This invention relates to a hinge device for mutually connecting two objects such as a case and a door of various containers with a door such as a playing tool or furniture in a openable/closable manner and more particularly, an improvement of a cup embedded type hinge device with position adjustment function adapted to connect a cup member attached to an inner face of a movable object such as a door and a hinge body attached to an inner wall face of a stationary object such as a case while the position between them is adjusted to each other.
Generally, such a hinge device comprises a cup member attached to a door and a hinge body attached to the cup member through a foldable link member (or an arm member) and also attached to an inner wall face of a case of a container such as furniture with the link member embedded in the cup member in a door closed state.
In case where such a hinge device is to be attached to the case and the door of the container between them, it is required that the hinge body and the cup member should be connected so that the case to which the hinge body is attached and the door to which the cup member is attached are properly positioned to each other. The hinge device of prior art to meet the requirement is disclosed in JP2007-321529A.
In the prior art disclosed in this document, in order to connect the hinge body and the cup member to each other while the case and the door of the container is properly positioned, the hinge device has a position adjustment mechanism comprising a position adjustment holder (articulated joint 27) connected integrally with to the hinge body (main body 5) and superposed on the cup member so as to be able to adjust the position of the hinge body within a recess of the cup member (a cup part 6) through a gap and a cam (a cam 23) provided in an eccentric manner on a polygonal disk (a cam part 26) attached to the bottom of the cup member and engaging an elongated hole (an elongated hole 29) in the position adjustment holder and having an eccentric pin (an axial part 24) rotatably extending through the position adjustment holder (the articulated joint 27).
However, since such a cup embedded type hinge device with position adjustment function according to the prior art is provided within the recess of the cup member, the component (the cam 23 of JP2007-321529A) constituting the position adjustment mechanism has to be disposed so as not to protrude from the upper face of the position adjustment holder (the joint 27) superposed on the recess of the cup member whereby the cam 23 is avoided from interfering with the link member. Thus, the shape of the cam is limited and in addition thereto, in order that the door side is so designed as to adjust the position thereof in both of a forward/backward direction (a direction perpendicular to the open face of the container) and a leftward/rightward direction (a direction widthwise of the container), it disadvantageously becomes difficult to assemble it within the narrow space in the recess of the cup member. Although interference with the arm member may be avoidable by making the recess of the cup member deeper, this undesirably needs to enlarge the thickness of the cup member.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a cup embedded type hinge device with position adjustment function which can be attached between two objects while adjusting a position of a movable object such as a door of a container relative to a stationary object such as a case of the container with high flexibility without making the recess of the cup member deeper and without limiting the shape of the cam.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a cup embedded type hinge device with position adjustment function comprising a cup member attached to one of two objects to be connected to each other in an openable/closable manner; an arm member pivotally supported on said cup member by a pivotal pin; a hinge body pivotally connected to said arm member and attached to the other object; and a position adjustment mechanism for adjusting the position of said cup member relative to said hinge body, said position adjustment mechanism including a U-shaped position adjustment holder superposed on a recess of said cup member so as to be able to adjust the position of said cup member within said recess through a gap and cup position setting means to set said U-shaped position adjustment holder and said cup member relatively in a predetermined position, and said pivotal pin extending through said U-shaped position adjustment holder whereby said cup member is held in said U-shaped position adjustment holder by properly setting the position of said cup member relative to said position adjustment holder, said hinge device is characterized in that said position adjustment mechanism has a flange provided on said cup member to secure said cup member to said one object and a mount piece provided on said U-shaped position adjustment holder and corresponding to said flange of said cup member and said cup position setting means is disposed between said flange of said cup member and said mount piece of said position adjustment holder.
In the aforementioned hinge device, said position adjustment mechanism may have a single U-shaped position adjustment holder whereby the position of said cup member is adjusted in one direction of position adjustment relative to said hinge body or may have two U-shaped position adjustment holders and two cup position setting means provided corresponding to said U-shaped position adjustment holders, respectively whereby the position of said cup member is adjusted relative to said hinge body in two position adjustment directions intersecting perpendicularly.
In the aforementioned hinge device, the cup position setting means may be provided with a cam member which can properly set the position of said cup member relative to said hinge body whereby said cup member can be held in said position adjustment holder in a predetermined position. In this case, a cam disk of said cam member may be in the form of being rotatably engaged in a circular hole formed in said mount piece of said U-shaped position adjustment holder and an eccentric pin of said cam member may be in the form of engaged in an elongated hole in said flange of said cup member.
In the aforementioned hinge device, in place of said cup position setting means provided with said cam member, said cup position setting means may be in the form of comprising a threaded hole formed in said flange of said cup member, an elongated hole formed in said mount piece of said position adjustment holder and a setscrew threadedly engaged into a threaded hole in said flange of said cup member through said elongated hole in said mount piece.
According to the present invention, since the position adjustment mechanism is disposed in a position facing the flange of the cup member, but not in the bottom of the cup member, the arm member folded up in the closed position of the container and embedded in the cup member never interferes with the cam member. Thus, the arm member can be positively embedded in the inside of the cup member without deepening the cup member and therefore, the shape of the cam member is never limited and can be designed in a flexible manner without any restrictions.
In addition thereto, since the position adjustment mechanism is provided not in the narrow space of the recess of the cup member, but corresponding to the flange outsides the recess, it can be easily assembled in larger space and therefore, the workability of assembling can be more improved.
Explaining a form of first embodiment of the invention with reference to
The cup embedded type hinge device 10 with position adjustment function according to the form of first embodiment of the invention comprises a cup member 20 to be attached in a state where it is embedded in an inner wall of one of two objects to be connected to each other in an openable/closable manner, a movable object (a door), one of stationary object (a case) and a movable object (a door) of a cabinet, for example, a hinge body 30 rotatably attached to the cup member 20 through an arm member 40 to be attached to the other object (the case). The cup embedded type hinge device 10 with position adjustment function also comprises a position adjustment mechanism 50 provided between the arm member 40 and the cup member 20 so that the position of the cup member 20 can be adjusted relative to the hinge body 30.
As shown in
In the illustrated form, the hinge body 30 has the longitudinal form of cross section of reverse U-shape as shown in
The arm member 40 comprises two link arms, each one end of which is pivotally supported on the end of the hinge body 30 on the side of the cup member 20 by pivotal pins 42 and each other end of which is pivotally supported on the cup member 20 by a pivotal pin 46 of two integral pin portions penetrating through two pairs of pin penetration holes 44 formed in two link arms of the arm member 40 (only one pin penetration hole of one of the link arm shown in the figure), front and back pairs of pin penetration holes 52H in a position adjustment holder 52 of a position adjustment mechanism 50 described later in details and front and back two pin penetration holes 24 formed in the side walls of the cup member 20.
As shown in
The position adjustment mechanism 50 comprises an approximately U-shaped position adjustment holder 52 superposed on the recess 20R of the cup member 20 so that the position of the position adjustment holder 52 can be adjusted within the recess 20R through a gap 56 (see
The position adjustment mechanism 50 of the hinge device 10 according to the form of first embodiment of the invention has the single U-shaped position adjustment holder 52 and the single cam member 54 as shown in
As shown in
Next, an operation of attachment as well as a position adjustment of the cup embedded type hinge device 10 with position adjustment function according to the form of first embodiment of the invention will be explained with reference to
Firstly, the hinge body 30 of the hinge device 10 is attached to the inner wall surface of the stationary object (the case) of the cabinet that is a container while the cup member 20 is attached to the inner wall surface of the movable object (the door) of the cabinet. Screws penetrate through the screw penetration holes 32R and 32L of the hinge body 30 while other screws penetrate through the screw penetration holes 22R and 22L of the cup member 20 and these screws are threadedly engaged with the inner wall surface of the stationary object (the case) and the inner wall surface of the movable object (the door), respectively whereby the hinge body 30 and the cup member 20 are attached to the inner wall surface of the stationary object (the case) and the inner wall surface of the movable object (the door), respectively.
Thereafter, a cross type screw driver is engaged into the cross type groove 54G of the cam member 54 and the cam member 54 is rotated by the screw driver in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction whereby the cup member 20 moves in a rightward or leftward direction relative to the position adjustment holder 52 so that the position of the cup member 20 is set up.
More particularly, as the eccentric pin 54P of the cam member 54 rotates in a clockwise direction from the position indicated by a dotted line of
As the cam member 54 further rotates from the position of
As the cam member 54 further rotates from the position of
In this manner, the cup member 20 is displaced in a rightward or leftward direction relative to the position adjustment holder 52 by rotating the cam member 54 within the circular hole 52MH in the position adjustment holder 52 whereby the position of the movable object (the door) attached to the cup member 20 can be adjusted relative to the stationary object (the case) in a rightward or leftward direction. In
A modification of the cup embedded type hinge device 10 with position adjustment function according to the form of first embodiment of the invention is illustrated in
A cup embedded type hinge device 10 with position adjustment function according to a form of second embodiment of the invention is illustrated in
The position adjustment mechanism 50 of the cup embedded type hinge device 10 with position adjustment function according to the form of second embodiment further comprises a second position adjustment holder 152 provided between the position adjustment holder 52 of the position adjustment mechanism 50 of the hinge device 10 according to the form of first embodiment and the cup member 20 thereof and a second cam member 154 provided between the second position adjustment holder 152 and the second flange half 20F2 of the cup member 20. The other constitution of the cup embedded type hinge device 10 with position adjustment function according to the form of second embodiment of the invention is identical to that of the cup embedded type hinge device 10 with position adjustment function according to the form of first embodiment of the invention.
The second position adjustment holder 152 has a mount piece 152M extending on the side opposite to the mount piece 52M of the first position adjustment holder 52, which is slidably engaged into a recess 20F2R2 provided in the portion on the side opposite to the recess 20F2R of the second flange half 20F2 of the cup member 20.
As shown in
Next, an operation of attachment as well as a position adjustment of the cup embedded type hinge device 10 with position adjustment function according to the form of second embodiment of the invention will be explained with reference to
Similarly to the cup embedded type hinge device 10 with position adjustment function according to the form of first embodiment, the hinge body 30 of the hinge device 10 is attached by screws to the inner wall of the stationary object (the case) of the cabinet, that is the container, while the cup member 20 is attached by screws to the movable object (the door) of the cabinet.
Thereafter, a cross type screw driver is engaged into the cross type groove 54G of the cam member 54 and the cam member 54 is rotated by the screw driver in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction whereby the cup member 20 moves in a leftward or rightward direction relative to the position adjustment holder 52 so that the position of the cup member 20 is set up. Since this adjustment is similar to that of the cup embedded type hinge device 10 with position adjustment function according to the form of first embodiment (see
Furthermore, a cross type screw driver is engaged into the cross type groove 154G of the cam member 154 and the cam member 154 is rotated by the screw driver in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction whereby the cup member 20 moves in a forward or backward direction as viewed in
More particularly, as the eccentric pin 154P of the cam member 154 rotates in a clockwise direction from the position indicated by a dotted line of
As the cam member 154 further rotates from the position of
As the cam member 154 further rotates from the position of
In this manner, the cup member 20 is displaced in a forward or backward direction relative to the position adjustment holder 152 by rotating the cam member 154 whereby the position of the movable object (the door) attached to the cup member 20 can be adjusted relative to the stationary object (the case) in a forward or backward direction. In
A cup embedded type hinge device 10 with position adjustment function according to the form of third embodiment of the invention is shown in
In the form of third embodiment, the cam members 54 and 154 of the second embodiment are replaced by setscrews 64 and 164, respectively. An elongated hole 52H extending in a longitudinal direction of the hinge body 30 is provided in the U-shaped position adjustment holder 52 and an elongated hole 152H extending in a direction widthwise of the U-shaped position adjustment holder 152 is provided in the U-shaped position adjustment holder 152. There are formed threaded holes 20FT and 20FT2 in the second flange halves 20F2 of the cup member 20 on both sides, into which holes are threadedly engaged the setscrews 64 and 164.
In the position adjustment mechanism 50 of the hinge device 10 of the form of the third embodiment, the position adjustment in which the cup member 20 moves in a direction closer to or far away from the hinge body 30 can be accomplished by loosing the setscrew 64 and moving the cup member 20 along the elongated hole 52H in the position adjustment holder 52 in a forward or backward direction and tightening the setscrew 64 in a predetermined position and the position adjustment in which the cup member 20 moves in a widthwise direction relative to the hinge body 30 can be accomplished by loosing the setscrew 164 and moving the cup member 20 along the elongated hole 152H in the position adjustment holder 152 and tightening the setscrew 164 in a predetermined position.
According to the invention, since the cam member of the position adjustment mechanism is disposed not on the bottom of the cup member, but in the position facing the flange of the cup member, the arm member to be folded up in the closed position of the container and embedded in the recess of the cup member never interferes with the components of the position adjustment mechanism and can be positively embedded in the cup member without deepening the recess of the cup member. Accordingly, the design and the assembly of the position adjustment mechanism can be easily carried out, which causes the industrial applicability to be higher.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2009-114980 | May 2009 | JP | national |
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Number | Date | Country |
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2721951 | Nov 1978 | DE |
2007-321529 | Dec 2007 | JP |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20100281652 A1 | Nov 2010 | US |