Integral hinge push button for appliance control panel

Claim 1

An improved wall structure and control arrangement for a domestic appliance comprising an exposed front panel, a rear panel spaced from said front panel to form a compartment, track means slidably supporting said front panel for linear movement in the plane of said front panel between an installed position closing said compartment during normal operation of said appliance and a removed position exposing said compartment for servicing said appliance or changing said front panel, a control switch affixed in said compartment and having a shaft extending toward the outside of said compartment, a plastic switch button having a socket portion affixed to said shaft and a finger push portion exposed on the outside of said wall structure for manual manipulation of said switch from outside said compartment, said finger push portion extending into the path of linear movement of said front panel sufficiently to provide a surface expansive enough to carry control indicia for said switch during said normal operation, whereby an interfering relationship occurs between said front panel and said finger push portion during removal of said front panel, and means interconnecting said finger push portion and said socket portion to eliminate said interfering relationship when said front panel is to be removed, said interconnecting means including as additional integral portions of said switch button a flexible hinge permanently connecting said finger push portion to said socket portion and a pair of shoulders respectively on said finger push portion and said socket portion and snap-fastened together when said finger push portion is exposed for manual manipulation and in interfering relationship with said front panel, the snap-fastened shoulders being manually releasable from outside said compartment to eliminate the interfering relationship between front panel and switch button so the front panel can be removed for changing thereof or sErvicing said switch.