Furniture Hinge Spring Nesting and Curved Contact
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing furniture hinges with spring-loaded pressure portions suffer from premature wear due to high surface pressure and require large installation spaces, making them economically inefficient for mass production.
Innovation Solution
A compact arrangement of the spring device within the hinge cup, utilizing a cavity in the bearing portion and complementary convex and concave contours between the control curve and pressure portion, which distributes forces over a larger area, allowing for the use of standard hinge cups and reducing wear.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a spring-loaded pressure portion with a wedge-shaped tip is used to interact with a convex control curve, then the hinge can achieve self-closing and self-opening functionality, but the small contact surface results in high surface pressure causing premature wearing of components
Solution Approach 1:
The pressure portion is designed with a concave counter contour that is complementary to the convex control curve, creating a curved surface contact instead of a point contact. This curvature matching distributes the spring force over a larger contact area, reducing surface pressure and preventing premature wear of the hinge components.
2Volume of moving object
If the pressure portion and spring device are arranged within the hinge cup, then the hinge achieves compact design, but the hinge cup requires a special design with longitudinal bore making mass production uneconomic
Solution Approach 1:
The spring device and pressure portion are nested within a cavity of the bearing portion, which itself is inserted into the hinge cup. This nested arrangement allows the use of standard hinge cups without requiring special longitudinal bores, enabling economical mass production while maintaining compact dimensions.
3Force
If the pressure portion is arranged on the door-sided fitting portion to interact with control curve on hinged axis, then high torque can be transmitted, but a relatively large installation space is required
Solution Approach 1:
The bearing portion serving as the mounting structure for the spring device is integrated directly into the hinge cup assembly, eliminating the need for a separate door-sided fitting portion. This merging of components achieves the same torque transmission function through the control curve interaction while significantly reducing the overall installation space of the hinge.
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
This design enhances the durability of the hinge components by reducing point contacts, enabling the use of non-highly wear-resistant materials like plastic and facilitates more economical manufacturing while maintaining a compact and visually appealing design.
Implementation Method 1
a spring device (16) for moving the furniture hinge (4) from a predetermined angular position into a fully closed position and/or into a fully open position
Data Source
AI summary
A furniture hinge includes a first hinge portion to be fixed to a furniture carcass, a second hinge portion having a hinge cup to be fixed to a movably-mounted furniture part, a hinge axis connecting the first hinge portion and the second hinge portion, a bearing portion inserted into the hinge cup, the bearing portion including a cavity, and a spring device configured to move the furniture hinge from a predetermined angular position into a fully closed position and/or into a fully open position. A first end region of the spring device is supported on the bearing portion when the bearing portion is inserted into the hinge cup, the cavity being configured to accommodate the spring device. A convex control curve configured to interact from the predetermined angular position towards the fully closed position with the spring device. A pressure portion has a counter contour configured to be pressed against the convex control curve by the spring device. The counter contour has a concave section complementary to the convex control curve.