Patent ID: 8745820

Claim:
A rotary hinge assembly utilized for opening and holding open a storage bin door, said rotary hinge assembly comprising: a hinge housing including at least one interior chamber; a rotor rotatably disposed within said at least one interior chamber of said hinge housing, said rotor including a rotor body and at least one rotor vane extending from said rotor body; a stator stationarily disposed within said at least one interior chamber, said stator including a hollow stator body and at least one stator vane extending inwardly from an inner circumferential wall of said hollow stator body, said rotor and said stator being coxially disposed and configured such that said at least one rotor vane extends within the hollow stator body and coacts with said at least one stator vane when the rotor rotates about a center axis of said hinge housing; a fill plug, disposed within said hollow stator body and said rotor body and having an extending axial portion that is radially inwardly situated relative to said at least one rotor vane and said at least one stator vane, said fill plug being supported for rotation with said rotor about the center axis of said hinge housing and wherein said extending axial portion of said fill plug includes at least one entrance hole and at least one exit hole disposed in relation to said at least one stator and rotor vanes which combine with the interior of said hollow stator body to define a chamber containing a damping fluid and wherein rotational movement of rotor and said fill plug causes said damping fluid to be pressurized and moved from one side of the at least one rotor vane to an opposite side thereof through the entrance holes to the exit holes of the extending axial portion of said fill plug as a circumferential spacing between the at least one rotor vane and at least one stator vane changes based on the rotation of the rotor and fill plug, and thereby forming a fluidic damper; an adjustable valve for varying the resistance of the fluidic damper, said adjustable valve being engageable with the fill plug to vary the size of the at least one entrance and exit holes; and at least one spring disposed within said at least one interior chamber of said hinge housing for actuating the bin door from the closed position to the opened position.