Low profile adjustable soft close hinge apparatus
AssigneeHardware Resources, Inc.
InventorsRachel Cooper, Dennis McGregor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed is a low profile, adjustable, soft close hinge comprised of a hinge cup pivotally connected to a hinge body via a hinge arm and a hinge link in a four-bar linkage arrangement. A spring biases the hinge to a closed position. The hinge body is adjustably connected to an inner frame with an overlay adjustment screw and depth adjustment cam. The inner frame releasably connects the hinge body to a mounting plate. A stop bracket is adjustably and slidably connected to the hinge body by a helical cam. The adjustable position of the stop bracket relative to the hinge body determines the point at which the damping functionality of a damper begins during a hinge closing movement. A linkage sub-assembly pivotally connects the damper to the hinge link.
Claims19
An adjustable soft close hinge comprising:
- a hinge cup connected to a hinge body by a hinge arm and a hinge link;
- a damper, having a damping function, comprising a first end pivotally connected to the hinge link;
- a stop bracket adjustably connected to the hinge body and receiving a second end of the damper;
- a helical cam, seated in the hinge body, comprising a groove;
- a protrusion extending from the stop bracket and engaging the groove;
- and,
- wherein upon rotation of the helical cam, the protrusion moves through the groove to adjust a longitudinal position of the stop bracket relative to the hinge body such that a start point of the damping function is adjusted.
A low profile, soft close hinge comprising:
- a hinge body pivotally connected to a hinge cup by a hinge arm and biased by a spring;
- the hinge body pivotally connected to the hinge cup by a hinge link;
- an inner frame adjustably connected to the hinge body;
- a stop bracket adjustably connected to the hinge body by a helical cam;
- a groove in the helical cam;
- a protrusion extending from the stop bracket and engaging the groove;
- a damper, having a damping function, slidable within the stop bracket;
- the damper pivotally connected to the hinge link and slidably connected to the hinge body;
- and,
- wherein upon rotation of the helical cam, the protrusion moves through the groove to adjust a longitudinal position of the stop bracket relative to the lunge body such that a start poll of the damping function is adjusted.
A method of adjusting the damping function of a soft close hinge comprising:
- providing a hinge body pivotally connected to a hinge cup by a hinge arm and a hinge link and biased by a spring;
- providing a stop bracket slidable relative to the hinge body;
- providing a damper having a damping function slidable within the stop bracket and pivotably connected to the hinge link;
- providing a helical cam rotatable within the hinge body and slidably connected to the stop bracket;
- providing a groove in the helical cam and a protrusion extending from the stop bracket engaging the groove;
- rotating the helical cam;
- and
- wherein upon rotation of the helical cam, the protrusion moves through the groove to adjust a longitudinal position of the stop bracket relative to the hinge body such that a start point of the damping function is adjusted.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.