Compact Furniture Hinge With Fixed Damper Housing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing furniture hinges with linear dampers require large installation space due to the pivoting motion, which compromises their compact design and damping efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A hinge design where a cam on one of the levers compresses the linear damper during closing and opening movements, with the damper housing fixed in the side part, allowing for optimized damping forces and a compact structure by only moving the piston rod, and featuring a cam that maximizes damping force during closing and optionally opening movements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the linear damper is pivotably mounted on the guide lever, then the damper can be integrated into the hinge mechanism, but the installation space required in the side part becomes large
Solution Approach 1:
The damper assembly is segmented into two functional parts: the housing remains stationary and integrated with the side part, while the piston rod is separated to move independently with the lever during hinge operation. This segmentation allows the damper to provide damping function without requiring additional installation space for pivoting motion.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of mounting the damper housing on the moving lever (conventional approach), the invention inverts the mounting arrangement by fixing the housing to the stationary side part and allowing only the piston rod to move. This inversion eliminates the space-consuming pivoting of the entire damper assembly while maintaining damping functionality.
2Volume of moving object
If the housing of the linear damper is fixed immovably in the side part, then the installation space is reduced, but the damping behavior needs to be optimized for both opening and closing movements
Solution Approach 1:
The cam profile on the lever is designed to dynamically adjust the compression timing and magnitude of the linear damper during different phases of hinge operation. The cam geometry varies the damping force applied during opening movements versus closing movements, allowing optimization of damping behavior for both directions while maintaining the compact fixed-housing design.
Solution Approach 2:
The cam mechanism changes the operational parameters of the linear damper by varying the compression timing, duration, and force magnitude. During closing movements, the cam can apply stronger compression for effective damping, while during opening movements, the compression can be adjusted to provide appropriate resistance. This parameter variation enables versatile damping behavior from a single fixed housing configuration.
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 design achieves optimized damping behavior with adjustable damping forces and a significantly more compact installation space, ensuring secure door closure and efficient operation with minimal additional components.
Implementation Method 1
a linear damper with a housing and a piston rod that can be displaced relative to the housing... particularly suited for damping a closing movement
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
The invention relates to a hinge (1) comprising a side part (2) that can be secured to a wall and a hinge part (3) which can swivel relative to the side part (2), and which can be secured to a door, wherein two levers (4, 5) are provided between the side part (2) and the hinge part (3), which are respectively rotatably mounted on the side part (3) and on the hinge part (4), and comprising a linear damper (10) arranged in the side part (3) and having a housing (11) and a piston rod (12), wherein a control cam (45) is formed on one of the levers (4), which compresses the linear damper (10) shortly before reaching a closed position in a closing movement and before reaching the maximum open position in an opening movement.