FURNITURE HINGE

Abstract

An example furniture door hinge includes a carrier arm having a first arm end and a second arm end, a door rabbet element rotatably fastens to the first arm end, and a fastening plate is disposed on the second arm end. The fastening plate is formed with the carrier arm and has a threaded hole near the carrier arm for receiving a lateral adjustment screw. A mounting plate attaches to the body of a piece of furniture, the second arm end longitudinally and laterally adjustably connects to the mounting plate and the fastening plate longitudinally guided across the mounting plate. The lateral adjustment screw accommodates at least one edge of a longitudinal slot in the mounting plate within a circumferential groove. The longitudinal slot is closed near the carrier arm and enlarged away from the carrier arm to receive the screw head.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The various features and advantages of this disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description. The drawings that accompany the detailed description can be briefly described as follows.

FIG. 1 illustrates a top view of an example furniture hinge.

FIG. 2 illustrates a side sectional view along line 2-2 of FIG. 1

FIG. 3 illustrates a bottom view of the example furniture hinge.

FIG. 4 illustrates a front sectional view along line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 illustrates a mounting plate of the example furniture hinge

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the example furniture hinge pivotably attaches a furniture door 1 to a furniture frame. For example, the example hinge attaches to a furniture front frame 2 of a piece of furniture of the “face-frame” design.

The furniture hinge includes an insert cup, a type of door rabbet element 3. Screws (not shown) driven through screw-attachment tabs 4 attach the door rabbet element to the furniture door 1. A carrier arm 5 includes on one end toward furniture door 1 a rotatable hinge or linkage consisting of a hinge pin 6. The hinge pin 6 attaches the carrier arm 5 to the door rabbet element 3, which is secured to the furniture door 1. The carrier arm 5 is formed from sheet-metal for example.

A fastening plate 7 is disposed on another end of the carrier arm 5, the end away from the furniture door 1. The carrier arm 5 and the fastening plate 7 are formed in one piece, for example. The fastening plate 7 connects to a mounting plate 8, which is screwed onto front-frame 2.

The mounting plate 8 attaches to the front-frame 2 using a fastening screw 9, which is indicated by a broken line in FIG. 2. The fastening screw 9 extends through an elongated hole 10 that extends perpendicularly across the mounting plate 8 to the longitudinal direction of the mounting plate 8. The elongated hole 10 permits height adjustment when fastening the mounting plate 8 to the front-frame 2.

A cross-step 11 on the fastening plate 7 adjustably connects to the mounting plate 8 with a longitudinal adjustment provision 12. The longitudinal adjustment provision 12 includes an eccentric element 14 having a Philips-head screw head for receiving an adjusting tool. The eccentric element 14 is rotatably accommodated in the mounting plate 8 by means of a pivot 15. An eccentric section 16 of the eccentric element 14 extends into a cross-slot 30 in the cross-step 11. Rotating the eccentric element 14, adjusts the fastening plate 7 longitudinally (i.e., horizontally in FIGS. 1 and 2) relative to the mounting plate 8, which is fixedly attached to the body of the furniture. The fastening plate 7 engages the longitudinal edges of the mounting plate 8 at edge flanges 17 and is thus guided in the longitudinal direction.

Upsetting the pivot 15 rotatably fixes the pivot 15 in the hole in the mounting plate 8. The cross-step 11 of the fastening plate 7 is thereby fixed in contact with the mounting plate 8 at this end of the fastening plate 7.

At the end of the fastening plate 7 toward the carrier arm 5, the fastening plate 7 accommodates a lateral adjustment screw 19 in a threaded hole 18 extending perpendicular to the plane of the plate, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The screw 19 includes a screw head 20 having a slot 20a or a Philips-head accommodation.

The lateral adjustment screw 19 has a circumferential groove 21 on the end opposite the screw head 20. The circumferential grove 21 separates a second screw head 22 from other portions of the screw 19.

The circumferential groove 21 behind the screw head 22 accommodates the two edges 23 of the longitudinal slot 24 of the mounting plate 8. As shown in FIG. 5, the longitudinal slot 24 is closed at the end toward the carrier arm 5 by a stop 25 and includes an enlargement 26 on the other end.

The width of the slot between the two edges 23 is sized such that the neck of the screw head 22 formed by circumferential groove 21 fits between the longitudinal edges, while the screw head 22 extends past the two slot edges 23. During longitudinal adjustment of the fastening plate 7, the lateral adjustment screws 19 slides along the keyhole-shaped longitudinal slot 24.

The enlargement 26 at the end of the longitudinal slot 24 is sized to permit insertion of the screw head 22 during assembly.

By rotating the lateral adjustment screw 19, the carrier-arm end of the fastening plate 7 pivots relative to the mounting plate 8, while the other end, the end away from the carrier arm 5, maintains its position because the cross-step 11 is held in position on the mounting plate 8 by the eccentric element 14.

This pivoting motion of the mounting plate 7 as a result of the rotation of the lateral adjustment screw 19 also causes pivoting of the carrier arm 5. Through the linkage formed by the hinge pin 6, the door rabbet element 3 moves the furniture door 1 sideways in the front plane of the piece of furniture.

The longitudinal adjustment provision 12 adjusts the fastening plate 7, the carrier arm 5, and the door rabbet element 3 so that the distance between the closed furniture door 3 and the front-frame 2 can be adjusted.

When an overload breaks or loosens the connection between the fastening plate 7 and the mounting plate 7, the lateral adjustment screw 19 slides in the longitudinal slot 24 toward the carrier arm 5 only as far as the narrow end of the longitudinal slot 24. The lateral adjustment screw 19 maintains this position so that the door rabbet element 3 disposed on the carrier arm 5 does not immediately and completely separate from the mounting plate 7 under load. Instead, the lateral adjustment screw 19, which is screwed into the fastening plate 7, remains within the longitudinal slot 24 of the mounting plate 7. The lateral adjustment screw 19 only separates when the loading becomes so great that the lateral adjustment screw 19, the material surrounding the longitudinal slot 24, or both are deformed and destroyed. Such a result assumes an increasing load.

The preceding description is exemplary rather than limiting in nature. Variations and modifications to the disclosed examples may become apparent to those skilled in the art that do not necessarily depart from the essence of this disclosure. The scope of legal protection given to this disclosure can only be determined by studying the following claims.

Claims

1. A furniture door hinge, comprising: a carrier arm having a first arm end and a second arm end;a door rabbet element rotatably fastened to said first arm end;a fastening plate disposed on said second arm end, said fastening plate formed with said carrier arm and having a threaded hole near said carrier arm for receiving a lateral adjustment screw; anda mounting plate attachable to the body of a piece of furniture, said second arm end longitudinally and laterally adjustably connected to said mounting plate, said fastening plate longitudinally guided across said mounting plate,wherein said lateral adjustment screw accommodates at least one edge of a longitudinal slot in said mounting plate within a circumferential groove, said longitudinal slot closed near said carrier arm and enlarged away from said carrier arm to receive said screw head.

2. A furniture door hinge, comprising: a carrier arm having a first arm end and a second arm end;a door rabbet element rotatably fastened to said first arm end;a lateral adjustment screw having a circumferential groove;a fastening plate disposed on said second arm end, having a threaded hole near said carrier arm for receiving said lateral adjustment screw; anda mounting plate attachable to the body of a piece of furniture and having a longitudinal slot, wherein said lateral adjustment screw accommodates at least one edge of said longitudinal slot in said mounting plate within said circumferential groove, and said longitudinal slot is closed near said carrier arm and enlarged away from said carrier arm to receive an enlarged end said screw.

3. The furniture door hinge of claim 2, wherein said fastening plate is formed with said carrier arm.

4. The furniture door hinge of claim 2, wherein said second arm end is longitudinally and laterally adjustably connected to said mounting plate.

5. The furniture door hinge of claim 2, wherein said fastening plate is longitudinally guided across said mounting plate.

6. The furniture door hinge of claim 2, wherein said door rabbet element is an insert cup.