Safe Hinge With Interior-Access Pins And Pentagonal Lugs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional secure storage units, such as safes, face challenges in balancing security with ease of use due to limited door rotation and tamper-resistant hinge mechanisms that are difficult to manufacture and assemble, often restricting the door's opening angle to less than 90 degrees.
Innovation Solution
A hinge arrangement featuring concealed hinge pin passages accessible only from the interior, with pentagonal profile hinge lugs allowing a rotational range of at least 180 degrees and an optional retention mechanism to hold the door in place, enabling greater door mobility while maintaining security.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If interior pivot pin arrangement is used to prevent tampering, then security is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases and door rotation is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional hinge design by making the hinge pins accessible from the interior rather than the exterior. The hinge pin passages are concealed from the exterior and only accessible from the interior of the storage compartment, reversing the traditional approach and solving both security and manufacturing issues simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The hinge assembly is segmented into distinct components: hinge cups mounted on the door frame, hinge lugs extending from the door, and separate hinge pins. This segmentation allows for easier manufacturing and assembly while maintaining security, as each component can be produced independently and assembled from the interior.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional hinge design is used, then manufacturing is simpler, but door rotation is limited to 90 degrees or less
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge lugs feature a pentagonal profile with an angled side that creates asymmetric clearance characteristics. This asymmetric geometry allows the door to rotate through a wider arc (at least 180 degrees) by providing progressively increasing clearance as the door opens, while maintaining a compact design that is relatively simple to manufacture.
3Reliability
If safe door is biased to closed position for security, then security is improved, but ease of use deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge assembly incorporates a retention mechanism that dynamically adjusts the door's position. The mechanism yieldingly and selectively holds the open door in place at certain angular orientations, providing security when closed while enabling easy access when open, thus adapting to different operational states.
Data Source
AI summary
A hinge arrangement for a safe or similar secure storage unit. A unit includes a compartment with an opening in which a door can be mounted. Hinge cups are arranged along one edge of the door frame. Hinge lug pieces extend from an edge of the door and are received within the hinge cups. Hinge pins are introduced into the cups and lugs, creating a pivot joint for each hinge. The hinge pin passages are concealed from the exterior and are only accessible from the interior of the storage compartment. When closed, the hinge lug pieces are preferably substantially flush with the exterior surfaces of the door frame.