The object of the present invention is a hinge for furniture according to the preamble of the main claim.

Hinges for furniture equipped with a damping element capable of slowing-down the closing of the door or wing of a piece of furniture onto the structure of the latter are known for long time. In an embodiment, such hinges comprise a damping element which is an integral part of the hinge: for instance, it is longitudinally fixed to a second portion of the hinge integral with the piece of furniture and is capable of cooperating, when the door or wing is closed, with a first portion of the hinge connected to the piece of furniture. In this way its closing is slowed-down or dampened, thus preventing said door or wing from crashing onto the above mentioned structure. In another solution, the damping element is fixed to a part of the hinge constrained to the structure of the piece of furniture (or "base") and acts directly onto the articulated member whenever the door or wing is being closed. A further embodiment also comprises a damping element integral with the base, but this element is controlled by lever mechanisms associated with such base which the articulated member or connecting rod that connects such base (or first portion of hinge) to the second portion of hinge integral with the door or window, cooperates with.

The latter type of hinge for furniture comprises EP 2060719 (where the preamble of the main claim can be read) which describes a hinge having a damping element consisting of a cylindrical body whose longitudinal axis is orthogonal to an axis of the base that such element is associated with. The latter cooperates with lever mechanisms associated with said base and operated by the articulated member that connects the base to the second portion of the hinge .

A similar solution is described in GB 2469846 and WO 2007/038815.

However, the solutions known so far are difficult to implement and expensive because, for instance, they are realized right from the production phase with the damping element associated with the hinge. Also, they have not negligible sizes or overall dimensions because of the damping element being positioned onto the second portion of the hinge, which also negatively affects the appearance of the piece of furniture.

Moreover, the solutions in which the damping element is controlled by lever mechanisms cooperating with a connecting rod require that the latter, as well as those component parts which connect it to the first and second portions of the hinge, be mechanically stiffened.

A purpose of the present invention is to offer a damped hinge, i.e. a hinge provided with a damping element that overcomes the drawbacks of the solutions known so far.

Specifically, a purpose of this invention is to offer a hinge of the mentioned type that is easy to implement and assemble and can be provided with the damping element only if so desired and necessary. Another purpose is to offer a hinge of the type mentioned above that can be transformed in any moment into a hinge not provided with a damping element.

A further purpose is to offer a hinge of the type mentioned above that has reasonable costs and comprises components applicable to not damped hinges in order to make them such.

These purposes and others that will be evident to those versed in the art are accomplished by a hinge according to the attached claims.

For a better understanding of the present invention the following drawings are attached for purely explanatory purposes, without limiting the scope of the invention, in which :

fig. 1 shows a partial, perspective view of a damped hinge according to the present invention, some component parts being omitted for the sake of clearness;

fig. 2 shows a partially exploded, perspective view of the hinge according to fig. 1 ;

fig. 3 shows a top view of a part of the hinge according to fig. 1, a covering portion thereof being omitted, in a first working position of its own;

fig. 4 shows a view similar to that of fig. 3, the hinge being set to a second working position;

fig. 5 shows a view similar to that of fig. 3, the hinge being set to a further working position;

fig. 6 shows a partial, perspective view of the hinge according to figure 1 in another working position;

fig. 7 shows a partial top view of the hinge according to fig. 1 in a further working position;

fig. 8 shows a cross-section view according to line 8-8 in fig. 1, the hinge being closed;

fig. 9 shows a plan view of the section according to figure 8; and

fig. 10 shows an exploded view of that part of the hinge which is shown in fig. 3.

With reference to the mentioned figures, a damped hinge is generically identified by numeral reference 1 and is capable of connecting a door or wing of a piece of furniture to a structure of the latter (neither of them shown in the figure), while allowing it to move. Such hinge comprises a first portion (or base) 2 suitable for being associated with the structure of the piece of furniture, and a second portion 3, having an elongated shape, connected to said first portion via an articulated member or connecting rod 4. The second portion 3 is suitable for being connected to the door or wing by using methods that are intrinsically known.

It goes without saying that the first portion 2 can be associated with the latter and the second portion with said structure of the piece of furniture. The articulated member or connecting rod 4 comprises one or several lever arms and/or four-point linkage articulations that are intrinsically known and is not further described here.

The articulated member or connecting rod 4 is connected to the second portion 3 via a plurality of constraining elements or rivets. Specifically, rivets 5 constrain such articulated member or connecting rod 4 to a terminal part 6 of the second portion 3 at its opposed sides 6A.

The hinge 1 comprises a damping element or damper 7 consisting, for instance, of a linear oil, gas, spring, or air damper (featuring a substantially cylindrical shape), its longitudinal axis W being arranged orthogonally to the longitudinal axis K of the second portion 3. Such damping element indirectly cooperates with said portion 3 whenever the hinge 1 closes (or opens), i.e. whenever the door or wing is closed (or opened) on the structure of the piece of furniture.

More specifically, the damping element 7 is associated with a body of the damper 10 suitable for being removably coupled, for instance, with the first portion 2 of the hinge 1, by interference or toggle coupling, and/or suitable for being superimposed to the latter to make it possible a cooperation between the damping element 7 and the second portion 3. The body of the damper 10 comprises a partially hollow base 11, suitable for being enclosed by a coverplate 12. Preferably is the base 11 made of a plastic material, whereas the coverplate is made of metal, the latter being coupled with the portion 11 in a known way whatsoever (for instance, by snap-fit, by screws, by mechanical deformation or other methods, as described later) . Such base 11 and the coverplate 12 lie orthogonally with respect to the axis K of the second portion 3 of the hinge and comprise a side recess each (11A and 12A respectively) suitable for delimiting a passage 16 in which the connecting rod 4 moves whenever the hinge passes from a closed position to an open one. In the example illustrated in the figures, the portion of hinge 2 consists of a box-shaped body 20 having a base face 21 from the perimeter of which a perimetric edge 22 of the portion 2 rises. To a part 22A of said edge the connecting rod 4 is hinged, in an intrinsically known way, and, the hinge being closed, is housed within a hollow 24 of the base that is delimited by said perimetric edge 22, by the base 21 and is open above.

The base 11 is mainly coupled with the perimetric edge 22 of the first portion 2 of the hinge 1 by snap.

In cavities or hollows of the body of the damper 10 having a different shape (said hollows being collectively indicated in figure 10 by the numeral reference 15) there are interconnection elements capable of allowing a functional coupling between the second portion 3 and the damping element 7. Note that by "functional coupling" we mean an indirect coupling between said portion 3 and said damping element 7 obtained via said interconnection elements. The latter make it possible to transfer when so desired (as it will be described later), the movement of the second portion 3 to the damping element 7, no direct contact existing between them.

More specifically, according to the embodiment illustrated in the figures, the hollow 15 comprises, in positions diametrically opposed to each other, a number of seats 36 suitable for slidingly containing a number of pushers 38 featuring a substantially L-shaped configuration, hence having two parts 38A and 38B angled with respect to each other, a first part 38A protruding from its respective seat 36 within the passage 16 and being slant toward the base 21 of the first portion or box 2 of the hinge 1; the second part 38B lays in its corresponding seat 36 and can translationally move therein.

The first part 38A has an inclined-plane surface 40 (or supports a rib or projection so configured) , either flat or curved (as shown in the figures), suitable for cooperating with a corresponding rivet 5 in the second portion 3 of the hinge (or, better, with the opposed heads 5A of said rivet) . Whenever the hinge closes, said rivet 5 acts onto the parts 38A of the pushers 38 located (opposed, at the sides of the second portion 3) in the seats 36. This action makes the second part 38B of its corresponding pusher 38 slide in each one of the seats.

Every pusher comprises, in said second part 38B, a side hollow or cavity 43 cooperating with a first arm 44 radially projecting from a body 45 hinged on a pin 46 integral with the base portion 11 of the body of the damper 10. This pin 46 is hollow in 47 and is suitable for housing a shaft (not shown in the figures) integral with the coverplate 12 of said body 10, the shaft being then riveted at its terminal end so as to secure, according to the embodiment shown in the figures, said coverplate 12 to said base portion 11.

The body 45 (located within its respective seat 100 in the body 10) comprises, besides the (first) arm 44, a second arm 50, also radially projecting from said body. This second arm is capable of cooperating with the damping element 7 so as to compress it whenever the hinge is closed and to have such closing (and consequently that of the wing too) damped.

Note that every pusher 38 cooperates with a corresponding body 45 (let's call it actuator body of the damping element 7) . A first actuator body acts onto a shank 52 of the damping element 7 protruding from a cylinder 53 of the latter, which the second actuator body 45 cooperates with. Theses co-operations take place through the second arms 50 of said bodies.

The damping element is located in a seat 56 inside the body of the damper 10 which, as already said, has to lay orthogonally to the axis K of the second portion 3 (in order to have the axis W of the damping element 7 and said axis K perpendicular to each other) .

Therefore, when closing the hinge 1, the heads 5A of the rivet 5 of the second portion 3 indirectly act (via the pushers 38 and the actuator bodies 45) onto the damping element 7 which damps the movement of the hinge. Note that such damping effect exists in any case in both closing and opening phases of the hinge (hence of the wing) because the heads 5A of the rivet 5 are permanently and in any case in contact with the pushers 38 onto which, via the actuator bodies 41, the damping element 7 acts.

Since the type of the hinge 1 in intrinsically known, it is possible to associate the body of the damper 10 therewith in order to render it a damped hinge or not to associate such body 10 therewith, so as to give an unconstrained and free (not damped) operation to the hinge.

This results in a substantial flexibility in the use of the invention (the body of the damper 10 being removably constrained and constrainable to the hinge 1), in reduced costs for furniture manufacturers, in a more flexible use of damping in closing door and wings of furniture, and in reduced stocks and inventory costs.

Note that, according to this invention, the operation of the damping element 7 when the body 10 is associated with the hinge 1 can be partially or totally disabled.

For this purpose, in the body 10 there are a number of cursors 60 (operating as means for disabling such operation) , suitable for cooperating with a corresponding actuator body 45 to disable or enable its action onto the damping element 7. Every cursor is slidingly associated with a seat 62 (in which it moves guided by a rib 62A) and comprises an end 63 suitable for cooperating with its corresponding actuator body 45 to lock its rotation around its corresponding pin 46. Specifically, the cursor 60 being in movement in its corresponding seat 62, its end 63 cooperates with a third arm 65 of the body 45 to prevent said rotation (see figure 5) . The cursor is driven into movement by acting onto a projection 66 projecting into a slot 68 realized in the coverplate 12 of the body of the damper 10.

Figures 3 and 5 show that the ends 63 of either or both cursors can be brought to such a position as to lock the rotation of the third arm 65 of its corresponding actuator body 45. This action onto every cursor shall be performed the door being open so that its subsequent closing operates the damping element 7 which, however, remains subsequently compressed because the actuator bodies 45 can not rotate any longer owing to the position of the cursors 60 which lock the movement.

This way, the door or wing opens without finding any resistance (and closes without undergoing any damping effect ) .

Thanks to this invention, a damped hinge is obtained, easy to implement (the body 10 is pre-assembled before being coupled with the first portion 2 of the hinge), in which the damping function can be enabled or disabled or partially disabled. Therefore, the hinge according to this invention offers a substantial flexibility of use and implementation, being it possible to associate the body 10 with a first portion of hinge or to directly place it thereon and secure it to the piece of furniture or to the wing .

All that without modifying the structure of the hinge: at the most, the heads 5A of the rivet 5 shall have such a thickening as to enable them to cooperate with the pushers 38. Also, since the latter act onto said heads 5A, hence onto the sides of the second portion 3 of hinge, the stresses generated by the damping element 7 are transferred to said portion 3, not to the connecting rod 4, as it occurs in known solutions of the state of the art, whose mechanical strength is certainly lower than that of said portion .