Removable door hinge with arms shaped to determine a safety gap between them

Abstract

 A removable door hinge for domestic appliances such as furniture units, ovens or the like formed by a part (1) capable of being attached to the unit and a part (2) capable of being attached to the door, connected to one another by a fixed arm (3) carrying hinge pin (7) of moving part (2) and by a moving arm (8) hinged by pin (9) to the said door, to such fixed arm (3) there being secured a lever (14) provided with a crosspiece (16) capable of rotating toward fixed part (1), in which the upper side of fixed arm (3) and the lower side of moving arm (8) are shaped in such a way as to determine between them and with the inner side of moving part (2) of the hinge a gap (18) having dimensions greater than the thickness of one or two human fingers so as not to pose a risk to the user when the latter inserts one or more fingers into such gap during the operations of opening, closure or removal of the door.

Description

[0001] The object of this invention is a hinge specially designed to attach the closing door of ovens, electrical home appliances, kitchen units and the like, consisting of two parts one of which is integral with the unit and the other with the door, it being possible to remove the door together with the relevant part of the hinge from the unit and refit it thereto, there being established for the attachment hinge a particular position which makes possible such removal while maintaining conditions of safety capable of preventing accidents to the user.

[0002] Hinges of this kind are known in engineering and from an operational viewpoint they solve the problem by making possible both the removal of the door from the unit and the refitting thereof to the part integral with the unit, and therefore the restoration of the attachment upon securing the parts of the hinge in a particular setting.

[0003] Such known hinges are comprised of two parts, or arms, one of which is made integral with the fixed part in order to form the hinge for the door, the other being ride integral with the removable part so as to make it possible to stop the door in various positions, for example in the closed position backing onto the front part of the oven, in the fully open position for the removal and insertion of objects from/into the said oven, and in a possible third intermediate position.

[0004] As is also known, the two arms of the hinge should, in order to make possible other opening and closing movements, be shaped and spaced in such a way as to facilitate such movements without the likelihood of causing inconvenience to the oven user.

[0005] To such end there exist special official standards for the protection of the user, in particular the latter's fingers so as to ensure that, during removal, insertion and handling of the door, parts of the hand cannot be inserted in the empty spaces of the hinge when it is being operated.

[0006] There are thus known hinges the two arms of which, while being separate, are arranged in such a way as to prevent the formation of voids between one arm and the other, of dimensions such as to make possible the insertion of one or more fingers.

[0007] There is therefore posed the technical problem of providing a removable hinge capable of rendering impossible the occurrence of the aforesaid inconvenience.

[0008] The elimination of such inconvenience is obtained, according to the invention, by arranging for the two parts of the hinge to be always set apart from one another leaving a sufficiently wide gap so as not to pose a hazard in any of the positions of access, even if the user's fingers are accidentally inserted therein.

[0009] To this end, provision is made for the lower arm, intended to be secured to the part of the hinge attached to the unit, to have its fixed segment protruding from the unit in a manner bent downward to the hinging point of the oven door, while the moving arm is hinged to a point on the door and is shaped with its upper part in such a way as to be able to slide and close on a rotating roller located on the fixed part of the hinge. In the lower part of the moving am is provided a hook-shaped projection which, with the door in the open position, is located above the fixed arm in which is provided a rotating eyelet which may be inserted with its transverse part within the hooked part of the aforesaid moving arm, thereby preventing any movement thereof.

[0010] These and other features will become apparent from the following description, given with reference to the attached drawing in which details 1 and 2 indicate respectively the part of the hinge which is attached to the unit, becoming integral therewith, and the moving part of the hinge inserted in the sides of an oven or like door (not illustrated). The door may be set either in the position of closure of the oven or in the fully open position, in an approximately horizontal arrangement, or in an intermediate position capable of facilitating the discharge of fumes or heat from the oven so as to achieve slow cooling of anything which is placed therein.

[0011] To fixed part 1 is secured a fixed arm 3, bent in the form of an elbow, which is located in socket 4 inserted in front plate 5 of fixed part 1 and a notch with bent end 6a having the function of arresting the free end of arm 3.

[0012] To the other end of arm 3 is hinged, at 7, moving part 2 of the hinge.

[0013] A moving arm 8 is hinged at 9 to moving part 2 of the hinge and is curved in such a way as to make it possible to stop part 2, and therefore the door, either in the fully open position as shown in the figure, by the action of its end hook 10 against fixed roller 11, or in a partly open position by the action of its intermediate projection 12 against such roller 11.

[0014] Moving arm 8 is held constantly pressed against fixed roller 11 by a coil spring 2a housed within the box-shaped body of moving part 2 and maintained under load with the door either open or closed. Such spring is compressed between an appendage 13 of moving am 8 and a fixed stop 2b integral with part 2. By this means, moving arm 8 is maintained in contact with roller 11 even with the door closed, and this simultaneously brings about the downward movement of moving part 2 in such a way as to maintain in a stable position socket 4 of fixed arm 3 against plate 5 of fixed part 1.

[0015] To be able to remove moving arm 8 and fixed arm 3 (together with the door) from fixed part 1 of the hinge, it is necessary to release socket 4 of arm 3 from the fixed part and to lower moving arm 8 in order to disengage it from fixed roller 11.

[0016] To achieve such double disengagement, provision is made for the use of a lever 14, substantially of "U" shape and hinged at 15 to fixed arm 3.

[0017] Such lever is held straddling fixed arm 3 in the rest position as shown in the figure and has at its free end a crosspiece 16 capable of providing a means of attachment of the said lever to moving arm 8 when manually rotated anticlockwise.

[0018] The attachment of crosspiece 16 to moving arm 8 is achieved by means of a socket or projection 17 located in the lower part (toward fixed arm 3) of moving arm 8.

[0019] The length of lever 14 is such as to hold and lock moving arm 8 in the open door position and counter the action of the spring so that the fixed and moving arms remain rigidly linked to one another. With this relative locking obtained by means of lever 14 it is possible to remove the fixed and moving arms from fixed part 1 of the hinge together with the door.

[0020] At stated in the preamble, the position of the two arms, fixed arm 3 and moving arm 8, is such that when the hinge is in the open door position there is obtained a gap, marked 18, formed between edge 3a of fixed arm 3, edge 8a of moving arm 8 and edge 2c of moving part 2 of the hinge. Such gap 18 can, according to the invention, be of substantial dimensions so that it would be possible to insert a finger into such gap when lever 14 needs to be operated in order to disengage it from projection 17 and release the two arms, fixed arm 3 and moving arm 8, previously attached to one another, without injury to the user.

[0021] In fact, during the opening movement, edges 3a, 8a and 2c which form such gap 18 remain, despite the relative movement of the various components, sufficiently spaced apart because of the particular shape of such components as previously described, so as not to pose the risk of crushing any fingers inserted in the gap when opening the door.

[0022] It is intended that the method of implementation of the said components forming gap 18 shall be capable of being altered according to requirements, while maintaining gap 18 sufficiently wide when the door is in the open position, thus respecting the above-mentioned requirements to obviate any danger or harm to parts inserted in the said gap. Furthermore, the presence of lever 14 which is to be inserted into hook 17 of moving arm 8 ensures that the parts forming the said gap are held in their appointed positions both when the door is operated under normal conditions and when it is removed from the front of the oven for normal cleaning operations.

Claims

1. A removable door hinge for domestic appliances such as furniture units, ovens or the like formed by a part (1) capable of being attached to the unit and a part (2) capable of being attached to the door, connected to one another by a fixed arm (3) carrying hinge pin (7) of moving part (2) and by a moving arm (8) hinged by pin (9) to the said door, provided on the upper side with cavities cooperating with a fixed sliding roller (11), to such fixed arm (3) there being secured a lever (14) provided with a crosspiece (16) capable of rotating toward fixed part (1) so that crosspiece (16) will become located in space (17) of hook-shaped part (17a) of moving arm (8) and hold it in a fixed position against the action of a spring (2a) associated with such moving arm (8) and which tends to make it rotate away from fixed arm (3) toward such fixed sliding roller (11), characterized in that the upper side of fixed arm (3) and the lower side of moving arm (8) are shaped in such a way as to determine between them and with the inner side of moving part (2) of the hinge a gap (18) having dimensions greater than the thickness of one or two human fingers so as not to pose a risk to the user when the latter inserts one or more fingers into such gap during the operations of opening, closure or removal of the door.

2. A removable door hinge as in claim 1, characterized in that upper surface (3a) of arm (3) has an inclined part which is followed by a further part folded vertically downward capable of accommodating fixed pin (7), while moving am (8) has its lower side (8a) curved upward up to hook (17) so as to form overall a free space between such parts and the said inward-turned surface.

3. A removable door hinge as in claim 1, characterized in that hook (17, 17a) located in the lower part of moving arm (8) is formed with a wide upward curvature in order to determine, with the door in the fully open position, an inner space accessible to the aforesaid fingers.

4. A removable door hinge characterized in that hook (17) is turned toward moving part (2) of the hinge.

5. A hinge according to claim 1, characterized in that U-shaped lever (14) has a crosspiece (16) turned toward the moving part of the hinge and a pivot pin located in relation to the end opposite crosspiece (16) rotating anticlockwise in order to engage hook (17), and clockwise in order to disengage the same.

Drawing