WO2014127846A1

WO2014127846A1 - Cooling device hinge mechanism

Info

Publication number: WO2014127846A1
Application number: PCT/EP2013/053721
Authority: WO
Inventors: Osman Cengiz; Murvet SARI
Original assignee: Arcelik Anonim Sirketi
Priority date: 2013-02-25
Filing date: 2013-02-25
Publication date: 2014-08-28
Also published as: EP2959083A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to an improved hinge mechanism (21) adapted to be used in a cooling device (16, 17) for effecting opening and closing of a door (18, 19) of such cooling device. Said hinge mechanism (21) comprises a case support bracket (2) secured to cooling device (16, 17) case and a door support bracket (8) secured to cooling device door (18, 19). Said case support bracket (2) is pivotally connected to a first pivot arm (3) by means of a case bracket's second pin (11) and said first pivot arm (3) is pivotally connected to a second pivot arm (5). Said second pivot arm (5) is in turn pivotally connected to said door support bracket (8) by means of a door bracket's second pin (10).

Description

COOLING DEVICE HINGE MECHANISM

The present invention relates to an improved hinge mechanism adapted to be used in a cooling device door.

It is to be noted that consumers increasingly tend to place their cooling devices in large kitchen cabinets such that only doors of the same are exposed to the outside. This provides a more appealing look since the cooling device, i.e. the refrigerator or the freezer may become more in harmony with surrounding kitchen furniture. The cooling device door surface is as such flush with the cabinet front and the device is accordingly fully inserted into the cabinet’s inner space.

A problem associated with this trend can be identified as the unsuitability of the present refrigerator doors for opening and closing within the cabinets when such refrigerator doors are flush with the surrounding cabinet parts. As a solution, one might consider placing the cooling device in a slightly forwarded position where the door can be freely operated. In other words, the axis of rotation of the cooling device door is displaced by a certain amount by moving the device itself. This solution is both space-consuming and undesirable for aesthetic reasons. In brief, a cooling device that is permanently protruding out from the cabinet in which it is installed is unappealing to consumers.

There are quite a number of design factors determining operability of a hinged cooling device door, among others those such as the exact positioning of the axis of rotation, the weight of the door to be carried by the mechanism and maximum opening angle between the plane of a first hinge element secured to an appropriate location on the device case and the plane of a second hinge element to which the door itself is secured, are especially decisive.

The present invention provides a cooling device door hinge mechanism ensuring that the device can be fully inserted into a cabinet’s inner space such that its door’s outer surface can lie flush with the cabinet front, said hinge mechanism while at the same time offering proper usability of the door without any difficulty.

The present invention provides a cooling device door hinge mechanism, which is defined by the characterizing features as defined in Claim 1.

Primary object of the present invention is to provide a cooling device door hinge mechanism by means of which the device door is opneable/cloasable while the cooling device is positionned flush with a surrounding cabinet front surface.

The present invention proposes a cooling device with a hinge mechanism for effecting opening and closing of the device door. The mechanism has a case support bracket and a door support bracket being respectively secured to the cooling device case and door.

The case support bracket is pivotally connected to a first pivot arm, which is in turn pivotally connected to a second pivot arm. The second pivot arm is further pivotally connected to said door support bracket. A third pivot arm and a fourth pivot arm connect the first and second pivot arms to said case and door support brackets.

The first pivot arm and the second pivot arm are pivotally connected to each other by means of a positioning pin located simultaneously between longitudinal ends of said first and second pivot arms.

The case support bracket and the door support bracket are in the form of longitudinally extending U-shaped in cross-section bodies. The two enclose other hinge components in a cavity formed by the open side of their U-profile bodies during closing of the door.

The second pivot arm passes through an opening of the first pivot arm such that orientation and maximum displacement of said second pivot arm relative to said first pivot arm is restricted by the physical structure of the opening of said first pivot arm.

A self-closing spring is provided between the case support bracket and the fourth pivot arm in a fixed manner such that it can effect self-closing of the door starting from a certain amount of opening.

Accompanying drawings are given solely for the purpose of exemplifying a cooling device door hinge mechanism whose advantages over prior art were outlined above and will be explained in brief hereinafter.

The drawings are not meant to delimit the scope of protection as identified in the claims nor should they be referred to alone in an effort to interpret the scope identified in said claims without recourse to the technical disclosure in the description of the present invention.

Fig. 1 demonstrates a perspective view of disassembled components making up the hinge mechanism according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 demonstrates a perspective view of a hinge mechanism according to the present invention.

Fig. 3 demonstrates top view of a double-door cooling device with hinge mechanisms according to the present invention.

Fig. 4 demonstrates top view of two cooling devices placed side by side in a cabinet; said devices having hinge mechanisms according to the present invention.

Fig. 5 and 6 demonstrate top views of two cooling devices in a cabinet with doors opened in different positions.

Fig. 7 demonstrates a perspective view of a refrigerator with a hinge mechanism according to the present invention.

The following numerals are used in this detailed description:

(1) Case bracket's first pin

(2) Case support bracket

(3) First pivot arm

(4) First pivot pin

(5) Second pivot arm

(6) Second pivot pin

(7) Third pivot arm

(8) Door support bracket

(9) Door bracket's first pin

(10) Door bracket's second pin

(11) Case bracket's second pin

(12) Positioning pin

(13) Fourth pivot arm

(14) Self-closing spring

(15) Refrigerator cabinet

(16) First cooling device

(17) Second cooling device

(18) First cooling device door

(19) Second cooling device door

(20) Second pivot arm opening

(21) Hinge mechanism

The present invention relates to a cooling device (16, 17) hinge mechanism ensuring proper functioning of the cooling device (16, 17) door (18, 19) in case it is in the close vicinity of a cabinet edge portion. To avoid interruption of the opening by the adjacent edge portion, the door’s (18, 19) opening axis, i.e. the axis around which the door (18, 19) rotates is dynamically moved outwardly during opening. To this end, the door (18, 19) can be freely opened without contacting the adjacent cabinet edge portion. In the event that two cooling devices (16, 17) are placed side by side in a cabinet, for instance a refrigerator with a deep freezer, the two doors (18, 19) thereof can be arranged such that they are openable around opposite side axes.

The present invention proposes a cooling device (16, 17) comprising a hinge mechanism (21) for effecting opening and closing of a door (18, 19) of such cooling device (16, 17). The hinge mechanism (21) comprises a case support bracket (2) secured to the cooling device (16, 17) case and a door support bracket (8) secured to the cooling device (18, 19) door.

The case support bracket (2) is pivotally connected to a first pivot arm (3) by means of a case bracket’s second pin (11), the first pivot arm (3) being pivotally connected to a second pivot arm (5). The second pivot arm (5) is pivotally connected to said door support bracket (8) by means of a door bracket’s second pin (10). The first pivot arm (3) is pivotally connected to a third pivot arm (7) by means of a second pivot pin (6) and the third pivot arm (7) is pivotally connected to said door support bracket (8) by means of a door bracket’s first pin (9). The second pivot arm (5) is pivotally connected to a fourth pivot arm (13) by means of a first pivot pin (4) and the fourth pivot arm (13) is pivotally connected to said case support bracket (2) by means of a case bracket’s first pin (1).

The configuration of the first and second pivot arms (3, 5) being connected to each other at one point and to the support brackets (2, 8) respectively at outer ends thereof provides that the axis of opening of the door (18, 19) dynamically displaces while a positioning pin (12) at which the first and second pivot arms (3, 5) are connected, is displaced during opening. Therefore, it is to be noted that the displacement of the opening axis provides the desired technical effect that the axis around which the door (18, 19) rotates is moved outwardly during opening.

The first pivot arm (3) and the second pivot arm (5) are pivotally connected to each other by means of the positioning pin (12), said positioning pin (12) being located between the case bracket’s second pin (11) and the second pivot pin (6) and simultaneously between the door bracket's second pin (10) and the first pivot pin (4). This position is important since the distance between said case bracket's second pin (11) and said positioning pin (12) as well as the distance between said positioning pin (12) and said second pivot pin (6) are decisive in dynamically displacing the position of the axis of rotation.

The case support bracket (2), the fourth pivot arm (13) and the first pivot arm (3) are shaped in the form of longitudinally extending U-shaped in cross-section bodies such that said fourth pivot arm (13) and said first pivot arm (3) are enclosable by a cavity formed by the open side of U-profile body of the case support bracket (2).

Likewise, the door support bracket (8), the second pivot arm (5) and the third pivot arm (7) are shaped in the form of longitudinally extending U-shaped in cross-section bodies such that said second pivot arm (5) and said third pivot arm (7) are enclosable by a cavity formed by the open side of U-profile body of the door support bracket (8).

The fact that said U-profile bodies of the case support bracket (2) and the door support bracket (8) enclose other components during closing of the door (18, 19) ensures that the hinge mechanism folds on itself when fully closed. This is advantageous as a more compact mechanical design is achieved, while at the same time obtaining outwardly displacement of the axis of rotation.

The second pivot arm (5) is introducible through an opening (20) of the first pivot arm (3) such that orientation of the second pivot arm (5) relative to said first pivot arm (3) is restricted by said opening (20) of the first pivot arm (3). Therefore, the maximum open position of said door (18, 19) is determined by the dimensions of the opening (20) of said first pivot arm (3).

The open side of the U-profile bodies of the case support bracket (2), the fourth pivot arm (13) and the first pivot arm (3) face the open side of the U-profile bodies of the door support bracket (8), the second pivot arm (5) and the third pivot arm (7).

A self-closing spring is provided between the case support bracket (2) and the fourth pivot arm (13).

According to the present invention, rotation axis of the door (18, 19) during opening thereof is first displaced outwardly in the reverse direction of the cooling device (16, 17) case and then displaced in the direction of the remote end of said door (18, 19) from said hinge mechanism (21) when said door is fully opened. This provides that the door (18, 19) while first moving in the reverse direction of the cooling device (16, 17) case, jumps over the corner edge of a neighboring cabinet. The axis of rotation then moves left for a left-side opening door (18, 19). The same analogy applies to a right-side opening door as well.

The present invention provides a cooling device door hinge mechanism (21) ensuring that the device can be fully inserted into a cabinet’s inner space such that its door’s outer surface can lie flush with the cabinet front, said hinge mechanism (21) while at the same time offering proper usability of the door without any difficulty.

Claims

A cooling device (16, 17) comprising a hinge mechanism (21) for effecting opening and closing of a door (18, 19) of such cooling device (16, 17), said hinge mechanism (21) comprising a case support bracket (2) secured to cooling device (16, 17) case and a door support bracket (8) secured to cooling device door (18, 19), said case support bracket (2) being pivotally connected to a first pivot arm (3) by means of a case bracket’s second pin (11), said first pivot arm (3) being pivotally connected to a second pivot arm (5) and said second pivot arm (5) being pivotally connected to the door support bracket (8) by means of a door bracket’s second pin (10) characterized in that;

the first pivot arm (3) is pivotally connected to a third pivot arm (7) by means of a second pivot pin (6) and said third pivot arm (7) is pivotally connected to the door support bracket (8) by means of a door bracket’s first pin (9),

the second pivot arm (5) is pivotally connected to a fourth pivot arm (13) by means of a first pivot pin (4) and said fourth pivot arm (13) is pivotally connected to the case support bracket (2) by means of a case bracket’s first pin (1),

the first pivot arm (3) and the second pivot arm (5) are pivotally connected to each other by means of a positioning pin (12), said positioning pin (12) being located simultaneously between the case bracket’s second pin (11) and the second pivot pin (6) and between the door bracket's second pin (10) and the first pivot pin (4).
A cooling device (16, 17) as in Claim 1, characterized in that the case support bracket (2), the fourth pivot arm (13) and the first pivot arm (3) are shaped in the form of longitudinally extending U-shaped in cross-section bodies such that the fourth pivot arm (13) and the first pivot arm (3) are enclosable by a cavity formed by open side of U-profile body of said case support bracket (2).
A cooling device (16, 17) as in Claim 1, characterized in that the door support bracket (8), the second pivot arm (5) and the third pivot arm (7) are shaped in the form of longitudinally extending U-shaped in cross-section bodies such that the second pivot arm (5) and the third pivot arm (7) are enclosable by a cavity formed by open side of U-profile body of the door support bracket (8).
A cooling device (16, 17) as in Claim 1, characterized in that the second pivot arm (5) is introducible through an opening (20) of the first pivot arm (3) such that orientation of the second pivot arm (5) relative to the first pivot arm (3) is restricted by said opening (20) of the first pivot arm (3).
A cooling device (16, 17) as in Claim 3 and 4, characterized in that the open side of the U-profile bodies of the case support bracket (2), the fourth pivot arm (13) and the first pivot arm (3) face the open side of the U-profile bodies of the door support bracket (8), the second pivot arm (5) and the third pivot arm (7).
A cooling device (16, 17) as in Claim 1, 4 or 5, characterized in that a self-closing spring (14) is provided between the case support bracket (2) and the fourth pivot arm (13).
A cooling device (16, 17) as in any previous Claims, characterized in that rotation axis of the door (18, 19) during opening thereof is first displaced outwardly in the reverse direction of the cooling device (16, 17) case and then displaced in the direction of the remote end of said door (18, 19) from the hinge mechanism (21) when the door (18, 19) is fully opened.