Closure fasteners – Bolts – Sliding
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-25
2001-10-02
Luu, Teri Pham (Department: 3627)
Closure fasteners
Bolts
Sliding
C292S175000, C292SDIG007, C292SDIG006, C292SDIG002
Reexamination Certificate
active
06296285
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to handles for refrigerator doors and, more specifically, to handles for refrigerator doors having a lock combined therewith.
Various types of handle structures for refrigerator doors are known. Typically, the refrigerator door has a handle mounted thereto for opening and closing the door but does not have a positive lock which prevents undesired opening of the door. This can be particularly troublesome when the refrigerator is located in a moving vehicle, such as a recreational vehicle, because various forces of the moving vehicle can cause the refrigerator door to open.
Many attempts have been made to provide refrigerator doors with positive locks. While these attempts may have successfully provided a positive lock, they each have drawbacks. For example, many of the locks are separate from the handle which makes it difficult and/or inconvenient to open the refrigerator door when necessary. Other handles are provided with locks which are manipulated simply by pulling the handle. These locks, however, are often complicated and expensive to manufacture and can allow the door to open under conditions where it is not desired. Such as, for example, were it is desired to keep children from opening the door.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a locking handle for a refrigerator which is relatively simple and inexpensive to produce, provides a sufficiently strong positive lock, and requires a manipulation separate from pulling the handle to open door.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a locking handle for a refrigerator which overcomes at least some of the problems of the related art. According to the present invention, a refrigerator includes a cabinet defining an internal compartment having an opening, a door pivotally connected to the cabinet for selectively closing and opening the opening to provide access to the internal compartment, and a locking handle secured to the door. The cabinet has a retainer located adjacent the opening. The locking handle includes a mounting element rigidly secured to the door, a hand grip rigidly secured to the mounting element, and a latch attached to the mounting element. The latch has a catch movable between a locked position and an unlocked position and an actuator operably connected to the catch for moving the catch from the locked position to the unlocked position by a manipulation separate from pulling the hand grip. The catch and the retainer cooperate to prevent the door from opening when the catch is in the locked position and to allow the door to open when the catch is in the unlocked position. Preferably, the hand grip is generally U-shaped with a main bar and forming a space between the mounting element and the main bar. The actuator is located at the space defined by the hand grip so that it can be manipulated by a hand grasping the hand grip.
In a preferred embodiment, the retainer is located at the lateral side of the door. The catch is integral with the mounting portion and is laterally deflectable from the locked position to the unlocked position. The actuator is integral with the catch and extends to the space formed by the hand grip so that the actuator can be easily deflected by a hand grasping the hand grip.
In another preferred embodiment, the retainer is located vertically above the door. The catch is a spindle vertically extending and movable between a locked position and an unlocked position. A spring element upwardly biases the spindle to the locked position and the actuator axially moves the spindle downward from the locked position to the unlocked position.
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Alvring Gunnar
Anderson Kenneth
Lindqvist Per-Olof
Moseley Andrew
Nilsson Bo
Luu Teri Pham
Pearne & Gordon LLP
White Consolidated Industries, Inc.
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