and  6   b  that can be tilted with respect to one another. 
     A component of the linear damper  7 , in this case the cylinder  8 , is disposed on the intermediate piece  10 . In the first two exemplary embodiments according to  FIGS. 1 to 6 , the ram (piston rod)  9  that can be displaced relative to the cylinder  8  is acted upon via the articulated lever  5 . In the first exemplary embodiment in accordance with  FIGS. 1-3  it only abuts the articulated lever  5  for this purpose (i.e., the ram  9  is not connected to lever  5 ). In the second embodiment according to  FIGS. 4-6 , the ram (piston rod)  9  is permanently connected to the articulated lever  5  via a ram joint  15 . In the third embodiment in accordance with  FIGS. 7-11 , the ram (piston rod)  9  is supported either by a fastening part, in this case the hinge pot  2 , or by a furniture part  1  that can be connected to the fastening part. The ram  9  and cylinder  8  may even be the corresponding components of a linear damper, but also simply form the housing components in which a corresponding linear damper known in the state of the art is included. 
     The intermediate piece  10  is forcibly coupled to a fastening part—in this case the lever arm  3 —via two connecting levers  13 , wherein the connecting levers  13  are swivel-mounted both on the intermediate piece  10  and also on the fastening part (hinge arm  3 ) via corresponding axes  12 . The intermediate piece  10  has an essentially U-shaped profile in all exemplary embodiments, enabling the corresponding fastening part—thus in this case the hinge arm  3 —to be at least partly encompassed by the intermediate piece  10 . The connecting lever  13  disposed closest to the hinge pot is integrated into the first limb  6   a  of the articulated lever  5  in all exemplary embodiments. However, this need not necessarily be the case. The function of the intermediate piece  10  and also the connecting lever  13  becomes clear when comparing  FIGS. 1 to 3  and  4  to  6  and  8  to  10  with one another.  FIGS. 1 ,  4  and  8  each show a first end position of the hinge, in which the latter is in the closed position.  FIGS. 3 ,  6  and  10  show the open position in each case, while the hinge in  FIGS. 2 ,  5  and  9  is shown in an intermediate position in each case. By means of the intermediate piece  10 , it is possible not only to pivot the two furniture parts  1  relative to one another, but also to increase their distance from one another while pivoting. To achieve this, the intermediate piece  10  is tilted away by means of the connecting lever  13  from the first end (closed) position shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  4  and  8  via the hinge arm  3 , and extends the connecting lever  13  in the end position depicted in  FIGS. 3 ,  6  and  10 . This enables the two fastening parts  2  and  3  to be at varying distances from one another in the two end positions. The cylinder  8  of the linear damper  7  anchored on the intermediate piece  10  is moved along with the intermediate piece  10 . The linear damper  7  may be fixed on the intermediate piece  10 , as in the first exemplary embodiment, but also pivotably secured to the intermediate piece  10  via a joint  14 , as in the second exemplary embodiment. 
     In the third exemplary embodiment, the linear damper  7 , (in this case with its cylinder  8 ,) is detachably secured, (in this case by clip-on means), to the intermediate piece  10 . A mounting plate  16 , which in turn has a latching element  17 , is disposed on the linear damper  7 . The latching element  17  can snap into a corresponding recess in the intermediate piece  10  and is then detachably secured to it. Equally good, however, is a solution whereby the linear damper  7 , preferably once again via its cylinder  8 , can be detachably secured to or mounted on one of the articulated levers  4 ,  5 . In the third exemplary embodiment according to  FIGS. 7-11 , the linear damper  7  and its cylinder  8 , in plan view, is disposed on one of the fastening parts  2 ,  3  to the side of the center of the fastening part, thus in this case essentially alongside a fastening part designed as a hinge arm  3 . It can be seen from the sectional representation in  FIG. 11  that with this embodiment the rear lever  13  is disposed within the hinge arm  3  and within the intermediate piece  10 , while in the first two embodiments according to  FIGS. 1-6  it is disposed outside on the hinge arm  3 . 
     Overall according to the invention, all components  8 ,  9  of the linear damper  7  perform a relative movement to both fastening parts  2  and  3  during the opening and/or closing movement. As a result, both the desired stroke and also the initial position at which the damping starts are very freely settable through a corresponding choice of geometry.