Hinge for Connecting Two Relatively Movable Furniture Components

The present invention relates to a furniture hinge having a hinge arm and a housing which may be installed in a recess of a door or the like. The hinge arm is pivotally connected to the housing by means of at least one link bar and is secured to a quick-mounting plate via a fastening screw. The quick-mounting plate, in turn, is releasably connected to a support which can be fixed at the furniture side. The quick-mounting plate is provided with a spring-loaded pawl having a retaining lip which engages a projection of the support from below.

Furniture hinges of the above type are also referred to as quick-mounting hinges and are known in various forms.

A characteristic and common feature of all these furniture hinges is that the hinge arm can be adjustably secured to a quick-mounting plate which can be fixed to the support with virtually no tools. Conversely, the quick-mounting plate can again be released from the support by operating the pawl.

In practice, it is not readily possible to prevent unintentional separation of the quickmounting plate and support under certain circumstances. On the other hand, it is frequently difficult to operate the pawl when separation is desired since it is located relatively close to the inner surface of the furniture.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a furniture hinge of the preceding character which, with a most simple design, increases the reliability of this type of furniture hinge in daily use and allows intentional separation of the quick-mounting plate and support without particular difficulty.

According to the invention, the stated object is achieved in that the hinge arm is provided with a cover which overlies at least the fastening screw and, in addition, either completely covers the pawl of the quick-mounting plate or has a blocking device which is disposed in the rotational path of the pawl.

By employing a simple cover which can be manufactured economically, a furniture hinge of the foregoing type is significantly improved. On the one hand, the cover overlies the fastening screw for the hinge arm and quick-mounting plate while, on the other hand, the same cover prevents unintentional operation of the pawl which allows the quick-mounting plate to be released from the support. Thus, unintentional and undesired separation of the quick-mounting plate and support is prevented in an effective and most simple manner.

In accordance with a favorable embodiment, the cover is rotatably mounted on the pawl in the region opposite the retaining lip and the axis of rotation of the cover is parallel to and spaced from the pivot axis of the pawl. The blocking device here releases the pawl in an angular position of the cover relative to the hinge arm.

The retaining lip of the pawl is disengaged from the overlying projection by the application of tension and, in the preceding embodiment, it is of particular advantage for the cover to constitute an operating element for the pawl. Moreover, neither can mounting be forgotten nor can the cover be lost. Since, especially for furniture which is assembled by the buyer, the sections of the hinge are already secured to the components of the furniture, this makes it unnecessary to supply the cover separately. Furthermore, the cover can be attached during production of the hinge so that the buyer receives a fully installed hinge. The side of the cover which faces the hinge arm can be provided with instructions in the form of letters or symbols.

Advantageously, a stationary abutment is located on the side of the pawl opposite the retaining lip and the corresponding end face of the cover bears against this abutment when the cover is brought into an angular position relative to the hinge arm.

In this manner, the retaining lip is disengaged from the projection upon movement of the cover into an angular position so that no further forces need be applied to separate the quick-mounting plate and support.

Other characteristics and features of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a furniture hinge according to the invention,

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section through the hinge arm of the furniture hinge of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal section through the rear part of a hinge arm of another embodiment of a furniture hinge in accordance with the invention,

FIG. 4 is a section similar to that of FIG. 3 for a further embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 5 is a section per the line V--V of FIG. 4,

FIG. 6 is a view of a cover as seen in the direction of the arrow VI of FIG. 3,

FIG. 7 is a view of a cover as seen in the direction of the arrow VII of FIG. 2,

FIG. 8 is a view similar to that of FIG. 7 of another embodiment of a cover according to the invention,

FIG. 9 is a partly sectional view of an additional embodiment with a rotatable cover,

FIG. 10 is a view similar to that of FIG. 9 but with the cover positioned at an angle to the hinge arm and

FIG. 11 is a view similar to that of FIG. 10 but with an abutment associated with the pawl.

The furniture hinge illustrated in FIG. 1 and generally identified by the reference numeral 10 consists essentially of a housing 11, a hingearm 12, a link bar 13, a support 14 and a quick-mounting plate 15 with a pawl 16a and a cover 17.

As shown particularly clearly in FIG. 2, the hinge arm 12 is connected to the quick-mounting plate 16 by means of a fastening screw 18.

The height of the hinge arm 12 relative to the quick-mounting plate 16 can be adjusted via an adjusting screw 19.

The fastening screw 18 passes through a slotted hole or slit 20 in the hinge arm 12 so that it is also possible to longitudinally adjust the hinge arm 12 and quick-mounting plate 16 relative to one another.

FIG. 2 shows further that the pawl 16a is biased via a spring 21 and is provided with a retaining lip 22 which engages a projection 22a of the support 14 from below.

Moreover, the quick-mounting plate 16 is provided with a shaft 23 which extends into a cutout 24 of the support 14. This cutout 24 is located at the front end of the support 14 opposite the projection 22a so that, in the assembled condition, the quick-mounting plate 16 is reliably affixed to the support 14 via the shaft 23 and the pawl 16a with its retaining lip 22.

As is also clearly shown in FIG. 2, the cover 17 overlies the hinge arm 12 in such a manner that the adjusting screw 19 as well as the fastening screw 18 are covered. In addition, the cover 17 is provided with a protuberance 25 which projects into a recess 26 of the pawl 16a. In the position illustrated in FIG. 2, the protuberance 25 prevents operation of the pawl 16a in a sense releasing the pawl from the support 14 so that the protuberance 25 can very generally also be referred to as a blocking device.

By virtue of this construction--as already mentioned--unintentional separation of the hinge arm 12 and the quick-mounting plate 16 from the support 14 is prevented. Only after removal of the cover 17 is the rotational path of the pawl 16a again free so that now the hinge arm 12 together with the quick-mounting plate 16 can be deliberately disassembled from the support 14.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the cover 17 is provided with an expandable protuberance 27 which is positively engaged in a slotted hole 28 of the hinge arm 12.

The protuberance 25 of the cover 17, which extends into the recess 26 of the pawl 16, can be dimensioned such that it is received in the mentioned recess 26 with a light press fit. Similarly, the protuberance 25 can be in the form of an expandable protuberance so that the protuberance 25 is reliably fixed in the recess 26.

As is clear from FIG. 2 in combination with FIG. 7, the end of the cover 17 which faces away from the pawl 16a is provided with a closed marginal ledge 34 which lies directly on the hinge arm 12. In the embodiment of a cover according to FIG. 8, this end of the cover 17 is provided with a slit 29 which can be necessary when the hinge arm 12 is bent and the distance between the adjusting screw 19 and the bent zone 30 of the hinge arm 12, shown in FIG. 2 by dash-and-dot lines, is relatively small. During longitudinal adjustment of the hinge arm 12 relative to the quick-mounting plate 16, there may be an intermediate position in which the cover 17 no longer completely overlies the adjusting screw 19 thereby resulting in the requirement for the slit 29.

FIG. 3 illustrates that, when a hinge arm 12 is appropriately designed, one side of the cover 17 may be provided with a tongue 31 which, in order to be fixed to the hinge arm 12, is inserted in a slit 32 of the hinge arm 12. The cover 17 shown in FIG. 3 is illustrated once more in FIG. 6 as seen in the direction of the arrow VI.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate an embodiment of the invention in which the cover 17 overlies the pawl 16a completely and, in this manner, prevents unintentional operation of the pawl 16a.

As is particularly clearly seen in FIG. 5, the portion of the cover which overlies the pawl 16a is U-shaped and the two lateral legs 33 are pressed onto the corresponding sides of the quick-mounting plate 16 with a light clamping action. Similarly, the respective free ends of the lateral legs 33 can be provided with small locking projections which, in the installed condition of the cover 17, engage the quick-mounting plate 16 from below.

In the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 9 to 11, the cover 17 is rotatably mounted on the pawl 16a. To this end, the outer side of the pawl 16a which faces away from the fastening screw 18 is fork-shaped in these embodiments. The lateral webs formed in this manner are provided with two mutually aligned bores which receive a pin 35 rotatably supporting the cover 17. The protuberance 25 is provided with a corresponding bore for this purpose. In the illustration of FIG. 9, the cover 17 is parallel to the hinge arm 12 and the pawl 16a is in the blocked position. In the illustration of FIG. 10, the cover 17 is in an angular position relative to the hinge arm 12. Furthermore, a force is applied to the cover 17 in a direction such that the retaining lip 22 of the pawl 16a is brought out of engagement with the projection 22a. As can be seen from FIG. 10, the quick-mounting plate 16 can then be removed from the support 14. Consequently, the cover not only has a safety function but simultaneously constitutes a handle for the pawl 16a. The embodiment of FIG. 11 differs from the embodiment of FIGS. 9 and 10 in that two parallel, spaced cams 36 are affixed to the quick-mounting plate 16 at the outer side corresponding to the pin 35 and define a stationary abutment for the respective end face of the cover 17 during transfer into the angular position. As is clearly shown in FIG. 11, the pawl 16a is released via the cams 36 when the cover 17 is moved to the angular position. Therefore, no additional force need be applied for release.

It is pointed out that the manner of applying the cover 17 to the pawl 16a depends upon the particular form of the cover 17. It is further conceivable to eliminate the continuous pin 35 and, for example, to lock the protuberance 25 into projecting lugs by appropriate design of the protuberance 25. Advantageously, however, the cover 17 is applied to the pawl 16a in a form-fitting manner so that an undesired withdrawal upon actuation is prevented. In contrast to the illustrations of FIGS. 9 to 11, it is also conceivable to make the protuberance 25 of the cover 17 fork-shaped and to provide the pawl 16a with a protuberance. In contrast to the embodiments of FIGS. 2 to 8, the pawl 16a in the embodiment of FIGS. 9 to 11 is designed such that the surface facing away from the respective edges of the support 16.

The cover 17 is favorably of one piece and can be advantageously manufactured using the synthetic resin injection molding process or the zinc pressure casting process.