Method of opening an appliance door
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of opening a door for an appliance, the door having an inner liner, a front surface, and a lower surface, the method comprising:
- while rotating the door about a pivot point in a first direction, translating the door from a closed position to a first intermediate position, the pivot point being translated along an X direction away from the appliance by an amount Δ
x1 measured by a horizontal change in distance of the pivot point in the closed position and the pivot point in the first intermediate position with respect to a vertical datum line, and upward along a Y direction by an amount Δ
y1 measured by a vertical change in distance of the pivot point in the closed position and the pivot point in the first intermediate position with respect to a horizontal datum line;
while rotating the door further about the pivot point in the first direction, translating the door from the first intermediate position to a second intermediate position, the pivot point being translated along the X direction away from the appliance by an amount Δ
x2 measured by the horizontal change in distance of the pivot point in the closed position and the pivot point in the second intermediate position with respect to the vertical datum line, and downward along the Y direction by an amount Δ
y2 measured by the vertical change in distance of the pivot point in the closed position and the pivot point in the second intermediate position with respect to the horizontal datum line; and
while rotating the door further about the pivot point in the first direction, translating the door from the second intermediate position to an opened position, the pivot point being translated along the X direction away from the appliance by an amount Δ
x3 measured by the horizontal change in distance of the pivot point in the closed position and the pivot point in the opened position with respect to the vertical datum line, and downward along the Y direction by an amount Δ
y3 measured by the vertical change in distance of the pivot point in the closed position and the pivot point in the opened position with respect to the horizontal datum line.
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Abstract
A method of opening an appliance door includes translating the door up and away from a unit so as to clear a lower edge of a physical constraint, thus allowing for gaps to be minimized, further translating the appliance door out so that its handle would not make contact with an adjacent door should the adjacent door be closed or opened while the appliance door is opened, thus allowing the appliance door to be lowered when the same is fully opened in order to increase the usable height and to reduce the gaps below and above the appliance door.
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Citations
8 Claims
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1. A method of opening a door for an appliance, the door having an inner liner, a front surface, and a lower surface, the method comprising:
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while rotating the door about a pivot point in a first direction, translating the door from a closed position to a first intermediate position, the pivot point being translated along an X direction away from the appliance by an amount Δ
x1 measured by a horizontal change in distance of the pivot point in the closed position and the pivot point in the first intermediate position with respect to a vertical datum line, and upward along a Y direction by an amount Δ
y1 measured by a vertical change in distance of the pivot point in the closed position and the pivot point in the first intermediate position with respect to a horizontal datum line;while rotating the door further about the pivot point in the first direction, translating the door from the first intermediate position to a second intermediate position, the pivot point being translated along the X direction away from the appliance by an amount Δ
x2 measured by the horizontal change in distance of the pivot point in the closed position and the pivot point in the second intermediate position with respect to the vertical datum line, and downward along the Y direction by an amount Δ
y2 measured by the vertical change in distance of the pivot point in the closed position and the pivot point in the second intermediate position with respect to the horizontal datum line; andwhile rotating the door further about the pivot point in the first direction, translating the door from the second intermediate position to an opened position, the pivot point being translated along the X direction away from the appliance by an amount Δ
x3 measured by the horizontal change in distance of the pivot point in the closed position and the pivot point in the opened position with respect to the vertical datum line, and downward along the Y direction by an amount Δ
y3 measured by the vertical change in distance of the pivot point in the closed position and the pivot point in the opened position with respect to the horizontal datum line. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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Specification