阅读说明：本技术 翻板门的自动打开机构 (Automatic opening mechanism of flap door ) 是由 A·乔瓦内蒂 于 2018-09-21 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种用于打开家具的翻板门的机构(100),包括在弹簧(14)的作用下可伸缩地扩展的部分(10),该部分铰接到家具(1)的侧面(4)并通过推力支轴(17)作用在门(6)上,其中设置有在门的打开和关闭阶段适于连续移动所述推力支轴(17)的装置。(Mechanism (100) for opening a flap door of a piece of furniture, comprising a portion (10) which is telescopically extendable under the action of a spring (14), is hinged to a side (4) of the piece of furniture (1) and acts on a door (6) through a thrust fulcrum (17), wherein means are provided which are adapted to continuously move said thrust fulcrum (17) during the opening and closing phases of the door.)

1. Mechanism (100) for the flip-open of a door (6) connected to an upper wall (3) or a lower wall (4) of a piece of furniture (1) by at least one hinge (7), comprising a portion (10) fixed internally to a side (4) of the piece of furniture (1) and a portion (20) fixed internally to the door (6), said portion (10) fixed to the side (4) being telescopically expandable under the action of a mechanical spring (14) and having a first end hinged to said side (4) of the piece of furniture (1) at a fulcrum (13) and acting with a second end on said portion (20) fixed to the door (6) through a thrust fulcrum (17), characterized in that between said portion (10) fixed to the side (4) and said portion (20) fixed to the door (6) there are provided means suitable for moving the thrust fulcrum (17), said means adapted to move the thrust fulcrum (17) are adapted to move said thrust fulcrum (17) linearly and continuously, parallel to the door, away from and towards said hinge (7), respectively, during the opening and closing phases of the door.

2. Mechanism (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that said thrust fulcrum (17) is provided on a drawer (30) sliding in a box (21) internally fixed to said portion (20) of the door (6).

3. Mechanism (100) according to claim 2, characterized in that said means adapted to move said thrust fulcrum (17) of the door comprise a lever (60) which is pivotally connected at one end to said second end of said telescopically extendable portion (10) hinged to a side (4) of the furniture (1) and at the other end to said box-shaped element (21) fixed internally to said portion (20) of the door (6).

4. Mechanism (100) according to claim 2, characterized in that said means adapted to move said thrust fulcrum (17) of the door comprise a gear (16) centred on said fulcrum (17) and arranged on said second end of said telescopically extendable portion (10) hinged to a side (4) of the piece of furniture (1), and a rack (28) arranged in said box-shaped element (21) fixed internally to said portion (20) of the door (6).

5. Mechanism (100) according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that said box (21) is fixed to the door (6) by means of a closing lid (22).

6. Mechanism (100) according to claim 5, characterized in that means (50) are provided adapted to vary the travel of said sliding drawer (30) in order to adjust the degree of opening of the door.

7. Mechanism (100) according to any one of claims 2 to 6, characterized in that it is provided with a damper (40) placed in said drawer (30) fixed to said portion (20) of the door (6) adapted to provide a damping effect during the opening and closing phases of the door.

8. Mechanism (100) according to claim 7, characterized in that said damper (40) comprises a cylinder (41), from which cylinder (41) a rod (42) with a tip (43) protrudes, said tip (43) and said cylinder (41) respectively resting on respective stops (45), (46) protruding internally from said cover (22) during the opening and closing movement of the door.

9. Mechanism (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said door (6) can be flipped open upwards and said spring (14) is a compression spring.

10. Mechanism (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the door (6) can be flipped open downwards and the spring (14) is an extension spring.

11. Mechanism (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that means (70) are provided for adjusting the fulcrum (13) of the telescopic expansion portion (10) and therefore the force of the spring (14).

Technical Field

The invention relates to an automatic opening mechanism for flap doors of furniture in kitchens, bathrooms, living areas or any general furniture.

Background

In the following, reference will be made in particular to doors with a lift-type opening, without affecting the fact that the mechanism according to the invention can also be applied to downward flap doors.

Automatic opening mechanisms for flap doors generally use gas springs, in which a cylinder and an associated rod are directly connected between the side of the piece of furniture and the door to be moved.

Gas springs, while functioning satisfactorily, have drawbacks.

In fact, they tend to unload over time, losing their original performance and therefore not being able to fully perform their task.

Another disadvantage of gas springs is that they do not allow for a sufficient degree of partial opening of the door, which may become necessary or useful in some situations.

Another drawback is the unsightly appearance, since these are cylindrical tubular elements that are directly connected between the side faces of the furniture and the door.

In addition, the cost of the gas spring is somewhat high.

On the other hand, mechanical springs other than these, whether helical, leaf or similar springs, are not suitable for this type of opening, since they do not allow a linear or uniform thrust during the opening process. More specifically, in the case of a liftgate, the spring is in a state of maximum compression when the door is closed, so that the pushing force is maximum when the door is opened, and then gradually decreases until it is fully opened.

DE 10203269 a1, EP 2078811 a2 and WO 2006/012848 a1 are examples of mechanisms that use gas springs to open the flap door upwards.

DE 3140039 a1 describes a mechanism for balancing the weight of the door of an electric household appliance, in particular a dishwasher, having a hinged opening around a fixed axis of a sector gear with which a corresponding sector gear meshes, which is arranged at one end of a lever which is pivoted at one of its intermediate points and is connected at its other end to a swinging compression spring assembly.

Disclosure of Invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism for opening flap doors which is proposed to replace the gas spring, thus eliminating the drawbacks of the gas spring and also of the aforementioned mechanical spring mechanisms.

More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to propose a mechanical spring mechanism which allows the opening movement of the door to be linearized so that the thrust of the spring is almost uniform during the entire opening stroke.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a mechanism which also contributes to the closing phase of the door and avoids sudden releases during the opening phase.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a mechanism which is simple, economical to manufacture, and easy to assemble and install.

These and other objects of the invention are achieved by the features of the appended independent claim 1.

The dependent claims disclose advantageous embodiments of the invention.

Basically, the flip-open mechanism for a door connected to the upper or lower wall of a piece of furniture by at least one hinge comprises a portion fixed internally to a side of the piece of furniture and a portion fixed internally to the door, said portion fixed to the side being telescopically expandable under the action of a mechanical spring and having a first end hinged to said side of the piece of furniture and acting with a second end on said portion fixed to the door by a thrust fulcrum, characterized in that between said portion fixed to the side and said portion fixed to the door there are provided means suitable for moving said thrust fulcrum linearly and continuously, parallel to said door, respectively away from and towards said hinge during the opening and closing phases of the door.

Drawings

Further characteristics of the invention will become clearer from the following detailed description, given by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to one of the embodiments thereof, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

fig. 1 schematically shows a piece of furniture with an upwardly openable flap door, provided with a mechanism according to a first embodiment of the invention, shown in the closed state of the door;

FIG. 1b is an enlarged view of a detail in the circle in FIG. 1 a;

FIG. 1c is an enlarged view showing in detail the portion of the mechanism of FIG. 1a applied to a door;

FIGS. 2a, 2b, 2c are views similar to FIGS. 1a, 1b, 1c, respectively, with the door in an intermediate open state;

FIGS. 3a, 3b, 3c are views similar to FIGS. 1a, 1b, 1c, respectively, with the door in a fully open condition;

FIG. 4 is an exploded isometric view of the opening mechanism of the flap door of the previous figures;

FIG. 5 is an exploded side view of the mechanism of FIG. 4;

fig. 6a, 6b, 6c show a second embodiment of the mechanism according to the invention, wherein the door is in a closed state, an intermediate open state and a fully open state, respectively.

Detailed Description

With reference to figures 1 to 5 and initially to figures 1a, 2a and 3a, there is shown a piece of furniture generally designated by the reference numeral 1, comprising a fixed frame consisting of a lower shelf or lower wall 2, an upper shelf or upper wall 3, two side walls or sides 4, one of which is removed to show a mechanism according to a first embodiment of the invention, designated by the reference numeral 100, and a possible rear wall 5. The front of the piece of furniture 1 has a flap door 6, which flap door 6 is of the raisably openable type in the case in question and closes the interior space of the piece of furniture in the lower position (fig. 1).

Some of these figures also show a hinge 7, known per se, which connects the door 6 to the upper wall 3 of the piece of furniture.

More than one hinge 7 is typically provided and depending on the width of the door, the opening mechanism 100 may be just one or more than one.

The mechanism 100 comprises a portion 10 fixed internally to the side 4 of the piece of furniture 1 and a portion 20 fixed internally to the door 6, which cooperate in a manner to be described below.

More specifically, the portion 10 consists of two telescopic tubular rods, with reference to the figures, the lower rod 11 being hinged at 13 on the side 4 of the furniture and the upper rod 12 sliding telescopically inside it. Between the two tubular rods 11 and 12 a helical spring 14 is placed, which helical spring 14 operates in compression and tends to push the upper tubular rod 12 outwards or upwards.

The mechanism part 20 fixed to the door 1 comprises a box 21 closed by a cover 22 by means of screws 23, the box 21 enclosing, inside it, the components that will be described below.

The cartridge-lid assembly is secured to the door 6 by means of a dovetail seat 24 formed in the lid 22 which slidingly engages a corresponding plate 25 secured to the door 6.

Naturally, other connection means are possible.

The box 21 has an elongated parallelepiped shape, with an initial portion 26 closer to the hinge 7, which initial portion 26 has a greater depth and is open at the bottom so as to define two opposite side walls 27 between which the end 15 of the upper tubular rod 12 of the telescopic portion 10 fixed to the side 4 of the piece of furniture is arranged.

The end 15 of the lever 12 has a fork-shaped configuration and has a pair of gears or toothed sectors 16 which mesh with respective racks 28 provided on said side walls 27 of the box 21.

In the following, the gear 16 and the rack 27 are referred to in the singular for convenience.

As shown in particular in fig. 1c, 2c, 3c, the provision of a rack-and-pinion coupling determines a variable fulcrum during the opening of the door, which allows the thrust action of the spring to be made uniform and therefore the opening movement of the door to be linear.

In fact, from the position of fig. 1 to the position of fig. 3, the fulcrum 17 of the thrust acting on the door, on which the gear or sector 16 is centred, moves linearly and parallel to the door away from the hinge 7, so that the lever arm increases and in this way compensates for the decrease in thrust when the spring 14 is relaxed.

In order to further improve the function of the spring mechanism according to the invention, damping is provided during the opening and closing phases of the door 6, as will be described below.

More specifically, the sliding drawer 30 is housed in the box 21 and has, at the front, a projection 31, the end 15 of the gear 16 provided with the hollow rod 12 being pivotally connected to the projection 31 by means of the pin 17.

In the drawer 30, a shock absorber or damper 40 is placed, the shock absorber or damper 40 being constituted by a cylinder 41, from which cylinder 41 a rod 42 with a tip 43 extends.

During the movement of the drawer 30 during the opening and closing phases of the door 16, the damper 40 alternately abuts against respective stops 45, 46 projecting from below the cover 22.

More specifically, during the opening phase of the door, the engagement between the toothed wheel 16 and the rack 28 moves the drawer 30 away from the hinge 7 until the aforementioned projection 31 abuts against the cylinder 41, pulling it in movement and loading it by the action of the end 43 of the rod 42 abutting against the stop 45 of the lid 22.

The travel of the drawer 30 is determined by the adjustment screw 50, the rear wall 33 of which abuts against the adjustment screw 50.

The adjusting screw 50 is screwed into a nut 51 housed in the box 21 and, based on the penetration of its shank in the box 21, varies the travel of the drawer 30 and therefore the opening of the door 6.

As shown in fig. 3c, the damper 40 is loaded to the maximum and the rod 42 is almost completely returned to the cylinder 41. Thus, at the final stage of opening of the door 6, there is a damping action thereon.

During the phase of closing the door, when the drawer 30 moves towards the hinge 7, the damper 40 tends to unload, the cylinder 40 bearing against the front stop 46 of the lid 22. As the drawer 30 continues to move, its rear wall 33 drives the end 43 of the rod 42, causing a further loading of the damper, thus also achieving a damping effect during the closing phase.

This situation is fully visible in fig. 1c, 2c and 3 c. With the door of fig. 1c closed, the damper is partially loaded, as can be seen in the projection of the rod 42 of the cylinder 41. In the partially open situation in fig. 2c, the damper is unloaded and in the loading start phase until completely reloaded in the situation of fig. 3 c.

Naturally, the degree of loading of the damper 40 at the time of opening and closing can be appropriately adjusted.

In the embodiment previously described and illustrated in the figures, a gear and rack system has been provided for the movement of fulcrum 17 during the opening and closing phases of door 6.

However, it is clear that other systems may be provided, such as levers, cams, etc.

Fig. 6a, 6b, 6c show a possible alternative embodiment of the means for moving fulcrum 17 during the opening and closing phases of the door, which has substantially the same mechanism as the previous embodiments and therefore is not described again.

According to this embodiment, the means placed between the portion 10 fixed to the side 4 of the piece of furniture and the portion 20 fixed to the door 6 comprise a lever 60, one end of the lever 60 being pivotally connected at 61 to the end of said telescopically extendable portion 10 hinged to the side 4 of the piece of furniture, and the other end of the lever 60 being pivotally connected at 62 to a projecting end 63 of the box-shaped element 21 fixed to the portion 20 of the door 6.

During the opening and closing movement of the door 6, the rotation of the lever 60, having a fixed length, about the pivot pin 61 causes the movement of the thrust fulcrum 17 provided on the sliding drawer 30, in the same way as in the previous embodiment.

Fig. 6a-c also show a screw 70 for adjusting the fulcrum 13 of the telescopic part 10 and thus the force of the spring, which naturally can also be provided in the first embodiment.

As described above, the mechanism for opening a flap door according to the present invention can be applied without substantial modification to a case of a door that can be opened downward, merely by setting the spring 14 to operate in a stretched state, not in a compressed state.

The components of the mechanism according to the invention may be metallic materials or rigid plastics or hybrid materials.

Advantageously, at least the tubular bars 11, 12, the box-shaped element 21 and the cover 22 are made of rigid plastic.

In the illustrated embodiment, the spring 14 is of the helical type, however it may also be of another type, such as a leaf spring, a compression spring, etc.

The advantages of the invention are evident from what has been disclosed, which allows to linearize the action of the spring 14 by linearly and continuously varying the position of the thrust fulcrum 17 away from and towards the hinge 7 for connecting the door 6 to the piece of furniture 1, and to allow partial opening of the door, to adjust the stroke of the drawer 30, and to apply damping to the door when opening and closing.

Naturally, the invention is not limited to the particular embodiments described in the foregoing and shown in the drawings, but many variations in detail are possible within the reach of a person skilled in the art, without departing from the scope of the same invention as defined in the appended claims.

The claims (modification according to treaty clause 19)

1. Mechanism (100) for the flip-open of a door (6) connected to an upper wall (3) or a lower wall (4) of a piece of furniture (1) by at least one hinge (7), comprising a portion (10) fixed internally to a side (4) of the piece of furniture (1) and a portion (20) fixed internally to the door (6), said portion (10) fixed to the side (4) being telescopically expandable under the action of a mechanical spring (14) and having a first end hinged to said side (4) of the piece of furniture (1) at a fulcrum (13) and acting with a second end on said portion (20) fixed to the door (6) through a thrust fulcrum (17), characterized in that between said portion (10) fixed to the side (4) and said portion (20) fixed to the door (6) there are provided means suitable for moving the thrust fulcrum (17), said means suitable for moving the thrust fulcrum (17) are suitable for moving said thrust fulcrum (17) linearly and continuously, parallel to the door, away from and towards said hinge (7), respectively, in the opening and closing phases of the door, wherein said thrust fulcrum (17) is provided on a drawer (30) sliding in a box (21) internally fixed to said portion (20) of the door (6), and wherein said means suitable for moving the thrust fulcrum (17) of the door comprise a lever (60) one end of which is pivotally connected to said second end of said telescopically extendable portion (10) hinged to the side (4) of the piece of furniture (1) and the other end of which is pivotally connected to said box (21) internally fixed to said portion (20) of the door (6).

2. Mechanism (100) for the flip-open of a door (6) connected to an upper wall (3) or a lower wall (4) of a piece of furniture (1) by at least one hinge (7), comprising a portion (10) fixed internally to a side (4) of the piece of furniture (1) and a portion (20) fixed internally to the door (6), said portion (10) fixed to the side (4) being telescopically expandable under the action of a mechanical spring (14) and having a first end hinged to said side (4) of the piece of furniture (1) at a fulcrum (13) and acting with a second end on said portion (20) fixed to the door (6) through a thrust fulcrum (17), characterized in that between said portion (10) fixed to the side (4) and said portion (20) fixed to the door (6) there are provided means suitable for moving the thrust fulcrum (17), said means adapted to move the thrust fulcrum (17) are adapted to move said thrust fulcrum (17) linearly and continuously, parallel to the door, away from and towards said hinge (7), respectively, in the opening and closing phases of the door, wherein said thrust fulcrum (17) is provided on a drawer (30) sliding in a box (21) internally fixed to said portion (20) of the door (6), and wherein said means adapted to move the thrust fulcrum (17) of the door comprise a gear (16) centred on said fulcrum (17) and provided on said second end of said telescopically extendible portion (10) hinged to a side (4) of the furniture (1) and a rack (28) provided in said box (21) internally fixed to said portion (20) of the door (6).

3. Mechanism (100) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said box (21) is fixed to the door (6) by means of a closing lid (22).

4. Mechanism (100) according to claim 3, characterized in that means (50) are provided adapted to vary the travel of said sliding drawer (30) in order to adjust the degree of opening of the door.

5. Mechanism (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it is provided with a damper (40) placed in said drawer (30) fixed to said portion (20) of the door (6) adapted to provide a damping effect during the opening and closing phases of the door.

6. Mechanism (100) according to claim 5, characterized in that said damper (40) comprises a cylinder (41), from which cylinder (41) a rod (42) with a tip (43) protrudes, said tip (43) and said cylinder (41) respectively resting on respective stops (45), (46) protruding internally from said cover (22) during the opening and closing movement of the door.

7. Mechanism (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said door (6) can be flipped open upwards and said spring (14) is a compression spring.

8. Mechanism (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the door (6) can be flipped open downwards and the spring (14) is an extension spring.

9. Mechanism (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that means (70) are provided for adjusting the fulcrum (13) of the telescopic expansion portion (10) and therefore the force of the spring (14).