Spring and/or damping element

Abstract

A damper element for damping a translational movement of a component and for causing the component to stop at a stop position includes a housing, a carrier displaceably supported in the housing for movement in a translational direction, and a damper part for damping the translational movement. The damper part has a first end connected to the housing and a second end pivotably connected to the carrier, the carrier is pivotable about a pivot axis perpendicular to the translation direction between a first position and a second position, and the damper element further includes at least one spring biasing the carrier toward the first position.

Claims

1. A damper element for damping a translational movement of a component and for causing the component to stop at a stop position, the damper element comprising a housing, a carrier displaceably supported in the housing for movement in a translational direction, and a damper part for damping the translational movement, wherein the damper part has a first end connected to the housing and a second end pivotably connected to the carrier, wherein the carrier is pivotable about a pivot axis perpendicular to the translation direction between a first position and a second position, wherein the damper element further includes at least one leaf spring connected to bias the carrier toward the first position, and wherein the carrier includes at least one actuating pin configured to deform the at least one spring when the carrier pivots from the first position to the second position.

2. The damper element according to claim 1, wherein the at least one leaf spring is disposed on a side region of a recess in the housing.

3. The damper element according to claim 1, wherein the at least one leaf spring comprises a first leaf spring disposed on a first side of the carrier and a second leaf spring disposed on a second side of the carrier.

4. The damper element according to claim 1, wherein the housing comprises a first housing half connected to a second housing half.

5. The damper element according to claim 1, wherein the damper part comprises a gas spring.

6. The damper element according to claim 1, wherein the carrier includes a portion guided in a linear groove in the housing, the groove extending in the translational direction.

7. The damper element according to claim 1, wherein the carrier has a U-shaped design viewed in the direction of the pivot axis.

8. The damper element according to claim 1, wherein the carrier includes a V-shaped recess, wherein the damper part includes a gas spring having a projecting rod extending through the V-shaped recess, and wherein the V-shaped recess is configured to allow the carrier to pivot from the first position to the second position.

9. The damper element according to claim 1, wherein the housing includes at least one attachment element connected to the housing via a predetermined break point.

10. A damper element damper element for damping a translational movement of a component and for causing the component to stop at a stop position, the damper element comprising a housing, a carrier displaceably supported in the housing for movement in a translational direction, and a damper part for damping the translational movement, wherein the damper part has a first end connected to the housing and a second end pivotably connected to the carrier, wherein the carrier is pivotable about a pivot axis perpendicular to the translation direction between a first position and a second position, wherein the damper element further includes at least one spring connected to bias the carrier toward the first position, wherein the carrier includes at least one actuating pin configured to deform the at least one spring when the carrier pivots from the first position to the second position, wherein the at least one spring comprises a first leaf spring disposed on a first side of the carrier and a second leaf spring disposed on a second side of the carrier, wherein the housing comprises a first housing half connected to a second housing half, wherein the damper part comprises a gas spring, wherein the carrier includes a portion guided in a linear groove in the housing, the groove extending in the translation direction, wherein the carrier is U-shaped in design viewed in the direction of the pivot axis and includes a V-shaped recess, wherein the gas spring includes a projecting rod extending through the V-shaped recess, and wherein the V-shaped recess is configured to allow the carrier to pivot from the first position to the second position.

11. A damper for damping translational movement of a component, the damper comprising a housing, a carrier displaceably supported in the housing for movement in a translational directtion, and a gas spring for damping the translational movement, the gas spring comprising a cylinder having a first end connected to the housing and a rod projecting from a second end of the cylinder, an end of the rod being pivotably connected to the carrier, wherein the carrier is pivotable about a pivot axis perpendicular to the translation direction between a first and a second position, and wherein the damper further includes at least one leaf spring configured to bias the carrier toward the first position.

12. The damper according to claim 11, wherein the carrier includes a wall oblique to the translational direction.

13. The damper according to claim 12, wherein the carrier includes a first notch adjacent to the wall.

14. The damper according to claim 13, wherein the carrier includes a second notch having converging notch walls, the rod extending through the second notch.

15. The damper according to claim 14, wherein the carrier includes at least one actuating pin in contact with the at least one spring.

16. The damper element according to claim 1, wherein the at least one leaf spring is connected at one axial end to the housing.

17. The damper element according to claim 16, wherein the carrier has an actuating pin and the other axial end of the at least one leaf spring engages the actuating pin.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) An exemplary embodiment of the disclosure is depicted in the drawings.

(2) FIG. 1 is a top plan view, partly in section, of a spring and/or damper element according to the disclosure that includes a gas spring and a carrier.

(3) FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the left region of the spring and/or damper element of FIG. 1.

(4) FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the left region of the spring and/or damper element of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(5) The figures illustrate a spring and/or damper element 1 (sometimes referred to as a damper element) that can function to brake a component, such as a door or a drawer or a window, which is displaceable in a translational direction T, and guide the component into an end position in a damped manner. For this purpose the spring and/or damper element 1 includes a housing 2 (in the present case comprised of an upper and lower housing half) and a spring and/or damper-part in the form of a gas spring 4 disposed in the housing. The gas spring 4 is fixedly connected to the housing by a first (right) end. The gas spring 4 is connected to a carrier 3 by a second (left) end, i.e., by the end of a rod-shaped part 7 (piston rod).

(6) A groove 5 is incorporated in the housing 2, i.e., both in the lower and in the upper housing part, which groove 5 extends in the translational direction T. Accordingly the carrier 3 can slide in the housing 2 in the translational direction T, which movement is damped because the carrier 3 is connected to the gas spring 4.

(7) As can best be seen from FIG. 3, the carrier 3 comprises an essentially U-shaped structure made of a relatively hard material. In the event of an impact from an activator (not illustrated) disposed on a component that is to be damped, the following benefits are obtained.

(8) The carrier 3 is pivotably connected to the end of the gas spring 4, i.e., namely to the piston rod 7 itself and is supported in the housing 2 such that it can pivot about a pivot axis S perpendicular to the translational direction T. The pivot point of this pivot axis is indicated in FIG. 1 by the letter M.

(9) The piston rod 7 enters into the carrier 3 over a long extension thereof, as can best be seen in FIG. 2 and in the translational direction. A V-shaped groove 6 (a groove having converging side walls) is provided in the carrier 3 which groove 6 allows the piston rod 7 to move when the carrier 3 pivots about the pivot axis S. The shape of the groove 6 defines the angle through which the carrier 3 can rotate about the pivot axis S. In the exemplary embodiment, this angle is approximately 20.

(10) Thus if an activator of a component to be braked impacts against the flank surface 13 (see FIG. 2) of the carrier 3, the carrier 3 will pivot about the pivot axis S. In other words, the arm that includes the flank surface 13 will shift or submerge below the activator so that damage to the carrier 3 and/or to the activator can be avoided.

(11) Actuating pins 9 are disposed on the carrier 3, one actuating pin 9 on the upper side and one actuating pin 9 on the lower side of the carrier 3. One of the actuating pins 9 is visible in FIG. 3. When the carrier 3 pivots about the pivot axis S, the spring devices 8, in this embodiment two leaf springs, are deformed. The configuration of the spring devices 8 is best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3. The spring devices 8 are disposed over a recess 10 in the housing 2 and are connected at one of their axial ends to the housing 2 (see FIG. 3: right end of the leaf spring 8).

(12) Accordingly when the carrier 3 pivots about the pivot axis S, it elastically deforms and loads the spring device 8. The spring devices 8 produce a restoring force to shift the carrier 3 back toward the position of the carrier 3 illustrated in the Figures.

(13) Thus when an activator on a component to be damped impacts on the flank surface 13, the carrier 3 pivots as described above. With further movement of the activator (towards the left in the Figures) it reaches and impacts against the flank surface 14 (see FIG. 2) of the carrier 3 and thus moves the carrier 3 back into its original position. This return movement is also aided by the spring device 8.

(14) Attachment elements 11 are provided on the axial ends of the spring and/or damper element 1 for attaching the housing 2 to an adjacent component. These attachment elements 11 of this embodiment are flange-type components that can be fixed using an attachment screw. If the spring and/or damper element 1 is installed such that fixation is only necessary on an axial end region, the unneeded attachment element 11 can be broken off, i.e., removed, at a predetermined break point 12.

(15) Representative, non-limiting examples of the present invention were described above in detail with reference to the attached drawings. This detailed description is merely intended to teach a person of skill in the art further details for practicing preferred aspects of the present teachings and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Furthermore, each of the additional features and teachings disclosed above may be utilized separately or in conjunction with other features and teachings to provide improved spring and/or damping elements.

(16) Moreover, combinations of features and steps disclosed in the above detailed description may not be necessary to practice the invention in the broadest sense, and are instead taught merely to particularly describe representative examples of the invention. Furthermore, various features of the above-described representative examples, as well as the various independent and dependent claims below, may be combined in ways that are not specifically and explicitly enumerated in order to provide additional useful embodiments of the present teachings.

(17) All features disclosed in the description and/or the claims are intended to be disclosed separately and independently from each other for the purpose of original written disclosure, as well as for the purpose of restricting the claimed subject matter, independent of the compositions of the features in the embodiments and/or the claims. In addition, all value ranges or indications of groups of entities are intended to disclose every possible intermediate value or intermediate entity for the purpose of original written disclosure, as well as for the purpose of restricting the claimed subject matter.

REFERENCE NUMBER LIST

(18) 1 Spring and/or damper element 2 Housing 3 Carrier 4 Spring and/or damper part 5 Groove 6 V-shaped recess 7 Rod-shaped part of the spring and/or damper-part 8 Spring device 9 Actuating pin 10 Recess 11 Attachment element 12 Predetermined break point 13 Flank surface 14 Flank surface T Translational direction S Pivot axis M Pivot point