Door hinge assembly for an appliance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10458164-B2
Application number	US-201715706878-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 18, 2017
Priority date	Sep 18, 2017
Publication date	Oct 29, 2019
Grant date	Oct 29, 2019

Abstract

A hinge assembly for an appliance includes features that allow for a door rotatably hinged to the appliance to be raised or lowered through various phases of the swing arc of the door by utilizing a ramped surface of a bracket of the hinge assembly as the working surface. In one exemplary aspect, a hinge assembly includes a hinge bracket having a pivot pin and a ramped surface. The door hinge assembly also includes a cam assembly coupled with the door and having a cam projection. As the door is swung about its swing arc, the cam projection engages the ramped surface of the hinge bracket. In this way, the door can be raised along the vertical direction as the door is rotated through its swing arc.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An appliance defining a vertical direction, a lateral direction, and a transverse direction each mutually perpendicular to one another, the appliance comprising:
a housing;
a door rotatable through a swing arc;
a hinge assembly rotatably coupling the door with the housing, the hinge assembly comprising:
a hinge bracket coupled with the housing, the hinge bracket comprising:
an attachment plate coupling the hinge bracket with the housing;
a pin plate extending in a plane perpendicular to the vertical direction;
a pivot pin extending from the pin plate along the vertical direction, the pivot pin defining a hinge axis; and
an extension portion extending between the attachment plate and the pin plate, the extension portion having a ramped surface;
wherein the ramped surface slopes downward along the vertical direction from the attachment plate to the pin plate; and

a cam plate coupled or integral with the door, the cam plate having a cam projection projecting therefrom, wherein the cam projection engages the ramped surface as the door is rotated through at least a portion of the swing arc of the door such that the door is moved along the vertical direction.

2. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein a cam assembly coupled or integral with the door comprises the cam plate, the cam plate extending in a plane perpendicular to the vertical direction, the cam assembly further comprising:
a thimble extending from the cam plate along the hinge axis and configured to receive the pivot pin such that the door can rotate about the hinge axis through the swing arc; and
wherein the cam projection extending from the cam plate extends along the vertical direction opposite the thimble and wherein the cam projection projects from the cam plate offset from the hinge axis.

3. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the cam plate extends in a plane perpendicular to the vertical direction and the cam projection projects from the cam plate along the vertical direction, the cam projection comprising:
a bottom surface;
one or more side surfaces connecting the bottom surface of the cam projection with the cam plate, wherein the bottom surface and at least one of the side surfaces define a contact edge, the contact edge having a rounded surface, and wherein when the cam projection engages the ramped surface of the hinge bracket as the door is rotated through at least a portion of the swing arc, the contact edge of the cam projection engages the ramped surface.

4. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the ramped surface of the hinge bracket defines a contact path indicative of where the cam projection engages the ramped surface as the door is rotated through the swing arc, wherein the contact path has an arcuate shape.

5. The appliance of claim 4 , wherein the cam projection engages the ramped surface at a first end point of the contact path and the cam projection disengages the ramped surface at a second end point of the contact path, an apex point being defined between the first and second end points along the contact path, the apex point disposed above both the first and second endpoints along the vertical direction, and wherein the apex point is the highest point along the vertical direction of the contact path, and wherein the first and second end points are positioned in substantially the same plane perpendicular to the vertical direction and the first and second end points are the lowest vertical points along the vertical direction of the contact path.

6. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the ramped surface has an angle of inclination with respect to the transverse direction between about forty degrees (40°) and about fifty degrees (50°).

7. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the ramped surface has an angle of inclination with respect to the transverse direction of about forty-five degrees (45°).

8. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the hinge bracket is directly coupled with the housing.

9. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the appliance is a refrigerator appliance.

10. The appliance of claim 9 , wherein the door is an outer door of a door-in-door configuration of the refrigeration appliance, and wherein the hinge bracket is indirectly coupled with the housing and directly coupled with an inner door.

11. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the swing arc of the door extends between a closed position and a fully open position, and wherein the swing arc defines a plurality of phases indicative of a range of angular positions of the door along the swing arc, wherein the plurality of phases comprises a first phase, a second phase, and a third phase, and wherein the first phase extends between the closed position at an angular position of zero degrees (0°) to about ten degrees (10°), the second phase extends between an angular position of ten degrees (10°) to an angular position of about eighty degrees (80°), and the third phase extends between an angular position of about eighty degrees (80°) to the fully open position, and wherein the cam projection engages the ramped surface during the second phase of the swing arc and is disengaged from the ramped surface during the first and third phases of the swing arc.

12. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the door is positioned at an apex position at an angular position of about fifty degrees (50°), wherein the apex position is descriptive of the greatest vertical height of the door.

13. A hinge assembly for a door of an appliance defining a vertical direction, a lateral direction, and a transverse direction and comprising a housing, the door rotatably coupled with the housing by the hinge assembly, the door rotatable through a swing arc, the hinge assembly comprising:
a hinge bracket coupled with the housing, the hinge bracket comprising:
a ramped surface extending outward from the housing and sloped in the vertical direction as the ramped surface extends outward from the housing;
a pin plate connected to the ramped surface of the hinge bracket; and
a pivot pin extending from the pin plate and defining a hinge axis; and
a cam assembly coupled or integral with the door, the cam assembly comprising:
a cam plate;
a thimble extending from the cam plate along the hinge axis and configured to receive the pivot pin;
a cam projection projecting from the cam plate, wherein the cam projection engages the ramped surface as the door is rotated through at least a portion of the swing arc of the door such that the door is moved along the vertical direction.

14. The hinge assembly of claim 13 , wherein the ramped surface slopes downward along the vertical direction as the ramped surface extends outward from the housing.

15. The hinge assembly of claim 13 , wherein the cam plate extends in a plane perpendicular to the vertical direction and the cam projection projects from the cam plate along the vertical direction, the cam projection comprising:
a bottom surface;
one or more side surfaces connecting the bottom surface of the cam projection with the cam plate, wherein the bottom surface and at least two of the side surfaces define a contact edge, the contact edge having a rounded surface at the junction of the bottom surface and the at least two side surfaces, and wherein when the cam projection engages the ramped surface of the hinge bracket as the door is rotated through at least a portion of the swing arc, the contact edge of the cam projection engages the ramped surface.

16. The hinge assembly of claim 13 , wherein the cam projection projects from the cam plate offset from the hinge axis.

17. The hinge assembly of claim 13 , wherein the

Assignees

• Haier Us Appliance Solutions Inc

Inventors

• Wantland Louis A
• Chellappan Bagawathkumar

Classifications

• E05Y2201/638

  Cams; Ramps · CPC title

• E05F1/043

  with cams, helical tracks (E05F1/061 takes precedence) · CPC title

• F25D2323/024

  Door hinges · CPC title

• E05D7/04 Primary

  Hinges adjustable relative to the wing or the frame · CPC title

• E05Y2900/31

  for refrigerators · CPC title