Two-way opening door for household refrigerator

Claim 2

In a cabinet for a home appliance having a door mounted for pivotable movement on a set of hinge pins disposed on one side of an opening, and means for holding the door in a position closing the opening, the improvement comprising a first set of hinge pins mounted on the cabinet adjacent one side of the opening, a second set of hinge pins mounted on the cabinet adjacent a second side of the opening opposite said first side, each of said sets of hinge pins includes an upper pin and a lower pin, engagement means disposed on the door for coacting with a set of hinge pins to form a hinge mounting for the door, said engagement means includes a pair of bolt members mounted for sliding movement in the door with one bolt member arranged to move from a position coacting with an upper pin the first set to a second position coacting with an upper pin of the second set and the other bolt member being movable from a position coacting with a lower pin of the first set to a position coacting with the lower pin of the second set, and means disposed on the door for selectively shifting the engagement means between the first and second sets of hinge pins by acting on both bolt members in the same direction to coact with the upper and lower pins respectively of one of the pair of sets so that the hinge mounting of the door can be shifted between the first and second side of the opening to enable the door in either of two directions.

Claim 3

In a cabinet according to claim 1, wherein said engagement means includes means for preventing shifting of the engagement means when the door is moved from a closed position.

Claim 4

In a cabinet according to claim 1, wherein the shifting means comprises a pair of handles with a handle mounted on the door adjacenT each of said opposite sides thereof, each of said handles having a pair of levers extending into the door with one of the levers engaging the upper bolt member and the other lever engaging the lower bolt member.

Claim 5

In a cabinet according to claim 3, wherein said engagement means includes a recess in the door for receiving each of said hinge pins, and which includes detent means disposed in the door adjacent each end of the pair of bolt members for engaging a pin received in each of the recesses, said detent means preventing shifting of the bolt member when the detent means becomes disengaged from its respective hinge pin.

Claim 6

A cabinet for an appliance comprising an enclosure having a rectangular opening, a hinge pin mounted on said enclosure adjacent each of the corners of said opening, a rectangular door for closing said opening having a recess adjacent each corner for receiving the hinge pins when the door is in a position for closing the opening, a pair of bolt assemblies mounted in the door with one of the pairs being adjacent a first side and between a pair of said recesses adjacent said first side and the other of the pair being adjacent a second side opposite said first side and between the other pair of recesses adjacent said second side, each bolt assembly including a bolt member mounted for slidable movement on a support member between one position with the bolt withdrawn from one of said pair of recesses and extending across the other of said pair of recesses to entrap a hinge pin therein to form a hinge mounting for the door adjacent a third side of the door and a second position with the bolt withdrawn from the other recess of the pair and extending across the one recess to entrap the hinge pin therein to form a hinge mounting for the door adjacent the fourth side of the door, and means disposed on said door for shifting each bolt member of said pair of bolt assemblies between the first and second positions to enable opening a door in either of two directions by pivoting on hinge mountings adjacent either the third or fourth side of the door.

Claim 7

A cabinet for an appliance comprising an enclosure having a rectangular opening, a hinge pin mounted on said enclosure adjacent each of the corners of said opening, a rectangular door for closing said opening having a recess adjacent each corner for receiving the hinge pins when the door is in a position for closing the opening, a pair of bolt assemblies mounted in the door with one of the pairs being adjacent a first side and between a pair of said recesses adjacent said first side and the other of the pair being adjacent a second side opposite said first side and between the other pair of recesses adjacent said second side, each bolt assembly including a bolt member mounted for slidable movement on a support member between one position with the bolt withdrawn from one of said pair of recesses and extending across the other of said pair of recesses to entrap a hinge pin therein to form a hinge mounting for the door adjacent a third side of the door and a second position with the bolt withdrawn from the other recess of the pair and extending across the one recess to entrap the hinge pin therein to form a hinge mounting for the door adjacent the fourth side of the door, and means disposed on said door for shifting each bolt member of said pair of bolt assemblies between the first and second positions to enable opening a door in either of two directions by pivoting on hinge mountings adjacent either the third or fourth side of the door.

Claim 8

A cabinet according to claim 5, wherein each of the bolt assemblies include means for preventing movement of the bolt member when the door is moved from said position closing the opening.

Claim 9

A cabinet for an appliance comprising an enclosure having a rectangular opening, a hinge pin mounted on said enclosure adjacent each of the corners of said opening, a rectangular door for closing said opening having a recess adjacent each corner for receiving the hinge pins when the door is in a position for closing the opening, a pair of bolt assemblies mounted in the door with one of the pairs being adjacent a first side and between a pair of said recesses adjacent said first side and the other of the pair being adjacent a second side opposite said first side and between the other pair of recesses adjacent said second side, each bolt assembly including a bolt member mounted for slidable movement on a support member between one position with the bolt withdrawn from one of said pair of recesses and extending across the other of said pair of recesses to entrap a hinge pin therein to form a hinge mounting for the door adjacent a third side of the door and a second position with the bolt withdrawn from the other recess of the pair and extending across the one recess to entrap the hinge pin therein to form a hinge mounting for the door adjacent the fourth side of the door, and means disposed on said door for shifting each bolt member of said pair of bolt assemblies between the first and second positions to enable opening a door in either of two directions by pivoting on hinge mountings adjacent either the third or fourth side of the door, each of the bolt assemblies having means for preventing movement of the bolt member when the door is moved from said position closing the opening, said means for preventing comprises a detent lever having a stop portion pivotably mounted adjacent each of the recesses with one end of the leVer extending into the recess to be contacted by a hinge pin received therein, each of said bolt members having at least two spaced apart abutment surfaces, said abutment surfaces being arranged so that at least one of the abutment surfaces is in alignment with at least one of the stop portions when the bolt member is in either the first or second positions, means for biasing each of the detent levers to a position with the stop member in abutting relationship with its respective abutment surfaces, said hinge pins when received in their respective recesses pivoting the levers against the biasing means to disengage all of the stop members from the abutting relationship with the abutment surfaces so that during opening of the door, the withdrawal of the two hinge pins enables the biasing means to urge a pair of detent levers to a position with the stop portion preventing movement of the bolt members to release the entrapped pin forming the hinge mounting.

Claim 10

A cabinet for an appliance comprising an enclosure having a rectangular opening, a hinge pin mounted on said enclosure adjacent each of the corners of said opening, a rectangular door for closing said opening having a recess adjacent each corner for receiving the hinge pins when the door is in a position for closing the opening, a pair of bolt assemblies mounted in the door with one of the pairs being adjacent a first side and between a pair of said recesses adjacent said first side and the other of the pair being adjacent a second side opposite said first side and between the other pair of recesses adjacent said second side, each bolt assembly including a bolt member mounted for slidable movement on a support member between one position with the bolt withdrawn from one of said pair of recesses and extending across the other of said pair of recesses to entrap a hinge pin therein to form a hinge mounting for the door adjacent a third side of the door and a second position with the bolt withdrawn from the other recess of the pair and extending across the one recess to entrap the hinge pin therein to form a hinge mounting for the door adjacent the fourth side of the door, and means disposed on said door for shifting each bolt member of said pair of bolt assemblies between the first and second positions to enable opening a door in either of two directions by pivoting on hinge mountings adjacent either the third or fourth side of the door, each of the bolt assemblies having means for preventing movement of the bolt member when the door is moved from said position closing the opening, said means for preventing comprises a detent lever having a stop portion pivotably mounted adjacent each of the recesses with one end of the leVer extending into the recess to be contacted by a hinge pin received therein, each of said bolt members having at least two spaced apart abutment surfaces, said abutment surfaces being arranged so that at least one of the abutment surfaces is in alignment with at least one of the stop portions when the bolt member is in either the first or second positions, means for biasing each of the detent levers to a position with the stop member in abutting relationship with its respective abutment surfaces, said hinge pins when received in their respective recesses pivoting the levers against the biasing means to disengage all of the stop members from the abutting relationship with the abutment surfaces so that during opening of the door, the withdrawal of the two hinge pins enables the biasing means to urge a pair of detent levers to a position with the stop portion preventing movement of the bolt members to release the entrapped pin forming the hinge mounting.

Claim 11

A cabinet according to claim 7, wherein each of the abutment surfaces is an edge of an L-shaped slot provided in the bolt member and said stop portion of the lever is received in the L-shaped slot.

Claim 12

A cabinet according to claim 7, wherein the means for shifting the pair of bolt members comprises a pair of handles with one handle disposed along the third side of the door and the other handle disposed along the fourth side of the door, each of the handles having projections extending into the door and engaging a corresponding projection on the bolt member so that actuation of the handle on the third side of the door shifts the bolt members to form the hinge mountings on the fourth side of the door and actuation of the handle on the fourth side of the door shifts the bolt members to form the hinge mountings on the third side of the door.

Claim 13

A cabinet according to claim 9, wherein each of said support members is a housing receiving the bolt member, said housing having slots for the projection of the bolt members to extend therethrough.

Claim 14

A cabinet according to claim 10, wherein each of the detent levers associated with a bolt assembly is pivotably mounted in the housing thereof, wherein each of the detent levers has a second portion projecting through an opening in the housing, and wherein said biasing means is a spring mounted on the housing and engaging said second portion.