Patent Application
20130307392
The invention is directed to a hinge assembly for a domestic appliance. The hinge assembly has a hinge keeper that keeps the hinge securely positioned relative to the domestic appliance.
An example of an application for the invention is a hinge assembly used with a door of a domestic appliance.
Many domestic appliances, such as built in ovens, have one or more doors that swing open about a horizontal axis such that the door swings downward into an open position. Such a door is often heavy and uses springs of significant strength to counteract a portion of the weight of the door so that it is easier for a user to open and close the door. These springs often act to slam the door into the closed position after the door has passed a particular rotational position when moved upward toward the closed position. This slamming is undesirable for at least the reasons that it can make a loud noise, it can damage the appliance over time, and it gives the appearance of low quality. The result of such slamming is usually that the user continues to hold the door unit it has reached the closed position.
To prevent the undesirable slamming, soft-close hinges can be employed. Soft-close hinges often include some type of damper that slows the movement of the door for a predetermined distance before the door reaches the closed position. This damping prevents the slamming of the door and results in a much more desirable appliance.
Some dampers include a spring mounted inside a cylinder. The spring is often very long compared to its diameter in order to fit inside the cylinder. The damper can include a rod that moves relative to the cylinder when the damper is operated. A hinge assembly can include a damper, a spring, a hinge body, and a hinge foot. Often a domestic appliance, an oven for example, is provided with one hinge assembly on each side of an opening which is covered by the door. The hinge foot can be provided with an engagement portion that engages a foot receiving portion on the body of the domestic appliance. Due to the spring and damper forces acting on the foot and the foot receiving portion, the foot can have a tendency to move relative to the foot receiving portion at certain points along the motion between the open and closed positions. This is particularly true at or near the ends of the opening and closing motions. These forces can be caused by the spring and damper acting on the linkage that attaches the foot to the cylinder.
The above movement can result in the door moving out of alignment with the body of the domestic appliance. This misalignment can result in the top of the door contacting other parts of the domestic appliance such as, for example, a control panel located above the door. Such contact is undesirable for at least the reasons that it can cause damage to the door and/or the control panel, and it makes the domestic appliance appear to be of poor quality.
The invention recognizes the existence of the above described movement of the foot and that it can be caused by the spring and damper acting on the linkage that attaches the foot to the cylinder. To address this problem, the invention provides a hinge keeper that holds the foot in the proper position relative to the domestic appliance body, but simultaneously allows the required movement of the hinge assembly.
Particular embodiments of the invention are directed to a hinge assembly for pivotably attaching a door to a domestic appliance having an appliance body. The hinge assembly includes a hinge body configured to attach to the door such that the hinge body is fixed relative to the door; a damper including a damper cylinder attached to the hinge body, the damper cylinder having a rod partially located inside the cylinder and partially located outside the cylinder, and a coil spring located inside the cylinder and around the rod such that the rod extends through a center of a coil of the coil spring, the damper damping the movement of the rod relative to the cylinder; a foot attached to the hinge body and the cylinder, the foot being configured to engage a foot receiving portion of the domestic appliance such that the hinge body and the door pivot relative to the domestic appliance; and a hinge keeper configured to be fixedly attached to the appliance body of the domestic appliance. The hinge keeper has a retaining portion that contacts the foot, the retaining portion having an edge that contacts the foot from above such that the foot is prevented from moving vertically upward relative to the appliance body of the domestic appliance, and a fixing portion that is adapted to be fixed to the appliance body of the domestic appliance and prevent the retaining portion from moving vertically upward relative to the appliance body of the domestic appliance.
Other embodiments of the invention are directed to an assembly for pivotably attaching to a domestic appliance having an appliance body. The door assembly includes a door; and a hinge assembly for pivotably attaching the door to the appliance body of the domestic appliance. The hinge assembly includes a hinge body attached to the door such that the hinge body is fixed relative to the door; a damper including a damper cylinder attached to the hinge body, the damper cylinder having a rod partially located inside the cylinder and partially located outside the cylinder, and a coil spring located inside the cylinder and around the rod such that the rod extends through a center of a coil of the coil spring, the damper damping the movement of the rod relative to the cylinder; a foot attached to the hinge body and the cylinder, the foot being configured to engage a foot receiving portion of the domestic appliance such that the hinge body and the door pivot relative to the domestic appliance; and a hinge keeper configured to be fixedly attached to the appliance body of the domestic appliance. The hinge keeper has a retaining portion that contacts the foot, the retaining portion having an edge that contacts the foot from above such that the foot is prevented from moving vertically upward relative to the appliance body of the domestic appliance, and a fixing portion that is adapted to be fixed to the appliance body of the domestic appliance and prevent the retaining portion from moving vertically upward relative to the appliance body of the domestic appliance.
Other embodiments of the invention are directed to a domestic appliance having an appliance body with a foot receiving portion; a door; and a hinge assembly pivotably attaching the door to the appliance body of the domestic appliance. The hinge assembly includes a hinge body attached to the door such that the hinge body is fixed relative to the door; a damper including a damper cylinder attached to the hinge body, the damper cylinder having a rod partially located inside the cylinder and partially located outside the cylinder, and a coil spring located inside the cylinder and around the rod such that the rod extends through a center of a coil of the coil spring, the damper damping the movement of the rod relative to the cylinder; a foot attached to the hinge body and the cylinder, the foot engaging a foot receiving portion of the domestic appliance such that the hinge body and the door pivot relative to the domestic appliance; and a hinge keeper fixedly attached to the appliance body of the domestic appliance. The hinge keeper has a retaining portion that contacts the foot, the retaining portion having an edge that contacts the foot from above such that the foot is prevented from moving vertically upward relative to the appliance body of the domestic appliance, and a fixing portion that is fixed to the appliance body of the domestic appliance and prevents the retaining portion from moving vertically upward relative to the appliance body of the domestic appliance.
The following figures form part of the present specification and are included to further demonstrate certain aspects of the disclosed features and functions, and should not be used to limit or define the disclosed features and functions. Consequently, a more complete understanding of the exemplary embodiments and further features and advantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The invention is described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. The invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.
Many domestic appliances, such as, for example, built-in ovens, have a door that pivots relative to the body of the appliance to permit access to an internal space of the appliance. These doors are often heavy due to glass view panels, insulation, ventilating structure, and other elements. Springs are often used to reduce the effort needed from the user to close the door. These springs can be strong in order to exert a force that counteracts a large portion of the weight of a heavy door. The result of strong springs is often a slamming of the door once the door passes a particular point in the pivoting.
One or more dampers can be used to damp the closing action resulting from the strong springs to eliminate the slamming that can be caused by undamped springs. The dampers can be any type of damper including, but not limited to, gas filled or liquid filled dampers. Examples of fluid (gas and/or liquid) filled dampers have a cylinder that contains the fluid and may or may not include one or more orifices through with the fluid moves to create the damping force.
Some door hinge assemblies include both a spring and a damper. Some of these door hinge assemblies place the spring inside the damper cylinder to provide a compact assembly.
Damper 200 includes a cylinder 300 and a rod 400. Rod 400 is partially inside cylinder 300 and partially outside cylinder 300 and moves in a reciprocating motion relative to cylinder 300. A damping force is applied to rod 400 as it moves relative to cylinder 300 and damps the motion of rod 400 relative to cylinder 300. This damping force can result from a fluid inside cylinder 300 being forced through at least one aperture when rod 400 moves, or from some other type of damping mechanism.
In this example, hinge assembly 100 is attached to door 30 such that hinge body 110 does not move relative to door 30. Also shown in
Embodiments of the invention include a coil spring positioned inside cylinder 300 as shown in
In particular embodiments, foot 120 moves relative to door 30 in two ways (see
Although one particular embodiment of hinge keeper 700 is shown and described, other hinge keepers of other forms and shapes can also achieve the same result of preventing foot 120 from moving upward.
It is noted that in domestic appliances that have two hinge assemblies, particularly when the hinge assemblies are located or different sides of a door opening, slightly different spring characteristics, slightly different damper characteristics, and/or uneven wear of the spring, damper, or other components, can cause the hinge assemblies to operate with different force and damping characteristics. Such differences, can result in the door of the domestic appliance being twisted or skewed relative to the appliance body. Hinge keepers in accordance with the invention can prevent this twisting or skewing by holding the foot of each hinge assembly securing in place.
It will be appreciated that variants of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be combined into many other different systems or applications. Various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the invention.
