GB2348241A

GB2348241A - Adjustable base for a furniture hinge having a tilting arm

Info

Publication number: GB2348241A
Application number: GB0005415A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Franco Ferrari; Carlo Migli
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1999-03-26
Filing date: 2000-03-08
Publication date: 2000-09-27
Also published as: ES2180370B1; ES2180370A1; DE10015805A1; BR0001413A; SI20336A; ITMI990177U1; GB0005415D0; IT246611Y1; ITMI990177V0

Abstract

An adjustable base 10 for a furniture hinge has a base body 11 which is attached to the furniture 13 e.g. via side wings (14 and 15, figure 2) and a tilting arm 12 onto which a hinge wing 16 is secured e.g. by screws 20 and 21. The tilting arm is pivotally mounted on the base body at a front end along axis 27 such that its inclination relative to the base body can be varied. Locking means, preferably in the form of a screw 32 cooperating with a curved surface 35 having indentations 36, are provided to fix the tilting arm at a desired inclination.

Description

2348241 An Adjustable Base for a Furniture Hinge The present invention

relates to adjustable bases for furniture hinges. The invention may also relate to hinge bases for furniture provided with an inclination mechanism. The invention may concern hinge bases with adjustable inclination.

In furniture construction theso-called end containers by which the piece of furniture thickness is joined to a wall or other pieces of furniture of different thickness are becoming increasingly more common. In these containers the door does not strike at 900 with respect to the side on which it is mounted but according to different, generally wider, angles. For these applications, hinges of the traditional type are not directly employable because they have a rightangled ledge.

In order to solve this problem several different solutions are known such as for example hinge wings inclined at different ledge angles, inclined based, inclined shims for standard bases and bases with an adjustable inclination. The last mentioned solution has the advantage of enabling use of a single article for carrying out mounting with different ledge angles. However known tiltable bases have the drawback that when the base angle is varied, also the fastening position of the base is to be modified and this in fact makes the adjustment possibility useless. A base of this type is for example described in patent EP 0 43SO40.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, an adjustable base for furniture hinges has been devised which comprises a base body with elements for fastening to the piece of furniture and an oscillating element mounted on the base body in an adjustable manner, on which oscillating element the wing of a hinge can be fixed, wherein the -oscillating element is pivotally mounted on the base body at a front end thereof on an axis transverse to the base extension to be tiltable with respect to the base body, locking means for tightly fixing the inclined mutual position being present between the base body and the 2 oscillating element.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided an adjustable base for a furniture hinge, comprising a base body and an oscillating element adjustably mounted on the base body, on which oscillating element a hinge wing can be fixed, wherein the oscillating element is pivotally mounted on the base body at a front end thereof on an axis transverse to the base body, the oscillating element being tiltable relative to the base body, and the base further including locking means between the base body and the oscillating element for locking the base body and the oscillating element to each other in a desired relatively inclined position. It is an advantage of the preferred embodiment of the present invention that it obviates the above mentioned drawbacks, by providing an adjustable base enabling an easy adjustment of the inclination over a wide range, keeping the fastening position unchanged.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- - Fig. 1 is an elevation side view of a base-hinge assembly, with the base made in accordance with the present invention, partly sectioned along line 1-1 in Fig. 2; - Fig. 2 is a plan view of the base shown in Fig. 1.

With reference to the drawings, a base generally denoted by 10 is shown in Fig. I and it is formed of a body or base element I I and an oscillating or intermediate element 12. The base body I I is intended for fixing to a surface 13 of the piece of furniture shoulder. For the purpose the base body can be provided with fastening means such as two side wings 14, IS (shown in Fig. 2) for example, with through elongated holes for fastening with screws.

I I The oscillating element 12 is intended for connection to a wing 16 of a hinge 17 hinging a door 38. The connection means may be different depending on the wing to be fastened and element 12 may be made in a manner adapted to reproduce the fittings of a traditional base which is usually coupled with the wing. For instance, provided in the oscillating element 12 is a threaded hole 18 at the upper part thereof and an open groove 19 at the front. A locking screw 20 passing through an appropriate groove in the wing will be screwed down into the threaded hole, and the grooved end 22 of a screw 21 screwed down into the wing will be inserted into the front groove 19. This enables normal adjustment of the rise and depth of the wing.

In the preferred embodiment the oscillating element is in the shape of an inverted U, seen in cross section, and is received with a minimum lateral clearance into the base body which is open at the top and has a generally U-shaped conformation too, in cross section. The oscillating element can be formed from cut-out sheet metal, whereas the base element can be obtained by casting. The oscillating element 12 at the front is pivotally mounted to the base body at 26 on a horizontal axis 27 (i.e. an axis parallel to the fastening plane of the base body). At the rear means 23 is present for adjustable fastening of the oscillating element to the base body at a selected position. The front pivot mounting is obtained by means of two arms 24, 25 extending from the side walls of the oscillating 4 element and terminating each with a laterally projecting pivot portion 28, 29. At the front, in its side walls, the base body has two corresponding rounded seats 30, 31 open at the front for housing each the respective pivot 28, 29.

The rear fastening means comprises a screw 32 which is screwed down at the back into a threaded seat 33 in the oscillating element 12 after passing through an elongated slide slit 34 present in a rear wall 35 of the base body. The rear wall 35 has a cylindrical bending the axis of which is substantially coincident with the axis 27 of the front pivot mounting 26 and the screw 23 has an axis substantially crossing the pivot axis 27. By unloosing screw 32 it is thus possible to adjust the inclination of element 12. By tightening the screw again element 12 can then be locked to the new position. To make maintenance of the adjusted position safer and offer, if necessary, a discrete number of adjustment positions (each position corresponding to a multriple of a predetermined angle, for example), the inner surface of wall 35 can be provided with indentations 36 into which a corner or tooth 37 of the oscillating element fits. Since inertia of the door causes overcharges on the hinge only in the opening direction (generally in the closure direction the moment of inertia of the door is directly discharged on the piece of furniture ledge), indentations can have an asymmetric shape, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the tooth is fitted into the indentations in the increasing direction of the inclination between the base body and the oscillating element.

At this point it is apparent that the intended purposes have been achieved by providing an adjustable base enabling an easy adjustment of the inclination of a hinge. Since the pivot point of the adjustable base is positioned close to the kinematic mechanism of the hinge, displacements of the door 38 corner can be reduced to a minimum when the base inclination is'varied.- Displacements of this corner both in a vertical and in a horizontal direction can be easily taken up by acting on the adjustment systems of:- he known 10 art usually provided in modern hinges. Obviously, the above description of an embodiment applying the innovatory principles of the present invention is given by way of example only and therefore cannot be considered as a limitation of the scope of the invention as herein 15 claimed. For instance, the connection means between hinge and base can be different from that shown and the means for fastening the base tothe piece of furniture can be different as well. 20

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Claims

1. An adjustable base for a furniture hinge, comprising a base body and an oscillating element adjustably mounted on the base body, on which oscillating element a hinge wing can be fixed, wherein the oscillating element is pivotally mounted on the base body at a front end thereof on a pivot axis therethrough, the oscillating element being tiltable relative to the base body, and the base further including locking means between the base body and the oscillating element for locking the base body and the oscillating element to each other in a desired relatively inclined position.

2. An adjustable base for furniture hinges, comprising a base body with elements for fastening to the piece of furniture and an oscillating element mounted on the base body in an adjustable manner, on which oscillating element the hinge wing can be fixed, wherein the oscillating element is pivotally mounted on the base body at a front end thereof on a pivot axis transverse to the base extension, to be tiltable with respect to the base body, locking means for tightly fixing the inclined mutual position being present between the base body and the oscillating element.

I A base as claimed in claim I or 2, wherein the locking means comprises a screw that passes through a rear wall of the base element at a slide slit and is screwed down into the oscillating element.

4. A base as claimed in claim 3, wherein the screw has an axis passing through or close to said pivot axis.

S. A base as claimed in claim 3 or 4, wherein said rear wall has a cylindrical bending around said pivot aids.

6. A base as claimed in claim 3, 4 or S, wherein said rear wall has an inner surface facing the oscillating element which is provided with indentations into which, on tightening of the screw a tooth projecting from the back of the 7 oscillating element fits.

7. A base as claimed in claim 6, wherein the tooth fits into the indentations in an increasing direction of inclination between the base body and the oscillating element.

8. A base as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the front pivot mounting of the oscillating element on the base is obtained by means of two arms extending from said walls of the oscillating element and terminating each with a laterally projecting pivot portion to be rotatably fitted into a corresponding seat in the base body.

9. A base as claimed in claim 8, wherein the seats are open at the front for receiving the respective pivot.

10. A base as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the oscillating element is in the shape of an inv erted U, seen in section, and is received with a minimum side clearance into the base body open at the top and having a generally U-shaped conformation in cross section.

11. A base as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein for fastening of a hinge wing the oscillating body, at the upper part thereof, has a threaded hole for a locking screw and a groove open at the front for slidably receiving the end of a screw, for adjustment of the hinge rise.

12. A base as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the base body laterally has elements for fastening to an item of furniture.

13. A base as claimed in claim 12, wherein said elements comprise projecting wings.

14. A base substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

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15. A furniture hinge comprising an adjustable base as claimed in any preceding claim.

16. An item of furniture incorporating a furniture hinge as claimed in claim 14.

17. Any novel subject matter or combination including novel subject matter disclosed herein, whether or not within the scope of or relating to the same invention as any of the preceding claims.

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