GB2476679A

GB2476679A - A magnetic catch and closure system for cabinet

Info

Publication number: GB2476679A
Application number: GB1000056A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Gray; Giles Redman
Original assignee: NEPTUNE
Current assignee: NEPTUNE
Priority date: 2010-01-05
Filing date: 2010-01-05
Publication date: 2011-07-06
Also published as: GB201000056D0

Abstract

An automatic door closure device comprises a magnetic catch, particularly suitable for use on kitchen cabinets. A magnet 50, 52 is surrounded by a rigid casing 46; a resilient cushioning part 56 attaches to the casing in opening 54. The resilient cushioning part protects the magnet and operating noise is reduced; the cushioning may be leather or felt. In another aspect an interior storage cabinet comprises a carcass, door frame and hinged door arranged to form a substantially airtight cabinet such that closing of the door gives rise to an air damping force which acts against manual closing of the door, an automatic door closure system applies a closure force on the door; the closure system may be a magnetic catch to provide final closing and retain the door closed.

Description

A KITCHEN STORAGE CABINET AND AN AUTOMATIC DOOR CLOSURE SYSTEM

THEREFOR

The invention relates to a kitchen storage cabinet and an automatic door closure system therefor.

An aim of the invention is to provide an improved kitchen storage cabinet and/or automatic door closure system therefor.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided an automatic door closure device as claimed in Claim 1. According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided an automatic door closure device as claimed in Claim 2.

According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a kitchen storage cabinet as claimed in Claim 3. According to a fourth aspect of the invention there is provided a kitchen storage cabinet as claimed in Claim 14.

Preferred features of the invention are set out in the dependent claims.

An advantage of the automatic door closure device in accordance with the first and second aspects of the invention, is that the magnet is protected from the door, and noise of operation is reduced.

Advantages of the kitchen storage cabinet in accordance with the third and fourth aspects of the invention, are that the substantially sealed cabinet creates an effective air damping against closure of the cabinet door which gives rise to slow closure of the door, and the automatic door closure system gently finishes the closing operation.

A kitchen storage cabinet and automatic door closure system in accordance with the invention will now be described, by way of non limiting example only, and with reference to the accompanying figures in which: Figure 1 is a simple perspective view of a kitchen storage cabinet in accordance with the invention, Figure 2 shows a close up of the circled region in Figure 1, Figure 3 is a side view of an automatic door closure device in accordance with the invention, Figure 4 is a plan view of the automatic door closure device of Figure 3, Figure 5 is a view from below of the automatic door closure device of Figure 3, Figure 6 is a view of the automatic door closure device of Figure 3 along the direction of arrow VI, Figure 7 is a sectional view along line Vu-Vu in Figure 6, Figure 8 illustrates an exploded view of the parts of Figures 3 to 7, and Figure 9 shows the parts of Figures 3 to 8 assembled in a perspective view.

Referring to Figure 1, a kitchen storage cabinet 10 comprises a five-sided carcass 12, made of plywood, fully assembled so that it is airtight. The carcass 12 defines an opening 14. Four pieces of wood 16, 18, 20, 22 are combined, so as to make a door frame 24, which is attached to the carcass 12 again in an airtight manner, so that the position of the door frame 24 coincides with the opening 14.

The kitchen storage cabinet 10 comprises a door 26 which is typically made of wood such as plywood. The door 26 has a first side 28 which will become the facing side in use, and a second side 30, opposite to the first side which will be at the rear of the door in use, a first end 32 for taking hinges as discussed below, a second end 34 which will be the trailing edge of the door in use, a top side 36 and bottom side 38 of door.

Still referring to Figure 1, the first end 32 of the door 26 is connected to the piece of wood 18 of the door frame 24 by a pair of hinges 40 shown by tracks towards the top and bottom of the door in Figure 1. In this preferred embodiment, recessed, butt hinges, are used to ensure that the door 26 fits snugly in the door frame 24, with minimal clearance between door frame and door, yet without interference, so that when the door is closed the cabinet is substantially airtight.

Referring to Figure 1 and, for additional detail, Figure 2, the storage cabinet 10 comprises an automatic door closure assembly 42, 44 in accordance with the invention. The automatic door closure assembly 42, 44 comprises a door frame or carcass mounted closure part 42 and a door mounted closure part 44. Tn particular, the cabinet 10 shown in the drawings has two such closure assemblies 42, 44, one towards the top of the door 26 and one towards the bottom of the door.

Referring to Figures 3 to 9, the door frame or carcass mounted closure part 42 comprises a hollow casing 46 made of metal, which defines a magnet installation opening 48 on its underside for a magnet, or in this preferred embodiment, two magnets 50, 52, to be installed inside the casing 46. The casing 46 has an opening 54 at its end intended to face the door 26 in use. A leather or felt pad 56 is glued to the casing 46 at the opening 54. The pad 56 is planar, its plane being designed to lie substantially parallel to the plane of the closed door 26.

The casing 46 comprises an aperture 58 for a wood screw 60 to enable fastening of the casing 46 to the door frame 24, and a retracted conical seat 62 around the aperture 58 for the head of the screw 60 to sit when the screw is fastened to the carcass 12 or frame 24.

Referring back to Figure 1, the door mounted part 44 is preferably a single magnet which is hidden in the door 18 at an optimum distance from an inner surface of the door. It will be noted that two magnets 50, 52 are mounted in each door frame mounted part 42 whereas each door mounted part 44 comprises a single magnet. The magnets 50, 52 have opposing polarities to magnets 44.

The magnet 44a is inserted into the door in the following manner. An opening is drilled into the top side 36 of the door 26, so that this part is discreet in use, and the magnet 44a is inserted. There is about 5-10 mm of wood between the door magnet 44a and the plane of the surface of the rear side 30 of the door (in other words, between the door magnet 44a and the front face of the frame/carcass mounted magnet 50,52). Once the magnet 44a is inserted in the door 26, the opening is filled above the magnet with a wooden material such as a dowel rod, to make the magnet insertion region of the door flush with the rest of the surface of door.

Another magnet 44b is installed through the bottom side 38 of the door in a similar method to the installation of the magnet in the top side 48. This procedure is self-explanatory and not shown in the figures for conciseness.

The mating surfaces of the door 26 and the door frame 24 are substantially flat and tight fitting, even at the hinge side. Due to the recessed hinge arrangement, and the tightly fitting door frame and door surfaces, the door 26 can swing substantially uninterrupted fully into the door frame 24 (instead of abutting against the outer surface of the carcass or frame as is typical in known storage cabinets).

In operation, the door 26 is manually closed about the hinge 40. Due to the manufacturing method of the cabinet of the invention, the door 26 comes to a stop as it nears the plane of the door frame 24. If it were not for the magnetic closure assembly in accordance with the invention, the door would stop before it reaches the pads 56 substantially solely due to air damping. It should be understood that there may be a minimal amount of mechanical interference between the door and the door frame. However, in accordance with the invention, the automatic door closing system 42, 44 is designed so that its magnetic attraction force creates relative motion of the door 26 towards the door frame 24, i.e. a closure force, simultaneously with the slowing down of the door as a result of air damping. In this way a substantially continuous, yet gentle, closing motion of the door 26 is achieved.

The door 26 contacts the pad 56 under the magnetic force, and under this force the door 26 applies a pressure on the deformable pad surface. The magnetic force, pad hardness and area are designed so that the door 26 deforms the pad 56, in a manner that increases the duration of the impact, but not significantly, and the door 26 reaches a position of equilibrium in contact with the pad 56, and applying a force against the pad. II is desirable that the door does not fully deform the pad.

The outer surface 28 of the door 26 lies flush with the outer surface of the door frame 24, and the width of the door approximately equals the width of the door frame, meaning during assembly the pads can simply be set back by about the width of the door.

The door frame or carcass mounted closure part 42, and the magnet(s) thereof, perform three functions: 1. To stop the door in the correct position, 2. To keep the door closed in that position, and 3. To allow the door to stop with an action that slows down as it stops (as opposed to slamming).

Tests demonstrate that the kitchen storage cabinet in accordance with the invention can damp high manual closing forces, as high as will be realistically achieved during normal use of the cabinet.

The automatic door closure assembly 42, 44 of the kitchen storage cabinet in accordance with the invention has a magnet or magnets on the door and magnet or magnets on the door frame, although each closure assembly could use a magnet on the door or frame and a cooperating piece of metal on the other of the door or frame. The advantage of using magnets on the door and the frame is an increased magnetic attraction force, which helps to close a heavier door.

The magnetic force can be varied when applied to doors of different mass, e.g. on a lighter door, weaker magnet(s) can be used on the door and/or frame or carcass.

Magnets are the preferred way of finally close the door, after the air pressure has slowed it down. However, the automatic closing force could be applied in other ways, e.g. springs, electromagnets or other suitable means.

The automatic door closing arrangement and the aforementioned features in accordance with the invention can be utilized on kitchen storage cabinets of different sizes, shapes, and appearance.

The automatic door closing arrangement and the aforementioned features can also be used on a broader range of storage cabinets, such as bathroom and living room storage cabinets and other household storage cabinets, aswell as other interior storage cabinets, and storage cabinets in general.

Claims

CLAIMSAn automatic door closure device for closing a door of a kitchen storage cabinet, the automatic door closure device comprising a magnet at least partially surrounded by a rigid casing, a resilient cushioning part attached to the casing, and an opening in the casing between the magnet and the resilient cushioning part.
2. An automatic door closure device substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 3 to 9 of the accompanying figures.
3. An interior storage cabinet such as a kitchen storage cabinet comprising a carcass and a door frame, and a door hinged to the door frame, wherein the door is arranged to move about the hinge into an opening defined by the door frame, the door and the door frame being arranged to cooperate as the door approaches a closed position to form a substantially airtight cabinet, which gives rise to an air damping force which acts against a manual door closure force, and the kitchen storage cabinet also comprises an automatic door closure system arranged to apply a closure force on the door to move the door to its closed position.
4. An interior storage cabinet such as a kitchen storage cabinet according to Claim 3, wherein the automatic door closure system comprises at least one closure part mounted on the door frame or carcass and at least one closure part mounted on the door in a position corresponding to the or each closure part on the door frame or carcass.
5. An interior storage cabinet such as a kitchen storage cabinet according to Claim 4, wherein the automatic door closure system is a magnetic automatic door closure system comprising at least one magnet mounted on the door frame or carcass, or at least one magnet mounted on the door, which creates a magnetic closure force.
6. An interior storage cabinet such as a kitchen storage cabinet according to Claim 5, wherein the magnetic automatic door closure system comprises at least one magnet mounted on the door frame or carcass and at least one magnet mounted on the door, which creates a magnetic closure force.
7. An interior storage cabinet such as a kitchen storage cabinet according to Claim 6, wherein at least one magnet is mounted on the door frame or carcass in the region of the top of the door, and at least one magnet is mounted on the door frame or carcass in the region of the bottom of the door.
8. An interior storage cabinet such as a kitchen storage cabinet according to Claim 7, wherein two magnets mounted on the door frame or carcass in the region of the top of the door, and two magnets mounted on the door frame or carcass in the region of the bottom of the door.
9. An intcrior storagc cabinet such as a kitchen storage cabinet according to any of Claims 5 to 8, wherein a resilient cushioning part is arranged between the magnet or magnets and the door.
10. An interior storage cabinet such as a kitchen storage cabinet according to any of Claims 5 to 9, wherein at least one magnet is mounted on the door.
11. An interior storage cabinet such as a kitchen storage cabinet according to Claim 10, wherein at least one magnet is mounted on the door towards the top of the door and at least one magnet is mounted on the door towards the bottom of the door.
12. An interior storage cabinet such as a kitchen storage cabinet according to Claim 11, wherein a single magnet is mounted on the door towards the top of the door and a single magnet mounted on the door towards the bottom of the door.
13. An interior storage cabinet such as a kitchen storage cabinet according to Claim 10, 11, or 12, wherein the or each magnet is hidden under the surface of the door.
14. An interior storage cabinet such as a kitchen storage cabinet according to Claim 10, 11, 12, or 13, wherein the or each magnet is inserted through an opening made in a surface of the door between the facing and rear surfaces.
15. An interior storage cabinet such as a kitchen storage cabinet substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 1 to 9 of the accompanying figures.