Door latch for an appliance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12553616-B2
Application number	US-202418443893-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 16, 2024
Priority date	Feb 16, 2024
Publication date	Feb 17, 2026
Grant date	Feb 17, 2026

Abstract

A cooking appliance includes an appliance body including a plurality of panels. The plurality of panels includes a front panel and a top panel, where the front panel defines a cavity aperture and a lock aperture. A cooking cavity assembly is disposed within the appliance body, where the cooking cavity assembly defines a cooking cavity. An appliance door includes a door frame defining a latch aperture and a door engagement surface. A door lock assembly is disposed within an electronics cavity and includes a door latch including an arm and a hook end extending from the arm. The hook end defines a latch engagement surface and is configured to engage the door engagement surface. An actuator is configured to rotate the door latch between an unlocked position allowing for selective access of the cooking cavity and a locked position preventing access to the cooking cavity.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A cooking appliance, comprising:
an appliance body including a plurality of panels, wherein the plurality of panels includes a front panel and a top panel, and wherein the front panel defines a cavity aperture and a lock aperture; a cooking cavity assembly disposed within the appliance body, wherein the cooking cavity assembly defines a cooking cavity, wherein an electronics cavity is defined between the top panel of the appliance body and the cooking cavity assembly; an appliance door operably coupled to the appliance body to allow for selective access to the cooking cavity, wherein the appliance door includes:
a door frame defining a latch aperture and a door engagement surface;
an outer door panel coupled to the door frame; and
an inner door panel coupled to the door frame; and
a door lock assembly disposed within the electronics cavity, the door lock assembly includes:
a door latch including an arm and a hook end extending from the arm, wherein the hook end defines a latch engagement surface configured to engage the door engagement surface, and wherein the latch engagement surface extends at about an angle of between about 80° to about 90° away from the arm to engage the door frame, wherein a coefficient of friction between the latch engagement surface and the door engagement surface when engaged is between about 0.7 and about 0.8, wherein the latch engagement surface is a first textured metal surface and the door engagement surface is a second textured metal surface, and wherein the engagement of the first textured metal surface and the second textured metal surface forms the coefficient of friction between the latch engagement surface and the door engagement surface; and
an actuator configured to rotate the door latch between an unlocked position allowing for selective access of the cooking cavity and a locked position preventing access to the cooking cavity by engaging the latch engagement surface with the door engagement surface, wherein the door latch is in the locked position when a cleaning cycle of said appliance is active.

2 . The cooking appliance of claim 1 , wherein the door lock assembly includes a door close sensor configured to sense whether the door is in a closed position.

3 . The cooking appliance of claim 2 , wherein when the door close sensor senses the door is in an open position the actuator does not rotate the door latch to the locked position.

4 . The cooking appliance of claim 2 , wherein the door close sensor includes:
a switch sensor; an arm having an engaged position and a disengaged position, wherein the arm activates the switch sensor in the engaged position, and wherein the switch sensor is not activated when the arm is in the disengaged position, and further wherein the arm is in the engaged position when the door is in a closed position; and a biasing member configured to bias the arm toward the disengaged position, wherein the arm is in the disengaged position when the door is in an open position or an intermediate position.

5 . The cooking appliance of claim 1 , wherein the latch engagement surface extends at about an angle of about 86° away from the arm to engage the door frame.

6 . The cooking appliance of claim 1 , wherein a coefficient of friction between the latch engagement surface and the door engagement surface when engaged is about 0.75.

7 . An oven, comprising:
an oven cabinet defining an oven compartment; a door operably coupled to the oven cabinet to allow for selective access to the oven compartment, the door including a door frame defining a latch aperture, wherein the latch aperture includes a door engagement surface; and a latching mechanism including:
a door latch including an arm and a hook end extending from the arm, wherein the hook end defines a latch engagement surface configured to engage the door engagement surface, and wherein a coefficient of friction between the latch engagement surface and the door engagement surface when engaged is between about 0.7 and about 0.8, wherein the latch engagement surface is a first textured metal surface and the door engagement surface is a second textured metal surface, and wherein the engagement of the first textured metal surface and the second textured metal surface forms the coefficient of friction between the latch engagement surface and the door engagement surface; and
an actuator configured to rotate the door latch between an unlocked position allowing for selective access of the oven compartment and a locked position preventing access to the oven compartment by engaging the latch engagement surface with the door engagement surface, wherein the door latch is in the locked position when a cleaning cycle of said oven is active.

8 . The oven of claim 7 , wherein the latch engagement surface extends at about an angle of between about 80° to about 90° away from the arm to engage the door frame.

9 . The oven of claim 7 , wherein the latch engagement surface extends at about an angle of about 86° away from the arm to engage the door frame.

10 . The oven of claim 7 , wherein the coefficient of friction between the latch engagement surface and the door engagement surface when engaged is about 0.75.

11 . The oven of claim 7 , wherein the latching mechanism includes a door close sensor configured to sense whether the door is in a closed position, and wherein when the door close sensor senses the door is not in the closed position the actuator does not rotate the door latch to the locked position.

12 . An appliance, comprising:
an appliance cabinet defining a cavity; a door operably coupled to the appliance cabinet to allow for selective access to the cavity, the door including a door frame defining a latch aperture; and a latching mechanism operable between an unlocked position allowing for selective access to the cavity and a locked position to prevent selective access to the cavity, wherein the latching mechanism includes a door latch having an arm with a hook end defining an engagement surface and a biasing arm with a distal end that extends toward the arm of the door latch, and wherein the engagement surface is configured to engage the latch aperture of the door frame and extends at about an angle of between about 80° to about 90° away from the arm to engage the door frame.

13 . The appliance of claim 12 , wherein the engagement surface extends at about an angle of about 86° away from the arm of the door latch to engage the door frame.

14 . The appliance of claim 12 , wherein the latch aperture defines a door engagement surface, and wherein a coefficient of friction between the engagement surface and the door engagement surface when engaged is between about 0.7 and about 0.8.

15 . The appliance of claim 12 , wherein the latching mechanism is in the locked position when a cleaning cycle of said appliance is active.

16 . The appliance of claim 12 , wherein the latching mechanism includes an actuator configured to move the door latch between the unlocked position and the locked position.

17 . The appliance of claim 12 , wherein the latching mechanism includes a door close sensor configured to sense whether the door is in a closed position.

Assignees

• Whirlpool Co

Inventors

• Andruszkiewicz Matthew Chester
• Gore Rohan Gajanan
• Lokaksha Sarang Hemant
• Patil Suraj Ganpatrao
• Sonone Yogesh

Classifications

• E05B65/00 Primary

  Locks {or fastenings} for special use · CPC title

• F24C14/00

  Stoves or ranges having self-cleaning provisions, e.g. continuous catalytic cleaning or electrostatic cleaning · CPC title

• F24C7/085

  on baking ovens · CPC title

• F24C15/022 Primary

  Latches · CPC title