The exemplary embodiments of the present invention generally relate to door hinges. More particularly, the exemplary embodiments relate to appliances with energy absorbing door hinges.
Generally, a conventional appliance with a horizontally hinged door, such as a stove, is anchored to a wall or floor by an anti-tip bracket to prevent the appliance from tipping when a load is applied to an open door of the appliance. An alternate concept described in prior art, but not widely used on appliance door hinges, are a break-away feature such that when a predetermined load is applied to the door when the door in an open position, the door is allowed to rotate past the open position with little or no resistance until the door contacts the floor or other stopping surface. While this break-away feature aids in preventing the appliance from tipping it may cause damage to the door, the floor or the user of the appliance. A load suddenly applied to the appliance door that exceeds a threshold load for operating the break-away feature may cause the door to accelerate to the floor. If the load is a utensil containing hot liquid, the accelerating nature of the door may cause undesired splashing or spilling of the utensil contents. As such, no commercial or residential ranges currently use break-away type hinges. Anti-tip brackets remain an industry standard.
The requirements for meeting static door loading, while in an open position, for foreseeable suddenly applied loads and preventing appliance tip over without the use of an anti-tip bracket involves a narrow performance range in which it is impractical to have a robust hinge design.
As described herein, the exemplary embodiments overcome one or more of the above or other disadvantages known in the art.
One aspect of the exemplary embodiments relates to an apparatus. The apparatus includes a frame, a door and a compliant hinge mechanism hingably mounting the door to the frame, the compliant hinge mechanism including a resistance configured to provide a preload to balance the door in a first open position and an increasing force resisting further opening of the door when the preload is overcome and the door is opened past the first open position.
Another aspect of the exemplary embodiments relates to a method. The method includes applying a predetermined preload on a door of an appliance for balancing the door in a first open position, allowing the door to open past the first open position when a load applied to the door overcomes the preload and applying a resistive force to the door to resist opening of the door past the first open position where the resistive force is an increasing force dependent on an angle the door is opened past the first open position.
Still another aspect of the exemplary embodiments relates to a cooking appliance. The cooking appliance includes a frame, a door and a compliant hinge mechanism hingably mounting the door to the frame, the compliant hinge mechanism including a resistance configured to provide a preload to balance the door in a first open position and an increasing force resisting further opening of the door when the preload is overcome and the door is opened past the first open position.
These and other aspects and advantages of the exemplary embodiments will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should be made to the appended claims. Moreover, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and that, unless otherwise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and procedures described herein. In addition, any suitable size, shape or type of elements or materials could be used.
In the drawings:
In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, the hinge system 120 is configured to control door motion when a load is applied to the door 110 while the door 110 is in a first open position (shown in
Referring to
Referring to
The spring housing 200, which is fixedly attached relative to the frame 115, is configured to house a resistance 220B. The resistance 220B may include any suitable spring such as, for example, a coil spring that is configured to be placed over, for example, a shaft or other suitable guide member which is movable relative to the spring housing 200, with the lower end of the spring being fixedly attached to the shaft. The shaft is preferably coupled to a follower 230 such that the resistance 220B provides a predetermined preload on the follower 230 as will be described in greater detail below. The follower 230 preferably includes a roller 230R or other contact member that is configured to engage the detent 250 and move along the cam surface 240.
In one embodiment, the preload provided by the resistance 220B may force the roller 230R into the detent 250 for substantially preventing movement of the pivoting member 210 while the door 110 of the appliance 100 is open in the first open position as shown in
An exemplary operation of the compliant hinge mechanism 290 will be described.
It is noted that the increasing force applied to the door 110 by the compliant hinge mechanism 290 not only directs the horizontal force Lx (FIG. 3) of the load 400 to resist tipping of the appliance 100, the increased force also gradually decelerates the load to substantially prevent spillage of the load (e.g. prevents contents of a cooking tray from spilling out of the cooking tray).
It is noted that while the compliant hinge mechanism 290 is described using a coil or compression spring for exemplary purposes only, in alternate embodiments an extension spring, leaf spring, torsion spring or any other suitable springs may be used. It is further noted that in other alternate embodiments the resistance 220B may include a spring having a progressive spring rate such that the further the spring is compressed through the opening of the door 110, the greater the resistive force exerted by the spring against rotation of the door about pivot point 300. In still other alternate embodiments the variable spring loading may be accomplished through the use of a cam.
The hinge system 120 of the exemplary embodiments controls the static load on the door 110 by setting a preload on the resistance 220B. The preload on the resistance 220B is set to a predetermined load sufficient to resist the weight of a fully opened door (e.g., a door in the first open position) in addition to a predetermined static load applied to the open door 110. The preload on the resistance 220B may affect the minimization of door deflection when suddenly applied or dynamic loads are applied to the open door. The minimized deflection of the door 110 may substantially prevent the load from sliding off of the door 110 and falling to the floor. For exemplary purposes only, in one embodiment, the amount of deflection for a 40 lb static load applied to the door may be substantially zero deflection. As another example, for a 90 lb load the door may deflect towards the floor and the changing angle of the door creates a force vector which resists tipping of the appliance. This may eliminate the need for using an anti-tip bracket with the appliance 100 which decreases the installation time required to install the appliance 100. The implementation of the resistance 220B in the hinge system 120 is also more cost effective than using a hinge with multiple linkages.
Further, because the load on the door does not “break-away” additional loading is required for increased door deflection, which may result in substantially preventing the door from impacting the floor. In one example, the hinge system 120 including the complaint hinge mechanism 290 can absorb about 500 in-lbs, because, for example, the compliant hinge mechanism 290 continues to absorb the load applied to the door over the full extended opening of the door past the first open position.
Thus, while there have been shown and described and pointed out fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to the exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of devices illustrated, and in their operation, may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, it is expressly intended that all combinations of those elements and/or method steps which perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same results are within the scope of the invention. Moreover, it should be recognized that structures and/or elements and/or method steps shown and/or described in connection with any disclosed form or embodiment of the invention may be incorporated in any other disclosed or described or suggested form or embodiment as a general matter of design choice. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20100212112 A1 | Aug 2010 | US |