The present invention refers to an opening/closing device for a double flap door (comprising a top part and a bottom part not hinged to each other) of a furniture item, adapted to cause the two parts of the door to rotate upwards, with a gradual movement, until at least the top part is caused to assume a substantially horizontal open position, and respectively to cause the two parts of the flap to rotate downwards until the two parts of the flap are caused to assume a substantially vertical closed position.
Many types of opening/closing devices for a double flap door based on the articulated quadrilateral principle are known to the art; their structural elements and operation will not be described herein because they are per se known.
It will merely be recalled that in opening/closing devices of the prior art, the two parts of the flap door are hinged to each other and, in the open position, fold over one another; the hinge between the two parts of the flap door forms one of the articulation points of the articulated quadrilateral, whereof one of rods is fixed to the bottom part of the door.
The fact that the two parts of the flap door are constrained to each other implies that:
All this imposes aesthetic and functional constraints and/or limitations on the designers and technicians who design furniture.
Object of the present invention is to produce an opening/closing device for a double flap door which allows the limits and drawbacks presented by the opening/closing devices of the prior art to be overcome and which has aesthetic and functional features which increase the quality thereof, as required by the current design and market trends.
This object is achieved by means of an opening/closing device for a double flap door.
The invention will now be described with reference to a purely exemplifying (and therefore non limiting) embodiment thereof, illustrated in the appended figures, wherein:
a-6d show diagrammatically, in a perspective view, some stages of opening of the double flap door of the furniture item of
In the appended figures corresponding elements will be identified by the same reference numerals.
An opening/closing device for a double flap door of a furniture item (comprising a top part and a bottom part not hinged to each other) comprises means connected to the furniture item and to the top part of the flap door and adapted to cause the top part of the flap to rotate with respect to the furniture item and an articulated quadrilateral, connected to said means and adapted to cause the bottom part of the flap to rotate with respect to the top part concomitantly with the rotation of the top part of flap door with respect to the furniture item.
The articulated quadrilateral preferably comprises a first and second arm each having one end hinged to a body integral with the bottom part of the flap door and the other end hinged to said means, the other end of one of the arms being integral with the top part of the flap door.
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The two parts (2′, 2″) of the flap door 2 are not hinged to each other.
Without departing from the scope of the invention, the articulated quadrilateral 4 can be replaced by another known, functionally equivalent device.
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In the attached figures the two parts (2′, 2″) of the flap door 2 are of practically the same height but, without departing from the scope of the invention, the two parts (2′, 2″) of the flap door 2 can be of different heights; the height of the bottom part 2″ of the flap door 2 must not be less than the height of the body 5′″, to which the first and second arm (5′, 5″) of the articulated quadrilateral 5 are hinged.
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This is (or can be) advantageous if, for example, shelves, coat-hangers or the like are applied to the bottom part 2″ of the flap door 2.
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Without departing from the scope of the invention, the adjacent edges (2′a, 2″a) of the two parts (2′, 2″) of the flap door 2 may not be parallel to each other and may have different profiles (for example, one edge slanting upward and one slanting downward, or one edge may be straight and the other curved or undulating or both edges may be curved or undulating), provided there is no compenetration of the two parts (2′, 2″) of the flap door 2 in the closed position.
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Without departing from the scope of the invention, a person skilled in the art can make to the previously described opening/closing device for a double flap door all the changes and improvements suggested by normal experience and/or by the natural evolution of the art.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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MI2007A0282 | Feb 2007 | IT | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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5882099 | Salice | Mar 1999 | A |
6332660 | Salice | Dec 2001 | B1 |
6877830 | Salice | Apr 2005 | B2 |
7168477 | Salice | Jan 2007 | B2 |
7240974 | Hirtsiefer | Jul 2007 | B2 |
7448703 | Kung | Nov 2008 | B2 |
Number | Date | Country |
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1529652 | Jan 1970 | DE |
1662082 | May 2006 | EP |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20080196203 A1 | Aug 2008 | US |