Foods and beverages: apparatus – Subjecting food to an enclosed modified atmosphere
Reexamination Certificate
2002-10-03
2003-10-28
Simone, Timothy F. (Department: 1761)
Foods and beverages: apparatus
Subjecting food to an enclosed modified atmosphere
C099S474000, C099S483000, C126S191000, C126S194000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06637319
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to oven door hinges. More specifically, the present invention relates to a counter-balance hinge for oven doors.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Large, free standing cooking appliances or ranges have been in use for many years. Typically, they include a horizontal surface with one or more heating elements or burners and a large cooking chamber or oven. The front side of the oven is generally provided with a door with which to either close off or access the oven. The door is generally pivotally attached adjacent to the oven sidewalls that partially define the oven such that when the door is opened, it extends forwardly and generally horizontally from a bottom surface of the oven. Often, when the door is opened, it is used to support heavy food items. Unfortunately, oven doors are also sometimes misused, as a step or a chair. As a consequence, manufacturing standards have been created which require hinged oven doors to be able to support a greater weight than would be normally expected in order to partially address such consumer misuses of such doors. As a further consequence, modem oven doors and their attendant hardware, such as hinges and the like, are designed with such potential misuse in mind. The end result is an oven door that is robustly constructed and quite heavy.
One drawback with such ranges is that some oven doors are merely hinged onto the range. If one is not careful when opening the oven door, the door might slam open, and damage the hinges, jarring items on the top of the range and, perhaps, knocking them to the floor in the process. In an attempt to address this drawback, springs (tension and compression) have been added between the range and the oven door to provide a force to counteract the weight of the oven door as it opened. This reduces, to one degree or another, unfettered door slamming. The springs are not always able to provide a true counterbalance, however, especially where the motion of the door is more-or-less neutral. One further drawback is that in some instances the spring is not strong enough to effectively counteract the weight and momentum of the oven door. The door still slams open in this situation, only with less force. Conversely, another further drawback was that in some instances, the spring is too strong and the oven door does not remain open and tends to slam shut without initiation by the user.
To address these drawbacks, manufacturers have taken several approaches with varying degrees of success. The approach taken in most cases involves changing the length of the spring. An approach that has been used with tension-spring type hinge assemblies is to provide one end of the spring with a hook, which may be positioned in one of a plurality of attachment holes in a tab that is attached to the oven door frame, thus changing the tension on the spring and force exerted by the spring on the oven door (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,150,658). Unfortunately, adjustment of the spring is limited to a series of discrete coarse steps, and like the above-mentioned springs, it is not always possible to strike a true counterbalance. A door may still open too quickly or close of its own accord. Moreover, such an arrangement requires the use of a very long spring and a hinge assembly that must be bolted or otherwise attached to an interior surface of the oven door. As such, it is not easily accessible for servicing or replacement.
Another drawback is that each hinge assembly is designed for a particular make and model of oven door having a predetermined weight. A hinge assembly designed for one make and model of an oven door is not easily interchanged with different makes or models of oven doors.
An approach that has been used with compression-type hinge assemblies is to apply springs of different spring constants or to change the length of the shaft using different, predetermined lengths of rods. This can also be achieved by providing one end of the shaft with a retainer, which may be positioned and retained on the shaft by a transverse locking pin that engages one of a series of transverse holes in the shaft (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,269,165). As with the aforementioned tension-type hinge assemblies, however, a drawback with such an arrangement is that adjustment of the compression spring is limited to a series of discrete coarse steps and it is generally not really possible to precisely adjust the length of the shaft to strike a true counterbalance.
Another drawback with such an arrangement is that the rods and the retainer are comparatively difficult and expensive to fabricate. In addition, they require specialized tools and skills to assemble and connect one to each other. In addition, in order to fully utilize such an arrangement, a great number of differently sized components would have to be stocked and readily made available.
It will be appreciated, then, that true counterbalancing of an oven door is difficult to achieve. It becomes significantly more difficult for hinges that are intended to be used on a variety of different makes and models of ranges, or hinges that are intended to be used in retrofitting applications. This is because many manufacturers of ranges do not fabricate their own oven door hinges. Rather, they obtain their hinges from third parties. Even though the oven doors of differently manufactured ranges may have the same exterior dimensions, they may not have the same weight. Thus, a situation can occur where a non-adjustable or coarsely adjustable hinge may perfectly counterbalance an oven door made by one manufacturer and fail to counterbalance a comparably sized oven door made by another manufacturer.
An additional drawback, common to both of the aforementioned types of hinges, is that a part of the hinge assembly projects through the interior surface of the oven door. Moreover, the amount of the extension changes as the door is moved between its open and closed positions. Therefore, the door must include a slot or aperture to accommodate this portion of the hinge assembly, and this can weaken the strength of the door. The slot can also become filled with debris, which may affect the operation of the door as well as prove difficult to clean.
It will be appreciated, therefore, that there is a need for an oven door hinge assembly that is lightweight and easy to manufacture. There is also a need for a door hinge assembly whose working components are able to fit substantially within predetermined spaces of an oven door and a range. There is also a need for an oven door hinge assembly that can be used with a variety of differently sized oven doors. And there is a need for a hinge assembly that can be modified so that it can be used to effectively counterbalance a range of oven doors manufactured for a variety of cooking appliances.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly, the present invention comprises a hinge for use with a range having an oven and an oven door. The hinge comprises an arm and a hinge assembly that is pivotally attached thereto. The arm includes a first member and a second member, the first member being designed and arranged to be removably secured to the body of the range and the second member being designed and arranged to pivotally support the hinge assembly. The hinge assembly is preferably configured to be removably attached to the oven door and is also designed so that it allows the motion of the door to be substantially torque neutral as it moves between open and closed positions. The hinge assembly includes a biasing element and an adjustment member that provide a variable force that counterbalances the weight of the oven door.
More specifically, the first member of the arm is preferably configured to be inserted into and seated within a pocket or slot in the range in a restrained relation, preferably adjacent the lower edge of the oven. When the first member is in this seated position, the second member will extend outwardly and downwardly from the range by a distance that is sufficient to allow the hinge assembly and an attached door
Klingeman Jeffrey R.
Vanini Angelo
Moore, Hansen & Sumner
Simone Timothy F.
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