U.S. patent number 3,863,391 [Application Number 05/423,205] was granted by the patent office on 1975-02-04 for reversibly mounted cabinet door.
This patent grant is currently assigned to General Electric Company. Invention is credited to Julius B. Horvay, John M. Powell.
United States Patent |
3,863,391 |
Horvay , et al. |
February 4, 1975 |
REVERSIBLY MOUNTED CABINET DOOR
Abstract
A door for a cabinet such as a domestic refrigerator cabinet,
for example, has hinge pins at its upper and lower ends on each
side thereof spring biased to extend beyond the peripheral edges of
the door for disposition in hinge plates mounted on the cabinet
adjacent the upper and lower ends of each side of the door. A
handle adapted to be mounted on one side of the door includes cam
actuators which cooperate with the upper and lower hinge pins on
the side on which the handle is mounted to retract these hinge pins
from support in the hinge plates so that the door is hinged to the
cabinet on the opposite side of the door from the handle. The door
preferably has a trim cover on the opposite side to that having the
handle including means for locking the hinge pins in their extended
positions to which they are urged.
Inventors: |
Horvay; Julius B. (Louisville,
KY), Powell; John M. (Charlestown, IN) |
Assignee: |
General Electric Company
(Louisville, KY)
|
Family
ID: |
23678028 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/423,205 |
Filed: |
December 10, 1973 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
49/382; 49/460;
16/232; 49/193 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E05D
7/081 (20130101); E05D 7/1011 (20130101); F25D
2323/024 (20130101); Y10T 16/5285 (20150115); E05Y
2900/31 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
E05D
7/08 (20060101); E05d 007/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;49/193,382,388,460,402
;16/147,170,176 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Downey; Kenneth
Claims
We claim:
1. An arrangement for reversibly mounting a door on a cabinet
including:
a first pair of hinge pins supported adjacent the upper and lower
ends of the door adjacent one side thereof;
a second pair of hinge pins supported adjacent the upper and lower
ends of the door adjacent the other side thereof;
means cooperating with each of said hinge pins to continuously bias
each of said hinge pins to a position extending beyond the
peripheral edge of the door;
first support means on the cabinet to receive in supporting
engagement each of said hinge pins adjacent the upper end of the
door when each of said hinge pins is in an extended position;
second support means on the cabinet to receive in supporting
engagement each of said hinge pins adjacent the lower end of the
door when each of said hinge pins is in an extended position;
removably disposed means mounted on one of the sides of the door to
retract each of the hinge pins on the one side of the door from
said first and second support means when said removably disposed
means is disposed on the door so that said retracted hinge pins are
retracted from supporting engagement with said first and second
support means, said removably disposed means comprising a single
longitudinal member having first and second means for cooperation
with each of said hinge pins on the one of the sides of the door
and said single longitudinal member of said removably disposed
means being secured to the door to serve as the handle for the
door; and
removable means on the other side of the door from the side having
said removably disposed means for locking each of said hinge pins
on the other side of the door in its extended position and
supporting the bottom edge of the door in spaced relationship to
the adjacent hinge plates.
2. An arrangement for reversibly mounting a door on a cabinet
including:
a first pair of hinge pins supported adjacent the upper and lower
ends of the door adjacent one side thereof;
a second pair of hinge pins supported adjacent the upper and lower
ends of the door adjacent the other side thereof;
means cooperating with each of said hinge pins to continuously bias
each of said hinge pins to a position extending beyond the
peripheral edge of the door;
first support means on the cabinet to receive in supporting
engagement each of said hinge pins adjacent the upper end of the
door when each of said hinge pins is in an extended position;
second support means on the cabinet to receive in supporting
engagement each of said hinge pins adjacent the lower end of the
door when each of said hinge pins is in an extended position;
and
removably disposed means mounted on one of the sides of the door to
retract each of the hinge pins on the one side of the door from
said first and second support means when said removably disposed
means is disposed on the door so that said retracted hinge pins are
retracted from supporting engagement with said first and second
support means, said removably disposed means comprising a single
longitudinal member having first and second means for cooperation
with each of said hinge pins on the one of the sides of the door,
said single longitudinal member being secured to the door to serve
as the handle for the door, each of said cooperating means being a
continuous urging means, and each of said first and second means on
said single longitudinal member being a cam actuator adapted to
extend into a slot in an unexposed portion of said hinge pin to
move said hinge pin against the force of said continuous urging
means.
3. The arrangement according to claim 2 including removable means
on the other side of the door from the side having said removably
disposed means for locking each of said hinge pins on the other
side of the door in its extended position when said removable means
is mounted on the other side of the door.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In a cabinet such as a domestic refrigerator cabinet, for example,
it is desired to be able to mount the door so that it can swing in
either direction. A dealer can then sell a single domestic
refrigerator for use either as a right-hand or left-hand door and
does not have to stock separate right-hand and left-hand door
cabinets.
Furthermore, when the owner of a domestic refrigerator cabinet
moves, for example, the possibility exists that the design of the
kitchen in the new home will be such that the door of the
refrigerator cabinet should swing from the opposite side to that
which it swung in the prior home for easy accessibility. Thus, it
is desirable that the hinge mounting of the door of a domestic
refrigerator be easily switched.
It has previously been suggested, as for example in U.S. Pat. No.
3,378,954-Sandin, to reversibly mount a door for a cabinet such as
a domestic refrigerator so that it can be hinged on either side of
the cabinet. In the Sandin patent, the hinge pins are manually
movable from within the door to a position in which each is
supported by a hinge plate carried by the cabinet.
However, with the hinge structure of the Sandin patent, the
possibility exists that all of the hinge pins accidentally could be
retracted into the door whereby the door would no longer be
supported on the cabinet. This possibility exists particularly when
the hinge mounting of the door is being changed by the owner at
some period of time after having purchased the refrigerator.
The present invention satisfactorily solves this problem by
providing an arrangement for mounting a door on a cabinet so that,
during change-over, the door can be always hinged to at least one
side of the cabinet. Thus, even if the owner decides to change the
hinge mounting of the door so that it swings from the opposite side
of the cabinet, the arrangement of the present invention enables
the owner to make the reversal while the door is hinged to the
cabinet on at least one side.
The arrangement of the present invention preferably also
incorporates cam actuators for retracting the hinge pins on the
side of the door that is not to be hinged, which are integral with
the door handle. Thus, when the door handle is mounted on the door,
this automatically insures that the correct set of hinge pins is
retracted.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of this invention is to provide an improved
reversibly-mounted cabinet door.
Another object of this invention is to provide a reversibly-mounted
cabinet door capable of being hinged on either side without the use
of any special tools.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a
reversibly-mounted cabinet door in which changing of the side on
which the door handle is disposed automatically inactivates the
hinge support to the cabinet on that side.
In accordance with the illustrated embodiment of the invention,
there is provided an arrangement for reversibly mounting a door on
a cabinet. The arrangement has a first pair of hinge pins supported
adjacent the upper and lower ends of the door on one side thereof
and a second pair of hinge pins supported adjacent the upper and
lower ends of the door on the other side thereof. Each of the hinge
pins is continuously biased to extend beyond the peripheral edge of
the door by means cooperating with each of the hinge pins so that
the hinge pins are disposed within support means mounted on each
side of the cabinet at the upper and lower ends thereof to provide
hinge mountings for the door. A handle structure adapted to be
mounted on one or the other side of the door has means thereon to
retract the hinge pins on that side of the door from the support
means.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a refrigerator cabinet having
upper and lower reversibly-mounted doors in accordance with the
hinge arrangement of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view, partly in elevation,
showing the hinge arrangement for the lower end of the upper door
and the upper end of the lower door of the cabinet of FIG. 1 with
the doors hinged on the right side.
FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view, partly in elevation, of a
door for a single-door cabinet and having the arrangement of the
present invention.
FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the hinge
arrangement of the present invention as used with the lower door of
the cabinet of FIG. 1.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to the drawings and particularly FIG. 1, there is shown a
domestic refrigerator cabinet 10 having an upper door 11 and a
lower door 12. Each of the upper door 11 and the lower door 12 can
be hingedly mounted on either side of the cabinet 10.
The lower door 12 has a pair of hinge bodies 14 disposed in its
upper end adjacent the corners thereof and a similar pair of the
hinge bodies 14 disposed in its lower end adjacent the lower
corners. Each of the hinge bodies 14 is supported within the lower
door 12.
The door 11 similarly has a pair of the hinge bodies 14 disposed at
its upper end and a similar pair of the hinge bodies 14 disposed at
its lower end.
Each of the hinge bodies 14 has a hinge pin 15 (see FIGS. 2 and 4)
slidably supported therein within a longitudinal recess 16 and
continuously urged outwardly of the hinge body 14 to an extended
position by a spring 17, which also is disposed within the recess
16. The spring 17 acts against lower surface 18 of a square shaped
portion 19 (see FIG. 4) of the hinge pin 15 and against a surface
20 (see FIG. 2), which forms the bottom of the recess 16, of the
hinge body 14.
The hinge body 14 has a keeper 21 (see FIGS. 2 and 4) secured
thereto and disposed within a slot 22 in a wall of the hinge body
14. Accordingly, the outward movement of the hinge pin 14 by the
spring 17 is limited by the keeper 21 engaging the upper end of the
slot 22.
As shown in FIG. 4, the substantially squareshaped portion 19 of
the hinge pin 15 also slides within the longitudinal recess 16 in
the hinge body 14. The upper end of the square-shaped portion 19
has a hollow cylindrical portion 23, which protrudes outwardly
beyond the periphery of the door 11 or 12 in which it is
mounted.
The cylindrical portion 23 of the hinge pin 15 is disposed within a
round opening 24 in a hinge plate 25 as shown in FIG. 2. A pair of
the hinge plates 25 is disposed between the lower end of the upper
door 11 and the upper end of the lower door 12 and supported on a
portion of front wall 26 of the refrigerator cabinet 10 between the
doors 11 and 12.
The cabinet 10 also has a pair of hinge plates 27 (see FIG. 1)
disposed on its top wall with each having a round opening for
receiving one of the hinge pins 15 slidably disposed in the hinge
bodies 14 at the upper end of the upper door 11 for support. The
cabinet 10 further includes a pair of hinge plates 28 supported on
the front wall 26 of the cabinet 10 adjacent its lower end with
each having a round opening to receive one of the hinge pins 15 in
the hinge bodies 14 at the lower end of the lower door 12 for
support.
As shown in FIG. 2, the hinge plates 25 not only receive the
cylindrical portions 23 of the hinge pins 15 at the upper end of
the lower door 12 but also receive cylindrical portions 29 of the
hinge pins 15 at the lower end of the upper door 11. The portion 29
of each of the hinge pins 15 at the lower end of the upper door 11
is formed with a reduced projection 30 for disposition within the
hollow cylindrical portion 23 of the hinge pin 14 at the upper end
of the lower door 12 as shown for the right hinge in FIG. 2. Thus,
it should be understood that each of the hinge pins 15 at the lower
end of the upper door 11 has the cylindrical portion 29 rather than
the cylindrical portion 23.
The lower door 12 has a handle 35 for mounting on the side of the
lower door 12 opposite to the side about which the lower door 12 is
to pivot. Similarly, the upper door 11 has a handle 36 on the side
opposite to the side about which the upper door 11 is to pivot.
As shown in FIG. 4, the handle 35 for the door 12 has a cam
actuator 37 at its upper end and a similar cam actuator 38 at its
lower end. The handle 36 has a cam actuator (not shown) at its
upper end and a cam actuator 40 (see FIG. 2) at its lower end with
the cam actuators on the handle 36 having the same shape as the cam
actuators 37 and 38 on the handle 35.
The cam actuator 32 includes an inclined surface 41, which
functions as a wedge or cam when the handle 35 is mounted on the
lower door 12. As the handle 35 is moved inwardly, the surface 41
engages an intermediate cross-piece or partition 42 of the hinge
pin 15 to retract the hinge pin 15 within the door 12 against the
force of the spring 17. The full retraction of the hinge pin 15
within the hinge body 14 is shown in FIG. 2 for the upper hinge pin
15 at the upper end of the lower door 12.
The cam actuator 37 is inserted into the hinge body 14 through an
opening in side wall 43 (see FIG. 4) of the lower door 12 and an
opening 44 in the hinge body 14. The opening 44 communicates with
the longitudinal recess 16 in the hinge body 14 and extends into a
rear passage or receptacle 45 (see FIG. 2). The cam actuator 38 on
the lower end of the handle 35 is inserted simultaneously into the
hinge body 14 at the lower end of the lower door 12 through an
opening 46 in the side wall 43 of the lower door 12 and the opening
44 in the hinge body 14.
The handle 35 is secured in this position to the lower door 12 by
screws 47 (see FIG. 2) extending into threaded holes 48 (see FIG.
4) in the hinge body 14. Of course, the handle 35 is also similarly
secured to the hinge body 14 in the lower end of the lower door
12.
Because the lower hinge pins 15 move in the opposite direction to
the upper hinge pins 15 during both extension and retraction
thereof, the cam actuator 38 at the lower end of the handle 35 has
its inclined surface 49 (see FIG. 4) disposed to move the lower
hinge pin 15 upwardly to retract the hinge pin 15 within the lower
door 12.
A similar arrangement exists with the hinge pins 15 on the upper
door 11 and the cam actuators (one shown at 40) on the upper door
handle 36. Thus, when the cam actuators (one shown at 40) on the
upper door handle 36 are inserted into the upper door 11, the hinge
pins 15 of the upper door 11 are no longer supported in the hinge
plates 25 and 27 on the side of the door 11 having the handle
36.
Since both of the side walls or edges of the lower door 12 have
openings therein to receive the cam actuators 37 and 38 of the
handle 35, these openings not covered by the handle should be
closed to provide an attractive appearance. Accordingly, a trim
cover 50 is disposed on the opposite side wall of the lower door 12
from that having the handle 35. The cover 50 also has a pair of
retaining or locking elements (one shown at 51 in FIG. 2) which are
secured to the cover 50 in longitudinally spaced relation to each
other so that each of the retaining elements (one shown at 51) can
only fit between a surface 52 of the hinge pin 15 and the partition
42 of the hinge pin 15. This relation for the upper right hinge pin
15 on the lower door 12 is shown in FIG. 2.
When the hinge pin 15 is supported on the hinge plate 25, the
square-shaped portion 19 of the hinge pin 15 has its upper surface
53 bearing against lower surface 54 of the hinge plate 25.
Therefore, when the retaining element 51 is inserted within the
opening in the side wall of the lower door 12 and the opening 44 in
the hinge body 14, it merely slides between the partition 42 of the
hinge pin 15 and the surface 52 of the hinge pin 15 to lock or
maintain the pin in the extended position. An inclined surface 55
of the retaining element 51 aids in guiding the retaining element
51 into the hinge body 14.
The other retaining element on the cover 50 cooperates with the
lower hinge body 14 in the lower right corner of the lower door 12
to lock the lower right hinge pin 15 in its hinge or extended
position, that is, the position in which the hinge pin 15 is
disposed in the hinge plate 28.
After the trim cover 50 has been mounted on the lower door 12 so
that the retaining elements (one shown at 51) are in the fully
inserted position as shown for the retaining element 51 in FIG. 2,
the cover 50 is secured to the lower door 12 by being connected to
the upper and lower hinge bodies 14 by screws 47 cooperating with
the threaded holes 48 in the hinge bodies 14.
In a similar manner, the upper door 11 has openings in its side
wall on the side opposite that to which the handle 36 is mounted.
Accordingly, a trim cover 60 (see FIG. 1) is mounted on the upper
wall 11 on the side door opposite that having the handle 36 secured
thereto. The cover 60 has retaining elements (one shown at 61 in
FIG. 2) which, like the retaining element 51 on the cover 50,
cooperate with the hinge pins 15 in the hinge bodies 14 at the
upper and lower edges of the right side of the upper door 11. The
retaining elements (one shown at 61) of the cover 60 lock the hinge
pins 15 on this side of the upper door 11 within the upper hinge
plate 27 and the lower hinge plate 25.
If it is desired that the handle 35 be mounted on the right hand
side of the lower door 12 so that the lower door 12 is hinged on
its left side, the handle 35 is removed from the left side of the
lower door 12 and the cover 50 is removed from the right side of
the lower door 12. Then, before the handle 35 is mounted on the
right side of the lower door 12 and the trim cover 50 is mounted on
the left side of the lower door 12, the handle 35 and the cover 50
are inverted. As a result, the cam actuator 38 of the handle 35 is
in a position to be inserted in the upper hinge body 14 on the
right side of the lower door 12 while the cam actuator 37 of the
handle 35 is in a position to be inserted in the lower hinge body
14 on the right side of the lower door 12. With the cover 50
inverted, the retaining element 51 is inserted in the lower hinge
body 14 on the left side of the door 12 while the other retaining
element of the cover 50 is inserted in the upper hinge body 14 on
the left side of the lower door 12. This change in positions of the
handle 35 and the cover 50 results in locking the hinge pins 15 on
the left side of the lower door 12 in their extended positions
while retracting the hinge pins 15 on the right-hand side of the
lower door 12 within the perpiheral edges of the lower door 12 so
that the lower door 12 pivots about the hinge pins 15 on the left
side of the lower door 12.
A similar procedure is followed for reversing the upper door 11.
That is, the handle 36 and the cover 60 are inverted and transposed
to the opposite sides of the upper door 11.
Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a refrigerator cabinet 70
having a single door 71, which has the hinge bodies 14 in both of
its upper corners and both of its lower corners. The cabinet 70 has
upper hinge plates 72 mounted thereon at the top and lower hinge
plates 73 disposed on its front wall 74 near the bottom of the
cabinet 70.
The door 71 has a handle 75, which is like the handle 36, mounted
on the left-hand side of the door 71 so that the door 71 pivots
about the hinge pins 15 on the right-hand side thereof. The handle
75 has a pair of cam actuators (one shown at 76), which are like
the cam actuators 37 and 38 on the handle 35 of the lower door 12
of the cabinet 10.
The opposite side of the door 71 has a trim cover 78, which is
similar to the trim cover 50 for the lower door 12 of the cabinet
10. The cover 78 has a pair of retaining elements 79 and 80 to lock
the hinge pins 15 at the upper and lower ends of the right-hand
side of the door 71 in the position shown in FIG. 3. Each of the
handle 75 and the cover 78 is secured by screws 81 to the hinge
bodies 14.
When the door 71 is to be hinged on its left side, the positions of
the handle 75 and the trim cover 78 are reversed. They also are
inverted in the same manner as the handle 35 and the trim cover
50.
An advantage of this invention is that the door can be always
hinged on the cabinet during reversal.
A further and important advantage of the present invention is the
construction and operation of the retaining element 51 to lock the
associated hinge pins 15 in an extended position to thereby prevent
scrubbing of the bottom edge of a door against the supporting hinge
plate on the opposite or handle edge of the door. In the absence of
the locking member 51, the weight of the door would compress the
spring 17 in the lower hinge body and the door would rest on the
hinge plates. As shown for example in FIG. 2, the locking action of
the element 80 raises the door relative to the hinge plate 73 to
provide a clearance space indicated by numeral 85 between the
opposite lower corner of the door and the adjacent hinge plate
73.
For purposes of exemplification, particular embodiments of the
invention have been shown and described according to the best
present understanding thereof. However, it will be apparent that
changes and modifications in the arrangement and construction of
the parts thereof may be resorted to without departing from the
spirit and scope of the invention.
* * * * *