A flip-up countertop seems simple enough. It goes up. It comes back down. How complicated could it be?
Well, add a heavy countertop and a lift system into the equation, and there’s a little more going on underneath than meets the eye.
Getting a flip-up countertop lift system right starts well before installation. The weight of the countertop matters, but so does how that weight behaves as the counter moves. The hardware has to work with the design if you want controlled motion instead of a countertop with a mind of its own.
A little planning early can save you from finding out the hard way that your lift system and countertop were never quite on the same page.
A countertop may look straightforward on a drawing, but the lift system has to deal with more than its overall size. The weight of the lid plays a major role in selecting the right hardware, and guessing that number can put you on the wrong path before anything gets installed.
For a flip-up countertop lift system, start with accurate measurements and an accurate lid weight. We use this information to match your application with the appropriate Lift Gate Assistant. If you don't have a scale handy, the weight can be calculated using the countertop's dimensions and material density.
Before selecting flip-up counter hardware, you should know:
And yes, this is one of those times when “eh, close enough” probably isn't the measurement standard you want.
Knowing your countertop weighs 60 pounds is useful. Knowing where those 60 pounds are working against the hinge is where things get interesting.
Lid torque is based on the weight of the lid and the horizontal distance between its center of gravity and the pivot axis. As that relationship changes throughout the countertop's movement, the amount of torque acting on the system changes with it.
This becomes particularly important when the countertop isn't a simple rectangular design. An irregular shape can shift the center of gravity away from where you might expect it to be.
In fact, some irregularly shaped countertops may fall outside the range of a standard lift assist hinge because their center of gravity doesn't match what the system was designed to support. That's a good reason to bring us into the conversation before the design is set in stone.
And if the countertop happens to be made of stone, maybe literally before it's set in stone.
Getting a flip-up countertop hinge to move is one thing. Getting it to move the way you want is another.
The balance between lid torque and spring torque affects what the countertop wants to do when someone lets go. Depending on the design, it may move toward open, move toward closed, or hold its position.
Think about the intended motion before settling on the hardware.
|
What’s Happening |
What the Countertop Does |
|
Spring torque is stronger than lid torque |
Won’t stay down |
|
Lid torque is stronger than spring torque |
Won’t stay up and/or slams down |
|
Spring torque and lid torque are balanced |
Stays up, Stays down, Doesn’t slam |
A properly counterbalanced system can make a heavy countertop feel considerably lighter to the person using it. Controlled motion can also prevent a sudden drop or slam when the forces aren't working together as intended.
You can have the right lift assist hinges for the job and still run into trouble if there’s nowhere for them to go.
The hardware needs to be considered during the design process while the countertop and surrounding structure are still taking shape. Waiting until everything else is finalized can leave you trying to squeeze the mechanism into a space that was never designed for it.
Mounting configuration needs to be part of the design conversation, too. For our Lift Gate Hinge, that means accounting for one of two configurations:
Both configurations can provide full opening. Planning for that mounting arrangement while you're still working through the design is a lot easier than asking the hinge to find somewhere to live afterward.
There’s a good time to start thinking about your flip-up countertop lift system. After the rest of the design is locked in probably isn’t it.
Bringing engineers into the conversation earlier gives them a chance to look at the application while there’s still room to make changes. That can save some headaches when a bar lift gate has unusual dimensions or needs to work within a tight space.
You don't need to show up with every detail figured out. Having some basic information about the application gives us somewhere to start:
If something about the application doesn't quite add up, that's exactly the kind of problem we'd rather talk through while it's still a drawing than after you've built it.
A flip-up countertop lift system works best when it has a seat at the design table early. Waiting until the countertop is finalized can leave you solving problems that could have been addressed while everything was still on the drawing board.
That’s where a conversation with our engineers can help. Bring us what you have, even if the design still has a few question marks. Sometimes those question marks are exactly where we can be most useful.
See how lift assist hinges can support safer, smoother motion in your next design. Download our guide for a closer look at the technology behind the movement.