Hinge Assembly

A hinge assembly in which a first of two articles is turnably connected with a lower end part of a second of the two articles about a generally horizontal rotation axis such that said second article can turn normally and reversely downward from an upright position where said second article is erected upward and downward, said hinge assembly comprising first and second hinge members fixed to said first and second articles, respectively, said first hinge member being formed with a support hole whose axis is aligned with the rotation axis and said second hinge member being formed with a shaft part which can turnably be inserted into said support hole, said shaft part being press-fitted into said support hole so that frictional resistance is generated between an outer peripheral surface of said shaft part and an inner peripheral surface of said support hole, biasing means being disposed between said first and second hinge members, said biasing means being adapted to bias said second article, which has been turned downward from the upright position, towards the upright position side through a hinge member fixed to said second article, a following relation being established among various turning forces acting on the second article,

• |Fs−Fg|<Ff
• where Fg represents a force caused by a dead weight of said second article, Fs represents a force caused by a biasing force from said biasing means, and Ff represents a turning force corresponding to the frictional resistance, respectively;
• a receiving hole being formed in said shaft part such that said receiving hole extends from a front end face of said shaft part towards the inside, and said biasing means being received in said receiving hole;
• said biasing means being a coiled spring;
• and
• said first hinge member being formed with first and second engagement portions, and said second hinge member being formed with third and fourth engagement portions so that when said second article is turned in one direction from the upright position, said first and fourth engagement portions are engaged, respectively, with first and second end parts of said coiled spring to twist said coiled spring in accordance with turning motion of said second article and said second and third engagement portions are brought away, respectively, from said second and first end parts of said coiled spring, and when said second article is turned in the other direction from the upright position, said first and fourth engagement portions are brought away, respectively, from said first and second end parts of said coiled spring and said second and third engagement portions are engaged, respectively, with said second and first end parts of said coiled spring to twist said coiled spring in accordance with turning motion of said second article.

A hinge assembly comprising a pair of hinge members turnably connected together for turning in normal and reverse directions from a neutral position and a coiled spring for biasing said pair of hinge members, which have been turned in normal and reverse directions from the neutral position, towards the neutral position, a first hinge member of said pair of hinge members being formed with first and second engagement portions and a second hinge member being formed with third and fourth engagement portions so that when said pair of hinge members are turned in one direction from the neutral position, said first and fourth engagement portions are engaged, respectively, with first and second end parts of said coiled spring to twist said coiled spring in accordance with turning motion of said pair of hinge members and said second and third engagement portions are brought away, respectively, from said second and first end parts of said coiled spring, and when said pair of hinge members are turned in the other direction from the neutral position, said first and fourth engagement portions are brought away, respectively, from said first and second end parts of said coiled spring and said second and third engagement portions are engaged, respectively, with said second and first end parts of said coiled spring to twist said coiled spring in accordance with turning motion of said pair of hinge members.