Weber Knapp Blog

When the Rolling Stones said, “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you might find you get what you need,” we’re pretty sure they weren’t talking about hinges. 

Our next stop on the trade show circuit this year takes us deep into the world of hospitality in a city synonymous with it. 

A busy restaurant with every table full and each bar stool occupied is a restaurant owner’s dream. However, a full house comes with a significant risk of injury to staff and patrons.

Imagine this: A waiter fills a large drink order from the bar. They carefully balance the tray of drinks with one hand as they start toward a table of expectant patrons. Working quickly, the waiter attempts to lift the pass-through with their free hand but has difficulty lifting the 45-pound countertop. While straining to lift with one hand, the waiter loses control of the carefully balanced tray of drinks. 

The mix of broken glass and liquid on the floor creates a significant safety hazard and takes a bite out of the restaurant’s profits. 

If your goal is to reduce your carbon footprint, then investing in a tiny home is the way to go. This, along with lower heating and electricity costs, mean you can reduce your impact on the environment around you. 

As a kid, you might have marveled at the flip-up bar countertop at your parents’ favorite restaurant. But a lot has changed since then, and bar lift gates have improved significantly. 

Today’s hinges make life much easier and more comfortable. We have progressed so far from just a plain, 'ol door hinge to advanced solutions for kinematic motion, mechanical spring counterbalance, and spring assist technologies. 

Do your employees spend a lot of time at their computers? At this point, who doesn’t?

If you’ve been following our blog you’re already familiar with Vectis™ Springloaded Counterbalanced Hinges and what they can offer but, maybe you still aren’t sure what applications they can really be used for or, maybe you’re just landing on our website and getting to know Vectis™. So, in the spirit of sharing our counterbalance knowledge, we’ve tasked our very creative Design Engineers with imagining an application using Vectis™ Hinges and bringing that application to “life” in order to show you some of the countless applications these counterbalance hinges can be used on. Following you’ll find four applications that are perfect for Vectis™ hinges as imagined by our engineering thinkers, dreamers, and inventors:

The Dresser with a Hidden Surprise

The Vectis™ team traveled to Atlanta, GA to attend the 2017 Hearth, Patio, & Barbecue Associations HPBExpo – North America’s largest indoor-outdoor living showcase.

So, you’ve decided that a springloaded counterbalance hinge is the ideal way to take your project to the next level. And, you already know that a Vectis™ Counterbalance Hinge can address your specific design challenges and that a Vectis™ counterbalance hinge will outperform and out last a gas spring. But, what technical considerations do you need to make before you click the DYO tab?


To help prepare you for your visit to the DYO app, over the next several months we’ll be discussing some of the technical decisions you’ll need to make in order to design the perfect counterbalance for your project. This month we’re going to discuss the effects of vertical distance to the center of gravity and what that could mean in regard to the ultimate function of your project.


The vertical distance to the center of gravity can have a big impact on how your lid acts near the open position. The greater the positive vertical distance the greater the tendency for the lid to self-open at larger open angles. Conversely, a negative vertical distance allows the lid to be potentially counterbalanced up to the maximum 90° opening angle. If you do not want the lid to coast open at larger angles, consider reducing the maximum opening angle to something close to the balance angle of the lid. The balance angle is the angle of the lid at which the center of gravity is directly above the pivot. If you are looking at the torque chart on the Vectis® DYO app, the balance angle is the point where the lid torque drops to zero.


For applications where the vertical distance to the center of gravity is sizeable, a large opening angle is required, and minimal coast towards the full open position is desired, rest assured that we can meet your needs with a Vectis® Counterbalance Hinge or a Vectis™ Custom Counterbalance.




If you’re having trouble specifying a Vectis™ Counterbalance Hinge for your project, give us a call, our engineers are ready to assist you!


Jeremy Redlecki

Product Design Manager

and

Leila Bell

Business Develop Manager

Weber Knapp Company