In particular, the invention relates to a hinge for furniture including a first element to be fixed to the inside of a side wall of a piece of furniture, a second element to be fixed to a door and an intermediate ele- ment, hinged to the first element to enable the recipro- cal articulation of the first and second element, so as to allow the opening and closing of the door.

Hinges of this type have been known for some time, as they simplify the assembling and dismantling opera- tions of furniture doors and the necessary regulations for the correct assembly functioning.

A hinge of the above-mentioned type is described in Italian patent application Nr. BS91A0000089.

According to the disclosure of said patent applica- tion, a single pin hinge for furniture for fixing a door to a side wall of a piece of furniture, comprises an ele-

ment fixed on the door, with a portion inserted therein, and an element fixed on the wall of the furniture, equipped with a hinge, the element fixed on said wall having an orientable portion, articulated on the pin of the hinge and connected to the element fixed on the door, when the hinge has been assembled. The orientable portion has an intermediate element, suitable for being inserted into a housing present in the element fixed to the door; a release device is included for blocking the intermedi- ate element, which holds said element once it is inserted in the housing, by means of a rotation around its hinging point and pressure towards the bottom of the housing.

The hinge according to the above invention has the drawback of completely disinserting the part of the hinge fixed to the wall of the furniture from the element fixed to the door, during the dismantling of the door. This means that the operator must sustain the door in the cor- rect position until all the hinges have been released, to prevent the door from falling and to prevent the whole weight of the door from resting on the last hinge to be released.

A second drawback of the hinges described above and so far known, is the necessity of resorting to tools for the disassembling of the hinge.

The general objective of the present invention is to

solve the above drawbacks of the known art in a very sim- ple, economical and particularly functional way.

A further objective of the invention, in addition to providing a system capable of safely supporting the door during the assembly and dismantling operations, is to fa- cilitate said operations, above all when there is only one operator.

Also included in the objectives of the present in- vention is to provide a hinge which, thanks to the par- ticular draft configuration of its insertion elements, allows easy assembly and guarantees an accurate coupling when said elements are in a closed position.

In view of the above objectives, a hinge for furni- ture has been conceived, according to the present inven- tion, having the characteristics specified in the en- closed claims.

The structural and functional characteristics of the present invention together with its advantages with re- spect to the known art will appear clearer and more evi- dent from an examination of the following description, referring to the enclosed drawings, which illustrate a hinge for furniture achieved according to the innovative principles of the invention itself.

In the drawings: - fig. 1 represents a perspective view of a hinge for

furniture, according to the invention, with the door dis- mantled ; fig. 2 represents a plan view of the hinge of fig. 1 ; - fig. 3 represents a section along the line III-III of fig. 2; - fig. 4 represents a perspective view of the hinge of fig. 1, with the door assembled ; - fig. 5 is a plan view of the hinge of fig. 4; - fig. 6 is a section along the line VI-VI of fig. 5; - fig. 7 represents the section of a detail of the hinge of fig. 6; - fig. 8 represents a perspective view of the hinge of fig. 4 with the door unblocked.

- fig. 9 shows a perspective view of a hinge for furni- ture according to a variant of the embodiment of the in- vention with the door dismantled; - fig. 10 and 11 respectively show, in a longitudinal section, two operative positions of the variant of the embodiment of the hinge of fig. 9 with the door assem- bled.

With reference to the drawings, a hinge for furni- ture, object of the invention, conceived for fixing a door to the side wall of a piece of furniture, is indi- cated, as a whole, with 10 and, in the example illus- trated according to the present invention, includes a

first hinge element 20, fixed to a wall 11 of a piece of furniture and a second hinge element 40 fixed to a door 12 of the piece of furniture.

The first hinge element 20 is in the form of a shaped plate and has a first flat portion 21 for fixing it to the inside wall of the furniture by means of screws.

In this respect, a centering plate 22 fixed to said first portion 21 is inserted between the first flat por- tion 21 and the wall of the furniture.

A second portion 23 extends perpendicularly from the first portion 21, said second portion having the same profile as the side wall 11 beyond its edge adhering to the edge itself.

A fork 24 protruding from the edge of the furniture extends perpendicularly from the second portion 23, and is therefore parallel again to the surface of the wall 11 of the furniture.

At the end of the fork 24, an intermediate hinge element 60 is oscillatingly fixed with a hinge 25 to one of its two ends, forming an orientable articulated por- tion for the oscillating connection of the first hinge element 20 to the second hinge element 40 to allow the articulation of the door 12 with respect to the wall 11 of the piece of furniture.

The intermediate element 60 is substantially L- shaped and has a first portion 61 hinged to the fork 24 and a second portion 62 perpendicular to the first, on which an adapter 70 suitable, for being connected with the second hinge element 40, is inserted.

To allow its insertion on the second portion 62 of the intermediate element 60, the adapter 70 has a base 71, two side walls 72 and a back wall 73 which surround the second portion 62.

A through hole 63 situated on the second portion 62 allows the position of the adapter 70 to be fixed and regulated by the insertion of a screw inside a threaded bushing (not illustrated) situated on the base 71 of the adapter 70.

The insertion of the second portion 62 of the inter- mediate element 60 containing the adapter 70 inside the second hinge element 40 is achieved with a linear sliding "drawer-like"movement, thanks to longitudinal matching elements 76 externally positioned along the side walls 72 of the adapter 70 and whose sliding is guided within grooved guides 43 situated along the walls 42 and for which there is a housing 41 incorporated in the second hinge element 40.

In order to facilitate the assembly of the second portion 62 of the intermediate element 60 inside the

housing 41 and also guarantee a precise coupling once these elements are in a closed position, said second por- tion 62 and, correspondingly, said housing 41, are ta- pered, and broaden out starting, respectively, from the inserting end of said second portion 62 and from the bot- tom of said housing 41, so as to create a draft which fa- cilitates said insertion.

For the same reasons, the longitudinal matching ele- ments 76 are tapered and broaden out vertically starting from the ends 76'to be inserted inside the grooved guides 43 which correspondingly have enlarged mouths 43', are tapered and become narrow towards the end of housing 41.

Said ends 76'also have rounded edges to facilitate insertion inside the grooved guides 43.

The second hinge element 40 also comprises an an- choring plate 50 of the element to the door 12, having a substantially quadrangular shape, connected along one side to said housing 41 and equipped with holes 51 for the screwing of the door 12.

A blocking element is also assembled on the anchor- ing plate 50, on the opposite side with respect to that connected to the housing 41, consisting of a lid 52 at- tached by the hinge 48, so that it can be reversed from a closed position in contact with the anchoring plate 50,

to an open position obtained by a rotation around the hinge, varying from a few degrees to 90 degrees.

The lid 52 is equipped with a groove 53 for housing a tooth 77 protruding from the upper surface of the back wall 73 of the adapter 70.

The lid 52 also has a matching element 54, situated along the side of the groove 53, for the insertion of the tooth 77, when the lid 52 is closed, in order to block the adapter 70 with a release movement, and consequently connect the two hinge elements 20 and 40.

The matching element 54 also enables the adapter to be inserted inside the housing 41, even when the lid 52 is closed.

For this purpose, the tooth 77 has a sloping surface 77'which allows it to slide, during the drawer-like movement for the insertion of the adapter 70 inside the housing 41, along a corresponding sloping surface 54'po- sitioned on the matching element 54, so as to lift the lid 52, by rotation around the hinge 48, to an angle suitable for allowing the insertion of the tooth 77 in- side the groove 53 and for allowing the lid 52 to close with a click, once the tooth 77 has passed over the matching element 54.

A leaf spring 55, arranged in contact with the edge of the lid 52, below the hinge 48, is provided to guaran-

tee the return to the closed position of the lid 52.

The leaf spring, in combination with the particular section of the part of the lid 52 in contact therewith (Fig. 7), has two functions: 1. to bring the lid back to a closed position.

In this way, the assembly operation is greatly fa- cilitated and is limited to the insertion and push- ing of the door, without any direct manoeuvring on the hinge. A firm fastening is also guaranteed.

2. During the assembly phase, when the lid is rotated beyond a certain angle, the thrust of the spring produces a contrary effect, ensuring the opening of the lid and the release of the hinge.

A pair of teeth 56 protruding below said lid 52, at the sides of the tooth 77, suitable for being inserted inside the corresponding opening 58, situated in the an- choring plate 50, are provided to make the closing of the lid 52 structurally more solid.

It is evident how the assembly and dismantling of the door can be effected without any particular diffi- culty, safely, and without operating under precarious conditions, as once the intermediate element had been un- blocked by lifting the lid 52, it is still supported in- side the housing 41.

For particular safety requirements, such as those

requested by the regulations of certain countries, the hinge must be provided with additional means against ac- cidental release, as may occur with the intervention of children.

The intermediate element 60, as shown in figures 9 to 11, is equipped with a stop 80, which slides and is inserted into the back wall 73 of the adapter 70 and is elastically held in position.

Said stop 80 is"T"-shaped, being equipped with an upper element 80', substantially enlarged and horizontal, and with a lower vertical shank 80''.

On the upper element 80', it is possible both to move the stop 80 to the blocking position and also to re- lease it in the unblocked position.

In the former case, the stop 80 will have the shank 80"inserted in an opening 83 situated in a surfacing 82 situated on the bottom of the housing 41, whereas, in the latter case, said shank 80"will be positioned outside the opening 83.

For safety reasons, a certain pressure must be ap- plied on the upper element 80'of the stop to obtain said unblocking, using a tool such as a screwdriver, in order to prevent unblocking on the part of children.

A blunting 84 is present on the back wall 73 corre- sponding to the surfacing 82 on the bottom of the housing

41, and having the same shape.

From the above description with reference to the figures, it can be seen how a furniture hinge, according to the invention, is particularly useful and advanta- geous. The objective mentioned in the introduction of the description is thus achieved.

The hinge according to the invention can obviously have different shapes from those shown in the drawings which are purely illustrative and non-limiting examples.

The scope of the invention is consequently delimited by the enclosed claims.