Mounting assembly for a door of a home appliance and method of use

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11326784-B2
Application number	US-201916456544-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 28, 2019
Priority date	Jun 28, 2019
Publication date	May 10, 2022
Grant date	May 10, 2022

Abstract

A home appliance includes a door coupled with a cabinet of the home appliance and moveable about a vertical axis between open and closed positions. A lower hinge assembly moveably couples a lower portion of the door with the cabinet. A mounting assembly is configured to support an upper portion of the door relative to the cabinet until the upper portion of the door is coupled with the cabinet and includes a first bracket supporting a pivot pin and a second bracket including a slot configured to receive the pivot pin therein. When the lower portion of the door is coupled to the cabinet by the lower hinge assembly and the pivot pin is received within the slot, the mounting assembly is configured to maintain the upper portion of the door in vertical alignment with the lower portion along the vertical axis.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A home appliance, comprising:
a cabinet defining an interior and having an access opening to a chamber disposed within the interior;
a door coupled with the cabinet to selectively provide access to the chamber;
a lower hinge assembly moveably coupling a lower portion of the door with the cabinet for movement of the door about a vertical axis between open and closed positions; and
a mounting assembly configured to support an upper portion of the door relative to the cabinet until the upper portion of the door is coupled with the cabinet, comprising:
a first bracket coupled with one of the cabinet and the door and supporting a pivot pin; and
a second bracket mounted to the other of the cabinet and the door, wherein the second bracket includes a slot configured to receive the pivot pin therein, wherein the second bracket further comprises a channel extending orthogonal to the slot, and wherein the channel is configured to receive the pivot pin therein for rotation of the door about the pivot pin when the upper portion of the door is coupled with the cabinet;

wherein, when the lower portion of the door is coupled to the cabinet by the lower hinge assembly and the pivot pin is received within the slot, the mounting assembly is configured to maintain the upper portion of the door in vertical alignment with the lower portion along the vertical axis until the upper portion of the door is coupled with the cabinet.

2. The home appliance of claim 1 , further comprising:
a third bracket coupled with the second bracket to couple the upper portion of the door with the cabinet, wherein the third bracket is configured to prevent the pivot pin from being withdrawn from the slot.

3. The home appliance of claim 2 , wherein the coupled second and third brackets are configured to allow for relative rotation of the second and third brackets and the pivot pin, and wherein the second and third brackets moveably couple the upper portion of the door with the cabinet for movement of the door between the open and closed positions.

4. The home appliance of claim 1 , wherein the second bracket comprises a first portion coupling the second bracket to the other of the cabinet and the door and a second portion, connected to the first portion, and comprising the slot.

5. The home appliance of claim 4 , wherein the second portion is vertically offset from the first portion.

6. The home appliance of claim 4 , further comprising:
a third portion downwardly depending from the second portion of the second bracket and adjacent the slot; and
a third bracket having a first leg coupling the third bracket to the third portion, and a second leg extending from a distal end of the first leg and projecting at least partially into the slot, and
wherein the second leg prevents the pivot pin from being withdrawn from the slot.

7. The home appliance of claim 6 , wherein the second portion comprises a channel extending orthogonal to the slot, and wherein the second leg traps the pivot pin within the channel.

8. The home appliance of claim 6 , wherein the third bracket comprises a third leg extending from a distal end of the first leg, opposite the second leg, and wherein the third portion is received between the first leg and the third leg.

9. The home appliance of claim 1 , wherein the first bracket comprises a first portion coupled with one of the cabinet and the door and a second portion projecting from a distal end of the first portion, the second portion supporting the pivot pin in alignment with the vertical axis.

10. The home appliance of claim 1 , wherein the first bracket is coupled with the cabinet and the second bracket is coupled with the upper portion of the door.

11. A method of coupling a door to a home appliance for movement about a vertical axis between open and closed positions, comprising:
connecting a lower portion of a door to a cabinet of the home appliance with a lower hinge assembly, and wherein one of the cabinet and the upper portion of the door comprises a first bracket supporting a pivot pin;
aligning a second bracket coupled to the other of the cabinet and the upper portion of the door and the pivot pin; and
moving the upper portion of the door with respect to the cabinet to position the pivot pin within a slot formed in the second bracket, wherein the second bracket comprises a channel extending orthogonal to the slot;
moving the upper portion of the door longitudinally with respect to the cabinet to position the pivot pin within the channel,
wherein, the second bracket is configured such that when the pivot pin is positioned within the slot, the upper portion of the door is maintained in vertical alignment with the lower portion of the door until the upper portion of the door is coupled with the cabinet.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
after the step of moving the upper portion of the door with respect to the cabinet to position the pivot pin within the slot, coupling the upper portion of the door with the cabinet by coupling a third bracket with the second bracket, wherein the third bracket is configured to prevent the pivot pin from being withdrawn from the slot.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the coupled second and third brackets are configured to allow for relative rotation of the second and third brackets with the pivot pin, and wherein the second and third brackets moveably couple the upper portion of the door with the cabinet for movement of the door between the open and closed positions.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first bracket is coupled with the cabinet, the method further comprising:
prior to the step of aligning the second bracket, coupling a first portion of the second bracket to the upper portion of the door such that a second portion, connected with the first portion and comprising the slot, is positioned adjacent an edge of the upper portion of the door.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
adjusting the position of the first portion relative to the door to facilitate aligning the slot with the pivot pin.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the second bracket comprises a third portion, downwardly depending from the second portion, the method further comprising:
after the step of moving the upper portion of the door with respect to the cabinet to position the pivot pin within the slot, coupling a third bracket to the third portion, wherein the third bracket comprises a portion that projects at least partially into the slot and prevents the pivot pin from being withdrawn from the slot.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the second portion comprises a channel extending orthogonal to the slot, the method further comprising trapping the pivot pin within the channel with the portion of the third bracket projecting at least partially into the slot.

18. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
after the step of moving the upper portion of the door longitudinally with respect to the cabinet to position the pivot pin within the channel, coupling a third bracket with the second bracket, wherein the third bracket is configured to trap the pivot pin within the channel.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Manara Paulo Henrique Alves
• Mascarello Ledimara
• Simm Vinicius

Classifications

• E05Y2600/56

  Positioning, e.g. re-positioning, or pre-mounting · CPC title

• F24C15/023 Primary

  Mounting of doors, e.g. hinges, counterbalancing · CPC title

• E05D5/12

  Securing pins in sockets, movably or not · CPC title

• E05D7/081

  the pivot axis of the wing being situated near one edge of the wing, especially at the top and bottom, e.g. trunnions · CPC title

• E05D3/02 Primary

  with one pin · CPC title