Latch arrangement for appliance

Claim 2

In an appliance having a cabinet with an access opening, a door for closing said opening, and gasket means interposed between said door and cabinet, a latch arrangement comprising: a latch bolt carried by said door and having a pivotal axis fixed relative to said door, said latch bolt including a strike engaging face formed of an arc having a center offset generally to the side of the said pivotal axis in a location such that successive points along said arc from the leading to the trailing edge thereof are progressively closer to said pivotal axis; and a strike mounted on said cabinet and including a camming face against which said bolt face engages as said bolt face slides therealong to pull said door to a tightly closed position, said camming face being formed of a plurality of arcs having different radii, and centers located such that as said door is pulled through that portion of its travel in which significant resistance to compression of said gasket occurs, the sliding movement of said bolt face along said camming face creates a gasket compressing force having a generally front-to-rear direction to prevent undue shifting of said door in a sideways direction as said gasket is compressed.

Claim 3

In an appliance according to claim 1: said strike engaging face of said bolt that contacts said camming face comprises a smooth curve.

Claim 4

In an applicane according to claim 1: said camming face comprises a first arc having a radius less than a successive second arc, and a third successive arc having a radius less than said second successive arc.

Claim 5

In an appliance according to claim 3: said camming face includes an offset formed at the juncture of said second and thing arcs; and said strike engaging face of said latch bolt is dimensioned so that said trailing edge traverses said offset in moving to a fully latched position of said latch bolt.

Claim 6

In an appliance according to claim 1: switch means carried on said cabinet and adapted to be engaged by the leading end portion of said latch bolt strike engaging face.

Claim 7

In an appliance according to claim 1: said latch bolt is carried by said door through a mounting bracket having a headed pivot pin attaching said bolt to said bracket; and said pivot pin carries a compressed friction washer located between the head of said pivot pin and said bolt.

Claim 8

In a front-opening dishwasher having a swing-down door for closing the front opening of the dishwasher tub, and having compressible gasket means for sealing between the door and tub, a latch arrangement comprising: a latch bolt carried by the upper edge of said door for side-to-side pivotal movement, said latch bolt having a strike engaging face in the form of a curve in which successive points therealong from the leading to the trailing edge thereof are successively closer to the pivotal axis of said latch bolt; a strike mounted on said cabinet and including a camming face against which said bolt face engages as said bolt face slides therealong to pull said door to a tightly closed position, said camming face being sufficiently extensive in its total length and spannIng a sufficient front-to-rear distance that with said door in its unlatched at rest position the leading edge of said bolt face will move into engagement with a portion of said camming face without closely approaching a gasket compressing condition, said camming face further having a contour including a plurality of arcs of different radii and related to the curve of said bolt face that throughout significant compression of said gasket, the points of tangency between said camming face and said bolt face are located closely adjacent the most rearward point of said camming face.

Claim 9

In a front-opening dishwasher having a swing-down door for closing the front opening of the dishwasher tub, and having compressible gasket means for sealing between the door and tub, a latch arrangement comprising: a latch bolt carried by the upper edge of said door for side-to-side pivotal movement, said latch bolt having a strike engaging face in the form of a curve in which successive points therealong from the leading to the trailing edge thereof are successively closer to the pivotal axis of said latch bolt; a strike mounted on said cabinet and including a camming face against which said bolt face engages as said bolt face slides therealong to pull said door to a tightly closed position, said camming face being sufficiently extensive in its total length and spannIng a sufficient front-to-rear distance that with said door in its unlatched at rest position the leading edge of said bolt face will move into engagement with a portion of said camming face without closely approaching a gasket compressing condition, said camming face further having a contour including a plurality of arcs of different radii and related to the curve of said bolt face that throughout significant compression of said gasket, the points of tangency between said camming face and said bolt face are located closely adjacent the most rearward point of said camming face.