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US 10,676,857 B2Granted
Appliance door assembly
AssigneeWhirlpool Corporation
InventorTimothy Heater
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A laundry appliance including a chassis with a cabinet enclosing an interior of the appliance. A tub is provided within the appliance defining a liquid chamber. A drum is provided in the liquid chamber defining a treating chamber for treating articles according to a cycle of operation. The treating chamber can be enclosed by a door, selectively openable by a user to access the treating chamber. The door can be selectively opened in three different ways.
Claims19
A laundry treating appliance comprising:
- a cabinet defining an interior having a front access opening;
- a drum provided in the interior defining a treating chamber accessible through the access opening;
- and
- a three-way door assembly selectively opening/closing the access opening, and comprising:
- a left-side hinge assembly defining a left-side vertical axis, and including a first hinge pin and a first actuator assembly;
- a right-side hinge assembly defining a right-side vertical axis, and including a second hinge pin and a second actuator assembly;
- a first door releasably coupled to the cabinet at the left-side hinge assembly and the right-side hinge assembly, with a left side and a right side, the first door pivotable about the left-side vertical axis by applying a pulling force on the right side to define a first way of opening, and pivotable about the right-side vertical axis by applying a pulling force on the left side to define a second way of opening;
- and
- a second door provided within and partially forming the first door, and pivotable about a horizontal hinge defining a horizontal axis by applying a pulling force on a side opposite the horizontal axis to define a third way of opening;
- wherein a user can open the three-way door assembly in any of the first way of opening, the second way of opening, or the third way of opening at the user's preference by correspondingly pulling on the left, right, or opposite sides of the corresponding first and second doors.
7 more elements
A three-way door assembly for opening/closing an appliance in three directions, and including a cabinet defining an interior including an access opening for accessing the interior, the three-way door assembly comprising:
- a first door selectively pivotable about both of a left-side vertical axis, in response to a first pulling force at a first location on the first door, and a right-side vertical axis, in response to a second pulling force at a second location of the first door, with the first location being different than the second location, the first door comprising:
- a first hinge assembly defining the left-side vertical axis, the first hinge assembly including a first hinge pin extending along the left-side vertical axis and a first lever configured to release the first door from the first hinge pin;
- and
- a second hinge assembly defining the right-side vertical axis, the second hinge assembly including a second hinge pin extending along the right-side vertical axis and a second lever configured to release the first door from the second hinge pin;
- and
- a second door provided within the first door and pivotable about a horizontal axis at a horizontal hinge assembly in response to a third pulling force at a third location;
- wherein the three-way door assembly is selectively openable in three directions about any of the left-side vertical axis, the right-side vertical axis, and the horizontal axis by applying the first, second, or third pulling forces at the corresponding first, second, or third locations.
4 more elements
A three-way door assembly for an appliance, the three-way door assembly comprising:
- a first door assembly comprising:
- a first hinge assembly defining a first pivoting axis and including a first hinge pin and a first actuator;
- and
- a second hinge assembly defining a second pivoting axis parallel to the first pivoting axis, and including a second hinge pin and a second actuator;
- a first cam operably coupled to the first actuator and releasably coupled to the first hinge pin, wherein actuation of the first actuator release the first cam from the first hinge pin to permit pivoting operation of the first door assembly about the second pivoting axis;
- and
- a second door assembly provided within and partially forming the first door assembly, the second door assembly including a third hinge assembly defining a third pivoting axis arranged perpendicular to the first pivoting axis and the second pivoting axis;
- wherein the three-way door assembly is selectively openable in three ways by pivoting about any of the first hinge assembly, the second hinge assembly, or the third hinge assembly.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.