Electric oven toaster door mechanism

Claim 2

An electric oven toaster construction having a toasting and oven chamber and electric heating elements in said chamber, said oven toaster construction including two generally vertical side walls, a top wall, and a front opening comprising: a. a door for closing said front opening; b. a pair of arms fixed to said door and extending rearwardly therefrom; c. a pair of hinge connections for each of said arms mounted on the oven toaster for supporting said door for movement from an open to a closed position with respect to said front opening; d. a compression spring having two end portions, a first end portion of said spring being connected to one of said arms between its hinge connection and the door and a second end portion of said spring being connected to said oven toaster below the arm hinge connection; e. manual means connected to the door for permitting the door to be manually opened and closed, the first end portion of said spring being moved toward the second end portion of the spring to compress the spring as the door is moved from its open position to its closed position, said spring overcentering the hinge connection during the movement of the door from its open to its closed position, and the first end portion of said spring being moved to exert a force on said one of said arms to hold the door in its closed position, the first end portion of said spring also being moved toward the second end portion of the spring to compress the spring as the door is moved from its closed position to its open position, said spring overcentering the hinge connection during this movement of the door from its closed position to its open position, and the first end portion of said spring then being moved to exert a force on said one of said arms to hold the door in its open position.

Claim 3

An electric oven toaster construction as defined in claim 1 wherein each of said door arms includes a first arm portion connected to said door and extending generally perpendicular thereto and a second arm portion which extends generally parallel to the door, said arm portions being approximately the same length as each other and being approximately one half of the width of said vertical side wall to permit the door to be held in a generally horizontal open position close to the top wall of the oven toaster.

Claim 4

An electric oven toaster construction as defined in claim 1 wherein each of said pair of hinge connections for the door arms includes a hinge pin which is fixed to the upper central portion of one of the vertical side walls.

Claim 5

An electric oven toaster construction as defined in claim 1 wherein the connection of the second end portion of the spring includes a pivot pin fixed to the lower central portion of said vertical side wall below and rearwardly from the door arm hinge pivot pin.

Claim 6

An electric oven toaster construction as defined in claim 1 wherein said compression spring comprises a compression spring subassembly including: a. a coil compression spring having two end portions; and b. a rod extending through said compression spring.

Claim 7

An electric oven toaster construction as defined in claim 1 wherein said compression spring comprises a compression spring subassembly including: a. a coil compression spring having two end portions; b. a rod extending through said compression spring; and c. a stop washer having an aperture formed therein positioned over the upper portion of said rod having a surface thereof in abutting relationship witH the upper end of said spring.

Claim 8

An electric oven toaster construction as defined in claim 1 wherein said compression spring comprises a compression spring subassembly including: a. a coil compression spring having two end portions; b. a rod extending through said compression spring; c. a stop washer having an aperture formed therein positioned over the upper portion of said rod having a surface thereof in abutting relationship with the upper end of said spring; d. a U-shaped stop bracket having apertures formed in the arms of the U for receiving the lower end of said rod; and e. a plurality of protrusions formed on said rod above said stop washer and a plurality of protrusions formed on said rod below said U-shaped bracket for holding and sandwiching the washer, coil compression spring, and U-shaped bracket in subassembled position.

Claim 9

An electric oven toaster construction as defined in claim 1 wherein said compression spring comprises a compression spring subassembly including: a. a coil compression spring having two end portions; b. a rod extending through said compression spring; c. a stop washer having an aperture formed therein positioned over the upper portion of said rod having a surface thereof in abutting relationship with the upper end of said spring; d. a U-shaped stop bracket having apertures formed in the arms of the U for receiving the lower end of said rod; e. a plurality of protrusions formed on said rod above said stop washer and a plurality of protrusions formed on said rod below said U-shaped bracket for holding and sandwiching the washer, coil compression spring, and U-shaped bracket in subassembled position; f. the upper end of said rod being L-shaped for insertion within an aperture formed in the second arm portion of said door arm to pivotally connect the compression spring subassembly to said door arm; and g. a keyhole slot formed in the bight portion of said U-shaped bracket.

Claim 10

An electric oven toaster construction as defined in claim 8 wherein a pivot pin is fixed to the lower central portion of the vertical side wall of the oven toaster below and rearwardly from the door arm hinge pivot pin, and said keyhole slot is positioned over said lower pivot pin for connecting the lower end of said compression spring subassembly to said oven toaster.

Claim 11

An electric oven toaster construction having a toasting and oven chamber and electric heating elements in said chamber, said oven toaster construction including two generally vertical side walls, a top wall, and a front opening comprising: a. a door for closing said front opening; b. a pair of arms fixed to said door and extending rearwardly therefrom; each of said arms including a first arm portion connected to said door and extending generally perpendicular thereto and a second arm portion integrally formed with said first arm portion extending generally parallel to the door; c. a pair of door arm hinge pins fixed to the upper central portions of said vertical side walls; d. an aperture formed in the free end portions of each of said second door arm portions for receiving said hinge pins; e. an overcenter compression spring subassembly including: e1. a coil compression spring having two end portions; e2. a rod extending through said compression spring; e3. a stop washer having an aperture formed therein positioned over the upper portion of said rod having a surface thereof in abutting relationship with the upper end of said spring; e4. a U-shaped stop bracket having apertures formed in the arms of the U for receiving the lower end of said rod; e5. a plurality of protrusions formed on said rod above said stop washer and a plurality of protrusions formed on said rod below said U-shaped bracket for holding and sandwiching the washer, coil compression spring, and U-shaped bracket in subassembled position; e6. the upper end of said rod being L-shaped for insertion within an aperture formed in the second arm portion of said door arm to pivotally connect the compression spring subassembly to said door arm; and e7. a keyhole slot formed in the bight portion of said U-shaped bracket; f. a pivot pin fixed to the lower central portion of said vertical side wall below and rearwardly from the door arm hinge pivot pin, said keyhole slot being positioned over said lower pivot pin for connecting the lower end of said compression spring subassembly to said oven toaster; and g. manual means connected to the door for permitting the door to be manually opened and closed, the stop washer being moved downwardly to compress the coil spring between the stop washer and one of the arms of the U-shaped bracket as the door is moved from its open position to its closed position, said spring overcentering the door arm hinge pivot pin during movement of the door from its open position to its closed position, and said stop washer being moved upwardly by said compression spring to exert a force on the second arm portion of the door arm to hold the door in its closed position.

Claim 12

An electric oven toaster construction having a toasting and oven chamber and electric heating elements in said chamber, said oven toaster construction including two generally vertical side walls, a top wall, and a front opening comprising: a. a door for closing said front opening; b. a pair of arms fixed to said door and extending rearwardly therefrom; each of said arms including a first arm portion connected to said door and extending generally perpendicular thereto and a second arm portion integrally formed with said first arm portion extending generally parallel to the door; c. a pair of door arm hinge pins fixed to the upper central portions of said vertical side walls; d. an aperture formed in the free end portions of each of said second door arm portions for receiving said hinge pins; e. an overcenter compression spring subassembly including: e1. a coil compression spring having two end portions; e2. a rod extending through said compression spring; e3. a stop washer having an aperture formed therein positioned over the upper portion of said rod having a surface thereof in abutting relationship with the upper end of said spring; e4. a U-shaped stop bracket having apertures formed in the arms of the U for receiving the lower end of said rod; e5. a plurality of protrusions formed on said rod above said stop washer and a plurality of protrusions formed on said rod below said U-shaped bracket for holding and sandwiching the washer, coil compression spring, and U-shaped bracket in subassembled position; e6. the upper end of said rod being L-shaped for insertion within an aperture formed in the second arm portion of said door arm to pivotally connect the compression spring subassembly to said door arm; and e7. a keyhole slot formed in the bight portion of said U-shaped bracket; f. a pivot pin fixed to the lower central portion of said vertical side wall below and rearwardly from the door arm hinge pivot pin, said keyhole slot being positioned over said lower pivot pin for connecting the lower end of said compression spring subassembly to said oven toaster; and g. manual means connected to the door for permitting the door to be manually opened and closed, the stop washer being moved downwardly to compress the coil spring between the stop washer and one of the arms of the U-shaped bracket as the door is moved from its open position to its closed position, said spring overcentering the door arm hinge pivot pin during movement of the door from its open position to its closed position, and said stop washer being moved upwardly by said compression spring to exert a force on the second arm portion of the door arm to hold the door in its closed position.