Device for opening and closing supported covers

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device and a method for opening and closing supported covers, in which a first compressive force is exerted onto a working body having a longitudinal axis in a first axial direction so that the working body is released from a latch connection, the working body being displaced in a spring-mounted manner from the housing into a first working position against the first compressive force direction when the first compressive force is cancelled, wherein a cover operatively connected to the working body is opened, is returned partially into the housing into a second working position by a renewed compressive force in the same axial direction of the working body; the working body, when partially returned, latches with the latch connection, and, by way of a continued compressive force in the same axial direction, the working body is returned against a resistance of a damping element into a starting position in the housing, the cover being returnable into a closed position.

Claims

1. A device (10) for opening and damping a closing motion of supported covers, such as in cupboards and drawers and other organizational units, having a working body (60) with a longitudinal axis, which enclosed in a housing (20), for assuming three working positions coaxially to the longitudinal axis; by means of a first compressive force on a front region of the working body (60) in the axial direction, a carrier (53) of the working body is released out of a connecting member (32) that is connected to the housing thereby displacing the working body out of the housing (20) to assume a first working position that is counter to the first compressive force direction; by means of a renewed compressive force in the same axial direction, the working body (60) is returnable to a second working position at least partially inside the housing (20), and the carrier (53) of the working body (60) is latchable with the connecting member (32); and by longer-maintained compressive force in the same direction, the working body (60) counters resistance to a damping element that is disposed in a rear region of said housing, in order to return to an outset position in the housing (20).

2. The device of claim 1, characterized in that a locking clamp (53) on the working body (60) can be grasped by reaching into the connecting member (32) and restrains the working body (60) upon engagement with the connecting member (32).

3. The device of claim 1, characterized in that the connecting member (32) is displaceably supported relative to the housing (20).

4. The device of claim 1, characterized in that the connecting member (32) is located on the damping element, which is spring-supported (41) in damped fashion relative to the housing (20).

5. The device of claim 1, characterized in that the damping element has a piston (42) and a damping housing (43).

6. The device of claim 1, characterized in that a piston (42) or a damping housing (43) are fixedly placed on the housing (20); and that the respectively other part (42/43) is displaceable in damped form in the housing (20).

7. The device of claim 1, characterized in that portions of the working body (60) have individual housings (20).

8. The device of claim 7, characterized in that at least two parts of the multi-part working body (60) are provided with their respective longitudinal axes parallel to one another.

9. The device of claim 7, characterized in that one of the two parts of the working body (60) can be coupled with the damping element, and the other part of the working body (60) can be coupled with the connecting member (32).

10. The device of claim 9, characterized in that the part of the working body (60) having the damping element is located on either side of the part of the working body (60) having the connecting member (32).

11. The device of claim 1, characterized in that the cover is embodied with a return element, which upon opening of the cover is furnished with a return force acting into a closed position relative to the cover, and is spring-supported, and the spring can be tensed upon opening of the cover and can be relaxed upon closure of the opening.

12. A method for opening and closing supported covers by means of a device of claim 1, in which a first compressive force is exerted on a working body having a longitudinal axis in a first axial direction, as a result of which compressive force the working body (60) is released from a connecting member (32); after the first compressive force is undone, the working body (60) is displaced in spring-supported fashion out of a housing (20) into a first working position counter to the first compressive force direction, and a cover that is operatively connected to the working body (60) is opened; and by a renewed compressive force in the same axial direction of the working body (60) into a second working position is returned partway into the housing (20); and the working body (60) upon partial return is latched with the connecting member (32); and by further persisting compressive force in the same axial direction, the working body (60) is returned into an outset position into the housing (20), counter to a resistance of a damping element, and the cover can be returned to a closed position.

13. A system for opening and closing a cover of furniture pieces, the cover being capable of being swung shut or displaced, having a device of the invention for opening and damping a closing motion of the cover of claim 1, wherein, for the cover, means are provided which furnish a return force into a closed position of the working body.

14. A piece of furniture having a device for opening and damping the closing motion of a working body of the piece of furniture of claim 1, wherein the device is integrated with a wall of the item of furniture, in a bore thereof.

15. An item of furniture having a device for opening and damping a closing motion of a drawer of the item of furniture of claim 1, wherein the device is integrated with a guide of the drawer, the drawer being capable of being pulled out.

Description

(1) An advantageous embodiment will be described in further detail below with reference to the appended drawings. In the drawings:

(2) FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of a device of the invention for opening and closing covers;

(3) FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a preferred embodiment of the device of the invention for opening and closing supported covers, in which device the working body is located in an outset position in the housing;

(4) FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a preferred embodiment of the device of the invention for opening and closing supported covers, in which device the working body is located in a first working position outside the housing;

(5) FIG. 4 is a series of illustrations that shows the course upon actuation of the device of the invention in a preferred embodiment, with the working body in its outset position, its first working position, and its second working position.

(6) FIG. 1 shows an exploded view of the possible components of a preferred embodiment of the device 10 of the invention for opening and closing covers. Fundamentally, all the components of the device 10 of the invention are located as here in (common) housing 20, in particular a retracted position, which can be called the outset position. The housing 20 can have a cap 21 in a rear region, by way of which cap, a fluid chamber can for instance be filled with fluid. In a rear region of the housing 20, that is, a region facing away from the opening 22, a damping element can be provided, which can for instance have a spring 41 and damping components, which in particular include a piston 42, which can be braced inside the housing against the rear region, which may have the cap 21.

(7) The damping element can have the damper housing 43, which in its interior can have a stop against which the spring 41 can be braced. Counter to the spring pressure of the spring 41, the damper housing 43 can be supported variably in its position inside the housing 20. The damper housing 43 can in particular have a fluidic barrier in its interior, by way of which barrier fluid from the damper can be kept back, to prevent leakage.

(8) Coaxially to the damper, preferably on an outer circumference of the damper housing 43, a spring 33 can be located, which interacts with a working body and can have the following components: a base body 50 with a front region 51/52, which can be connected detachably to the base body 50, and a carrier 53, which can be latched releasably to a connecting member 32. The connecting member 32 can be located on the damper housing 43, on a side facing toward the working body. Upon latching of the carrier 53 with the connecting member 32, the working body can be fixed relative to the connecting member 32 and also fixed relative to the damper housing 43, as can be seen particularly from FIG. 2.

(9) Optionally, a rubber buffer 52 can be located on a front end of the working body; this buffer provides protective contact with a cover that is to be opened or closed.

(10) FIG. 2 represents the device of the invention in an outset or retracted position of the working body. In that position, the spring 41 of the damper and the spring 33, which rests on the base body 50 of the working body, can be in a tensed position. The damper spring 41, in this position, can be restrained, for instance by a cover resting on the front region 51/52 of the working body. As soon as the cover is removed by hand from the working body of the device 10 of the invention, the spring 41 can relax, and the damping element in the housing 20 can be moved in spring-loosening fashion (41). As a result, the working body can additionally move out of the housing 20 by the length of the stroke of the damping element.

(11) The spring 33, which can cooperate with the base body 50 of the working body and, together with the connecting member 32, can furnish a mechanism for opening a cover resting on the working body, and in particular on the contact region 51, 52, can, by latching of the carrier 53, be retained in the connecting member 32 and fixed on the housing 43 of the damper. For that purpose, the connecting member 32 can be fixed on the end of the housing of the damper 43 or alternatively on the piston 42. For fixation on the piston 42, the housing 43 and piston can be reversed in their positions, whereupon the damper housing 43 can be fixed on the housing 20. Fundamentally, the damper can also be provided ahead of the element for expelling the working body, or can form the tip of the working body.

(12) The working body, connecting member 32 and damper housing 43 (or piston 42, depending on the arrangement) can therefore, in the latched state of the carrier 53 with the connecting member 32, form a unit which in particular by means of the damper spring 41, be supported movably coaxially to the housing 20. The connecting member can then accordingly be supported movably in the housing and/or connected to the damper.

(13) By means of a compressive force on the front region 51/52 of the working body, the carrier 53 is released/unlatched out of the connecting member 32. If the compressive force of the front region 51/52 of the working body is then withdrawn, the spring 33 can relax (FIG. 4 III) by means of a relative motion of the base body 50 of the working body relative to the damper housing 43. If a cover which had been lying on the working body is removed from the working body, the damper spring 41 can also relax, as a result of which the working body can be shifted out of the outset position into a first working position (FIG. 3).

(14) FIG. 3 shows a preferred embodiment of the device 10 of the invention in a first working position, in which the working body 60, with its base body 50, is moved out of the housing 20 into a first working position. The device 10 can in particular assume this position whenever the connection between the connecting member 32 and the carrier 53 is undone, and a cover to be moved (opened) by means of the device 10 has been removed from it. Fundamentally, the device is suited for creating a certain distance between the cover that is to be opened and a frame, this distance being furnished in particular by the stroke of the working body out of the starting position into the first position.

(15) By grasping the cover from behind and opening it further, the cover can be opened all the way, for instance at a 90° angle or more to the frame of a door, as a result of which the cover is removed from the working body of the device 10. In such a state, no external forces act on the device 10, and therefore both the spring 33 of the mechanism for opening the cover and the damper spring 41 can be in relaxed form relative to an outset position of the working body, or in other words can at least partially relax. With the relaxation of the damper spring 41, a relative motion between the piston 42 and the damper housing 43 is brought about, as a result of which a chamber 44 is formed, in which a fluid, for example a gas or a liquid and in particular a silicone substrate, can be provided. This fluid can be provided in an outset position of the working body as shown in FIG. 2, in a region which is marked by reference numeral 45. By means of the at least partial relief of the spring 41, the housing of the damper 43 is moved by a stroke inside the housing 20 which can be approximately equivalent to the coaxial length of the fluid chamber 44 in the housing 20. The damper housing and damper piston can also be located in reverse order in the housing, so that the piston can be provided such that it is shiftable variably in the housing. In such a case, the damper housing can be connected to the housing of the device, or it can be embodied as a part thereof.

(16) The damping action of the damping apparatus can in particular be furnished in that when force is exerted on the working body and returns the working body into the housing 20, the fluid has to be forced out of the chamber 44 and returned to the region 45 shown in FIG. 2. The necessary work for forcing the fluid back into the region 45 is counteracted by a displacement of the working body back in an outset position in damping fashion.

(17) By means of a displacement of the working body coaxially into the housing 20, the carrier 53 with the connecting member 32 can be brought back into a state of latch connection, and the spring 33 is tensed. An accurate course of opening and closing in a preferred embodiment can be found in FIG. 4.

(18) As seen for instance in FIG. 3, the damper and the expulsion device can be located at least partially one inside the other in the coaxial direction. The expulsion device can be formed by the mechanism for opening the working body and/or can be realized at least partly by one of the following components: working body and/or spring 33 and/or connecting member 32 and/or base body 50.

(19) Thus the working body and/or spring 33 and/or connecting member 32 and/or base body 50 of the expulsion device/mechanism for opening the cover can be supported radially outside, that is, above the damper, in particular radially outside a region of the damper, and especially preferably radially outside the damper housing. The damper can thus be surrounded (radially) and/or (radially) enclosed by the aforementioned elements.

(20) FIG. 4 shows in detailed fashion the procedure of moving the working body into and out of the housing 20 in six steps I through VI.

(21) I in FIG. 4 shows the working body 60 in an outset position inside the housing 20.

(22) By means of a first pressure coaxially to the alignment of the working body 60 or in other words to the direction of motion of the working body in the housing 20, the working body is easily thrust into the housing 20, as a result of which the carrier 53 is released (II) from the connecting member 32.

(23) As soon as the carrier 53 is released, the spring 33 can relax (III), which previously had been spring-loaded and fixed (II) between the damper housing 43 and the working body. The situation shown at III of the device 10 of the invention is equivalent to a snapshot, in which a cover that is to be opened can still lie in a front region of the working body, and therefore the damper spring 41 is still restrained in a tensed position.

(24) Fundamentally, it can be advantageous that, as the spring for the mechanism for opening covers, a spring 33 with a higher spring constant than the damper spring is used. The spring 33 should be capable of exerting enough force to move the cover out of a closed position. In this situation, it may be necessary to overcome a return force of the cover that is intended to keep it in a closed position. It can therefore likewise be necessary that the spring 33 have a higher spring force than the force with which the cover rests on the device of the invention.

(25) The spring 41, contrarily, serves to charge the damper and can therefore be embodied with markedly less spring force. The spring force of the damper can in particular be weaker than the return force with which a cover is to be restrained in a closed position. Since the force of the cover on the device 10 of the invention is greater than the spring force of the spring 41, the spring in step III] remains in a tensed state until such time as the cover rests on the working body 60.

(26) IV shows the device of the invention in a first working position, in which the cover to be opened is at a distance from the device, or in other words no longer rests on the working body 60. In this position, relative to III, the damper spring 41 is now also at least partially relaxed, specifically by the length of the stroke of the piston 42.

(27) Upon movement of the working body 60 into the housing 20, as shown at V, an operative connection between the carrier 53 and the connecting member 32 is reset, and the spring 33 is tensed. This represents the second working position of the working body 60.

(28) In this procedure, the damper can already be moved at least partially relative to the housing 20, as a result of which the fluid chamber 44 already has a reduced volume, compared to a first working position, since the housing 43 of the damper has already been moved partway back into its outset position shown in I. V shows the device 10/working body 60 of the invention in a second working position, in which, now, because a furnished return force is exerted on the cover, the cover does rest on the working body, but is not yet fully in the closed position. By means of the return force of the cover, the working body 60 can now be returned in damped fashion to its outset position (IV), as a result of which the cover, supported on the device, can be returned gently into a closed position. The return force exerted in this process on the cover can in particular be furnished by means provided on the cover which for instance effect a spring-supported restoration of the cover into a closed position, as soon as the cover relative to a closed position or a frame, by means of the spring force, enables a return solely of the cover into the closed position.