Patent Application
20080048539
The present teachings relate generally to refrigerators. More particularly, the present teachings relate a refrigerator that may be readily adapted to selectively open from a left side or a right side.
The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,771 discloses a refrigerator with a swinging closure door capable of being opened from both left and right sides. In one application, the refrigerator of the '771 patent may be used within a motor vehicle. In such applications, the refrigerator of the '771 patent does not unnecessarily limit the usage of the remainder of the vehicle interior. In this regard, the kitchen of the vehicle may be designed for either a left hand opening or a right hand opening refrigerator door. U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,771 is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
While the refrigerator of U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,771 satisfactorily provides a refrigerator with a door that can be selectively opened from opposite sides, it remains desirable to provide continued advancement in the pertinent art.
In accordance with one particular aspect, the present teachings provide a refrigerator including a cabinet and a door rotatably interconnected to the cabinet for rotation about a hinge axis. A hinge pin interchangeably interconnects one of a left hand side of the door and a right hand side of the door with the cabinet at the hinge axis. A lock pin interchangeably interconnects the other of the left hand side and the right hand side of the door with the cabinet. The lock pin is operative to releasably lock the door relative to the cabinet. A lock pin control member secures the lock pin to the door. The lock pin control member is movable between upper and lower positions to move the lock pin between locked and unlocked positions.
In accordance with another particular aspect, the present teaching provides a refrigerator including a cabinet and a door rotatably interconnected to the cabinet for rotation about a hinge axis. A first pin interchangeably interconnects one of a left hand side of the door and a right hand side of the door with the cabinet. A second pin interchangeably interconnects the other of the left hand side and the right hand side of the door with the cabinet. First and second control members secure the first and second pins to the door, respectively. The first and second pins are interchangeable. The first pin defines a hinge pin elongated along the hinge axis. The second pin defines a lock pin for releasably locking the door in a closed position.
The present teachings will become more fully understood from the detailed description, the appended claims and the following drawings.
The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses. It should be understood that throughout the drawings, corresponding reference numerals indicate like or corresponding parts and features. The description and any specific examples, while indicating embodiments of the present disclosure, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Moreover, recitation of multiple embodiments having stated features is not intended to exclude other embodiments having additional features, or other embodiments incorporating different combinations of the stated features.
With general reference to
Various terms of reference may be used below. For example, opposing lateral sides of the refrigerator 10 may be described as left (or left hand) and right (or right hand) sides. It will be understood that such terminology is used relative to a front side of the refrigerator 10. Such terms are intended to be illustrative of a particular embodiment and not necessary limiting of the present teachings.
The refrigerator 10 may generally include a cabinet 12 defining one or more storage compartments. The storage compartments may include an upper compartment 14 and a lower compartment 16. The upper compartment 14 may be a freezer compartment adapted to be maintained at a temperature below freezing and the lower compartment 16 may be a refrigeration compartment adapted to be maintained at a cooling temperature above freezing. As will be appreciated more fully below, the present teachings are not limited to any particular refrigerator orientation.
The refrigerator 10 may include a door for selectively closing and providing access to each of the storage compartments 14 and 16. In the embodiment illustrated, the refrigerator 10 may include an upper door 18 and a lower door 20. In a manner to be addressed below, the doors 18 and 20 may be mounted to the cabinet 12 between open and closed positions about a vertically extending pivot axis X (see
The refrigerator 10 may generally include a cabinet extension 22. The cabinet extension 22 may be positioned between the upper and lower doors 18 and 20 and may be secured to the cabinet 12. Attachment to the cabinet 12 may be accomplished with fasteners or in any other manner well known in the art. The cabinet extension 22 may carry certain control and/or display features for the refrigerator 10. For example, the cabinet extension 22 may carry temperature controls, temperature indicators, and the like.
The lower door 20 may include a cap or top portion 24 carried by the remainder of the door 20. The top portion 24 may be formed with the door 20 or may be a discrete component secured to the remainder of the door 20 in any well known manner. The top portion 24 may be injection molded of plastic or other suitable material.
The top portion 24 may be generally symmetrical about a midline Y of the door (see
The right and left ends 36 and 38 of the top portion 32 may define generally cylindrical apertures 40 (see
A first control member 46 may be used to interconnect the hinge pin 42 to the door 20. The first control member or hinge pin control member 46 may include a main body portion 48 having first and second legs 50 and 52 disposed in one of the recessed portions 30 and 32. The first leg 50 may be positioned proximate a lower surface of the respective recessed portion 30 or 32 and the second leg 52 may be positioned proximate the respective right or left end 36 or 38 of the top portion 32 of the door 20. A retaining portion 54 may extend from the second leg 52, pass through a slot 56 interconnecting the respective recessed portion 30 or 32 with the aperture 40, and engage an opening 58 defined by the hinge pin 42.
The first control member 46 may be fixedly secured to the top portion 32 of the door 20 with a fastener 60 or in with any other well known technique. The first control member 46 may additional incorporate a pair of integrally formed pins 59 (one of which is identified in
The cabinet extension 22 defines apertures 62 at laterally opposite left and right sides 64 and 66 (see
A second control member or lock pin control member 68 may be used to interconnect the lock pin 44 to the door 20. The lock pin 44 may be interconnected to the door 20 for movement in a generally vertical direction. The second control member 68 may include a main body portion 70 having a mounting portion 72 and a moveable portion 74. In certain applications, the second control member 68 may be constructed of a flexible plastic material and may be elastically deformable such that the end opposite the mounting portion 72 may be repeated moved relative to the mounting portion 72.
The mounting portion 72 may secured to the top portion 32 of the door 20 with a fastener 76 or in with any other well known technique. As with the first control member 46, the second control member 68 may additional incorporate a pair of integrally formed pins 78 (shown in
A retaining portion 79 may extend from the free end of the moveable portion 74. The retaining portion 79 may pass through the slot 56 interconnecting the respective recessed portion 30 or 32 with the aperture 40 and engage an opening 80 defined by the lock pin 44. The second control member 68 may function to normally bias the lock pin 44 to an upper position engaging one of the apertures 62 of the cabinet extension 22. For example, with a right hand door pivot axis X, the aperture 62 at the left side 64 of the cabinet extension 22 will receive the lock pin 44. Conversely, with a left hand door pivot axis X, the aperture 62 at the right side 66 of the cabinet extension 22 will receive the lock pin 44. In this manner, the lock member 44 will function to retain the door 20 in its closed position.
The apertures 62 that selectively receive the hinge and lock pins 42 and 44 have been described herein as being defined by the cabinet extension 22. Alternate structure for engaging the hinge and lock pins 42 and 44 may also be used within the scope of the present teachings. In this regard, the hinge and lock pins 42 and 44 may engage apertures or other retaining structure carried by a simple bracket extending from the cabinet 12.
A lower end of the door 20 is supported by a pair of brackets 80 and 82. A first bracket 80 is secured to the cabinet 12 and carries a hinge pin 84. The hinge pin 84 rotatably engages a lower aperture (not particularly shown) of the door 20. As shown in the exploded view of
In use, the moveable portion 74 of the second control member 68 may be downwardly deflected from the position shown in the drawings through a simple manual application of force. Such downward deflection in turn may function to downwardly translate the lock pin 44 and thereby disengage the lock pin 44 from the corresponding aperture 62. At this point, the door 20 is free to rotate about its pivot axis X.
The upper end of the lock pin 44 may be provided with a lead-in surface. For example, the upper end of the lock pin 44 may be angled. The angle of the upper end may function to downwardly displace the lock pin 44 against the normal bias of the second control member 68 upon rotation of the door 20 to its closed position. In this manner, the user need not manually displace the moveable portion 74 of the second control member 68 before rotating the door 20 to its closed position. Contact between the cabinet extension 22 and the lock pin 44 will automatically serve to downwardly displace the lock pin 44 until the lock pin 44 is aligned with the respective aperture 62. At such point, the normal bias of the second control member 68 will translate the lock pin 44 upward and thereby lock the door 22 in its closed position.
The present teachings have heretofore been described in connection with a pair of control members 46 and 68 carried by the lower door 20. It will be understood that the upper door 18 may similarly be provided with first and second control members 46 and 68. In such an arrangement, the first and second control members 46 and 68 may be carried at a lower end of the door 18 and cooperate with the cabinet extension 22. Alternatively, structure can be carried proximate an upper end of the upper door 18 to cooperate with the hinge and lock pins 44 and 46. Such alternate structure may include simple brackets with holes to receive the pins 44 and 46. As described here, the refrigerator 10 includes a hinge pin 42 and a lock pin 44. As illustrated throughout the drawings, a common component may alternatively function as both the hinge pin 42 and the lock pin 44. Explaining further, a common component may simply be used in one oriented to function as the hinge pin 42 and in another orientation to function as a lock pin 44. The common component may be a generally cylindrical structure. In certain applications, the ends may be distinct with a hinge end oriented upward when the component functions as the hinge pin 42 and a lock end oriented upward when the component functions as a lock pin 44. In other applications, the ends may be identical. In this regard, a common structure in a common orientation may be used as the lock pin 44 and the hinge pin 42. When functioning as the lock pin 44, the component is simply coupled to the door 20 for translation.
As described herein, the refrigerator 10 includes a hinge pin 42 and a lock pin 44. As illustrated throughout the drawings, a common component may alternatively function as both the hinge pin 42 and the lock pin 44. Explaining further, a common component may simply be used in one oriented to function as a hinge pin 42 and another orientation to function as a lock pin 44.
Turning to
While specific examples have been described in the specification and illustrated in the drawings, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalence may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the present teachings. Furthermore, the mixing and matching of features, elements and/or functions between various examples may be expressly contemplated herein so that one skilled in the art would appreciate from the present teachings that features, elements and/or functions of one example may be incorporated into another example as appropriate, unless described otherwise above. Moreover, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the present teachings without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it may be intended that the present teachings not be limited to the particular examples illustrated by the drawings and described in the specification as the best mode of presently contemplated for carrying out the present teachings but that the scope of the present disclosure will include any embodiments following within the foregoing description.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/840,058 filed 24 Aug. 2006, which application is herein expressly incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60840058 | Aug 2006 | US |
