OVEN DOOR OPENING MAGNETIC HINGE
First Claim
1. A hinge for rotatably coupling an appliance door with an appliance body, comprising:
- an input arm affixable with the body;
a housing affixable within the door and coupled with the input arm so as to be rotatable through a range of motion between a closed position and an open position;
a spring engaged between the housing and the input arm and deformable to apply a balancing torque to the housing relative to the input arm;
a first magnet fixed relative to the housing;
a second magnet movably received within the housing and operatively coupled with the input arm so as to be positioned adjacent the first magnet when the housing is in the closed position and moved away from the first magnet by rotation of the housing with respect to the input arm from the closed position toward the open position;
wherein a mutual attraction between the first and second magnets applies a closing torque to the housing relative to the input arm when the housing is within about 25 degrees from the closed position.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A hinge for rotatably coupling an appliance door with an appliance body includes a housing affixable within the door. An input arm is rotatably coupled to the housing and is affixable with the appliance body. A spring is operably engaged between the housing and the input arm to apply a balancing torque to the input arm relative to the housing. A first magnet is fixed relative to the housing and a second magnet is operatively coupled with the input arm such that rotation of the input arm with respect to the housing moves the second magnet axially with respect to the first magnet. The magnets have a mutual attraction between each other that is operable to apply a closing torque to the input arm relative to the housing. The balancing force decreases with movement of the input arm from the second position toward the first position.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A hinge for rotatably coupling an appliance door with an appliance body, comprising:
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an input arm affixable with the body; a housing affixable within the door and coupled with the input arm so as to be rotatable through a range of motion between a closed position and an open position; a spring engaged between the housing and the input arm and deformable to apply a balancing torque to the housing relative to the input arm; a first magnet fixed relative to the housing; a second magnet movably received within the housing and operatively coupled with the input arm so as to be positioned adjacent the first magnet when the housing is in the closed position and moved away from the first magnet by rotation of the housing with respect to the input arm from the closed position toward the open position; wherein a mutual attraction between the first and second magnets applies a closing torque to the housing relative to the input arm when the housing is within about 25 degrees from the closed position. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An appliance, comprising:
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a body defining an opening with a lower edge; a door positionable over the opening of the body; and a hinge, including; an input arm coupled to the body; a housing extending along a first axis within the door and rotatably coupled with the input arm such that the door is rotatable adjacent the lower edge of the opening and rotates away from the opening in a vertical direction between a closed position and an open position; a spring engaged between the housing and the input arm and deformable to apply a balancing torque to the input arm relative to the housing that substantially matches a weight torque of the door about the hinge; and first and second magnets, the first magnet being fixed relative to the housing and the second magnet being operatively coupled with the input arm such that rotation of the housing with respect to the input arm moves the second magnet along the first axis with respect to the first magnet, the magnets having a mutual attraction between each other that is operable to apply a closing torque to the input arm relative to the housing to urge to door toward the closed position when the door is within 25°
of the closed position. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A hinge for rotatably coupling a door with a body, comprising:
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a housing extending along a first axis and affixable within the door; an input arm coupled to the housing and rotatable through a range of motion between a closed position and an open position, the input arm being affixable with the appliance body; a spring engaged between the housing and the input arm and deformable to apply a balancing torque to the input arm relative to the housing during rotation of the input arm relative to the housing; and first and second magnets, the first magnet being fixed relative to the housing and the second magnet being operatively coupled with the input arm such that rotation of the input arm with respect to the housing moves the second magnet along the first axis with respect to the first magnet, the magnets having a mutual attraction between each other that is operable to apply a closing torque to the input arm relative to the housing that decreases from about 70 N-m when the input arm is in the closed position to less than about 3 N-m when the door is about 25 degrees from the closed position. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification