Patent Application
20140001938
The subject of the invention is a touch-latch device used in furniture, especially for initial opening of an opening furniture component, such as drawers and doors without handles and also for holding such component in a closed position.
The technical problem solved by the present invention is how to design such touch-latch device that would enable reliable functioning even in case of huge loads, like huge, full drawers or huge and heavy door, wherein it could be mounted into a minimal available space, such as a gap between a drawer wall and a carcass wall. The device should further allow regulation of the distance of a furniture component from its closed position. A touch-latch device so designed will also meet safety criteria, as it will not be dismantable and will thus not present a danger for small children in terms of swallowing and suffocating.
Numerous devices for opening drawers or doors without a handle are known. They function on the principle of a dual-position guide mechanism with an S shaped pin. One of such devices is disclosed in patent application EP 1921238 (Migli). The push-pull device has a substantially cylindrical housing, in which a dual-position guide mechanism with an S shaped pin in arranged. With its main leg said dual-position guide mechanism is approximately coaxial with the device in each stable position. In a closed position the biased helical spring pushes a thrust pin out of the device, thus displacing a drawer or a door from a closed position so that the drawer/door can be held and opened. The device or its housing must have a sufficient diameter, so that the S-pin—whose web is parallel with the main axis of the device and both legs extend in opposite radial directions—has enough space to move within the dual-position guide mechanism and the cylindrical housing of the device. If this requirement is to be met, the device should have a relatively large diameter, which raises a problem of device's arrangement into a narrow gap available in the drawer. In order to meet the requirement for as small dimension as possible, the S-pin dimension needs to be adjusted, which consequently means that the pin is able to carry less load and a device of this type can therefore not be used for opening drawers with huge masses. A further disadvantage of said device is that the distance—opening of a furniture component once the device has been fixed to the furniture—cannot be regulated any more. The device disclosed in ES 2315055 (Calvo, Angel) has a dual thrust pin, wherein both parts are mutually linked via screw, which allows setting of the thrust pin's length and thus the size of the distance of a furniture component from its closed position. A disadvantage of such solution is that both parts are dismountable, which represents a potential danger for small children who could swallow them and consequently suffocate.
The described technical problem is solved by a touch-latch device of the invention comprising a housing, inside of which a groove is arranged in the axis of the device. Within the groove a push element is slidingly arranged, which is actuated by a helical spring and controlled by a dual-position guide mechanism comprising a cam groove guide and an S-pin. The device is characterized by comprising a push element controlled by more than one, preferably two dual-position guide mechanisms, wherein each cam groove guide of the dual-position guide mechanism is arranged on a lateral side of the push element and each S-pin is pivoted in a lateral wall of the housing of the device, and that the push element is provided at its free end with a regulation plug, which is arranged thereon by means of a bolted joint and displaceable in axial direction, wherein the axial movement of the regulation plug is limited by an internal arrester.
To open heavy drawers or doors a sufficient push force is needed, which can be achieved by an adequate selection of a spring. Said force also acts on the S-pin. As the device of the invention comprises two mutually parallel distanced S-pins acting considerably in axial direction of the touch-latch device, each S-pin is loaded with half of the force. Consequently, each S-pin can accordingly be downsized and can carry twice the load by preserving equal dimensions, respectively. It can thus open large, heavy furniture components. The S-pins are arranged within the device housing in a way that the webs and the rectangular legs of both S-pins perpendicular thereto lie in the same plane that coincides with the axial plane of the device in idle mode. The height of the entire device is herewith reduced to the minimum height dictated by the main components.
Such device can be mounted to a relatively small space, such as a gap between a drawer and a wall of a chest of drawers and is simultaneously capable of opening furniture components of more considerable masses.
A regulation plug being actually an axial extension of the push element enables a regulation of size of initial opening of a furniture component via bolted joint or abolishes the errors caused in mounting. The internal arresting element prevents the regulation plug from complete unscrewing.
The invention will be explained in more detail in the continuation by way of an embodiment and the enclosed drawings, representing in:
A touch-latch device 1 comprises a support housing 2, inside of which a groove 11 is arranged within an axis of the device. A push element 4 is slidingly arranged in the groove 11, said element 4 pushing a furniture opening component from a closed position into a partially opened position that allows a person to grip and finally open the component. The push element 4 is actuated by a pressure bias helical spring 5, being guided in an axial hole 7 of the push element 4 and with a guide 6 within the groove 11. On each of its lateral surface 10 the push element 4 is provided with a cam groove guide 8, into which each S-pin 9 projects and they jointly form a dual-position guide mechanism of a known type that controls the push element 4 and allow it to be hold in a position that determines the closed or opened situation of a furniture component.
Each S-pin 9 is arranged within a recess 12 of a lateral wall of the groove 11, wherein one leg of the S-pin 9 is pivoted in a corresponding hole 19 in the lateral wall of the groove 11, whereas another leg of the S-pin 9 projects into the interior of the groove 11 of the housing 2 and extends into the cam groove guide 8 of the push element 4. The S-plugs 9 are arranged in the lateral wall of the groove 11 in a way that the webs and the legs of both S-pins 9 lying perpendicularly thereto lie in a common plane that coincides with the axial plane of the device when in idle mode. The S-plug 9 is actually stationary in the device, it only performs a swinging movement, whereas the push element 4 performs a sliding movement.
At the free end of the push element 4 an axially displaceable regulation plug 13 is arranged by means of a bolted joint threaded plug 14/threaded hole 15. The threaded extension 14 has a through axial hole 18. Complete unwinding of the regulation plug 13 and thus its detachment from the push element 4 is prevented by an arrester 16 arranged in the interior of the regulation plug 13 and the axial hole 18 of the threaded extension 14 of the push element 4. Said arrester in the embodiment is a double-sided riveted bolt 16 of a predetermined length, which prevents the regulation plug 13 from getting detached and simultaneously sufficiently covers the regulation plug 13 of the threaded extension 14 in order to prevent damages of the device 1.
The free end of the regulation plug 13, with which the touch-latch device abuts on the furniture component, can optionally be provided with additional elements 17, such as a rubber plug for noise absorption upon impact of the regulation plug, a magnet plug, which contributes to a better closing of the furniture component in a closed position and prevents the furniture component from opening more than allowed by the touch-latch device.
The housing 2 is covered by a cover 3 preventing a possible detachment of an individual component from the device. The touch-latch device is fastened to a background by means of fastening elements of known types, such as differently shaped flanges, fit-on plugs or by insertion into a dedicated housing.
The touch-latch device is optionally manufactured from a metallic or plastic material.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| P-201100102 | Mar 2011 | SI | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/SI12/00017 | 3/22/2012 | WO | 00 | 9/17/2013 |
