Horizontal hinge for a household appliance door

Abstract

A horizontal hinge for a cooking appliance door includes a hinge housing having a front face and a rear face. A rotatable hinge arm protrudes from the front face of the hinge housing for retaining the cooking appliance door. Protruding from the rear face of the hinge housing is a lifting rod which is coupled to the hinge arm and pivotable when the hinge arm is caused to rotate. Placed over the lifting rod outside the hinge housing is a compression spring which is held under compressive stress between the hinge housing and a bearing portion of the lifting rod. A tilting element tiltably bears against the hinge housing between the compression spring and the hinge housing.

Claims

1. A horizontal hinge for a cooking appliance door, said horizontal hinge comprising: a hinge housing having a front face and a rear face; a rotatable hinge arm protruding from the front face of the hinge housing for retaining the cooking appliance door; a lifting rod protruding from the rear face of the hinge housing and coupled to the hinge arm, said lifting rod being pivotable when the hinge arm is caused to rotate; a compression spring placed over the lifting rod outside the hinge housing and held under compressive stress between the hinge housing and a bearing portion of the lifting rod; a tilting element tiltably bearing against the hinge housing between the compression spring and the hinge housing, the tilting element having an edge region shaped to form an anti-twist protection insert; and an intermediate element made of plastic and placed between the tilting element and the hinge housing, wherein the edge region of the tilting element is configured for engagement by the intermediate element.

2. The horizontal hinge of claim 1, wherein the tilting element is a washer comprising a continuous central projecting web in facing relationship to the hinge housing.

3. The horizontal hinge of claim 1, wherein the tilting element is a washer comprising a continuous central projecting web in facing relationship to the hinge housing, said intermediate element comprising a latching groove for at least partial insertion of the web of the washer.

4. The horizontal hinge of claim 1, wherein the intermediate element comprises a plurality of projections which are oriented in a direction of the tilting element and which surround the compression spring on an outer face for centering the compression spring.

5. The horizontal hinge of claim 1, wherein the compression spring has a spring end bearing against the tilting element.

6. The horizontal hinge of claim 1, further comprising a terminal element connected to the lifting rod, said compression spring having a spring end which is remote from the hinge housing and bears against the terminal element.

7. The horizontal hinge of claim 6, wherein the terminal element is configured in at least one of two ways, a first way in which the terminal element has an edge in facing relationship to the compression spring, said edge comprising centering chamfers sized to penetrate the compression spring, a second way in which the terminal element has an edge positioned remote from the compression spring and comprising centering chamfers for positioning on the lifting rod.

8. The horizontal hinge of claim 1, wherein the compression spring has a spring end which is remote from the hinge housing and defined by a vertical swing distance between 40 mm and 60 mm.

9. The horizontal hinge of claim 1, wherein the lifting rod comprises two opposing longitudinal slots and a cavity which is located along a longitudinal extent of the lifting rod, and further comprising a shock absorber including a shock absorber housing made of plastic, said shock absorber being inserted into the cavity, with the shock absorber housing being configured to extend through the longitudinal slots so as to protrude from the lifting rod.

10. A domestic cooking appliance, comprising: a cooking chamber having a loading opening; a horizontally pivotable cooking appliance door configured for closing the loading opening; and a horizontal hinge connected to the cooking appliance door, said horizontal hinge comprising a hinge housing having a front face and a rear face, a rotatable hinge arm protruding from the front face of the hinge housing for retaining the cooking appliance door, a lifting rod protruding from the rear face of the hinge housing and coupled to the hinge arm, said lifting rod being pivotable when the hinge arm is caused to rotate, a compression spring placed over the lifting rod outside the hinge housing and held under compressive stress between the hinge housing and a bearing portion of the lifting rod, a tilting element tiltably bearing against the hinge housing between the compression spring and the hinge housing, the tilting element having an edge region shaped to form an anti-twist protection insert, and an intermediate element made of plastic and placed between the tilting element and the hinge housing, wherein the edge region of the tilting element is configured for engagement by the intermediate element.

11. The domestic cooking appliance of claim 10, wherein the tilting element is a washer comprising a continuous central projecting web in facing relationship to the hinge housing.

12. The domestic cooking appliance of claim 10, wherein the tilting element is a washer comprising a continuous central projecting web in facing relationship to the hinge housing, said intermediate element comprising a latching groove for at least partial insertion of the web of the washer.

13. The domestic cooking appliance of claim 10, wherein the intermediate element comprises a plurality of projections which are oriented in a direction of the tilting element and which surround the compression spring on an outer face for centering the compression spring.

14. The domestic cooking appliance of claim 10, wherein the compression spring has a spring end bearing against the tilting element.

15. The domestic cooking appliance of claim 10, wherein the horizontal hinge includes a terminal element connected to the lifting rod, said compression spring having a spring end which is remote from the hinge housing and bears against the terminal element.

16. The domestic cooking appliance of claim 15, wherein the terminal element is configured in at least one of two ways, a first way in which the terminal element has an edge in facing relationship to the compression spring, said edge comprising centering chamfers sized to penetrate the compression spring, a second way in which the terminal element has an edge positioned remote from the compression spring and comprising centering chamfers for positioning on the lifting rod.

17. The domestic cooking appliance of claim 10, wherein the compression spring has a spring end which is remote from the hinge housing and defined by a vertical swing distance between 40 mm and 60 mm.

18. The domestic cooking appliance of claim 10, wherein the lifting rod comprises two opposing longitudinal slots and a cavity which is located along a longitudinal extent of the lifting rod, said horizontal hinge comprising a shock absorber including a shock absorber housing made of plastic, said shock absorber being inserted into the cavity, with the shock absorber housing being configured to extend through the longitudinal slots so as to protrude from the lifting rod.

19. A method for mounting a horizontal hinge, said method comprising: feeding a tilting element over a lifting rod in a direction of a hinge housing, wherein the tilting element has an edge region shaped to form an anti-twist protection insert, feeding a compression spring over the lifting rod; and fastening a terminal element to the lifting rod such that a hinge-housing-remote end of the compression spring bears against the terminal element to thereby tension the compression spring, and providing an intermediate element made of plastic and placed between the tilting element and the hinge housing, wherein the edge region of the tilting element is configured for engagement by the intermediate element.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising placing an intermediate element made of plastic between the tilting element and the hinge housing, wherein feeding the tilting element over the lifting rod includes engaging a front web of the tilting element in a latching groove of the intermediate element.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The above described properties, features and advantages of this invention and the manner in which they are achieved become clearer and significantly more comprehensible in connection with the following schematic description of an exemplary embodiment which is described in more detail in connection with the drawings.

(2) FIG. 1A shows as a sectional drawing in side view a detail of a domestic cooking appliance with a horizontal hinge according to a first exemplary embodiment in an open position;

(3) FIG. 1B shows as a sectional drawing in side view a detail of the domestic cooking appliance according to FIG. 1A with the horizontal hinge according to the first exemplary embodiment in a closed position;

(4) FIG. 2A shows in an oblique view a tilting element of the horizontal hinge according to the first exemplary embodiment;

(5) FIG. 2B shows in an oblique view a detail of the horizontal hinge according to the first exemplary embodiment in the region of the tilting element;

(6) FIG. 3 shows in an oblique view a horizontal hinge according to a second exemplary embodiment in a closed position;

(7) FIG. 4A shows in an oblique view a detail of the horizontal hinge according to the second exemplary embodiment in the region of a hinge housing without a compression spring;

(8) FIG. 4B shows in a further oblique view a detail of the horizontal hinge according to the second exemplary embodiment in the region of a lifting rod without the compression spring;

(9) FIG. 5A shows in an oblique view a terminal element of the horizontal hinge according to the second exemplary embodiment;

(10) FIG. 5B shows in a plan view a detail of the horizontal hinge according to the second exemplary embodiment in the region of the terminal element;

(11) FIG. 6A shows as a sectional drawing in side view a detail of a further domestic cooking appliance in an open position; and

(12) FIG. 6B shows as a sectional drawing in side view a detail of the further domestic cooking appliance in a closed position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

(13) Turning now to the drawing, and in particular to FIG. 6A, there is shown a sectional drawing in side view a detail of an exemplary domestic cooking appliance 101, for example an oven, which includes a cooking chamber G with a loading opening 102 on the front face. The loading opening 102 is able to be closed by a horizontally pivotable cooking appliance door 103, which is connected to at least one horizontal hinge 104. The horizontal hinge 104 is shown in an open position in which the door 103 opens up the loading opening 102. The horizontal hinge 104 has a rotatable hinge arm 106 protruding from the front face of a hinge housing 105 for retaining the cooking appliance door 103. The horizontal hinge 104 further includes a lifting rod 107 protruding from the rear face of the hinge housing 105 and mechanically coupled to the hinge arm 106. For coupling to the hinge arm 106, a portion of the lifting rod 107 located in a hinge housing 105 is rotatably connected to an intermediate part 108 which is also rotatably connected to the hinge arm 106. The intermediate part 108 is able to be guided by means of the hinge housing 105. A spring (compression spring 109) is placed over and/or positioned on the portion of the lifting rod 107 located outside the hinge housing 105. The compression spring 109 bears with its first end (proximal end relative to the hinge housing 105) against the hinge housing 105 and with its second end remote from the hinge housing 105 (distal end relative to the hinge housing) against a support disk (swinging disk 110) connected to the lifting rod 107. The support disk 110 thus used as a terminal element forms a bearing portion of the lifting rod 107. The compression spring 109 is under compressive stress. Since in the open position the lifting rod 107 is oriented obliquely downwardly, starting from the intermediate part 108, this leads to a bending of the compression spring 109 which as a result comes into contact with the lifting rod 107 on the lower face.

(14) FIG. 6B shows the domestic cooking appliance 101 in a view similar to FIG. 6A with the horizontal hinge 104 in a closed position in which the cooking appliance door 103 closes the loading opening 102. By rotating the hinge arm 106, the intermediate part 108 in the hinge housing 105 is displaced and rotated and the lifting rod 107 is correspondingly moved. More specifically, the lifting rod 107 has been rotated counterclockwise so that starting from the intermediate part 108 it is now oriented obliquely upwardly. This leads to the bending of the compression spring 109 in the other direction, therefore, whereby the compression spring now comes into contact with the lifting rod 107 on the upper face. Additionally, the lifting rod 107 now protrudes further out of the hinge housing 105 so that the compression spring 109 is under less compressive stress. The corresponding energy loss in the compression spring 109 is used for assisting the movement of the door from the open position into the closed position. Conversely, the compression spring 109 dampens an opening movement of the cooking appliance door 103 by energy absorption.

(15) The contact of the lifting rod 107 by the biased compression spring 109 leads to uncontrolled friction and thus to force losses when the cooking appliance door 103 is moved. It may also lead to noise being produced (creaking, squeaking) when the cooking appliance door 103 is moved.

(16) To address the problem of force loss and noise, reference is now made to FIG. 1A which shows as a sectional drawing in side view a detail of a domestic cooking appliance 1 with a horizontal hinge 2 in an open position. The domestic cooking appliance 1 differs from the domestic appliance 101 in that on the horizontal hinge 2 a tilting element 3 bearing tiltably against the hinge housing 105 is present between the compression spring 109configured as a spiral springand the hinge housing 105. The tilting element 3 is automatically adjusted to a tilt angle relative to the hinge housing 105, such that the compression spring 109 is compressed in a rectilinear manner between the tilting element 3 and the swinging disk 110. To this end, the compression spring 109 bears with a first (proximal) spring end 109a against the tilting element 3 and bears with its second (distal) spring end 109b against the swinging disk 110. At least one of the spring ends 109a and/or 109b may be surface ground.

(17) In particular, it is possible for the tilting element 3 to have been fed over the lifting rod 107 in the direction of the hinge housing 105, then the compression spring 109 to have been fed with its first spring end 109a at the front over the lifting rod 107 and then the swinging disk 110 to have been fastened to the lifting rod 107 so that the compression spring 109 is tensioned.

(18) FIG. 1B shows the domestic cooking appliance 1 with the horizontal hinge 2 in a closed position. The tilting element 3 has participated in the rotation of the lifting rod 107 and the compression spring 109 and correspondingly adapted its tilting relative to the hinge housing 105, so that now the compression spring 109 is rectilinear and namely aligned parallel to the lifting rod 107. A vertical swing distance of the second spring end 109b between the open position and the closed position is ca. 50 mm.

(19) FIG. 2A shows in an oblique view a possible tilting element 3 of the horizontal hinge 2. The tilting element 3 is a washer 4 which in the center has a continuous projecting web 5. The web 5, for example, may have been introduced by deep-drawing. The web 5 protrudes toward a front face 4a facing the hinge housing 105. The web 5 has been produced by deep-drawing so that a notch 6 is present on the rear face 4b, not shown, of the washer, which does not limit the functionality of the tilting element 3. The tilting element 3 may optionally comprise lateral recesses 13 in the outer edge region of the washer 4 (see also FIG. 4A).

(20) FIG. 2B shows in an oblique view a detail of the horizontal hinge 2 in the region of the tilting element 3. An intermediate element 7 which is made of plastic and which has an elongate indentation or latching groove 8 for the at least partial introduction of the web 5 of the washer 4 may be present between the washer 4 and the hinge housing 105. The web 5 penetrates or engages in the latching groove 8. The intermediate element 7 is sufficiently flexible that the front face 4a of the washer 4 is able to bear flat thereagainst without noticeably impairing the tiltability of the washer 4. However, a previously introduced latching groove 8 may also be dispensed with, the web 5 then pressing for example into the intermediate element 7 such that here a corresponding indentation is produced.

(21) FIG. 3 shows in an oblique view a horizontal hinge 9 in a closed position. The horizontal hinge 9 may also be used in the domestic cooking appliance 1. The horizontal hinge 9 is constructed in a similar manner to the horizontal hinge 2, wherein however now the intermediate element 10 on the outer face additionally has four tab-like projections 12 protruding to the side in the direction of a tilting element 11 and/or the compression spring 109. The projections 12 are angularly offset by 90 in the peripheral direction. The projections 12 are shown here configured as simple tabs; but for example two opposing projections 12 may also be configured in two parts, for example with a central slot (not shown).

(22) As shown more clearly in FIG. 4A, the projections 12 extend in suitable lateral recesses 13 in the outer edge region of the tilting element 11, also configured here as washer 4. As a result, an anti-twist protection insert for the tilting element 11 is produced, whereby in particular the web 5 is not able to twist. Also, the tilting element 11 is no longer able to be laterally or radially uncentered, so that the projections 12 also serve as centering elements for the tilting element 11.

(23) However, the projections 12 extend further, namely beyond the tilting element 11 to the side over the compression spring 109 as shown in FIG. 3. As a result, they act as optionally resilient, lateral limits for the compression spring 109 and consequently also as centering elements for the radial centering of the compression spring 109. As a result, the compression spring 109 is prevented from being able to slide at its first proximal end region 109a on a lifting rod 14.

(24) As also shown more clearly in FIG. 4B, the lifting rod 14 is configured in two parts with two lifting guide rods 15 and 16 which are aligned in parallel and mirror-symmetrically with one another. The lifting guide rods 15 and 16 have a circular sector-shaped cross-section and are spaced apart from one another by means of continuous longitudinal slots 17 on the upper face and lower face. The lifting guide rods 15 and 16 additionally define a cylindrical central cavity 18, a shock absorber 19 being accommodated therein. The shock absorber 19 has a shock absorber housing 20 made of plastic which protrudes from the inside through the longitudinal slot 17 to the outside, laterally from the lifting rod 14 and/or the lifting guide rods 15 and 16. The shock absorber housing 20 may protect the compression spring 109 further against buckling and additionally prevent the compression spring 109 from sliding directly with its central portion on the lifting rod 14 which is, for example, made of metal. The shock absorber housing 20 may thus serve as an internal support and a low-friction sliding surface for the compression spring 109.

(25) In the region of the second distal end 109b of the compression spring 109 and/or the lifting rod 14 in each case short slotted through-holes 21 are located in the lifting guide rods 15 and 16 in the left and right side thereof. Once again with reference to FIG. 3 these through-holes 21 serve for inserting and holding a terminal element in the form of a locking wedge or spring stop 22.

(26) Now with reference again to FIG. 4A, the lifting guide rods 15 and 16 also extend through the intermediate element 10.

(27) FIG. 5A shows the spring stop 22 in an oblique view. FIG. 5B shows in a plan view a detail of the distal end region of the lifting rod 14 with the inserted spring stop 22 and compression spring 109.

(28) The spring stop 22 is, for example, a stamped-out sheet metal part which is inserted into the through-holes 21 when the compression spring 109 is compressed, after which the compression spring 109 is relaxed. The relaxed compression spring 109 presses with its distal end 109b on the spring stop 22. The spring stop 22 thus serves as a rearward stop for the compression spring 109 and for the securing thereof is in turn pressed by means of the compression spring 109 onto the lifting guide rods 15 and 16.

(29) The spring stop 22 has a front tip or nose 23 which penetrates the compression spring 109 on the inner face and which merges into a wider main region 24 in a rearward direction. An internal diameter of the compression spring 109 is wider than the nose 23 but narrower than the main region 24 so that the distal end 109b of the compression spring 109 bears against the main region 24.

(30) The lateral edges of the nose 23 are configured as first centering chamfers 25 extending obliquely to the front, in order to permit a particularly accurate centering of the distal end 109b of the compression spring 109 and easy penetration into the compression spring 109 during mounting.

(31) The spring stop 22 has on its rear edge two notches or second centering chamfers 26 in order to come into engagement with the lifting guide rods 15 and 16 and, as a result, to latch the spring stop 22 with the lifting guide rods 15 and 16. Thus the spring stop 22 is prevented from sliding laterally out of the through-holes 21 and the distal end 109b of the compression spring 109 may be centered against the lifting rod 14.

(32) A spacing d in the longitudinal direction of the compression spring 109 and/or the lifting rod 14 between a base of the centering chamfers 26 and a transition between the nose 23 and the main region 24 (also able to be denoted as the thickness of the spring stop 22) may be varied in order to adjust in a simple manner a pretensioning of the compression spring 109, for example for fine calibration during final assembly.

(33) Naturally the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiment shown.

(34) Generally, an individual item or a plurality of items may be understood by a an, etc., in particular in the sense of at least one or one or more, etc. as long as this is not explicitly excluded, for example by the expression just one, etc.

(35) In addition, numerical information may encompass just the specified number and the usual tolerance range, as long as this is not explicitly excluded.