Patent ID: 7810436

Claim:
A hinge system for mounting a first member to stationary brackets arranged on a second member so as to allow said first member to pivotally move relative to said second member and between a first position, wherein said first and second members are arranged in predetermined relationship relative to each other, and a second position, with the stationary brackets on said second member defining a pair of generally aligned openings for accommodating a hinge pin passing through both of said openings to define a fixed pivot axis about which said first member rotates, and wherein said second member defines a reference plane, and with the aligned openings in said stationary brackets being spaced at different distances from said reference plane depending upon a particular second member on which said stationary brackets are arranged, and with said hinge system including an elongated hinge piece having a first end configured for attachment to said first member, and a universal adapter operably secured toward a second end of said hinge piece in laterally spaced relation from the first end of said hinge piece and so as to prevent movement of the adapter relative to said hinge piece during operation of said hinge system, with said universal adapter defining multiple openings disposed in spaced parallel relation relative to each other and at different distances on said adapter such that at least one of the multiple openings in said adapter generally aligns with the openings in the stationary brackets on the particular second member whereby permitting pivotal mounting of said first member to the stationary brackets on the particular second member having hinge pins arranged within predetermined distance ranges relative to the reference plane of said second member and while maintaining the predetermined relationship between said first and second members when said first member is in said first position, and wherein said universal adapter comprises one of a plurality of modular inserts, and wherein the second end of said hinge piece is configured to releasably accommodate any one of said plurality of modular inserts in non-rotatable relation relative to each other.