Damped oven door mounting assemblies

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6397836
  • Patent Number
    6,397,836
  • Date Filed
    Tuesday, February 27, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, June 4, 2002
    22 years ago
Abstract
A pair of door mounting assemblies mount an oven door assembly to an oven such that the oven door assembly may move between a closed baking position, a broiling position, and an open position. Each of the door mounting assemblies includes a mounting member that is pivotally connected to the door assembly. Each door mounting assembly includes a spring biased mechanism to enable the oven door assembly to be biased by the weight thereof when in a first range of movement, to be biased toward and into the broiling position when in a second range of movement, and to be biased toward and into the baking position when in a third range of movement. A damper assembly provides resistance to the movement of the oven door assembly within the second and third ranges to limit the rate of movement of the oven door assembly toward the broiling and baking positions.
Description




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates generally to ovens and, more particularly, to an oven with a damped oven door mounting assembly.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




Oven doors are generally constructed to be relatively rigid to facilitate forming an adequate seal about the heating chamber opening. Further, oven doors typically include various forms of insulation features, such as insulating materials and/or voids (e.g., dead air spaces) therein. Consequently, oven doors tend to be relatively bulky and heavy. To facilitate manual movement of the door, such as closing the door, (which requires moving the door from a generally horizontal position toward a vertical position, i.e., requiring the lifting of a substantial portion of the weight of the door) oven doors hinges often utilize a spring connected about the hinge to bias movement of the door relative to the oven in one direction, or the other, or both.




Such a hinge for an oven door is described in Leland, U.S. Pat. No. 3,450,125. Leland discloses a hinge for an oven door that allows the door to be moved between an open position, a closed position, and broiler stop position (partially open position adjacent closed position). Additionally, the hinge is provided with a spring to bias the door towards the closed position.




A hinge for an oven door, as described in Leland is advantageous since manual movement of the door is assisted via the spring. However, if not at least partially manually controlled, upon closing the spring biasing the door toward the closed position will generate excessive momentum causing the door to “slam” against the oven frame. Consequently, the door and oven frames are subject to fatigue and impact damage. More specifically, as the door swings toward the closed position about the hinge, the weight acting on the door decreases as the door becomes more vertically oriented. At a point prior to conventional (and operable) broiler stop positions, the spring force acting on the door towards the closed position overcomes the force (weight of the door) on the door acting towards the open position and effects movement of the door towards the closed position. As such, the spring increases the momentum of the closing door and “slams” the door against the oven frame. Even with an intermediate (broiler) stop provided, as with Leland, the spring driven momentum of the door, when manually uncontrolled through this range of movement, is sufficient to prevent stoppage at the intermediate stop and significantly impact the door against the oven frame. It is, of course, possible to manually move the door to the closed position and thereby prevent impact damage however, given inherent circumstances in a typical kitchen, it is often inconvenient at best for a user to commit a hand to closing the door.




Herbster (U.S. Pat. No. 2,124,349) discloses an oven door operating device that utilizes a spring to facilitate closing the door and a supposed “buffer” to decrease momentum of the door as it approaches the fully open and closed positions. This device is advantageous in that the door and oven are seemly protected from excessive impacts. However, the device poses several handicaps when presented with the current state of the art.




First, the device is foot controlled by way of a pair of pedals. This may prove useful in providing hands-free operation of the door, however significantly increases the force applied to the door and momentum thereof. Herbster's foot pedals seem to promote excessive force on the door, especially when moving into the extreme positions (opened and closed positions). To reduce instances of excessive impacts, Herbster provides a buffer to reduce the momentum of the door as it moves into the fully open and fully closed positions.




The device of Herbster is quite bulky and primarily mounted to the frame of the oven. While this arrangement effectively hides the device from view and hindrance, it requires substantial space within the oven frame to accommodate mounting of the device therein. Further, ovens of the type described in Herbster generally include a separate broiler portion. As such, Herbster makes no reference to supplying a broiler stop.




As stated previously, Herbster's device supplies a buffer to cushion the impacts of the door. As shown and described in Herbster, the buffer acts to resist motion in either direction of movement of the door (towards the open position and towards the closed position, corresponding to relative axial movement of the piston). As such, Herbster's device resists manual movement of the door, so as to increase the effort required to manually effect movement of the door, especially towards the open position, wherein the spring provides further resistance to movement.




Furthermore, Herbster's buffer, as shown and described, acts as a resilient spring in that the compression of air therein provides the resisting force of the damper. There is provided an inlet check valve at each end of the buffer to allow an inflow of air. As Herbster does not address the problem of the increasing volume of the piston arm within the cylinder as the piston moves downwardly, it is submitted that movement of the door toward the open position, corresponding to the downward movement of the piston within the buffer, will produce relatively greater resistive force than movement of the door toward the closed position. This is highly unfavorable since movement of the door toward the open position is further resisted by the spring. It is further submitted that since no outlet within the cylinder is provided, subsequent movements of the door will cause a pressure increase within the buffer due to the inability of air to escape the cylinder. When a relatively high pressure is reached within the buffer, the suction pressure produced will be insufficient to actuate the inlet valves. At this point, movement of the door toward the open position, corresponding to downward movement of the piston and an increasing volume of piston arm within the cylinder, will be substantially resisted, as the buffer would then act as a spring biasing the door toward the closed position.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The present invention avoids these limitations by providing an oven comprising an oven assembly, which defines an oven chamber within which heatable items can be heated and an access opening communicating with the oven chamber. An oven door assembly is mounted on the oven assembly for movement between a generally vertically extending closed baking operating position, a slightly inclined partially open broiling operating position, and a generally horizontally extending open position.




The oven door assembly defines substantially enclosed restricted spaces within opposite ends thereof, within which a pair of horizontally spaced door mounting assemblies extend. Each of the door mounting assemblies include a mounting member extending from an associated space and are detachably fixedly secured to the oven assembly. Each of the door mounting assemblies are also pivotally connected to the door assembly enabling the door assembly to be pivotally moved with respect to the oven assembly between the operating positions and the open position thereof.




Each of the door mounting assemblies includes a spring biased mechanism within an associated space. The spring biased mechanisms are constructed and arranged to enable the oven door assembly to be moved by the weight thereof toward and into the open position thereof when in a first range of movement adjacent the open position. The spring biased mechanism also enables the oven door assembly to be biased toward and into the broiling position by the spring biased mechanism when in a second range of movement adjacent the broiling position thereof. Further, the spring biased mechanism enables the oven door assembly to be biased toward and into the baking position by the spring biased mechanism when in a third range of movement adjacent the baking position.




The oven includes a manually engagable structure on the oven door assembly, which is constructed and arranged to enable a user to manually control movement of the oven door assembly within all of the ranges.




The pair of door mounting assemblies includes a damper assembly within an associated space. The damper assembly is constructed and arranged to provide resistance to the movement of the oven door assembly within the second and third ranges to limit the rate of movement of the oven door assembly toward the broiling and baking positions.




In a preferred embodiment, substantially less resistance to the movement of the oven door assembly is provided toward the open position (away from the baking position) in comparison with the greater resistance to movement toward the baking position.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of the oven embodying the principles of the present invention with the door assembly disposed in the open position showing the door mounting assemblies in phantom;





FIG. 2

is a perspective view of the oven shown in

FIG. 1

, with the door assembly disposed in the broiling operating position;





FIG. 3

is a perspective view of the oven shown in

FIG. 1

, with the door assembly disposed in the closed baking position;





FIG. 4

is a sectional view of one of the door mounting assemblies taken along the line


4





4


in

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 5

is a partial top plan view of the door mounting structure, as indicated by line


5





5


in

FIG. 8A

;





FIG. 6

is a partial side view of the connection of the damper assembly and spring biased mechanism with the connecting structure, showing the connecting structure in phantom;





FIG. 7

is a partial side view of the connection of the damper assembly and spring biased mechanism with the door mounting structure;





FIGS. 8A-8D

are sectional views similar to that shown in

FIG. 4

, illustrating the various positions and ranges of movement of the door mounting assembly;





FIG. 9

is a partial side view showing the relationship of the roller element and connecting structure with the door mounting structure in the closed baking operating position; and





FIG. 10

is a partial side view showing the relationship of the roller element and connecting structure with the door mounting structure in the broiling operating position.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION





FIG. 1

shows an oven


10


embodying the principles of the present invention. The oven


10


includes an oven assembly


12


and an oven door assembly


14


. The oven assembly


12


provides an oven chamber


16


, within which heatable items can be heated, that is accessible by a user via an access opening


18


leading thereto. The oven door assembly


14


is pivotally mounted to the oven assembly


12


, as will be further described herein, and is configured to be moveable between an open position (shown in FIG.


1


), a open broiling operating position (shown in FIG.


2


), and a closed baking operating position (shown in

FIG. 3

) with respect to the oven assembly


12


.




As shown in

FIG. 4

, the oven door assembly


14


has an interior that defines substantially enclosed restricted spaces


20


within opposite ends thereof. Specifically, as with most modem day ovens, the door assembly


14


is filled with insulation, and there is space provided therein towards opposite lateral ends thereof. A door mounting assembly


22


is disposed within respective restricted spaces


20


, providing a pair of door mounting assemblies, which pivotally connects the door assembly


14


with the oven assembly


12


. The space


20


within the door that receives the assembly is restricted to the opposite lateral ends of the door interior.




Shown in

FIG. 4

, each of the door mounting assemblies


22


includes a mounting member


24


extending from an associated restricted space


20


and detachably fixedly secured to the oven assembly


12


. Further, each mounting member


24


is pivotally connected to respective door assemblies


14


enabling the door assembly


14


to be pivotally moved with respect to the oven assembly


12


into the open and operating positions thereof.





FIG. 4

also shows each of the door mounting assemblies


22


including a spring biased mechanism


26


within an associated space


20


. The spring biased mechanism


26


allows the oven door assembly


14


to be biased by its own weight toward and into the open position when the oven door assembly


14


is in a first range of movement adjacent the open position. The spring biased mechanism


26


biases the door assembly


14


toward and into the broiling position when the door assembly


14


is in a second range of movement adjacent the broiling position. Further, the spring biased mechanism


26


biases the oven door assembly


14


toward and into the baking position when the door assembly


14


is in a third range of movement between the broiling and baking positions.




The oven door assembly


14


also includes a manually engagable structure, or handle,


28


, shown in

FIG. 3

, on an outer surface thereof. The manually engagable structure


28


enables a user to manually control movement of the oven door assembly


14


within all of the ranges.




Referring back to

FIG. 4

, the pair of door mounting assemblies


22


includes a damper assembly


30


. The damper assembly


30


is disposed within an associated restricted space


20


and is constructed and arranged to provide resistance to the movement of the oven door assembly


14


within the second and third ranges of movement to limit the rate of movement of the oven door assembly


14


into the broiling and baking positions by manual movement of under the bias of the spring biased mechanism


26


allowed as a result of the release of manual control. The damper assembly


30


is further constructed and arranged to also provide resistance to the movement of the oven door assembly


14


in a direction toward and into the open position. Preferably, the damper assembly


30


provides substantially less resistance to door movement toward and into the open position in comparison to the resistance it provides within the third range of movement toward and into the baking (or closed) position.




As shown in

FIG. 4

, the oven door assembly


14


includes the spaces


20


in which the door mounting assemblies


22


are disposed.

FIG. 4

shows the mounting member


24


being detachably fixedly secured to the oven assembly


12


. The mounting member


24


includes a plurality of connecting portions


32


that are engagable with a respective plurality of connecting members


34


of the oven assembly


12


. As shown, the connecting portions


32


form a series of grooves


36


within the mounting member


24


that provide a pathway for the connecting members


34


(may be in the form of horizontally extending pin elements, threaded fasteners, or the like) to slidably engage therewith. Terminal ends of the grooves


36


engage respective connecting members


34


thereby allowing the transfer of load (weight of the door, etc.) therefrom to the oven assembly


12


. A slot opening


38


(see

FIG. 1

) within the oven assembly


12


allows the mounting member


24


to pass therethrough and engage the connecting members


34


with the grooves


36


. As such, the user may disengage the door assembly


14


from the oven assembly


12


by lifting upwardly on the door assembly


14


and then pulling outwardly on the door assembly


14


. The detachable nature of the door assembly


14


facilitates activities such as cleaning the oven chamber


16


(or the door assembly itself) or repairing/maintaining the oven assembly


12


.




Each door mounting assembly


22


also includes a door mounting structure


40


. The door mounting structures


40


are elongated members that are fixedly secured to the oven door assembly


14


within associated restricted spaces


20


. One end of each door mounting structure


40


is pivotally connected to a respective mounting member


24


. As shown in

FIG. 4

, a pivotal pin connection


41


may be utilized to pivotally connect the door mounting structure


40


with the mounting member


24


. It is also contemplated that a pivotal threaded fastener connection (such as a bolt and nut) may be substituted for the pin connection


41


. It is noted that any other suitable hinge or pivotal type connection may alternately be used to connect the mounting member


24


with the door mounting structure


40


. The door mounting structure


40


is mounted to the door assembly with, for example, a plurality of threaded fasteners


42


that pass through openings within the door mounting structure


40


and threadedly engage with the oven door assembly


14


or cooperating fastening devices (such as nuts). It is noted that threaded fasteners may also be provided that pass through openings within the oven door assembly


14


and threadedly engage with the door mounting structure


40


or cooperating fastening devices (such as nuts). As can be seen in

FIGS. 1 and 4

, the door mounting structures


40


are substantially entirely disposed within associated restricted spaces


20


. As such, the door mounting structures


40


are unexposed and concealed, which provides both an aesthetically pleasing appearance and presents a convenient out-of-the-way configuration. Additionally, the door mounting structures


40


are relatively protected from dirt, grease, and heat contamination. Further, this arrangement allows for a slim (space-saving) design of the oven assembly


12


, since only the mounting members


24


engage therewith.




As illustrated in

FIGS. 5 and 6

, each of the door mounting structures


40


may be in the form of a channel, or u-shaped member, with a pair of parallel upstanding walls


44


,


46


that extend from a base portion


48


. The base portion


48


provides openings


50


, through which the threaded fasteners may pass to secure the door mounting structure


40


to the door assembly


14


. Further, the pivotal connection


41


is accomplished by laterally oriented pin connector (or other suitable connector) through the upstanding walls


44


,


46


and is secured thereto. As such the pivotal connection


41


is provided transverse to the length of the door mounting structure


40


. Further, the U-shaped configuration of the door mounting structure


40


provides resiliency thereto.




Each door mounting assembly


22


further includes a connecting structure


52


that is pivotally connected to the mounting member


24


on one end thereof. An opposite end of the connecting structure


52


is pivotally connected to a first end of the damper assembly


30


and the spring biased mechanism


26


. As shown in

FIG. 5

, the connecting structure


52


may include split portions


54


and


56


. The split portions


54


,


56


are disposed on respective sides of the mounting member


24


and are coaxially (relative to each other) pivotally connected to the mounting member


24


by pivotal connection


58


on the one end and to the damper assembly


30


by the pivotal connection


60


on the opposite end thereof. Similarly to the pivotal connection


41


, the pivotal connections


58


,


60


may be in the form of pin connections. The split portions


54


,


56


are in parallel, spaced relation to each other, with the mounting member


24


and damper assembly


30


disposed therebetween at respective ends thereof. As such, the connecting structure


52


applies equivalent force to both transverse sides of the mounting member


24


and the damper assembly


30


, effectively limiting torsional stress/strain of these elements by unequal transverse loading by the connecting structure


52


(as would be present in an off-center configuration wherein the connecting structure


52


is connected to one side of the mounting member/damper assembly). Further, pin fasteners or threaded fasteners associated with each of the pivotal connections


58


,


60


are subjected to double-shear, in which there are two shear planes (coinciding with planes defined by abutting surfaces of the split portions


54


,


56


and the damper assembly/mounting member) within each pin that are subjected to load on the connecting structure


52


. Double-shear is an advantageous characteristic of this configuration since each shear plane carries only half the total load on the pin. As such, smaller pin diameters are possible than with configurations that call for single shear conditions (such as with an off-center connection).





FIG. 4

also shows the spring biased mechanism


26


and the damper assembly


30


. As shown, the spring biased mechanism


26


includes an elongated cylindrically configured coiled tension spring body


62


. The spring biased mechanism


26


further includes an extending portion


64


and provides connecting structure


66


,


68


at respective ends thereof. The extending portion


64


extends longitudinally from one end of the spring body


62


. The connecting structure


66


,


68


may be formed by upturning a portion of the spring body and extending portion


62


,


64


, respectively to form hook-like structures. The connecting structure


68


forms the portion of the spring biased mechanism


26


that is connected to the connecting structure


52


, and specifically, pivotal connection


58


thereof. The cylindrical arrangement of the tension spring body


62


is such that a longitudinally extending opening


70


is formed therethrough by coils thereof. The opening


70


has a relatively smaller diameter than an outer diameter of the tension spring body


62


. It is contemplated that the tension spring body


62


and extending portion


64


may be formed of a metallic material suitable for use as a spring, such as described herein.




As shown in

FIG. 4

, the damper assembly


30


includes a cylindrical damper


72


. The damper


72


includes a damper body


74


and a longitudinally (relative to the damper body


74


) extending piston arm


76


(may also be referred to as a piston or damper rod) telescopically extendable therefrom. The damper


72


further includes connecting structure


78


,


80


at respective ends thereof. The connecting structure


80


is affixed to one end of the damper body


74


opposite the piston arm


76


and is connected to the connecting structure


52


by the pivotal connection


58


, as shown in FIG.


7


. The connecting structure


78


is affixed to one end of the piston arm


76


opposite the damper body


74


and is connected to the door mounting structure


40


via a pin connector


81


, as shown in FIG.


8


. As further shown in

FIG. 7

, the connecting structure


68


of the spring biased mechanism


26


may be configured so as to securely engage an outer periphery of the connecting structure


80


about the pivotal connection


58


. As shown, the connecting structure


68


partially wraps around the connecting structure


80


. In this arrangement, the connecting structures


68


,


80


of the spring biased mechanism


26


and damper assembly


30


respectively, may be accommodated between the split portions


54


,


56


of the connecting structure


52


, as shown in FIG.


6


. It is also contemplated that the connecting structure


68


may be directly engaged with the pivotal connection


58


, such as by partially wrapping therearound. Referring to

FIG. 8

, the connecting structure


78


on the piston arm


76


is pivotally connected to the door mounting structure


40


via the pin connector


81


. As shown, the connecting structure


66


is also engaged with the pin connector


81


. As such, the damper assembly


30


and the spring biased mechanism


26


are each connected at their ends at similar respective points.




The damper


72


is used to damp movement of the door assembly


14


relative to the access opening


18


. It is contemplated that the damper body


74


may have various constructions, which are known in the art, to achieve the desired damping characteristics herein described. For example, a hydraulic damper is known that is capable of producing damping force corresponding to a rate of movement of the piston arm


76


into the damper body


74


. Another type of damper contemplated is a pneumatic damper, which has similar characteristics as its hydraulic counterpart.




In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a single-acting type dampers (of either hydraulic or pneumatic nature) are preferred. A single-acting damper is one in which a substantial damping force may be produced for only one direction of piston arm travel, while in the other direction, minimal resistance is provided. In the illustrated embodiment, damper


72


is a single-acting damper and is configured and positioned to produce damping force for rates of movement of the door assembly


14


in the direction toward the closed position (such as from the open position or broiling position). Movements of the door assembly


14


toward the open position corresponding to extension of the piston arm


76


out of the damper body


74


) are substantially unresisted. This arrangement effectively limits the manual force required to move the door toward/into the open position (such as from the broiling position or closed position), since the damper


72


provides an insignificant resistance to door movement in this direction, while protecting the door assembly/oven assembly from impact and/or fatigue damage by limiting the momentum build-up of the door assembly


14


toward the broiling and closed positions.




It is further contemplated that only a single damper of the type herein contemplated may be required to sufficiently damp the movement of the door assembly. Consequently, it is possible to include the damper assembly


30


in only one of the pair of door mounting assemblies


22


. However, it may be preferable to include a damper assembly


30


within each of the door mounting assemblies


22


.




As further shown in

FIG. 4

, a roller element


82


is mounted to the door mounting structure


40


between the upstanding walls


44


,


46


. The roller element


82


may include a journal member


84


that is rotatably mounted on a pin connector


86


(see FIG.


6


). As shown in

FIG. 4

, the journal member


84


is configured and positioned to rollingly engage a slide surface


88


of the connecting structure


52


(split portions


54


,


56


). The connecting structure


52


includes an outwardly protruding portion, or stop member


90


that is engagable by the roller element


82


, as described below. The connecting structure


52


also includes a detent, or catch portion


92


that is engagable by the roller element


82


, as described above.




Shown in

FIG. 5

, the upstanding walls


44


,


46


of the door mounting structure


40


define a lateral extent of the door mounting assembly


22


. In other words, the various components of the door mounting assembly


22


, such as spring biased mechanism


26


, damper assembly


30


, connecting structure


52


, and mounting member


24


are disposed within a laterally-extending space provided between the upstanding walls


44


,


46


. Further, shown in

FIG. 4

, the damper assembly


30


and the spring biased mechanism


26


are configured and arranged relative to each other such that the piston arm


76


extends within and through the inner periphery of the tension spring body


62


. In other words, the piston arm


76


is disposed within the longitudinally extending opening


70


formed by the coils of the tension spring body


62


. As such, a compact arrangement of the damper assembly


30


and spring biased mechanism


26


is possible between the upstanding walls


44


,


46


.




While the compact arrangement described above is preferred, it is within the broader aspects of the present invention to mount the damper assembly


30


and the spring biased mechanism


26


in side-by-side parallel relation with one another. In the parallel arrangement, either the damper assembly


30


or the spring biased mechanism


26


is positioned within the channel of the door mounting structure


40


and the other is positioned outwardly of the channel. For the outwardly positioned unit, the fasteners of the pivotal connections


58


,


60


would be extended axially through openings in one of the adjacent upstanding walls


44


,


46


. The opening in the upstanding wall


44


,


46


for the movable pin would be elongated to accommodate the movement.




OPERATION





FIGS. 1-3

illustrate the open, the partially open broiling operating, and the closed baking operating positions that are possible with the oven


10


of the present invention. As shown in

FIG. 4

, the spring biased mechanism


26


and damper assembly


30


are disposed in generally fully extended configurations (i.e., maximum deflections obtained through the ranges of movement of the oven door assembly


14


; not necessarily equivalent to maximum possible extensions of the damper assembly and spring biased mechanism) when the door assembly


14


is in the open position. Specifically, the tension spring body


62


and piston arm


76


are extended to maximum deflection positions. Further, in the open position, the journal member


84


abuts stop member


90


on the connecting structure


52


to restrict further pivotal movement of the door assembly


14


past the open position. As such, a spring force Fs is produced that acts generally longitudinally with respect to the tension spring body


62


. The configuration of the connecting structure


52


and the journal member


84


, as well as the cooperation therebetween, manipulates the spring force Fs to generate a torque Ti about the pivotal connection


41


.




As described above, the relative pivotal movement between the oven door assembly


14


(or the door mounting structure


40


) and the oven assembly


12


(or the mounting member


24


) may be defined by at least three movement ranges (R


1


-R


3


), and preferably five ranges of movements (R


1


-R


4


and R


S


), as shown in

FIGS. 8A-8D

.

FIG. 8A

shows the door mounting structure


40


in a position corresponding to the open position of the door assembly


14


(also see FIG.


1


). In this position, the door mounting structure


40


and the oven door assembly


14


are disposed in a generally horizontally extending position. The journal member


84


engages stop member


90


to prevent further pivotal movement of the door mounting structure


40


. It is noted that it may be preferable for the oven door assembly


14


to be disposed between about 0° and about 5° from horizontal when in the open position.




The first range of movement, denoted by R


1


in

FIG. 8A

, is defined by the pivotal movement of the door mounting structure


40


(similarly, the oven door assembly


14


) between the open position (between about 0° and about 5° from horizontal, as described above) and a first intermediate position P


1


(at about 10° from horizontal) relative to the mounting member


24


(similarly, the oven assembly


12


). During movement of the door mounting structure


40


within the first range of movement R


1


, the spring force Fs produces a torque T


1


about the pivotal connection


41


that acts between the mounting member


24


and the door mounting structure


40


in a direction towards the closed position. In this range R


1


, however, the weight of the door assembly


14


is sufficient to effect downward movement of the door assembly


14


(including the door mounting structure


40


) for any position of the door assembly


14


within this range, against the spring force F


s


. As such, the door assembly


14


will move into the open position within the range R


1


without further manual input.





FIG. 8A

also shows an intermediate, static range of movement R


S


, which exists from about 10° from horizontal (Position P


1


in

FIG. 8A

) to about 42° from horizontal. Generally, in this range R


S


, the spring biased mechanism


26


induces a torque T


2


between the door mounting structure


40


and the mounting member


24


towards the closed position about the pivotal connection


41


that is relatively equal to the force applied to the door assembly


14


by the weight thereof toward the open position. As such, the combination of damping and friction within the system enables the door assembly


14


to maintain a static position when in this range. In other words, the door assembly


14


will remain wherever it is manually moved. The door assembly


14


may be moved out of this static range by manual movement thereof toward either of the open or closed positions of the door assembly


14


. For example, the door assembly


14


will be biased in the closing direction under the force of spring biased mechanism


26


once it is manually moved out of the intermediate static range R


S


toward the closing direction.





FIG. 8B

illustrates a second range of movement, denoted by R


2


(in solid lines), of the door assembly


14


(as well as the door mounting structure


40


), which range of movement is adjacent the broil position. Within the second range of movement R


2


, the spring force Fs generated by the spring biased mechanism


26


induces a torque T


3


(between the door mounting structure


40


and the mounting member


24


) that affects movement of the door assembly


14


(including the door mounting structure


40


) toward and into the broiling operating position, shown in FIG.


8


C. When the door assembly


14


is manually released within range R


2


, the door assembly will move toward and into the broiling position, where it will then remain. The second range of movement R


2


in this embodiment is preferably between about 14° and 20° from the closed baking position. As will be discussed below, this preferred embodiment also provides a Fourth range of movement R


4


that will cause the door assembly


14


to “roll through” the broil position when the door is released within this range. As will also be discussed, an alternate embodiment may be provided with a much larger R


2


range and without the R


4


range (as illustrated in dashed lines in FIG.


8


B).





FIG. 8C

shows the door assembly


14


in the broiling operating position (approximately 15° from the closed position—also see

FIG. 2

) and illustrates a third range of movement, denoted by R


3


, of the door assembly


14


from the broiling operating position toward and into the closed baking operating position (shown in FIG.


8


D). Preferably, the range R


3


is between about 14° and 0° from the closed baking position.




The broiling position is provided by the engagement between the detent portion


92


of the connecting structure


52


and the roller element


82


(see FIG.


10


). As shown on

FIG. 8C

, the roller element


82


(more specifically, the journal member


84


) engages a first edge


94


of the detent portion


92


, effectively ceasing movement of the oven door assembly


14


toward the closed position and affecting the broiling position, as shown. The detent portion


92


acts as a stop preventing the roller element


82


from passing thereover.




In an alternate embodiment (referring to FIG.


8


B), it is contemplated that the detent portion


92


may be configured in conjunction with the damper assembly


30


such that contact between the roller element


82


and the detent portion


92


ceases movement of door assembly


14


when the door assembly


14


is manually moved past the range of movement Rs in the closing direction and then immediately released. In other words, it is contemplated that the door assembly can be manually moved to an angle slightly greater than the R


S


region from horizontal (e.g., more than 42° from horizontal) and the damper assembly


30


will have sufficient damping so that detent portion


92


and roller element


82


will act to cease door movement at the broil position. In this embodiment, it can be appreciated that the R


2


range (illustrated in dashed lines) can be considered much larger than the preferred range noted above.




However, in accordance with the preferred embodiment, when the door is disposed slightly beyond the static range R


S


(e.g., more than 42° from horizontal), it is considered to be within a Fourth range of movement R


4


. In the preferred embodiment, when the door is manually released (from static) within range R


4


, the momentum of the door assembly


14


towards the closed position causes roller element


82


to pass over the detent portion


92


without cessation of movement of the door assembly


14


at the broil position. In other words, the door assembly


14


moves toward and into the broil position, and then beyond the broil position without stopping at the broiling position. Of course, if the door assembly


14


is released when positioned closer to the broil position (e.g., within the range R


2


of about between 14° and 20° from closed), then the door will stop at the broil position. Preferably, the range R


4


is about from 42° from horizontal until the beginning of the R


2


range (e.g., about 20° from vertical). In other words, if the door is released from static at anywhere from between 43° to horizontal to about 69° to horizontal (or from about 47° to vertical to about 21° to vertical), the door will roll past broil into the bake position.




It can be appreciated that force inherently acting on the door assembly


14


due to the weight thereof toward the open position decreases as the door assembly becomes relatively more vertically disposed. A relatively greater amount of the weight of the door assembly


14


is carried by the pivotal connection


41


. Conversely, a relatively greater amount of the weight acts on the door assembly


14


in the direction toward the open position. As such, when moved from the static region R


S


and then released, the weight of the door assembly


14


will either move the door to the fully opened position, or the spring biased mechanism


26


affects movement of the door to the closed position.




In prior oven door hinges, the momentum of the oven door increased as it moved toward the closed position and, if left unchecked (i.e., not manually moved into the closed position) would impact the oven with an undesirably large force. Impact damage to the door and oven, as well as prolonged fatigue wear often occurred. However, the damper assembly


30


of the door mounting assembly


22


serves to limit the rate of movement (velocity) of the door assembly


14


through this range of motion, thereby limiting the momentum thereof. The door assembly


14


maintains a controlled, relatively slow rate of movement through the range R


2


toward or through the broiling position (from R


4


) and prevents impact and/or fatigue damage to the oven door assembly and oven assembly.




The range R


3


of movement is also controlled by the damper assembly


30


, as the door assembly


14


moves from (or through) the broiling position (shown in

FIG. 8C

) toward and into the closed baking operating position, shown in

FIG. 8D

(also see FIG.


3


). The arrangement of the door mounting structure


40


, as shown in

FIG. 8D

, corresponds to an arrangement between the door assembly


14


and the oven assembly


12


, wherein the door assembly


14


abuts the oven assembly


12


to effectively enclose the oven chamber


16


, as shown in FIG.


3


. The closed position of the door assembly


12


limits heat loss from the oven chamber


16


, so as to prevent injury to users and efficiently heat items within the oven chamber


16


.




The oven door assembly


14


may further include an annular heat seal (not shown) to further limit heat loss between the door and oven assemblies


14


,


12


. As such, the connecting structure


52


is constructed and arranged to affect a deflected state of the spring biased mechanism


26


as the door assembly


14


moves into the closed position thereby maintaining a closure force on the door assembly


14


to sufficiently engage the heat seal with the oven assembly


12


. To initiate and maintain the deflected state of the spring biased mechanism


26


, the roller element


82


is made to ride over the first edge


94


of the detent portion


92


as the door assembly nears the closed position. When in the closed position, the roller element


82


engages the detent portion


92


at an apex thereof (see FIG.


9


), thereby maintaining a tensive residual force, denoted Fr in

FIG. 8D

, in the spring biased mechanism


26


when the door assembly


14


is in the closed position thereof. The residual spring force Fr, in effect induces a closure torque Tc about the pivotal connection


41


, thereby maintaining sufficient engagement of the heat seal between the door assembly


14


and the oven assembly


12


.




From the closed position, shown in

FIG. 3

, the oven door assembly


14


may be manually moved (against the bias of the spring biased mechanism


26


) toward or into either of the broiling operating position (see

FIG. 2

) or the open position (see FIG.


1


). It may be preferable for the user to effect the manual movement of the door assembly by pulling the handle


28


outwardly, thereby pulling the door assembly


14


outwardly, as well. The handle


28


allows the user to safely (by being spaced from the potentially hot door assembly and/or oven assembly) and positively (by providing an easily grippable structure) control movement of the door assembly


14


.




As the door assembly


14


(door mounting structure


40


) moves from the closed position toward the broiling position, the roller element


82


moves from the apex of the detent portion


92


and rides along the first edge


94


of the detent portion


92


, as shown in

FIGS. 9 and 10

. The door assembly


14


may then be manually moved through the range R


3


into the broiling position, where the user may cease manual movement (allowing the door assembly


14


to remain in the broiling position) or may continue manual movement of the door through range R


2


. It is noted that the damper assembly


30


is preferably configured so as to allow undamped movement of the door assembly


14


in the direction from the closed (or broiling) position toward the open position. As such, the damper assembly


30


does not add significant resistance to manual movement of the door assembly


14


in this direction. Consequently, resistance to the manual movement is minimized in this direction.




As described previously, the door mounting assemblies


22


are configured such that the spring biased mechanism


26


affects movement of the door assembly


14


(toward the closed—or broiling—position) when the door assembly


14


is disposed within either of the ranges R


2


or R


3


. As such, upon release of manual control of the movement of the door assembly


14


within ranges R


2


or R


3


, when opening (or closing—described above) the door assembly


14


, the door assembly


14


will be moved toward the closed or broiling position by the spring force of the spring biased mechanism


26


.




Upon reaching the static range of movement R


S


, described above and shown in

FIG. 8B

, the user may cease manual movement of the door assembly


14


, at which point the door assembly


14


will maintain its position. However, the user may also continue manual movement of the door assembly


14


through the static position. Upon reaching the range of movement R


1


, the weight of the door assembly acting toward the open position reaches a sufficient magnitude to overcome the spring force Fs and affect movement of the door assembly


14


.




While the principles of the invention have been made clear in the illustrative embodiments set forth above, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art to make various modifications to the structure, arrangement, proportion, elements, materials and components used in the practice of the invention.




It will thus be seen that the aspects of this invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. It will be realized however, that the foregoing preferred specific embodiments have been shown and described for the purpose of illustrating the functional and structural principles of this invention and are subject to change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims.



Claims
  • 1. An oven comprising:an oven assembly defining an oven chamber within which heatable items can be heated, said oven chamber having an access opening communicating therewith, an oven door assembly mounted on said oven assembly for movement between (1) a generally vertically extending closed baking operating position enabling heatable items disposed in said oven chamber to be heated with said access opening closed (2) a slightly inclined partially open broiling operating position enabling heatable items in said oven chamber to be broiled and (3) a generally horizontally extending open position enabling heatable items to be moved into and out of said oven chamber through said access opening; said oven door assembly defining substantially enclosed spaces within opposite ends thereof, a pair of horizontally spaced door mounting assemblies extending within said spaces, each of said door mounting assemblies including a mounting member extending from an associated one of said spaces and detachably fixedly secured to said oven assembly and pivotally connected to said door assembly enabling said door assembly to be pivotally moved with respect to said oven assembly between said operating positions and said open position thereof, each of said door mounting assemblies including a spring biased mechanism within an associated one of said spaces constructed and arranged to enable said oven door assembly (1) to be biased by the weight thereof toward and into the open position thereof when in a first range of movement adjacent said open position (2) to be biased toward and into said broiling position by said spring biased mechanism when in a second range of movement adjacent the broiling position thereof and (3) to be biased toward and into said baking position by said spring biased mechanism when in a third range of movement adjacent said baking position, a manually engagable structure on said oven door assembly constructed and arranged to enable a user to manually control movement of said oven door assembly within all of said ranges, said pair of door mounting assemblies including a damper assembly within an associated one of said spaces that provides resistance to the movement of said oven door assembly within said second and third ranges to limit the rate of movement of the oven door assembly toward said broiling and baking positions by manual movement or under the bias of said spring biasing mechanism allowed as a result of the release of manual control.
  • 2. An oven according to claim 1, wherein each of said door mounting assemblies include a respective damper assembly.
  • 3. An oven according to claim 1, wherein only one of said mounting assemblies includes said damper assembly.
  • 4. An oven according to claim 1, wherein said spring biased mechanism biases said oven door assembly toward said broiling position and through said broiling position into said baking position when said door assembly is released from a fourth range of movement beyond said second range in spaced relation to said third range.
  • 5. An oven according to claim 1, wherein each of said door mounting assemblies includes a door mounting structure securely fixable with said oven door assembly, said door mounting structures being pivotally connectable with said mounting members of respective door mounting assemblies.
  • 6. An oven according to claim 5, wherein each of said door mounting assemblies further includes a connecting structure, said connecting structures being pivotally connectable at one end thereof with said mounting members of respective door mounting assemblies.
  • 7. An oven according to claim 6, wherein one end of each of said spring biased mechanisms is connectable at one end thereof with said connecting structures of respective door mounting assemblies, said spring biased mechanisms being connectable at an opposite end thereof with respective door mounting structures.
  • 8. An oven according to claim 7, wherein said damper assembly has one end thereof connectable with one of said connecting structures of said door mounting assemblies, said damper assembly being connectable at an opposite end thereof with a respective door mounting structure.
  • 9. An oven according to claim 8, wherein each of the door mounting structures includes a roller element that is rollingly engagable with respective connecting structures.
  • 10. An oven according to claim 8, wherein said spring biased mechanism is a tension spring.
  • 11. An oven according to claim 10, wherein said spring biased mechanism includes an elongated cylindrical coiled portion, said coiled portion defining a longitudinally extending inner opening.
  • 12. An oven according to claim 11, wherein said damper assembly includes an elongated damper body and a damper rod, said damper rod extendable from and retractable into said damper body.
  • 13. An oven according to claim 12, wherein said spring biased member and said damper assembly coaxially extend between said connecting structure and said door mounting structure such that said damper rod extends within said longitudinally extending inner opening of said coiled portion.
  • 14. An oven according to claim 1, wherein said oven door assembly is disposed between about 0° and 5° from horizontal when in said generally horizontally extending open position.
  • 15. An oven according to claim 14, wherein said oven door assembly is disposed at about 15° from vertical when in said slightly inclined partially open broiling operating position.
  • 16. An oven according to claim 15, wherein said first range of movement of said oven door assembly includes movement of said oven door assembly between said generally horizontally extending open position and about 10° from horizontal.
  • 17. An oven according to claim 16, wherein said second range of movement of said oven door assembly includes movement of said oven door assembly between about 42° from horizontal and said broiling position.
  • 18. An oven according to claim 1, wherein said door mounting assemblies include a detent mechanism that enables said door assembly to stop at said broiling position when said door assembly is released from said second range of movement.
  • 19. An oven according to claim 4, wherein said second range of movement of said oven door assembly includes movement of said oven door assembly between about 20° from vertical and the broiling position.
  • 20. An oven according to claim 19, wherein said fourth range of movement of said oven door assembly includes movement of said oven door assembly between about 42° from horizontal and about 20° from vertical.
  • 21. An oven according to claim 20, further comprising a range of movement for which the door will remain static when manually released in a static condition.
  • 22. An oven according to claim 21, wherein said range of movement for which the door will remain static is about 10° from horizontal to about 42° from horizontal.
  • 23. An oven according to claim 1, wherein said damper assembly having structure to provide more resistance to the movement of said oven door assembly in a direction toward said baking position than in a direction toward said open position.
  • 24. A damped oven door mounting assembly connectable between an oven assembly and an oven door assembly, said damped oven door mounting assembly comprising:a pair of horizontally spaced door mounting assemblies adapted to be disposed within an oven door assembly; each of said door mounting assemblies including a mounting member adapted to extend from the oven door assembly and be detachably fixedly secured to the oven frame assembly and pivotally connected to said door mounting assembly enabling the oven door assembly to be pivotally moved with respect to the oven assembly between (1) a generally vertically extending closed baking operating position (2) a slightly inclined partially open broiling operating position and (3) a generally horizontally extending open; each of said door mounting assemblies including a spring biased mechanism connectable between said mounting member and said door mounting assemblies constructed and arranged to enable the oven door assembly (1) to be biased by the weight thereof toward and into the open position thereof when in a first range of movement adjacent the open position (2) to be biased toward and into the broiling position by said spring biased mechanism when in a second range of movement adjacent the broiling position thereof and (3) to be biased toward and into the baking position by said spring biased mechanism when in a third range of movement adjacent the baking position, said pair of door mounting assemblies including a damper assembly constructed and arranged to provide resistance to the movement of the oven door assembly within the second and third ranges to limit the rate of movement of the oven door assembly toward the broiling and baking positions while providing substantially less resistance to the movement of the oven door assembly away from the baking position and toward the open position.
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