Patents Assigned to Grass GmbH
  • Publication number: 20090096337
    Abstract: The invention relates to a piece of furniture and to a device for influencing the movement of furniture parts which can be moved with respect to one another, having a guide unit for guidance of a first furniture part on a second furniture part, and having a drive unit by means of which the first furniture part can be moved, in a driven manner, relative to the second furniture part, with the guide unit having a fixed rail, which is associated with the second furniture part, and a moving rail, which is associated with the first furniture part. A pulling-pushing element is provided in order to apply a drive effect from the drive unit to the first furniture part, guided on the fixed rail via guide means.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 19, 2008
    Publication date: April 16, 2009
    Applicants: Grass GmbH, Kuster Automotive Door Systems GmbH
    Inventors: Peter Langguth, Thomas Nussbaumer, Martin Bluecher
  • Publication number: 20090099706
    Abstract: The invention relates to a device for controlling the movement of furniture parts which can be moved with respect to one another, having a drive unit by means of which a first furniture part can be moved in a driven manner relative to a second furniture part via a monitoring unit for monitoring the movement of the first furniture part. According to the invention, the monitoring unit is designed to record a movement pattern of the first furniture part if the moving first furniture part collides with an object, and to use this movement pattern as the basis for further monitoring of the movement of the first furniture part. A piece of furniture with a device according to the invention is also disclosed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 3, 2008
    Publication date: April 16, 2009
    Applicants: Grass GmbH, Kuster Automotive Door Systems GmbH
    Inventors: Holger Wenzel, Steffen Medebach, Frank Oberpichler
  • Publication number: 20090091223
    Abstract: A device for controlling the movement of furniture parts which can be moved with respect to one another, using a drive unit by means of which a first furniture part can be moved in a driven manner relative to a second furniture part via a monitoring unit for monitoring the movement of the first furniture part, in which case the monitoring unit is designed such that, after starting up, the monitoring unit operates in accordance with a monitoring program for monitoring the movement of the first furniture part, with selection means being provided by means of which an alternative selection program can be activated, instead of the monitoring program, in order to monitor the movement of the first furniture part. The invention also relates to a piece of furniture including the device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 3, 2008
    Publication date: April 9, 2009
    Applicants: Grass GmbH, Kuster Automotive Door Systems GmbH
    Inventors: Harald Hagen, Thomas Nussbaumer, Holger Wenzel, Carmelo Gutierrez, Steffen Medebach, Jurgen Zipp
  • Publication number: 20090083940
    Abstract: A device is proposed for moving a first furniture part relative to a second furniture part, using a drive unit, by means of which the first furniture part, can be moved in a driven manner relative to the second furniture part via a monitoring unit for monitoring the movement of the first furniture part. According to the invention, the monitoring unit is designed to render the automatic closing inoperative for positioning the first furniture part, in an open position, from which the first furniture part, returns automatically to a closed position after a predetermined closing time interval.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 1, 2008
    Publication date: April 2, 2009
    Applicants: Grass GmbH, Kuster Automotive Door Systems GmbH
    Inventors: Markus Albrecht, Joerg Janzen, Holger Wenzel
  • Publication number: 20090079309
    Abstract: A method for adjusting a closing gap in a piece of furniture, which comprises a device for moving a movable furniture part relative to a stationary furniture part by means of a drive unit, by means of which the furniture part can be driven to move relative to the stationary furniture part via a monitoring unit for monitoring the movement of the movable furniture part, with the closing gap being formed between a front part of the movable furniture part and the stationary furniture part when the movable furniture part is in a closed position with respect to the stationary furniture part. According to the invention, the closing gap is adjusted in an activated, electronically assisted, adjusting mode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 2, 2008
    Publication date: March 26, 2009
    Applicants: Grass GmbH, Kuster Automotive Door Systems GmbH
    Inventors: Ronald Liebsch, Holger Wenzel
  • Patent number: 7244006
    Abstract: The invention concerns a panel adjustment device for a drawer (2) that is equipped with a front panel (3), which is located in a cabinet (1) by means of a rail system (4) with at least one each of a drawer rail (10), a cabinet rail (18) and, optionally a drawer-décor profile (6) that is guided on both sides lengthwise; whereby, the panel adjustment device is suitable for changing the enclosed inclination angle (9) between the vertical level of the front fore side (1a) of the cabinet (1) and the vertical level of the front panel (3) of the drawer (2), and the panel adjustment device works directly or indirectly between the drawer (2) and the drawer rail (10) by a lifting and lowering device (15, 12; 23) that has a lifting and lowering element (11) so that a swiveling of the drawer (2) (and with it, the panel [3]) is possible around a swiveling axis (24); whereby, the swiveling axis (24) runs between the front panel (3) and the lifting and lower element (11), and the distance between the swiveling axis (24) and
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2003
    Date of Patent: July 17, 2007
    Assignee: Grass GmbH
    Inventors: Erich Schwaerzler, Markus Albrecht, Wolfgang Mueller
  • Patent number: 7185959
    Abstract: The invention concerns a drawer slide with compensation of synchronous running errors of slide rails (equalize the errors of the relative positions of the slide rails to each other), having on each of the two side of the drawer a rail system, that has a cabinet rail fastened directly or indirectly by a cabinet angle on a cabinet body and is held directly or indirectly linearly movable by a linear bearing by a center rail on a drawer rail, which is connected directly or indirectly by a décor with the drawer; whereby a compensation mechanism is provided that has a compensation lever, that is connected by a pivot bearing directly or indirectly by a cabinet angle or linear bearing or décor with one of the rails, and during its turning at the end of each drawer closing cycle, reaches a positive/form-fitting position with stops, that directly or indirectly are connected by a cabinet angle or linear bearing or décor with the remaining rails and, thus, ensures each drawer closing is automatic, guided and has equalize
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2003
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2007
    Assignee: Grass GmbH
    Inventors: Wolfgang Mueller, Harald Gehrer, Klaus Schneider
  • Patent number: 7065833
    Abstract: The invention concerns a cabinet hinge with an automatic opening device, especially for cabinet doors with a hinge cup, which is connected with a hinge to a hinge arm, which is, being adjustable and lockable, connected to a base plate, which is connected to a cabinet body; whereby, the hinge includes an inner and outer joint lever, which are fastened to the hinge cup, as well as the hinge arm, with each one pivoting joint pin, which causes a kind of parallelogram-joint to be formed between the hinge cup and the hinge arm, by which means the cabinet door relative to the cabinet body can be swung out; whereby, at least one elastic resilient spring element directly affects at least one joint pin of outer and/or inner joint lever and causes a torque for opening of the cabinet door from the closed position through a defined opening-angle area, and; whereby, the resilient spring element is fastened to the hinge cup, whereby, at least one resilient spring element affects through a sliding wedge directly or indirectl
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2004
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2006
    Assignee: Grass GmbH
    Inventor: Peter Kropf
  • Patent number: 6979065
    Abstract: A coupling device for a damping element integrated in a pull-out slide set whereby both a damping device (7) and a coupling device (6) are located between the firmly fixed cabinet rail (2) and the linear-movable drawer rail (5) so that the damping device (7) has at least one cylinder (8) and in it, at least one damped linear-movable piston rod (9) and the damping device (7) is connected by one of its clamping components (8 or 9) with one of the rails (2 or 5) and by its other respective damping part (9 or 8) via the coupling device (6) with the other respective rail (5 or 2), can be coupled at times during the closing and opening of the drawer. The advantage is that less manual force is needed for pulling the movable cabinet component out. Also, it can be more easily adjusted and ensures a longer life span.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2003
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2005
    Assignee: Grass GmbH
    Inventor: Remo Egger
  • Patent number: 6957807
    Abstract: The invention concerns a damping device for damping the kinetic energy of movable cabinet components, which has a first damping element with a first cylinder that has a first piston, which slides lengthwise in it, and at least one more (second) damping element with a second cylinder that has a second piston, which slides lengthwise in it. Both damping elements are located one behind the other in a serial arrangement and form an integral system. The invention is characterized by the fact that each of the two damping elements are each designed as pneumatic (air) dampers, and a compression chamber and an expansion chamber respectively contain variable volumes; whereby, the damping effects of the damping elements are affected by the guide canals, which control the air distribution and air flow within and between the compression chambers and/or expansion chambers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2005
    Assignee: Grass GmbH
    Inventors: Martin Zimmer, Rainer Thallner, Juergen Ahlfeld, Wolfgang Mueller
  • Patent number: 6925682
    Abstract: The invention concerns a cabinet hinge with an adjusting device that is directly or indirectly on the cabinet side, a single or multi-part mounting plate stored hinge arm, that is connected jointed with a door-side stop part, so that the adjusting device has a side adjusting screw that, by means of which the hinge arm's position is adjustable parallel to the mounting plate to the depth adjustment of the door, and has a depth adjusting screw by which the hinge arm's position is adjustable parallel to the mounting plate to the door's depth adjustment, wo that the depth adjustment screw is held directly or indirectly swiveling and non-shifting on the hinge arm, and has a control component that has at least one eccentric disk that has at least one partially cone-type adjusting surface that is supported on contact surfaces of the mounting plate and by turning the side adjusting screw, a side adjustment and, at the same time, a shifting of the hinge arm activates somewhat in the direction of its longitudinal axis r
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2003
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2005
    Assignee: Grass GmbH
    Inventors: Wolfgang Mueller, Markus Albrecht
  • Patent number: 6910749
    Abstract: A device for opening and closing a movable furniture part, in particular a drawer, door or shutter includes two trigger and drive units which each have a trigger member controllable by the action of an external force and a drive member coupled to the trigger member for moving the furniture part and one or more locking members for locking the furniture part in the closed position and release of the furniture part as a function of the action of an external force on one or more trigger members. The two trigger and drive units are coupled to one another synchronously and substantially without play by a path- and force-transmitting means.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2002
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2005
    Assignee: Grass GmbH
    Inventor: Wolfgang Mueller
  • Patent number: 6859979
    Abstract: The invention concerns a cabinet fitting, in particular a hinge, with integrated braking and damping device, including a fastenable hinge arm on a cabinet component and a fastenable hinge cup on another movable cabinet component that is connected by at least one articulated lever with the hinge arm. The invention is characterized by the driver plate, which can slide, is held in the hinge cup and can be operated directly or indirectly by the articulated lever and has held in the hinge cup at least one pivoting or swiveling brake plate moves turning, so that the brake plate has at least one brake surface that glides on at least one corresponding, fixed brake surface or, on one opposite the first brake surface, a second movable brake surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2003
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2005
    Assignee: Grass GmbH
    Inventors: Remo Egger, Wolfgang Mueller
  • Patent number: 6757939
    Abstract: The invention concerns a cabinet hinge with an adjusting device that is directly or indirectly on the cabinet side, single or multi-part mounting plate stored hinge arm, that is connected jointed with a door-side stop part, so that the adjusting device has a side adjusting screw by means of which the hinge arm's position perpendicular to the mounting plate can be changed to the door's side adjustment. The side adjusting device has a side adjusting screw with at least one eccentric- or cam disks so that by turning the side adjusting screw, a side adjustment and, at the same time, a parallel shifting of the hinge arm relative to the mounting plate occurs, resulting in a correction of the door's depth adjustment for an amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2003
    Date of Patent: July 6, 2004
    Assignee: Grass GmbH
    Inventors: Wolfgang Mueller, Markus Albrecht, Remo Egger, Holger Wenzel, Johannes Haemmerle, Juergen Amann
  • Patent number: 6715180
    Abstract: The invention concerns a cabinet hinge with a depth adjusting device for hinge arm held directly or indirectly on a cabinet-side, single- or multi-part mounting plate. A revolvable depth adjusting screw held in the mounting plate is provided in order to adjust the depth. A driver plate is connected with the hinge arm; whereby, the depth adjusting screw has adjusting elements that work together with corresponding adjusting surfaces on the driver plate in such a way that by turning the depth adjusting screw, the driver plate and the hinge arm are moved in relation to the mounting plate. The invention offers the advantage that with only turn, the depth adjusting screw can finely and delicately adjust the depth position of the hinge arm over its entire adjustment range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2004
    Assignee: Grass GmbH
    Inventors: Wolfgang Mueller, Markus Albrecht, Remo Egger, Holger Wenzel
  • Patent number: 6698062
    Abstract: The invention concerns a hinge, in particular a cabinet hinge with a baseplate that fastens to the cabinet body and a baseplate with a supporting adjusting plate than can be connected to the cabinet hinge, so that a secure fastening of the catch connection is provided. In order to attain a stabile connection that, at the same time, provides an easy assembly, the baseplate is formed in two parts—one lower part that fastens to the cabinet body and an upper part that tenses into the lower part. A height adjusting screw is provided to secure and vertically adjust the upper part on the lower part and has at least one eccentric or cam disks with an angle-dependent modification of the radius and whose eccentric or cam disk work together with at least one corresponding gliding cam of the upper part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 2, 2004
    Assignee: Grass GmbH
    Inventors: Remo Egger, Wolfgang Mueller
  • Patent number: 6615452
    Abstract: The invention concerns a cabinet hinge with an adjusting device that is directly or indirectly on the cabinet side, single or multi-part mounting plate stored hinge arm, that is connected jointed with a door-side stop part, so that the adjusting device has a side adjusting screw by means of which the hinge arm's position perpendicular to the mounting plate can be changed to the door's side adjustment. The side adjusting device has a side adjusting screw with at least one eccentric- or cam disks so that by turning the side adjusting screw, a side adjustment and, at the same time, a parallel shifting of the hinge arm relative to the mounting plate occurs, resulting in a correction of the door's depth adjustment for an amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2003
    Assignee: Grass GmbH
    Inventors: Wolfgang Mueller, Markus Albrecht, Remo Egger, Holger Wenzel, Johannes Haemmerle, Juergen Amann
  • Patent number: 6532626
    Abstract: The invention concerns an adjustable hinge that connects two furniture/cabinet components (door and cabinet body) together by means of a cabinet hinge and baseplate. On the cabinet hinge is a spring snap mechanism and connected on it, a hinge arm. This is connected by an adjustment plate with the baseplate and between the hinge arm and adjustment plate, an adjustment screw is located to adjust the both (bilateral) distances. The adjustment screw is screwed through an enclosed elongated hole in the adjustment plate in a thread borehole in the hinge arm. According to the invention, the adjustment screw is designed as a set screw (thread pin), which has on its one end a device for a releasable coupling with a tool and on the other end has a plate with a larger diameter. The bottom surface side of the plate, thus, rests on the baseplate and on the plate's upper surface, the edge of the adjustment plate's elongated hole.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2003
    Assignee: Grass GmbH
    Inventors: Wolfgang Muller, Markus Albrecht
  • Patent number: 6390574
    Abstract: A fully extendible drawer unit utilizes two pairs of, in each case, three rails which can be pushed into one another. On the carcass rail is positioned a differential roller, which allows the intermediate rail to be moved along when the drawer starts to be pulled out at a lower speed than the drawer and the drawer rail. A coupling lever ensures that the intermediate rail is still pushed along even when the drawer rail has already left the differential roller and that this happens synchronously.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2000
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2002
    Assignee: Grass GmbH
    Inventor: Georg Fraccaro
  • Patent number: 6339864
    Abstract: The invention consists of a mounting plate for cabinet hinges, a baseplate fastened on the cabinet body and an adjusting plate that can be fastened to the cabinet hinge's baseplate, so that a secure fastening of the catch connection results. In order to attain a stabile connection, and at the same time, an easy assembly, the invention has a baseplate that is designed in two parts; a bottom part that can be connected to the cabinet body and an upper part that can be “braced with” the bottom part, so that the adjusting plate and the upper part, by means of pressure on the adjusting plate resulting from a certain method of a forced sliding motion of the adjusting plate relative to the baseplate, are connected together by at least three linked means, and the connection made by a spring element on the adjusting plate secures against further movement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2000
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2002
    Assignee: Grass GmbH
    Inventors: Markus Albrecht, Wolfgang Muller