Oven door hinge

Claim 2

A hinge mechanism comprising: a mounting plate supporting a stop member fixed relative to the mounting plate; a longitudinally extending hinge link having one end pivotally mounted to and supported by the mounting plate at a location spaced from the position of the mounting plate supported stop member, the hinge link being pivotally movable toward and away from the stop member; a hinge blade configured as a bell crank pivotally mounted intermediate its ends to the hinge link at a location spaced from said pivotally mounted end, one arm of said hinge blade extending from the hinge link toward the stop member, said one arm being biased toward the stop member and including a recess aligned with the stop member when the hinge mechanism is in at least a partially open position, the other arm of said hinge blade extending generally along at least a portion of the longitudinal extent of the hinge link, wherein axial alignment of said other arm and the hinge link holds the recess out of engagement with the stop member when the hinge link is moved toward and away from the stop member, a predetermined degree of nonaxial alignment between said other arm and the hinge link permitting engagement of the recess with the stop member to lock the hinge mechanism in place at said partially open position.

Claim 3

A hinge mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the distal end of said one arm extends beyond the stop member, the distal end being adapted to anchor one end of a tensioned spring means to supply the biasing of one arm toward the stop member.

Claim 4

A hinge mechanism according to claim 2, wherein the length of said one arm is greater than the length of said other arm.

Claim 5

A hinge mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the hinge link includes a pair of longitudinally extending parallel members spaced from each other, said other arm being sandwiched between the parallel member, said other arm being limited in movement to the area between the parallel members to hold the recess out of engagement with the stop member.

Claim 6

A hinge mechanism for pivotally mounting a removable oven door on a domestic range comprising: a fixed stop member; a hinge link having one end pivotally mounted at a location fixed relative to the stop member, the hinge link being pivotally movable toward and away from the stop member; a hinge blade configured as a bell crank pivotally mounted intermediate its ends to the hinge link, one arm of said hinge blade being spring-biased toward and engageable with the stop member as the hinge link pivotally moves toward and away from the stop member, said one arm including a recess sized to receive the stop member, the other arm of said hinge blade being limited in movement by the oven door wherein the recess is held out of engagement with the stop member when the recess and the stop member are in an aligned condition when the oven door is in a partially open position, removal of the oven door at said partially open position allowing free movement of said other arm to permit the stop member to engage the recess to lock the hinge in position.

Claim 7

A hinge mechanism for pivotally mounting a removable oven door on a domestic range comprising: a fixed stop member; a hinge link having one end pivotally mounted at a location fixed relative to the stop member, the hinge link being pivotally movable toward and away from the stop member; a hinge blade configured as a bell crank pivotally mounted intermediate its ends to the hinge link, one arm of said hinge blade being spring-biased toward and engageable with the stop member as the hinge link pivotally moves toward and away from the stop member, said one arm including a recess sized to receive the stop member, the other arm of said hinge blade being limited in movement by the oven door wherein the recess is held out of engagement with the stop member when the recess and the stop member are in an aligned condition when the oven door is in a partially open position, removal of the oven door at said partially open position allowing free movement of said other arm to permit the stop member to engage the recess to lock the hinge in position.

Claim 8

A hinge mechanism according to claim 5, wherein the stop member is a roller.

Claim 9

A hinge mechanism according to claim 6, wherein the depth of the recess is not less than one-half the diameter of the roller.

Claim 10

A hinge mechanism according to claim 5, wherein the length of said one arm providing the recess is greater than the length of said other arm limited in movement by the oven door.

Claim 11

In a domestic range having a generally cubical oven cavity with an open face closable by a pivotally movable generally rectangular oven door mounted on the range by a pair of hinge mechanisms each located at a respective one of the lower corners of the oven door, each hinge mechanism including: a mounting plate fixed to the front wall of the range body, the mounting plate supporting a roller, the roller being located generally at the mid-portion of the mounting plate and inboard of the front wall of the range body, the roller being fixed relative to the mounting plate, the axis of rotation of the roller extending generally parallel to the front wall of the range body; an elongated hinge link having one end pivotally mounted to and supported by the mounting plate at a location below the mounting plate supported roller, the hinge link being pivotally movable toward and away from the roller, the movement of the link being in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the roller; a hinge blade configured as a bell crank pivotally mounted to the hinge link at a location spaced from its pivotally mounted end, pivotal movement of the hinge blade relative to the hinge link being in said plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the roller, one arm of the bell crank configured hinge blade extending toward the roller and engageable with it as the hinge link pivotally moves toward and away from the roller, said one arm being spring-biased toward the roller, said one arm including a recess sized to receive the roller, the other arm of the bell crank configured hinge blade longitudinally extending generally along at least a portion of the longitudinal extent of the hinge link wherein generally axial alignment of said other arm is maintained by stop means carried by the oven door to limit the pivotal range of movement of the bell crank configured hinge blade relative to the hinge link wherein the recess provided by said spring-biased arm is held out of engagement with the roller, the recess and the roller being in aligned condition when the oven door is in a partially open condition, removal of the oven door to said partially open position moving said stop means out of interfering relation with said other arm to permit said other arm to move to a non-axial aligned position with the hinge link wherein the roller engages the recess to lock the hinge at said partially open position.

Claim 12

In a domestic range having a generally cubical oven cavity with an open face closable by a pivotally movable generally rectangular oven door mounted on the range by a pair of hinge mechanisms each located at a respective one of the lower corners of the oven door, each hinge mechanism including: a mounting plate fixed to the front wall of the range body, the mounting plate supporting a roller, the roller being located generally at the mid-portion of the mounting plate and inboard of the front wall of the range body, the roller being fixed relative to the mounting plate, the axis of rotation of the roller extending generally parallel to the front wall of the range body; an elongated hinge link having one end pivotally mounted to and supported by the mounting plate at a location below the mounting plate supported roller, the hinge link being pivotally movable toward and away from the roller, the movement of the link being in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the roller; a hinge blade configured as a bell crank pivotally mounted to the hinge link at a location spaced from its pivotally mounted end, pivotal movement of the hinge blade relative to the hinge link being in said plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the roller, one arm of the bell crank configured hinge blade extending toward the roller and engageable with it as the hinge link pivotally moves toward and away from the roller, said one arm being spring-biased toward the roller, said one arm including a recess sized to receive the roller, the other arm of the bell crank configured hinge blade longitudinally extending generally along at least a portion of the longitudinal extent of the hinge link wherein generally axial alignment of said other arm is maintained by stop means carried by the oven door to limit the pivotal range of movement of the bell crank configured hinge blade relative to the hinge link wherein the recess provided by said spring-biased arm is held out of engagement with the roller, the recess and the roller being in aligned condition when the oven door is in a partially open condition, removal of the oven door to said partially open position moving said stop means out of interfering relation with said other arm to permit said other arm to move to a non-axial aligned position with the hinge link wherein the roller engages the recess to lock the hinge at said partially open position.

Claim 13

A hinge mechanism according to claim 9, wherein the hinge link is slidably engageable with a channel means at the lower side edge of the oven door, the channel means having at least one side wall functioning as a stop means to limit the range of axial movement of said other arm to hold the recess out of engagement with the roller, removal of the oven door by applying an upward pulling force thereto slidably disengaging the channel means from the hinge link thereby permitting the bell crank configured hinge blade to freely pivot wherein the recess engages the roller to positively lock the hinge mechanism in position.

Claim 14

A hinge mechanism according to claim 10, wherein the recess and the roller are in an adjacent, generally aligned position relative to each other when the oven door is at a partially open broil position.