1. Applicable Field of Industry
This invention relates to a releasable double-hinge device to be suitably used for the lid of an automobile console box or of an electric rice boiler or the door of a cabinet in order for the lid or the door to be capable of being opened from either of opposite ends and totally removed.
2. Prior Art
As shown in FIG. 7 of the accompanying drawings, an automobile is normally provided at a side of the driver's seat a with a console box b for storing small items having a lid c which is preferably hinged not only at the front end d but also at the rear end e for user's convenience.
FIGS. 8(A) and 8(B) show that the lid of the console box is hinged at both the front and rear ends and therefore can be swung open in the direction of not only arrow f but also arrow g. FIG. 8(C) shows that the lid C can be totally removed from the console box whenever necessary FIGS. 9(A) and 9(B) show known releasable double-hinge devices to be used for such a console box.
With a known releasable double-hinge device as illustrated in FIG. 9(A) and disclosed in Japanese Patent Tokkai Shou No. 60-242275, the box main provided at a side as well as at the opposite side with a pair of oppositely arranged lock holes i, into which a pair of lock pins k arranged on the corresponding side of the lid j can be respectively introduced firstly by depressing them by means of a hand-operated implement (not shown) against the resilient force of a built-in spring and thereafter by releasing them into the respective holes. Obviously, such operation is cumbersome as it requires manipulation of an implement particularly when the lid j is removed because both hands should be used for the operation.
With another known releasable double-hinge device as illustrated in FIG. 9(B) and disclosed in Japanese Patent Jitsukai Shou No. 60-90042, the box main body 1 is provided at each of a pair of opposing sides with a pair of oppositely arranged pins m and n, which are received by respective C-shaped deformable bearings p or q arranged on the corresponding edges of the lid o. The lid o equipped with such a double-hinge device would not rotate smoothly when the engagement between the pin and the bearing is loose, whereas it should be removed and put back in position with considerable effort if a smoothly rotatable engagement is to be achieved between the pin and the bearing.
A similar device disclosed in Japanese Patent Jitsukai Hei No. 1-86674 involves a lever to be operated for installing a lid. While a door lock device designed for a refrigerator and disclosed in Japanese Patent Tokkai Shou No. 59-52183 and a door fitting in Japanese Patent Tokkai Shou No. 58-86277 may fall in the same category of device in question, they have a rather complicated configuration involving latches, springs and knobs.
In view of the problems and disadvantages of the known devices, it is therefore a first object of the first aspect of the present invention to provide a releasable double-hinge device for an automobile console box constituted by a box main body having at the top an opening and a box lid for removably covering the opening of the box main body, said device comprising a pair of shafts arranged along a pair of opposite edges of the box main body and a pair of engagement/release mechanisms arranged along the corresponding respective edges of the lid, each of said engagement/release mechanisms further comprising a pivotally arranged primary arm, a pivotally arranged secondary arm and a return spring, said primary and secondary arms having a scissor like arrangement, the lid being held to its closed position as the shaft is embraced by the primary and secondary arms of each engagement/release mechanism under the effect of the resilient force of the return spring.
A second object of the first aspect of the invention is to make the lid capable of being easily and smoothly opened and rotated around one of the shafts embraced by the corresponding engagement/release mechanism by simply moving upward the primary arm of the other engagement/release mechanisms to release the corresponding shaft.
A third object of the first aspect of the invention is to make the lid capable of being easily and smoothly closed and held to a locked condition by simply pushing dow the lid to make the primary and secondary arms to open and then embrace the corresponding shaft under a locked condition and also to make the lid capable of being totally removed from the box main body by simply moving up the two primary arms simultaneously.
The object of the second aspect of the invention is to provide a double-hinge device similar to the one described above relative to the first aspect of the invention and also having a pair of additional coil springs arranged around the respective secondary arms in order to hold the arms constantly under a locked condition so that the lid may be securely held to its closed position and would not be unintentionally opened by any pitching or rolling movement.