GB2469847A

GB2469847A - A damper assembly for a toggle-type hinge

Info

Publication number: GB2469847A
Application number: GB0907396A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Pecar; Danijel Kozlovic
Original assignee: Lama DD Dekani
Current assignee: Lama DD Dekani
Priority date: 2009-04-29
Filing date: 2009-04-29
Publication date: 2010-11-03
Anticipated expiration: 2029-04-29
Also published as: GB2469847B; GB0907396D0; SI23269A

Abstract

A damper assembly for a toggle-type hinge, comprising a holder 23 receiving linear damping device 17 and to be mounted in use onto the cup flange of the hinge with the axis of the damping device parallel to the rotational axis of the hinge movement, and an actuator 24 to convert rotational movement of the hinge into linear movement of the damping device over at least part of hinge travel. In one aspect the actuator is rotatably mounted in the holder in line with the axis of the damping device, in a further aspect the actuator includes an engagement means to one side of the hinge arm. The holder or actuator may include a helical cam groove 29 and the other of the holder or actuator may include a helical cam follower rib (30, fig.4), the cam follower may comprise pin and the cam groove may have a variable pitch. The actuator preferably has protruding member 28 for engagement with a striking plate (32, fig.1) of the hinge arm. The damper assembly may include two dampers coaxially aligned, one to each side of the hinge arias with separate actuators; the second damper may have different damping characteristics to the first damping device and may come into action at a different stage during closing of the hinge.

Description

Improvements in hinge assemblies This invention relates to hinge and damper assemblies, and more particularly, to hinge assemblies comprising toggle type hinges, of the sort that are typically used on kitchen cupboards, together with a damping device.

The invention provides a damper assembly for a toggle-type hinge, comprising a holder to receive a linear damping device and to be mounted in use onto the cup flange of the hinge with the axis of the damping device parallel to the axis of movement of the hinge, and an actuator to convert pivotal movement of the hinge into linear movement of the damping device over at least part of the range of rotational movement of the hinge, the actuator being rotatably mounted in the holder in line with the damping device.

The invention also provides a hinge assembly comprising a toggle type hinge with an arm assembly extending from a cup flange, a damper assembly comprising a linear damping device, and means mounting the damper assembly on the hinge cup flange whereby the damping device is arranged with its axis parallel to the axis of movement of the hinge, the hinge assembly further comprising means for converting rotational movement of the hinge into linear movement of the damping device at least over part of the range of rotational movement of the hinge, the movement converting means including an engagement element arranged to one side of the hinge arm assembly.

By way of example, embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows hinge assembly according to the invention in the open position of the hinge, Figure 2 shows the hinge assembly of Figure 1 in the closed position of the hinge, Figure 3 is an exploded view showing a damper assembly according to the invention, arid Figure 4 shows the detail of a component of the damper assembly.

The hinge assembly seen in the drawings comprises a hinge mechanism 10 of the well known toggle-type construction for hanging a door, e.g. on a kitchen cupboard. Here, the hinge mechanism 10 is one that is designed to allow up to 170° of opening.

The hinge mechanism 10 comprises a hinge cup flange 11 which is attachable to a door in known manner. Extending from the hinge cup flange 11 is a multi-link arm assembly comprising a mounting arm 12 and a linking arm 13. The mounting arm 12 mounts the hinge mechanism 10 onto a door frame in known manner. The linking arm 13 is pivotally connected to the hinge cup flange 11 by an inner linkage 14 and is pivotally connected to the mounting arm 12 by intermediate and outer linkages 15, 16, in known manner. The intermediate and inner linkages 15, 16 are themselves pivotally connected together.

The various components of the hinge mechanism 10 interact to create a hinging movement between open and closed positions in known manner, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, and it will be noted that the cavity of the hinge cup flange 11 is used to accommodate part of the components in this movement.

The hinge assembly 10 includes a damper assembly. Here, as seen more clearly in Figure 3, the damper assembly comprises a conventionally known form of linear damper 17 and an actuator 24. The linear damper 17 has a piston 21 arranged for reciprocal movement in a damping medium contained within a cylinder 22 with an internal spring (not shown) normally biassing the piston towards its extended position. The damper assembly is mounted on the hinge mechanism 10 so as to provide damped resistance to the closing movement of the hinge, at least over the final part of this movement, in known manner. A linear damper is preferred to a rotary damper for this purpose, because rotary dampers tend not to be capable of delivering sufficient damping power in arrangements of this kind.

The damper assembly is mounted on the hinge cup flange 11 by means of a holder 23, with the longitudinal axis 25 of the linear damper 17 arranged parallel to the axis of movement of the hinge. More specifically, the holder 23 comprises an elongate part-cylindrical channel 26 to receive the linear damper 17 and actuator 24. The damper 17 and actuator 24 are arranged in line and are held in place in the channel 26 by means of a cover plate 27. As will be seen in Figure 3, the damper 17 is arranged with its cylinder 22 abutting against one end 26a of the channel 26 and its piston 21 extending towards the other end 26b and abutting against the actuator 24 (although it will be understood that the damper could equally well be positioned the other way round).

The holder 23 is designed to fit over the mounting flange of the hinge cup and be fastened thereto by the same fasteners as are used to mount the hinge cup flange 11 to the door. Thus, the holder 23 has flanges 23a, 23b with holes 18, 19 therein aligning with the mounting holes of the hinge cup flange 11. Other mounting arrangements are equally possible, for example by means of a snap-fit connection.

The actuator 24 has a main body that is basically cylindrical and so able to rotate about its longitudinal axis in the channel 26 of the holder 23.

The actuator 24 and linear damper 17 are arranged co-axially in the channel 26. The channel 26 has formed in it a helically extending groove 29. A corresponding helically extending rib 30 is formed on the main body of the actuator 24 (seen in Figure 4). The rib 30 is designed to engage and cooperate with the groove 29 like a cam, so that when the actuator 24 rotates about its longitudinal axis 25 (in the direction of arrow A), it will be caused to move axially (in the direction of arrow B). It will be seen that this axial movement of the actuator 24 will force the piston 21 into the cylinder 22, i.e. causing compression of the linear damper 17.

Extending laterally out from its main body, the actuator 24 has a wing 28. The wing 28 is arranged to protrude through a window 31 in the wall of the holder 23. As will be seen in Figures 1 and 2, the wing 28 extends to one side of the linking arm 13 of the hinge mechanism 10, where it is designed to come into engagement with a striker plate 32 extending laterally out from the linking arm. As will be seen, the striker plate 32 will come into engagement with the wing 28 towards the end of the closing movement of the hinge. During this final closing movement, the striker plate 32 acts upon the wing 28 like a cain, causing the actuator 24 to rotate about its longitudinal axis 25. As described above, the engagement of the rib 30 in groove 29 will cause this rotational movement to be converted into axial movement of the actuator 24, in a sense to cause compression of the linear damper 17.

Compression of the linear damper 17 transmits a damping force back to the linking arm 13 of the hinge mechanism 10 via the wing 28, thus resisting the closing movement of the hinge.

The striker plate 32 could be formed as an integral part of the linking arm 13. However, this would require the design of the linking arm to be modified, meaning that the hinge would no longer be a standard item. An alternative option would be to provide the striker plate 32 as a separate component to be fitted onto the linking arm of a standard hinge, eg by means of a clip-on connection. This would enable the damping assembly to be fitted to a standard hinge or retro-fitted to an existing hinge without need of modification.

The rib 30 and groove 29 together provide a mechanism for converting pivotal movement of the hinge into linear movement of the damper and thus creating damped resistance to its closing movement. The rib 30 in this arrangement takes the form of a helically extending camming surface, similar to and complementary with the groove 29. It will be appreciated, however, that the movement converting mechanism could take other forms, for example, a helically extending camming track on one of the components and a pin or the like on the other. In this example, the pin element would be able to engage the canuning track with essentially point contact. An advantage of this arrangement is that it would enable the pitch of the camming track to be varied. This would have the effect of allowing a variable damping resistance to meet the closing movement of the hinge. Thus, for example, it would be possible to arrange for the damping resistance to taper off as the hinge nears its closed position.

It will be appreciated that different actuator and damper arrangements are possible. For example, the actuator could be provided as two component parts: one which incorporates the wing feature and which is able to rotate but not move axially, and another which is able to move axially but not rotate, with a camming engagement between the two components to convert the rotational movement of one into axial movement of the other.

The two components could be provided one inside the other or in line.

Another possibility would be for the actuator to be in the form of a specially designed sleeve which incorporates the wing and rib features and which is able to accommodate a standard form of damper within its bore, so that the actuator and damper are effectively mounted in the holder as a single unit.

Alternatively, instead of using an actuator with a standard damper, the two could effectively be combined in the form of a specially designed damper with the wing and rib features incorporated integrally into it.

It will be understood that it would be possible to modify the hinge assembly in a number of other ways. For example, more than one damper might be incorporated in the damper assembly, eg if a heavier duty damping action is required, and the dampers might have different damping characteristics. The dampers could conveniently be arranged in line within the channel of the holder. The damper assembly could in that case comprise two actuators, one for each damper, with their respective wings arranged to either side of the linking arm. The linking arm would have two striker plates for this purpose, each extending laterally to either side, either as integral or clip-on features. It would also be possible to arrange for the striker plates to come into contact with their respective wings at different stages during the closing movement of the hinge, thus staggering the damping resistance provided. This would enable further variations to be made to the effective damping action of the assembly.

The damping assembly described above is also suitable for use with normal toggle-type hinge mechanisms, not just those that are specially designed for long travel. With a normal hinge mechanism, the wing of the damper assembly would be arranged to come into engagement with the arm assembly of the hinge, ie no modification or additional component would be reuqired. The movement converting mechanism could be arranged between the holder and the damper assembly, ie no modification of the hinge cup flange would be required. A standard form of damper could be used and this could be arranged to be mounted in a holder in line with an actuator, ie there would be no need for a special sleeve in which to mount the damper.

Claims

Claims 1. A damper assembly for a toggle-type hinge, comprising a holder to receive a linear damping device and to be mounted in use onto the cup flange of the hinge with the axis of the damping device parallel to the axis of movement of the hinge, and an actuator to convert pivotal movement of the hinge into linear movement of the damping device over at least part of the range of rotational movement of the hinge, the actuator being rotatably mounted in the holder in line with the damping device.
2. A damper assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein one of the actuator and/or holder includes a helically extending camming surface.
3. A damper assembly as claimed in claim 2 wherein the other of the actuator and/or holder comprises a cam follower to engage said camming surface.
4. A damper assembly as claimed in claim 3 wherein said cam follower comprises an element that makes point contact with the camming surface.
5. A damper assembly as claimed in claim 4 wherein the camming surface has a variable pitch.
6. A damper assembly as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the actuator comprises a wing element which is arranged to come into contact with an arm of the hinge.
7. A damper assembly as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the holder is arranged to receive two linear damping devices.
8. A damper assembly as claimed in claim 7 wherein the two damping devices are arranged in line.
9. A damper assembly as claimed in claim 7 or claim 8 and comprising two actuators, each with a wing element that is arranged to come into engagement with an arm of the hinge.
10. A damper assembly as claimed in claim 9 wherein the wing elements are arranged to come into engagement with the arm to either side thereof.
11. A damper assembly as claimed in claim 9 or claim 10 wherein the actuators are arranged to actuate their respective damping devices at different stages during the course of the closing movement of the hinge.
12. A damper assembly as claimed in any one of claims 9 to 11 wherein the damping devices have different damping characteristics.
13. A damper assembly substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
14. A hinge assembly comprising a damper assembly as claimed in any preceding claim.
15. A hinge assembly comprising a toggle type hinge with an arm assembly extending from a cup flange of the hinge, a damper assembly comprising a linear damping device, and means mounting the damper assembly on the hinge cup flange whereby the damping device is arranged with its axis parallel to the axis of movement of the hinge, the hinge assembly further comprising means for converting rotational movement of the hinge into linear movement of the damping device at least over part of the range of rotational movement of the hinge, the movement converting means including an engagement element arranged to one side of the hinge arm assembly.
16. A hinge assembly substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
17. A piece of furniture incorporating a damper assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 13 or a hinge assembly as claimed in any one of claims 14 to 16.