Patent ID: 7065833

Claim:
Cabinet hinge with automatic opening device for a cabinet door, comprising: a hinge cup mountable on to a cabinet door and connected by a hinge joint to a hinge arm, the hinge arm being adjustably and securably connected to a base plate mountable on a cabinet; wherein the hinge joint further comprises an inside joint lever and an outside joint lever, each being pivotally attached by a joint pin on the hinge cup, as well as the hinge arm; wherein the inside joint lever and the outside joint lever together define a parallelogram-like joint between the hinge cup and the hinge arm, by which the hinge cup mountable on the cabinet door can be swung relative to the hinge arm connected to the base plate mountable to the cabinet between open and closed positions of the cabinet door relative to the cabinet; at least one elastic spring-loaded spring element fastened to the hinge cup and urging a spring force that is transmitted via a sliding wedge to the joint pin of at least one of the outer joint lever and the inner joint lever, causing a torque for swinging the hinge cup mountable on the cabinet door from the closed position through a pre-defined opening angle area to the open position; wherein the hinge cup has a cover part and the spring element further comprises at least one piston rod-cylinder unit moving the sliding wedge relative to the hinge cup and the cover part of the hinge cup during an opening phase of swinging the hinge cup mountable on the cabinet door from the closed position to the open position; wherein the spring of the spring element is pre-tensioned with a stored potential energy when the door is in the closed position and releases the stored potential energy over the pre-defined opening angle area when the door is swinging toward the open position, and has no tension after the door swings through a pre-determined maximum opening angle (φ); and wherein the opening angle area is between approximately minus 3° to 0° and the maximum opening angle is approximately 20°.