Solvent-bondable plastic parts with capillary-action blocking moat to

Abstract

A plastic part has a broad surface area for solvent bonding to another plastic part; the bonding surface has a groove, recess, or non-dissolvable portion for restricting the solvent to a narrow marginal edge area for uniform distribution. In one embodiment, a plastic hinge (FIG. 2) and two hinged members (64,66) are pivotally interconnected by the leaves. Grooves (52, 54) are formed on the mating surface of hinge halves. These grooves define and isolate marginal portions (56, 58) on the faces of the leaves from inner portions (60, 62). The grooves act as barriers to prevent penetration of a solvent, used for bonding the hinge leaves to the two hinged members, from the inner support portions of the leaves. When the solvent is injected into the area of contact between the mating plastic parts from the outer edge of each hinge element, e.g., by a syringe, it wets and dissolves the marginal portions and the underlying areas of the two hinged members but is restricted to the marginal areas by the grooves. Thus a plastic hinge can be bonded without mechanical fasteners and provides aesthetic consistency with the hinged members. The marginal bonding area can also be isolated by means of a recessed inner portion (84) and the principle of the invention can be used for other solvent bonded elements with broad faces, such as drawer pulls (FIG. 7) and latches (FIG. 8).