Floor Hinge with Hydraulic Damping for Easy Installation

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional floor hinges require a time-consuming and laborious installation process that involves excavating a recess in the ground, leading to potential rusting and instability, especially since the door panel is not weightless, causing sagging and collision issues during door operation.

Innovation Solution

A floor hinge design that includes a base fixed to the ground, a body with an oil storage space and axle, and a damping unit with an eccentric cam, allowing for easy installation by hiding the hinge within the door panel and providing hydraulic resistance to reduce door-opening and door-shutting forces, while adjustable screws correct offset issues.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a conventional floor hinge is installed by excavating a recess in the ground, then the hinge provides stable door support and load-bearing capacity, but the installation process becomes time-consuming and laborious

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedoor support stabilityVSAvoidinstallation time
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The floor hinge is divided into separate components: a base portion that can be pre-assembled with the door panel, and a body portion that installs into the door panel's receiving chamber. This segmentation allows the base to be prepared independently and quickly attached to the door panel, eliminating the need for time-consuming ground excavation while maintaining stable door support through the distributed mounting structure.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The base portion is pre-assembled with the door panel before installation, and the receiving chamber is pre-formed in the door panel. This preliminary preparation allows the actual installation to be completed quickly by simply attaching the pre-assembled base to the door panel and inserting the body into the pre-formed receiving chamber, eliminating the need for time-consuming on-site ground excavation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Reliability

If a conventional floor hinge is installed by excavating a recess in the ground, then the hinge provides stable door support, but rainwater accumulates in the recess and causes rusting

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedoor support stabilityVSAvoidwater accumulation and rusting
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The invention extracts the hinge body from the ground recess concept and relocates it to the door panel's receiving chamber. The base portion mounts to the ground surface without requiring excavation, eliminating the recess that would trap rainwater. This extraction of the main hinge body from the ground installation eliminates the harmful water accumulation effect while maintaining door support stability through the door panel-mounted body.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The door panel serves as an intermediary between the ground-mounted base and the hinge body. Instead of installing the hinge directly into the ground where water accumulates, the door panel's receiving chamber provides a protected, elevated location for the hinge body, mediating the connection between base and body while avoiding water accumulation issues.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Strength

If a conventional floor hinge is used, then the hinge has high load-bearing capacity, but the door panel sags and collides with the ground due to weight

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveload-bearing capacityVSAvoiddoor panel alignment
Core Design Contradiction:
StrengthVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The hydraulic damping mechanism provides a counteracting force to the door panel's weight and the effects of gravity. The damping unit resists the downward motion and sagging of the door panel by providing hydraulic resistance, effectively counterbalancing the gravitational effects that cause sagging and ground collision, while the distributed mounting structure maintains proper alignment.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #8Anti-weight (Counterweight)

4Manufacturing precision

If a floor hinge is installed separately before door panel installation, then the hinge can be properly positioned, but the overall installation process becomes laborious and takes one or two days

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvehinge positioning accuracyVSAvoidinstallation efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
Manufacturing precisionVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The invention merges the base portion installation with the door panel assembly process. The base is pre-assembled with the door panel as a unified component, combining two separate installation steps into one. This merging maintains positioning accuracy through the pre-assembled configuration while dramatically improving productivity by eliminating the sequential, multi-day installation process.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

The solution simplifies the installation process, prevents water accumulation and rusting, reduces door operation forces, and ensures precise door closure by using hydraulic resistance and adjustable components to align the door panel correctly.

Implementation Method 1

The damping unit is disposed in the oil storage space of the body and abuts against the eccentric cam of the axle so as for the damping unit to be pushed by the eccentric cam to thereby compress the hydraulic oil for generating a resistance to door-opening and door-shutting

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectHydraulic resistance: Hydraulic Press

Data Source

PatentEP2682552B1Floor hinge hidden in door panel
Publication Date: 2016.10.19 LEADO DOOR CONTROLS
  • EP2682552B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2682552B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP2682552B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

Provided is a floor hinge (10) including a base (20) fixed to the ground, a body (30) disposed in a door panel (12), an axle (40) pivotally disposed in the body (30), and a damping unit (50) disposed in the body (30) and abutting against the axle (40). To allow the door panel (12) to open or shut, the body (30) rotates about the axle (40) in response to the opening and shutting of the door panel (12). The damping unit (50) is pushed by the axle (40) to thereby compress a hydraulic oil stored in the body (30) while the body (30) is rotating. Therefore, not only can the floor hinge (10) be fixed to the door panel (12) from inside easily, but a hydraulic resistance between the damping unit (50) and the hydraulic oil is also generated to lessen door-opening and door-shutting forces.